Ongoing fair warning - This is a "slow burn" short story. If you're looking for quick, graphic and mindless sex scenes, you probably won't enjoy my writing style; however, if you are willing to invest some time to envision in-depth scenarios, character development and a story line, I hope you will decide to follow Claire's journey and take a look at my other stories.
Recap of parts 1 & 2: Claire is a recent divorcee, the result of being caught by her husband in a compromising position with Tammy, her former best friend. Parts one and two contain the backstory, explaining how her relationship with her best friend evolved into a physical one after Tammy was abandoned at the altar. In the meantime, rumors at church swirled about her husband and the reasons for their divorce. Claire also had her suspicions about him after tracking his cellphone to a seedy motel. It all started to make sense when she uncovered hints pointing to her husband's possible connection with another sleazy congregant - Nate. After losing her best friend, Claire now has shifted her sights to another church-goer - Amy, who is recently widowed. Claire is currently attending an evening meeting at the church and is hoping that Amy will also attend. Now you're up to speed! Read on for more. Comments are welcome.
To Claire's dismay, the clicking heels were not Amy's. They belonged instead to the minister's wife Elaine, who was as frigid as they come. Claire believed that Elaine was roughly the same age as her, although her personality and stuffy attire made her seem much older. She reminded her of one of her stern grade school teachers, and in fact Elaine actually did teach grade school locally. Claire tried to mask her disappointment at seeing Elaine rather than Amy appear. Within seconds, however, things went from grim and depressing to hopeful and exciting as Amy entered the room, still in her blue scrubs and tennis shoes. She realized that she had never seen her dressed casually, and it took nearly everything in her power to avoid staring, unlike Nate. She was surprised that his mouth was able to restrain his tongue from rolling out across the table. Given the revelation brought on by the telltale pen in his hand, she assumed that Nate must go "both ways." Although she recently admitted to herself that she was bisexual as well, she knew that was where the similarities had ended. She assumed that Nate would screw anyone with a pulse, while she was much more selective in her extremely limited choices of partners. A twinge of pain crept through her yet again as she thought back to her lost loves - John and Tammy. She knew that she needed to plow ahead, and a glance at Amy gave her renewed hope that there could be an emotional and possibly a sexual salvation ahead.
With all participants in place, Reverend Holt began the meeting with a prayer, then proceeded to separate the members into groups of four. When he called out her name along with Nate's, Claire assumed that her personal prayers once again went unanswered, until he added both Amy and Elaine to complete the foursome. Well, not all is lost, thought Claire as she trailed behind the others down the hallway with her eyes now riveted to Amy's cute butt which perfectly filled out her scrub bottoms. They entered the Sunday school room, which consisted of several cheap metal folding chairs lined up in rows of three. They quietly reconfigured the room in unspoken agreement and pulled a square table into the middle of the room along with four chairs. Nate quickly claimed the seat between Amy and Claire, while Elaine sat on the other side across the small table from him. They made the obligatory small talk before getting down to business, with Claire agreeing to be the scribe. She struggled to focus, wondering if she would have the nerve to approach Amy and realizing that she was never good at flirtation, even when men were concerned. She was sure that it would be exponentially more difficult and riskier to flirt with a woman - in church no less.
Nate, however, was a master at it, and he took every opportunity to praise Amy's suggestions.
"How about if we consider a food ministry," she said.
"Amazing idea. I love it," Nate responded.
When she brought up a "Blessing of the Animals" idea, Nate responded by nodding in agreement.
"I may have to adopt a dog," he said, grinning, and followed with, "Are you a dog or a cat person?"
Amy smiled. "Both, one of each. I love my little 'Mittens', and I still have my husband's little doggie - Max."
"I love that name for a pussy," he said, winking at her as Claire rolled her eyes. "Mittens. Sounds nice and warm."
Although Elaine ignored them, it was hard for Claire to let the comment go, and she had to admit to herself that she felt more than just a pang of jealousy when she read Amy's body language.
She responded, "Oh, so you're a cat person?"
He nodded, "Of course, always have been, always will be. Cats are my favorite."
Claire had enough, and she couldn't contain herself any longer.
"Are you...sure you don't go both ways," she asked him in front of the women.
"Wha- wha - what?" He stuttered, turning noticeably red.
"You know, both dogs AND cats. Don't you like both?"
"Oh um," he said, clearing his throat. "Yep, both dogs and cats, yep."
"Nice pen by the way," Claire said with a wry smile. Only she and Nate knew what it implied.
Nate looked down at the pen in his hand, then back at her as the blood drained from his face. How could she have possibly known, he wondered.
She noticed his hands trembling as he pretended to write in his notebook, unable to look at her. He fumbled briefly before looking at his watch.
"Oh jeez, I totally forgot. I have this um, this 'thing' I need to get to," he said, rising from his chair.
Claire felt a slight bit of guilt at having put him in that position, but she couldn't help it and she knew he totally deserved it. As he reached the doorway, she called his name and he stopped but didn't turn around.
"See you Sunday?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he disappeared down the hall.
"Well, THAT was bizarre," Elaine said, and they all nodded in agreement.
Still, Amy looked disappointed, and Claire wondered if she had misread her. Could she actually be interested in Nate? At any rate, she knew that with Elaine in attendance, there was little chance of any type of flirtation in the picture.
"Anyway, I'm not sure about a 'Blessing of the Animals," Elaine said, shifting in the uncomfortable chair.
"Okay, well it was just a thought. How about ministering to a battered and abused women's shelter? There is one just a few hours away that is asking for help."
The women nodded, and Claire wondered if Nate would have agreed to it, but his vote was forfeited as a result of his quick departure.
Elaine said, "We may even have some room in the budget to travel there for a day or even two, if anyone is interested."
"Well, I'm probably interested, but," Claire hesitated before continuing and looked at the others.
"But what?"
"What about - you know - Nate? I mean, I can't really see him attending, but what if he wants to travel with us," Claire asked.
"He would just need to get his own hotel room, I guess. As a team member, we would have to invite him," Elaine said.
"Well, Nate has a good heart. He's so nice," Amy said.
