The Internship (Stuart Twombly)

Chapter 6

Somehow, Nick found a spot on the cliff with the view of the Golden Gate Bridge in front of them. It was honestly a postcard-moment for Juliette; she had never been so up close to one of the nation's most beautiful sights.

"Look at that view! Come on, you're not gonna see that on your little four-inch screen. You got to look up." Nick bugged Stuart.

"Yeah," Stuart muttered with a laugh.

"Okay." Nick said. "Buddy, you were an animal out there tonight!"

"Right," Stuart rolled his eyes.

"No, you were! And it looked like you really fired things up with that girl of yours!" Nick said as Stuart smiled. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah, it was all right."

"'It was all right'? Why do you do that?"

"What do you mean? Do what?"

"Lowball me like that! Come on, I'm not gonna take away your cool guy card if you admit you give a shit about something, or, God forbid, you had a great time."

Stuart let out a small laugh. "Um.. all right, it was fun."

"Stewie.."

"What?"

"Come on!"

"All right, what? What do you want me to say, it was he best night of my life?"

"Only if it's true."

Stuart contemplated for a moment, looking at the ground with his arms crossed on his chest, before looking back at the elder man. "All right, it was the best night of my life."

"My Noogler! Come here!" Nick proclaimed in a whisper, holding out a fist for knuckles. "Was it the best night of your life because of a certain girl?"

Stuart glanced back at Juliette. Her head was facing the bridge while she conversed with Billy and Neha. Her hair flowed perfectly down her shoulders, and the absence of light left a peaceful glow on her face; she looked beautiful. When Stuart turned back around, Nick was already looking at him expectantly.

"Yeah," Stuart muttered. "You're not wrong."

Nick pat the younger man's shoulder. "Stewie, you've got to take a chance on her before this summer ends!"

Stuart shook his head. "Do you see her? There's no chance she likes me back. She's way out of my league. We're better off as good friends."

"You have never been more wrong." Nick stated. "Look at you two; you're with each other all the time. There's obviously some chemistry brewing! This is all I ask of you Stewie; by the end of this summer, promise me you will ask her out."

Stuart nodded. "Alright."

Julie sat on the bench with Billy and Neha, Billy sitting in the middle.

"Wow, I don't believe there hasn't been one boyfriend along the way. For either of you."

"Nope," Neha muttered. Juliette shook her head.

"It's kinda embarrassing," Juliette mumbled.

"Well, it's nothing to be embarrassed of. You got plenty of time for that." Billy said. "I mean, you're both the whole package! You're beautiful girls, you're smart, you have great teeth."

Both of the younger girls smiled, involuntarily showing their pearly whites.

"You do! Unbelievable chompers. I mean it. For sure." Billy said sincerely. "Neha, you have terrific shoes. I'm always excited to see what kind of getup you're gonna throw together."

"That part's true." Neha laughed.

"And Juliette - your hair always looks so goddamn fabulous." Billy stated, making Juliette double over laughing. "It's true! I wouldn't mind knowing your secret."

"I would be happy to share it with you." Julie joked, a smile on her face.

"A lot of great things going. Some guy's gonna find himself to be very lucky to be next to you."

Neha looked down. "Yeah, I'm not so sure.."

"Well I am, and I've been around a little bit. I'm positive."

Billy glanced at Juliette who had her eyes locked on Stuart. "It looks like you already have your eye on someone."

Juliette blushed and looked down. "It's not like... like anything's gonna happen."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Juliette gulped, "no matter how much I like him, it's just a crush, and I should get over it. We're all gonna go home after this summer, anyways. It's he's not going to like me back."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Billy smiled.

Juliette breathed out a laugh and gave a closed smile.

Suddenly, Lyle came out from behind the bushes walking in a zig-zag line, drunkenly typing on his phone and singing.

"Lyle!" Nick called, making his way over with Stuart. "Looks like you hit it off with Saffron tonight."

"I'm texting her that I love her and I'm sending her this picture I just took of little Lylie when he made pee in the bushes. Look, he's winking-"

"Lyle, Lyle, Lyle, that's a horrible idea. Please don't do that. You're drunk off your ass."

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm flying baby."

"Okay, Lyle, you're not flying. What's 17 squared?"

"289, why?"

"Give me a harder question than that, you know where I'm driving with this."

"Try, uh, maybe square root of 17." Stuart suggested, making his way over to your end of the table and leaning on the end.

"Like, 4.23 maybe?"

Nick thought for a moment. "That's the app. That's the app we should do right there."

"What?"

"Some quiz question you got to answer before you can send a drunk text or a drunk e-mail or phone call - something to protect you from yourself."

"That's good! Can we do that?"

"Hells yeah, we can do that!"

Yo-Yo shot his head up from where he was laying down on the other bench abruptly. "Are you shitting me? I could program the shit out of that bitch on the bus ride home."

"Well, I'll take that as an overwhelming yes, then! Come on!"

"Let's get back to HQ!" Nick exclaimed, and everyone began rising to their feet.

"Hey, wait, wait. Let's-Let's stay, like, five minutes, you know? Just enjoy the view a little more." Stuart interrupted with a small smile, looking directly at Juliette. Juliette looked directly back at him as she scooted over so he could sit next to her, which he did. The whole team watched as Stuart and Juliette sat close by each other. Stuart absentmindedly reached and placed an arm around her shoulder, which made Juliette come even closer, lying her head slightly on his shoulder. They stayed just like that, in complete bliss, for a few minutes, but to Stuart, it was everything.