Doors are always open

Fourth door

When Alice woke up, it was already ten minutes to twelve. The sunlight couldn't get its way through the tightly closed blinds, but the room was already hot anyway. Alice stretched out her hand and turned on the room fan. Getting out of bed, taking a shower and starting this wonderful day at the summer cottage, full of guests, pleasant chores and fun, was still too lazy. Half an hour after waking up, lying in bed is a little joy that people can afford on a weekend, and freelancers like Alice - in any day, and she was not going to deny herself this pleasure.

- Woke up, beauty? - the husband lying next to her, already fully dressed and clean-shaven, pulled out his headphones and turned off the tablet on which the handsome actor James Korwin was just kissing with some red-haired actress.

- New film? - asked Alice. - Interesting?

- Good. The girl waited for her prince and married him. Tell me why girls want prince so much? Why not pay attention to those simple guys who are near?

- Because princes exist, - said Alice, half asleep. - For example, one of them is now lying next to me. And why should I pay attention to some simple guy there? Happy birthday, Serge.

- Thank you, - the husband leaned over to her, and they kissed for a while.

A car horn sounded outside.

- Guests have arrived, - said Serge. - Come on, mistress, it's time to get up after all.

Alice shook her head and climbed deeper into bed, curled up in a ball under the covers.

She had already managed to doze off again, when suddenly there was a drumming at the door of bedroom and someone screamed loudly in a thick bass:

- Get up, lazy animal! Wake up!

Alice jumped up, threw a robe over her shoulders and opened the door. A huge two-meter guy stood on the threshold, covering the entire doorway with a huge body and his miniature companion, who was stretching her neck with all her might, trying to see something from behind his broad back. It was almost impossible to recognize in this giant a lanky but very puny boy who was Alice's classmate eighteen years ago. Mark lived in the USA for many years and only recently, having arrived on vacation to see his parents, he decided at the same time to visit his school friends, whom he had not seen since graduation party. It's good that she looked at his photos on the Internet in advance, otherwise she would have been afraid now of such an intrusion.

- Alice..., - Mark said in confusion, - oh! We were told... your husband told us...

- What did he say?

- That your lazy watchman is sleeping here, who needs to be woken up so that he can give us the keys to our room.

- Mark, dear, you have completely dropped out of Russian reality, - stated Alice. - Which watchman? Which the keys? You think we are millionaires? We have an ordinary garden cottage on small plot of land. Go up to the second floor, there are two free rooms, choose any. By the way what did you say about a lazy animal?

While Mark hesitated and blushed, Mia, his wife, giggling, ducked under her husband's arm and kissed Alice.

- Your husband said that your watchman is dead drunk and we need to wake him up with just such words...

- I see, - said Alice. - I never cease to be amazed at the courage of this man.

- Alice, you have... - Mia touched her finger to the tip of her nose.

- Thank you, Mia, I know.

Alice showed the guests the way to the second floor and went into the kitchen. Rummage a bit in the lockers, she found a small nontransparent thermos, from which she sometimes drank coffee. Alice took out an icemaker from the freezer. She was going to make cocktails for lunch. Well, no big deal, she will do it to dinner. After finishing preparations, she quickly changed into a swimsuit, pulled on a light chintz sundress and went out into the garden.