by A. L. Knorr
A loud buzzing sound made me jump out of my skin. I threw back the covers, looking frantically for its source. Locating the panel with a speaker near the door to the suite, I pressed the talk button and the buzzing sound ceased.
“Hello? Hello?”
“Miss MacAuley?” asked a warm female voice with the rich Polish accent I had come to love so much.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No, I was awake.” I yawned. “Just.”
“Did you have a good rest?”
“Yes, actually.” I realized that I had slept through the night without dreams or tossing and turning. “I feel good.”
“Great, because you have a big day today, remember?”
“Sorry, but who am I speaking with?” I cringed. In all likelihood, I’d met this person when we arrived last night but didn’t remember.
“It’s Marian Suhre, Mrs. Krulikoski’s secretary.” There was no hint of irony in her tone, she sounded professional and kind.
I remembered Marian because we’d been emailing since Mom and I had made the decision to come to Poland, but the other name didn’t ring a bell. Something about it was familiar, though, and I wracked my memory in earnest. Krulikoski, I knew this name, somehow...
Marian hadn’t responded, but was waiting for me to confirm that I knew who she was talking about. So I replied dumbly, “Okay.”
“It’s eight o’clock. The car is scheduled to take you to the downtown office in one hour’s time. Breakfast is served in the dining room. I will meet you and Mrs. MacAuley in the front foyer at nine.”
“Right.” I projected confidence, but squirmed internally. I had barely paid attention to the schedule I had been sent via email, we’d been so busy preparing for our international move. “Uh, Marian? Mrs. Suhre?”
“Call me Marian, if you like.”
“Thanks, and please call me Targa. Does my mother––you can call her Mira, by the way––does she know all this?”
There was a long pause, during which she was probably wondering why I hadn’t communicated this to my mother myself after I’d received her carefully structured and thorough email with this very information and itinerary.
“I’ll make sure she does.”
“Thank you.” I rested my forehead against the wall beside the panel and grimaced. I wasn’t making a good impression. She was probably questioning Martinius’s good sense for the hundredth time. Why had he given over his company to these two daft Canadian women? Couldn’t say I blamed her.
“Not a problem,” she said. “See you in an hour.”
I wanted to find my mom, just to make sure she was awake and indeed up to speed, but poking my head out of my suite door revealed a bewilderingly long hallway––in both directions––lined with many doors. I didn’t have time to find her now.
After hopping in the shower and coming fully awake, I felt my spirits brighten. This was an exciting new chapter of my life, and Antoni was here somewhere. I could barely restrain myself from dancing for joy under the spray of the showerhead when I thought about seeing him soon. Butterflies took flight in my stomach when I imagined throwing myself into his arms and feeling his big, warm body next to mine again. My skin tingled with inspired gooseflesh and excitement, not just for Antoni, but for all of the recent changes for me…and Mom.
She no longer had to work in a job she hated, and she had control of the artifacts from The Sybellen. I could be with the man I had fallen so hard for only a few months ago, much sooner than I had ever anticipated. Of course, at the time, no one knew Saltford was going to suffer from a massive natural disaster (supernatural attack), or that my high school was going to be destroyed (pulverized by a demon), or that my friends had had their own transformative summers (becoming powerful elementals) and were changing their lives just as drastically as I was changing mine. It was scary and sad and exhilarating all at once.
Hurriedly, I toweled off and found a blow dryer in one of the many drawers in my rather large bathroom. Fumbling in my luggage, I found a brush and dried my hair before putting it up in a topknot. I applied a little bit of makeup, not knowing what to expect at the office. Were these offices dirty and industrial, or sleek and modern, or something else altogether? Marian hadn’t told me how to dress, so I pulled out a pair of black jeans, my favorite ankle booties with a little bit of a heel, and paired them with a gray silk camisole and short black dress jacket. It was the best I had besides the gorgeous teal gown Antoni had gifted me with, and I wasn’t about to wear that, so this outfit would have to do.
