photo by me

Erin came by my office before noon. “You wanna go to the bookstore with me to get the books for our 549 class?”

I’d already gotten one but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to see if the others were available plus it got me out of the office plus I like hanging out with Erin.

We head out. Thunder is pounding above us. The breeze is picking up slightly as we go to her truck. The clouds are amazing – heavy, dark things that threaten us. The air has a slight chill to it.

We get to the bookstore. Oh, yeah. It’s the week before classes when everyone is giving things away. Want a credit card – get a 12-pack of Coke. Oh, yeah. Rack up the debt of 18-year-olds. Vultures.

But I digress.

We go in search of our books. She gets the same one I already have. We look around for a few more things but don’t see anything.

We get to the truck just in time. Within moments of heading out, the rain comes pelting down upon us.

This wasn’t a typical monsoon. It was hard. It was fast. It felt different.

She pulls into the parking lot, finds a spot, and we realize that it’s now hailing.

We’re gonna wait it out.

We hang out, talking.

And the windows start to steam up.

Not just a little. I’m talking steamed windows equivalent to those in Titanic when Rose put a heart in the car’s window. Don’t remember that? It was steamy.

Heh.

I look over at her.

Uhhhh…this is great. The two single women in a truck with the windows steaming up.

She laughs. The two older women, she says.

I laugh.

Finally, the hail stops but it’s still raining. We make a run for it and a co-worker, Steph, yells out the window at us.

And all I can think is…

…caught.

Darn.