Hello again, everyone. I want to take the time to thank you for reading my stories. This story is a romance story. There is some sex, however it is not explicit.
I want to thank Kalamazoo707 for her fantastic advice and help with this story. She is amazing.
Any mistakes found are mine and mine alone. So please, be kind. Thank you and enjoy. Please remember to vote and comment.
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Mysha Knicks watched Clay Richards work in his yard as she did every morning since he moved in over a year ago and became the new minister at the church. Mysha hated the fact he was a minister, because in the town of Gospel there were two classes of people: Saints and Heathens.
Clay, in all of his blond glory, was a Saint. He followed the straight and narrow path. Every morning he would go for a jog. Returning home to pray in the alcove in his living room Mysha knew this because from her living room, she could see clear through the front of his house. After praying for twenty to thirty minutes, he would disappear in his bedroom and the come out dressed usually in dark slacks with a crisp white shirt.
Where Clay was a Saint, Mysha was definitely a Heathen. She didn't attend church, partied with her friends, and simply enjoyed living.
Mysha remembered when he moved in two summers ago. All of the members of the local church flocked to the house across the street. Excitement filled the air as the new minister was being moved into his new home. Their enthusiasm was contagious and Mysha felt happiness welling up inside of her.
Mysha saw a few of the girls she'd gone to school with and decided to walk over and talk to them. That's when she saw him. He was stunning, golden locks held in a band at the nape of his neck, sweaty from the exertion that it took to help unload the moving van, Mysha was enthralled by the look of him.
Very few things rendered Mysha speechless, but the appearance of her handsome neighbor was one of those events.
"Young Lady, you need to go back to your house. Your kind is not welcomed here." Mysha heard the scraggly voice of Mother Thomas, an elder lady from the church.
Mysha turned to face the older lady and was met by the disdain and dislike in her eyes.
Two years ago when Mysha first experienced the dislike of the older woman, it hurt. She actually went to the church and tried to become an active member. At first the people at the church were friendly, then one day she was going out with her friends and Mother Thomas saw her.
The look the old lady gave her was cold enough to freeze fire. That Sunday, when Mysha arrived at the church, she was invited to the Office of the First Lady of the Church, Mother Aggie Black. Apparently Mother Thomas, Mother Williams, and Mother Black felt the need to share a few home truths with her.
Looking at her with a look of disdain, Mother Black snidely stated, "Well, Mysha, I understand that your mother has not taught you how respectable women dress, but as the head woman in this church I am letting you know that in this church you cannot dress and act like a streetwalker."
Mysha was hurt and disappointed because she'd spent her whole life with people judging her and for once she thought that these people accepted her as she was. For the head woman in the church to come at her in this way was horrid. It hurt and for a second Mysha felt like nothing, a nobody. She'd failed to belong once again. Tears started to form in her eyes, hating the fact that she'd never be accepted by these people.
Mother Black was still talking. "Your mother wasn't saved and unfortunately could not teach you to be virtuous." Mother Black continued with Mother Thomas smiling evilly and nodding in agreement. The only one not attacking her at this point was Mother Williams, and she seemed to be caught off guard by these two as well.
"Yes, your upbringing was not your fault." Mother Thomas chimed in. "We will teach you the values of a Christian woman, unlike what your mother raise you to believe."
The digs at her mother was starting to annoy Mysha, but out of respect for these two women, she stayed silent, the whole while her heart was truly breaking.
"Anyway, it's obvious your mother had no morals and raised you to have none as well. She won't make it to heaven, but we will help you, dear. You don't have to remain ignorant like she did. "The two older women explained.
"Mother Black, I don't see the need to insult my mother besides you are out of line." Mysha retorted in defense of her parent. Mysha's mother died in a car accident when she'd just turned eighteen. She had no other living relatives and her mother was all she had. No one would insult her mother and she'd heard all she needed from these two old prudes.
"Uh!" Mother Thomas gasped and looking shocked. "So rude and you have no respect for your elders. You cannot talk to her like that. She is the head woman in this church."
Mysha angrily turned on Mother Thomas and in a low voice filled with rage she said, "Look, Mother Thomas, she had no right to insult my mother. The same way you don't have the right to judge me. I thought you were supposed to be Christians. But the way you-"Mother Black cut her off.
