They shoved Yulia into the car so skillfully that she didn’t even have time to squeak. And she never thought something like this could happen in our time.
Yulia worked at a sanatorium, and she had to take the electric train to get there. The commute was exhausting, but the pay was decent, and the schedule was convenient — she could manage it alongside daycare. During the warm season it was fine, but in winter it was scary to run to the station: dark, few people, those garages… But they didn’t shove her into the car near the garages, it was right by the station. A big black jeep stopped, the window rolled down, and a man with a thick beard asked:
“Wanna take a ride, beautiful?”
Yulia had never been called beautiful. In a different situation, such a remark might have flattered her. But her feet in old boots no longer felt the cold, her nose was running, and there were only seven minutes left until the train. More than anything in the world, Yulia wanted to be in a warm, heated home. Though who would heat it without her? She would warm up for half an hour on the train, then run to the daycare, then to the store and home to stoke the stove and cook dinner. There was enough to worry about, so she wasn’t in the mood for chatting. So she said:
“Open your eyes — what beauty do you see in me?”
And she walked along the road on the worn path. The car overtook her, stopped again, and another man got out — this one without a beard, tall and strong. He deftly lifted her and put her in the back seat.
The bearded man, smiling contentedly, said:
“I liked you. So you’re coming to dinner with me.”
And then Yulia realized the man was very drunk and not used to refusals. She started to cry.
“Let me go, my daughter is waiting! Why do you need me? I’m thirty-two, ugly, and don’t know how to talk. Don’t look at the fur coat — my neighbor gave it to me out of kindness. Underneath it, I’m wearing an old sweater and pants. What dinner?”
The big guy who put her in the car bent down and whispered something to the bearded man. He shook his head and said:
“Alright, don’t cry. I watch over you from the sanatorium — think I didn’t see your sweater? You look like my mom, and she dreamed someone would invite her to a restaurant. Come on, don’t be stubborn. Want me to buy you a dress?”
“I want to go home,” Yulia sobbed. “I have to pick up my daughter.”
“How old’s your daughter?”
“Four.”
“And the father?”
“He left.”
“Mine left too. Probably went to another woman?”
“No. His mother turned him against me, saying the child isn’t real.”
“What do you mean — not real?”
“We did IVF. He agreed at first, but then she said kids like that have no souls. And stuff like that. He’s a good man, but very suggestible,” Yulia habitually defended her ex-husband.
“Not real, huh,” the bearded man murmured. “Alright, let’s go check it out. Tell me where your daycare or whatever it’s called is. Vovka, drive.”
Yulia pressed herself into the seat and feverishly tried to think what to do next. It was clear the bearded man wouldn’t leave her alone just like that. Her only hope was the big guy — he seemed to look at Yulia with sympathy.
When they all barged into the group room, both the teacher and the parents who were putting the kids into warm overalls suddenly went silent and stared at Yulia. Of course, they’d never seen her in such a company before. However, little Irochka wasn’t at all scared of strange men — she wasn’t timid: she immediately asked if the bearded man was Santa Claus and if they had seen her dad. She asked everyone about her dad; Yulia had gotten used to it and wasn’t even embarrassed anymore. When they got in the car, Irochka got interested in the steering wheel and said she could drive too.
The bearded man laughed:
“Funny little girl. And you say you’re not real. Want some ice cream?”
“I want some!” Irochka happily said.
They went to an ice cream cafe. Then to a supermarket, where the bearded man filled a whole basket with useless food: salted fish, exotic fruits, and moldy cheeses. Yulia would have preferred chicken and pasta, but you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
They were driven right to the house, and the bearded man, who was now a bit sobered up, asked to stay for tea. While Yulia was stoking the stove, he stared wide-eyed, then said:
“I thought I had a tough childhood… Do you really have an outdoor toilet?”
“Really,” Yulia smirked.
She wasn’t afraid of the bearded man anymore. She understood he was harmless, just crazy. And his helper was a good guy: he managed to sneak milk, bread, decent cheese, and kids’ curds into the basket. Probably he had kids of his own.
After getting rid of the uninvited guests, Yulia suddenly started shaking. She cried, scaring her daughter, but couldn’t stop; the tears flowed by themselves, probably for the first time since the day her husband packed his things and went back to his mother, leaving her alone, heavily pregnant, in their newly bought house. And thank God he didn’t want to split the house. He said that even if the child wasn’t real, the house should stay with them.
The next day, the same jeep was waiting outside the sanatorium. The bearded man wasn’t there, only his driver Vovka.
“Get in,” he said. “I’ll take you to the city.”
“Why?” Yulia was surprised. “Do I look like your mom too?”
“Come on,” Vovka was offended. “I’m going that way anyway, thought why not give you a lift.”
“Alright,” Yulia sighed. “Where’s your boss?”
“Sleeping it off. Don’t be mad, he’s alright really. Yesterday was his mom’s birthday — well, if she were alive. You get it. He doesn’t usually drink.”
Yulia nodded. What difference did it make to her? She got in.
