Chapter 4
Helen's husband was sitting at a table with three other men in the back corner of the room. Iza chose a seat that would be directly in his line of sight. The waitress came over and asked her what she wanted. She ordered a cappuccino. "I should do this thing sober", she said to herself.
The detective was right. The man was a flirt. Almost as soon as she removed her jacket and sat down, he began staring at her. She ignored it for a while, to pique his interest, but, eventually, returned his gaze and gave a slight smile. She knew he was hooked. She just had to land him now. So far, this had been much easier than she had expected. They exchanged occasional glances. He said something to his friends, and they stole glances back at her. Clearly, she was now the topic of their conversation. She wondered how he'd make his next move. Her guess was that he'd come to her table and ask to buy her a drink. He'd then ask her name and ask her to join him. Anyway, that's the way it usually went. It bored her. She wished guys would think of something new, something that would surprise her for once.
Sure enough, after about fifteen minutes went by, he got up and approached her table. She smiled at him to encourage him on. He was much shorter than she thought he would be, but she'd just have to overlook that. He was clearly one of those guys who thought women should instantly fall for them. His arrogance turned her off but, after all, she was being paid to act, not react.
"Hi, my name's Michael", he said. "Can I buy you a drink?"
Iza smiled, not at him but at his predictability. "Sure, why not?"
"And you are?" He said giving her a big smile.
"Izabela, Iza." She said. She offered her hand and he shook it. She saw him hesitate wondering if he should kiss it, probably trying to determine whether this would put her off or not. The younger generation of Polish females generally disliked hand kissing.
"Hi, Iza. Maybe you'd like to join us?" He said, trying to appear sincere.
"Maybe you'd rather join me", she responded with a slight smile. She really didn't want to sit around and answer stupid questions from his friends while they all tried to impress her. It would be bad enough that she'd have to answer stupid questions from this guy, this Michael, but at least she was getting paid for that.
Michael looked surprised by her response. "Oh, sure, of course, let me get my drink." Iza watched as he hurried back to his table, said a few words to show his friends what a lady's man he was, saw them furtively look back at her and smile, and finally returned with his beer.
"So, Iza, I haven't seen you here before. I'm sure I'd remember if I had", he smiled at her and she knew at once it was a line he must have used on every girl he ever met in a bar. She pretended to be impressed.
"No, this is my first time here. I just happened to be in this part of town on business and needed a break."
"Oh, what sort of business?"
"Yes, that was a good question", she thought, then she answered, "I work in public relations. Actually, I'm still a student but I do some part time work."
He pretended to be interested. "That sounds like interesting work."
"It can be. It all depends on who you work for." Iza realized she was supposed to ask about his job, but she really wasn't interested. She knew he would have to take this conversation to a more personal level, but she didn't want to help him. She found it amusing to wait and see how he would proceed.
Michael got right to the point. "Do you think you and I can meet sometime?"
"We're meeting now", answered Iza.
"I mean without my friends being here."
"Why? Are you afraid they may say something to your wife?" She said, pointing in the general direction of his wedding ring.
"No, that's not really important." He said, brushing her comment aside, but looking a little uncomfortable.
"Your marriage isn't important?" Iza asked, acting surprised.
"Well, it's not really a marriage, if you know what I mean."
"No, I don't. Explain it to me." Iza said.
"Well, we've been having some problems lately. To be honest, I think she's seeing someone."
This response surprised Iza. Michael was smarter than he looked. "Why do you say that?"
"Oh, I don't know", Michael began, "it's just the way she's been acting recently. She seems kind of distracted all the time. She gets angry at me easily. She doesn't respond to any affection, not that she's ever been a real romantic or affectionate person, it's just getting more noticeable."
"So you have no real evidence", Iza observed. She thought she should ask this for Darek's sake.
"Well, not really. I mean, once she quickly turned off the computer when I walked into the office. That seemed kind of suspicious. But I suppose it doesn't matter much. We've been growing apart for years, no matter how much I try to keep it together. But it takes more than one person to make a marriage." He said, looking defeated. "Don't get me wrong. She's a good wife and mother. I mean, nobody can take care of a house and kids better than she can, but there's more to a good marriage than that." Michael explained, looking or trying to look sad and resigned.
"You mean sex." Iza stated directly.
