Читать книгу My Dear Bitch. V#2 An Unwelcome Person - Margie Fillin - Страница 7

Diane looked very friendly, warm, optimistic, stylish and elegant. She bore her age well.

When she saw me in front of her stylish house, she approached me immediately and exclaimed.

– Hi Victoria! I recognized you at once. You are very welcome, beauty. Come in and feel yourself at home. – She kissed me on the cheek. – And where are your men? Someone told me that you would bring minimum two cute boys. – She joked and turned around. – Oh, I can see now. Here they are. Good evening, dear Slava. Nice to meet you! You are looking so much like your mama.

Then she addressed to my husband.

– Hello, Dan. You are lucky devil to have such a stunning wife and handsome grown-up son. And she hugged both of them.

– I know, I know. Thank you, dear. – Dan felt so self-important.

– I do not want to keep you standing on the doorstep, guys! Come on in, please, – Diane invited us into her luxurious house.

She opened a hand- made, hand-forged wrought iron doors, and we went up to the second floor in the elevator.

In a few seconds, we were on a huge balcony with several staircases leading upstairs and downstairs to the other balconies, patios and decks at different levels.

Everywhere there was a lot of exciting and happy people of all ages. Some of the guests spent the time in the Island Paradise pool; some enjoyed the spa. Others took pictures and posed together with Stacy inside of the exotic garden with a pond and waterfall. It was noisy and quiet at the same time. Several couples were sitting at the counter high table, discussing something. A group of young, very skinny, pretty women were lazily sipping the cocktails. And another group of very tall and respectable-looking men was trying to attract the attention of the dressy women by their deafening laugh. A few heavy, funny-looking men were drinking canned beer and joking with Nick in the outdoor kitchen. Everyone was relaxed and one could feel the atmosphere of fiesta.

– Vika and Slava, – Diane said, – I want to take you all over the house. Dan knows and loves my house since his childhood. Let him miss you for a while.

– You are free for an hour, man. Enjoy! – Diane smiled.

Daniel threw a kiss to me and went downstairs to Nick and guests.

– Let’s go, guys! – Diane exclaimed and started to tour her house.

She was sure that her estate was the best one in Pacific Palisades. She showed her house with great inspiration, and indeed she had a lot to be so proud of. A huge master bedroom with a big bathroom, walk-in closet and patio; four bedrooms, five bathrooms, three fireplaces, three garages, separate sauna and much more. The house was a reflection of Diane’s lifestyle and her character.

– Diane, your house is epic! And your kitchen is a woman’s dream. I’d love to have such a kitchen in my house. – I couldn’t hide my delight.

– Thank you, Vika. It has been remodeled three times so far. And the house itself was rebuilt twice. I didn’t want the house to remind me of my ex-husbands. – Diane kept a silence for a moment. – Vika, you can ask Daniel for your dream kitchen. He is a guy with golden hands. Sometimes he is a lazy bone, the same as his father was, but he’ll do it for you without problems, whatever you want.

– Okay, Diane. Thank you for the advice.

– You are welcome, dear. I know Dan and his family very well. I’ve known Dan’s father for forty years. We’ve always been good neighbors. Miriam even thought we were lovers. But Tommy was just a good friend of mine, who one day introduced me to my third husband. And I’m so grateful to him for that. – Diane sounded passionate and sensitive. – I loved my third hubby so much, Vika. I was always crazy and so mad about him and I still love him. But you know, after our divorce…hmm… it was a piquant story; I didn’t let him ever come back to my life. Edward was a cheater and I didn’t want to hurt my feelings again. Can you imagine?

– Yes Diane, I can understand your feelings. And I’m so sorry for you. – I replied with sympathy.

– Oh sweetie, you shouldn’t be. Look at me. I’m ok, right? The best revenge for Edward is to ignore him. So I always refuse to see or speak to my ex number three. All his never-ending attempts to meet me and communicate with me are in vain.

