“Well, ministry… I’m not sure if that’s even what I would generally call it. But, I know I love it. Usually, on Monday…” Dr. Dennison and Martha sat enrapt as Awsty told about her visits to Stella and Robert. She even told about the woman that had dropped the five dollar bill. Her face took on a glow they didn’t miss as she expounded on how each of the elderly people had their own story, which they so readily shared with her.
Almost ten minutes later, she was still talking about her experiences at Trenton-Taylor.
Dr. Dennison spoke when Awsty took her next breath.
“Awsty, you are an extraordinary young woman. You seem to give those elderly people the love and attention they are starved for.”
He looked at Martha, they smiled and simultaneously nodded their heads.
“Awsty, you are warm, easy to talk with, and have the right ‘first impression’ for our practice. I believe Martha and I are sold. Do you have any questions you’d like to ask us before starting work this coming week?”
Awsty’s smile had never shown so broadly in her life, she was sure. She’d just been hired. She’d just been hired!
She never asked about hours or pay. She didn’t even care. It was a job. But all of a sudden, she became more serious-faced. She needed to ask them a favor already. God, please let them say yes.
“I just have one question. Instead of Monday, may I please start on Tuesday? I have one or two things that can only be wrapped up on a weekday… Monday. Is that a problem?”
“No, by all means, take care of things Monday. We’ll expect you Tuesday morning.”
Thanking them again, Awsty walked toward the exit door of the dentist’s office, holding the sheet of paper they’d given her. They told her to look it over before work the following Tuesday. She poked it in the cute handbag she’d chosen to accessorize her outfit.
“Yes, I will. Thank you so much. I’ll see you both next Tuesday!”
*****
“I got the job! Doris! I got the job!” Awsty yelled into the reception office door before even rounding the door frame. She had just had her interview across the street, and couldn’t resist coming back by the church to let Doris know.
After yelling so enthusiastically, she was embarrassed when she actually rounded the door frame and dashed into the office. Doris wasn’t there. But, Pastor Greg was standing just beyond her vacant desk, gathering some papers from the printer. He abruptly turned toward Awsty when she entered.
“You got the job?! You got the job!” he bellowed.
Awsty was so taken with his enthusiasm that she ran to him and hugged him. It seemed ok to do. And, he hugged her back. At almost the identical second, they realized that maybe this was a bad idea. Awsty realized it was inappropriate because Greg was, after all, her pastor. Greg, realized it wasn’t good because what started as a brotherly hug in which they were both rejoicing turned into something more, at least in his mind. He wasn’t quite sure what, but it felt like more.
Releasing each other almost as abruptly as they had begun, Awsty covered her embarrassment by continuing to tell Pastor Greg about her success in landing a job across the street at the dentist’s office. Only she did it from a growing distance. Within seconds, she was backing around to the other side of the secretary’s desk, which finally stood between them.
“Pastor Greg… I want to thank you for all the…” Awsty said, as she sighed simultaneously.
Greg put his hand up to silence her. She was terrified that he was going to tell her she crossed a line in initiating any physical contact with one of the ministers at church. But, instead, he said softly, “Greg. My name is Greg. Or… Just Plain Old Greg, if you like.” He smiled.
As softly as he, she responded, “Outside the church, ok. But, inside the church, I don’t feel comfortable with that. In church, you’re Pastor Greg. Is that ok?” she entreated him.
“Sure. If that’s what you want. In the church, Pastor Greg. Now that we’ve got that settled, sit down”, as he pointed to the visitor’s chair, “and tell me all about the interview.” He pulled out the secretary’s chair and sat at the desk. It was the only place in the reception area that would put a definite separation barrier between them. He hated it, but it was probably best. He knew that this young woman didn’t have a love for Jesus as he did, and there could never come anything of their relationship beyond two friends unless and until she did.
Showing none of the emotional turmoil on his face, he smiled and encouraged Awsty to share every last detail of the interviewing process.
“… and then they asked me about my visitation ministry. Pastor Greg, I don’t know how you came up with that, but it was genius! They asked me to tell them in detail about it. So, I started telling them about Stella and Robert. Do you know Robert? He’s another one of the residents. He’s got Alzheimer’s, but so sweet.
