George’s journey through time. Meeting the First Humans

George hurried down the stairs and went to Marie’s house. Having gotten pretty lost, he finally found a small house surrounded by green trees.

In response to his persistent knocking, a gray-haired old woman with curls came out.

— Please call Marie! — said George, his voice breaking, either from excitement or from fast walking.

«Marie is not well now,» answered the old woman, looking sternly at George.

«Then please give her this,» said George, taking out a huge bouquet of roses from behind his back, «and this.»

George, taking out a pen, hastily scribbled on a piece of paper: «Marie, I love you very much, get well, I’ll come to the restaurant tomorrow, George.»

Without saying anything, the old woman took the bouquet and the note and slammed the gate.

If George had been a little more observant, he would have noticed how, a little later, the second floor window opened, and a lovely young girl blew a kiss after him.

But this is probably the property of all lovers that they are so distracted, or rather, absorbed in the object of their love, that everything else that does not relate to her or him simply escapes their attention.

George was in no hurry to visit his cousin, knowing that he would again have an unpleasant conversation with his mother, and besides, he was overwhelmed with impressions after the concert.

The sun was shining brightly, light white clouds were floating across the sky. George’s soul was light and calm.

«I’ll wait until evening, mom will probably leave,» he decided. So he wandered around the small cozy town until the last rays of the sun left him, smiling widely with his open white-toothed smile to every passerby.

Contrary to George’s expectations, his mother did not leave. She, however, had already gotten ready for the trip and was standing with her things in a hiking suit.

«Son,» she said, «I’m leaving now, so we don’t have much time left.» Of course, Marie sings well, she has rich vocal abilities and, perhaps, over time she will become a good singer, but you are engaged to Lucy.

— Mom! I love her! — George said clearly and clearly.

His mother looked at him searchingly and anxiously.

Taking a short breath, she said: «Get ready to talk to your father.»

They didn’t say a word until the station. But if the mother, sighing heavily, was intensely thinking about everything that had happened, then George, smiling serenely, enjoyed the play of clouds in the clear starry sky.

After seeing his mother off, George returned to his cousin. She was already waiting for him and wanted to talk to him. But looking at him sternly and condemningly, she realized that, in general, there was nothing to talk about. George’s face shone with such a sincere, such a pure smile, and his whole appearance expressed the state of a truly happy person, the state to which everyone strives and which, alas, happens so rarely that the cousin just waved her hand.

«Maybe he’s right,» she thought.

And while George was sleeping serenely, in a sleep that probably only babies sleep, who are just entering this world and do not know its vices, cousins and cousins were quietly talking about something until the morning.

Another person in this cozy provincial town did not sleep either. In a small cozy house, surrounded by green trees, a lovely young girl was sitting at the table. Soft light fell from the green lampshade onto her thoughtful face with wonderful flowing hair falling onto her shoulders. In front of her stood a huge bouquet of roses, and two notes from George.

George’s mother was also awake. Lying in a soft, comfortable compartment, listening to the sound of carriage wheels, she intensely pondered the future fate of her boy.

The gray-haired noble gentleman, one of the co-owners of a reputable electrical engineering company, did not sleep that night either. Tossing and turning heavily from side to side in his luxurious bed, he was intensely thinking about the affairs of his company. They weren’t doing well. And George’s wedding to Lucienne, whose father owned a 5% stake in the company, could significantly improve his situation.

«Eh, George, George,» he sighed.

…

Needless to say, the lovers completely surrendered to their feelings. George went to Marie’s concerts every evening, and walked her home every evening.

Sometimes, inhaling the unique aroma of her girlish skin, looking at the delicate curls of Marie’s hair on her beautiful white neck, on her shoulders, George felt a wild, bestial desire awakening in him. At that time he wanted to tear the dress on Marie’s chest and sink his lips into hers, stroking her elastic hips with his strong masculine hand.

But, looking into the beautiful deep eyes of his beloved, he felt how a wild unbridled beast was turning into a timid lamb, and then this feeling was replaced by another, no less strong — enthusiastic worship of her beauty.

To tell the truth, Marie also had similar feelings for George, but the uncertainty of her position and natural caution restrained her impulses.

Time passed, George’s short vacation was coming to an end, it was no longer so hot in the mornings, and the morning dew on the leaves was already scorching with its coldness, and George, who had actually burned all his bridges behind him, still did not dare to propose to Marie.

This was helped by chance, which, as usual, only releases the tight spring of the trigger, cocked by previous circumstances.

In order not to hurt Marie’s sensitive, responsive heart, George prudently hid an expensive Parker, a watch worth $2,000, in a word, all the things that could emphasize their different financial status.

But one day, while making complex calculations for his electric motor, he stayed up late into the night, was very tired, and out of habit, he put the Parker in his shirt’s breast pocket. He slept almost until lunchtime. And he quickly washed himself and ran to meet Marie.

