Page 61 of The Dating Contract

“There’s a catch though,” Liam said, as if he’d sensed Samuel’s eagerness. Then again, Samuel figured it was pretty obvious how attractive this idea, even in theory, was. “So you have to think about this.”

“Thinking,” he said with a smile. “But I need to know what the catch is before thinking further.”

“See this is special. We…want to lean in to the idea of making this series, this poster, a commitment to Jewish fans, bits of Easter eggs tied to Jewish culture…”

“Afikomen, you mean. Not Easter eggs.”

“Right,” Liam said with a smile. “Can’t be Easter eggs if we’re talking Jewish content. Yes, a-fi-KO-men. Right. Anyway. So one of the things we want is the kind of lettering that’s traditional. The stuff you do when you’re not working on posters.”

“You mean,” Samuel said as if he needed to double-check the words coming out of Liam’s mouth, “you want me to mix and match and incorporate microcalligraphy, for example, with comic lettering?”

“Yes. Exactly. We want these posters to scream ‘we’re not playing’—show that Jewish content, this story and these characters mean something to us. Which is why we’d need you. You in?”

He wanted to say yes immediately, on the spot. Wasn’t this the culmination of his work up until now?

The training on both sides—the lettering and the sofering (if that was even a word?)

It felt almost too good to be true.

Except he’d been around the industry—creative industries in general—long enough to know that projects like this one always, without fail, were not only complex, but also came with strings, no matter how clear the ideas seemed at the outset There were schedules and the workload of his other projects and commitments to take into account.

Including the offer from Virginia of the Sefer Torah.

Which he had to respond to in some fashion, and soon.

But Liam didn’t need to know that. What he did need to hear was more concrete. “When do I need to make my decision?”

“Think about it. I’ve got to do a bit more finessing on this end to get all the loose ends tied up. When I get that done, I’ll call you and we’ll talk more about things. But more importantly, you’ll be at the party this week?”

Samuel nodded. “I will be.”

“And you’re bringing the girl you took to comic con?”

Samuel nodded. “Leah. Yes.”

“Good. She’s family. Don’t mess it up.”

Samuel laughed. “Funny thing. Trying to figure out how to fix it if I do?”

“All I know,” Liam said with a laugh, “is that you have to be prepared to talk, to make yourself look silly to make her smile. Friend of mine walked around in the middle of his girl’s hometown wearing a menorah on his head to convince her how serious he was.”

“That is…”

“It’s what she needed,” Liam said. “I know someone else burned his fingers trying to make a necklace, let alone how he agonized over the engagement ring because his girl wouldknowbad from good jewelry.”

Samuel nodded. “Do what she likes. You mean? Learn her language?”

“That is exactly what I’m saying,” Liam replied. “Don’t tell her what I talked to you about. But everything else. You know.”

He did. At least he hoped he did. He’d find out if he could manage it all without losing his mind as they approached the party.

Not to mention, it wasn’t strange that the first person he wanted to talk to as soon as he got this news was her?

Was it?

Even though he couldn’t be anything more than vague about it?

All the same, he wanted her to share his excitement, even if he couldn’t exactly explain why he was excited.

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