The Goy Next Door (Girl Meets Goy #2)

Chapter 6 Running into insight

With so much on her mind, Leah could not force herself to sleep that night. She tossed and turned and had nightmares about working at Teen Club where she just couldn’t figure out the right nail color for summer and everyone laughed at her.

“You should have stayed at Club Business!” Brittany, the Teen Club researcher, had cackled while Marnie Gray pursed her lips in disappointment.

But then Leah tossed and turned into another nightmare where Tony called her a failure when she got the facts wrong on a story that had scored the day’s top headline.

“You should have gone to Teen Club!” he bellowed at her. “There, no one gets hurt if you say pencil skirts instead of a-lines are in!” In her dream, Leah was surprised that Tony could even name two types of skirts.

She then dreamt of herself eating matzah ball soup every day for the rest of her life with Asher. They were old and wrinkled and he ate with such gusto, “This is just the best comfort food ever, isn’t it?” he asked her while she forced the spoon in her mouth despite the soup’s cardboard taste.

But the dream that woke her up was about Gabe. They were getting married in a beautiful garden when her Bubbe started throwing her wedding China at them. Leah’s Bubbe loved to talk about all the keepsakes she was passing on to her grandchildren, and Leah had been bestowed her wedding China. All her life, Leah had heard from her Bubbe about the importance of the dishes and how she needed to marry a nice Jewish man and have a Kosher home to have them. Ten-year-old Leah had never thought it possible that she wouldn’t fulfill her Bubbe’s hopes.

Hearing the dishes crack made Leah pop up from her bed. She looked at her phone to check the time for the millionth time that night while she noticed that the sun was starting to peek through her windows. There was always light shining through her windows from the 24/7 bodegas and bars nearby, but she had become accustomed to deciphering artificial from natural light, and this was definitely the beginning of natural light.

Her phone said it was almost 6:00 am and then Leah had an idea. If she had gotten a good night’s sleep, she probably never would have thought to do anything quite so rash, but that morning it seemed like a good idea. So she got up, put on a pair of leggings and a sports bra and grabbed her tennis shoes.

As soon as she stepped outside and the cold bit her face, she regretted her decision. But she had already come this far and she figured she might as well keep going. With a deep breath, she jogged the few blocks to Central Park.

It was shocking how many people were running in the park. There were runners who zoomed by at rocket speed and others who kept a slow pace. There were people in big groups all wearing the same shirts, individuals with the eye of the tiger in them, and then there was Leah, who wasn’t sure which way to go and where the path in front of her led.

She kept up a slow pace all the while wondering if Gabe was there and whether he ran alone or with a pack. Part of her wanted to see him, but a bigger part of her hoped he wouldn’t see her like this. Her cheeks were surely red from the cold and the exertion, and she was slow, incredibly slower than everyone else around her it seemed.

She jogged on for a little while until the cold air made her lungs burn and she had to slow down. But she didn’t turn around yet. Instead, she walked, taking in the sites of Central Park in the morning. There were trees with white and pink flowers blooming. Fields of green rumbled on either side of her. Birds were chirping from somewhere above. It was hard to believe that this little piece of nature was right in the middle of Manhattan and Leah had never really taken the time to appreciate it. She’d been to the park a few times, but with her proximity, she should have taken more advantage of it.

Even if she wasn’t set out to be an avid runner like Gabe, maybe she would take the time to appreciate the beauty of the park. She found herself standing in front of the reservoir in the middle of the park. Even here, runners were zipping around the reservoir as though trying to get somewhere fast instead of just ending up in the same place they started. She tried to stay out of the way while she looked around the water.

After a few minutes, she turned back, unsure exactly how to get back to her apartment and how long it would take. She started wandering the way she came—she thought—but soon the sites seemed unfamiliar and she was next to tennis courts that she hadn’t remembered passing before.

“Leah?” she suddenly heard someone say. She turned to see Brittany from Teen Club in maroon leggings, a sports bra, and a matching headband. “I didn’t know you were a runner!”

“I’m not,” she responded. “I was just, I don’t know, trying it out.”

“Isn’t it amazing to start the day like this?” she asked. Her cheeks were pink but she didn’t look overheated, she just looked like she had the perfect amount of blush on.

“I don’t know, I think I’m lost.”

“Lost!?” Brittany giggled. “Where are you supposed to be?”

Leah explained to Brittany that she lived on the east side and that she hadn’t remembered seeing tennis courts on her way there.

“You are definitely lost! It’s so easy to get lost in the park! I’ll help you! Want me to run you back?” Brittany asked.

Leah wanted to say no, she didn’t want to have anything to do with Brittany who she hated for being hired as the Teen Club researcher and for her fling with Alex. Neither of these things were Brittany’s fault per se, but they still made Leah despise her, even if she wouldn’t admit it was mostly out of jealousy.

But Leah didn’t really have a choice if she wanted to get back to her apartment in time to get ready for work. She was really very lost, and maybe running into Brittany was a sign. Or maybe at least an opportunity to do some research to help with her job conundrum. So she nodded and picked up her pace to follow Brittany back the other direction.

“How do you like working for Tony? I hear he’s a real character,” Brittany asked.

“Oh, he’s…yeah…a character,” Leah tried to respond even though she struggled to breathe at the pace Brittany was going. But she wouldn’t tell her to slow down. No way she would let Brittany be faster or better than her.

“Yeah, Alex used to always tell me about his speeches,” Brittany said as though she were sitting in place rather than running at what felt like lightning speed. “How’s Alex doing? Is he doing OK?”

“He’s…good.” Leah knew this was a good opportunity to find out about Teen Club and she didn’t want to ruin it just because she couldn’t breathe or by talking about Alex.

“What…about…Marnie?” she managed to say. “Do…you…like…Teen…Club?”

“Oh, well, Marnie is Marnie,” Brittany said as though that explained it all. “She’s tough but she knows her stuff. I’m sure it will all pay off in the long run. And I know they are looking for a new junior reporter, so, you know, fingers crossed! I think I’ve been putting in the work and doing a good job.” She flashed a smile and held her crossed fingers in the air.

Leah choked on the air in her lungs. Brittany wanted the position that was offered to Leah. She wasn’t sure if that affected her decision, but it sure made the position more desirable.

“Are you OK?” Brittany asked as Leah heaved. She nodded and looked up to see they had reached Fifth Avenue and from there Leah knew how to get home. “All right, I have to get back to the West Side to shower up before work,” Brittany said. “It was nice talking to you! We should do this again some time!”

Leah managed to thank Brittany and agreed they should do this again some time, even though she wasn’t sure she wanted to run or see Brittany again. Although it would have been nice to get more insight into Teen Club. Too bad Leah’s lungs weren’t strong enough for her to ask more questions.

She then hurried back to her apartment and showered before heading downtown to work.