Things You See in a Newsroom (Russell)

[Idalia Tsavaris]

“There will always be those in this word who can’t see past the end of their own nose,” Ida said waving a hand, yes she was cynical about the whole thing. You couldn’t change people’s minds. “I find it wearying to get angry, I really just feel sad for them.” It was a closed minded existence to be angry at everything. Hate was a strong word and it was a strong emotion. It was exhausting to hate, Ida found that those people who did preach hate were not just nasty to those they hated they were nasty in general. The way Ida saw it her God was a good God who loved mankind. She smiled to herself. She wished she had the time to go to church more often. Sundays were crazy days most of the time, she was lucky if she made it once a month and often stretches were longer. But Russell was speaking again, so she shook of her thoughts and focused on him. “It’s very true. A lot of employers still look at us and though I’ve never gotten it I have had friends who get asked if they’re planning on having children soon. It’s horrible.” Russell had gotten Idalia on her soapbox and he was probably going to hear more than he ever wanted to.

Ida nodded. “You don’t have to spend hours doing it,” she said teasingly, “Not all gamers are those people that don’t leave their couch for days. She nodded eagerly and she paused, not because she was shocked he didn’t know but more so because there were so many systems now. She was honestly still just a fan for the nostalgia that came from the Nintendo64 that was still at her parent’s house. “They’re Nintendo, so it depends on what game you want. The Wii is really popular but I never much got into the whole…” She mimed swinging around a remote like a crazy person, “thing.” She laughed and shook her head. “I know you can get a lot of the older systems cheap, and there’s nothing wrong with the older systems, it’s just all about the next big thing, you know.” She shrugged. She didn’t have many of the newer systems because working a lot and adulthood kind of took precedence over games a lot.

“Then it’s settled,” Ida decided placing her palm on the table as if making an important decision. “Next time you’re out on your boat I’m going to shove Ike at you and row circles around you.” She said raising her chin her eyes sparkling boastfully. It was not even in the realm of possibilities for her or any manually moved boat to go faster than a motor boat. She hoped that Russell was sympathetic to rowers, if she’d ever been waked by him she was going to swat him. Some of those yacht drives were complete asses. Despite the fact that they knew how easy it was to flip a single and worse yet it almost seemed like they enjoyed doing it. She had given more than one tongue lashing to some hotshot who thought it would be really ‘cool’ to swamp her boat.

Idalia couldn’t help but laugh. She covered her mouth and shook her head. “Oh my god I’m so sorry!” She shook her head. It made her think of that time someone left their lunch in the office fridge so long that no one even remembered what it was supposed to be in the first place. “I bet you learned your lesson then,” she teased cheerfully. “Awe, now that’s no fun,” she said but couldn’t help but laugh again. It was such a thing she would have expected from some people. The only thing Ida had been able to do was get someone she hated rained on by promising sunshine. One time in particular an ex-boyfriend had asked her for a weather report to take his new girlfriend out on a picnic. Ida had seen pouring rain, and cheerfully told him to have fun. Ida was a normally kind person, but she did have a vindictive side. She smiled warmly. “I think so to.” She looked up and into his eyes for just a moment, a thing she’d been avoiding until now. Were his eyes always so blue?

Nodding in agreement, Idalia was blissfully unaware of his thoughts. She found herself shifting slightly as the conversation twisted and turned. It seemed as if there was nothing they could run out of to talk about. She couldn’t stop smiling. “A lot of them do,” she agreed, “I mean a few don’t, but most of them are in this for the right reasons. You’ve gotta watch out for Oleander though, from Channel 3, he’s a viper and if he asks you for an interview you high tail it in the opposite direction,” she advised before adding, “And I’m not just saying that because he’s a rival.” She smiled and nodded. “You’d better, I don’t normally get a chance to get out of the office. Though I should warn you, if things are busy I might not be able to get away.” The last she added regretfully, but honestly, she lost more boys to her work schedule than she cared to admit. She took a drink of water and wet her lips, they’d been talking so long, she’d have to be careful to watch the time. She quickly checked the time on her phone and smiled with relief. Plenty of time.

Just then the food came out and Ida could already feel her mouth watering from the smell. The souvlaki looked perfect, as always, on a bed of rice and pita. The Yiaprakia looked just as good and Ida was going to have to see if Russell would share. She could of course share. It was a Greek thing, if the food was good everyone passed their plate, it had taken her a while to realize that that was not a normal person thing to do. “Oh everything looks delicious. Tell Panagiota, efharistó.” The waitress smiled and nodded before leaving their table.