Suddenly Diane’s cell phone rang. She looked at the cell’s screen.

– An unknown number. Well, they will call me back if they really need me, provided they haven’t dialed the wrong number.

– Yes, – I agreed with her.

She deleted the unknown number. Of course, Diane didn’t expect that it was the call from her former husband – “Ex Number Three”.

Diane joyfully showed us her spaced beautiful living – room, huge dining area, and a big hall that reminded me a well-done picture gallery. The walls of that hall were decorated by the pictures in expensive frames of wood.

– Almost all the frames were made by your husband, exclusively for me, dear Vika. One hundred different hand-crafted frames from Daniel. I’ve got them twice as a birthday present. Look, these are my favorite pictures. – Diane pointed out to some family pictures. – It’s me, a young college student with Nick’s dad. And that is a picture of happy Nick, Stacy and Andrew. The last picture of my adorable grandson. He sat for the portrait in the military uniform.

Diane interrupted her story for a moment and then asked herself: “Hmm, why is the glass broken? I didn’t notice that in the morning…”

Diane tried to pick up Andrew’s picture from the wall, and few other pictures fell down to the floor.

– Oh, my… – She exclaimed with a horror in her voice. – The wedding pictures of my parents and my favorite wedding photograph with Edward?

She carefully took the broken pictures from the floor and touched them with tenderness.

– Oh my God, Vika! Oh, my… They have never fallen down, never before… yet in the earthquakes.

She, so much upset and disappointed, left the broken pictures in the hall and politely invited me and Slava to go outside for a fresh air.

We quickly passed through a narrow hallway with many paintings and drawings on the walls.

Diane opened the retractable screen and we entered into the wonderful garden.

Quiet live music, cheerful laugh from all the sides and night air freshness with the mixture of blossoming roses smell made me feel fine – comfortable and entirely stress-free.

Diane’s cell phone rang again. And that time the hostess seemed to be very much worried. Stared at the number, she whispered: “Hell!” and then added: “Sorry”.

The same moment she went away, leaving me and Slava alone in her unbelievable gorgeous back-yard garden.

The party was going on, and Diane’s house was all alive with the guests.

To my big surprise, I’ve met a Russian-speaking American lady, who lived in St. Petersburg in her late twenties for about six years. She graduated from the same university as I did, just a year before me. Katrina (such was her name) paid attention at my accent when she heard my voice in the garden and she was eager to talk to me.

– Where are you from? – She immediately came up to me and curiously asked.

– From St. Petersburg, Russia.

She was shocked. Katrina started screaming and jumping at once and addressed her husband.

– Dear, guess whom I saw just a moment ago? You’ll never believe it, but I’ve met here Vika from Russia. She is from St. Petersburg, from the same university as I went to. We studied there at the same time. Unbelievable! – Katrina exclaimed with great joy and energy. – Isn’t it fun dear? Could I ever imagine this? It’s fantastic!

Katrina had so many good memories and impressions about her student life in my native city. She remembered the names of the streets, districts, cafes and popular performances of that particular time. As it appeared, either I or she attended many classes and lectures of the same well-known Russian professors – no wonder that we both read and loved the same Russian poets and writers. That unexpected encounter with Katrina was a very special and remarkable event for both of us. She could speak Russian with me and I liked her sexy American accent. We both were very excited.

– Cheers, dear Vika! To us, and to such a small world! It’s the wonderful world. I’m so extremely happy.

While I was having fun with Katrina and her husband, my very joyful and slightly in liquor hubby enjoyed the party in a company of two extravagant men.

– Sweetie, these are my friends from high school – Ronny and Johnny. – Dan ran up to me.

– Nice to meet you, guys! Victoria. – I gave my hand to Ronny and then to Johnny.

They both looked truly happy and shook my hand rather vigorously.

– Victoria is from Russia, guys. I’ve told you, I brought her and her son to California from St. Petersburg. We recently married in Beverly Hills. So, please do not try even to flirt with my wife, okay? – Daniel smiled.

