Chapter 131 - Shocking News

The elevator door opened to reveal one of the make-up artists.

"Something came out," he told her, pressing the button on the ground floor. "I'll be there in an hour," he finished as the door closed again. The surprised girl became speechless.

It must have been something really important, since Marczak called him and thus demanded a meeting. And if so, Andrzej just had to find out what was going on.

Marczak was expecting Nowicki. It was enough for Andrzej to give his name at the reception desk and he was immediately invited to the office. A pretty, serious blonde who looked quite familiar came out to meet him.

"The president is expecting you," she announced, opening the door for him.

Andrzej remembered this office, although he had no good memories of it. He remembered how in the middle of the night he had come here accusing Marczak of kidnapping Dominik. He wanted to hit the manager then, but it was he who overpowered and pinned him to the ground. He released him only when his nerves calmed down in Nowicki and then he gave him a drink. It was then that emotions exploded in Andrzej's heart - anxiety for the fate of a dear man, fear of unknown but real danger, and awareness of his own helplessness.

Marczak was sitting at his desk now, as always realizing the ideal of elegance, but now he rested his chin on his clasped hands in concentration.

"What is…?"

"Maciej Werner committed suicide."

***

Andrzej drove onto the property splashing wet snow with rain. He put the car in the garage and headed for the front door.

"Forgot something?" Dominik ran into the hall. He was smiling. He was so pretty at that moment that the photographer felt a pain in his heart. But he had to tell him that. Since he hadn't figured out how to do it all the way, he decided to let him know right away.

"Maciej Werner is dead."

Dominik blinked several times. He paled.

"How did this happen?" He asked.

"I don't know the details, but apparently it was suicide."

"He himself..."

Śliwiński turned and walked towards the couch. His step was uncertain and Andrzej was afraid that the actor would collapse in a moment. It did not happen. Dominik sat down heavily and clasped his hands, which were trembling slightly.

"But how…? I thought he was feeling better."

"I don't know," Nowicki admitted. "How are you?"

"I?"

"Yes, you. After all he did to you..."

The actor shook his head.

"I am surprised. He was so young… How can…?" He suddenly fell silent and lowered his head. It literally lasted three seconds. Suddenly he got up. "Are you hungry? I'll prepare something quickly..."

Andrzej grabbed him in his arms and hugged him tightly. He felt Dominik tremble. He knew that Śliwiński was deeply moved, but he could not say why exactly. Did he feel sorry for Werner? Was he glad that his torturer had suffered a well-deserved punishment?

"You think I could have done more?" He heard his muffled voice with his torso.

"Something more?"

"When I spoke to him. Maybe I should ..."

"You did everything, you understand, everything you could. His mental disorder wasn't your fault."

"But it's because of me ... If I had then ..."

"If you then what?" Andrzej felt anxiety and irritation. He pushed Śliwiński back to his shoulder length and looked straight at his pale face. "If you then what?" He repeated. "If you would agree to be his toy? If you had miraculously loved the man who imprisoned you and tortured you? What the hell are you talking about?"

"But then he might be alive!"

"His death is not on you! You didn't do anything bad to him. You were his victim, remember? You say you better sacrifice yourself for him? Sacrificed us? Me? Better if you stayed with him after all you've done to me?"

"No!" Dominik's eyes became gigantic.

"He was not your responsibility," Nowicki announced firmly. "I am. And you are mine. I couldn't stand it if someone took you away from me and it pisses me off that this shit acted the way it did. He escaped from responsibility. He left the others with his mess ..."

Andrzej was so furious that he was no longer able to speak. Dominik placed a hand on his chest, softly and tenderly, as if he wanted to support this gesture - or lend it to him.

"Sorry," he said very softly. "You're right. There was nothing I could do. And I think that's the saddest."

"It is sad" admitted Andrzej and hugged the actor again. For him, however, the saddest part of it all was that selfish escape into the death of some psychopath brought suffering to those he loved."

"Do you know when the funeral will be?"

"No. What, are you planning to go?"

"I do not know I think so."

"Fine. I will find out."

***

Finally the snow fell, so normal, white and fluffy, with no rain. As a child, Dominik liked that white fluff. As a child, he would have been outside and making a snowman, although the blades of grass were sticking out from under the snow. Now he was sitting by the kitchen window, staring at the ground beneath one of the young thujas growing by the fence. It was there that Andrzej buried a dead gray Persian kitten, which someone delivered to him by courier.

Not someone, Maciej Werner.

And now he was dead himself.

Dominik saw no irony of fate or justice in this. Maciej Werner was not a bad man, he just kind of lost his way. True, he did unpleasant things with Śliwiński, but he did not deserve to die.

"Unpleasant things," Śliwiński smiled bitterly. This is probably a small understatement. Werner abducted him, imprisoned him for three days - naked, tied to a bed, depriving him of his dignity and then ...

Dominik was unable to finish it. He wiped the tears that fell into his eyes, glad that Andrzej had already left for work. He loved Nowicki with all his heart, he adored him, but there were times when he needed to be alone. It was one of them.

Werner's cruelty was not deliberate and his intentions were not evil. He loved. The feeling was so strong it turned into an obsession. Obsession is already a disease, so Werner should not be punished, but treated. This was one of the reasons why Dominik did not prosecute. Maybe he should have done it after all? Maybe then the boy would receive appropriate treatment and now he would be alive?

"He wasn't your responsibility," he remembered Andrzej's words. That's right, he wasn't, not in the sense of a friend, lover or brother, but if you see someone drowning, isn't it the duty of every passerby to at least try to save him? Dominik could see Werner sinking deeper into his illness and yet he did nothing to help him. He left him to himself.

But was it really his duty to reach out to the man who tortured him less than a month ago and..."

Dominik rubbed his eyes again.

They were no strangers to each other, like passers-by. Something disgusting connected them, something sick, something the memory of which the actor felt excruciating pain in his heart. All this time he tried to control it, and to a large extent he succeeded. He had Andrzej, whose smile, warmth and love allowed him to forget and to live more and more normally, but deep in his heart were still thorns stuck in by Werner. As long as they were there, the wounds could not heal. They fudge and festered slowly, poisoning him. Dominik knew about it, as well as the fact that only Andrzej can heal these wounds. They will get heal over time and under the influence of the balm of love, but at that point the time was far too short.

The house suddenly seemed too cramped for Śliwiński. He grabbed his jacket from the closet, put on warm boots, and stepped out into the fresh, frosty air.

It was gray and cold, not so much from the frost itself as from the dampness in the air. He went out on the run, with no scarf, gloves or hat, so he immediately felt the consequences. It's nothing, he will warm up on the march, he said. So he moved quickly to calm his emotions with fresh air and physical effort.

After a few minutes of walking, he noticed two young men blocking the passage of a woman in a red wool coat. The men were clearly having a good time, which could not be said about her. One of the men, quite well built, seemed familiar to Dominik, but he couldn't quite remember where from.

It wasn't important anyway. The woman was clearly uncomfortable with gentlemen who would not accept it. Śliwiński felt angry.

"Maybe enough of this fun," he interrupted them. "You could let the lady pass."