Vera lifted the box marked "books" incorrectly and immediately put it down. It contained, as it turned out, pans, weights, and one encyclopedia. Her daughter was moving from student accommodation to her first apartment. Her roommate's father, a man Vera knew from two messages about a van, said the box should be called an ordeal rather than books.
His name was Nenad, and he had been divorced almost as long as she had. Their adult children were friends rather than a couple, as they repeatedly emphasized before the move. Vera did not ask why they kept repeating it. She had enough assumptions of her own and was trying to decide less for other people. She carried lighter bags, Nenad furniture, and both avoided saying they had owned far fewer things at that age.
Near the end the van left full. Vera and Nenad remained beside the last box waiting for its return. They sat on the empty entrance steps. He produced two mandarins forgotten in his pocket since breakfast. He said he wanted to take drawing classes in autumn but it sounded like the beginning of a joke. Vera said she planned her first solo trip and had so far chosen only a bag.
The children called to say they would be late. Instead of irritation they felt relief. They went to a kiosk pulling the box on a trolley borrowed from the caretaker. Nenad asked whether Vera habitually talked about herself or whether all her conversations ended with children too. She admitted no longer knowing what remained when their schedules were removed. He offered no promise to fill the gap. He asked where she wanted to travel.
The first coffee invitation came through the children, which bothered Vera. She told her daughter Nenad already had her number. Later she called him herself, explaining she liked their conversation but wanted no parental committee for every date. He laughed and admitted a simple message frightened him more than carrying a wardrobe down three floors.
At coffee there were no boxes or moving schedules. Nenad showed his first drawing, in which a cup resembled a boat, and Vera her short-trip reservation. They arranged dinner after her return rather than a joint plan before earning one. Months later the children invited them to lunch in the new apartment. The last box still stood unopened in the hallway. Vera passed without comment, took Nenad's hand, and sat as a guest, for the first time without needing to unpack something first.