«Katya, has Sasha told you yet?» his mother-in-law rattled off. «Look! There will be forty people. So, we’ll start cooking at night. I’ll arrive early, at six in the evening the day before.»
«What? At night?» the daughter-in-law smirked. «No, I’m not signing up for that.»
«Hold on, don’t interrupt. I’m not finished yet. I’ve already sent Sasha the grocery list and he promised to buy everything.»
Sasha had always helped his older sister, Veronika. By the age of thirty, she’d managed to get married and divorced twice, and every time it was allegedly her husbands’ fault—just «got unlucky with men.» Their mother, Anastasia Grigoryevna, had instilled in Sasha since childhood:
«You have to help your sister.»
So Sasha helped. Sometimes with money, when Veronika was «temporarily» out of work; sometimes by fixing up her rented apartment; sometimes by helping her move her things after her latest divorce.
And then he got married.
At first, his wife Katya put up with it. But when Veronika asked for their car for the fifth time in a year—just «for a couple of days» because hers «let her down again»—Katya gently but firmly said:
«Sasha, maybe that’s enough? We need your car this weekend too. I thought we had plans…»
«Yeah? What needs to be done? Can’t we go on foot?»
«No. We can’t walk to my parents’ dacha. They picked two buckets of cucumbers just for us. I thought you heard me when I told you about this.»
«Yeah… I kind of heard, but you know, Sveta has an emergency.»
«What kind of emergency does she have this time?»
«I’m not exactly sure,» Alexander hesitated, «but she needs it more.»
«No, Sasha. This time, it won’t work that way! Either you refuse your sister or you buy me a car. I’m tired of taking the trolleybus when my husband could be driving me where I need to go.»
For the first time, Sasha thought about calling his sister to refuse her, but Anastasia Grigoryevna quickly set things back to how they’d always been:
«What, you’re going to abandon your sister because of your wife? She’s all alone! Who will help her if not you?»
And Sasha kept helping, despite the fights with his wife. Once, he and Katya didn’t speak for several days, and Sasha couldn’t take it anymore:
«Why are you so silent?! Are you mad at me or what?»
«Really? It took you three days to notice I was upset?» Katya said indignantly.
«I just don’t get it. Upset about what exactly?»
His wife snorted in disbelief:
«Really? You don’t understand? Your darling sister took you away for the whole weekend because she had to go out of town to see a friend. I thought you’d just drive her, but you ended up staying there with her for two days. Doesn’t that bother you at all?»
«Why should it bother me? So, we had some drinks. Her ex-husband happened to be there, and we got along. We had to celebrate the occasion somehow. What, I was supposed to just leave like an idiot? That would’ve been rude.»
«You could’ve at least called.»
«You could have too,» Alexander countered.
«I called, but your phone was off. Can you imagine? What was I supposed to think? I was a nervous wreck, not even knowing where my husband was. Turns out, he just wanted a break from me,» Katya fumed.
«Don’t make things up,» her husband waved her off and gestured that someone was calling him.
Alexander didn’t answer his phone until he stepped out onto the balcony. He knew perfectly well his wife wouldn’t appreciate him chatting with his sister.
«Hey, big bro!» Veronica chirped cheerfully on the phone. «My birthday’s in two weeks! I’m turning thirty! You get what that means, right?»
Sasha carefully glanced over at Katya, who was just then pouring soup into bowls.
«So… what do you want?» he asked.
«How do you always know what I need?!» Veronica laughed. «I want to celebrate at your place! You have a huge living room. Mine’s way too cramped since I rent, plus the landlady would complain, and a restaurant is just too expensive.»
«How about a café, though? I can chip in whatever you need.»
«Are you serious?!» Veronica protested. «It’s a milestone birthday! You want me to spend money renting a hall when you have a whole apartment? Either way, you’ll have to help out. I’m not the daughter of a millionaire, you know.»
«Let me talk to Katya first. It’s her apartment, too—what if she had other plans?»
