Other

The next Monday, Nadia stepped into her Copyist office.

"Nadia, there you are! I was wondering if you would come late," her boss stepped up to her from his own desk.

"No, I wouldn't come late. I'm not going to give you the trouble of that worry."

Nadia's boss turned his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"I'm leaving, sir. I am... moving on."

His eyes went wide. "Now? But we ...

Nadia could scarcely believe her eyes. 1,000 rubles, right there for her written on the check. That's as much as she made in 6 months working at her copyist position.

"What can this mean??" she thought to herself. "This is absurd! I barely was a help to him, he knew that. There can only be one reason... he finds me invaluable. But it can't be!" she held the check to her heart, and looked out defiantly into the darkness outside her apartment's window.
...

The whole week was extremely stressful for Nadia. Her lack of sleep made her a bit irritable at her work, and she began to loathe it all the more. She began to be more flippant in her speech to her superior to the point of offense on the Friday of the week.

"Do you think you run things around here, Nadia? You have no excuse for not making your quota," he boss told her sternly.

"I don't understand why you won't give me a break, this work is more than one ...

Nadia got to work on training herself as much theory and aural skills as she could. She bought a self-teaching book on ear training, and began the exercises. However, not having a piano to base her pitches was a real difficulty, almost to the point she began wandering around the city to find a piano shop, or tavern. Pianos were certainly available, but she was not allowed to play them, especially if people were around.

"Well, may I come early in the morning to play?" she ...

On Saturday morning, Nadia put on her most formal dress, and having practiced a little solfege went out to find a carriage who could find the address she was looking for.

It was not at all where she expected. The carriage came to a stunning semi-mansion apartment in one of the richest areas of the city. Getting out, she approached the large door apprehensively, and knocked.

A tall, elderly servant came to the door, and bid her come in. It was the same one who was on the ...