Gregory was waiting for her on the first ground near the entrance door. Vic glanced at him and took a sigh again. That solid man in the coat, patent-leather shoes, in ironed trousers wasn’t the one whom she wanted to see. But she had no right of choice till 6 pm.

Gregory opened the car door, waited for the girl to get into the car, who didn’t used to cars and sat to drive.

‘You should belt up. We’re not gonna drive far but nevertheless… By 6.30 I have to get back to the office.’

‘No problem’ Victoria started belting up and no problem turned into a problem.

Gregory smiled, having bended to the girl, took the belt and pulled it to him. Victoria clung fast to the chair. Her nose caught the scent of bourgeoisie and shaving cream. The man glanced at the feeling constrained girl and smiled.

‘You’re very nervous,’ he said in a low voice, ‘Relax, I don’t bite.’

Victoria was looking at his green eyes intently studied hers, still hanging over her although the she had been already belted up and the man could have moved away.

‘Your eyes colour is madly beautiful,’ Gregory said in a lower voice, slowly bending down to her lips.

‘I’m so sorry, my phone’s calling!’ Vic waved her hands hardly didn’t punch the man in the face.

The girl pressed the phone to her ear and started speaking with the emptiness. She clearly understood that probably she looked very stupid, but she didn’t want to kiss with her newly-made boss. Besides she didn’t like him and at that exact moment she had an aversion for him. The closer he moved to her, the more tears she had in her eyes. If he had managed to kiss her Vic wouldn’t have been able to hold her tears.

All the short way while they were driving Victoria was speaking with an invisible man not to let Gregory speak with her. Out of the eye corner she followed him, his reaction and prayed for that nobody would call her indeed.

Hardly had the car stopped Victoria said good-bye to her switched off phone and jumped out of the car like a bat out of the hell. She wanted most of all that terrible lunch to be over soon. She wished she had been a demon to control and distort time. In addition, the always followed for its son ghost of the woman started pretty annoying the girl. But she was glad that the spirit didn’t want Gregory to touch Vic.

They were sitting face to face and waiting for the waiter to bring their meals. If Gregory was under fire pseudo moaning that he was hungry as a hunter, Victoria wasn’t hungry at all. She had a lump in the throat.

‘Victoria, I invited you here to have a rest a bit and communicate about something else not about work… and here should be no subordination. Agree?’

The girl nodded and smiled a bit, sadly looking at her companion.

‘You’re not yourself today. What’s wrong with you?’

‘What are you speaking about?’

‘About frustration in your eyes. Why?’

‘I don’t know. It’s Friday, the end of the working week. I’m really tired. Haven’t you been tired at all for this week?’

‘I’ve been living in non-stop rhythm not for one day and even not for the first year. You know, our body is a machine, a computer. It will work as you program it. This week has no difference from previous ones. May I?’

The man sat at the side chair that was closer to Victoria. She was just thinking why Gregory’s “may I” didn’t sound like a question but an imperative affirmation. Trying to make no sign Vic started being nervous again. Gregory took her hand and started intently looking over her fingers.

‘Your hands create so wonderful masterpieces…’

‘There’re no masterpieces.’

‘Your self-esteem is very low. Who imposed it on you?’

The girl felt giddy and she didn’t know what it meant. While her boss was speaking Vic was seeing through a mist him burying his mother. He was alone at the cemetery. There were no relatives nor friends. Nobody. The weather was warm. It was a daytime. The sun was shining. Two workers were burying the coffin with the ground very fast. Gregory frowned. There were tears in his eyes. There was only one thought in his mind: “she hasn’t come”. He looked at the pit and didn’t want to think of anything. Victoria felt pity for him! She could feel all his grief and how deep he got over his loss. For a moment she felt his life be lost. How was he supposed to live further? He had a feeling of guilt. The deepest guilt. But even money didn’t have a possibility to get life back if it was really about to leave. His heart ached. And the last blade with the ground was thrown on the hill. Then the realizing that this was the end came. You could get back nothing. That was over.

Victoria came back to reality as soon as Gregory took his hands away from hers.

‘Oh my God…’ she whispered, brushing away tears from her cheek, trying to forget what she had seen.

‘Victoria? Are you crying?’ Gregory bended down to her and touched her hand again. ‘Have I insulted you?’

The girl shook her head and asked God not to show her anything from lives of the dead people. She didn’t want to know the pain they had got over. She didn’t want to feel it together with them again and again. She was fed up with the ghost and spirits that endlessly came to her to show their experiences. She didn’t want to see them all. The tears choked her not because she saw Gregory at the cemetery but because she was tired to see it in general. The girl had stopped asking why she could see them. She was preoccupied with another one: “what should she do not to see them at all?”

‘Speak to me, Vic. What’s going on?’

‘I’ve got something in my eye… It hurts… too much.’

‘Let me see!’ without a second the man grabbed the girl and started examining her eyes, carefully looking for a sore. He wiped her tears away, stroked her cheek and kindly stared at her and for a while Victoria felt better.

‘Is it better?’

Vic nodded her head, intently gazing into his eyes.

‘I’m glad.’ He smiled and let the girl. ‘Tell me about yourself, Victoria.’

‘What exactly do you want to know?’

‘What do you like? What don’t you like? What do you expect from your life? What about your family… everything in shorts. I’m interested in everything about you.’

‘You are first.’

‘What does it mean?’

‘It means you answer your questions first.’

‘Are you really interested, or you want to get off?’ Gregory smirked, having had a sip of a tart juice.

‘I’m interested. It’s true.’ Vic smiled.

‘Ok, I’ll give you a head start. I was born in 1979, on the 8^th of August. I have a single-parent family… I had. My father left me when we were 2.’

‘We?’

‘I have a sister… I had a sister – Polina. We quarrelled and I decided that she doesn’t exist for me. I’ve heard nothing of her for ten years already. I finished school, graduated Economical Department in MHU with honours. When I was 23, I came to our company as a financial specialist. I’ve been making my career for ten years and as a result I’m a country manager. That’s my story in shorts.’

‘What about your mum?’

‘She died ten years ago.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘It’s ok, it was a long ago. I keep good memories of her. When my sister quarrelled with her, the thrombus tore off and you know what could happen next. Polina still thinks that she was right. She didn’t consider coming to our mum’s funeral. I’m sorry for telling all of that, it’s really boring.’

‘No, it’s not. We’re having hear-to-heart conversation, remember?’ the girl smiled.

‘Yes, you’re right. What’s your story?’

‘My? I have almost the same. My dad left us. But we see each other very rarely. My mum’s alive and kicking, fortunately. We live a cat-and-dog life. She’s impossible.’ Victoria shook her head. ‘I’m telling she’s impossible. I sometimes understand why my dad left. He couldn’t live with her. To get over her contrary disposition is impossible. That’s why he left.’