2

III

"Get up, honey. What do you want for breakfast, teddy bear?" she asked, kissing Andrzej tenderly on the cheek and pinching his buttocks.

Andrzej slowly rose, tenderly placed his hand on her cheek, and spat directly in her face.

"Teddy bear, teddy bear. I know you're in a bad mood again today. Maybe a shower will relax you," she said as saliva flowed down her cheeks.

He quickly stood up, ripped off her nightgown, grabbed her foot, and dragged her across the cold floor into the bathroom.

"Andrzej, please calm down. I'll make you breakfast right away. Just the way you like it. And then I'll iron your shirt and prepare you a delicious dinner."

He grabbed her by the head and stuck it under the faucet. He glanced briefly in the mirror, winked at himself, and turned on the icy water.

"Andrzej, calm down! Please! Calm down. I'll make you breakfast right away. Just the way you like it. Light and nutritious."

He punched Joanna in the back, shouting, "Do you respect me? Do you respect me, bitch? Who is the most wonderful man on earth? Who do you love more than God, yourself, and your own mother?"

He filled the sink with water, closing the faucet and holding her hair, which was falling out under his force. He looked at his reflection in the mirror, gave himself a tender smile, and tossed the running hairdryer into the full sink.

"Get up, honey. What do you want for breakfast, honey?" she asked, kissing Andrzej tenderly on the cheek and pinching his buttocks.

He slowly opened his eyes, ignoring Joanna. He focused all his attention on controlling his hands and his reactions. A painful grimace of conscious awareness appeared on his face, but he quickly covered it with his hands, transforming into his everyday Andrzej.

"Okay, okay, Joanna. Prepare something light and nutritious."

Every morning Joanna woke up early and, without a word of reproach, quickly went to the bathroom, turning on the heater so he could shave comfortably, then headed to the kitchen to get butter from the fridge so it would be soft for breakfast.

After these activities, she returned to the bedroom and looked at the helpless Andrzej for a moment, thinking of the dreams God had been giving him. Looking at him like that, she imagined a child who needed to be interrupted from his idyllic sleep, prepared, and sent off to school, but she quickly blocked these thoughts from her mind, feeling the pain she had experienced after losing her own child.

"Hello, my love. " Prepare scrambled eggs with onions, coffee with milk, half and half, three slices of bread with butter, but enough to cover the holes, no more, no less.

She dutifully prepared breakfast, mindful of Andrzej's comments. She didn't want to provoke an argument that too much oil in the pan might cause. Forgetting herself, she devoted her time and attention to him, but her thoughts were on someone else. Someone to whom Joanna was important.

"Honey, maybe you could sing something while you shave? That song by the Ubiaszek Brothers. I like hearing you purr," Joanna shouted to Andrzej from the kitchen.

"Oh, don't dawdle. Hurry up, I have an important meeting. Remember that coffee with milk has to be half and half?"

After breakfast, they both went to the bedroom, where another morning ritual was taking place. "Socks

!"

"Here, honey," she ran to the closet, handing them to Andrzej, who was sitting on the bed. "

Pants!"

"Which ones, honey?"

"I've told you a hundred times. The black ones I bought a month ago.

" "I'm giving you

the shirt!

" "Here it is ."

"The jacket!

" "And you know you'd look better in the striped one. " "The jacket!

" he repeated

. "I'm giving you the shoes! " "I'm carrying them," she shouted from the hallway . " The briefcase!" "Here you go, darling. " "Goodbye, Joanna. I'll be there as usual," he said without looking back. "Another beautiful day!" she whispered to herself, squatting on the bedroom floor. IV "Are you a prostitute? " "Yes. Do you want to have fun, tiger? I have an apartment not far from here. " "What's your name? " "Joanna ." "But I'm demanding. " "You look like one. Let's go." "Hug me and tell me you love me. Please. Do it," he said, snuggling into her chest. "Now cry. Cry, Darek."

"I'm not going to fucking cry. I'm a man, a tough man. I have a position and I make a lot of money. People respect me. I'll never cry, but, but please, hug me, please, hug me. "

V

Impatiently stepped into the shower. The warm water washed away his exhaustion. After a few moments spent under the blanket of water, he felt relaxed. "I have to talk to the dean about insulating these rooms," he thought teasingly as the shower washed away the city's filth, which, like a hungry leech, clung to the bodies and minds of every resident.

