Chapter 2 Bashert at a Single’s Event

"I should never have come here alone," Leah thought to herself when she entered the room. When she left her apartment, she had so much confidence—she was a powerful young woman! Starting the life she'd always dreamed of! She didn't need the protection of friends or a boy to have fun! But after getting accosted in the Subway station, and being called a tourist, she really just wanted to go back to her apartment and find the fluffy blanket she still hadn't unpacked. But she was here, so she forced herself to walk inside. The crowd was completely partitioned into little pockets of people drinking and laughing as though each was hearing their very own comedy routine. How would she ever find her way into one of those pockets?

"Welcome to Chabad's Young Jewish Professionals! Is this your first time here?" A smiley woman said as she approached her. Leah would have called her a girl—she didn't seem that much older, except that she was wearing a wig, a telltale sign in this community that she was married and probably a thousand times more mature than Leah. Thankful for the friendly greeting, Leah nodded and smiled. "I'm Hannah! I'm so happy you're here! Are you new to New York? Let me introduce you to some people!"

Leah nodded and followed Hannah toward the pockets. Her heart started to race as Hannah led her through the crowd as though carefully choosing who to introduce Leah to. Hannah scanned a group and her eye twitched as she pulled Leah forward toward another group of people. "Hey everyone!" Hannah broke into a pocket that immediately absorbed her and Leah as though they had always belonged there. "Hannah!" "How are you?" "How have you been feeling?" It was evident that Hannah did actually belong.

"I'm so great! I want you all to meet someone," Hannah smiled at Leah and everyone mirrored her expression. "She's new here in New York." Leah wondered how Hannah knew since she hadn't had a chance to answer her question, but she figured it was obvious from the way she looked. A real New Yorker would have had more confidence walking into an event alone. "This is Mark, Sarah, Rachel, Dan, Yoni, and Becca." Everyone smiled and waved as Hannah introduced them.

"I'm Leah," she croaked, wondering how long it would be before she would fit into one of these pockets, or better yet, be like Hannah and be able to flutter between them seamlessly .

"Where are you from, Leah?" Mark asked. Or maybe it was Dan, Leah had already forgotten all the names and she feared she'd never make friends if she couldn't manage that basic courtesy.

"Upstate." She said, trying to loosen up. Maybe they would be her friends, they were interested in where she was from at least!

"Cool," Mark or Dan responded.

"What brings you here?" Becca or Rachel asked.

"I just graduated and wanted to live in New York, you know. It's like the dream."

"Totally," Becca or Rachel agreed and Hannah smiled as she motioned that she was going to continue mingling around, leaving Leah in the pocket.

Leah waited for the next question. Maybe they'd ask her what she was doing in New York or where she graduated from, but then Yoni jumped in. "Did you guys hear what happened to Shlomo at the FIDF gala?"

"Oh My God, I was there!" "It was so embarrassing!" "What happened?!" All eyes were now on Yoni as he began to tell a story that started with Shlomo drinking too much from the open bar. Leah stopped listening and her eyes wandered around the room. She realized she was probably the only person there without a drink in hand, and a drink would probably make her much more interesting to these potential friends while helping her relax, so she silently excused herself and found the bar in the back of the room.

The bartender was a tall man wearing a yarmulke with his sleeves rolled up. He smiled at her when she approached. "Hi, can I get a Long Island?"

He laughed. "Sorry, I'm not a real bartender. We take turns working the bar at these things. Can I offer you something simpler?"

Leah felt her cheeks turn red and her mouth drop open.

"How about a red wine?" he asked, already pouring the drink into a long-stemmed glass. "By the way, I'm Shlomo. You new here?"

Shlomo. The name rang a bell and Leah tried to remember if he had been standing in the pocket Hannah had introduced her to. No! Shlomo had been the cause of excitement at the FIDF event that Yoni was talking about! Leah felt even more embarrassed knowing this about him.

"Yes." She said holding the ‘s' a little too long. "Leah." He offered her the wine and she took a sip.

"You'll get to know everyone once you start coming to more of these events. It's a lot of fun and a great way to meet people."

"Like the FIDF gala?" She instantly covered her mouth.

"What?" Another girl approached the bar .

"Hey, can I have a glass of wine, please?"

"Of course, my specialty cocktail coming up!" Shlomo poured a glass of wine for the girl. Leah looked over at her and smiled. She smiled back and Leah knew this was her chance.

"Do you go to a lot of these events?" she asked, suddenly feeling extremely lame.

"No, but I promised my mom I'd go to at least one Jewish event a month, so here I am." The girl rolled her eyes and took a sip of her wine. "Thanks," she said to Shlomo and started walking away.

Leah followed her, keeping her wine close to her lips. "How long have you been in New York?"

"About a year. You?"

"I just got here today."

"Wow. You must be really excited." Her tone made Leah unsure if excitement was a good thing.

"I am." She hoped it was. "I don't really know anybody here, so I was hoping to meet some people."

"Everyone comes to these things to find their bashert , but they all just stand around and gossip with their friends."

Leah laughed. "Yeah, apparently the bartender got really drunk at the FIDF gala."

"They all get really drunk."

"So why does your mom want you to go to these things? "

"To meet my husband!" The girl scoffed. "But I'm telling you, my husband is definitely not here."

"Mine neither." The girls both laughed.

"I'm Maya."

"Leah."

"Leah, what are we doing here?"

Leah shrugged. "Trying to meet people?" She looked around at all the pockets, everyone still deep in conversations with very few people besides Hannah moving between groups.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen. Want to go get something to eat? We're right by Curry Hill."

"Curry Hill?"

"All the Indian restaurants. Do you like Indian food?"

Leah nodded, although she wasn't sure she'd ever had Indian food. But if liking Indian food would make her Maya's friend, she'd eat anything.

"Great, let's go." Maya and Leah finished their wines and left the glasses on a small table by the door on their way out.

"Thanks for coming ladies! I hope we see you again soon!" Hannah called out to them. The girls both waved back with friendly smiles and then rolled their eyes at each other. Leah's heart was pumping. Her first New York event was a success! No, she didn't meet her husband, she met someone so much better! A friend! It was still to be determined which friend Maya would be (probably a Miranda by what she knew so far), but this was a great start.