#28 MEET ME HALF-WAY
He was standing at the kitchen’s window waiting for her for hours. At least that was his impression. He felt as if a heavy stone was tied to his knees pulling him down to the floor. His mouth was dry and he felt so foolish! His hands were sweating and he stood there like a tree planted onto the window sill.
Finally, he saw her coming from the direction of Saski Garden, which was one street further and he smiled. She came closer and closer and he had to force himself not to jump out of his apartment to welcome her. She rang twice, as usual and he opened the door for her.
She looked tired, as if she hadn't had enough sleep. She tried to smile a little, but it wasn't a happy smile. Something was bothering her, but he knew she wouldn’t open up to him. He let her in and wanted to talk. But she just wanted to take her work and leave. They were standing in the hallway looking at each other. She tried not to look into his eyes; he was watching her very carefully. She was very tired.
-Maybe you’d like to drink a cup of tea with me?- He proposed.
-OK. – She finally said and it was the answer he was hoping for. They went into the kitchen but she didn't take a seat. She was just standing there, as if she would like to run away any minute. He had the impression she was like a wild cat put into a cage. She looked very calm, but there was something wrong with her. In these two weeks, she seemed to have lost weight, her face was thinner and her eyes seemed to be bigger.
He had to tame her from the beginning.
He purposely stepped in front of her a couple of times: getting a new pack of sugar although there was still enough sugar in the sugar bowl on the table; he went off to check something in his room and had to leave the kitchen for a minute. As she was standing only some steps away from the door and he had to pass her.
He had bought various blends of tea after he asked the girls from Casablanca which flavour Mia was usually drinking there. As he listed a range of teas from strawberry-vanilla up to pear-banana tea she didn't seem to be impressed at all. It was unusual for a guy to have a pear-banana tea at home!
She stayed calm every time he came closer to her; she just nipped at her tea. She didn't mention its taste or aroma.
Finally, he invited her to do the work in his house.
-It is enough room for you, so you can stay here as long as you need.
He hadn't proposed this to anybody else up to now and he hardly knew her, but he wanted her to be around him. He was more relaxed then. She refused politely.
-Do you still go running? – Sebastian asked as she was moving towards the staircase.
-Yes, I do.- She answered shortly, but didn't stop and went on.
-Would you mind to go running together?
-I am worried about your fitness.
- You don’t have to! When?
She was already out on the stairs. Her steps became quieter.
-Tomorrow, 5 PM, I will meet you here.
He was more than happy.
So, they started to run together. She picked him up three times a week at 5 PM and he was already waiting for her. He took her bag into his apartment and they started to run. They went to the end of Canaletto Street, they turned right into Niecala Street and did a lap in Saski Garden. Then they passed the National Arts Gallery Zacheta and ran further between the multi-storey buildings of Traugutta Street, and finally they came to Wybrzeze Kosciuszkowskie, where you could run along Wisla. They ran up to Traugutta Park and came along Anders Street back to Saski Garden. They didn't exchange a word; they were just running.
Every day at this time, there was heavy traffic in the city and it was almost impossible to run without having to avoid obstacles in the way. However, they kept their route and he always was surprised that she didn't seem to be as tired as he was. As if she was born to run, as if she was like the wind. She breathed rhythmically and she hardly ran into people as he did. She always passed people and they were just angry because of Sebastian bumping into them.
After having finished their route, he went home and sometimes she came with him for a tea and to pick up her new work. Mia wasn't talking much, and she barely spoke a word. She was smiling, but she was eaten up by a problem from the inside. Her eyes were always watchful and even when she walked through his kitchen on socks, she was tense and edgy.
Mia put her work on the table and sat down on the chair with her legs crossed. She concentrated on her translations. Like this two weeks passed by.
In the third week, there was nothing new to translate and Sebastian proposed reading books in his apartment as she had already done before. Mia was undecided for a long time, but finally she went to his bookshelf and chose a book. It was a book about painting over the centuries.
Even as she was sitting on the couch and reading it, she didn't look like the girl he met before the class trip. She was much more concentrated and distant. She was hardly smiling. Yes, she had a smile on her face, but he knew it wasn't a happy one.
Sebastian’s mind kept warning him: she is like a fire, if you start to play with it, you will lose it. However, the more doubts his mind had the more sure his heart was about his choice.
Lovefool (Introduction) Page 29