– Kate, I don’t know what’s going on! – Olivia looked at her older sister with a strange look.
But realizing that her younger sister was not joking, she put a cup of tea on the table and looked at her sister inquisitively, waiting for an explanation.
– You know… At first I thought that I put things in the wrong place, it happens. Or rearranged…
– What? What did you put or move? – I was surprised by my sister.
– It doesn’t matter, Kate. I open the closet, look – all the linen is laid out by color, and was on the bottom shelf, and now on the middle shelf, right in front of my eyes. Or John’s T-shirts, which were on the shelf and now in the closet…
– T-shirts?
– Yeah… On hangers, Kate, you know.
– Why did you put the shirts on the hangers?
– I didn’t touch them, Kate! I didn’t. I took them, took them off and put them on the shelf, and in the evening I come… They are on the hangers again… I took them off again and put them in another place, I come, and they are in my closet, lying in colors. And I remember exactly that I put them in another place. And what is going on in the kitchen? I can’t find pots, spoons are moved to another place, swapped… Kitchen towels disappear and appear. What is this, Kate! I’ll be home from work soon, and I have the wrong curtains… Kate, I don’t know how I’m doing it, I don’t remember… What to do Kate?!
– Have you told John?
– No, I haven’t. What will he think of me? Maybe he’s a ghost, or I don’t know what to think anymore.
– Olivia, – her sister looked at her as if she were a little girl. – What do you mean, a ghost?
– What is it then? Huh? I know for sure it’s not me, you know. I read about it in a book about ghosts. I put some sweets on the table and milk in a saucer.
– So what?
– I came home from work, and the candies were gone, the wrappers were in the trash, and the saucer with milk was there…
So I left the pies the next day, came home, I come earlier than John and leave later. So I came, saw the pies eaten and the saucer washed, in the dryer…
– Wow, how well-mannered he is, – Kate laughed.
– Who, Kate?
– Your pet, who else, – Kate looked sadly at Olivia, – Okay. Do you want me to sleep at your place tonight? Your John is away on a business trip anyway. So let’s have a look at your “house”!
That’s what we did. The sisters had dinner, joked, sat and went to bed.
In the morning, the sisters hid and waited.
Exactly at nine o’clock the lock rattled and the front door opened. Olivia and Kate froze.
Someone came into the kitchen, the water was running. Olivia had just put the coffee cups in the sink that evening.
– He’s clean, he washes the dishes, – Kate whispered in Olivia’s ear.
The kettle made a noise, the cupboard door slammed, someone could be heard dangling a spoon in a cup. The refrigerator door slammed and someone sat down on a chair.
– Shall we go?
– I’m scared, Kate!
– Let’s go, you’re in your apartment, let’s go!
The girls left the room and quickly went to the kitchen. There was an elderly woman sitting at the table eating a sandwich with sausage and cheese, drinking tea from John’s favorite cup.
– “Who are you?” Kate asked.
From surprise, the guest choked and pulled her head into her shoulders, sat and did not move.
– “Sarah?” Olivia whispered in surprise, “You? What are you doing here?!
The woman turned around, blushed.
– Olivia, why aren’t you at work?
– That’s the housekeeper, Kate muttered.
She looked at her sister’s mother-in-law without hiding her curiosity.
– This is interesting, – Kate walked around the kitchen, – This is her apartment and she lives here. But what are you doing here?
– ME? ME? John gave me the keys just in case!
– What do you mean just in case, Sarah,” Olivia asked.
– It’s Nicole.
– “Nicole who?” the girls asked in chorus.
– Well, my daughter, John’s sister. They moved in with me.
– But you invited them yourself, John told me.
– Yes, I did. Well, I invited them… I offered, and they agreed, but I did not think it would happen! I thought they would save up money for their apartment faster…
– How will it be?
– They get up at six in the morning, the children are not brought up, run into my room, screaming, jumping on the bed.
The woman waved her hand and cried.
– They run around without stopping, and when I ask my daughter for a minute of silence, she starts to quarrel. She lets them do everything, everything. I can not sit quietly in silence, I do not get enough sleep…
She says that she suffered from strictness in childhood, and she allows her children everything…
So I made up an idea: when you leave, I come and drink tea. I bring Olivia my groceries… Then I read a book, wipe the dust, vacuum several times.
– That’s you in the closet… Cleaning?
– Yes, I wanted to help.
– And the spoons and pots… You too?
– I’m sorry, Olivia. I’ll be right out.
– Where are you going?
The girls looked at each other.
– Sarah, come, sit, watch TV, read, but I beg you…
– I understand, Olivia, I’m sorry… I won’t do it again. I’m in the kitchen. Thank you, – the woman cried.
– Olivia and Kate sat down at the table, “Why are you crying? Calm down, everything will be fine.
– What are you telling Nicole? Where are you going? – Kate asked.
– I said that I was working, – the woman said, lowering her head, – I had money, now I give it to my daughter a little bit, as if I earn and help them with the mortgage. I wish I could save up for this deposit and move out…
– Maybe you should move in with us for now, Sarah?
– No, Olivia, – the mother-in-law shook her head, – they won’t move then, they will decide that I left them the apartment, she already said that John has an apartment. And I, Olivia, told her that this apartment will remain for her and John, equally. Okay, I’ll go…
– What’s the matter, huh? Where are you going? I’m going with Kate for a walk, we haven’t been to the shops for a long time, what a waste of a day off, I’ll be back as usual. So do not hesitate, take what you need in the fridge.
The girls laughed about the housekeeper.
When Olivia came home, the house smelled of delicious buns.
– Thank you for the buns, – she called her mother-in-law.
And heard in the receiver the screams of children running after each other.
– Can you come to my place for the night?
– No baby, you can’t, you know that, – the mother-in-law whispered.
Surprisingly, this adventure brought Olivia and her mother-in-law closer.
– John, can your mother stay with us while we are on vacation?
– Sure, – said surprised John.
They did not tell him about this little secret right away.
John was hot-tempered, and Olivia was afraid that he would quarrel with his sister and make things worse.
Soon Nicole and her husband, with the help of Sarah and John and Olivia, saved up for a down payment and moved into their apartment.
And Olivia could smell the delicious smell of buns in the apartment when she came home from work, or found cutlets or borscht.
– It’s so nice, no need to cook, – she thought.
John comes home, and the house is clean, the food is ready, Olivia is all cheerful, meets him with a smile.
– Olivia, these meatballs are delicious, I’ve only eaten them at my mother’s, but yours are tastier, honestly, – the man said.
And Olivia just smiled and put more cutlets for John…
