Akiva had the sudden realization that he had no idea where he was going. It was 2 p.m. on a Monday, and he had nowhere to be

IT

was too hot. Akiva pulled at his collar; sweat dripped down his forehead.

“You need to get central,” he told Baruch.

Baruch ignored this.

“I’m in shock. Mr. Prince of the Golden Kingdom didn’t really walk away. This must just be an elaborate, terrible prank, Akiva. Have I taught you nothing since good old Beis-Mich days?”

Akiva gave his friend a half smile. “Oh, you’ve taught me a lot. Maybe a bit too much? Walking away from everything Frankel might have had a thing or two to do with you.

“So by the way, if we end up miserable, we’d like a full refund on this whole independence thing.”

Baruch grinned. “You mean you’d like your money back?”

Akiva laughed out loud, but then the words he’d just uttered repeated themselves in his head. End up miserable… oh, no, were he and Libby going to end up miserable?

He reached out and grabbed Baruch by the forearms. “Baruch! Am I going to fail? I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Baruch pulled himself out of Akiva’s grasp. “Welcome to the real world. It’s terrifying. You’re going to love it.”

Baruch did what he always did when he knew Akiva was at the end of his rope: He reached for the battered box containing the backgammon game.

But this time, it did nothing to calm Akiva’s nerves. “What am I going to do?” he kept repeating. “I’ve lost my mind, right? This is insanity?”

“Just do what you’ve always dreamed of doing but never dared,” Baruch advised, moving a piece.

Akiva sat, stunned.

“Is it strange,” he asked slowly, “that I’ve never dreamed of anything?”

Brauch looked at him, all the humor gone from his eyes. “Not strange, Akiva. Just really sad.”