Monday

The weekend tired Mikołaj physically, and yet the young man felt fresh and rested. He entered the office with a broad smile on his face.

"Good morning everyone," he cried, although not everyone was at work. Ewka was missing.

"Good morning, good morning! Why are you so overjoyed today? Did you pick up someone for the weekend?"

"Private matters are private matters," he answered Łukasz.

"I take it so," said his colleague. "She had to be good."

Kinga did not comment on their little exchange or the radiant appearance of her boss. She looked at them without emotion and returned to her work.

"You are a terribly morning bird," Skrzynecki smiled at her. "However early I would come, you are always here."

"That's how my trams run," she said. "I would rather start early and possibly leave sooner than stay after hours."

"And I thought you just didn't want to work with me," he smiled playfully.

"No," she answered without looking up from the papers.

That was Kinga - quiet, serious, extremely conscientious and in a way brilliant no matter what she touched. Absolutely perfect except for a lack of sense of humor. And beautiful.

They get to work. In a week since Kinga appeared, they were no longer behind. It is true that she worked here only part-time, but it was enough for them to go straight ahead in a few days, and at the same time Mikołaj together with lawyers and a Szwedas prepared a new offer devoting her almost all the time. That is why last Thursday he knew that everything would be done and he decided to invite Stefan for a beer, which resulted in this weekend. In life, he would not have done it were it not for the new acquisition of their department, which took over most complaints from him. Skrzynecki wanted to construct the content of the new offer in such a way as to minimize the number of misunderstandings as to the interpretation of individual records and, as a consequence, the impact of difficult complaints. He released her from his department on Wednesday, the Szwedas gave her so on Thursday, and finally, around fourteenth on Friday, the contract template was ready and plotted by all departments dealing with her. Within two weeks it will hit the market.

His own offer.

For Mikołaj, it was a professional and private success. He had never done anything that big before, so he was proud that something so good had already happened at his debut.

Of course, Stefan played a huge role in the design of the offer. The man may not know Polish realities too well, but he certainly knew sales. And he knew people. Skrzynecki increasingly admired him for his manipulative abilities, which meant that despite the workload, each department did its best to make Szwedas happy in their work's contribution to his project. It brought really good results and morale in the company clearly increased.

Mikołaj wondered how much pure genius there is in Stefan, and how much of such behavior can be earned? Can you learn the charisma that makes everyone feel pleasant? Or maybe you need both? Anyway, the Szwedas no doubt had everything. Both in his professional and private life he easily achieved his goals.

Skrzynecki smiled at the memory of the morning when the "sausage" incident occurred. He had to shake his head to chase away erotic thoughts and focus on the tasks of the current day.

Ewka came to the office half an hour late. Like a hurricane, she appeared in their room and took her desk. Mikołaj, who was just browsing one of the new contracts, told her only "good" without even raising his head. For some reason, the atmosphere became strangely heavy within a few minutes. Even he, so joyful since the morning, sensed the change. He raised his head.

Łukasz looked uncertain. Kinga, buried in her work, seemed to see nothing, but from time to time she cast a watchful glance at Ewka. Ewka for that ...

Ewka looked like she was crying in the morning. Even strong makeup was not able to cover up swelling of the eyelids and redness of the eyes. She looked as if she were constantly on the edge of tears and stopped them only by some huge effort of will.

Mikołaj did not like this view. Of course, like every guy, he didn't like women's tears, but now it was even worse, Ewa was his subordinate, but also a kind of little sister. His heart ached when he looked at his younger friend who is in such a state. Should he do something? Ask? Comfort? Or maybe he should ignore the situation? Ewka is waiting for someone to ask her and to cry, does she want to pretend she is strong?

"Oh, no!" Sounded suddenly from Kinga's side. Mikołaj jumped up. He looked at the girl who looked like something had happened. "Ehm, Ewa, can I ask you for a moment? Ehm, outside? "

"What? Sure!" she called out immediately.

What again? Is today the day called 'lady in trouble'?

"Maybe I could ..." he suggested.

"No, no," Kinga said quickly, and winked at him as she passed by his desk. "Ewa is enough,"

What was that look? Is Kinga ...

"What about these women today?" Łukasz asked, confused. "Almost like a 'freak day'."

"We can't help it," Skrzynecki said, going back to work. "Let the girls take care of themselves."

"I wonder what happened to Ewka? I hope it's not her guy."

"The one from the security?" Mikołaj remembered the incident from the restaurant and his swollen nose. He did not resent him, although he definitely did not like the guy. "But he doesn't hurt Ewka? I didn't notice any bruising, but maybe ... "

He looked at the door. His subordinate's boyfriend was a brutal man with a short temperament, but he didn't seem to be able to raise his hand at Ewa. What if this is the case?

If this is the case, Mikołaj will blow his nose this time.

"I don't think so ..." Łukasz said hesitantly. "I mean, I don't think he beat her. I think we would notice ...? "

"Maybe."

Mikołaj felt insecure. Busy with new responsibilities and his relationship with the Szwedas, he has not had time to look at his subordinates lately. Out of necessity, he focused only on the effects of their work, not on the people themselves. In the meantime, if something bad happened in the life of Ewka or anyone else in the team, there was no chance that he would notice it.

"Let's leave it to Kinga for now," he said. "Women do this best."

"Yeah, you're right."

They returned to work, but Skrzynecki was unable to focus completely on it. The image of Ewka, who could not cover the traces of intense crying, stubbornly stuck in his head causing him to simply worry. It is true that the girl was not brilliant like Kinga, but she tried her best at work and usually did not make the same mistakes twice. Although they worked together for only three months, they were also three months, during which he was her professional mentor. If in her life had been going on badly for some time, it was a personal failure of Mikołaj that he did not notice this situation and did not support the girl.

After about ten minutes, he and Łukasz started spinning in their seats.

"They're gone a long time ago," said his colleague.

"When a girl cry, do you think how much time it takes her to tidy up?"

"Do you think they are crying?"

"At least one."

There was silence. Skrzynecki glanced at the door and sighed. Maybe he should go and check?

The work passed in a harsh atmosphere with their eyes constantly directed toward the door. When these finally opened, Łukasz jumped up.

Kinga entered the room with a completely emotionless expression. Without a word, she took her place and reached for the papers she had previously worked on.

There was a giant question mark with an exclamation mark in the air.

"Ewa will be here soon," she said.

Mikołaj began to wonder if Ewka's problem were serious, would Kinga share information with them? Or maybe some female solidarity would keep her silent even if her friend is in serious trouble?

Skrzynecki did not understand women. They were too complicated. They never said what they thought and were irritated that men did not guess their thoughts. They were crying for unknown reasons and the smallest detail was important to them as life. What a strange genre!

Of course they were beautiful, charming and lovely. He had absolutely nothing against them. If his partners didn't start dreaming about a house with a garden and living together at some point, he would get along great with them. However, they more and more often expected something that he could not give them. He just couldn't imagine spending all his life with one and the same person.

He knew from experience that a woman could have a thousand different reasons to cry. He only hoped that Ewka was trivial. He trusted that if he was serious, the girl would turn to him for help. He wanted to think of himself not only as her supervisor, but also as a colleague she can rely on. He hoped she thought about him similarly.

Ewka finally came back and although she had a completely new makeup, there was no doubt that she was crying again. She went inside, avoiding the men's eyes, but she seemed to be calmer. Probably it was enough for her to talk to Kinga.

"Are you not going to the heads of department meeting?" Ewka asked suddenly.

"What? Oh yes, I forgot. Thanks!"

He actually forgot, he realized, surprised. Who would have thought that his thoughts would take the problems of his colleague so much.