The Szwedas did not have a secretary. He was not a department head but a specialist. Admittedly, the promotion department came under his jurisdiction, but he did not share the office with them. He had his own office near the office of the president.
Mikołaj knocked and immediately heard:
"Please come in."
So he entered without delay.
He had never been to this place before and was a bit surprised. The desk was not right in front of the door, but to the left, a bit like secretary desks in American films. The Szwedas, who was just signing something, smiled and stood up.
"Please," he pointed to a table, a sofa and two armchairs opposite. "We'll be more comfortable there."
And certainly less formally, Mikołaj decided and took his place. zwedas sat down opposite.
"Coffee, tea, water?" He suggested.
"Nothing, thank you."
"Let me know if you change your mind. Did you get through my notes?"
"Yes. The idea is interesting."
"But?"
Skrzynecki bit his lower lip.
"It won't sell with us. It's Poland, not America."
"We have globalization."
"Only that we are not so panicked about our security. And yet we do not want to cause people a sense of anxiety just to sell a product. It would conflict with the image of our company."
"Fact. That's why you came up with a solution."
"Maybe not quite, but look" Mikołaj handed him the offer plan he had prepared.
Szwedas read it carefully, putting his left hand to his mouth. Skrzynecki fluttered his eyelids. He thought that he would be able to work with this man normally, but even his smallest gesture made Mikołaj begin to feel an indefinite anxiety accumulating in his crotch.
"Good," Szwedas commented, smiling with satisfaction. "A bit harsh, but with this we can go out to people. I have more comments about points three and sixteen, but we should deal with it without any problem. Have you been preparing offers for a long time?"
"This is my first."
"Seriously? It's really great. Can you leave it to me? I'd like to look at it more closely and make some suggestions. Can I photocopy it?"
"Keep the original. I have it in electronic version if you want."
"Great, send it to me by e-mail. You will have comments tomorrow morning. It looks like we will be doing well" Szwedas got up and held out his hand to him.
"I think so too," he confirmed and shook his hand. It was warm, soft and pleasantly strong. Mikołaj remembered how she wandered around his body, bringing him indescribable pleasure.
Pleasure, huh?
It's not good if even a simple shake of your hands evokes such memories in Mikołaj, working with a Szwedas may not be as easy as they had hoped.
Szwedas kept his word and in the morning Mikołaj found an e-mail from him with corrections. Skrzynecki noticed the time of sending the message - twenty-one thirty-seven. Was a Szwedas working so late yesterday? Workaholic. But his patches were good. Very good. Similarly, additional questions. He also requested a reunion on Thursday at 3pm to discuss these comments.
There were not many of them, so Skrzynecki did not need much time to respond to them. He settled the matter in an hour and returned to his standard duties.
"Hey, leave it, leave it" Łukasz covered the briefcase that Mikołaj had given him yesterday. "These are mine."
"But today I have more time than yesterday..."
"You used to deal with contracts with Elwira, now you do them yourself. It is too much. If you are overworked, you will start bothering us as you know who. For our own good - just give up a bit. Flip me a quarter of new contracts. No, a third . "
"You have your job."
"I can do contracts, but not complaints."
"Okay" Mikołaj capitulated. "But if you don't get along, let me know. Don't play the hero at the expense of customers."
"For now, you are sitting everyday after hours. How much was yesterday? Two and a half?"
Actually it was two forty, counted Skrzynecki. Yesterday he saw that they had received a lot of complaints. Some of the old ones were not yet closed due to the lack of any documents. Mikołaj did the simplest but more complicated he left for today. He intended to use Ewka for them.
"You said yourself - you don't know complaints. Ewa, I know you have a lot of work, but could you help me with three things?"
"Sure."
"Listen, these two clients' contracts have disappeared somewhere and here I have a discrepancy in the verdict on the real beneficiary. Could you look for it? It's old contracts, even I wasn't working yet. Probably someone put them in the wrong folder."
"Sure no problem."
"Make it a priority by noon. We have five days to close these complaints, otherwise we'll have to recognize them, and that's pretty good money."
"I already deal with it."
As he sat down to work, Mikołaj wondered how come that he had such a great team, which not only does what belongs to them, but even tries to take some of his duties off his shoulders?
"If you're overworked, you'll start feeding on us the way you know who." Maybe that's right. A good atmosphere at work is really valuable. You have to take care of her, that's why I can't forget about how the team supports me and give them proper back.
