Courting Infidelity: Book Two

Courting Infidelity

By Steve Mierzejewski

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Steve Mierzejewski

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Table of Contents

Book 2: Pavel

Chapter 1: Pavel gave a sigh and walked from the dark cafe

Chapter 2: So, where's Basia tonight?

Chapter 3: Jacob. Am I crazy?

Chapter 4: Jacob looked at the money Pavel had left on the desk

Chapter 5: How could Jacob ever forget his first meeting with Emilia?

Chapter 6: Jacob tossed and turned in bed on, yet, another sleepless night

Chapter 7: Jacob! What the hell happened to you!

Chapter 8: Pavel would not be spending Christmas with his family

Chapter 9: Women; that was terra incognita to Pavel

Chapter 10: Pavel did not answer her email

Chapter 11: Pavel and Magda told their stories

Chapter 12: I wanted to invite you two to a party I'm having

Chapter 13: The party

Chapter 14: Helen watched while her husband walked away

Chapter 15: Were you having an affair with my wife?

Chapter 16: You made the right choice

Chapter 17: He had to see Emilia

Chapter 18: "Hey, Iza!

Chapter 19: Emilia ran up to Jacob

Chapter 20: The bar was a place to drink cheap beer and get drunk

Chapter 21: Food inspectors stopped the first truck on June 18th

Chapter 22: I know why you're here, Iza

Chapter 23: How many women has he had?

Chapter 24: I will never marry you and never even live with you.

Chapter 25: Jacob, Darek, and Marek left the car some distance from the house

Chapter 26: What! You have a son!

Chapter 27: The easiest thing for you to do is to forget her

Chapter 28: Where's Pavel?

Chapter 29: Pavel poured himself another shot

Chapter 30: You do understand how difficult this will be, right?

Chapter 31: Helen entered a serious state of depression

Book 2: Pavel

Chapter 1

Pavel gave a sigh and walked from the dark cafe into the warmth of a Polish summer evening. It must have been past 10pm, but the central square in the old part of town was busy with people, most sitting in the beer gardens, languishing in the warm height of summer. He noticed that, even at this hour, the horizon was still dimly lit from the setting sun. Long summer evenings were the gift the Poles were given for surviving those dismal, dark winter days.

The clear majority of the revelers in the square were university students. Pavel remembered when he used to come here with his friends during his own university days. That's when he and Darek had become friends. Darek, Anna, and his own wife, Basia, were part of that group. They were the only ones who had remained here. The others had gone off to bigger cities or other countries. Once they had gotten married, had kids, and settled into day to day living, the importance of former friends faded away. Pavel did not criticize them for that. He was now like them. For him, life had become a long procession of routines. A niece's birthday, a nephew's communion, a sister-in-law's anniversary, on and on it went with more and more responsibilities as families grew larger with each evolving generation. Even vacations had become predictable and routine. One day he would wake up, and he would be old, and the conveyor belt that had brought him along with its routines would drop him into the same spherical grave into which all of the humanity that had come before him had been interred. He tried to shake off this spell of melancholy by immersing himself in the beauty of the evening. Two pretty, laughing college girls emerged from the shadows, walked through the light of the street lamp, and disappeared into the darkness. The symbolism was not lost on him. Were those university days the best days of his life? He was free, Basia was at her peak of beauty, and he was in love.

I miss romance, he thought to himself. He had always felt vaguely sorry for Darek. Darek had never had much luck with women. Yes, there had been his on and off relationship with Anna, which finally led to them living together. But Anna wanted marriage and children and Darek did not. She finally found someone who did and gave Darek an ultimatum. Marry her or she would leave him. He would not marry her and she left. Since that time, and before Helen, Darek had never had a serious relationship. As Iza had noted, he could have had any number of women, but he simply was not one to compromise. In the end, this refusal to compromise had brought him to Iza.

Now, as Pavel remembered the last sight of Darek and Iza together, he found himself envying Darek. Romance: Pavel remembered how it was to think of someone from the instant you awoke in the morning until you fell asleep at night. How, suddenly, your whole life could revolve around that one person, and nothing else mattered but when you would next see them. He had felt that way about Basia and, though he still felt affection for her, he couldn't truly say that he loved her in the same romantic way. The routine of everyday living is the best way to destroy romance. Was Darek right? Had he and Basia slowly evolved into different people? Was it only the gravitational force of their shared history and family ties that now held them together? He didn't want to think too deeply about this now.

How strange it was that one crazy idea had led to Darek's happiness, Pavel thought. However, he wondered if that were true. It was more like what Iza had said; that all our histories have led us to where we all are. Our current positions in the world are the result of all our little choices, each choice based on one principle or another. From this point of view, Pavel felt as if he, Helen, and Michael had all participated in the last scene of a play, the object of which was to bring Iza and Darek together.

Although Pavel was glad that he had been part of the process that had brought Darek happiness, he was, at the same time, depressed by the idea that love had become, for him, simply a part of his history. When he married Basia, he truly meant it when he said he would 'forsake all others'. He never wanted to be with anyone but Basia. Before he was married, his friends would always taunt him by asking him if he was sure that this was the only woman that he ever wanted to have sex with for the rest of his life or by saying that he would never be free to kiss any other women as long as he lived. He didn't care. Basia really was the only woman that he wanted. Why would he ever marry her if he didn't believe this? That's why he couldn't understand men like Michael. Did Michael really believe this promise he gave to the priest, or did he kind of wink at the priest as he was making it? Inside, he must have known that Helen would never be the only woman he wanted to kiss for the rest of his life and, yet, he went ahead and married her. Why? There was only one answer. The force of circumstances, the momentum of a long relationship had made this marriage an unavoidable, logical conclusion. Pavel knew that Michael must never have truly loved Helen, because, if Michael had loved her as much as he had loved Basia, making such a promise would be as natural as breathing, and being faithful would be equally as natural. But why marry someone that you didn't truly love? Again, it was a question he could not answer. Iza would probably be able to give him some reason for this. She had shown him that she had a natural talent for understanding human behavior. Marriage seemed so simple to him, but, for others, there must be more complex motivations for it. I wonder if Darek and Iza will get married. He thought and smiled.

