by Emma Easter
“Maybe she is.” Trisha smiled. “But there is nothing wrong with her being attracted to the super cute department leader.”
“Stop it!” He chuckled and then thought about something. “Isn’t she Ken’s ex?”
“Yes. They were actually engaged to be married, but she broke it off and married someone else. Now she’s divorced.”
“Okay…” He nodded.
Trisha whooped. “Okay? You’ll ask her out?”
“No!” He shook his head. “I didn’t say I was going to ask her out.”
“Well, what are you going to do, then?”
“Nothing, Trisha! I am not interested. I just said that a minute ago.”
Trisha pursed her lips and then sat back. “I guess you are just like me; caught between two people.”
“No, I’m not like you. You have two men vying for your love. I have a woman who I love dearly but who I can’t be with.”
“And another who likes you. Don’t forget that.”
He groaned. “Lauren likes me as a person… but she’ll hardly be heartbroken if I don’t ask her out. Just like you said, she’s pretty. She’ll find someone else.”
“Ah-ha! You agree that she’s pretty!”
“So? Everyone can see that she is. That doesn’t mean I want to date her.”
“Okay, then,” Trisha said. “But don’t rule her out yet. You might miss out on an opportunity to be with someone really great. Just like I said before, you can’t stay single forever and Lauren is a great girl who is ready to date you. Please consider that at least.”
He smiled at Trisha and then stood up. “I’m going to be late for the welfare meeting if I don’t leave for church now.”
Trisha saw him to the door. “Since Lauren wants to join your department, you might see her in church today. Please keep an open mind. I think you will both be lovely together if you just gave it a chance.”
He looked at her. “I can say the same for you and Frank.” He touched her shoulder. “I hope you make the right decision, Trish.”
She hugged him. “And you too, Faizan. Thank you.” She drew back. “I love you.”
“I love you too, sis. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He left the house, got into his car, and drove the short distance to the church. He entered the New Day Fellowship Church while running the welfare department’s agenda through his mind. They had various places to visit and he needed to divide all the members into four groups. He passed the church hallway, climbed the stairs, and strode to the vestry where the welfare group’s weekly meetings were held.
A few of the members were already present. He walked up to them and asked one of the girls there, a young woman named Susan, to lead the worship and opening prayers.
As Susan led the worship, raising one song after another, other members began to arrive and join in the worship. Faizan thought about how far God had brought him. He’d come from a life of violence and hatred for Christians; now he was a dedicated Christian who loved Jesus with all his heart. He lifted up his hands to the Lord in thanksgiving as his heart flooded with gratitude.
The worship and prayer session ended about twenty-five minutes later, by which time most of the welfare members had arrived. Faizan went to the front of the group and began to read out the list he had written earlier that day, which contained the different people and places he wanted them to visit. “I’ll divide everyone into different groups,” he said.
He looked down at the list in his hand and then looked up. “The first group will help out in the soup kitchen. The second group will visit people who came to our church on Sunday but aren’t totally sure they want to continue to come. The third group will go to the youth center with the back-to-school donations made by our church members. The fourth group will visit the old people’s home to pray with them and just let them know they are loved.”
His eyes went over the members of the department. A few people weren’t there. He began to count. His assistant wasn’t there, but…
He stopped counting as his eyes settled on Lauren. She was sitting at the back, her eyes on him. She smiled shyly at him and he almost groaned. He looked away and continued to count. There were fourteen people there, including him. He began to divide them into groups of three. “Shelly, you’ll be the leader of your group. You guys are going to visit the orphanage.”
He counted out three more people and selected a leader for them. He finally came to Lauren and found out that there was no one else to pair her with. He sighed silently. He had to pair up with her. He said reluctantly, “Umm… Lauren, you’ll come with me to the old people’s home. Okay?”
She smiled broadly and nodded.
Hopefully, she doesn’t think this is a date.
Immediately, he chided himself for thinking that way. It was kind of mean. Wondering whether she thought the visit to the old people’s home was a date or not was so vain. She was here to do God’s work and that was all he needed to focus on.
Fifteen minutes later, after everyone except Lauren had left for their various assignments, Faizan approached her. He sat beside her and brushed away the slight self-consciousness he felt as he vividly recalled what Trisha had said about her liking him. With all his heart, he hoped she would not bring it up. Hopefully, she would come to understand as soon as possible that he wasn’t interested in a relationship with her without him having to spell it out.
She gave him the same shy smile she had given him earlier.
He returned her smile. “Hi, Lauren. I’m glad to see you actually joined the department. That shows that you are serious about the needy and helpless and want to build God’s kingdom.”
She nodded. “I am. I was helped by a wonderful couple when I was in trouble, and I know how important it is to give back.”
He remembered Ken saying something about it. She had come out of an abusive marriage and the Gibsons had taken her in. Now, she was on her own, thriving. He was impressed that her painful experience had left her with a desire to help those in need. And he was glad she hadn’t joined the department just because of him, as he had previously thought.
