Plan (4 page)

“I can't believe this,” Rachel fumed. “Nothing's going the way I planned it!”

“Well, you know what Burns said, ‘The best-laid plans of mice and men oft go astray,'” Susan said.

Rachel frowned in reply. Neither the church nor the university were able—or willing—to help. She had
spent all morning trying to convince the university to let
them use a classroom for the English class. Unfort-unately, all the classrooms were either in use or being repaired. The university had just begun an extensive remodeling project hosted by the local chapter of the historical society. She made two rounds of the carpet and was starting a third when she stopped midstride. “That's it!”

“What's it?” Susan stared at her as if she had completely lost it.

“The historical society.”

“You lost me. What
are
you talking about?” She
emphasized the “are” with decided sarcasm.

“That's our way out of this mess.”

“I'm still lost. Can you give me a clue?” Susan rolled her eyes and stuck out her chin as she spoke, her eyebrows furrowed in a question mark.

“Okay. I'll say this slowly so you'll understand. If we can get the historical society to declare the community center a historical landmark, then they can't destroy it and we can get funds to renovate.”

“Are you serious? Do you really think that they'll do that?” Susan's eyes popped open with the first hint of hope she had shown since the night of the tornado.

“Yes!” Rachel squealed. “Remember when I went out with Randy?” Susan nodded, so Rachel continued, “Well, we went to a presentation on local historical landmarks. I remember the speaker talking about how the community center used to be a. . .”

“A what?”

“I can't remember, but it was important. Randy will know. I'll call him tonight and ask.”

“Great. Now what do we do?”

“I'm not sure, but Randy can help us with the next step.”

“You like him, don't you?” Susan prodded.

“Of course I like him. He's a nice guy.” Rachel didn't like where this was going.

“I mean you really like him.” Susan sat up straight in her chair. “Come to think of it, you haven't mentioned Kyle in a week.”

Susan's obvious excitement over her love life made Rachel squirm. “I'm just taking your advice and letting Kyle suffer.”

“Oh, forget Kyle! Randy's got a lot more going for him than Kyle.”

“How do you know?” Rachel asked. “You haven't even met Randy.”

“No, but I've heard you talk about him and I've seen the way you look when you talk about him.”

“You're crazy. He's just a friend. A colleague. I'm biding my time until Kyle realizes what he's missing.” From the look on Susan's face, she must have made her point.

“Girl, I hope you don't go and mess up a good thing. Randy's the best thing that's happened to you in a long time. Don't throw it away over something you've dreamed up in your imagination.”

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Rachel put on her best blank look. It didn't work.

“Yes, you do.” Susan picked up her bag. At the door she turned back. “Be careful, Rachel.”

As the door closed, Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. Susan didn't understand about Kyle, or Randy, for that matter. Pretty soon Kyle would come to his senses.
But what about Randy?
a little voice whispered. What about Randy? He wasn't interested in dating her. They were just friends. Right?

Rachel didn't talk to Randy that night or the next. In her worry about the Center closing, she had forgotten all about midterms, so she spent the evening making out the tests and the next day grading them. Essay papers took such a long time. When it came down to it, the teacher had more work to do than the students, though the students would never agree. With a sigh she put the last grade in her gradebook and glanced at her watch. She had just enough time to freshen up before Bible study.

She breezed past Kyle, abandoning her usual spot for a seat up front. She ignored him completely, not even turning to give him a glance. It was easier than she had thought it would be, especially after the pastor's first words.

“You know Burns said that ‘the best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray,' and there's a lot of truth in that statement.” It struck Rachel that Susan had said the exact same thing just a few days ago. Her ears pricked up as the pastor continued, “We often make our own plans without really considering what God wants. God has a plan and a purpose for our lives, but if we never stop and ask Him, we'll never know His perfect plan for our lives.” The pastor continued, but that last thought kept going round and round in her mind. She tried to dismiss it, shake it off, yet it lingered. She had been so preoccupied that after the service she had walked out without even a word or a look at Kyle. Actually, she wanted to get home and call Randy about the Center. She hurried toward the car with an anticipation about the call that she was unwilling to acknowledge.

