Three Means Coffee

25

Monika was furious as if everything on that Monday afternoon was happening in spite of herself. She did not want to show anger in front of her son, but when she saw that the elevator in the block was not working, she cursed loudly, arousing Tymek's indignation. On the first day of the week, they always went for major shopping, which usually lasted for the whole week. On that day, however, the self-service checkout she used demanded a response from a store employee for almost every product, even though it shouldn't have. She was nervous and so was the cashier who was helping her, even Tymek felt uncomfortable about the whole situation. Little did she know that both that and the broken elevator were part of Fate's plan to delay her return home.

"Do you need help?" Makary asked from behind her back, seeing how hard he was carrying bags full of products.

"I'd be very grateful," Monica replied with a grateful sigh.

She knew Makary, as did most of her neighbors, but she hadn't had a chance to talk to him. They always exchanged only polite greetings as they passed each other. However, she was surprised by the reaction of her son, who began to shout that she should not give him anything.

"He's a toy thief!" Tymek shouted. "He's probably a shopping thief too."

The young man frowned a bit, fearing that he was doomed in the eyes of a child for the rest of his life. He was a bit sorry about that, but he wasn't going to give up the help he wanted to show Monika. He smiled at her, showing at the same time that nothing had happened.

"Sorry," the single mother replied. "I know it's not the first time he's done that. And I'm sorry that I didn't come to apologize then, but Błażej insisted on going alone."

"Nothing really happened," replied Makary. "I hope someday I'll be forgiven."

"Someday, for sure," the woman laughed. "Unfortunately, Tymek inherited a good memory for faces from me. I will not say, however, that I was a little worried when Błażej did not return for a long time the other time."

"We had coffee to catch up on." Makary blushed slightly. "We had one today too."

"And that's news." Monika smiled and then sighed heavily. "Krystian came back, so I moved to the background, I think I have to finally come to terms with it."

Makary barely refrained from asking who this individual was, but he did not want to appear nosy or admit right away that he cares about Błażej. He still needed time to determine to what extent and what kind of relationship he expects. He wasn't sure if he wanted a serious relationship right away after barely finishing the previous one. For now, he wanted to get to know him and spend as much time with him as possible. He tried to understand why Błażej took him by the heart, despite not being his type.

"You're related, aren't you?"

"Yes," confirmed Monika, "we are cousins."

"Do you know what his favorite dishes are?" Makary asked, hoping it wasn't a strange question on his part.

Fate laughed triumphantly, counted on a question of this kind, and spun around Monika's head, touched her lightly, forcing her to recall some scenes from the past. The woman began to laugh, arousing the anxiety of the interlocutor and Tymek, who had been walking next to her, offended, for trusting the toy thief.