Order. Everything was ordered perfectly. Not a file was out of place, nor piece of paper not lined up with the edge of a desk. Stanley once thought he was organised. He was starting to doubt he ever understood the meaning of the word. However, as he neared Kerala’s office, he started to notice incongruities. A misplaced pen here, a wadded up paper there. And it kept getting progressively worse as he got closer to what might be confused with a monster’s lair. Then, he saw her.

“What’s their problem?” Kerala asked herself. “Unwilling to even listen to the very words that ensure their continued freedom. And how do they expect to change their situation for the better if they close their ears all the time like children!” she exclaimed in frustration.

Stanley quietly observed this outburst in slight shock. Kerala was sitting at her desk while scribbling furiously on the paper in front of her. He decided to lightly knock on the door frame.

“What? I told you all to take the day off, why are you still here?” she demanded, not even bothering to keep the extreme annoyance out of her voice. Kerala just continued writing as if he wasn’t there.

“Umm,” said Stanley.

She finally lifted her head. “Oh, it’s… You,” the scowl slowly left her face.

“May I take a seat?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah. Sure,” she answered.

Stanley took an office chair opposite her. “You going to be staying here long?” Stanley asked as he grabbed a pen and some paper.

“Oh, yeah,” she said, watching his movements in curiosity.

“Good,” he said, giving her a small smile before turning his attention to his paper.

Upon seeing that he didn’t seem to be interested in starting any conversation, she attempted to return to what she was doing before. But that proved to be a bit difficult with him sitting there. Instead, the red haired woman leaned towards Stanley, trying to get a better look at what he was doing. He was drawing. Trees, animals, abstract. It was all sitting there on that page of his, and other pictures were still taking shape with the movement of his pen. It wasn’t the work of a professional artist, but she still found it relaxing watching the images take shape. Her frown started to return when she realized he was doing this on purpose, but then her expression stabilised again. Content to leave him to it, she started reading a book from her desk, while also glancing at his progress every so often.

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The quiet time lasted around 10 minutes before Kerala spoke up. “Hey, boss man,” she started. “Why’d you come here?”

Stanley looked up from his work, considering her. “Well, if I had to put my finger on it,” he started, letting his gaze drift off as if in deep thought. “It would have to be the rental prices,” he nodded to himself, seemingly satisfied with that answer. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly beautiful here, but that’s only part of the reas-“ he was stopped short by a small piece of wadded up paper lightly hitting him in the shoulder.

“That’s not what I meant,” she said, giving him an unamused stare.

Stanley sighed, “Fine,” he said, preparing himself. “I came to check on you,” he finished, looking into her eyes.

Kerala waited for him to continue for a full 10 seconds before saying “Well? Are you going to ask me how I’m doing?” she asked in a slight mocking tone.

“No. I heard enough,” he answered.

“Oh, right,” she said, lapsing into silence. “Well, what did you think?” she asked.

“The anger part or-“

“No, about what I said,”

“Hmm,” said Stanley. “I’m guessing you’re upset about what happened yesterday?” he asked

“Yeah,” she answered.

“Well, I can see your point. But at the same time, I can understand why many of them left,” he stated. “Most people don’t find stuff like the Constitution all that interesting. Like sure, we both think it’s the best thing since sliced bread, but for them… It probably bores them to death,” Stanley paused to study her expression. It was neutral. “That brings me to what exactly I want us to do about that. When I go out there, I want to give them a reason to be interested in it. Not to bore them, but to entertain and educate,” he got up and started pacing. “Not to talk over their heads, but to communicate directly, to treat them with the respect they deserve. Because at the end of the day, the choice to know will be theirs. To fight for their future, they first need to believe it’s possible to win. And if they’re willing, I want to show them the way,”

“Nice speech,” Kerala said before sighing. “So you think I should just ignore the people that disregard the things we have to say?”

“Yes,”

She appeared to ponder that statement for a few moments before replying “What’s the deal with you and speeches anyway? I’m supposed to be the political science person here, well I quit midway through studying but still,” she said, shaking her head at the absurdity of the universe. “What was it you said you were studying?” Kerala asked.

“Animals… And stuff,” he responded while smiling.

“Wow,”

“Well I’m still terrible with all the legal details, at most I only have a general feel for how things work,” he explained, trying to salvage what was left of her self-esteem.

“I guess that makes us a good team,” she said before laughing.

“Indeed,” he said, letting out a low chuckle of his own.

And so, the duo that vowed to shake the world were once again on the same page. Some people would be displeased to find out it wasn’t world domination.