I am lying on a painted wooden floor in a strange cold house that is miles away from my mistress. I don’t know how long I have been here; I have lost count of the days. Too many of them have passed since that evening when she left me here. She will come back, she surely will. I am waiting for her.
-6-
A young woman was waiting for a doctor at the reception of a private vet clinic. She was nervously walking along the corridor, looking at the clock. To her, time was crawling painfully slow. When the woman got tired of walking, she came to an armchair and had a seat, smoothing out her smart dress mechanically. After fifteen minutes of silent waiting, she stood up abruptly and went to the office. But at that moment the door opened and the vet appeared. He looked rather young for his age, with a little bit of grey in his hair. The vet smiled patronizingly at his visitor and led her to the exit, holding her hand.
“You shouldn’t worry. It is sleeping already. The burial should be paid additionally at the cash-desk.”
The woman stiffened. The owner of the admirable grey hair opened the entrance door and, leading her to the street that was lavishly lit with the autumn sun, continued, “Try to take it easy. The gastritis would have finished him anyway.” He glanced approvingly at a luxurious car, then at his client again and helped her to get into it. After that he began talking to her companion, who had been waiting in the car all the time. The companion seemed to be more communicative. He listened attentively to all the details of the medical procedure and thanked the vet for the urgent performance of their order. The vet nodded in satisfaction and went away.
The woman was motionless. She was staring at the windscreen of the car, taking no notice of the tears that were streaming down her beautiful face. Her companion shook his head, a little troubled. He took a notebook out of his pocket and wrote down in a section, devoted to casual things, ’To buy a puppy of the same colour as Apostle. Not to forget: a white spot on the left side.’
Having put the notebook back into his pocket, he scratched his moustache and went to the cash desk without haste.
