Do you know what is worse than starting a new job? Doing it just after the COVID confinement started. What was supposed to be a simple in-person onboarding followed by a team introduction meeting changed to be a hasty phone call with the HR rep and a Zoom meeting with the team on my cell. At least, I was able to virtually meet my colleagues and director, especially Eva Thomson. Lost in the sea of faces, she was the highlight of them all. Her light brown hair, delicate face, and radiating smile made her attractive right away, even though the video quality was horrible. When she introduced herself, her voice made me smile and the intelligence it conveyed was refreshing. I knew that I wanted to know her better, to see if there was anything that could happen between us.

I didn’t see her again for the first two weeks as I was busy with onboarding and so many training modules to complete. Finally, an opportunity arose when my director offered me to work with her over the quarterly financial review. I jumped at the opportunity, to show that I can do the job but more importantly, to get to know her.

* * *

After a few seconds that felt like minutes, Zoom finally connects me to the meeting with Eva, arriving two minutes late.

“Sorry, Eva. So, so sorry to be late,” I tell her, out of breath. Here goes my first impression, late for my first one-on-one meeting with her.

“Hi, Ben. Don’t worry, I just connected myself,” she says with a polite, yet charming smile. Then, she frowns as she takes a more surprised look, asking, “Have you run to make the meeting? Is it a bad time for you to go over this? I can push it if you prefer.”

Silently swearing at my stupid idea to go shopping during lunchtime, I explained what happened that made me arrive late, “I went to pick up groceries and there was a line up to get in the store. You know, COVID restrictions.”

With a warm voice, she reassures me, “Don’t worry, I completely understand. It’s getting difficult out there with all the new measures. If it happens again, just leave me a message on Slack, we can start a little bit later.”

Showing her my best charming smile, I reply, “Don’t worry, this is not going to happen again, I promise.”

“Well, Ben, I’ll take your word for it,” she counters my assurance, softly laughing as she says it.

I look down, embarrassed that I’ve made this promise that I’m not so sure I can keep.

“Okay, let’s start this. I wanted to show you the procedure we follow when we do a quarterly review. It’s not difficult, it’s just that we have a process we like to follow,” she tells me, getting down to business.

I raise my head and look at her. I find that she still has a glint of something in her eyes, not completely moving to business. As she starts to show me the documentation, I relax and look at her camera feed, hoping that I could one day see her face to face.

* * *

“Do you give me two minutes to put the groceries in the fridge?” I ask Eva, shopping bags in hands.

“Yeah, sure,” she replies, surprised by my abrupt arrival in the meeting.

“Thanks, coming back,” I reply quickly before muting my microphone, so I can swear loudly at my misfortune and yet again stupidity.

A few minutes later, as I’m sitting down on my office chair, I let out a big sigh before reactivating the audio. “Eva, I’m terribly sorry for being late,” more so this time than the first as I’m eight minutes late.

“You shouldn’t have promised it,” she tells me with a hard voice.

I freeze instantly, horrified by her tone. I’m so stupid, to think that I was trying to get to know her. Now, she must be thinking I’m a lazy ass that is always late.

Looking at her feed, I see her lips whitening as she forces herself not to smile, making me hope she is pulling a prank. Relief washes over me when her face finally cracks, shining with joy to have played with me. I let out a sigh of reassurance, the stress melting away.

She laughs softly as she sees the reaction her prank had on me. She finally says, when she sees that I’m looking back at her image, “What happened? Long waiting time again?”

“You really had me,” I say as I shake my head left and right. Moving my eyes back at the monitor, I continue, “No, price issue. Even though we are in 2020, grocery stores still have items on shelves that aren’t in the system. Someone had to check the price for one, it took five minutes to get it,” I tell her, showing a little bit of my frustration at the situation.

“Tell me about it. It happens to me so often and it’s always for the same item,” she tells me lively. She continues with a playful tone, “Well, I understand you perfectly. Still, you promised. What will you do to make it up to me?”

She has taken me by surprise, but I play her game, giving out the first idea that pops into my mind. “Eh, I’ll pay for a coffee when we finally meet,” I suggest, hoping I’m not pushing too much.

Smiling widely, she joyfully replies, “Deal.”

I smile back at her. A short silence installs itself between us, the moment not yet passed, although no more words need to be spoken.

