Petra taped a sea photograph to the office wall. Mirela said it only made the toner smell stronger. They had shared a small office for six years and knew each other's coffee orders but little about holidays. Petra traveled in large groups. Mirela routinely took September leave and returned with books rather than photographs offered as proof of a good life.
That year Petra's group abandoned the trip. One couple had a baby, another separated, and a friend started a new job. Petra was left with a reservation for two originally shared with a cousin. She asked Mirela to come, speaking too casually, as though offering a spare bus seat. Mirela asked whether she wanted her specifically or simply someone to prevent an empty place.
Petra felt offended, then fell silent. The honest answer was more complicated than planned. She liked Mirela, her humor and lack of panic at silence. But she also feared eating alone, a beach without familiar people, and returning to a room where nobody waited. She admitted this only after work as they closed the windows.
Mirela said she did not want to cure a holiday Petra could not endure alone. Still, she did not reject her closeness. She suggested spending an ordinary free day together before a major trip. They visited a botanical garden, bought sandwiches, and missed the exit three times because they were talking. Petra caught herself laughing without checking whether she was entertaining enough.
At day's end they kissed beside a taxi rank. They did not turn the holiday into a reward for the kiss. Petra still went alone for the first few days; Mirela joined later in a separate room she chose herself. Petra learned to order dinner without apologizing for one plate. When Mirela arrived she welcomed her with joy that was not merely relief.
The room reserved for their shared evenings overlooked not the sea but a laundry courtyard. Mirela said at least the smell improved on toner. Petra opened the window and laughed. Back at the office they removed the faded sea photograph. They did not replace it with a portrait together. The window remained an ordinary city window, and they had a place to meet that no longer needed to resemble a postcard.