Danny Osipenko "Miranda Sparks’ wonderful life"

When the time came to decide on an institute, I told my father that I was going to be a doctor. Then my grandfather, my mother’s father, who lives in Germany, came to visit us. He was a professional neurosurgeon, who performed a huge number of successful surgeries and earned great respect among his colleagues. At the moment grandfather is already retired and from time to time, travels to different symposiums and conferences, where innovations in medicine are discussed. But he is still recognizable and authoritative, even in the eyes of the younger generation.

My grandfather was proud of my professional choice and began to pay a lot of attention to me so that I, too, would become a professional neurosurgeon. We spent hours at a time, exclusively in discussions. I promised him that I would become the best doctor in the world and cure my mother, and he said that everything can be only if you believe in it. And I did. But it took time to reach those heights, which unfortunately my mother didn’t have.

She was gone, two months before my graduation. She was gone, and with her came, from each of us, something alive, filling that void with unbearable pain. I couldn’t eat or sleep, and I turned into a recluse. My father drank routinely and stayed away for long periods of time, leaving me alone in the big cottage, which became torture for him and me. The memories of my mother were so colorful and vivid, and I imagined that she was still with us. That she was sitting beside me, pressing me against her, humming a familiar tune from her youth, as she had done before.

It took me aВ long time toВ start living aВ normal life. My dad and IВ were pretty much done talking. All our discussions lasted no more than aВ minute, where either ofВ us would just say hello and go off toВ our own place.

And later came aВ period when IВ started traveling aВ lot, trying toВ find my newest self. During my prolonged absence, my father perked up, as if someone had replaced him. He, out ofВ the blue, began toВ insist that IВ come home, and routinely told me that we should be aВ family now. And when IВ came back, he started telling me how IВ needed toВ live my life. IВ was under constant control. Because ofВ this, IВ was again throwing everything away and going toВ another country toВ be away from him and his unnecessary tutelage. We quarreled aВ lot, we did not listen and understand each other enough. As IВ packed my own suitcase, my father hired people here toВ find me and bring me back.

At one point, when I went with the volunteer movement to India, the military came to our camp and took me against my will to some base, where I sat, in a damp and dirty room, for three days. Then my father’s men came and took me back home.

We fought wars for a long time, trying to get through to who we were when Mother was still alive. And the war between us would still be going on if I hadn’t given up. I was tired of running around and finding things that weren’t clear. That’s why I decided to put the brakes on what was still left, namely, my own father. He was just as miserable as I was. We were the cause of our own loneliness, so only we could help each other.

For my father’s sake, I reincarnated into an obedient daughter who did not rebel and did everything she was told. I went to college and devoted myself to the family business. I became a British lady and almost embroidered a cross.

IВ was routinely talked about inВ high society and invited toВ social gatherings. My father would walk with me proudly into society, and IВ would walk beside him uncomplainingly.

But everything changed after I met Mike Norland. For the two of us, it was love at first sight. He told me I was the most beautiful woman in the world, and I said, «He’s an intolerable liar. Our affairs were not perfect, but we adored each other wholeheartedly, and that was completely enough for us.

I met him in late fall in New York, at a party thrown by what later turned out to be a mutual acquaintance. In March, I introduced Mike to my dad. It was not the reaction I had hoped for, for that same evening, Dad told me that I had to break up with Mr. Norland immediately. He knew very well that I wouldn’t do that. That’s why he started pressuring me, telling me that he would spare no expense or effort to make sure we weren’t together anymore.

And again the war began.

At first, it was all the little things, like zeroing out my credit cards and sounding off that I was no longer his daughter. Then, things took a more drastic turn. My father got Mike fired, from Molose-Hole Construction Company, where he had worked for over a year5, as head of public relations. It was totally expected and in the spirit of my dad, so we weren’t surprised or upset. Mike almost immediately managed to find a job in a small design studio, which was engaged in the design and creation of kitchen sets. Only not in Ottawa anymore, but in Toronto. I, on the other hand, got a job as a secretary in a law office, with Mr. Harry Peterson, a divorce lawyer. Through this job, I learned to make very solid coffee and to be a little more aware of people.

