He wasn’t sure what he had done today to annoy Libby, but it was very possible the answer was “breathing”

HE had figured this new tekufah would be filled with firsts, but sweating over getting the rest of the money together to purchase a house to flip was far worse than what he’d envisioned.

“It kind of feels like Yom Kippur, does that make sense?” he asked Libby, as he wiped sweaty palms on his pant legs.

She looked up from her peeling. It had been a very long time since Akiva had seen her peel a potato.

“Mmmm,” she said.

He opened his mouth to elaborate. He wanted to explain how he was in limbo. He was waiting for something, hoping for something, but he had almost zero control over how it would turn out. And that scared the living daylights out of him.

Libby pointedly picked up her phone.

He closed his mouth.

He went to the island and began rummaging through the cutlery drawer.

“What are you doing?” Libby’s voice was icy.

“Looking for a peeler,” he said.

He expected gratitude or even just simply being handed a peeler. What he did not expect was a huff of disgust and her scraping her chair back and leaving the room.

Well, he better get to peeling, then.

At least it would take his mind off the house purchase.

He wasn’t sure what he had done today to annoy Libby, but it was very possible the answer was “breathing.”

He understood her, but he could really use a friend right now.

He picked up his phone to call Baruch. It pinged before he had a chance to dial.

You’ve got the loan. Bring an areiv at six.

Okay, well, now he had two reasons to call Baruch.