Twenty years before the time the play is set.
A cold May night. A rapid of a mountain river. Wet stones are gleaming in the moonlight.
A scream rends the dark. It’s a woman. Something falls into the water, making a short heavy splash which is quickly drowned out by the rumbling of water.
Oleg comes out of the darkness, clothed in a sailor’s striped shirt, clenching a flashlight. A beam of light is sliding confusedly along the river and stones.
Makar is sitting on the edge of the cliff. Oleg aims his flashlight at Makar. Makar turns around. His face is covered in blood.
Oleg. Makar. You got your nose smashed. Where is Vera?
Makar. [He paws at the ground, aghast.] Eh?!
Oleg. Makar!
Makar. Oleg. It’s not my fault… she did it herself.
Oleg. You drunken fool! What have you done?
Scene 1
The Rubicon Roadside Inn & Diner, the parlor with panoramic windows. There are a few tables and a bar counter.
Evening. The storm is raging outside.
Andrey is standing in front of the bar counter. He looks around, then approaches the tableware stand, takes a fork, and puts it in an inside pocket of his jacket. After that, he picks up a knife, stabs an invisible opponent in the neck a number of times – his movements well-practiced, – tests the knife sharpness and puts the knife back on the table. Polina enters the stage. She goes down the stairs from the second floor carrying a tray.
Polina. Have you no shame? Stealing cutlery.
Andrey. No idea what you are talking about. I was just about to ask for the menu and order a bottle of good wine.
Polina. Garbage. You don’t have enough money to order a bowl of soup, let alone a bottle of wine.
Andrey produces a fat wad of shabby banknotes out of his pocket but then quickly puts it back.
Andrey. What are you doing here?
Polina. None of your business.
Andrey. You are a movie star, I’d wager. An actress? A supermodel?
Polina. I’m not. Who do you think I am?
Andrey. A waitress.
Polina.[Pause]. Well, and what are you up to when you are not busy stealing cutlery?
Andrey. To be perfectly blunt, I am looking for a job.
Polina. And what did you do before?
Andrey. Spent days in an asylum, served time, holed up in various places.
Polina. You were in a loony bin?
Andrey. That’s right.
Polina. After falling across a mean waitress, huh?
Andrey. Kinda. Do you see this foot?
Polina. So?
Andrey. I cut off my big toe with an axe.
Polina. What?! Why would you do that?
Andrey. To dodge the draft. Wanna take a look?
Polina. No way. I have no intention to see your stump. Damn, you really did that?
Andrey. Yep.
Polina. For crying out loud, what a place! It seems that our Rubicon is not really a poky hole of a place, considering its loony visitors.
Andrey. May I take a picture of you?
Polina. Why?
Andrey. It’ll be a proof that angels exist.
Polina. You are a funny guy.
Andrey. Not in the least.
Polina. One of a kind.
Andrey. Not in the least.
Polina. Yes, of course, you are
Andrey. Not in the least.
Polina. [Pause.] Right. Not in the least.
Andrey. What is your name?
Polina. Try to guess.
Andrey. People call me Andrey.
Polina. Well, if they call you, you should probably go.
Andrey. My psychiatrist says that we should accept others as they are.
Polina. Well, alright, the therapy session is over.
Nadya appears from the kitchen and stands behind the bar counter.
Nadya. [To Andrey.] Here’s your change. Your room is on the second floor. We serve breakfast at eight. The bar is open round the clock.
Andrey. Bingo!
Nadya. Polina, escort our guest to his room.
Polina. Welcome to the Rubicon Hotel.
Nadya rings the bell on the counter. Andrey and Polina take the stairs up to the second floor.
Andrey. Polina?
Nadya. And tidy up upstairs!
Makar appears from the second-floor corridor and runs into Polina and Andrey in the stairway.
Makar. Hi. How’s work?
Polina. Great! Hope to be a waitress here for the rest of my life.
Makar. What a bit of good!
Polina. [To Andrey.] Are you married? You have a ring.
Andrey. It’s a gruesome story. When I was a child, I was kidnapped by ornithologists…
Andrey and Poline leave.
Makar. The Moon is as beautiful as ever, outshining the Sun itself!
Nadya. A nice suit. [Pause.] Didn’t they have your size?
Makar.
