“You’re all red, Katyusha! What happened?” — Larisa looked at her friend with concern, but after following her gaze, she smirked knowingly.
“It can’t be! Are you seriously in love with our boss? With Viktor Pavlovich? You’re out of your mind! He’s such… such… like an inflated turkey!”
Katyusha barely held back tears.
“And where have you seen inflated turkeys?”
“Oh, come on! You know what I mean. It’s like falling in love with a movie star. Look at him and then look at yourself!”
“I’m not in love with anyone!” — Katyusha quickly retorted.
“Of course! Goodness, you’re almost twenty-five, and you’re still dreaming like a schoolgirl!”
Katyusha turned away, offended.
She didn’t think Larisa would figure out the feelings she had when she saw Viktor Pavlovich.
In fact, the story was much more complicated…
Once upon a time, they lived next door.
When Katyusha was thirteen, she first felt that Vitya had become the center of her world.
But for the twenty-year-old athlete, she was just “the little one from the neighboring house.”
After Vitya moved away, Katyusha’s life changed dramatically: her father died, her mother began drinking, and they had to sell the apartment.
Now her sick mother hardly ever got out of bed, and Katyusha worked as an orderly in the morgue, choosing between better pay and heavy psychological strain.
When she saw the new chief doctor, she recognized her old acquaintance.
All the forgotten feelings flared up again.
Larisa ran off on business, and Katyusha was left alone with heavy thoughts.
She knew her friend’s talkativeness and now feared the gossip.
Before the New Year, there was an unusual silence in the morgue.
Katyusha went outside to get some fresh air and accidentally overheard Viktor Pavlovich’s conversation on the phone.
“What do you mean ‘I can’t’? Didn’t you insist on pairs for the corporate party? … Ah, that’s it! So, you just ‘got tired’ of me! … You won’t get a penny more from me!”
A loud car door slam interrupted the conversation.
Katyusha sighed with relief.
During their rare meetings at the hospital, he didn’t even recognize her, and her heart was ready to leap out of her chest.
Viktor himself was beside himself with rage.
Kristina, his influential mistress, had left him the day before an important event.
After unsuccessful attempts to find a replacement among his acquaintances, he decided to turn to his secretary Elena.
“Lenochka, come to my office!” — he said decisively over the intercom.
— Lena, why are you standing there like at a parade? Sit down, we’re going to have an informal conversation.
Elena looked at her boss in surprise but still sat down at the edge of the chair.
— Lenochka, I have a problem… a serious one. I made up this rule that everyone should come in pairs to the clinic’s anniversary, and now it turns out I have no one to go with.
The women I know don’t want to join our team.
You always help me… Could you accompany me?
— Sorry, Viktor Pavlovich, but I can’t, — Elena answered shyly. — In two weeks, I’m getting married, and my fiancé, who works in the neighboring department, and I are going together.
Viktor sighed disappointedly.
The quick solution to the problem was postponed.
— What a shame… Inviting someone from outside would create extra talk…
Lena smiled mysteriously and leaned over the table toward him.
— You know, Viktor Pavlovich, I think I can help you.
— Really? How? Are you going to find me a date for the evening? But I won’t need her afterward. Who would agree to such a role?
— She won’t have to pretend, — Elena smiled quietly. — She’ll sincerely believe this is a real romantic adventure.
— Lena, don’t keep me in suspense!
Elena began explaining her plan.
As she spoke, Viktor listened with increasing amazement and then laughed.
— Are you serious? The same modest girl from the morgue?! Well, it’s a fun idea… The team will definitely appreciate it.
Elena nodded, not at all embarrassed.
— What difference does it make what she thinks? The main thing is the problem is solved.
Viktor thoughtfully tapped his fingers on the table.
“It doesn’t seem very nice, — flashed through his mind. — But at least it’s fun! Haven’t had such simple fools in a while. If she turns out okay — maybe we’ll continue the evening after the party.”
Elena, noticing that her boss was lost in his thoughts, quietly left the office.
The more Viktor thought about the idea, the more he liked it.
He wanted to have fun, to get revenge for his humiliation — let someone else feel humiliated.
The next day he went to the morgue building.
— Katya, look! — Larisa whispered, nudging her friend with her elbow.
Katyusha flinched and dropped her mop, quickly picking it up.
— It’s not mine! Stop it, Larisa, what are you saying?!
The door swung open, and Viktor Pavlovich walked in.
— Hello, girls! — he cheerfully greeted them.
Larisa answered confidently, and Katyusha just nodded, feeling the blood rush to her face.
— How are things here? Need any help?
After a few trivial phrases, he was about to leave, but suddenly turned back.
— By the way, are you going to the clinic’s anniversary?
Larisa sighed:
— I have duty, Viktor Pavlovich.
He turned his gaze to Katyusha.
— And you, young lady?
She shrugged, not looking up.
— No, I’m not going. I don’t have anyone to go with since it’s only for pairs.
Viktor stepped back toward her.
