Claire was given her room number right before she followed Gabriel's directions. She reached the glass double door before she opened them up and exited out of the building.
Looking to her right, she saw what Gabriel mentioned through his explanation as to where to go. Those who checked in with the Captain and Lieutenant Mason.
From there, they waited for a few more people to come out before the tour began. The Lieutenant said that he'll come back for the next group to tour them too.
With the touring finished, the time just ticked past 5 in the afternoon.
The Lieutenant led them to another pair of doors where he said his goodbye for the night. "Now, you may all head towards your rooms if you wish. I will no longer be talking to you today unless you have an inquiry, then feel free to ask me. With that being said, I wish you all a good night. Sleep well because tomorrow... tomorrow you'll need a good night's worth of rest. Until tomorrow!". He saluted the group before he turned around on his heels and walked away.
***
She held the page which had her room and bed number inscribed on it.
Lifting her gaze from the piece of paper, she looked at the room numbers. She watched for the one that matched the figure on the page gripped by her fingers.
"Room 3-03... room 3-03..." Claire repeated under her breath.
Then, a moment later, she managed to find her assigned room. Room 3-03.
Placing the bit of paper she held in her hands in her pocket, she took a gentle grip upon the door handle. With that, she gave it a slight twist before pushing, opening the door.
The door revealed four girls, they were all conversing with one another. But upon hearing the door open their eyes landed on a girl who stood by the door frame. Claire.
'There are 5 girls, including me, yet only 4 beds...' she noted to herself.
With that considered and moved aside, Claire returned her attention to the girls. A small, sheepish smile grew on her lips. It acted sort of like an apology for the interruption she caused. "I am sorry for interrupting.".
No reply.
It was the fact that no reply was heard that made Claire feel that bit tenser. The silence made her feel sort of unwelcome.
Brushing the sensation and labelling it as her nerves, she proceeded on walking over to her assigned bed. Bed 3.
She managed to find it within a second.
One of the girls was sat on her bed.
Claire looked up at her, she saw the way she gazed around before her eyes met Claire's.
"I-I'm sorry, but I believe you are on my bed," Claire spoke up. "I-I was assigned bed 3.".
The girl reacted by furrowing her brows. "No... bed 3 is my bed..." she replied. With that, she dug a hand into one of her pockets before extracting a folded page.
Unfolding it, it revealed the room and bed number that was given to her. Claire put her room and bed number side by side with the girl's and compared each.
Not even a second passed when they both reacted by furrowing their brows. With that, they gazed up from the two papers and looked at one another.
"The two pages are identical..." the girl muttered under her breath.
"There must have come to some sort of an error," Claire added to her statement.
"Yeah... which is very strange" the girl voiced. "I'll go and report it to the Captain.".
"Hey, no, no, it's okay, I can go. Either way, I am already on my feet," Claire replied.
"Oh?... A-are you sure? I can go if you like.".
"It's okay, I am sure. I'll go," Claire affirmed.
With that, a small smile grew on the girl's lips. Was it because the misunderstanding was in the process of being cleared up? Or the fact that someone else volunteered to go through the bother of informing the Captain of such an occurrence?
Even to her, the reason was unclear. Nonetheless, whatever it was, she was very thankful.
Claire smiled back, turned around and was just about to walk out when...
"By the way..." the girl began, catching Claire's attention. "My name is Trina.".
"It's nice to meet you. My name is Claire.".
"Likewise, Claire," Trina replied.
With that, Claire kept her gaze on Trina for a second longer before looking at the rest of the girls in the room. In return, they all smiled back.
'Was it nerves or not, I don't know... but this feeling, this one right here. This is what the sense of welcome, sense of warmth feels like.'.
At that, Claire walked out of the room and began her way towards where she registered earlier that day. The Captain's office.
***
Retracing her steps, she went took the same turns from today and walked up the hallway, from there, she saw the big door from the Captain's office up ahead.
Reaching it, a silver shine caught her eye. It was like a name tag bolted in the door. It contained a name. His name.
Captain Gabriel MacIntosh.
Clearing her throat, she proceeded on knocking on the door. No answer. So, she knocked once more, and again, no reply.
'He must be somewhere important...' Claire thought to herself.
With that, she heard footsteps behind her. Turning around, her eyes were met by an older woman who was a bit smaller than Claire.
"Can I help you, Miss?" she heard the woman ask.