– Congratulations, guys! – Thank you!

My husband quickly whispered to my ear, “Ronny’s mouth is watering! Johnny is horny;” he laughed and ran away to the swimming pool.

I was left alone with his fellows.

– So, you are from St. Petersburg, Victoria. – Good-natured Ronny began the conversation.

– Yes, Ronny.

– Great city! Recently I’ve been very close to it, in Helsinki. I’ve just returned from my European tour and I am under big impression. I’m going to Germany soon… You are so beautiful, Victoria.

– Thank you, Ronny. – I answered and noticed that Ronny looked at me with an interest.

– And I’m planning to visit Russia this year. By the way, I started to learn Russian several times and then stopped since I couldn’t find a good teacher. But I’d love to learn Russian with you, Vika. Could you teach me Russian?

– Of course, Ronny. We can start right now. But I’m a very strict teacher, – I joked.

– I love strict teachers. I’ll be a diligent student, I promise. – Serious-looking Ronny tried to assure me of this.

Next moment he wanted to tidy his long hair and some beer poured out from his big glass. He got embarrassed and started to bang his big belly. I pretended that I didn’t see anything and pronounced some simple phrases in Russian especially for him.

– “Pri-“vet!” for “Hello!” “Kak di-la?” for “How are you?” “Kak ti-bya za-vut?” for “What is your name?”

To my surprise, Ronny knew those expressions and repeated them one by one without difficulty.

– Victoria, you forgot the most important Russian words such as “vot-ka” (aka vodka), “pi-va” (aka beer), “ik-ra” (aka caviar), Putin, Kremlin and “Moskva”, – He laughed.

– A very good student! Well done! – I praised big fat Ronny.

While I was talking to Ronny, a very charming, sporty, sexy, tall and absolutely bald Johnny was listening to us with great attention and big curiosity. He eyed me with interest and exclaimed:

– What a light sexy accent you have. I love your voice so much. And you are amazing.

– Thank you, Johnny. – I couldn’t help but smile. – I know this!

He didn’t expect to hear such a reply from me, but definitely liked it.

– You are not shy and you are funny, Vika. It gives you charm. – He asked me for a dance.

Hardly could I answer him, I heard Daniel’s mocking voice behind my back.

– Who asked my wife for a dance? Is it you John? As I remember, you never could dance. So?

– I took dance lessons, so now I can, – replied John, and his face turned red.

– Ah, but it would be better for you to cool down a little bit, my friend. – Dan was very excited and pulled an upset John along to the swimming-pool.

Later on, I danced with John, and then with Ron and Nick, and with other guests. I’ve got a lot of positive energy from guests at Diane’s party and really had fun with all of them.

My husband was happy, too, and made a time of it.

At midnight Dan was keen on karaoke and was ready to continue singing till the very morning. But when Slava came up to him and whispered that Nick and Stacy were waiting for us inside the house, Daniel hurried up to them.

Nick and Stacy suggested joining them for a movie at Diane’s home theatre; but when I looked at Diane’s exhausted face I understood that she had no time for her guests any longer, so I managed to persuade my husband to refuse from Nick’s invitation and go back home as soon as possible.

– Thank you! Thank you so much for your great party today, Diane, – Dan thanked politely. – I opened out at your party. Really! But it’s time for us to go home.

– Thank you for coming, guys. – Diane replied. – Tomorrow we’ll be waiting for you here at lunch time. Everyone is cordially invited. No other guests any more, just our family and you. Early in the morning my lovely grand-daughters are arriving from Las Vegas. You’ll meet them too. Is it OK?

– Okay, Diane. We’ll join you at the lunch time tomorrow. Thank you so much again and bye-bye. See you tomorrow. – Dan answered.

– God give you joy! See you! Love you. – Diane looked at us and smiled.

We hugged and kissed her good-bye, got into the car and drove away.