[Russell Sands]

“It’s hard not to get angry about it sometimes, though”, Russell admitted. “Thankfully I don’t see it too often with the kids that I run the sessions with in the school, but it’s still there. A couple of weeks ago, one of the younger girls said that she’d always wanted to be a chef but knew she couldn’t because women can’t be chefs because all the ones on TV are men.” Russell gave a slightly sad shake of his head at that. “I pointed out how wrong that is, of course, but it’s sad she thought that in the first place.” At Idalia’s mention of the treatment some of her friends had received Russell bristled slightly, his voice laced with frustrated sarcasm. “Because clearly that’s all women care about and are good for, right?”

As someone who had spent most of his life keeping up with the latest trends and fads, Russell tended to enjoy the advances of modern technology both as part of his business and for himself personally. Cell phones, computers, kitchen equipment, it didn’t matter. The shinier and more gadget-laden, the better. The only real exception was classic motorbikes; a good example of a 70’s Kawasaki could make him weak at the knees. Of course he was lucky in that he had the finances to back up his love of the new and modern, though he didn’t always have the time to fully appreciate it. He chuckled warmly at her dramatic representation of using a Wii. “You see, all that,” he said, waving his arm around a bit in turn, “seems more like my kind of thing. I’ll have to look into them more, I think.”

At Idalia’s decision about shoving Ike at him the next time they were on the water, Russell laughed and nodded in agreement. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll keep it slow so you can keep up, and Ike can try and stop my girls from jumping into the water every two minutes.” Even if Ike could somehow try, it would be a futile effort. Mitten absolutely adored playing with anything floating in the water and Nessie seemed like if she could spend as much time swimming as her namesake, she would. Tia was still a little anxious about swimming, especially when the waves were rippling quite hard, but she was slowly becoming more confident with it.

“I really did. I still can’t think about it without getting a bit nauseous.” Russell gave a little shudder but he was still smiling brightly. He did generally enjoy his power, but it could also be incredibly frustrating at times. Some days there was nothing he wouldn’t give to be able to just put something in his pocket and know that it would be so easy to retrieve again without having to go digging up to his elbows to find it. The flow of conversation was very pleasant and Russell was settling into it easily, but when Idalia lifted her gaze and their eyes met he found himself struggling to find words for a moment. Damn, it was unfair how easily she could do that.

Thankfully the conversation was able to keep flowing and Russell could keep his mind distracted with that, and he gave a nod of understanding as Idalia spoke about Oleander. “Oleander, got it, thanks for the warning.” Russell supposed it was the same in every line of work; there were those who were their for the best interests of the place, and those who gave the others a bad name. Learning how to work out which were which wasn’t always so straightforward, sadly. When Idalia explained that she might not always be able to get away, Russell gave a small shrug. “That’s okay, I know how it is. Pleasant as this is, I know your work’s the priority.”

When the food arrived it both looked delicious, and Russell could feel his stomach rumbling in anticipation. If it tasted as good as it smelled he would have to make an effort to visit Greek restaurants more often. He smiled at the waitress. “Efharistó.” Even to his ears his pronunciation sounded butchered, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying. Turning back to Idalia, he asked “I assume that means ‘thank you’, right?”

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Nodding, Idalia could only agree. It was frustrating and infuriating. She cocked her head and scoffed. “It is, you know this world today all that matters are looks. You know how sad it is to see young girls wearing makeup and not playing because they think that they’re not supposed to. We’re destroying their body image before they even have the concept of it. It’s just sad. And you know it never stops.” Ida spat a laugh and shook her head. “You know and if someone asked me that I would walk out. I don’t care what job it was. I’m just glad as an employer you feel this way. Russell you’re a rare breed and I thank you for that.” She concluded and she smiled at him. “I’m glad you’re doing this and helping these young girls. I keep wanting to do more outreach and especially with girls. Not a lot of them think that science is for them.” She nodded, she loved nothing more than encouraging other people to follow their dreams. She didn’t understand the sudden aspiration of girls to become pop stars and actors. Whatever happened to fighting to work in business or academia?

Idalia laughed in return, her smile spreading warmly into her eyes. “To each their own,” she said raising her hands in surrender, “You’d probably have a blast with its sports and stuff.” She grinned. She couldn’t say she hated it. She liked it for the active games and such, but for games like the Legend of Zelda she hated having to swings her arm around in imitation of a sword. She just felt ridiculous and honestly when she was puzzling through something she didn’t want to have to be flapping her arms all over the place. “You’d probably also really like… oh what’s it called?” She put her hand on her forehead as she tried to recall the name. “Oh shoot… I just had it and it went away. My sister’s got game and it’s like a board game thing and I don’t know there is a great mix off all of the things. I’m really bad at it.” She giggled as she admitted that.