Finally, I tell her, “So, I’ve looked at the last two quarterly reports like you suggested. I think I get what sort of information we need for this one.”

As we start to work, the light ambiance stays, enveloping me in a warm embrace, more confident that we might have something.

* * *

It’s now been two months that I’m at my new job and a few meetings that Eva and I had. Even though we stay professional, a camaraderie is present between each other. We joke around, we smile widely and we have a few tense moments when we start to be adventurous. We have also started chatting outside of our meetings, sending messages over the corporate IM a few times a day about our lives or simply joking with each other.

Although we still have our usual meetings about the quarterly report, a team-wide meeting has been booked for this week as we have a business trip planned. Even though we are in COVID time, there are still things that need to be done on-site. Our lead is explaining our trip to Toronto while Eva and I chat about it on Slack.

“It will be good to get out of the house and see people,” I write to her, hopeful that we can use this opportunity to meet and discuss alone.

“Yeah, it will be great. Have you ever visited Toronto?” she asks me.

I reply, “No, my first time.”

Her reply comes few tense moments later, as I watch the three little dots dance on the screen as she writes, “Nice! I’ll show you around Toronto, I know all the great places to visit. Most will be closed, but we can still walk outside. It’ll be great.”

This last message makes my blood freeze. Is she living there? I thought she was in Montreal like me. Shit! I switch to Outlook and look up her profile. Finding her office assignation, it lists our downtown location in Toronto. Despair seizes me, at the distance between us. It never occurred to me to check where she was based, having automatically inferred that she was in Montreal.

Trying not to show my gloom on the video feed, I tentatively ask her, although unsure that I want the answer, “You know pretty well Toronto?”

The answer doesn’t take long to arrive, “Born and raised.”

As I put the Zoom meeting window back in the foreground, I look at her image, sadness clouding my mind. As much as I want to see where this could lead, having a long-distance relationship or moving to Toronto is out of the question. At least, I will be able to see her in person.

The rest of the meeting goes well, although I’m preoccupied. Now that I know this, all my messages to her are tinted with it, not committing to anything, not flirting too much, not creating expectations.

* * *

As I arrive in the Toronto office and sit in the meeting room where everyone is, I look at the mask-covered faces, trying to identify Eva. Now that it’s been a week that I know she lives here, the hard truth has settled down and I now have a resolve to make the most of the situation even though I do not want to commit to a relationship. Whatever happens with her, I’ll just be glad that I could spend time physically with her.

Unfortunately, I do not find anyone that matches her picture and nobody has introduced themselves as Eva. The morning of the first day goes smoothly as we go over the issues that brought us to Toronto but at lunchtime, I ask my lead if Eva will be joining us later. He confirms that she will not, having to cancel her appearance for personal reasons.

It is with a heavy heart that the next two days go by, not having been able to see her. It takes two other weeks for her to be back, as her mother died the day before the meeting.

* * *

“Hi, Eva. Welcome back,” I tell her over our first weekly meeting after her time off.

“Hi, Ben. Thanks for having picked up my work while I was away. I really appreciate it,” she tells me with a light smile.

“Anytime. I heard about your mother, I’m sorry for your loss,” I tell her truthfully, feeling sad for her that she had to go through this.

“Thanks. It’s not easy, COVID making everything so much more difficult. The sort of funny thing is, I walked many times in front of the Toronto office while I was tending to the arrangements. I just never found the courage to come up and say hi,” she tells me with a difficult voice, emotions close to her lips.

“Don’t beat you up, it’s alright. You had other priorities, family is more important than the office,” I tell her, trying to be reassuring and comforting.

“I know, but it might have helped to change my mind a little bit,” she replies, looking right at the camera.

“I’m not sure hearing people talk about the upcoming changes in federal tax law would have helped you much,” I try to joke a little bit, to lighten the mood.

“Maybe not, but seeing you would have,” she tells me directly.

My heart jumps as she finishes, making my brain imagine scenarios where I drop the call, jump into a plane and go comfort her in Toronto. Although it is difficult, I stay realistic and reply to her, “Well, I would have loved to see you too. It’s just postponed.”

For the first time since we started the meeting, she has a genuine smile on her face. With a lighter note, she asks me, “Yes, for sure. Okay, I have a few questions about the work you did while I was away. Could we check the weekly report from last week?”

