Marina. The youngsters… I want a man! You know, a mature, handsome, and interesting one.
Anna. I was in a park yesterday and there was just the right guy, hitting on me.
Marina. Oh yeah? Where?!
Anna. He left anyway.
Marina. So you blew off him. Your loss. Nice guys don’t grow on trees these days!
Anna. Well, you know, that character actually went sprawling across the pavement in front of me.
Marina. Holy Mother of God! Look at her! Men throw themselves at her feet!
Anna. Yeah.
Marina. You are lucky, Anna. But a fool of a woman too. Come here, let me give you a smooch.
Anna. Alright, off I go. The dress will be ready the day after tomorrow.
Marina. Stay, my dear. We can have a chat.
Anna. I have to make it to the kindergarten before work. Nikita is biting again and Sasha dropped the F-bomb onto her teacher yesterday.
Marina. Like father like son!
Anna. What a farce.
Marina. When are you going to sue him for alimony?
Anna. Eh… Come now. Don’t wanna lick the dust.
Marina. The same old story!
Anna. No pressure, please.
Marina. I won’t leave it at that! If only I get a hold of him, that man whore.
Anna. I’ve heard he fled to Kazakhstan to escape mobilization.
The landline rings. Marina answers the phone.
Marina. Fleur de Lys Studio, Marina speaking. Go ahead.
Ah, Lenka, it’s you! That’s right, I’ve moved already. You are actually calling the studio. I set up call forwarding from the previous office. Are you having lunch in Bukovsky? It’s just across the street! Please, don’t bring him here yet, the place needs some renovation. Oh, you wanna pay the debt? Wait a sec!
Anna, stay here. I’m gonna drop in Bukovsky. Lenka Ivanova is there with her new man. She wants to pay me back. I’ll be back in a jiffy. Gonna see this fellow of hers with my own eyes. Then we’ll leave together. I’m going your way so I’ll drive you to the kindergarten.
Marina leaves. Just a minute later, the doorbell rings and Sergey comes in.
Sergey. Hello, are you open?
Anna. Hello.
Pause.
Sergey. Is it you?
Anna. It’s me.
Sergey. May I look around?
Anna. Suit yourself.
Sergey. Sergey Arkhipov. We spoke over the phone earlier.
Anna. Did we? I don’t remember.
Sergey. Your voice sounded different over the phone. It’s so open and bright in here.
Anna. Don’t look at me this way.
Sergey. Don’t be so beautiful then. When I look at you, I seem to regain confidence.