She couldn’t stop the laugh that came out from his teasing and she crossed her arm and gave him a mock insulted expression. “I’ll give them something entertaining to chase anyways.” She grinned and loved the idea of that. Though it might motivate Ike to jump in too and she’d really rather him not jump into deep water. He had really never gone far from the shore and mostly that was only for chasing a stick. She gave Russell a pitying look. “I can’t even imagine how horrible that must have been.” She shook her head. She could only compare it to the time there was old food in the work fridge and even then compared to tuna stuck in a coat for a long time she didn’t think even that could compare. She shook her head. “Well let’s stop thinking about it before you eat.” She smiled teasingly.

“Thank you for understanding,” she said with a warm smile, Russell was a rare breed indeed. There was no way he wasn’t taken. She’d have to do some serious snooping. She shrugged and felt the need to explain, “I mean I would like to, it’s just when there’s a tricky forecast we need every brain and I can’t abandon my team.” She probably didn’t need to explain but she’d ruined a great deal of relationships because of work and the fact that she was married to the job. Perhaps Russell would be a little put off, but well it was Ida’s way of weeding out those that would act like it was okay and then turn on her. She’d had that come up too. Usually here in Vermont besides snow events things were pretty relaxed so as spring came around it was just rain and that was difficult but no one was going to get hurt if it sprinkled on their picnic. They might not be happy but it wasn’t like there would be flash floods. If that happened Idalia would certainly know ahead of time.

Idalia smiled and avoided wincing too obviously at his mispronunciation. The waitress quirked a brow at Idalia before rolling her eyes and walking away. She covered her mouth with a hand to hide her grin. She nodded. “You’ll be Greek before you know it,” she teased pleasantly. She resist telling differently. “I’m excited to see what you think,” she said and pierced a piece of lamb with her fork and slid it off of the skewer and nearly moaned with pleasure when it hit her tongue. “Here, you have to try this, Panagiota makes the best lamb.” She gestured to her plate and pushed it toward him. She dipped a piece of pita in tzatziki and nibbled at it. She never got around here often enough, she was going to make Russell her new lunch buddy.

[Russell Sands]

Even though Russell’s experience of life as a woman was obviously very limited, he liked to think that he was familiar with many of the struggles they faced and he did his part to assist where possible. He provided advice and encouragement to young women who wanted to take steps into the world of business, and always did what he could to support those with ambitions that lay beyond those generally accepted by the more developmentally backward areas of society. “I think if anything it gets worse as they grow older. I mean, a muddy ten year old girl can still be cute, but heaven forbid a twenty-something year old go into the office with no make-up on.” Russell knew that was perhaps a touch hypocritical considering just how much attention he tended to pay to his own looks, but he knew that was because he enjoyed it and not because society expected him to be that way. He was all too aware that was, tragically, not the way for many young women who faced a daily struggle to be seen as something more than a pretty face.

Russell gave a small smile at Idalia’s gentle compliments, and nodded as she spoke about wanting to do more outreach work. “Yeah, I know time restraints can make it really tough. He pondered for a moment, before adding “You know, we could maybe work on an outreach type programme together sometime, if you’d be interested. It’d be easier time-wise with two of us working on it, and we’d likely be able to reach more people. Besides, I think science and business need to start working together better, anyway.” Plus it would give him a real excuse to contact Idalia more often, which was a very tempting prospect.

While Russell was most definitely not the computer gaming sort of person, a game that he could play actively was much more likely to get and hold his attention. Though he would never claim to be the best at any kind of sport he did tend to thoroughly enjoy them, and having a way to ‘play’ even on days when it was raining too hard or he was snowed under with work was intriguing. “I’ll definitely look into it, especially the sporty games but also the ones you mentioned too.” Russell listened patiently as Idalia tried to puzzle out the name of the game that was just refusing to trip off her tongue, and he chuckled warmly. “Well, if you do remember please let me know and I’ll add it to the list.”

Idalia’s company was a true joy to be in, and Russell couldn’t help but laugh at her mock-insulted gesture. “We could always tie some treats to the back of your boat and make a real game of it.” Russell often joked that his dogs were closer to ducks than they were to wolves, but it was not at all something he found a burden. It was lovely watching them play and chase each other in the water, and on the few times he’d been able to take them to the beach they had clearly adored every minute of it just as much as he had.

