Cказки Призраков. Tales of Ghosts. Премия им. Эдгара По / Edgar Poe Award (Билингва: Rus/Eng)

Yawning, he habitually glanced at the billboard and… couldn’t believe his eyes!

Ivan got out of the car, forgetting to turn off the signals, took out cigarettes and lit up one, staring at the poster «I LOVE YOU!» on the billboard – just that inscription and the familiar face of the girl in a bright red dress! He looked at her, and five years flashed back in the blink of an eye. Ivan had turned gray and was no longer the CEO of either that famous or any other company, meanwhile Inessa had blossomed…

He found her without any difficulty.

Inessa invited Ivan to a restaurant.

«That’s how I became the CEO,» she summed up, not without a sense of pride. «Now I have everything. Except for the man I love…»

Ivan couldn’t believe her incredible success story.

«Let’s get married!» Inessa said finally.

«And where are we going to live?» for some reason he asked, being dumbfounded.

«I was thinking of a flat with some veranda on the roof to buy. Do you remember tales about Carlson?»

«The haunted roof?» Ivan smiled.

«Surely, why not!» Inessa laughed. «Where do you want it, here or in Europe? Or… would you prefer a cottage?»

«An uninhabited island,» he smiled again. «And a private jet as a bonus!»

«Not bad for a start!» Inessa was full of enthusiasm and energy.

«Well done,» Ivan summed up and sighed heavily. «However, I’m no longer the boss, and I don’t have the funds to make your life beautiful. In a couple of years you’ll think, „What do I need him for?“ You’ll be still a young, successful, prosperous lady, and I…»

Ivan walked her to the car.

The road became a skating rink. After a sharp warming in the morning, it got cold again in the evening.

Inessa was leaving, and he felt that they would never see each other, but at the same time he wanted to see her again and again.

That night Ivan was overcome by insomnia. Reflecting on whether he had been right allowing her to leave, he realized that, on the one hand, he certainly liked Inessa a lot, and he would like such a woman to be next to him.

On the other hand… if some years before Ivan had looked at her from the top down, that day – from down up, just as at her billboard at the embankment…

«There is something wrong, unnatural about it. Although, perhaps, I simply wasn’t prepared for her crashing down on me as a sudden snowfall… I’ll call her. Tomorrow…» he decided.

Ivan didn’t want to give Inessa to anyone else. At the same time, he couldn’t overcome his fear and call.