Eyes on the Unseen Prize

by S.J. Thomason

  ***

  As she sat in her bikini on the leather couch at Nick’s house that night, Piper couldn’t help but feel silly. Nick was preparing their surprise dinner in the kitchen, where she was forbidden for the time being. She could hear the clanking of pots and pans, water running from the sink, a knife cutting something on a cutting board, and the occasional opening and closing of the refrigerator door. The scent of garlic permeated the air, tickling Piper’s nose and stimulating her desire for dinner. She looked down at her legs and again felt silly, so she pulled a pillow over to cover them. At least he had kept his end of the deal and was dressed in only his swim trunks.

  So easy on the eyes, she cherished every moment he appeared in the room to check on her. She entertained herself by flipping through a sports magazine that she found on the coffee table in the center of the room, next to the Bible and a couple of books by A.W. Tozer and Lee Strobel. A few articles from the magazine caught her interest, but none merited any sort of elaborate discussion with Nick. The articles mainly focused on football players and injuries. Brain injuries. Research had demonstrated that playing football and developing later brain injuries go hand in hand, despite the fact that high school, college, and professional football players wear helmets. Nick had played football in high school and college, though mostly on the second string in college. His aspirations to go pro were never realized.

  Nick’s little schnauzer-mix dog, Chipper, scooted herself closer to Piper on the couch and glanced at her as she put her head on the top of the pillow that Piper had placed over her legs. Piper could tell by her wagging tail that she wanted to be petted, and she was more than happy to oblige. That little dog had grown on her. Nick and his mom had rescued her and he loved her with a passion. She was so sweet and kind, such a blessing from above. Piper stroked her salt and pepper colored fur in a very loving manner. Chipper wagged her tail in appreciation.

  “Little darling. We love you Chipper.”

  Chipper grunted in a loving way and then turned her head towards Piper, locking eyes. Just a God-send. She stared into Chipper’s little round eyes, almost seeing beyond them and into her sweet soul. Her long tail kept wagging.

  “You look so beautiful tonight Piper.”

  She looked up, finding Nick in the doorway to the family room. “You do too.” His body was beautiful in every way. Yet what made Nick even more special to Piper was his love for others and for mankind. She knew that his physical beauty would fade over time, giving his passions from the inside the opportunity to grow. He was more loving and caring about people than anyone she had ever known. Always looking out for the little guy, Nick was the person who could be counted on to hand a random homeless man in the street twenty bucks without judgment, to donate generously to the church without contingencies, and to delay judgments on those who had hurled insults at him. He always saw the bigger picture of life.

  Piper recalled the words of her deceased mother, which she had shared with her when in full knowledge of her cancer diagnosis. “When choosing a soulmate, look into his soul. Watch the way that he follows the pathways of our Lord.”

  While thinking about Nick’s character, she realized that she couldn’t recall a single time in which she had seen Nick judge his friends. He never even judged Bob or Chase. She reflected on the interactions she had witnessed between Nick, Bob, and Chase and a few times stood out in which Nick could have become inflamed. But he wasn’t the sort of person who became inflamed at those sorts of trivialities in life. He always had the bigger picture in mind.

  Such realizations caused her to take pause. Judging wasn’t a part of his composition. Some might claim that his failures to judge others coincided with being naïve or clueless, but Piper knew better. Nick was trying to emulate his Savior. She recalled that movie that she had seen, which portrayed Jesus’ life. The time Jesus stood in front of a female adulterer who was about to be stoned in Jesus’ time flashed within her mind. Those who planned to stone her stood around her with their stones in their hands. Jesus asked the ones without sins to cast the first stones. No stones were thrown. Everyone left the scene.

  Such thoughts helped Piper to realize why God had placed Nick into her life and had placed her into Nick’s life. Each served as an example to the other in different ways of how best to be. She would try to follow Nick’s example of not judging others.

  “I’m working on a very special meal for you. Shrimp Scampi.”

  “You know I love the Scampi!” She smiled at Nick and admired what he was doing for her.

  Nick grabbed his mobile phone and pulled a small speaker out from a drawer in the kitchen. Seconds later, Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares to You” played. “Nothing compares to you my fine lady. You’re the best.”

  She lit up even more. “Or you.”

  Something about the way he moved captivated her, reminding her of the words of a classic Beatles song. Something so special. She felt the urge to get up and kiss him, but resisted. He had instructed her to relax and remain in her seat while he cooked for her. Such a gentleman.

