I run a system scan over the areas I covered yesterday and finish the hard cover for the small bots I made to drop to the bottom of the ocean in the areas already scanned to give me a 3D map of the area and give me the depth of each area.
I put the chips Caleb made into the small bots and attached them to my seamoth so I can see it all from my map on the seamoth. I set all of the bots in a barrel after entering their chips, they are ready to be packed and tried out.
With plenty of time left in the day and nothing needed of me I head to my room and grab a pair of gray shorts and a black fitting short sleeve shirt with gray lines from the neck to the shoulder on both sides. I grab my black tennis shoes and head to the gym with my tablet slung over my shoulders.
There are a few men and women in the gym. I drop my tablet at the front desk into one of the holders. I walk over to the open area and stretch out my arms and legs and neck. I grab my earbuds out of the side of the watch, putting them in and starting one of the playlists I had on my music app. I head to the treadmill and set it to 8 out of 12 settings.
I focus on my day and think of new ideas while I run. I finished my three miles quickly and moved over to the bench press. I nod to the older man working out on the bench next to the one I took. I workout my arms, legs, and then abs to finish off the day. After 2 and a half hours in the gym, I stretch out and grab another water that is in the fridge next to the tablet holders before grabbing my tablet and heading back to my ship bay.
I drink half of the water on my way to the ship bay and set it down on a table, grabbing a notepad from the desk and writing down the thoughts I had in the gym. I toss the notepad back onto the desk and grab a towel from the drawer.
My ship bay opens suddenly with Charlotte walking through with a determined look on her face. I wrap the towel around my neck and fake check my watch
"You are earlier than I thought, are you sure you didn't rush any of your patients?" I smirk now holding both sides of the towel around my neck. She continues to walk toward me without saying anything.
"You…" She finally says, hitting me in the chest. I put my hands up defending myself laughing, being pushed back. She trips knocking into me making me lose my balance. I fall backwards with one arm instinctively wrapping around her to soften her blow. I catch us landing on my butt holding Charlotte to my chest with my left arm and holding me up in a sitting position with my right arm.
She looked up at me making sure I was okay. "If you wanted a hug that bad you could have just asked me" I say, wrapping both arms around her, getting her clothes wet from my sweat. "Oh gross" She says laughing pushing herself out of the bear hug i had her in. I let her go smiling down at her laughing, using my right arm to hold us up again.
She brushed my hair back with her hand, the sweat making it stay pushed back mostly with some parts falling back into my face. Her hand lingering on my shoulder.
"We need to talk," She says, her smile shrinking. "I know…" I stand up, grabbing her hands and pulling her up with me. I grab the chair nearby, pulling it out for her to sit on it and I grab a stool for me to sit on. I explain everything about my trip for four months every chat, massage, and kiss I shared with Gwen and how I knew she felt that way and didn't tell her no a single time, at least not when she was sober.
Charlotte just sat there quietly listening to every word. Then I explained the night of the dance. How even after seeing her I let Gwen sleep in my bed in my clothes and her kissing me that night and still not telling her to stop.
After finishing telling her everything I looked up to see how she was reacting to see her glaring at me, all I wanted to do was throw out excuses to change her expression, yet I remained quiet waiting for Charlotte to say something.
She sighed and rubbed her brow. "Do you have feelings for her in that way?" She asks now, looking at me with a normal expression. I shake my head no aggressively, still not wanting to say anything. She gives me a small smile then grabs my hand.
"You need to make it clear with her I don't want to think about her pursuing you anymore." She says squeezing my hand. "I only have one more question. Why did you leave?" She asks, her hand still holding mine.
"I don't care about that anymore now that I know how you feel" I say standing up. "Wait wait wait what do you mean?" She says pulling me back down to sit. "You and Ethan, I saw you in the med bay kissing the day before I left. It's okay" I said, using my free hand to explain.
Charlotte let go of my hand. "I swear you are an idiot sometimes," she said with a disgusted look. "I never kissed Ethan or anyone other than you for that matter!" She said now standing up.
I couldn't stop the smile growing on my face. I stood up now pulling her into a hug with my hands around her waist, she put her arms around my neck hugging me back but sighing into my shoulder .
"I'm so glad to hear that because I was totally lying I was not okay with it at all" I say holding her close to me. She laughs into my shoulder. She pulls back abruptly, my hands still on her waist but only her hands were on my shoulders giving her space to look at me.
"That is what lunch was about" She says with a smile growing on her face now understanding the reason behind my actions today. I turn away from her, my ears feeling hot. She laughs pulling me back into a tight hug.
Our watches buzz letting us know it is time for dinner.