By the time Nick came back—now dressed in a thin white shirt and trunks—everyone was already busy playing a game that Colin was curating. Nick took his time walking towards them, and simply watched as they laughed and ran. Lisa was burying Mark in the sand using a beach shovel, continuously reminding him not to move as he kept on laughing. Fred was in a similar situation to Mark, with his wife and kid pushing sand on top of his limbs.
It felt odd for Nick to see all of them outside of work. He was so used to compartmentalizing people in his life, that he somehow forgot that they also exist out of the box he put them in.
Colin was the first to notice him. He was holding a stopwatch on one hand, with a whistle in between his lips. When he smiled, he let the whistle drop to his chest. “Fin
