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Authors: E.N. Joy

BOOK: She Who Finds a Husband
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Nervousness filled Paige when the driver's door to the Escalade opened and the owner approached her car.
“I'm sorry . . . again,” Paige said to the driver, rolling her window down. “That's the second time tonight I didn't notice you, huh? Guess I'm not doing much to salvage what's left of your ego.” Paige put her hand over her mouth, although it was too late; those somewhat insulting words had already escaped. “I'm sorry, that came out wrong.”
The gentleman smiled. “No need to apologize. I was just checking to make sure you were okay. You slammed on your brakes pretty hard.”
“Yes, I'm okay. Thanks for asking though. And again, I'm sorry.”
“Well, since I know your name is Sorry, I suppose I should tell you mine. I'm Blake.” He held out his hand.
“I'm—”
“Sorry,” he finished her sentence. “I know, you have told me a few times already.”
Paige smiled at this gentleman's cleverness and play on her words. Heck, he might even give Norman a run for his money.
“My name is Paige. I'm Paige Robinson,” she stressed, shaking his hand while staring in his eyes. “And yes, I'm okay.”
“I know, you told me already, but I'm glad you're okay. Be careful, Paige,” he told her as he began to walk off.
“I will,” she promised him. Paige watched out of her side view mirror as the man headed back to his vehicle.
Suddenly, he turned around and walked back toward her. “I know this might sound crazy, but I have two tickets to a show that's playing in there.” He pointed toward the theatre. “No need to let the tickets go to waste. You seem like you have a lot on your mind with the way you keep trying to run me down and all. Perhaps you would enjoy a relaxing movie.”
“You said that you have two tickets. I'd only need one,” Paige teased.
“Well, I was thinking I'd use the other. I mean, we could leave an empty seat in between us so that it wouldn't be like a date or anything. I know a woman of God such as yourself wouldn't want to give out the wrong impression. Like my pastor always preaches, avoid the appearance of evil.”
Blake stood there while Paige took in his words.
Woman of God,
she repeated in her head.
He called me a Woman of God.
Then she even thought back to just a couple of minutes ago when he'd told her to have a blessed evening. Sure he could have said good evening to any other woman, but to her, a woman whom he recognized as a woman of God, he said blessed evening.
Paige couldn't have tried if she might to conceal the huge grin that stretched across her thick lips and chubby cheeks. God had sent this man to remove the doubt that had been plaguing her about not having the appearance of a Christian. This man had clearly seen that she was a Christian without being told; without her wearing it on her sleeve. This man obviously knew who God was and what God looked like, and he had seen Him in her. This could only mean one thing; that he, too, was a Christian. She relied on her childhood saying—it takes one to know one—as confirmation.
Paige pondered over whether this entire occurrence could also mean one other thing; something much bigger than the current revelation she'd just received. But she decided that she'd pray on all that stuff later. For now, she had a movie to catch. And a fine looking man to catch it with.
Chapter Five
Deborah had barely made it inside the door of Max and Erma's when a man approached her. “Deborah? Are you Deborah Lucas?” The gentleman walked up to Deborah with an extended hand.
As handsome as the man standing before her was, most women would have probably claimed to be Deborah Lucas whether they really were or not. There this brown skin, average height gentleman with a tight fade stood before Deborah. The hypnotic cologne he wore lingered in the air. Deborah didn't recognize it, as she didn't make herself familiar with male colognes. He wore a black Sean Jean suit that looked custom made to fit every arch of his sculptured body, yet Deborah was unfazed.
Deborah, just like she did whether she was meeting a male or female client, had prayed, anointing her head with blessed oil. And right now, according to the Bible, He who was in her was definitely greater than he who is in the world; because her spirit man had total control over her flesh. She wasn't the least bit interested in having anything to do with this man other than reading his manuscript.
Had she not prayed and anointed herself, she could have very well, like many women before her, she figured, been putty in this man's hands. But that wasn't at all the case. Deborah had the gift of discernment. She had that gut feeling before she even walked out of her front door that she would need to be as tuned in as possible to what her spirit man might try to convey to her about this man.
“Yes, I'm Deborah. Mr. Chase?” Deborah held out her hand.”
“The one and the only. But please, call me Lynox.”
“Shall we grab a table, Mr. Chase?” Deborah asked, looking him dead in his eyes.
“I hear you, Deborah.” Lynox chuckled at Deborah's insistence.
The two walked up to the hostess's booth and was immediately led to a table toward the middle of the restaurant.
“Uh, can we sit somewhere else? A booth or something?” Lynox asked the hostess as he scanned the restaurant. “How about there?” He pointed to a booth far off in the corner.
