And you just left everything to them?» Katya saw her friend looking at her with a puzzled expression. «Aren’t you going to the notary to assert your rights? Kat, what are you thinking?»
Katya shrugged.
«Natulchik, what rights? Sergey and I weren’t married. So, nothing belongs to me,» Katya sighed. «Nothing.»
«But you fixed up his dacha and bought so much for the house,» Natasha persisted.
«Yes, I did. And I bought a lot for the house too. But essentially, the apartment isn’t mine, it’s his. The dacha isn’t mine, it’s his. And Svetlana said I could take whatever I wanted.»
«Well?» Natasha stretched the word.
«I took the painting. The one I bought when we were vacationing by the sea.»
«That’s it?»
«That’s it! Who needs the rest of the trinkets? They won’t bring Sergey back…» Katya lowered her eyes. «I told him, begged him not to work so much. But he just laughed, said it wasn’t work for him, it was a vacation. What vacation? It was constant stress…»
«Kat… I’m so sorry… really.»
«It’s okay. Now I need to move on,» Katya tried to encourage herself.
«And what are you planning to do?»
«I’ll move back to my own apartment. Good thing I didn’t sell it but rented it out. And good that Svetlana allowed me to live in this one. I’ll put it in order. And I’ll look for a job. Now I have to take care of myself,» Katya explained.
«Do you have any money?» Natasha asked.
«I have a little. I didn’t really save up, but I should have. Well, it’ll be alright!» Katya tried to smile through her tears.
A few weeks later, Katya crossed the threshold of her old small apartment again. She brought her things inside, collapsed on a bench in the corridor, and cried. It wasn’t that she never wanted to return here, no. Katya cried because her beloved Sergey was no longer with her and never would be. If she had to hold herself together in public, here, in her own territory, she could express what she really felt.
Later, she wiped away her tears, went into the room, and ordered groceries.
Katya sat on the sofa and listened to the trills of phone calls. Someone was calling her, both to the apartment and her mobile number. And Katya, of course, guessed who it might be, but she couldn’t bring herself to answer.
«Just leave me alone…» she whispered faintly. And, miraculously, the calls stopped. The silence lasted for about two minutes, then a doorbell shattered it, followed by another ring on her phone.
Katya clasped her head with her hands.
«Leave me alone!» she yelled into the void.
But the calls didn’t end.
Finally, Katya gathered her courage, got up from the sofa, and made her way to the front door with small steps. She didn’t know how long it took her, but those calls! They kept stopping and starting again. And it seemed to Katya that if she didn’t go and open that door, they would never end.
And there was the door…
Katya flung it open, and Natasha burst into the apartment.
«Are you out of your mind?» she yelled. «Why aren’t you answering your calls? Why?»
Katya shrugged. Natasha looked around and realized that Katya hadn’t unpacked her things, which she had moved from Sergey’s apartment…. Then she went to the kitchen and saw that Katya had ordered groceries and the courier had delivered them, but she hadn’t put them in the fridge, and they were just standing next to it, surely all spoiled by now…
«Have you not eaten all this time? God!» Natasha wanted to say more, but waved her hand. «Alright, I’ll sort everything out for you now and make something to eat, and I’ll stay with you for a while.»
«Why?» Katya was surprised.
«Just because. Consider me a poor relative who asked to stay with you.
After some time, Katya felt better and Natasha moved out.
«Katya, start looking for a job. Update your resume. Understand?»
Katya nodded. Of course, she understood, especially that Natasha was right: she definitely needed a job, otherwise, her money would soon run out.
So Katya updated her resume and, moreover, responded to all possible job vacancies and began waiting for some interesting job offer. But employers were not rushing to line up for her.
«As if anyone doubted that this would happen, Kat?» Natasha said. «You’ve had such a long break from work! Everything has probably changed. You now need to register at the job center.»
«At the job center? Are you joking?»
«Not at all. Of course, they probably won’t offer you a decent job there, but it’s exactly the place where you can get some training for free. Refresh your so-called knowledge,» Natasha explained. «Kat, promise me that you’ll definitely register at the job center,» Natasha clasped her hands as if in prayer.
«Fine,» Katya muttered and sighed heavily. «Although my intuition tells me that I have nothing to do there.»
Katya filled out a form, took a ticket, and sat across from a consultant.
«What a long break you’ve had from work!» the consultant said.
«Is that bad?»
«Well, of course! We can’t offer you anything in your field.»
«Do you have any training programs?» Katya looked meaningfully at the consultant.
She nodded.
