Not That Easy. Radhika Sanghani
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RADHIKA SANGHANI, 25, is an award-winning journalist for The Daily Telegraph. She writes for the women’s section about feminism, sexism and everything in between.
She grew up in London but has worked in Chile and Barcelona. She studied English Literature at University College London, followed it up with a Masters in journalism at City University London, and now spends most of her time writing.
Her debut novel Virgin was published in 2014, and Not That Easy is the eagerly awaited sequel.
Twitter: @radhikasanghani Instagram: @radhikasanghani Facebook: Radhika Sanghani (author)
To anyone who has ever felt like their life is a total mess
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Acknowledgements
‘Ellie, you’re single. You should take the single room.’
I stared at Will in shock. He couldn’t be serious.
‘The rest of us are all seeing people, so we need the double bedrooms,’ he continued.
‘Please tell me you’re kidding,’ I said slowly.
Will stood up tall and went straight into accountant mode. ‘I’m not trying to be a dick,’ he said diplomatically. ‘I just think it makes sense for us three to take the big rooms because Emma is with Sergio, Ollie is with Yomi and I’m with Cheng. You’re single, so you should have this room. Logically, you don’t need the double bed.’
I looked around the tiny room at the others. Emma was shuffling awkwardly on her black-wedged heels and avoiding eye contact with me, while Ollie was inspecting the laminated floorboards. He ran his hand over his short bleached hair and blinked at me innocently with his bright blue eyes. I forgave him immediately.
‘It won’t be that bad. You can pay slightly less rent,’ said Will.
He was serious. He was actually serious. I stared at Emma and Ollie again, waiting for them to stick up for me.
Ten seconds later, I was still waiting.
This was a trap. A coup de whatever in my own bloody home. ‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ I cried out.
Will’s tweezed eyebrows settled themselves into a familiar frown and he crossed his arms.
‘Emma?’ I demanded, as I turned to face her. ‘Do you agree with Will? Are you a part of this blatant singleism now?’
She shook her short blonde hair. ‘No, of course not, babe, but I do kind of really need a double bedroom. Serge will stay here loads and he’s six foot six, El. I don’t think he’ll fit in a single bed.’
I gave her a withering look before turning to Ollie. ‘Ollie? What about you?’ I asked, hoping my eyes looked more doe-eyed than rabid.
‘Ah, I’m really sorry, Ellie,’ he said. ‘It’s just that Yomi will stay with me whenever she’s down visiting me from uni in Bristol.’
I sighed. Of course the perfect almost-doctor girlfriend was going to visit him whenever she had time off from saving people’s lives.
‘Come on, Ellie, it’s the easiest option,’ said Will with a look of faux sympathy on his annoyingly symmetrical face. ‘If you had a boyfriend, it would be different, but you don’t really need all that extra space. If you’re worried about wardrobe space, we can all give you sections in ours, can’t we?’
Emma nodded fervently. ‘Of course! You can put whatever you want in my room and borrow my stuff whenever. Even my thigh-high leather boots.’
Oh God. Was this actually happening? Were my friends really consigning me to the single bed and a life of single-dom? Even my BFF, Emma, was siding with them and slowly losing the second F from her acronym.
I had to try to stop this or I would die alone in my child-sized bed.
‘I cannot believe this,’ I finally spluttered. ‘You can’t just relegate the smallest room in the house to me like I’m some kind of unwanted spinster aunt. I’m part of this household too, and we’re going to live together the whole year—I’m not staying in this shoebox the entire time.’
‘I guess we could switch halfway?’ Ollie offered. ‘I mean, I dunno if I could, but maybe you could, Will? You’re not in a serious relationship with Cheng, are you? If you split up, maybe you could swap with Ellie?’
‘Whoa,’ I said, holding up my left hand. ‘First, stop talking as though I have agreed to taking the smallest room, because I haven’t,