– No, he’ll go to the United Kingdom in September with the International Student Exchange Program.
– That’s cool!
– I’ve told you she has clout everywhere!
– You are a real wicked creature, you know? Do you feel envy?
– And what about her apartment?
– Does she have a plan to sell her apartment?
– No, she doesn’t. It’s her favorite dwelling. I haven’t ever heard a word from her concerning a wish to sell it.
– What type of visa is she asking for?
– I have no any idea.
– How long is she really planning to stay in America?
The secretary Julia tried to make the things clear.
– Girls, listen to me! – Julia exclaimed. – She is going to go there just for three weeks and she has filled the application form to obtain a guest visa. I’ve typed and printed a special letter-support on behalf of company’s name for her in order to give it to the American Consulate. By the way, when I asked the boss to sign this letter, he was not happy with this at all. Later on, he gave her his own opinion of the whole situation. Sometimes he is so faint-hearted.
– He is so miserable! He is concerned for his own skin. He doesn’t trust anyone, he is so suspicious. He is afraid she will stay in the States. But she will not stay in America illegally. I know her.
– How could you know and be so sure about her? A week ago she refused from the vacancy in one of the banks, wasn’t it a surprise? We were sure she would grab that opportunity.
– Folks, just a second please. Recently I’ve spoken to one of my closest friends. She knows everything about all the banks in the city. The salary they had suggested to Vika was a bit more than nothing.
– The reason was not in the salary. Vika just has another plan.
– How is she going to live on air?
– Oh, my. She has always been living above her income.
– It’s not your business, dears.
– Well, folks! You’ve had your talk and that’s it! She is attagirl and a very brave one. Is it better to sit cross-legged and play the ass as you used to do?
– So mean… To each his own!
The heated discussion of the local skilful debaters was suddenly interrupted. I appeared in the office, and someone noticed me in the doorway.
The silence followed.
All the girls stood agape and stiffened with astonishment. They fixed the eyes on me.
To clear the air, I gave them my entire disarming smile and loudly said,
– My dear colleagues please relax! The American Consulate refused my US guest visa! I’ve been refused. Do you know why?
At the very same moment I felt how my colleagues breathed again, breathed freely, breathed with relief and then they were all gone in a split second.
– For shame! Oof! – I had no any other words for my sorrow.
5. Acquaintance
The prize, a ten-day sea-voyage around Florida and the Caribbean, was valid for the following eight months, and what? My dream could only come true if I got the American guest visa in six months of time.
I was sure that in order to manage obtaining it, I would have to take into consideration some very important facts – obstacles and appropriated “lucky’ timing; but in what way could I turn a liability into an asset?
My friends from Florida were upset with my failure to get a visa. They tried to support me somehow, by phone with their words of cheer, but they mostly sighed and gasped with a surprise: “Unfair! It’s not good! But next time in six months you’ll get it. No doubts!”
Pretty soon after that phone conversation they disappeared from my life.
I didn’t want to impose my company on them and preferred to take breaking contact with them more or less easy. Yet naturally, when something like that happens in life, it’s hard to feel good about it.
Anyway, step by step my life took its normal course. I couldn’t say that I was in the festive mood, but soon enough I at least was in a good mood at least every other day. From time to time I amused my leisure by staying at home sitting in front of computer and looking for new friends in the web. One day I made a virtual acquaintance with an American man with a good sense of humor, friendly manners and with great ability to express himself in good English.
It happened quickly, unexpectedly, easily and funny.
On the third week of my virtual entertainment on the dating site I dared to write (simultaneously) twenty five short e-mails to the foreigners, who drew my attention for some reason or other.
As I was new at the site, I wanted to explore men’s reaction on my attempts to contact them.
In my e-mails, I tried to find out and emphasize marked individual characteristics of each person. I did it comparatively easily and I was indulgent towards everyone. Since that time the virtual game has indeed started assuming a different, more colorful shadow.
Why did I write to twenty five men but not to a hundred at once?
To tell the truth, I stopped at the 25TH just because I was bored looking for the men’s pictures and reading their profiles.
Later on, I had a good laugh at myself because I couldn’t figure out the author of the e-mail with one normal reply; but I’ve got a lot of different answers with numbers of men’s profiles: civil, equivocal, evasive, vague, glib, witty etc. When I tried to open and look at a man’s profile, I couldn’t.
So after several attempts, I had to ask for help and support from the administrator of the site. He was of considerable assistance to me.
At last, I could identify the person, whose reply seemed to be normal. As it turned out, that was the above-mentioned American man. He was on a business trip in Texas when he got my first e-mail and wrote me just a few words back.
“Thank you so much for writing me, Vika. Your words felt very nice and I appreciate your interest in contacting me. I am very happy to hear from you and very pleased that you are very pretty and seem to have a very warm lovely heart. I enjoyed reading your profile and we have many similar experiences. You are very nice and have lots of energy. I like that. Anything can happen in life as long as you dream. Hope all is well. I will write you again soon. Perhaps we can be familiar. Daniel”.
And so, in such way my and Daniel’s infinite e-mailing across the ocean has started. I looked intently at his nice picture once again and thought that he was not my type of a man, but looked and felt not a bad chap: Kind eyes, soft regular features, a good head of hair, and robust sporty man! I re-read his profile: “Looking for a friend or more. Divorced. No children”.
The name of the town where he lived in his profile could refer to several states in America, and it was a big surprise for me when I got to know that he was from California and lived not far from Hollywood.
Genuinely and twice surprising for him, though, was I had already been to California (three years before). He could not conceal his astonishment at hearing this from me, so