Chapter 204 - 7 Safe Road Is Not For Everyone

"And what kind of profession did they want for you?" Janina Pasek asked interested.

"They wanted something safe and secure for me, like being a banker. Ultimately an accountant."

"Seeing how you respect the value of money, you would probably prove your worth in these professions, but it's good that you chose photography," praised Mrs. Janka. "Choosing a safe profession is not a bad thing, but someone as talented as you should risk the unknown."

Andrzej nodded without hesitation.

If he hadn't got his way and chose banking over photography, he would probably never have met Dominik, and certainly would not have met him in the complicated circumstances that led the young actor to become a permanent fixture in his life.

Andrzej looked at the aquamarine ring on his finger.

If he had not become a photographer, he would not have had the infinite happiness he had now and this endless anxiety...

"Nowicki, where did you sail away?" Janina Pasek called him to order.

"Nowhere, Mrs. Janka. Nowhere ", Andrzej assured, returning his thoughts to the present moment.

Mrs. Pasek sighed.

"Life is not limited to love," she announced. "I know it's hard for you to think about anything other than Dominik..."

"It's not like that, Mrs. Janka..." Andrzej wanted to deny her, but the truth was that it was this beautiful actor, who was also his life partner, who completely occupied his thoughts. "I'm sorry."

However, Mrs. Janka was not angry. She smiled warmly and as if… with triumph?

"Don't worry about it," she said. "You don't neglect your duties because of him. But if you want your relationship to remain a secret, you have to be a little careful with people. Sometimes your facial expressions are too obvious and people will start asking or making stories themselves."

"We are not afraid of disclosure, so when it does, it will happen. The society has grown up and there would probably be no major problem with that. Dominik wants to quit acting, so he will not be a public figure. I also work from the shadow..."

"There is no problem for you to come out."

"I know, Mrs. Janka. Thank you. But 'come out' is somewhat distasteful. When a guy is dating a woman, he doesn't have to 'come out' so he should not have to do it when he's dating a guy. Am I right or not?"

"Here, you have," she agreed. "You know, as long as I know about you, I've been thinking a bit about your situation and how gays are treated in our country, and you know what? You would be a media sensation of the moment because people like gossip but then they wouldn't care about it anymore. Hmm, it's probably even a little sad."

"You mean people would stop being interested in us?"

"Of course! Surely there would be a few madmen who would have some trouble with it, but nothing else. Do you remember there was something in the media condemning gays? Has anyone complained about being discriminated against?"

Nowicki reached deep into his memory but he could not remember anything like that.

"No, I don't remember anything like that," he admitted.

"I remember," said Janina Pasek. "Some writer confessed that he was the lover of a popular singer. There was a buzz for a few days, then people decided it was their private affair, who was sleeping with whom, and why would this writer announce the whole thing anyway? Did he want to promote his book? After a week, no one cared anymore. Everyone has forgotten. The singer is fine although he has gotten a little old now."

Andrzej smiled at his boss. It was an extremely cool woman. He was lucky she took him into her agency.

"Sometimes I think so," added Mrs. Pasek thoughtfully, "that we are a nation that watches over its own nose. We don't care what who believes, who loves or turns in their bed if they do it at home. The problem starts when someone comes to our home and starts lecturing us."

This time, Andrzej laughed.

"You're right. You're absolutely right. I think ours previous experience made me paranoid."

"You worked in a gossip tabloid, so you know some media feed on sensation, real or not. These people also have to live off something. But readers get bored quickly and the scandals end fast. If breaking the law were at stake, that would be something else, but two adult men being together of their own free will? Three days to a week and everyone will forget about it."

It was hard to disagree with Mrs. Janka. In fact, people didn't pay more attention to gossip than to curiosity for a while. Andrzej was worried about these individual elements, which could go crazy after finding out that Dominik is gay. Some, like Werner, may wish to have him for themselves, others may wish to convert him to the path of heterosexual virtue and become his persecutors.

