~*~*~*~
Barbara was having her hair done by her hairstylist D’borah at Zotbelle salon in Manhattan. She had been with D’borah for years. She was a beautiful black woman with infinite charm. More importantly she was a professional in every way. Waiting in her salon was unheard of. In fact, if a client had to wait for more than 15 minutes before receiving attention they were given a 15% discount on their bill. As the proprietor and head stylist she had four other assistants but she worked on special clients like Barbara herself.
Barbara now sat in the chair chatting with D’borah as she trimmed her wet hair. She heard her phone whistling in her lap. Without hesitation she answered as the smile broke out on her face. She knew it was William because that was the special ringtone she had assigned to his phone number on Monday morning.
They’d spent the whole of Sunday together, dining with her mother after church and then in the evening driving over to Gateway National Recreation Area. There they had spread a blanket, ate the supper they’d bought from a nearby restaurant, and watched the stars while commenting on God’s goodness and the splendor of his creation. As they chatted William had asked her to support him in his Christian journey and she had promised to be there for him whenever he whistled.
In honor of her promise she’d assigned the whistle ringtone to his number. “Hey, stranger what have you been up to,” she asked lightly.
“Barbara, I need to see you.”
Barbara could hear the weariness in William’s voice and was immediately concerned. “Wills, what is it? What’s going on?”
“Can you come over?”
“Are you at the Waldorf?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be there in a jiffy.”
Barbara asked D’borah to blow dry her hair quickly and dispense with the styling on this occasion. D’borah began to protest but Barbara explained that she had an emergency.
After she’d been ushered in by Alfred, Barbara walked into the living room and silently observed William standing looking through the floor to ceiling windows, seemingly lost in thought. He had both hands in the pockets of his black pants and his shoulders were slumped.
She cleared her throat and he spun around. She took one look at his disheveled appearance and knew that something was wrong.
“Hi,” she said tentatively, advancing further into the room. “What’s happened? Did someone die?”
He sighed and turned to lean against the glass. He pulled a hand roughly through his tousled hair and looked up at the ceiling then blew out a ragged breath. When his blue gaze met hers again he looked…ashamed. “No. I’m sorry for alarming you.”
“Something’s wrong, though, I can see it.”
He gestured towards a couch. “Let’s sit and talk. Can I get you anything?”
She shook her head no. He sat next to her on the sofa. She noticed that his eyes looked bloodshot. He didn’t look fresh and ready for the world as he usually did.
She took his hands in hers and stared at him until he allowed his wandering eyes to meet hers. “You can tell me anything. I’m your friend. I care.”
He took a deep breath. Then he told her everything that had transpired in the wee hours of that morning. He didn’t leave anything out.
“I’m feeling really bad right now. Like I’ve failed my first test. My first day as a Christian, and I’m already messing up. I shouldn’t have gone to the club.”
“Did you pray about going?”
“No. Should I have done?”
“Well, the Word does say in all thy ways acknowledge Him. That’s all inclusive so I think it includes going out to clubs.”
“It seemed innocent enough. I guess I didn’t think that’s all. I just slipped into my usual way of doing things. I felt a niggling sense of discomfort when I stepped out of the car but I ignored it. So I ended up having a row with my friend and a very public row with an old…something. Don’t quite know what to call her.”
“We all mess up. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made decisions without including God in the equation and paid the price. He’s forgiving and patient though.”
“Photos of me and Willow Brown are going to be all over the Internet and on newsstands by today. I’ve asked God to forgive me for choosing to stay there for as long as I did. I feel as though I’ve let you down, though.”
Barbara was quiet for a few minutes then she gave William a gentle smile, reached out and smoothed back his hair. “Wills, you haven’t let me down. I don’t expect you to be anything but human. I’m not perfect. I have my issues too, my areas of struggle, but each day I take them to the cross. You didn’t fail as much as you think. You did try to show your friends that certain things were unacceptable and eventually you left the club. I think you handled that situation in the best way you could have. I don’t know what else you could have done. Let the rumor mills turn. You know the truth. That’s what really counts.”
William leaned towards her until his forehead met hers. “Thank you. Thank you for being there for me when I needed you.”
“Anytime. Have you had breakfast yet?” she replied, trying to keep her tone light and ignore the racing of heart at his nearness.
William shook his head. He shifted to look at the clock on the wall. “Wow, it’s 10:00 a.m. I haven’t slept since yesterday. I think that I’m going to get some sleep. I feel really knackered.”
Barbara smiled. “Okay, you do that and maybe we can go to dinner tonight. If you’re up to it.”
“You’re inviting me out? I think that I should get spat on by Willow Brown more often. It seems to have brought me good luck.”
Barbara threw back her head and laughed. “There’s the William I know. I’ll pick you up at seven, okay?”
“Way better than ‘okay’,” he smiled.
She reached over and hugged him. He felt so good. “Now go get your rest. See you later.”
