— Kirótschka! My darling! — Tatjana Vassiljevna clapped her hands and tore her gaze away from the two men who were dragging a sofa through the hallway. — Don’t worry! We’re just bringing a little order here. Really, just a little.— Order? — Kira smiled, but glass seemed to clink inside that smile.
— So this isn’t “order.” This is a construction site. Suitcases in the hallway, my things shoved somewhere. And apparently, you’re giving the orders.— Kira, why so… — Jura scratched the back of his head awkwardly. — With Mom and Dad… well, there are currently a few… difficulties. She’ll be staying with us for a while.
— “For a while”? — Kira stepped closer. — A day? A week? Or should I just say “As long as you breathe” — then we can save the theatrics.— Oh, don’t get worked up! — Tatjana Vassiljevna sighed theatrically. — Fine, one month. Two maybe. Three at most. There’s plenty of space. I’m very tidy.
— Really tidy?! — Kira lifted the bag that was already at her feet. — Did you even think to ask me? Or am I just inventory without a voice?— Kira, where else should I go? — Tatjana Vassiljevna pressed her hand to her heart, as if she were about to collapse. — Should I sleep at the bus stop?
— That’s my mother! — Jura frowned. — You don’t want a family member to be left homeless, do you?— And I don’t want to be faced with a done deal, — Kira said softly but firmly. — I don’t want to wake up in my own apartment and realize no one asked me.
No one was listening.The movers arranged the wardrobe under Tatjana Vassiljevna’s instructions, as if the apartment had already been taken over. Jura nodded. The mother commanded.And Kira stood there, superfluous in her own apartment.
She turned and went into the bedroom, slamming the door — and for a moment, everything was silent.Kira endured everything for the first three days. She came home late, the apartment gleamed, smelled of cheap lemon air freshener. The sofa was in a different place, the armchair had disappeared.
On the fourth day, her favorite cup was gone — the blue one she had bought after university. Instead, there was a plain white porcelain cup.— Tatjana Vassiljevna, my cup? — Kira asked in the evening.— Oh, the blue one? — waved the mother-in-law. — It was chipped anyway.
I bought you something stylish. You should be happy.— Thrown away? — Kira stared at her in disbelief. A joke? A humiliation?But the mother-in-law had already turned to Jura:— Jura, my son, why are you eating so little? I cooked you a proper dinner!
On the seventh day, the vase — the last gift from her mother — disappeared. Kira found it in the trash. Broken.— That was Mom’s gift… — she whispered.— Oh, stop whining! — snorted Tatjana Vassiljevna. — I bought you a new one. Modern. From “Lenta.”
By the tenth day, Kira realized: they were pushing her out. Carefully. Under the guise of care.One evening, she came home. Chaos in the office, deadlines. She had barely taken off her shoes when her mother-in-law’s voice came from the kitchen:
— Late again! Jura is sitting hungry like an orphan!— I warned you, — Kira said tiredly. — Deadlines.— In my time, women were home by six! Today, only ambitions… — Tatjana Vassiljevna clicked her tongue.Kira passed by silently. Week after week, the apartment became a battlefield,
without gunfire, but with losses.One morning, Kira opened the wardrobe — and froze. Her blue favorite dress was gone. In the trash.— Are you serious? — her voice trembled.— See, — Tatjana Vassiljevna didn’t turn around. — You need to appear more solid.
— I decide how I look.Jura sat idly at the table.— You’re leaving today, — Kira finally said. — You are no longer needed.She closed the door. For the first time in months, she breathed truly freely. The apartment was quiet. Hers.Two days later, Jura called:
— Kira… maybe… we could try again?— This home belongs to me, — she said gently. — No longer to both of us.On Saturday, he took the boxes. They barely spoke. As the door closed behind him, Kira took a deep breath.She opened the window. Cold wind hit her face.
At that moment, she knew: in this apartment, now only one woman lived. And no one would ever rearrange her world again.Kira smiled. Truly. Free.
The End.