«Yes, of course. After me, go to that girl over there,» the consultant waved her hand towards the end. «She’ll tell you all about it. But keep in mind, all these programs only start after the new year.»
«What a pity…» Katya drew out.
«Now, since I’ve already registered you, here’s a list of vacancies for the week that you need to process,» the consultant handed a sheet of paper to Katya.
«What does ‘process’ mean?» Katya was surprised.
«It means you need to call, arrange an interview, and go to it. And there, if you’re suitable, they’ll take you, if not, I’ll see you in a week,» the consultant smiled.
«Okay. Thank you,» Katya got up and walked away. She then looked at the vacancies offered by the consultant and realized that they were not suitable for her. First, they were offering her a job as a cleaner and second…even a cleaner wouldn’t work for that salary.
Katya sighed and went outside.
Katya cautiously entered the dispensary’s premises. In fact, she was dissatisfied. Well, let them offer only cleaner vacancies, but for example, here she would have to work among people who are sick. And they could certainly infect her. And all this for a pittance!
«You suit us,» they declared to Katya in the HR department. Katya winced…
«To be honest, I’m afraid you don’t suit me. I can’t live on your salary at all.»
«Alright, then I’ll write that you didn’t suit us,» the girl’s face in HR showed regret. But Katya was pleased: if everyone kept rejecting her, then she could definitely make it until the new year.
The next job was at a social center. First, it was located very far away. And second, it was located near a railway station in some industrial zone. And while Katya was making her way there, she encountered a bunch of men of homeless appearance.
«How do they walk here?» Katya thought. But really, how? After all, only in summer it’s light in the evenings here, but in autumn, winter, and spring, it’s generally dark…
But that was only half the trouble.
When Katya entered this social center, such an odor hit her nose that it nearly turned her inside out. How she found the right office, how she begged to be written a refusal, she didn’t even know herself. But after visiting this center, she realized that such work was not for her.
Then there was an offer to work in a nursing home, then in a hospital, then somewhere else…
After visiting all these places, Katya became sad. Because maybe in an ordinary hospital or nursing home, she wouldn’t mind cleaning floors, but not for such a salary.
«Probably that’s why there’s a high turnover in such places,» Katya thought. «People go there out of desperation.»
Then New Year’s came. But it brought Katya no hope, because the training she wanted to take was canceled, and finances were melting away quickly.
Katya aimlessly wandered around the neighborhood. She didn’t know why she was doing this, but her intuition wouldn’t let her stay home. Katya entered a store and, of course, heard that they were hiring people. Maybe try it? Well, what does she have to lose?
A brief interview with the director and—you’re not suitable for us.
Katya realized it was because of her age.
«I didn’t really want to anyway,» she murmured.
Then she turned to a shopping center in some branded store and another refusal—not the right look.
Then somewhere else…and more…and everywhere, rejections and rejections.
«Well, it turns out that being a cleaner is not the worst option,» Katya decided. And, as if by magic, she saw an ad that a cleaner was needed in a commercial firm and boldly walked inside. Somehow, she was sure that they would take her.
And twenty minutes later, she was calling Natasha.
«Yes, Natasha, congratulate me. I found a job. No, not in my specialty. Well, as what? As a cleaner, of course. Only the pay is higher than in the vacancies that were offered to me. I start tomorrow.»
Time passed. Katya not only got into the swing of the job, on the contrary, she started to like it. Judge for yourself, isn’t it beautiful when you are free all day and only come in at the end of the workday and your task is only to wash dishes, if there are any, dust everywhere, and wash the floors. Yes, that’s nonsense! Especially when you just need to maintain cleanliness.
That day Katya, as usual, entered the office, greeted the girl sitting at the reception, and went to change. Yes, she didn’t want to attract attention, so her clothes were always dark, simple, and she wore a headscarf.
All employees reacted to her differently. Some smiled and greeted, some just passed by, and some watched with condescension and disdain. Yes, Katya understood that many thought that being a cleaner was a «shameful» job, and she found this funny: after all, everyone does this work at home.
Zhanna snorted:
«Oh, here comes our cleaner.»
She took a piece of paper, tore it into small pieces, and threw it on the floor. «There, clean up.»
Yes, if Katya had been a young girl, she would have been outraged and entered into a conflict, but now, as a mature woman, she didn’t care. So she tore it up and threw it…No problem. Katya had to clean in that room anyway.
«Zhanna, you’re behaving disgustingly!» a colleague of Zhanna’s, Marina, said deliberately loudly.
