Should she call Rebbetzin Weiss? She’d been putting it off so long, it’d become a permanent fixture on her to-do list, almost like that random stack of papers on the kitchen table that sat there week after week. Today, though, she was actually annoyed. How could Yonah drift back into his bad habits like that? Ever since the Great Hospital Incident, they’d been so careful with each other. Their voices were always extra polite, she smiled a lot, he bought her little treats. As though each of them was saying, “See, I’m nice, we’re good, nothing happened.”

And Estee truthfully believed it wasn’t as big a deal as Yonah had made it out to be. But today, she was tired, her feet hurt, and she was all out of patience.

You know what’s a great segulah for getting up on time for Shacharis? Don’t stay up until 2:30 reading Lord of the Rings.

She had to leave for her shoot in 45 minutes. Chani Goldberg had sounded sweet and enthusiastic on the phone, and Estee was determined to make this shoot such a success that Chani would not stop raving to all of her friends about how amazing it was to work with Estee Rosen.

But until then… she pulled out her phone and jabbed in the number she now knew by heart from all her time procrastinating over it.

“Hello?”

Ohmigosh, she needed to respond. “Hi, hello? Uh, Rebbetzin Weiss?”

“Yes?”

Words. She needed words. “My name is Estee Lef– Rosen. Estee Rosen. And I’m married almost a year. And baruch Hashem, he’s, uh, great. And we’re great. Wait, sorry, is this a good time?”

Rebbetzin Weiss laughed, a loud, happy sound. “Hi, Estee. It’s a fine time, I’m just tackling some dishes. You’re lucky, I’m usually teaching now but my class was canceled. So how can I help you, Estee?”

Estee adjusted her grip on the phone; her hand was all sweaty. She needed to sit down. “Oh! Baruch Hashem. Okay, thanks. So, as I was saying, I’m in shanah rishonah. Which is great. But I’m thinking… maybe I need, like, a little uh, chizuk? Or, you know, to learn some tools?”

She bit her lip. Had she gotten her point across? She was asking to be mentored without asking to be mentored.

“Estee, I hear you. It sounds like we’re not talking about dysfunction here, right? No giant red flags?”

Estee thought about this. Were there any red flags? No. No, she knew there weren’t, no matter how annoyed she got.

“No, nothing like that.”

“Okay, good. Glad to hear it. Estee, why don’t we meet next week? At my house? Is Monday at ten good for you?”

She swallowed. “Yes! Yes, that would be great. Thank you so much, Rebbetzin.”

The laugh again. “I hope I can help. See you then.”

Estee stared at the now silent phone. She’d done it! She’d put on her big girl shoes and done something for herself all by herself! She couldn’t remember the last time she’d made a scary phone call herself. It’d always been her mother, and more recently, Yonah. But here she was.

Was this what growing up felt like? Because she wasn’t sure she liked it. Too sweaty. But she was definitely proud.

Yonah’s phone pinged as he was reaching his front door. Never enter the house on the phone — he knew that. He took a step back to read the message.

Parshah and poppers tonight! And bring your father — looking forward! E.W.

Oh, ha. Like Estee was going to like him going out at night, after they hadn’t seen each other all day. But maybe the fact that his father would be joining would soften the blow. He’d have to feel it out.

The house was warm and cozy; he smelled something rich and delicious. He poked his head into the kitchen. Estee was there, looking domestic in an apron. He felt a genuine smile burst onto his face; she smiled back.

“Hey, you.”

“Hi! How was your day?”

“Long,” they said at the exact same time.

“Jinx!” they shouted.

Yonah froze. Estee stared at him. “What are you doing?”

He spoke from the corner of his mouth. “You have to freeze when someone shouts jinx.”

Estee smirked. “Nu uh! You have to say their name.”

“Only after you freeze!”

“That’s ridiculous.”

And they argued about this very important topic as they chopped salad side by side, all the way until supper.

And when Estee washed the dishes, a smile still firmly on her face, she wondered if she had jumped the gun by calling Rebbetzin Weiss. They were a terrific couple! Yonah was so amazing. Why involve someone in their personal lives and complicate things?

To be continued…

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1041)