Chapter 5

Igor ate lunch with us too, along with the department’s third woman—Manana Eristavi, a pleasant, dark-eyed Georgian chatterbox. And what else were we supposed to do over lunch but gossip about the boss? We learned from her that our boss was considered the most eligible bachelor in the company, changed girlfriends as often as he changed gloves, and, despite having a fiancée “out there” (when Valya asked where exactly “out there” was, Manana couldn’t say—rumors, after all!), was also carrying on with the technical director’s daughter, beautiful Lenochka. It turned out she worked in our accounting department, and according to Manana, not a day went by without her dropping in on Gordeev’s department.

“I don’t know, Mashka. I don’t believe our Dmitry Sanych has a fiancée somewhere out there,” Valya snorted skeptically one day as she nibbled the last of her cookie. “Otherwise, why would he carry on with the technical director’s daughter right under her father’s nose and jeopardize his career? Vadim Spiridonovich must have put Gordeev in charge of his own department,” the girl said, nodding at her own conclusion. “I’m telling you! He’s lining up his Lenochka to be Gordeev’s wife.”

So what if he was? What did I care? I needed to buy the kids’ presents to put under the tree and pay the rent. So I listened, shrugged, and went to the coffee machine for a dose of caffeine.

Still, that evening, as I fell asleep in my own bed, I pictured Gordeev’s fiancée. My imagination conjured up a tall, lanky girl with pinched lips and a cold stare, just like Dimka’s.

Interesting. Did their faces clack together like two ice cubes when they kissed?

And the next day, Lenochka appeared in our department, and I realized you couldn’t trust your imagination.