Last spring, my best friend Isabelle and I booked a holiday in Venice. We rented a small apartment for a week with fantastic views of the canals. At the last minute, another friend, Linda, asked if she could come too. We felt sorry for her because she was having problems with her boyfriend, so we said yes. Venice was magical and the weather was perfect, but the holiday was a disaster for one simple reason: Linda was very unpleasant! She has a good job, so she’s not poor, but she just didn’t want to pay for anything. When we went sightseeing, she didn’t want to go to any museums or galleries that cost money. When we went on a gondola ride, she complained that it was too expensive. When we went for lunch or dinner, she always wanted to go to cheap restaurants or bought pizzas and ate them in the apartment. But the night I invited her and Isabelle out for dinner for my birthday, she chose the most expensive thing on the menu! The worst part was that even though Isabelle and I paid for the apartment, Linda never treated us to a coffee or a drink. I would love to go back to Venice someday... but without Linda.