At two o'clock he received an email from a Szwedas. The man apologized, but something urgent came out and he has to postpone the meeting. Mikołaj did not feel disappointed. On the contrary, he was relieved that he would not have to meet him. Especially since he had a suspicious dream that night. He did not remember him in detail, but he woke up in a state of excitement and his first conscious thought was a Szwedas. It is probably best to keep business contacts between them to a minimum. That is why he said without regret that nothing had happened because he still had a lot of work.
This was not an exaggeration. Ewa had only one contract found by noon. It was a success anyway. Mikołaj looked at it with special attention and with a pure heart rejected the complaint as unfounded, citing the specific terms of the contract he quoted. It was only one small victory, but it saved the company ten thousand, which made Skrzynecki feel great. He praised Ewka and asked her to try tomorrow by noon with the other two cases.
On Friday, she wasn't so lucky. She couldn't find anything.
Mikołaj knew that she was doing her best. She really tried. Therefore, he could not blame her. He told her that clearly, which only strengthened her guilt.
"I will stay after hours today and still look," she suggested enthusiastically.
"No way. After-hours work on Friday evening? Your boyfriend would murder me," he laughed.
"But…"
"No buts. No overtime."
At least for you, he added in his mind because he could see perfectly well that this time he would not go home at a decent hour either. These complaints simply did not give him peace. He felt in the bowels that they were unfounded, but without adequate support in the papers could not reject them. Altogether there were fifteen thousand, maybe not a big deal, but he didn't want his department to generate this kind of loss. Not after his people did their best to make their work measurable.
It was eight o'clock when he found the second of the missing contracts in the archives. He was just returning with his papers to his office when he found Szwedas by the elevator.
"Working overtime again?" the blond man smiled his way. "'Do you want to earn the discretionary bonus?"
"The kettle was rebuking the pot." He cited well known saying.
"You're not leaving yet?"
"I have two urgent complaints to consider."
"Can't they wait until Monday?"
"I don't like to leave my job not done."
"Maybe I can help you?"
"Thanks, but that's my department's business."
"I know it's late, but have you had the opportunity to review my comments?"
"Yes. I have everything prepared. "
"Then could we discuss them for a moment?"
"Actually ..." Mikołaj was tired and hungry. He was doing overtime and he still had this unfortunate complaint. Well, but Szwedas also worked hard. "All right, but first the complaint ..." at that moment a loud, characteristic sound came from his belly. "Sorry."
"No, I should apologize. You work like crazy, and I bother you with stupid corrections. So maybe as a compensation I'll take you to dinner."
"Eh ... you don't have to, thanks."
"We're both hungry and busy. If we're going to discuss business matters anyway, we can eat something quickly. I won't accept a refusal."
Another grumble made Mikołaj feel even more humiliated.
"Well, but I'll review this complaint earlier."
"All right. I'll wait. Do you mind if I do it at your place? Or will I disturb you at work?"
"No, you won't."
Dinner with a Szwedas, even a business one, for some reason seemed to Mikołaj not the best turn of the events. The guy, however, was nice enough to offer him his own private time so that Mikołaj would not be bothered next week in the office.
"It is a bit strange," Skrzynecki remarked when the Szwedas played with a stapler from Ewka's desk, "that you have no plans for Friday evening. Someone like you should meet with friends and have fun."
"I have no friends in Poland. Except you."
"Apart from me?"
'I travel a lot because of my work. Sometimes I stay somewhere for a month. Sometimes for a year. I hardly ever come back to the same place and meet the same people. "
Does he ... refer to our meeting in Tenerife?
"Therefore, it can be considered that if I meet someone a second time, he is already my old friend."
"Oh."
So he recognized him! Mikołaj's heart skipped a beat. And what now? Should he still go to this supper, or would it be better if he gave up? Damn.
"That's why I'm glad you accepted my invitation," the Szwedas said with a charming smile. "I admit that I was afraid you would refuse."
"Why would I refuse?"
"You are very busy."
"But it's a business dinner. As you said, we both have to eat."
"Exactly."
He is a strange man, Skrzynecki thought. Alluring, warm, sexy, and yet ... I don't know myself, shy?
"Okay, I'm done for today. I take the documents and we go."
***
And in this way Mikołaj found himself in a place in time and with a man whom he allowed to fuck himself again.