nazbulutâ:
âItâs not as if Mallory is exactly a tourist destination.â Naz canât imagine what customers a Mallory hotel gets beyond things like teenagers renting a room to drink on prom night, cheating spouses, things like that, the sorts of stuff everyone will gossip about after church the next day. Not that she frequents the same churches as a lot of the population of Mallory, hardly a practicing Muslim in the first place.
âI donât think fixing printer jams is an inherent skill anyway,â Naz says reassuringly, pulling out pieces of shredded and crinkled paper as she comes across it inside of the printer. Sheâs usually a bit unimpressed when people canât navigate google enough to figure out how to do something, but a printer is sort of a different story.
âSo⊠a summer school? Or like a community center?â Thatâs the only assumption she comes to, but she thinks thatâs quite admirable, to teach something so creative. Naz likes to consider herself fairly creative, but sheâd never label herself an artist. âDo you teach how to make art, or just about art as a subject?â Equally admirable.
Naz finishes the printer, closing the door on the front of it, pleased when it starts whirring back to life. âIâm an event planner in New York City. Rather high profile events, to be completely honest.â And sheâs traveled for it too, but she doesnât want to come across as bragging. âI started off as an intern though, when I was in school. Interns always have to unstick the printers. Try it now.â
x
âI dunno... This week, at least, it seems like it might be. Everyone seems to be in town.â Ravi pointed out before he could stop himself. It felt a bit tasteless to say, even if it wasnât said with malice.Â
âI have to disagree. Youâre using your quick thinking and problem solving skills. Also hand eye coordination. Which is very important to have. Iâve spent enough time running into things and slamming my fingers into drawers and doors to know.â Ravi admitted, watching in awe as Naz pulled out a crumpled and sad looking paper. He wondered which part of the lesson plan it was. It probably wasnât salvageable but he hated the idea of just wasting the paper.Â
âA bit of both? More the second one though.â Ravi admitted, trying to figure out how to explain it to the woman in front of him. âItâs... it started as a group that would help train arts educators and make them want to stay in upstate New York instead of going somewhere else like New York City. And then it grew and became an after school and summer school too. Kids come in and learn everything from dance to pottery to...â Ravi paused, realizing that heâd started to ramble a bit.
Heâd spent so much time trying to help the founders build up their brand that heâd gotten into the habit of just starting in on the whole marketing spiel. Good for networking, not so much for sitting in a hotel common room. âI teach anything they need me to.â Ravi continued, switching gears a bit, stopping himself from waxing poetic about his job. âI mostly work with the younger kids though. Teach them about colors and how to project their voices on stage. A lot of the basics.â
Raviâs eyes widened as Naz spoke. Heâd spent all that time rambling about his job and he was sitting next to an Actual Adult whose life wasnât falling apart. âThatâs amazing.â He replied, trying hard not to ask a million questions or just make a fool out of himself. âAre you one of the people who plans all those events at like, the Natural History Museum and stuff? Iâve seen photos of all those big events and theyâre always gorgeous.â











