CHAPTER 11 - THE GIRLS WONDER ABOUT PRIYA

“Have you ever had the feeling you’re being watched?” Felicia whispered to Nadine. Her legs were tired from over an hour of unbridled bicycling. Nadine turned to spy the creeper at the back of the spin class, but he had already gotten up and was headed towards them. “Oh shit, he’s coming this way” Dominique gasped with circumspect vigilance. Nadine braced herself for whatever brilliant adjectives he had for her ass, which was inevitable, and to jettison him forthwith from the spin class. In sweet reversal, the lecturer breathed a sigh of relief, jumped off and pecked him on the cheek, “Eric, Sweetie! How are you doing?”. Alighting beside him, Felicia and Dominique saluted him with a smile. “I didn’t know you liked to cycle,” the former teased. “Actually, I came to see you girls because I need your help” Eric confessed as Nadine rhetorically glanced at the other two. “With Priya …” she acknowledged being indeed the authority on the matter. “She is very low maintenance!” Felicia chimed in, severing the natural affinity betwixt the two. “Felicia, can’t you see Eric over here is in desperate need of our advice? Eric, of course we’re here for you” she admonished, her last word coinciding as the wheels slowly clicked to a halt. Dominique snickered discreetly as Felicia crossed her arms. Arriving at consensus on their mutual plight, they changed, then embarked to the café across the street from the university gym to discuss. “It’s just that she’s too … timid” he relented, finishing off a plastic container filled with savory quiche. “You mean shy” Nadine corrected; her fingers arched in concentration. “Yes, of course. It’s just that she’s too shy and doesn’t communicate the way other people do. Like she has her own language. I’m having issues understanding her” the boyfriend despaired, voicing their own inner monologues with witty masculine charm. “Good thing you came to us” Dominique bolstered, whilst looking nervously at the other two across the table. “Can you tell me about the real Priya?” Eric appealed, looking squarely in the palatial eyes of the proud Nordic blonde. Nadine felt the heat of the silence around her, the great dynamic mystery of the timid researcher who bumped into them one day in the cafeteria was suddenly all that could occupy her academic mind, “Absolutely, I’ve got this down to a science”. For about thirty minutes they talked and argued. Felicia gripped a crumpled soda can, the rough edges not even angering her as every detail they added was like an answer that only raised more questions. Spoken aloud it seemed very … funny. “She picked out one piece of furniture and everything else you three chose, what does that mean?” he asked, tossing back the anecdote across the table. Nadine thought about the lab girl, how the two had spent the most time with each other, and how she had taken it completely for granted. The story was starting to become clearer, with every witness of her personality. “Most likely comes from modest beginnings” she settled, taking the pitch. Eric’s eyes widened in surprise. He regarded the three of them, who had gone to considerable lengths to distract the public from their academic pursuit. Nadine had on a spiffy blue getup. Felicia’s blouse had a peach base and yellow polka-dots. Dominique wore a black tank top with a green alien on it, a band that he had liked in high school. But Priya almost always wore her white lab coat. “Wait a second … Is Priya not materialistic?” Eric pondered. The thought had occurred to him before, yet never so blaringly bright. Circulating around the table, each of them offered an opinion as to whether the subject was indeed materialistic or shallow. In math, the easiest solution is often correct, the disciple recalled, briefly cupping her mouth. Nadine leaned over the table at the guy, who with their effort would surpass their own understanding of the silly lab girl, “Hey, have you ever seen her look in the mirror?”. “Come to think of it, she doesn’t” Eric realized. Felicia snapped her fingers as an idea blossomed, “Do you know Yellow Summer at the court? Flip yes, that place is really expensive. Try buying her a dress and see how she reacts, you know … as an experiment”. Dominique leapt up, feigning protest, “Are we sure that’s ethical …”. The fellow across the table ignored the play at theatre.  He was already mapping it on his phone.