At the morning meeting Davor asked everyone to be patient a little longer. The printing shop had endured a poor month, electricity needed saving, and the air conditioning in the shared room would stay off. His wife Merima arranged invoices at the end of the table. She believed him, although in recent years their business increasingly became our family whenever someone needed to explain another missing pay rise. Afterward she took two large bottles of water to the women at the counter.
By noon they had opened every door toward the courtyard. Papers flew around, so they weighed them down with staplers and cups. Davor withdrew to his office to prepare an important offer. Merima went in for a stamp and felt cool air before noticing the little air conditioner above the shelf. She asked whether they had agreed to switch it off. He said he needed to concentrate; their salaries depended on the offer. He closed the door as soon as she left.
That afternoon he summoned three longstanding employees. He wanted to discuss loyalty to the company after hearing that one woman was seeking another job. Merima came with a notebook. As they entered, everyone paused in almost the same spot. Davor invited them to sit and began speaking about shared sacrifices. Aida looked at the remote control on his desk for a long time. Then she asked to take it into the room where everyone else worked.
He tried to explain that the appliance cooled only his office. Aida said she knew. Merima then suggested continuing the meeting at the counter, where there was enough space. Davor looked at her as though she had exposed a family quarrel in front of guests. Nobody else spoke. She was already standing with her notebook beneath her arm, opening the door wide enough for the cool air to cross the threshold briefly.
The meeting did not last long. In the shared room Davor quickly moved on to deadlines and orders. He said nothing more about loyalty. At the end of the day he told Merima she should not have put him in that position. She asked what position everyone else had occupied since eight that morning. She expected no immediate apology. She wanted him to stop using their marriage as a secure place from which to demand support for every decision.
The following day both rooms had air conditioning. Aida still attended an interview elsewhere. Merima wished her luck without asking her to consider what she would leave behind. Davor ate lunch alone in his office for several days. One afternoon he left the door open. That did not restore a single missed pay rise, but Merima could finally ask for the stamp without feeling she was entering an entirely different company.