"None of this would be possible without our dear volunteers," Zlatan told the full hall. Then he placed the microphone on the table, turned to his assistant, and added that at least the women would keep quiet this time if they received flowers. The speakers carried every word. One nervous laugh sounded, followed by silence. In the front row sat the women who had spent two days arranging chairs and packing gifts for the town festival.
His partner, Jasmina, was among them. She didn't accept the bouquet the young assistant offered. For years, she had organized volunteer schedules, repeatedly asking for shorter shifts and meals on time. Privately, Zlatan said he understood. Publicly, he praised her as the organization's heart. Now she heard how her voice and the others became noise in his mind, to be silenced with carnations.
Zlatan quickly took the microphone and said an awkward joke had gone wrong. Jasmina stood and asked for it. She didn't disclose their private life. She asked whether tomorrow's team would finally receive the break she requested. One woman added a question about transport home afterwards. Another asked about cleaning gloves. Every question was so ordinary that his earlier speech suddenly sounded like an expensive substitute for simple answers.
The center director interrupted the presentation and invited them to sit immediately with the coordinator, while Zlatan answered the audience. They neither abandoned the festival nor saved it at any cost. They agreed on shorter shifts, food, and transport, then continued the jobs they had accepted. Part of the program was canceled because there weren't enough free working hours anymore. For the first time, Jasmina didn't offer her own evening to patch someone else's plan.
At home, Zlatan said she needn't have made things harder before everyone. Jasmina replied that he had brought the audience into his opinion himself. She wasn't angry only about one sentence, but years of gratitude used instead of changing anything. She asked him to manage household arrangements she had previously remembered for a while. It wasn't punishment with a precise deadline. She wanted to see whether he noticed work without a microphone.
The next year, Zlatan gave no opening speech. He worked at the entrance, distributed water, and respected break times. Jasmina attended as a visitor with friends. When he offered to let her skip the queue, she declined. She waited her turn, bought a ticket, and entered. He remained at the table, this time without flowers to shorten the conversation. Later, they met for coffee and finally discussed a program she had actually had time to watch.