Владимир Андерсон – Homo Ludus (English edition) (страница 2)

"You know, I kept worrying I'd be late and make you wait."

"Uh, no. What are you. I almost just got here." – replied the girl, and then involuntarily glanced at the table. On it stood three empty water glasses, smudged a hundred times and on all sides by fingers and with lipstick marks on the edges. "What a fool! – she thought. – Now he'll think that I'm either lying or drinking water like a camel… And then there's that hairpin… I've already beaten off half a spit trying to get it to fit. I can't believe I forgot about that. Lipstick, too. Half of it's still on the glasses. It's so cheap. I must have wiped it off my lips. What am I supposed to do, make up in front of him?!"

"How's your article? Is it all right?" – Gustav asked. His whole appearance showed that everything was fine, and his every word was filled with calmness and confidence.

Catherine smiled, "That's all right… In fact, the editor was thrilled. They've decided to put it in the main section in the next issue… I've never met anyone who could tell me so much about anything in such an interesting way. How do you know so much about dogs?"

Gustav smiled back, squinting his eyes slightly. It looked very beautiful and appealing. It was as if he were sharing sunlight and warmth in a gloomy ice cave with people who had forgotten what joy was.

"Kathryn, it's a long story… But, you know, in a nutshell… A few years ago I was living in Canada, near Montreal. I had a small house right next to a forest, and right next to me a canine center. One night I couldn't sleep. I don't know why. I just couldn't sleep. I thought, well, I'll just go for a walk. Get some fresh air. It's better than just lying in bed… I got dressed, went out. And then I hear some yapping. I see a puppy. It's just a little puppy. It's lying on my fence. A Labrador puppy. It's a little girl, pale-colored. Apparently, ran away from this center… But I could not give him, or rather her, of course… But I had to go to them for advice all the time. And the specialists there turned out to be, you know, what kind. I've been doing it ever since.

The girl listened to him with her mouth open. It was so pleasant to realize that it had happened by happy fate. That it was by chance that a man had become engaged in the work that was really meant for him. And that this chance had finally brought her and him together.

"Where's that dog now?"

"Catherine. With me, of course she is. Where else… Oh, and I have a favor to ask of you…"

The phone rang.

The girl frantically reached for her purse. Halfway through the contents, she finally remembered that her cell phone was in a separate pocket. Talking would be unnecessary, but it was her father.

They began to speak, of course, in French. Catherine thought it was possible to make it an advantage, naively believing that Gustav did not know this language – in fact, she only helped to dig her own grave.

"Well now...... – thought Gustav. – You talk to your daddy and you'll get a little Trojan dog… Dream on. You've found the love of your life… You have no idea what you really deserve for what you've done. I'm sure you won't be thinking about the stiletto on your right shoe… You're so sweet looking, you've blown a lot of people away; it's a pity you can't call them to watch your finale – it would be much more effective… I'd do your father separately, but he's not worth my time. Such a beauty, he probably considers one of his main achievements in life: neither breasts, nor lips, nor anything else operated on – they are real. I would have noticed a fake right away…".

As if she felt a mental demand to hang up the phone and, telling her father that she was in a cafe with a guy she was madly in love with, and with whom she seemed to have already fallen in love, she turned the phone off completely. "It was daddy who called. – The girl spoke in an apologetic tone. – I told him I was with my friends. So he wouldn't ask too many questions right now. He knows my friends, they don't like to wait for someone."

"What kind of woman likes to wait." – replied Gustave, and thought. – "Why are you lying out of your ass? You could have just said you were in a café and busy. How many people think that lying makes the truth more convincing… Just ask about the request, and I'll be done with you for today.

"Yeah. You're right. I guess not at all… What did you say about asking?"

"Ah yes. Thank you for reminding me. That request doesn't like to wait either. She's in the car." – Gustav stood up and extended his hand palm upward to the girl. After a stage pause, Kathryn squeezed his hand in hers, stood up and met his eyes quite closely, no longer smiling. She had never felt so calm and good in her life.

"I deserve this man. – Catherine mentally decided. – All my life, I've had nothing but wusses, and nothing works out. It's all about him. I want him in my life. He'll be mine."

Throwing two large bills of money on the table, Gustav touched the girl's waist with the words "let's go" and directed her towards the exit and himself followed.

A little away from the exit, in the yard, was his huge black Cadillac Escalate. When he got behind the car, he opened the trunk, and there in a small animal bag was a small, dark-as-night Labrador, less than a month old.

"What a miracle! – Catherine whispered emotionally, covering her mouth with her palms.

"Yeah. He's three weeks old. He was the last of the five to come out. You could say he's my youngest grandchild. And, to tell the truth, probably the most favorite… I gave away the others to friends who had been asking for a puppy for a long time, and I decided to keep my favorite one. But now I'm on a business trip, and someone has to look after him. You can take care of him, right? It's only 7 days while I'm away.

"Well I have no words. He's so adorable. Are you kidding me? He's so adorable."

"Am I really going to tease you, Catherine. Of course I mean it. You would be doing me a great favor."

"What are you! Of course I agree! How can you refuse him!" – It seemed to her already that this was the happiest day of her life.

"Thank you, Catherine. I wouldn't have time for him at all right now. Too much work while I'm away."

Gustav offered to drive her home, and she agreed. Even though she would have to go separately to get her car, which was parked across the street from the café. It was important to her that she didn't come home alone that day.

During the ride, he told her about his time in Africa, in Zanzibar, about the local customs, and what the island was now, and that if the opportunity arose, it would be possible to go there.

Gustav was actually there in 1896. He managed to persuade Bargash, the local ruler, to come into conflict with the British Empire. He himself had long wanted something more, but his remaining intelligence had kept him from doing so until his weakness had been found.

"Look at what you're leaving behind. – "Gustav kept telling him. – You need power. Seize it, then expand it, and we'll help you with that… You know the whole point of an inheritance. What will you leave to your children?"

Bargash was only the Sultan's brother and had no right to the throne, and that suited him fine, but he had a favorite son, who was only two years old, but was worthy of much more than doing someone's bidding.

Realizing that Bargash would wait for his brother's natural death, Gustav poisoned him himself, and on the appointed day a coup took place, supposedly supported by the German Empire.

The British squadron stood in the roadstead off the coast, knowing full well what to do – Gustavus told them that if they had to fight, let them fire on the palace on the north-east side, the new heir would be there, killing him would avoid many casualties, as he was the only thing important to the new Sultan. The second volley buried the imaginary reason for war – the little boy was dead, and Bargash, having lost the most precious thing in the world, never recovered. Everything he had dreamed of was gone in 387 minutes of the shortest war in human history.

Gustav had several new estates in England and a disproportionately greater pleasure in his own importance and significance in life. He would not remember it now and would not tell Catherine about the beauty of the island of Zanzibar and its sultan's palace, but he wanted to enjoy inwardly again the abilities of the poison, which he poisoned the real sultan – no color, no smell, no symptoms after taking it; the man died simply in sleep, ceasing to breathe, and the time was easy to set the number of drops according to the weight of the victim. "A gift to the Sultan" was the name he gave to the substance.

***

Gustav wasn't in a hurry to get this meeting over with for nothing. Then he had another.

Semi-officially, he was advising the owner of a real estate company, Mienkom, and today he had to oversee one very important policy change for that company. The fact is that this organization, despite its popularity in the capital, practically did not pay taxes – most of the income was derived from the hidden margin (the seller gave his object for the amount of N, and the buyer took it for N + Y, being absolutely sure that it is just N, and Y simply kept Mienkom), and most of the employees were not even officially employed in the organization.