Page 681

[Alexandr Korol]

— Fine, then these are the conditions…

And it was as if I wasn’t the one doing him a favor by giving him a chance —
it was as if he was the one doing it for me. He says the conditions are such
that I don’t dare say anything to him at all, I don’t dare ever mention or
bring up the bad things he did in the past, and that I must defer to him in
everything and agree to all his terms. It went as far as implying he wouldn’t
really have to work at all, while I would have to pay his salary and praise
him on top of it. Can you imagine? This was the form our discussion about
working together took. I said to him, “Fine.” To avoid conflict, I told him,
“Fine, I agree to everything.” But sensing that I was being so soft, he began
to push even harder and said to me:

— Well then, let’s discuss all those old nuances before we start working,
so we never have to return to them again.
— Fine, let’s.

And this person begins to confess to a whole mountain of other sins —
even more bad things he had done. He’s watching my reaction, testing me
because he is afraid of me. He’s checking to see if I’ll judge him or scold
him for it. He is telling me truly terrible things — how he acted maliciously
toward me throughout the entire year he worked for me. And to all of it,
I just say: “Okay, okay, fine.” This leaves him in shock again, like, “How can
this be?” Then something interesting happens. I lower myself so far below
the floorboards that I genuinely agree to every humiliation, to absolutely
everything, and I accept him exactly as he is. I actually give this person
a promise, saying:

— Even if you continue to work this way, you can take all my money and
do whatever you want; I will have no grievances against you. I will never
say a single negative word toward you. And I will never mention anything
you did in the past — especially what you’ve just confessed to now.

After this, the person disappears for twenty-four hours and doesn’t
answer me. A day later, I write to him and ask: