Chasing After Destiny

by Emma Easter

  For a short while, she thought about what she and Jude would live on. Jude had a job, but since he was an illegal immigrant and didn’t have a working permit yet, she would have to insist that he stopped working until she could help him get his Green card.

  She looked down at the outfit she had chosen for the wedding, which she had placed carefully on the sofa, and she felt slightly uneasy. Lily was bound to find out about Jude and the unusual circumstances under which she had met him. What would Lily say? It was why she had not told Lily anything about Jude. She respected Lily’s opinion, especially now that she had committed her life to Christ and they shared the same faith. Lily was further on this journey with God than she was. What if Lily said it was wrong for her to marry Jude?

  “Oh, Lord, please help,” Sofia whispered, growing worried. Yes, at first their decision to marry had only been a business arrangement, and an illegal one at that, but now, she truly loved him and he loved her. She could not imagine living without him. Their feelings for each other were real and strong, and their marriage would be very real. Surely, Lily would understand when she told her about it. Surely, the Lord did.

  She pressed her concerns away and went to hang up her outfit on the curtain rail. A niggling doubt remained in her mind, tempering the overwhelming joy she’d had just minutes ago.

  Half an hour later, a knock sounded at her door, and she hurried to open it. She smiled broadly at Lily and they fell into each other’s arms. She pulled Lily into the apartment and grinned at her. “Well… you are glowing, Lily! Marriage looks good on you.”

  Lily’s eyes bored into hers. “You know, for a girl who was in utter despair just yesterday, you look amazingly happy. I will say you’re also glowing, Sofia. I was worried about you as I came here, but I see you are clearly feeling great.”

  “Yes, Lily, I feel great. Thank you so much for telling me about Jesus.”

  Lily took her hand. “You look radiant, Sofia. Is there something else you’re not telling me?”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Lily about Jude, that she was getting married to a man she loved with all her heart, but she immediately felt nervous and pressed her lips together. She could not bear the thought that Lily might not support her decision to marry Jude. If Lily was against the decision she’d made, it would not change her mind in anyway, but it would definitely hurt. With all her heart, she wanted Lily to be on her side and be happy for her. Telling Lily that she was going to marry an illegal immigrant was not the image she wanted Lily to have of her marriage, or of Jude.

  She changed the subject and asked Lily how her honeymoon was.

  Lily looked around the apartment and faced Sofia again. “This place reminds me of the cheap apartment I was living in before Taylor came and dragged me out of that place.” She waved her hand. “Anyway, my honeymoon was great. We had such a great time.” She sat on the couch, and Sofia sat down next to her. “Taylor is so funny, Sofia. I did not know that about him when we got married. But he makes me laugh all the time.”

  Sofia smiled. Everyone who saw Lily from a mile off would see she was clearly in love. Did she look the same way? As though Lily could read her mind, she took Sofia’s hand and said, “You look really different, Sofia. I know you just asked the Lord into your life, but there’s something more, isn’t there?”

  Sofia sighed. “Well, I guess you’ll find out eventually,” she said. “I’m getting married, Lily. Today.”

  “What?” Lily’s eyes grew as round as saucers. “And you are just telling me? Who are you getting married to?”

  “His name is Jude…” She hesitated for a few seconds, and then it all poured out of her. She told Lily everything, starting from the day she was introduced to Jude to yesterday when he left her apartment after they had made a decision to get married today. When she finished, she looked down at the floor and then looked at Lily again, feeling uncertain. She said in a shaky voice, “I know he’s an illegal immigrant and all, but I’m not doing anything illegal now. We truly love each other, and I would move to his country with him in a heartbeat if it weren’t for the fact that they are in a war right now. Please, tell me it’s okay to marry him.”

  “Well, I can’t say I know much about any of this, but you seem to truly love this Jude and, from all you’ve said about him, I believe he loves you too. I think that your relationship is very real and your feelings for each other are too. I can also understand why you two are getting married as soon as possible. I do not know what the government will think, but I have no problems with your relationship.”

