Page 14 of Isn't It Obvious?
RAVI LEANSBACKwith his hands behind his head and closes his eyes briefly, trying not to think too hard about whether sharing that much with Elle was ill-advised. And also, whether his choice to shut it down when he did means it won’t happen again. He’s clear-eyed enough to know he doesn’t really want that.
He wonders what Elle looks like. There’s no picture of her on the website or any of the listening platforms, and she doesn’t have any public social media presence (which he probably should gently suggest she remedy). When she first emailed him, he hadn’t really given it much thought, but as their exchanges have grown, she’s become more of a person in his mind. Just a blurry one, and now he realizes that his subconscious had superimposed Sanaa onto that blur.
But Sanaa’s whole all-black-except-sleek-gold-jewelry,brushed-back-straight-hair, dark-lipstick thing doesn’t comport with the Elle that’s becoming less blurry in his mind. Maybe they’re the kind of best friends who are exact opposites. If he ever meets Elle in person, he’ll find her in all white with wild hair and chunky silver earrings. Or color. Yeah, he bets she wears a lot of color.
What a weird thing to be thinking about past ten on a Wednesday night. He’s on morning duty tomorrow, and lately Mia hasn’t wanted to put on long pants without a fight. Then he’s got five other less-engaging projects that need some level of attention. Animated text over video ads for an online retail platform will be fun enough, but the statics for various burgeoning startups and a few business-to-business tech companies leave something to be desired. One of the benefits of no longer being in-house at one company was supposed to be variety, but the variety has been less… variable than he’d hoped. Which makes sense, he guesses, because the agencies he’s with keep throwing him jobs that exactly suit his resumé. Another good thing about the podcast, maybe.
And then, book club. And Charles’s roommate.
Long day ahead.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Who’sthat?” Gina asks, looking past Yael.
Yael turns, following Gina’s gaze, to see Ravi making his way toward the front steps, hands shoved in his pockets. “That’s the book club volunteer,” she says, frowning.
“Sounds like there’s a story there.…”
Yael groans. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Gina scans Yael’s face, lips pursed. She fiddles with the tie of her gray wrap cardigan. It’s a B schedule today, which means that Gina doesn’t teach last period, and she usually ends up here, perched on Yael’s side of the library checkout counter, hoping for some gossip. “I think you do,” she says finally.
“Okay, fine, I do! But he’s about to be here, so Ican’t.”
“Please, when has Sherine taken less than five minutes to check someone in?”
“I need more than five minutes,” Yael says.
Gina raises an arched brow. “Oh?”
“No, no, not like that. It’s not a long story, or even all that salacious”—Gina’s brow moves a millimeter higher—“I just… I don’t want any chance of him walking in while I’m telling it. Besides, he wouldn’t be here ifsomeonewas a bit more gracious with her time.” Yael folds her arms across her chest, narrowing her eyes for emphasis.
“But then there wouldn’t be a story for you to tell, and where’s the fun in that?”
Yael pouts. “It’s not too late to change your mi-ind,” she singsongs.
“Ah.” Gina brings her hand to her mouth, faux-apologetic. “I would, Yael. I just really, really don’t want to.”
“The worst. You are the worst,” Yael says.
The bell rings, and Gina slides down from the counter. “That’s my cue. I’m off to do whatever I want with my evening,awayfrom my place of employment. Because I actually balance my work with my play.”
“The club is fun!” Yael protests. She wonders what Gina would say if she knew that Yael was doing the podcast, too.
“I’m sure it is, and I love that for you,” she coos, walking backward toward the door.
Bitch, Yael mouths.
You love it, Gina mouths back, flicking her hair over her shoulder. She makes it to the door at the same time as Ravi, and he holds it open for her to pass through.
“Thank you…?” she prompts.
“Ravi,” he says. “I’m, em, a volunteer here.”
“Is that so?” Gina flashes a smile. “Well, I do hope Ms. Koenig is treating you well.” She finger-waves at Yael.
“Gina,” Yael warns.
