[STORY] THE CHOIR MASTER’S WIFE (Episode 01)

Episode 01.

“Your presence is heaven to me…

Your presence is heaven to me…

Lauren sang along to the worship song playing on the car stereo as her husband drove them through the free highway of the Gwarinpa expressway on their way to church on a bright Sunday morning.

“Oh Jesus..oh Jesus

Your presence is heaven to me

Oh Jesus”

She sang soulfully, and this time, her husband joined her, adding the melody of his tenor part.

She felt light with joy, lifting up her hands as the song sank into her spirit.

The song came to an end, leaving them full of joy and chattering happily

“you sing so well wifey,”

Chris said, his eyes still fixed on the road

“yeah..thank you hon..I’m getting better at it right”

“you should join the choir you know,” he said, covering her hands with his as she turned to him
She made a face.

Chris had been talking her into joining the choir department in the church even before they got married but she had not thought seriously about it.

She had been wanting to tell him she would rather join the technical department where she would handle things from the backend.

She had always been a media girl, right from the time when she had been a little girl, growing up as a minister’s daughter.

She would use her mother’s phone to take pictures of the service every Wednesday and Sundays, and when her father bought the church’s first real camera, she had learned fast from the guy that was brought in to handle it.

It was only natural that when she left for the university, she had joined the media department of her campus fellowship.

It was in one of those holyghost filled meetings that the guest artist had caught her heart and held it spell bound, as she captured the moments he led God’s people in worship.

Now newly married into Chris’s church, she was yet to decide what church department to function in. Chris’s church was quite big, with media equipments that both intimidated and fascinated her.

She made a mental note of going to see the technical guys today after service as Chris drove through the last lap of the road that led to third avenue where their church is located

Chris drove the car through the large black gate, the tyres crunching against the granite stones scattered at the entrance.

He followed the direction of a security man and navigated the car to park in between some other cars under a huge, shady almond tree.

Lauren sighted a handful of church members going into the hall.

They were amongst the early comers. Some of them were church workers and choir member who had things to tidy up before service started, just like Chris.

Usually they got to church at 7;30, and Chris would lead the choir in a short rehearsal session before the service started because he was choirmaster.

Lauren brought out her powder and dabbed at her face, touching on her cheeks and underneath her eyelids.

“Babe you look good” Chris said, opeining the car door and stepping down.

“Thanks, hon,” she said, rolling her eyes heavenward.

She caught sight of him as he began to make his way into the church, his black suit nested under his arm.

She smiled admiringly after him, feeling butterflies in her stomach.

He was the love of her life – the man of her dreams. He might not be tall dark and handsome, the type that existed in her teen fantasies, but he was God fearing and they complimented each other just fine.

Just as she was about to get back to touching on her makeup, she sighted a lady step beside him on the porch and collected his suit.

Her brows furrowed as they start to giggle as they walked into the church together.

She returned her powder into her bag then, trying hard not to think there could be anything other than she had just seen.

She decided she would stay in the car for a while longer before stepping out to join the service.

Soon, the voice of the prayer coordinator will be booming in tongues through the speakers and she would be caught up in prayers herself.

She caught her husband’s phone lying on the driver’s seat . He must have forgotten it and soon he would come back to pick it. she picked it and turned it on and their wedding pictures stared back at her, bringing back memories.

She swiped it up and discovered for the first time that the phone had not been passworded.

His data was on and a number of unread messages and notifications filled the screen. She touched on a whatsApp message that caught her attention.

A long thread of conversation between him and a “sister Natalia kept her mesmerized.

There were a lot of smiley emojis and lols and she could not make sense of what she was reading.

Chris; Thank you for the other day dear. What could I have done without you”

Sis Natalia; you’re welcome love. You deserve it

Chris; I can’t wait to see you in church on Sunday

Sis Natalia; same here

Chris; I love you scatter

Sis Natalia; I love you too my darling

“What are you doing with my phone?” she looked up and there he was staring at her angrily

To be continued…