A Chance at Love (15 page)

T
wo weeks came and went with little to no change in my life while I worked out my notice at Pilo’s. Continuing to attend the men’s group every Thursday, I got to know Charles quite a bit before my first day on the job with him. I found out that he lost his wife a couple of years back, and his two older daughters both lived halfway across the country and didn’t visit often. I also learned that he attends a Baptist church up on the South Hill that he has gone to for twenty-three years. He has a sister in town, and he tries to have dinner with her at least twice a month, but his startup company eats up most his time.

Charles started his software company,
Lighthouse Beacon
, with money he received from the life insurance policy on his wife. He declared to me that the startup was indeed his swan song. It seemed a bit optimistic, in my opinion, given the financial climate the nation was in, but he seemed eager and full of energy about the project. While he showed a lot of energy for the project, he refused to tell me a lick of information about the details before I showed up for my first day of work.

That day had finally arrived.

Arriving at the address he provided me, I noticed that there were about six other companies that shared the same office building. My skepticism over this start-up was already pretty high; seeing that its base of operation was in a tiny office didn’t help matters.

I should have listened to my father
, I thought to myself as I got out of my car and shut the door. Remaining optimistic, I reminded myself of the fact that I knew I’d be getting paid, so that would at least give me some time until I figured out my next move.

Opening the door, I went into the lobby and looked around. Spotting a piece of white paper taped to the front of a door across the carpeted lobby, I went over and read it.

Lighthouse Beacon

Oh, goody
, I thought as I knocked on the door. There was no answer. Pulling out the key Charles had given me on Thursday, I opened the door and went inside. Taking off my coat, I tossed it over onto a chair and walked over to the desks that lined the walls of the office. Six computers lined the wall, and it looked like a fairly effective setup.

“Why six computers?” I asked out loud as I looked them all over.

“I have interns that come in from the community college and volunteer some,” Charles replied, startling me as he walked in through the open door behind me. “What do you think?”

I nodded back to him and said, “Seems a little small, but a good set up.”

“Keeping those costs down by staying in a small office.” He rubbed his hands together and asked, “You ready to finally learn about the project?”

I nodded. “Been pretty anxious.”

He took his coat off and made his way over to one of the computers. Sitting down, he logged in and started up a video.

The video looked like a commercial. It showed Bible characters walking across the screen and a bunch of different Bible related games. After it was finished, my perspective about the company changed dramatically.

“Looks amazing!” I said.

“We have at least eight companies that are lined up and ready to market this for me. We just need to build the ninety percent that’s left in the code.”

“Wow.”

“You been reading those books I brought you?”

“Yep.”

“Good. Grab a computer, and I’ll show you what you can start coding.”

My first full day was complete, and it was overwhelming. Almost every twenty minutes or so, I was asking for Charles’s help understanding things, and it made me feel like I might not have been cut out for it. He must have suspected some of those feelings I was having, because he went out of the way to assure me at the end of the day that it happens to everyone. He was actually quite impressed with what I had already learned and brought with me to the first day.

Arriving home around five thirty, Joanie and a guy were sitting at the kitchen table.

The guy looked up at me as I entered the kitchen. “This must be the infamous brother Kyle I heard so much about,” he said, rising to his feet and extending a hand as I shut the door behind me.

I smiled and shook his hand, “You must be Brad. Right?”

He nodded and sat back down.

My mother was pulling a pizza out of the oven just as I sat down at the table. She turned and looked at me as she set the pizza on the stove. “Brad and Joanie are going to church tonight.”

Raising an eyebrow, I looked at Joanie. “Oh, yeah? Where you two going?”

Joanie smirked.

Brad said, “Calvary Community. Joanie says you go to that church?”

Thinking about how I had been surviving on small glimpses of Emily at service for the last couple of weeks, I nodded. “Yep. I haven’t ever seen you around there before,” I replied.