"Umm, may I ask, would you know where the Captain would be at this moment?" Claire inquired.
"At this time, the Captain would be in the GYM, working out. If you like, I can pass him on your message.".
"I-if you don't mind, I'd rather talk to him myself," Claire responded.
"Are you sure, Miss...". In the end, the woman purposefully stopped, prompting Claire to introduce herself to her.
"Claire. Claire Emerson.".
With that, the older woman repeated her question. "Are you sure, Miss Emerson?".
"Yes. Yes, I am sure.".
Claire felt slight confusion when a small smile appeared on the woman's lips. "Alright, that's no problem at all. Follow me, Miss Emerson. I'll show you where Captain MacIntosh works out. See, our base has a GYM. It's where he likes to spend his stay the most when not working in his office.".
With that, they began their way to the Captain.
"By the way, my name is Rose. I do all the administrative work in this base," Rose spoke. With that, she stopped right in front of a double-door. "Here's the GYM.". A pause. "But beware, the Captain is not very keen on being interrupted during his workout sessions.".
Claire looked at Rose in the eyes before a very small smile appeared on her lips. "Thank you, thank you very much.".
"Well then, I'll be off now.". With that, Rose smiled at Claire and turning around, she walked off.
Taking a step closer to the door, Claire could have heard grunts. With that, she pressed the palm of her hand upon one of the double doors and pushed the door open ever so slightly. Peering through the small gap she made, she saw him.
He was shirtless, sweaty. She saw how strong he was, saw his physique that was usually hidden under his clothes. Slowly, Claire felt her cheeks flare-up. She began blushing. 'T-The Captain... he-he looks pretty strong...' she thought to herself.
Clearing her throat, she proceeded on knocking on the door. With that, his eyes shot up to the door, where they met Claire. Seeing her, his gaze softened ever so slightly.
"Claire?" he began. "Is everything okay?". He stood up, giving Claire a full view of his shirtless, muscular body. She damned him for doing such a thing.
She couldn't help but give his bulging muscles and abs, defined chest and broad shoulders a glance.
She decided it was time to be a bit more solemn, so her glancing journey ended with her looking up at his face.
"U-umm, Captain. I-I have a slight problem.". Though she was used to dropping her gaze down, this time she couldn't bear seeing his body again. A churning sensation spun in her stomach, it made her feel slightly nauseated. So she tried her best not to allow her gaze to leave his face.
"A problem?".
"Y-yeah," she began. "There are not enough beds in the room I was given. My roommate and I received the same bed. There must have come to some sort of an error," Claire furthermore claimed.
"Oh, is that so?" Gabriel responded.
Claire replied with a nod. "Also, I am sorry for interrupting your workout. I went to your office, but was told that you were in the GYM.".
He couldn't help but chuckle at her words. "Hey, there's no reason for you to apologise. I was pretty much done anyway.".
His words caused a wave of relief to be released within Claire. It was her first day, and the last thing she wanted to do was to get on the Captain's bad side. "T-thank you, Sir.".
Gabriel smiled at her words before he gazed at her, into her eyes for a handful of seconds. And as if Claire felt it, as if he managed to somehow communicate to her without using words, she replied with a gaze.
Then, slowly, she took in a deep breath. "C-Captain, I think you should put something on yourself. You'll get sick.".
Gabriel rose a brow to her words and Claire noticed this.
"D-did I say something wrong?" She asked.
Instantly, Gabriel shook his head. "No, not at all.". A brief break. "Just... thank you for your concern. Really. But... but I think you are forgetting to whom you are speaking to.".
Claire widened her eyes before she looked down at her shoes. With that, she bowed as an act of courtesy. "Y-you are right, Sir. I am very sorry, Captain.".
"H-huh?". He furrowed his brows at her. "O-oh, I didn't mean it that way, Miss Emerson...". Upon mentioning her name, Gabriel managed to get her attention, and it was shown by her looking back up at him. "What I was imply was that, over the countless missions I have been on, I was exposed to much worse, harsher conditions.". A pause. He looked behind him. "An open window and a slight breeze will do be no harm whatsoever.".
She nodded to his words in an understanding manner. And with that, her gaze dropped down to the floor and only then did she remember the words she told herself. Instantly, she stood up straight and looked up at him, at his face. Into his eyes.
Upon seeing such a goofy reaction, Gabriel allowed a small smile to grow on his lips.
