“Didn’t your grandma leave you that apartment? Let’s just give it to my sister,” my husband insisted.
“Funny, I can’t recall anyone in his family ever giving me such expensive gifts.” Our conversation left me fuming, and I just couldn’t calm down. “They spoiled her themselves, and now they want others to deal with the consequences,” I grumbled.
The whole family had gathered, seated around a big round table, happily chatting as we waited for the birthday girl to arrive.
“Ludmila Vasilievna, you look absolutely stunning,” I said sincerely as my mother-in-law entered the room.
“Thank you,” she smiled. “This is my best dress; haven’t worn it in years. Wanted to impress everyone at my big celebration.”
“And you truly have,” I replied approvingly.
Everyone started eating, showering the birthday girl with compliments about her amazing cooking. After the toasts and congratulations, talk shifted to Diana—the youngest sister of my husband.
“How’s the new job going? Have you settled in?” I asked my sister-in-law.
“No, I was fired,” Diana replied flatly.
“Fired?” I was caught off guard. “But you just got hired there a month ago.”
“Well, it happened,” Diana clearly didn’t want to explain.
“So, you just worked through the probation period and left?” …Read more by following the link in the description
“Funny, I can’t recall anyone from his family ever giving me such expensive gifts.” My argument with my husband really got under my skin, and I just couldn’t calm down. “They spoiled her themselves, and now they want someone else to clean up the mess,” I fumed.
The whole family was gathered—we all sat around the big round table, chatting and laughing while waiting for the birthday girl to join us.
“Ludmila Vasilievna, you look absolutely stunning,” I said sincerely as my mother-in-law walked into the room.
“Thank you,” she smiled. “This is my best dress; I haven’t pulled it out in years. I wanted to impress everyone at my big celebration.”
“And you certainly succeeded,” I said approvingly.
Everyone dug into the food, all the while praising the birthday girl’s cooking skills. After all the compliments and congratulatory toasts were shared, the conversation turned to Diana—the youngest sister of my husband.
“How’s work going? Have you settled into your new job yet?” I asked my sister-in-law.
“No, I got fired,” Diana replied flatly.
“Fired?” I was completely surprised. “But you just started there a month ago!”
“Well, that’s just how it happened,” Diana clearly didn’t want to get into details.
“So, you just worked through your probation period and then left?”
“Yeah, they said they didn’t like the way I worked. ‘Diana Petrovna, we value young specialists, but you just don’t have enough experience,'” she mimicked her boss’s voice.
“Well, at least you gained some experience in that month—maybe it’ll help at your next job,” I suggested. “Did they give any specific feedback so you know what to improve on?”
“Let me guess, you were probably late every single day?” my husband said sarcastically, giving his sister a sly look.
“Vadik, stop it, she’s already upset enough about it,” Lyudmila Vasilyevna interjected, pulling him back.
But looking at Diana’s face, you couldn’t tell that being fired bothered her much at all—she seemed perfectly calm. No further explanation about why she left her job followed, and it became clear to me that Vadim had hit the nail on the head.
“So what are you planning to do next? Do you already have some ideas?” I asked.
“Yeah, I have one plan,” Diana nodded. “I’m going to an interview on Monday.”
“Just make sure you don’t oversleep,” Vadim teased his sister—he loved poking fun at her.
“Look who’s talking,” Diana shot her brother a dismissive glance.
Although Diana’s firing surprised me, I can’t say it was a complete shock. In the years that Vadim and I have been married, Diana never really showed herself in the best light. She’s always been lazy and unreliable, and for some reason thinks everyone owes her something. She borrowed things from me more than once, but almost never returned them.
“Diana, can you please return my bracelet?” I asked my sister-in-law after she’d borrowed it for “a couple of days”—and it had already been half a year. “We’re going to a wedding, and it matches my dress perfectly.”
“Oh, I don’t even remember where it is anymore,” Diana replied without the slightest bit of embarrassment.
“What do you mean you don’t remember? Did you lose it?” I exclaimed, shocked.
“I don’t know—maybe I lost it, or maybe I let someone else borrow it. I honestly can’t remember.”
“What do you mean let someone else borrow it? It’s my bracelet! I never gave you permission for that.”
