"Лариса Матрос. Behind the Staircase (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

receiver, she hung up, unready to talk. Only the third time she dialed
the number did she wait for a reply. Rudik listened to her through the
receiver and responded as if he was not surprised by her call. Obviously,
the friends who had given her his phone number had informed him of her
arrival. Without hesitation, Rudolf invited her to a party the next day. He
said it would be a big reception, he would be busy preparing and his nephew
would drive her to his
house.
The nephew drove with confidence, in spite of traffic. He was silent
all
the way. The car stopped near a small staircase which was attached to a
hill covered with grass. The good looking two-story house was on the hill.
"Here we are," the nephew said, and got out of the car quickly to open the
door for the euest. A big, stout, grey-haired man came out of the house and
moved down the staircase. Only when he approached Anna, did she recognize
Rudik. He hugged her with unhidden excitement, kissed her, took her arm and
led her up to the house, without saying a word. On the hill stood a
beautiful, well-dressed/
tall, stout woman.
"This is Masha, my wife," Rudik said. Masha hugged and kissed Anna,
as a close friend.
"Welcome," Masha said, and led her to the house. ""“®Ё will see
Odessians who live here," said Rudik, pointing to the table, which was seen
in the next room-
"Well, we have a big Odessian company. We often get together and tell
jokes all evening, like in Odessa. Even here we do not forget we grew up in
the city which is considered a capital of humor," Rudik said.
"Oh, it's eight o'clock already. They are just about to arrive," Masha
said. "We could have scheduled the party in two days, onSaturday, but
Rudik's birthday is today, and I never postpone..."
"Rudik, is that right!" exclaimed Anna. She came dose to hug him and
said, "What a coincidence! Sorry I forgot."
"Rudik told me a lot about you," said Masha, breaking a pause. "Since
you were studying in the same class with Rudik, I expected to find you
different. You are like a young girl, so small and thin. How do you do it?
As for me, I grew stout," concluded Masha, making excuses, pressing her
abdomen as if she wanted to drive it inside her body.
"It is not her fault, " Rudik inserted cheerfully. "It is because of
our bakery. We will show it to you. There is such tasty stuff, you cannot
resist. That is why we both grew stout. Our bakery is not only a sweet
paradise. It is also an art and architectural studio."
At that moment, through the window Rudik noticed approaching cars and
moved to open doors. The crowd of cheerful well-dressed people came inside.
All were about Rudik's and Masha's age, except one very beautiful young
lady, about seventeen years old, who came with her parents. The newcomers
looked like their meetings in Rudik's house were frequent events. They took
seats on sofas, chairs, and the floor in the living room, evalutating each
other and the guest. Some faces dimly reminded Anna of girls and boys from
her Odessa's street, but most of them were strangers to her.
The guests warmly welcomed Anna, who was solemnly introduced by Rudik.