charles-kayson
A good chunk of Charlie’s life was spent in this gym, especially since his wife had died the year before, there was always something there to keep his mind occupied when he was away from his sons, and the last thing he wanted was to be trapped in his own head as it was a dark place to be these days. Typically he spent his time in the part of the gym that was reserved for boxing, as that was his job, but he’d recently taken a punch to the face and he had a fractured orbital bone, so he was taking a break from getting punched for a while and he wasn’t comfortable on most of the machines with how sore his face was, so he decided to do a little weightlifting before going home.
He’d been totally engrossed in his workout when someone dropped a weight and distracted him, so he set his weights down and reached for his water bottle, slightly irritated at the disruption until he realized someone else was seriously more affected and he wanted to help if he could. He quickly grabbed a water bottle from one of the fridges and approached her gently. “Ma’am? Are you alright? I’m Charlie and I work here, but I’m off duty.” He was rambling, but he’d found in similar situations that it sometimes helped. He sat down near her, while still giving her some space, “I got you some water, if you’re thirsty, or you just want something to do with your hands, I’ve done that when I’ve had panic attacks before, sometimes it helps.”
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Lennon could feel her heart racing, the pounding deafening only to herself. She could barely hear someone approaching her and she flinched out of instinct. She looked over, embarrassed from the reaction that she had and took the water bottle from the other. “Thanks.” She managed to get out as she carefully opened the bottle and took a few sips from it. She let herself sit there for a few moments, mumbling to herself before she started to come out of it. She looked over to the person who she knew had introduced themselves at some point but she could not repeat the name if it would save her life. “Uh..sorry about that...” She said as she looked around at the small crowd of people that had gathered around them on the floor and she pulled her knees carefully to her chest.
“I’m Lennon and I’m sure you probably said your name but if I’m being honest with you, I really didn’t hear much of anything that was probably said.” She looked over towards the other, offering an apologetic smile. “I really am sorry if I caused a scene or something. I uh....didn’t expect quite that big of a reaction to a weight being dropped....”