[STORY] THE CHOIR MASTER’S WIFE (Episode 02)

Episode 02.

Lauren looked up at him as she stretched the phone over
“Oh..I.found it lying here.. I. .guess you forgot it here” she stuttered, her heart beating really fast as a lump rose to her throat.

“Yeah..thanks..I thought you had been with it”
He said, relaxing his features. She pouted her lips and shook her head as he shot the door and started to leave again, her eyes misty with tears. Then he turned back and said through the windscreen
“Aren’t you ready to join the service yet”
She merely shook her head, bent so that he won’t see the redness of her eyes.
She svcked in some air and exhaled deeply, wiping tears off her eyes gently, careful so that she would not ruin her makeup.

The conversation she had just read played a thousand times over in her head before the service started, and each time, she was looking for a good reason to believe that it wasn’t what she was thinking

Why would Chris do that to me?

Chris was a child of God. She knew he was born again and filled with the Holyspirit, so why would he do such a thing?

At the end, she managed to convince herself that it wasn’t what she was thinking and left to join the service after touching on her makeup again

Chris led the congregation in a praise and worship session, and as usual, at the end, the entire hall, now filled with worshippers to the gallery and overflow was erupting with shouts of “glory..glory” and some whistling and clapping here and there.

Lauren sat in the third row of seats in the middle aisle, just after the rows reserved for ministers and their spouses. She was a little sweaty after the praise ended, it was usually one of her favorite part of service – even though today was a struggle – connecting with God in her spirit as her mind kept wandering back to the messages she had read on her husband’s phone.

She was troubled by this itself – her inability to worship God the way she’d usually do. She resolved to speak with Chris immediately after service closes. They needed to talk about this so she could clear her head.

As the sermon progressed, she kept glancing occasionally at the choir stand – a raised platform to the left of the pulpit. She was searching the faces of the ladies in the choir, looking resplendent in blue and golden robes, for a clue of which of them could be Sis Natalia.

She saw the lady that had stood outside with Chris earlier. She sat at the extreme of the choir stand, close to where the instrumentalists sat with their drums and guitars and saxophones.
Could she be Natalia?

Lauren sat still as people thronged out of the hall at the end of service.

She usually does this so she wouldn’t have to struggle through the crowd of people pushing through the narrow exits.

She would wait until the hall thinned of people and sometimes she would wait around inside the hall for Chris or stroll to the choir stand to exchange a few words with him.

Today she sat still, her eyes roving the hall, her thoughts wandering here and there until they settled on the events of the morning – fragment by fragment.

“Lord help me” she muttered

She stood up and strolled to the front of the aisle where she sat as the hall started to become empty of people.

Usually, Chris would be addressing the choir at the end of service, but today he wasn’t there and just a few of the choir members were still on their seat. Most had pulled off their robes, leaving a blend of colorful attires.

She wanted to speak with someone but she wasn’t sure how to approach them. She wasn’t really friends with anyone in church yet – she barely spoke with anyone, and only few knew her as the choir master’s wife.

A lady started to come out of the stand with her robe nested under the crook of her arm. She was tall and thinly and wore a fringe. Lauren thought she looked like a runway model.

She approached her and said “Hi..hello..my name is Lauren. Please have you seen Chris?”

The lady smiled brightly and replied “oh hey Lauren..” then she turned back to the choir stand and looked around as if searching for Chris. Then she turned back to Lauren and said
“No.. I haven’t seen him around. I think she should be somewhere around”

“I love your earrings” the lady complimented, still smiling. Lauren smiled back bashfully. “Oh. Thanks”
“Are you a friend of Chris’. We could look for him together” she offered

“Oh..no..I’m his wife” she said with a thing of pride in her voice

The lady gave her a “are you for real look” and said

“he never mentioned you to me”

“Oh..” Lauren said, unsure of what to say. Then she decided

“What’s your name?” she asked her

“I am Natalia”

Lauren’s heart skipped a beat. What was she to do or say?
Somehow she wasn’t ready to face this. She wasn’t ready for this conversation. What if she probed further and found out something really bad?

“Okay Natalia. Its nice meeting you. “ she said still smiling and started to walk away.

She decided she would go the media department to see them and ask them if she could join them. Their stand was somewhere up in the gallery.

She took the stairs and walked gingerly up, her heels squeaking beneath her. She approached a guy at the entrance with a smile and told him what she wanted. Thankfully, he was kind and took her inside to see the media head, who as it turned out was Chris’ friend who knew her.

They fell into conversation and at the end, he said she could start coming and briefed her on all she needed to do, and when to come to church. She thanked him and left.

When she got back into the hall, it was almost empty except for few people who were either at the altar praying or speaking to other people.

Where on earth was Chris?

She opened her bag and decided to call him.

But just as she was about to start dialing, she saw them!
To Be Continued… . . .

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