Cora Bloom’s Retribution. Alla Krasnova

gripping the steering wheel very tightly, as if they were afraid to let go and lose control. He had a predatory profile, somewhat like a hawk. My gaze lingered on his face for just a second, and he suddenly looked up at me and smiled. I held my breath and gave him an awkward smile. At that moment, it seemed to me that I was saying my thoughts out loud, because he understood everything I was thinking. So I put my hand to my mouth to see if my lips were moving. I didn’t want to blurt out all my fears and concerns. I wasn’t была sure of anything, andleast of all of myself.

      He got out of the car first, and I hesitated. «Where did they take me? What for? Why not?» My thoughts raced uneasily, but it was too late to change anything, because I had agreed to do it myself. Basically, I had nowhere else to go. And I didn’t even have any luggage with me, everything remained in my old life. I arrived wearing the dress Arnold had given me as a gift before we went to the restaurant.

      Before I was released from the hospital, I was asked, if I needed to hand over my personal belongings, whichalso includedmy phone number and the dress I was wearing in the accident. I thought about it and asked him to give them to Arnold. Arnold was standing next to me, and at that moment he took my hand in support.

      «Youеwill start your life anew,» he told me. «And the past won’t stop you from being happy».» I pretended to believe it, but I don’t know, if it was plausible, my facial expressions hadn’t fully recovered, and I didn’t have the strength to imitate anything.

      Now that I was standing on the threshold of his house, which was so strange and almost unsociable, еsurrounded by large trees and shrubs, I felt vulnerable. I glanced around, as if scanning the road to make a run for it. But I wanted to escape first of all from myself, from the given, from which it was pointless to escape. So when Arnold opened мне the car door for me, I got out and headed for the house without trying to escape.

      ***

      As we entered the house, Arnold took off his light gray pinstripe jacket and draped it over the back of a white chair. This chair stood next to a white round table, on which laya telephone book, an old-style phone with a tape measure, and various decorative ornaments in the form of small figurines in the color of aged gold.

      Next to the table, facing each other, were two sofas of a deep orange color, they stood on a carpet, the patterns on which could be considered as a puzzle, because they were intertwined together, then separated, forming new bizarre patterns. Above them, if you looked up, you could see a large chandelier that was the same muted orange color as the sofas. This color was more like the color of autumn leaves. And if you look ahead, the space went into a large staircase, also covered with carpet, but with a different color and with a different ornament.

      Arnold gave me a – piercing look with his narrow gray eyes.

      I was like, «Is this what I wanted when I came here?» In fact, I didn’t want anything when I accepted his offer. I wanted to hide from people and myself. I didn’t know, what rights I would have to live with him, but he hadn’t made any attempts to get close yet, probably giving me time to catch my breath and think. I had a hard time imagining that I could attract anyone as a woman in my current state, but I was perfectly capable of doing simple chores around the house, even with just one hand. I hoped he’d brought me here out of boredom and pity.

      «Okay,» I said, nodding, and then he offered to take me to my room.

      – I’ve got a surprise for you!» – Arnold said happily.

      I didn’t share his joy, didn’t understand what he was up to, but the fact that the house wasn’t as deserted as I’d initially thought, made me happy. There was a service staff in it. In the hall, on a white table surrounded by white chairs, there was a telephone with a phone book where the numbers of those who worked here were recorded. Arnold said he’d introduce me to everyone in case I needed help.

      Before I went to my room, I saw through the window a tall man in the garden, slightly stooped. Arnold said it – was Fyodor Ivanovich, the manager of the house, who kept order here. Now, looking at the house from the inside, I realized that the tall grass by the fence that I saw from the outside, – was an old-fashioned style, and not a desolation, as it seemed to me at first. The house was indeed styled like an old castle, but inside it was quite modern.

      My room was at the end of a hallway on the first floor. There were many doors in the corridor that were not signed in any way. We just walked past them and I didn’t ask any questions. When Arnold opened the door to my room and we entered, I froze in surprise. There was a portrait of me on the wall, it was a big picture. And that was the surprise Arnold had prepared for me. I looked carefully at the portrait, then at Arnold.

      – Do you like it?» he asked with an awkward smile. The portrait showed me with a guitar, and it was like a flashback from my old life, which I didn’t have now. A strange woman looked at me through my portrait eyes, like a ghost of the past. It wasn’t me anymore.