“Of course, let me share my screen,” I tell her, happy that I could make her smile.

* * *

“Look who decided to show up,” I jokingly say to Eva as she connects, fifteen minutes late.

“Hey, it’s the first time, give me a break,” she replies as she relaxes on her chair.

“Maybe, but you are still late,” I push a little bit more, playing with her.

“Look who’s talking. You have been constantly late since we have started working together because mister wants to do his shopping during lunchtime,” she adds with a grin on her face, trying to turn the tide against me.

“Okay. Why were you late today?” I ask her, having a feeling about her tardiness.

She stays silent for a few seconds, leaving me time to savor the victory. “Grocery shopping,” she reluctantly confesses. Although, she quickly adds with a hint of annoyance, “It’s again that stupid pack of muffins that never scans. I don’t know why they haven’t fixed it yet, I’ve complained so many times.”

Softly laughing, I reply, “Well, you’re more patient than me, I would have stopped buying it so I don’t have to go through the ordeal each time.”

Even though the video quality is not that great, I see that she is reddening at my compliment. “Thanks, Ben. I’ve had good training with you arriving late all the time,” she tells me, starting with a sweet voice, but changing quickly into a devilish intonation.

“What? I compliment you and you insult me back?” I say, faking indignation.

“It isn’t an insult if it is true,” she replies sharply, a flirtatious smile painted on her face.

“Ah, I’m offended. Once we meet in person, I’ll make you pay,” I tell her quickly, not thinking too much, leaving my emotions to drive the show.

“Looking forward to it!” she says happily, a wide smile forming slowly at the thought of meeting each other and letting me ‘make her pay.’

It is now my turn to redden as I look down. I sermonize myself at my error, having left my desire for her to alter my actions. I shouldn’t have said this, I don’t want to give her hope.

The silence extends, becoming awkward. I don’t want to say anything else so it doesn’t worsen. Eventually, I look up at my monitor, her face focused in the Zoom window. Her smile has lost its edge, her eyes are looking away from the camera, her face slightly sad. It hurts to see her like this, but it might be for the best. Should I say something about us? Should I just move on?

Before I can find the answer to my dilemma, she refocuses on the camera and says with a soft voice, “Well, regardless, I’m sorry I’m late.”

I try to sound more friendly, but my pain is still present as I say, “Don’t worry, I forgive you.”

“Good. Should we start with our update on project phoenix?” she asks, her voice getting happier as we move on to less touchy subjects.

“Sure. For the issue with the auditor, I thought we could…” I start to explain, leaving behind the hiccup we just had.

* * *

As we continue to work together, a sort of status-quo installs itself between us. She makes advances, I push them back gently. I make friendly jokes, she uses them to flirt.

Even though I know that she would like more, I keep her at a distance, as there is one physically between us. I can’t resign myself to talk to her about it, feeling that having this conversation over Zoom during work hours is not the way to go. I wish we could have met in Toronto, as it would have been easier as we wouldn’t have those additional months of working together, of deepening our relationship.

Unfortunately, it gets more difficult as our lead, having recognized that we are complementing each other very well, assigns more projects to us, making us talk almost daily now. It makes working with her harder, as I need to silence more and more pressing emotions. I wish I dared to tell her that we can’t be together, that the distance makes it impossible.

* * *

A few months later, there is another opportunity for us to meet as there is a meeting in Vancouver for discussing yet another change in federal tax laws. This new business trip is another possibility for us to see each other, having confirmed that she will also be there.

“I’m so happy that we will be in Vancouver together. Finally, after six months of working remotely, we have an opportunity to see each other in person,” she tells me the meeting after we had the confirmation of who will be attending it.

“Yeah, it will be great, I cannot wait,” I tell her, smiling widely at the idea. “Do you know if restaurants and bars are open there?” I add, hoping we will be able to spend time outside of the confine of the meeting rooms.

“I think so, at least the one at the hotel. Worse case, we will take a walk by the sea as the sun goes down. I’m sure it is a sight to see,” she says with sparkling eyes.

I laugh softly at her open joy and the not-so-subtle image she is painting with her romantic walk. “Let’s not be hasty, let’s decide what we want to do when we are there,” I tell her, hoping that we have that long overdue talk before we have that picturesque stroll.

“Party pooper. Let the girl have her idyllic ideas please,” she tells me with a fake offended voice before she pulls out the Tang.

