67 A Man and a Woman

Inside the bar it suddenly got much warmer, maybe even too warm.

Rafał shook his head. 'Focus,' he admonished himself. 'Don't fantasize! Focus on the here and now! On this, or rather on someone you have in front of you!' And in front of him Brylski had a beautiful woman who was his on-screen partner and who had invited him to dinner to strengthen their camaraderie. It would be rude to ignore her and think about someone else.

The young actor dismissed the hot memories from himself.

“You know, Rafał, today I saw you in a completely different light “Marzena brought him back to reality. He looked at her more carefully and it seemed to him that the actress was more open towards him than usual, even including today. “You were very manly.”

“Really?” he was surprised.

“At first sight you seem weak, but today you showed that if the situation demands it, you can be very strong. If I was being blackmailed, I think I would die.”

Brylski blushed embarrassed. Being blackmailed is nothing pleasant, because you are blackmailing a person who has some weakness. Fortunately, few people knew Rafał's true weaknesses and couldn't use them against him, but Tomek gave him a taste of what might await him when his true shameful secrets came to light.

Therefore Brylski had to be strong, but he absolutely did not expect to impress anyone with it, especially this woman.

“It was not a nice situation, I admit," he said. Of course, he can't tell Marzena everything and he won't do it, but if he doesn't say anything, the young woman may digress and find out something she shouldn't. “I even considered paying and getting it over with, but if I paid once, I'd probably have to pay for the rest of my life, and if the matter came to light, I'd be ruined anyway.”

“The case... But you're not really...?”

Rafał didn't understand Marzena's question. Only after a while it occurred to him that the woman could have heard his conversation with Tomek. Although the actress was tactful and did not say that sensitive word, he still felt embarrassed.

“You mean what Tomek was blackmailing me with?”

”Yes," she admitted.

“I'm not” blushed Brylski. “I'm not someone who can love easily and I take women very seriously, that's why I didn't have a girlfriend, so Tomek thought...”

“Not at all?”

Marzena asked with such emphasis that surprised Rafał analysed his words and completely covered himself with a blush.

“Erm... I mean...”

If you think about it more carefully, if someone at the age of twenty-five did not have a girlfriend in his life, something might be wrong with him, but if you think about it even more carefully, there would probably be more such people than it seems. Nevertheless, the topic was sensitive for Rafał and explaining it was uncomfortable for him.

“I think I'm in love with you” Skierska surprised him with the sudden statement. “But seriously. Do you know how hard it is now to find a decent guy who doesn't treat women like toys? A guy who is waiting for true love? God, I envy the girl who catches you!”

A surprised Brylki blinked his eyelids. Is Marzena joking or is she serious?

Rafał couldn't answer that question. He knew that for centuries chastity was required from women and a man was good when he was experienced (I wonder, with whom he was supposed to gain this experience?) but now the world had completely changed and women did not guard their virginity like a treasure and in some circles being a virgin was completely out of fashion. A guy should go through the initiation at the age of eighteen at the latest, otherwise he will be ridiculed.

But it wasn't just religious reasons that kept some young people from going to bed with someone. Many people didn't want to make love to someone only to lose their virginity and waited for the right person. It was nice when that person showed up relatively early and young hearts started beating in unison, but some people had to wait longer. For some, virginity was a source of pride, for others - shame.

For Rafał it was shameful, but only because it was not the result of his conscious decision to wait for someone he loved, but because of his handicap. If he felt physically attracted to someone and restrained his lust, he could feel proud. To draw pride from purity when one has no temptation was rather pathetic.

“But you know what?” Marzena added and Rafał felt the touch of her foot on his leg “there is nothing more appealing than leading a good boy down the wrong path...”

***

Keyboard Warrior 00880 peppered his keyboard against the wall causing keys to splatter across the floor. The fury he felt was indescribable.

How dare Tomo_007! How did he dare? The deal was done! Everything had been done to the last button! How dare he back out now?

Traitor! Hypocrite! $%^&%$#^&**^&^##@...

Does this even make sense?

It took many minutes before Keyblade Warrior 00880 was able to recover as much as possible and start thinking.

If someone showed up who knew the dirt on Rafał Brylski, that meant that some dirt was indeed there. If one person knew it, someone else could also know it. That person withdrew, but another person might be more courageous or in greater need of money. If Keyboard Warrior 00880 started to search deeper, he would definitely come across a clue.

After all, he now knew there was something to look for. Something that had to do with Brylski's school years.

***

Rafał became motionless. He felt very, very strange and in no way pleasant.

“Don't make fun of me," he asked Skierska in a serious tone. He didn't like his older friend making fun of him and on a subject so sensitive to him.

“I'm not kidding” Marzena assured him seriously and Rafal saw the fire in her eyes. “This morning... When I saw you so cool, I thought you were very, very sexy. So much so that, you know...”

Rafal's heart beat harder. Is Marzena saying what he thinks she is saying to him?

Is Marzena just making him a proposal?

“Hey” he smiled trying not to show that he was beginning to believe her words “if you keep talking like that, who knows what I'll do....”

“I'd love to find out. My hotel room is quite cozy.”

Yesterday, faced with Tomek's blackmail, Rafał had promised himself that he would take the first opportunity to sleep with a woman, but now he was starting to panic.

Why? After all, he had promised himself that he would try with a woman. He had promised himself that he would see if the swallow that his intimate encounter with Damian had been really was the harbinger of spring. So why now was his whole body starting to go numb with fear and reluctance instead of starting to burn?

But the suggestion kind of came up and he had to respond to it.

“I don't know if such a situation between colleagues is a good solution...”

“Oh, come on” insisted Skierska and bit her lower lip and her foot went up Brylski's hip and came dangerously close to the intimate regions. “After all, after one night I will not start running after you demanding that you marry me.”

After one night, noncommittal, for pleasure. Marzena gave the impression that she actually got excited. Her cheeks were flushed, her breathing a little heavier and her eyes lit up. Even today on the set, when they embraced each other, it wasn't pure acting.

Marzena had the hots for him and she was making that clear to him.

The opportunity for Rafał to sleep with a beautiful woman was coming sooner than he expected. Brylski took a deep breath...