Page 18 of Isn't It Obvious?
“Well,Charles, now you know the big news of the week,” she says.
Charlie rolls his eyes. “I gave a hot British man a more sophisticated version of my name. Sue me.”
Yael shakes her head. “Not British.”
“I wasn’t that drunk, Yael. He definitely had an accent.”
She can’t hold back her laugh. “Yes, from Trinidad.”
“God, I’m an idiot.”
Yael pats his arm. “It’s endearing.”
“Okayyy,” Charlie says. “Well, thank you for telling me, but I’m doing fine. Ego’s lightly bruised, and the hickey on my chest is almost faded”—Yael drops her jaw in delight at this proffered detail—“but I’ll be okay.”
“You sure?”
He nods. “Yeah. You’re not gonna befriend him and start bringing him around all the time or anything, right?”
“Of course not! And anyway, he was kind of in a mood at club today. I’m not even sure he plans to keep volunteering,” she says. His mood may have been partially her fault, but she’s trying not to feel any sort of guilt about it.
Charlie nods again. “Chrishell?” he asks.
“Chrishell,” Yael agrees.
CHAPTER SIX
What does it say about Ravi that what he’s most excited for on a Saturday night is an email from a client? He’d go out, but a week ago he was brushing arms with a hot guy on the Rontoms patio, and look where that had gotten him.
So here he is, after an evening of losing two out of five Connect Four games, sitting on the guest bed on top of the covers in a still scantly lived-in room, staring at his phone. Since Wednesday, the Not Work Thread has been left untouched, though the exchanges about the website (now live) have been friendlier. Or, at least they’ve felt friendlier to him in his head as he’s written them. Elle has always been friendly, so it’s sort of hard for him to tell.
But he wants to talk to her again, and so after a good five minutes of internal debate, he sends her a picture of the plant he bought today: something called a “String of Turtles” in a tiny terra-cotta pot. He captions itFINALLY GETTING AROUND TO DECORATING. And now, pathetically, he’s waiting for her to respond.
Just as he’s convincing himself she must have something better to do on a Saturday night than talk to him, he gets the notification.
To:Kevin Kisson
RE:Not Work Thread
Omg a plant that looks like turtles?? I bet your niece loved that. Tbh I am almost influenced, but my room is where plants go to die. I think I have a red thumb. When my roommate goes out of town, I text him daily to make sure that I’m watering his correctly.
Are you a plant person, or is this your first?
To:Elle Rex
RE:Not Work Thread
Color wheel joke. Nice.
And, yeah, Mia loved it. I had to stop her from plucking a leaf off in her excitement.
I am, but more outdoor plants than houseplants. My old apartment had a shared rooftop space, and I had a garden bed there. Inside, I only ever had easy ones like snake plants and pothos. But it’s not gardening season now, and I figured I should put something that’s actually mine in here.
To:Kevin Kisson
RE:Not Work Thread
Thought you’d appreciate it:)
