His First Lady (7 page)

Leon on the other hand stood remorseless wearing his famous smile revealing perfectly aligned veneers as the congregants whose hands he shook praised his sermon,
performance
. Flashy in a bright white robe with gold trim and a gold collar, Leon stood stoic and regal.

“First lady, you are sure looking beautiful today,” Henry said, shaking Leon’s hands and smiling at Evan. It wasn’t disrespectful or inappropriate and both knew that Henry meant no harm. Evan smiled.

“She looks fantastic,” His sweet faced wife said grabbing Evan’s hand.

“Treat her right Pastor if you wanna keep this pretty lil thing,” Henry said in his southern twang patting Leon’s back.

Leon laughed deeply and turned slightly causing Henry’s hand to inconspicuously fall from his back as if motioning him to move forward and not back up the line. “Will do, Brother Henry.”

Henry nodded before placing his hat on his head, grabbing his wife’s hand and walking down the church steps. His words almost seemed prophetic; sending chills down Evan’s spines. Had he seen the extra makeup over her eye? She didn’t know but she wished that she could run to the bathroom and touch up her cover up. Evan had never seen that man or his wife without a smile on their faces. They weren’t rich, never had excess but after fifty years of marriage, you could easily tell that they were still in love.

Leon seemed to brush Henry’s words off as he continued his hugs and handshakes. Evan looked over at Leon as she maintained her smile.
Nothing bothered him.
Evan saw Mimi in line and immediately wished she had an excuse to leave. As Mimi approached, she and Leon barely looked at each other yet both maintained their plastered smiles. Mimi moved on to Evan; reached out and wrapped her arms around Evan without a word.

Mimi looked in Evan’s face for a second then walked down the stairs of the church. Evan watched her wondering if she seen her eye.
No, she knew that Mimi had seen it
. The question was when was Mimi going to ask her about it? Evan swallowed hard, glad that the line was wrapping up as she couldn’t imagine standing another ten minutes out there with the sun shining brightly on her face while she fake smiled.

After the last parishioner had exited the church, Evan held her head down and scurried back inside and down the hall toward her office leaving Leon talking. She had been embarrassed enough for the day and she didn’t want anyone stopping her. She was certain that her eye had been noticed by many in the congregation and she knew that no one was brave enough to ask her about it or wise enough to assume that the good pastor did it.

Opening her office door, she breathed a sigh of relief as the office area was mostly empty and she didn’t have to face any one. She opened her drawer for her purse then she heard footsteps causing her to look up abruptly to find Ariel standing in the doorway with a pie dish in her hand.

“Are you okay?” Ariel asked with her eyes stretched wide.

Evan picked up her purse and closed her drawer. “I’m fine, how about you?”
Ariel’s appearance at her door had taken her completely by surprise and if there was anyone she didn’t feel like entertaining, it was Ariel
.

Evan watched as Ariel sashayed into her office taking small short steps which Evan figured was because of the tight red skirt and super high heels she wore.

“I’m fine. Were you leaving?”

“I am,” Evan said. “I’m not feeling well.”

“I didn’t think so; you look a little off today.”

Really Ariel?
Evan crossed her arms. “Was there something you needed?”

Ariel smiled and held her arms out toward Evan. “Yes, I baked last night so I brought you and the Pastor a pie.”

Evan’s eyebrows rose as she stood looking at the pie that Ariel held out to her before realizing that she hadn’t yet taken it from Ariel’s hands. “Wow? That was nice.” Evan took it from her.

“I was in the mood so…” Ariel began when Mimi knocked at the door causing them both to look at her.

“Oh, I didn’t know you had a guest,” Mimi said walking into Evan’s office clearly not leaving for Ariel’s sake.

“How are you Mimi? I was just leaving,” Ariel said heading toward the door. “I hope you feel better, Evan.”

“Thank you Ariel and thank you again for the pie.”

Mimi and Ariel looked at each other up and down before Mimi closed the door behind Ariel. She looked at Evan. “She brought you a pie?”

Evan placed the pie on her desk. “She baked pies last night.”