  The delicious scent of garlic made its way into the room, triggering Piper’s hunger. Her stomach growled, so she took another sip of tea to calm it down. “Would tonight be the night?” She wondered. He was being especially romantic. A proposal? She longed for a proposal. She was more than ready to accept the proposal.

  A short while later, she sat next to Nick at the kitchen table, which was decked out with his fanciest dishes and several white candles. Another love song was playing, which Nick had hand-picked to complete the feeling of love that had embraced all of her senses. She took her first taste of the shrimp scampi. Wow! Yum! His cooking skills were amazing, especially in light of the fact he was a meat and potatoes sort of guy. His mom had taught him well.

  “What do you think?”

  “Nick, it’s perfect. As are you.”

  “I’ve got a chick flick for us to watch after dinner. I think you’ll like it.”

  “Really, a chick flick? That’s crazy! That’s so not you.”

  “Maybe not me, but I’m into you.” He smiled, exposing his perfect pearly whites. “It’s all about you. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy.”

  Piper took another bite of her meal, relishing its flavor. She was tempted to say something again about marriage, but restrained herself. “So, how’s work?”

  “A little stressful. Still. Lou is just a piece of work. His only strategy for achieving our performance goals is to cut costs by firing employees. He uses a forced distribution performance evaluation in which all employees are forced into A, B, or C categories. Those ranked in the C categories for two years in a row are fired. And I get that. Top-grading makes a lot of sense. But what I’ve been hearing a lot about lately is that many of those categorized in the C group aren’t C players. Many are hard workers who have been with Fox ‘n Fields for decades. They’re told they’ve earned C’s without any sort of explanation. Just bias. And most of them are old. Lou said he wants a younger, more diverse workforce. But he won’t listen to opinions or alternative strategies to achieve market growth.”

  “That’s terrible.”

  “I know. I try not to think about it, but morale has plummeted, especially for the older people.” Nick shook his head. “They’re family to me. When my mom was CEO, she would have never done this to her people.”

  “Really awful,” Piper added.

  “Let’s talk about something else. How are things at your work?”

  “Not bad. I’m working with my boss on a new marketing promotion. She’s an excellent motivator and I’m learning a lot from her as a person. So happy she’s my boss, Nick. I had so many problems with the last one. A good boss makes such a difference.”

  “Man, that’s so true. Maybe I’ll try to get a job at your company!”

  An hour later, Piper and Nick laid next to one another on one of the couches in the family room, snuggling under a blanket in front of the romantic m
ovie he had selected for them. It was a love story about a man sent off to war, leaving the only woman he ever loved behind. The story was very sad, bringing tears to both Piper’s and Nick’s eyes. Piper was surprised that Nick picked the movie out for them, given that he and any of his friends would call such movie a chick flick. It was obvious to her that he was trying to impress her by doing something that he knew that she would like.

  When the movie ended, Piper realized that Nick had fallen asleep, though he was still holding her tightly. Cuddling closer to him, she fell asleep, and thoughts on why he hadn’t proposed that night dissipated.

  Piper had a dream. She was in a motor boat with her younger sister and dad and they were cruising in the ocean. She and her sister were in the back of the boat on either side, while her dad was in front of them, captaining the boat. He sped up the boat, carving in and out of turbulent waters, as if he had no fear. The waters grabbed the boat and shook it, back and forth and up and down. Piper noticed a huge wave as it formed in front of them. She wondered whether they would be able to get past it. Fearing for her life, she held onto the side of the boat with everything she had. Her sister was doing the same. The wave grew and Piper felt the engine roar as her dad had increased the speed of the boat to get past the wave. Piper noticed other boats in the waters, crashing all around them. As their boat made its way through the huge wave, it crashed into a smaller boat, knocking its two male passengers into the water. Piper’s dad didn’t notice the accident, though, and gunned the engine to get out of the rough waters. She pondered the meaning of the dream.

  “What do you think it meant?” She asked Nick one day.

  “Well, it could be that your dad has chosen a difficult path in his life, one with much turbulence and difficulties. He’s trying to lead you and your sister down that path. Others are also impacted by his leadership, though he doesn’t realize it.”

  “Hmm. Interesting. And you don’t even know him that well, but you’re probably right about his choices.”