Lily Donovan glanced around with trepidation. The heavy door slammed loudly behind her as she entered the church. Her bright green eyes scanned the austere environment. Sunday mass didn't begin for another forty-five minutes, leaving the church virtually secluded.
Lily removed her white knit sweater, slightly damp from the light drizzle of rain and hung it neatly in the coat closet provided for the congregation. She cringed at the hangers tinkling lightly as they bumped into one another. Even the most subtle noises were like a freight train in an empty church.
She thought pensively to herself as she compared the ambiance of the church to that of a library. Wondering for a moment why it was necessary to remain as hushed as possible within walls of religion.
Thinking ahead, she hung her sweater as close to the end of the wooden closet as she could. That would ensure a quick and easy escape after the service.
Selecting a seat with a clear view of the confessional booth, she noted with impatient dismay that the booth appeared to be in use.
Two tiny gray haired nuns, donned in all black, sat two pews ahead of her. Their heads bowed piously, they fumbled their beaded rosaries earnestly.
Lily suppressed the urge to giggle out loud as she thought of a joke she'd heard about two nuns going into a bar. It involved sheep, it was a bad one.
Straightening the lapel on her beige suit jacket, she smoothed down any wrinkles on her favorite white skirt with the tiny cream flowers embroidered on it. A smear of syrup on the cuff of her white blouse was all that remained of her mother's delicious Sunday morning breakfast. Lily looked around to make sure no one noticed as she gave her cuff a quick lick cleaning.
Looking around the church, she studied all of the ornate statues and religious artifacts that were displayed. Cherubic marble angels strummed tiny harps with their large feathered wings poised behind them as though prepared for an immediate departure.
In the corner, a large tiered table hosted a large number of lit candles. A burning flame represented each prayer resulting in a beautiful illuminated vigil. Lily cringed as she inadvertently imagined herself accidentally tripping and plunging headfirst into the table.
She knew without a shadow of a doubt that if anyone was going to end up being a human torch due to perpetual clumsiness, it was her. Trouble and chaos seemed to stalk Lily like a blood-thirsty mosquito.
Shaking off the fire daydream, her eyes were drawn to a life-size statue of Mary adorned in full-length blue robes. Standing stoically near the alter, Mary's face seemed molded to appear peaceful and docile. Lily thought the statue was very pretty from a distance. On closer examination though, she decided that whoever was in charge of painting the delicate features and accents onto her face probably didn't have a very steady hand or had been drinking.
An enormous wooden cross was erected behind the alter. A plastic version of Jesus was sprawled over the cross, nails in his hands and feet. Red paint simulated blood weeping from the wounds. A thorny crown was adorned on the model's head with copious amounts of fake blood drizzling down his face.
It was the expression on his face, however, that caused Lily to cringe more than anything. Staring upwards with bulging eyes and his mouth gaping in horror, a look of sheer agony painted on his face.
'How awful,' Lily thought with disdain. 'Shouldn't he be remembered with a statue for the good things he did rather than the violent horrors that were done to him?'
She wondered if they put that horrible statue up there simply to make people feel guilty or if they just wanted people to feel sorry for him so they would put more money in the offerings basket. Either way, it didn't motivate her at all to want to come here every Sunday.
She had been forced by her parents to go every week since birth. Beginning with baptism, confirmation, Sunday school...anything Catholic, you name it, Lily had to do it.
She had spent many a Sunday school class arguing with nuns about stories that didn't make any sense to her. It angered Lily that the nuns, nor anyone she knew, allowed her to ask questions.
Her memory drifted back to one of her more heated debates with the nuns during Sunday school.
"Well, all I'm asking is if there was only Adam and Eve in the beginning," Lily proposed calmly, "and they had Cain and Abel...just how did the rest of the people come about? I mean, Eve didn't, like, you know...with her sons? Did she?"
