Outside the restaurant, Lana found Vedad talking to a waiter as seriously as though organizing a delegation's arrival. He had reserved a table near the entrance, checked the passage, and asked for a chair to be removed. All of that was useful, but then the waiter began pushing her wheelchair without asking. Lana stopped him. Vedad blushed and immediately apologized, although he hadn't touched the chair. Their first date began with other people's haste to make everything right.
They knew each other from a photography course. Lana worked in graphic design; Vedad sold sports equipment. During outings, they discussed sky colors and poor food photographs without grand confessions. When he invited her to dinner, his directness delighted her. Now she watched a man who forgot conversation as soon as he tried anticipating every need. She asked whether he would also choose her meal according to passage width.
He laughed, then admitted fearing rudeness. Lana said he could ask rather than guess. She wanted another table because the entrance was cold. The waiter suggested moving toward the center; they checked the space and sat. The entire restaurant didn't need to participate. Vedad finally opened the menu and admitted disliking fish, although he had chosen somewhere famous for it.
Dinner improved when they stopped trying to be good examples. Lana described a client wanting a logo in a color he couldn't name. Vedad discussed a brother who borrowed equipment and returned it in the wrong bags. They argued about a film he loved and she couldn't stand. That small disagreement pleased her more than carefully prepared compliments. She felt seen as someone capable of holding an irritating opinion.
After dinner, they wanted to visit the riverbank, but Vedad didn't know the path's condition. Lana knew another route and suggested it. He walked beside her without a hand on the wheelchair's back. At a quiet spot, he asked whether he could kiss her. She said yes, and no reservation was needed. His laughter touched her cheek before his lips, which she remembered more clearly than anything from the restaurant.
For their next date, she invited him home to review photographs. Vedad asked whether to bring anything. She requested cake without coconut. He arrived with an ordinary box and his poor photographs, ready for her teasing. He didn't ask whether she was tired before she suggested a break herself. They talked long after turning off the computer. This time, neither thought the date needed earning through a special kind of gratitude.