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| PART 1 | CHAPTER I – ISABELLA She spent a lot of time on the Internet primarily looking for the right man.

Slowly but surely, the Internet was becoming her companion. She chatted

with her friends, posted videos, exchanged photos, ideas, etc. That is why she didn’t feel so lonely. Isabella was single, friendly and talkative. She loved meeting people, but deep inside, her heart was closed and she didn’t love herself much. Perhaps her many breakups had left some *wounds on her soul.

At the age of 31, Isabella finally decided to buy a car. However, she didn’t have

a driving license yet. She felt excited with the idea of driving a car. In fact, she needed it to *raise her self-confidence. After browsing the Internet, she finally found a driving school which *suited her perfectly. She immediately registered. The week seemed to speed past and soon it was the day of her first les-

son. She had to work that day, but all she could think about was her lesson. She made a few phone calls and took a couple of *orders at work. When her work day ended she excitedly rushed to her first driving lesson.

She entered a small room with about fifteen chairs in the shape of a U,

said hello, and sat down. There were ten people and she was the only

woman there! Fortunately, in a few minutes another girl appeared and

chose the chair next to Isabella. They introduced themselves and started talking. The two women felt comfortable, even though they were among ten men. Then the lesson started.

wounds (rány) | raise (zvýšit) | suited (vyhovovat) | orders (objednávky)

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Marion was surprised. She wondered, “Who could have done it? My col-

league Jane? No, she know her very well, she is a good girl.” She looked at

Jane, who was just standing at a cash register and Jane smiled at her. Marion went towards her and asked, “Did you speak to Simone?”

“Yes, I did. I can’t understand it, it’s just the two of us here. I didn’t take

anything.”

“Neither did I,” replied Marion.

Simone observed Marion and Jane all day. She *suspected them. So when

they were about to close the pharmacy, Simone came to both of them and said, “I *trust you but the fact is, you are the only two here. I think we

should install a camera. We will be sure what’s going on here. It will be for your safety as well.”

Jane said: “I agree, maybe we will *reveal the *thief.”

But Marion disagreed, “Well, I didn’t steal anything and I don’t want to be

monitored by a camera. It’s annoying, I don’t like it!” Simone said: “It’s necessary, it will be o.k.”

Marion was furious. “How could Simone *dare? To put them under cam-

era *surveillance like common thieves!”

Marion came home in a bad mood, she was very upset. She needed to

calm down. Tony wasn’t at home, it was 8 p.m. So she decided not to be

lonely any more. It was the end of June. The summer brought pleasant temperatures. It attracted Marion to spend time outside.

She wrote an email to Jim. She wanted to meet him face to face. Marion

was *curious and wanted to know what Jim was really like. After one hour, Jim replied and suggested meeting the following day. They were going to meet in Papa’s Café in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Tony got home. He went to Marion and said, “Hi honey, did

you have a good day?

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CHAPTER III – JANE Jane was a *timid woman who grew up in a troubled home. Jane’s father

was an alcoholic and he beat her mother. It was very hard for Jane and

her brother Jim. Jim was older and when their father died, he helped his

mother take care of Jane. Their mother died of cancer when Jane was 25 and Jim was 27.

Both Jane and Jim were still without life partners. Unfortunately, they

*had had a very dysfunctional family and this may have been the reason why Jane was already 36 and she hadn’t had a serious relationship yet.

She liked men who were much older than her. She was *subconsciously attracted to men who could be a *substitute for her father. That is also

why she didn’t trust men. She was a bit fearful of them. The same was true of her mother.

Jim, however, was strong. He *had had a few relationships. He really tried

to find the right woman. Unlike him, Jane built a wall around her heart, she was overly sensitive and she liked being alone. She enjoyed reading books and she felt comfortable in her private environment.

She lived in a small flat in a *suburb of the city. She worked as a phar-

macist. Satisfied with her job, she was always a *dedicated and loyal worker.

Although Jim worked hard and long during the week, he always found

time to visit Jane on the weekend. They sometimes took short trips and spent whole weekends together. They were very close.

Jim was a bit unhappy with the loneliness of his sister, always saying,

“Jane, you should go out more often, to the theatre, the cinema, wherever. You should go out with other people, not only me.”

timid (bojácný, nesmělý) | had had (předminulý čas) subconsciously (podvědomě) | substitute (náhrada) | had had (předminulý čas) suburb (předměstí) | dedicated (oddaný)

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Simon knew Peter well. He was clever enough to have projects in his

office. Simon decided to be careful. The following day he *called his designers in for *a session. All six engineers and designers came and sat at the table. Simon started speaking:

“I called you because our company wants to reward the best designer.

We have had a very successful year. I want you to bring all your ready made projects. The best designer can participate in a national *contest of designers. If you have something new, you can bring it as well. I’ll personally

choose the best one. You have one week to prepare it. That’s all. Thank you.”

Everybody understood it except John. Peter *was over the moon. Each of

them left thoughtfully.

After one week, when having all projects, Simon started to compare and

check them. He knew the work of his designers very well. He recognised each designer’s features. He was surprised. Peter had 25 projects! The rest

of the designers had only 8 projects each. It was a time consuming work but finally Simon found the truth. He had to think how to get the *proof of Peter’s *theft. But he found the solution.

The next day he called the designers to a meeting. When they *gathered

around the table, he announced the results:

“I studied your projects properly. I was surprised how good were the proj-

ects our company made. I am very proud of you all. You are our company’s best advantage. You *deserve my *admiration. However, it was extremely

difficult to choose the best one. Finally, I chose one project which needs to be explained. There are some questions about it. It is called S anitation project from Peter.”

He turned to Peter and said, “Peter, I need to find some answers on my

questions.”

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“It is a great opportunity for her, at least for one year. *If she accepted it,

I would move with her. But I am not really sure about my work.”

When he finished, Simon thought for a while. Then he said, “Well, it’s true we

need you in the company. I don’t know if we would wait for you for one year. Maybe I could accept someone instead of you. But what if it was longer than one year?” Paul answered, “Well, I don’t know now.”

Simon continued, “Look, it’s up to you. I can find someone instead of you.

You are still quite young. Perhaps you will find your dream job abroad. You can always come back if you don’t like it there.”

Paul agreed with him. He thanked him a lot and left.

When he came home after work, Kristina was already waiting for him.

She was excited to tell Paul some news. After he sat down, Kristina imme-

diately started talking, “Honey, I have a great job offer for you. The Dutch university is looking for someone to coordinate its laboratory shipments. Your job would be to send laboratory samples to different places. It is not a demanding job and it is well-paid. What do you think?”

Paul carefully listened to her and then he said, “Hmm, it is not a bad job.

But give me some time to think about it. Ok?”

Kristina was a bit disappointed but agreed. Then she added, “Paul, I know

you are not sure about moving abroad. Just tell me if you want to stay here. But remember that your salary would be three times higher there.”

He paid attention only to her last sentence. “Three times higher. Hmm,

that’s not bad,” he said to himself.

It took him about an hour to make a final decision. After dinner he said to

Kristina, “I was thinking about it a lot and I will accept the job. We both will

work at the university and maybe we will like living there. I’ll quit my job here.”

Kristina was really happy. Just to be sure, she asked him, “Is this your

final word? Are you sure?”

If she accepted it, I would move with her

(druhá věta podmínková – kdyby to přijala, odstěhoval bych se s ní).

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