Mike and IВ rented aВ small but nice apartment on the edge ofВ town. When we moved in, all we had was aВ bed and aВ shabby wood table. But even without looking at all that, we were recklessly happy.

Every day began with Mike and ended with him. I adored him madly, as if he were my air and my universe. I learned how to make his beloved pasta bolognese and long walks in the evening. And everything would have been fine except my father found us. And he did what he always did – he hired people to take me, against my will, back to him. I bit and scratched and even begged them to leave us alone, but they didn’t care.

I wasn’t able to get in touch with Mike until I was in my father’s office. I asked him to give me a little time to work things out peacefully. But Mike said he had to talk to my dad himself. He wanted him to accept our business so we could have a relaxed marriage. But before that could happen, he had to get my dad’s approval. And I couldn’t talk him out of it, which I regret at the moment. But the past cannot be undone, and the mistakes that have already been made cannot be undone.

Mike died, August 28, 2010, at 10:50 p.m. He lost control, the police station told me. His car was found off the road on the way to Montreal. He hit a tree and the forceful impact caused a brain haemorrhage, which resulted in Mike’s death at the scene.

I had to be there to identify him, a few days after he was found. It was the worst horror of my life. To see his unmoving face and know that he wouldn’t look at me again. That he wouldn’t tell me how much he loved me, or kiss me. Without Mike, life made no sense at all. I could stay awake for days at a time, just sit by my bed with his picture on it and sob silently. I wanted to scream from the unbearable pain and longing for him. It almost made me climb the walls.

A couple of times I tried to commit suicide, but every time my father brought me back. When I was already in the clinic, I would open my eyes and see his pale, worried face, which was what I hated most of all at the time. It annoyed me to have someone with me all the time. Whether it was my father, my friends, or my relatives, no one would let me be alone. I knew they did it because they adored me and feared losing me. But I couldn’t live in a world where Mike was no longer there. I couldn’t just rip the love that was hurting my heart right now out of my chest. After another attempt to make ends meet, my father sent me to a private clinic, where I stayed for a little over a year. And then he took me to my grandfather, because he realized that it was still hard for me to forgive him.

There I found peace and practically stopped sobbing at night. The pain wasn’t gone, it was just a reminder that I was still alive, and that I had to go on living, just for the sake of Mike’s memory. On weekends, my grandfather and I would go fishing. The rest of the day, I helped out at the children’s center for the autistic unhealthy. A little later, I signed up for a web design course. And after finishing it I got a certificate and left Devonshire for Ottawa, where I live now. There I got a job and a little later bought my own little apartment.

Dad and I communicated, but not like we used to. I was done blaming him for Mike’s death. After all, he really wasn’t to blame for it. Just then, I needed someone to blame, at least some of the pain I’d felt. And that someone was my father. He knew how I felt, so he took all the heat for it.

At this point in our family, things were slowly getting better. We agreed to a peaceful coexistence, where as much as we could, each of us tried to be less intrusive in the other’s life. From time to time, I did my duty as a daughter and went out with Dad to show all his partners and acquaintances that we were doing fine.

InВ general, В«peace and friendship and bubblegum.

ChapterВ 3

– Take it, it’s for you.

IВ handed Frank aВ box ofВ cookies.

– Tommy. – He pronounced and placed it carefully on the table.

– These are pink cookies. I don’t know if you like them. My aunt brought them back from France yesterday. I don’t really like sweet things myself, maybe you’ll like them!

– Thank you! Are you going somewhere now?

– Yeah, for the fundraiser. I think I’ll be gone until9.

– Shall I call a cab for you?

– Oh, no, you don’t! I’m supposed to be picked up.