“Alright, alright. Anyway, I’m just looking forward to spending time with you, regardless of what we do,” I reply.

Smiling approvingly, she says, “Good. Now, it seems we have to prepare a presentation on the reform…”

* * *

The day before I’m to fly to Vancouver, as my lunch break starts, I head for the grocery store to stock up on a few items for the trip. Fearing that I’m going to be late again for the final rehearsal for our presentation, I hurry as I browse the aisles. Fortunately, today is not busy as I can do all my shopping in twenty minutes, leaving me plenty of time before the meeting with Eva.

Although, I pause in front of the health products section, looking at the packages of condoms dangling in the breeze of the AC on their display hooks. I don’t want to be too optimistic as I have the feeling that she might not want to spend time with me after I tell her about my reluctance to have a long-distance relationship. Nonetheless, I pick up a pack of sixteen, wishing for the best.

As I exit the market, I remove my mask to breathe easier as it is hot even though we are in September. I start to recite my part of the presentation, wanting to be as much prepared. As I get onto the sidewalk, a woman walking toward me stops dead, looking at me intensely. I glance at her, surprised by the heavy look she has on me. Checking her up, I recall that I saw her a few times in the store and more importantly that she was the one making me so late at one of the early meetings with Eva as an item wasn’t scanning at the cash register.

Ignoring her, I continue to walk toward my house, continuing to softly recite my bits. As I approach her, she removes her mask, uncovering her face. I glance at her, to see if she is cute.

I stop abruptly. My eyes open wide, allowing the image to impregnate my mind. My heart pumps loudly in my thoracic cage, reverberating in all corners of my body. My hands become sweaty, my bags almost slipping. My face changes into intense surprise, not believing what is happening. My mind is so shocked that it blanks, moving aside everything except what is happening.

Eva is in front of me. We stay locked in for what feels like an eternity, not believing that we are finally in front of each other. Passers-by swear at us as we block the sidewalk, needing to walk in the street to get around us.

I finally break the silence that has been charged with questions, “What are you doing in Montreal?”

“I live here,” she replies softly as she seems as stunned as I am.

“You don’t live in Toronto?” I ask her the same question again, from a different angle.

“I moved to Montreal nine months ago,” she replies again in the same tone of voice, surprise overpowering her.

This revelation is what finally breaks the glasshouse where I’ve locked up all of my feelings for her, leaving them to invest me, making them take control of my body and mind. A deep relief flows through me, followed by hope, and finally, an intense desire for the woman in front of me.

I close the gap between us and put the bags on the sidewalk. There are a few centimeters between us, but I already feel her presence, like a magnet attracting me to her, creating a charged atmosphere.

I ask her, tenderly yet with a tension generated by the stress of what I deeply need to do, going for make-or-break, “I want to kiss you, Eva.”

She inhales deeply, her eyes growing in anticipation, before replying, “Oh, Ben. Kiss me. Hold me tight. I want to feel you, I need you.”

Not letting this opportunity go away, I close the few centimeters remaining before putting my arms around her, one over her back to hold her tight against me, the other to bring her head to mine, our lips touching for the first time, for our feelings to finally have a physical manifestation.

The sensation flowing through me is of relief, of satisfaction, of pure happiness. I didn’t know how much my belief that she was far away made me repress such intense and burning feelings. Knowing that she was living in Montreal, I would have offered to meet in person way before.

As our kiss starts as a simple touch, representing the beginning of the next chapter in our relationship, it transformed into an insatiable thirst for each other, for physical contact. As our tongues swirl, our arms start to express so many emotions, the many needs that a remote relationship cannot fulfill. The desire that we have for each other, repressed by the virtual and mental barrier that we had, is also heightened by the isolation that we have suffered because of COVID. Our hands roam, moving from head to ass, wanting to explore this dimension that has been so minimal in our lives lately.

As we start to attract attention from passers-by, we part, feeling that we need to continue this privately. As I move away from her face, the smile that I give her tells the whole story, a total and complete desire for her. She returns it, although I can see that she wants more, that she is thirsty for intimacy.

“Yours or mine?” she simply asks, not needing to say out loud what she wants.

“Mine, groceries to store,” I reply, already feeling my cock hardening for her, at what we will be doing.

