Page 59 of Isn't It Obvious?
“I fucked up real bad, Sanaa.” Yael inhales deeply, staring at a Japanese maple across the way. “Did Charlie tell you about his one-night stand back in September who snuck out of my bedroom window while he was making breakfast?”
“You mean out of his bedroom window?”
“No, I mean out ofmine.”
“He did not tell me this. But he never does, because he doesn’t like it when I tell him he’s delusional about men.”
“I don’t think that he’sdelusional,” Yael says.
“And that’s why he talks to you and not to me.”
Yael sighs. “I’m getting off track.”
“No, I’m calming you down with the power of distraction. And you’re no longer on the verge of tears, so, you’re welcome.”
Yael huffs out a soft laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Go on.”
“The one-night stand started volunteering at my book club, and there’s been a lot of… tension.”
“Goon,” Sanaa says again, the interest plain in her voice.
“I kissed him last night and completely freaked out about it, and I have no idea how to tell Charlie.”
“You freaked out about a kiss?” Sanaa asks, disbelieving. “When was the last time that happened, high school? I think your students are rubbing off on you.”
“It’s aboutwhoI kissed,” Yael says. And then, after a beat, “And how much I liked it. Charlie is going to hate me.”
“Oh my God, no he won’t. I don’t think he’ll be, like, ecstatic, but you said this was September? It’s Charlie. That’s gotta be, what, two crushes ago? He loves you. He’ll get over it.”
“I’m an awful person,” Yael says.
“You’re not, and the two of you are queer friends in the same midsize city. I’m shocked you haven’t fucked the same person before now, actually.”
“We didn’t fuck!” Yael says a bit too loudly. Someone walking their dog takes out an earbud as if she were talking to them, and Yael has to do the exaggerated I’m-on-the-phone gesture.
“Right, you just kissed.”
“I don’t know if I’d sayjustkissed,” Yael says.
Sanaa squeals into the phone.
“He hurt Charlie, Sanaa. I feel terrible.”
“Of course you do. You’re you. But you’ll talk to Charlie tonight, and you’ll see that everything’s going to be okay.” Yael is quiet for a bit, and then Sanaa says, “I’m honestly proud of you for kissing him at all.”
“Let’s not go that far,” Yael says. “It was incredibly selfish.”
“Maybe, but you could stand to be a little more selfish sometimes.” Yael hums skeptically, and Sanaa laughs. “I mean it,” Sanaa says.
“I’ll talk to Charlie tonight,” Yael says.
“You feeling a little bit better?”
“Yeah. I recognize that this is the second time I’ve called you in crisis in two months, but I didn’t know what else to do,” Yael says.
“Del’s still on parental leave, right?” Sanaa asks.
