She found Robi alone in the dining room, fiddling with his phone and complaining about the lack of signal. Luca told him they were getting out of there. Immediately. She made sure to sound as firm as possible and pointed at the empty pool.

‘As you wish, darling!’ he said.

This word echoed in Luca’s head on their way to the exit. She had never been called ‘darling’ before. She associated this term with an older woman, or a younger one not fully in control of her life. She had never thought of herself as someone’s darling, a possession of sorts. She suddenly stopped halfway down the hallway, as if about to make a scene, but she decided this wasn’t the right time and kept on walking towards the exit.

One last time they tried to turn to the management for help. Robi thought they could claim a refund for their interrupted holiday; perhaps not immediately, but certainly through some sort of legal process.

They found the concierge’s booth empty as usual; the manager’s door was locked. There was no staff in the building.

Outside sleet was pouring down and the wind was howling. The electricity was shaky, the lights were failing, going out one second only to return again palely the next. Luca was sure that by nightfall the building would be covered in darkness, and she decided she’d rather sleep in her car than in room 304.

‘We should pick up Vajk and Alexandra! I promised them a lift!’ Robi said, and Luca wanted to cry.

‘Fuck them! Let’s just go!’ she begged. ‘Let’s just get out of here, right now!’

Robi shook his head in disagreement. Luca had a thought that she found almost as disturbing as the spa. She thought that Robi’s face was dumb. It was the face of an imbecile, an idiot. How could she ever have loved that face, which even now was frozen in a state of indecision about an issue a normal person wouldn’t even think about? Had it always been like this? Had he always been like this? Had she always been this blind?

‘We’ll leave, together with them. We might find another spa or an inn along the way. Wait here!’ he said, then ran off down the corridor and up the stairs, and finally Luca burst into hysterical laughter. What fine leisure activities! What great entertainment! She laughed until she cried, laughed until she felt like throwing up.