Page 10 of Isn't It Obvious?
RE:Editor—The Sophomore English Agenda
Why, are you an FBI informant? Embedded foreign spy? Mob ties???
(Point taken. I will review your next draft.)
To:Elle Rex
RE:Editor—The Sophomore English Agenda
Yeah, I realized how that sounded as soon as I hit send. Sorry to disappoint, but I have spent my evening intentionally losing Connect Four and then half listening to a rubber duckie and a T. rex argue because the parenting books say it’s too early for unsupervised bath time. Superspy, I am not.
To:Kevin Kissoon
RE:Editor—The Sophomore English Agenda
I’m shocked and appalled that you’d be so closed-minded. Spies can have children, too.
Another laugh into his hand. Ravi looks up at the child in question. There’s a pile of bubbles on top of her head, and it seems that Duckie is winning. He grabs a few bottles from the counter and sets them and a washcloth on the wide ledge of the tub. “Alright, Mia. Wash time.”
“Already?”
“Duckie and Rex will have to figure it out another day.”
Mia pouts but doesn’t argue further as Ravi dispenses the bodywash onto the washcloth and passes it off to her.She only really needs help getting her back and rinsing out her hair now. Even just six months ago, when Ravi first moved here, it was a lot harder. The clichéd marvel rings true yet again: amazing how quickly they change at this age.
When she’s done and wrapped in a giraffe towel poncho (the preferred T. rex one is in the laundry), Ravi rolls up his sleeve and removes the drain cover from the bathtub. A satisfyingpopandglugfollow.
Suresh appears in the doorway, and Ravi wonders whether he had been listening for it. “Time for a story?”
“Yes, please!”
“Good night, Mia,” Ravi says.
“Good night, Dada,” she says, giving him a quick hug around his legs before running toward Suresh.
“Thank you,” Suresh says, but Ravi waves him off. Thank-yous are moot at this point.
He types his response to Elle on his way back down the stairs toward the guest room.Hisroom. He really should put up a poster or something.
To:Elle Rex
RE:Editor—The Sophomore English Agenda
My niece, actually. The reason that I quit the cushy creative content manager job for freelance—flexible hours and no benefits.
To:Kevin Kissoon
RE:Editor—The Sophomore English Agenda
Ah, yes. Good reminder that healthcare in this country is a nightmare. The benefits are really the only good compensation from my day job.
That’s really nice of you to do that for her. And also, superspies can have nieces, too.
To:Elle Rex
RE:Editor—The Sophomore English Agenda
My brother is a recently single parent and our family isn’t here with us, so he needed the help. And I kind of owe it to him.
