Outside the window, silhouettes of thick tree trunks filtered through the cloudy haze. Their branches, strewn with still green leaves, were hidden in thick fog. That's why they looked like crude sketches on the canvas of a tired artist. And they evoked a light and pleasant melancholy.- Leah, stop meditating over the mug, how long can I call you? The floors won’t wash themselves,” Kayla’s indignant exclamation was heard from the second floor.“Yes, I’m aware,” Leah muttered quietly under her breath. She threw a cup into the sink and, shuffling loudly with her slippers, headed towards the voice.Mother had already been up in arms with her spring cleaning for about three hours. Her father was put to work putting things in order in the cellar, and Leah was tasked with cleaning the dinnerware and all the floors on the second floor, including the turret of the third. The spinning top itself rushed around the whole house, wiping every crack, every corner, as if they had not moved in three w
Chapter 7. Moving AgainCool autumn gusts of wind blew across my face, ruffled my dry, tangled hair and carried the smell of the sea.Leaning on the windowsill, Leah leaned out into the street. She examined the neighbor's window with slightly watery eyes, wondering to herself what was hidden behind the thick curtains. The wooden frame, covered with a thick layer of white paint, had small cracks in the corners with dust settled in them. And the glass itself, washed by frequent rains, became covered in dirty stains.Even if we assume that this is the window of Neil’s room, is it worth informing him of your imminent departure?On the one hand, he showed obvious interest and a desire to get closer, and on the other, his interest, especially after the night invasion, felt somehow strange and even frightening to her. But at the same moment she herself did not want to move away. At least for now. While this slight clouding of reason called “attraction to a mysterious neighbor” was simmering
“Hey, sugar,” Marcus caught her windbreaker by the hood and stopped her. - Don’t you want to say goodbye normally? We'll be back next time in a week.- Not in a month and not in a year, which is not bad.“I would be surprised if you said something nice,” Kayla grinned irritably. She was still sitting in the car with the window down. Then she sighed sadly and added: “Try not to get into trouble.” Study, go through the procedures and call us at least sometimes. We didn’t buy you a cell phone so that it would lie empty at the bottom of your bag.- Yeah, I understand.“Make friends there and have a good time,” the father whispered in her ear and patted Leah on the head, ruffling her hair.After listening to all the instructions, she was able to approach the unlocked gate, which opened with a nasty grinding sound. However, having stepped onto the territory of the sanatorium, Leah still turned around and looked over her shoulder at her parents.Marcus was already standing near the driver's
My throat was sore. Just the day before, she swallowed a cactus densely strewn with sharp needles that mercilessly tore the entire delicate mucous membrane of the pharynx. And all attempts to accumulate saliva in order to at least a little moisten and drown out the bad sensations were in vain. Even the stiff tongue did not want to move.She rose from the bed, sleepily looking at the unfamiliar surroundings around her. And with quiet, apathetic discontent, she remembered where she was and how she got here. Now the only question troubling her was: where to get water?After searching through the bedside tables and the empty mini-fridge on the windowsill, Leah went to the phone hanging on the wall. Next to it, on a large A4 sheet, was a printed table with the subtitle: “Daily routine.”The very first point: “8:00 – Wake up” made me wince. For her, waking up so early is an unearthly torment. And for several months it will seem like hell. However, the line with breakfast appeared only an ho
"Jerk. I take back my words so that you choke.”Taking a napkin, Leah removed the stuck rice from her face and defiantly moved to the edge of the table. I was able to force myself to stuff only a vegetable salad into myself: after what I saw, I had absolutely no appetite left. Her would-be savior also chomped irritatingly under her ear.She stood up, silently watching as the guy, having come to his senses, stole a plate with a cutlet from her tray, and then headed to the point for returning dirty dishes.“Are there any restrictions on the number of dishes taken? Although, most likely, this is some kind of quirk of his. It’s not for nothing that the sanatorium has a psychiatric orientation, everyone here, one way or another, is out of sorts,” before reaching the door, Leah stopped near the window and, slightly pushing back the tulle, looked out into the street.Just after passing the gate, two people walked along the road leading to the main entrance, shoulder to shoulder.She immediat
Almost eight years have passed. Annalia graduated from university and got a job in the office of a large restaurant chain as a lawyer's secretary. And while she worked under the guidance of a close relative, her life proceeded quietly and peacefully. But no happiness lasts forever, and a light streak is certainly followed by a dark one. Their company is taken over by a conglomerate. And with a change of leadership comes new orders. Before Annalia could blink an eye, she had already become the personal assistant of the executive director - a young and handsome man who clearly intended to turn her life inside out.Large flakes of snow fell on the windshield. They were picked up by brushes that swept away everything in their path, swinging rhythmically like the pendulum of a metronome. And in the warm light of the street lamps, the snowflakes stretched out into shimmering ribbons and gradually fell to the ground like a motley tulle that dissolved upon touching the stone tiles turning bla