«Too late!» his sister interrupted. «I’ve already told everyone that the party’s at your place. Just clear the apartment for the full day, okay? Mom said she’ll handle all the cooking.»
Sasha sighed, covering his eyes with his hand. While he was still trying to figure out how to turn things to his advantage, his phone buzzed again. This time, it was a message from his mother.
«Veronica asked me to plan the menu. Here’s the list of dishes. You’ll need to buy the groceries as well. Tell Katya to help out. And an extra pair of hands in the kitchen wouldn’t hurt either.»
Meanwhile, Katya, completely unaware of Veronica’s upcoming birthday bash, had settled comfortably into her armchair with her phone, ready to watch her favorite show. When Alexander walked in, eyes lowered, she instantly sensed something was up.
«So what is it this time?» she asked calmly, pausing her show.
«Katya, listen… Veronica… she’s turning thirty, you know. It’s kind of a big deal. She wants to celebrate.»
Katya lifted her head.
«Well, let her celebrate. Are we stopping her?»
Sasha scratched the back of his head.
«That’s not it. She wants to celebrate here.»
«What?!» Katya sat up in shock. «Wait. Here? In our apartment?»
«Yes, but just for one evening. She says a restaurant is too pricey and her place is too small…»
«And you? Did you already say yes?»
«I told her I’d talk to you! But… Veronica’s gone and invited everyone already. And Mom’s planning the menu…»
Katya closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
«Sasha. Tell me, are you actually a grown man? Or just the middleman for Veronica and her wishes?»
«Oh, come on, don’t start.»
«I’m the one starting?» Katya said with an ironic smile, gesturing at the phone. «How about the fact that nobody even bothered to ask me? This is my place, not a free-for-all for any ambitious relatives. Veronica wants her birthday at my home, I’m supposed to cook, I’m supposed to help your mom, and yet no one even let me know?!»
Just then, Katya’s phone started to ring.
«Oh, there’s the cherry on top,» Katya muttered. «It’s your mom,» she waved the phone in front of her husband’s face.
«Katya, did Sasha tell you already?» blurted out her mother-in-law. «Look, there will be forty people. So we need to start cooking at night. I’ll come early, around six in the evening, the day before.»
«What? At night?» Katya smirked. «No way, I never agreed to this.»
«Hold on, I’m not finished yet. I sent Sasha a grocery list, and he promised to buy everything.»
«Let’s suppose so…» Katya huffed. «But the money? Where are we supposed to get that much money?»
«Sasha promised to help,» Tamara Vladimirovna replied curtly.
«Oh, I see. So not only do you want to turn my apartment into a restaurant, but we also have to pay for the whole banquet?» Katya couldn’t hold back any longer.
«Is Veronika a stranger to you or something? Is it really that hard to help for one day—chop some salads, do a bit in the kitchen… Aren’t you the lady of the house?»
«Tamara Vladimirovna,» Katya cut in, «I just found out about this party. I never gave permission to celebrate Veronika’s birthday in my apartment.»
«Why do you keep saying ‘my apartment’? You and Sasha are married. Everything’s shared!» her mother-in-law barked.
«Really? But if the apartment belonged to Sasha, you wouldn’t say that. In that case, I’d just be a freeloader.»
«Don’t talk nonsense. That’s it, conversation’s over. We need to buy all the groceries by Friday,» Tamara Vladimirovna said and hung up.
«What was that all about?» Katya asked her husband after hearing the dial tone.
«Stop pretending to be something you’re not!» Sasha finally raised his voice. «Everyone’s already told you you’re wrong. Admit your mistake and stop being so stubborn.»
Katya was stunned by what her husband said. She stood up, went to the closet, and silently pulled out a big sports bag. Then she returned to the bedroom, opened the dresser, and monotonously started packing her husband’s t-shirts and jeans. Meanwhile, Sasha felt like he’d won the battle.
