56 Demon of the Past

Damian was more than just a producer to Brylski. He was his potential friend and the man who had discovered the pleasures of physical intimacy to Rafał. Rafał shouldn't, no he couldn't like a helpless child run to him for help. He has to deal with the problem alone. But does he have the right to do so?

His hand dropped.

This blackmail is not only Rafał's private affair, after all, he knows it very well. When the good of the whole production is at stake, Brylski has no choice but to seek help from someone responsible for it, and he will not ask Różycki for help. This left only Damian. Rafał must swallow his masculine pride and inform Radosz about the potential trouble, even if it costs him a role in the series.

The young actor took a deep breath and called. As he waited for the connection he felt like the pain was going to burst his chest. What Tomek had done now hurt. How could he so cruelly use the trust placed in him?

Damian didn't answer and Rafał felt both relieved and disappointed at the same time. Radosz isn't avoiding him, is he?

No, he shouldn't, after all, they were connected by a certain professional relationship. He probably put the phone down somewhere. Maybe he was just taking a shower? At least Rafał would not have to tell him anything at that moment. Or maybe he shouldn't tell him at all? Maybe he would be able to settle this matter on his own?

But how? Brylski did not have so much money and even if he had it, surely he would not want to give it to the blackmailer. He had not worked so hard to succumb to the threats of someone who wanted to get rich at someone else's expense!

Rafał stood up heavily. He managed not to wobble, although he had the impression that the whole world around him was wobbling.

***

Anita ended the call and put down her mobile. She did not even notice that her hand was trembling. If she had looked in the mirror it would probably have horrified her how pale she was.

Who was looking for Rafael? Who?

Why the hell!

Apparently you can't run from the past. You can try to forget it or get used to it and get over it, but you can't run away from it. Especially the bad one will chase you to the ends of the earth, flooding you with its venom and inflicting new wounds in place of the old ones.

Rafał tried so hard to break away from his painful past! He wanted so much to live like a normal person. Why had the world conspired to prevent him from doing so?

No, not the whole world, just that person from the past. That awful, disgusting person...

Anita should warn Rafał about this, but how will he react? Won't the thought of this unwanted meeting, the anticipation of it, be torture for him? Every day, every minute, he will wonder if there is that person behind his back... The person who had no right to ever enter his life again.

Why? Why was this person looking for Rafał? Was it for money? The shameless beast!

Angry from within so much that she felt everything boiling inside her, Anita Janiszek grabbed her purse and left her room. Rafał already had to go to the film set and she would accompany him, as always. And as soon as this person came within Rafal's reach, no, even before, Anita would intercept and stop him, make sure this person would never have the opportunity to appear before Rafał's eyes and hurt him again.

Janiszek almost ran out of her room and almost collided with Brylski. The actor was pale and extremely distracted. He looked as if he had just seen a ghost. Had he actually met...?

No, it is not possible! That person could not have managed to appear here so quickly.

And yet Brylski looked strangely moved.

“Rafał, did something happen?”

Brylski looked at her for a moment as if he wanted to grasp the reality he had momentarily lost. Then he smiled beautifully and warmly, not only with his lips, with his whole face, which with his pallor was a clear lie.

“Nothing happened, I was just thinking.”

“On what subject?” Anita insisted.

“Er... I was just...”

Anita had the impression that her friend wanted to lie to her, but he did not. He smiled very pale and said:

“I met Tomek.”

“Tomek?! What do you mean you met Tomek? When? Where? Outside the hotel? At the hotel? What is he doing here?”

Anita was really surprised. She had not expected his former friend to suddenly appear in Rafał's life. She would have expected...

Oh yes, that person! But now there was no time to think about her, to worry about her. Right now they had a clearer, much closer threat in front of them in the form of a man who knew one of Rafał’s secrets...

The young woman turned even paler. She looked around the hallway and pushed Rafał toward the door of his room. If they were going to talk, they needed to do it somewhere more discreet.

“What did Tomek want?” Janiszek demanded an explanation as soon as she closed the door behind them. “I don't believe you two met completely by chance.”

Rafał sat down heavily on the bed. He seemed fragile and helpless, overwhelmed by the present... or by the past his false friend had brought with him. In Anita's eyes Rafal turned back into that pale boy standing in the snow, pretty as an angel but tragically sad.

“Money” Rafał hid his face in his hands. “For silence. Otherwise he will betray that I am asexual.”

Anita's knees bent. She clapped heavily next to her friend.

“A lot?”

“More than I have. Anyway, Anita, I don't want to pay. I don't want to pay someone who threatens me.”

It's only money, Janiszek thought, only stinking money, and it can blind someone so much that they hurt others for it.

Anita put her arm around Rafał and hugged him warmly and tightly. Although younger, she always felt like she was his older sister who had to protect him. If Tomek came to her, Anita would do anything to make him disappear and not hurt Rafał. She would have given him practically everything. But he went directly to Brylski and stabbed him again, as if that blow in the back wasn't enough for him.

“Rafał, what will happen if you don't pay? Will he tell everything to the media? Will it cause a scandal?”

Brylski nodded.

“I don't know how bad it will be for the production or... for me. Anita, what if I have to give up my job as an actor?”

“Nonsense! Don't even think about it! You didn't do anything wrong! Being asexual is not a crime and not a sin! You are a wonderful, talented man and no one should care who you sleep with or if you sleep with anyone at all, as long as you don't break the law.”

For some reason Rafał curled up even more into himself becoming clearly this tiny, helpless boy.

“If you decide to pay,” Anita said, “I'll ask our parents for help. I won't tell them the details, don't worry, we'll scrape together all the money. But if you decide not to pay him, that's fine too. Remember, being asexual does not make you inferior. Not at all.”

Rafał straightened up and took a breath. He was still visibly upset, but his face had almost a normal color now.

“I can't think about it now,” he declared. “We have shooting today. I have to redo the scenes.”

“Will you be able to work today?” Anita was worried.

“Of course! You know I'm a born actor.”

Yes, a born actor, a born liar, but who doesn't learn to lie when the truth is too painful to bear?

And Tomek was only one of the demons of the past that plagued him even today. The other demon that was approaching was far crueler.