Dini did not voice the words that were screaming inside. Why not me? Why wasn’t I good enough for this position?

Dini stood on the sidewalk outside Ayala’s building, her head swiveling back and forth between Ayala and Bracha as she tried to process what was going on.

The cheery expression on Bracha’s face as she’d declared her decision to join Chesed Tzirel had dissolved into extreme discomfort — as awkward as the silence building between the three women.

Dini cleared her throat. “Since it seems I’m the only one out of the loop here,” she said, “care to enlighten me?”

Bracha looked at Ayala. “Go ahead. Since I’ve clearly — uh — made a mess of things?” She raised an eyebrow at Ayala, whose cheeks were brick red.

“No, you haven’t,” Ayala coughed out. “I have.”

She turned to Dini. “I feel terrible. Especially after I was the one who made such a big fuss about us being open with each other from now on.”

Dini pursed her lips. Uh, yeah. But that wasn’t what bothered her as much as the feeling that the two of them were teaming up over something and deliberately leaving her out.

“Medical liaison work, huh?” she asked Ayala. “Isn’t that what you do?”

Ayala squirmed. “It’s becoming too much for me to handle alone. I realized it would be helpful to bring on someone else to do this as well.”

Dini did not voice the words that were screaming inside. Why not me? Why wasn’t I good enough for this position? But Ayala answered the question anyway.

“It couldn’t be you, Dini,” she said. “I need you to keep doing what you’ve been doing. You’re so amazing at it.”

“What, coordinating meals?” Dini muttered. Eliana’s barb from months ago — “Right, you arrange meals for people who had a baby? That’s so sweet.” — hit her once again in all its humiliating force. Was that all Ayala thought she was good for, too? After everything?

“No. Fundraiser and marketer and volunteer coordinator. Oh, and event planner,” Ayala added with a smile.

Dini tried to smile back. It did sound impressive, the way Ayala put it. But… if that were really the case, why did she go to all this trouble to bring on Bracha behind Dini’s back?