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Past imperfect. Aderin Bran
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Sveta was the first to leave. Lera checked herself in the mirror and saw a red-haired, wide-eyed version of herself staring back at her with bright turquoise eyes. After a long ride on the Moscow subway, Lera felt quite disheveled, curly red hair sticking out in all directions, and her beige outfit made her look like a lit matchstick. Smoothing her hair while walking, she hurried to the common area.
"Lera, here is… for you… again…" Lena said from the corner of the office.
The girl was holding a small box in her hand. Lera sighed and walked towards her. The other girls around began to chat with interest:
"Again?"
"Who is it anyway?"
"Maybe pretty-Marat?"
"Nah, he wouldn't be shy."
"Then Kostya, maybe?"
"Which Kostya?"
"Yeah, the driver of Irina Konstantinovna…"
"It doesn't match. He's only been working here for six months, and Lera's been receiving gifts for more than a year…"
Lera ignored the usual banter. With a soft, tired sigh, she took the box, untied the ribbon and looked inside. At the bottom was a little velvet case evidently brought from a jewellery store. Lera froze.
Karina asked impatiently, "What's there?"
Lera shuddered, but she did not take her eyes off the case. Jewellery? Well, this was too much! At first, she was even pleased with those presents. She and her colleagues wondered who could be so shyly courting her.
Lera even tried to catch the glances of her male colleagues, but they answered her with polite curiosity. None of them looked away shyly or blushed. Lera quickly became convinced that the secret admirer was not a colleague, which didn't bring her any closer to understanding who it could be.
She didn't really get along with men. A couple of male friends who tried to date her somehow faded away. This was also the same at university. A few attempts at dating, which never worked out. Lera had never had a serious boyfriend, or even an unserious one. It was like she was in a bubble, where only women seemed to be allowed. The thought of a woman sending those gifts made Lera uncomfortable. That would have been too much.
Basically, the list of suspects was very short and consisted of exactly zero people. For a while, Lera was suspicious, but then she just got tired of worrying about it. The stalker didn't show himself in any other way, except for those small, meaningless gifts. Lera gave up and simply left the flowers on her desk or took them home. She also treated her coworkers to sweets that appeared out of nowhere.
But this!.. Lera pulled out a velvet case and looked at her colleagues with a somewhat anxious expression. The girls fell silent and responded to her with wary glances.
"It looks like Romeo is taking things to the next level," Alissa drawled.
Lera stammered, "Girls, I don't know what to do with this… I just can’t take it…"
Tasia said darkly, "Open it. Maybe there's just a penny-worth pendant inside."
Please, not the ring! Lera swallowed hard. She had a bad feeling about it. She didn't want to open the case, but Tasia was right. If it was just some small item that was being pushed at the jewellery shop as the change or some free gift, then that would be fine. It would be no worse than a box of chocolates, maybe even cheaper. However, such trinkets are usually packed in plastic bags, not cases. But she could hope, right?
Finally, Lera snapped open the lid and gasped. The girls stood up and stared inside. On a cushion of dark blue velvet lay earrings, shaped like bird wings or laurel branches. The noble gleam of reddish gold was barely visible behind the sparkle of countless definitely non-glass stones. Lera shut the case with a snap and threw it onto the table, as if it had stung her. The girls watched Lera intently and in silence.
"Well, at least it's not a ring," Tasia said almost plaintively.
"If it were a ring, it would be a good time to be scared," Sveta agreed.
"And now? Isn’t it a good time?" Lera asked nervously, not addressing anyone in particular. "These earrings are worth more than my monthly salary! No one makes such expensive gifts without serious intentions!"
"I agree," Karina nodded.
"Maybe you should go to the police?" Vasya said uncertainly.
To her own surprise, Lera liked the idea very much. The gift had, frankly, scared her. Suddenly, Irina Konstantinovna's voice rang out from the door, stern and authoritative.
"What do you all have here? Why are you huddled together like kittens around a bowl of milk?"
The girls jumped in surprise and turned around. They really looked like naughty preschool kids. The boss, stood in the doorway. She was a stern, gray-haired skinny lady, dressed in her usual elegant outfit. Marat loomed behind her.
Without waiting for a response, Irina Konstantinovna marched into the room. Having adjusted her glasses on her nose she looked at the centre of the spontaneously formed circle where the ill-fated case lay. She didn't share her employees' reverence for jewellery gifts so she snapped the lid, then she blinked and chuckled after a barely noticeable astonished pause.
"And who is the lucky one?" the boss said after having managed to control herself.
All eyes instantly turned to Lera, unwittingly giving her away. Lera's cheeks flushed treacherously. Like many redheads and pale-skinned people, she blushed incredibly easily.
"A rich admirer?" the boss asked a little more dryly. "Remember, Larina, if you go on maternity leave…"
"Irina Konstantinovna, I don't know who this gift is from," Lera said hastily, with fervour.
For some reason, Lera was very embarrassed because Irina Konstantinovna thought she was openly being given expensive gifts. The woman's eyebrows rose in disbelief, and then she took a closer look at the girl's concerned face, she chuckled again and drawled.
"Really? Well, well… Then, come on in, you're the first to enter my office. We can talk about it along the way."
The boss occupied the largest office space in the company – the meeting room. She hosted particularly demanding clients here to discuss business, having seated them exactly facing a wall densely covered with certificates and photos.
And in honesty, she had a lot to be proud of. Only Lera had brought Irina Konstantinovna seven copies of her language certificates and diplomas. Other girls, too, were also not limited to one language or one educational institution.
Along with the diplomas, Irina Konstantinovna also hung particularly successful photos of events where her "kids" had the honour to participate. Exactly like a grandmother, proud of the success of her grandchildren. Any accusations of sentimentality were dismissed by Irina Konstantinovna as nothing but dirty insinuations. Of course.
There were three Leras there. One in a formal suit – from some Terribly Important Business Negotiations, one in an evening gown – from the premiere of a film in Venice, and one in a fancy outfit – from a fashion show in Milan.
Lera was uncomfortable with this "showcase" where she and her colleagues were displayed as simple products. Many girls disapproved of this Glory Wall, but there was nothing they could do about it. Irina Konstantinovna was deaf and blind to requests to remove the photos and leave only the diplomas.
Their boss was completely devoid of mercy when it came to ways of increasing profit. By the way, Irina Konstantinovna unfailingly conducted the personnel selection process personally, and did it with such care and attention as if she were choosing not just translators but, at the very least, secret agents.
Staff seriously suspected that her preferences were not only based on the academic achievements and merits of candidates, but more than that