Alen said his mother was a retired teacher. He had said it so long he began imagining a woman with neat handwriting and a bag full of books. His real mother lived far away, occasionally called only for money, and at his last birthday forgot his fiancee's name. Ivana wanted to meet the family before the wedding. Alen answered with new dates and new postponements.
Eventually he found Sonja through an acquaintance in amateur theater. He described the job as a short reconstruction of a family conversation for a private recording, then admitted just before lunch that there would be no recording. Sonja was supposed to play his mother before Ivana's parents. She refused, then agreed to stay only to help him tell the truth without abruptly leaving. Yet at the entrance Alen still said, "This is my mum."
Sonja saw Ivana's aunt Mirjana and froze. Her own daughter was engaged to Mirjana's son. They knew each other well enough to leave no room for confusion. Mirjana rose, kissed Sonja, and asked why she was there. Alen stared at the vase. Ivana stared at him.
"I'm not his mother," Sonja said before anyone sat down. She did not explain the whole arrangement before the guests. She only added that Alen had something to say and she could not replace him in that. She went into the garden with Mirjana, leaving him without his prepared script.
Lunch was not canceled, but the food remained untouched for a long time. Alen told the truth about his mother without the worst details he did not want to share. Ivana was hurt by the lies but not shocked by his background. Her father tried explaining that every family had problems. She stopped him: this was not the moment for everyone to minimize events so they could resume eating.
Later they walked alone. Alen said he had feared how she would see him after seeing his family. Ivana replied that she now had to live with his preferring to hire a stranger over trusting her. She did not remove her ring but requested postponing the wedding. She wanted to know the real man she intended to marry, including what he could not describe prettily.
He paid Sonja the agreed fee although she did not request it. She returned the money with a note suggesting he spend it on an honest conversation over coffee. Several months later Alen showed Ivana a real photograph of his mother. She was neither smiling nor well dressed. Ivana studied it, then asked what growing up with her had been like. This time he had no prepared story, so they talked until late.