  “So, you are not angry or disappointed in me?” Sofia asked, looking at Lily.

  “No! I am ecstatic for you, Sofia. First, I’m happy you have left George and found someone you truly love and who truly loves you. I can see how in love you are because your eyes are sparkling. They didn’t sparkle when you were with George.”

  Sofia giggled. “So, will you be my maid of honor?”

  “Of course I will!” Lily looked around the room and said, smiling, “Or do you have another best friend hiding somewhere who is also in the running for that position? I am ready to fight that person for it.”

  Sofia laughed. “You are so silly, Lily!”

  Lily chuckled and said, “I don’t have anything to wear, though. All my clothes are in Fallow Creek. Maybe we can go shopping today.”

  “There is no time,” Sofia said. “You’re about my size, Lily. Don’t worry about it. I’ll find something for you to wear.”

  Lily’s eyes lit up with excitement. She took Sofia’s hand and pulled her up from the sofa. Putting her arm around Sofia’s shoulders, she said, “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go try on dresses for your wedding.” Lily pulled Sofia out of the living room into the bathroom. She looked confused as she glanced around. “Where is the rest of this apartment?”

  Sofia laughed. “Where do you think it is? This is it.”

  Lily's eyes widened in clear surprise, and then she laughed out loud. “Wow! This place is really small. And you said Jude will be moving in here with you?”

  “Yes,” Sofia answered. “Once we get married.”

  Lily looked up thoughtfully and then a wide smile broke out on her face. “I have an idea, Sofia. Why don’t you and Jude move into our penthouse apartment until you get a better place than this? You know the apartment is fully furnished, and it’s not like Taylor and I are using it. It’s just sitting there. We probably won’t be in Arizona for more than two weeks in a year, if that, so we don’t really need it.”

  Sofia stared at Lily, shocked. The penthouse apartment Lily was talking about was in Sofia’s old apartment building. Her own apartment had been expensive enough. The two penthouses in the building were the most expensive.

  Lily laughed. “Say something, Sofia. Will you accept my offer?”

  “Lily, that apartment is really expensive! Are you sure?”

  “Of course I am,” Lily said. “You are my very dear friend, and this is something I can do to show you how much I love you.”

  Sofia squealed and then reached out and hugged Lily tightly. “Thank you so much. You don’t know what this means to me. Jude will be really happy, I am sure.”

  Lily smiled and then winked at her. “It’s the least I can do considering you saved my life.”

  Sofia nodded and grinned. “I did, didn’t I?”

  “Yes...” Lily chuckled. “But remember you also nearly took it first.”

  Sofia laughed again. “But think about it. If I had not run you over that day, you would not have met Taylor in Tucson, and you wouldn’t be married today. So I actually saved your life twice.”

  “You are crazy, Sofia,” Lily said shaking her head and laughing.

  Sofia felt like weeping for joy. She thanked Lily again and then took her hand and pulled her out of the bathroom. She pointed at her living room and said, “This, my dear friend, is both the living room and the bedroom. You can see that my suitcase is right over there.”

  L
ily shook her head. “And where are the rest of your clothes… because I know that suitcase there cannot hold half of it. You would need a shipping container to hold all your clothes.”

  Sofia grinned. “Well thank you for telling me that I have way too many clothes. I left some of them at a friend’s house.”

  “Okay then,” Lily said. “Find me something to wear for your wedding.”

  They walked over to the suitcase, and Sofia opened it up. She rifled through, throwing out one outfit after another and shaking her head. “No, George bought this for me,”

  she said when Lily pointed at a black and white dress. “I can’t let you wear it.”

  Sofia held out another green knee-length dress and then immediately withdrew her hand. “No, you cannot wear this. It’s not good enough.” She brought out a Lilac jump suit and said, “I bought this in Paris, but George paid for it. You can’t wear it.”

  When she held out a beautiful shift dress that Lily knew would look good on her, Lily asked, “What about this one?”

