Rule No. 1: No Romance (GirlxGirl WlW)

Chapter 2

"I'd rather work all weekend than having to stand all night with an insurance agent, Joane, I'm not even joking."

"They're not that annoying, James seems like a nice guy."

"I can't even stand their presence when I need them, imagine actually dating one - willingly. And James? That's a pathetic name."

"Fair, but it will be a fun night and you can maybe meet someone else at the bar," she says excitedly through the phone.

"I'm very happily single, I don't need that kind of burden in my life," I groan as I walk into my kitchen in desperate need of coffee. It should be illegal to call someone this early on a holy Saturday. "When was the last time you enjoyed a nice book with no distractions?"

There's silence from the other side for a few seconds until I hear a low sigh. "I don't even like reading that much."

"Bullcrap. Where will you leave the kids?"

"At their grandma, see? It's easy."

"My mom has had 8 children, the last thing she wants is to take care of more kids, especially now that all of us are out of the house."

"I heard she remarried."

"She's having a blast."

"I bet but I don't need detailing," she says gagging. "You're the only unmarried sibling, what are Mrs. Adinah's thoughts on that?"

"She's just glad that I didn't marry some goy like Chana."

"Chana, your youngest sister?" she gasps. "Why did you let me out of the family drama?"

"You get too invested."

"I'm still waiting for a Shabbat invitation. I'm pretty sure my grand-grand-grandmother was Jewish."

"You creeped her out that time I introduced you to her last summer... Why would you bow?"

"Respect... I didn't know what to do, I was nervous."

"That wasn't even the worst, you told her it was a Muslim thing. Do you take her for a fool? Joane, we're Mizrahi for G-d's sake, and isn't bowing without the intention to pray forbidden?"

"Stop, she probably forgot already and Allah is forgiving, He understands the struggle."

"She brings it up every time I mention your name."

"Ugh," she groans but before she could say anything else I hear a deafening scream from her side of the line. Indeed, I'm having no kids. "Look, I gotta go. I'll text you the location, meet us at 9," she says hanging up before I could protest.

Joane is about 10 years older than me but she acts like she just graduated high-school, although I must agree it is refreshing sometimes.

Still annoying most of the time.

"You're the only one that understands me," I sigh, sitting down with my fresh cup of coffee next to Blackie, unironically my white Persian cat. I just thought it suited her. "Why would I need a man when I have your ugly face to scare me every morning?"

She simply looks up at me with the typical grumpy Persian cat face, completely unbothered, and goes back to sleep.

The rest of the day passes like a flash, much to my dismay. I should have simply declined Joane but I agree that going out once in a while won't kill me. Staying home all weekends does get boring after a while, but that still won't convince me to date Jamie or whatever's his name.