Ljiljana recognised his laugh long before his face. Emir stood on the shore holding a large red kite and talking to the organisers. At school he had always stood in the middle of a group. She had usually stayed at the edge, ready to laugh at whatever he said. Thirty years later she had come to the kite enthusiasts' gathering with her own blue model and the feeling that she could spend Sunday doing something entirely useless, which she needed.
Emir hugged her warmly. He said she had not changed. Ljiljana thought of the marriage she had ended, the workshop she had opened, and the week she had learned to live alone with a broken fridge. She said she had actually changed considerably. He laughed, convinced she was being modest. He was already reaching for her kite to show her how to hold the string.
She did not give it to him. This was her third season. Her kite rose high, then rested calmly in the wind. Emir's red giant made a dramatic circle and fell into the grass. As he retrieved it, he apologised for assuming she was a beginner. Ljiljana said she forgave the kite mistake, but for the rest he would have to discover who she was now. They sat on a low fence, letting others run past.
This time Emir asked instead of guessing. He learned that she made picture frames and no longer feared speaking before people. She learned that nowadays his laughter often covered uncertainty, especially after a dismissal he had mentioned to nobody from school. She did not tell him she had always known there was something behind his confidence. She had not known. She was glad she need not pretend to have understood him before everyone else.
Towards evening they collected tangled strings together. Emir invited for coffee the Ljiljana who made frames, seasoned soup badly, and resented interruptions. He said it that way, deliberately exaggerating the list. She agreed, provided he stopped reciting her characteristics like schoolwork. They laughed, this time both from the middle of the conversation.
He brought a smaller kite to the next gathering. Ljiljana brought a flask of coffee. When the wind weakened, they let the kites settle in the grass and remained seated. Neither looked defeated. Emir held the free end of her string while she poured coffee, then returned it as soon as she extended her hand.