A Polish Adventure

FAL -- THE POLISH ADVENTURE

Prologue

I have been lucky, really really lucky.

I had been working for IBM in Germany and the US, and then transferred from IBM's New York Headquarter to Australia as its Large Account Manager, with the mission to lead the company to grow again, since it's sales and profits had stagnated in the last two years and nobody knew why. There seemed to be no drive, no ambition to get better, no ambition to conquer the world. When I started in Sydney, I felt that management had given up and just lived day after day hoping a miracle would appear. It was difficult to define the problem, but I was trying hard to find a solution.

One personal miracle appeared, however: I met Maureen Monahan, a young philosophy student from Brisbane and life became interesting, as first Eileen, Maureen's mother, and then Mary Ann Parker, my Assistant at that time, became involved with me. My father died in Germany, and I inherited his title: Count de Winter (no money, however!) My family had resided in Elk, a small former German city now in Poland, for centuries and it had been very influential and well respected by its population. After Poland incorporated the region after the WW2, we had to leave without estate or money. My mother died when I was very young, and my father, a tough but respected officer in the new Bundeswehr, even moving from one station to the other, tried to bring me as best as he could. I learned respect and discipline, but loving emotions were a distant priority.

In Australia my life changed. In close to a year, I landed a big contract, was the Sales Manager of the Year, was promoted to Director of Marketing, and then at the big annual IBM Regional Sales meeting had a big fight with a Texan, the newly appointed President of IBM, and resigned from the company. The logistics company my mother-in-law had been heading in Queensland offered me the position of CEO and we made it grow fast, becoming the biggest company in this industry in Australia. We expanded internationally and on my personal side, my relationships with the three women loving me were complicate but exciting.

Maureen decided that we should pay a visit to my ancestor's former estate. After some initial problems with the authorities were resolved, we investigated successfully the possibility to invest and bring life and pride back to the estate and the city. We founded a company headed by Jenny (as Mary Ann had accepted our wish to use a softer name) to supervise our investments in the Schloss de Winter project, and it seemed that the future was sound.

(It would help to read the original story whereupon this tale is based -- 'A Fantasy about Love', published on this site).

CHAPTER 1 -- LIFE BECOMES INTERESTING

We were growing fast in Europe, especially in the Elk logistics hub. The city was alive, the castle booked out, and our relationship with the new mayor and the Regional Governor, Mr. Smirsky (who had used our previous success to jumpstart his political career) could not be better. He warned us, however, that the political climate in Poland was worsening. The country's economy had slowed down, the government was blaming Brussels and Germany for the pressure to take in immigrants from the Arab countries and North Africa, and it was obvious that the opposition party Law and Justice were looking to find scapegoats. He thought that our success and the support we had in the city and the State would keep us safe but recommended that we should keep an eye on the situation. He would keep us advised if anything happened.

We followed his advice and I had a news agency sending me weekly reports on Poland. There was a nationwide election and to everyone's surprise, Law and Justice had an almost working majority in the Lower House of Parliament, the Sejm. Together with twelve votes from another party strongly supported by the church, they had a three-vote majority, enough to elect the Prime Minister. They started immediately to change the system: Ministers of the Supreme Court were dismissed (there were loud protests against this move, even from Brussels and member states of the EU, and LaJ immediately used this for more patriotic sermons). Federal bureaucracy was cleaned out and party members promoted; apparently, they used their patriotic wave to silence the opposition. I was getting worried, but up to that moment, there was no panic button pushed by our friends in Elk.

Suddenly, the Polish Consul in Sydney asked to meet me. He had become a friend, supporting our policies.

