It would never happen. It had never even crossed their minds until that morning on December 31st when the thought of spending another day with their families on the holidays drove them both back to work. With everyone else in the carpool still at home preparing for the New Year they both sat side by side as their car moved quickly through the empty streets.
"How was your Christmas? Any plans for tonight?" quickly slipped between them in the first few minutes of the ride as they pulled up on the freeway and sped into long, uncomfortable silences. Occasional, "Is it supposed to rain today?" or "Wow, I've never seen the traffic this light before," only added to their shared discomfort.
Twice their arms lightly brushed against each other and each time they jerked away too quickly as if they burned. Mumbling something like, "Excuse me... I'm sorry," they immediately looked away. Neither heard the other sigh with relief as they exited the freeway and pulled into the parking garage.
After parking in their normal spot he said, "Wow, isn't anyone at work today?"
"Just us I guess," she replied, quickly grabbing her things and reaching for the door handle.
"No wait," he exclaimed, reaching over and grabbing her thigh as she released her seat belt.
She tensed trying to pull her leg free as she firmly said, "No."
"I just..." his voice cracked as his hand moved further up her thigh. He felt her relax in her seat.
"No, we can't do this, I can't..."