#7 WHISPER OF A THRILL
Sebastian was driving along the streets and was angry because of all the stops (these traffic lights!). He was talking with his best fellow, Julian. The conversation wasn't about very important things and could be interupted every second without any of them feeling the need for further explanations. There it was: just a short “sya” was a sign for the end of the discussion and Sebastian reversed his own car into a parking space. It was one of the newer types, and most importantly, it was his very own car. He had worked to be able to buy it and he had earned it with his sweat and honest work. Moreover, he was proud of himself every time he looked at his deep blue Audi A2. It is not common in Poland to have your own car by the age of 24. And if you did, it usually was a legendary car like Polonez or Fiat, known to the rest of the world only from stories. Lately more and more young people owned old second/hand cars like VW or BMW, that had been fixed and pimped up in Polish workshops. Poland was becoming mobile.
Sebastian knew this teahouse, he used to like it until one of “their” girls started working there, and he wasn't as open for a relationship with her as she was. Usually, he was sitting in “Sunshine”, because it was the restaurant and disco club of his friend. Julian never ever had to ask for money, if he wanted to get something. If he wanted to travel somewhere, he travelled. If he wanted to buy a new car, he bought it. He was a young guy with a great bank account, a posh Ford Mustang and his own club. Many girls wanted to date this guy, have his contacts and his money. And so it was. Julian was like a King Midas, who touched something and it became pure gold. What a lucky guy! Therefore, Julian started with his own club, with his own stuff, with the music he liked and pretty girls he was dating sometimes. Sebastian even thought that Julian helped to push up “Casablanca”, too, but he wasn't sure. Julian was always saying something very important while others were talking silly things. And if you were smart, you could easily notice such remarks and use them.
Julian convinced Sebastian to start his translation work here in the same way and thanks to his advice Sebastian won his first customers. Now, he already had a good reputation on the market and therefore he was in the good position of being his own boss and a student. In addition, he had time to organise parties with his friends and to observe how "Sunshine" turned into the best club in the city. Funnily enough, "Sunshine" was successful because of the word-of-mouth advertising.
Sunshine was THE place where young people met to show themselves and their importance. Nobody remembered the times when parties were usually organized at home and how much fun they had in these private rooms that were much smaller than a dance floor here. It wasn't so long ago. When they had to decide where to study and what to do with their lives, people moved to the capital being convinced they wouldn't be happy in any other city. All you wanted to get in Poland you surely got in Warsaw. The cultural life in Warsaw doesn't slow down even for a moment. You have the Jazz Jamboree Festival or Warsaw Autumn. Music and Film Festivals draw a wave of artists towards the capital and you can always impress girls by taking them to such events. Warsaw has many tourist attractions which make it easier to get to know the city better and which are worth taking advantage of. You are never bored there.
Therefore, Sebastian and his friends were happy finally to have a chance to meet not only High School girls and to live in a city that is vivid by day and night. A higher way of driving as you say in Poland. So the two guys, who were almost like brothers started their life here. It couldn't go wrong, because King Midas was there. That is how they got every girl they wanted and everything they planned.
With these thoughts in mind, Sebastian enetered into the teahouse. “Casablanca” was still a place with atmosphere, with a smell of tasty vanilla and pure rooibos. Besides, you got chocolate cookies there, home-made of course! Already when talking to her on the phone, he noticed that the girl seemed to be rather smart and professional. Was she reliable? He had to check it. The last girl he hired was fired after a week. For him, this was just the beginning of a terrible season of finding a new girl for work. Most of the girls were not interested in the job but in getting to know him or Julian; they presented rather their breasts than showing some skills in English, German or any other language – except body language. It was sometimes so hard to find someone reliable. Now he stepped in and looked around to see her, thinking about how to test her to prove her skills. In addition, he was prepared for another failure. He had already understood from her voice that she was a professional, but to be on the safe side, he had to be prepared anyway. He was looking around and it took him some time untill he finally noticed her. She wasn't hidden; she was just sitting with one of the books many girls love to read these days, some story about vampires. Girly stuff.
As he approached her his first thought was: she is normal. Thank you, God!
He said “Hello” and sat down. He shook her hand and looked at her. She had big deep green eyes. She smiled friendly. She didn't move. She had such energy in her body and such depth in her eyes. You could simply fall in love with her although she wasn't the greatest beauty in the world. He was so impressed that he didn't start to talk and they were sitting facing each other. He was just falling into the great depth of her green eyes.
Mia started to talk. Her voice was even more fascinating than her eyes. He concentrated on the sound of the voice at first; therefore, he didn't hear what she was talking about. He took two deep breaths and asked her politely to repeat what she said. She wasn’t feeling uneasy or touched and repeated politely:
-I am Anna, hello. So what about this job? You seem to be quite busy and I will not take too much of your time.
Then he was again the old Sebastian, he was the boss and explained her everything. She said she knows English, Italian, Latin and a little bit of French. Moreover, for the first time he was missing the interest of any other thing than work. She was very professional. She didn't use any inappropriate words and she was very polite. He trusted her just from the very first second like he trusted Julian. It was new for him. The conversation was too short for him.
