Emina could not stand Fridays at the home of Denis's friend Vanja. Dinner regularly started late, the men retold the same student adventures, and she ended up in the kitchen with people whose surnames she did not know. The first two times she said she was tired. The third time Denis sighed so deeply that, instead of a fourth refusal, she invented an extra shift at her cousin's flower shop.
The shop closed early on Fridays. Emina knew because she occasionally helped during holidays. Denis did not know the schedule. He said that was a shame, kissed her, and left. She ordered pasta, put on a loose shirt, and spent a wonderfully peaceful evening watching a series nobody interrupted. The following week, the shift happened again. By the end of the month it had become a permanent part of their week.
Vanja's girlfriend caused the problem. She suggested that they visit Emina one evening, bring dinner, and help her close the shop. Denis mentioned this while they washed dishes. Emina let go of a plate so abruptly that it struck the edge of the sink. She said visits were forbidden. "At a flower shop?" he asked. She immediately added a story about a strict owner, although he also knew her cousin.
On Friday she actually took the shop key. She told her cousin she would rearrange the window display. For hours she moved vases, waiting for the time when the group might arrive to pass. When the door finally opened, Denis was alone. He carried the pasta she had ordered. He said the restaurant had mistakenly sent the previous notification to his phone, where their shared account was still signed in.
Knowing the truth, he had still let her invent an owner, a schedule, and a ban on visitors. Emina understood this while unwrapping the utensils. She was angry with him for the trap, with herself for the cheap performance, and with Vanja, who was probably still talking about his university trip. Denis admitted that he rarely wanted to go either, but did not know how to refuse a friend who called every absence a betrayal.
They ate among the vases while the lights buzzed overhead. They did not suddenly become good at saying no. Denis first composed an excessively long message; Emina suggested a lie about a headache, and both burst out laughing. Finally he wrote that they were spending the evening together. Vanja sent three question marks. Emina turned the phone facedown. She did leave the window display rearranged. Her cousin did not like the new arrangement at all.