Intertwined Fates. Ariana Bazhenova

reason, no one stays here for long.» And after a couple of weeks, I already understood why. Four months later, when long scratches appeared on the walls, and the next night my fiancé and I had small cuts on our stomachs in the same places, I realized that it was time to move out urgently. A hastily made and inept ritual of cleaning the premises did not help either – it only angered the spirit, which drove away all the residents, as I was told by a characteristic knock on the walls, a flashing shadow that knocked a napkin off the table, and short-circuited lamps. At that moment, the blood froze in my veins, and I, freezing for a moment, immediately grabbed my suitcase and flew out of the house like a bullet, sitting at the station for three hours waiting for the train.

      Returning from my parents in a small town not far from Novosibirsk, I immediately informed the owner of the apartment that I was moving out, and never came near that damned area again. A little later, I learned from a neighbor that someone had hanged themselves or been killed in that apartment a long time ago. «This is a one in a million case, you were just unlucky with the apartment,» my loved ones reassured me, and I promised myself that from now on I would only live in new buildings – just in case. This would reduce the risk, because asking the owners directly if anyone had been killed in their apartment would obviously be strange.

      But the time had come to turn the page of life. What could await me in gloomy Petersburg?

      For some reason, an image of fire appeared before my inner eye – a guiding torch that illuminates everything around, a cleansing element, transforming, burning the old so that something new can be born in its place.

      – What do you want to teach me? – I mentally threw the question into the air, addressing it to the bright walls with columns.

      – I am a place where the past meets the present, and where people discover the impossible in themselves. I know you have it too, – I heard the answer in my head again, shook my head and began to hurriedly drink a cold cocktail. …and yet, I’m in St. Petersburg! Having looked again at the photo of the postcard-like landscape, I uploaded it to my psychology blog, which I’ve been running for five years now. It doesn’t really matter what I think about this city now and where I really want to be. Let my subscribers, parents, and close friends be happy for me. And even my ex-fiancé, who still follows my news on the blog after the breakup.

      Thinking about him, I smiled sadly. I believed that we could overcome everything together – and I suggested that we move to a bigger city together, but he refused, deciding that he couldn’t leave his parents, and in Novosibirsk, according to him, he had his own interests and ambitions. He was a gentle person, but he remained adamant in his decision, despite my persuasion and arguments. Rose-colored dreams and rainbow pictures of family life, a shared cozy apartment where it was always warm and the sound of little feet could be heard, ice skating with the whole family were shattered by this short: «We are not on the same path.» It was not easy for both of us to make a decision.

      I could have stayed with him, but between my personal life and my career, I chose the latter. Perhaps, the fact that between work in a big city and my family I chose the former put a careerist stamp on me in the eyes of others, but in fact I still believed in pure and sincere love… Maybe it was somewhere here, in St. Petersburg? When I remembered today’s dream, goosebumps ran down my back, and a strange warm feeling ached in my solar plexus – a desire to talk to the people from the dream again as soon as possible, as if I was sure that they really existed.

      Coming out of the shade of the veranda, I went out to the bridge, decorated with statues of gilded winged lions. And she thought, admiring them.

      There were never any problems with work: intelligence, hard work and common sense helped me quickly gain authority wherever I went. Alas, the qualities that ensure success in a career do not help at all, and often even hinder in my personal life. Attracting, igniting passion and tenderness, building deep mutual understanding and trust – the habit of working hard, firmly defending my position did not help in any way. But this habit allowed me not to hide behind other people’s shoulders, but to boldly move through life, fulfilling all my desires myself. «And love? The right person will not go anywhere, we will meet at the right time in the right place and get to know each other, no options,» I summed up my thoughts, eternally moving in a circle and leading to the same conclusion. All that remained was to be in the right place at the right time. Something told me that this would happen at work. On my first working day, I put on my dress white blouse and long black skirt and set off briskly. I got off the bus at the nearest stop and walked along a tight row of old gray buildings, using the navigator as my guide.

      After walking for half an hour under the scorching sun in my new sandals, I finally noticed a tall business center building surrounded by an old concrete fence. I straightened my blouse and skirt, smoothed my long blond hair, tousled and wet from the long journey, and proudly stepped into the checkpoint.

      Flags fluttered solemnly in the light breeze near the glass administration building. Everything seemed so new and… promising! At that moment, I wasn’t even embarrassed by the barbed wire on the slanted concrete fence, the shrill screaming flocks of crows, and the barking of a guard dog.

      The first time I entered the small office where I was supposed to work, I saw my colleagues – young girls smiling affably, introducing themselves and vying with each other to tell me how they had been waiting for me and how many interesting things were waiting here. Their smiles echoed inside with a pleasant and warm feeling. «I’m definitely here,» I thought.

      «Kira, this is your place, sit down. Here’s your laptop,» my boss, a smiling woman with long red hair, nodded to me.

      Gradually, day after day, I got into the work, mastering all the basics and subtleties along the way. At first, I was given the task of conducting a marketing analysis of the market – studying competitors’ websites, media articles in the field of IT developments, then – to offer my ideas for a content plan. From the first day, I understood the importance of this work – it was not enough to write a program, it was necessary to strengthen the company’s brand, increase people’s trust in the products.

      There was a special atmosphere in this IT company, almost in the city center, but behind an old concrete fence. Addictive, encouraging you to forget that there was a noisy metropolis just around the corner.

      The work really did add up – there was a lot of it, and there was no chance to get bored. But it’s unlikely that my stay there was limited to business tasks. Here, as in any team, either from boredom or curiosity, the boundary between work and personal life became shaky. My colleagues found out early that I was single, and began their favorite pastime – matchmaking. «Our top management is always concerned about this issue and actively promotes the creation of couples,» the boss said jokingly, seeing how I, still very young, smiled confusedly and embarrassedly, blushing deeply. I considered interference in my personal life from the outside and advice like «take a closer look at this or that» hardly acceptable, but perhaps this was just a generational difference.

      In addition, that dream about a burning field, a slanted concrete fence and a white temple of science would not leave my head. I felt such a strange closeness to the mysterious figures in that dream, and the place was strikingly similar to the IT corporation where I found myself now. But maybe these were just fantasies against the background of excitement about moving and a new job?

      And so, involuntarily looking at the many men walking along the floors of a glass office building, and thinking for fun, «is it him or not him», a couple of weeks later I saw… him.

      My heart jumped. A large shiver ran through my body as I watched, helplessly standing in the spacious hall of the administration, as a man on the street walked past a glass wall, immersed in his thoughts. That same tall, slender figure – like from a dream! It seemed that he was not at all hot on this stuffy summer day in a strict blue jacket and tight trousers. His shock of dark hair was carefully styled