Such an expensive thing did not escape her attentive gaze.

— Where did you get this, George? — Marie asked almost in fear, «Where did you get it?» Did you steal it?

«What, dear,» asked the perplexed and alarmed George.

— After all, it probably costs a lot of money! — and Marie pointed to the gold parker treacherously peeking out of George’s pocket.

Cursing himself for his forgetfulness, George realized that everything needed to be explained to Marie.

«You see, dear,» he said, annoyed at his mistake, «I have not only a gold Parker, but also a watch worth 2000 dollars, and all sorts of other expensive trinkets.»

Marie listened to him carefully.

— My dad is quite a rich man and sometimes spoils his son with such things.

He chose to remain silent about the jaguar given by his father in honor of the successful defense of his diploma.

«Yes, yes,» Marie said somehow distantly, «I understand everything, dear.»

It was as if a black cat ran between them. Marie was aloofly silent the whole way, and George felt awkward too.

At home, Marie gave vent to her tears. «He loves, he loves me,» she sobbed childishly into the pillow, «but he will never, never marry me.»

George was also in despair, the last drop of fuel added to the fire of his mental suffering was a short telegram: «I know everything. Lucy.»

Just like on the first evening of meeting Marie, he could not sleep. The cold September wind blew, hastily and angrily, tearing leaves from the trees, the last unharvested apples fell with a dull thud onto the ground that was already beginning to freeze. George was restless in his soul: «After all, I love her, I love her,» he thought, lying in bed, «but how hard it will be for me, because I will lose my father’s support.» And the stern, strong-willed face of his father stood before him. «Always remember, son, that you are George Tim, the son of Peter Tim,» he always told him, «and real Irish blood flows in your veins. And the Irish are a stubborn people.»

«And since the Irish are stubborn people,» he thought, as if arguing with his father, «why, in honor of his beloved girl, a girl without whom he cannot live even a day, cannot give up the habits of his circle. After all, you can spend your vacation not in Hawaii, and you can eat scrambled eggs and bacon without using expensive dishes, as long as Marie is nearby.»

And ashamed of the moment of weakness, he thought: «Tomorrow we’ll go to the local priest and get married.»

The cold September wind was blowing, but George felt warm and cozy.

The next morning, barely waiting for the service to begin, George ran to church.

«Father,» he said to the priest, «I want to confess.»

The priest silently pointed him to a booth.

Walking into the booth, George saw a window covered with a screen.

— What oppresses you, my son? — he heard a quiet, insinuating voice.

«I don’t even really know myself,» said George thoughtfully, «I’m engaged to one, but I want to get married to the other.» Is this a sin, father? — he asked.

«It depends on which way you look at it, my son,» the priest answered evasively, «is your bride rich?» he asked after a short pause.

«Yes, very much,» answered George.

— What about the second one? — asked the priest

«She has nothing but two old parents and a wonderful voice,» George answered.

— Is your bride beautiful? — asked the priest.

— I guess so.

What is true is true. Lucienne was at that wonderful age when nature generously bestows a girl with its charms. At twenty-two, she looked more like a woman than Marie with her almost girlish curves. And when she slowly walked through the institute’s corridors, all the men, including gray-haired professors, stared at her slender, long, beautiful legs.

— Do you love your bride? — he asked again.

«I don’t even know,» George answered with a sigh.

— And the second? — asked the priest.

«I can’t live a day without her,» George exhaled passionately.

There was silence behind the curtain for a long time. And then the priest quietly and thoughtfully said: «Love, my son, is a great power, it is it that lifts a person from hell to heaven. But the beautiful flower of love, my son, must be protected and cherished in your heart, otherwise it may dry out prematurely and wither from unnecessary insults and petty suspicions.

The screen window suddenly opened slightly, and George saw before him the simple, tired face of an elderly man.

«Come get married tomorrow,» he said.

Already at the exit from the church, the priest’s question caught up with him:

— What’s her name?!

— Maria! — George shouted.

«Mary — Aria — I,» echoed loudly in the church walls and froze somewhere high, high under the dome.

Arriving from church, George carefully shaved, put on his formal suit and went to see Marie. And although he tried to walk calmly, his heart was beating faster.

«I wonder why this is so? — George was surprised, — after all, when he proposed to Lucy, or rather, his mother and father forced him to propose, he felt completely calm. Yes, I probably didn’t feel anything,» George was amazed at his little discovery, «that’s why I wasn’t worried.»

Here is a familiar little cozy house. Feeling his heart beat even faster, George hastily pulled the door bell of the treasured door. Marie’s mother opened it.

«Miss Haggis is sick,» she said and wanted to close the gate behind her.

Something stirred in George’s soul:

But I need to talk to her, definitely talk,» he said with such pain in his voice that the surprised old woman silently let him pass.

