“The people…who don’t know. They think I’m being picky,” she said, so softly, Bella nearly missed the fiery ache held in the words.
“If I find two people who I think would be well matched then all I would tell them is that they’re compatible. If things go well it would be their responsibility to share their personal medical information at the right time.”
With every step she takes the heaviness slides away.
The mediocrity she regularly wears falls off piece by piece drops silently to the ground becomes flattened beneath her heel. The streets are clad in a thin layer of tired leaves peeking timidly from crevices or tumbling mercilessly across the sidewalk. Normally Bella would find the death of summer depressing. She would cringe at the hint of winter weaving its way through the evening breeze. But not tonight. Tonight she grows lighter with every step. Tonight the promise of frigid days and bare spindly trees are but an afterthought inconsequential against the backdrop of this great evening. By the time Bella spots the hall she is practically feather-like hovering softly above lowly earth. It is a powerful feeling this partnership with Heaven. It fills her with a weightlessness that fades over time…until the next shidduch is made and she drifts upward once again. In the periods between her work she settles into her averageness nicely; 40 years of sitting in the shadows of a great man has made her amenable to quiet dark spaces. Even now as she basks in the bright light of tonight’s simchah she herself will not shine. No one will realize her hand in this. Any acquaintances she might have waiting in the hall won’t question her presence — a perk of being married to The Lawyer. No one will know this is her shidduch.
But she knows. Her heart dances as she clutches the door handle her grasp stronger than usual filled with the power of creating a future in a space that held only uncertainty. As she passes the mirrored hallway she stops for a moment inspecting herself. There is nothing particularly distinctive about Bella. Her outfit is classic well-tailored black. The skin around her eyes has begun to sag slightly and the crevices around her mouth have grown deeper. She realizes that she is completely forgettable; a woman whose most distinguishing feature is the man she is married to. But to a handful of people dotting the earth she is an absolute hero. To them she has made all the difference. And that fills Bella like nothing else.
Create a free account to keep reading.
