When the guesthouse owner asked whether they were husband and wife, Bojan already held the suitcase on the first step. Hana said they were not. They had been together six years and booked a weekend room far from the city. The advertisement showed a balcony and garden, and the description promised a peaceful stay for two. Nowhere did it mention having to explain their relationship at the door.
The owner put down the key. He said he welcomed only respectable couples in his house. Hana waited several seconds for him to explain, although the answer was clear already. Bojan laughed and said they were practically married. The owner asked for the date. Hana saw Bojan searching his mind for a convincing answer and stopped him before he could speak.
She did not want to invent a ceremony to receive the bed they had paid for. She said no such restriction had appeared before booking. The owner claimed some things went without saying. A woman with wet hands emerged from the dining room and asked what was wrong. Hearing the explanation, she looked at her husband, then at Hana and Bojan. She said she would refund them and fetched an envelope from a drawer.
In the parking lot Bojan was angry about the lost afternoon. He said they could simply have claimed to be married. Hana answered that the room mattered less to her. What bothered her was his attempt, before a stranger, to correct a fact that had never been a problem between them. Bojan put down the case and admitted wanting only to escape the discomfort, even at the cost of making her swallow it instead.
They found other accommodation toward evening. The room had no balcony, and the bed creaked whenever they turned. Their hostess asked whether they wanted an early breakfast and showed them how to turn on the heating. The simplicity of those questions released the exhaustion Hana had controlled all day. She sat on the bed, removed her shoes, and let Bojan unpack without further conversation.
In the morning they walked through the village. The first guesthouse owner drove past, raised a hand, and continued as though nothing had happened. Bojan did not return the greeting; Hana did. It did not mean she forgave him, but that she would not let a stranger determine even her smallest movement. Afterwards they chose somewhere for lunch together. This time both read the description carefully, then laughed on realizing most of its space concerned a noisy rooster.