Deb knew when she walked into the production offices that Sam was recording the brand new introduction to the movie, and that he would be starting on the new narrative track. She brought a bag of lozenges as well as a hot mint tea with honey.

“You’re so into him,” Lisa said as she took the huge thermos of tea. “But he’s been amazing for the movie and…you’re smiling. Maybe…”

She rolled her eyes. “We’ve been hanging out for two weeks and he’s about to go to Boston.”

Of course, as she said that, her sister’s eyes lit up like a menorah on the eighth night. Deb could almost see the wedding scene as it unfolded in her sister’s eyes.

The dangerous line of thought had to be stopped.

“Oh come on,” she scolded. “We’re friends.”

“And you’re bringing him tea?”

She shrugged. “He’s been narrating all day and I figured…that’s what friends do, you know?”

“What’s what friends do?” Marcus wondered as he walked over to them. “You figured we wouldn’t take care of his throat? Please. What kind of people do you think we are?”

“Creatives?” Deb shook her head. “You people don’t stop to do anything, you know. So…”

“You figured you’d do it for us, but only for him.” Lisa put her hand on her hip. “I see how this goes.”

“How what goes?” Sam joined the group and her heart stopped.

“Hi,” she managed. “I…”

“Hi there,” Sam said, smiling at her. “And you brought tea. I can smell it from here. I can’t thank you enough.”

The world fell away and she shrugged in his direction. “I figured you’d been talking all day, and this is my favorite on days like that.”

He took the travel mug, his fingers brushing hers, his eyes locked on her. “Thank you,” he said. “I’ll also take one of your lozenges. We still on for dinner?”

She nodded, trying to keep a smile from exploding all over her face. “Absolutely.”

“Good. I have a bit more to go…”

“And I’ll just keep her busy while she’s here.”

Deb knew what her sister was talking about; matchmaking and asking stupid questions, of course, but she grinned anyway. “I’m good at folding letters, stuffing envelopes, and licking stamps if need be.”

“And using postal machines?”

“Whatever you need,” Deb said, smiling. “I’m your girl.”

“Well then,” Marcus gestured towards a table full of envelopes and flyers. “Let’s get to work.”

So she nodded, rolled up her sleeves, and got to work.

A few hours later, Sam had finished the tape, only to leave the booth and discover the group sitting in front of a computer screen.

“We’re not getting much information, but it seems that across the country, there’s been a suspicious string of bomb threats aimed at local Jewish Community centers. Threats have been called in from New York, California, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin. There’s been no rhyme or reason to the pattern but…”

As the newscaster continued to give the latest updates, and statistics flashed across the screen, Sam grabbed Deborah’s hand.

“It’s scary.” Lisa said, her head on Liz’s shoulder. “I mean…”

“They’re horrible people,” Marcus said as Joe, the audio guy, gave Sam a thumbs up before joining the group.

“It shouldn’t be surprising,” Deb managed. “But…it’s a trifecta. Racism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism are a matched trio. I’ve seen how horrible Crosby and his crowd are. They’ve have always been horrible, and with their rise to power, they’ve sent signals to the lowest common denominator of society that it’s okay to be openly garbage. To…”

“Every time society is confronted with anti-Semitism, people swear they’ll confront it and act against it. That they’ll never let it happen again. Never again, they say. We need to make sure that they meant it.” Marcus turned around.

“Not enough,” Sam said, letting Deb lean into him, feeling the comfort of his soapbox. “It’s not enough just to fight anti-Semitism. I mean… that’s… yes,” he laughed at the irony of his words. “I mean yes we need to fight anti-Semitism. But if we just fight anti-Semitism, what are we? Who are we? We need to fight for all marginalized people. There’s been travel bans that affect Muslims. There’s been legislation whose intent is strictly to strip the LBGTQIA community of both the ability to marry and the legal benefits associated with marriage.”

“Yes,” Liz interjected. “We know. Stop ‘splaining, dude. That’s why we’re fighting. And why we’re shining a light on people who do.” She sighed. “And thank you for helping us do that.”