“Ms. Former Teen USA baked pies?” Mimi asked skeptically. “Girl, put that mess in the trash. Why would she be baking pies all of a sudden? Everybody knows that Rick cooks for her and those boys.”

“Mimi, be nice,” Evan said trying to avoid looking Mimi in the eye.

“Be smart,” Mimi shot back. “Watch your husband.”

“Stop finding a conspiracy in everything. Everyone’s not out to take my husband,” Evan said walking toward the door.

Mimi watched Evan. “What happened to your eye?”

There it was. Evan had dreaded the question but she hoped that she didn’t look as uncomfortable as she felt. “You’ve always known I was clumsy so there you go.”

Mimi wrinkled her forehead. “What does that mean?”

Evan motioned to open the office door. “I was opening a cabinet and accidentally hit myself some kind of way.”

Mimi stared at her and Evan immediately felt that Mimi knew she was lying. “Looks like you got smacked real hard.”

Evan looked at her.

“And it looks like it hurts, Mimi continued. “You really need to be more careful.” Mimi picked up the pie from Evan’s desk.

Evan breathed an internal sigh of relief. Now if she could just get out of the church without having to lie again about her eye.

“I’m on my way home to rest,” Evan said opening the door and walking out.

“I’ll walk you out. I need to run to the grocery store,” Mimi said following Evan out.

Mimi walked outside with Evan then veered off toward the trash can where she dumped Ariel’s pie.

Evan shook her head. Mimi walked over to Evan and gave her a hug. “Trash belongs in the trash can, right? I’ll call you after my date,” Mimi said walking off toward her car.

Evan climbed in her car then waved to Mimi. She looked in the rearview mirror at her eye; it was still dark and puffy. She just wanted to hide beneath her covers.

Leon leaned back in his large dark brown leather chair watching with great disgust as the members of the board squabbled on his development plans for the church. He wanted to pull them up one by one by their collar and tell them that their opinions meant nothing to him and either they agree in this matter or resign. He was determined to grow with or without them and if they didn’t move then he would move them.

The meeting had been more treacherous than he had even imagined. There hadn’t been this much opposition in building the current sanctuary which was massive compared to the old one. The sounds of discord and combativeness filled the room as he and Greg sat with the fifteen board members around the large table to discuss the church’s growth and future. Irritated, Leon put his hands in the air shushing the muttering members.

“Gentlemen, it’s this simple. We need to utilize this chance that has been given to us because this provides us with additional opportunities to reach out to the masses that demand it.”

Deacon Byron Mark seemed to stare at the pastor in disbelief. “No, it’s not that simple. This sanctuary we have is only two years old. This is not a matter of need. It is a matter of want. We don’t have the money to purchase the 100 acres outright at this time and we aren’t financing something that isn’t a need.”

“Why don’t we have the money?” Leon asked.

Byron shrugged. “Let’s just say that it’s not that the church doesn’t have it, it’s just not functionally feasible.”

Minister Bishop put his hands up in the air. “Let’s be respectful, gentlemen and at least hear the pastor out before we start attacking the idea.”

Leon nodded acknowledging the man. “Thank you, Minister.”

Byron huffed. Leon stared into Byron’s eyes causing the man to look away. Leon was ready for this battle and he wanted to make sure that the coward knew it.

“I’m done with the idea,” Rick said leaning back in his chair. “It’s not happening.”

“It’s going to be a group decision, not an individual’s,” Minister Bishop said addressing Rick.

Deacon Sam cleared his throat distracting from the tension. The old man, who was a pillar at the church, and on the church board since its inception, had sat and listened quietly but had clearly decided now to have his say.

“Pastor,” Sam chimed in resting his hands on the conference table. “I appreciate your vision for growth but right now, we’re not filling the top level at the 8:30 morning service. Filling the seats could make a difference; if we did, maybe we could at least consider the additional 100 acre campus. This could generate additional income for these additional opportunities as you put it.”

Everyone, including Leon knew that Sam knew the ins and outs of the church including its financial health. He had been on the board and headed the church treasury for 23 years. Respected and adored, this man’s opinion would be the deciding factor and Leon knew that all too well. The winds of the board would blow whichever way Sam decided.

