Devil Mail (27 page)

Julia could hardly contain herself as she helped her sister unpack a few essential items. “I would have loved to
have seen his face when he realized that the file was gone, and then when he figured out that he was sitting for hours outside an empty apartment. I can’t believe my goody-two-shoes sister hatched such a plan! What will you do when you see him at church?”

“I’ll tell him it’s over, in case he hadn’t guessed.”

“He knows where you work. Suppose he shows up there?”

“Sharon will deal with him until I get out of
there. I have an interview with Reliance Court Reporters next week, so hopefully I’ll be out of there soon.”

“You really should think about freelancing. You’re good at what you do and you know enough about the industry to branch out on your own.
You know I’ll refer a ton of work your way.”

“Maybe.”

Surrounded by people after Sunday service, Angela made herself unavailable to Kieran, who never took his eyes off her, despite feigni
ng meaningful conversation with Sasha, in a failed attempt to provoke Angela to jealousy. He stood behind Angela’s car as she prepared to back out of her parking space. Startled, she slammed on the brakes.

“Move!” a bellowing voice sounded behind him. Judith
had stuck her head out of the window of her car, then repositioning herself, she stared him down from behind the wheel.

“Mind your own business, wench!” He spat back contemptuously.

“She is my business, bozo! She won’t back out on you, but I’ll mow you down in a heartbeat, then repent and beg for forgiveness later. Move!” Judith shouted out of her window.

Kieran was presented with the choice of walking away with a massive dent in his ego, or standing his ground and saving face in the presence of the curious onlookers
. However, if he chose the latter, judging by the look in Judith’s eyes, it presented a real possibility of him hitting the ground and smashing his pretty face on impact. Angela emerged from her car to save him from having to make the fateful decision. “I have nothing to say to you, Kieran, apart from it’s over.
We’re
over.”

“So you had to make a fool of me to prove it?
I know you went into my storage unit. It’s not what you think. I got the file back from Aiden and I was gonna surprise you with it when I moved in.” He approached the side of the car.

“Just keep your evil self away from me,” Angela
warned as she climbed back into her car.

“I’m evil
? You move without telling me and have me sit outside an empty apartment all day, but you have the audacity to call me evil! I’m homeless now because of you!”

“There’s always the apartment
the director offered you. Or if you throw a couple of Bible verses his way, your brother might forgive your trespasses and put you up under his roof, if you promise not to try to seduce his wife or steal her jewelry!” Angela slammed shut her car door, backed out and left Kieran standing there, completely flabbergasted. Judith followed close behind Angela, making a point of driving dangerously close to Kieran to give him a hint of just how real her threat was. His fingers twitched slightly as impulse very nearly drove him to flick her off, but he thought better of it, choosing instead to resort to the safer option of inaudible name-calling.

Angela
wondered if he would follow her to her mother’s house, but knowing that he’d be outnumbered there, he was probably prudent enough to refrain from doing so.

She had arranged for the post office to forward mail to her new address, and during the immediate weeks following her move, she half expected cards from Kieran to be mingled in amongst her forwarded mail. Any such correspondence would more than likely include Bible verses intended to send her on guilt trips that she could no longer afford. However, none came.

She constantly looke
d over her shoulder, particularly when leaving work, but she never did spot him loitering around. Although he would need the gate code to get into her community, if he ever tailed her, she knew that he was persuasive and could sweet-talk his way into getting almost anything he wanted.

When he
also stopped attending REACH Christian Center, Angela assumed that he had moved on to his next unsuspecting victim, but an unsettling, uneasy feeling lived with her whilst she didn’t know what he was up to. Occasionally she toyed with the idea of driving to Apopka to see if he had pursued his planned venture with the owner of Computer Medic, but she couldn’t risk coming face to face with him if he was, indeed, there.

Even a
fter some time had elapsed, the strength of the soul ties that had developed between them left her thinking about him often and mentally replaying his seductive words and deeds.

On a few occasions, she picked up the telephone and began to dial Aiden’s number, but
could never go through with it. It just felt like a loose end that she had failed to tie up. Having changed both of her numbers, Aiden had no way of contacting her. She wondered if he had moved on.

The angry words of her sister never left her. Angela began to honestly explore who she was without a man
in her life. Having been turned down for the job at Reliance Court Reporters, she researched and gave serious thought to becoming a freelance court reporter. She began to embrace the single life as a solitary individual nobly grasping life’s experiences.

It was on one such day, when she was l
aying on her couch reading about the financial demands of running a freelance business, her home telephone rang. The caller ID display showed a blocked number. She never answered those calls, but today, without thinking, she picked up the receiver. “Hello?” she answered curiously.

“I love you,
Angela.” His voice sent shivers down her spine and caused memories of their former intimate moments together to immediately spring forth, and her heart to desire them once more.

“How did you get this number?”

“Love always finds a way,” he breathed softly.

Her head told her to tell him that
she was strong, independent and doing just fine by herself. She knew her value and was not going to settle for less than she deserved; neither was she going to give herself again to someone who proved unworthy of her – someone she couldn’t trust. However, her heart would not allow her to utter such wisdom. Speechlessly, she stood grappling with the fact that, in all honesty, she was in love with him too.

      Author’s Notes

Do people really change as a result of the company they keep, or do their company and circumstances merely bring out whatever is already inside of them?

Angela Craddock discovered that when she was tested, some of the abhorrent characteristic
s that she recognized in others were also common to her. Self-examination is crucial.

~
Matthew 7:3.

What roles do fate, coincidence and serendipity really play in our lives?

Angela Craddock was always looking for an external sign or a person to guide her in the right direction
, instead of looking inwardly to connect to the things that God had already placed in her spirit. This caused her ears to become deaf to the still, small voice of God. I’m so glad that God doesn’t make things up as He goes along. He has a set plan and purpose for our lives, and He’ll reveal both to us if we ask.

~
Jeremiah 29:11-13.

Is there a difference between religion and Christianity?

As soon as Angela Craddock began to pursue what she thought her heart desired
, she forsook her daily devotionals and turned her back on the most important intimate relationship of all. By just attending church regularly, without the substance of a relationship with God, she stepped into mere religion.  This took her away from Christianity, which was her way of life, and was her safe place of abode, where she could have simply asked God to grant her the desires of her heart. Abiding is essential.

~
John 15:7.