* * * * *
Only at the end of the day did David remember that he had not found a babysitter, but all the students had already left.
«
His eyes mechanically took in the empty laboratory, and halted at Marina.
The teaching assistant wrote something in the laboratory book, closed it, and started to pick up her stuff, ready to go home.
«Marina.»
«
«Do you have any plans this evening?»
Marina tossed her head and gazed over at him. She came close.
«Why do you ask?» She said tenderly and with such open hope that David was amazed. «I did not plan anything special…»
«Could you baby-sit my kids tonight?» David asked. He saw she was disappointed, and, confounded, he added: «I’ll pay you…»
She snorted; her eyes were as cold as ice.
«No way,» she answered sharply. «I mean, I’ll be happy to do it. But without payment.»
«Why not?»
Not a grin, but a ghostly smile flashed from her lips. «Have you ever heard, „Russians have their own pride?“» Marina went back to her desk and got her purse. «If you want me to baby-sit your kids don’t even try to offer me money.»
Fully confused, David nodded.
* * * * *