It took my wife and I a long time to get our apartment together. We needed help from her parents and my parents, and we even borrowed money from my sister to buy our own place. It was a great apartment with relatively new renovations that we could redo over time once we paid my sister back. We really liked the location, the neighborhood was also nice, in the first few days we got the hang of where what store, what entertainment is nearby. We had a housewarming party for relatives on the first Saturday, and when everyone was sitting at the table, there was a knock at the door.
The neighbors in the stairwell came in; they had an apartment on our right. A husband and wife, both obviously in their forties, and a child no more than twelve. A very restless girl who wants to touch everything and left muddy shoe prints on our carpet. They came because they heard that new neighbors had come, they wanted to get acquainted. They sat down at the table, though no one called, and we had to endure not only the strangers among the relatives, but also their stories about the previous tenants and guests.
We were glad to get rid of them, hoping that their offer of mutual assistance was nothing more than an empty sound, but the next day the neighbors came again. The woman wanted to be friends with my wife, and her husband kept trying to make friends with me. He tried to take me fishing, but I’m not into that kind of thing, stories about his turbulent youth, but I was not really interested either. It seemed that my wife and I made it clear that we do not like this kind of communication and being neighbors does not mean that we have to visit each other. But if these people could take a hint…
They show up when we are eating, send their daughter to us to “play” or ask to buy something for them at the store. It is awkward for my wife to say no, since we are neighbors after all, relationships need to be maintained, and I just can’t stand them anymore. It’s gotten so paranoid that I always turn off the light in the hallway, so they can’t even see it through a crack and guess that we’re home. We ignore them whenever possible, but what else can we do? The intrusive guests are always pestering us, we can’t get enough of them. As if their home is not enough … I put forward a curious theory to my wife – what if they want this apartment and therefore try to get us out of it? It can happen, can’t it?
