“I’ll talk to him about that,” promised Lydia Grigorievna. “If you ask me, though, this damned company should better burn.”
During the next few days, Nina was not able to go to the hospital as she was up to her eyes in work preparing her quarterly report in the bank. She would very much like it to be her last report on that job, although she had not yet found herself a new one.
On the fourth day, she had a call from Lydia Grigorievna – the woman asked Nina to come to the hospital.
Nina got frightened. “Is something up?”
“Nothing’s up, God forbid,” reassured Lydia Grigorievna. “It’s just your presence is needed here. Can you make eleven o’clock tomorrow?”
When Nina arrived, Lydia Grigorievna caught her in the lobby.
“Don’t you be surprised, Nina. And please, say ‘yes’.”
“Say ‘yes’ to what?”
“You’ll know right away. Sorry for this secrecy, but papa wanted to tell you everything himself, and speaking on the phone is a bit hard for him yet.”
They entered the room. Besides Yevgeniy Borisovich and his bypassed neighbor, there was another man in there – dressed in a suit, with a briefcase in his hands, he was sitting in a corner, obviously waiting for them.
“Here, Nina, please meet our notary.” Lydia Grigorievna introduced the two of them to each other.
The notary suggested that they all get seated and then announced in an official tone, “Dear Nina Yevgenievna, I am entrusted by Yevgeniy Borisovich Kisel, who is present here, to execute a power of attorney authorizing you to exercise the management of the company.”
“Me? Why me? I thought it was going to be Nikolai Nikolayevich…”
Suddenly she heard her father’s voice which she had hardly ever heard in the past weeks.
“That’s decided, Nina. Of course, you should have the power of attorney, who else? You know the company’s affairs better than anyone. My Nikolai is just a technician; he doesn’t know anything outside his pipes and pumps. Same as me, though…”
Somehow it had never occurred to Nina that her father might entrust her with the management of the company. But now that she knew it, she had to admit that it was the right decision.
Lydia Grigorievna was nodding and smiling to her, signaling in every way that she approved of the idea.
Nina said that she did not mind.
The notary started reading out the document which gave Nina a power of attorney. It took a few minutes.
On finishing the reading, the notary said, “Well, if everything’s correct, may you please sign here.”
He handed the paper to Yevgeniy Borisovich. However, Nina’s father was lingering. Leaning back on the pillows, he was gazing at the ceiling in silence.
The pause hung heavily. Worried, Lydia Grigorievna touched his hand and looked into his face.
“Zhenya…”
Yevgeniy Borisovich stirred.
“No,” he said. “Not correct. It has to be a general power of attorney. I wish to give a general power of attorney to my daughter, Nina Yevgenievna Shuvalova.”
Lydia Grigorievna opened her mouth in surprise. Nina’s heart missed a beat. Only the notary who was accustomed to any whims of his clients, remained unperturbed. After some rummaging in his briefcase, he produced a standard form for a general power of attorney. It took him no more than a minute to write in the title of the company and the names of the parties.
Nina was peering at her father’s face. Without a word, Yevgeniy Borisovich started signing the document in silence. One could hear the soft scratching of the pen on the paper.
On signing everything, Nina’s father gave the paper back to the notary. The notary put his stamp on it and handed the document to Nina.
Her father moved his lips, but Nina could not catch anything.
“Did you say something?”
Without looking at her, Yevgeniy Borisovich uttered tonelessly, “You may sell, if you think it right.”
Then, leaning his head towards Lydia Grigorievna, he said, “Lyda, I’m feeling kind of tired.”
Lydia Grigorievna jumped up and, pouring excuses, shooed everyone out of the room.
Right from the hospital hall, Nina made a call to Gradstroiinvest. She was put through to Konstantin, and as soon as she identified herself, he invited her, without asking any questions, to have a meeting with him in his office.
Nina paid a visit to Gradstroiinvest the next day. She did not know what she expected to find there. It was her enemies’ headquarters – the very place where they had devised plots against her father which had nearly killed him. Did she expect to find some kind of pirates’ lair with competitors’ skulls hung on the walls? However, what she found was a nice, well-organized business outfit where everything, including the furniture, equipment, and employees impressed her as sound and efficient.
Konstantin came out to meet her and led her to his office. The office was good, too – light, spacious, decorated in high-tech style. On the wall hung an enlarged photo of two guys in a kayak going through rapids on a mountain stream. A medley of arms and paddles, a wall of water spray with a rainbow, cheerful young faces… In one of the kayakers, Konstantin could easily be recognized.
Konstantin asked Nina to sit down, offered her drinks, and then said, “Dear Nina Yevgenievna, we have heard of the disease of Yevgeniy Borisovich. Please accept our deepest sympathy. I hope Yevgeniy Borisovich will be better soon.”
Nina was unable to sort out her own feelings. In the recent months, Gradstroiinvest had been constantly on her mind – as a vicious, hostile force that had put inexorable pressure on her father and his company. Many times she sent curses at the address of Konstantin and those behind him. As she was going to his office, she was afraid that she would not be able to contain herself – that she would yell at the man, or worse still, scratch up his face. However, when she found herself face to face with Konstantin, she somehow could not focus her anger on him. The man she saw before her was not some kind of movie villain but quite the reverse, a decent person – intelligent, well-mannered man of business. He was a man of business – that was the main thing. He nourished no hostility towards Nina’s father, and the pressure campaign that he had organized was simply his current work. He might be genuinely upset by the misfortune that had befallen a man under whom he had once started his career. He sympathized with Yevgeniy Borisovich and Nina, but he was not going to give up his plans.
Without responding to Konstantin’s sympathies, Nina took out and laid before him the document giving her a general power of attorney.
Konstantin read it carefully and said, “I see.”
Nina decided not to beat about the bush. “You have my agreement to sell the company,” she said firmly.
Konstantin did not display any emotions. He only said again, “I see.” One might think that he had long expected Nina to arrive and say exactly that. He apologized, picked up the phone handset and said into it, “Get Revich to come down here. Let him bring the contract.”
Revich was the chief accountant whom Nina remembered from their meeting at the fair. Once in Konstantin’s office, the accountant put a thin file on the table before his boss and sat silently aside.
Konstantin handed the file to Nina, “This is a draft contract. Please acquaint yourself with it.”
Nina took the file. Her hands were shaking slightly.
Konstantin said, “Of course, we do not expect you to sign at once. You need to study everything carefully and consult a lawyer.”
“Yes, of course,” replied Nina. “But if you don’t mind, I’d rather have a first look at it now in order to get a general idea. Maybe I’ll have some questions to ask right away…”