July 17, 2026 Categories: Features
Persuaded – Chapter XLIII
Chani
Recap: After Ralph and Effi leave the café, Chani’s phone pings with an email from Effi. He says he cannot hold back anymore: He never forgot her, and wants to date her again if she’s willing! Chani agrees to meet him in a couple of hours at Bagel Nosh to renew their relationship. Effi’s car was easy to spot as Chani pulled into the parking lot of Bagel Nosh—it was the lone Tesla in a troupe of battered Honda and Sienna minivans, and had already attracted a small crowd of admiring bochurim asking Effi how it drove and how often he had to charge it. But he adroitly detached himself with a grin when he saw Chani arrive. “I’m so glad you never changed your email!” he said. Chani smiled. “I actually have another account that I use for work, but I never deleted that first one,” she said. They were both beaming as they slipped into a vinyl booth in the back. It felt so good to be together again, to have cleared the air of their former disappointments and recent fears! “Let me go get us a couple of coffees,” Effi said. “You still take it with milk, one sugar?” How did he still remember that? The same way she still remembered Effi’s preferences. “Yes. Same as you, except you take two sugars,” she responded, which made him grin wider. She felt her nerves tingling with excitement as he went off to place their orders. Was this really happening, after so long? All around her were the sounds of people placing orders, dumping trays on tables, calling to each other, the piping of children’s voices, yet it was no more than background buzz that had no chance of registering in her mind, dominated as it was by the sheer force of anticipating the next step in this unexpected, unbelievable process. After a few minutes that felt like an hour, Effi returned bearing a tray with not only the coffees but the plain glazed donuts she’d requested and a chocolate-peanut butter brownie. It was exactly the same fare they’d eaten eight years ago when they’d gone on a date in Lakewood! Although she was sure she wouldn’t be able to swallow a bite in her current state of agitation. “You didn’t forget a single detail!” she said. “Did you?” She blushed and shook her head no, looking at her hands in her lap. “I really thought you were dating Elman,” Effi said, pouring a sugar packet into his coffee. “I was afraid to approach you.” Chani shuddered. “Oh no! He was looking into me, that’s for sure,” she said, likewise reaching for some sugar and fingering the packet. “But there was something about him I just couldn’t put my finger on that made me nervous. I just never got a sense of what he was truly about—something about him felt false. And now my friend Leah Stein told me some things about him that his references would never let on, things that make me thank G-d it didn’t go further! I’m not even sure he should date my sister, even though I know she’s been hoping they could start going out again.” “Just as well then. I’m just so happy you were willing to come out with me. Ever since I came to New York I haven’t been sure how you felt about me. I wasn’t sure how to act around you.” “Well, me neither. I was convinced you hated me. You would have been justified in never forgiving me. I was such a fool when I was 19!” “Or just young and easily manipulated,” Effi suggested. “Yes, that for sure,” she agreed. “Like I told you, I never wanted to break off our shidduch! I was so naive and stupid. I guess I believed then that maybe my elders truly knew what was best for me even when it contradicted everything my gut was telling me. It didn’t occur to me that they could be wrong or misguided. It didn’t even occur to me to fight back and stand up for myself. I mean, if they had let me go out with you in the first place, why were they backing down all of a sudden? And what a waste! We both spent eight years alone in our corners—for nothing.” “Yes, we could’ve had five kids by now!” Effi said, causing Chani to blush furiously, and Effi to laugh in response. “On the other hand, I guess, those years allowed me to build a solid financial foundation for a family. But I left a little sem girl and now I’m looking at this poised, grown-up version of you! You know, when Lieba had her fall in Deal, you were the only person who had any presence of mind to call Hatzolah! You handled that situation so well, and it was so clear to me how superior you were to Lieba in maturity and intelligence.’ Chani frowned, a little uncomfortable with the slight to Lieba, even if it was true. “You know, I’m a social worker now, so I should hope I know how to respond in a crisis,” she said. “I even started a doctoral program on the advice of my supervisor.” “Like I said. I left a sem girl and came back to find this accomplished career woman!” Chani shrugged and took a sip of coffee. “I love what I do, but I would have preferred to be a wife and mommy first. How is it that no one else snapped you up before now? The pickings are smaller for girls, but a good guy like you must have had zillions of shidduch opportunities!” “You’d be surprised,” Effi said, helping himself to a piece of brownie. “When I first got to California I was so hurt and upset I didn’t want to think about shidduchim for a good long time. And since I was still young, no one pressured me. I just threw myself into learning whatever Avraham threw at me, and working on the app, and that became all-consuming. I found something I was really good at, and it was starting to make real money, and we were all so excited we didn’t think about much else. By the time I came up for air, I realized Palo Alto isn’t exactly a mecca for singles. Even LA isn’t overflowing with opportunities. I tried some dates. But nothing ever hit the right note. I guess I was always waiting to feel the same connection I felt with you.” “Yes, same,” Chani said. “The guys I met were either totally not my type, or were sort of my type, but somehow I just could never allow myself to move to the next stage.” “Because they weren’t me,” Effi grinned. “Yes, probably,” Chani admitted. “None of them could ever hold a candle to Effi Weinberg.” Effi paused. “You know, when I think about it,” he said, “I was an idiot. I guess I was just so hurt and defeated, but now I wonder if I shouldn’t have tried to contact you again a few years later, once the business was well established. We could have saved some years!” “You’re right,” Chani admitted. “By then I might have been ready to stand up against my family and fight for you.” They sat in silence for a few minutes, digesting this. “Oh well,” Chani finally said. “All that is in the past.” “So where do we go from here?” Effi said. He held up a glazed donut. “Can I just put this on your finger and we’ll call it a day?” Chani burst out laughing. “I think we’d have to get it sized,” she said, pretending to put her ring finger through it. “And our families would be a little shocked if there was no dating. Maybe you want to ask me out first?” “That sounds good,” Effi said. “Then you can tell your father in advance. Do you think he’ll object this time around?” Chani snorted. “Most of the time my father barely notices I’m there,” she said, “and now that you’re back on the scene with much deeper pockets—in fact, so deep your family happens to be living in his house—he really can’t have much to say. And while I’d be perfectly prepared to elope if anyone flatly refuses to approve, I don’t think he’d want to besmirch the prestigious Elman name by begrudging me a wedding.”To be continued.
