к звёздам, – сказала Наташа тихо-тихо и, впервые обратившись к нему на «ты», добавила: – В этом заключена великая тайна, и ты скоро откроешь её…
– Забавно… Жена стала кричать, друзья – жалеть… Одна ты… вот так… Если бы ты только знала…
– Я знаю…
– Я бы хотел, чтобы это оставшееся время… Ну-у-у…
Сергею было тяжело говорить.
«Боже, сколько драгоценного времени мы тратим в жизни на всякую ерунду!» – пронеслось у него в голове.
Наташа протянула чашку с кофе и произнесла медленно и чётко, как произносят клятвы:
– Обещаю, что, начиная с завтрашнего дня, все последующие дни станут лучшими в твоей жизни!
Сергей взял чашку, отпил глоточек кофе и улыбнулся. Это была детская улыбка. Открытая. Добродушная. Счастливая…
В тот момент у Натальи зазвонил телефон – подруга уезжала в командировку и просила приютить на пару дней её чёрного кота.
– Коты – это здорово! Особенно чёрные! Пока они тебе дорогу не переходят! Ладно, мне пора, – подмигнул Сергей Наташе, поставив чашку на стол, и уже в дверях остановился и с надеждой в голосе переспросил: – Значит, до завтра?
– До завтра! – кивнула она и улыбнулась.
Сергей уходил, напевая какую-то детскую песенку. Он вдруг впервые почувствовал себя абсолютно счастливым человеком.
Они больше никогда не виделись.
В ту ночь его сбила машина, когда он переходил дорогу, возвращаясь домой…
1. See you tomorrow!
Natasha adored the theater since childhood and went to premieres almost every weekend. A tall, slender, blue-eyed blonde, with an uncommon power to attract men, she had just graduated from the best Theatre Institute and decided to devote herself to the stage. Late autumn, Natasha played her first major role. Tired but happy, she was walking to the dressing room, when suddenly someone caught up with her and took by the hand.
«Congratulations! You were great!» Sergey, the theatre director, said enthusiastically.
«Thank you,» Natasha replied calmly. «I don’t like compliments. See you tomorrow!»
…Sergey returned home and, as soon as he crossed the threshold, he heard the usual words.
«Try walking in my shoes! I’m so tired of your nightly returns!»
«We had a premiere tonight. You knew about it. I offered you to come, but you refused! Natasha was amazing! A really talented actress. Not what I thought of her.»
«That bitch must have already confessed her love to you, and you hung up your ears, idiot!»
«Don’t talk like that,» he asked wearily.
«The theatre became everything to you! You care as hell for me and our son! You live your own life in which there is no place for us! And you appear and disappear like a ghost!»
«You’re wrong,» Sergey tried to argue.
«I’m right! Theatre is an entertainment for idlers, a waste of time! Lazybones! You adore doing nothing, and the theatre is your shelter!»
Sergey silently turned around and walked off into the night.
…It was snowing outside. Immersed in heavy thoughts, he wandered along the road, wherever his eyes looked. He had loved his family. And his wife, he had loved. Sergey for the first time realized the gravity of the past tense verb! Yes, he had loved, once upon a time, because everything was long gone. Flat – cottage – flat. To plant potatoes. To buy groceries. To take them there. To pick up from here. To fix the faucet. To give money for a fur coat… When he tried to talk with his wife about something unearthly, she was completely uninterested. So, he withdrew into himself, and the only outlet for his soul became that small experimental theater he had recently established. The theatre was the only thing that kept him on Earth. He plunged into his brainchild and lived in the theatre for real. Sergey caught himself thinking that everything had been turned upside down: he was himself in the theatre, while he became an actor in real life…
Turning automatically to the right into a small lane, Sergey reached the playground and sat down on a swing. Suddenly, as if sensing something, he turned around. Behind him, a girl was sitting on exactly the same swing.
«Natasha! What are you doing here?»
«Don’t you know I live there?» pointing out the house across the street, she asked in surprise.
Sergey remembered that he had paid attention during the interview to the address, indicated in her CV, although said nothing about their shared neighborhood.
«Sorry, I forgot,» he apologized embarrassed, «but why aren’t you at home?»
«I slammed the door outside and then realized to have left the keys inside. The neighbors are asleep, and it’s still a long way till