“I’m not saying that’s exactly what I did. I’m just telling you I don’t remember where your bracelet is,” Diana replied, clearly irritated, as if I had lost her piece of jewelry.
“Well, search through your things. I need it,” I insisted, not willing to give in.
“No, I don’t want to deal with that right now,” Diana said calmly and went back to what she was doing.
Diana’s reply stunned me—I couldn’t even think of a response. But after this, I firmly decided she wouldn’t be getting anything else from me, at least until she learned to be more responsible with other people’s belongings.
“Diana got the job,” my husband told me a few days after Lyudmila Vasilyevna’s birthday.
“Good, let’s hope she lasts longer than a month there,” I replied to Vadim.
“Yeah, although…” Vadim mused, “she’s just finished college. It doesn’t make sense to be too hard on her right now—she’s still figuring things out.”
“It’s one thing not to know what you want to do with your life, but it’s completely another to be late for work and let people down,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, you’re right about that,” my husband agreed.
I can hardly remember how much time passed after that chat with my husband before he told me Diana had been fired again. From what I recall, it was about two weeks later, maybe even sooner.
“So what happened this time?” I asked out of curiosity.
“She mouthed off to some client or other, I honestly didn’t get all the details,” Vadim said.
“Wow, life never seems to teach her a lesson,” I sighed heavily. “When is she finally going to wise up?”
“I think it will be soon. She really wants to move out from her parents’, so maybe she’ll put in more effort to make it happen,” my husband guessed.
“I’m not so sure about that,” I replied uncertainly. I just couldn’t believe in my sister-in-law’s sense of responsibility anymore.
However, Diana was no fool. Realizing her job situation wasn’t working out, she decided to follow the path of least resistance.
“Alina, I need to talk to you,” Vadim approached me one evening.
“About what?” I asked, pulling my eyes away from the laptop and looking at my husband.
“I was thinking, maybe Diana could stay with us for a while?”
“And why would she do that?” I raised my eyebrows.
“Well, she can’t seem to keep a job, and she really doesn’t like living with her parents. She wants some independence now, but they won’t let her have it.”
“Then let her earn her own money and rent a place. Why should she just hop from one neck to another?” I asked, clearly annoyed.
“She won’t be mooching off us. She found another job again; she’ll provide for herself.”
“Then what’s stopping her from renting her own apartment?” I just couldn’t grasp the point of all of this.
“You know what she’s like—working today, jobless tomorrow. It’s risky for her to get her own place; she might not manage it.”
“No, sorry, but I’m against it,” I said firmly. “Diana is not the easiest person to live with, and we’d never get along. Plus, she’s always taking my stuff and never gives it back. Imagine if she lived here!”
I was afraid my husband would insist on his way since the two-bedroom place we live in belongs to him. I knew he could go ahead regardless, but thankfully, Vadim didn’t push me.
“Well, if you’re that against it, it’s fine,” my husband replied calmly.
I was glad he agreed with me so easily, but my relief was short-lived. Vadim was silent for a few minutes before surprising me even more.
“Didn’t your grandmother leave you an apartment? Let’s just give it to my sister,” my husband demanded.
“Give it to her?” I repeated. “Why go that far? Can’t I just let her stay there for a while?”
“No,” Vadim objected. “Giving it to her would be safer.”
“And why is that?” I asked, surprised.
“Look, I have our two-bedroom apartment; it’s mine, and I take responsibility for it. I pay the bills, do repairs when needed, and so on. If Diana had her own place, she’d probably be more responsible too,” my husband concluded.
“So, paying rent isn’t enough of a motivation for her, but being given an apartment will make her responsible?” I asked.
“Of course, it’s totally different,” Vadim looked at me as if I had said something ridiculous.
“No, I don’t agree with you,” I shook my head. “Letting her stay there temporarily is one thing, but I am not giving her anything.”
The apartment we were talking about was left to me by my grandmother. It was on the outskirts of the city and needed major renovation, which I just never seemed to have time for. Every month I dutifully set aside money for its repairs, but the work hadn’t started yet.
“Let’s not close this subject yet. Take some time to think it over and you’ll see this is really the best option.”
“I already said no.” But Vadim just ignored what I said and didn’t respond at all.
I had no intention of giving in to my husband’s pressure, and it seemed he realized that, because soon enough his parents came to his aid.
