by Gail Sattler
Rather than sit in silence, Molly turned on the television. Ken parked himself on one end of the futon, and she sat at the other. After an extended silence, the only sound in the room being some pathetic attempt at a new sitcom, Ken turned to face her.
“If you’re tired, maybe I should leave.”
Molly checked her watch. It was still early. “I’m not tired.” She rubbed her fingers under her eyes, hoping she didn’t have dark circles. “Why do you think I’m tired?”
His answering grin quickened Molly’s pulse. “You’ve been so quiet. I was beginning to wonder if something was wrong.”
Nothing was wrong. She was still trying to figure out what he was doing there, but she couldn’t simply ask him. In the back of her mind, she thought the answer might be that he simply wanted to be with her. The idea both flattered and terrified her.
She stared at him as he stared back at her. “There is something I wanted to ask you.”
A smile lit his face. “Ask away.”
Her Bible sat where she’d left it on the coffee table, stuffed full of every scrap of paper she could find. She leaned forward and flipped through her many markers and opened her Bible wide open. “Right here, there’s a couple of verses that I don’t understand, and I’ll bet you could explain them to me.”
Ken’s smile dropped. He cleared his throat, and his hand rose to where his tie would have been, had he been wearing one. His fingers splayed, patting the vacant spot, and his hand fell. “I’d be happy to help, if I can.”
Slowly, Molly worked her way through all her markings and notes, stopping only briefly to bring in a snack of cookies and milk. Ken managed to answer all her questions in a manner she understood. By the time they worked through everything, Molly appeared to be reeling with information overload.
Ken watched Molly as she closed her Bible and returned it to the coffee table beside the pile of scrap papers she’d used instead of bookmarks. While not the reason he’d come, their time had been … productive. But at least he’d accomplished one step in the right direction. She’d committed herself to spending a day with him. He’d taken the chance and overstepped his boundaries by fishing for an invitation, something he’d never done before. Molly had been properly polite, even though she’d been less than enthusiastic, and agreed to accompany him, for which he was tremendously relieved.
“I didn’t mean to stay so late. It’s nearly midnight, and we both have to get up for work in the morning.”
She accompanied him to the door, where they stood staring at each other.
“Thanks for the invitation.”
Her curious frown changed into a sly smile, the change making Ken correct his posture and want to stand closer to her. “I think you invited yourself.”
He smiled back. He’d never met someone who so openly spoke the first thing that ran through their mind. “That’s true. But you graciously took me up on it. Thank you.”
Her face reddened. “Well, thank you for bringing supper. I was starving, and that was really good. Sure beat the frozen dinner I was going to have.”
The last thing Ken wanted to do was stand at the door throwing thank you’s back and forth like a couple of spastic parrots. What he wanted to do was … kiss her.
His gaze dropped to her mouth, and then he hastily returned his attention to her eyes. He liked Molly. She was different than anyone he’d ever met. She was honest and refreshing and a new believer. Unfortunately, she was also an employee. With her penchant for speaking her immediate thoughts, he could only imagine what would come out of her mouth if he did what he wanted to do or gave her any indication of what he was thinking.
He opened the door. “See you tomorrow. Good night, Molly.”
Ken raised his hand, about to pound his fist on the desk, then lowered it to his lap before anyone noticed. The novelty of having to do everything with the wrong hand was quickly wearing off and, unfortunately, so was the empathy people gave him, and likewise, offers of assistance.
At first he’d refused to allow his aunt to help him get dressed, but by the time he’d finally managed to at least cover all the essentials, she’d still had to do up his shirt buttons. Uncle Walter had to tie all his ties so he could simply slip them over his head. He didn’t care about not looking completely professional, and he preferred not to wear a belt with his suit than have anyone help him with that.
He’d cut himself shaving with the wrong hand, so he resigned himself to borrowing his uncle’s electric shaver, even though it didn’t give as close a shave as a razor. He was sure he’d missed a few spots, but he was running so late he’d let it go. Not only did he not want to be late himself, but because he had to depend on Uncle Walter for a ride, he nearly made his uncle late too. Again, Aunt Ellen had offered her car, but he didn’t want to leave her stuck at home all day just because he couldn’t make it out the door on time.
Briefly, Ken considered growing a beard and wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt to work. This evening he would have to go shopping, because he owned only two shirts with sleeves wide enough to fit over the cast.
The doctor had predicted that in a week he would probably regain partial use of his fingers. Their mobility would be severely hampered by the piece of cast separating his thumb, but at least he’d be able to do simple things like gel his hair himself. He felt like a little kid when Aunt Ellen gelled his hair for him. After she’d finished, it then occurred to him he could have squeezed some gel straight onto his brush with the one hand he could still use and done it that way.
He sat and stared blankly at his computer screen. The screen saver came on.
“Ken? Do you need some help?”
He turned his head and looked up. Molly stood beside him, her brows knotted as she studied him.
It wasn’t her fault he couldn’t aim the disk into the narrow slot on his computer properly the first time, or that he couldn’t hold a pen yet. “No, thank you. This is something I have to do myself.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Suit yourself. I’m going for coffee break. Want me to bring something back for you?”
