Hey, Deena! I saw your post about the Succos tour, and ……… GUESS WHAT?! You totally convinced me and I think I’m signing up!

Pessie never answered phone calls while training clients. But Sima Porges had stopped to rest for a few minutes, and it was her mother, so she took the call.

“Hey, Pessie, where am I catching you?”

“I’m working,” Pessie said. “Anything important?”

“Oh, not important, I don’t want to interrupt. I just had this idea to book a place upstate for the entire family for Shabbos Nachamu. I called a few places — I need to give an answer today. Call me when you’re done.”

“Sure.”

It was only after she hung up the phone and got Sima started on the next round of cardio that it hit her: Shabbos Nachamu?

Shabbos Nachamu, Touring Together would be across the ocean, in Greece.

With Yochi hosting all of his delighted guests.

Why did this have to happen? They were just getting back into a comfortable routine, she and Yochi — really, when they weren’t on opposite ends of the universe, things were okay between them — she did not need this new headache.

And Yochi was trying so hard. Several guests had generously tipped him at the end of the tour, including that Oh No guy, and Yochi had taken her to a silver store to buy a leichter with that money. He wanted to make her happy, this wasn’t his fault.

But fault or not, she was going to be on her own at the Hartstein family Shabbaton.

Pessie lowered herself into a squatting position, indicating for Sima to follow her. Burpees, here we go.

Her breath quickened as she kicked her legs back, jumped up, then returned to a squatting position. Plank, push-up, squat.

So this was it. Welcome to her new life. Her whole family would drive up to the mountains, while Yochi — Yochi would tell her to take a taxi, to enjoy her sisters’ company, we’ll have our own getaway on Succos, right?

Sima, panting heavily, slowed her pace and glanced at Pessie. “Everything all right?” she asked.

Pessie gave a slight nod. Then she reached for the speaker and cranked the volume up to the loudest. The music drowned out her weighted sigh, and she muttered, “Everything will be all right. One day…”