Aniko: Shattered dreams of love

Love hurts

On Monday, back at work, Laszlo's boss was not around, and Jack, the general manager of Allen Tank, called Laszlo to his office. He said that he would have to let him go, as Ruth had complained that he was rude to her and made a mockery of her smoking by starting to smoke cigars himself. Laszlo mentioned that this was not exactly fair. He had been with the company for several years, his work was always excellent, and he had worked on Saturdays almost every weekend overtime before Ruth and Prisca were hired. He was the one who had actually complained that Ruth smoked too much, which bothered him, to his boss. Nothing was done, and he had only smoked for a couple of days to show Ruth just how unpleasant it was for him to inhale and choke on her fumes. Jack did agree with him, but it was a tough choice for him to make. If he let Ruth go, Prisca would go too, as they shared a car and apartment. He could not afford to lose two experienced draftsmen. He could afford to let one go, as the orders had slowed down for the summer, but not let two go. Unfortunately, it had to be him. What he would do was pay Laszlo until the end of the month, plus two weeks of holidays and another week of severance pay for every year he had worked. Sorry, he was no longer employed, and here was the check for the amount he'd discussed. Laszlo took the cheque, turned around, walked to his drafting table, picked up his mechanical pencils and other drafting instruments that belonged to him, and left without saying another word to anyone.

He drove home and told Rose what had happened. Rose, was just as devastated as he was. This could not have happened at a worse time, as Laszlo had just signed a renewal lease for a year. Laszlo went to his bank, deposited his final pay cheque and checked his balance. He could pay the rent and all the other necessities for three months. Laszlo knew that he could get another drafting job relatively fast. There were plenty of jobs available, and he had a needed skill. Laszlo called up a friend, Karl, for whom Laszlo had worked once. He ran a job-finding agency but was now working on his own. Karl said he could start at Lummus Engineering the next day on contract. Laszlo told Karl that he had to realize he was going to Budapest in two weeks. The only way he would take it is if he could go for his holidays. He already paid for the airfare and he can not get a refund. Karl advised him to take the contract for two weeks. And see what happens when he returns. After that call, he called Anikó. Mary picked up the phone and told him that Anikó was not available. Laszlo should realize that after what he had done, she would no longer allow her to see him. Anikó was no longer interested in him, and he should not call her again. Laszlo, could not believe his ears. Laszlo asked Mary to tell him what he had done that brought this decision on so suddenly. Mary told Laszlo that a friend had seen Anikó and him racing on Friday night, jeopardizing her life. Laszlo was flabbergasted and told Mary she was out of her mind. Anikó was never in danger. Mary was using this just as an excuse to break them up. Mary should admit to the real reason: he was not wealthy while he had the coveted aristocratic last name she was after, but there was no old money behind it. Mary was shuffling off Anikó to New York City to a higher bidder! She should stop selling and prostituting her own daughter! He knew this because Anikó had told him (indirectly, she actually had, and now, her behaviour and what she was saying all made sense!) Mary started to scream into the phone: enough. Anikó was leaving for New York today, and they were done! Rose overheard all this and tried to calm Laszlo down. Laszlo was truly hurt and in a rage! Being fired from his job was one thing, and being forced to break up with Anikó on the same day was devastating. To prevent Laszlo from driving to Niagara Falls, and doing something stupid, Rose took his car keys away and told him he would get the keys back when he calmed down and realized this was not the end of the world!

Martha knew Mary well and all her dirty secrets. And that was why she told Laszlo that Anikó was not the girl for him! Even though Anikó could have been if only Mary had not been so deviously treacherous and full of spite.