A final check in the mirror called for little hoop earrings, and then I felt ready to take on whatever was coming, especially Antoni. I took another peek at my phone to see that he still hadn’t replied to my question. He was probably working.
Looking into the bright teal eyes of the young woman in the mirror––hair pulled up and back like she didn’t need anything to hide behind, I smiled confidently. I grabbed my little purse and strode from the room in search of the dining room, where I hoped I’d find Mom. I had just pulled my door closed and was wondering if I was supposed to lock it, and whether someone had given me a key or not the day before, when Mom appeared beside me.
“Good morning, sunshine. You look nice.”
I turned and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You do too.”
Mom was wearing black pants, flat Oxfords I’d picked out for her, a pale green blouse, and a black cardigan. Everything we wore was new, given we’d lost most of our clothing. Her hair was tied back in a low ponytail and her face bare of makeup.
“How did you sleep?” I asked.
“Like a dead baby.” She looped her arm through mine and steered me in a direction which I hoped led to the stairs. I didn’t even know which floor we were on.
“I think the expression is either ‘like the dead’ or ‘like a baby,’” I replied with a smile.
“Why must you bore me with grammar?”
“Well, you know, you’re the owner of your own salvage company now, not to mention a fine collection of really old soggy stuff you rescued from The Sybellen. I figured you might want to step it up a notch, is all.”
“Ugh,” she groaned. “Don’t remind me. We could be exploring the Aegean by now.” We came to the wide staircase I recognized and began descending. Mom cocked an eyebrow in my direction. “It’s not too late to change your mind, you know. We could be braless and careless before lunch today.”
I shot her a hybrid look of exasperation and amusement.
Mom had been more than incensed with me when I’d told her I wasn’t interested in going to sea with her at this point in my life, and while some of that anger had fizzled after we’d inherited Martinius’s fortune (manor, companies, and every other asset he and his family had worked so hard for over the last century and a half), it hadn’t entirely gone away. Seeing the destruction in Saltford did put her ire to rest, and it wasn’t hard to convince her to jet. But it seemed she was still hoping I would change my mind.
We were welcomed into the dining room by the smell of fresh baked goods, sausages, and eggs. While we filled our ravenous bellies, we speculated on what today might be like.
“Do you remember meeting someone by the name of Krulikoski, last time we were here?” I asked after swallowing a mouthful of scrambled egg and spearing a piece of cantaloupe.
Mom nodded. “The lady with the deep voice, from the party.”
My memory finally opened and flooded with images of the elegant woman in the gray gown. I smacked my own forehead. “Of course! The CFO, the one who introduced Martinius.”
She nodded. “Only I think she’s the CEO now.”
It came back to me. Hanna Krulikoski, she’d been given active control of Novak Stoczniowców Braciz after Martinius’s death until the board made a decision about who would take the dead president and CEO’s role. Marian had likely told me about the board’s decision in an email, and I’d been too distracted to pay attention. I
guessed they’d decided to make her position permanent.
I wondered where the chips had fallen for Antoni in the post-death shuffle of the Novak company roster. I hoped he’d done well for himself. He had big ambitions and came across as incredibly capable, but what did I know about what a company this size was looking for? I hoped for some kindly individual at Novak to take me aside and discretely fill me in on all the big players. A little bubble of anxiety threatened to inflate in my gullet and I shoved it down with a big gulp of orange juice. I was the owner of Novak now, but I didn’t know what people expected from me. Were they going to be hostile? Did they think Martinius was a crackpot old guy who’d lost his marbles? I’d soon find out.
As we were finishing, a woman in a Novak household staff uniform came in and began to clean up. “Good morning,” she said pleasantly. “I hope you slept well.”
“Morning…” Mom looked mildly pained.
“Serafina.” She smiled. “But everyone calls me Sera. Me and my husband Adalbert are your full-time live-in staff. Anything you need, just ask one of us.”
