“Could you lend your sister a hand? She’s having a tough time after the divorce,” their mother chided.
Two sisters sat around a round table in their mother’s home, listening to her grievances.
“Your Robert has turned into quite the loafer!” remarked Sandra bluntly. “He works on the oil rigs and yet brings home nothing!”
“Mom, is sixty thousand pounds not enough for you?” the younger daughter, Valerie, asked irritably.
“I honestly don’t care. It’s about whether he can support you,” their mother replied, her lips pursed in frustration.
“He does support me,” Valerie retorted with a frown.
“I don’t see it. Just yesterday, you borrowed five hundred from me!” Sandra reminded her. “If he can’t provide for you, maybe it’s time to divorce and find someone who can. Besides, anyone can see he’s a bit unhinged.”
“Mom, that’s going too far,” interjected Grace, who had been silent until then, siding with her sister.
“Am I not speaking the truth? He’s awkward, red-haired, and has a lisp!” their mother scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You deserve better, Valerie. Before it’s too late, you should consider divorce.”
“Robert has a heart of gold, and while looks aren’t everything, he does have a flat, a car, and it’s clear he loves Valerie,” Grace pointed out, seeing how their mother was pressuring her sister.
Sandra gave Grace a contemptuous look, feeling like she was meddling.
“You’re still single at thirty, so I’d keep your advice to yourself,” Sandra waved off Grace’s comments. “You’ll settle for anyone by the time you’re forty…”
Valerie listened to both her mother and sister, her face impassive, looking between the two.
“You sing his praises… he only has a small flat and a domestic car. It’s nothing to brag about,” Sandra said haughtily.
“Valerie, what do you think?” Grace asked her silent sister. “Do you have any opinions?”
“I don’t know; maybe Mom’s right,” Valerie said, her initial defense of her husband crumbling under her mother’s influence. “He told me recently I should get a job…”
“You see!” Sandra said, folding her arms across her belly. “It’s come to that. Who knows what’s next!”
“Why shouldn’t Valerie work? Not many can afford such luxury. I’m surprised Robert didn’t ask her to find a job sooner,” Grace replied, sharing her perspective.
“I don’t understand why you’re defending him so earnestly. After him yourself?” Sandra accused, staring intently at Grace.
“Because I worry your pressure will ruin my sister’s life,” Grace explained calmly.
“That’s none of your business,” Sandra snapped. “Stay out of it. Valerie deserves more. If he loved her, he’d make sure she never had to worry. Robert’s not even good-looking, and has no money…”
Valerie sat, mouth open, catching her mother’s every word.
Sandra’s lectures had an effect. Soon, Valerie began to confront Robert.
“Do you think you earn well?” she asked her husband.
“Sure, why?”
“I don’t agree,” Valerie shook her head. “You should look for another job.”
“Another one? I’m happy as it is,” Robert responded, slightly wary.
“Well, I’m not!” Valerie declared. “The flat is small, the car’s local… I’ve nothing to boast about to the neighbors.”
“Funny, you didn’t mind before,” Robert mused. “What’s changed?”
“Nothing’s changed. I just see you differently now. Before, emotions blinded me, now I see clearly,” Valerie justified.
“Great,” Robert replied indifferently, hoping that would end it.
But egged on by Sandra, Valerie persisted.
“You’re annoying me with your dissatisfaction,” Robert said through gritted teeth. “I’ve heard you, but there’s nothing more I can do.”
“I need a husband who’s ambitious, not stagnant,” Valerie added sternly.
“Sorry I’m not that guy!” Robert replied coldly, opening the wardrobe in the bedroom. “Pack your things.”
“Where should I go?” Valerie asked, raising an eyebrow.
“To where there’s a new apartment and a foreign car,” Robert stated dryly. “I couldn’t bear for you to stay with such a failure as me. I’m sure you’ll find someone who’ll shower you with gold and diamonds. I can’t…”
Sandra was the first to learn Robert had asked Valerie to leave.
“That scoundrel! Who would’ve thought? You should never have married him,” she lamented, cursing her son-in-law for his treachery.
“I just asked him to earn more,” Valerie said through tears.
“What is there to say? A boor is a boor. You’ll find someone better, and Robert will regret it,” Sandra assured her daughter.
Left without a home or husband, Valerie moved back into her old room at her mother’s.
“What will you do now?” Grace asked her sister, arriving at Sandra’s request.
“Nothing,” Valerie replied blankly, scrolling through her phone.
“Have you considered getting a job?” Grace suggested directly.
“Nope. Why bother? I’ll find someone wealthier than Robert,” Valerie said matter-of-factly.
“Why harp on her? She’s been through enough stress. Let her rest,” Sandra interjected.
For nearly two months, Sandra supported her daughter, who barely left the sofa.
Realizing she couldn’t continue like this, she called Grace.
“Won’t you help your sister?” Sandra asked disapprovingly.
“How?”
“Not how, but with what. Financially. We are struggling,” Sandra corrected her daughter.
“Who made you whisper in Val’s ear to divorce him?” Grace retorted. “If you hadn’t interfered, things would be fine.”
“Is that so?!” Sandra clutched her chest. “How can you say such a thing? Robert’s a fool and a coward! Couldn’t handle someone like Valerie and gave up. You know what? Just leave! I don’t want to see you!”
Valerie strolled leisurely from her room, spotting her sister.
“Defending the man who threw me out?”
“It’s your own doing! Stop listening to Mum…”
“Now you’re lecturing me? Think you know it all? No wonder you’re still single,” Valerie shouted.
Grace shook her head at her mother and sister’s outbursts and headed for the door, leaving with no desire to see them again, a sentiment Valerie and Sandra seemed to share.