Running up to the second floor, George found Marie sitting at the table. The lovely blush had disappeared from her cheeks, and her face looked swollen and unhealthy.

«Yes, she cried, poor thing,» George was amazed, «but nothing, now I will tell her about my decision, and she will understand how much I love her.»

«Marie,» George began in a solemn, almost gloomy voice, «I love you and propose to unite your destiny with mine.» Tomorrow we will get married at the local priest.

— Why do you need this, George? — Marie said with a sad smile, «why would you ruin your career for the sake of some singer.»

«But Marie,» George began passionately, «my career is nothing without you.» And, even working as an ordinary engineer, even without my father’s support, I will earn quite a decent amount of money, quite enough to feed both of us. Yes, I come from a rich family. But believe me, both workers and engineers receive quite a decent salary at my father’s factory, which is enough not only for food and clothing. Almost everyone has a car. You and I will live in a factory house, this, of course, is not my father’s apartment, but you can live in it perfectly, and besides, the rent there will be much lower than in a private apartment. And at the factory there is a real concert hall, where you can sing your arias, even the Beatles and Elton John performed there,» George said, not without pride.

Lights lit up in Marie’s eyes.

«There are a lot of interesting circles in the factory clubhouse,» George continued, «I myself participated in one,» he admitted, «I rode with a group of the same young idiots with noise and noise on my Harley Davidson, but now in the evenings I will only be with you, my dear.» If you want to play sports, then a magnificent gym is at your service, where you can play tennis, volleyball, or do rhythmic gymnastics at any time convenient for you. There is almost no smoking at my father’s factory. And although my father says that in this way he cares about the health of the workers, in fact he cares about his wallet,» George said ironically. — A non-smoker lives longer, gets sick less often, works better, is more productive. So, my dear Marie, even without daddy’s support we can live quite tolerably,» he said with a cheerful smile. «And in time, Father will forgive us, and then I’ll take you for a ride on a magnificent red jaguar.»

Besides,» George finished with a sly smile, «you have a magnificent capital — your beautiful voice.» And who knows, maybe in two or three years they will talk about me something like this: «And this is George Tim, the husband of the famous opera singer Marie Tim.»

Marie’s deep, beautiful eyes slowly filled with tears.

— George, I really, really love music, I don’t think I can live a day without it. But you know, sometimes it’s so difficult for me, so difficult. True, my old parents help me; they dote on me. But,» she added after a pause. «They don’t understand me at all, at all.»

And giving free rein to her tears, she burst into loud sobs.

— You won’t leave me, George, your poor little Marie. Won’t you leave!?

«Calm down, dear,» he said quietly and soulfully, «you undoubtedly have rich vocal abilities and a wonderful future awaits you.» But even if my little Margot never becomes an opera diva, I will still love her until the end of my days, until my last breath.

Sobs shook her body.

«Calm down, calm down, darling,» George said quietly, carefully stroking her neck and shoulders. — I am with you and will try to be a reliable support for you.

«Please close the curtains tighter, George,» she said simply.

And when he obediently fulfilled her request, she was already lying in bed, her thick silky hair was scattered across the pillow, and her small girlish breasts were touchingly and defenselessly white in the twilight of the room.

«Kiss me, George,» she said.

And George, slowly bending down and looking into her eyes, which suddenly became bottomless, kissed her tenderly and passionately on the lips. «God, how beautiful she is,» he thought.

And two bodies merged into one in a fit of love.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Needless to say, his father, the venerable Peter Tim, one of the co-owners of the reputable electrical engineering company Peter Tim and Co., was not only upset, he was furious, enraged by his son’s decision.

«Understand, George,» he said to his son, carefully hiding his irritation, «Lucienne is not bad-looking, educated, and also chaste.»

«And besides, her dad owns 5 percent of the shares of the Peter Tim and Co. company,» George wanted to say, but stopped short. Well, how can he explain to this gray-haired, noble gentleman, who drinks coffee with cream in the morning, an honorary member of the golf club, that he is not marrying a package of shares, but a living person. Yes, Marie does not have such a higher education as Lucy, she is not as well-trained as she is…

— Did you have something to do with her? — asked the father.

«Yes, and I’ll marry her,» George answered firmly.

«Mom said that she wants to enter the conservatory and has great vocal abilities,» George’s father continued, «how much does studying at the conservatory cost: $20,000, $50,000, $100,000?» Take this money and take it to her now. If you don’t want to do this,» he said hastily, noticing the displeasure flashing in George’s eyes, «my people will do it.» Trust me, George, I won’t deceive you.

The two men’s gazes crossed like two swords.

— Don’t you dare do this. Do you hear, don’t you dare! — George whispered beside himself with rage, — if you do this, you are not my father! «I love her and will marry her,» he said unexpectedly angrily.

