15 Laps

It was well into midnight by the time Alex and Isabella left the pool. The once-buzzing hotel had settled into a hush, with only the occasional echo of footsteps or distant door clicks to remind them that the world still moved.

They didn't say much as they stood outside the elevator, and they didn't need to. A shared look, a smile full of exhaustion and something gentler, something warmer, passed between them like a silent pact.

"Guess I'll see you tomorrow," Isabella murmured, her voice quieter than before.

"You will," Alex replied.

She gave him a quick hug. Not the kind that meant nothing, but not the kind that demanded anything either. Just enough. Warm, grounding, honest.

And then she was gone, disappearing down the hallway, her footsteps light.