The Goy Next Door (Girl Meets Goy #2)

Chapter 21 Potato bread focaccia

“Are you happy here at Teen Club?” Marnie asked as soon as Leah closed the door of the office.

“What? Yes, I am, I…” Leah felt caught like she had been cheating on a test.

“Are you sure? Because you don’t seem, well, dedicated like the other writers do. The ones who really want to be here and make a difference in young teens’ lives. Is that you Leah?” It was the first time Marnie had ever said her name and she had pronounced it Leia. But maybe that was Leah’s fault, she hadn’t corrected anyone at Teen Club since she had started there.

“Yes! It is me, I’ve been dreaming of Teen Club forever! I want to help teens going through everything I went through.” Leah felt herself begging on instinct. “Is this because I took a lunch break? I’m sorry, it’s just, it’s Passover—”

Marnie waved her hand. “There is nothing wrong with taking lunch. You’re allowed to, it’s in your contract. Sure, many of the dedicated reporters prefer to work than to eat, but everyone has their priorities. That’s fine. I’m just wondering, because I’ve seen some of your work. You don’t seem to believe in your writing.”

“What? I do, I believe—"

“The thigh is the limit? What does that even mean, Leah?” Another mispronunciation. “Are you trying to encourage girls to love themselves or to develop eating disorders because they hate their thighs? What is your aim? Or do you simply think that what we write about here is inconsequential? Or superficial?”

Leah’s mouth dropped open. She needed to explain, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t analyze her pun about thighs being the limit.

“Do you know how many applicants we get at Teen Club?” Marnie asked before Leah could say anything. “I remember when we hired you as a researcher. You looked like a hard worker. And you are, for the most part. I can see that. But I am just not sure you get it.” She emphasized the last word, which seemed to encompass everything that Teen Club was about. “Are you more suited for the dry and insipid stories at Club Business?”

Leah shook her head. “No, I want to be here,” she pleaded. “I want to make a difference.” Part of her wanted to bring up her ideas for articles that she thought would be helpful for teens, like how to deal with bullies or avoid toxic friendships. Or how to prepare yourself for college or protect yourself online while maintaining your social media presence. She had so many ideas.

“Good,” Marnie responded. “Teens want you to validate their feelings. They don’t want you to change their minds or try to prove them wrong. Teens buy our magazine because we tell them exactly what they want to hear? You understand? I hear you are working on Tallie’s family vacation article. Please, try to incorporate my feedback into that. OK?” Marnie spoke with a big smile on her face.

Leah nodded and thanked the editor for the feedback. Yes, she thanked her! Leah reprimanded herself as she walked back to her desk. Why was she so bad at this? Was she such a terrible reporter? Could she not understand the audience as well as she thought? First Alex pointed that out and now Marnie. Where were the reporting skills she had honed at Brandeis and all the internships she’d had?

She promised herself she would be better. She wouldn’t take a lunch break again. She’d try to validate teens’ feelings instead of change them. She kept the feedback in mind while she reworked everything she had worked on in the morning.

She was still working when the clock struck 6:00 pm and the other writers all left. She stayed at her desk, desperate to prove herself. She overthought every idea, every word and when her phone rang she was annoyed, even though she knew she had no right to be.

“Where are you?” Asher asked when she answered. “Are you OK?”

“I’m just finishing something at work,” she responded hastily. “I’m running late.”

“Oh, why didn’t you tell me? I’ve been waiting for you for an hour already and you aren’t responding to my texts.”

Leah rolled her eyes and stopped herself from sighing into the phone. “I will come as soon as I can, OK? I just need to finish this, OK?” Stress blanketed every part of her body and the last thing she needed was Asher to throw on another layer.

“OK, well can you tell me when you’re going to be done?”

“Soon! I can’t talk right now,” she hung up and got back to her screen. She had been done with the article hours ago. But she had rewritten it so many times, she wasn’t sure what was good anymore. And now, all she felt was guilt for getting angry with Asher. She wasn’t angry with him, she was angry with herself, but he got the blow from it.

She knew the right thing to do was to turn off her computer and leave the office. Asher was probably waiting for her right outside her building like he promised he’d be. He wanted to take her out to celebrate their engagement in New York City. He’d even found a restaurant somewhere in Brooklyn that was kosher for Passover!

Before she could talk herself out it, she emailed the article to the senior reporter who had assigned it to her and she packed up her bag. Sure enough, Asher was standing outside her office building in the dark. FiDi was empty at this hour. While during the day the cobblestone streets were full of tourists and employees in suits bustling about, the entire neighborhood slept in the evening. Even the happy hours in FiDi ended early, as the tourists made their way north for Broadway and the employees followed for trendier adventures.

