“Can I ask you something personal?”
“Sure.”
“How did you know it was the moment to change?”
The question surprised me.
“Why do you ask me that?”
“It is just that I am twenty-five years old and I feel like everyone makes decisions for me. My boyfriend, my parents, my boss. Sometimes I feel I have no voice in my own life.”
I recognized myself in her words.
“You know what made me change?”
“What?”
“Realizing that if I did not defend my right to decide about my life, no one else was going to do it.”
“But weren’t you scared?”
“Terrified. But I was more scared to keep living as if my opinion did not matter.”
The girl smiled.
“You are very brave.”
“I am not brave. I am just tired of being invisible in my own life.”
That night I slept better than in a long time. For the first time in years, I felt in control of my destiny. But I knew the hardest part was still to come.
The next morning, the phone woke me up. It was a number I did not recognize.
“Mrs. Emily Johnson?”
“Yes. Who is speaking?”
“It is Michael, Sarah’s husband. I am calling from the United States.”
My heart sped up. Michael had always been respectful to me, but we hadn’t spoken for months.
“Hello, Michael.”
“How are you, Mrs. Emily?”
“First, I want to give you a huge apology for what happened. My parents told me everything, and I am very ashamed.”
“Michael, you do not have to apologize for something you did not do.”
“Yes, I do, because Sarah is my wife and acted in the name of my family without my permission.”
“Did you speak with her?”
“Last night we had a very long conversation. Very long and very difficult.”
“Yes?”
“Mrs. Emily, I did not know Sarah had lied to my parents. I never asked her to get them a house, much less to force you to receive them.”
“What did she say when you confronted her?”
Michael sighed deeply.
“At first, she tried to justify herself, saying she just wanted to help everyone. But when I asked her why she hadn’t consulted you first, she got defensive. And then I asked her why she had lied to my parents, telling them you wanted company. There… she got furious and told me I did not understand because I was not here.”
“Michael, can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Sarah has a habit of making decisions for others without consulting them?”
There was a long silence on the other end of the line.
“Mrs. Emily, I am ashamed to admit it, but yes. It is part of the reason why I decided to come work here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, she has always had the tendency to want to control everything. At first, I thought it was because she worried a lot about the family, but later I realized she doesn’t like others making decisions, not even about their own lives.”
His words hurt me, but they did not surprise me.
“And how is she with you?”