“It’s not my home church. I heard they have a good young adult group that’s for teens transitioning out of school. I wanted to go check it out.”

“What ages?” I asked, leaning in.

“Eighteen through twenty.”

I slapped the table and beamed with a smile.

Brad was taken aback. “Did I miss something?”

Joanie laughed. “His girl is eighteen years old and goes to that church. Her parents won’t let them date or see each other.”

I nodded. “I don’t know how I missed knowing about this group.”

“Didn’t you just start going there?” Joanie asked.

“Kind of, but I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to see Emily,” I replied.

Brad looked at Joanie and then over at me, “You could come with us, if you want to?”

I grinned. “All right.”

Walking in the doors of the church, I broke away from Joanie and Brad and began weaving through the two or so dozen kids my age in the lobby just outside the sanctuary. I searched the faces for the one I loved. After five minutes of searching, I realized she wasn’t there.

Suddenly, a familiar booming male voice came from the crowd. I looked around and saw that it was Tom. “Everybody head to the sanctuary. And please sit in the pews near the front.”

A stampede-like motion of the crowd of teenagers began filing into the sanctuary. Tom was watching as everybody filed in. I tried to rush by him, but he saw me and grabbed my shoulder.

“Kyle,” he said, pulling me out of the crowd.

“I came with my sister and her boyfriend. I don’t want any trouble,” I said respectfully, desperately trying to prevent any issue from arising.

“Come with me,” he said with a dry and monotone voice.

We walked down a hallway, turned, and followed another one until it led to a bunch of doors on both sides. Opening one door, he held the door open and tilted his head to motion to me to go inside.

I turned the corner of the doorway and was surprised when I saw Emily inside. Darting into the room and up to her, I grabbed her hands and said, “Emily!” as tears welled in my eyes.

“Kyle!” she said as she began crying.

Everything inside of me began to melt. The door shut behind me and I smiled as I looked at her. My eyes welled with tears.

Holding her, I felt as if the world was right again. The universe was set back into place and the stars were once again in their spots.

“I missed you so much,” I said as tears escaped my eyes. Her hair smelled just like it had the one and only night I had seen her. It was a comfort, even though I had barely known it.

“I missed you too. My parents are being so ridiculous,” she replied as we pulled back from embracing. “They think I need to be safe and smart about the world, starting with you.”

Grabbing her hands, I held them in mine. “You can live independently. You don’t need to stay there, Emily. You can be free.”

She shook her head. “There’s no way. I can’t navigate around full-time and living somewhere.”

“It’s not true. I read stories. Lots of them. There are blind people who have jobs, live alone, and are perfectly normal.”

“I can’t drive a car.”

I laughed a little. “Well, duh. You’re not going to be able to do that. But you can do this.” Realizing that Tom helped me see her, I said, “How come Tom helped us see each other? I thought he hated me.”

“He thinks what my parents are doing is wrong.”

“Seems a bit overstepping.”

“He’s my uncle and believes you’re a good guy. He also usually goes against whatever my father thinks is right. It’s a brother thing, from what I’m told.”

I smiled. “Oh, wow, they’re brothers? And he said that?”

“Yep. Not in so many words, but he believes in us.”

Leaning in, I gently held her face and let my thumb slide down her cheek. She leaned into my palm and smiled.

“I love you,” I said.

“I love you, too,” she replied. She turned her head and kissed my hand.

Leaning in, I held her face in my hands and kissed her. Releasing a few inches from her face, I said, “We’re going to figure this out, and we’re going to be together.”

More tears began to fall from her eyes. “I hope so,” she said.

“It’s going to be okay. Try to have your uncle help you. He could help you get a job and moved out if he’s on team Emily.”

She nodded. “I don’t want my parents to hate me.”

“We have to keep praying for them.”

The door behind me opened. Tom stuck his head in and said, “Sorry. We don’t have much time. You’d better slip out the back, Kyle. Just take a left and all the way down this hallway. Patricia just got here with surprise treats for the youth. She’s going to wonder where Emily is.”

