Three Means Coffee

107

With each passing day, Nemo became more and more accustomed to the presence of his new parrot. He was now sure that she was not going to steal his position or owner in any way. He even felt a little sorry for Zefir, he only reacted to Błażej's presence, ignoring all attempts by both himself and Makary to throw him food.

The little man who stared at them with such adoration failed to win him over. Even though he tried very hard, Nemo's friendly behaviour was not enough to stop Tymek from despairing over the fact that the other parrot didn't like him.

Błażej often discussed this with his partner and they were looking for new solutions. The statement that maybe Zefir needs more time given the lack of even the slightest progress was not optimistic. So he spent every free moment in Makary's apartment to accompany him and convince him that Nemo liked him too so that the parrots could make friends easily.

They couldn't understand what was going on in the head of young Zefir, who was afraid of rejection. The fear overwhelmed him so much that he had no strength even to try to cope with it in the new environment. However, after a week, Nemo decided to take the matter into his own wings. Makary went shopping, and Błażej went to the bedroom to take a nap. He jumped down to the bottom of the cage and forced Zefir to look at him.

"Look, I don't know what your problem is, but no one will hurt you here. Everyone is worried about you. You don't like us? What do you need?" he asked furiously in parrot language. "There is food, water, and treats, and we have a lot of toys. When it's warm, you let me sit in a cage on the balcony. The cage is always open, you can fly and sit wherever you like. What is your problem?"

"No one loves me," Zefir replied sadly. "And no one will ever love me."

"But everyone here wants it, but you don't give them a chance," Nemo snapped and jumped when he heard the door open.

The parrot was surprised when it was not Makary who entered the apartment, but his brother and two little people, the smaller of whom preferred his uncle. Apparently, they assumed that since no one answered for a long time after knocking and the door was open, they could go inside. The children were soon at the cage, admiring Zefir.

Błażej came out a bit sleepy, he barely managed to fall asleep when he woke up and didn't know what caused so much noise. The children ignored him, but Mirek smiled and approached him with his hand outstretched.

"You must be Błażej, nice to finally meet you. I'm sorry that I did so without notice, but Antek couldn't accept the fact that Tymek saw the new parrot sooner and I couldn't dissuade him from visiting."

"Nice to meet me too." Błażej shook Mirek's hand, now more awake. "Coffee?"

"Actually, I'd like to. Where did Makary go?"

"He went shopping," Błażej replied, taking out mugs from the cupboard. "He should be back soon."

"Maybe it's a good thing he's not here." Mirek suddenly became mysterious. "Tell me, do you have plans for the weekend in two weeks?"

"No. I mean, Makary asked me to take this weekend off from work, but he didn't mention anything specific. Is there anything I should know?"

"I think so." Mirek smiled. "Makary didn't really introduce his partners officially, but our parents would like to meet you. It's their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary in two weeks, and they're having a dinner party. Mom talked to Makary about this many weeks ago and of course, she invited him with you. But so far he hasn't given any sign of whether he'll come alone or with you, our parents are worried about it, but maybe he'll surprise us all since he asked you for the weekend off."

Błażej listened to this story in surprise and frowned. Getting to know Makary's family, whom he knew so far in most of his stories, would definitely be the next major step in their relationship. He needed a moment to think about it, but for now, he focused on the fact that they were going to have a very serious conversation on this topic, especially since Makary had known about the invitation for a long time.

"I'll talk to him," Błażej replied, trying to hide his disappointment with his beloved's attitude.

At the same time, negative thoughts were already entering his head, that maybe Makary had a reason to remain silent and did not intend, for some reason, to introduce Błażej to his family. Piwnoki returned home a few minutes later and when he saw who had appeared during his absence and Błażej's fierce gaze, he knew he was in trouble.