We thanked Sera and made our way to the front foyer. Breakfast didn’t settle happily in my stomach after all the mental speculation and I put a hand over my belly, feeling slightly nauseated. Give me a freaky demon-storm and I could stop a tidal wave, but put me in front of my ‘employees’ and my face went numb with trepidation.
A woman in a pantsuit and tailored jacket stood in the foyer holding a portfolio in her arms and chatting quietly with a fellow dressed in the navy Novak uniform. She brightened when she saw us coming.
“Here they are.” She smiled warmly at us, the corners of her eyes crinkling. I liked her immediately. “Are you ready to meet your staff and see your offices?”
Mom and I glanced at one another. She tilted her head in my direction. “This is your rodeo, sweetheart. I’m just along for the ride.”
I cleared my throat. “Ready as we’ll ever be.”
“Great.” Marian turned to the fellow standing beside her with his hands behind his back and a serene smile on his face. “This is Adam Krulikoski, you’ll remember him from yesterday.”
Mom and I smiled politely at the gentleman neither of us could remember, but who more than likely met us at the airport the day before.
“Hello...again,” I said, awkwardly.
He extended a hand and shook with each of us. “Anytime, day or night. If you need to be somewhere, I’m your man.”
“That’s very kind,” I replied. “But we do have our licenses, and thankfully you drive on the same side of the road as us here. Once we get settled in better, we’ll look into getting our own vehicles. I’m not sure we require a driver.”
“Mr. Novak did like to drive himself from time to time,” replied Adam without missing a beat. “He has a small collection of vehicles in the garage. You could take your pick. They’ll be yours now.”
Mom and I shared another look and she murmured, “I’m not sure why we’re not used to it by now. Private jet, personal driver, mansion on the beach. Why not a fleet of vehicles?”
“He has a 1969 Ford Mustang Shelby I’m rather fond of.” Adam brightened. “Maybe I could pick you up in that one day?”
I didn’t miss the warning look Marian gave Adam, and his resultant chastened expression.
“Sure, that would be fun,” I said, and he smiled. “I don’t know what a Shelby is, but Ford is American. That must have been expensive to bring over here to Europe.”
“I’m sure it was,” Adam said as we were escorted to the car and tucked into the back seat of its sleek black body. Marian slipped into the car with us and took the seat facing us.
“So, your last name is Krulikoski—are you related to Hanna?” Mom asked, peering at Adam.
Two spots of pink appeared on each of Adam’s cheeks, and Marian gave a smile at my mother’s nosiness, eyes downcast.
“Yes, ma’am. She’s my mother.”
“Cool. Call me Mira, though.”
“Yes, ma’am. I mean, Mira.”
Adam closed the door, went around to the driver’s side, and got in. As the car pulled away from the front steps, Marian put on her seatbelt and then opened the portfolio on her lap.
“I thought we could review the agenda on the journey,” she said. “I’m sure that with the unfortunate natural disaster in your hometown, setting up your schooling, and all the preparation for the move, you haven’t had much time to review my emails.”
Mom and I looked at one another, mildly astonished. It was like Marian had anticipated precisely the state we’d be in when we arrived and pre-empted our embarrassment.
“She gets me,” I stage-whispered, feeling grateful and wanting her to know it.
Marian chuckled. “This is what I do.”
The car slipped onto a broader, faster moving freeway as we headed toward Gdansk. We could see the blue of the Baltic and the square peaks and troughs of the city, growing ever larger.
“First things first, you’ll meet with Mrs. Krulikoski privately. She has a few things to go over with you, and she’s also eager to get to know the two of you. After this initial meeting, you will have some paperwork to sign.” She peered over her glasses at us. “You’ll have to get used to that, I’m afraid. At least for now. After this initial meeting, Mrs. Krulikoski will introduce you to the board. Some of them you may have met briefly last time you were here, but there are also new faces, and people in new positions, so we’ll get you up to speed.”
