Ela removed her shoes as soon as they left the reception hall. Nermin carried a bag of leftover cake and someone else's jacket, which he had promised to return to a cousin. They had sat at the same table during the wedding but barely seen each other. He had driven guests around; she had searched for lost hairpins and calmed a nervous aunt. When the newlyweds danced, both stood behind other people with telephones in their hands.
In the car, Nermin said it had been lovely. Ela did not reply. He drove several streets before asking whether her shoes had hurt. She said they had, but that was not why she was quiet. She had waited all evening for him to ask her to dance. He replied that she could have asked him. They both knew the conversation had not begun that evening.
For fifteen years they had been a good couple for practical matters. Bills were paid, parents looked after, presents bought on time. Their time together mostly served to organize other people's lives. When Ela said it aloud, it sounded exaggerated to her. Nermin began listing outings from the previous summer, then stopped. On every one they had driven someone else or completed an errand along the way.
They stopped outside a bakery that was still open. Ela went inside wearing the spare slippers from the trunk. They bought one pastry and shared it on a bench, careful not to stain their formal clothes. Nermin said he missed the way they used to argue about silly films. Now they mostly watched television to help themselves fall asleep. Ela laughed with her mouth full and covered her face with a napkin.
They promised neither a holiday nor a romantic weekend. They considered the coming Sunday and found two hours they continually gave to others. In front of her, Nermin called his brother and asked him to drive their father on his visit this time. Ela messaged her sister to say she would not bake cakes for her guests. Both requests were accepted more easily than they had expected.
At home they hung the borrowed jacket in the hallway. Nermin played the song they had danced to at their own wedding, but a poor connection interrupted the recording. Ela took his telephone and put it on the table. They danced without music, in socks and slippers, laughing at the creaking floor. Plenty of obligations awaited them the next day. On Sunday they went to the cinema alone and afterward had a proper argument about the film.