“Anyway… even before finishing telling them about going weekly to visit them, they stopped me and basically said that I was exactly what they were looking for, and could I start Monday. I told them that I really needed Monday to finish up ‘things’ before starting, so I asked if I could start Tuesday. They said yes.” She was talking so fast by this point that she felt like she was running out of breath. Taking in a cleansing breath, Awsty sat and just watched Pastor Greg.
“So, what d’ya think?” she asked.
“I think we should thank the Lord.” He didn’t give her a chance to say no. He simply held out his hand over the desk, which she took, and he prayed.
“Jesus, we want to thank you for giving Awsty this new job. All of us prayed for her in staff meeting this morning. Doris and I prayed together for this, and You’ve answered it. You’re so good to us and we praise You for it. In Your Precious Name we pray. Amen.”
As Pastor Greg began releasing her hand, Awsty gripped again. It caught him off guard, but he didn’t fight it. And, he was so glad he didn’t.
“Thank you. Amen.” That was all she said, but Pastor Greg had a feeling she meant it. He squeezed her hand, then they let go, all attention now on Doris, who had entered right at the point of Awsty’s thank you. She might have thought she was thanking Pastor Greg for his help in putting together her resume, had they not both had their heads bowed and eyes closed.
“Well, what’s the verdict?” belted out Doris, with hands clinched and shaking them in front of herself, while she grimaced. “You got the job, didn’t you? You got the job!”
Awsty confirmed by jumping up, grabbing both Doris’s hands, and dancing in a circle, while they both laughed.
When the initial joyous hallelujah-dance was concluded, Doris drug her over to the sofa where she and Awsty sat, still holding hands. “Tell me every single little detail! Don’t leave out anything!” And, Awsty didn’t. They released hands, Doris sat back, and Awsty began, very animatedly, to unfold the whole story… yet again. While Pastor Greg continued to sit at Doris’s desk, he listened to the whole account all over again. And, the smile never left his face as he watched Awsty’s second no-less-animated presentation of her interview.
While the girls talked, Pastor Greg prayed. Lord, let her see clearly that it is You Who have done this. You answered our prayers for her job. Let her think about this when she is alone and quiet and continue to woo her to Yourself. You’re worthy of praise, Jesus.
After praying a second time with Doris to thank the Lord for this job, Doris asked her if she was getting in pay what she had hoped for.
“I didn’t even ask. I don’t know what my hours are, either. Man, I really dropped the ball. The only information I have is this paper they gave me. They told me to look it over before Tuesday.” She opened her handbag and pulled out a folded piece of heavy computer paper. Upon opening it, Awsty’s eyes became huge, and her jaw looked slack. She just kept staring at it.
Concerned that maybe the whole job-thing wasn’t what it was cracked up to be, or something negative in her duties had been disclosed, Pastor Greg asked Awsty what was wrong. As she continued to sta
re at the paper, she simply whispered, “Nothing’s wrong. It’s far beyond being right!”
“Then why do you look like that?” Doris asked, worry beginning to etch itself into her brow.
“I can’t believe they’re paying me this much! And, my workweek is only four and a half days. I get two and a half days off each week. And… they will re-evaluate my work in three months. If they’re pleased, they’re going to raise my salary by three hundred and fifty a month. This is unbelievable! Just unbelievable!”
Doris was, at this moment, called back to Senior Pastor Johnston’s office, leaving Awsty and Pastor Greg alone in the reception area.
Awsty lifted her eyes to Greg. They were glassy as though she were on the verge of crying. Softly, she asked, “Jesus really did do this, didn’t He?” When he simply nodded his head, a lone tear trickled down her cheek.
For the second time today, Greg wanted to hold this young woman in his arms. Knowing he still couldn’t almost made him want to cry.
By the time Doris returned to her desk, Awsty had swiped the lone tear from her cheek, and a broad grin had returned to her face.
