Lucky Coincidence // Stuart Twombly

VIII

Chetty had taken a distance from Lara as he told her she could do this first seminar. She blew out a thick breath as she waited for the interns to enter the room and find a seat. She felt a soft tap on her shoulder and she turned around. A smile appeared on her lips as Stuart came into view.

"Hey there," She grinned.

"Hey, how was it?" He asked her.

"What do you mean? You were there," She teased. "You should find a seat, we're starting in a few." She pressed a kiss to his cheek before he walked away. She couldn't help but notice the weird glances of the other interns. She shook off the uncomfortable feeling and started up the presentation.

The chatter died down as she stood tall in front of the crowd. "I understand that Google is not a conventional workplace, but we do have rules. You have each been given a green and a red pedal. I am going to ask you a series of questions and you will hold up the green pedal to indicate yes, and the red pedal to indicate no. That's easy, isn't it?" She explained.

She clicked to the next page. In bold letters, it read, 'Having a beer with your boss.' Almost everyone held up the red pedal, except Billy McMahon and Nick Campbell. Lara crossed her arms.

"Some of you," She started, "are under the age of 21."

"Some of us aren't," Billy stated. "So if you want to grab a cold one with me, I'd be happy to do that."

"I will not be grabbing 'a cold one' with you, Mister McMahon," Lara said.

Both Billy and Nick nodded softly. Billy leaned forward. "If you want someone to grab a cold drink with, we're happy to hook you up," He whispered to Stuart.

"That's-I'm okay, thank you. Just, stop talking to me," He told Billy.

"Right, you're okay." Billy nodded at Lara. "You're just fine."

"Dude," Stuart shot back.

"Let's continue, dating a fellow intern," Lara called after clicking to the next page. And yet again, there were only two green pedals in the mass of red ones.

"Mister McMahon, Mister Campbell, is there something unclear about this?" She asked the two men.

"Not at all," Billy grinned.

"The correct answer is no, it is not okay to date a fellow intern," Lara stated.

"What about someone completely unrelated to your field of work?" Nick Campbell asked.

"Like who?" Lara asked, catching the blond man off guard.

"I'm not saying I have anyone in mind, I was only asking if that was allowed," Nick immediately rambled.

"It's just, we saw you with this guy here," Billy took over, clapping Stuart, who was sitting in front of them, on his shoulder. She saw her boyfriend tense up at the sudden physical contact.

Lara straightened her back and looked at the two men with a piercing gaze. "There has been made an exception for me and I'm very grateful for that, but," she held up a warning finger. "This will not mean that I will let that influence my work or the program," She stated. "So, dating a fellow intern?" She referred to the board and this time, Billy and Nick both held up a red pedal.

"Very good. Last one." Lara clicked the screen and the last statement appeared. "Taking food home from the office."

Not that she was expecting anything else, but there were two green pedals that went up along with a sea of red ones.

"Mister McMahon, I think you haven't understood how this works. Green means yes, red means no," Lara sighed, placing her hands on her hips.

"It's just, what if there was like a pudding left?" Billy questioned.