Then, he cleared his throat. "Say, can you wait for me here for a second or two. I'll go and dry myself off before putting someone on myself.".
"Yes, sir.". She didn't know what else to add, so she did what Garrett had done right before he left. She sent a salute to the Captain.
***
Gabriel walked out, dried off and the top of his body covered by a shirt.
"Alright. Miss Emerson, follow me.".
"Yes, Captain!". She grabbed her luggage and did as she was told. She dragged her luggage behind her. She couldn't help but notice a scent lingering in the air. She knew it was from him.
It wasn't a stench, it didn't smell bad. It was the smell of a deodorant mixed with the smell of hard work. A well-done workout.
With that thought expressed in her mind, silence descended upon them both.
But that was until Gabriel didn't break it.
"So, you say that you think there has come to an error with assorting the beds, is that correct?".
"Yes, Captain," she replied. With that, she grabbed ahold of the bit of paper he gave her that contained the room and the bed number from her pocket. "It mightn't be of much use...".
He stopped upon her words, turned around and took the page from Claire. He looked at it, furrowing his brows. Then, he crumpled the page into a ball before stuffing it into his pocket.
From there, Gabriel rose his gaze and looked at Claire into her eyes. "Follow me," he repeated his instruction.
Claire replied with a nod before obeying his words. She kept her position behind Gabriel as she tried to match his pace of walking.
"Captain? Can I ask you something?".
"Of course. What is it?".
"Do you know who my Captain will be?" Claire inquired.
Gabriel scrunched his brows upon hearing such a question. "What do you mean?".
"We will be assigned a Captain to lead us, right?".
"That's correct.".
"So..." Claire began. "Would you know who the Captain is that is due to be in charge of my group?... I'm asking to get ready in case if he is someone who gets angry easily or someone who is just mean...".
Gabriel chuckled at her words. "I think you can sigh a breath of relief. I know who'll be in charge of you and your group.".
"Oh?... Well, is he nice?".
"I don't know. I'll have you tell me, do you think I am nice?" he asked, a small smile stretched across his lips. "And I hope the answer is yes.".
Suddenly, comprehending his words, Claire widened her eyes. "Will you be our Captain??".
He continued walking, but he turned his head towards Claire ever so slightly. "Yes. Yes, I will.".
A small smile evolved on Claire's lips as her eyes traced their way down to the floor.
Was she happy that she knew who her Captain will be? That she didn't need to encounter another stranger and make acquaintance with him? Or was it the fact that she was getting, little by little, closer to finding Garrett? She wasn't sure why such a feeling was evoked, but she embraced it.
Before she knew it, both Gabriel and herself walked out of the building and very soon, out of the base.
"S-Sir? Where are we going?" Claire inquired, furrowing her brows ever so slightly in confusion.
"You'll be sleeping over in my house, Claire.". Then a moment of silence descended between them both. "Also, please, when we are out of the barracks, or when we are not on a mission, you can simply call me Gabriel.".
"O-oh?" Claire reacted, to which Gabriel found himself chuckling.
"You seem surprised.".
"Well, that's because I am... a bit," Claire replied as they both approached a dark coloured car.
Once more, Gabriel chuckled at her words. "It's only a matter of time before you get used to it.". A pause. "Now, come on. Take a seat in the car," he added, unlocking his vehicle.
She nodded upon hearing his request ad sat in the car. Gabriel joined her a second later.
With that, he powered up his car, and they both set off.
***
Gabriel parked in the parkway of his house, and with him shutting the engine of the car off, both Claire and he exited the vehicle.
With them both entering Gabriel's home, he turned and faced Claire. "Please, make yourself feel at home.".
With that, they both let the evening flow by.
What Claire first did was, she had a shower. After getting dressed up, Gabriel went in next.
With them both showered and dressed up, they made their way downstairs and into the kitchen. There, Gabriel crafted something really quick before serving it on the dining table.
With that, they both had dinner.
Finishing their food and clearing the table, both Claire and Gabriel called it a night.
"I have a guests room, ready for you to use. I will show you where it is. On top of that, I'll also show you where I'll be sleeping so that if anything was to occur, you'll know immediately where to go.".
Claire nodded to his words as she followed him up the wide stairway.
Gabriel did as he said. He showed Claire both the guests room and where Gabriel will be sleeping. A room separated his and Claire's room.
Each going into their rooms and slipping under the comforters of their beds, not long passed before they both to allow sleep to devour them.