“Iron maiden (iron maiden) is a device, supposedly a medieval cannon of the Holy Inquisition, which is a wardrobe in the shape of a female figure made of iron, whose inner surface is seated with long sharp nails and equipped with a device for strangulation. The fact of the existence of this device by most historians is questioned. "

From the materials of Wikipedia.

“Nobody is insured against misfortune. And it comes unexpectedly. It happens that a series of random events leads to misfortune, and it happens that you find yourself in complete shit by someone else's malicious intent. At the time of the French Revolution, Louis XVI ascended the scaffold only by coincidence, when the voting of the deputies of the Jacobin Convention was divided equally, and only a few votes decided his fate. And Jeanne d'Arc fell on a fire for legitimate reasons, being an objectionable and inconvenient figure for unclean servants of the church and the throne. A naive and illiterate girl read out a renunciation of heresy and slipped a document of a completely different content, in which she herself signed the death sentence, personally putting a bold cross under the text she did not understand. In fact, the figures of the Inquisition framed her for the sake of her personal ambitions. Tellingly, the Virgin of Orleans from the very beginning suspected that she would end up badly. Because she had to constantly deal with vain and greedy power-hungry. Now there is another century and completely different relations in society. However, nothing has changed, and to this day someone is paying the price for the sins of others. ”

From the diary of Anne-Marie Fisher.

A quiet Saturday morning came and, waking up, I continued to wallow in bed. Tense work week left behind and now you can relax. Go for some fresh air, take a walk in nature, go shopping. Buy yourself a favorite some tsatsku trinket. The sun was rising, and the day promised to be clear, warm and serene. How I love the weekend. It is not necessary to jump up a little light, and unleashing sleepy eyes along the way, like a furious run at a gallop to wash, gather, hurry. Hurry up and make up and hurry, rush to this damn fucking job. In order to God forbid not to be late, not to get a scolding from the authorities and not to get on the black list for dismissal. All the excuses that the tram had a flat tire or that the enemies pierced the gas tank on the way were not accepted. I can not stand this running around, when in the end there are not enough any five minutes. I love the weekend for not having to rush and rush anywhere, throwing my tongue over my shoulder. You can lie around, be lazy and do what you want. Those who get up early and rush to work will understand me. The one who is not in a hurry has time everywhere - the professor Preobrazhensky said to Dr. Bormental in the cult Bulgakov's novel. And there was this professor deeply archinepraved. Someone to whom, and with his private practice he was in no hurry. As they say - the director himself. Slowly making coffee, I took out a makeup bag and got ready to put makeup on. The cell phone rang. Darn. I still wanted to turn it off to hell grandmother until Monday. I will not take. But he kept calling, and it was getting on my nerves.

- Olga, you're at home. Thank God - my girlfriend called - a neighbor in the stairwell - please help out once, well, very necessary.

- So what happened?

- Listen, change me in my outlet for a couple of hours, I urgently need to go for the goods, and the partner, as luck would have it, went to the hospital and went to some sanatorium.

- How can I help you? How? I am not a seller. I can not. I'll give you this.

“Listen, you don't have to do anything.” Just stay behind the counter. There will be buyers, say that the cash register does not work, and the partner ran for the keys from him and will be soon.

- I can not, I actually went to leave.

- Well, please, this situation. There is no partner, but you will easily pass for me. We are alike. If I close the store on such a day at least for half an hour, Pavel Sergeevich will just kill me. Without a salary will leave. Two hours of all business. And then I magarych. You know, I will not rust.

Well, she is right. We were like her. Absolute similarity of course was not. If you look closely, the differences are at least in the color of the eyes, and my face is more rounded, and I am three years younger. However, neighbors in the entrance we were often confused. I thought. And what, actually, I'm losing. Well, I will grieve over the counter a couple of hours. With me it does not lose in the end. Gain, so be it. And still have time to walk. All day ahead. Well, tomorrow is also a day off. Okay.

“Okay,” I said, “so be it, I've conquered.” And who is Pavel Sergeevich?

- Yes, my chef. I have a share in his store. Well, you're a hammer. Thank you girlfriend, help out. I'm waiting for you in the car downstairs. Hurry up, otherwise I open exactly at ten.

Hurry up again. Well, it's my own fault. I would have to send this damn Marinka and my shop to hell. So no, I let myself be persuaded. I went downstairs and near the entrance I was waiting for a sparkling red-silver Hyundai Sonata with a needle in a new version of the body. In it behind the wheel my girlfriend sat proudly. Where do people take money for such luxurious cars. Three-level houses are erected in record time. In overseas resorts scamper. And everything is crying. And as you plow from advance to pay, you cannot buy decent shoes.

“Well, let's go,” said Marinka, pushing down on the gas when I got comfortably close by. The car smoothly and almost silently moved off.

- A good car. You can't buy it for a salary. You can't afford it - I joked.

Marina just gave up.

We entered the small capital shop, located near the busy intersection and Marina took me to the counter. Around on hangers hung pants, dresses, robes. Shoes were piled up near the walls from the bottom to the top in boxes. It smelled pleasantly of tanned leather and manufactory. The store was almost full of various goods up to expensive cosmetics, and I still thought that there was still some goods to receive. Here and so all as in stock is full.

- Listen, Marin, I'm afraid of something. There are so many things. I will not succeed.

- So. Make a confident look and do not be afraid. It's not for long. Put on this brand uniform and put on my badge.

- But there is your photo.

- Yes, you poured on the pictures. You, most importantly, stand at the counter or sit here on a chair so that you can be seen. Well, to shop worked. And if someone asks, do not sell. Tell me about the cash register. And so - let them look, choose, ask the price. There is a fitting room in the corner. Most buyers themselves know what they need. There are price tags everywhere. And I instantly back and forth. I soon. You, the main thing, do not leave the workplace before my arrival, otherwise I may have big problems.

“Okay, just don't stay anywhere.”

- Of course, back and forth.

And she left. I looked at the badge. It read: “Marina Sales Assistant”. And her picture. Well, okay, my hair is like that of Marina, they looked almost the same thanks to the same paint, which she sold to me cheaply and painted to her herself. If you do not really look closely, then I will easily go for it. But what a fucking consultant I am. I don't understand anything about it. And if asked to tell about the product, I will look like a complete fool. Oh, would rather come. The clock slowly counted down the minutes, while I stood behind the counter and nervously twitched the edge of the uniform. Time seemed to stop. And if her boss says. Oh, he will immediately notice the substitution. Then you have to tell him everything. That will be a scandal. But time passed and there was nobody. Behind the glass doors of the store, pedestrians scurried along the sidewalk, but no one came inside. And on the other side of the street I saw three people. A woman of thirty-five and two younger guys. They came out of a stalled ...