by Ralph Smith
“You’re right. I’m being silly.”
David said firmly “No, you’re not being silly. It isn’t silly that you are so compassionate and caring. In fact, it’s one of the things I love most about you.”
“Then, in that case I won’t argue with you.”
“I wasn’t planning on taking you here today.” He said as they pulled to a stop in front of an older two-story building “because this place isn’t about me. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
Aurora looked at him a little confused “all right, I’ll keep an open mind.”
“That isn’t actually what I meant. There are a lot of fine people here who work really hard. I only help in a small way.”
Aurora, more confused now, said, “Ok?”
David got out of the car, and made his way around to get Aurora. As she was watching him, she realized the area they were visiting wasn’t nearly as nice as the place where the wedding salon was. David opened the door and helped her down from her seat.
They walked up to the doors, and Aurora noticed a small sign that said ‘Safe Haven’. David opened the door for her, and they walked into a large room filled with people. Mostly women and children, but also a few men were all sitting at tables having lunch. They stood near the door for a minute, and then a woman from the other side of the room waved, and headed toward them. Noticing her, a number of other people turned, and began waving. Apparently David was well known here.
Suddenly out of nowhere a young boy came running up, and launched himself at David, who picked him up in his arms. The boy couldn’t have been more than five or six, and he was bubbling with excitement.
“Hi there Charlie! How are you today? Did you eat your lunch, already?”
“Momma said I could come say hi.” Charlie said as David gave a woman sitting at one of the tables a wave, and she smiled and waved back.
“Charlie, I want you to meet someone very important to me. Her name is Aurora.” David said as he turned so Charlie was looking at her.
“Hello, Charlie, it’s nice to meet you.” Aurora said with a big smile.
Charlie looking a little awe struck asked David in a soft voice, “is she an angel?”
David gave him a big smile, and said, “sometimes I think so. She and I are going to get married. What do you think about that?”
"Wow," Charlie said, “will you still come visit me on Saturdays when you’re married?”
“Of course I will.”
“I missed you this Saturday, I thought you forgot. No one else had time to read to me.”
“I’m sorry Charlie, but I promise I didn’t forget. I was travelling, and I couldn’t make it back in time. Do you forgive me?”
Charlie gave him a hug, and said, “ok.”
“David I’m so glad to see you.” The young woman from the other side of the room had finally made her way over. “I was worried when we didn’t see you Saturday.”
“Sorry, Rebecca. It was unavoidable.”
“He was travelling.”
“That’s right, Rebecca I’d like to introduce you to Aurora. She and I are getting married tomorrow.”
Rebecca, with a look of surprise and shock said, “oh… uh… that’s wonderful. It’s so nice to meet you. I thought he would never get married.”
“It’s nice to meet you too.”
Rebecca then turned to David “now why haven’t you told me about her before, David? That’s just like you. He almost never talks about himself.”
“We’ve known each other since we were children, but we only met a little over a week ago.”
“Really? You are going to have to tell me the whole story whether you like it or not.”
“I’ll be happy to, but we won’t have time today.” David said, “Charlie, your mom looks as if she wants you to come back and finish your lunch. I’ll come, and find you before we leave, ok?”
Charlie slid down from David’s arms, and said, “ok” as he ran back to his mother. David watched him as he sat down, and began eating.
“Charlie was asking about you all day Saturday.”
“I’m sorry. I won’t be here this Saturday either, but I’ll tell him before we leave.”
Aurora asked, “What is this place?”
Rebecca looked at David, and said, “You haven’t told her.”
“It just never came up.” And with a nod he told her to explain.
Rebecca turned to Aurora, and said, “This is a mission so to speak. We give out free meals to the poor and homeless. Upstairs we have rooms where woman who are in trouble can come, and stay with their children until they can get on their feet, like Charlie and his mom.”
Aurora said, starting to understand why they were there “oh that’s so very kind of you.”
Rebecca smiled kindly and said, “Thank you, but if it wasn’t for David, there wouldn’t be a mission.”
Aurora, looking a little confused, said, “I don’t understand.”
“David is one of our largest donors, we get donations of food, clothes, and money from a lot of other people and businesses, but David helped us get started, and is always here for us.” The look of admiration, and affection on her face was unmistakable.
Aurora with a look of surprise on her face said, “really? I had no idea.”
“That was the easy part. Rebecca and her staff do all the hard work.”
“Don’t you believe that, Aurora. He worked as hard as anyone to help get the doors open, and he comes every week to help out.”
Aurora turned to David, and reached up tenderly placing a hand on his face, and said, “I should’ve known. He’s the kindest man I’ve ever met.” Aurora saw out of the corner of her eye Rebecca wiping a single tear from her face, but she pretended not to notice.