Normal people weren't scary, it's true, but no one knows how many freaks there are in between. For them, a person like Dominik Śliwiński is almost a god, so who knows how they will react to his imperfection?

However, you cannot live only with the fear that maybe one day a madman will appear and bring pain to Dominik. Living in such fear ceases to be life, and turns into a hell.

"It will be as it will be," Andrzej said boldly. "My relationship with Dominik isn't something we want to feed the media, but it certainly isn't something to be ashamed of either."

"That's what you should think!" Mrs. Janka praised him and Nowicki was glad that he had such a strong ally in her.

"So when will this photo shoot be ...?"

***

After a week of life like a monk, a crazy afternoon and a hot night that Dominik spent in the arms of his Andrzej, clearly reflected on his body. Although the young actor did his best to keep his body in the best condition possible, a certain degree of effort was beyond his strength. In fact, there are probably not many men in the world who could survive such a grueling session unharmed. Even professional athletes reach their limits in sports, let alone amateurs like Dominik.

Not that Śliwiński compared sex to sport, but physical effort was comparable.

Fortunately, Dominik was completely unemployed today and was able to rest.

Well, maybe not quite 'completely'. There were two scenarios on the coffee table in the living room. One was filmmaking, the other invited him to the series. It wasn't a long series, only ten episodes, but that's almost five times more airtime than the movie. Dominik promised to read these scripts.

The first one was sent to him by the director with whom Śliwiński worked on his first major production, so the actor felt obliged to be grateful. He warned the director that he wanted to withdraw from the film and try to do something else, but the man insisted. This man helped Dominik become known, now he wanted to develop his own directorial talent, so the young actor felt obliged to help him somehow. But all he could promise was to read the script.

The second script, the series one, was sent to him by people he didn't know. It was supposed to be international, European police production. International investigation and stuff. Dominik was fluent in English and was pretty good at French, so he was a good candidate, especially since he was insanely handsome and had just opened the door to Hollywood. If Dominik were still under the care of Marek Marczak, he would insist on his participation in this production.

But Dominik Śliwiński was really not ambitious and did not plan an international career. Recently, however, he was thinking more and more often about opening his own restaurant.

Of course, the restaurant was just his fantasy. Dominik did not even have a high school diploma and he certainly had no idea about running a business, but it did not stop him from asking Paulina Kowalczyk about the secrets of running a restaurant.

Paulina became his dear friend and it was another element of his new life, for which Śliwiński should thank Nowicki.

Sitting down on the couch with a mug of hot coffee in his hand, Dominik sighed. The two scenarios looked at him with the same intensity as he looked at them. It's as if these sheets of paper are real beings…

It's not like Dominik hated acting. He liked it, he really did. The problem was that because of his former agent for seven years, there was nothing more in his life than acting and Marek Marczak. Dominik knew nothing more and at one point even lost his identity.

When he realized this, he felt horribly lost. So he kind of wanted to go back and start all over again. He wanted, like all people, to experience real life, its successes and its failures. He wanted to know if he could be more than just an actor.

Of course, being an actor, and being as popular and recognized as he was, was enough, but Śliwiński wanted to know if he could afford mastery in more than one field. And he will not find out about this if he does not try. That's why he needed a change.

Meanwhile, the movie world somehow refused to let him go. He didn't get many offers, but the film industry also slowed down significantly (not that it would ever gallop in this country). Nevertheless, there were two proposals on the table, staring at him, crying, "Choose me!"

There was no way out. Since he had promised, Dominik had to read both. The movie one was shorter, only one hundred and ten pages long. He should deal with it sooner.

The young actor had already reached out for him when his doorbell rang. Dominik did not expect anyone. He walked over to see who it was and saw two men in suits, but they didn't look like businessmen. They didn't look like bodyguards or gangsters either. They wore CBA screaming badges around their necks.

Central Anticorruption Bureau (Centralne Biuro Antykorupcyjne) on his doorstep?

Dominik took a deep breath and opened the door ...