"Count de Winter, thank you for seeing me on such short notice. Unfortunately, I've bad news -- I've been recalled to Warsaw. It seems that my political views are not any longer welcome in the government. You and I have become friends and I want to warn you - your success and consequent influence will cause problems. The city of Elk and your enterprises have turned to be a shining light of what liberal capitalism can do for our people in this slowdown of the economy - and this is against all ideologies the new government is spouting. You, a German Count (and these are two strikes against you) own a huge tract of land in Poland, sponsor German language classes, are successful with your Schloss de Winter company (another strike against you since it reminds people of the good side of German traditions), brought Brussels bureaucrats leading municipal and State projects into the country, and employ non-Polish managers in important positions. It doesn't matter that they are all a great success -- these are projects depending on cooperation between your companies, Brussels, Germany, and local authorities. The new government wants control of this, and you have to be very careful about how you handle this."

I corrected him that it was an Australian investment with Australian money and an Australian CEO, but he told that at this moment this was unimportant. LaJ wanted a scapegoat, and a German Count would serve very nicely. We were sad to see him go and I planned to visit Poland soon to see myself what was going on.

Then I received a rather curt message from Canberra -- the new Polish Ambassador wanted to see me. My agenda was full, and I responded that I'd be available the following week. This caused another curt and now almost impolite note to appear on my desk. He wanted to see me now, and not in ten days! I respectfully told him that I had no earlier time available and his secretary called my secretary to confirm the date. She had also made friends at the embassy and was told that the Ambassador was furious!

I called my friends in Canberra and after a few days received a confidential briefing stating that the Ambassador, Mr. Pavel Buzek, was an old party hack, a personal friend of the Prime Minister, and known for anti-foreigner diatribes. It would be interesting!

I had scheduled other meetings for that day in Canberra but had managed to arrive in time at the Polish Embassy. Obviously, I had to wait for the esteemed authority, but had enough after waiting for twenty minutes. I advised the Secretary that I had another appointment and could wait for another five minutes, but then I had to leave. He was still playing his game, so I left.

At the exit, the guard stopped me.

"Sir, the Ambassador wants to see you now."

Probably I could have been more diplomatic at that moment, but I was upset about these little games that bureaucrats want to play and told him that I had waited for twenty-five minutes, had other appointments and my secretary would call to set up another meeting.

When I was back in Sydney, the Consul called me.

"Count, what did you do? The Ambassador is absolutely furious and wants you in Canberra tomorrow morning!"

I shrugged and told him that my secretary would call the Ambassador's secretary and if the two could agree on a date, I would go back. If not, he would just have to wait until a date could be set; in any case, I had planned to go to Europe the following month that included a trip to Elk.

"Count, I hope that you know what you are doing! Good luck!"

Upon my return, Maureen called for a family session to decide what I should do. She had prepared a light dinner, while Jenny and I processed the information we were going to discuss. I told them to put on some clothes -- looking at a beautiful redhead in just an apron and a black-haired beauty in a short t-shirt would not be helping in the discussion! Looking at them always made me wonder why they had accepted me as their husband. But the fact always would make me accept my life gratefully!

In the end, the two ladies agreed on a date and I went back to Canberra. The building was modern pretty: a two-story white building set into a great garden, with the red-white Polish flag with the great eagle threatening all enemies. This time I did not have to wait; I was ushered immediately into the Ambassador's office.

Mr. Buzek was exactly how I had imagined a Polish self-important official would be: Dark suit, smallish but rather wide at his stomach, white hair and a mustache, and little eyes that were already boring into mine. He was sitting behind a monstrous dark desk, a big Polish flag against the wall, lots of photographs showing him with some apparently important people and glowered at me.

"Mr. Winter, I was very surprised that you left the last time without seeing me. Very surprised! I was in an important meeting and expected that you'd wait for me. How dare you leave!"

Add vain and ignorant to self-important.

"Mr. Ambassador, I was waiting for twenty-five minutes without any information when you would be available. I had other meetings scheduled afterwards and they could not wait anymore. If you had told me that you needed another five minutes, I would have waited -- but sitting in a room looking at the wall? I had better ways to use my time, Mr. Ambassador. "

Bullies take a step back if they are confronted by a bigger bully -- meaning me -- and Mr. Buzek was no exception. He took a deep breath, got up, walked around his desk, and stopped before me.

