“You look awful” Suri blurted out. “Are you okay?”

Aviva gave her a curt nod. “I’m fine. Just out a bit too early for my taste. I had to ask Chavi for help getting everyone out of the house and she did not appreciate it.” Aviva bit her lip as if she hadn’t intended to say that last part and then tried to laugh it off. “Teenage girls — you know how they are.”

Suri laughed along even though she felt she was doing a disservice to her Miri who was always happy to help out. Then again how much help did she need — her boys were old enough to be self-sufficient.

Time for a change of subject.

“So” she said locking the office door and sinking down in a chair. “Yael. What do we do?” She’d decided last night that she would be careful not to assign blame. She wanted this meeting to be productive.

Aviva rubbed her temple. “Way I see it” she said closing her eyes “there are three issues at hand here. One do we want to accept her resignation or insist she come back? Two if she resigns what does that do to us financially? And three ” she opened her eyes “how are you such a tzadeikes not to scream ‘I told you so’ when this was totally my fault?”

Suri’s face grew warm. “Thanks” she murmured.

Aviva cleared her throat. “Starting with that second topic… Don’t mean to be crude but we do need to think about the monetary implications of her leaving. Up till now we’ve had a real bonanza with Mr. Jeren backing us. We could never have built our building — never even gotten started — without his donations. So obviously if she leaves that dries up. And that’s not simple.”

“He even made it a condition of the donation” Suri added.

Aviva waved her hand. “That has no legal standing. I checked.”

“What about menschlichkeit?”

Aviva narrowed her eyes. “Let’s please remember here that we didn’t fire her. She quit. How can he have tainehs on us?”

Suri raised an eyebrow and Aviva gave a short laugh. “Okay so he will have tainehs on us of course.” She sighed. “The real question is how much do we try to bring back a therapist who isn’t really up to snuff just to get access to Daddy-in-Law’s cash?”

Suri rubbed her shoe against the floor silent. The way Aviva put it it seemed clear what the ethical decision was. She sighed. “I don’t know. It still feels… how can we just accept her resignation like that? After all we’ve been through together? This clinic is hers as much as it’s ours.”

Aviva raised her eyebrows. “In hard cash it’s a lot more hers. But in everything else? We both know whose soul and sweat has gone into building this and it’s not hers.”