“It’s good!” He filled her in on the hotel, the food, the lectures, and, because he knew she loved it, the compliments he’d been getting on his davening and how excited people were for his upcoming performance. “I even got taken in by the family of a guy I used to know for the Sedarim, so don’t worry—I’m being well taken care of.”
“I’m so glad to hear that, Judah. Are you… meeting anyone nice?”
His mom had always had a way of asking withoutreallyasking how dating was going. He opened his mouth to laugh it off, the way he always did, when it occurred to him that it wouldn’t be totally off base to say yes and would probably make his mom’s life.
But it was also entirely possible this whole thing with Mira would fizzle out by the end of the week, and he’d have gotten her hopes up for nothing.
“Meeting lots of nice people,” he said, hedging and pretending not to hear her quiet little sigh. “Hey, is Akiva still there?”
“He is. Do you want to talk to him?”
“Please. But I’ll call you again before Shabbos, okay?”
“Sounds good. Enjoy yourself, honey.”
A minute later, a new voice came over the line. “Hey, Jude. How’s Mexico?”
“Hot. How’s Mom’s?”
“Same old. Excellent matzo balls, but I never want to chokedown another potato. Guessing it wasn’t quite as extravagant as that program.”
“TheTitanicwasn’t as extravagant as this program. They could cut the buffet in half, and you wouldn’t notice.”
“Oh man, that sounds so much better than two days of matzo brei for lunch.”
“Next year, I’ll get it in my contract that you guys can come,” Judah vowed, irritated at himself for not thinking of it earlier. He’d always thought of these programs as his way of taking care of the holidays for himself as an adult, but who cared? Akiva went home. Arielle went home. The Winklers were there as a family. Why did he have to be solo when no one else was?
“That’d be cool,” Akiva said. “Pick somewhere good. Bear in mind I’ve never been to Greece.”
“Noted. I’ll get us something nice in New Jersey.”
Akiva snorted. “Cute. Anyone fun there? Anyone I know?”
“If you remember Benny Winkler, I bumped into him on the first day. He’s here with his whole family. He has a sister who’s a couple of years younger than you. Do you know her? Mira?”
“Doesn’t sound familiar. She single? Cute? You hittin’ that?”
“God, I should never have told you anything about my personal life,” Judah said with a sigh. “Yes, she’s single. Yes, she’s cute. No, I’m not hitting anything, but I’ve… been getting to know her a little bit. She’s nice.”
“I have to admit, I didn’t think you’d move on from Ari that fast.”
“This isn’t—” Judah took a deep breath, the mention of Ari like a kick to the gut. “It’s not like she and I broke up. We were having fun, and now it’s over, and I’m trying to take my life and my future seriously.”
“Okay, but if I were having the kind of fun you two were apparently having, I don’t think I’d be giving up on it as fast as you are.”
A lump formed in Judah’s throat, and he forced a swallow past it. “What do you know about it?”
“I know Danny’s room is right above Ari’s, and he’s had a complex for the past week that he never made her sound the way the mystery guy who was in her room on Sunday has. I’ve never been so proud and disgusted at the same time.”
Judah didn’t know whether to feel smug or horrified, but the former was winning out, and he allowed himself a little grin of satisfaction, grateful Akiva couldn’t see it. “I’m not saying it wasn’t a great week; I’m just—”
“I’m sorry, did you sayweek?”
Crap.“I’m just saying, we agreed that was it: to get this whole thing out of our systems and move on. So that’s what I’m doing.”
“Just so I’m clear, you spent an entire week getting down and dirty with Arielle Becker, but now it’s entirely out of your system, and you’re very happily moving on to a ‘nice’ girl you just met.”
“How do you manage to make ‘nice’ sound like a death sentence?”