Frank looked at the computer monitor.

– Then, totally maybe it’s up to you!?

IВ leaned against the table and looked at the dark car Frank was pointingВ at.

– Most likely. Well, I guess I’ll be going, then. And don’t forget the cookies.

– You can rest assured, miss, I certainly won’t forget them.

Cousin Patricia, Aunt Jo’s oldest daughter, came to pick me up. In May, she was supposed to turn twenty305, but because of her short stature and childlike face, she wasn’t supposed to be more20 than that. Patricia, had reddish, naturally curly hair, a firm heel, and a tough temper. She was not one of the people I was intimately acquainted with. I knew as much about her as Mr. President knew about me.

Also, Patricia worked in my father’s company. For more than 12 years, she had been hunched over for him and was probably the only one in our family who never got into scandals. According to Aunt Jo, her eldest daughter, most like a man, because of her own business acumen and rigid ways of working. And it also bothered my aunt that her thirty-five-year-old daughter was still single.

IВ glanced sideways at my cousin, who was rapidly typing something on her phone as we drove toВ aВ fundraiser her mother was throwing.

In general, charity for me is like buying hot dogs for bucks50, but giving for them70. And to do it as if those bucks20 helped change the world. Seriously, that’s exactly how it looks. Until one day you step in someone else’s shit and realize that the good is good and the ugly is still there. And no matter how hard you try, you can never make the world the way you want it to be. So you get discouraged and lose enthusiasm, but you’ll still keep leaving bucks20, because your conscience is clear and you’re morally satisfied.

Now, I just brought with me, just the bucks20. And it’s not because I’m stingy for life. No, it’s not! The reason was more banal than you could ever imagine. It’s just, it was all I had. There were two days before payday, and if this event, say, for example, on Thursday, I would not be stingy, and would donate, his honestly earned three hundred bucks, for such a good cause.

In general, if you’ve ever been to this kind of event, then you may remember those old ladies, dressed in luxurious furs, who leisurely dash from one acquaintance to another. At first, you are struck by them, then you look closely, and somewhere in the third minute, you begin to recognize in this lady, one of your own relatives. Like, for example, I saw my Aunt Jo as soon as I entered the small room of the local art museum on the 3rd floor.

– Thank goodness! I was beginning to think you weren’t coming.

– Hello, auntie!

When she hugged me, IВ thought IВ could even taste the sweet taste ofВ her perfume inВ my mouth.

– Your father, no way, is a great man! Now Arbiter Ramsey was able to come, even though he said he wouldn’t be here a few days ago. I wasn’t the least bit taken aback when I found out it was because your father was coming. I always knew that Henry, which, incidentally, is my father’s name, would be a great success in his business. But not like this! I couldn’t even dream of that. It’s a shame, of course, that Claire left us so soon. She was a saint.

Nothing disgusting was ever said about my mother. Everyone knew her as the beautiful, cheerful, and kind spouse ofВ Mr. Henry Spikes. Which, evidently, cannot be said ofВ me.

Almost every seat inВ the auction hall was taken. So IВ slowed my pace as IВ spotted an empty chair, inВ the right row, off the small improvised auction stage.

– Where are you running to, young lady?

Behind me was an old lady inВ aВ perfectly tailored peach-colored tweed suit with aВ thin string ofВ pearls around her neck.

– Nowhere, madam. Please, come in!

Such prim girls, always trying to cut in line. Because, you see, they have been through a lot more than you have, and also, in the rules of good upbringing, it is considered bad form not to give way, a person older than you, a seat. Which, in principle, I – a young, well-mannered lady – had to do. Specifically, I had to let an old lady into the empty seat I was claiming.

