management in such a way?
- Even I never presume to do that.
- Have some water, calm down.
Go on hiccuping.
Is it that everybody thinks
that I am a horrible monster...?
Don't exaggerate.
Not everybody. Not that horrible.
Jesus, that's impossible.
Go away! I don't want to see you,
nor listen to you.
Is Novoseltsev still there?
Just think of that:
they locked the door!
Maybe we should break in?
Are you nuts?
I assure you,
I meant no offence.
It's just that you started crying
as if you were normal. I was shocked.
I am so tired of you!
On my honour, you know... I...
I'm just tongue-tied... by nature.
Thinking is normal, typically,
but when I try to express it... I don't.
- All right, what did the minister say?
- Damn if I know.
I think he didn't understand me.
I am not used to talking to ministers.
Maybe he's calling me...
How can I see him now?
My eyes will be red all day.
And my nose too.
Only if you rub them. If you wait
till they're dry, nobody'll notice.
I haven't cried for so long.
Sometimes I'd just like to cry,
but what's the use of crying alone?
It's like a drunkard who cries...
that is, drinks... alone.
Next time you'd like to cry
call me to your office...
...we'll cry together.
Could you pour down
some water?
You're lucky, you've got your kids.
Yes, two. A boy and... a boy.
And I am all alone.
I get up in the morning,
I make coffee.
Not because I want it,
just because I have to.
I force myself to eat
and go to work.
This office, it's my home, actually.
And the evenings!..
If you only knew
how afraid I am of the evenings!
I stay late, till the guards
start locking the doors...
I pretend I have a lot to do...
actually, I just have nowhere to go.
Home... home, home, home!
Only TV waits for me.
You see, I can't even buy a dog
because there's nobody to walk it.
That's how it is.
Sure, I've got friends, but they all
have families, kids, homes of their own.
And I've made myself an old woman.
When I am only 36.
Why... 36?
Yes, I'm younger
than you, Anatoliy Efremovich.
And how old do I look like?
Well, thirty...
Five.
You're lying again,
comrade Novoseltsev.
It's just that the clothes
you wear are too dark. Lustreless.
I never noticed that.
50 kopecks and sign here.
It's an anniversary. Borovskiy's fifty.
So it's one copeck a year.
Pretty inexpensive. Sign here.
Anniversaries are out of fashion.
When you're 50,
we'll make a collection too.
I will not live to see it.
My job is too hazardous.
All right, Anatoly Efremovich,
go to your workplace.
I have a lot to do, really.
And then, I've got to find out
what the minister wanted.
Don't get angry.
Don't curse me.
You neither.
Don't blame me for being
so... cri-de-coeurish.
How was that, Tolya?
Novoseltsev!
50 kopecks!
Well, has the old crone
fired you?
She's not an old crone.
Why so long, Tolya?
I'll work a bit more.
- Bye.
- Bye.
Yura! Can I have a word with you?
Hallo, Olenka.
Can we meet tomorrow evening?
I can't. Tomorrow we are going
to see our relatives.
And the day after tomorrow?
My friend is having a birthday party.
And two days after tomorrow there's
a game on TV, isn't there?
It's hard to get out
during weekends...
But you understand...
OK, go. You've got to have a rest
from yesterday.
See you tomorrow.
May I, Ludmila Prokofievna?
Vera! Call the brightest mind...
...of our mutual times.
What do you mean, who?
Novoseltsev!
Please come in, comrade
Novoseltsev, have a seat.
Dear Anatoly Efremovich!
I would like to give you your due.
As they say, to each according
to his gifts, isn't it?
Strange as it may be, an idea has come
to our management, that is, to myself.
To appoint you, one of the leaders
of Soviet statistics...
...you can't deny it, ha-ha-ha...
...the Head of the
Light Industry Department.
The Lightest Industry Department.
What would be your answer,
Anatoly Efremovich?
Negative, Prokofia Ludmilovna.
I am inert, inefficient, and