A spiritual journey between four diverse characters who all share secrets and a painful past!!!
Excerpt
Tamara
While Sheila was getting her weekend together I needed to make plans for my own. I called Samuel to see what his plans were. His response was whatever involved being with me. That man knew all the right things to say. I still wasn’t comfortable with being totally alone with him. So we agreed to meet at Sugar & Spice for drinks. At night my favorite daytime coffee shop became an after hours café. I think I’ll get a jump on him by leaving work early to give myself enough time to go home and change. With the warm weather we have been having my black and pink halter jumper would be perfect. Casual, but still sexy.
Interestingly, I was more excited about Sheila’s weekend than my own. Just knowing that my suspicions about her and Clyde were false made my heart leap for joy. I also was feeling guilty for thinking such thoughts about Sheila. Clyde maybe, but Sheila never. Marriage meant too much to her. She’s a class act all the way, not some heifer waiting in the shadows to jump another woman’s husband. Cheating on Leon would be the last thing she would do. I shook my head for letting such outlandish thoughts enter my mind.
By the time I arrived at Sugar & Spice, Samuel was already there. He must have left work early too, because he was wearing jeans. I glided across the room with the most alluring stroll I could. The stiletto heels that I was wearing made it a difficult feat, but I gave it my best shot. Samuel-ever the gentleman-stood and pulled out my chair as I approached the table.
“You’re looking lovely, as usual,” he commented.
“Thank you very much, and I thought chivalry was dead.”
“There’s still a little lingering around. You just have to look in the right places.”
“Obviously.”
The waitress came over and took our order.
He asked me about my day and as I described it to him, he actually seemed to care about what I said. At times, if I said something that he didn’t understand or was unfamiliar with he would stop me and inquire about it. I told him about Sheila and her weekend plans with Leon. I also mentioned her dinner invitation.
“You and Sheila appear more like girlfriends than co-workers.”
“Yeah, we’re pretty close. I love her like a sister.”
“What did you tell her about me?”
“I just mentioned what a wonderful guy you are. That’s about it.”
“That’s it, huh?”
“Yeah, that was all.”
“Did you two already set a date for this dinner? I know she wants to check me out.”
I looked surprised. “She’s not going to ‘check you out’. She only wants to meet you, because I had nothing but good things to say about you.”
“And she wants to see if they are all true. Are you forgetting that I have sisters? I know how it’s done,” Samuel joked.
“Okay, you got me. I hope that doesn’t mean you aren’t interested in going?”
“Nonsense. I would love to go. Any friend of yours, I have got to make a friend of mine.”
“Thanks. You’re the best.”
“Well we’ll just see what Sheila has to say about that.”
“Don’t get it twisted. I do want Sheila to meet you and I would love for the both of you to become friends. But if that doesn’t work out, it certainly doesn’t change my mind about you.”
“That’s what’s up.”
The waitress brought our appetizers and the drinks we ordered.
“So what do you do for fun,” I asked?
“I spend a lot of my free time with Jared. He’s, my assistant, Melanie’s son. Her husband’s incarcerated. She is now a single parent of a five-year-old son, who is suddenly without a father. They were both devastated to say the least, to the point where her son stopped speaking. I felt for her, and even more for Jared, so I reached out to him. I started spending time with him, taking him fishing, playing basketball, football, and little league, all the things that a real father would do with a son. Slowly, he started to come around, and eventually started talking again. As a way of saying ‘thanks’ Melanie would have me over for dinner a few nights a week.”
“Wow, that’s amazing and so are you!”
“No, I’m just a guy trying to help out where I can. I enjoy doing things with Jared. Right now he needs me, and until his father comes back or Melanie tells me otherwise, I’m going to be there for him. There are just too many of our young black boys growing up without their fathers in the home. They don’t have positive male role models in their lives of any kind except TI or 50 Cents. I don’t want him to end up in the same situation that his father is in. It happens time and time again and that cycle has to be broken.”
“You are really special Samuel. There needs to be more men like you.”
“There needs to be more people willing to help one another. What’s the purpose of living if you haven’t made a difference in someone’s life? I believe we are all here for each other. God blesses me, so that I can in turn bless someone else.”
Did he say ”God”? I almost choked on my drink. Now that’s not a word I was accustomed to hearing coming from a guy I was dating—or any guy—unless it was followed with ‘bless you’ after I had sneezed.
“Tamara, I’ve been meaning to ask you a very important question.”
“Yes, Samuel.”
“Are you saved?”
“Saved?”
“Yes, saved. Have you accepted Jesus as your personal savior?”
I didn’t know what to say. I’ve been baptized as a child. Did that make me saved?
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