He looked at her more intensely to find out what was going on inside this girl. He had liked her from the very first moment. He didn't even check her skills. He just confirmed to her that she was on probation and she could get a contract if she wanted. She agreed. He said it was going to take some time to prepare the contract and asked whether he should send it to her by snail mail or by email. Does it matter?
Of course, it did matter. She never ever gave out her real address and like everybody else, he got one of her e-mail addresses. She preferred to meet somewhere for the hand-over of the contract.
Great!
He was happy with that solution. He smiled, maybe even too much. Until today, he had never felt anything similar to what he was living through now. He was just happy and had a feeling of meeting the one person for whom he had been waiting for since he was born. Was this love at first sight? Was it so easy to be caught in it? Probably not. It was maybe a fascination, an attraction, a desire. But love? Maybe rather falling in love?
Anyway, he hadn't enough time to catch his thoughts, because he already was in love with her. He didn't even manage to order a coffee and tried hard to hide his emotions from her, altough he was sure, it was so obvious for her to read his mind. She saw a friendly smile in his eyes and she knew he had a good heart. She felt connected to him in an unspoken way from the very first moment. Mia had this kind of rare feeling to like someone for real, to be interested in his values and his life. She knew it wasn't professional and she even thought they could be friends, if everything would be different. She didn't have any friends because of all the relocations in her life and because of pieces of certain memories going around in her head.
Mia promised herself to keep away from people, as far as it was possible. After a couple of years, it wasn't so hard anymore. Of course, you care about people around you, you talk with them, but it is just superficial. You don't allow them to get to know yo
u and you don't let yourself get into their lives. It was the simple solution, even if it was hard sometimes. Mia wasn't the type of person to talk much and didn't need to be in contact with people. At least that was her perception and receipt for her life. The dark chapter of her childhood still hurt her and although she didn't remember much about it, she was three years old at that time, she had the feeling, that the way she was behaving and living her life was the right way. Mia was convinced it was her fate to be among people but to stay alone.
A waitress came and asked what he liked to drink. At the same time, the waitress with Barbie-like pink nails smiled broadly and asked whether he wishes the same extra black coffee as usual.
It was no surprise that Sebastian was popular with the girls. He was looking like Brad Pitt, but he was younger and rather blond. His hair was cut perfectly in dissimilar length up to his ears. His face was welcoming bright and his eyes were friendly, smiling with tiny grey sparkles. He was tall, maybe not tall enough to be considered for a basketball team in the NBA, but with no doubt tall enough for a High School basketball team. Despite his cool style, Mia could see that he was rather sporty and put the emphasis on comfort. He was wearing trainers and jeans. His jacket was yeasty, but had the business presence as well.
He looked across the room and saw a familiar face. It was one of the girls from Julian’s club. She didn't work there anymore. Her career in “Sunshine” lasted only two nights. Then Julian decided not to keep her in his team. Julian always had a way with people. He could perfectly characterize any person, his first impression was never wrong. Maybe this was the key to his success. Sebastian was curious what Julian would think about Anna. She wore a simple top in an unremarkable blue colour, and jeans, and she had something inside her that forced him to watch her. Sebastian smiled back at the waitress and looked at Mia even longer.
-Would you like anything?
-Thank you, I already have my tea.
-What are you doing here, Sebastian? – asked the waitress.
-Business stuff.
-Oh, I get it. And how does it work? Why are you not in "Sunshine"? – continued the waitress, apparently she didn't want to leave so soon. Her pink nails were impatiently drumming on the table.
She intentionally ignored Mia and asked more and more questions. Then Sebastian stopped this flood of words and came back to the really important stuff for him. With the same power of a waterfall, he would ask Anna so many things right now. As much as the waitress was trying to get some information she could use for her advantage as much he was trying to let this moment be immortal. He heard about a shot of love, but he never thought it could happen so suddenly like a summer storm. Or maybe it was the calm before a storm.
Back in reality, he answered the questions of the waitress shortly and then he continued to talk with Anna. As he got his absolutely black coffee everything was already settled, and Anna stood up and wanted to leave. Fortunately, he had her mobile number and could contact her anytime. She said she wanted to drop him a message when she finished her work. Great. Then she smiled, shortly and politely, said goodbye and left.
There was just a yellow cup of tea and a white pot, which she left as the only proofs of her presence there. He was still sitting there with a feeling of happiness. She wouldn't disappear for long and they will meet again. It was a great outlook.
And so it was. She called him two days later and they met again. In these two days, he wasn't as distracted as he expected. A simple feeling of happiness was escorting him. If falling in love was alwys like this he could be in love for years. Being in love was like waiting for a great, friendly surprise. The world became a better place and you really could swear you saw the world through pink shades. An irritated shop assistant in the corner shop wasn't so annoying anymore, a girl walking down the street was smiling even brighter and he was in good spirits from the moment he woke up until the moment he went to sleep. Yes, indeed falling in love was a very desirable feeling.