Mom, I love you so much! I never expected you to throw such a party for me!» Angelika was jumping around her mother as if she was not turning eighteen but was only five years old.
Her mother looked at her tenderly:
«Lika, what are you talking about, it’s your special day. Although, of course, it’s a bit sad for your father and me. You will be married soon and leave us.»
Angelika hugged her mother tightly:
«I will never get married, I will live with you.»
Her mother laughed:
«What are you talking about? What about Stepan?»
Angelika blushed:
«And what about Stepan? I don’t really need him.»
«Oh, my daughter, needed or not, you will still fly out of the nest,» her mother sighed. «Let’s try everything on now, and then check everything. Tomorrow will be a hectic day, no time for distractions.»
«Let’s do it, you know how I love trying on everything new.»
«Of course, I know, my dragonfly,» Antonina Sergeevna smiled at her daughter.
From childhood, they were not just mother and daughter but also best friends. Angelika never had secrets from her mother, and her mother always kept her secrets.
The daughter put everything on and came out to her mother:
«How do I look?»
Antonina Sergeevna sighed:
«You look like a real princess.»
«Mom, did you and dad want me or a boy?» Angelika asked.
Antonina Sergeevna shuddered and looked at her daughter questioningly:
«What kind of questions are those?»
«Just curious.»
Her mother smiled:
«Of course, as soon as we found out that you would be joining us, we immediately knew you were the most beautiful, the smartest, and the best at everything.»
Angelika twirled in front of the mirror:
«Oh, I wish tomorrow would come already. Tomorrow I will definitely be the most beautiful…»
Katya left the house early. She had recently gotten a job at a prestigious restaurant. She wanted to work as a waitress, but the owner said she would start as a dishwasher on a probationary period:
«If you make it and there are no mistakes, I’ll move you to waitresses.»
What else could she do? Of course, she agreed, as she needed to make a living.
Katya planned to enroll in a distance learning program in the fall. Honestly, she didn’t even choose a profession; her main goal was to get a higher education. She was confident that she could study well and understand any field.
At the orphanage, they had an educator whom all the children called «fuhrer.» Everyone hated her, and she hated the children. Thankfully, she didn’t beat them. It was unclear why Alla Egorovna chose such a profession. She should have been a prison warden.
This «fuhrer» instilled in the children that nothing good would come of them. Many didn’t argue, silently accepting her words, not wanting to study because they believed that nothing good would indeed come of them. But Katya was not like that. She not only constantly argued with Alla Egorovna but also complained about her several times. And the «fuhrer» disliked Katya more than the others.
Oh, how many times Katya heard insults from her in front of everyone! The girl remembered every word and knew she would never forget them. When she received her diploma with straight A’s, she told the educator:
«Alla Egorovna, I will definitely live so well that you could never dream of it. I will achieve success and come here.»
The educator laughed:
«Of course, I have no doubt. Sometimes you can find decent things at the dump to show off. So, Ivanova, we’re waiting for you. Just wash your things in the river without soap before you come here, because no matter how cool they are, they will still stink like a dump. And remember: wherever you go, you’ll always have a stigma. You’ll never get rid of it.»
Alla Egorovna was right: as soon as people found out that Katya was from an orphanage, they immediately began to keep their distance. For those who were particularly persistent, she invented a story that she had argued with her parents and came from another city.
Katya was ready to work around the clock, but she understood that she wouldn’t be able to work much once her studies began. She hoped to move to the waitresses before the academic year started. Everything was calculated: if she took evening shifts, she had 4-5 hours for sleep, and that was enough to manage everything. And then Katya would graduate, find a good job, and return to the hated orphanage as a victor.
She was so deep in thought that she didn’t notice a stone on the road, stumbled, and nearly fell. Someone’s hands caught her:
«Why are you not looking where you’re going?» a guy said.
Katya looked up and blushed. A handsome guy was standing before her. She hadn’t managed to get a good look at him, but his eyes, which she immediately drowned in, said a lot.
«I… I was just thinking. Sorry.»
«No need to apologize. Be more careful, or you’ll break your pretty little nose.»
Katya was completely flustered. Probably, she should have smiled back at him, and they might have gotten acquainted, but boys were not in her life plans, at least in the near future. Katya mumbled something like «nothing serious» and dashed away. «Yeah right, he has beautiful eyes. I know those types: as soon as he hears about the orphanage, he’ll turn his nose up,» she thought.
Before turning the corner, she looked back. The guy was still standing there, watching her.
Katya burst into the restaurant as if a pack of dogs were chasing her. The administrator looked at her in surprise:
«What happened?»
«Just decided to come a bit earlier.»
«Well, that’s good. We have an event today, everyone’s on edge.»
«Really? What kind of event? I didn’t hear anything yesterday.»
The administrator widened his eyes:
«That’s all anyone’s talking about. They’re celebrating an oligarch’s daughter’s birthday. Loads of people.»
Katya smiled:
«What a coincidence. Today’s my birthday too.»
«Seriously?»