Randy answered on the second ring. “Hello?”

“Hi, Randy. It's me. Rachel.”

“Hi.” His voice warmed considerably at the sound of her voice. “What can I do for you?”

“I need some help. I think I have a way to keep the Center open, but I'm not sure how to go about it.”

“Okay. Let's hear it.”

“I want to have the community center declared a historical monument, or whatever they call it. I just don't know how to go about doing that. Do you think it will work?”

“Well. . .maybe.” His voice gained enthusiasm. “Hey, maybe you've got something there.”

“Yeah. Remember that night we went to that presentation? The speaker talked about the Center, but I can't remember now exactly what he said. Do you?”

“Not off the top of my head, but I know how to find out.”

“Great! What do I need to do?”

“Why don't you meet me tomorrow for lunch, my treat?” At her hesitation, he added, “It'll give me a chance to make up for canceling your class the other day.”

“There's nothing to make up for. You were just being a friend.”

“Well, I didn't mean to be so pushy. What do you say? Noon, at our favorite table?” She couldn't miss the anticipation in his tone.

“Okay.”

“See you then.” As she replaced the receiver, she couldn't help smiling at his reference to “our” table.

Randy hung up the phone and nearly whooped in delight. With a sudden burst of energy, he headed for the front parlor with his tool belt. He might just have enough time to finish hanging the wallpaper before midnight.

Rachel had barely replaced the receiver when the phone rang. She jumped in surprise at the sound. It was so rare in her apartment. Before picking it up, she took a deep breath to steady her pulse, but it was a wasted effort. “Hello.”

“Hi. Rachel?” a male voice questioned.

“Yes.”

“This is Kyle.” Those three words sent her pulse skyrocketing. Her mind drew a complete blank. There was a silent pause before he continued. “What's up?”

“Nothing much.” That calm-sounding voice couldn't belong to her. “How about you?”

“Not a lot.” Silence.

“What can I do for you?” she questioned. More silence.

“Well, you just left so quick tonight that I didn't get a chance to talk to you. We haven't seen much of you lately.”

She smiled at the “we.” The plan was working. Just stay calm. “I've been busy lately with all the problems at the Center and midterms.”

“Yeah. I heard about the Center. It's too bad they're going to tear it down.”

“Well, I wouldn't count us out yet. We still have a few aces up our sleeve.”

“That's great.” The pause was even longer this time, but she was determined to make him work for it. “Uhmmm. I was wondering if you'd like to go out to lunch tomorrow or something.” She finally had him. Every part of her being wanted to scream, “Yes!”, but she remembered that she already had plans and she couldn't be rude to Randy.

“I'm sorry, Kyle. I already have a date for tomorrow.”

“Oh.” That was all and then empty air. “With Susan?” he asked hopefully.

“No. I'm going to lunch with Randy Harris.” She could feel him squirming over the line. It was getting to him.

“Who's he?” She detected a note of jealousy.

“He used to be one of my professors, but now we work together at the university.”

“A professor.”

“Hmm hmm.” She tried hard not to giggle at his obvious discomfort.

“Oh. How about dinner?”

“I think I might be free. I'll have to check my datebook. Hold on just a moment.” She put her hand over the mouthpiece and gave a silent scream and a little victory dance before returning the phone to her ear. “Sure, Kyle. I'm free tomorrow night.”

“Great.” He sounded considerably brighter. “I'll pick you up around seven o'clock.”

“Sounds good. See you then.”

She hung up the phone and screamed for real. She danced around the room with a smile big enough to light up Central Park. The idea that her dream was finally coming true seemed unreal. Rachel ran back to the phone and dialed Susan's number. Susan had barely said hello before Rachel squealed into the phone.

“Girl, what is wrong with you?” Susan asked.

“Susan it's what's right with me. You're never going to believe what happened. Never in a million years.”

