The mother-in-law was screaming at Veronica, apparently forgetting she was living in her daughter-in-law’s apartment. But the surprise had already been prepared.
“Staring at that computer again! Decent women go to work, but you sit here pretending you’re busy. Serge works himself to the bone to support you, and you play games!”
Claudia swept through the kitchen so sharply the cabinet doors seemed to shiver. Veronica did not lift her eyes from the monitor. The quarterly report had to be submitted by noon, and this was already the third time that morning her mother-in-law had started the same tirade.
Ten months of this. Ten months of Veronica listening to herself being called a freeloader.
“Claudia, I need to work.”
“Work!” Claudia spun around, planting her hands on her hips. “You tap a few keys and call that a job? My Serge spends all day grinding away in sales, and what do you do? Let another day pass? You ought to be ashamed. You latched onto my son like a leech.”
Veronica set her pen down on the table. Then, very calmly, she closed the laptop.
“Claudia, is that truly what you believe?”
“Of course it is. I’m not blind. I see what you do all day. You stare out the window. You talk on the phone. Meanwhile, Serge works for both of you.”
“I see.” Veronica rose from her chair. “Then we’ll discuss it tonight. In front of Serge. Since you are so worried about who is living off whom.”
Something in her voice made Claudia fall silent. Not for long, but long enough.
Serge came home at half past six. Both women were seated at the kitchen table. A folder lay between them.
“What happened?” he asked, stepping in cautiously.
“Sit down,” Veronica said, nodding toward the chair. “Your mother believes I’m living off you. She says my work is just fooling around and that you alone keep this family afloat. Did I quote you correctly, Claudia?”
His mother gave a stiff nod. Her face had gone tight, her lips pressed into a thin line.
“Mom, we already—”
“Serge, don’t interrupt.” Veronica opened the folder. “I agree with your mother on one point. People who take advantage of someone else’s property really should move out.”
She placed the deed on the table.
“Do you see the date, Claudia? I bought this apartment four years before the wedding. With my own money. Serge didn’t put a cent into it, because it belongs to me. He pays part of the utilities, as we agreed. You, however, have been living here for ten months without paying anything, while telling me how I should behave in my own home.”
Claudia snatched up the pages and scanned them quickly. The color drained from her face.
“This… Serge, did you know?”
“Of course I knew. I told you from the beginning this was Veronica’s apartment. You just refused to listen.”
“But you go to work…”
“I do. And I make a decent living.” Serge rubbed the bridge of his nose. “But Veronica earns twice what I do. She has clients she’s worked with for years. Being at home doesn’t mean she’s doing nothing.”
Veronica took out another document.
“A lease agreement,” she said. “A one-bedroom apartment in the next neighborhood. I paid three months in advance, plus the security deposit. It’s for you, Claudia. Consider it a farewell gift for ten months of humiliation.”
Silence settled over the kitchen. Claudia stared at the papers without blinking.