On the poster, a smiling couple held two bags beneath words announcing time for the whole family. Alma suggested buying family membership. She had lived with Jasmin for eleven years. They shared a home, expenses, and care for his father. They had never married, partly from conviction and partly because something always seemed more pressing. They arrived at the recreation centre on promotion day, with music and a presenter's voice coming from the hall.
The woman at the desk asked whether they were married. Alma said they were partners. The woman paused, then summoned the owner. He explained that the package applied to real families. He said it politely, almost casually, as though explaining two towel sizes. Jasmin put his wallet on the counter. Alma touched his hand, more to feel him there than to stop him.
She asked what he meant by a real family. The owner pointed to the price list and said he wanted no complications. Otherwise people would sign up with anybody. Alma was not asking him to change prices for her. She said he could explain conditions without invalidating a life he knew nothing about. In the queue behind them, a woman quietly said they could afford two ordinary memberships anyway. Jasmin replied that affordability was no longer the subject.
The presenter noticed the delay and approached with his microphone still on. The owner tried turning the conversation into cheerful speculation about when they would finally marry. Several guests laughed. Alma said she would not arrange a wedding between the till and the trainer lockers. She asked the presenter to switch off the microphone. He immediately complied, unlike the owner, who continued explaining that he had meant no harm.
They left without memberships. At home Alma was angry that such a small thing had hurt. Jasmin did not call it small. He recalled her driving him to his father, their choosing a fridge together and arguing about curtains. He did not list these as evidence for a counter. He simply spoke about their day, composed of things that had long been shared.
Later they found another place with a simpler package for two people. At their first session they got lost looking for changing rooms and laughed at their own clumsiness. Alma found Jasmin's spare socks mixed with hers in the locker. She brought them home in the same bag. They needed no new name for what they had been doing for years.