Intertwined Fates. Ariana Bazhenova

several chapters and do not quite agree with the authors. It seems to me that their model can be presented differently…

      He leaned over the table and began to draw diagrams in my notebook, involuntarily glancing at me every now and then, and for several minutes we became engrossed in discussing his ideas. I was happy to see that he was showing a sincere interest in psychology, expressing his opinion, offering solutions. I was fired up by the independence and sharpness of his thinking.

      – Returning to the test questions. I suggest that each of us throw in five questions for our blocks, – I turned the notebook with notes towards him. – But if you are busy, I can do your part, too, there is no problem with that.

      His gaze softened. He grabbed my pen and started to underline something in my notes. I noticed how his hands started to tremble, how quiet and confused his voice became.

      – Oh, come on, don’t. I’ll do my part myself. We have until tomorrow, right?

      – Right, – I smiled.

      My lower abdomen suddenly became warm and soft.

      I looked up at him and suddenly felt how hot it became in my chest and lower abdomen. It was as if rays of hot light were coming from me to him and wrapping him like a cocoon, sitting opposite. My body trembled slightly, and my eyes were covered with a thin, damp film – I was not yet used to letting such strong energy pass through me.

      Looking into those expressive brown eyes, which were now looking at me differently, not with coldness and irritation, but with interest and understanding, I felt a frantic heat. It was as if fate had sped up and was preparing to take another turn. I wished I could reach out and gently run my hand over his disheveled dark hair and his cheek, slightly prickly from stubble… I didn’t want to leave this cramped, bright office for the cold of winter and the bustle of my department. The world stopped, time stood still in these cramped white walls.

      – By the way, how did you get to the congress in Adler? – I suddenly remembered his trip.

      – Horrible! To hang around there for two days just to give a five-minute report! – he exclaimed.

      – I understand, I went to Moscow to speak at Moscow State University in the same way as a student, – I wanted to show him that I understood from my own experience what he was talking about. – I noticed that the more pompous the name of the conference – like yours, the Congress of Young Scientists – the more it actually is…

      – The more useless it is? – he smiled, finishing the sentence for me.

      – Exactly!

      – You know, they screwed up with my accommodation. I got distracted and checked in last. In the end, I got some old room with a Soviet interior. I go in, and there’s some strange guy sitting on the bed! I wish they’d put me in with some pretty girl! – he smiled slyly and laughed, and I laughed in response, happily feeling the ice begin to melt. – In the end, I rented a single room for myself. So, if, or rather, when, you go somewhere on a business trip from the company, keep a close eye on it so that this doesn’t happen.

      – Oh, good, – I smiled broadly and felt my cheeks flush slightly.

      I stumbled slightly from embarrassment and, looking away at the board covered with formulas and notes, continued:

      – You know, I found myself in a similar situation. When I first flew to a conference in Moscow as a student, I wanted to save money and rented a place in a hostel for 350 rubles a day. Of course, it didn’t end well – I ran away after the very first night when a woman asked if I had been bitten by bedbugs during the night, – I laughed slightly nervously and bit my lip – either from excitement or from unpleasant memories.

      – And I thought you were embarrassed by the contingent of people living there, – he leaned forward, looked me in the eyes and smiled.

      – That too. And how did you go to Novosibirsk, to the opening of the program at the Polytechnic? – I suddenly remembered, feeling a kind of responsibility – how did the city of my student years, still close to my heart, receive this important guest?

      Winter Novosibirsk is quite a challenge for inexperienced guests.

      – My colleague’s… face is frozen! – he couldn’t hold back his laughter and covered his eyes with his hand. – And so… It’s a nice town. Polytechnic is an ordinary university, the equipment is old, but they are trying to do something.

      – I’m glad you were pleased with the trips. Unfortunately, I have to go… The day after tomorrow I’m flying to Moscow, we will celebrate the New Year with a friend.

      He jumped up abruptly and went to the calendar on the wall. I again involuntarily glanced at his graceful, thin, tall figure in a white coat – he was full of vitality and energy. People like him are endowed with natural grace and lightness, but they don’t pay attention to it, hovering somewhere in the clouds. They are usually passionately interested in something outside themselves, like Leo is passionate about science, and they channel all their energy into it, not caring much about their appearance or health. After all, there are so many interesting things in the world besides this!

      – Yes, there are a lot of things to do! – he concluded, sliding his finger along the calendar. And, slightly embarrassed and as if stepping over himself, he added. – By the way, I wish you a pleasant these very…

      – Thank you, and a pleasant these very ones to you, – I mimicked him, feeling how inside his first awkward attempt to say something pleasant to me responded with bright joy.

      – Have a nice vacation!

      I stood up, clutching a notebook and pen to my chest. A wide smile did not leave my lips.

      – Don’t think too much about work. We will definitely cope, – I blurted out at the end, awkwardly and embarrassedly raising my thumb up.

      He walked towards the lab with his hurried gait, but turned to me. His face with its casual stubble reflected a wide smile, and the look in his large dark eyes expressed a mixture of confusion, joyful playfulness and… timid hope?

      «We’ll manage, where else?» he chuckled, and I noticed how he also unconsciously made a semblance of a gesture with a finger up. People subconsciously copy the body language of those they like.

      I went out into the corridor and felt how I was filled with lightness and calm confidence that everything was going as it should.

      As soon as I returned to the office, the boss assigned a new task – to sign a stack of documents from employees. I immediately understood why this was a great idea. I chose and put the documents for Lev’s department in a stack. «A good chance to sign the whole stack at once and… see him again,» I noted to myself, and half an hour later I was standing in his doorway again with a stack of papers.

      He confidently snatched the folder from my hands and led me into his bright office with a round table and long windows under the ceiling. Bright cold light of a winter day fell in rays through the wide windows. Lev opened the folder and began to examine the documents with feigned fastidiousness. I realized that we were standing too close to each other, straightened my shoulders and, as if by chance, turned my head to the papers with a deliberately captivated look, revealing my graceful long neck to his gaze.

      – What is written here? Men have an index of two in the premium coefficient, and women have an index of two! – he smiled cheerfully, and although I did not understand the meaning of his words, I was instantly infected with this smile. We looked into each other’s eyes for a few seconds.

      He lowered his gaze and turned it to the documents. His hand fell on the folder, and he ran his finger over the signature of the chairman of the board of directors.

      – Facsimile?