Page 108 of My Boss

“Wait a sec.” I hear her moving around, then she turns to Radoslaw and says, “Will you give him a bath today? I have an important call.”

“I will, but you make popcorn for the movie.”

“Okay,” Toska agrees.

“And put on that nightgown you got from me for Christmas,” Radek adds.

“I was going to do it anyway,” she answers, giggling.

A crackle in the receiver, quick footsteps, the sound of the door closing, and finally, Toska speaks into the phone:

“Okay, a moment of peace. Tell everything and don’t skip details.”

So, I tell her everything, although not in as much detail as I remembered. If I were to describe every detail to her, our conversation would start to resemble phone sex. I mention the crazy evening at the office and in the elevator; I tell her about Jan giving me a watch worth quite a bit of money, which I didn’t accept. I talk about my mother’s stay in the hospital and how my family treated me. Then I go on to the night spent at Jan’s house, his habits, peculiarities, perfectionism, problems with being empathetic and total lack of a sense of humor. I tell her about the furniture he bought from me and how he made sure I got the funds to start a business.

And the more I tell her about him, the more I feel like going back to him already and spending more hours with him. Man, I’ve got it real bad. How is it possible that I left his house about twenty minutes ago and I already miss his voice? I want himto make me laugh again (unknowingly). I want to get to know him better and, at the same time, show him that not always having everything under control is good and gives happiness. I want him to change his schedule for me, to open up to what is surprising. And, of course, I dream of having sex with him again. Amazingly, I’ve never had such a craving for a guy and I’ve never fucked anyone with such frequency.

“I can only tell you two things: use your days off because you deserve a rest, and enjoy every moment because you deserve happiness,” Toska concludes at the very end. “As for Jan— he is a completely different man from the ones you’ve dated so far, and…”

“Well, that’s right, he is not my type after all!” My reaction is spontaneous and immediate. “Believe me, I’m surprised myself that I’m so drawn to him. Especially since sometimes I feel like strangling him.”

“I know exactly what you are talking about. We will see how the situation develops. Be sure to let me know.”

“Sure. Kisses to you and the boys.”

“Thanks. Have a great time. Bye.”

After camouflaging my sin (with gum and perfume), I return inside with the pie. The kitchen is cleaned to a shine, and there is no trace of my lover.

“Jan, where are you?!” I wash my hands and start cutting the pie. “Jan, will you have a slice?!”

I don’t hear any sounds except for the running dishwasher.

I take two plates of apple pie and set out to find him. As soon as I enter the corridor and see the light under the study door, I guess why he didn’t answer. He’s probably rummaging in the innards of a watch again.

I have no way to knock, so I press the handle with my elbow and push the door open.

Just as I thought. Jan is sitting bent over his desk, tinkering with a mechanism. He’s so engrossed in what he’s doing that he doesn’t even hear me come in.

“Hi. Would you like some pie?” I ask and put the plate on the desk.

“Not here. I’ll eat in the kitchen when I’m done.”

“OK.” My guess is that he doesn’t want to have crumbs all over the workspace, which is actually understandable. I look at the precision with which he removes the tiny hand from the dial with tweezers. There you go, such big paws yet so graceful. “When can I expect you?” I ask and take the plate.

He glances at the clock on the wall, which shows six thirty. It’s a bit bigger than the one in the apartment and, horror of horrors, it also has a fucking pendulum, which means it’s going to chime during the night!

“At 10:15,” he replies.

“Very funny.”

He looks at me.

“Did you consider my answer funny?” he asks quite seriously.

Well, gosh, will he really ignore me and keep romancing his Sexpile wonder?

“I thought we would spend the evening together. I don’t understand why you brought me here if you prefer to sit alone in the study and fix the watch.”

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