A Christian Romance II

Chapter 15 - Breakthrough

To Miriam's surprise, working with Michael wasn't as bad as she had initially expected. She wasn't buying his Christianity though. It wasn't like there were things about him that she could exactly point out as non-Christian. Therefore, it felt weird to address the topic with her brother Joel who had the gift of discerning spirits.

Joel was in his bedroom, focused on fixing his camera. He barely noticed that Miriam had entered his room with a tray of some freshly baked cookies.

"Joel," she called him with a musicality in her voice.

He looked up, saw her, and then went back to his work. "Are you here to wreck my skinny body that Debora loves so much?" He giggled, he knew how those types of comments annoyed her.

"Yes, it might be that if she sees a little fat, I might have some peace sleeping at night." Miriam hinted while placing the tray on the bed.

Joel giggled. "What do you want, Mim?"

"Uh... well... I don't know how to start," she confessed.

"Is it Michael?" Joel finally put his camera aside and grabbed a cookie.

Miriam's heart sank.

"Do you have feelings for him?" he pressed on.

"Please..." Hearing someone else voicing it sounded so weird. "You know that if it ain't Adam, there's no one else." She resolutely declared.

Joel rolled his eyes, fed up with Miriam always coming up with Adam - the only son of the pastor of one of the most famous churches in Australia. "But what about Michael?"

"I think there's something off about him." She declared. "Haven't you sensed anything with your gift of discernment?"

"I don't use my gift to judge people." He declared seeing where she was coming from.

"I see that you can't help me."

"No, Miriam!" Joel was slightly upset that she had had the nerve to come to him about that matter.

"This guy is lying about his Christianity. And I'm gonna prove it to you."

"He could be a murderer!" Joel lost it, but still kept his tone. "Jesus instructs us to love anyway. So, what's your point? Proving yourself right, for your pride?"

Hearing him say it like that made her feel guilty and regretful. She decided to open up to her brother and secret keeper. She sat down with a sigh, and looking down she confessed her heart.

"I have feelings for Michael. I admit it. Almost ever since I saw him."

"He's a handsome man." Joel acknowledged as if falling for Michael was something almost expectable for any woman. "With many qualities."

"So you expected something like this to happen?" Miriam was confused.

"I don't know, but I sensed a tension between you two the other day."

"You did?" She was curious. "Of course you did." She recalled that Joel was good at feeling the tension in the air. "But something inside of me tells me to run from him like the plague."

Joel eyed her. "Why are you afraid?"

"I don't know." Miriam frowned. "Isn't he too attractive to be a Christian?"

"So he had to be less attractive for you to consider him a Christian?" Joel even thought that Miriam's remark was hilarious.

"Good night!" She decided to close the chapter, especially because Joel was beginning to mock her feelings.
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By the end of her day at the restaurant, Miriam decided to put her plan into practice. It was a simple plan, but it could catch Michael red-handed. She didn't know how to go about it, because this plan involved direct contact with him. As she was leaving the kitchen, in her tomboy clothes, she saw him. It looked like he was working hard on something. He had been there all day, sitting, sometimes outside on the inner patio on the phone. She felt dumb to disturb him, but for her sanity, she needed to take this plan forward.