“Will you have dinner with us?” I asked my in-laws, who showed up at our place in the middle of the week without warning.
“No, thank you, we’ll just have some tea,” replied Lyudmila Vasilievna.
I put the kettle on and started setting the table, feeling that this visit was far from random.
“Alina, have you changed your mind about the apartment yet?” Pyotr Nikolaevich got straight to the point once the small talk was over.
“No, I haven’t changed my mind,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Why not? What’s the problem?” Lyudmila Vasilievna asked, looking puzzled. “You’re not even renting it out, it’s just standing there unused.”
“That’s fine. I’ll slowly renovate it, and then I’ll think about renting it out,” I answered.
“See? And if you give the apartment to Diana, you wouldn’t have to worry about any of that—she can take care of the renovations herself,” Pyotr Nikolaevich insisted.
“Look, I’m not against letting her stay there. Why is everyone insisting that I have to give my apartment away as a gift?”
“Because we’re family,” answered Lyudmila Vasilievna. “Or are you not confident in your relationship with my son?”
“I am confident, but why does the apartment have to be involved in this?” I tried to make sense of my in-laws’ logic, but I just couldn’t.
“You should help your relatives—in this case, Diana. The girl needs her own place so she can finally get her life in order,” explained Pyotr Nikolaevich.
“That’s a nice thought, but what does that have to do with me? Let Diana solve her own problems— that’s what being independent means, after all.”
“Easy for you to say, since you inherited your apartment. You didn’t have to lift a finger for it,” Lyudmila Vasilievna said sarcastically.
“If it’s so important for Diana to have her own apartment, let’s swap this one—we can make do with a one-bedroom place,” I suggested.
“Why are you being so stubborn? Just help her out, as family should,” Pyotr Nikolaevich wouldn’t let it go.
“She can live there if she wants, but I’m not giving it to her,” I repeated yet again.
“Oh, there you go again!” Lyudmila Vasilievna said, clearly annoyed. “Vadik, maybe you can talk some sense into your wife?” she turned to her son.
“He already tried, you know that,” I answered my mother-in-law.
“Didn’t try hard enough,” she snapped back. “Alright, since you’re so stubborn, we’ll handle it ourselves.” She pushed aside her empty teacup. “Let’s go, Petya, we’ve overstayed our welcome.”
“Yeah, you sure found yourself a stubborn girl, Vadim,” Pyotr Nikolaevich said as he headed after his wife.
“Don’t you even dare bring this up again,” I shot a warning look at my husband once the door closed behind his parents.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Vadim assured me quickly, apparently a little scared by my glare. “Don’t be mad, we only meant well,” he added.
“You only care about what’s best for Diana—you don’t give a damn about anyone else,” I snapped at my husband and walked to the bedroom, just wanting some time alone.
The next morning, I woke up in a good mood; yesterday’s anger had faded, and Diana was the last thing on my mind. Vadim didn’t bring up the apartment again either. He acted like nothing ever happened. I didn’t want to bring up our disagreement, so I relaxed and acted like everything was normal, too.
Months went by—so many that I’d practically forgotten about everything, until suddenly Vadim brought up Diana again.
“Can you believe it? She’s been fired again,” he told me, though it wasn’t exactly a shocking update.
“Honestly, I’ve already lost track of all her jobs,” I admitted.
“Me too. Her work record’s got more variety than mine ever did,” Vadim replied.
“So what did she do this time?” I asked, really just to keep the conversation going, not because I was curious.
“She argued with her boss, refused to do something, and then told them off and stormed out,” Vadim said.
“Wow, with that kind of attitude, life is going to be tough for her,” I said, surprised by what I was hearing.
“I know,” my husband agreed. “You know, you were right not to give her that apartment.”
“I’m glad you finally see that,” I said approvingly.
“She needs to learn how to get along with people first; otherwise, no amount of property will help her,” he added.
“Exactly! You have to start with yourself, and everything else falls into place later,” I concluded.
“Well, I hope one day she’ll understand that and change how she treats others,” Vadim said.
I was relieved that my husband finally saw things my way and wasn’t making excuses for his sister’s irresponsibility anymore. I was confident that this was the only approach that would really help Diana learn to take responsibility for her actions—instead of expecting everyone to drop everything and run to her rescue every time trouble comes her way.