«Oh, someone decided to stand up for the cleaner?» Zhanna’s voice was mocking. Zhanna took another sheet, tore it again, and threw it so that all the small pieces scattered across the floor.
«Leave the office, I need to wash the floors,» Katya said deliberately rudely.
«You see! Our cleaner thinks I’m behaving normally,» Zhanna stuck out her tongue at Marina, turned off her computer, grabbed her bag, and fluttered out of the office.
«Excuse her,» Marina’s voice was upset.
«It’s all right,» Katya waved it off. «Not all people appreciate the work of cleaners when they’re young. Understanding comes later.»
«Yes, of course. I understand,» Marina nodded her head. Then she left, and Katya was left alone.
Katya cleaned the office, and then, at the very end, she entered the director’s office. She took a rag and started to dust, lifting items lying on the desk and putting them back in their place. Then she picked up a contract and decided to wait a bit for the desk to dry. And out of inertia, she started reading it—after all, long ago, she used to be a lawyer, and reading contracts was her duty. Then Katya found a pencil and underlined the «slippery» spots in the contract, at least she would not have let such a contract pass. Then she came to her senses, literally threw the contract away from herself, and continued cleaning.
Time passed. Several more times, Katya read the contracts left in the director’s office and underlined the places she didn’t like. Although the last contract was perfect and on it, Katya drew a smiley face with a pencil.
In the evening, Katya came to work as usual. She took off her outerwear, tied her headscarf, and took a mop, rags, and a bucket in her hands.
«Ekaterina Andreevna,» the secretary stopped her. «We have a corporate party on Friday, and you are invited. Here, take the invitation.»
«Thank you,» Katya smiled. She mechanically put the invitation in her pocket and continued cleaning.
Actually, she wasn’t planning to go, but Zhanna, as usual, started to taunt her and disparagingly talk about her work. And as usual, threw things on the floor and even spilled a little tea on her desk. Marina, too, as usual, tried to calm Zhanna down. Then Katya decided that she would definitely go to this corporate party and show her that even cleaners are ordinary employees and they are also respected, like everyone else.
Katya twirled around near the mirror.
«So, Natasha? How do I look?» she asked.
Natasha smiled.
«You look good. Just understand that your Zhanna is 26, and you are already 53. She will take you with her youth.»
«I’m not trying to overshadow her or anything…I just want to show that even a cleaner can look quite good. Just like their chief accountant, who, by the way, is my age. Just like a couple of managers who are around 50. I am just like everyone else,» Katya tried to explain.
«Katya, to hell with that Zhanna. Just go and have a good time,» Natasha said.
Katya quietly entered the hall and sat in the very back. First, the director gave a speech, and at the conclusion of his speech, he started calling some employees and presenting them with a certificate for excellent work and some gift. To Katya’s surprise, she was also called, and she walked onto the stage on shaky legs.
«I don’t understand, for what?» she quietly asked the director.
«For what? — he was surprised. «Of course, for work. We can’t do without your cleaning,» he whispered quietly.
But Zhanna didn’t get either a certificate or a gift. Katya didn’t know whether this hurt her or not, but as she walked past Zhanna, she unexpectedly stuck out her tongue at her. Well yes, childishly, but Zhanna blushed from it.
«They also transferred a bonus to you,» Marina, who sat down next to Katya, whispered.
Katya nodded. Then the ceremonial part ended, and everyone moved to the banquet hall.
«You go, Marin. I’ll catch up,» Katya said: she somehow didn’t want to go to the banquet.
Marina disappeared from sight, and Katya headed for the exit of the building.
«Ekaterina Andreevna!» — suddenly she heard a voice behind her and turned around—it was the director himself.
«And where are you going?» he asked.
«Home,» Katya confessed frankly.
«Home?
«Well, yes. I don’t really like the banquet part of corporate parties,» Katya said.
«Maybe then we’ll go to a cafe and have a cup of tea?» the director offered.
«You and me?» Katya was surprised.
«What’s so strange about that? We have something to discuss,» the director shrugged. «For example, the fact that someone is reading contracts in my office…..,» the director looked meaningfully at Katya.
«Dmitry Igorevich…I didn’t mean to. Really.
«Are you a lawyer?» asked Dmitry Igorevich.
«Yes. Only I haven’t worked in my specialty for a long time, and I’m of pre-retirement age…,» Katya spread her hands.
«You don’t look your age at all. So what about tea, do you agree?»
«I agree,» Katya nodded her head and smiled. She didn’t know where this meeting would lead and what would happen to her, Katya, next, but she felt that changes were coming. And her intuition had never let her down
