Love In The Unexpected

CHAPTER 5

Luke woke up and looked at the calendar. In exactly 6 weeks he would be getting married to the kindest woman he had ever met. Nicole was the Senior Pastor’s daughter. Luke had been surprised when Pastor Sherwood had unashamedly tried to pair them up together 3 years ago when Nicole had come back to London after doing missionary work in India. It had worked out well because he had got along with Nicole immediately. They were both into similar things and 3 months into their relationship they had already resembled a married couple. They had been engaged for 2 years and the reason they had waited so long to get married was because Nicole had wanted to finish her degree in English. He hadn’t been pleased when she had suggested they wait 2 more years as he was ready to get married to her. He was fast approaching 26 and he was glad he would be getting married before his 26th birthday that way he wouldn’t feel so old. Nicole was only 2 years younger than him and the only reason she had started her degree late was because she had lived in India for 3 years as a missionary teaching children English and the word of God before she had come back to London at 21. The wedding preparations where coming along well. He bowed his head to thank God for the beautiful day and for his life. He thanked God for his fiancé as he always did and prayed for their wedding plans. He prayed for his family and before he finished he prayed for the saddest person he knew Amber. They had now known her for 6 months and they saw her at least 3 to 4 times a week. She had become a good friend to both he and Nicole. They hung out and tried to speak the word of God in her life hoping that those sad brown eyes would one day glimmer with hope and the love of God. Amber was the kind of person who hardly opened up. He had also noticed that when she became uncomfortable she retreated into herself. The most surprising thing was that when she smiled her smile lit up the room. She was a special woman who clearly had a lot of pain in her life. He hoped God would deal with that pain. She was starting to get out of her shell and had even started bringing her siblings to church, one of which had already got saved. The interesting thing was that besides her siblings she avoided all talk of childhood memories and family. Both he and Nicole had noticed that but had not pushed her; she would open up in her own time. God really had put her in his path for a reason and he and Nicole had made sure she got an opportunity to meet other people and make friends.  They had introduced her to so many people within the church that she was starting to find herself. She was an intelligent woman who could handle a conversation so she was Knowledgeable about

 everything. It was common to see her discussing world news or the financial crisis with the business men and women of the church. He and Nicole had also helped Amber find a flat to rent 5 months ago and Nicole had even helped her organise a house warming party. It was amazing what God could do in someone’s life in such a short period of time, but the God he served had done it and he knew he would continue to do it until those sad eyes  where filled with joy. He was also surprised at what a huge role Amber played in his life. They got along so well that sometimes it scared him as he thought that the only person he should get along with was his fiancé. Nevertheless he knew that they would be good friends for a lifetime, they would continue to have their friendly banter until they were old and grey. Nicole and his kids would call her Aunt Amber. She really was special in his heart. Enough about Amber he thought to himself, today was an important day because he was being ordained as a pastor, a music pastor to be specific. He was ecstatic because he felt he was following his purpose. He had great friends, a great fiancé, great family and an awesome God. What more could he want in life?

His ordination service was nothing short of special. The presence of God filled the place and he was filled with great peace knowing he was where God wanted him. After the hour long service he was officially Pastor Luke Brown. His parents had come and his mother kept dabbing at her wet eyes during the emotional service.  He had been blessed with great God fearing parents who supported him in every decision and loved him wholeheartedly. His father was a successful businessman so Luke had grown up in on the richest areas of London, Chelsea. He had been privately educated at Eton where prime ministers, royalty and the elite were educated. He had lived a privileged life. Despite their wealth his parents had raised him in the fear of God. They never missed a Sunday at church unless they were abroad or out of London and even then they would worship as a family. They were truly seeing the fruits of their labour in their son, who had chosen to serve God as a living rather than chase after wealth. After the service he was meant to have lunch with Nicole and his parents. His mother loved Nicole like the daughter she had never had and likewise Nicole equally loved his mother. After being congratulated by everyone he walked up to Nicole to discuss their lunch arrangements. “Nic I think it’s best you leave your car in the church car park then we’ll drive in mine. After lunch I can easily drop you off here so you can pick up your car.” Nicole refused and insisted that it did not make sense to make such unnecessary trips. “Luke I’ll drive my own car, she leaned into him and gave him a kiss. I’m so proud of you more than you’ll ever know.” With that she walked off to find her car. One thing he knew was that when Nicole made up her mind she would not change it so he let her go.

As he got into his car he spotted Nicole and Amber deep in conversation. He shook his head, and thought women, did they not know that there was a time for everything. Now was not the time to be chit chatting and his thoughts where confirmed when he looked at his watch. He decided to make his way to the restaurant so as to not keep his parents waiting as they had left church the minute it finished. On his way to the restaurant he played his favourite praise songs, he truly felt blessed and was thankful for everything the lord had done for him. He arrived at the restaurant to find his parents waiting. They settled down on the table and ordered drinks. After 15 min Luke noticed Nicole still hadn’t arrived. He took out his phone to give her a ring and hoped she was not still chatting to Amber surely she would not stand up his parents particularly when they seemed so eager to catch up with her before the wedding preparations. “The number you have dialled is currently not available at the moment, please try again later.” This was strange he thought to himself, why would her phone be out of battery so early in the day? “Let’s order lunch Luke I’m sure she’ll join us later I’m starved.” His mother spoke; Luke nodded and ordered a New York burger. He looked at his watch as the food was brought out. She was now 30min late which did not make sense to him, he couldn’t bring himself to eat he was too worried. 10 minutes made sense but not 30. He kept trying her phone which would go straight to voicemail heightening his fears even further. His mother saw the worried look on his face. “Eat up Luke she probably got carried away talking to someone at church, you know how we women tend to get.” “You are probably right mum it’s just that it’s so unlike her to lose track of time.” Luke responded with a defeated look on his face. He took a bite of his burger and said an inward prayer, “God please let her be ok in Jesus’s name.” He ate half his burger and couldn’t finish it. He kept zoning out of conversations only to find his parents looking at him, waiting for him to respond. He looked at his watch again, she was now an hour late, this was so unlike her and he had the deepest fear in his heart that something was wrong. He remembered she had been talking to Amber so at least Amber could tell him what time she had left. As he picked up his phone to call Amber it started to ring. Fear ripped through him when he saw Pastor Sherwood’s name reflect on the caller ID. He felt like he couldn’t breathe or feel his legs and felt light headed. He hesitantly picked up the phone and within 10 seconds he had dropped it on the table. The room spun around him. Accident… dead on the scene, No it couldn’t be Nicole. With worry and confusion his mother quickly grabbed the phone from the table and put it against her ear. His father noting that something was not right stood up to go and hold his son who by now resembled a zombie. He sat there all colour drained from his face, his eyes where glazed over as if he were trapped in distant space. Mrs Brown gasped in horror as she listened to whoever was on the other side of the line, “Oh my goodness, oh no, no, oh Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” By now she was silently weeping. “Ok we are making our way there now.” She hung up with tears in her eyes looked to her husband, “It’s Nicole, She’s gone, She’s dead!”