Amanda had loved the one-bedroom apartment she’d grown up in since she was a teenager. It wasn’t very big, but it was cozy, well-maintained, and had neighbors. She said it was the apartment she wanted to inherit, and Maria was all for it-she liked her grandmother’s three-room apartment on the edge of town. It had a subway, and it was a quiet neighborhood, with everything she needed nearby, but not many people.
They seemed to have nothing to argue about, but the girls grew up, their priorities changed. After marriage, Amanda became greedy for everything, she counted the meters and said it was unfair that she got only forty-six square meters, and her sister as much as sixty. The difference is decent, you have to share. At first she wanted Maria to pay the money for the difference, but Amanda’s husband persuaded her to convince her to sell the apartment and to buy herself forty-six square meters instead. Maria was against it – she had a family, two children, and everything suited her, because the school was under the house, and the older girl was dancing, and it was convenient to get to work. But Amanda was undeterred.
Then Maria offered to sell her the apartment, too, and split the total amount from the sale. Amanda readily agreed. They each handled the sale on their side, and eventually the money was split. Amanda and her husband moved to another city, but her sister still reminded Maria that she had managed to sell her two-room apartment for more than three-rooms, and Maria only shrugged her hands and reminded her that she was on the outskirts of town, not convenient for everyone to commute to work.
The sisters had not seen each other for years, lived soul to soul, you could say, they often talked on the phone. It wasn’t until Amanda was in her forties that she learned the big secret – Maria never sold her grandmother’s apartment. She lied about the sale and borrowed money from her mother-in-law to give some of it to Amanda. She lied about the cost, too, and Amanda not only believed it, but also gave Maria the money, thinking she was so smart and had sold for more. Thanks to this, Maria quickly repaid the debt and paid for the repairs in the nursery.
There was nothing to be angry and offended about, the two adults finally settled their lives and apartments, but now Amanda recalls something else entirely…