Katya looked at him pleadingly:
«Just don’t tell anyone, please. When I got hired here a month ago, I lied to the owner that I was already 18.»
«Alright, I’ll keep quiet.»
Katya quickly slipped into the back to change. «Who pulled her tongue? What if he blabs?» she thought, as the restaurant already buzzed with visitors.
She peeked into the hall several times and saw that the restaurant was full. Along with their DJ, another one was working, and it seemed the party would continue even after the establishment closed.
«Katya!» She flinched when the owner entered the dishwashing area. The girl sighed resignedly, realizing the administrator had given her away.
«Listen, Katya,» he continued. «Nastya twisted her ankle and, as you understand, can’t run around. She’ll take your place, and you take off your apron, put on her uniform, and go into the hall. And make sure you don’t drop anything.»
Katya’s eyes widened. She had never worked as a waitress before, and there were so many guests today.
«Don’t worry, you’ll manage. Just do everything they ask. They will settle the bill later, so you don’t need to worry about that.»
«Okay, I’ll be right there,» she responded.
She and Nastya quickly changed. Nastya smiled:
«Well, good luck to you.»
Katya laughed:
«And to you.»
«We all went through the dishwashing, and only then did we make it to waitresses,» her colleague cheered her up.
As soon as Katya took the notepad, everything around her disappeared. It was so noisy that the girl could barely hear what they were telling her. Katya wrote everything down, understanding that today was a real test, and she couldn’t afford to fall flat on her face.
She had been running back and forth for a couple of hours, and her legs ached from the unfamiliar effort, her braid unraveled, but Katya didn’t think about stopping.
Running by Sasha, their administrator, again, she heard:
«Katya, quickly to the birthday girl’s table, they need something, and Olya is busy.»
«Alright.» Katya dashed to the center of the hall, approached the table, and froze. Sitting at the table with her parents was a girl, and this girl was her reflection.
Katya silently stared at the birthday girl, and she silently looked back. The mother of the birthday girl turned pale, the father also kept silent. The pause dragged on, and everything around them began to quiet down. Now, with the two girls side by side, it was clear that they were not just similar, they were identical.
The girl at the table turned to her mother in confusion:
«Mom..?»
Silence fell in the hall, everyone crowded around them. Katya glanced at the crowd as the owner made his way through.
In a hoarse voice, she managed to say:
«What can I bring you?» and prepared her notepad.
The father muttered:
«Looks like nothing now.»
The owner shouted:
«Katya, you’re free. Olya’s come.»
Katrina bolted away. Her eyes stung, her heart pounded. She understood perfectly that such coincidences don’t happen, and she and this birthday girl clearly had some connection to each other. She sat in the backroom, unable to gather the strength to come out. She was shaking, feeling like her life had collapsed.
The hall was somehow quiet, then the DJ’s voice came on, music played. The door to the backroom opened, and Sasha peeked in:
«Kat, the owner wants you.»
«Why?» The girl looked at him in fright.
«I don’t know, but he has customers.»
Katya stood up and walked on shaky legs to the office.
«Have a seat, Katerina,» said the owner.
Katya finally took a good look at those in the office. The birthday girl’s mother was crying, the girl herself didn’t look great, the father held himself together and spoke:
«I didn’t tell anything until you came, to get through this.»
«Katya, forgive me in advance, try to understand,» he began, «daughter, what can I say? How to ask for forgiveness? Just listen. I couldn’t have done otherwise. We had no children for a long time, and when the pregnancy finally happened, my Tanya was over the moon with happiness. The child became an obsession for her, and I was even happier. We were expecting a healthy girl, but the doctors were cautious. The delivery started prematurely. Everything went wrong. A few hours later, they told me our daughter didn’t survive, and my wife was in intensive care. The child had no chance. At the same time, a woman in the maternity hospital gave birth to twin girls, and she refused them. I paid the doctor, but I couldn’t take both. Antonina knew she had one daughter, but I couldn’t let my wife suffer. I love her very much. Angelika, I want you to know: I always loved you as my own, even more. I hope you understand.»
He left the office, leaving the women in silent shock.
A year passed.
«Katya, did you live here?» Angelika looked in horror at the dilapidated building.
«Come on, let’s go,» Katya replied.
She got out of the car and noticed that the «fuhrer» was watching them from behind the fence. The girls opened the trunk and together took out large bags of toys and sweets.
«Hello, Alla Egorovna, here, as promised, I came to visit you,» Katya said.
The woman pursed her lips and silently walked into the building. Another educator approached them:
«Katya, is that you?»
They spent half the day handing out treats and playing with the kids. The «fuhrer» never appeared. The educator who was with them smiled and pointed somewhere behind:
«And this is our Vasily Sergeevich, the new doctor.»
Katerina turned around and nearly fell: it was the same guy who once kept her from falling. He looked at Angelika, then turned to Katya:
«I knew we’d meet again.»
Katya smiled at him:
«And how did you know it was me, not the sister you met then?»
«Well, because it’s you.»
At that moment, Katya wished: if everything between them worked out, they would have their wedding in that very restaurant where her life had so drastically changed.
