Page 15 of The Dating Contract

“I…” He paused, doing his best to explain the situation to his brother. “I was desperate.”

The smug expression on his brother’s face was expected. “Desperate and hopeful?”

That was his brother. “Desperate first,” he said. “But then I once I realized what I’d done, I was hopeful.”

“Why are you hopeful, exactly?”

Samuel tried to piece his feelings into coherent words. “I treated Leah horribly all those years ago. And I feel like it’s important to apologize for what happened. I did her extremely wrong in a very public manner, Aaron. And this…seeing her at the expo and at the gallery last night? It has to mean something. All of this might be my only chance to do as much healing as she’ll let me do. Fate, bashert…whatever it is, I’m being given a chance. I need to take it.”

Aaron replied with a deep belly laugh that made Samuel feel three inches tall. “Are you kidding?”

“No.” At least he thought he wasn’t.

“You have to listen to yourself, brother of mine,” Aaron continued. “Because that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard. This isn’t a Yiddish drama or one of those HeartPix movies. You and Leah were a toxic high school disaster. Both of you should be over this by now. She’s probably living her life, having processed this already, like an adult.”

“The breakup and the reasons for the breakupweretoxic,” he replied, focusing on the word that stuck out like a sore thumb. “Not to mention, I haven’t seen her since then. Until now. This…us coming back into each other’s orbits, wasn’t an accident, Aaron. And I didn’t want to make it a missed opportunity.”

“Interesting, but I disagree. Thewhole thingwas a toxic disaster even though we didn’t use those words back then. And you haven’t seen her because you and she didn’tworktogether as people. You were clinical. You’re…flat; she’s tough and so you ended up toxic.”

His brother was usually a good judge of people and their personalities, but he’d never expected to hear Aaron talk about Leah in ways that made it clear he’d never understood her, which wasn’t a discussion he wanted to have with Aaron, ever. Now he settled for the most important thing. “No matter what, we’re now adults and I’d like to heal things because I have the chance.”

“You know what I think?” Aaron asked.

“No,” Samuel replied, knowing he was going to hear his brother’s thoughts whether or not he wanted to.

“You’re going backwards instead of forwards and not focusing on the big picture. You’re succeeding in business. Judith’s ketubah is not bashert. Do your job. You’re getting more commissions and you’re getting more successful. Don’t blow it.”

Samuel nodded, but this situation with his life and with Leah was much more. And he had no desire to explain to Aaron some of the other intricacies that surrounded him and Leah, the things that seemed to be pulling them closer despite themselves.

But more importantly, it wasn’t Aaron’s assessment of the situation he had to focus on; it was Leah’s and the email she’d sent him.

*

Leah adjusted herblazer over her dress and stepped into her heels.

Armor.

Her makeup and hair were perfect. The papers she’d pulled together the night before—the ones that brought tangible proof of what she contributed to the agency—were organized in a binder.

Now she checked the time.

She was ready.

She left her office and headed to see Gabriel ‘Call me Bruck’ Brucker. He was the head of the agency, and had been her boss and mentor for a long time. He’d held the door open for her when she left to go to law school, smoothed the path when she’d come back. Now she was ready for the next step.

At 10 a.m. sharp, she knocked on the door of his office.

“Come in.”

He sat relaxed behind his desk, smiling up at her. “Leah. Good morning.”

“Good morning, Bruck,” she said. “Thank you for agreeing to this meeting.”

“Of course. We’ve known each other a long time.” He paused and she met his eyes across the desk. “What’s on your mind?”

Right to the point. She sat down on a chair in front of his desk, put the papers on her lap. “The future.”

“I see,” he said. “How’s the women’s sports angle going?”

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