with one friend. And it was him that Robert decided to call.
The conversation was short and brief:
– Hi, George. How are you?
– Hi, fine, and how are you? – The voice of an old friend inspired and cheered up a despondent Robert.
– You know, I don’t want to burden you. I’d just like to meet you the other day.
– Great, I’m all for it! Listen, let’s do it tonight, if you don’t have work.
– Yeah, tonight’s really good. Then let’s do it at our place.
– All right, it’s a deal, buddy.
Robert’s friend George was happy to meet them and was clearly in a positive mood. Apparently, something had really changed in his life. Robert and him often “hung out” in different bars, and most often in three. But this time the choice fell on a small and quiet place in the center of the city.
The bar where Robert and his friend spent their evenings was what they called “the colorful place. Robert was a teacher at the time, and George worked part-time somewhere from time to time. The bar was called “Solo Rock”. It occupied the ground floor of a big house on the main street and had a really racy and brutal design. Its dark walls reeked of a pleasant smoky smell. There was a stage in the bar, on which from time to time some youth groups played. The owner was a fan of rock, so there was never any quiet music in the place. And this was not necessary for men who came here to have a “cultural rest”, to listen or tell stories, pour out the soul of an unfamiliar drinking companion … And in general Robert, as a capital intellectual, liked the fact that visitors didn’t get drunk here. And the aura of this bar with a male character was full of empathy and solidarity.
The music of the 90s was playing tonight. As usual, Robert was the first to arrive at the bar. He bought two bottles of beer, asked about the local alcoholic ration, and waited for his buddy. “Hmm, nothing changes, how nice that many things remain, and that’s a good thing,” – he noted to himself. The bar was indeed the same, and had hardly changed in the three years since he and George had last met, except for the revamped stage, where teenagers, apparently a local amateur band, were already bustling about. So, it will be interesting. Robert’s mood brightened up noticeably.
Here comes George, he, as usual, made his friend wait a little longer. “And that doesn’t change,” – Robert noted with a smile as he watched his buddy swiftly descend the stairs straight to him.
– Hey, buddy, good to see you. Our place, as I see it, has not changed, – George looked around, and an enthusiastic smile appeared on his big red face. – So, tell me what happened. I could smell the negativity coming from you last week. Tell me, Robert. Beer is just the beginning, as I remember.
– Yeah, you’re right, George. I’ve been having a hard time lately, no, it’s so fucked up that I can’t digest it all in peace anymore.
– Tell us, buddy,” George said loudly, and then he swallowed his foamy drink and looked directly at Robert, as he always liked to do.
Sometimes it’s hard for a man to complain about life, and this stereotype does not allow to get rid of problems. On the contrary, pain and aggression only accumulate and lead to despondency. Robert was just in that state, when a black streak in life seemed to threaten to turn into a prolonged depression.
That’s why he told his friend everything. About the disgusting psychological state, which was connected with work, or rather disappointment in it, about the aggression toward the principal and teachers. He told about his daughter and about that girl from the tenth grade. About his wife, whose relationship with her was on the verge of total discord and, possibly, divorce. About the talented daughter who was forced to hear the scandals at home, see the sad father and the angry mother. He told, of course, about his mother-in-law, who he felt was causing a lot of trouble in his family. He would have gladly forbidden her to visit them and, in order to see her less often, was already ready to move to another part of town, closer to his wife’s work. Only this would have led to the apparent collapse of the relationship, because his mother-in-law had a very strong influence on his wife and daughter. The planned conversation with his friend turned into a solid monologue, in which Robert poured out and poured out his soul, while George, finishing his third bottle of beer, listened to him attentively with an unflappable expression, which inspired confidence and joy that understanding and male solidarity in everything would be provided for Robert.
– Yeah. That’s a dead end, no, I’d even say it’s a trap, and you’re in it, my friend. But I’ll tell you this: there’s a way out of everything. And you can look at all the stories that have happened to you now from two angles. This is a crisis, and there is a way out of it. I was listening to you just now, and I realized one thing: you have to get out of this pit by changing your thinking. Look at me. You remember what I was like before.
And it’s true that George has changed a lot. He’s become a businessman, he wears a suit. And this is only two years after they stopped communicating for some unknown reason. Now George has an active life position, he is engaged in his favorite occupation, he has a positive attitude and is very friendly with those with whom he didn’t communicate for two years. But it could have been different. Robert finally swallowed the already warm beer and looked at his friend. Yes, George, the convinced drunkard and weirdo, had changed noticeably. Now Robert wanted to hear his story.
But George wasn’t much of a talker; he got right down to business:
– Remember, I told you back at the pizzeria about the psychologist. Well, she helped me a lot, or rather her methods. Training and communication with her changed me. In a short time I pumped up and now with pleasure go to counseling. Maybe you should try it, eh? It can’t hurt. She’s a cool chick, believe me.
Robert agreed that it did make sense to go to training sessions, or at least to try. In any case, it would not be worse, and George had shown by his own example that a non-serious drunkard could well turn into a businessman and a positive person. It is definitely necessary to dial the number from the business card and make an appointment. Especially since she will be in town for another month.
They drank another mug of beer and parted ways in the evening. Everyone went about his business. George, apparently, went to visit that interesting lady, with whom, judging by the conversations, he had met quite recently. And Robert went to his wife. He remembered her unhappy face, the dull kitchen with all the things going on that he absolutely didn’t want to go back to. “I’ll call the psychologist’s office today and make an appointment,” – he decided.
At the same time, everything around him was so in tune with positive thoughts. It was dark outside, but so unusual, as in principle does not happen in the first days of December, – without precipitation and clear. Normally disinclined to romance, Robert drove leisurely, and from time to time he looked up at the starry sky. “Yes, placers of stars can only be seen so well in a small town, which you can’t see in a stuffy metropolis,” it thought. And he remembered his high school and college days, when Robert walked irrepressibly toward his dream, participated in dozens of projects, tuning in to the frenetic pace of the big city. How active he was then and didn’t know what depression was, which could have been about to consume him, and maybe already had.
With these thoughts, with thoughts of a possible visit to his mother in Moscow alone or with his family during the winter vacations, he parked the car, fumbled for the intercom keychain, and headed confidently toward his apartment. Yes, definitely more confident than usual. But confidence was quickly replaced by confusion, as from behind a tightly closed door he heard the commanding sound of his mother-in-law’s voice. She was doing what she called “pedagogical work” with her favorite granddaughter:
– It isn’t good to watch cartoons for a long time! And don’t mind!
Alice’s voice could not be heard,