I winced. “Okay.”

The door shut.

Turning to her, without more than a few moments left, I said, “Emily. You have to believe that you deserve a life. God didn’t design us to live imprisoned in fear. He wants us to live freely.”

She nodded and hugged me tightly. “I love you so much, Kyle,” she said with strained words as more tears flowed freely.

“I love you, too,” I replied, hugging her.

We both exited the room and went separate ways.

“Kyle,” she said a few paces away down the hall.

I turned around. “Yeah?” I replied.

“Come to the Valentine’s Day show.”

I smiled. “I’ll be there, my love.”

She beamed a warm smile and then continued on her way down the hallway, lightly touching the wall for guidance.

As I arrived at the end of the hallway I was in and at the exit, I looked back at Emily. She was truly everything I ever wanted. I fell for her not the night we hung out, but in the hours and days on the phone we spent talking. It was like I knew her soul. As I watched her disappear around the corner of the hallway, I smiled. I smiled because I knew I loved her more than anyone I had ever met, or would ever meet again, in my life.

T
he following week dragged like molasses leading up to Valentine’s Day. Every day that week leading up to seeing Emily, it rained. While I did cherish my few moments with Emily at the church the other night, I couldn’t help but feel a deep longing in my heart that made me feel terribly worse than I’d previously felt. My thankfulness was plenty, though. The Lord sustained me through my Bible reading and prayer life. I even joined the same emailing list as Grandma and had a daily devotional sent to me to center myself. Somehow, each day the devotional spoke directly to my life, and I knew it was God at work. I might have been a little overdramatic, but I felt as if it weren’t for God’s strength in that week, I would have surely died.

Then the day finally arrived. Valentine’s Day.

Charles let me off early in order to get a haircut on the way home. I never went into great lengths about the situation with Emily to Charles as we were far too busy keeping up with a rigorous schedule to get the app done.

Stopping by the grocery store to get a pack of gum after my haircut, I spotted a bouquet of flowers. I bought two: one for my mother, the first woman whom I ever loved, and one for Emily, the last one I would ever love.

When I arrived home, my parents were about to leave. My mother looked as beautiful as ever. She was wearing a dark purple dress, had her hair done up, and even had makeup on—a combination I didn’t see very often in her, but when I did, I knew she was excited.

“You look great, Mom,” I said as I handed her a bouquet of flowers.

She breathed them in as she closed her eyes. “I love them!” she replied. Opening her eyes, she went over to the counter and pulled a vase down to put them in.

“I’m glad you like them. Where are you guys going?”

“Your father’s taking me to this fancy place on the river.”

“What’s it called?”

“Clinkerdagger,” my father said as he came into the kitchen. He was looking rather sharp himself, wearing a pair of slacks, a white button-up shirt, and a dark grey plaid sports jacket.

“Sharp look, Dad.” Looking at him, I asked, “Clinkerdagger. Where’s that?”

“Mallon Street. Perfect view of the river, and it just opened up last month!”

“Sounds spendy.”

My father put his arm behind my mother’s back and kissed the side of her head as he smiled and said, “She’s worth every penny, Son.”

My mother beamed as she turned away from the counter and into my father’s arm.

I nodded and went over to the fridge to start the hunt for dinner. My mother came over to me and said, “The bottom shelf has some leftover lasagna from last night. You can have that.”

“All right. Thanks.”

As my mom finished arranging the flowers in the vase, my father said, “We’re going to head out here in a minute. Joanie already got picked up by Brad, so the house is yours while your mother and I are gone.”

“I’m leaving to go to that thing at the church.”

“That’s right,” my father replied. “Go ahead and just lock up on your way out then.”

I nodded as I reached for the lasagna on the lower shelf of the fridge. “You two kids have fun.” I laughed.