  Sofia looked at it for a few seconds and then shook her head. “It was bought by George… for some special occasion he wanted us to attend.” She straightened and sighed. “Most of the clothes I have were bought by George,” she said, giving Lily an apologetic smile. “I really have to get rid of them. I don’t see myself wearing them now that I am going to marry Jude.”

  “I understand,” Lily said. “I agree you should get rid of them if you don’t feel comfortable because George bought them for you.” Lily smiled. “We should go shopping.”

  “I don’t have any money, though,” Sofia said.

  “You don’t need money, silly,” Lily chuckled. “I have money. Let’s go.” She took Sofia’s hand to pull her out of the apartment.

  Sofia laughed. “Wait, let me put on something decent at least.” She shook her head and grinned at Lily. “Marriage has made you impatient, my friend.” She pulled on a white T-shirt and blue jeans and then left the apartment with Lily.

  At the first store they stopped at, Lily did not find anything appropriate to wear. They found a lovely turquoise short-sleeved dress at the second store, and Lily promptly bought it. She held up a blue fitted dress to Sofia and said, “This will look great on you, and it’s the kind of thing you like to wear. Why don’t you try it on?”

  “No,” Sofia refused. “I shouldn’t.” But she could not take her eyes off the dress. Lily was right. It was exactly the type of dress she liked and would have bought if she had any money.

  “Try it on,” Lily insisted.

  Sofia did, and it was a perfect fit.

  “We have to buy it,” Lily said and went to pay for it before Sofia could protest again.

  They left the store and went back to Sofia’s apartment, tired but happy. Sofia glanced at her wristwatch. “My wedding is in just a few hours,” she said, smiling, her heart filled with joy.

  “In a couple of hours, you will also be a married woman like me.” Lily beamed at Sofia. “Maybe we can get pregnant at the same time.”

  Sofia laughed. “At this time, Jude and I are not thinking about that.” But as she thought about what Lily had said, she grew increasingly excited. Maybe Jude would agree to start a family sooner rather than later. Because now that she thought about it, there was nothing she wanted more than to have a child with Jude; a baby that would be a part of her and him.

  “Lord, please speed up the time,” she said giddily, looking at her watch again.

  Lily giggled.

  Sofia sighed happily. Everything seemed to be coming into place for her and Jude. First, God had restored their relationship, and now, they were getting married. Lily had given them a place to stay, and Jude would get his Green card soon. They had a bright future together as a couple, she was certain of that.

  Chapter 22

  Jude whistled happily as he looked at himself in the mirror to fix his tie. He could not help smiling widely as he thought about Sofia and the fact that he was getting married to her today.

  “You have not stopped smiling since you came back from Sofia’s apartment yesterday,” Samuel said to him.

  “My lips are hurting from smiling so much,” Jude said, his smile widening. He pointed at his suit jacket on the bed and asked Samuel to hand it to him. He shrugged it on when Samuel did and buttoned up the suit.

  “You look great, man.” Samuel grinned at him. “I wish I could come with you, but I have classes in an hour.”

  “I know. No worries, bro. Sofia and I decided we want our marriage to be intimate,” he said. “Edith will be there of course, and Sofia called to say an old friend of hers would also be there. I wish you could be there too. However, I think we will have a small reception in the future and invite our friends.”

  Samuel pounded his back affectionately. “So by the end of today, you will be a married man. I am happy for you. Just yesterday you were miserable because you had to leave the United States and be far away from Sofia. Today, you’re going to marry to her.”

  “I love her so much,” Jude said. “I can’t wait to make her my wife.”

  Samuel smiled. “Well, since I can’t be there, kiss your wife for me.”

  Jude laughed. “Well, I will definitely be kissing my wife today, but it will not be for you, Samuel.”

  Samuel laughed and shrugged. “You’re a lucky man,” he said. “Sofia is gorgeous, and I know she loves you in spite of the problems you both have had the last few days.”

  “I know,” Jude said.

