Edina answered her partner's mother's call. Arman's phone had switched off during their conversation, so his mother had called Edina's number from old contacts. She asked whether Edina knew where Arman had left a spare key. Edina said it was probably in their kitchen. Silence followed. His mother repeated, "Yours?" She sounded confused rather than accusing, which was precisely why Edina couldn't pretend she hadn't heard.
Arman had told his family they separated six months earlier. He told Edina his parents were angry at their decision not to marry yet, so they should reduce visits for a while. She respected that, although she missed his mother, with whom she had cooked on Sundays. Arman was supposedly visiting a cousin that evening. His mother said he had just left for dinner with his new girlfriend.
Edina didn't ask anyone to trap him. She said they still lived together and she would speak to him herself. His mother apologized, although she hadn't known about the deception. Edina stopped her, thanked her for telling the truth, and ended the call. Lunch she intended to take to work tomorrow cooled on the stove. She divided it between two containers, then emptied one back into the pot, angry at her own automatic care.
When Arman arrived, she met him at the table without raising her voice. At first, he claimed his mother was confused. Edina asked him not to involve her in another lie about a woman who had merely wanted a key. He admitted the other relationship. He said he hadn't known how to end theirs because being with Edina felt safe. She felt that word, once beautiful, become a description of a waiting room she had furnished for him.
They agreed that he would stay with his brother while they resolved the rental arrangement. Edina didn't take responsibility for explaining the whole story to the other woman for him, but sent her the brief fact that they had lived as a couple until that evening. The woman replied that Arman had claimed they were merely roommates. They didn't continue exchanging details. Each had enough information to decide her own next steps.
Arman's mother invited Edina for coffee a few weeks later. Edina agreed provided they didn't discuss his reconciliation with anyone. They sat in a small café, talking about work and a new plant his mother couldn't keep healthy. At the end, they embraced without promising their acquaintance would remain unchanged. Edina went home alone and bought dinner for one, this time before a second portion entered her plans at all.