“Conveniently arranged,” Lev said, “I might add, after New Year’s.”
Now Artur snorted.
Yep.This was about Naomi.
This was absolutely about commitment and a relationship they thought he was running away from.Asking as surrogate members of Naomi’s family, not as Ash’s friends.
But the last name he wanted to drop in front of this group of buffoons was Naomi’s.“She knew I was organizing this trip,” he said, giving them the breadcrumbs they deserved instead of the freshly braided challah of information they wanted.“She knew I could be leaving at pretty much any point, and knowing her…”
That’s when Artur raised his hand in a universal signal for stop.“Let’s go talk,” he said.
It was an invitation, and Jason figured it was a good one.He nodded and followed the other man out to the living room, away from the study they were using.
Once they arrived in a space that only the two of them occupied, Artur said, “Don’t know what’s going on.My guess is that it has something to do with what unfolded on the way to my best friend’s house a few weeks ago?”
If he had to guess, the other man was remembering the fact that he’d showed up and shocked both Liv and—it seemed—Artur, on the way to a party Artur’s friend Abe Neumann was having.Yet another one of those moments where Naomi had needed him, and as it turned out, someone he’d met at that party invited him to the New York Jewish Culinary Association party he’d attended on New Year’s.
Neumann barbecue party aside, Artur was looking below the surface, at the very obvious connection between him and Naomi that Liv and Artur saw for the first time at that party.Which was what had shocked Liv.
And that was spot on.
Which meant the man deserved an answer.“You know people,” he said.“What’s most important, no matter what, is that in any kind of a relationship between two people, they both need to know exactly where the other one stands.”
Artur nodded.“And as long as you keep those lines of communication open and clear, you’re good to go.”
“Exactly.”
“Now,” Artur said.“The lines of communication are open, so when you tell her you’re leaving…?”
“She’ll shove me out the door,” he replied with a smile.“But yes.Lines of communication are open, to the point she knows why I’m leaving even though she doesn’t know where I’m going yet.”
“And you’re completing all your obligations?”
He had to tread carefully there; he wasn’t sure whether the other man knew about what had happened with the wedding, and he wasn’t taking chances.“Don’t know what you know about my obligations,” he said, “but whatever I promised to do, I’m not leaving until I’ve delivered.”
“And just because I’m curious, you’re leaving to…?”
“Complete a series of jobs, stages, that has been organized by a bunch of…”
“Interesting people.”The other man nodded.“My best friend did something like that over the last few years.He finished a few months ago, right around the time of his party.”
“Is he taking any of them up on longer…placements?”
Artur laughed.“He’s still got the extensive list of contacts he accumulated and has promised to use it when he needs to, but he’s learned what he wants to do is closer to home.”
Which made sense.“But it was important for him to do this?”
The other man nodded.“He’s making his hobby a career, so it made sense for him to spend time learning before diving in completely.Lucky for him, he—like you—had time to spend doing this kind of career development.”
Jason knew he was lucky; he had the freedom and the finances to be able to do what he was about to do for the next few months.He had health insurance and no commitments until the wedding.“Good.I’m excited.”
“And Naomi will be too?”
He nodded.“As soon as I tell her exactly where I’m going, she’ll insist on reports, which I’ll gladly give.”
And instead of being nervous about his conversation with Naomi, after talking with Artur, he was excited about it.
In fact, the second he left Lev’s house, he immediately called Naomi to see what she was up to.