Chapter 23
That night, over dinner, William and Barbara discussed what he’d read in 1 John. They continued the discussion on the two-minute walk over to Amsterdam Billiards.
Barbara beat William at pool and he whistled and asked, “Where’d you learn to play like that?” which cracked Barbara up.
Wednesday night he accompanied Barbara to church and then to dinner.
“There’s something you should know,” William said.
Barbara paused her chewing and watched him expectantly.
“Willow Brown has sent a letter of her intent to sue me for assault if I don’t pay her damages.”
“What!”
“Yes. Apparently she wants money.”
“What are you going to do? You’re not going to pay her are you?”
“Of course not. I instructed my lawyers to inform her that we will file a counter suit if she sues. She assaulted me and there are plenty photos to back that up.”
“You are so intrepid. I’d be having kittens right now if someone threatened to sue me.”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit,” he reached for her hand. “I know for a fact that you’d pray about it and leave it with God.”
She smiled and intertwined her fingers with his. “You know me too well.”
“I’d like to get to know you even better.”
Barbara felt her heart rate spike. She started to withdraw her hand from William’s. He wouldn’t let her. He held on tight. She stilled her hand.
“Do you know that you’re my best friend? I enjoy every second with you.”
She thought about that a bit and realized how true it was. They had become extremely close over the past few weeks. The truth was that she loved his company and she felt as though she could sit and converse with him about a million things all day long. Because he was able to retain information easily he was very knowledgeable about a wide spectrum of interesting and intellectually stimulating things. Even when he referenced Scripture, and he was doing that more and more these days as he devoured the Bible, he’d posit things to her that she had
not thought of in her two years as a Christ follower. She realized that association with him was actually enriching her own walk with Christ. He had become her best friend.
~*~*~*~
On Friday night, William took Barbara to a vegetarian restaurant.
“You’re going to have to order for me,” he said. “I have no idea what tofu tastes like.”
Barbara giggled. “Just because I’m a vegetarian doesn’t mean I’m a big tofu fan either but I’ll happily order for you.”
Barbara ordered the hummus, served with baked zahtar pita wedges and crudités for herself and the walnut lentil pate for William. For the entrée she ordered the three bean chili for both of them.
William was the one who offered to bless the meal and Barbara listened with admiration at how comfortable he had grown with praying out loud.
When they had eaten the appetizer and entrée William admitted that the food was delicious.
“So, Mr. Carnivore, do you think you can go vegetarian?”
William shook his head. “I said it tasted delicious I didn’t say that I wanted to drop meat in favor of it. Let’s just say I could see myself eating like this sometimes.”
Just then the waiter came up to them to find out what they wanted for dessert. Barbara ordered the Kanten parfait of the day and a cup of chai tea for both of them.
William raised a brow. “Chai tea? This really is a baptism of fire.”
“If you can drink Earl Grey tea you can drink Chai tea, trust me.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “You look very…uh… lovely tonight, by the way. Do you know that when we walked in you stopped conversation? I witnessed it.”
Barbara laughed. “Actually, I think it was you who stopped conversation. Most of the people here are women. Don’t think that I’m oblivious to the appreciative looks you get from the female species when we’re together. The only reason that most of them don’t throw themselves at you when I’m around is because they probably saw me in Red Dragon and think I know Kung Fu for real.”
William laughed so hard his eyes watered.
“Bottoms up,” Barbara said and clinked her cup of Chai tea to his.
After a couple of sips of the tea, William placed the cup in the saucer and pushed it away slightly.
“That bad huh?” A corner of Barbara’s mouth lifted in a smile.
William shook his head and his blue gaze met hers with blazing intensity, “No, it’s quite nice actually. It’s just that I’ve got something for you.” He reached into his pocket and removed a small black velvet box.
Barbara’s eyes darted from the box to William’s face and her heart missed so many beats that she was certain she was going to go into cardiac arrest.
William placed the box in the middle of the table and his intense eyes continued to captivate her. Neither of them spoke for several minutes, just stared at each other as though frozen in time.
Finally, William said, “I have had an amazing four weeks. You know, when you first asked that we be just friends I found it hard to digest. As you are well aware I want more. Over these last few weeks, though, we have formed a friendship. I enjoy a camaraderie with you that I have with few people.”
He paused and reached across the table to take her hand in his. “Now, as you will remember, I took four weeks’ holiday, and I’m returning to London tomorrow afternoon.”
Barbara gasped involuntarily. How could she have forgotten? She couldn’t believe that he would be leaving her already.
“So soon!” She blurted out before she could stop herself.
“Yes. So this is the last night I’ve got to spend with you like this for a while. I’ll admit that I want you in every possible way, but be assured that your friendship is also important to me. I treasure it and until I can be more to you than just your best friend I want you to have a visual reminder of how dear you are to me.”
