"Your Mercies in Disguise"

Week 1 of the August Writing Challenge: Use the lyrics of your favorite song to write a short story. The song I chose was "Blessings" by Laura Story. Be sure to check out my sister's blog for her story!

  “Hi Brian, how are you doing?”

  “Much better now that I’m hearing your voice.”

  Angela’s heart fluttered and her cheeks brightened. “Has it been a long day for you?”

  “It’s always a long day when I’m apart from you. I’d be with you right now if it weren’t for this meeting
I have to go to. I miss seeing you.”

  “I miss you, too! At least I get to talk to you before you have to leave.”

  They chatted about their day - Brian told of his work projects and how they were coming along and Angela
shared the highlights of her day of serving food and organizing books at the library.

  “Well, thanks for the call, babe. I love hearing your voice! I better get going now.”

  “Okay. I love you - and have a good meeting!”

  “Thanks. Love you, too!”

  She hit the “end call” button on her cell phone and leaned back against the couch, a love-struck smile
playing on the corners of her lips. She had seen Brian the day before, but it had been too long since she
had heard his voice. Even a half an hour was too long to be apart from him, she thought with a laugh.

   She lifted her phone again and opened her wedding planning app. 3 months, 2 weeks, 5 days, and 20
hours till their wedding. Oh, why was the time going so slow? She would be happy to marry Brian tomorrow
with only the justice of the peace officiating and no fancy wedding dress or reception. Just the two of them.

  But her friends had insisted she plan a proper wedding.

  “Leave the details to me,” Her best friend Paula had told her. “I love planning events and I know how those
things stress you out!”

  So it was settled: Angela picked out a simple wedding dress and the bridesmaid dress for Paula, then
left everything in Paula’s capable hands. Now she was free to enjoy her engagement. But time was moving
too slowly.

  A sharp knock at her door jolted Angela’s reverie. She jumped to answer it.

  “Paula!” But then in a concerned tone. “What’s the matter? You look...terrible!” She opened the door wider
and Paula stepped in.

  “I...I don’t know how to tell you this.” Paula swallowed. “I had to come over as soon as I found out.”

  “Found out what? Tell me!” Her heart began to beat faster and her hands trembled.

  “I was talking to Heather - the girl who works in Brian’s office. Ange, she’s a reliable person and I have
no reason in the world to doubt her.”

  “What?!” Angela’s voice raised as notch.

  “Ange, Brian has been sleeping with that new secretary.”

  The color drained from Angela’s face. She shook her head. “Th-that’s impossible. Paula, how could you
say such a thing?” She turned her back to her friend.

  “Angela, you know I would never spread something like this if I didn’t absolutely think there was truth
in it. Heather said that Tammy, the new secretary, was bragging about how she seduced Brian and that
they were going out again - tonight!”

  “But Brian has a meeting tonight…He told me!”

  “A meeting with whom?” Paula raised her eyebrows.

  “No, that’s not true. Brian is a godly man. He would never cheat on me.” Cold chills went up her spine
and down her arms and legs. “That Tammy is lying - spreading terrible rumors about my fiance!”

  “That is possible. But Ange, you need to ask him about it. What if it is true?”

  Tears filled Angela’s eyes and she tried to stifle a sob. “No, no!” She covered her face as the tears flowed.

  Paula put her arms around her friend but Angela pushed her away.

  “I don’t believe a word of it! It’s absolutely impossible. You are a terrible person for spreading such a thing
around!”

  “Angela,”

  “Don’t talk to me! And lock the door on your way out.”

  She didn’t turn around until she heard the door shut firmly behind her.

  “Oh Brian!” She flopped down on the couch and let the sobs comes.

  “It’s not true. I don’t believe it!” She kept repeating to herself. But then she remembered Paula’s words -
“You need to ask him about it. What if it is true?”

  “Okay,” she spoke out loud. “I will ask him about it. Oh, Lord, if this is true, give me strength! I can’t do this
on my own!”

  Angela’s evening and night were restless, worry-filled and sleep deprived. She tossed and turned all night,
but miraculously fell into a fitful sleep a few hours before dawn.

  Angela put her car in park and turned off the ignition. She scanned the parking lot. Brian wasn’t here.
Yet.

  She took a deep breath. “Lord, I don’t want this to be true. I want to believe that Brian is a man of his word
- faithful and honoring to You. Lord, I need him! Please, please let this just be a horrible lie.”

  There was Brian’s Honda Civic pulling into the parking lot. Not waiting for him to park, Angela jumped
from her car and walked briskly towards his car.

  His eyes caught sight of her and he showed his surprise. Was there guilt in that expression? Angela hoped
against that. Brian parked in the nearest spot and Angela was there before he had collected his things and
opened the door.

   “Hey,” he drew that word out as he opened the door to greet her. He looked around the parking lot and
adjusted his tie. “This is a surprise.”

   “Tell me you didn’t do it, Brian.” Angela placed her hands firmly on his car door and looked straight into
his eyes. “Tell me.”

  “You’ve been crying. You’re a mess. Go home and take care of yourself. We can talk about whatever
you have on your mind tonight. After work.” He straightened out as he stepped out of the car.

  “We need to talk now.”

  Brian looked around, his eyes a little wild.

  “Brian,” a woman’s voice said from the car. The passenger door opened and out stepped a beautiful woman
in a tight pencil skirt and blazer. “You should introduce me to your friend.” She smiled. A fake, sick, perfect-
lipstick smile.

  Angela felt cold all over and sick to her stomach. “Tammy?” She stammered.

