The agreement

was simple and transparent. Large bream and every perch belonged to them. Carp and tench weighing less than a kilogram were returned to the water, while larger ones weighing over a kilogram were to be returned to Frau Hewig. Frau Hewig owned the guesthouse where they stayed and both ponds. Frau Hewig normally charged a fee for fishing in these ponds. Seven Marks a day, ten Marks a night, and fifty Marks a week. It was also possible to purchase a longer-term subscription by negotiating the price with Frau Hewig. There was no shortage of anglers during the season. They came from the surrounding area, mainly on weekends. They knew they would never return empty-handed from their stay at Frau Hewig's ponds. The ponds were regularly stocked, and an ingenious aeration system and constant feeding guaranteed an abundance of fish. The larger pond was natural, with irregular banks, and resembled a giant heart in outline. Part of the shore was overgrown with reeds, and a small birch and willow grove cut a wide wedge into the northern side at its widest point. The narrow sandy beach on the eastern shore sloped gently into a pointed southern end, connected by a wooden bridge to the western grassy bank. A short, very shallow but wide river, perhaps ten meters long, flowed beneath the bridge, fed by water from the upper pond. The upper pond was a perfect circle, about twenty-five meters in diameter. It was entirely artificial, with a thick, three-inch steel pipe protruding from its center, from which a low geyser of water pumped from the lower pond constantly gushed. The pump was located in the back of the fishing lodge, a few meters from the beach. At the fishing lodge, one could rent one of two kayaks, a flat-bottomed two-person rowboat, or a pedal boat. The fisherman's cottage also had a mini-bar, run by Frau Hewig's eldest daughter. Above the second pond rose an artificial mound, several meters high, which would later serve as the base for an artificial, cascading stream.

One day, the three of them standing on the bridge, they decided they could go fishing on Saturdays, when they didn't have to work. Of course, they didn't want to waste money, so they came up with the idea of ​​talking to Frau Hewig about another form of payment. As usual, this role fell to Adam. He'd lived here the shortest of them, but everyone knew he was keeping an eye on Frau Hewig. He was the only one given a double room with a television. True, when he arrived, all the others were occupied, but word quickly spread that Frau Hewig wouldn't be moving anyone into his room. Few, however, knew he was only paying for one bed, not the entire room. This was perhaps because, right after his arrival, he'd struck up a conversation with Frau Hewig about languages. Frau Hewig was Dutch and married to a German – the owner of the "bauerhof." Adam began teaching her Polish the very first evening. She was very pleased when Adam remarked that, just as German was said backwards for him, Polish must also look backwards for Germans. Before Herr Hewig became mentally ill, the Hewigs had seven children. The eldest, Helga, almost seventeen, ran the aforementioned bar at the fishing lodge, while the youngest, Jurgen, not quite five, often hung out in Wiesiek's trailer. The remaining five school-age children were students at various schools in nearby towns. Besides Adam, who worked for a construction company, and Wiesiek, who assembled furniture for a large company on the left, the third Pole in the guesthouse was Leszek, currently working in a nearby gardening business.

Adam had managed to secure a rather lucrative contract, and now they spent almost every Saturday evening fishing and drinking beer on the banks of the lower pond. An additional responsibility, as part of the contract, that Frau Hewig assigned them was keeping an eye on the ponds on weekends. They thus served as an unofficial, rather peculiar, law enforcement agency, which greatly enhanced their authority, especially among the locals.

They most often sat at the edge of the meadow, where the reeds began. The fish were biting well here, and the fisherman's hut for beer or "Korna" was nearby. Moreover, from this spot, one could easily observe both ponds. Sometimes, when the weather was bad, they would sit in the fisherman's hut. Sometimes they would also gather in Adam's room, watching TV with a bottle of something stronger, or at Wiesiek's in the trailer. However, they always remembered to check the ponds several times during the weekend

.

A large, "official" television stood in the common room, which also served as the dining room and dining hall. However, there was always activity and bustle here. Someone was having dinner, someone came from the village for a beer or schnapps. Everyone wanted to watch something different, and it was common for the film to be interrupted mid-movie because a match was starting, or vice versa. The common room was built in the former central room of a typical "bauerhoff" (farmhouse), which could still be found in this part of Westphalia. The thick black beams of the ceiling were adorned with bunches of dried herbs of all kinds and bouquets of dried wildflowers. The wooden floor, polished to a shine by decades of use, had the hardness and color of basalt. Heavy oak tables harmonized with the gray fieldstone that formed the basic building material of the enormous fireplace, finished with ancient beams of untreated oak. The fireplace, where a fire burned day and night, was the focal point of the common room and its greatest attraction. Late in the evening, when the entire guesthouse was lost in sleep, the massive, meter-high logs glowed, creating a unique atmosphere.

