A snack break.

"Remember, no caffeine!" Hane reminded Jonathan when they walked into the kitchen/dining hall.

"Yes, doc!" he responded with a playful salute.

Hane rolled her eyes while she walked up to the espresso machine.

"I thought you said no caffeine?"

"Only for you," she smirked as she opened one of the fridges to take out a cake.

"We're going to be exercising in a few hours," Jonathan reminded her.

"I'll burn off the calories then!" she giggled.

"Well, don't let Kaylee catch you..."

"Let me catch what?" Kaylee asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"We were just having some snacks," Jonathan answered, shifting over to try to block the cake from her view.

"It's okay, Jon," Hane smiled. "I just wanted a slice of cake to go with my coffee. Do you want some?"

"Sure," Kaylee nodded. "But not you, Jon."

"That's a tad unfair," Jonathan complained.

"Well, it's not often I get to pull rank over you," Kaylee giggled.

"Expresso?" Hane asked.

"No thank you I'm a tea person," Kaylee replied and headed over the cupboards where the teas were kept. "God, why did they put the teas so high up?"

"Need help?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah, could you grab..." Kaylee began but let out a squeal of surprise when he suddenly grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up with ease so she could reach the tea boxes. When she picked the tea box she wanted, he gently lowered the petite dietician/chef down.

"Um, thank you, Jon," she blushed, looking at him with sparkles in her brown eyes. He was a foot taller than her and almost double her weight, so her mind drifted off to imagining what it would be like if the two of them having sex standing up while he carried her.

"No problem," he smiled and went to grab an orange.

"So have you decided the menu for dinner tonight?" Hane asked while Kaylee turned on the kettle.

"Yes, I'm going to make some of my mom's recipes," Kaylee replied. "Actually Cindy offered to make mapo tofu!"

"We have enough woks?" Jonathan asked, cutting his orange into slices.

"I made sure we did so I bought them myself because I didn't want to go through NASA's red tape!" Kaylee responded while she put green tea leaves in the teapot. "Can either of you cook?"

"I'm basically limited to bacon, eggs, pancakes, French toast, and oatmeal," Jonathan shrugged.

"And I thought you were perfect at everything!" Kaylee giggled.

"Well, I must admit that Jon can cook better than me!" Hane admitted.

"What can you cook?" Kaylee asked.

"I can boil water," Hane answered embarrassingly.

"Perhaps I should offer cooking classes?" Kaylee wondered.

"That's a wonderful idea!" Hane smiled. "It would be a great team building activity!"

"I'll have to ask everyone's level of proficiency in the kitchen so I can decide on the recipes and ingredients," Kaylee noted to herself just as the kettle whistled.

"As much as I love to hang around to chat over caffeine and cake, I have a strict diet to adhere to," Jonathan announced with a wink at Kaylee. "I'll see you downstairs, Hane." He waved and grabbed an apple on his way to the elevator.

The two women waved back and intently watched him leave. Kaylee let out an audible sigh when Jonathan disappeared out the door.

"What's wrong?" Hane asked.

"Nothing is wrong with him," Kaylee giggled while she poured the hot water into the teapot. "Don't you agree?"

Hane blushed and bit her lower lip before responding, "I'm his colleague and co-project lead so I can't remark what may be construed as professionally inappropriate."

"There's no HR here!" Kaylee laughed.

"That's not the point..."

"We all need therapists, including you," Kaylee stated in a sudden serious tone.

"I'm not a medical doctor so there's no doctor-patient confidentiality," Hane explained.

"I'll be your ears so whatever you say at this table is just confidential between the two of us," Kaylee said with an assuring smile. "Between friends!"

"Friends?"

"I hope we're going to be friends if we're stuck here together for the next two years!" Kaylee smirked, thinking that hopefully they could be more than friends because she had never made out with a woman with larger breasts than hers. "Remember our relationships here is part of the experiment!"

"You're correct..." Hane nodded reluctantly and took a sip of her coffee. "Yes, Jon is very easy on the eyes."

"Oh, especially with his shirt off," Kaylee sighed as she poured herself a cup of tea.

Hane shyly nodded in agreement.

"How many of us do you think will have sex with Jon?" Kaylee asked.

Hane's eyes widened at the blunt question. "Excuse me?"

"Well, NASA made us wear the contraceptive implants," Kaylee explained, pointing at the small bump under her left shoulder.

"NASA is neither condoning nor condemning what we do if there is sexual intercourse between consenting adults," Hane explained.

"Yes, I know it's just a preventive measure," Kaylee interrupted, "but that wasn't my question."

"Honestly, I don't know," Hane answered, trying to hide her embarrassment by sipping her coffee.

"Guess."

"What do you mean?"

"Guess who may sleep with Jon."

"That's inappropriate for me to..."

"This is just between the two of us."

"Kaylee..."

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, you think I will have sex with Jon," Kaylee grinned. "I agree!"

Hane sighed and knew Kaylee was not going to let her off the hook until she played along. "The triplets."

"Individually or all three at once?" Kaylee giggled.

Hane blushed. "I... I don't know."

"I think he's pretty fit to outlast the three of them!"

Hane's cheeks turned redder at the thought of the foursome.

"Who else?" Kaylee asked.

Hane paused for a moment to consider the crew roster. "Cindy."

"It's very obvious she has the hots for him," Kaylee nodded. "Anyone else?"

"No, I think Jon is too nice to take advantage of his colleagues and sleep around," Hane shook her head, not admitting that she would take the opportunity to have sex with Jonathan if given the chance.

"Well, I think everyone will," Kaylee stated, sipping her tea.

"Really?" Hane gasped. "Even Zoe?"

"Of course with fifteen beautiful unmarried women with one handsome unmarried man stuck together in a confined space for two years?" Kaylee explained. "Jon maybe an uprighteous and honorable man but he is still a man with needs..."

"We are professionals!" Hane argued.

"We are women with needs too!" Kaylee countered.

Hane poked at her cake with her fork and she knew Kaylee was right. The project was set up to test everyone Maslow's hierarchy of needs — at the base of the hierarchy were physiological needs (air, food, water, heat, bodily functions, and shelter), then were security and safety needs (health, personal security, emotional security, and financial security), then there were the social needs (family, friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance), then above that were esteem needs (appreciation and respect), and lastly there were the self-actualization needs (personal growth and pursuing goals). NASA had already planned and prepared for their physiological, security, and safety needs but the social, esteem and self-actualization needs were up to the crew and the point of project was to evaluate them on that. She wonder if everyone, especially Jonathan, was doomed to give into their primal urges?

"I should be going back to the lab," Hane whispered, wiping her mouth with a napkin as she stood up. "This is between us, right?"

"Of course, we're friends!" Kaylee chirped as she cleared the table. "I'll see you later at the gym!"

"Yes, of course," the neuroscientist nodded with a smile before heading towards the elevator.