Darek married. He said to himself and shook his head with disbelief. I never thought I would put those two words together. He walked by one of the beer gardens and, on a sudden impulse, decided to go in and have a beer. His life was so planned and so structured that even such a simple act as this constituted a radical break with his normal behavior. He called Basia and told her he was having a beer and so would be walking home rather than driving. Basia told him she could come and get him, but he declined the offer. He wanted to walk home, for some reason. Besides, it would only take about 20 minutes to get there. She reminded him that it was their daughter, Julia's, birthday party tomorrow afternoon, and all of the family would be there. He understood the implication of the message. He should not get so drunk that he had a hangover tomorrow. He knew Basia so well.

The young waitress brought him his beer. He took the first refreshing sip, sat back, and looked at the people around him. He found himself relegated to the class of older people in the beer garden. How and when did that happen? He seldom went drinking anywhere anymore because he was almost certain to run into some of his students, but it was summer and he didn't know any of these students, though it was always possible that they knew him. Most of the people here that were his age were with their partners. He was the only one drinking alone. A few younger guys were drinking alone, no doubt coming here in the vain hope of finding romance, but that was not why he was here.

This thought made him question why, in fact, of all nights, he had decided to stop here to have a beer before going home. Why hadn't he just got in his car and driven home like he always did? It was something about Darek. Something about how Darek was beginning a completely new life while he was continuing along the same well-trodden path. So what? It had never bothered him much before. He more or less liked the family gatherings. True, they were predictable, the same people, the same food, the same stories, but, they weren't unpleasant. True, when he had parties at his home, like he would tomorrow, the best time always seemed to be when everyone was gone. But that's normal, isn't it?

Chapter 2

Darek took a long sip of his beer. So, where's Basia tonight? He asked Pavel.

Basia's at her parents with the kids, Pavel answered. That's one of the reasons I asked you to come over. There was a long pause. Basia and I have separated.

Darek studied him. You're joking, right?

No, no joke. We've decided to separate, or rather, she's decided to live with her parents for a while, Pavel replied.

Darek jaw dropped. You and Basia separated? Come on, I don't believe it. What's going on here? You two have always been the ideal couple. Darek waited to hear Pavel say he was only kidding, but Pavel said nothing. Pavel, I've never known two people who were more suited to each other than you two. There's got to be some kind of a misunderstanding here.

Darek simply couldn't grasp the concept of Pavel without Basia. Pavel, as far as he knew, had never had another woman and had never even been interested in another woman. You wouldn't even mention Pavel in a sentence without adding the phrase and Basia. They were always treated as one unit, inseparable. Darek took another long sip of his beer. He looked directly at Pavel. Okay, tell me. What did you do?

What did I do? Pavel repeated with irritation. You make it all seem so simple, as if I had some sort of choice. Why don't you just ask what happened? That would be closer to the truth. You seem to be blaming me, like everyone else, without even letting me tell my side of the story. Pavel said, becoming defensive.

Hold on a minute, Pavel. Nobody's accusing anyone of anything. You said Basia decided to leave you. I just logically assumed it was because of something you did, that's all. If anyone can be open-minded about relationships, it's me, believe me. Darek responded.

I know, I know. Pavel replied with a sigh. I guess I'm just so tired of being the bad guy in all of this. I'm so tired of being convicted without a trial. Why can't people just believe you when you tell them, 'it just happened'?

Because, answered Darek, something like it has never 'just happened' to them. Look, I found myself in a similar situation with Helen, so I can believe you when you say something 'just happened'. He waited for a few seconds. So who is she?

Pavel gave a jump of surprise at such a direct question. He had wanted to ease slowly into the topic. A girl I met at work, he finally said.

Let me guess, Darek continued. She's pretty, young, charming, and she makes you feel like you've never felt before. Am I right?

Yes, but you make it sound so clinical. It's not. It's something very special, at least for me. Pavel answered, defensively.

Hey, Pavel, don't get me wrong, but don't you remember us talking about salmon one night? Darek asked.

I knew you were going to say that, Pavel said with a laugh. You think I'm just following some blind instinct and forgetting logic, is that it? Oh, sure, I've thought of that a lot. For chrissake I can hardly sleep at night thinking about it. Yes, logically, I have a wife of 25 years. I have two kids. I'm middle-aged so I'm probably going through some sort of existential crisis, right? I fit right into the stereotype. That's all so easy to say when you're looking in from the outside. But I'm on the inside. I'm the one driven by these feelings. I'm the god damned salmon, for chrissake. I'm the one with the drive, the angst, the feelings that are making life have some meaning again. Yeah, yeah, I can see the logic. You don't have to point it out to me. But I'm not ready to give this up for logic. Can you understand that?

Pavel walked over to a cabinet, got out a bottle of bourbon and put it on the table. Darek smiled. Like the old days, he said.

Yeah, replied Pavel, like the old days. For it had been a long tradition between the two of them to have all night conversations while drinking