It was pretty much a given that every time Lily would question anything, no matter how rationally or calmly, she would inevitably be kicked out of the class or sent to the corner. Her parents were usually notified right after mass, by a flustered and annoyed nun, of their 'sinner' child. Of course, the real punishment came later in the form of a spanking, courtesy of her father's leather belt.
Why on earth was she not allowed to question any of this? She would often question how the bible's intentions of establishing a world of peace, seemed to end up being a means of condemning it's readers?
Seemed like a real waste of time, considering that with spirituality, she figured that all the answers were inside your heart anyways.
At seventeen, she was relieved to be too old for the weekly Sunday school class. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the little children that were corralled into one of the back rooms during Sunday service.
Looking back at the confession booth again, she sighed and felt her impatience creeping up again.
Touching her curly caramel-colored hair, she assessed how frizzy it may have gotten on walking to the church. Rain had devastating effects on natural curl. She was thankful she had sprayed a bit of hairspray in it before she left home, she hoped her hair would stay put for a few hours.
Methodically, she placed a couple of curls over the large crescent shaped scar on her forehead. Most of her corkscrew curly hair hung nearly to her waist except for a few shorter pieces in the front which she straightened occasionally, passing them off as long bangs.
Tapping the folded step on the back of the pew ahead of her, she waited anxiously for the confessional to be free. Eyeing the time on her watch, she started to get even more anxious.
"9:10." she muttered under her breath through clenched jaw.
She had arrived at the church early to talk to Gabe. Her parents usually arrived at 9:30am, sharp. So she decided if she wanted to visit with him without her parents hovering, she'd have to come a little early.
Getting comfortable, as she may have to wait a while, she placed both of her high heeled shoes on the top of the retractable prayer step. Being as short as Lily, only five feet tall, had it's advantages. The little prayer step, folded up onto the back of the pew ahead of her, would be too awkward and high for a person with longer legs to comfortably rest on. For Lily, however, it performed more like a footstool than a penance cushion.
Lily glanced around the church, observing the people that were already there for the Sunday service. The two little nuns still prayed feverishly with their beaded necklaces, two young alter boys were setting things up at the front in preparation for the priest's service and a larger woman was sitting at the organ organizing the songs for the service.
'Ugh' she thought, annoyed, as she again glanced over at the occupied confessional box, 'someone sure is confessing a lot of sins today.'
Bored, she leaned forward to grab one of the psalm booklets in the little shelf on the back of the pew ahead of her. As Lily shifted her weight to reach for the booklet, the hinged prayer step her feet had been resting on, suddenly flipped down. Lily was sent flying forward into the pew ahead, smacking her chin on the hard wood.
To make matters even worse, the whole commotion created a huge crashing noise that reverberated throughout the church, startling everyone and causing them to turn and stare at her.
Reorganizing herself, Lily touched her battered chin and saw traces of blood on her fingers.
"Jesus." She hissed under her breath as she dabbed at her seeping chin. Her curse was apparently louder than she thought as the two little nuns glared at her furiously, their wrinkled faces contorted into a disapproving frown.
"Our...lord and savior..." she stammered, trying to cover up her verbal faux pas.
The two nuns shot her a scornful look and then turned their attention back to their rosaries. Lily fought the urge to stick her tongue out at them.
'Well, that was fun.' Lily thought wryly to herself searching her purse for a compact mirror and a Kleenex to clean off the blood on her chin. Before she could assess the damage done to her chin, she noticed movement from the back of the church. Someone was emerging from the confessional booth.
"All right!" she said excitedly, ignoring the nuns shushing her and rushed over to the booth.
Pushing back the thick black curtain that draped over the entrance of the confessional booth, she entered into the dark box. Arranging the curtain behind her so no one could see inside, she then sat down and waited for the confession to begin.
After a few moments of silence, a deep male voice emanated from the other side of the confessional screen.
"Peace be with you." he said professionally.
"And also with you." Lily replied, but she had disguised her voice by imitating an old Polish woman.
"It has been two weeks since I last had confession." Lily smothered a giggle as she continued her charade.
"Please continue." he said patiently.
