“David!” Shoshana was laughing like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“You really thought this would bother me, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I mean...” She floundered, not sure what to say. She’d been joking when she goaded him with it, because she hadn’t expected him to actually pay attention to what she was saying. “You should hear what other people say is the kind of idiom that people pass right by, right? I wasn’t thinking.”
“And then you either had to say you were full of shit or tell the truth? A lesser woman would have pretended she didn’t know what I was talking about,” he said, sounding amused again. She felt something flutter in her stomach again. The butterflies were back. She grimaced, butterflies had no business being in her stomach.
“Well, I’m not a lesser woman,” she said, wishing she were clever enough to turn the phrase around. She envied Leah’s ability for witty banter sometimes.
“I’m getting that,” he said, and this time there was definitely a flutter. She felt as though she could feel him watching her face. As though he were looking at her the way he had at the oneg. As though she were the most fascinating person he’d ever seen. As though he wanted to say something but was too captivated.
“It’s very late to be calling someone,” she said, her tone low, but a little teasing. “I might have been asleep.”
“I did text first. I’m not a total jerk,” he pointed out, and she heard a sound that could have been clothing rustling. She wondered if he was laying in bed as well. If he was comfortable in a tumble of blankets and pillows, relaxed and listening to the sound of her voice.
“Right, right. My mistake,” she said, one of her hands snaking up to her hair. She curled a piece of hair absently around her fingers.
“There was a point, though,” he said, “to me texting so late, I mean.”
“It was the first chance you got?”
“Yes. That.” He chuckled and the sound was low in his throat. Shoshana snuggled deeper into the duvet, letting the sound trip down her spine. “And I wanted to ask if you’d like to go to lunch.”
Lunch.
* * *
David hadn’t been expecting the sound she made when he suggested they go to lunch. It was something between a wail and a growl. He sat up, or at least straightened a bit on the bed. He looked at his phone. Wondering if perhaps she’d stepped in something gross.
“Shoshana?”
“Lunch!” she said, and this time she was the one who was laughing.
“I’m sorry, did I say something wrong? Do you not eat lunch?” he was thoroughly confused. What did the woman have against lunch?
“No, its--” she broke off. Was silent for a moment and then she was speaking in a rush.
His brow knit as he tried to follow her.
“My phone has been going off nonstop since I left the oneg, right? And it’s been all these women. And I mean, it’s cool, that’sfine, but they all, and I meanallhave wanted me to go to lunch. And that’s great, lunch is good, I like lunch, everybody’s got to eat, but I really do not think I can manage--”
“Okay, so not lunch,” David said, a little surprised at the outburst, but willing to go with it, “Do people do coffee in this town?”
“Yes, but I have to warn you, Leah runs the only shop worth a damn.”
“Is that-she’s a friend of yours, right?” He wondered if he should be keeping score or mapping this out.
“Yeah, she’s one of my best friends. But I thought maybe you wouldn’t want an audience,” she said, more quietly now. He rubbed his forehead, knowing he was definitely missing something here but not sure what he was supposed to be piecing together.
“Shoshana, do you not want to be seen with me?”
“God, no, it’s not that,” she said, letting out a long breath. “This is a small, okay small-ishtown. You know that, right?”
“I think I may have noticed that,” he said.
“And the Jewish community is even smaller,” she said, and something in the way she said it, made her sound utterly resigned to what she was saying, “Most of the time that’s great, you know? But sometimes it can feel like living in a fishbowl. And I don’t want you to feel like that.”
“Ah,” he said, because there wasn’t a lot else he could say to that. “You know this isn’t my first pulpit, right?”