“Sure, not a problem.” The hostess picked up the menus she had already set on the table and led the couple over to the booth.
Deborah followed. She sniffed, knowing that not even the most expensive cologne in the world could cover up the scent of a dawg's—
“Your waiter will be right with you,” the hostess stated before walking off.
A few moments after Lynox and Deborah were comfortably seated, their waiter then came over and took their drink and lunch orders. Lynox ordered the famous Erma Burger with fries and asked that a glass of strawberry lemonade be prepared for him, even though it wasn't a regular item on the menu. Deborah ordered a glass of water with lemon wedges and a house salad. Although she was hungry and could have devoured an Erma Burger, she planned on doing more talking-getting down to business and less dining.
“So where's this masterpiece of yours?” Deborah said just as soon as the waiter walked away from the table. She purposely left no room for idle conversation or chit-chat.
“I thought you'd never ask.” With a huge grin on his face, Lynox cracked open the briefcase he'd carried into the restaurant with him. He pulled out what appeared to be an entire ream of paper and dropped it in the middle of the table. “Voila!”
Deborah couldn't help but chuckle. “Are you serious?” Deborah pulled the manuscript over to her side of the table. “What is this? Five hundred pages?” She created a fan with the corner pages, flipping through them. “Unless there's a four-eyed white kid casting spells in this book, the first thing you're going to have to do is cut this book down.”
“I know it's intimidating, all those pages. But trust me, there is action, excitement, and drama . . . oh yeah . . . and sex, on every single page. Plenty of sex.” He winked. Deborah sniffed.
“Well, today, during lunch, I'll let you tell me a little bit about the book and what your inspiration for writing it was. And I'll just take the first four chapters with me to read, and if I'm interested, I'll request the remainder of the manuscript.” Deborah flipped through the stack of papers in order to get the four chapters she'd need.
“Please, just trust me on this one.” Lynox put his hand atop of Deborah's in order to stop her from taking four chapters only. “Save me the postage and just go ahead and take the entire manuscript with you now. It's really just that good. As a matter of fact . . .” He removed his hand off of Deborah's when he realized that she wouldn't look up from his hand touching hers until he did so. “ . . . I'll be quiet for the next few minutes while you read the first chapter. You'll see what I'm talking about. I know you hear this kind of thing all the time, everyone thinks they have the next bestseller, but trust me, I, Lynox Chase, really do.”
The waiter interrupted by setting their drinks down, and then letting them know that their food would be out shortly. Once the waiter left, Deborah looked at the huge manuscript, gave Lynox the this-better-be-good look, picked up the first few pages and began to read them.
After reading only the first three pages, she forgot all about Lynox even being there. The story was intense from the very first line. It was thought provoking from page two. The characters were alive and breathing on page three. She had yet to have stumbled over one grammatical error or misuse of the English vocabulary. She was absolutely flabbergasted. The author of this work, the man whom she deemed somewhat conceited and arrogant that was sitting across from her, had backed up his every word. Deborah was now coming to the conclusion that Lynox wasn't conceited or arrogant, he was simply walking in confidence with authority. He knew he'd authored something special. And now she felt honored that he'd chosen her to represent his work.
“Here are your entrees.”
Deborah jumped, startled by the waiter's quick return; too quick of a return as far as she was concerned. She didn't want to eat again until she'd finished every single page of Lynox's book.
“It's good, huh?” Lynox said as the waiter walked away. He could tell Deborah was enjoying the work by the way she ignored the waiter when he'd asked her if there was anything else he could get for her.
“As a matter of fact, Mr. Chase, I think I owe you an apology.” When Deborah was wrong, she wasn't afraid to admit it. “Your work surpasses anything I've ever read before. If the rest of this manuscript is just as well written and interesting as what I've read thus far, I'm liable to create a bidding war among the publishing houses over the manuscript of a first time author.” Deborah smiled, thinking inside how Lynox's manuscript could be the ticket to the vacation home in Maui that she's always wanted.
“I told you so.” Lynox, once again, had no issue with exercising his confidence with authority. “Now I know it's hard to do, but put the manuscript down and eat your lunch. It might get cold.”
Deborah looked down at her salad, and they both laughed. She laughed. She didn't sniff. She laughed. Without even realizing it, she began to loosen up. Her guard came down even more. The next thing she knew, half her salad was gone and she'd shared her story with Lynox about how she'd gotten into the literary business. Lynox, in return, shared with her what inspired him to begin writing.
Before Deborah could even stop herself, she was laughing uncontrollably at remarks Lynox was making that just a few minutes ago she would have deemed as arrogant. The more he spoke, the more confident he sounded. This confidence suddenly took on an attraction all by itself.
