In language class, they were supposed to act out buying a ticket. Alma was selling and Petar traveling, but both forgot the word for platform. Instead of looking in the book, he drew a train on the back of the exercise. It resembled a wardrobe on wheels. Alma laughed so loudly that the teacher asked them to show the rest of the group why they were incapable of departing on time.
Both were forty and had different reasons for attending. Alma planned a three-month professional course abroad; Petar intended to visit his brother, who lived far away. After class, they walked to the same stop, repeating words while looking at shop windows. Alma pronounced long nouns correctly but was shy about speaking. Petar spoke freely and incorrectly without much distress. They agreed that he would lend her courage and she would lend him word endings.
When the group went to dinner, they sat together. Petar described learning to cook for one again after his divorce. Alma said she had never married, so people often drew sad conclusions from that which she didn't recognize. Petar offered no conclusion. He merely asked whether she liked traveling alone. The conversation continued until the waiter began stacking chairs.
They kissed two weeks before her departure. The next day, Alma almost called to postpone her training, then grew angry with herself for immediately turning new love into a test of sacrifice. She told Petar about that moment. He admitted wanting to ask her to stay, but said he didn't want to become the reason she might someday hate her own calendar. They arranged Sunday calls without promising that each would last hours.
The first month was easy. In the second, they argued because Petar forgot to say he was visiting his brother, leaving Alma waiting for a call. He didn't buy flowers online. He called, listened, and scheduled a shared time he could honor. She admitted that waiting needn't ruin her whole evening. They began sending short recordings of ordinary life, including a broken vending machine and a badly pronounced soup order.
When she returned, Petar waited on the wrong platform. She sent a photograph of the sign instead of an angry message. He rolled over a suitcase he had brought to help her, empty and entirely unnecessary. Alma embraced him, then sat on a bench until he caught his breath. They didn't go straight home. First, they bought two tickets for a short trip they both wanted, this time at the same counter and without drawings.