Childhood friend.

Maxim and Nikolai had been friends since childhood, literally since infancy. Their families were active, as were the boys themselves. They visited each other, celebrated birthdays, and celebrated holidays together. But one day shattered this idyll forever. Kolya's father was offered a promotion and a new job in Moscow, one several hundred times more prestigious than his previous one. The family couldn't refuse such a gift from fate. Max and Kolya didn't even have time to say goodbye. The Romadovs packed up their things, sold their apartment, and left so quickly that Maksutka literally ran after their car, choking on dust, hoping to see his friend's blond curls one last time.

Fifteen years had passed since then. Maxim remembered his childhood in fragments, but he remembered Kolya very clearly. To support himself and pay for his education, Shabanov got a job as a barista in a cafeteria.
The coffee shop was open 24 hours a day, and today Max went on the night shift.
The streets were empty, even though it was Moscow. A couple of minutes later, an expensive car pulled up to the building. A young man in a snow-white fur coat stepped out. It was a good thing his dad had sacrificed his decrepit apartment in Ivanovo, because he wasn't an oil tycoon now. The bells hanging above the door rang loudly. The young man approached the cash register.

• Darling, make me a raf with caramel and cinnamon.

"Of course," Max replied, checking the screen for a drink. "Anything else?" He finally looked up at his guest and froze. Shabanov recognized those eyes, those faces. Even the curls were the same...

"Your number, dear," Nikolai smiled, then winked at the barista. He apparently didn't recognize his childhood friend.