Even if he paid her rent, even if he didn’t pay Leah’s: Was it a crime to spend $12 on lunch once in a while?

Two hours, six phone calls, and a whole bunch of muttered

Shir Hamaalos later, Kornig’s rate was locked in.

Absently, Raizy stuck her hand into the bag of pretzels on her desk, but all she felt were salty crumbs. Hmm. She was exultant about Kornig — and absolutely starving.

What was it they used to call those half-hour pauses at Union Funding, from one to one thirty? Oh right, lunch breaks.

She leaned back in her chair and stretched. It was 2:10, and the last thing she’d eaten had been that bag of pretzels, at ten in the morning. Her stomach growled. If she didn’t eat now, who knew when she’d have a chance to eat something normal next? At four, she’d rush to pick up Yitzchok from Morah and Chavi from the babysitter. And after that would be one long stretch of madness until the two of them were in bed and she could sit down for supper with Yechiel.

Besides, she was eating for two these days, she shouldn’t forget that, right?

Okay, this was ridiculous. Why in the world did she need to justify eating? She laughed inwardly at her own absurdity. Then she heard Yechiel’s voice distantly chiding her. You need to take along lunch to work. You pack up such nice meals for me every day, why don’t you just make double and take some along for yourself as well?

There was no logical answer to that question, except that when she was making her husband’s food at night, she was never in the mood for tuna, avocado, or egg salad. In fact, these days, she gagged straight through the whole lunch-making process.

Well, she was in the mood now. For tuna. Like, very, very, very.

As if she read minds, Raizy’s sister Leah texted that moment. Uber Eats was created for lazy people like me. Raizy zoomed into the photo: A salad with chunks of salmon, a pasta, a pastry, and… was that a boba drink?

Please come share so I don’t eat all this myself, Leah wrote.

With Uber Eats taxes and fees, Raizy appraised this lunch at approximately $65. Well, Leah. Her last name was Steiner, and to a Steiner, $65 was spare change.