The Goy Next Door (Girl Meets Goy #2)

Chapter 29 Leah’s last chance

The subway couldn’t have gone any slower uptown as Leah sat impatiently waiting for her stop. When it finally arrived all the way up at 96 th street, she burst through the doors and up the stairs and into the warm evening air. She zigzagged through the streets until she was in front of Gabe’s building. She pushed open the front door that was never locked but probably should have been and up the stairs until she reached his door.

Her heart was racing as she gently knocked, but then knocked more forcefully. She knocked again until she was sure that if he had been home, he would have answered by then. She stopped knocking and leaned against the door, wondering if she should wait for him. Maybe she should call him, but what would she say? No, she needed to see him in person. She pushed her back from the door and slowly walked through the building back out to the street.

The bodega next door was busy with people buying snacks and drinks. A dark bar had music wafting from the entrance. Tables sat on the sidewalk outside a restaurant where waiters were bustling around with giant platters. Leah stood still. Someone knocked past her to get into the building behind her.

She wasn’t sure how long she was waiting there. The air was getting cooler even though it was still warm enough that her clothes felt slightly sticky. Maybe it was time to go home.

With a sigh, she stepped away from the front of his building and started walking the short distance toward hers. When she approached the restaurant, she saw him. He was sitting at one of the small tables across from a blonde woman. There was a bottle of wine on the table and two almost empty glasses. How had she not noticed him there?

He’s on a date, she thought, immediately feeling stupid to think that Gabe might have been waiting for her all this time. It had been months since they had broken up, the time that had passed since their breakup had been significantly longer than the time they had been together. She certainly hadn’t waited for him, why should she have expected something different from him?

She stopped walking. Should she turn back and cross to the other side of the street to avoid him? Should she keep walking with her head down in hopes he wouldn’t notice her pass? Before she could make a decision, he looked up and caught her eye. He gave her a friendly nod and she felt herself melt. He’s on a date, Leah repeated to herself. Maybe it was serious with this woman, after all she had time to get engaged and unengaged, surely Gabe had time to develop a serious relationship.

Before he could see her fall apart, she turned around and walked as fast as she could away from him. It was out of her way, but she went all the way around the block just to avoid him and get back to her apartment.

When she opened the door, her roommate Marissa was sitting on the couch watching the TV that Asher had hung up for them. “Hey,” she said, as though she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t be doing. Then her tone changed. “Are you OK?”

Leah shook her head. She wasn’t sure how much she could share with her roommate, they had such a strange relationships. For the first few months of living together, they avoided each other completely. Marissa had barely left her room. And then when Marissa revealed that her friend had dated Gabe, it had only made the tension worse. But after Leah and Gabe broke up, the tension loosened. Leah wasn’t sure if it was related or just coincidental timing, but either way, Marissa had even sometimes been friendly when Asher was around.

“Boy troubles?” Marissa asked as Leah plopped down next to her on the couch where she, Marissa, and Asher had watched hours of reality TV. “Didn’t you and Asher break up?”

Leah nodded.

“That’s too bad, I liked him,” Marissa responded, her eyes still on the TV. Leah didn’t respond. She just stared, like Marissa, at the screen where girls wearing way too little clothing yelled at each other and explained themselves to the camera. It was disgusting and addicting. The episode ended and another one started and Leah didn’t move. The doorbell rang.

“Maybe Asher trying to make up?” Marissa asked and Leah shook her head. There was no way. Marissa stood up and walked to the door.

“What are you doing here?” she said in surprise and then looked back at Leah. “I think it’s for you.”

Leah looked up to see Gabe standing in the doorway. “Are you OK?” he asked. “You seemed sort of flushed and I guess I was a little worried about you.”

“I’m fine!” she said. “It was nothing! Just the heat!” She didn’t want to be dramatic or cause a scene, especially if Gabe was in a serious relationship with the blonde woman he was sitting with at the restaurant. But then again, if it was a serious relationship, why would he come to Leah’s apartment after?

He shrugged and looked back and forth between Leah and Marissa. “OK, well, sorry for interrupting then,” he turned around and left the doorway.

This was Leah’s last chance! If she wanted to take control of her destiny and choose her path, she had to tell Gabe how she felt. She had to tell him that she believed they could make it work. She jumped up from the couch and ran to the door that Marissa had already slammed shut. She swung it open and ran through to Gabe who was already out on the sidewalk.

“Gabe! Actually, I was looking for you,” she said.

“Well, I’m here,” he said. “What’s up?”

“I miss you,” she said. “And I know you’ve probably moved on from me, you’re dating that pretty blonde girl you were at the restaurant with, but I want to tell you that I think we can work. I know you’ll never be Jewish and there are certain things from my Jewish upbringing that I want to keep and pass on, and maybe that might be a problem for you. But I met a couple tonight with a Jewish woman and non-Jewish man and they figured it out! They talked about compromise and communication and said it was hard but it was worth it. And it made me think about you and how I believe that what we had was worth it and that we didn’t give it a real chance because I was too afraid of what my family would think. But I think my family would really like you if they gave you a chance. And I’m sorry if this is all totally out of line because you’ve moved on, but—”

Gabe put his hands on her shoulders. “It was just a first date,” he said. “I was looking for an excuse to leave, but I was being polite.”

Relief blanketed Leah and she took a breath for the first time since she’d started talking.

“Gabe, I want us to give it a real chance,” Leah said. She wanted to blurt out that she loved him, because she did, but maybe that was too much. They stood silently facing each other, Gabe’s hands on her shoulders, an intimate gesture that also kept them apart.

“That’s quite a lot to process,” he responded. “You understand that this relationship will get messy and complicated? That there will be arguments that we won’t be able to resolve? And that sometimes one of us will have to compromise on things that we believed are a part of who we are?”

Leah nodded. She understood it all. But what long-term relationships weren’t messy and complicated?

“I believe in us,” Leah said. “I want us to give it a real shot.”

Gabe nodded. “OK then,” he said.

“OK then?” she repeated with a giggle. The two least and yet most romantic words he could have said.

“OK then,” he repeated and pulled Leah in for a hug. They held tightly onto each other for a few moments before Leah tilted her head up and reached his lips. They were so soft yet electric, sending shock waves throughout her entire body. She kissed him hard. She had missed him! She had missed those kisses with passion and emotion shooting out in every direction.

Leah knew it wouldn’t be an easy road for them. And she knew most people would say she was young and that she shouldn’t make lifelong decisions at the age of 23, but wasn’t giving up on Gabe exactly that? A lifelong decision that she might come to regret? At least this way, she knew she had given it a try. If it worked, then they had beaten the odds, just like that nice couple at the Shabbat dinner. If not, then she’d know.

But all those thoughts were better saved for another day. For now, Leah was happy simply to be engulfed in Gabe’s arms and kiss him like she’d never kissed anyone before.