Amra spotted vanilla on a store receipt, followed by the name of a cooking studio. Her husband, Tarik, supposedly attended a transport association meeting on Tuesdays. At home, he never cooked except when he overheated soup. Waiting for him to leave the bathroom, she checked the date. It was the Tuesday when she had driven their dog to the vet alone because he said his meeting couldn't be postponed.
"I'm learning to make cakes," he admitted, almost offended at having to say it. Amra initially laughed with relief. Then she asked why he had lied. Tarik replied that she would think he was wasting time and money. She couldn't recall a conversation in which she had actually said that. She did remember several evenings when she had declined a friend's invitation because someone needed to stay home while he attended to important work.
He agreed to take her to the course's final evening. The instructor greeted them by saying, "You finally let him join us." Amra felt her smile stiffen. Tarik tried changing the subject, but another student added that he was glad his wife no longer objected. Delicately decorated cakes stood on the table. His new freedom bore her invented, stern face.
Amra didn't make a scene. She asked the instructor for a glass of water, then told Tarik to explain what he had actually been saying. Before the three people present, he admitted that she hadn't forbidden the course. It had been easier to play a man fighting for himself than to admit his embarrassment at a beginner's clumsiness. When the instructor apologized to Amra, he added that she wasn't responsible for his story.
They took home a pear cake, which tilted on the back seat. Amra said that she didn't want to be either his permission or his prohibition. She needed to know where he was and whether he would be available to help, just as he knew her plans. Tarik wrote the next course schedule on the refrigerator and asked which Tuesday he should exchange. For the first time, they discussed an arrangement without an imaginary opponent between them.
A week later, Amra went to the cinema with her friend, while Tarik stayed with the dog, who couldn't bear thunder. When she returned, she found a burned baking tray and a wide-open window. He didn't try to hide his failure. He said he had thought he could watch a film on his phone while baking. Amra opened a box of store-bought biscuits. They ate them over the sink, without praise for effort that nobody had demanded in advance this time.