“Then save me the trouble and tell me.”

“I just got a phone call.”

“From Randy?” Susan sounded more interested.

“No. From Kyle.”

“Oh. What did he want?” She sounded disappointed.

“He asked me out to lunch, only I already have a date with Randy. You should've heard him. He was so shocked that he didn't know what to say.”

“You turned him down,” Susan squealed. “You go, girl. Let him eat his heart out.”

“But that's not all.”

“Spill it. I want to hear it all.” She could almost see Susan sitting on the edge of her chair.

“He asked me about Randy and he sounded jealous.”

“Good. It's about time somebody showed him a thing or two. Take some of the air out of his balloon.”

“Then he asked me out for dinner.”

“And you turned him down, right?” Susan hesitated. “You did turn him down, didn't you?” Rachel's silence said more than words. “You said yes,” Susan fairly screamed.

“Of course, I said yes. I've been waiting for this for years.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean,
why
?
” Rachel asked, confused by Susan's attitude. “I thought you'd be happy for me.”

“Why do you want to go out with Kyle after the way he's treated you? Especially when you could have a guy like Randy who treats you like a queen.”

“How can you talk about Randy when you've never even met him?”

“I've heard how you talk about him. That's all I need to know. Besides, I've known Kyle for a long time, and he's not good enough for you.”

“How can you say that? He's wonderful. He's a great Christian, a leader, and good looking.”

“Yeah, yeah. I've heard that before. Save it for Kyle.”

“I thought you'd be happy for me. I called you as soon as I hung up because I wanted to share my good news, and all you can do is badmouth Kyle.”

“I'm sorry, Rachel,” Susan relented. “I didn't mean to rain on your parade. I just don't want you to throw away a good thing.”

“Let's not go there again. You made your point.”

“Okay. Let's talk about something else.”

Rachel hung up about ten minutes later. The rest of the conversation had been full of meaningless small talk. Neither of them had felt up to deeper topics. There was a strain in the conversation that made them both feel uneasy. Rachel walked to her room with her heart firmly back in her body and her spirit resting on the floor. She tried to re-create the joy, but it wouldn't come. Some-thing was nagging her about the truth of what Susan had said, but she refused to let it get her down. She dressed for bed and snuggled down with a dream of Kyle and fell asleep with a smile.

Rachel awoke with a sigh of satisfaction. She had had the most wonderful dream. Kyle had called and asked her out. She popped up out of bed with a bounce. But it wasn't a dream—Kyle had called. They were going out tonight. She was out of bed and ready in record time with even a half hour to spare. Instead of her usual Bible study and quiet time, she painted her nails with
wine-glow polish and spent extra time on her hair.
Giving one last look in the mirror, Rachel headed for school with more enthusiasm than she had felt in months. She took the stairs with a quick clip and a toss of her hair. Randy noted the change immediately.

“Hey, slow down there. Where's the fire?” Randy asked.

“No fire, unless you consider the spirit capable of being on fire.” Rachel's eyes danced and her cheeks couldn't hold back the smile that kept popping up like a jack-in-the-box.

“Well something is definitely different.” He waited for a response, but Rachel wasn't sure what to say.

“Let's just say that I had a very good day yesterday and today is looking even better.”

“Mysterious, I must say. Don't I even get a hint?” He was definitely curious now; she could see it in his expression.

“Let me put it this way. God answered a real big prayer last night and I'm really happy about it.”

“Okay. Go on. I like the sound of this.”

Rachel fought to keep it to herself, but could contain it no longer. “Kyle asked me out for tonight.” She saw a hint
of something cross Randy's face and then it was gone.

“Who's Kyle?” His voice sounded strained.

“That's funny. He asked the same thing about you. He's a friend of mine from church. I've always felt that God
intended for us to be together. I've waited so long for God to open a door, and it finally happened last night.”

“Well, I'm happy for you.” His face looked strained.
He must be under some kind of pressure,
she thought. Maybe they could talk about it over lunch.

