“Alex, I need your help! – Lisa said over the phone. – Can you marry me urgently?” I was taken aback. But Lisa explained.
Lisa worked in a large company, in the financial department. She had been working for a long time. Tanya was 35 years old and had never been married. No, she was quite pretty and homely, even with her two-room apartment. The problem was that she was a “gray mouse.” Too shy, too insecure, her voice too quiet. The finance department treated her with derisive pity, they were all women there. And all were married. Alice, the first beauty of their department, the lady with a low neckline, sometimes said with supposed sympathy: “Lisa, you should at least put on more color, a skirt shorter, the men at once take the bait. But Lisa was hiding behind the monitor and mumbled: “A woman should be appreciated for other things…” One day Alice could not stand it and laughed: “Well, let’s say. And what are you to be appreciated for, huh?”
Lisa ran to the bathroom, crying.
One evening she was leaving work. The two hotties at the reception desk glanced at each other sneeringly. Liza heard one say to the other, “It’s the one from the financial, the old maid…”
Lisa even flinched. “The old maid!” That already sounded like a final verdict.
Lisa really wanted to get married. She even had a good idea of this husband: thin, ironic, with glasses. No, no handsome man and no prince. What prince at 35? I don’t care who. You could have a fat one, really.
Her caring mother used to try to introduce her to her friends’ sons, but now she gave up on her daughter. Someone advised Lisa to go to dating sites. She did, but the first two “candidates” immediately asked about her breast size. The other would have answered proudly, especially since this size she was fine. But not Lisa. Tired of loneliness, she even decided on a bold experiment. She put on more colorful makeup, as Alice demanded, and went to a fancy cafe on Saturday night. She was soon approached by a drunken man, looked around and asked: “How much?” Lisa I ran away.
She and I were friends, she told me about her stupid adventures, asking how she should be? What could I answer? Just some nonsense: you have to be braver, more relaxed … “I do not know how,” – sighed Lisa.
And then one day, at the end of the day, when the financial ladies were celebrating the Eighth of March with champagne, something terrible happened. Alice, after drinking three glasses in a row, said to her: “No one will even give you flowers. If you want – take mine, the boss gave them to you. Lisa, who had only one drink, suddenly replied, “Why no one? I have a fiancé. I’m getting married in two months.”
It was like an explosion. Alice even dropped her glass. And Lisa smiled, “That’s it, I gotta go, happy holidays, girls!”
And quickly left.
Yes, it was the champagne’s fault. Lisa lied. She had no fiancé. But now she knew there was no way back, she had to get married right away. Anybody as long as she didn’t look like a fool.
So she called me. I was divorced, so I was quite suitable. “Liza, honey,” I answered. – But I have a girlfriend. She wouldn’t understand it even if I explained the whole situation.”
Yes, I tried to help her. I started calling single friends. But everyone refused: “Alex, well, that’s some bullshit, I’m sorry.
And at work it was a nightmare for Lisa. Everyone demanded to see the groom, at least on Instagram. “I don’t have Instagram,” she answered. “What a jerk you are! – Alice chided. – Get one right away, happiness must be shared. And let me help you choose a dress.”
Lisa was going for broke. There was nothing to lose. Together with Alice went to buy a dress. For him, Lisa spent all her savings. She pretended complete happiness during the day, as if to correspond with her fiancé in instant messenger, and sobbed at night. Finally, she made up her mind: she had to quit. To avoid embarrassment and collapse.
For lunch, Lisa went alone. She took paper and pen to write her resignation in peace. She wrote it. She went outside, a cup of coffee in her hand. And she ran into a big black SUV. It was parked right in the crosswalk. It was often parked here, Lisa remembered it. Behind the wheel sat a fat, bald driver in a leather jacket. The window was down.
“Move the car, please,” she said.
The driver looked her over like a stunted weed. And didn’t answer. Lisa repeated the demand, louder. The driver brushed it off. She decided she had nothing more to lose today. She poured coffee from the cup right on the jacket of the brazen man. He screamed and jumped out of the car. He probably would have killed her. But passersby intervened.
Already at work, Lisa discovered that she had lost the application during the “battle.” “Okay, tomorrow,” she decided. And began to tell the financial ladies what are looking out for rings with the groom.
The next day she walked to the same cafe. At the entrance stood a man in a suit and a light open coat. He had tulips in his hands. He held them out to Lisa: “These are for you.” She even backed away. The man explained, “Yesterday it was my car. You did the right thing, you did well. I saw it through the window, from over there. And I was going to fire the driver a long time ago.” Lisa took the tulips, she smiled, just smiling stupidly. “May I take you to lunch? – The stranger asked. – I’ll drive myself.”
They got in the car, the man put on his glasses, looked at her: “Sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. Max.”
…Yes, soon they were married. Lisa called Alice as a witness, and I was the toastmaster. My first toast at the wedding was that there are no accidents, we make our own destiny, even doing things that may seem reckless. No, we just challenge ourselves. And then everything works out. In short, bitter.