She filled her palms with ice water, pressed them to her face and froze. A pleasant coolness slid from the temples along the spine to the bare shins, covered with goose bumps. Nothing invigorated her in the morning like a contrast shower, but she didn’t have the time or energy for it today. And the day was already long and terribly tiring.Opening the door of the wall cabinet, Annelle took out a container with colored lenses and, with a movement perfected to the point of automaticity, placed one on the eyeball. She blinked her eyes and looked appraisingly at her reflection. From the other side of the mirror, a shaggy-haired maiden with sky-blue eyes, which wonderfully set off the purple circles under them, looked at her.However, for a person who had slept only two hours in the last 24 hours, she still looked good. Just think, the face is sallow in color and the look is drowsy, which has never happened to anyone. Small details that can be easily covered by makeup.It took her half an
Apart from difficulties on the personal front, she was completely satisfied with her current life. Since her immediate boss was a close relative, she did not have to fend off harassment from management and even hide the affairs typical of many directors, thanks to her uncle’s respectable and loyal character. A salary of a tidy sum allowed her not only to live on her own in a rented apartment, but also to treat herself from time to time with expensive branded items, and put some of it into a savings account.And there seemed to be no signs of trouble, life flowed at a measured pace. Suddenly, thunder rumbled out of the clear sky and bad news loomed on the horizon.- Uncle, you realize that the longer you are silent, the more nervous I get? — Annelle asked excitedly, squeezing the glass sides of the ice bottle in her fingers.“Then I won’t beat around the bush,” he smiled sadly. He took a symbolic sip of tonic, which he barely moistened his throat with, and casually threw out just three
“We offer our deepest apologies,” pressing her head into her shoulders, the girl rustled her fingers on the keyboard. “But we really can’t help you.” There are no available rooms. Annelle, in helpless anger, grabbed the key to the boss’s room from the tabletop. A few hours ago, her reservation for two rooms was confirmed. The end of the business trip, she relaxed. And of course, according to the law of meanness, it was her apartment in the “standard” category that was immediately flooded by some idiot. Yes, so thoroughly that it leaked two floors below. There was no point in expecting that in the near future they would clear up the consequences of the trouble caused by the problematic guest. “Come up to your room,” Annel handed the key to the boss. — I'll try to call other hotels. “We’ll spend the night in the same room,” he headed towards the elevator, taking her suitcase for company. She was left blinking her eyes in confusion with her outstretched hand, in which she still held
Kneeling down, Annel jerked her travel suitcase out from under the bed. When she returned home this evening, she already intended to pack her things for her business trip. She even prepared some of her clothes and put them in neat piles on the dresser. But, as often happens, unforeseen circumstances interfered with the plans. Professional costs, ignorance of which did not relieve one from responsibility for their implementation.“Your bedroom is so small,” the boss commented, shamelessly entering the room. That's someone who definitely didn't need an invitation. He stopped in front of the desk, and also the dressing table, and concentrated his gaze on her family photograph. “Now it’s clear why you’re so cute.” Your father looks familiar... isn't he a composer by any chance?— Yes, he is the author of many soundtracks, but not so popular that someone would recognize him if they met him on the street or saw him in a photograph.— I know many film composers due to my musical interests.H
With the arrival of winter, the nights became longer. Dawn came late, and sunset crept up unnoticed. For the last week, Annelle left the house at seven in the morning and got to work in the dark. I returned to them late in the evening in a company car.“Mrs. Lagvuri, good morning,” the driver opened the door for her and politely greeted her. The third driver she's hired this week. As it turns out, the boss is not so easy to please.- Good, Lorenzo.Previous highly qualified employees were able to stay on Kurt Naper’s personal staff for no more than a couple of days, simply unable to withstand the harsh tests that their new boss generously bestowed upon them, and did not forgive the slightest flaws. The completely green guy, who had just graduated from the Higher School of Personal Drivers, had been holding his position for four days already. Annelle hired him out of sheer nuts, after the director fired the last driver for not thinking to meet him at the car with an umbrella in the rai
She quietly tapped her thin finger to the beat of the music on the strap of the bag folded on her lap. And with a detached gaze she glanced at the landscape passing by outside the car window. I had to try to impose my company on her. But even when she agreed, as soon as they entered the city, she again began to ask to be dropped off at the nearest metro entrance.It was exciting, pleasing, and at the same time a little frustrating at the coolness with which Annalia reacted to him. She did not devour him with her eyes, like other women, did not respond to attempts to flirt with her. And the more indifferent she behaved, the more she scattered his interest.“Turn right here, please,” she said laconically, as usual, emphatically polite and strictly to the point.“What a dense area,” Kurt said, his gaze sweeping over the empty sidewalks near the old, repeatedly restored houses. — Isn’t it scary to live here?- Against. I find this place very cozy and, thanks to its decent neighbors, safe.
