Chapter 10 Anna

6:05 AM

Unfortunately, Robert’s time in Paris was limited as his duties in Warsaw were waiting for him unmoved and bothersome. He was so busy that he didn’t have time to chat with Lena, meet Anton or even notice that Rebeka’s room was furnished with a very womanly set of furniture that Lena welcomed with rolling eyes and envious looks, for Edward chose the more expensive items, which Lena simply couldn’t afford. Only Kit-Kat attacked him along his night way to the bathroom and Robert wondered what on earth this pet did in the flat at night and who dared to allow it. Robert punished him with a kick, which resulted in a small revenge later that day by means of Kit-Kat’s claws deeply wounding Robert’s ankles.

Immediately when Robert came back to Warsaw, there was one person who agreed to tell him something more about Alicia. It was her school friend, who still lived in Warsaw and, fortunately for Robert, spoke his own native tongue. They decided to meet in one little cafe in the city center, ordered one cup of coffee and a little sweet roll each to make themselves occupied. Anna was a blond attractive woman of Alicia’s age, almost her height and, definitely, of more Slavic beauty than her dark-haired girlfriend.

‘Were you close friends?’

Anna smiled.

‘We were close friends when we were at school. We kind of needed another girl in our lives. Alicia had a younger brother, I had two older brothers. My mother died when I was little, I was left only with my brothers and the father. Alicia’s mother was raising them on her own, she was busy, she was working for a long time, I still remember that she was traveling to Germany for work. During the summer kids were left alone. Believe me, it can be annoying when you have your first period or you need a bra and there’s no one who can help you with this. We found each other. I confessed to her, she confessed to me. Yes, for some time we were close.’

‘I found information that you danced together, first ballet, then modern jazz, is that true?’

Anna laughed.

‘Yes! Every little girl needs to have some passion! When we were dancing ballet, we didn’t really know each other that well. It was a primary school. We were sitting with different classmates at school and we had different friends in the ballet class. There’s a lot of competition. But then, in high-school we didn’t really have a choice, we were in the same class, we got too fat to be in ballet, although I think it was for the better for both of us. Honestly, we just got bored with it. Ultimately, we came to the same modern jazz class. One conversation led to another and, after a while, we basically lived in each other’s flats. In the last year, Alicia had this knee problem, she slipped on a stair, I don’t really remember what exactly caused it, but I recall that she couldn’t bend her knee for months. She couldn’t dance anymore. I was still coming to classes, she was spending time at home, her brother drove her to school and took her home afterward. He had a motorbike. It was old but they somehow managed to ride together with her leg stretched in this ridiculous plaster. Then, high school was coming to an end, we had exams and we were studying all evenings. She got hooked on French. I didn’t know what to do with myself, then I decided to study psychology.’

‘And during the studies? Did you keep in touch when you were studying?’

‘Yes, occasionally. But you meet so many new people, boyfriends especially. You change, you don’t have so much time for your old friends. Then you realize that your old friends are actually better than new friends, I think, more honest and reliable, but everybody is busy with their lives, there’s not much time for anything, let alone keeping up with every detail of your old friends’ lives. And as I recall, when we were studying, Alicia met Adam.’

‘Adam Fabjan?’

‘Yes, him. They had this crazy idea to move to France and start a new life there. They both knew French. She helped him to become more fluent. We were all adventurous at that time. I remembered that I myself got married, then after a year, I got divorced. Young life, many mistakes. But we wouldn’t be where we are now without those, would we?’

Robert nodded, recalling his own, a little bit under-considered, marriage.

‘Can you tell me something about this marriage to Adam Fabjan? What kind of couple were they?’

Anna looked astonished.

‘They got married? This is a revelation! I would never tell. I always thought that they were rather... you know... friends with benefits. She knew French, he wanted to have a career. I think she wouldn’t move to Paris on her own. She was much less independent then. They just existed as a couple and they shared a flat together. I was there once. She invited me over to visit Paris. She took me to all those little cafes, bistros, Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, we went to the Palace of Versailles. I loved it! I have never been interested in French culture, but I remember the city to this day. I even remember that flat. Once, I almost got stuck in the bathroom, the door was old and the doorknob was wobbly.’

Robert pretended to smile. His buttocks started getting better but it still wasn’t the color of the rest of his body’s skin.

‘Yeah, it still is. I think they got married for the same reason that they went together to Paris.’

‘It wasn’t one of these big loves if you ask me. Even when I went there, they behaved more like flatmates than lovers. They never hugged, cuddled or kissed each other. But they had known each other for a long time. You get married for various reasons. Wait for a second, that reminds me why Alicia wanted to head to Paris so badly. When she was studying, Alicia had a stalker.’

‘A stalker?’

‘Yes, there was one guy, an old guy. Well, for us he was old, as we were in our twenties’. She was giving him French lessons, she was tutoring after classes to earn extra money, and he must have fallen in love with her. He was obsessed with her. He called her, hung up, left her messages. She stopped giving him classes, but once or twice when she was coming back from lectures, he waited by her house. She was really afraid. Her brother started coming for her after classes to take her home. I think this was also the reason why she wanted to change the place. She moved to Paris, then this stalking finished.’

‘Do you think that this stalker might have caused her disappearance?’

‘I hope not. He would be over sixty now. She didn’t come back to Warsaw. For all these years, she stayed in Paris. You should contact someone who knew her then. We met from time to time, but I didn’t know much about her personal life. After she separated with Adam, I haven’t heard anything about her relationships. Someone told me that she got married to someone else. It’s years since I saw her. I hope she’s fine. I hope that it’s nothing serious. I met her mother recently and she was hoping for the same. It’s an old woman. She doesn’t work anymore. It’s sad to see how people change in time. We were all young, now we just grow older and see how silly we were in the past.’

That day Robert occupied the couch and mindlessly watched TV. He didn’t even have the strength to read a book. Lena came later that day and sat on the couch next to him, mumbled something under her nose, changed the channel, and sighed a couple of times.

‘How’s life?’

‘Miserable,’ she answered briefly.

‘How’s Sweden?’

‘Getting cold.’

‘How are the children?’

Lena ignored the question.

‘Would you like to come with me to Paris for the Christmas break?’

‘Wouldn’t you rather go with Anton?’

‘He’s going to Russia. And no, I would like to take you there.’

Lena pondered for a while.

‘Fine. I start getting used to these changes of location.’

‘Thank you.’