An Interview by Anfisa Doroshenko

When I asked her for an interview, she was scared
because she never had any interview with anyone. However, when I gave her a general idea about the interview themes, she became calm and spoke amiably. Barbara was a famous writer and benefactor. Critics highly praised her work, and “A bunch of grapes” scooped up a number of honors. She handed out one of the largest donations even made to The Central City Library. What is more, her book has raised millions for the author’s charity, so Barbara supported Lumos organization, founded by J. Rowling, and helped children all over the world. Notably, everyone knew about her philanthropy, because her pages in social networks were full of photos with children, animals, aged people. I could confess, I already admired this woman in absentia.
When we had our interview, I found her smart and open-minded. She was confident but seemed to be a bit surprised at this feeling. Her thoughts matched up with mine. But I understood that being famous and having a big fat ego were supposed to go hand-in-hand. Why did she burden herself with fortuneless people and orphans? I asked her some provoking questions about her children. Amare, a 12 y.o. boy was from Ethiopia. She briefly told me his life story and cut it off unexpectedly — referring to emotions. I noticed nothing strange. Marissa was only 5 when her Malaysian parents died. But we did not talk about her for long.
With her beauty and charm, Barbara captivated people everywhere. She looked as if the nimbus of humanity was above her head. Her champagne-colored hair gently fell on the shoulders and her face had much in common with those that small winged puttos have, depicted on some rococo paintings.
But mostly, I admired her modesty and wisdom.
“I think a big part of writing comes out of an attempt to understand yourself. Writing makes everything have sense in my life. I guess, I’m clung to it. The same thing with helping other. I can’t imagine my life without it, without kids’ grateful tears”.
Before saying goodbye, she gave me a little pink teddy bear knitted with her own hands. What a generous and talented woman! Her face irradiated goodness and I couldn’t restrain delight.
When she closed the door behind me, I saw her son playing in the garden. The child seemed to me surprisingly frightened and nervous, but we got into a conversation.
"Did you go to the zoo with Barbara last week? I saw some great photos." I said.
"We did not go, we only took pictures on the background." Amare toned down his voice.
I was surprised.
"I thought…You often visit some interesting places with your…mother, don’t you?"
“Only when Barbara needs some photos. Me and Marissa, we spend our time with nannies.”
And the boy told me the truth. At first, he hesitated, but then couldn’t stop. Barbara’s perfect portrait was ruined. What a pack of lies, what a double face! I couldn’t believe!
When the editor called me to find out about the interview I replied shortly.
“The interview will be published. Not with Barbara. You see, his name is Amare....”