Chapter 23 A Birthday surprise

In the next month, a day didn’t go by without Leah thinking about what her mother had told her. It was such a shock, maybe the biggest shock in her young life, and she simply could not wrap her head around it. It made no sense. But at the same time, it did. It made perfect sense and explained so much about how her mother had been acting about holidays, about Gabe, and her engagement with Asher.

Leah wanted to understand better, to learn more details of her mother’s first marriage, but she didn’t know how to ask the questions that kept circling in her mind. She wasn’t even sure she was able to put the questions into coherent words that could be asked of her mother. So over the next month, they hadn’t discussed it.

Whenever they spoke or texted, it was all about wedding plans—Savannah and Michelle were calling to schedule visits to different venues or find out whether Leah had had any more thoughts about the style of dress she wanted and if she wanted to go try some more on somewhere else. They talked about Leah’s work, which Leah was careful now to try to appreciate the good things about her job instead of focusing on the bad, or they talked about the synagogue gossip that Savannah was so tuned into. Apparently, the kissing disease was spreading around this year’s b’nai mitzvah class! Those 13-year-olds couldn’t stop kissing each other! You weren’t like that at their age, were you Leah? You weren’t all kissing each other at 13!

Leah hadn’t even talked to her sister Shira about it yet, because she didn’t know how to bring it up. “Hey, did you know mom was married once before Dad to a non-Jew?” It just seemed like a weird thing to bring up in conversation, even though every time they talked Leah felt the urge to say something. She’d say something next time, she told herself every time she hung up the phone.

And her chance came again that afternoon when her phone rang.

“Happy birthday!” Shira sang into the phone when Leah answered quietly from her desk. Leah looked around and decided her birthday was a good enough excuse to sneak out to the bathroom for a few minutes to talk to her sister.

“Thanks,” Leah responded in a more normal voice once Shira finished singing and she was safely hidden in a bathroom stall.

“How are you celebrating?” Shira asked.

“We’re going to happy hour after work and then Asher and I are going to dinner somewhere,” Leah said hastily.

“Cool,” Shira said. “Hey, is everything all right? You sound off.”

“I’m hiding in the bathroom at work,” Leah said with a forced giggle.

“No, I mean, like, not just right now, but in general, like is everything OK? You and Asher?”

It’s hard to hide things from a big sister. Shira could always tell and Leah thought that this was her chance. She hadn’t thought of taking her chance while hiding in a bathroom on her birthday, but she wasn’t sure there could be a better time.

“Shira, did you know that Mom was married before Dad?” Leah asked. “To someone not Jewish.”

Shira was silent on the other end of the line. “That explains a lot.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I once found an old picture of Mom with another guy and I asked her who it was and she got really angry. And one time Bubbe made some comment to Mom about how she didn’t deserve any inheritance because she was a divorcee. I just thought Bubbe was being crazy.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Leah asked.

“What was there to tell? I was young, you were younger and I didn’t really understand anything. It makes sense now if what you’re telling me is true,” Shira said. When Leah was quiet, Shira asked the question that Leah was afraid to ask herself. “Does that affect your decision to marry Asher?”

Leah didn’t know. She wasn’t sure if this new piece of information filtered how she saw her own engagement. Or her break up with Gabe which seemed to find a place in her thoughts much more often than it should while she was supposed to be wedding planning.

“Don’t think too much of it,” Shira continued talking into the silence. “Mom’s past has nothing to do with your decisions. Don’t make any life decisions based on it, OK? If you love Asher and you’re happy then everything is good. Try to enjoy your birthday! Your last one as a single girl!”

Leah broke into a smile. “Thanks, Shira.” She hung up the phone and snuck quietly back to her desk, wondering if Shira was right. Was she putting too much weight on what her mother had done thirty years ago? Why did it matter so much? Leah didn’t know why it felt like it mattered, but for some reason it did.

“Hey,” Leah heard a whisper coming from behind her. “Happy Birthday!” It was Brittany. “Are we still going out tonight to celebrate?” Brittany asked with a big smile. Leah and Brittany had become friends, but no one in the office would have known it because no one socialized in this office or discussed anything except work. But Brittany and Leah sometimes texted during the day and Leah had been keeping up with her morning runs twice a week with Brittany. Sometimes they talked about work, but neither ever complained. There was like some hidden rule that no one complained about work at Teen Club as though Marnie heard all the conversations between her employees no matter where they were. Often they talked about boys, Leah about Asher and Brittany about whomever she was meeting later from one of the apps she was on.

“Yes!” Leah responded.

“I can’t wait to meet Asher!” Brittany smiled. “I’ll meet you after work downstairs.” Brittany went back to her desk with the other researchers and Leah turned back to her computer where she was reading entries sent in by readers on the “biggest back to school blunders.” They had received thousands of messages and Leah was to choose the top ten and even those she was supposed to edit down to a few sentences. Most of the entries were repetitive—girls getting their periods at inopportune moments in less opportune clothing, or girls tripping in front of their crushes. She’d been reading entries for three days already and she had yet to find one original or entertaining entry.

When the workday ended, she turned off her computer and quietly left her desk at the same time as the other reporters. They all smiled at each other like friends, but no one was really friends.

When Leah arrived in the building lobby, Brittany was somehow already there with a balloon. “Yay! Time to celebrate!” She handed the balloon to Leah.

“Wow,” Leah thanked her and the girls started walking out.

“What’s with the balloon?” A male voice said from behind them. It was Alex, walking out of the building with Mark.

“It’s my birthday,” Leah said.

“Happy birthday!” both boys said. “You have to let us buy you a drink,” Alex continued. “Where are we going?”

Leah looked at Brittany to gauge her expression. Even after a few months of friendship, Leah didn’t exactly know what had happened between Brittany and Alex or why whatever it was had ended.

“We’re going to Mercury in Midtown,” Brittany said. “If you come, you’re buying me a drink too.”

“Fair enough,” Alex agreed and the four of them started walking out. Asher, Maya, and Kevin were all supposed to meet Leah there after work and Leah thought it was probably a good thing for Alex and Mark to come along so Brittany wouldn’t just be a fifth wheel.

“Happy birthday, Leah,” someone whispered from behind them and Leah now turned to see Malcolm rushing out of the elevator. “Are you going out? Can I buy you a Dark ‘N Stormy? You’ll really like it.”

Why not? Leah thought and Malcolm joined their group as they walked together to the subway. They pushed through the crowded subway platform like real New Yorkers and balanced themselves as the train jolted and halted for no apparent reasons.

At their Midtown stop, they got off and walked to the bar. Leah knew Asher and Kevin were already there saving a table at the popular happy hour destination. It was just a question of finding them once they were inside.

Leah looked around the dark bar where full tables were almost touching in every spot of the room. She noticed Asher’s curly hair just as she noticed the blonde hair right behind him. It couldn’t be. Of all the bars and all the happy hours in New York, how was it possible that they were at the same one? And right next to each other, no less?

It’s said that even with millions of people in Manhattan, it is impossible to live there without running into people—especially your exes—on a regular basis. And here she was about to celebrate her birthday with her fiancé, right next to her ex, the goyfriend.