  “So, will you be moving into her house immediately after you get married, or will you wait until you both get somewhere bigger?”

  “I have waited enough,” Jude said, grinning. “I’ll be moving in with her as soon as we are married.”

  Samuel smiled broadly.

  Jude glanced at his wristwatch. “It’s time for me to go.” He put his hand on Samuel’s shoulder. “I’ll miss living with you, bro,” he said. “I’ll come get my things tomorrow.” He left the room after picking up his marriage license from the bedside table and walked to the living room, Samuel behind him. His heart raced with excitement as he opened the door to go out.

  Samuel said, “Jude, what about Shaffar’s threat? Please be careful.” Samuel grinned again. “I definitely don’t want to visit you in prison.”

  Jude laughed. “I’ll be careful, Samuel. I promise. Thankfully, after today he won’t be able to do much.”

  “Hopefully, Sofia will file for your residence visa as soon as possible.”

  Jude shrugged. “Even if she decides never to do that for me, I would still marry her. Again and again.”

  Samuel raised his eyebrows and laughed. “Oh… so romantic,” he said, giving Jude a teasing smile. “But then that will mean you will be deported and not be able to be with her.”

  “That’s true,” Jude said. He shook his head. “Why are we even talking about all this? Today is my wedding day. I am not about to start thinking about Green cards and deportation.” Joy flooded him again as he pictured Sofia in his mind. He said to Samuel, “I have to get going.” He opened the door, waved to Samuel, and walked out of the apartment.

  He made his way down the stairs, jangling Samuel’s car keys as he went. He was grateful that Samuel had agreed to lend him his car again. Sofia had asked him to stop working until he got a work permit. Right now he had no permission to work in the U.S., and he’d been working illegally. Hopefully, once he was able to start working again after he got his Green card, he would be able to save enough to buy a car and then a better home for himself and Sofia.

  He felt as light as a feather as he hurried to Samuel’s car. But just as he opened the door, a truck veered toward him and stopped right in front of Samuel’s car. He watched in alarm as two men in black suits got down from the vehicle and walked toward him. His eyes widened as he stared at them, and a thread of fear ran through him when he noticed the guns partly concealed by their jackets. They stopped right in front of him and one of them said, “You have
to come with us.”

  “Who are you?” he asked. But he had a niggling feeling that this was Shaffar’s doing. They were probably from the government, here to deport him.

  “Come with us quietly,” they ordered again, and then one of them went around him and pressed his gun to Jude’s back.

  “Now,” said he said.

  Jude’s heart thudded as fear ran through him, but he took a deep breath, pressed down his fear, and said, “I am not going with you. Today is my wedding day. That is very important to me.” He groaned after he’d spoken. If they shot him right now, that would be the end. There would be no wedding. Why had he said what he did?

  The one with the gun to his back cocked his gun. “You will come with us now, or you will be shot right here. Your choice.”

  Jude looked around him. There were no other people nearby, but a few pedestrians walked some distance away. He wasn’t sure these men were from the government anymore. Maybe they were men from Shaffar’s illegal agency. If he tried to make a run for it, they might not only shoot him but other people around might be in the line of fire and he did not want to put anyone in danger. He followed the men to their truck and got in.

  As they drove away, he thought about nothing else but Sofia and how she would feel when he did not appear at the courthouse today. Once again, he found himself praying. He prayed that she would not think he had developed cold feet and run off.

  He became more and more distressed as the vehicle sped down the road. He vowed to God that he would come back to Him if God got him out of this and reunited him with Sofia. He knew he was a prodigal son who had left his father’s house and he had no right whatsoever to God’s protection or help, but he continued to pray, asking for deliverance, not just for himself, but because of Sofia; because he could not bear the thought of her being miserable and believing he had willfully left her on their wedding day. He knew how that felt. All he wanted was to see her again and, because of that, he desperately wanted to live. But he didn’t know who these people were, but whoever they were, without God’s intervention, he would probably never see Sofia again.