บท 8: Life is Not that Simple
Elwira continued to refuse to admit that advanced pregnancies affected her productivity and came to work. It was damn annoying for Mikołaj, especially since for some reason he didn't sleep well that night.
Not because of some, because of Stefan Szwedas.
A specialist from overseas appeared in the company yesterday and immediately caused a huge commotion. The largest, however, in Skrzynecki itself.
He tried, he really tried not to think about the Szwedas and not remember the events of Tenerife, but he just couldn't do it. The smell of the lover, his touch, smile and cheerful look of insanely endearing eyes were in his head regardless of whether Mikołaj was walking, sitting, watching TV, reading a book, preparing dinner or even sitting on the toilet. Szwedas was absolutely everywhere.
"You look worse today than Elwira," Łukasz quietly greeted him. "Happy night?"
"Not really."
"U, don't say it's because of work?"
"Partly."
"Man, don't strain yourself so much. It's not worth it."
"I know."
"You look like you could use some coffee. Bring you some?"
"Yes thanks."
"Cool."
Elwira probably also noticed that it wasn't the best night for him. However, she decided to use this fact in her favor and all day complained with doubled power, carefully observing whether Mikołaj is already on the verge of endurance, or can she still bully him.
Skrzynecki reached his limit at lunchtime. With the appropriate hour he got up, turned and left without a word.
Some steps caught up with him in the corridor.
"Eh, I was just thinking" Ewka said to him "maybe you would like to have lunch with me today? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to pick you up, I have a boyfriend and everything is fun, but ... You look like you need to talk to someone . "
"Not really."
Ewka slowed down. She looked hurt.
"That's not what I meant, I'm sorry," he explained straight away. "I don't really feel like talking, but I'd love to have lunch with you."
"In a cafeteria or in the city?"
"It's chilly, but I'd rather go out."
"Let's go for jackets."
Mikołaj usually avoided eating out of the company. Even not because it was more expensive (he thought that here and here they rip off), he did it for the simple saving of time. Today, however, he was afraid that he would meet the only person in the company whom he preferred to never meet again.
"It's my fault that you're in a bad mood," said Ewka, playing with the ordered salad. "
"That's not it," he answered truthfully.
"But you've been uneasy since yesterday."
Damn, she noted.
"It is because of Elwira," he answered only half past the truth. "Her grumbling drives me crazy. She doesn't do her job, she does her duties at the last minute and still has a grudge if something goes a little worse than it should. I don't like to screw up. "
"You are overworked."
"Maybe a little," he admitted. "I have nothing against my tasks. I can even do Elwira's work. But she could start to appreciate it instead of just grumbling with that tongue. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be complaining about it."
"No, it's okay. I'm glad you're doing it. We're a small team and we all know what relationships are about it. I think you're amazing, you get it all over. I'm still getting lost in simple things."
Doesn't she really want to pick me up?
"Hey, don't be too hard on yourself. You don't work here as long as I do. Give yourself some time."
"If I will be here long enough."
"Do you want to leave?"
"Rather, I expect they won't extend my contract."
"Why? You are a good employee."
"But Elwira doesn't like me, and the department manager's opinion is taken into account."
So that's what this lunch is about. The girl is afraid for a job.
"She never liked me, but I'm here. Elwira talks a lot, but she is not mean. Not so mean," he corrected.
"You think so?"
"Yes."
"Thank you!" Ewka was happy, which gave her a few points for the charm.
"Ewuś? Ewuś, what are you doing with this guy?"
It took Mikołaj a moment before he realized that the broad-shouldered man in the bodyguard's jacket was talking about them. He looked at two meters of muscle and his head was shaved bald under his black baseball cap. The security guard was from a company other than the one that worked in their office building, maybe that's why he didn't recognize him.
"Szymuś?" Ewka squeaked softly. "What are you doing here?
"I'm asking questions! What are you doing here with this ... person?
'This person'?
"This is Mikołaj, a colleague from work. We eat lunch together."
"Lunch, yes? Lunch? Hey, you," he said directly to Skrzynecki. " Don't hit on my girlfriend, or I will count your teeth."
"Listen, you ..." began Mikołaj. He didn't like the tone of the bully.
"Szymuś, come on" Ewka suddenly stood between them. "You know you can't afford another fight." Mikołaj and I really only work together. "
"Mikołaj, right? Listen you, Mikołaj ..."
Let a rabid dog bite him!
