A Christian Romance

Chapter 25 - A scheme

David Larking woke up purposely before everyone else in the house, except for Adam. He was caught by surprise when he saw his son seating on the couch, looking through the window, and eating a cereal bowl. David cursed under his breath and tried to tiptoe as silently as he could, but Adam noticed him:

"Dad?"

David tried to act as though he had nothing to hide and gave his son a fake smile.

"All dressed up so early?" Adam turned to his father - who was dressed in a black suit -, only to see the fake smile on his face. "What are you up to?"

"I could ask you the same, couldn't I?"

"Yeah, you could. And my answer would be: I just couldn't sleep anymore. Now, what about you?"

"I couldn't sleep either." David's true excuse was a secret, but he could find some suitable and plausible lie. "I took some time extra to choose my outfit and study for the word I am sharing today."

"Whatever." Adam didn't believe that his father really was into the Word, as much as he said.

"Let me tell you - if I haven't before -, that haircut doesn't flatter you, to say the least." He tried to divert his son's attention. He knew Adam cared enough about his looks to be offended by that.

David was cursing under his breath, furiously wishing for Adam to leave the room. Nothing! His son wouldn't move from the couch. Impatient as he was, he walked to the fridge and entertained the wait with a glass of a spirited drink that looked like water; he needed something strong to loosen up. He gulped it slowly, smiling with enjoyment at the glass in his hand when suddenly Adam put an empty bowl in the sink and quickly rushed upstairs.

David's first concern was to make sure that his son stayed away long enough for him to sneak out. A few minutes passed, and Adam remained out of sight, so the pastor grabbed his diplomatic bag, hidden behind the counter, and left the penthouse discreetly.

It was early in the morning, but David had to do something to keep the church business going, and how people loved miracles and prophecies! They loved that so much that didn't even bother examining or searching for the truth. That was the beauty of guiding masses, few people truly investigated and questioned things, and those who did, he could just accuse them of lack of faith; nobody wants to be discriminated on that. As we all know, it's not very Christian to show evidence of doubt.

As the pastor drove down the city, he was focused on what he had to do. He arrived in a humble house in the outskirts of Sydney and waited for a certain man, who was running late, by the way. As the expected man appeared on the other end of the road, David started inspecting his surroundings, checking if there were any signs of curiosity. But dusk was just starting, so it wasn't easy to tell.

The man entered his car and immediately asked for his payment. David stretched a brown envelope to him.

"Is all the money here?" The man inquired, because the envelope felt very flat, which didn't reflect the amount he had required.

"Why don't you count it yourself?" David was ruthless in business; well, when you handle things with ruthless people, you 'gotta' act like them to get things done.

The man counted the money and confirmed that it was as they had arranged.

"Alright, let's go!" He commanded the pastor.

David started the engine and left the area, trying to be as discreet as possible. Even though his car had a powerful engine, he decided to take off smoothly. When they were on the highway, he finally took a look at the man who was with him in the car.

"You got the look right!"

The man put his acting skills into play:
"I look very Christian in these clothes." He looked at his yellow plaid buttoned shirt.

They were silent the rest of the way. When they arrived at the Opera House, David dropped the man and gave him instructions to walk to the church. That was all part of the deal.

The pastor took off and parked at the church. He grabbed his expensive smartphone in an attempt to edit the video he purposely filmed to show the world how great a volunteer he and his wife were. They were supposedly visiting churches in Sri Lanka in the past months and helping with volunteer work. They did donate a few considerable sums of money to some local organizations, and that was made public - just another gaslighting fact.

But oh, David was nervous. Not because of the deception he had planned, but mostly because the success of that plan would increase church attendance and fame. Knowing his own son better than most, David could accurately predict that his plan would be a success, still, there was a small detail that he had missed.
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"I'm so done with this church. I don't think this is the place where God wants me anymore." Debora confessed as she was walking out of her apartment building, with Joel holding the door for her.

Joel looked at her inquiringly and warned:

"Let me tell you that there isn't such thing as a perfect church."

She was mature enough to know that, so she took those words as a personal attack and therefore felt the need to defend herself:
"I know there aren't perfect churches."

"I know you do. I'm just reminding you."

"There is no need for a reminder." And then she shut down the conversation with him.

Joel didn't know what he had done to bring about her moody attitude, but he knew first-hand how moody and sensitive women could be at a certain time of the month, so he just kept his silence. The last thing he wanted was for Debora to burst out crying for no reason, as he had seen with his sister many times before.

When they arrived at the church, a strange man, met them at the door. Even though he had an ordinary outfit, Joel sensed a disturbing spirit around him.

"Good morning, Sir. May I help you?" Joel greeted him politely.

"Hello, son! There's no need for that, I guess." The man smiled. "God sent me here."

That speech only contradicted Joel's spiritual sense.

"I'm sorry, you said God sent you here?" Joel looked at Debora.

"Yes, I said it."

"Well, you can come in with us, if you'd like." Joel wasn't afraid of some guy claiming that was sent by God. "We're gonna have a time of prayer."

"There's no need, I need time alone to be directed by God." The man in a yellow plaid buttoned shirt wasn't a fan of the word prayer. "I'll come in later on."

"Alright!"

Debora only observed the scene, but when she was all alone with Joel, walking through the corridor that led to the prayer room, she started talking to him:
"We've been praying for the truth to be revealed, for repentance, maybe this guy could be the one bringing the message of God to this church, no? Do you think he is an answered prayer?"

"No, Debora." He was sure and confident in his spiritual sense. "I sensed a spirit of confusion in him."

She was appalled. Even though she was a mature Christian, she had never had such strong spiritual discernment, of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit that the Bible spoke about, she didn't remember having one, and that disconcerted her.