“Are we still on for lunch?” Rachel asked.

“I was just about to go looking for you when you came in, to tell you that I've got a meeting with a student at lunch. Maybe we can do it another time.”

“Sure. That'll be fine.” She felt oddly disappointed, but then her dinner plans wiped away everything else. “I'll see you later then. I've got class in a few minutes.”

“See you later,” he mumbled.

Rachel headed for class without even a look over her shoulder. Tonight was going to be great.

Randy heard the words, but they didn't quite sink in until he was seated at his desk. She was going out with some guy named Kyle. She was head over heels for someone else. How could he have been so stupid? He felt as if he were going to be sick, as his stomach tied up into knots and took his breath away.
Lord, did I misunderstand you? It seemed so clear that she was the one, the one I've been waiting for. What went wrong?

“Wait on me.”

Wait on what? Another girl?

“Just wait.”

I don't understand. Why is this happening?
He waited for the still, small voice to answer, but he was met with only silence. He went through the day in a daze, with her words still echoing through the hole in his heart. The house seemed emptier than ever before, and he had no energy to finish the parlor. Wandering from room to room, Randy thought of all the plans he had made. His thoughts strayed to what Rachel was doing right now. The lump in his throat threatened to choke him. He grabbed his tools and headed for the parlor. Anything was better than thinking.

Across town, Rachel was a bundle of nerves. The day had been filled with a series of minor disasters. She had bumbled through classes, trying to hurry so that she would have plenty of time to get ready, only to have students stop her to ask questions. She was thirty minutes later getting home than she had planned. Now she didn't
have time to iron the outfit she wanted to wear and redo
her hair. She settled on a two-piece pantsuit, then frowned at herself in the mirror. Her light-brown hair was wind blown, and her face was oily. A little make-up took care of the latter, but twenty minutes worth of struggle could not make her hair do anything. Rachel huffed in frustration and then ran her fingers through the medium locks until they settled into the style she normally wore, natural waves and wispy bangs around her face. As she sprayed the last puff of hairspray over her head, the doorbell rang, jump-starting her pulse.

All the way to the door she did deep-breathing exercises, but her heart was still skipping along. She took one last deep breath as she reached for the doorknob. Kyle was as handsome as ever in a dark-green dress shirt that brought out his eyes, and black slacks. He leaned against the door frame and gave her a long look. “Hi, Kyle.”

“Hi.” He paused for a moment, still staring at her.

“Is there something wrong?” she asked, looking down for a spot or stain on her outfit.

“No. You look perfect. It's just that I didn't realize how beautiful you really are. I can't believe that I never noticed before.”

Rachel could feel her face getting warm. She turned around and reached for her purse with a mumbled thank you. He started to walk around the car without opening the door for her but then at the last minute turned around and got it. Rachel pretended not to notice, but it irked her that he almost had to be reminded. She pushed it out of her mind and tried to concentrate on the evening.

They went to a crowded steak restaurant with loud music. Whenever they talked, she could hardly hear what Kyle was saying. Friends kept coming up to him and talking. Most of the time, he didn't even bother to introduce her. Then, they went to an action movie with a lot of explosions and gunfire. When the movie was over, he took her home and walked her to the door.

“I had a great time tonight, Rachel. Maybe we can do it again sometime.”

“Sure, that'd be great.”

He smiled that smile and her knees went soft. She leaned against the door frame for support. He leaned in and kissed her softly, and then bounded down the steps with a quiet good-bye. Rachel watched until the car lights disappeared, and then stumbled into the house.

Getting ready for bed, Rachel thought back over the evening. Somehow it just wasn't what she had expected. It was like the prom. She got all excited and dressed up, and it was nothing special, kind of a letdown. They hadn't talked very much, and steak wasn't her favorite food. But there was the kiss. She smiled at the memory. Things would go better when they got used to each other. He was probably just nervous because it was their first date. With that settled in her mind, she went to bed.