"That is enough. If you are not going to be more respectable, then you need to leave." Mother Black interjected standing to her feet.
Mother Williams sat and watched stunned at the level of intensity at which the two women attacked this girl. She didn't think it was fair so she decided to intervene and try to diffuse the situation.
"Mother Black, Mother Thomas, maybe you two should calm down. I'm sure we can all talk about this. Really, you are not being fair to Mysha." she stated calmly as she tried to get a handle on the situation.
Both of the furious older women turned on her. "You condone this, Mother Williams. You think this, this,...girl has the right to speak to us this way. I can't believe you. You've got some-" Mother Thomas attacked Mother Williams with Mother Black assenting in agreement with her.
Mysha at this point had seen enough. Stunned at the viciousness at which the two women attacked Mother Williams, she immediately jumped to Mother William's defense.
"She is a member of your church and because she speaks with reason you attack her. You two women are a set of old hypocritical bitches and I will not come back to this fake ass church.
Mother Williams, thank you. Of all the people here, you were one of the only ones that truly made me feel welcomed." Mysha looked at the two other women, collected her bag and stormed out of the door. With a crushed heart and damaged spirit, Mysha vowed to never enter that church again.
The two older women were appalled at the way Mysha spoke to them. Mother Williams was grateful to her for defending her against the two more prominent women, but she was also hurt. She didn't expect her friends to turn on her, but they were wrong and had no reason to attack Mysha the way they had. She felt the need to tell someone, but who could she talk to. This was the first lady of the church and head mother; she had just been elevated, so she had no recourse.
After Mysha stormed out, Mother Black apologized to Mother Williams for being short, and then she admonished her for not being willing to do God's work and stand against evil.
Time passed and Pastor Black retired, therefore a new minister was named. Pastor Black and his wife stayed just long enough to help the new preacher acclimate before moving to Florida.
The new pastor now ruled the roost. He sparked Mysha's interest. He seemed different from the other people in the town. Every morning when Mysha would leave for work, Clay would make sure he spoke and wished her a good day.
On the weekends when she didn't have to work, he would always walk over and invite her to join him for breakfast. When Clay would show up at her doorstep on Saturday morning, Mysha felt happy. She looked forward to spending a few minutes with him, but was apprehensive about joining him for breakfast so early in his home.
So whenever he invited her to breakfast, she'd always refused. He took her refusals in stride even though they made her more appealing to him.
He invited her to the church. She'd refuse. He'd invite her to social functions and she'd refuse. He talked to her at least once every day the first four months.
Once he realized she worked at the coffee shop, he came by to chat with her every morning. He seemed completely oblivious to the way certain members of his flock looked at her.
Mysha would watch him and admire his fantastic body. It was hard to believe he was a minister. He was so fine. He stood a little over six feet tall, with broad shoulders, a firm six-pack abdomen, and thick muscular pythons that she imagined would encase the woman he held in a tight embrace.
He was fair with his blond hair cut short so that it showed off his incredibly amazing face. Personally, she liked his hair long, because it curled around his neck. His clear grey eyes sparkled whenever she saw him. With his perfect face, perfect skin, and perfect body, Mysha was not surprised to see the single females at his church constantly making excuses the stop by his house.
Well, time's up. Stop ogling preacher man,
Mysha thought.
Some of us just aren't chosen. Hmmm.
Mysha then got dressed for her first job of the week, barista at the coffee shop.
"Good morning, welcome to Sunshine Coffee. How may I help you?" Mysha greeted her twentieth customer of that morning. That customer ordered a chilled mocha with a ham and cheese roll. Mysha completed their order.
The customer collected their order a headed to their table. The next customer stepped forward and Mysha started with the standard greeting. "Good morning, welcome to Sunshine Coffee. How may I help you?"
"You can join me for dinner, Mysha. Do you work tonight?" Clay asked smiling at her as he stepped up in line.
Mysha's heart slammed in her chest. "Pastor Richards, you don't need to be seen out with me. What would your parishioners think?" she said as she smiled coyly.
Clay smiled,
Damn, why is he so damn cute? Fuck, and he knows it.