— Fool! — Peter Tim thundered, — for the sake of some girl, for the sake of some singer, you sacrifice everything. Understand, you are my only heir and after my death everything could go to you. And now. «You won’t set foot in my house until you come to your senses,» he concluded and loudly slammed the door.

The mother is a quiet, neat woman, although she understood George more.

«If you love, son, love,» she said, thoughtfully, watering the flowers. — But your father won’t help you, you yourself know how much he expects from your marriage with Lucy. Of course, I won’t leave you in trouble. But what can an old gray-haired woman do?

«Mom, but I love her,» said George.

«I understand everything,» said the mother, «it’s going to be hard for you in this life, son.» My father is tough and doesn’t give up on his goals easily. Besides, his friends won’t understand your action.

«There are so many conventions in this world,» George thought with despair.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

Their wedding with Marie was very modest. There were only the closest friends, my father was not there, only George’s mother was there.

After the wedding, the young couple, as George said, settled in a factory house, no matter how hard he tried, no matter how hard his mother tried to persuade him, Peter Tim was adamant, not only did he take away the brand new jaguar he had given George, he also took away the Harley Davidson given to George. He even wanted to close work on the electric motor project that George was developing, but after a long conversation with the head of the department, he abandoned this idea.

«Understand, Mr. Tim,» he convinced him, «this electric motor is fraught with great potential.» Yes, for now this is just an idea, just a project, we still need to work on it and work on it, but it is based on fundamentally new technical solutions, and if we implement them in metal, we will force our competitors to make room.

With a grudging heart, Tim Sr. agreed with his arguments and was even forced to appoint George as the leader of the group.

Only an expensive watch reminded George of his former well-fed and serene lifestyle. But George did not lose heart. Margot, his lovely Margot, filled their humble home with a wonderful, extraordinary light from her eyes. True, in the evenings she went out to sing; she could not live a day without music.

George drove to work in a not-yet-old Ford, which his mother, after much persuasion, finally managed to get from his father, and after work he would pick up Marie, who sang right there in a small factory choir. And they, cheerful and lively, drove home, sharing their impressions of the past day.

This is how the life of young lovers proceeded. But if you say that it was completely cloudless, it means telling a lie.

Working on the electric motor took a lot of effort and energy from George. Sometimes, especially after unsuccessful tests, when the damned piece of iron did not reach the specified mode, he wanted to throw everything to hell and tear up all these piles of papers and drawings. Then Marie, his lovely Marie, long and patiently persuaded George, gently stroked his head and affectionately told him how good and smart he was.

Sometimes Marie, who was still preparing to enter the conservatory, whose extraordinary perseverance George secretly marveled at, was simply lazy and did not want to study, although she was helped by the choir director, amazed at her extraordinary vocal abilities.

Then George put on her colorful apron, put on his nose old glasses that he had begged from his mother especially for this occasion, took a music book and said in a deliberately stern voice: «Who doesn’t want to eat porridge and study?» Marie usually jumped from the sofa, loudly pecked George on the cheek, saying at the same time: «Oh, how I love you George,» and her eyes shone with happiness. After this pleasant procedure, the young people patiently studied musical notation together. Sometimes, however, the kisses dragged on, and there were more than one or two of them…

But let us forgive them, reader, these little «sins» of youth.

One day George picked up Marie quite early. He looked cheerful and animated.

«And you know, dear,» he said, smiling, «it seems to me that everything will work out for us.» Today, after some technical improvements, the damned piece of hardware finally reached the specified mode and even showed parameters much greater than we expected from it. The head of the bureau, Mr. Cook, said that for such results he would petition the head of the department so that the entire group would be awarded a substantial bonus, and my small technical improvements,» here George smiled slyly, «could even be patented.» Therefore, today is our holiday, and we will celebrate this significant event.

On the way home, George bought some wine and fruit. They didn’t invite any of their friends; George’s mother said she was busy. And the young people were left alone. Marie sang various opera arias, and George sat, enjoyed her extraordinary, wonderful voice and listened silently.

«But the fact that our electric motor worked is also your merit, Marie,» said George, drunk not so much from the wine as from Marie’s beautiful, deep eyes.

— And what is my merit? «Half jokingly, half seriously,» she asked.

«Yes, the fact is that without such a wonderful wife as you, I would never have completed it,» he said, easily lifted Marie into his arms and spun, spun, spun her around the room.

Behind all the work and troubles, September imperceptibly flashed by, the last warm days of the departing Indian summer flashed by, flew by with its constant silver cobwebs in the air, and cold, rainy October arrived.

One day George came home from work late and unusually tired. That day he didn’t even call on Marie. Work on the electric motor seemed to be going well, it was already reaching the specified parameters, but George intuitively felt that he could not give everything that was expected of him.

«But why, why?» — George racked his brain and couldn’t find an answer.