He loved showers. When he turned the tap and the cold water initially poured, he experienced a shock that woke him from his lethargy, sending shivers through his body. A shiver that briefly sent him into a state of struggle for existence, only to later, as the stream warmed, give way to a bliss that relaxed body and mind. He could rarely allow himself such a state. A carefree state, but when the water and the roar drowned out the outside world, the world of envy and mockery, he succumbed to a false sense of security.

When the initial phase reached its peak, when he felt cut off from the predatory world dripping with the slime of tears, he began his journey into the land of dreams. Among ancient oaks, overgrown with bright green moss, with the sun's rays tickling his face, he saw himself walking proudly, head high, feeling a shiver of prestige on his back and the admiration in the eyes of passersby, traversing this land with him, yet somehow different. They were sad, hunched, oblivious to the spreading oaks, as if the sun shone only for him.

"What prestige would it be to go to England on a scholarship? What prestige that would be!" he thought, sucking in and spitting water from his mouth. "But I was smart and determined today," he repeated to himself, scratching his chest. "That redhead from Ireland must have been embarrassed that a Pole, and a younger one at that, was smarter than him," he thought, staring at his reflection in the faucet knobs. He pursed his lips, tilted his head, and squinted at his reflection. "What are these redheads thinking about? Probably whiskey and a pint of Guinness."

Joanna snapped him out of his reverie. She went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. This mundane activity ripped him from his daydream. He wanted to shout at her for no reason, but he noticed her body peeking through her lace underwear. He stared at her breasts, hips, and legs.

The relaxation, the heat, and the sight of her in her see-through nightgown triggered a new wave of sensations in him. Desire. "I must be quite the stud," he quickly dried himself off, tenderly gazing at Joanna's bent body over the sink. He approached her, but he smelled her perfume, the scent he'd been waking up to and falling asleep to for ten years.

"What do you want, honey?" she asked, spitting out the remains of the toothpaste.

"Do I have to want something? And you know what, pass me the cream," he added after some thought.

VI

"What happened, honey?" She entered the room, lit only by a small lamp.

"Nothing," Andrzej grumbled, reaching for the bottle of cognac on the sideboard.

"You always shut yourself off when someone hurts you. Come on, tell me. You can tell me anything." She crouched down at Andrzej's feet, placing her hand on his knee.

"Nobody hurt me. Nobody. Absolutely nobody." He took a sip from the crystal glass. She took it from his hand and placed his hand on her face. "Nobody hurt me. Nobody." He began stroking Joanna's cheeks with the back of his hand. "Only… Only that son of a bitch from the economics department… That asshole said in front of the dean that I was an idealist and a dreamer."

She rose from her knees and sat down next to him. She rested his head on her shoulder.

"What's wrong with that?" she asked, running her fingers through his hair.

"Idealist?!? Dreamer?!? What's he thinking?!?" – He yanked his head out from under her hands and reached for the glass.

“Don’t drink, please.” She forcibly, yet tenderly, pulled his head back onto her shoulder. “Let them say what they want. They have the right to. As long as we have each other, no one can hurt us. I’m fighting for you. You’re fighting for me.

” “Let me go. Let me go!” Andrzej reached for the glass. He took a bitter sip of cognac and stared absently at the wall in front of him.

“Do you know how mean those economics students are?” She rested her head on his shoulder.

“Cunning?!? Cunning?!? When I go on scholarship, I’ll show them.” He moved her head from his shoulder. He placed his hand on Joanna’s knee, gently massaging it.

“Stop biting yourself, honey. You should have told him you disagreed with his opinion.

” “Are you crazy?!? All these teasings are a ploy to keep me from going to England.” They want to discredit me in the eyes of the dean." His hand moved higher, to her thigh.

"I understand, but please don't drink anymore." She pulled the glass from his hands. Placing it on the table, she suspended her body above his.

"Okay. Would you like to...? I'd relax." He turned her body to face him, placing his hand on her chest.

She firmly pushed Andrzej's hand away, standing up abruptly.

"What, am I a relaxation machine?" she exploded with anger. "What you said was rude! I know we haven't made love for a while, but I won't be an object to help you forget your problems. I want to be your partner and your other half." She walked over to the table, briskly picked up the bottle, and hid it in the bar.

"What are you talking about? Come on, honey..." he said, surprised.

"You better take a shower," she shouted from the hallway, more to the air than to him.