Charles || C. Leclerc

6

Twenty seconds left. Elizabeth kept rowing. Nineteen... Eighteen... Why are seconds like minutes during working out? She kept pushing until the timer hit zero. She let go of the handle of the rowing machine and put her feet back on the ground. Her heart was racing in her chest, and her lungs wanted air. Elizabeth looked around, finding out that she was in an almost empty gym. She took a deep breath and drank the entire bottle of water. A few seconds later, Elizabeth got up and walked to the water machine to refill her bottle with water. She didn't move but kept drinking.

"Excuse me."

Elizabeth looked next to her. "Oh, sorry," she said and stepped away.

The corners of Charles' mouth curled up, and he tapped some water. "No stress," he said. "How is it going?" He took a sip. Charles pointed behind him, asking about her gym session.

"For as far as it is going... I'm going home. That's the state."

"Ah, no," he mumbled and leaned against the wall. "How come?" Charles ran his hand through his hair.

Elizabeth pressed her lips into a thin line to hide her smile. She was single, and she could look at men without feeling guilty, well, guilty? Anyway, the way Charles looked like; sporty, flushed cheeks, the veins on his arms, his pumped muscles... And then leaning against the wall. Oh, god. "Yeah, well, you know, I didn't really feel like going to the gym when I woke up. But I decided to go anyway. And what I concluded this morning, and what I ignored, shouldn't be ignored."

A smirk rolled over his lips. "Well, at least you can say you did go. You tried."

"Still not satisfied," she muttered and looked down.

"For how long have you done anything?"

"Twenty minutes," she breathed and looked at him again.

He smiled. "Twenty minutes is twenty minutes, Elizabeth. It's something."

"How about you then?"

Charles took a deep breath and looked somewhat guilty. "Two hours," he quietly mentioned.

She locked her eyes with his and nodded. "Great."

They both started to laugh as it sounded sarcastic.

"Are you finished or on a break?" Elizabeth then asked and took a sip again.

"Yes, luckily," Charles nodded. "I'm on a winter break, but I still have to work out so I won't get behind," he mentioned and widened his eyes for a second, showing he didn't like it. "But it's in the system, so fine. I'm glad it's not that intensive."

"True, true, and you ski."

"And I ski." Charles straightened his back and cleared his throat. "Anyway, I'm starving. I was gonna grab some lunch. Would you like to join?" He scanned her face, noticing the soft-coloured cheeks now. "Or will you be finishing your workout?" A teasing look came on his face.

"I will grab my stuff," she replied and nodded, ignoring the last thing he said. They both smirked again. "I would like to join."

"Let's go then."

They both went to the changing rooms, grabbing their stuff. Elizabeth put her sweatpants over her sports legging and put on a hoodie. She sat down on the bench and grabbed her phone, texting her brother that it would be a bit later when she came home. Her eyes scanned the ladies changing room, she spotted only one more coat. Elizabeth put on her normal shoes and put on her coat. She met Charles at the entrance of the gym.

As they walked out of the gym, Charles put his backpack on his back. He put on his cap. "But, let's be honest, Elle, it did feel great? Working out for a bit?"