13 The Jealousy of the Lonely Heart

The door behind Anita closed and Rafał Brylski was left alone. He was used to being alone, but he couldn't help but miss people a lot at times.

Rafał was enviously looking at his colleagues from the set, who after work went to eat something together or for a beer. He looked longingly at those who talked to their loved ones on the phone. Every person in this world, it seemed, had someone but him.

No, it's not true, Rafał had Anita, but Anita was with him always and forever. He longed for someone who would give him the thrill of discovering, meeting someone new and gaining new experiences. It wasn't a selfish, bad desire, was it?

In primary school, then in high school, and finally at the university, Brylski always had many friends. But he wasn't particularly close to anyone, because if he let them come closer, they would discover who he really was and leave him, just like the others before them. So Rafał preferred to avoid this disappointment. Although he missed people, he knew he had no right to be close to them. So he always stood aside from them, even when he was between them, he was never really one of them.

You get used to loneliness. You can tell yourself that solitude is good and enjoyable, but there are times when it is so overwhelming that you cannot breathe.

When Rafał fell off the roof due to a sunstroke and was hospitalized, he knew that he had caused problems on the set. His friends might have blamed him for that, that's understandable, but he didn't want to pass out. It wasn't his fault, it was an accident that could have happened to anyone under the circumstances. He'd been working with these people for six weeks, always trying to be nice and polite to them, and never really made any problems on purpose. He really wanted to have good professional relationships with everyone. He wanted to be a real part of the crew. Even so, no one even texted him asking how he was doing.

It was… sad.

It was such situations that most brutally showed how lonely Rafał is in this great world. He had no connections in show business and in ordinary life... Rafał could easily assume that if it weren't for Anita, he would probably be the only person who cares about Rafał Brylski.

Although that may not be true, Rafał thought. He was unconscious as he fell, and could not remember anything that happened then. Anita told him, however, how Damian Radosz ran to his rescue as soon as he noticed that something was wrong. He reacted immediately and with his own arms cushioned his fall. Then, without releasing him from his arms, he carried Rafał to the trailer and started giving him first aid. Then, concerned, he followed the ambulance to the hospital.

It was a simple, humanitarian gesture, but Rafał was grateful to Radosz. In this world of constant rivalry, competition and the rat race, where everyone thinks only about themselves and their own interests, while saving Brylski, Radosz behaved like a real hero.

Maybe Radosz did not save Rafał at that moment, but his own interest, because the death of the actor on the set would practically destroy the entire production, but Damian Radosz did not look so calculating that he would not think about human life, but about a lost investment in such a sudden moment. Damian Radosz looked like… a good man.

Rafał smiled to himself. He had experienced enough in his life to lose faith in people, but he desperately wanted to keep it in his heart. Although someone else's jealousy, aversion and selfishness had repeatedly proved to Brylski that the world was far from ideal, he still wanted to believe in the good of people with amazing stubbornness, completely against the evidence, and in his eyes Damian Radosz was just like that. So Rafał decided to repay Radosz for the kindness he received from him and give even more to make the series in which he played was a real hit.

With this decision Brylski began changing his clothes to go to sleep. He was really tired, although it was probably due to the effects of the drugs. He would sleep for a while, and when he got up, he would be in great shape again.

Rafał was just putting the phone down on the bedside table when he received a text message notification. He checked and was surprised to see that it was his colleague from the set, Jakub Wolak, who played his dear friend. Jakub asked how Rafał was feeling.

Brylski's heart jumped happily. So someone was concerned about his health after all! It was so… nice. He wrote back immediately that everything was fine and that he would return to work soon. In response, he received the equally optimistic message that everyone is waiting, but he needs to take care of himself.

Is everyone really waiting for him?

Rafał felt really good about it. Maybe he didn't have super close relationships with the people on set. Maybe he hadn't gotten to live with them yet and hadn't fully shown that he really wanted to work well together, but they cared for him nonetheless.

With a light heart and a smile on his lips, Rafał Brylski put his head against the pillow.

He just had another argument to give his best on set not two hundred percent of the norm, but three hundred!

***

Damian has just finished watching the entire video that the cameras on the set of this unfortunate morning recorded. There was a lot of material, so he looked through some of them in an accelerated mode, but he asked several times to slow down the tape, to stop it and even to rewind it.

The technician who assisted him in this task could not hide his surprise.

"I thought you might just want to watch the incident itself," he said.

“It is not enough. I also need to know the context.”

“But I don't know if I should...”

“Don't forget who puts money to this project, including your paycheck.”

The technician fell silent and made no more difficulties. Damian, on the other hand, looked at the recordings with growing irritation and… guilt.

Anita Janiszek was right, this accident should not have happened. Rafał Brylski should not be on the roof so early.

Różycki showed extreme irresponsibility, forcing the actor in such terrible weather to take completely unnecessary actions.

The actor was not a mannequin that can be positioned as you please. An actor is a person who must have a certain amount of physical and emotional strength in order to play his part well. Treating man in such a way was a waste of his energy and thus damaging the entire production. It was just reprehensible!

It all boiled down to one thing: Różycki should not be the director of this series.

"Damn" Radosz swore under his breath. What he saw in the video was a clear lack of professionalism and extreme thoughtlessness in his eyes - that's at best - at worst one could speak of deliberate neglect and risking the life of one of the employees. Both cases disqualified Różycki as a director. And if he deliberately wanted to tease Brylski...

Damian will not tolerate such behavior. After all, Radosz was a sheepdog, and production was his sheepfold.

Damian certainly cannot let anyone hurt his golden fleece lamb.