Finding Kelly

Chapter 7

Chapter 7
Kelly woke up early and immediately checked on Henry. She listened to his breathing, looked at his color on his nose and in his eyes and then stroked his head and body. He woke up and stretched a big stretch. He looked at her and meowed, rubbed against her and then jumped down off her bed and went straight to his water and food dish. He started meowing loudly again. She got up and went to where he was and noticed he was standing close to his food bowl. She smiled and looked down at her beloved kitty. "You seem to be feeling better today Henry. Do you want some food?" Henry meowed again and Kelly poured food into his bowl. She cleaned out the water dish and refilled it for him. She watched him closely for a little while to look for any symptoms of what she saw the night before. It seemed Henry had made a full recovery from whatever was making him feel sickly.

Kelly got ready for work and collected what she needed for work that day. She took a few minutes and watched Henry to make sure he wasn't showing any signs of being sick, just to make sure. He licked his paws and under his belly and then laid down on the ground and rolled and looked at Kelly and blinked several times. Kelly smiled knowing what those actions meant; that he was happy, feeling good, and loved her. She looked at her boy and blinked back slowly as to say 'I love you too' in cat code. She smiled widely and said before she left, "Henry you be a good boy and stay healthy for me. I love you cat!"

Kelly got into her car and closed the door. She looked up to check her mirrors and saw her reflection in the mirror. She realized she loved her kitty and she remembered the prayer she said the night before. She breathed in a deep breath and out again, "I know I don't talk to you, if you are really up there, but I believe you heard me and you listened. I am not sure why you would listen to me if you are a good God. I truly don't deserve any good God to hear what I have to say about my cat. But I think you did. Maybe I am going crazy but that is what I saw. Anyway, I'm not sure what all I should say to God, so I will stop this short. Thanks for listening and caring for my cat." Surprisingly Kelly realized she had tears stinging her eyes. She blinked them away and started the car and got herself to work.

She sat at her desk for a long time before she realized it was already lunch time. She thought about going to the cafe by the church but then decided maybe that wasn't a good idea. She knew deep inside she secretly, even to herself, wanted to see that pastor man again. But why? They had nothing in common and he would most likely cringe if he knew about her life as boring as it was, it also had some embarrassing moments too. She figured he would not approve if he ever actually got to know her. Then she shook her head and said out loud, "Why is this even something I am thinking about! I need a life." Just then Linda popped her head into Kelly's office and smiled widely, "A few of us are going out to eat. Do you want to come? It's at that new little cafe by the church." Kelly rolled her eyes and stood up to sort files on her desk. "I have a lot of work to do Linda I can't." Linda looked at her and squinted her eyes and came around to make eye contact with her. "Does this have anything to do with Pastor Brian?" Kelly looked at her friend with disgust on her face, "Of course not Linda I am busy! I have a big project right now!" She said with a chip on her shoulder. "Kelly you always have a big project going, that happens to be your job. Come on! It isn't like he works there he just went to eat there one time. They have good salads and you know it. Plus they have the fastest sit in service in town right now so it's the place that makes the most sense to eat at when you can't stay long." Kelly sighed, she knew she couldn't win this fight logically and she was hungry. "Ok, fine, but I can't stay long! I mean it Linda!" Linda smiled and turned to walk out of the office.

Kelly, Linda and two other co-workers got a table for four and ordered their food. Kelly kept looking at the other tables and back at the doorway. Every so often she would look over toward the church. "Whatcha thinking about Kelly?" Linda leaned into Kelly and smiled a big, broad, mischievous smile. Kelly looked at her and straightened her outfit and napkin on her lap, "You know how I am Linda I have to scope a place out I can't help it, why do you ask?" Linda sat back in her chair, " I don't believe you, besides why do you need to scope out the building across the street?" Kelly rolled her eyes, she knew she was caught, "I like the architecture of the place. I also like to look at places in general plus I am a people watcher. Linda why are you bothering me? Don't you have anything else to do with your lunchtime than to ask me 50 questions about my personal and private activities?" Linda chuckled to herself as the food showed up to the table. They both ate their food while Linda and the other two sales gals, who came along, talked and laughed. Kelly stayed to herself and ever so often when she didn't think Linda was paying attention she would look over at the church building. Maybe she just wanted her attention in that direction, maybe she secretly wanted to get another glimpse of him.

