Chapter 20 Step by Step

00:11

Lena was sunk deep into the chair of the university corridor. She took a notebook, opened it on a random page and started scribbling notes touching upon the subject of her MA thesis, which wasn’t something she enjoyed doing. Every time she took part in her scientific seminar, she was kindly reminded that the path chosen by Krakowski, Woźniak, and Tamka wasn’t at all her own destiny. She yawned each time someone started speaking in the academic discourse, she couldn’t bear reading critical texts. She was equally bored by film, music and books reviews, but there were apparently people who enjoyed them. They took a book, cut it to pieces, provided background, a depiction of characters, assuming that the author’s message was this and that, connected to all this a certain philosophy and time frame. Somewhere in the process, they killed the author as if the book had been written by itself, then they brought him back alive. After a short period of absence, the author was even surprised that he wrote a book about this or that, as his key of interpretation was utterly different than the one provided by reviewers. Lena didn’t believe in any of that, just as she didn’t believe in anything, be it God, fate or horoscopes, and she had serious difficulty in writing about something that she doubted from the very beginning.

But her thesis wasn’t the reason she was sitting there in the first place. She anxiously waited for Kieliszek to finish her work. Kieliszek had classes with younger students and she looked her usual self. Her hair was tied in a knot, her makeup free face was hidden behind glasses, her body was decently covered with a long beige skirt and a golf-type black sweater. Lena, on the other hand, looked better, as she really made an effort during her weekdays. She straightened her hair, she applied make-up, she put on her best clothes. Maybe, for this reason, the professors didn’t treat her seriously and they just let her live her student’s life without major interference and difficulty on their part. She didn’t talk much during classes, she didn’t want to participate in discussions. Not that she didn’t have anything to say. She just didn’t have anything to say on the matter. So she remained silent.

Kieliszek passed Lena and walked into the professor’s room to take her things. Lena waited patiently until she left the place again. She was dressed in a black winter coat and winter boots. There was no sign of red lipstick and a red scarf. She looked painfully plain and without problems, she fit in the crowd of students and lecturers. Kieliszek quietly closed the door and headed towards the elevator. Lena quickly jumped to the staircase and run down the stairs. She stopped at the lowest flight and waited for Kieliszek to leave the lift. But the woman didn’t intend to get out of the university yet. She took a turn and decided to visit the library, equipping herself with books both for her and the students. Apparently, she needed some teaching materials.

‘She’s juggling two jobs,’ Lena thought to herself.

Ultimately Izabela Kieliszek left the University area and decided to go for a walk along the Nowy Świat street. Lena tried not to lose her from sight and look as normal as ever, keeping her eyes low and her walk far from extraordinary. The street was crowded, so there was no risk of being noticed and suspected of some unlawful activities. Kieliszek entered one of the restaurants and through the window Lena noticed her talking to the waitress and taking a seat. Lena crossed the street and went to the Starbucks cafe, which was just opposite the restaurant. She ordered coffee and sat by the window to have a view over the street and the restaurant’s entrance.

Kieliszek took time with her food. She even ordered a dessert and was generous with the tip. When she left, Lena finished her coffee and walked out of the cafe.

Then the woman entered Sephora shop, which was just on the corner of the street. For almost thirty minutes she was spraying perfumes on thin pieces of paper and sniffing brand scents. Finally, she chose a few bottles and spent half of the professor’s salary on the whiff of luxury.

‘Why does she need so many perfumes? She would need years to finish them off.’

Not that Lena was jealous, but she also liked some scents chosen by Kieliszek and now she was supposed to spend her extra money on her trips to Cracov and her Spanish classes. Lena felt almost the same as when she left her hometown and moved to Warsaw. She didn’t have enough money.

She remembered this time pretty well. She was just sixteen and she wasn’t entirely ready to live on her own. She had no choice. No, she didn’t want to get back to these memories. Those years weren’t her best years. She was tight with money. She felt out of place. Warsaw kids were a different kind of kids. They had better clothes. They spent their holidays abroad, went skiing to the Alps and enjoyed spending their parents’ money, not thinking about the future, the present, and the past. Lena envied them their blissful state of mind. And yes. She did do things she wasn’t proud of. It was just for money. The money she could spend on brand clothes, perfumes, cinema tickets, CDs and holidays. She knew she was pretty. She knew that her exotic looks could buy her things, she wouldn’t otherwise have been able to buy. She knew that some people found her attractive. Beauty always triggered something. You could call it a blessing. You could also call it a course.

Appearance also brought to you certain kind of people: on one hand, those who expected you to be a different person just because of your looks. You could be admired on the basis of your facial expression, your figure, you could become a figment of someone’s unfulfilled dreams. Beauty made boys interested and girls jealous. On the other hand, looks hid your true nature, as your appearance was far more important than what you had to say. Looks were just the cover of the package and so many were surprised to find an ugly content behind a pretty face and a beautiful inside behind the unattractive one. Lena’s looks were also the reason she decided to leave her family home in the first place.

But things which brought her misery could also be used to buy something she wanted. She did it on her own terms. She had an idea. When it started getting dangerous, she stopped, started tutoring and looking for additional (legal) sources of income.

But now, especially when she took into account hers and Robert’s earnings, they really needed some financial support. Maybe her experience wasn’t so much in vain. When she observed Kieliszek at the cash desk, she decided that she would give it a try. Kieliszek’s selection of scents was admirable and Lena was about to refresh her own scents, which, mainly due to the separation with Gabriel Gacek, were rather neglected.

After leaving Sephora, Kieliszek headed towards a bakery and bought a few pieces of cakes. Then she entered a bus. Lena jumped on at the last moment. She hid behind a man in the corner of the bus and tried to be invisible. It wasn’t necessary, though. Kieliszek was sunk deep in her thoughts. She even smiled to herself, sniffed the bottles of perfumes and, having forgotten about work, was in some other, imaginary place. The weight of classes was lifted off her shoulders, her face lit up and she reminded Lena a blissful teenager rather than a grown-up woman with a significant number of scientific accomplishments.

They traveled for some time. Finally, Kieliszek left the bus. Lena followed suit. After a five minute walk, she reached the block of flats and pressed the code on the intercom. Lena took her phone and recorded Kieliszek’s movements. When the woman disappeared behind the doors of her apartment building, Lena replayed the film and zoomed on Kieliszek’s hand.

‘Now I know where you live,’ she said to herself, put her phone into her pocket and got on the same bus, just in the opposite direction.

And yes, she had one more intention in mind. She was just hoping that money she was to invest in her idea wouldn’t go in vain.