At first, they rode in silence. Vovka clearly wasn’t the talkative type. But then he finally asked:
“So, the kid is really from a test tube?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool. People come up with the craziest things, huh?”
“Do you have kids?”
“Nope. I don’t want kids — I have three younger siblings and they drove me crazy. One is better.”
“Yeah,” Yulia agreed.
Irochka was delighted with the car and asked if they would go to the ice cream cafe again.
“No,” Yulia was scared — she had no money for a cafe.
“Come on, let’s go,” Vovka offered.
“I can’t afford it,” Yulia said bluntly.
“I’m treating,” he waved it off.
On the way back, Irochka fell asleep. While Yulia was wondering how to get her out of the car, Vovka picked up the girl himself and carried her inside.
“So light,” he was surprised. “And very unreal.”
For several days, Yulia didn’t see Vovka. Then she ran into the car again, this time with the bearded man.
“Vitaliy,” he introduced himself. “Sorry about last time, I wasn’t myself. I really want to invite you to dinner at a restaurant. Not today, of course, whenever it’s convenient.”
At first, Yulia wanted to refuse. Then she thought: why not? She even had a dress. Only, who would look after her daughter?
When she mentioned it, Vovka offered:
“I can babysit.”
Leaving her daughter with a strange man wasn’t a great idea. But Vovka seemed trustworthy. Yulia suggested taking the girl to the playroom — easier for him and less scary that way.
Dinner was funny. Vitaliy was talkative and self-absorbed, but not without charm. Yulia hadn’t felt like a woman for so long! So when he suggested going to an exhibition next week, she agreed.
Irochka loved the playroom and Vovka. When he brought a bag of groceries, Yulia thought it was too much, but Vovka said:
“It’s from Vitaliy Lvovich.”
The bags started appearing every three days, and Yulia didn’t know whether to thank Vitaliy or somehow refuse such help — after all, she worked and earned decently, enough for bread and butter, as they say. But she couldn’t find the right words. Besides, Vitaliy seemed to be courting her: took her to restaurants and cultural events, though rarely — he had a lot of work, but it felt like a date. Vovka had become the nanny by default, and everyone was happy with the arrangement.
One day Vovka let slip:
“Vitaliy Lvovich seems to have fallen for you. Even thinking of asking you to marry him. The child just scares him. After all, he’s not his.”
That hurt Yulia. Fallen for her? And he hadn’t even held her hand. And the child wasn’t his…
“Why would I want to get married?” Yulia snapped.
“Why wouldn’t you agree?” Vovka suddenly perked up. “He’s rich, you’d be safe as behind a stone wall.”
“I don’t need a rich man…”
“Then what kind do you need?”
Yulia shrugged. She remembered her ex-husband — no, she definitely didn’t want a weakling like that.
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly.
Vovka suddenly stepped forward, pulled her close, and kissed her. Yulia got scared and stepped back. Vovka got scared too and blushed.
“Sorry, I don’t know… Sorry…”
And ran away. Yulia didn’t even understand if she liked it or not. It was so sudden. And how should she talk to him now after that?
The next day Irochka got sick. She had a fever, terrible! Yulia had to urgently take sick leave, which the sanatorium didn’t like. Vitaliy was upset — they were supposed to go to the theater.
“Maybe Vovka can babysit her?”
“But what if he catches it?” Yulia hesitated.
“Come on, he’ll be fine! Let’s go, you wanted to see the play!”
Why Yulia agreed in the end is hard to say. It was awkward to waste such expensive tickets or maybe she really wanted to go. By evening, Irochka felt better… So she agreed somehow. Vovka arrived and didn’t look at her — there was awkwardness. She had even bought a new open dress and felt embarrassed. At the theater, she couldn’t settle, thinking about her daughter. When Vitaliy talked about a ski resort trip, Yulia stopped him:
“Listen, alright, you buy me groceries and tickets to the theater. But this is too much. I’m not going on a resort at your expense.”
“What groceries?” Vitaliy was surprised.
“The ones Vovka brings.”
“I don’t get it. No groceries… Vovka’s probably a good soul. And don’t argue about the resort: my mom loved skiing, wish someone would invite her to a resort!”
And then Yulia had a kind of revelation. She took Vitaliy’s hands and said:
“Listen, your mom must be proud of you, I’m sure! And she sees from up there how good you are and how you try. But don’t do this. Find someone you love. Someone from your own circle. What will we do together? No matter how I dress up, I’ll always be myself. Like your mom. And besides… I think I love someone else…”
Vitaliy was offended, of course. Even shed a tear. Complained he didn’t understand women. But he drove her home. And on the way back, he said he’d go himself, and Vovka could do whatever he wanted.
Got it…
Irochka slept hugging a teddy bear that Vovka gave her. Vovka himself nodded off in the chair. Yulia quietly approached, bent down, and kissed him lightly on the lips. He woke up, confused. And Ira said:
“You ran away too fast yesterday. I just wasn’t expecting it. I got scared, you know?”
And kissed him again. And this time, no one was afraid…