“That’s good,” he said. “So, are you ready to go now?”
“Yes.”
They left the church together and then it occurred to him that Fruitful Vines, the old people’s home they were supposed to visit, was not somewhere they could walk to. They needed to drive there. He looked at her, wondering what to say. She looked back at him with a quizzical but trusting expression, and he smiled. “Umm… Lauren, did you bring a car? We have to drive there.”
“No. I… I don’t have a car right now.”
“Okay, we will go in my car,” he said a little reluctantly. Somehow, he felt like having her in his car would look like they were truly on a date. He quickly brushed the thought aside and went to open his car door. She entered the passenger seat and he got into the driver’s.
They sat silently in the car as he drove to Fruitful Vines.
A few minutes later they got there and entered the sprawling single-story building surrounded by a variety of flowers. They entered as many rooms as possible and tried to pray for as many of the residents as they could. Almost an hour later, they headed to the last room. Faizan had thought that the visit to the home with Lauren was going to be awkward for him, but it wasn’t at all. She was quite easy to talk to and she genuinely cared for the old people. Her eyes sparkled as she talked with them, and after they’d prayed for each of them, she gave them a word of encouragement and promised to come back to see them. They all seemed to love her. She reminded him of Zainah in that regard.
Faizan held the door open as they entered the room of a very old woman. She looked like she was about a hundred. She smiled broadly at them as she lay on her bed, and Faizan smiled back.
The old woman beckoned them to come closer. When they did, she told them her name was Rita and began to tell them stories about her youth. “I was once married to a handsome man like you,” she said to Faizan. “My Charlie di
ed a long time ago, but I still love him dearly.”
Faizan smiled sadly as he thought about Zainah. When he was old, would he tell people about how much they’d loved each other but were never able to be together? Or would he meet someone else who would replace his love for her? He shuddered at the thought. He could never love someone else the way he loved her.
As though the old woman could read his thoughts, she said, “You both are a lovely couple. I hope you continue to love each other until you are as old as I am.”
Faizan shook his head. “We are not a couple…”
The old woman continued her story as though she hadn’t heard him.
Faizan looked over at Lauren who was on the other side of the bed. She was looking at him with a shy smile on her face. He looked away and faced the old woman again.
At last, the woman stopped talking and laid her head on the pillow. She seemed exhausted by all the stories she had told them, but her eyes shone with mirth.
Faizan said to her, “It’s been lovely meeting you, Rita. Can we pray for you?”
“Yes. I would love that,” the woman said.
Faizan prayed for God’s protection, peace, and presence in her life, while Lauren asked the Lord to keep Rita always full of joy, just as she was now. After they finished praying, Faizan asked Rita if he could come back to see her some other time. She smiled widely and nodded. “Definitely!” She touched his hand and then looked at Lauren. “I would love both of you to come together to see me again. You both are such a beautiful couple.”
Faizan wanted to tell her once more that they weren’t a couple, but he changed his mind. It was no use. She still wouldn’t listen.
“Promise me that you will,” she said.
He blinked in surprise and didn’t answer.
“Promise me,” the woman said again.
He nodded and then said, “I promise.”
He and Lauren left the old people’s home together and got into his car. As he drove her home, he wondered why he had made Rita that promise and how he was ever going to keep it without giving Lauren the wrong impression.
*****
“Zainah, I think you need to hire a private investigator since you haven’t been able to find Faizan yourself,” Leila said.
Zainah felt a little uneasy as her friend squeezed into a pair of jeans and then wore a ruffled red blouse. She wanted to ask Leila where she was going in that outfit, but she already knew where. She shelved her concerns and focused her attention on what Leila had just told her. “I would hire one if I had any money. You know I have none… and neither do you.”
“But you’ve been going through all those social media profiles and haven’t found him. You know you need to find another way to look for him.”
“I know,” Zainah said. “And you’re right. I need to hire an investigator. I’ll have to ask Fatima if she knows someone, but first I need money to pay whoever she finds.”
“But I think Fatima can help out with the money.”
“No. She has three children she is taking care of alone. And she has helped us with so much. I wouldn’t dream of asking her for more.”
“Then how are you going to pay the investigator?”
Zainah sighed. “I guess I’ll have to get a job. Besides, it’s high time I got one. I can’t keep living off Fatima like this.” Zainah looked at Leila. She wanted to add that her friend needed to get a job too, but she didn’t want to start fighting with her again. Their friendship was fragile at this point. Leila still went out almost every day. Zainah knew she was still on her quest to find a husband in spite of the advice she’d given her some time before.
“Where are you going to get a job in this town, and as what?”
“I’m not yet sure, but I can ask Fatima if she knows anyone who wants… umm… a maid.” She sighed as Leila gave her a disapproving frown. “I can do that. After all, we had lots of chores back at the camp.”
“But you weren’t a maid then, Zainah. How can you work as a maid?”
“Why not? If that’s the job I get, then that is what I will do so I can find Faizan.”