Adam's room served as an unofficial, second common room for the closed group. Besides the Poles, Adam's room was often visited by other boarding house residents, mainly "Jugoles" with plum brandy, or girls working in the nearby gardening area, when they wanted to eat cake or drink coffee in peace.

Frau Hewig didn't mind; it was only important that no one loiter in the hallway after 11 p.m.

Adam often left the room, giving them the opportunity to talk freely.

He liked to go downstairs to the common room late at night, when the television was off and the guesthouse was quiet, and he would sit in front of the fireplace with a book. Sometimes Frau Hewig would come over, too. She would sit in a deep, old, sprawling armchair after a long day at work, stretching her legs out to the fire. On evenings like these, Adam would always put down his book and they would discuss various matters. Adam often tried to teach her Polish, and she would explain the meaning of the more complex German phrases and words. Most often, she would bring a bottle of homemade "apfelwein" and two glasses. If it was a Saturday, their conversations would end as a new day dawned outside the windows with the grayness of morning. On evenings like these, Adam learned the history of the Hewig family.

***

Today, just the two of them were fishing. Wiesiek and Leszek had gone to Poland. The school year was just starting, and he had received back pay, so he went to deliver the money to his wife.

They had a few perch and two carp, almost 1.5 kilos, in their net.

The sky had clouded over.

Leszek crushed the beer can in his hand. "What are you doing tonight?

" "I don't know yet.

" "I'm going to the city." Maybe you'll come with me?

"I don't feel like it. When it starts raining, I'll go home and read something.

" "I'm getting ready." Leszek reeled in his fishing rod. "I'll take these carp to Frau Hewig." He transferred both carp from the net to a bucket.

He paused on the bridge for a moment, chatting with the girls walking toward the pond.

"Adam, you have company!" he shouted to Adam. Two girls came down from the bridge to the meadow. Both worked in the same gardening business as Leszek. Adam didn't know much about them. The shorter black girl was Hungarian and named Ilona, ​​and the other was a Yugoslavian, Angela. He'd never been particularly interested in them; they were much younger than him, maybe twenty-five at most, while he was long past forty. He sometimes glanced at the young girls, mentally assessing them. Ilona was one of those on whom his gaze lingered more often than on others.

"Hello, Adaam!" They called out almost simultaneously.

"Hello."

"Can we watch TV at your place? The locals are drinking again in the common room.

" "Of course." Adam threw the keys at them.

"Thank you!" Angela smiled, catching them in midair. "We'll leave you a cookie." Ilona shouted again, and they ran back to the guesthouse.

"OK," he shouted back. "Snotty," he thought.

He hadn't had a bite in a good half hour. He checked the worm; it was intact. It was starting to drizzle lightly.

"I think that's enough for today," he said to himself. He packed up his tackle. He pulled out a net, in which six small perch were fluttering freely. "Who's going to peel and bake these? What a waste of time and effort," he thought. He released the fish, tucked a blanket under his arm, and headed for the guesthouse.

Some entertainment program was just ending when he entered the room. Three girls were sitting on the sofa. On the table stood a thermos, four cups, and four plates. Three of the plates were already empty, and on the fourth sat a giant cream cake.

"Did you catch much?" "Angela asked.

"A few perch, but I didn't feel like working with them, so I released them." He replied.

"This is Moni. She starts working for the gardener on Monday." Angela spoke fluent German.

"Hello, Moni. I'm Adam." He offered her his hand.

"Moni." She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "The girls scared me a bit with this job; I have no idea how I'll manage the first twelve-hour days. You know, I've never worked in gardening before." Her German was also impeccable, though with a clearly audible Slavic accent.

"Don't worry, a person can get used to anything. They say they're the easiest animal to adapt to difficult conditions.

" "They also told me you experienced an earthquake here.

" "That's true, it shook a bit. The epicenter was somewhere on the Belgian-Dutch border. Less than a hundred kilometers southwest of here."

