Condensation 1

The sound of the rain hitting the roof of the SUV brings back a memory of eating popping candy when I was a kid. I'm pulled out of the memory by Kyle saying "She shouldn't come out during this downpour."

He's referring to Joanna, who we call Jo, she got called into work because a couple of her co-workers came down with the flu. The owners of the restaurant need the mess cleaned up so they can open on Monday; I thought 'what kind of mind thinks about re-opening their restaurant three days after three people get murdered in it'.

Jo works for a cleaning company that specializes in bio-hazardous materials, which in our city means that they clean up blood and guts when someone gets popped. Jo asked us to bring her food since she didn't have time to pack her lunch, so we got her a carne asada burrito and some nachos from the place we were eating at.

"You're welcome to get out and go hand it to her if you want, I'm sure she'll appreciate it." I replied.

Jo was already on her way out since we texted her when we arrived and her boss doesn't like anyone not working for her being there when on a job. Kyle reached for the food on the back seat to go and give it to her when I spotted her coming out the front door.

"Too late, here she comes." I announced. Jo was wearing her dark blue, front zip-up hazmat suit with the company logo of a biohazard symbol encased by the handles of a broom, mop, and dustpan; the back of her suit simply saying 'Cleaning Crew'. She was completely covered with the exception of her face, and now her hands after taking off her gloves, so the rain didn't bother her in the slightest.

"Hey." Jo exclaimed as I put my window down letting the chilly air of Fall hit my face. "Thanks for bringing me food." she added.

"No problem, we got you a steak burrito and nachos." replied Kyle, happy to see her.

"I hope I didn't take you out of your way?" she wondered.

"Nah, we were just hanging out. We were actually eating when you texted so it worked out." I answered, then added. "How's it looking in there?".

"Big mess, one of the guys got stabbed so he bled out; but we'll be done in a couple of hours." she answered.

"You sure you're gonna be able to eat?" I followed up.

"Yeah, it doesn't faze me anymore." she said.

Who it did faze was Kyle, since he gets nauseous at even the thought of blood, which is why Jo and I never invite him to go see horror films with us. It didn't help Kyle that we had just eaten before coming here, so he didn't really stand a chance of not feeling sick at the sound of Jo's words.

"Hey Jo, you think it'd be cool if I went in and used the washroom?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah go ahead. It's right upfront near the entrance so you shouldn't see anything rough, it all went down in the back." As Kyle climbed down and ran past her through the rain she also added. "If you throw up, don't miss the toilet, I don't want to have to clean up your puke again."

I watched him go in before speaking. "Hop in, get out from under the rain." Jo walked around in front of the SUV before climbing in, she pulled down the hood of the suit and unzipped it down just below her chest; her pure black hair was tied up in a bun but her bangs covered her forehead as usual. I noticed my breath as I exhaled and realized that there was no warmth left in the SUV, so I closed the window before asking. "You want to eat before you get back in there?"

"Nah, I'll eat a bit later." she replied. I leaned my head back on the headrest and sighed. "You ok?" Jo asked.

"Yeah, I'm just sleepy." I replied.

"You want me to come over after I'm done? We can watch a movie and relax." she proposed.

"I'd like that." I smiled as I agreed.

Kyle liked Jo from the moment he met her, we all knew it, but he never had a chance with her at all, he's not her type. Coincidentally neither am I, but we do have a bit more in common and through time spent together ended up falling for each other. We don't want to hurt Kyle or mess up our friendship dynamic with him, so we keep our relationship discrete around him.

At this moment however, I lose all thoughts about Kyle. I'm looking at Jo just sitting there in her big blue hazmat suit, with her face that highlights its beauty with makeup that not even the rain could mess up, her adorable bangs hanging perfectly over her forehead. She's all my brain is able to process when I lightly touch her chin and ask. "You know what would make me feel better right now?"

"What?" she says while smiling.

"If you came over here." I reply, gently pulling her by the chin. Her smile turns into a grin while she moves across the center console; she's now sitting on my lap facing me, slightly turned so her back is towards the side mirror; her crossed legs stretch over the console so that her feet lay just over the passenger seat. We kiss, my left hand is on her lower back but it's working its way down to her plum butt; my right hand is squeezing her thigh but it's quickly moving around her abdomen to the zipper of her suit. I unzip it down as low as it will go before my hand slowly works its way up caressing her squishy stomach before coming to a stop at the base of her breasts. I'm nibbling on her ear, then a bit down to her neck, kissing my way around to the other side; my hands have not stopped massaging their respective landing spots, although my right hand is now massaging her breasts over her shirt.

We're breathing harder now, our lips come back together, her bangs tickling the bridge of my nose; when our lips part I lightly kiss her cheeks. My right hand moves a bit lower down to make its way underneath her shirt and then her bra. My lips are back on her neck while my left hand is squeezing firmly on her ass; my right hand has made it under her shirt and it's about to dig under her bra; I'm sure Jo can feel the pulse of my rapidly beating heart through my palm at this point, and just as my hand reaches its destination.........there's a knock at the window.

We freeze, I look at Jo's eyes before shifting mine to look at the window, the amount of fog on it makes it impossible to see anything other than the blurry shape of the person standing outside; I don't have to see clearly to know who it is, so it's no surprise when Kyle's voice says. "Jo, your boss is looking for you."

Jo shoots me a look that says 'Oh Oh' before replying "Ok." She moves back to the passenger side, composes herself, and puts her bangs back under her hood before grabbing her food that Kyle had set on the dashboard.

I don't dare take down my window, I see the blurry shape of Jo meet up with Kyle at the front of the vehicle, she taps him on the shoulder and says. "Thank you for lunch, I'll see you guys later."

The foggy windows make her disappear before she even reaches the restaurant. The sound of Kyle opening the door and getting in pulls my attention, he's drenched. I don't hear the rain hit the roof anymore, it has died down quite a bit which leads me to wonder how long he was standing out there just watching us. He just sits there looking straight ahead, the only thing I can think to say is. "Are you alright?"

He takes a little bit of time before he turns to me and smiles. "Yeah man, I've known about you two pretty much since you started." he adds.

Now I'm surprised, I thought Jo and I had done a good job at keeping things discrete, so I ask. "How?"

"It's in your eyes man, they way you started to look at her all of the sudden, I could tell there was something there." he answered.

"We didn't want to mess up our friendship, with you I mean." I elaborated.

"You haven't. I'm not a little kid, I can take the "L". Besides, you two are my best friends and I'm genuinely happy for you." The smile coming back to this face. "So stop hiding around." His words reassured us both.

"Alright man, sounds good." I said, before turning over the ignition and hitting the road again.