Chapter 1
Perun closed the window of the sales program at his computer with a feeling of great relief. It was his forth sale that day. He worked as a salesman in a newly opened car dealership in the center of Zagreb and he was receiving a percentage of the deal. When he started to do that, he experienced a lot of uncertainty and fear. He was aware that one automobile in his salon costs a lot of money, and there won’t be many people who could afford it.
He lived in a small apartment at the periphery of Zagreb with his mother. He wondered if he would succeed to earn enough money to pay all the expenses for him and his mother, but one thing troubled him more than his thought if he would tie end to end. That was that his beloved girlfriend, naturalized Zagrebian Ariana with origins from Dubrovnik, had great desire to see Italy in winter. She talked about it all the time; collected brochures about her dream and brought them to him to review them together in her flat. Ariana was his dream come true; tall blonde, with strong muscular body, she spent the major part of her salary on hairdresser, pedicures and manicures, and of course, on her style. She worked honorary as a photo model, walked the catwalk and dreamed about the big screen.
Perun adored Ariana. In his eyes she was equal to goddess, that big was his excitement about her. When he opened his eyes in the morning, his first thought was she; he would take the mobile phone and send her good morning message. There wasn’t a day going without they heard each other on the phone or he to write to her on messenger, and he ended the day with a good night message.
One Valentines day he arrived at her flat with a big paper bag in his arms full of delicious products. He had a key; Ariana was still at work and he came early, even before eight, ready to take over the role of a cook and а lover. When he entered, first he turned on the boiler; then he started playing some beautiful music in the living room and dimmed the lights. He planned to make some shrimp salad with caviar canapes for dinner; with them went a bottle of white Rizling wine. He set the table with white, silk tablecloth and put two chandeliers on it. Then he lit them. Finally, he had prepared a surprise; he pulled a single white rose from under his jacket and put it under the sheets of the bed.
When everything was ready, he sat on a pillow on the floor in the living room and put the headphones on his ears, looking for some good music. Somewhat at half past nine, the door from the flat opened and his girlfriend entered.
“Is it you, Perun”, she said sullenly. “I am terribly tired, I have repeated the same scene fifty times today. How was your day?”
“Great”, he replied ” I have surprise for you. The sales are growing fast; I think that in the next few days I will earn a bunch lots of money.”
“Really?” the whole her fatigue disappeared from her face and it lit with a greedy smile. I felt it, from the first moment I knew you were not a total disaster! And how much money we are talking about?
“Well, enough for a dream of mine I have for ages to come true”.
Ariana frowned.
“What dream?”
’I have always wanted to have a house on a reservoir near Zagreb. Few days ago I took a look at a real estate website and I saw that a small house near Bedekovcina’s lakes was for sale. Have you ever been there?”
“Perun, that's nonsense! Are you thinking of spending the money on something else than a trip to Italy?”
“Oh Ariana, if you saw that place just once, you would fall in love with it immediately! There is no more beautiful nature in the world. Few square kilometers of untouched greenery surrounded with calm, quiet water which colors are shining like diamond! It is formed in a hole from excavation of clay and carps live inside!”
“So what?”
“If I earn the money at most for ten days, I will buy the house. Then we’ll move there, just you and I, and we’ll start a new life. There is fifty minutes from there to Zagreb by car, and you and I could go on with our carriers. Enough with the city noise. My mother will stay in Zagreb, she is born here. You and I will go and live in heaven. Don't you want that?
Ariana was listening, her face getting an angry expression.
“Listen, you s.. You darling. Your baby doll is asking you to think about your decision again and if you can, change it. I’m a city girl, and I wouldn’t even think about going to live at a small place, no matter how beautiful the scenery is. If you have some money which you do not know how to spend, I still have my dream. Italy is beautiful this time of the year. And now, tell me what smells so nice from the kitchen?”
“Your favorite dish.”
" Caviar? ”
" With shrimp salad and lots of vegetables. I’m thinking of your diet, too.”
“Oh, my tiger!”
And she holded Perun. It was a beautiful night for him: long in the night, him and Ariana made love.