"Mr. Winter, I called you to advise that the Polish Government has some serious issues with your investments in Poland. We cannot accept that a German Count wants to re-establish your family's exploitation of the Polish people and have decided that you will have to transfer management to Polish patriots, who will know how to defend our people from foreigners. In any case, Poland has decided that Germany owes Poland significant compensation for the damages that our people had to suffer under German occupation!"

He puffed himself up and glared at me. Add idiot to vain, ignorant, and self-important.

"Mr. Ambassador, I know our history well, but perhaps you have forgotten that Poland and Germany signed two agreements - one in 1953 when all rights to additional compensations for World War Two were waived. And, Mr. Ambassador, in 1970 Poland confirmed that it had no claims against West Germany, either. For me and the German government, that question is settled."

He was getting angry again and his little round face was red all over.

"Mr. Winter, those agreements were signed by people who had no authority from our people to sign these rights away. We don't recognize the validity of those acts and will claim our rights most forcefully!"

I wondered where that had come from but did not want to waste any more time.

"Mr. Ambassador, I respect your government determination to receive reparations from the German government, but that has nothing to do with my investments -- which by the way, are funded by Australian capital! Everything we have done in Poland followed Polish law and was authorized by municipal, state, and federal governments. I will not hand over my companies to any Polish authority without a legal fight -- and I have quite competent lawyers, sir!"

That ended the discussion and now he gave me an order.

"The Prime Minister, Mr. Wacynsky, wants to see you next week on Wednesday to advise what we have decided. You better obey us, Mr. Winter!"

I looked at him for a long time.

"Mr. Ambassador, don't order me and don't threaten me. Better people than you have tried this and lost. Tell your Prime Minister to contact my secretary to see when I'm available for a trip to Poland. And by the way -- my name is James Count de Winter, not Mr. Winter!"

I wondered whether he would get a heart attack, as his face was red all over and he started to sputter that I would regret my attitude, that they would take over all my assets and audit all accounts and if they could find anything and he was certain that they would or they would invent something and I would never get out of jail.........

I got up and walked I got up and walked to the door.

"Mr. Ambassador, you have my telephone number. Contact my secretary."

I knew that we were friends no longer.

Immediately, I called Mr. Smirsky. He was nervous and asked me to come as soon as possible to Elk; there were threats floating around and he needed my input what to do.

Our other call for help went to my parents-in-law: Sir Allen Moise, currently the Australian Minister for Business Development, and Eileen (please! Lady Moise!). They had married after Allan's first wife, died. They were happy and comfortable with each other. Fortunately, our involvement was hidden in the past ....

We needed help and options. They summoned us the following weekend and we went over to Allan's house. It was a beautiful autumn day, with warm weather and a light breeze, and Jenny had taken to cover off. Jenny loved her new car, an Audi 6 convertible, and drove it proudly (the little Mazda was not forgotten, but the new car had gained at least a temporary priority).

As always Allan was waiting for us, smiling and visibly enjoyed seeing us. Eileen had used her influence over him: gone were the black suit, the black vest, and the tie in regimental colors. Now there were grey slacks, a nice light blue checkered shirt, and even moccasins! What would come next? A Hawaiian shirt?

Eileen had not changed her habits, however. There she was in a light blue silk shirt, a narrow dark blue linen skirt, and pretty white sandals with moderately high heels! She smiled and winked at me; she remembered our past ....

Allan grinned.

"James, finally you seem to have found a problem that you cannot resolve through charm and pretty words! But maybe we can help."

I looked around when we entered. It seemed that Eileen had won another little battle against the past: the old leather sofa was replaced by a modern Scandinavian settee, with colorful cushions giving life to the room. I glanced at her and nodded; she smiled, accepting my compliments. The usual High Tea was waiting for us. She had taken out her number Two set: the Wedgwood Harlequin Cuckoo Set, with its matching Tea Cozy. As always, there was Earl Grey for me and Jenny, and Assam for the others. We weren't formal guests, but we were honored family.

