A Christian Romance II

Chapter 17 - Conflict

(The picture on top is Chloe)

The service that Michael attended with the Smiths didn't come close to any of his expectations. When he entered the area where the service was going to take place, he was surprised to find a living room and people sitting spread out on the couch, on the floor, some standing. A rough count indicated that there were at least fifty attendees. At first, he felt overwhelmed to be in the presence of so many strangers, but Joel and Debora entertained him, making him feel at home after a while.

He considered that this experience was gonna be easy to go through, but little did he know what awaited him when Miriam, informally, grabbed a guitar and began to play and sing, leading others to sing along with her. Michael was hypnotized at the first shade of musicality that came out of Miriam's mouth. He didn't expect to hear such a wonderful voice, nor the ambiance that it created. He felt as though he was in some transcendental presence, before which he had to lay down his pride, and, strangely, that compelled him to tear up. He lowered his head, trying to fight back the tears, but eventually lost, and for his defense, everybody else seemed just as moved and too focused to look at him with judging eyes - or so he thought.

Michael was just too rational to believe in something spiritual, plus, he knew how music could be strategically used to provoke and manipulate emotions. Now what he didn't expect was to feel deeply moved when Joel began to lead the group into the Bible. There was no music, the lights weren't dim, and Joel's voice was the same sweet tone he always heard. He could tell that there was no manipulation there.

Joel wasn't using any tricks of persuasion. He was asking questions, but they weren't manipulative. This intrigued Michael. For the first time, he began to perceive that having faith in something wasn't all that stupid. He began to wonder if he was the stupid one to believe in nothing.

At the end of the service, Michael felt uncomfortable again. Faking his Christianity wasn't certainly a good thing to do in a place where real Christians abounded - or so he thought. So he stuck to a corner of one of the couches, hoping to stay there undisturbed, and he was for only a few minutes. A woman sat next to him, with two cups of warm coffee in her hands.

"Coffee?" She asked, offering him one of the cups.

Michael lifted his head to look at her. Disappointed that this wasn't Miriam.

"Sure," he accepted the cup out of politeness, because he hated warm coffee when the weather was hot, and he was boiling in his skinny jeans. "Thank you!"

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

Michael agreed, motioning his hand for her to take a seat next to him, as there was plenty of room.

"Why haven't I seen you here before?"

Michael didn't know if this type of behavior was normal, or if this woman was just flirting with him. He could easily tell because it wasn't the first time something like this happened to him.

"It's my first time here."

He found this woman's approach slightly amusing, at least much more pleasant than Miriam's.

"Why haven't you come here earlier?" The woman insisted.

"I don't know, really, what to tell you." He smiled as if responding to that type of flirtation.

"Don't worry. It took me a long time to find a fellowship like this too." She smiled. "Anyway, do you have a name I can call you for?"

"Uh... Michael." He replied. "And you, do you have a name?"

"Yes, Chloe."

Chloe was a very attractive woman, she had a blonde curly mane that was long and untamed and complimented her facial features. To top it off, she was tall, looked like a model, and always put red lipstick on her luscious lips. No man could resist if she had any intentions with him. It wasn't like she was hunting men, she was guarded, but she found something in Michael that she had never found in any other so-called Christian men.

Miriam who was watching them from afar resolutely concluded that her inner battle for Michael was over. He had the right to find a helpmeet, whoever that was. It was just a shame that it couldn't be her, for she was committed to being a celibate for life. She did want a family, plenty of kids, and a husband, but when she realized that this man wasn't going to be Adam, she decided to give it all up. She was comfortable with her decision until Michael showed up. He had rocked her world in a way she never thought possible and this confused her.

Just to make matters worse for Miriam, Joel and Debora courteously invited Michael for dinner at their apartment in Sydney without even consulting with her first. The problem wasn't the extra work for having a guest at home, but rather the fact that this guest was Michael.

She was silent all dinner long, whereas the other three interacted with one another. Michael did share a few uncomfortable glances with her as if feeling guilty for entertaining the attention of another woman. It wasn't like he owed her anything, but he attributed her exceedingly silent mood to his interaction with the gorgeous Chloe.

He finally got a chance to talk to Miriam, when she left the table to fill in the water jar that had been emptied. He met her in the kitchen.

"Miriam," he leaned onto the wall, watching her filling up the water jug.

Miriam turned her face to Michael when she noticed his presence. "Michael." She called out his name in response. "Can I help you with anything?"

"I just wanted to check on you."

"I'm good." She sulky and quickly replied.

"You're good at many things, but not at lying." He acknowledged, crossing his arms to his chest.

Miriam looked at him with a disapproving look.

"Look," Michael walked closer to her, "you were silent all evening." He declared.

Miriam finished preparing the jar and was ready to take it to the table. "I've had many things to think about, that's all."

If that was it, then Michael could understand that perfectly. The questions that Joel had asked in that extraordinary service had caused him to ponder about things that he had never considered before. Some of those things were truly disturbing and intriguing, and coming back to them just triggered unknown fears, and he preferred to put his mind to other things.

"Oh, I get you." He agreed. "Your brother gave us food for thought."

"He always does that," Miriam replied dismissively.

"Uh," Michael interjected, somehow surprised to realize that she had other things in her mind bothering her at that moment. His first suspicion could be right all along, and he truly wanted to know if he was accurate in reading her. "So...?"

"So what?" Miriam asked, looking up at him.

"So..." he sang that expression, "what's upsetting you?"

"You don't have to worry about it."

Michael wanted to know if his intuition was right, so he insisted. "Is it because of my interaction with Chloe?"

As soon as she heard that question, Miriam turned her face quickly to him, her mouth slightly open, wondering how he could read her so well to know that.

"What makes you say that?" She asked. "I'm not jealous of you two if that's what you're trying to imply." She tried to defend her honor.

"I'm not trying to imply anything." He replied.

"Good!"

Miriam grabbed the water jar that was filled and ready to return to the table ages ago and walked away from his sight.