"Well, let's be honest. Sex is a big part of any relationship. She's never been particularly, well, responsive. It just seems to have gotten more obvious recently." Michael looked more uncomfortable.
Iza looked at him and sized him up. He didn't understand women very well. He was too caught up in himself. She had seen his type before. What he didn't understand was that she was not that responsive to him. In Iza's view, the right man can bring out the sensuality in any woman, but it had to be the right man. What this guy didn't understand was that he was not the right man, and he, of course, could never blame himself. After all, he was wonderful, thus, it must be his wife's fault.
However, she did not believe his wife was free of imperfections. Iza realized she didn't know Darek all that well, but he was clearly a better man than this guy. At least he was trying to fight for the woman he loved, even going so far as hiring her for this job. What was wrong with that woman? What kind of woman was she? But Darek had given Iza the main reason for that woman's unexplainable behavior; religion. The church, in general, and the Polish church, in particular, were experts at using guilt to control its followers. Guilt was clouding her love and destroying her life. Of course, she couldn't see this. She saw herself as being moral. She would cling to her husband out of a false sense of duty until one day he came home and uttered those inevitable words, "there's something I need to tell you". Only then will she realize that all of her sacrifices had been for nothing and the church had betrayed her. But it will be too late. Guys like Darek aren't easy to find. Her experience allowed her to make such observations. She had met a lot of men in her line of work. She had this advantage over other woman. One thing she was sure of. Some woman would surely be waiting to scoop Darek up, and, by the time Michael's wife realized her mistake, he would be long gone.
Religion had influenced her life as well. Yes, she knew how the church felt about what she did for a living. Her parents wouldn't even speak to her any more. But it didn't matter. She refused to have anyone make her feel guilty for it. She was good at her job and never did anything she felt was demeaning. If men asked her for special favors, and most of them did, she would give them a straight and honest answer. Sure, sometimes they got angry, but she never misled them. She told them up front what she would and wouldn't do. When they started to put pressure on her, she would simply remind them of this. If they had chosen to think differently, to think her words were just words, they were in for a surprise. She was an escort and she lived by the meaning of that word.
While she was running through these thoughts and studying him, Michael concluded that she was considering whether to meet him or not. He, thus, began to try to ramp up his efforts to persuade her that his wife was not a factor in any relationship they may develop. "To be honest, I've been thinking of asking her for a separation."
"For how many minutes
?" Iza asked sarcastically, then, realizing that she had a job to do, continued, "I mean, would you talk to her about it before we met again?"
Michael felt uncomfortable. The source of this discomfort was a cluster of ideas that he could not consciously admit to himself. If he could have, they would have been these. He was not used to such strong willed women. Maybe he was in over his head here. Usually, he chose women in whom he could see some weakness. That was his gift. He could see their lack of confidence and self-esteem, and he would exploit this to his advantage. He would talk to them until they would give in, and they would always give in. Some just took longer than others. Many times, all he had to do was pretend to be confident, and they would follow him. But this woman was different. She seemed to be doing to him what he generally did to them. She was questioning his manhood, in a way. She was implying that a true man would be honest with his wife. She was implying that he was saying these things to her so that she would go out with him. Of course, this was true. That's what men did, right? He was a good talker. He could almost always persuade a woman to see things his way. So why not her? It both frightened and intrigued him. He felt that if he could get this woman to have an affair with him, he must truly be something special. But all of these unconscious thoughts only emerged onto the surface of his emotional landscape in feelings of uneasiness and excitement.
"Yes, I think I might talk to her about some kind of separation. I can mention that I know she's been seeing someone else and, if she really has someone else, she should be happy to agree to a separation." He said with a sense of determination.
Iza studied him. She reasoned that he probably really believed what he was saying, but would never say a thing to his wife. He was the kind of guy who would try to keep the best of both world's for as long as possible. She smiled. He was hers now. "Okay, why don't we meet here next week? What's a good day for you?"
"How about Thursday?" He asked. Iza smiled again. She knew it would be Thursday. Darek had told her that Michael went to a school in Krakow every Thursday. He had mentioned that the detective had asked him if he should follow Michael to Krakow, but that Darek had considered it too expensive to be worth it. So Michael would not have to worry about making an excuse to his wife. She would simply think he was going to school as usual. Iza felt the night had been a great success. She looked forward to telling Darek about it.