The first person to learn about Annelle’s new position was, naturally, Julia. It couldn’t have turned out differently - she was waiting for her right in front of the door of the executive director’s office. And she pounced with her questions, both business and personal, literally after a couple of meters walked in impatient silence.The entire time that Annelle was packing her things, her friend was chattering incessantly. Basically, I admired and sincerely rejoiced at her luck. He fell silent for a while only when the gloomy Mr. Bernhard appeared in the hallway. As if as a joke, he tried to ask why he had displeased Mrs. Lagvuri. In the same tone, he mentioned that no secretary had ever run away from him so quickly. And he clearly wished him success in his new place, and then turned around and finally noticed the presence of a red-haired minx on the sofa. Because it was impossible to call her anything else, given the position in which she was sitting.-What kind of wonderful creature
The drinking binge that took place at night could not but affect Annelle’s morning meetings for work. My head was pounding from the hangover and lack of sleep, so much so that even two aspirin tablets were of no help. The only consolation was the almost professional makeup applied by a friend who spent the night on the sofa. Although she herself painted quite brightly, preferring dark shades of shadows shaded almost to the eyebrows, and long arrows peeking out from behind extended eyelashes, she also had a keen eye for the most delicate nude images.Annelle went to work alone. Julia showed up to her in only a short shirt and a translucent peignoir, over which she threw a leather cloak. And since in the morning there was not a single decent thing for her in someone else’s wardrobe - by “decent” one should mean “provocatively sexy” - she decided to stop by home before work to change clothes.Annelle arrived at the executive director's office five minutes before the appointed time. She r
The wind ruffled her loose hair as Annelle stood in front of a glass forty-story building with an empty coffee glass, her head raised to the sky. The blinding rays of the dawn sun slid across the mirror-like surface, now peeking out and now hiding behind heavy cumulus clouds. They either illuminated the silhouette of the building, immersing it in an aura of brilliance and chic, or returned it to gray and dull everyday life. And this play of light looked like a visual demonstration of ups and downs, just like in her life, in which another eclipse occurred.Starting today, major changes awaited the employees of their company. The group responsible for the reorganization should show up in the first half of the day. The performance of all departments without exception will be analyzed, every candy wrapper will be carefully examined under a magnifying glass, and employees, from directors to cleaners, will be required to undergo recertification. And as soon as the data collection is over, h
Apart from difficulties on the personal front, she was completely satisfied with her current life. Since her immediate boss was a close relative, she did not have to fend off harassment from management and even hide the affairs typical of many directors, thanks to her uncle’s respectable and loyal character. A salary of a tidy sum allowed her not only to live on her own in a rented apartment, but also to treat herself from time to time with expensive branded items, and put some of it into a savings account.And there seemed to be no signs of trouble, life flowed at a measured pace. Suddenly, thunder rumbled out of the clear sky and bad news loomed on the horizon.- Uncle, you realize that the longer you are silent, the more nervous I get? — Annelle asked excitedly, squeezing the glass sides of the ice bottle in her fingers.“Then I won’t beat around the bush,” he smiled sadly. He took a symbolic sip of tonic, which he barely moistened his throat with, and casually threw out just three
She filled her palms with ice water, pressed them to her face and froze. A pleasant coolness slid from the temples along the spine to the bare shins, covered with goose bumps. Nothing invigorated her in the morning like a contrast shower, but she didn’t have the time or energy for it today. And the day was already long and terribly tiring.Opening the door of the wall cabinet, Annelle took out a container with colored lenses and, with a movement perfected to the point of automaticity, placed one on the eyeball. She blinked her eyes and looked appraisingly at her reflection. From the other side of the mirror, a shaggy-haired maiden with sky-blue eyes, which wonderfully set off the purple circles under them, looked at her.However, for a person who had slept only two hours in the last 24 hours, she still looked good. Just think, the face is sallow in color and the look is drowsy, which has never happened to anyone. Small details that can be easily covered by makeup.It took her half an