Episode 3: Workout and Wonders

After finishing his job, Keith went to the gym for his daily workout. Once he was warmed up, he got onto the treadmill.

His watch suddenly pinged.

"Hologram mode." Keith kept running.

A text appeared. Aurelia wanted to know what he wanted for dinner.

Keith hummed. They still had a lot of leftovers. She could just use those.

Aurelia had been a lot more interested in cooking lately. It was probably because of the cook she had for a pen pal. The cook had shared several recipes with her.

"Tell Aurelia that it's fine if she uses the leftovers," Keith said.

The assistant said, "Yes, sir."

A thumbs up emoji popped up.

Keith ran for a while before slowing down, so he could stop. He then went over to a bench with barbells and checked the weight on them.

Once he was satisfied with the weight on them, Keith laid down and began to lift. To make the task more appealing, Keith imagined that it was a tower or other large piece of equipment. That was why he was doing this after all.

Eventually, Keith got up to get a drink of water. Before he could go to the next machine, he saw a small boy looking around nervously.

Keith waved to get the boy's attention. "Are you okay? Do you need something?"

The boy jumped. "I-I don't know where the bathroom is."

Keith smiled as he gestured at a nearby hallway. "Take a right. You can't miss it."

"Thank you…"

Why was a kid that looked so young in the gym? If he didn't use something correctly, he could get hurt. Hopefully, it was just because his parent or sibling was working out.

A big man walked over to him. "I'm looking for my son. 😊Seen a kid with blond hair?" He gestured with his hand. "Yay tall?"

"He just asked for directions to the bathroom."

"Thanks."

After getting another drink, Keith did another exercise on another machine. One he was done, he drove home. He didn't want to use the showers in the gym.

As he walked in, a sleepy Aurelia bumped into him.

"Ah!" Aurelia mumbled out, "Who put a wall here?"

Keith chuckled. "Thanks for the compliment, Rel."

Aurelia blinked before her cheeks turned red. "Keith! Sorry about that…"

"It's okay. I thought you were going to make dinner."

She nodded. "I was going to, but then I fell asleep again."

He patted her head. "You okay? Not sick, are you?"

"I…"

"Didn't you complain after you find out your friend got sick, and she didn't want to say so?"

"True, but I mean it!"

He chuckled. "Get some rest. I'll cook."

She stepped back. "No, you need to shower."

"I can always cook after."

She hummed. "We can both do it!"

He nodded.

"So, get your shower then we can start dinner. I wanted to brew a pot anyway, so I'll do that in the meantime."

"Okay but try to make sure you're awake. Otherwise, you might burn yourself."

Aurelia said, "Okay."

Keith smiled. "I'll be right back."

He then ran up the stairs and jumped into the shower in the hall bathroom to rinse off. Once he was done and dry, he went back to the kitchen to check on Aurelia.

When he got in there, she was standing at the counter with a steaming coffee mug and examining their array of leftovers.

"What were you thinking about having?" Keith asked.

"Ah! Don't do that!"

Keith chuckled. "Sorry about that, but I did promise to help you make dinner."

Her cheeks reddened. "What do you want to eat?"

"Well…" Keith tapped his chin. "I know I finished my Viswine, but what about the other swine?"

Aurelia set three containers aside. "I think you and Yolie went overboard on the order."

"Yeah… We might have…" Keith opened the containers. "What are you going to have?"

"Either the Blitzvine I had yesterday or Fernovine, I think."

Keith took some food from the middle container and put it on a plate, sdo that he could heat it up. He also put some salad on a small plate. "Would you like some more of this? I don't know how much salad Yolie has left."

A shiver ran down Aurelia's spine. "I would. Thank you."

Keith made a plate for her. "Enjoy."

Aurelia eventually settled on making a plate of Blitzvine for herself. Once Keith's plate was done, she put hers in.

"How was your day?" Keith asked.

"It was pretty chill," Aurelia replied. "I didn't read for work today."

Yolie walked in and examined the array of dishes. "Can I have this Gustry?" It was sweet and had seeds on it.

"Go ahead," Keith replied. "Rel and I both had some yesterday."

"Thank you!" she replied in a sing-song voice.

Aurelia put in some earbuds before sitting down with her salad and Blitzvine.

Keith sat down before turning to Yolie. "Where did you go today?"

Yolie beamed. "There was an open call for actors and actresses in a movie I've been trying to get in. They said that they will be in touch within a week. I was so excited when I got the call that I ran outside and cheered."

"That's great," Keith said. "It would be cool if you get the part."

"Yeah, I think I'm ready. This is my third audition, so it would be great if I finally get it."

"You have a better chance this time than last two, right?"

She nodded. "My agent is going to call them, so hopefully it'll be soon."

"Good luck," Keith said. "We're cheering for you."

Yolie grinned.

"Has Frankie tried to find any work since you guys got back from your vacation?" Keith asked.

"Not yet. He was a little stressed out over his last job."

Aurelia pulled her earbuds out. "Did something happen with his last gig?"

"He just felt like he was working too hard for not enough money, and it was taking a toll on him."

"I hope he feels better," Aurelia replied.

"Me, too. That's why I wanted us to get away."

Keith smiled. "That was really nice of you, Yolie."

She waved her hand. "What are friends for?"

"What did you two do together on your vacation?" Aurelia asked.

Yolie tapped her chin. "We swam, we went shopping, and we took a lot of pictures."

Aurelia's eyebrows shot up. "Pictures? How did you take any when you were swimming?"

"We used these things called cameras."

"What are those?"

"They're old-fashioned, but they can capture pictures."

How did the saltwater not ruin the cameras? They were probably very expensive.

"That sounds fun," Keith said.

"Oh, yeah!" Yolie's eyes sparkled. "We had a blast!"

"I can tell," Keith replied.

"It's so good to be home, though."

"I bet."

The trio fell into a comfortable silence as they each ate their leftovers.

Yolie took her empty plate. "Thanks for dinner. I'm going to get some rest."

"Okay," Keith said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Yolie smiled before she left the room.

Keith yawned. "Well, think I'm gonna get some shut eye too."

Aurelia smiled weakly. She still had to do her review...