Barbara continued to watch, speechless, as William released her hand to reach over and crack open the box. ‘I want you in every possible way’ was still ringing in her ears making it almost impossible to breathe.
“This is a friendship ring. To give you a little history, these rings date back to the first millennium and represent true loyalty and commitment between friends. Will you do me the honor of wearing this ring as a symbol of our friendship and as a commitment to be true friends forever, no matter what?”
Barbara stared down at the beautiful gold ring with diamond baguettes at the sides and two clasped hands in the center. William was holding it out to her. She looked into his hypnotic eyes and held out her hand as assent. He gently placed it on the third finger of her left hand.
She gently traced the outline of the clasped hands and then looked up at William. He was watching her expectantly. “It’s beautiful. I’m honored you feel this way.”
William broke out into a smile and let out a relieved breath. “I was rather afraid you’d think this a little over the top. I’m glad you understand why I would want to symbolize our relationship.”
He reached into his pocket again and removed another box. This one held a similar ring although it had a thicker band than hers did.
“This is my band, would you do me the honor of placing it on my finger?”
Barbara ignored the roaring in her ears and placed the ring on William’s finger.
He took her hand and brought it to his lips. She felt as though she would burst into tears. It was suddenly all too much. She had insisted that they just be friends and now suddenly she realized that she wanted more. Barbara found that she had lost her appetite and barely nibbled on her dessert.
~*~*~*~
Back in his condo later that night, William sat in his living room in the dark staring through the window into the bright lights of Manhattan. As physically tired as he was he couldn’t sleep. He felt restless. His mind, his heart, his soul, everything, were in overdrive.
He twisted the gold band on his finger and remembered when he had made the decision to purchase the friendship rings. He and Barbara were searching for a gift for her mother in the large jewelry store in Bergdorf’s when he had wandered a distance off and laid eyes on the most unique rings he had ever seen. He had enquired of the sales clerk what they were. He’d been told that they were Friendship Rings. That had immediately set off an idea in his head.
“I’ll take them,” he had whispered. “But I don’t want her (gesturing towards Barbara) to know about them so can you do it discreetly?” The clerk, of course, had happily obliged and the transaction had taken place so inconspicuously that Barbara hadn’t noticed a thing.
He had hesitated to present them to her because he wasn’t sure what her response would be but he decided to take the risk. There wasn’t much time left in his stay and he needed to make a bold statement. He wanted something to cement his relationship with Barbara, remind her of him when he was out of sight. If it couldn’t be an engagement ring at this point then a friendship ring was a close second.
He was trusting God that he would soften Barbara’s heart towards him so that it wouldn’t be long before she would surrender to him. He knew that she was the one to complete him. Each day in her presence just confirmed this assurance. He had sincerely tried over the last few weeks to prove to her that he was worthy of her love and devotion. Prove to her that he wasn’t some playboy who was interested in a dalliance. He didn’t know what else he could do now besides pray and wait. Like Jacob he would just have to be patient. He smiled wryly. He’d always heard that God worked in mysterious ways. Patience had never been one of his strong suits, so how ironic now that the thing he wanted most in the entire world he would have to be patient for. He had no choice. He couldn’t force Barbara to marry him. Even if he could he wouldn’t want to. No, he wanted her to willing give herself to him.
Chapter 24
Barbara stretched and then rotated her shoulders. The pilot of the Gulfstream V jet had just announced that they would be landing at Beijing Capital International Airport in less than 15 mi
nutes. She brought her seat to an upright position, smoothed out her turtleneck sweater and ran her fingers through her hair. It was just after 7:00 p.m., which meant that she had just spent the last four hours sleeping.
She now thought back to what had brought her to this place.
A week ago William had called her. “Hi, sweetheart. How did your mom like her gift?”
Barbara had chuckled. Her mother’s birthday had been the previous day.
“She loved the gift that we chose for her. She also loved the dozen white roses you sent her. She asked me to convey her thanks.”
“Tell her it was my pleasure. Now, down to business. I need you to come out here.”
“London? Why?”
“No, Beijing. That’s where I am, remember?”
“And you want me to fly half way around the world just to see your pretty face? Why, pray tell?”
“Because I’m having a ceremony to launch the company here on Monday and I want you to say the opening prayer.”
Barbara had been too stunned to speak.
She was silent for so long that William had asked, “Barbie, are you still there?”
“Yes. Why me?”
“Because you played a significant role in my coming to know God and I want you to share in this blessing.”
Barbara hadn’t known what to say. Finally, she’d said the only thing she wanted to say.
“Okay, I’ll clear my schedule. I’ll be there.”
She was going to comment on what the press would say but didn’t bother. They were clearly past that. Everyone assumed that they were a couple now so what difference did it make? She remembered something though.
“Hey, Wills, isn’t China a communist country? Wouldn’t public prayer be frowned upon?”
The Royal Couple: A Christian Romance (Royals Book 1) Page 23