Fabian wasn’t sure why he had to pray especially since he had prayed just an hour ago. He looked at the volume of research he still had to tidy up before the end of work that day, and decided to ignore the prompt in his spirit and go a few more pages. There was that nudge again to pray. This time, the scripture verse “pray in and out of season” popped into his mind.
He paused and put down his pen; then he stared at the door for a while as though he expected someone to walk through the door and give him some kind of explanation. “Dear Lord, are you saying something to me?” He muttered, massaging his temple with his hands. Unable to further ignore the tug at his heart to pray, he rose from his chair and shut the door. “Father in the name of Jesus Christ, I thank you for your faithfulness, thank you for keeping me, and fighting my unseen battles, thank you for my family and friends, for everyone connected to me directly or indirectly, thank you for my destiny…”
By the time he finished, Fabian felt a kind of peace that both surprised him and made him thank the Lord some more that he had listened and obeyed.
*****
“I need just one more touch on my cheeks and I will be good to go” Sharon said dabbing her cheeks with more red stuff.
“You may want to go easy on the make-up Sharon, otherwise, you’ll draw lots of attention to yourself. You don’t have to make it obvious you are out to draw blood you know.” Cynthia said, looking at her friend with keen interest. “Besides, do you think he will notice? I mean, what if he is really born again?”
Sharon turned around to give her friend a look that said hello-what-planet-are-you-from?
“Cynthia, you don’t seriously believe that born again shit do you?”
“Well, I just feel there’s something rather different about him that’s all.”
“He is a man Cynthia, all men are the same!”
“I know, but why this particular man, what’s the big deal about this Fabian guy anyway?”
“Well,” Sharon began in a dreamy voice, “He’s got a special appeal Cynthia; he’s tall, crazily handsome and there’s this special thing about him, it’s like magnet.”
“Special appeal? Magnet? Sharon, you’ve only seen this man once and in a church service, how can you describe him in such strong terms?”
Sharon dabbed her cheek one more time and decided she was fit and ready to leave. “That, my dear, is a talk for another time. All I can say now is simple; anointing breaks the yoke”.
Cynthia burst into loud quakes of laughter.
“And why are you laughing?” Sharon asked, a bit surprised and irritated.
“Nothing really,” Cynthia managed in between bursts of laughter, “Don’t let me keep you, like you said, it’s a talk for another time. Just know though, that I’ll be waiting right here for every tiny detail and I do hope his anointing is strong enough to break this yoke of craziness in your life.”
Sharon hissed and walked away without saying another word to her friend and flat mate. That was just the thing with Cynthia, she thought. Every time she came up with a fun plan, Cynthia made her feel stupid. Anyway, after this evening, she’d show her friend who the main deal was.
*****
When Fabian flipped through all the stuff he’d worked on, he realized he had worked at a better speed after he prayed. He was surprised at how the heavy paper work seemed to have automatically sorted itself out. He smiled to himself, muttered a short prayer of thanks under his breath and got on his feet to stretch briefly. Just as he sat to begin work on his last file; he heard a gentle knock on his door. At first, he wasn’t certain, but as he stared at the door, he heard it again. “Yeah, come on in,” he said thinking it had to be his secretary, and wondering what the emergency was since he had made it clear he was not to be disturbed.
The door slowly swung open, and Fabian had to blink severally to keep the vision before him in sight. She was tall, well formed and wildly attractive. His mouth dried up immediately as he stared at the lady before him. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. Of their own volition, his eyes took a shameless tour of her body, settling on her seemingly endless legs.
“Hello,” Sharon purred. She hadn’t missed his open attraction to her beauty; that had always worked perfectly for her. Cynthia should have been here to witness the open lust in his eyes.
“Hello Mr. Fabian, may I come in please?”
Fabian’s tongue had cleaved to the roof of his mouth, and he could only nod.
Sharon took slow and purposeful steps into his office; she could tell the man’s eyes followed her body’s every move. “Well, did I pass your assessment?” she smiled seductively, her eyes never leaving his. “You like what you see?”
Somehow, her words sounded like the sting of an angry whip in his ears. That voice snapped him out of lust.
“Jesus Christ!” he muttered and immediately scrambled up to his feet. “Who in Christ’s name are you and how did you get in here?”
Sharon flashed him a smile that had all her evil intent in it. “I’m Sharon, and I came in through the door.” Sharon took few steps forward and planted herself right in front of him. “May I sit?”
Fabian was totally shaken up. He’d heard stories of how other men of God got seduced by women like the one in his office, but he had never really believed that temptation like that could ever get to him. He remembered the scripture that admonished those who think they are standing to take heed least they fall. He silently asked God for help.
“First of all Miss Sharon….” He began but was cut short.
“Oh common, just call me Sharon and I love your tie”
Fabian blinked severally when she leaned forward to touch his tie. He was almost certain her breasts would pop out of her low bodice. He instantly knew he needed to take desperate measures.
“Sure Sharon, give me a second”. He picked up his inter com, dialed his secretary, and with an urgent whisper, ordered her to his office. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the knock on his door. “Come in Ann,” he said, and turned back to his visitor. “So, Sharon, I wanted my secretary here to be a witness to what I am about to say to you, especially since I’m not sure why she let you into my office dressed like that.”
“She didn’t come through the front office sir; I was at my desk the entire time and didn’t see her come in, I couldn’t have let her pass by me sir”. Ann quickly said in her defense.
“What? How the heck did you get into my office young lady?’’ Fabian asked harshly. “Any way,” he continued without waiting for her to answer. “I do not welcome visitors who show up at my office dressed the way you are. I do not know who you are or why you have come here, but the next time you show up anywhere near this establishment dressed like a desperate prostitute, I’ll have you arrested and sent to the nearest psychiatric hospital. Do you understand that?”
“Well, you don’t have to insult me,” Sharon said getting up to her feet. “I’m leaving”.
“Not so fast,” Fabian said, “Ann here will escort you back the way you came, we can’t have you parading your nudity in the front office either, now get out”.
Sharon hissed and walked out. She should have known this was a no-go-area after all. Her friend was right, little wonder she hated these born again people.
Back in the office, Fabian slowly lowered himself into his chair, dropped his face in his hands and said a prayer of thanks. He was thankful for many things, especially for the grace to pray when he was ordered to.
