Alek is desperate because Teodora has left him after a three-year relationship. Suffering and apathetic, he mentions suicide constantly; he simply does not want to accept that the relationship is over. He has self-pitying sessions with his friend Bane every day. Despite Bane's advice, Alek keeps calling Teodora, who has fallen in love with Nemanja. However decisive and tough Teodora is when she is with Alek, she is indulgent and helpless when she's with Nemanja. Nemanja is not in love with her but with Marina, a girl a few years younger than he is; Marina, in turn, is not in love with him but is very attracted to Alek's "Slavic depression." She doesn't know that his "desperation charm" comes from his failure with Teodora; she thinks he was born like that.