“We will,” my mother said as she set the vase in the center of the kitchen table. “Perfect. Thanks again for the flowers, Son. You’re too sweet to me.” My father took my mother by the hand and they left.

I heard the front door shut as I scooped the last of the lasagna from the pan onto my plate.
Tonight, I’ll be reunited with my love once more
, I thought. Well, I’d see her again at least. I knew the skits would most likely last for at least an hour, so my hope rested in the fact that she might have fairly large parts in them so I could see her for longer. Regardless, the evening was going to be rather lackluster at best, but I cherished the brief moments I got to lay my eyes on her.

Tossing the lasagna into the microwave, I set the timer for a couple of minutes and turned around. Leaning my back against the counter, I daydreamed of seeing my sweet love on that stage once more.

Arriving a few minutes early to the show, my hand with the bouquet rattled like a trembling inmate on death row taking his final steps. I knew Emily’s parents were lurking somewhere in the church when I arrived that evening. I just didn’t know where.

I wanted these flowers to get to her if nothing else happened that night. The ones I picked were her favorite, daisies. I knew if I could just find Tom before Steve or Patricia found me, he would be able to get them to her.

When I came in the front doors of the church, I saw Patricia talking to another woman in the lobby as I walked in. Immediately, I hid the flowers behind my back and slipped away into the hallway before she could spot me.

I let a heavy breath escape my lips as I let my back press against the wall. I looked at my bouquet I had brought. Turning my head down the dimly lit hallway, I saw a shadow suddenly flash across the conjoining halls down the way. I wondered if it was Tom.

I headed down that direction, being careful not to make a noise with my steps. As I arrived at the conjoining hallway, I took a peek around the corner and saw my grandmother, Ruth.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, approaching her.

“Kyle!” she exclaimed, hurrying over to me. She kissed my cheek and gave me a hug. “Remember how I filled out one of those visitor cards on Christmas Eve?”

“Okay.”

“They called me this last week and asked if I could stand in for a small role in the skit. I guess the lady that was going to do it came down with a horrible sickness and they needed someone to step in quick.”

“Hmm . . .”

“I know, it’s strange, but I’m excited! Oh, and I absolutely
love
your girlfriend, Emily!”

I smiled. “I knew you would love her, Grandma.” Giving her the bouquet, I said, “Get these to her, please?”

She smiled as she took them into her hand. “She sure is a sweet gal, Kyle. This whole skit she’s doing is—”

“Tell me later, Grandma. I want you to get those to her before Patricia finds me!”

“Ok! Take care, see you after the show.” With a wink, Grandma left around the corner just in time as a loud voice startled me from behind.

“Kyle!” Patricia’s voice boomed down the hallway. Looking back at her for a moment, I hurried the opposite way down the hall to slip out the back door, just like I had done the other day.

Coming outside, I looked across the wet and cold parking lot of the church. She was surely coming after me, so I had only moments to decide on what to do. I ran and hid behind a truck parked out in the lot. A few moments later, Patricia emerged through the door and scanned the parking lot.

My heart raced as adrenaline coursed through my veins. Lowering my head, I began to pray for God’s help in calming my nerves and helping those flowers get to Emily.

After my prayer, I looked over the truck to see that she had gone back inside. I was safe—for now, anyway.

Recomposing myself, I stood up and cautiously went the long way back inside through the front doors of the church. I didn’t want to risk Patricia standing on the inside of that back door waiting for me.

The service had already started when I got into the lobby, so I slipped into the sanctuary and stood near the back row to watch. I would have an easy escape if I needed it.

I watched the skits unfold on the stage. One by one, they came and went for a good portion of time. There was no sign of Emily.