“It’s the very least I can do,” he replied. But there were more important things he had to say. He did not want to be that ‘guy’ who acted as if he knew better than anybody else did even though he didn’t possess even a quarter of his or her experience. “And please, keep calling me out for being an ass. I deserve it.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lisa nodding at Liz. More importantly, he felt Deb’s arm come around him.

Deb got into Sam’s car, entirely unable to process the new reality she lived in. Sam was a rock, and her inability to let him go didn’t seem to faze him.

“I don’t want to be alone tonight,” she told him. “I mean…”

He nodded. “You have hair ties?”

She cracked the smallest of smiles, and thought about how his answer was normal. Not like the dinner, this invitation had turned into an offer of shelter during a storm. “Two packets.”

“Good.”

Then he reached out for her, and she let his arms encircle her. The warmth of his body under his parka comforted her even as the horror of what she’d seen on the news replayed in her mind.

Fear mixed with guilt as she lay against him, and she tried to figure out what hurt her so much. Yes, seeing how easily anti-Semitism infiltrated society without consequence was painful. But always, always, the pain came with the reminder that there were those who had more to lose than she did.

“I tried to be strong for Lisa,” she said. “And I think I managed it? Maybe?”

“You did,” he said. She felt the touch of his fingers, running through her hair, his knuckles rubbing against her cheeks. “It’s hard, though.”

“Yeah.” She sniffled, blinking back more tears. “It’s just…we walk on that thin line between safety and fear. We need to fight for others, but they’ll come for us, too. They’re already coming for us.”

His lips brushed against her cheek and the soft touch warmed her from the inside. “All we can do is walk. March. Fight for and with those who don’t have that thin line to walk on. Speak against injustice. Act and do more.”

She took a breath as he looked into her eyes. There was fire there. Fire, and fuel.

“If they pull that rug out from under us? We fight back. Because what kind of Jews would we be? What kind of people would we be, if we didn’t?”

That was when she realized the car had stopped. He looked at the door, asking a billion unspoken questions. Was she ok to walk by herself? Did she want him to help her inside? She smiled and squeezed his hand with her free one and nodded. Yep. She was not okay to walk by herself and wanted to go into his place, hand in hand, relying on his strength and his warmth.

“Okay.” He smiled tentatively, like they hadn’t spent brunches together, like they hadn’t watched hockey games or screamed at each other about random things that annoyed either of them over text or phone calls. Like she hadn’t come to visit him and his crazy kitten before.

But this was different. They had chosen to spend time at his place because of Toby and because this apartment building seemed more secure than hers was. Now it was a refuge, and much more convenient to let him inside her heart while she was lying on his couch, playing with his kitten than letting him into her life for real. Especially when he was going to have to leave it sooner than later.

For some reason it made Sam giddy to see Deb throwing hair ties for Toby, repeatedly and constantly. She didn’t get tired of the game, though she was getting tired of his inability to retrieve the ties he’d found.

“No,” she informed the kitten from her spot on the couch. “You’re adorable and you’re cute, but I’m not coming to get that. Either you bring that one to me or I take one from the pack. And we only have two of those left.”

The kitten mewed pitifully and stared at her with his bright eyes.

“Nope. Two choices,” she said. “I’m comfortable and not moving.”

“And I love you more than life itself, little boy,” he found himself interjecting as he sat down next to Deb, putting his arm around her shoulder. “But you’re on your own here.”

She leaned into him, and he rubbed her back as the kitten delivered a hair tie. “Well,” she said. “Wonders never cease.”

“Miracles and marvels,” he replied. “He likes you. He barely does that for me.”

She laughed. “I think your kitten is flirting with me.”

At another time, he would have used other words; maybe he’d have kissed her. But tonight, he brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers. “I think he realizes you need distracting.”

“Thank you,” she answered as she threw the hair tie again.

As Toby ran off in pursuit, he smiled at them both. “Not a problem. “ He paused. “You’ll be okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. This couch is comfortable. And don’t you dare give up your bed.” Then she put her arms around him. “Thank you, by the way. I…”

He smiled back at her, let her lean in to him as his heart grew inside. “Yeah. I’m here. Just through the door.”

He squeezed her once more, kissed her cheek and let go. “Goodnight,” he said.

“Goodnight.”

As he headed towards the bedroom, he hoped she’d be okay and wondered what else he could do to make sure.