A person who loves the rain - стр. 9
– Of course, stop by, my good man – the old man agreed.
– Oh, and your milk is tasty. You're a temptress – Aleksey smiled, taking another sip.
They said their goodbyes. Grandpa Trophim walked him to the gate and went to his grandson.
Aleksey reached the prosecutor’s office by evening; he still had to drop by the experts and hand in the bullets and knife found at the crime scene. He went up to the second floor, passed the reception – Lyuba was already gone, meaning his father had also gone home. Aleksey walked to the end of the hallway and opened the door to the room where all the prosecutor’s office celebrations took place: birthdays, promotions, welcoming new employees, and countless other reasons marked in red on the calendar. Empty bottles stood near the table. On the table, besides the dirty plates, were a couple of untouched dishes, ashtrays, and the windows were open.
– So, they were smoking in here.
“Slobs!” thought Aleksey.
Someone was washing dishes; the sound of running water could be heard. He tossed the folder onto a chair and sat down. He heard footsteps. A woman of about 30 came around the corner. A beautiful brunette, hair slicked back, expressive eyes, full lips. A pleasant smile.
– Are you Aleksey? – the stranger asked. – I’m Katya, your new colleague. Everyone’s gone, and Sergey Leonidovich asked me to stay and feed you.
– Feed me – he said, somewhat pensively and sadly, looking at the new employee. Then he stood up. – Katya, I need to do one thing quickly. Will you sit with me?
She spread her hands to the sides.
– You’re so persuasive.
He hesitated. In the office, Aleksey pulled a bag from the desk with the label "Evidence for your new case" and took out one bullet, placing it next to the one he found in the forest.
"Same! Twins! I'll wait for the experts, of course," he thought. Then he locked the office and returned to Katya.
– Are you tired? – she sat down beside him. He nodded, indicating he was.
– Have a drink with me – Aleksey turned to her.
– With pleasure – she agreed – Let me take care of you. She grabbed a plate and served two kinds of salads.
– Thank you – he brightened up. – I’ve been sitting here without lunch.
– What, really?! – Katya sat across from him, folding her hands on her lap, watching as he devoured the plate’s contents.
– If you keep looking at me like that…
She realized she was making him uncomfortable and picked up her own plate.
"I’ll join you."
Aleksei poured cognac into the glasses.
"To getting acquainted!" he raised his glass.
"To getting acquainted," Katya echoed.
"How were you received?" Aleksei asked.
"Quite well, good guys. We already spoke with your father… Filatov is… no comments."
"Yeah… something like that," Aleksei replied. "So why did you transfer?"
"Family reasons. I’d rather not talk about it."
Aleksei nodded in agreement.
"And it's closer to home here. At my previous job, it took a long time to commute, but here, it’s just two trolleybus stops away."
"Shall I walk you home?" Aleksei asked.
"That would be nice," she smiled, then asked, "And what about you? How’s work? You’re home late."
"It’s better to finish everything and not worry. I’ve done all I wanted, so now I’m calm. The area’s quiet, though the city’s been getting noisy lately. Well, work’s still there, but not like before, when… it feels like we used to sleep here. Did you hear about Goryainov getting whacked around here? It was a big event for the neighborhood, such an honor," he added with sarcasm.