Ken stared at the pile of papers that littered his desk. He’d been struggling all day and worked through lunch to meet a deadline. He wasn’t quite done, and he was tired and frustrated. Despite the satisfaction it would have given him to swipe the growing stacks of paperwork into the garbage can, he neatly pushed them to the side and stood. “I think I’ll go with you.”
They’d almost made it to the lunchroom, when Ken thought he’d better make a detour into the washroom. The over-consumption of coffee was catching up with him, and with his limited mobility, he didn’t want to embarrass himself. He swallowed his pride and asked Molly to pour his coffee for him and told her he would join her in a few minutes.
When he finally arrived at the lunchroom, Molly was sitting at a table and talking with Janice, the woman who had been temporarily assigned Molly’s job as receptionist. In the two days since the switch, while Janice was doing an adequate job, he’d already heard comments that both staff and clients had missed Molly’s bubbly voice on the phone.
A full cup of coffee sat waiting for him on the table at Molly’s elbow. As he approached, he couldn’t help but overhear their conversation.
“Really? I’ve never been to church in my life. I wouldn’t know what to do.”
Molly smiled, causing Ken to smile as well as he continued to listen, even though he hadn’t intended to eavesdrop.
“I know what you mean. I’ve only been twice, but it’s great. Already I’ve learned so much.”
Upon his arrival, conversation stopped.
Janice stood. “I think it’s time for me to get back to work. I’ll talk to you later, Molly.”
Ken nodded as Janice left, then sat in the chair she vacated.
Guilt roared through him. Molly had been a Christian for less than two weeks, and she was already witnessing to an unbeliever. He couldn’t remember the last time he shared his faith outside a church setting. He te
nded to do his Christian service in activities amongst those already saved, or at least among those with whom most of the battle had been won and they had already ventured within the church doors.
“I was beginning to wonder if you changed your mind and went back to work.”
His face flamed. The convenience of wearing sweatpants to the office was becoming less of a distant possibility. Rather than reply, he sipped the coffee.
All he could think of was Molly’s efforts to speak of Christianity to Janice. If this was the typical way a new Christian behaved, with this refreshing enthusiasm and vigor, he wanted to watch her.
He’d been once to his uncle’s church and knew the main core of the congregation was made up of older and well-grounded Christians. Since Molly still had lots of questions, if he could bring her to a weekly Bible study, it could serve two purposes. Molly would receive instant answers to her questions in a learned and experienced atmosphere, and secondly, some of the enthusiasm of her new faith would rub off on him.
Ken smiled into his cup, hoping Molly hadn’t noticed. There was also a third reason. He simply wanted to be with Molly outside of the office.
For lack of something to do with the one hand he could move, Ken wrapped his fingers around his cup and smiled up at Molly. “I have a question for you. Will you accompany me to Bible study tomorrow night?”
Chapter 6
Molly scrambled to tidy up the kitchen after her rushed supper, pending Ken’s arrival. Of all the things she thought he might say during coffee break, inviting her to attend a Bible study meeting with him would never have occurred to her. She nearly dropped her plate on the way to the dishwasher as she remembered his reaction when she asked him why he had asked. His face had flushed and his ears had turned red. Again, she’d spoken before she thought of what she was saying, and by doing so, she’d embarrassed both of them. She grinned as she tucked her glass in the rack. Ken was kind of cute when he blushed, although he never did answer her question.
Her smile dropped as she continued to wonder why Ken would invite her to his church’s midweek Bible study. She suspected that it was because he didn’t know anyone yet, yet she didn’t see him as the type to be shy at a first meeting. He certainly wasn’t shy with her.
When the buzzer sounded, Molly was ready. Just as the last time she saw him outside of work, tonight she wore jeans, only this time they were hemmed and didn’t have any holes. Instead of a T-shirt with a cartoon character in vivid color on the front, she had chosen a sedate long-sleeved blouse. She’d even fastened her hair back with a clip for some semblance of dignity and control. Tonight she would be quiet and sedate. This time she wouldn’t do anything to embarrass Ken, especially in front of the people who would be his Christian family at his new church.
She stood at the door and opened it as soon as she heard the swoosh of the elevator doors. At the sight of Ken approaching, Molly nearly fainted. Instead of the prim and proper custom-tailored suits she’d become accustomed to seeing him wear, he now wore a nylon jogging outfit with a jacket made of the same fabric as the pants, and a matching T-shirt. The only thing that didn’t quite match was that instead of sneakers, he wore leather shoes.
“I’m ready,” she stammered.
“I’ve got some good news and some bad news.”
Her heart began to pound. Her first thought was that he’d had an accident with his uncle’s car. She couldn’t think of any good news. “Tell me the bad news first.”
“The people who host the Bible study came down with the flu, so it’s canceled for tonight.”
“Oh.” She wondered why he hadn’t phoned to say so. She’d also been invited to another Bible study by her friend Robbie. If Ken had phoned, she could have taken him there. Now it was too late, because it had already started.
“But the good news is that the evening is now open, so you and I can do anything we want. We can have a Bible study with just the two of us. Or if you’d rather go out, we can catch a show or something.”
