Part 1.
Evening. Outside the window of our coupe heard the uniform sound of the wheels. My wife and I are going on vacation for the first time without children. When I came to the travel agency recommended by one of my friends, to my surprise, I was met by a very middle-aged director. I, who were used to seeing long-legged beauties in such places, were somewhat confused.
- Come in, do not be shy. Sit down on the sofa, I’ll take care of you now, ”she said and disappeared into the next room.
Sitting on a large leather sofa and closing my eyes for a moment, I mentally imagined what awaits me in the coming month. Sochi, hot sun, hot sand, beer:
- Have you already thought where to go? - the director's voice brought me out of my reverie. She stood across from me, holding a small tray with a glass of brandy and two cups of coffee.

For some reason, at first I did not notice that the director is pretty enough, and for her age has a completely decent figure.
“Sorry, I thought,” I jumped up and grabbed the tray from her.
- I think you are mentally already on the beach!
- Yes. Nearly. So tired for this year, I can't wait to go. My wife and I decided to relax without children. Sorry, did not introduce. My name is Evgeniy.
- Alla Borisovna. But if you want, just Alla. Not Pugachev. We are not even relatives with her.
I liked the joke. There was something natural in her behavior. Therefore, I felt somehow free and easy.
- Here. Alla, - I began. - In general, my wife and I decided to relax. From children, from work, from that all. And one friend of mine already used the services of your agency and was very pleased. He recommended you.

- What's your friend's name?
- Sergei. Sokolov Sergey Olegovich.
She wrote down something to herself and continued:
- As far as I understand, you have been married for a long time, measured family life has bored you, children are almost adults and no longer listen to you. This is our profile - middle-aged couples. What is your wife's name?

Part 2.
- Lenka, well, enough.
- Zhenya. Well, how many times do you repeat, I do not like to travel by train. Especially in the compartment with strangers! - my wife scolded me.
I made a guilty look and tried to justify myself.
“You know you can't buy plane tickets in the summer.” And then, we have vouchers from Monday, and today it's only Friday. Ride through Russia, take a break from the hustle and bustle. Lenka, were you on the train the last time you went? Already forgot, I guess. Now everything is different.
- If only two-seater SV took. And then the coupe.

This has been going on since morning. We pack our bags, tomorrow night our vacation begins, and the train will take us across the whole country to the Crimea. Alla convinced me that a real family vacation can only be obtained in the Crimea.
“You will thank me still,” she said after signing the contract. - And if you want to go next time, then under certain conditions you will receive a substantial discount.
- Under what conditions? - I asked.
“We will discuss this after your return,” she answered and smiled mysteriously.

Part 3
Taxi quickly got us to the station. Lenka had already come to terms with the idea that she would have to shake the train for almost thirty-six hours.
- And you, asshole, will entertain me. If I don’t like something, I’ll arrange it for you, remember it for the rest of my life, ”she told me when we walked with our suitcases along the platform.
To my surprise, the people were not so many, as is usually the case at the station. The audience looked pretty decent. Near our car there were several well-dressed people of different ages. A pretty conductor in uniform checked the tickets. I gave the tickets to my wife and stopped to smoke before leaving.

I again remembered the travel agency and its director.I could not understand why she literally made me fill out some tests the size of a sheet for two hours, answer foolish questions like: “Do you like cats?” If it is necessary to sell me a tour to the Crimea, then I’m probably nothing I do not understand in the tourism business.
- Gentlemen, I will ask everyone to take their seats! - I heard the voice of a conductor behind my back.
The train started and went slowly forward.
"Well, here we go," I thought, dragging on for the last time and jumped on the bandwagon. The conductor smiled at me and closed the door.

Part 4
As it turned out, our coupe was right in the middle of the car. I haven’t traveled by train for so long that I didn’t know how good a car of a company train could look like. Perfect cleanliness pleasantly caressed the eyes. White curtains with the company name and a carpet path across the entire carriage reminded me of the interiors of the sovminsky holiday homes of the early eighties.
The doors of almost all compartments were open. Passengers animatedly acquainted, laid out things.
My wife's head appeared in the aisle.

- I thought you fell behind.
- You will not wait, - I have joked.
- Elena, where is your spouse? - I heard a pleasant female voice, and from behind the back of my wife appeared the head of a pretty blonde of forty-five. - Oh, sorry, I did not see you.
- Eugene! - I introduced myself and entered after my wife.
“Victor,” a balding man, looking like a former boxer, rose to meet me.
Lenka closed the compartment door behind me and climbed onto the couch.
- Let's get acquainted again. We are Elena and Eugene, and your name is Victor and Ale, right?
- That's right, and let's go on you, otherwise we go and go, - said Victor, taking brandy from the bag. - Maybe drink for an acquaintance?
“Oh, we also took everything,” my wife realized. She began to dump food on the table. Two bottles of cognac decorated the composition of fruits, vegetables, sausages and other food, worn by their wives on the road.

“Zhenya, let's go and smoke while they are laid out here,” suggested Victor.
I got up, opened the door and ran into a conductor.
“Prepare your boarding passes, please,” she politely addressed us.
- Elka, come on tickets. And we will go! - Victor slapped me on the shoulder and pushed me into the aisle.

Part 5.
- The first time you go? - I asked Victor when we lit up.
- In the third. The first time went four years ago. At first, they wanted to go somewhere to Cyprus, but the director of the travel agency convinced that it was better in the Crimea. And you?
- At first. I just did not understand why all this red tape with filling tests. Questions some idiotic. If the wife then went with me, we would now be roasting somewhere in Spain.

- You think?
- Sure. By and large, I don’t care where the baklushi beat. I would rest in the suburbs. But this Alla Borisovna stuck like a bath sheet: “Go, you will not regret!”. I hope she did not lie, what do you think?
“And I hope,” Victor snapped his fingers, and the butt flew into the lowered window. - Come, let's drink to meet you.
When we entered the compartment, we found our wives sitting on the same couch. They flipped through some kind of photo album. I noticed that Lenka was embarrassed to see me. She slammed the album and deliberately cheerfully screamed:
- Oh, we were waiting for you. Where do you go?
Victor, smiling, made his way to the window and took out a bottle of Martini from the bag under the sofa.
- We brandy, ladies wine. Zhenya open the bottle.

I sat down next to my wife.
- Are you so flushed, sick? Or did something happen?
- No, just hot. Friends, let's drink to meet you! - Lenka stretched out her hand for a glass.
Dishes, except for glasses was not, and therefore had to pour into them.
Victor raised his glass, looked at the light, grunted in satisfaction, and said:
- I offer the first glass to drink for a casual acquaintance. As you know, the case is of great importance in the life of every person. The case brought Eugene to the same tour agency as us. The case brought us together in one compartment. And I hope that the case will make us friends, unless of course Alla Borisovna was right.

I did not understand the last phrase. And here is the director. Lenka looked at ...

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