Wiktoria had been waiting a whole week for a response about the job. For seven days, she had been living under the stress of becoming an educated unemployed woman, like many in this country. When her cell phone finally rang, she practically jumped, and her heart beat a little faster. She answered the phone with a trembling hand. Yes, she got the job. She was supposed to start immediately, meaning on Monday. When she finished the call, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Wiktoria entered the classroom and, with a slight nervousness, looked at the class she would soon be teaching Polish.
"Good morning," she said, smiling at the students. "My name is Wiktoria Janecka, and I'll be teaching you Polish..."
A short boy sitting in the front row, watching Wiktoria with boredom, nudged his friend and said in a stage whisper, "As if we didn't know what she'll be teaching us." The fair-haired girl pretended not to hear. "I'll give them one more chance; after all, they're just a bunch of spoiled sixteen-year-olds," she thought, and continued her presentation.
"Polish is one of the subjects you'll have to take as a compulsory subject for your final exams..." She paused for a moment and looked around the classroom. "...assuming each of you takes the final exam," she added with an ironic smile. Wiktoria glanced at the two girls sitting in the front row. Their faces were adorned with rather heavy, dark makeup. They gave the impression they were in no way interested in what Wiktoria had to say. They were both sitting and discussing something heatedly.
"May I ask what you're talking about?" Wiktoria asked, watching them closely. One of the girls turned to the fair-haired girl and, with feigned confidence, muttered, "Nothing..." Wiktoria already knew who she should keep an eye on.
"Then you must know that I am responsible for ensuring that each of you who takes the final exam passes with the best of your ability. Of course, this isn't solely up to me. You'll be questioned during every lesson..." And here she was met with indignation from the class.
"But why?! "asked the girl from the other desk.
"Because it will motivate you to study," Wiktoria replied curtly.
"Then we'll go on strike and not study," said the tall boy from the last desk, glancing at Wiktoria and then crossing his arms over his chest. Half the students gave him a reproachful look.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Wiktoria announced, taking a closer look at the boy. "Polish is a very important subject. You need it not only for your final exams but also for life in society. Every intelligent and educated person should know the basics of literature, not only Polish but also world literature. Every intelligent and educated person should be able to string a few words together. Every intelligent and educated person should have the ability to express their thoughts."
The dark-skinned boy with gelled hair (a typical heartthrob) became a bit indignant.
"But, Professor. We're math and information technology. Why do we need all this?" he asked with unconcealed irritation.
"Math class..." A smile appeared on Wiktoria's face. "What's your name?" she asked.
"Maciek," the boy replied.
"Maćku, imagine that I was once in a math and computer science class..." she said, still smiling. "And just like you, I believe that God is mathematics."
Some of the class looked at Wiktoria in disbelief.
"So why is the professor teaching Polish?" asked the aforementioned girl with dark makeup.
"The question should be worded a bit differently," Wiktoria stated. "You should probably ask me why I went to math class. Allow me not to dwell on this. I'll answer you briefly, concisely, and to the point." Here she paused for a moment. "So you can understand. And I won't say anything more."
The students gave her a look of surprise. A moment later, the bell rang. Wiktoria said goodbye to the students, and they quickly ran out of the room. Well, my first period is over, she thought with delight. Now she had what's called a window, a whole forty-five minutes to rest. The blonde girl gathered her things from her desk and left room 211. She wandered towards the teachers' lounge.
There, she placed her journal in the appropriate compartment. She felt a bit uneasy. She didn't know anyone. She didn't even notice that someone was watching her intently. After a few moments, the observer approached Wiktoria. She looked at the man of average height. He had a slight stubble on his face, rather large blue eyes, and neatly cut hair that partially obscured his face. He was one of the younger teachers.
"Excuse me, are you the new Polish teacher?" he asked, smiling.
"Yes, it's me," Wiktoria replied. The man offered her his hand, and Wiktoria shook it.
"Paweł Wieniawski," he said, looking her straight in the eye.
"Wiktoria Janecka," she replied, avoiding his gaze.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. The whole staff room is buzzing about your arrival," Paweł said, laughing.
"You see, what an exceptional person I am," Wiktoria replied, giving him a radiant smile.
"No wonder. What's exceptional is the fact that you decided to teach at this school. Believe me... It takes a lot of courage," he joked.
"Is it that bad?
" "No way... Intelligent, learning young people, that's who you'll be dealing with," Paweł said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Really?
" "But ma'am, it's enough for someone to know the multiplication table, be able to add, and have read 'Plastusiowy Pamiętnik'. That already proves exceptional intelligence. "
They both burst out laughing.
