"What's wrong with me?" she complained to her cat, as she took a swig out of her mixed alcohol drink.
Ollie, who had been napping on the couch at Skylar's arrival, peered up at her with disinterest, only wanting her to pet him.
"I mean look, I get to talk to this really handsome and cute guy, and he may or may not have a girlfriend, but I full on bolted out of there as if he had the plague or something." Skylar continued on, petting Ollie who continued to purr.
She put down her margarita on the counter, and scooped up the giant fluffy cat, cuddling him close to her chest before settling back down on the couch and putting on stupid romance-comedy movies.
By the time the third movie finished playing, Skylar felt better and more determined to finish her vacation on a more peaceful note.
Tomorrow, she was determined to do something that wasn't just the café.
Maybe she'd go to the gym.
Skylar tried her best not to make mistakes.
But this was the biggest one she had ever made. After waking up at an early time for no reason at all, and drinking down water to get rid of the nasty alcohol aftertaste, Skylar thought it'd be a great idea to venture out into the side building of the apartment where a fairly large gym was placed at.
Not only could the residents go there, but if they had guests, they were able to tag along as well.
Skylar went alone, trying not to be intimidated by the various exercise machines, and decided to warm up, stretching out her limbs.
Then she placed on her headphones, and put on some music, getting on the treadmill, and began her torture.
About an hour later, she was stumbling on the place mats, body aching, lungs wheezing, trying not to black out as her calves cramped.
She'd pushed herself more than she should have, running on the treadmill, then lifting the dumbbells. As a newbie, Skylar should have taken it easy and slow.
But she was determined to become an expert on it, and here she was, paying the consequences for it.
"You know, you're supposed to start light, right?" a voice asked behind her.
Skylar turned and froze.
Riker stood there, leaning against the doorway, wearing a tank top, and gym shorts, hair mussily messed up. He had on a pair of running shoes that gleamed with how new they were. And he was staring at Skylar with intensity, as if he'd found her, and was making sure he wasn't going to lose sight of her.
"W-what are you doing here?" Skylar asked, scrambling to her feet despite her body screaming at her to stay still.
"I'm here visiting a friend." He replied, shrugging as if that was the most normal answer in the world.
And it was, but Skylar couldn't help but feel weirded out that the guy she had blown off to hang out with her cat (whether intentionally or not) was somewhere so close to where she lived.
At that moment, a guy walked in with the same build as Riker, only a bit brawnier, and with bleach blonde hair that covered one eye. He had his hair faded, dark brown eyes peering at Skylar with mild interest before looking at Riker.
The guy looked to be about in his twenties, sporting the same gym wear as Riker, tattoos running up and down his arms of a wild tiger chasing an angry dragon. The art of it was beautiful, and as Skylar continued to look at him, she saw that smaller tattoos were also placed on there, words in a different language.
The blonde guy then flexed, and Skylar then realized that she had been ogling at him for too long, averting her gaze as she caught the smug smile of the blonde guy, and the annoyed gaze of Riker.
"I'm going to head out now, enjoy the gym." Skylar said, as she tried to walk out the entryway.
"Wait." Riker said, putting a hand on her elbow to stop her. She froze, and turned around, pulling out of his grasp. "If you don't have any plans with your cat, care to join me for a cup of coffee in about an hour?"
"What?" the blonde guy asked, earning an annoyed glance from Riker.
"I'll try." Skylar replied, trying not to look too uncomfortable as the blonde guy's gaze landed on her face.
"This is Nick. Don't worry, he won't be joining us." Riker assured, and Nick grinned at him.
"I don't know about that sir, you are a runner after all-" Nick's sentence was cut off at the dark look that Riker shot him.
Skylar, on edge, looked between them both, before giving them a quick goodbye, and speedwalking out of there.
Once she turned the corner, she bolted.
Fifteen minutes later, she was suffering from the worst body cramps she'd ever had. Her shoulders burned, and her calves kept knotting up. Skylar was dumping ice into her bath, Ollie peering at her through the bathroom doorway, but keeping a safe distance in case Skylar decide to bathe him.
Once Skylar was satisfied with it, she slowly got in, biting her lower lip as the cold water hit her bare body.
The soreness, and cramps ceased then, and she rotated her arms and legs as she tried to get her body use to the movements. Once it felt like she was going numb, she pulled the stopper, and took a hot shower, letting the water relax her muscles.
Another fifteen minutes had passed, and she stumbled out, renewed by the shower.
Now she had to figure out what to wear for this outing with Riker and Nick apparently.
Her hair wrapped in a towel, and her body wrapped in one, she headed out to her closet as she looked at various outfits kept in her closet, none of them calling out to her until she settled for some dark washed jeans, and a navy-blue blouse with frills on the sleeves.
It was hot enough to where she could wear sandals, so that's what she paired the outfit out with. And just in case, she brought a book with her.
After all, reading was something Riker was strangely into.
In total, Skylar had taken up about forty minutes getting ready, brushing through her hair and making it into a braid as it hung off to the side slightly damp.
She wanted to kick herself as she realized that her and Riker didn't agree to a meeting spot. She was going to have to wander around the building until she found either one, and as she opened her door, she froze, seeing Riker and Nick getting ready to knock on her door.
"How did you-" she started.
"We followed you." Riker answered bluntly, Nick laughing uncomfortably. They had both changed from their gym wear, only clad in black clothing. It was strange to see them wear that type of clothing, especially in this heat, but it did make them look even more striking.
"Now, Riker, you can't say those type if things. You're going to scare her off." He laughed, Riker's eyes narrowing at him.
"It's the truth though." Riker replied, and Skylar closed the door behind her, locking it.
"Shall we head out then?" she said instead, waving them ahead of her. They both nodded, and Skylar couldn't help but feel like they were her personal bodyguards.
She just wanted to make it easy for them but that was near impossible.
Skylar had been heading out to her car, when Riker had pulled her back by the back of her blouse. It was a firm pull, one that made her slightly stumble.
"W-what are you doing?" she asked, as she tried to twist out of his grasp to no avail.
"I could ask the same thing. We're talking my car." He replied, Nick giving her an apologetic look.
"You could have just said that instead of manhandling me!" Skylar replied, Riker instantly letting her go. After an awkward moment of her fixing her shirt back into place, they were back on their way to a silver SUV Nick heading for the driver's side, and Riker opting for the back.
Skylar went ahead and sat in the front passenger seat, more at ease with Nick, and clamored in.
"What are you doing?" Riker asked, Nick shooting a look at him and then his gaze going back to Skylar.
"Sitting in the car." Skylar replied, confused.
"Actually Nick, I changed my mind. I do want to drive." Riker said, getting out of the car.
Nick sighed, but got out as well, having a brief talk with Riker who just brushed him off.
Once in the driver's seat, he gave Skylar a lopsided grin, and started the car, not even waiting for Nick to close his door as he peeled out.
"You didn't have to do all that." Skylar told him.
"I wanted to sit next to you. Besides, I don't think Nick minds."
And sure enough, when Skylar turned around, Nick was sleeping in the back seat.