“That’s enough you two.” David said even though the look of admiration on Aurora’s face could have held him on that spot all day. “I’m not a saint or anything. Rebecca is the real heart of this place. It was all her idea. I only helped her get started.”
Rebecca had regained herself, and said, “Typical, I’ve given up arguing with him about it. So what brings you here today?”
“To invite you to the wedding tomorrow, of course.”
Rebecca stammered a little, and said, “Tomorrow, that’s such short notice.”
Aurora sensing her dilemma said tenderly “Yes, we’d love to have you come.”
Rebecca said flustered “I’m not sure. I have to make sure someone can watch the place for me, and find a dress to wear.” Her face was a little pale, and her eyes shone brightly.
David, picking up that something else was going on, said, “Rebecca I’d love to have you there, but if you can’t make it I’ll understand. I’m going to go say goodbye to Charlie. I’ll be right back.”
David walked off leaving Rebecca and Aurora standing alone together. Aurora watched Rebecca seeing her gazing at David sadly.
Rebecca said in a faraway voice “I’m so happy for you. David’s such a wonderful man.”
Aurora smiled at her, and said, “thank you. I never thought I’d meet him, and I never thought I’d find love. I’m sorry.”
Rebecca asked slightly surprised “sorry for what?”
Aurora said in a kind voice “I spent most of the past 10 years of my life alone, and even when I was with people, I felt alone. I don’t know anything about men or marriage, but since I met David now I know what love is. I’m sorry because I can see that you love him, and he’s marrying me.”
Rebecca stood frozen, staring at Aurora until another tear ran down her cheek. She reached up, and wiped it away, and asked “is it that obvious?”
“I don’t know. I just saw a reflection of what I feel when I’m around him in your eyes. I can tell you that David sees something special in you too and if he can, then someone else will. I wouldn’t have thought that before I met him, but now I’m sure of it.”
Rebecca asked a little choked up “do you truly think so?”
“Yes I d
o.”
“Thank you.”
Just then David returned, and gave Rebecca a big hug. “We have to get going. If I don’t see you at the wedding, I’ll see you a week from Saturday. I’m going to stop by the bank this afternoon, and make sure you have enough in the account to carry through.”
David let go of Rebecca, and turned to Aurora, taking her arm. Rebecca said, “good bye. I hope you have a good time.”
“Goodbye Rebecca. It was very nice meeting you.”
They walked out into the bright sun and went straight to the car. Once inside David turned to Aurora, and asked, “did Rebecca say anything? She didn’t quite seem herself. I hope she’s all right.”
“She will be.”
David looked at her with a quizzical expression on his face and asked, “What do you mean?”
Aurora looked back at the building then turned, and said, “let’s go, and I’ll tell you.”
David started the car, and they pulled out onto the street. Once the building was out of view Aurora turned to him, and said, “Rebecca loves you.”
“I love her too. She’s a wonderful person. She’s so giving. She works tirelessly helping all those people.”
“I don’t think you understand. She’s in love with you. I don’t know much about having a relationship, but I could see it in the way she looks at you.”
“I think you must be mistaken, I’ve known her since we went to school together. We’re just friends.”
“Just be sensitive to her, that’s all I ask.”
“I will. So what did you think about the mission?”
“I feel more foolish now. I’ve seen time and time again how generous you are, and how you put the needs of others ahead of yours. I was just overwhelmed by everything this morning, and didn’t feel as if I deserved it.”
“You’re not being foolish, and don’t get carried away now. I’m not that special, it’s just if I can help someone I do. The Lord has given me everything I have, so I need to honor him with what I do with it. You and Rebecca are the only people who know that I help with the mission because I don’t want praise for His generosity. But that’s not why I brought you there. Were the ladies at the boutique kind to you today?”
“Oh yes very.”
“Well the money we spent there today will help to feed their families. Just as much as the money I put into the mission helps the families there too. If I hoarded the wealth I’ve been blessed with, what good would that do? By the same token, if I squandered it or gave it all away I would not be able to make sure that the good work that Rebecca does can continue.” David said, “to put it another way. I have been blessed with the ability to earn money, and Rebecca has been given the gift to help change or even save those people’s lives. So by growing my wealth I can do more good through people like Rebecca than I can myself.”
“I didn’t realize you were so wise too. How did you learn all these things?”
David laughed, and said, “by making a lot of mistakes, and by reading the Bible, although I don’t feel all that wise most of the time.”
“Where are we going now?”
"Lunch," David said, “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
“Me too. The food at the mission smelled delicious.”
“We could’ve eaten there, but I wanted us to have some privacy. I thought we could go to a place I know on the river. The view is pretty, and the food is good.”
"Privacy sounds good."
David made his way through, what felt to Aurora like a maze of streets between buildings that seemed impossibly tall. It was beyond her how anyone could build something so high, and yet there was one after another. She watched the people walking the streets, completely unaffected by the grandeur of the place. Before she realized it, David was pulling the car up underneath one of the tallest buildings she had seen yet.
