One Step at a Time - Stuart Twombly

Chapter Thirteen

Team Lyle sat miserably as Chetty spoke about the final challenge. A dark cloud hung over the team as they listened to their instructor at the front of the room.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it has been an impressive summer. And one final challenge remains. Sales."

Marley perked up at the sound of the upcoming task and noticed her teammates doing the same. A flicker of hope sparked through Marley as she thought that they might actually have a chance of redeeming themselves. How could they lose this next challenge when they had Billy and Nick.

"Over a million companies advertise with Google. Find one that doesn't. Convince them. The bigger the sale, the more chance you have of taking this competition. The winner will be announced at the final meeting this afternoon. Good luck," Chetty dismissed.

Marley and Neha jumped from the seats as excitement began to bubble in their veins. Marley looped her arm through Neha's as they walked out of the room with a small skip in their step.

"Sales son!" Neha cheered.

"Those bitches are going down!" Marley added as her and Neha high fived and giggled to each other.

However, Marley's smile fell as she looked around the group and noticed someone missing. She pulled Neha to stop, the rest of the team stopping in confusion and turning towards the blonde.

"Where's Billy?" She asked Nick, somewhat dreading the answer.

"He left," He replied hesitantly as he tried to continue walking.

The team remained rooted to the floor as they stared at Nick in a mixture of disbelief and confusion.

Marley heard Lyle question Nick as she looked down at the floor in puzzlement.

"You heard him. He thought he was holding us back and he didn't want to talk about it, that's for sure," Nick sighed while taking a seat in a nearby chair.

The rest of the team gathered around Nick as they took in his words.

"We got to get him back," Neha finally spoke.

"She's right, we're all a team. That's what you guys taught us," Yo-Yo agreed.

"I mean, it might have been buried under a mountain of obscure 80's references and just, you know, a ton of other super inappropriate bullshit, that I guess was intended as life lessons, but you did teach us how to come together, Nick," Stuart chimed in before slipping his fingers through Marley's.

"The problem is, when he makes up his mind on something, Billy has a tendency to really dig in. We might have to get ready to do this one without him."

Marley's gaze remained glued to the floor as she spoke up for the first time since she found out Billy had left.

"No," Marley spoke, gaining everyone's attention with such a simple yet powerful word.

She lifted her head to meet Nick's gaze.

"I don't care if Billy screwed up. I don't care if he thinks he's doing us a favor by leaving. He's wrong. Billy is a part of this team and I don't want to do this challenge without him. We need him." Marley spoke directly to Nick. She knew how much Billy had affected their lives for the better. He was the reason she stopped fighting her feelings for Stuart and now look at where they are. They may have gotten off to a rough start, but Billy meant a lot to Marley. He meant a lot to all of them.

Therefore, Nick raced off in a cab to go find Billy, while the five of them went to find a local business to convince them to advertise with Google. Marley noticed Stuart staring at her as Lyle, Neha, and Yo-Yo walked ahead. She turned to her boyfriend and silently questioned why they were still standing there when they had work to do.