When the fourth guest canceled, Dalila put her phone on the table and looked at the man opposite. Marko held a similar message on his screen. They had been invited to dinner with mutual friends, and now everyone else had sudden obligations. The waiter asked whether they wanted to keep the large table. Dalila said they first needed to establish whether they were guests or the subjects of someone else's plan.
Marko laughed with relief. Divorced for two years, he was tired of friends treating his free Friday as a fault needing repair. Dalila was widowed but didn't want every new acquaintance presented as a brave return to life. She had lived before that dinner, working, laughing, and getting angry. She simply had no partner. Marko nodded without turning her statement into a sorrowful topic.
They stayed because both were hungry. Moving to a smaller table, they ordered dishes friends probably wouldn't approve for a first date: garlic for her, soup he cooled noisily for him. Conversation became easy once they stopped pretending gratitude for the arrangement. Marko described a neighbor growing peppers in the stairwell; Dalila discussed work where everyone urgently needed what they had forgotten to send themselves.
Before dessert, both received the same question: how was it going? Dalila suggested replying with a photograph of an empty table. Marko said their friends might then come to check whether they had fled. They laughed and switched off their phones. They didn't need to share every good minute with people who had tried declaring it a success beforehand. Outside, it was late, but neither hurried toward a car.
They walked to a fountain that wasn't working. Marko asked whether she wanted another dinner, this time without sick aunts and sudden business calls in the background. Dalila said she wanted coffee because she would like to see what he was like before dark too. He gave his number without joking about his age. She immediately sent her name so their friends wouldn't become intermediaries again.
Their relationship developed slowly, through several good dates and one dull outing both acknowledged. When friends claimed credit for the beginning, Dalila said they deserved credit for the reservation; the rest was their work. Marko looked at her and smiled. Later, they invited those friends to dinner openly, without surprises. Everyone came this time, and Dalila and Marko sat together because they chose their own seats.