A door down the hall opened and one of her neighbors stepped out, fiddled with the lock, then very slowly headed for the elevator. Molly didn’t feel like having her nosy neighbor listen in on their plans for the evening.
“Come in, and we’ll decide on something.”
He entered her apartment very quickly and pushed the door closed behind him, making Molly suspect his preference was for an invitation. Thankfully she’d folded up her futon, just in case he came in for coffee after their Bible study was over.
“I have a few more markers in my Bible for some stuff I was going to ask tonight. I guess I can ask you instead. I’ll make a pot of coffee.”
He shook his head. “If you want coffee, that’s fine, but none for me. I’m trying to cut down.”
“Then I’ll make tea instead. I’ll be right back. Have a seat.”
When she returned, he had already opened her Bible to the first marker, but instead of sitting on the end of the futon like last time, he parked himself in the middle. He patted the spot beside him. “Shall we pray before we start?”
Molly nodded and slowly lowered herself beside him.
“Have you ever been to an organized Bible study?”
Molly shook her head. Ken nodded and smiled. Adorable crinkles appeared in the corners of his eyes. The warmth of his smile did strange things to her stomach.
“What usually happens is everyone sits around and chats, and when things are ready to start, the leader will ask if there are any prayer requests or praise items.”
Molly stared blankly at him. She had no idea what he was talking about.
“Sorry. Let me rephrase that. Generally, everyone is asked if they have anything to tell the group. Something they would like the group to pray for, either for themselves or a special friend or family. Or, if there is something that was prayed about at a previous meeting and came to pass or just something happened where God blessed them, they might want to tell the group about it. If something concerns them, whether it be personal, or a world issue, like war or a natural disaster, or something they feel strongly about that they would like the group to pray about. Or even someone they know who is having difficulty and they feel led to pray about it.”
“Oh.”
“Often one person in the group will write those things down, but not always. It depends on the group.”
“You’re kidding. Like a journal?”
He nodded. “Exactly. It’s called a prayer journal. Some people keep them for their own personal prayers too.”
“Wow. I don’t think I could be organized enough to do that.”
“Not everyone does that. I don’t.”
In a way, she found that difficult to believe.
“And then we pray. Sometimes the group will take turns, sometimes the leader will briefly summarize everything that was mentioned. Again, it depends on the group.”
“But that sounds so … organized.”
“Organization is not a bad thing, Molly.”
She recalled the socks and odd shoes hidden under the futon. “I guess.”
The first thing she thought of was to pray for Ken and his broken arm, both for a quick healing and also for a minimum of discomfort and awkwardness while he mended. Instead, she mentioned a few family issues and then stopped.
Ken was easy to talk to, but she had to remember that he wasn’t her friend, he was her supervisor. Therefore, she wasn’t sure how much she should tell him or how ingrained in her life she should let him become.
She still wasn’t sure what his official capacity was going to be at Quinlan Enterprises. During management meetings he contributed along with the other supervisors, and he certainly did his share of the workload and more, which was evidenced by plenty of overtime. While he was doing actual work, she could never forget that Ken Quinlan was part of the corporate family.
Talk was that he was going to be the branch manager, because he was the production manager in the plant, but no one could see that there was anything wrong with
the current manager. Craig was doing a good job and ran things efficiently; his relationships with both the staff and clients were without complaint. It didn’t seem the style of Quinlan Enterprises to fire someone who was doing a good job and then give the job to a relative. The trouble was, no one knew what was going on, and in the face of the unknown, rumors abounded.
Throwing caution to the wind, Molly shared a few other personal concerns. Her boss or not, she trusted him.
Scariest of all, she actually liked the man. She could empathize with everything he shared with her. Except for his wishes to settle in, both in business and personal relationships, most of what he said for prayer requests and praise items didn’t center around himself but around others.
“Want to pray now?” he asked.
All she could do was nod. Something was happening here, and she wasn’t sure what to do, or how she should feel about it.
Molly folded her hands in her lap and closed her eyes, but they shot open at the touch of Ken’s larger hand on top of both of hers. His eyes were closed, and at the same time as he gave her hands a gentle squeeze, he smiled slightly and sighed. His expression was relaxed and open, like he was preparing himself to talk to an old friend.
Quickly, Molly closed her eyes again. Even though they were sharing a prayer time, she felt like she’d just invaded a private moment, studying him when he didn’t know she was watching.
“Dear Lord, thank You for this time together… .”
She listened as he prayed for all the things they’d talked about. She’d never thought about praying out loud. When she had accepted Jesus into her heart only two short weeks ago, Robbie had done all the praying, and all she’d done was nod because she was so choked up she couldn’t speak. This time, as she listened to Ken and agreed with everything he said, she did the same, nodding at times to signal her thoughts even though no one could see her except God, which was okay.
“Amen.”
Molly nodded. “Amen,” she added quietly.
For a few moments, neither of them spoke. They simply sat staring, half smiling, into each other’s eyes. He had nice eyes. She’d noticed his eyes the first time they met. She hadn’t seen many people with such blue eyes with black hair. It set him apart. Ken Quinlan was a good-looking man.
