"Thank you, have a great day!" Kyle said to the lady now holding a small parcel he had just delivered.
Kyle clicked complete on his phone app to mark the job done. As he closed the app he saw the small ghost icon on the notification bar. His heart skipped a beat, hoping it was the message he had been hoping for all day. He dragged the bar down and saw the name "Jess". He smiled and clicked on the notification.
"Scott is starting work at 4. Leaving at 3:45. What's your ETA?"
Kyle quickly replied: "3:50. Can't wait to see you."
He got back in his van, set his next address in the navigation app and set off. He was barely out of the street when the reply from Jess came: "Me too". He smiled again.
He had an extra spring as he completed the last few deliveries, his smile a little wider. The crisp autumn breeze didn't cut through him quite as badly anymore as he thought about the afternoon ahead.
It was only 3 o'clock when he finished. He was only a twenty-minute drive away from Jess' house. He parked at a supermarket nearby and tried to pass the time playing games on his phone, but his imagination kept distracting him. Memories of previous Monday afternoons kept popping up reminding him he would be reliving these moments in less than an hour. The thought made his heart skip a beat, and the front of his jeans bulge. His left hand rested on the bulge almost absentmindedly as he tried to focus on his game.
Finally, 3:30 came. Perfect time for him to drive to Jess' house. Before he left he sent a message to his wife telling her he had jobs out to the far eastern suburbs that afternoon, and hopefully would be home by 6, depending on traffic. His heart gave an uncomfortable twitch with the lie, but Jess' face swam into his mind, pushing the guilt out. He backed out of the spot and drove, deliberately choosing his route so Scott wouldn't pass him in the opposite direction, recognise the van, and wonder if Kyle was on his way to see Jess, who was now home alone for eight hours.
Jess and Kyle liked to play a game to see how high they could raise each other's heartrates. It was how their relationship had gone from friends to more. Jess had dreamt that Kyle had been trying different things to raise her heart rate, like touch her arm, her hand, her waist, her leg, and it had worked. She shyly retold the dream alone with Kyle in his empty house one Monday afternoon. This retelling had moved to re-enacting, the two friends starting to run their fingers gently, experimentally along each other's fingers and hands, which did indeed raise their heartrates. This progressed to rubbing feet, Kyle going as high as he dared up the inside of her thigh, and Jess responding with sharp intakes of breath, and closing her eyes.
After that first day they arranged to meet on Jess' day off when Scott went to work. The awkward moment was quickly forgotten, and their physical relationship progressed much faster than any dating relationship either of them had ever been in.
For weeks now they had been meeting on Monday afternoons, and any other time they had free time, a free house and a good excuse all align.
Now, as Kyle turned the corner into Jess' street, driving past her door and around the next corner so as not to raise suspicions with the neighbours, his heart was accelerating pleasurably. He parked, picked up his phone and messaged Jess "all clear?".
He watched the screen eagerly. He saw her cartoon face pop up over the edge of the screen, showing she had seen the message. His heartrate picked up again as the three dots appeared in the thought bubble as Jess typed her reply. "Yes".
Kyle stepped out of his van and walked quickly around the corner. Jess was at the door as he approached and opened the door for him with a shy, quiet "hey".
"Hey," he replied as he stepped inside. He knew that Jess loved him taking charge and being physical, but despite her strong suggestions of this, his nerves consistently got the better of him. He passed her in the doorway, almost being careful not to touch her and kicked off his shoes near the shoe rack. Jess had passed him and walked to the kitchen.