Dear Heavenly Father, please help me to continue on this straight path. I want to thank You for sending me someone to love and understand me. Help me to stay normal and desire him like he desires me. Please God, I ask for forgiveness for my thoughts about women. I don’t want to be gay; for I know it is not Your will. You know my heart. I don’t want to go to hell. Please strengthen me with your love; in Your name, Amen.
As Karen finishes her prayer she looks over to see Brad is not on his side of the bed. With the bathroom door open, it was clear he wasn’t there either. Taking solace in the quiet, she considers calling Sophia. After all it was Sophia who helped her realize she couldn’t possibly be a Christian and a homosexual. She showed her the scriptures in the Bible, where God condemned homosexuality. Prior to their chat, Karen’s intimate relationships were with women without thought. She did what was natural for her and usually treated people well. It was the meetings she attended with Sophia that further curtailed her free flowing relationships with the same sex. The attendees pointed out how her behavior with women was inappropriate and unnatural; and that it originated from deviance not love. Fearing God’s wrath and wanting to live right, Karen repented and asked for forgiveness while the other meeting participants prayed for her cleansing. Feeling like a weight had been lifted; Karen left the meeting with Sophia. It is the promise Sophia made to help Karen through the ex-gay process that prompted her call. “This is too much Sophie.”
“What’s too much? Who’s this? Karen?” Sophia asks trying to get her bearings.
“Yes it’s Karen. This Brad thing doesn’t feel right.”
“What do you mean? Did y’all argue?”
“I do wish I could talk to you about this now, but I can’t. It’s just that I’m on my way to an intervention right now. I understand you’re feeling bad and it’s probably because you’re fornicating. You’re not supposed to be sleeping with Brad. Y’all aren’t married and you’re feeling convicted. Do you want me to pray with you?”
“I’ve already prayed and I still feel conflicted.”
“That’s conviction dear heart. You can never have too much prayer. The Bible says pray without ceasing Karen. I promise I’ll help you through this tomorrow. We’ll put it on the altar of prayer tomorrow. Is that okay?” Sophia poses, more as a statement than a question.
“Sure” Karen murmurs’ holding back her tears, and the call ends.
*******
“I think I’ve had the Patriarchs before, I’ll try the Reserves. Have you tried them yet?” Shaun challenges.
“But of course” Toni retorts, again using a British accent.
“What is with you talking like that? We’re talking about cigars not a spot of tea. You’re a butler now?” Shaun teases.
“Congrats on getting the part T; you go! I’m so proud of you! Now what do I have to do to run lines? Pass me that lighter girl.”
Toni exaggerates a few curtsies and thanks Shaun while lighting her cigar. Pleased about Shaun’s willingness to help her learn lines, Toni meanders on Shaun and some of their history. She’s always so encouraging. No matter what I do, even when she doesn’t like it or agree, she’s there for me. She’s the only one who understood my decision to change careers. As a Civil Engineer, with seemingly the right connections, I was on my way. I became a civil engineer for my family. My dad and brother are Civil Engineers, my mom’s an Architect and it’s rumored that my great great granddad worked on the Panama Canal. My brother was a consultant for the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland. Is it any wonder why I was ashamed about wanting to pursue acting full-time? But Shaun wouldn’t let me swim in my pity party. She gave me a big speech about choices, then stood there with me when I told mom about my acting aspirations. How many people would stand by me like that? Not many.
Shaun’s prettiness is above average standards. When entering a room, her Amazon stature of five feet eleven inches usually commanded attention. Her natural thick black tresses, extending just past her shoulders, sported big curls. Her skin, rich like moist brownies, makes me think of the chocolatier: Godiva. Ah chocolate, some chocolate would be nice right now. Do I have any strawberries in the fridge? Hmmm -- chocolate, strawberries and Shaun’s here too. I think this will be a first.
*******
“Hey lover,” Kennedy greets answering her phone.
“I love it when you call me that,” Cyan divulges beaming.
“I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too and I can’t wait to see you.”
“I was wondering if you’d be able to get away. I know you can’t always move things around. Kennedy returns knowing they’ve had confirmed plans.”
“Of course I can, I’ve been looking forward to this. It’s not me who has trouble fitting people in; that’s you. You know you’re a trip.”
“Well Cyan”
“I should’ve known it’d be something,” Cyan butts-in not letting Kennedy finish her statement.
“Hold on lover – I just want to push the time back a little just in case I’m late. I probably won’t be late, but I didn’t want you to spend any time waiting.”
“Can’t get away?”
“I have a quick work related stop and then I’ll be on my way. Did you hear that lover or shall I speak a little slower?”
“I heard you baby. You have a work related stop and then you’ll be on your way to me. I’ll see you then,” Cyan closes.
“Looking forward to it,” Kennedy assures before pressing end on her Blackberry.
Not wanting to hang up first, Cyan waits for the dial tone and suspects Kennedy’s work related stop has more to do with a coworker than an actual deliverable mandated by her corporate responsibilities.
*******
“Can you talk?” Brad inquires his heart wrangling with emotions.
“Not really; Jennifer’s upstairs sleep, but you never know. Are you okay?” David quietly examines.
“Yeah, just missing you is all. I just left Karen in the bed.”
“You’re not alone, I ache for you. Let’s meet at the gym in the morning?”
“I can be there by seven.” Brad acknowledges realizing he won’t feel whole until then.
“Okay, see you at seven.”
*******
Performing another mirror check before heading out to Andi’s place, Michelle gives herself the thumbs up, grabs her House of Dereon purse and heads towards the door. As she grabs her keys from their holder, the knob on the front door turns and opens, “Hey babes, thank God I got outta there early. You’re headed out?” Mike imparts debatably, glancing down at his watch, and then back at a startled looking Michelle.
*******
Stay tuned and find out what happens next, Monday (5/03/2010) …
I cannot wait for you to record this as an audio book! Cant get enough of that sexy little voice, in the meantime I'm reading the episodes again, there's much to discover here. "Crazy," "Emotional," "Interesting" are my choice words for Andi, Kenny, and the rest of them! but I suppose that's part of what makes it such an interesting read eh?
ReplyDeleteNow, shall we do something about these late nights with Thomas Kinkaid and such? ...and the 2am bedtime schedule that you've picked up as of late?
Dont try to use writing as an excuse J, we all know that these characters write themselves!
So, can you let me in the burning questions? or are you going to blame the little people?