Page 20 of When You Least Expect It
“I thought that good Christians weren’t supposed to judge,” Myer spoke.“And I would think that you’d know that better than anyone, what with your close relationship to God and all.”
“I am not judging Calista,” Jury denied.
“Sounds like you are to me,” I told him.“You’re essentially saying that my relationship with God isn’t good enough, and I think that God would disagree.”
“I think that we’re getting off topic here,” Louise jumped in, making me and Myer both look her way.
“Isn’t this a prayer group meeting?”Myer asked.“I mean, isn’t God theonlytopic that we should be discussing right now?”
She looked at him primly as she said, “We’re discussing him as if he’s optional when we really should be praying and looking for guidance from Him.”
“No, sure,” Myer replied.“Then let’s pray.”
“Very well,” Jury agreed.“Ladies, please kneel.”
Yeah, no...that wasn’t happening.
“Excuse me?”I piped up.“Why do we need to kneel?Isn’t it customary to sit in a circle and hold hands?”
“Kneeling is a traditionally accepted form of prayer, Calista,” Jury replied with a little bite in his voice, not really answering my question.
“Uhm, among Catholics it is,” I countered.“I mean, that’s why they have those kneelers in their pews, but I wasn’t aware that all Christian disciplines knelt in prayer.”
“Is this group Catholic?”Myer asked in support of my needling.
Not answering Myer’s question, Jury said, “We serve The Lord, and kneeling before him shows him that we are his servants in all ways.”
Curious about his intentions, I said, “Okay, I can see that.”
Then, without another word, I slid off the chair and onto my knees, and I could hear Myer choke on his surprise.The other women were also quick to slide to their knees, and as I watched Jury, I waited for him to join us, but when he didn’t, I had suspected as much.
“Now we can finally begin the journey-”
“Whoa, wait,” I said, flicking my finger up in the air.“Why aren’t you and Myer kneeling?”
“Because we’re men, my dear,” he answered as clear as day, and this really was a fucking cult.
“But you’re not,” I argued.“Right now, you’re supposed to be a servant of God, which means that you should be kneeling also.No?”
“That’s my girl,” Myer muttered low enough for only my ears to hear.
Now, while I was waiting for him to spit out some more nonsense, things took a dramatic turn when Jury walked over to stand in front of me, his groin right in front of my face, and when I looked up at him, our positions screamed of a lewdness that wasn’t the least bit holy.
However, before I could say or do anything, Myer was stepping in between us, reaching down for my hand to help me stand, and in a world where chivalry really was on life support, my heart began to pitter-patter inside my chest.
“Yeah, while I have no problem with Calista kneeling for The Lord, what she’s not going to do is kneel in front ofyou,”Myer said, and I almost fanned myself with his possessiveness.
“So, then you two are a couple?”Jury asked, daring us to lie, which Myer had no problem doing.
“Yep,” he lied.“Ever since the first day that I laid eyes on her.”
Jury let out a condescending sigh before saying, “Jealousy is often the culprit when keeping someone from their destiny.You’re afraid that Calista’s love for The Lord will take away her dedication to you, and I can assure you that you’ve no need to worry about such a thing.The Lord can guide the both of you down this path together.”
“Actually, I think that we’re done here,” Myer told him.“This is not the prayer group that we’d thought that it’d be, and while we wish you all the best of luck, this isn’t for us.”
Looking at me, Jury asked, “Is he speaking for you as well?”
“Absolutely,” I grinned.“Again, I like tacos too much.”