The day was  finally over and Kelly wanted nothing more than to get back home to Henry and check on him. She figured she would stay home the whole weekend and ensure he continued to get better. Henry was a very important part of her life and she was determined to make sure he was ok. She didn't mind staying in all weekend anyway. Going out with Linda was always fun but also caused her stress too. Her people tolerance and ability to talk about nothingness for hours was not high. 

 She loaded up a few files she figured she would work on while at home on her home computer and turned to leave. "Kelly, hey you taking work home?" Linda noticed the files in her bag. "I am going out with a few friends to go bowling. They say it is a lot of fun and they are not the drinking type! I thought maybe you would enjoy that since you hate the bar and club scenes. Plus, I remember you told me once that you played in a bowling league and I figured you would like this particular kind of Friday night fun! Soo...." Kelly sighed and looked at Linda in the eyes, she actually thought that might be fun but... Henry. "Linda, I want a rain check on this activity. It sounds fun. I do enjoy bowling and winning." Kelly winked at Linda and tilted her head slightly,  "But, Henry has been sick and I need to go be with him and watch him closely over the weekend. This time I promise I am not trying to get out of anything I am seriously worried about my cat. Can we do it next weekend?" Linda could tell her friend was worried and not making excuses like normal so she smiled at her and then moved across the room to hug her. "Of course, maybe tomorrow or Sunday I can bring over Chinese and we could play cards. We will see what the weekend brings. Let me know if he gets any worse." Kelly smiled at her friend and then they both departed the office and headed out to go home.

Kelly was relieved when she got home, Henry was still acting normal. She hoped he was better now and that she could just relax. She almost regretted not going out with Linda. Kelly loved to exercise and play competitive games. She enjoyed a challenge and she was starting to wonder if she was overreacting about Henry's sickness, that he seemed to be over with already. Kelly put on her jammies and cuddled her soft blanket and turned the TV on. She didn't watch television very often but today she would find a movie and pet her seemingly healthy kitty boy. "Henry, what shall we watch today buddy?" Henry laid on her lap and sprawled out across her legs putting his paws on her arm. He meowed softly a few times and then purred loudly. She flipped through the channels until she found a movie called prayer warrior. Her curiosity peaked as she thought about her answered prayer and her kitty laying on her lap no longer acting sickly. She clicked on it and decided to stay for a while. 

 The movie drew her in. The main character was teaching everyone else in the movie how to pray. She had a prayer closet that she put notes on the wall of prayers. This woman was passionate and believed wholeheartedly about praying about every little thing. Kelly was drawn in, both her mind and heart. Kelly had never seen such authentic passion like that in a religious type person.  She knew it was a movie but it felt so real and it compelled her to think about her own life.  It made her think about others and most of all it brought back up thoughts of that pastor she meet.

When the show was over she found herself wondering if she owned a Bible. She went over to her bookshelf and looked at each book carefully and didn't find one.  She moved over to the little desk in her room and looked through her old dictionaries, college books, and encyclopedia set and once again she didn't find a single bible.  She decided that was a book she should have in her library for sure. It was an old book and apparently had some good wisdom in it too. She went over to her phone and typed the Bible into her Amazon account. "Wow, there are so many! Why are there so many versions and styles? Bible's for every walk of life and in other languages too. This is crazy, which one do I want?" She looked until she found one that said it was for beginners. "Well, I am definitely a beginner!" She bought her self a Bible and and a recommended commentary book as well.  She put them on fast delivery so she could have it by Monday. 

"Beautiful", she said out loud to her kitty and gave him a pat on the head.  She crawled into her bed and stretched her legs out into the clean, cool sheets and found she was sleepy. She felt a sense of peace and contentment like she just finish a really important project. She felt a sense of newness and excitement with these books coming.  Oh she loved to learn and she was excited to learn about God. "Ok, God, I got your book so now maybe I can learn more about you." She fell fast asleep thinking about what this new book would be about, again, without any medication. Her kitty was well she seemed to be making a new friend and she had a lot of peace.  Life was good today and she slept with a smile and she dreamed about her and Henry.

They were running through fields with yellow and orange flowers.  She could feel the bare ground on her feet and felt the sunlight on her skin.  She strangely felt close to her maker.