— How can that be? A lovely young lady all alone?
Katyusha turned even redder.
He pretended to think for a moment and then looked her straight in the eyes.
— Maybe you’d accompany me? I ended up alone too.
Larisa’s jaw dropped.
Katyusha looked up at the chief doctor in confusion.
— With… with me? Are you joking?
— Why would I joke? Not at all. We’ll have a great time. A girl like you deserves more than just work.
Katyusha looked confusedly at her friend.
Larisa began to nod energetically and wave her arms:
— Agree, silly! When will you ever get such a chance again?
Two days before the corporate event, Katyusha sat in her room, face buried in the pillow.
Today, she had accidentally overheard Viktor Pavlovich’s conversation by the door of his office.
His words about the “naive fool,” the “gray mouse,” and the “downtrodden orderly” echoed in her head.
She heard how he planned to “amuse himself” by humiliating her in front of everyone and possibly even using the situation for intimate purposes.
Katyusha ran out of the clinic, choking on tears and hurt.
As soon as she calmed down a little, the doorbell rang.
On the doorstep stood Viktor Pavlovich himself, pleased and self-assured.
— Katyusha, we didn’t finish talking. What time should I pick you up tomorrow?
She lifted her tear-streaked but calm eyes to him.
— Don’t worry. I’ll come by myself.
— Well, as you wish… It’s no trouble at all for me…
Katyusha buried her face back in the pillow.
“What a fool I am! So naive and blind!”
Later, Larisa told her that the whole clinic was buzzing in anticipation of the “exciting spectacle.”
— Katyusha, dear, why are you sitting in the dark? — her mother’s voice came from the door.
The light turned on, and Katyusha realized she couldn’t hide her tears.
— You were crying? What happened?
Her mother slowly approached the bed, leaning heavily on a cane, and hugged her daughter.
Katyusha couldn’t hold back any longer and burst into tears, telling her everything.
— So that’s how it is… — her mother said quietly when Katyusha had calmed down a bit.
Katyusha looked at her in surprise.
She hadn’t heard such firm, decisive notes in her mother’s voice for a long time — perhaps not since her father’s death.
— So some rude man decided to make fun of my daughter… My only girl…
— Mom, it’s not just some rude man. It’s Vitya… that one…
“Let him be the president himself! You say everyone’s waiting for my humiliation and wants to laugh? Well… let them enjoy the show. Come to my room, Katyusha.”
Katyusha watched in surprise as her mother took an old box out of the cupboard, one she had never seen before.
“This, dear, is my special stash. I never touched it, even in the hardest times. I was saving it for a dowry… But now this money is more needed for something else.”
Opening the box, her mother showed her the contents — neatly packed stacks of dollars and euros.
“And now let’s think about how to turn my girl into the true queen of the ball.”
Before the restaurant entrance, almost the entire clinic had gathered, waiting for the main event of the evening — the appearance of the chief doctor with the mysterious orderly.
Many had never seen her, but rumors had already done their job.
“How dare she agree? She doesn’t belong in such company,” — colleagues whispered.
“She’ll probably come in a simple dress and worn-out shoes.”
“She won’t understand a thing!” — one of the doctors said loudly.
“She’ll think our mockery is admiration!”
Viktor Pavlovich, surrounded by the crowd, smiled smugly, anticipating his triumph.
This evening was supposed to strengthen his authority.
When a luxurious SUV pulled up to the entrance, and an elegant stranger got out, Viktor couldn’t help but admire her.
“Now that’s style! Too bad I have to waste time on gray mice…”
The crowd on the doorstep came alive but was quickly disappointed — it wasn’t the guest they were expecting.
Though the men still continued to glance at the elegant stranger.
The woman gracefully approached the group of medical staff and addressed the chief doctor:
“I’m not late, am I? I hope you were waiting for me?”
Viktor swallowed hard.
Silence hung over the doorstep.
“Ka… Katyusha?”
“Didn’t recognize me?” — her voice held a light mockery.
“I know how it feels — when someone only sees themselves. Though we were neighbors, Vitya.
I was that silly girl who used to idolize you.”
Memory kindly reminded Viktor of the image of the thin girl with large eyes whom he used to mock in front of his friends.
“Katyusha… I’m sorry… I never imagined… You’re so…”
“So what, Viktor?”
The evening was a resounding success.
Only the one who was expected to be humiliated wasn’t the one who actually was.
Viktor followed Katyusha all evening like a shadow.
He winced when she danced with other men.
He almost fought over a compliment paid to her.
And at the end of the evening, he tried to invite her to continue the date privately.
“Of course, Viktor. Just each separately.”
“But… I thought…”
“You know, Vitya,” — her voice turned as cold as steel, — “thank you for this evening.
Your ‘joke’ helped me finally get rid of my childish infatuation.
Now I see the real you — petty, vain, and vile. I’m free. Thank you for that.”
She majestically walked away, and Viktor stood frozen like a statue.
Not a single colleague came to support him.
