Dario bought two tickets for the night train because Sanja said she loved mornings in cities she had never visited. Two days before departure she said she had to help her former husband with their sick dog. Dario knew the dog and did not object. He suggested postponing their departure. Sanja replied that he should go anyway; he needed the rest more than she did, and wasting both tickets would be a shame.
That evening her former husband called. He wanted to check whether Sanja was with Dario, because she had not answered him all day. The dog was healthy and currently asleep on his feet. The conversation briefly stopped. Both men understood there was a space between what they had been told, but neither wanted to guess where Sanja was. Dario asked him simply to tell her to call when she could.
Sanja returned around ten with a shopping bag and a story about a long line. Dario placed the two tickets on the table. He did not mention the call until she repeated that she had to visit the dog tomorrow. Then he explained the conversation. She sat down, leaving frozen peas on the edge of the sink. She admitted that she occasionally traveled with her former husband and tried to rebuild their relationship, but this time she had not told him the whole truth either.
She had been alone in a hotel room, trying to decide. Dario believed she had been alone that evening. He could no longer believe that their two years of living together had meant the same agreement to both of them. Sanja said she had never promised to stop feeling anything for her ex. Dario replied that he had not demanded control of her feelings. He wanted to know he was living inside someone's unfinished decision before handing over his time.
The next day he exchanged the tickets for a later date and separate journeys, as far as the conditions allowed. They agreed to live apart temporarily. Sanja took some belongings and asked whether he would wait. He said neither forever nor never. He said he would not organize his life around her return. The sentence felt unfamiliar in his mouth, but bearable. They threw away the peas because they had remained warm all night.
A month later, Dario boarded the train after all. In the next seat was a woman who immediately opened a book, which meant he did not have to tell his story. In the morning he stepped into an unfamiliar city and spent a long time choosing where to have breakfast. Nobody was waiting for him. For the first time, that fact did not sound like punishment. He sat beside a window and ordered a dish Sanja disliked, carefully pronouncing its awkward foreign name.