Then a skit came on that was a touching story of a little boy that had a sick mother, which my grandmother, Ruth, was playing the role of. His mother was dying of cancer, and every Friday he would travel down to the candy store to buy her and himself a piece of chocolate. The mother grew more ill and the doctors said she didn’t have long to live, so when the little boy found out, he hurried down on a Monday to buy the chocolate. The store owner was locking up for the day, though, and didn’t want to go back inside. So, the little boy got down on his knees in the snow and prayed that God would open the man’s heart and make him nicer. When the little boy opened his eyes, the store owner was already gone. The little boy went home sad. When he got home with a sad expression, his father pulled him aside and asked what was wrong. The little boy explained how God didn’t answer his prayer, and now they don’t have any chocolate. His father went into the other room and came out with a giant box of chocolates. The mail man had delivered it while the boy was out at the store. It had come from the little boy’s aunt. His father explained to the boy that sometimes God doesn’t give us what we want because He already has something else lined up. The little boy was happy, and they all shared the box of chocolates on his mother’s bed.

The next story featured Emily. My heart fluttered as the spotlight beamed down on the stage. A kid dressed up in a white robe and beard, who appeared to be playing the part of God, came out on the stage and in front of her.

She cried out to him, “Lord! Are you there? Can you hear me?” She dashed back and forth across the stage.

He remained silent, but he handed her a Bible. She began to act like she was reading the Bible and said, “I can hear you through the Word, but I still can’t see you, Lord!” She moved her head back and forth as she dashed again across the stage. “Show me who you are!”

A dark-robed kid, who looked to be playing the role of Satan, came out with a red face and pushed her down. She looked around with a panicked look on her face. “Who was that?” she cried out. Satan stood over her and placed the knife in her hand, and then he took hold of her hand and began swaying it toward her throat.

God came over and pulled Satan away from her. She was able to stand up and looked around confused. “God I can feel your presence, but I can’t see you.”

The lights dimmed on the stage and then came back brightly as a different backdrop behind her appeared. There were trees, sunshine, and birds dangling from the rafters above the stage.

The sun twirled in the corner and Emily said, “I can feel your warmth and experience your beauty in this world, but where are you, Lord?” God was following behind her and then was in front of her. He stood under the sun and turned it. He reached up and made the birds move. Even the leaves on the trees spun. Emily continued to look around.

Lights on the stage went dim again and then came back on. The scene was dark and creepy. The lighting was low. This time, God was carrying Emily across the stage. She looked asleep, but lifted her head long enough to ask, “Where are you, God? Show me where you are.”

Darkness returned to the stage. Another scene change. This time when the lights came back up, it looked like a church behind the stage. Emily was kneeled at a bed on the far right of the stage. Nobody was in it. She prayed under a spotlight that illuminated that portion of the stage. “God. Where are you?” She prayed. She began crying as she continued, “Please show me your love. Send me a boy that will love me.”

As she kneeled at the bed, the spotlight shifted across the stage and over to the curtain that led off the stage. Out walked a Pilo’s delivery driver walking across the stage. My eyes welled with tears as she got up from kneeling and met him at center stage.

They began to dance, just like we did that night up at The Abby. Then the kid playing God slowed their swaying down and touched Emily’s head so that she rested her head against the boy’s shoulder.

The lights on the stage dimmed and Emily’s voice said, “Thank you, God, for always being there for me, even when I didn’t know you were.”

My eyes were fully watering by the time the skit was over. The crowd stood up and cheered as the all lights in the sanctuary came back on. All the actors and actresses stood on the stage and bowed.

Seeing the children take to the stage exit and into the crowd, I began weaving through the people with tears running down my cheeks. I didn’t care who saw the tears, and I didn’t care if her parents saw me anymore. I wanted to get to Emily, to the one I loved.

As I drew closer, I saw both her parents join her side, and I hesitated for a moment. Then I thought about how I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Pushing forward, I came up to the three of them.

“I think it’s best that you leave,” Steve said.

“Is that Kyle?” Emily said hopefully as she stuck a hand out. “Come here. Please, Kyle, come here!” Emily said, pleading.