“Doris, I asked them if I could start Tuesday. Since they said yes…” Awsty grinned, “how would you like to go clothes shopping and do lunch on Monday? My Grammy would be thrilled to loan me the funds until my first paycheck.”
“I’m so sorry, Awsty, I can’t. Because I’ll be treating my new friend Awsty to lunch to celebrate her new job!” The girls laughed and hugged.
“You crack me up!” Awsty told Doris. “Listen, I have to get back to Grammy and tell her all about this job.”
“Thank you, Pastor Greg, for all your help with my resume. And, thank you both for your prayers. And, Doris, here’s my Grammy’s phone number. I’ll talk to you before Monday, so we can set a time and details for Monday’s ‘adventure.’ Wait… I just remembered seeing you in second service last Sunday, didn’t I? Wanna sit together? Would that work out ok? Maybe you could even come home with us and have some lunch. That’s if you’re free and have no other plans.”
“No, I’ll sit with you, and if you still want me to, I’ll come home with you for Sunday dinner. Can I bring something?”
“No, Grammy and I’ve got it covered.”
Walking to the door, Awsty turned back one final time and told both Greg and Doris bye… and thanked them again. She then walked out the door, down the long hall, and exited the church.
Doris went back to work, as did Pastor Greg.
But, the thoughts in their heads were very different.
Doris was excited about this new church friend with which to chum around, and their Monday plans.
Greg was thinking that as much as he was happy that Awsty had a new Christian friend to spend time with, he was somehow sad, maybe even just a little jealous, that he wasn’t the one who would be having lunch on Monday with Awsty.
Chapter 29
When Mason had returned home Tuesday night after seeing Awsty and Pastor Greg together, the evening just got worse. Geneva had left him a text message. He had forgotten to take his phone along with him when he’d gone out to get a bite to eat, and it was during that time she’d sent him the message: WE NEED 2 TALK. Why did that phrase always sound so ominous?!
He called her as soon as he retrieved the message. It went straight to voice mail. He left a brief message saying he was sorry he missed her text, asked if everything was ok, and asked her to call him as soon as she got his message. After waiting an hour or more, he texted her: R U OK? MISS U. LUV U. After leaving the text, Mason jumped into the shower. During the ten minutes or so that he was in the shower, Geneva had called. Mason never heard the ring, so of course, they missed each other again. She left the message that she was returning his call, but they really needed to talk soon.
The shower had refreshed Mason’s body, but he was still in some very real turmoil in his spirit. What did Geneva think they needed to talk about? Didn’t that kind of message usually indicate something about the relationship? Or, the lack thereof?
Thinking maybe he would fare better if he ate a bite, he rummaged through his almost empty fridge. After mentally nixing the few items he found, he slammed the door closed and refocused his attention on the contents of the food cabinet shelves. When nothing but two canned soups gave any hope of sustenance at all, both of which were unsubstantial cream soups, neither of which tempted him, he slammed the doors shut and returned to the fridge. Even as he opened the fridge door again, he knew this was an exercise in futility. What? Did he think some new food options would magically appear that weren’t there five minutes ago?!
For the second time, Mason slammed the fridge door, thinking that if he raged against the fridge door anymore that evening, the poor old thing was going to give up the ghost. It was already on its last leg. Unfortunately, as he heard the fridge door latch securely, he heard something unusual inside. It sounded almost like two sounds simultaneously. One sound was a clink, the other more of a splat.
Almost afraid to check, Mason barely cracked open the door of the refrigerator. Unfortunately, the very moment he budged the door ajar, the interior light flickered, then simply turned off. No warning. It just turned off. He could barely see the fridge contents, meagre though they were. What he felt very readily on his previously shower-fresh feet, however, was oozing wetness, then a damp plop. He didn’t need to see what it was. He knew what was now depositing itself on the floor. Sight wasn’t required to realize that the two-liter bottle of Sprite he’d left open in the fridge had fallen over onto the piece of foil that acted as a plate to a large chunk of cake his mom had sent home with him on his last visit with her. The floor was now enjoying a late evening snack of Sprite-laden cake, which fell in glops. The more Sprite deposited on it, the more the cake squished and fell apart, only to be transported off the fridge shelf down a generous soda waterfall directly to the kitchen floor.
