June 2nd 2024
The former leader of the Russian Revolution was patiently waiting for his prey, but he also enjoyed his new job. He thought that if it had ever occurred to him to work in the kitchen more than one hundred years before, the course of history would have changed. Or perhaps the Red October would have been led by another capable leader, yet devoid of interest for spirituality. The mummy of Lenin learnt fast from his colleagues, adding to the recipes the contribution of his memory. The older Putin was a real fine man, able to understand the tasks of the people he was serving. Karl Marx would have approved, since that cook managed to give everyone according to their needs. He only missed that evil desire to take full advantage of his skills and take the power over the minds of his masters. Perhaps such a skill was just sleeping in his DNA and was activated by the marriage of his son. Putin the younger appeared indeed to be quite a talented manipulator of the human mind, able to extend his influence much beyond his physical presence. Lenin doubted if, by direct confrontation, he would have been the winner. Only by experimenting with the original specimen could he have found out. However that peculiar laboratory rat, the autocrat of modern Moscow, was delayed to come. The Soviet thinker expected the statesman to invite him to the Kremlin, to officially cook for him. He had already received some take-away orders that suggested him the appreciation of an oligarch or a high ranking officer, for sure a member of the apparatchik who could have expressed his appreciation to the ears of the Russian czar.
The art dealer recommended patience. It was through several years of experience, behind a virtual desk, that he learnt how an interested customer, sooner or later comes back and seals the purchase agreement. Even if sometimes it takes long and sometimes the client will never be able to save enough money to afford the object of his desire. The young Briton had always been wise enough not to disdain the questions of an unknown visitor. Even those who appear to be not in the condition to hand anything more than the cover of a magazine. That could have resulted in a finely acceptable patchwork, perhaps even worth being sold on the market. It was the poor advantage, destitute people needed to create on their own and sometimes they even managed to achieve a creativity level not inferior to those of the most prominent artists. It was also the way he had started to practise collecting art. With his limited savings he bought the posters of the exhibitions he attended and fixed them on the wall. After a while he also decided to take advantage of the magazines left unattended in the student’s common rooms and deprive them of the most interesting pictures. Within a few years, and some personal effort, his room and, afterwards his studio, had become as much interesting as the workshop of a professional artist. It was a pity he had never been really clever to attract young ladies, but the few who spent a night with him had been delighted by his aesthetic feeling. He would have shown his own environment to the owner of the online gallery as well, but he was aware that the jury was interested in a few things that were not directly monetizable.
Perhaps the business consultant could have found the view of those walls interesting, but at the time she was fully focused on reading Heidi’s book and optimising her time to network with the hotel's usual guests. Thanks to her previous job she had developed a good understanding of the quality of most alcoholic beverages and she was thus able to suggest the most appropriate drink to the bar’s attendees. She paid attention not to speak too much, fearing to betray her purpose, but a Westerner who, by her own choice, worked in a Moscow hotel was largely appreciated by Putin's supporters. As if they could perceive, through her presence, the soundness of the regime and its superiority over the NATO democracies. Sometimes it was one of the oligarchs, or minions pretending to be quite high in the hierarchy, who did not restrain their words and boasted about their roles in the state bureaucracy. If their career path hinted in the direction of the Kremlin, the business consultant suggested they try the new dishes from the restaurant, prepared according to the same recipes served one hundred years before on Lenin’s table. She had to do some marketing and pre-sales before reaching her goal. It was less stressful and dull than filling RfPs for her partner, when she was still in the consultancy.