She looked at the massive stone columns holding the building up above their heads, and as large as they were they seemed too small. She felt a little nervous contemplating what was above them. David maneuvered between rows of cars, and up ramps until he found an opening. He pulled the car in and shut it off.
“Here we go. There’s a restaurant on the top floor that will give us a magnificent view.”
“How long will it take to climb to the top?” Aurora asked, looking a little dismayed.
“Don’t worry. There’s an elevator that will carry us to the top.”
Aurora gave him an ‘if you say so” look that made him chuckle a little. He walked around and helped her from the car then locked the doors. They walked across a row of cars holding hands until they came to a glass wall that made a small room. When they went inside he walked over to the wall, and pushed the button, then he stepped back taking her hand again.
“These are the express elevators. We can take them all the way to the top.”
They heard a ding and then the doors on the right opened. David led Aurora to the elevator, and she inspected the jamb to see where the doors went. When they used the elevators at the nursing facility she was too distracted by what was going on to pay much attention to them, but today was different. She was so absorbed that it took her a moment to realize the back of the elevator was glass, and they could see out onto the river.
She was a little surprised, and said, “Oh look out there. I can see the river.”
David reached over, and hit the button for the top floor, and said, “I know. Wait until you see it from the top.”
The doors slid shut, and the elevator started to rise. Aurora quickly stepped back from the glass wall, and bumped into David, who put an arm around her to keep her from tripping.
“Are we going to be able to see all the way up to the top?”
“Yes, I thought you’d like to get a good look at everything.”
She leaned forward to look out and down as they moved quickly up the side of the building, but stayed back from the edge. “I feel as if I could fall off.”
“I remember the first time I went up in this elevator. I was scared to death. I held onto my father’s leg as if my life depended on it.”
By the time they got to the top Aurora had backed him up almost to the door. When the doors opened, and they stepped out into the lobby, he could feel her muscles relax. They walked towards the opposite end of the lobby where a man stood behind a wooden podium. Aurora was admiring the polished stone floors of deep green, and the smooth wood walls with decorative trim. Past the man at the podium, she could see into a large room, and at the far end light was coming in from a tremendous window that she imagined looked out over the city.
When they reached the man he said, “Welcome to the Rooftop. Lunch for two?”
“Yes, please.”
The man asked, “Would you like a seat by the window?”
David looked to Aurora, who gave a slight shake of the head, and then he replied, “No, I think we’d prefer something away from the window today. Something quiet, where we can talk, would be nice.”
The man said, “very good. Then come this way please.”
Aurora gave David a slight squeeze to say thank you. She wasn’t sure she could sit through an entire meal looking out the window from this high up. They stepped through the archway of the lobby into a huge room with people sitting at tables all around the perimeter. They were all very nicely dressed. Some were talking quietly, and others were laughing, and joking. The atmosphere was relaxed, and Aurora didn’t see one person carrying a weapon.
“Is this table acceptable sir?” The man asked.
The table was close enough to the window to see off in the distance, but far enough back to feel as though they were on steady ground. David looked to Aurora, and she nodded her approval.
“Yes that'll be fine, thank you.”
“Very good. Your server will be along shortly.” The man said as he walked off.
Almost immediately a young man showed up with a pitcher, and asked “would you like some water?”
“Yes please.
”
“And you sir?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“I’ll be right back with some bread.”
David said, “Thank you” As he hurried off.
David was just about to say something when a young woman came up to the table, and said, “Hello I’m Darlene, and I’ll be taking care of you today. May I get you something to drink?”
“Hello Darlene. Aurora would you like something else to drink besides water? They have tea, coffee, juices, milk, and what we call soft drinks, which are sweet.”
“I’d like some tea if it isn’t too much trouble.”
Darlene said, “No, that isn’t any trouble.”
“I’ll have some tea too, please. Do you have any specials today?”
“Yes sir. We have 2 soups today, French onion and vegetable beef, we have broiled cod fish with a lemon butter sauce served over rice, a bacon bleu cheese burger, and shrimp with tomato basil served over angel hair.”
“Aurora would you like some soup while we’re deciding on our meal?”
“That sounds good, I like onion soup.”
“Darlene, could we have 2 cups of the French onion soup while we look over the menu?”
“I’ll get them right away.”
“Thank you.”
As Darlene walked off Aurora leaned in to David, and said, “I really don’t know what those other dishes she said were.”
“I didn’t expect you to. That’s why I thought soup might be good. This way we can look at the menu together.” Then David stood up.
Aurora looked up questioningly as he grabbed a chair, and pulled it around next to her. The table was too narrow for them to sit side by side, so David sat caddy corner, and leaned in picking up the menu. David held the menu up, and opened it for them to look at together.