“I will find you a real Snow Maiden,” I promise, leaning over Vladik. My son stopped crying and smiled, with satisfaction and joy. The actors only had to back off, and soon I take Kira home.

- Why did you tell the child that the Snow Maiden is not real? - I asked displeased, already in the car.

“Then that you can find the real,” replies Kira. What is she talking about? We drove up and Kira kisses me goodbye.

... It was late when I returned home.

- And where did you find this Kikimoru? - Asks the nurse, who opened the door for me. This is she Kira means.

- What Kikimoru, Arina Rodionovna? - I clarify. Well, surely you, dear nanny, do not know that even adult boys need girls for all sorts of pleasant games.

“Swamp,” the nanny explains without a joke. - Oh, Sasha, not such a woman you need.

And I know that, Arina Rodionovna. Always tolerant of her periodic morality, despite the position of the employer. Arina Rodionovna was allowed to say everything. Because I knew she was saying everything correctly.

“Foresters recommended her to me as a highly qualified specialist,” I admitted. Kolya Lesnikov is my business partner.

- Goblin, or what? Is he with her too? ... In these matters? - sharply asked Arina Rodionovna. So easily, she called her nickname Lesnikova. I ignore the nanny's version of the sexual relations of the companion and Kira.

- Remember, Sasha, things with Lesh will not bring to good.

“Yeah, well,” I reply to the nanny. - Business is business.

- Take care of yourself. You still have a son to raise. - And she leaves to lay Vlad to sleep. I do not want to be alone, and soon I follow the nanny. She reads a bedtime story for the baby in the crib.

- ... And Kashchei Immortal wanted to rule the whole world. And cancel the New Year. And stop forever time. And to send a fierce winter on the ground, so that all living things froze, and only evil spirits remained, - Arina Rodionovna was broadcasting something terrible when I entered the nursery. I catch the meaning of information. Something horrible tale today.

- And he needs to find and grab the Snow Maiden. And then the New Year will not come, and all the good will perish. The villain-Kashchey assembled his dark pack — Baba Yaga, the Nightingale the Robber, Kikimora, the Goblin and other vermin, and they began to search for Snow Maiden all over the land. But the good fellow Tsarevich Ivanushka hid her, so much so that the villains were searched ...

Then the nurse stopped, noticing that Vladik, pulling the blanket over himself, fell asleep. Sweet Dreams, baby. He did not recognize the end of the tale, but, like any tale, it will surely end well. I think so. I was not taught to think differently.

Arina Rodionovna and I leave the nursery, but I am not ready to let go of the nurse.

- Why did Kashchei need a Snow Maiden? - I ask in all seriousness.

I was in no way ready to hear the following from the nanny.

“To deprive her of girlish honor,” she answered sternly, seriously.

It seemed to me that thunder struck over my head.

“And if she finds the Snow Maiden and forcibly deprives her of girlhood, all his evil plans will come true,” announced Arina Rodionovna, as a sentence.

The cold passed over my back, and my heart pounded, so I was disturbed by the tale of the upcoming sexual abuse.

- But the prince will succeed in defending her? - I ask with hope. I did not even expect that the story of this old, but all-knowing woman would hook me so.

“I don't know, Sasha,” she says. - Life will show. Just a short time left.

This is before the New Year, I guess? Sounds like a prophecy. Arina Rodionovna is going to go to her room, but finally, the final question.

- And Ivan Tsarevich ... He loved the Snow Maiden?

- And how? - Already with a hint of gaiety confirmed the nurse. - Where can there be without love? Without her, Sasha, no serious business can be mastered. And here, not a little, the world must be saved!

I calmed down a bit. I didn’t sleep at midnight, tossed and, and when I fell asleep, I had a Snow Maiden dream.Warmth and kindness emanated from her. And something else, exciting, but which I have not felt for a long time with any woman. I just could not see her face ...

* * * * * *

The next morning I arrive at my company's building. A 14-storey office, the Corporation of Toys Corporation meets me, its co-owner, as the result of many years of work. My business, the business of my life ...

That completes another business year. Hmmm ... In any way, you can evaluate its results, but my internal conclusion is one. Sucksome ... The company I once created with Kolya Lesnikov and brought me to the leading position in the production of toys and baby products, has been experiencing difficulties throughout the year. The economic crisis lupanul on the "children's business" that is called not childish. The problem of paying off bank loans has led us to the need to sell a controlling stake in the company to an outside investor. Foresters called this a “merger,” but I used to call a spade a spade. We were tritely absorbed by a larger and financially powerful business.

A certain Konstantin Bessman became interested in the company. The big oligarch with whom Foresters at one time, at the dawn of business, did some business, had a reputation as a tough investor. He bought inexpensively problematic, but promising businesses, and according to rumors, did not disdain the most natural raiding. Having learned about our position, he offered his help in the fall in exchange for the control of the company. Well, Foresters managed to convince me. Since the New Year, our share in the business will decrease significantly, and the only consolation will be that the “Kingdom of Toys” in which I have put my soul and strength will survive. Bessonov will become our senior partner.

In the hall of the company it is noisy, all subordinates quickly complete pre-New Year affairs. I walk to the elevator and notice it. I notice with my whole body rather than my eyesight.

Her tiny, slim figure seemed to radiate an alluring, soul-touching shine. Blond hair, braided in a pigtail, even more young this very young girl. Here she stands next to me in front of the elevator, trying to hide her embarrassment from the presence of the boss. She looks like a fairy from my son's children's books, I even want to put it under a corporate Christmas tree decorated in the hall. And yet amazing. Some guy is obviously lucky.

- Good morning, Alexander G., - I hear from this angelic creation. Blue eyes on a beautiful face, big as a clown eyelashes flapped to the beat of her greeting. I miss it in the elevator and pass after it. The elevator door closes and we are left alone. I suddenly wanted the elevator stuck - for once.

“Good morning, Nastya,” I reply. Nastya Morozova, the youngest toy designer of our corporation. I got a job quite recently, in the fall, I remember that for sure - I personally supervised the design department. In the concept of toys, I have always penetrated, the lines of models claimed independently. Foresters in this area did not climb, and I noticed the talented designer girl Nastya Morozova right away. - How are new models?

“I submitted the latest development to the head of the department,” the charming woman reported. I looked at her intently, our short date in the elevator, one-on-one shook me. Admire her natural, natural beauty. No makeup on the face, no smart mask for the boss. She suddenly blushed and looked away. As a little, lowered her head. Seconds, and the elevator door opened. She go out, and I go higher.

Rarely I turn off the brain, but today is this day. Or is it? And why haven't I done this before? She has been working for me for three months now.

- Nastya ... Please, in an hour, show me the development personally, - I pronounce it in a voice that I hardly recognized myself. She accepts the task. The door closes and I rise to my office. Heart beats in time with the steps. I go to Lesnikov, his office is right in front of mine. Two partners are sometimes too many for any business.

“Bessonov is interested in when we will renew his actions,” Kohl says, firmly shaking my hand. Strong man, my partner. Strong, like the oak from which his table is made ... Read more →