“Okay, then. But don’t expect me to look for the same kind of employment,” Leila said. She slipped on a pair of black heels and then grabbed a multicolored scarf from the front of the closet. She wrapped it around herself and walked to the door.
Zainah suddenly couldn’t hold back her concerns anymore. She said, “Leila, that man you are going to see today… are you sure he is a Christian?”
Leila turned around slowly and looked at her. She looked surprised as she asked, “How did you know I was going to see a man?”
“I heard you talking to Safia a few days ago about the man you met at the souk. And from the way you are dressed now, I guessed you were going to see him.”
Leila looked away, a guilty expression on her face. “I’m not sure he is a Christian…”
“Leila! You are seeing someone who isn’t a believer!”
“He isn’t a believer yet! But I’m working on it.”
“Are you serious, Leila? Tell me you aren’t…”
“Stop, Zainah! You are not my mother. I told you that I am working on making him a believer. Besides, isn’t that what we are supposed to do? Spread the gospel wherever we go?”
“Yes, but not in order to marry someone. That isn’t right. And you have no assurances that he is going to change.”
Leila glowered at her. “You fell in love with Faizan before he became a believer… while he was a terrorist, in case you have forgotten.”
Zainah pursed her lips and then said, “I haven’t forgotten. Yes, I did fall in love with him before he became a believer, but I didn’t want to. And I didn’t let him know how I felt until he became a Christian.”
“It’s still the same thing,” Leila said. “I’m not planning on marrying Ibrahim until he becomes a Christian.” Leila opened the door. “I need to go now. He is waiting for me.” She left before Zainah could say anything more.
Zainah heaved an exasperated sigh and then stood up. She went to the living room to look for Fatima. When she didn’t find her, she went to the kitchen. Fatima was there, bent over the kerosene stove, stirring a pot of boiling stew. She looked up at Zainah and then straightened.
“How are you this evening, Zainah?” she asked, smiling.
“I’m fine. I see you are making Safia’s favorite dish today.”
Fatima nodded. “Yes. It’s also her brother’s.”
Zainah asked, “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“No, Zainah. I’ve nearly finished. Thanks.” She turned off the stove. “How is your search coming along?” she asked, looking at Zainah.
“That’s what I came to talk to you about. I haven’t found him. I think I need to hire someone who is an expert at finding people. Do you know of anyone like that?”
“Ehm … no, but there is someone in our prayer meeting who might know. I can call him now if you want.”
Zainah nodded. “That would be really kind of you.”
Fatima wiped her hand on the kitchen napkin, took out her phone from her dress pocket, and dialed a number. After a few seconds, she spoke into the phone, asking the person on the other line exactly what Zainah had asked her. She listened closely and then nodded. She ended the call and turned to Zainah. “He said he knows someone like that, but the man is a little expensive. He charges about three hundred thousand dinar.”
Zainah’s eyes widened. That was a lot of money. Even if she got a job now, it would take quite some time to save up for that. But she had no choice.
Fatima said, “I would have loaned you the money, but I don’t have that kind of money right now.”
“I understand. I don’t expect you to,” Zainah told her. “Umm… do you know where I can get a job… even if it is as a maid?”
“You want to work as a maid?”
“I could be an assistant nurse since that is what I did at the camp. I helped nurse people back to health because it was a
course I started in school when I was in my hometown. But I was just in the first year when I had to flee to the women’s camp. I don’t think any hospital or clinic will hire me without qualifications.”
Fatima nodded. “Okay, I’ll ask around when I go for the prayer meeting tonight. You will come with me, won’t you?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Zainah sighed. “Unfortunately, Leila will not be able to come as she has gone out.”
“She and Safia go out a lot now,” Fatima said. “I just hope they stay out of trouble.”
“I hope so too,” Zainah said, worried for her friend. She sighed and brushed the worry away. Leila was an adult and a Christian. Zainah didn’t have the time to babysit her friend. Her priority was to find a job now so she could pay the investigator who could find the man she loved.
Fatima said, “I hope I find someone who needs a maid but will treat you well.”
“I hope so too,” Zainah said.
After the prayer meeting that night at the house of a woman named Hadiza, Fatima started to ask around for anyone who needed a maid or knew someone who needed one. Zainah kept praying that Fatima would find someone.
Fatima approached Hadiza, their host, and Zainah followed her. Fatima asked her the same question she’d been asking the others and Zainah’s pulse quickened as Hadiza said she did know someone. “A distant relation of mine is looking for a maid as theirs quit all of a sudden. He and his wife are very wealthy and pay their staff well… but they are Muslims.”
“That’s okay,” Zainah said. “It’s okay, I can…”
“They are strict Muslims,” the young woman interrupted her. “I don’t know if they will want to employ a Christian.”
Zainah pulled Fatima away. “I think we should keep searching. There’s no point asking her about the job any further.”
Fatima sighed. “Okay… but most of the wealthy people here hardly interact directly with their household servants. I doubt they will be interested in your personal faith.”