It was a Sunday morning and Dr. Eve Russell, wife of Reverend Tc Russell, was about to sing a special for the congregation.

Julian Crane, who never attended church, hell, he didn’t even know what the word “church” meant, walked into the sanctuary of First Baptist Church in Harmony. Some people gasped and stared as he walked down the aisle and then slipped into one of the pews.

What was he doing here? They wondered. That was a question Julian was pondering himself as he stared forward and ignored the snobbish people who were gaping at him. He continued to sit there and endured the mental pain this Holy place was inflicting on him.

What am I doing here?! Julian shook his head. I’ve got to get out of here. Julian stood and was about to step back into the aisle, but something stopped him…

“Good morning! It’s lovely to see you here in the house of the Lord this Sunday morning,” Eve spoke into the microphone as she addressed the people who came to worship.

Julian turned back to face the pulpit when he saw her…

Who is she? Julian looked to her in admiration. He sat back down.

“While I sing this special, I want you all to open your hearts and feel what God is trying to say to us, hmm?” Eve smiled as the music began playing.

“Amen!” one of the members shouted.

“All the colors of the rainbow, all the voices of the wind; every dream that reaches out, that reaches out to find where love begins; every word of every story, every star in every sky, every corner of creation lives to testify,” Eve looked up as she held the last note, “For as long as I shall live, I will testify to love. I'll be a witness in the silences when words are not enough. With every breath I take, I will give thanks to God above.” She held her heart and then raised her hand towards the Heavens, “For as long as I shall live, I will testify to love.” Eve moved along to the beat and held her hand in the air.

Julian was taken aback by this woman. Never had he seen someone so beautiful. Someone who sung so sweetly; so angelic. He smiled as his eyes never left her.

Eve scanned the audience as she sang her heart out. She smiled as the lyrics poured out of her. Her eyes moved to the other half of the room, when they stopped on someone whose eyes seemed to be fixed on her. Eve had never seen this gentleman before, but was excited that there was a visitor at church today. If she had anything to do with the world, she would make them all Christians. She was very happy to see a new face and hoped that he would receive a message as her husband preached the word of God to the people.

Eve finished her song and everyone clapped. They truly believed that she was blessed with such an amazing voice; a talent that God gave her. She stepped off the stage and sat in the first pew and looked to her husband, who winked back at her. She smiled.

“Amen,” Tc praised, “Let’s give another round of applause for our sister,” he said as he put his hands together.

Everyone clapped once more as did Julian. As for Eve, her cheeks reddened and she waved her hand in front of her as if she hadn’t done anything spectacular.

As everyone began quieting down, Tc opened up his Bible and began with a word of prayer. Everyone bowed their head…everyone except for Julian. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. There was just something about her that drew him to her. Tc ended his prayer, welcomed the visitors, and then began preaching.

At the end of the worship service, Tc offered an invitation for anyone to come up to the front and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Some people made their way up to the front, and once Tc prayed with them, he invited people up to the front who just wanted to give thanks or just pray. Eve stood and made her way onto the stage and faced the people. Julian took notice of this, and saw it as an opportunity to get a closer look at her, so he stepped out into the aisle and walked up to the front and stood directly in front of Eve and bowed his head. Julian peeked up and met eyes with Eve. She smiled politely and noticed how her husband was still praying over another member of the church, so she took it upon herself to pray for this new visitor. She’d done it other times before, so this wasn’t anything different than before. Eve stepped down and walked to Julian. She greeted him and introduced herself and asked if he would like for her to pray over him. Julian agreed of course; he’d agree to anything that had her speaking to him. Eve smiled once more and then placed a hand on his shoulder and bowed her head down and began praying as the pianist played the Baptist hymn “Softly and Tenderly” in the background. Julian looked at her and smiled. He had his hands at his sides, but felt the need to touch her…just feel her, so he placed his hand on her hip. Eve paused in the middle of the prayer, but then continued; she thought nothing of it as she finished.

Julian’s lips grazed her neck as his hand found its way to her lower back. Eve’s fingers crept to the back of Julian’s neck and feathered his hair through her fingers.

“Amen,” Eve closed the prayer and then stepped from Julian to pray for another member.

Julian blinked his eyes. What had just happened here? He thought as he shook himself out of his lustful reverie. Julian didn’t even hear a word she had prayed for him. He did hear her voice, but the words just went in one ear and out the other.

The people made their way back to their pews and sat as Tc spoke once more.

“Please stand…” Tc instructed, “…as we sing our doxology and then we’ll be dismissed.”

The pianist began playing and everyone began singing the hymn they already knew by heart.

Afterwards, Tc walked to the door and greeted everyone as they left the sanctuary. Julian stayed behind, as did Eve. She walked over to the piano and turned the switch to the lamp off. When she turned around to walk back to her pew to retrieve her Bible, she found Julian holding it out towards her.

“Oh, thank you,” she smiled and took it.

“You’re welcome,” Julian smiled back, “I just wanted to uh, say ‘thank you’ for that prayer…thank you,” he laughed, “It really meant a lot.”

“Oh, you’re welcome. We’re very blessed to have you here; it’s always a blessing when one has come to know the Lord…”

Julian’s smile then faltered; he knew that wasn’t quite true.

“I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?” Eve noticed the change in his expression.

“No, no, no,” he smiled again, “I just…I wanted to ask you if there’s a way I can become more involved in the church. I know I’m not a member, but from what I’ve seen,” he paused as he looked her up and down, “I know that I’d like to be more involved…”

“Ohh, well that’s good to hear!” she said gleefully, “There’s a lot of things to get involved in; for example, we’re having a fundraiser next weekend…we can use all the help we can find,” she shrugged.

“Okay,” he nodded, “I’ll be there.”

Julian would’ve done anything to be close to this “Eve Russell”.

Eve led Julian out of the sanctuary and told him all that was going to happen next week and what he could volunteer doing. They exited the front door and she closed it.

Julian’s cell phone began ringing, and he excused himself for a moment, but when he had looked up, Eve was gone. He began looking around and found her talking to the pastor. Eve then touched Tc’s hand and then walked to her car, started it up, and drove off.

Julian thought nothing of it. Reverend Tc seemed to be a nice person; he looked like a person people could talk to and trust, so Julian assumed that Eve too, saw those qualities in him.
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Julian went to bed that night with nothing, but Eve on his mind. He wondered how it felt to go to bed with her; to feel her in his arms in the morning or to watch her sleep through the night. He wondered what her hair smelled like, what her skin felt like. Would she laugh at his jokes? Would she ever think of him more than a friend?