Three Means Coffee

66

Monika, leaving work, noticed that Przemek was sitting sadly at his desk, so she decided to ask what had happened.

"I had a fight with my daughter," he replied dejectedly. "The period of rebellion in her performance is even more rebellious."

"She's not daddy's little girl anymore?" the woman laughed.

"No not anymore. Enjoy it while you can, then as the kids grow up, suddenly we're at the bottom of their priority list."

"However, we can always try to remind them how it was and hope that for a moment they will turn into the cute little ones they were," Monika smiled. "It won't hurt to try."

"You're right." Przemek looked at the woman with a gleam of hope in his eyes, making her blush slightly. "I'll be looking for a birthday gift for her soon, can you help me find something suitable for a teenage girl?"

"Sure," replied Monika, grateful for the trust she was bestowed.

She took Tymek to her parents. When she picked him up from kindergarten, she tried to ask the kindergarten teacher how her son behaved towards Antek. She found out that they apologized, but rather they needed time to rebuild their relationship because they did not speak to each other all day. The boy was happy to spend the weekend with his grandparents, who lived in the countryside outside the city and had two large dogs with whom he loved to play.

She came back and wondered how to dress for the pub where she had made an appointment with Błażej and Krystian. She'd had the chance to dress up a bit for dinner with Przemek the day before, and she didn't really feel like doing it again. She opted for something more casual, black pants, a shirt, and low-heeled winter boots. She only touched up the delicate makeup she already had at work and began to gather herself. She arrived first, fortunately, she didn't have to wait long for her companions. She was nervous because she could already feel the eyes of some men who were trying to talk to her and invite her to spend time together. They offered to buy her a drink, and she stubbornly refused, though her hand itched to punch some of them.

"Monia!" Krystian suddenly closed her in a bear hug. "Even more beautiful than before, but not as beautiful as my Sylwia."

"How good to see you," the woman replied with a sigh of relief, she felt that the events she had been worried about earlier meant nothing.

She was afraid they would be awkward with each other, but she was happy Krystian did not have a crush on her anymore. The men ordered a beer, and Monika chose a fruity drink for herself. At first, they talked about trivial things. Błażej was happy that he had the last exam of the session behind him, Krystian complained that he still had a few more to go. Monika confirmed that Tymek made an attempt to reconcile with Antek, but he was not completely successful.

"Then let's finally get to the reason why we are gathered here today," Krystian replied when the second round was in front of them, resting his elbows on the table and his head on his hands. He looked between his friends. "How was your date yesterday?"
Błażej and Monika looked at each other and burst out laughing, as usual when Krystian put his dramatic actions away.

"It was nice," replied the first woman. "But now I'm having second thoughts about whether I should have agreed to that dinner in the first place."

"Why?" Krystian asked surprised.

"Because she met with her boss," answered Błażej. "I think that's the point. It gets me worried a bit too, you know I want you to be happy."

"Yes, that's the point," Monika replied sadly. "I like Przemek very much, but having an affair at work is probably a bad idea."

"It really complicates things." Kristian nodded his head. "What are you going to do then?"

"I don't know. Maybe I should let him know that at most we can be good friends, but deep down I feel this will hurt him a lot." She took a swig of her drink and asked the attention to shift to one of the men. "How was the evening with Makary? I hope you weren't studying all the time."

"We watched the movie," Błażej did not want to go into details. "And we talked a bit."

"Something interesting came up?" the cousin asked, giving him a meaningful look.

"No," the first year blushed, and seeing that Krystian was already getting ready to somehow get it out of him. "You've got more to tell, I'm glad you didn't set the whole block on fire."

"You don't have to remind me of that," the offended friend muttered. "I saved the day, luckily your 'kind of' boyfriend is more willing to help."

"What happened?"

"He called in a panic because he wanted to impress the girl with some fancy dish that didn't work out too well for him," explained Błażej.

"It was tasty after all."

"Actually, where did you meet her? Sylwia, right?" Monika tried to defuse the situation.

"It's such a beautiful story," Krystian suddenly beamed. "I saw her in front of the clinic, where I earn extra money at the reception so that I can go there to practice later. So beautiful, charming, delicate. I wanted to ask her name, but she got scared and ran away. Only when she came for another visit I had the opportunity to talk to her. wow. She's very shy and doesn't talk much, but I think we understand each other very well." He said it with dreamy eyes.

"Is she around our age?"

"No, she turns eighteen this year," Krystian replied. "Which is why she couldn't stay long yesterday. But I know that she liked everything I prepared. Bouquet, dinner, my elegant outfit even though it was a date at home. I'm so proud of myself."

"I'm sure she appreciated it very much," replied Monika with a smile. She got up and went to order another round. When she came back, she remembered something. "Ah, Błażej, did you find out why Antek called you a prince yesterday?"

The first year explained where it came from, knowing that Krystian would definitely use it sometimes to cut him off. But he also had a few things up his sleeve to bite back, so the odds were even. He smiled, glad that he had the opportunity to spend a nice evening because looking at the calendar he knew that the day he did not want to remember was slowly approaching - his birthday.