Asher smiled and stood straighter when she left the building. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a kiss and Leah held onto him a few extra moments.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I had a horrible day at work.” They got on the subway the opposite direction that Leah was used to. Instead of going uptown to Midtown or the Upper East Side where they normally hung out, they were now crossing under the East River into Brooklyn, a borough that Leah hadn’t yet set foot in.

Asher looked at his phone for directions when they got off the subway and found themselves above ground. Brooklyn didn’t look that different from Manhattan. The street was lined with restaurants and bars and well dressed people walked in groups down the street.

“I think it’s this way,” Asher said, pointing a direction that looked deeper into the borough. They walked around for a while as Asher navigated them with his phone, pointing them this way and that until he looked up and scratched his neck.

“Are we almost there?” Leah asked. There weren’t as many bars and restaurants around anymore.

“Um…” Asher held onto the sound without saying any more and Leah couldn’t help but let out a laugh. She was thinking of the one good part of her day, her lunch with Alex.

Do you know how long it takes before a Jew will ask for directions? 40 years!

“What’s so funny?” Asher asked.

“Maybe we should ask for directions?” Leah offered through her giggles.

“I don’t need directions, I have my phone. It’s right over there,” he pointed to a spot on his screen and showed it to Leah. “I just don’t have good reception with the buildings here.”

Leah laughed again.

“Why are you laughing?”

“How long does it take for a Jew to ask for directions?” she said through her giggles. Asher shrugged with annoyance.

“40 years!” She shouted out. “Get it? It’s funny, right?”

“It’s not funny, it’s antisemitic!” Asher responded. “Where did you hear that?”

“It’s not antisemitic! My friend told me at lunch when we were talking about Passover. The comedian guy, Alex. I told you about him, right?” Leah felt the smile on her face.

“You had lunch with a guy?”

“My friend and colleague from Club Business, Alex.” Leah said. The smile still on her face although it was starting to feel inappropriate.

“Just you two?”

“Mark was sick, so yeah.”

“Leah, don’t you think it’s weird for you to have lunch with a guy by yourself?”

“Why? We’re friends.”

“There is no such thing as friendship between girls and guys. He probably wants to sleep with you! You can’t just go have lunch with a guy, Leah, we’re engaged!”

Leah took a step back and ruffled her eyebrows. “Ash, we’re just friends. I am allowed to have male friends.”

“No, you’re not,” Asher responded a little too quickly for Leah’s liking. “We’re engaged, Leah. Can you take that seriously?”

“I do take it seriously!” Leah shot back. “Why does everyone think I don’t take things seriously?”

“Because you don’t!” Asher said. “You’re supposed to be excited we’re engaged! Not make me wait for you for an hour while you spend extra time at a job you can’t stop complaining about! Even my mom said you didn’t take anything seriously when you had lunch at our house!”

“Just because I haven’t been secretly planning our wedding since we got back together like two months ago, that means I am not taking this seriously?”

“You are going on lunch dates with other guys,” Asher said. “That is not taking this seriously.”

Leah rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’m not having this conversation. I had a bad day at work—”

“You always have a bad day at work,” Asher responded. “Have you ever noticed that? You hate it there and you take it out on me. When all I want to do is make you happy. I’m killing myself every day thinking, what will make Leah happy today? Or what will she be upset about today?”

“Not every day is bad,” she said, but even as the words came out, they felt untrue. She hadn’t enjoyed her job since she left Club Business. She looked around at the brownstones and renovated buildings around them and a sign caught her eye.

“The Chosen Kitchen?” she asked, reading the sign. “Is that where we are going?”

“If you still want to go celebrate with me,” Asher responded. “Or maybe you prefer to go out with that antisemite?”

“Stop it, Ash,” she said with another eye roll. “I’m engaged to you, OK? And I do take it seriously. Can’t you just trust me?”

“If you can stop going out with other guys.”

“All right, sure, whatever,” she responded. “I don’t want to fight, OK? I’m tired after today. Can’t we just try to have a good time?”

It looked like a smile was trying to break through concrete on Asher’s face. “Some Hasidic guy recommended this place to me. He said you can’t even tell that it’s kosher.”

“How would he know? Has he even tried unkosher food?” Leah found herself giggling again. She didn’t want to fight. She didn’t want to think about her bad day. She didn’t mind thinking about Alex, but she knew she had to be present here with her fiancé.

“Great question,” Asher asked. “I guess we will have to be the judges.”

He grabbed her hand and they walked together to the restaurant. She tried to focus on enjoying herself but she wondered if anything that Asher said was true, or if he really believed it was true. Did she not take this engagement seriously? Was she always upset about her job?

She wasn’t sure. But she did have to agree with one thing. She couldn’t tell that the food they were eating was kosher. Even the potato bread focaccia was good enough to eat during the rest of the year.