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“Tobey?”
Becky balanced a tupperware under one arm as she knocked on the door to Tobey’s house. “Tobey, it’s me, Becky. I, uh… please open the door.”
She quietly waited on the doorstep, biting her lip anxiously, until she heard the sound of the lock turning.
“Evening, Tobias,” Becky greeted with a wavering voice and a small smile.
“My name isn’t even Tobias,” Tobey huffed, but he looked ever-so-slightly happy to see her. “Are you going to come in?”
“Right.” Becky realized she’d been standing there for a few seconds now. She handed him the tupperware as she took her shoes off by the front door. It wobbled in his hand. Tobey grimaced.
“Sit down, I have to get the challah out of the oven,” he muttered while walking into the kitchen. Becky seated herself at the table. Dug her fingernails into the grooves in the wood, took a deep breath.
“Smells like cinnamon.”
“It’s apple cinnamon.” He smiled at her over his shoulder as he struggled to get the pan out of the oven.
“Do you need help?” Becky rose to her feet.
“No, no, I got it,” Tobey said, but he was obviously struggling. When he saw Becky start to walk over, he rushed a “really, I’m fine,” before nearly dropping the pan.
Becky kneeled beside him in front of the oven, holding one side of the pan. “Tobey, it’s okay. Just let me carry it.” Tobey huffed but let her take it, following her to the table.
“It’s a little…lopsided,” Becky commented, staring at the challah intensely.
“Yeah, well, it’s kind of hard to braid with one hand, Becky.”
There was a moment of silence where Tobey stared at the table, avoiding her stare, while Becky looked into his eyes.
“Tobey, you know you can talk to me.” She took his hand in both of her own, forcing him to look up.
Tobey glanced away and tilted his head down. “I know, Botsford.”
Becky sighed deeply. “Where’s your mom?”
“Away on a business meeting again. She’s all about not working on Shabbat until SHE has to. She’s always telling me, ‘Tobey, no robots on Shabbos!’ and then she LEAVES.” His voice rose in volume near the end, and his face went red from embarrassment. “Sorry. It’s fine. I just wish… it wasn’t like this.”
“No, I get it, Tobey. It’s not fine. It doesn’t have to be.”
She ran her thumb over his fingers and watched his face turn red with a small smile. He cleared his throat rather loudly. “Well, um, would you look at the time! I have to light the candles!”
“Oh!” Becky looked outside to see that the sun had dipped lower in the sky. “I guess I should get going then.” She gathered her things to go and stood up.
And then she felt Tobey grab her hand from behind her. She turned to face him, confused.
“You don’t… have to go.”
Becky blinked and felt her own face warm up. “Huh?”
“You can, stay, and—eat dinner? With me?”
She smiled warmly at him. “Okay, I’ll call my mom to tell her. What are we having?”
Tobey’s face went about two shades lighter as he realized he didn’t actually have food. “I, usually don’t eat when my mother isn’t home. So I don’t have… um…”
Becky stared at him, jaw dropped. “You don’t EAT?!” She stormed into the kitchen. “You are LUCKY I brought these leftover empanadas!”
“I knew you were going to be distraught over this. It’s really not that bad, Becky.”
“It IS that bad!” She whipped around to face him. “I’m going to call my mom now! Light your candles and I’ll be right back!” And with that, she stormed to the front door.
-
Leaning in the doorway with the door slightly ajar to let in the breeze, Becky watched Tobey as she told her mom that she’d be staying for dinner. She watched his look of concentration as he carefully lit the candles, studied how they made his face glow as he prayed. There were few times that she’d gotten to see him this peaceful, this beautiful, and she drank in the sight.
He lowered his hand from his face and turned to her. Becky beamed at him, feeling incredibly happy to just be with him, and he smirked with a joking eye-roll. “Shabbat shalom, Botsford.”
“Shabbat shalom, Tobey.”