The Terms of Coexistence

The residency apartment had one desk.

Hana discovered this at the same moment as Dario, which meant they were standing in the doorway together, both of them having clearly assumed the other would be arriving later, both of them with a small roll of washi tape they had brought to mark out their half of the workspace.

The desk was one of those large, beautiful, completely unsharable antique pieces that existed in the aesthetic logic of a country house and the practical logic of a single occupant. It had one lamp, one power outlet, and one chair.

"I can buy another chair," said Dario.

"I have a folding one in my car," said Hana.

They looked at each other. They had been competing at international invitationals for four years and had never once been required to say a civil word to each other directly, only through the intermediary of judges, journalists, and the formal atmosphere of competition. Being civil directly was going to require adjustment.

"Alphabetical order," Hana said.

"What?"

"We take turns with the main desk. Morning goes to whoever comes first alphabetically — Mori before Recchia — afternoons rotate."

Dario considered this for a moment. "Mornings are better."

"That's why I'm proposing it."

Another pause. He picked up his washi tape. She picked up hers. They both looked at the desk and silently acknowledged that taping a line down the centre of a beautiful piece of antique furniture would be a desecration neither of them could actually bring themselves to commit.

"Fine," said Dario. "Mornings are yours. We get the same afternoon hours. The desk lamp stays on my side at night."

"Agreed." Hana set down her tape. "Do you want to see the commission brief?"

"I've read the commission brief."

"Do you want to read it again, together, so we can be certain we have the same understanding of what we're supposed to make?"

"...Yes," said Dario. "That would probably be sensible."

They pulled up two chairs. They read the brief. They did not agree on a single element of interpretation, which was, Hana supposed, exactly why the museum had hired both of them.