In an instant, I found myself on the floor, miraculously grabbing the edge of the bathtub. A chill ran down my back: «My body reacted faster than me! I’m afraid to imagine what would have happened if my head or neck had been where my hand was… Brrr!» Something else was mixed in with the goosebumps – again that persistent cool stream of air, strikingly similar to touches. «What do you want? I give up!» I thought helplessly, carefully getting up. I returned to the room, limping slightly. And I sank down on the sofa, thoughtfully looking out the window at the numerous lights of the multi-story buildings. My eyes softly closed on their own due to fatigue, and I did not notice how I dozed off. Through my sleep I felt a cold stream of air touch my hand again. And gradually, when the outside world faded, this cold took shape before my inner eye.
– What are you doing here? – I exclaimed in fear, seeing Leo’s image in front of me, emerging against the background of thick blackness.
– You were thinking about me, and I came. I feel you, – he bowed slightly with his signature wide smile and brought my palm to his lips, leaving a light kiss on it. – Or have you forgotten?
– Let’s say I guessed, but I didn’t know. You are doing strange things to me – I haven’t picked up Tarot cards for a long time, and now thoughts of you won’t let me go. Do you know what’s going on?
– Our meeting was predetermined even before birth, – he nodded seriously. – And I was waiting for you – you yourself felt that some force was deliberately leading you here, to Petersburg. Ever since school, you have seen vague images of a huge corporation and new technologies before your eyes and anticipated my appearance, strove to find me and this place. So go to the end!
I looked up and, slightly squinting, stared at Leo, evaluating his words. «How does he know about my visions?» I shuddered. The look of his dark eyes was unusually serious – he stared at me intently in response, as if making it clear that what was said should not be questioned.
«And what do I need to do?» I whispered, as if under hypnosis, looking into his almost black eyes.
«Just be sure of your intention to reunite until the end, and I will come.»
…I opened my eyes sharply. The sensation of the cold stream’s touch still remained on my skin. I glanced at the watch on my wrist – I had only dozed for about forty minutes.
Some strong clot of energy appeared in the solar plexus and chest – my body had never reacted to any man before. And he’s right!
I really have had visions since I was fourteen – as if within the walls of a large corporation I meet a tall young man with a shock of dark hair, wearing glasses, so serious and playful at the same time, with whom we work together on a project.
Is there any point in resisting what is predestined? Maybe my whole life up to this point has led to this moment – how can you refuse the interweaving of fate?
***
The long-awaited weekend has arrived. Our event was split into two days, and Leo and I presented our project at the end of the program. So on the first day, I went alone. Leaving home at half past six in the morning, I set off on a long but already familiar journey from a remote residential area to the city center – Petrogradsky Island, where St. Petersburg began to emerge.
The spacious Leo Tolstoy Square opened up to my gaze, surrounded by intricately decorated building facades as dominant features of the island – stone lace the color of coffee foam, white chocolate and rose petals.
– Good morning. Today you are especially beautiful, – I mentally addressed the spirit of St. Petersburg, briskly walking to the coffee shop.
A smile did not leave my lips, my whole body was seized by a joyful and light feeling. Everything pleased my gaze, everything seemed especially bright and enchanting. There was a premonition of rapid changes in the air and the imminent arrival of spring, my favorite time of year, when nature awakens to life and gives new hope.
– You heard my call to give in to love, – I seemed to hear the answer of the spirit of this most mystical city in the country. – Relax. The days of triumph you have been waiting for so long have come.
Having drunk coffee on the go, while climbing the stairs of the old, half-restored building, I entered the venue. A spacious round hall opened up to my gaze, its numerous windows generously filled the air with light and opened up a view of the majestic building of the Mironov Theater, dressed in black lace.
Gradually, the hall filled with employees and lecturers, filled with the hubbub of joyful voices. Finally, everyone sat down along the perimeter, fell silent and immersed themselves in work. What was happening was truly captivating: this relaxed atmosphere in which people opened up in a different way, outside the framework of work, and most importantly – the common desire for knowledge that everyone present shared. Yes, they may forget more than half of what they heard the next day, but today everyone has a chance to learn something new, to plant a new seed of an idea in themselves, which can then influence their thoughts, actions and even their worldview.
Time flew by while they were working, and lunch came unnoticed. A small group of colleagues and I headed to a coffee shop across the street, sharing our impressions of the first part of the program along the way.
«You look gorgeous today,» one of them whispered in my ear.
My face lit up with a smile. I had just hurriedly pulled on a black jumpsuit made of flowing fabric in the morning, threw a strict black jacket over it, and casually shaded my lips with red lipstick.
But today’s outfit is nothing. And what will happen tomorrow!.. I couldn’t hold back a wide smile, already anticipating my triumph tomorrow after my long and careful preparations.
We were walking along a busy street, when suddenly my phone vibrated in my pocket. «Another spam,» I thought.
But I saw the notification on the screen and froze.
«How is the event going? By the way, there is an error in your brochure for it.»
«Leo,» I smiled widely at the most unexpected message in the world, warmth and light quickly spreading across my chest. Today, February 19, he wrote to me himself for the first time – not about work, not to corporate email, but personally, asking how my day was going. I felt that he needed a reason to write to me – let him at least start by pointing out my small mistake in preparing the brochure for the event.
«Kira, why are you frozen? Let’s go!» my colleagues called out to me. I didn’t even notice how I stopped in the middle of the crowd – the world around me ceased to exist, and I was enthusiastically typing the answer with my fingers reddened by the cold:
– We are all imperfect, what can you do. The event is going interestingly, and how is your day?
Raising my head, I could no longer hide the wide smile that gave me away. The girls exchanged meaningful glances and smiled: they liked to tease me jokingly about admirers. I was not a lonely girl – I was a girl on my own. And I took all the courtship of young men and attempts to introduce me to someone rather coolly – after all, my heart had been taken from the very day Leo and I crossed eyes at the checkpoint.
Funny, hopeless? But today, for the first time, I answered them with a sincere smile, and not a strained mask as a tribute to the game.
Another cautious step towards each other – as if we were rebuilding a once destroyed bridge over an abyss brick by brick. He ignored my question and only naively wrote:
– Schwein doesn’t scold me that I didn’t come?
– No, – I sent with a smiling emoticon, thinking about his excessive caution in relation to the one whom I treated as a mentor.
Eva