As we walk toward my house, we do not say anything, too consumed by our desire, too stupefied by our encounter. Fortunately, I live close by, only needing two minutes before I open the front porch for her, letting her enter my personal life as well as my home with absolute confidence.

I close the door behind us and tell her, “Make yourself at home. I’m coming right back.”

Rushing to the kitchen, I quickly go through my groceries, only storing what needs to go in the fridge and freezer, leaving the rest on the counter. Although, I quickly open the box of condoms, thanking my sex optimistic male brain for having bought them, removing a strip of three from the box, and putting it in my pocket. I quickly pass through the bathroom, refreshing myself. The reflection in the mirror shows a man that has struck gold, that knows his good fortune is here.

As I get back to the living room, Eva is not there. Looking around, I see her blouse on the floor of the hallway going to the bedrooms. As my mind race in anticipation, I slowly walk toward my room. Passing the doorframe, I see a silhouette against the window, the backlight of the day profiling her, making my heart jump at the woman waiting for me. As she turns toward me, I’m dumbstruck by her beauty, her almost naked body enticing me, her presence making me forget everything.

I join her beside the window, bringing her against me one more time. As our lips join again, I rub my hands on her naked back, needing to feel her heath, needing to sense her raw desire for me. Moving south, I cup her tight ass with both hands, feeling her butt cheeks through her panties. She groans as we kiss, making my heart beat faster than I thought it could go. Using my hands as a seat, I boost her up to bring her to my bed, toppling her on her back.

As I get myself on it, on all four over her, I say with passion, “I thought you were living in Toronto. If I knew, I would have asked you out earlier.”

Her eyes become watery as she replies, “I thought you didn’t want me, that you friend-zoned me.”

“I didn’t want a long-distance relationship, my feelings for you are too intense to be able to handle it,” I tell her truthfully, finally able to express what was holding me up.

“Oh, Ben. I’m here. I’m not going away. Show me how much you love me,” she tells me with passion, a single tear of relief flowing from her right eye.

I bring myself down, putting kisses on her lips, on her cheeks, on the trail made by the tear. I slowly move down, going past her neck, for her breasts. Using one hand, I go over her back to unhook her bra, releasing her Ds from their soft blue embrace. I kiss her left, I kiss her right, I fumble one while licking the other, I take care of her with patience and care, like I’ve discovered a precious diamond. I’m rewarded by her soft moan, creating a pleasant soundtrack in my bedroom.

I move south, continuing my discovery of her. Going past her navel, I kiss my way down to the top of her panties, branching off to one leg, jumping to the other, giving me time to admire her covered crotch. As I get closer and closer to her mount, I see a wet spot on the cloth covering her pussy. I raise my eyes to make contact with hers, I see the anticipation on her face, desire burning in her eyes, joy painted in her smile. I grin back, knowing what she wants.

I bring her panties down to reveal her nether region, her glistening pussy exposed to my delight. As I bring my head closer, her smell makes my head spin. As I spread her labia with my fingers, the sight of her pink slit makes my cock harden even more. As I bring my tongue to lick her, her taste is a gift from heaven. As I brush her clit, her loud groan makes me feel victorious. As I give her pleasure, her skin on mine makes me shiver with exhilaration. All this creates a powerful effect on me, wanting to dedicate myself to her, to bring her to heaven with me.

I lap her pussy, I lick her clit, I make her scream. Her hand on the back of my head is forcing me on her, loving the feeling as she brushes my curls. As I focus my tongue on her sweet spot, I insert two fingers in her vagina, discovering her canal, feeling her inside. Eva is uncontrollable on my bed, bucking her back, her legs shaking, her voice a constant moan.

When she explodes, it is with violence that I have never encountered. Without warning, she cums, getting all tense while she screams my name. I keep my tongue and fingers in place, wanting to feel her orgasm with all my senses. As she relaxes, her tense fingers on my head start to play with my hair, patting me for my gift to her.

Removing myself from between her legs, I rise from my crouched position on the side of the bed, gazing at her naked body in front of me. As she looks at me with a content smile, I suck the two fingers that I had in her, tasting her sweet nectar. She pats the bed beside her, inviting me to join her.

As I lay on the bed, she straddles me and kisses me, taking the lead. As she presses her lips against mine, I let myself go on the mattress, enjoying her presence, her kiss, her naked body over me. I bring my arms around her again, resting my hand on her ass, cupping her butt cheeks. She laughs softly in my mouth before raising her head from mine.

