A few months after I arrived in Yekaterinburg, a girl from Tomsk came to work for 2 days. She dealt with project technical documentation. A six-year-old boy was with her.
Afterwards, they explained to me that this was her son, and that she had to take him on her business trip. After lunch, the boy entered the office where I worked and served my colleague and me with chocolate.
He shyly said, "You are welcome." We both took а pieces, and he again shyly, smiled and left. Three years later, in Ufa, they told me that from Tomsk came a girl who would control the project documentation and would sit with me in the office.
When she arrived I realized that it is Marina I met in Yekaterinburg. We greeted and recognized each other. I asked her where her son was, and she answered me that he is with her mother in a village near Tomsk. I realized that she thinks her son is a big deal and that it will be much easier when he is with her mother.
Then she was twenty-eight years old. She had a short cut hair, dyed in black, medium growth, brown eyes, sharp look. She had excess pounds, not big or most visible in the stomach area.
Her style of dressing up that flaw was even magnified. In fact, she was trying to wear tight clothes, often with an open décolleté. She had a tattoo on her neck and on both hands. She was always wearing high-heeled shoes.
She told me later, that she left her husband because she had had enough of her marriage. She wanted to have a party and she simply got divorced.
She took son with her, the husband regularly paid for the alimony, but after divorce he never saw a son and never called him. Several times she needed some documents that he was supposed to send her.
All she needed was sent from him but without contact with the boy. It turned out that she had married two more times after divorce. These were official marriages, and she began a life together with more others.
First, with a young engineer from Serbia, and when he went to Serbia, with another much older man than her.
All this quickly ended with the question of how it worked for the boy.
She arrived in Ufa alone, and after ten days she complained that she didn't had someone with she can spent a time. She knew that I was married and that my wife was with me in Ufa.
After I answered that I could not help her, she laughed, saying that she did not rely me. I liked it, but at that moment, one of our managers came into the office. She asked him if he was married.
After saying that he is not, she asked for his phone number. Later they talked, and after a few weeks they started to live together. She was always in the mood, always ready to joke. Everyone emphasized her collegiality.
She wanted everyone to help, she did nothing bad to anyone. In the company we celebrated the birthdays of all of us who worked in the representative office, not counting those on the construction site. Every relaxation in the company was with some alcoholic drink, everyone would drink one or two drinks, and she always would drink much more.
After fifteen minutes, she would be visibly drunk. Then her behavior would have become different. Sometimes she would start to cry to complain about her life, she would begin to talked about her son. She was once drunk and showed me a picture of one drawing.
Her son drew his mother at school. He painted the drawing and sent it by e-mail. She said that her son constantly says that he wants to live with her, that he loves only her. She praised his good grades at school.
She become loud and strenuous, they said that when she was in a club, he started attacking every other man. The relationship with our manager ended in a few months.
He came often to our office asking her to go out to talk. They had some talks, but unsuccessfully. It happened that they were to spend a few days together, but everything ended up on it.
She started to hang out with two of our workers and their girls. They laughed and used her. She would always pay for drinks when they are together, they are driving her car. She tried to be friend, and they tried to abuse it.
The manager with whom he had been in contact noticed that he tried to separate her from that society. He said he wanted to save her from alcohol. He did not succeed in either one or the other.
Shortly thereafter, she began to have romantic relationship with a few more Serbians, and all ended in a similar way. Some would go back to Serbia, others would stop talking to her after a few days.
Someone were married, someone were free, but they always did the same. On one occasion, a local worker asked me if it was true that the guy with whom I in a family relationship is working on our construction site.
After I answered yes, he said with a laugh: "Save him!" He continued: "If you do not save him, you will be in a family relationship with Marina!"
Time passed and her birthday came.
In the office she served food and drinks. It was a rich table. All employees and some of her friends gathered. As always, she drank a little more, but somehow stopped, she controlled normally.
However, she has already agreed with her friends and some colleagues to continue celebrating in the city. She got out of work earlier. Those who extended the celebration said they stayed up to two in the night.
Her son arrived in Ufa at half past two. She was too drunk and one of her colleagues drove her car to the railway station.
The boy was excited, he bring a bouquet of flowers, and some great congratulations he made, there was a gift sent by her mother.
When she saw him, she turned to him with open arms in a tired voice, shouting: "My son, you better come tomorrow, today is mom’s birthday!" Having entered her embrace, the boy forgot what to say.
Together they entered in the car. She did not have the strength to see gifts. She fell asleep right away. The boy is in her embrace, and after ten minutes also fell asleep.
I walked through my head the pictures of a boy who served me a few years ago with a chocolate and a boy who came to his mother for a birthday.
I also remembered the conversation with two colleagues, Russian women. We spoked once and when we mentioned Marina's son, I claimed that it was better for him to live with his mother.
They categorically claimed that it was better to live with a grandmother than with such a mother. The boy spent two weeks in Ufa. Marina worked and he would stay alone in the apartment, when they came home, they would walk, because it was warm, they went to the beach often.
The boy liked to swim. After that, they went to Marina's mother for two weeks together. And then the same old song ...
Images I found by google search.