While Lynox spoke, Deborah thought about how, for the first time in a long time, she could be wrong about a man. This Lynox character didn't seem so bad after all. But just to be sure, she sniffed.
Ummm,
she thought as she inhaled his intoxicating cologne.
“So I see you're not wearing any rings.” Lynox pointed to Deborah's empty ring finger on her left hand.
“Does that mean you're not married?”
“I guess so,” Deborah replied. She looked over at Lynox's bare ring finger on his left hand and turned the tables. “I see you're not wearing any rings either. Does that mean you're not married?”
“Married?” he chuckled. “Who has time for women period, let alone a wife, when you're penning something with more pages than the Holy Bible?” Lynox laughed.
Deborah laughed along with him. “Yeah, I guess you're right. But, and pardon me if you take offense, you just don't seem like the type of guy who would lack female companionship.”
And it happened just like that; the conversation went down a road Deborah didn't foresee allowing herself to be taken down, let alone be in the driver's seat.
“It's been hard. But I've been married to this woman right here for the last year.” Lynox tapped the manuscript. “It just didn't seem fair to expect a woman to play second fiddle to what some would have deemed as a hobby or extracurricular activity. So it's been quite some time since I've dated.”
“I know what you mean,” Deborah sympathized, pushing her locks that she'd just had tightened the day before behind her ear. Her modest diamond earring now showed. “That's how I am when it comes to my work. I like very little interference.”
Lynox leaned in to the center of the table. “Looks like we have a lot in common, Miss Lucas.”
With Deborah's guard now completely down she replied, “Looks like we do, Lynox.”
The next few seconds were awkward as Lynox sat there staring at Deborah. He admired her perfect cheek bones and perfectly rounded nose. He usually went for the woman with a little bit more meat on her body, but he was pleased by all 135 pounds of the woman who sat before him.
Deborah decided to clear her throat and excuse herself to the ladies room. She didn't have to use the bathroom, but she knew she needed to go pray . . . again.
“If you'll excuse me, I need to go use the ladies room.” Deborah wiped her mouth with her napkin, and then stood up.
“Oh, no problem,” Lynox said, standing as Deborah walked away.
Once in the bathroom, Deborah went into a stall and let out a deep breath. “Lord, in the name of Jesus, send down your power,” she prayed under her breath. “Send down your strength. I need it now more than ever to hold me back from doing something I have no business doing with somebody I have no business doing it with. Please, Lord, provide some type of interference right now in the name of Jesus. Amen.”
Deborah stopped praying when she heard someone enter the bathroom and turn on the faucet. She flushed the toilet although she hadn't used it and exited the stall. She walked straight over to the sink and turned on the water faucet as well.
“Sister Deborah?” the woman standing next to her at the sink stated.
Deborah looked up at the woman standing next to her and recognized her to be Helen, a fellow New Day church member. And also a member that Deborah had always made it a point to avoid at all cost.
“Uh, hi, Helen,” Deborah spoke, then immediately cast her eyes away from Helen.
“Fancy seeing you here.” Helen turned off the water, then grabbed a paper towel.
“Yeah. I'm, uh, here on business.” Deborah washed her hands as if they were covered in mud. She scrubbed and scrubbed as steam from the blazing hot water poured down on her hands.
Helen noticed the steam from the running water.
“Is that hot enough for you?”
“Huh?” Deborah looked up at Helen. She had no idea what she was referring to.
“The water.” Helen nodded toward the sink. “It looks scalding.”
Deborah hadn't even realized until Helen pointed it out that she hadn't turned on any cold water. As if the stinging pain from the heat was just taking effect Deborah pulled her hands from under the water.
“Here you go.” Helen handed her a paper towel as she turned the water off.
“Thank you.”
“You're welcome.”
There was silence until Helen spoke again. “Well, anyway, it was good seeing you. See you at church this Sunday?”
“Uh, yeah, sure,” Deborah said as she tossed the paper towel into the trash container. Deborah then hurried past Helen who remained in the bathroom to freshen up her make up. She felt like Mother Doreen there for a minute as she made her way back to the table, wiping the visible beads of sweat from her forehead.
“Is everything okay?” Lynox asked, observing Deborah's flushness. He stood as she sat down, then he rested back in his seat.
“Oh, yeah. Everything is good.”
“Good.” Lynox reached across the table and took Deborah's hands into his. “Now where were we before you ran off to the bathroom?”
“Lynox!”
A ringing voice startled Deborah and Lynox, and probably half the restaurant as well. It was the same voice Deborah had just heard moments ago, only now it was more pierced and louder.

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