Russell could fully understand what it could be liking, working a job where occasionally everything had to be dropped so all hands were on deck. Even though his position gave him a bit more freedom and lee-way than someone stuck on a nine to five, at least they never had to work weekends or run video conferences long into the night in the event of a crisis. He loved his career and the little miniature empire he had so carefully built, but he would never claim that it was easy or peaceful. “I get that, it's okay. I can't promise I'll always be able to drop everything to come to lunch either. Our work... they're not exactly the most socially-friendly fields sometimes.”

Smiling and chuckling softly at Idalia's teasing, Russell shrugged his shoulders. “You never learn anything if you don't try, right?” Once the waitress wandered off again Russell speared one of the cabbage rolls with his fork, slicing off the end and making a soft sound of approval at the taste. “Oh wow, that is so good.” When Idalia slid her plate towards him Russell smiled, carefully sliding a piece of the lamb off a skewer and onto his own plate. “Thanks, that looks amazing.” Russell stabbed the lamb to eat it and slid his own plate towards Idalia. “I know you've probably had them before, but they're still amazing.”

[Idalia Tsavaris]

The fact that Russell was sympathetic to the challenges that women had to overcome was enough. It was what most men missed. They declared themselves feminists, but didn’t seem to know actually what that meant. It didn’t mean that women didn’t appreciate a door held or a chair pulled out. In fact that it was the kind thing to do. Especially a door held open, that just seemed like common courtesy. She cocked her head at him and considered it. “True, but it happens all our lives. We learn from our mothers and the way to be ladylike.” She knew it wasn’t that they were lectured or anything but it was the passing comments on other women and about how cursing or sitting without their legs closed wasn’t ladylike. It sunk in even without people realizing it. “You know, and that’s fine. For some people that’s what they like. I think the struggle is that everyone expects women to be just so. But women wear makeup for so many different reasons. For instance, I wear makeup and heels, because when I was little I associated the click of a heel on the floor as the sound of a strong and successful woman.”

Idalia’s face brightened visibly, she loved that idea! She nodded, “There are commercial businesses that use weather. Shipping and farming, all sorts of things. I think I could get some people on my side who work with business as consultants or otherwise to help us out too. That sounds like an amazing idea Russell.” Science and business were not so different. After all everyone had to make money, the problem with science was almost always funding. If they could partner with businesses then maybe that would lessen their strain, though there was always the fact that some companies only wanted to be told what they wanted to hear. It was that sort of deal that made her conscious of the fact that she took someone’s word on climate change with a grain of salt, if they got their funding from an oil company.

“It sounds like you could get really into those.” She said and thought that she might have to work on her game, as it would be terribly embarrassing to be beaten. “I will, you know I hate that, it was just on the tip of my tongue.” She shrugged it off. The twists and turns in this conversation were wonderful and Idalia was enjoying it more than she had ever expected. When she’d first met Russell, she honestly had thought him friendly and charming enough, but she was busy trying to tame her beast and hanging out with Cecil to really notice. She was glad he had come in today. Idalia was brought back from her thoughts as he mentioned tying treats to her boat. She threw her head back and laughed. “Oh that would be too entertaining! I wouldn’t want to know what would happen if they caught me though!”

A little bit of relief passed over Idalia, she didn’t want to sound like she was overly busy, but her work came first, it always had and she hadn’t ever had a reason to change that. She nodded, understandingly, but found herself partially grated by the fact that he thought that she would expect him to drop everything to come to get lunch with her. “I do get some days off,” she offered, “If you can’t make it all the way to Burlington.” She realized she had essentially offered to make this a regular thing and there was a part of her that was testing the waters. If he weren’t single then he would probably defer a commitment, unless of course he was in a stable and loving relationship where he felt well trusted that his partner wouldn’t get jealous. Unless of course he was gay. That would just be her luck!

She smiled warmly. She loved the warm Yiaprakia, many places served it cold which was just not to her taste. “I’m glad you like them!” For some people they were just a little too adventurous. She’d had a boyfriend once who had been close enough to get invited home for holidays. She still remembered his face when he almost made it past the Yiaprakia until her uncle told him he should try them. She stifled a giggle at the thought. At least Russell was open to trying new things. “It is amazing,” she told him and gave him a thank you in turn plucking one with her fork and popping it into her mouth with a pleasant smile. He had to be the one. She hummed a little with pleasure. “The greatest thing is that they’re warm. I know a lot of places that serve them cold and it’s just… no.” She wrinkled her nose at the very idea.