"Because of the place where we are and Ewa, I tried to remain calm, but I will not let anyone ..."
"Szymon, Mikołaj, stop it" Ewka began to hang around them and probably because she obstructed his full view of the bodyguard Skrzynecki did not even notice the fist landing on his face until he was informed by severe pain.
Mikołaj flew to the table. Plates and cutlery rang. He wiped his bleeding nose with surprise. Did Szymuś really just hit his face?
He wanted to get up and give a blow, but it turned out that someone was already pulling away the angry bodyguard. The waitress from the restaurant leaned over Mikołaj and asked if he was all right, offering a napkin to stop the bleeding. Ewka was thrashing between Szymuś and him. In the end she decided to follow the bodyguard. Through the window, Mikołaj saw him brawling.
I really got hit in my nose, Skrzynecki thought, and for some reason he felt lighter. The nose, of course, was bleeding and aching, but the tension that the man was carrying was somehow gone. It is true that he did not crap, he was crashed, but the adrenaline of the fight did its job and Mikołaj's heart got lighter.
After a while, not only the waitress but also the owner of the restaurant apologized and asked whether to call an ambulance.
"Thank you, it's a trifle," he said. However, he took advantage of the cancellation of the lunch bill, especially since he did not eat much at all before they were interrupted so firmly.
The confusion around him was far too great, so he decided to evacuate. The nose hurt, but it didn't seem broken. Maybe Szymek was a lot more powerful than him, but Mikołaj was not a skinny man and his face met someone's fist more than once. The most important thing is that he has stopped bleeding because he would look silly walking through the office with his nose pressed into a handkerchief and he was not going back home because of such stupidity.
"Mikołaj! Mikołaj wait!" He looked around. Ewka was running towards him, panting, in her unbuttoned jacket. He waited until she was right next to him.
"I'm sorry," she panted. "Szymek is my boyfriend. He's usually gentle like a lamb, but he gets terribly jealous when he sees me with another man. Even as soon as we talk."
"You should curb his temper. Do you know what he did comes under assault?"
He noticed with satisfaction that the girl's eyes widen with terror.
"I know, so please don't make a report. Szymek will apologize to you as soon as he calms down."
"Thank you, you don't need it. You'd better keep him away from me, or I can't guarantee that I won't give him a blow."
"You will have the right to do so. Please, don't give notice ..."
"This is not his first offence, huh? Did he get hinges for the previous one or did you beg for him to let him go?"
Ewka dropped her eyes in shame.
"Anyway, never mind," Skrzynecki muttered. It's all water over the dam. I will not bring charges but I do not want to see him again. "
"Thank you, Mikołaj, you're the best."
"Okay, okay. Let's go back because we'll be late."
They entered the building together. The receptionist looked at them with an ambiguous smile.
Well, no kidding, Skrzynecki thought.
Not only she, but also the girl from the Finance Department, who just left her colleague's workplace, smiled ambiguously. She gave Mikołaj a meaningful look.
The gossip seemed to have reached the office faster than they did. Just exactly what rumor?
Cursed cell phones. The restaurant was two buildings away, so it was very likely that during the incident someone from their company, or a friend of someone they knew, had witnessed incident and had already managed to give an exciting live report.
Damn it, Mikołaj thought, because it seemed that he would be in the center of general attention for a moment, and at the moment when he wanted to hide in a corner, disappear from places exposed to contact with a Szwedas. However, he was completely defenseless at the moment when it came to human languages.
Well, he'll survive it all somehow.
Ewka followed him. It seemed that she also noticed the reaction of the girls at the reception.
"Don't worry," he said to her with a sigh. "Just ignore it all. As for me, nothing really happened, so don't feel guilty."
"Does it hurt?"
"It burns a little, but it's nothing.
"I'll bring you ice from the kitchen ..."
"Come on. Don't do something more about this situation than it really is. Maybe I don't look like it, but I can take blows."
"No, you look like one who can fight."
Her comment pleased him. It is good that despite his beauty he did not look weak in the eyes of women. Maybe this gossip will result in something better than he expected.
He opened the door to the room they occupied and, as befits a gentleman, let Ewka go first. He was about to follow her when he met the interested gaze of a man walking down the corridor. He froze petrified for a moment by gray, amazing eyes. He only breathed when the man walked away with a smile.
Damn Szwedas, he thought angrily. Of all the people in the company, he must have run into him right now!
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