The Ex Talk(100)

The doorbell rings at ten thirty the next morning, while Dominic’s in the kitchen breaking in one of his new cast-iron skillets. A spinach and red pepper frittata. I’ve already canceled my meal delivery service.

“Sorry I’m early, I was just so excited,” Ruthie says when I answer the door. She sniffs the air. “That smells amazing.”

“Hey, Ruthie,” Dominic calls. “Help yourself.”

The three of us settle in at the kitchen table, catching up. Ruthie’s working in public relations and loving it, which is a huge relief.

“But I’m still not sure if it’s my forever job,” she says.

I lift my glass of orange juice. “Join the club.”

“You’re going to find something,” Dominic says with a squeeze of my shoulder. “It’s okay to want to wait for the right thing.”

And I know he’s right. That’s what I’m doing: taking this time to explore in a way I’ve never done before.

“You two seem to be nesting quite nicely.” Ruthie stands up, craning her neck to look down the hall. “But are you gonna make me beg to see it?”

Dominic and I exchange a glance, his mouth slipping into a half smile. “Okay,” he says, and we lead Ruthie into the room that used to be my office. The one I used probably less frequently than the guest room.

Her hand flies to her mouth. “Holy shit, it’s beautiful.”

There are twin microphones at the desk, giant headphones connected to a brand-new recording system. Acoustic panels on the walls for soundproofing.

Our own little studio.

Dominic ducks out to grab a few glasses of water and the notes we’ve spent the past month working on. Ruthie makes herself comfortable in the chair closest to the computer.

“Are we ready?” she asks.

I take a deep breath, my gaze snagging on Dominic’s. The determination on his face makes me brave, and the warmth in his eyes makes me certain. I am. I’m ready because this has always been in my blood. Because for me, radio has never been about the hashtags or the rankings or the fame. It’s always been about the people.

“Yes,” I say, and then I hit record.





Relationship Goals, Episode 1


   Transcript


    SHAY GOLDSTEIN: So I think we have to start with an apology.

DOMINIC YUN: We’ve been doing a lot of apologizing lately. I think we’ve gotten pretty creative with it, yeah?

SHAY GOLDSTEIN: That’s true. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to accept another apology from someone unless it’s done on the air during a public radio pledge drive. It’s just not going to feel authentic.

DOMINIC YUN: But in all honesty, we’re truly sorry to anyone who listened to The Ex Talk and thought we were together. We were part of the lie from the beginning, and we deeply apologize for that.

SHAY GOLDSTEIN: The honest truth, since we’re all about honesty now, is that we kind of crashed and burned on public radio. And I realized I’d spent all my life on public radio, when our show had the most success as a podcast. Shout-out to our new distributor, Audiophile, who approached us with this idea for a new show. So this is Relationship Goals, and we’re going to focus on all kinds of interesting relationships, not just romantic ones. We’re going to try really hard to make it up to everyone who was a fan of the first show.

DOMINIC YUN: In case you want a status update on our relationship, we’ve been together for real for three months, ever since that pledge drive.

SHAY GOLDSTEIN: And it’s going well. Dominic actually moved in yesterday.

DOMINIC YUN: It’s your typical coworkers turned enemies turned fake exes turned cohosts turned real romantic partners kind of love story.

SHAY GOLDSTEIN: I know, I know, it’s a little overdone.

DOMINIC YUN: And we can swear!

SHAY GOLDSTEIN: Fuck yes we can! And we have a familiar name helping us behind the scenes. Ruthie, you want to say hi?

RUTHIE LIAO: Hi, guys!

SHAY GOLDSTEIN: Ruthie’s our fantastic producer, and you may remember her from both The Ex Talk and Puget Sounds, a local show she and I worked on back at Pacific Public Radio. She doesn’t like being on the radio, so—

RUTHIE LIAO: Bye, guys!

SHAY GOLDSTEIN: We’re trying to view this podcast as more of a hobby than a job, which means, yes, I’m still job hunting. Storytelling was always what I loved most about radio, and I’m curious about exploring it in other mediums. I’ve been taking classes, doing research . . . you know, just trying to figure out what to do with my adult life.

DOMINIC YUN: And I’ve been doing some work for a startup that’s building a new platform for nonprofit fundraising.

SHAY GOLDSTEIN: He’s great at it.

DOMINIC YUN: You are such a suck-up.

SHAY GOLDSTEIN: A cute suck-up?

DOMINIC YUN: Obviously.

SHAY GOLDSTEIN: Public radio will always have a place in my heart, but we’re both really excited about this new venture. We hope you stick with us.

DOMINIC YUN: We’re not sure where it’ll go from here, but I think it’s going to be a pretty good story.

SHAY GOLDSTEIN: And now, a word from our sponsors.





ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


For a long time, I wanted to write a novel about public radio, and I absolutely couldn’t have done it alone. My agent, Laura Bradford, gave me some early encouragement and spot-on advice, and continues to be a stellar advocate. Thank you for helping me find my dream career. It feels surreal that I get to write books for a living.