“You love my ass, you have been fumbling it since the store,” she tells me softly.

“I can’t help myself,” I reply, grinning widely.

“You naughty boy. Now, let me show you how I can be a naughty girl,” she says before pressing her lips against mine, denying me any retort.

Although, it is not for long as she leaves again my lips to attack my body. Using her hands, she opens my shirt, one button at a time, exposing my lightly hairy chest. This allows her to suck my tits, making me sigh at the unexpected pleasure.

She eventually removes my shirt to then attack my pants, bringing them down to leave me in my boxer briefs. Getting back over me, she brings her hand over my covered cock, rubbing my hardness. I moan louder, expressing my desire for her to take care of me. It doesn’t take long that my underwear is also off as she wants to feel me directly. She starts slowly to stroke me, exposing my glans, moving her hand over my hard dick.

Then, moving off the bed, she puts my cock in her mouth, encircling me in her wet hole, using her tongue to rub my underside. I exhale deeply, too happy to have her suck me. She bobs her head slowly over me, taking her time to feel the veins texturing my dick. I’m lost in bliss when she removes me, having something different in mind.

Coming back on the bed, she unwraps one of the newly bought condoms on me, aligns my dick with her pussy, and slowly pushes me inside of her. As I feel her wet embrace encircling me, I moan louder, the thought of connecting with her making me forget all the problems in the world. When her ass rest on my legs, my hardness fully inserted in her, I sit on the bed, bringing her face to mine, kissing at our newfound closeness.

When we feel ready, I move my hands to her ass, making her giggle again, and help her raise over the length of my shaft, then leaving her sink onto me once again. We start slow, wanting to prolong the pleasure, to have the possibility to kiss while we fuck. Although, we eventually increase speed, when our raw passion takes over, requiring from us that we let our animalistic instincts get over our intellect. She plunges and rises with more force, slapping her ass on my legs with increasing strength.

We change position, going into doggy-style. I use the opportunity to play with her ass and ram my dick between her round cheeks with increasing vigor. We are both panting heavily from the exercise, from the raw sexual energy flowing between us. This continues for a minute or so until I feel that I’m close to my orgasm.

We move again, wanting a closed position for the end. As I install a pillow under her butt to be in missionary, she bites her lower lips. I get back in her, feeling her warm pussy around my dick. I continue to fuck her, slower this time, and move over her so we can be more intimate, closer to each other. I use one of my hands to play with her clit, rubbing it fiercely with my thumb. We are both panting heavily, as we are getting closer and closer. Our eyes are locked, our bodies form one, our minds are in sync, we are in perfect unison when we cum, having built on each other.

It is with deep satisfaction that I ejaculate in her, feeling that it is a perfect moment, that I wouldn’t have changed anything. I’m lost in pure pleasure, feeling Eva contract under me, reaching her bliss with me. I shake in delight, I groan her name. It is with intense emotions that I decide that I want to be with her, for us to be an item, and to live together for the rest of our lives. Even though I do not know her that well, I feel that she is the one, that we are meant to be together.

As I open my eyes as my orgasm passes, Eva is watching me with an ecstatic smile. I look back at her, sharing a similar feeling. We kiss softly before I remove myself from her and lay beside her.

We stay silent as we are deep in thought, until Eva breaks it, saying, “Well, that was an awesome meeting.”

We laugh at her joke. As I look back at her, a regret forms in my mind. “I wished it had happened sooner,” I confess.

“If you have made me realize something, better be late than never,” she says, chuckling softly, referencing my tardiness at many of our business reunions.

“Do you have other meetings this afternoon?” I ask her.

“No. You?” she asks me, already picking up my idea.

“Neither. Then, should we have an extended meeting? I’m sure we have more things to discuss,” I tell her, bringing her closer, pressing her sensual body against mine.

“Oh, Ben, I’m sure we will find something,” she tells me before briefly kissing me. “But before, I think you owe me a coffee.”

We are still laughing as we head for the kitchen, fully nude, to brew a fresh cup of joe. As we spend the afternoon fucking, kissing, talking, and yes, naked rehearsing our presentation for the day after, we bond like never before, finally free to explore our feelings, the distance no longer an issue, and in defiance of COVID, not letting this pandemic keeps us away any longer.