I went through the information I had received up to now and after a long discussion on options, Maureen agreed that Jenny and I would fly the day after next to Elk and meet my business and social contacts. Maureen was irate: she wanted to come with us! It would be too much, however, to put all three of us into a potentially dangerous situation, and someone had to look after our children, too. There were other reasons also: Jenny had that killer instinct that Maureen had never developed, and after all, she was the CEO of the whole project Schloss de Winter!

Allan was suspicious about Mr. Wacynsky; his sources had whispered that his apparent integrity was only surface deep. Whoever would meet him, had better be protected. He smiled, however.

"James, sometimes it's nice to have friends in the spy business!"

He pulled out two little boxes and gave one to me and the other to Jenny. Mine held a narrow tie clasp and a gold-plated fountain pen.

"James, these little things record everything that is said within ten meters; the tie clasp does it automatically, but the pen you have to switch on by pushing this clasp. If anybody discovers the tie clasp, you hand it over and stay with the fountain pen. When not in use, it's inert (but it still works like a real pen!) and it's not visible on any testing device. These are the best products on the market; actually, these two have not been sold yet openly and my friends told me to be very careful as they don't want to lose them or worse, so don't let them fall into other people's hands!"

Then he turned to Jenny; she held a beautiful little pendant in her hands. It was a mid-sized sapphire, cut in a pear shape, and surrounded by smallish diamonds.

"Jenny, when you wear this on a little gold chain, it looks like a beautiful piece of jewelry worn by a beautiful woman. I had the sapphire put in to match your eyes (actually it is a nice tourmaline) and nobody will believe that this pretty bauble is anything different than what an elegant lady would wear on an official visit."

He smiled "Put it on, Jenny, please."

She did, and it looked very nice on her. But in my humble opinion, anything would look nice on my Jenny.

"Now, it is not only a pretty bauble, but one of the diamonds is a camera, and it will record anything up to 10 meters with a very clear image. You have to press the sapphire when you want to start to record anything and press it once more when you want to stop. We'll give you a special tablet that will show what is recorded once you lay the pendant on the top right corner of the tablet. Don't ask me how it works, but I've seen it in action. Try it now -- push the sapphire."

Jenny pressed the trinket, and nothing happened. She asked Allan what had gone wrong and he just smiled. "Jenny dear, you just have to wait a moment. But let's talk about other subjects. You look tired, daughter -- are you working too much?"

Maureen grinned and added her comment. "Jenny, you should really take some time off! James, when you'll be back, can we go back to see our pretty twins?"

I agreed, remembering our time at the Spa and the fun we had with the pretty owners. Nothing serious had happened, but the temptation had been great. I winked to Maureen.

"My love, you have worked too much, and you need some days off. Do you want to go back to the spa?"

She nodded emphatically but set a condition. "Maureen has to come, too, or I will not go!"

I grinned "She'll be busy with the school project -- if you won't go, perhaps I can go on my own? I need some days off, too ......"

Jenny exploded.

'You will not go on your own to the Spa! These hussies will go after you and while I trust you, they'll do everything to bend you around their little finger! There will be no one to defend you! They'll do the Salome thing and you will just fall into their little trap! Hah! Never!"

We all laughed, and Jenny realized that she had fallen in our little trap and started to laugh also.

"Maureen, you are evil! And you, James, are not better! But Allan, I am really disappointed with you; I thought a father would protect his daughter, not lead her into a trap!"

Allan grimaced -- either because he was called out or because Jenny reminded him that he had accepted that she called him 'Dad'". But he recovered fast, seeing the grin on Jenny's face.

"Well, my daughter, it seems that we've touched something dear to you. But may I remind you that you seem not to trust your husband, who has sworn to love and protect you for the remainder of your life, and who has shown several times now that he can resist any temptation?"

She hesitated and turned to me. "James, you know that I love you from deep in my heart and that without you, life doesn't exist for me. Please forgive me - those two can be alarmingly dangerous when they have set their mind on someone. They still want you and without us there, it would be difficult for you ....."