InВ order toВ finally sit down, IВ now had toВ drag myself across the room, cursing my apologies as IВ passed other people who had already taken their seats. As IВ made my way toВ aВ free chair, IВ banged myself inВ pain. The nasty, throbbing pain inВ my knee reminded me ofВ when, as aВ child, my mother had gently treated my scrapes and sores. IВ swiftly wiped away the tears, so no one would see them. IВ did not want toВ become another victim ofВ gossip mongers, or simply inquisitive individuals who loved toВ discuss such displays ofВ helplessness inВ their own small circle, with aВ glass ofВ local French wine.

– Excuse me sir, may I…

Next toВ aВ vacant chair, sat aВ man, inВ aВ gray-blue three-piece suit, who was reading the newsletter ofВ the current auction when IВ approachedВ him.

– Yes, of course.

He had toВ get up from his own seat so IВ could get through.

– Thank you, sir. – The man nodded his head courteously in response to my reply, and began again to examine the lots on display for the day.

I, too, picked up the ballot as IВ sat down, and almost shrieked inВ surprise when IВ opened the last page.

«What the hell!» – I wanted to say when I found out in the last lot, my mother’s beloved brooch my father had given her, in honor of their third anniversary of marriage.

Well, nothing for yourself, aВ turn ofВ events!

ChapterВ 4

20 The $500 that was in my purse now seemed like a pittance. Because the original price of my mother’s brooch was 500 bucks, not 20.

At the auction, there were a lot of people who I knew well, and who also knew me. I could have asked one of them to buy my mother’s brooch, but as luck would have it, all those people were sitting very far away from me at the moment. There was no one in front or behind me who I could ask for such a favor.

IВ began toВ shiver nervously as the last item was brought onto the stage. AВ small brooch, inВ the shape ofВ aВ bee, made ofВ white gold and studded with dark diamonds, which my mother adored so much.

– No… no… no… no! – I kept repeating.

The auctioneer pronounced the initial price, making it clear that the bidding had begun.

– 700. – Raising the sign, the lady in the black velvet dress said.

– A thousand bucks! – The man in the third row answered.

With each bet, it felt like my heart was clenching desperately in my chest. I needed to do something, but I didn’t know what to do. My father had acted inappropriately in putting my mother’s thing out there without telling me. I was very angry with him, but that anger did nothing to help me at this point.

– 2000! – The old lady to whom I had given up my seat not so long ago clicked.

– 3500.

IВ almost jumped up inВ surprise when the man sitting next toВ me said resoundingly:

– 5,000 bucks.

I turned in his direction. It seemed that, at the exact moment he said it, something was finally beginning to make sense to me. Specifically, my only chance to get my mom’s brooch back.

– 5500!

– Sir!» I grasped the sleeve of my neighbor’s jacket.

The man looked at me inВ surprise.

– 5,500 times! – the presenter pronounced resoundingly.

– Sir, please buy back this brooch!

– 5500 two!

– This thing is very dear to me. It once belonged to my mother. If you help me, I promise I’ll give you double the value for it!

– 6,000! – I heard the painfully familiar voice of my own father.

– Me-my name is Violet Spikes and I’m Henry Spikes’ daughter. I don’t know if you know him! But please believe me, I’m not some crook or whatever they call me. Sir, I really need that brooch, but I’ve only got a buck20 on me. – To be sure, I took it out of my purse and showed it to my friend. – I didn’t know Mom’s brooch would be on display right now, please believe me!

В«What else can IВ say toВ this man toВ get him toВ helpВ me?В»

IВ was desperately gnawing his eyes, trying toВ figure out if IВ could get through toВ him orВ not.

– Six thousand, two! – the booming voice of the presenter sounded.

– Ten thousand! – Raising his sign, my neighbor said.

For the first time inВ my life, IВ wanted toВ hug someone as badly as IВ was hugging this man right now. IВ took my hands off his jacket and looked gratefully inВ his direction.

– Thank you, sir!

– 12,000. – It was my father.

– 12,000 ra…

– Fifteen thousand! – the neighbor answered at once.

– Fifty thousand bucks! – my father kept up with me.

My rescuer looked at me questioningly.