"So they really are a bunch of slackers," Wiktoria said, looking at Paweł closely.
"And what can you expect from a school for kids whose parents are stuffed with money like vanilla custard tubes?!" Paweł replied, laughing to himself. "Of course, there are exceptions who take their studies seriously and want to achieve something in life, but most... Most only come here out of necessity. Just because their parents tell them to, and that's it." Wiktoria narrowed her eyes slightly.
"So why do you teach here?" she asked with undisguised interest.
"You see. Even though most of the students at this school are a bunch of spoiled and spoiled kids, something keeps me here. Maybe I've just grown fond of these brats..." He gave Wiktoria a gentle, sincere smile.
Paweł's character intrigued Wiktoria immensely. When they passed each other in the hallway, Paweł didn't hesitate to exchange his opinions with Wiktoria about the school where they worked. However, their conversations never extended beyond their professional lives. Paweł was quite a curious man for his gender, although his inquisitiveness was limited to his desire to know how the students behaved in Wiktoria's classes. As the bell rang, they said goodbye with a curt "see you later" and went their separate ways. Sometimes, during free lessons, they met in the teachers' lounge. Of course, provided they weren't assigned a replacement, which irritated both Wiktoria and Paweł immensely.
"They won't let you rest even for forty-five minutes," Paweł grumbled, then selected the appropriate journal and left.
One day, while Wiktoria was sitting alone in her room, leafing through the lesson plans she planned to use during her lessons, the phone rang. She glanced at the display—Marek. She briefly considered answering the phone. However, she decided it would be a bit rude not to. She pressed the green button and then put the phone to her ear.
"Hello..." she said with a moderate level of enthusiasm.
"Hello, Wiktoria," the voice on the other end replied.
"Hello," she replied in a mournful voice.
"I'm calling to..." He paused for a moment. "...to find out how you're doing. I wanted to know if you'd found an apartment, a job. Wiktoria, I'm worried." Wiktoria rolled her eyes.
"You don't have to worry about me. Everything's fine. I have an apartment and a job. Everything's going perfectly," she replied, glancing at the nails on the hand that wasn't holding the phone.
"You have no idea how happy I am that you're doing well! And tell me... Where do you work?" he asked.
"At school. I teach Polish," she replied quickly.
"You hated that job so much! Honey, you're wasting your time there." He called me 'honey,' Wiktoria thought, and gripped the receiver tighter.
Paweł entered the staff room.
"They ran away! Can you imagine that? They just ran away from my lesson. The only people left in the classroom..." He stopped when he noticed Wiktoria was on the phone. "I'm sorry," he said, speaking a little more quietly.
The blonde decided to end the conversation. She stated that they couldn't talk at the moment, as she didn't want to discuss the matter over the phone. This wasn't the time, this wasn't the way.
"Excuse me, ma'am, I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation," Paweł said with an apologetic look.
"But you didn't interrupt me. Not at all. You could say you helped me end a pointless discussion," Wiktoria replied.
"I'm glad I could be of some use," Paweł said, smiling at Wiktoria. "I assume someone very pushy called, since you weren't particularly keen on talking to this man," Paweł surmised, arranging his things on the table.
"Yes, he's undoubtedly pushy..." she replied, examining the papers Paweł had spread out on the desk to arrange in the proper order. They were undoubtedly student tests. "My ex-husband is worried about me," she said, tucking her cell phone into her purse. "Oh... I see you're writing a polynomial test." Wiktoria glanced at the papers again.
Paweł gave Wiktoria a penetrating look. For the first time, she had revealed a secret about her past to him.
"Yes... You know, Bezout's theorem and all that," Paweł replied, though his thoughts were elsewhere in mathematics.
"Bezout's theorem? Oh yes, I remember that. The number "er" is a root of a polynomial if and only if the polynomial "wu of ix" is divisible by the binomial "iks minus er." Of course, this assumes that the number "er" is a root of the polynomial "wu of ix," Wiktoria recited, then burst out laughing. Paweł looked at her with considerable surprise.
"I see you were a diligent student in high school," he said after a moment.
"You could put it that way," Wiktoria replied, smiling.
"Anyway, you impressed me with your comprehensive knowledge. On the one hand, a brilliant Polish scholar, and on the other, a mathematician's brain. Well, well, you'd be hard pressed to find a woman like that." Paweł beamed at his interlocutor, and Wiktoria giggled.
"You see, I've had quite a bit of experience with mathematics in my life," Wiktoria said, glancing at her watch. And once again, she told him something more extensive than the educational institution where they both worked.
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