The rain seems to be a never ending saga. At least there's no drought, Rachel thinks as she looks out the window of the bus. The glass is covered in raindrops that hold onto the surface for a moment before trickling down.

She gets a call from Hector.

"Are you free today?" He says.

"No, I'm on my way to my sister's place."

"Thought you said she'll be in Hollywood for a week," Hector says.

Rachel told everyone about it, that her sister was designing one of the sets in Hollywood that will be in a Leonardo DiCaprio movie.

"She is," Rachel says, "I just drop by her place whenever I get the time to clean it up."

"Aren't you a diligent younger sister?" He says.

"Did you call to grade how good of a sister I am?"

"No. I called to ask if we could have lunch together."

Rachel smiles. It sounds like he's asking her out on a date, but on second thought it maybe better to not assume that, Rachel thinks.

"In this weather," Rachel says, "I'm not going anywhere else."

"It's only a drizzle," he says.

Rachel looks out the window and can't even make out the color of the vehicles next to the bus. "Why are you asking me?" She says, "Did all your friends ditch you?"

"I didn't ask anyone else. I want to have lunch with you," Hector says.

Rachel doesn't reply. She stands up and takes out her umbrella and walks to the exit. When the bus door slides open, Rachel opens her umbrella and steps out.

Hector hears the rain. "Where are you?" He says.

"I just got off at the bus stop, and am walking to the apartment."

"You took the bus?"

"I'm saving up on gas. Besides it's harder to drive in this weather," she says.

"Which bus stop?"

"G41."

Hector remembers seeing it across the spot he left the kittens. So she was there to see her sister, he thinks. "Which building?" He says.

"Serab Flats," Rachel says while walking around a pothole that could drown her feet.

Hector also remembers the nearby area from when he looked for her blue car. "The yellow building behind the stop?" He says.

"Yeah," she says while avoiding a passing by car splashing water.

"I'll pick you up there," Hector says and ends the call.

Rachel soon reaches the front of the building. She closes her umbrella and gives it a shake. She then heads inside and starts climbing the stairs.

She stops. How did he know which building? She wonders.

A WHILE LATER, Hector calls Rachel.

"I'm here," he says.

Rachel goes to the balcony, slides open the window and looks down. She can see the silhouette of a vehicle parked at the side of the entrance.

"This soon? I'm not done here," Rachel says. 

"I'll wait."

"Come upstairs. I've freshly brewed coffee."

She ends the call and goes to the kitchen and takes out two mugs from the cupboard.

By the time she has done plating everything, Hector arrives. Rachel opens the door.

"I'll bring a towel. Coffee and snacks are at the dining table," she says and leaves.

Hector got wet in the short distance between his car and the building.

He sits down and takes a sip of the steaming coffee and moans. It tastes extra good after him having just rained over. He grabs the sandwich and takes a bite.

Soon Rachel hands him a white towel. Hector dries his hair and jacket with it.

"Why don't we have our lunch here?" Rachel says, picking up her mug and sitting down next to him.

"Here?"

"I'll cook. Whatever you want. There's a grocery store right behind the building if we need anything."

"But it's supposed to be my treat today," he says.

"How long are you going to keep treating me to meals for tutoring you? Consider we are even. Instead," Rachel says and gestures around, "Help me tidy up."

"Was this your plan from the beginning?" He says, looking around at the room.

"No. I only thought of it now."

"This place is a wreck," he says.

Rachel laughs. "Yeah, Agatha hates cleaning. On top of that she often have her friends from work over. All they do is smoke, drink, throw trash around and talk about things they never agree on with each other."

"Sounds like a my kind of party."

"They don't drink beer, Hector. Or talk about football."

"What? You think I can't talk about art?"

"Let's hear it," she says. 

Hector tries and fails to remember the last movie he saw or the last album he listened. He has only two hobbies. Football and riding his bike.

"You look funny, thinking that hard," Rachel says.

"I'm sure at least one of them is a fan of football."

"I'm sure. But I wouldn't bet on it."

The two of them talk some more, and then tidy up and have lunch together on a now sparkly clean dining table.

After lunch, Rachel says, "Want to watch a movie? My sister has a great collection. Let's watch a comedy one."

"Or we can go to a movie theater to watch a new release," Hector says.

"I told you," Rachel says, getting up and heading for the CD rack, "I don't want to go anywhere in this weather."

"You're such a homebody," Hector says.

"Unlike you, I like staying home," Rachel says and quickly bites her tongue. She turns to him. "I'm sorry I didn't mea–"

"Relax, Rachel," Hector says, "I'm not some fragile thing you need to carefully handle. I get what you meant."

Rachel presses her lips tight and nods. She picks out an old French comedy film whose name she can't read. She has seen it before. It has English subtitles.

She plays the CD on the large TV and the two of them settle on the couch.

A while into the film, Hector stretches his arms back and rests one on the backrest. He's too far from Rachel for his hand to reach behind her.

Hector gets up, goes to the kitchen, pours himself a glass of water and drinks it. Then he goes back to the couch.

"Need anything to eat?" Rachel says, looking up.

"No," Hector says and sits down. This time he sits closer to Rachel.

Rachel becomes aware of the shortened distance between them and begins to find it difficult to concentrate on the movie.

When Hector stretches his arm again before gently placing it on the backrest behind Rachel, it's like the room is getting hotter for them both.

Pretending to adjust on his seat, Hector moves even closer to her. Their knees touch.

Rachel worries he could hear her loud heartbeats.

Hector slowly leans into her, while Rachel tightens her grip on her thigh.

The tip of Hector's nose touches her cheek. Rachel feels as if a small jolt of current just went through her.

Hector's face slides against hers looking to connect their lips, but suddenly the door bell rings.

Rachel springs up to attention and Hector groans. She goes over to the door and opens it, her face still burning up.

The man at the door is David, a friend of Agatha's.

"Hey, Rachel, is your sister home?" David says.

"No. She's out of town."

"I forgot my script here last time. Did she tell you anything about it?"

Although her sister didn't mention it, Rachel knows what he's talking about. While cleaning she found a script and put it away on the study desk. "Green pages?" She says.

"Yes! Can you get it?"

Rachel nods. "Come in," she says and lets David in.

Rachel goes into the room at the left to get the script. Hector turns around from the couch to see who was the culprit behind ruining his moment with Rachel. David sees Hector.

"Hector?" David says.

Hector grins. "David."

"What are you doing here?" David says.

"I'm a friend of Rachel's. What about you?"

"I'm a friend of Rachel's sister. Funny running into you here. I was gonna call you tomorrow to ask if you were up for a ride to Mount Stoke. We have seven riders now, including Jay."

When Rachel comes out with the script she sees David and Hector talking lively to each other. Something about bikes.

She gives David the script. "You guys know each other?" Rachel says.

"I'm the guy who taught this kid how to ride a bike," David says.

"Like hell you did, that was Jay," Hector says.

Thinking this is a good excuse for not being alone with Hector now, Rachel says to David, "Want some coffee and lasagna?"

"Sure. If it's no trouble."

"No trouble. I just made lunch," Rachel says and heads to the kitchen while David and Hector talk. She touches her cheeks to check if they are still warm. They are. Blood rushes to her face at the realization she and Hector almost shared a kiss.  

End of chapter