He noisily opened the fridge, grabbed a beer, slammed the door, and went to the living room, settling down in front of the TV as if nothing had happened.
He thought that Katya would just ‘cool off’ and everything would go back to normal. Maybe she’d pout a bit, grumble—and then calm down. Sasha even turned on a soccer game, thinking Katya would peek in and call him for dinner. But he was wrong.
Half an hour later, Katya was standing in the hallway with a bag in one hand and the sports bag, stuffed full with her husband’s things, calmly lying beside her. Sasha left the living room to head back to the fridge, but saw his wife waiting in the hallway.
«What’s all this?» he muttered. «What kind of circus are you putting on?»
Katya looked at him with dislike.
«This isn’t a circus, Sasha. This is the end. I’m not going to keep being a shadow in your life, a maid in my own apartment, or a backdrop for your mom and sister’s endless whims. If you want to be the perfect son and brother—go ahead. Move back in with your mom. Get ready for the anniversary with her. I’m sure she’ll gladly let you have a corner in her living room.»
«Are you serious right now?» he stepped toward her. «I’m not coming back, you know.»
«I mean it,» Katya nodded. «I don’t want you to come back. I endured so much that now I have questions even for myself. But I’ve had enough. If you haven’t learned to respect me in three years, then it’s not going to get any better.»
«Katya… you can’t just destroy everything like this! In an instant!»
«You can’t destroy something that’s already collapsed.»
Sasha smirked, still not realizing that his wife had truly made up her mind.
«And yes,» Katya added, «all your shirts and jeans are here. No need to thank me. Leave right now.»
He tried to say something, but Katya opened the front door. Sasha stood there, his face flushed with anger. His cheeks burned, and his lips were tightly pressed together. He was still hoping Katya would give in, but her absolute calm only irritated him more.
«What an idiot you are!» he spat. «You think you’ll find someone better? Guys like me are impossible to find!»
Katya gave a short laugh and stepped back:
«Guys like you truly are impossible to find. And thank god for that.»
«You’ll regret this, got it?!» Sasha shouted, grabbing his bag. «You’ll come crawling back on your knees when you realize no one will even talk to you! Without me, you’re nothing!»
«If ‘nothing’ means a person living in her own apartment, working, not serving your adult relatives, and not tolerating rudeness, then I really do like being ‘nobody.'»
Sasha left, and Katya was alone in the quiet. Taking a deep breath, she walked to the window, pulled back the curtain, and watched her ex-husband climb into a taxi, shoving his bag with his foot.
A few months went by.
The divorce process turned out to be unpleasant. Sasha tried to paint Katya as greedy and materialistic. The main drama was their battle over a car they bought during their marriage. He insisted he’d paid for it entirely himself and that Katya just «used it to drive around.»
«Judge, I paid for it all, everything was registered to me!» he declared confidently in court. «My wife didn’t contribute a penny!»
Calmly flipping through her folder, Katya laid out bank statements on the table: transfers, receipts. She even found the initial down payment contract, signed by her.
«I’m not claiming his share. But I’m not giving up mine either,» Katya said calmly.
The court sided with fairness.
Sasha didn’t like it. The car was registered to him, and he already considered it his. But now he’d have to sell it and split the money. He left the courtroom with his face twisted in anger.
And at home, there was no support waiting for him—just a flood of complaints.
«What kind of idiot are you?» Tamara Vladimirovna yelled. «Just handed her everything! The car! The apartment! You could’ve hired a proper lawyer at least!»
On top of it all, Sasha had taken out a bank loan to pay for his sister’s anniversary dinner at a restaurant, because he had «let her down with the apartment.» Now Sasha had his own little cozy corner with a fold-out bed in Tamara Vladimirovna’s apartment.
Meanwhile, for the first time in a long time, Katya slept peacefully. She decided she was still young and didn’t need to cling to someone like Sasha. There are plenty of decent men out there—the key is realizing who’s who in time.
