Exercise
Nick makes his way rather awkwardly through the gym, feeling quite out of place in amongst the shining equipment and the loud pop music that blares overhead. A sole woman is cycling on one of the stationary bikes that line the far wall across the gym, her face turned away from him so he can't make out her features. Her limbs are long and lithe, and she seems to cycle effortlessly, nodding her head slightly to the music.
He finds the showers in the far corner, hidden behind a stack of weights and a man who he dimly recognises from the marketing department lifting a large dumbbell over his head. Luckily, there's one free, and he slips into a cubicle, hanging his towel over the door as he tries to ignore the near-deafening music blasting overhead.
It's only when he comes back out of the shower rooms, shaking his head to dispel some of the droplets of water defiantly clinging to his short hair, that he realises a familiar face is in the gym, now running on the treadmill closest to him. "Katherine?"
The woman who he realises he had seen cycling before turns her head at the sound of her name, and it is indeed his superior. Her hair is tied back from where it usually brushes her shoulders in a high ponytail, and she's wearing simple black leggings and a tracksuit top that differs completely from the smart blazer and trousers he's used to seeing her in.
Katherine presses a button on the controls of the treadmill, slowing her pace to a walk. "Nick," she greets curtly, only slightly out of breath. "I didn't know you frequented the gym."
"I didn't even know we had a gym here until about twenty minutes ago," Nick confesses truthfully. "Phil saw me in the lobby and critically told me that I looked like death. Our shower's broken at home, you see, and I haven't had chance to nip over to Rebecca's for a quick shower for a couple of days."
Katherine wrinkles her nose. "Nice."
"I didn't know you came to the gym either," says Nick, running a towel over his damp hair, trying to dry it off a little and only really succeeding in making it even more unkempt.
Katherine shrugs nonchalantly, taking a quick sip from her water bottle as she strides. "I come here a couple of times a week. You think I keep this figure by striding around yelling at people all the time?"
"Um –" Nick has to admit he hasn't really thought about it before.
"So you didn't know we had a gym at Calimov, Nick. Really? And you've been working here for how long?" Katherine wants to know, luckily not following up on Nick's hesitation to her last rhetorical question.
"Hey –!" Nick folds his arms defensively as he tries to think of an argument. "I'm not really a gym person, that's all," he finishes somewhat lamely.
Katherine casts a glance at his slightly bulging midriff, hidden under a layer of checked shirt and usual knitted jumper. "Evidently."
Her co-worker huffs, following her gaze and tugging at his jumper protectively. "Hey!" he retorts.
To his surprise, Katherine actually cracks a smile. She doesn't actually apologise for her insinuated insult, of course, but she doesn't follow it up with another barbed comment, which the scientist figures is better than nothing.
"See you in a few minutes," Nick offers, the statement sounding more like a question than anything.
"See you in the office." Katherine nods evenly, switching the movement of the treadmill back to a rapid pace and beginning to run again as Nick heads for the door, still slightly stung by Katherine's barbed comment, though honestly he can't say he's surprised any more.