Cleanup needed to be swift and complete, so literally running to the sink where he knew he could grab the paper towel bolt underneath, he slipped in the Sprite-cake mixture, hitting his knee on the floor with quite a jolt. He could tell immediately two things. One, his knee wasn’t broken. Two, it hurt. It really, really hurt!
While he sat holding his throbbing knee, the phone rang. In his pain, he tried to stand, couldn’t, so he began to slide on his rear end to his land line, which was in the front room. He could hear the message Geneva spoke.
“Mason, it looks like you and I aren’t destined to talk tonight, so I’ll meet you for lunch tomorrow at Cecil’s at one-fifteen. I think that time is ok. I think you get out of class at one o’clock, right? If you get there first, order yourself a hamburger and get me that fruit-nut salad thing I like. I’ll get there as quickly as possible. ‘Night.” Wow! She hadn’t even said she loved him!
He probably could have gotten to the phone in time to talk with her, but he stopped scooting and just listened to the second half of the message.
As he just sat immobile for the next minute or two, Mason thought, This isn’t happening! It seems like Geneva and I can’t catch a break! It’s not bad enough we rarely see each other, but now we can’t even connect through phone calls and texting anymore. Maybe we can spend a few minutes together for lunch tomorrow and talk a bit.
Interestingly enough, he wasn’t as distressed as he thought he should be. He should be freaked out that Geneva and he were going through a strained patch in their relationship. But, the truth was he was more distressed about seeing Awsty and Pastor Greg together.
Chapter 30
Friday’s lunch with Geneva had come and gone. And, as Mason suspected, nothing good came of it, depending upon how he looked at it.
Geneva was concerned about the two of them not spending much time together. Because her work days were completely filled, Geneva wanted to spend time with Mason in the evening hours. But, medical school engaged Mason’s attention both day and night. He was just a sneeze away from medical school graduation and he intended to
go out with a bang… a very impressive bang. Unfortunately, there wouldn’t be much time to even breathe before starting right back into his three or more years of hands-on residency training with a local pediatrician.
When Mason laid out what his next several years held, Geneva asked if there would be any time for them, at all. He told her she was his priority, but that he would require a lot of patience and understanding on her part during that time. He was sweet and non-threatening in his approach, but Geneva became aggressive anyway. She accused Mason of not caring for her as much as he did school, his family, and his church. He never mentioned in their talk that he was planning to propose to her that summer. And, it was probably good that he hadn’t, because although Geneva didn’t give him an ultimatum, it felt like she did when she said that if he really loved her as much as he said, he’d make more time for her.
They aired their grievances back and forth, each sharing what they were truly thinking and feeling, and by the end of their time together, Geneva made it plain that she thought Mason and she should split. Whether she was using the threat as some kind of manipulation, Mason didn’t know. But, when neither of them felt like they could make the other understand, they agreed that time away from each other was the best decision they could make. At least for the time being.
There were no insults, nor name-calling, and the whole thing was mostly amicable, but it was, nonetheless, over.
Mason walked Geneva back to her car, gave her one last hug, and that, as they say, was that!
Interestingly enough, as Mason left Geneva at her car, and walked back to his own, his thoughts were not particularly troubled. Shouldn’t he be horrendously sad, or grieving and heart-broken? It wasn’t that he hadn’t been invested in his relationship with Geneva, but he couldn’t help question if the fact that he spent so much more time thinking about- and praying for Awsty, rather than Geneva, perhaps the kind of lifetime crazy-in-love commitment needed wasn’t there with Geneva. He did love her, but he couldn’t help but question if the love he had for her was not the same as ‘being in love.’ She was still a ‘beauty,’ but maybe not as ‘awesome’ as he’d thought.
Mason’s ponderings came to a halt when he looked at his watch. Man, he needed to get going! There was so much work to do this afternoon. Maybe over the weekend, he could spend some time mentally- and emotionally processing this entire ordeal. Just not now. He had to get to class!