"I'm from Skopje. My boyfriend died in the earthquake a few years ago." She looked sad.

"I'm so sorry. I sympathize.

" "These cookies and coffee are my welcome." She changed the subject. "Try it, it's really delicious.

" "Slowly. I need to wash up a bit after all that fishing. The smell of fish doesn't match such a wonderful treat. "

He grabbed a towel and went to the bathroom. When he returned, coffee was steaming in his cup.

"Milk and sugar?" Ilona asked.

"Both milk and sugar! If you're going crazy, you're going crazy." He smiled at her, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Come join us. We'll fit." The girls made room for him on the couch.

"So, how do you like it?

" "Delicious! I haven't eaten anything this delicious in ages. You can come over to watch TV with such delicacies even three times a day.

" "I'm glad you like it." Of course, we'll gladly accept the invitation, but you have to accept that the next cake won't arrive so quickly.

"Oh well, I'll get through it somehow.

" "I think I have to go now, because I'd like to unpack. I arrived two hours ago and they dragged me straight to the TV.

" "I'll help you." Angela followed Moni up from the couch.

"Let's stay a little longer, there's a movie coming up. If we don't disturb you, of course." Ilona looked at Adam.

"Not much that can disturb me." He smiled at her. "You can even watch it until morning. I'm addicted to TV too, so no problem. I was craving that movie anyway.

" "You stay, and we'll unpack Moni, and if it's not too late, we'll come back. We'll get the plates and cups to wash. So you don't have to wash up after us." Angela winked at Adam.

"I could have survived that too." Do you know, girl, how many cups and plates I've washed in my life?

"You don't have to wash after us, anyway.

" "Well, for now.

" "We'll be back!

" "I hope so." Adam looked at them with a faint smile. "And not just once."

The movie was just starting as they closed the door behind them.

Suddenly, he realized Ilona's head was resting on his shoulder, and he was gently stroking her hair. Her hair was long, thick, and strong, as is typical for dark-skinned women. Although jet black, it wasn't stiff and hard, but soft and delicate, velvety to the touch.

"Control yourself, man," he thought, and moved his hand to the back of the couch.

"Why did you stop? It was so pleasant."

Instead of answering, he shrugged, embarrassed.

"I enjoyed it too," he said in a quiet, embarrassed voice.

Without a word, she placed his hand back on her hair.

They sat there staring at the screen for a moment.

Adam no longer knew what the movie was about. Ilona's hair smelled, he noticed only then, of cloves with a touch of something bitter. He couldn't quite describe the scent. There was something intoxicating and arousing about it. Time stopped, and all he could smell was that scent.

Ilona shifted position, and suddenly her head was on his lap; she wasn't looking at the screen anymore, she was looking at him. Her hair spread across his thighs. The scent escaped. He wanted to catch up with him. He leaned over her. She put her hand on his neck.

"Kiss me," she whispered.

For a moment, he tried to control himself.

"I'm twice your age," he said quietly and slowly.

"So what? Kiss me!" Her whisper was heated. He was seething with passion. She pulled his head toward her mouth. He kissed her gently, just with his lips.

"Not like that. Kiss me for real!" Her lips parted, leaving no chance for escape. He hadn't kissed anyone like that in a long time. He lost himself completely in that kiss. He kissed passionately and fervently. He gave everything he received. They both poured all their passion into that kiss, all their desires, all their longings, all their desire to be truly close to someone. They kissed more and more passionately, forgetting the world around them. Ilona wrapped her arms around his neck. Adam's hands roamed in passionate fascination, more and more boldly over her dark skin, discovering new secrets with each passing moment.

When Angela knocked on Adam's door after more than an hour, they were both already dressed again and staring at the screen. Glasses of red wine had replaced the cups. Ilona was smoking a cigarette hungrily.

"They don't need to know about us," she whispered, gently touching his hand. He only nodded.

"Please come in; it's open.

" "We wouldn't want to disturb you," Angela said, looking at Ilona closely.

"Don't be silly. Adam has prepared glasses for you both.

" "Well, Moni's already unpacked.

" "Adam, Moni has arrived at my place of work." Ilona's voice was dull and sad. "I'm leaving tomorrow. If I can, I'll be back in three months.

" "That's a shame. So let's drink to your return.