Travel at His Expense

On the ferry, Ivan held three bags while Lara checked whether the photographs were bright enough. They had just finished a trip that looked like a spontaneous holiday on her profile. In reality, he had chosen every lunch according to whether he could pay for it before his next freelance payment. Lara called it an investment in their life together.

When they met, she sold handmade bags and said she wanted to see the world. Ivan liked her energy. He worked from home, earned good money, and was tired of his own orderly boredom. He happily paid for their first trip. On the second, he was already working nights while she slept in a hotel bed beyond his usual budget.

Over time, the photographs became more important than the trips themselves. Lara grew annoyed if he looked tired in them. Ivan stopped asking whom she was messaging because the answer always involved a potential collaboration. He did not know whether she was cheating. He knew he spent more and more of their private evenings waiting for the public part of her day to end.

At their last dinner, the owner of a travel agency approached and talked to Lara for a long time. The next day, she said he had invited her on a trip with a group of creators. Ivan felt relief so strong it embarrassed him. He caught himself thinking that if she fell in love with that man, he could finally leave without an explanation.

While packing, he found a receipt in his pocket from a restaurant he had never wanted to visit. Lara had ordered an extra dish because it looked good on the table, then barely touched it. Before, he would have hidden the receipt to spare himself another calculation. Now he smoothed it out and placed it with the others. It was not evidence against her. It was evidence of how long he had been signing up for something he did not agree with.

Now, on deck, Lara asked him to photograph her beside the railing. Ivan put down the bags and said they needed to talk first. He did not accuse her over messages he had not seen or intentions he could not know. He said he no longer wanted to finance a life in which he felt like staff.

Lara replied that she had never forced him. There was an uncomfortable truth in that. He bought tickets instead of stating a boundary, then resented her for not guessing it. He acknowledged his part. Still, he did not withdraw his decision to end the relationship.

At home, they divided their belongings and canceled future reservations. He lost some money; she repaid some. Lara went on the agency trip, and Ivan did not check the photographs to find out with whom.

On his first free weekend, he drove to a small lake near the city. He brought one bag and a sandwich. When the sun fell behind the trees, he reached for his phone, then left it on the bench. No one was waiting for proof that he was enjoying himself.