“Will Antoni Baranek be there?” I asked.
Marian smiled pleasantly. “Ah, yes. Martinius requested he be your chaperone the last time you were here, correct? While your mother worked the salvage?”
“That’s right.” I bit my tongue against the urge to add that we’d become close, or some other inane personal comment.
“I imagine the two of you became friends,” Marian injected smoothly. “You’ll be pleased to learn then, that Antoni has been promoted. He’s on our international business development team, now.”
“Good for him,” my mother said softly, before bumping my shoulder with her hand and pointing out the window as the car exited the freeway and joined traffic on more historic and quaint streets.
Peering out of the window, I craned my neck to look at the tall, narrow buildings painted in different shades of green, blue, and orange.
“I thought the offices were at the harbor,” I said as Adam navigated the car through the cobblestone streets.
Marian smiled. “Novak Shipping’s first offices were near the port, but as the company grew and more offices were opened in Europe, the headquarters were moved to the downtown core.”
We slowed as we approached a red brick building where a garage door was making its way open. The company logo––the one with the mermaid icon, rather than the old ship––had been painted over the garage and the main door. The red brick matched the manor, and the white trim around the windows was also the same as the Novak residence.
The car descended a short ramp and into the darkness of a small parking garage. We removed our seatbelts as Adam parked the car in a space marked ‘reserved.’
“Everyone is ready?” Marian asked, a twinkle in her eye. “This is a big moment for us and for you. Novak Stoczniowców Braciz is yours now. The relationship between you and your company will last the rest of your lives, as you are the only living Novaks.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. There was no point in denying that we were Novaks. We’d already done that, and still been forced into claiming the Novak inheritance. If we hadn’t accepted it, the whole thing would have gone to the government, all of what Martinius and his ancestors had worked for. It would have been enough to make Martinius turn in his grave. Still, it had sat uneasily with me and Mom ever since we’d signed the papers that day in our little kitchen, with Antoni looking on.
I smiled and reached for the door handle, but before I could get there, Adam was opening the door and extending a hand to help us out. It wasn’t
until we were headed toward the big silver elevator that I noticed my mother’s face had gone pasty and she looked like she wanted to throw up.
3
We took the elevator up six levels. Marian used a keycard to take us to a floor labeled “NSB.” I stood by Mom and put a hand on her back, concerned by her pallor. She gave me a wan smile, enough to say I’ll be all right.
The door opened on plenty of natural light and a completely different kind of office than what I had been expecting. There were clear glass walls everywhere, white paint, and exposed red brick features. The brick pillars were home to black and white images of ships of all sizes and shapes. Some of the photos had the graininess of true vintage photographs and I assumed they had to be ships that the company had owned at some time in its long history.
The statuesque shape of Mrs. Krulikoski appeared in a doorway, silhouetted against the cityscape behind her. She looked the same as when I’d seen her at the party in the summer, but instead of wearing a gown she wore a simple gray pantsuit and white blouse with a ruffle at the neck. Her brunette hair was streaked with gray––an especially large shock of it over her right eye––and pulled into a low bun at the nape of her neck. Now that I was seeing her up close, I realized she was older than I’d first assumed.
“Welcome,” Mrs. Krulikoski said, extending her hand to me first, then my mother. Her voice struck me again with its depth and warmth.
“Thank you, Mrs. Krulikoski,” I said. “Lovely to see you again.”
“Call me, Hanna. May I address you by your first names? Martinius and I always did, and we do prefer to be casual here.”
We agreed and followed her into her office. Marian shut the door and we occupied the three seats in front of Hanna’s glass desk while she went behind and sat in her office chair.
“Wow,” my mom breathed, and I followed her gaze along the many photographs on the only wall that was brick. Mingled among the images of ships, ports and groups of people dressed in business attire, was a shot of Hanna and Martinius shaking hands. Then my eye found two black and white photographs which startled me right out of my calm.