“If you want to build a bigger sanctuary then you need to prove that we need it. Then we can develop a definite plan for this vision. But first you need to get the people in the seats, on the website watching the services, and collecting the tithes.”

Leon eyed Sam and smiled. “I’m filling the seats. Now what you’re doing with the tithes is another issue.”

“What are you implying young man?” Deacon Sam asked leaning in toward Leon.

Leon snickered but refused to answer the question knowing that challenging Sam would be seen as disrespectful and he wouldn’t win that game.

“Whoa….” Greg interrupted as he stood up from the table. “Gentlemen, we are here to discuss this as a possibility for the church; not to attack each other.”

Leon paused before speaking. He didn’t want to sound onerous but he didn’t take kindly to Sam’s insinuation that his age was somehow associated with ignorance.

“I may be young but as a pastor, I know that I’m bringing the people in,” Leon said sternly. “The offerings and tithes are strong.”

“Yes, and they were sufficient when we didn’t have so much overhead. But now we have the daycare, the cafeteria, the new health and fitness center, including IT upkeep, we need more to come in.” Rick interrupted.

Hearing Ariel’s husband’s voice sent chills down Leon’s spine. He looked over at Rick who sat close to him with his crisp checkered navy shirt and matching navy slacks
looking like something his mother had picked out
. He was sitting there determined to see Leon fail but what he didn’t know was that his wife had been blowing up Leon’s phone all morning. Rick was often spared for Ariel’s sake but he would be sure to remind her that she needed to tighten the leash on her puppy.

“People who eat at the cafeteria pay for the food, parents are paying for daycare and aftercare so that’s not our money issue.” Leon folded his arms.

“At a discount,” Rick corrected it.

“Then eliminate the discounts, what are we discounting for anyway?” Leon asked. “Adjust some of the money.”

“To assist people,” Sam said.

Leon looked frustrated. “Whether you good men realize it or not, economic growth is pertinent in any ministry including ours. You don’t reach people for Jesus without some sacrifice. Upgrade the website, make sure the apps are working properly; get the message out on the social Medias like Twitter and Facebook. Get out of this rut. This church must grow and buying this land to expand this ministry is my first priority.”

“We’re working on all of that, Pastor,” Rick said.

Leon’s demeanor and talk of adjusting money riled up the men around the table as their disgruntled mutterings began to turn the meeting ugly.

“Calm down everybody,” Sam said in his usual low tone. He was never loud and even with his calm tone and even mannerism; he always managed to get everyone’s attention. “Now Pastor, we can’t just adjust money. The daycare is beneficial to this church and the community. There are people that because their children attend the daycare are now members. There’s no way to touch that money. The cafeteria isn’t just for banquets and lunch; it’s also used for ministry like providing free meals. This church services our community and….”

Leon interrupted. “The land is to service the community. The larger sanctuary is to service the community.”

Greg cleared his throat. “I think we can come to a prayerful solution so we can agree on what’s best for the church.”

Leon looked over at Greg who he had thought was 100% behind him with the purchasing of this land but who hadn’t said a supportive thing yet. It was as if the proverbial peace maker Greg hadn’t recalled their conversation. Leon shook his head; he should have figured that Greg would turn out to be a Judas and his weakness was the one reason why he wouldn’t ever be a pastor.

“Gentlemen, I do appreciate Associate Pastor Greg’s thoughts but I do believe we are beyond just prayer; it’s time for action.”

“You want to do something that we’ll never agree to do,” Rick said furiously. “We won’t rob other parts of the church for this dream that can wait.”

“Dreams are for children Rick, this is a matter of urgency and I want a vote on this,” Leon said.

“Pastor, this is certainly not a matter of urgency and there’s no way this can be done right now,” Sam said shaking his head.

“Then find a way,” Leon said pushing his chair back from the table as if the discussion was over. “Borrow the money.”

“We aren’t borrowing money!” Rick responded.

“No way.” Deacon Howard concurred.

Rick’s tone caused Leon to pause and their gazes met. In Leon’s mind, he had so much to say to this little man whose obvious Napoleon complex controlled his life but there would be a time, he thought and patience was a virtue.