Elena's silence was confirmationenough.
"Twenty-six," Laura repeated, visibly wrestling with herself. "That's... Jesus, Elena. Fifteen years." She pressed her lips together, clearly fighting her own reaction. "Okay. Okay, that's fine. Age is just a number. Except when it's fifteen numbers. But he's an adult! Making adult choices! With a fully formed brain and a throbbing penis that is probably?—"
She stopped abruptly, studying Elena's face. "Oh my God, something already happened, didn't it?"
"Laura!" This was getting out of hand at warp speed. Ten minutes ago, she was staring at a spreadsheet.
"I'm not asking! I'm absolutely not asking if your hot young research assistant is a good kisser." Laura pressed her lips together, then burst out, "But seriously, scale of one to ten?"
"We're not discussing this.” Elena said with as much defiance as she could muster.
Laura nodded approvingly. "Good. Perfect. Responsible. You’re so responsible and sexy."
"Exactly. Nothing could ever happen between us. He's fifteen years younger than me," Elena pointed out.
"Which is... a lot," Laura agreed, then added under her breath, "of stamina probably."
"LAURA!"
"Sorry! Sorry. Voice of reason. That's me." Laura straightened in her chair. "Elena, you absolutely cannot jeopardize your career for some steamy lab romance. Even if there's clearly insane chemistry. Even if?—"
She stopped herself. "No. Bad Laura."
Elena slumped back in her chair. "This is exactly why I ended things before they could begin."
Laura's eyes widened. "Things? What things? No, don't tell me!" She paused. "Actually, tell me everything immediately."
"There was... a kiss," Elena admitted. "After the David disaster. Just once."
Laura made a strangled noise. "Just once? That's very restrained and professional and—oh my God, was it amazing?"
"Laura, you're supposed to be the voice of reason here!"
"I am! I'm being very reasonable!" Laura protested. "I'm reasonably pointing out that you haven't had any fun in three years. I'm reasonably noticing that you look more alive than you have since the divorce. I'm reasonably observing that?—"
"That I could lose everything if this goes wrong," Elena finished.
Laura sobered. "Okay, yes. That's... that's true." She was quiet for a moment, then whispered, "But what if it goes right?"
Elena had no answer for that.
"Look," Laura said, clearly struggling with her own conflicting instincts. "Under no circumstances should you have hot, passionate sex with your incredibly attractive research assistant." She paused. "But also, when was the last time you did something just because it made you happy?"
"You're really not helping," Elena said weakly.
"I know! I'm trying to be responsible but have you SEEN him?" Laura threw up her hands. "Okay. New plan. We go out for drinks. All three of us. Purely professional colleague drinks where I can assess whether he's worth risking your career over." She stood abruptly. "For safety purposes only."
"Laura, no?—"
"It's the responsible thing to do!" Laura insisted, already heading for the door. "I need to vet him properly! Make sure he's not another David! This is me being a good friend!"
Elena knew that tone. Resistance was futile. "One drink," she conceded.
"Perfect!" Laura's grin was manic. "One completely professional drink where I definitely won't be evaluating whether his feelings for you are genuine or suggesting body shots or accidentally leaving you two alone together."
"Dios mío…"
Her friend was already striding toward Finn's workstation, muttering under her breath, "Responsible friend. Voice of reason.”