"Oh thank you, thank you. Well, let's see, twice I said the Lord's name in vain, once I forgot to say grace before I ate lunch and...well..." She stammered and paused in her old Polish lady dialect.
"Yes?" his voice asked inquisitively, urging her to continue.
"Well...oh I can't, it's just too bad!"
"We all have things we may be ashamed of," he said patiently, "but to ask forgiveness for them is divine."
Biting the insides of her cheeks to keep from bellowing out a laugh, Lily took a deep breath to compose herself.
"Well," she whispered, pretending to be nervous, "Several times...I had impure thoughts of...of...the dark-haired priest...in this church!" With that, Lily put both her hands over her mouth and tried desperately to smother the fountain of giggles that were fighting their way out.
"Oh!...uhhh...." the deep voice stuttered in pure horror.
There was an awkward silence for a few moments. Lily sat motionless, biting her lip with immense anticipation, awaiting his response.
She heard a loud, audible sigh coming from the other booth. Then he spoke with a stern, but relieved voice.
"Lily!"
The dam burst and Lily laughed hysterically until tears poured down her face and she was clutching her stomach.
"Oh Gabe! That was priceless!" Lily cackled endlessly as she attempted to push the curtain back to leave the booth. The heavy curtain fell back before she'd gotten far enough out of the booth, swishing roughly onto her head, knocking her off balance and filling her hair with static.
Gabe quickly came out of his side of the confessional, fully intending on scolding Lily on her inappropriate conduct in the church. The moment he saw her however, he had to laugh.
Taking her arm, he quickly led her to a back room in the church. Closing the door behind him, he chuckled at her with an affectionate sigh. It never ceased to amaze him the trouble she could still get into after all these years.
Her hair, disheveled and full of static from the brush with curtain, stuck out all over like a butterscotch colored dandelion. A large scratch on her chin, caked with remnants of dried blood, blemished her perfect linen skin. Mascara streaked lightly down her face from the tears she had shed due to her hysterical laughing fit. She grinned at him impishly, her green eyes fiery with rebellion.
Sighing, he shook his head. Approaching her with a look of playful disdain, he towered over her tiny five foot frame. Attempting to gently pat down her wild hair, he managed to tuck most of the wild strays precariously behind her ears.
Lily's mind was busy creating excuses and witty remarks as she prepared for the onslaught of reprimands she assumed she would hear from Gabe. She waited with anticipation for his usual speech about respect for the church, his profession...blah, blah, blah, but it never came.
'Oh sure, the silent treatment.' She thought dryly, though in truth, that was the worst punishment in her eyes.
Almost wistfully, he softly cupped her petite face in his large, warm hand. He retrieved a fresh handkerchief from his pocket, licked it lightly and began gently wiping away the assortment of smudges on her face.
She grinned up at him rebelliously, taunting him to try to discipline her for her religious misdemeanor.
After successfully wiping away the dried blood and smeared mascara, he paused, holding her tiny face delicately with both of his hands. Staring at her affectionately, he marveled at her natural beauty and amazingly zealous soul. Stroking her face, he ran his thumb over the old shiny scar on her forehead, recalling the day she received it.
"Oh, my Lily," Gabe said quietly, "Whatever am I going to do with you?" His icy blue eyes penetrated hers, his gaze never wavering. His bronzed Greek complexion glowed as he smiled affectionately at her, his dimples materializing as his lips curved up.
The mischievous smirk she wore from her prank slowly melted from her face. Lily's emerald eyes fixated on his face. Her heart beat madly in her chest, her head spun just from his touch.
For just a moment, the whole world existed only in that room. Anything outside the room became a blurry memory. Beyond that door, the earthly realm disappeared, there was no more church, no people, no nuns. The sentinel statues faded to transparency as did the staunch ambiance.
There was only the two of them, as it always used to be.
She would never forget the moment they met, though it felt more like a reunion than a first encounter. Her memory of that day locked forever in her mind as the best day of her life, well, other than the part where she almost died.