  “Oh, you know my name! Of course, Brian would have told all his friends about his hot girlfriend.” She
giggled.

  “You spend the night together?”

  “No…” Brian began, but Tammy cut him off.

  “Oh yes. Brian has the nicest place. Have you been there?”

  Angela turned and practically ran to her car. Brian called after her, but she didn’t hear what he said.

  How she managed to drive back to her apartment in that morning traffic was something she never knew.
Once back home, she threw herself on her bed and sobbed.

  She didn’t know how much time passed before she sat up and wiped her sleeve across her face.

  “How could he do this to me? We are engaged. He is an upstanding, godly man. We were saving ourselves
for our wedding night. What happened?” Looking down at her engagement ring brought on a new onslaught
of tears.

  “I must not have been good enough for him.” She told herself bitterly. “But that’s no excuse to do what
he did!

  “Maybe it was all a mistake. A misunderstanding.

  “No, it couldn’t have been. Tammy confirmed everything. That horrible, wicked woman!”

  Her cell phone’s ringtone interrupted her sorrowful conversation with herself.

  Taking a few deep breaths to control herself, she finally answered the phone with a muffled, “Hello?”

  “Angela, are you okay? You...you sound like you’ve been crying!” The voice on the other end of the line
said.

  “I-I’m fine. I just got some really bad news.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Do you need to take the day off work?”

  “Yes, that would be nice.”

  “Okay. Well, uh, just make sure in the future that you call me before your shift starts if you need to take
the day off. We’ll be shorthanded at the diner today.”

  “I’m sorry, Jan. This just came up rather suddenly.”

  “Completely understand, hun. I can only give you one day off - I’ll need you here bright and early tomorrow
morning.”

  “Right.” She hung up her phone.

  Journaling always helped her think clearly. She pulled her thick notebook from her nightstand, sat cross
legged on the bed, and began writing.

  My heart is crushed. I don’t even have the words to describe how I feel. Numb, unbelieving, yet horrified
and broken. Today I found out that Brian has been cheating on me.

  After all that we have been through - how we chose to save sex for our wedding night. He seemed like
such a godly man - goes to church, helps with AWANA, doesn’t swear, reads his Bible with me. What happened?
What did I miss?

  Lord, I have no one now. I need you right now.

  Her eyes lost focus as the tears came again. She let them roll down her cheeks and fall onto the pages
of her journal.

  “Meet me at the cafe, 7 PM.” The text message was from Brian.

  Angela didn’t know whether to be filled with joy or dread. “Maybe he’ll clear up this whole mess. Tell me
that it was just a rumor. Things will go back to normal. But...Tammy.”

  The minutes continued to tick by and soon it was almost 7:00. Angela made herself as presentable as
possible - whatever the outcome of the meeting, she was determined to look her best.

  “Angela!” Brian stood as she entered the cafe. “I got us a booth.”

  She nodded, avoiding eye contact, and sat down opposite her fiance.

  He rubbed his hands together until his knuckles were white and took deep breaths. After a moment of silence,
he asked, “Would you like to order anything?”

  “No.”

  He nodded. “I suppose you want an explanation. You didn’t give me a chance earlier. You just ran off.”

   Heat rose to Angela’s cheeks. “And what was I supposed to do? Stay there and get to know your ‘hot new
girlfriend’?” Her eyes flashed anger. She had to bite her lip to keep from crying.

  “Will you stop it with the holier than thou attitude?” His voice rose a notch. “You can’t expect me to be
the perfect Christian.”

  “So it’s all true. You have been cheating on me, sleeping with that woman.” She spoke in a low, even tone.

  “It’s not like that.” He rolled his eyes. “It was just a fling - a one-night stand.”

  “But it’s happened before, hasn’t it?”

  He sighed, then looked her squarely in the eye. “Yes.”

  Angela looked down, trying to process what she had just heard.

  “I thought you wanted to save sex for marriage. What happened to all your great plans, your talk?”

  “I guess I’m not the great spiritual man you thought I was.” He spat out.

  Not a word was spoken between them for a few minutes.

  “Hey, can I get you two anything to drink?” A waiter appeared at their table, wearing a cheerful smile that
seemed strangely out of place.

  “I’ll take a water, please.”

  Brian ordered the same and the waiter left.

  “Well,” Angela finally spoke, “Thank you for being honest with me.”

  “Oh, you are an angel!” He spoke with passion and took her hand in his. “We’ll be able to work this out.
I know it. You are so sweet and forgiving. This is just a bump in our relationship - we’ll still be able to get married
in 3 months.”

  Angela pulled her hand away. “I didn’t say that I forgive you! You broke my trust.”

  Brian’s face darkened. “What happened to ‘Christian forgiveness’ and all that crap you preach?”

  “Can’t you just say that you’re sorry and that you will seek help? Go to our pastor? Promise that this won’t
ever happen again?”

  “I can’t promise that. I’m human.”

  “How would you feel if I went off with another man - for a ‘one-night stand’?”

  “That’s different. I won’t allow that!”

  “How is that different than what you did?”

  “I am a man, with desires much stronger than any you could possibly have.”

  Angela’s mouth dropped. “I can’t believe you just said that. I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation!”

  “Calm down. You’re making a scene. Besides, I don’t like it when my fiance is upset.”

  “Don’t you dare pull that string!” She slipped her gorgeous engagement ring off her finger and set it down
on the table slowly and deliberately. “I am no longer your fiance.” She stood.

  “Angela! After all our plans...the church is reserved for the wedding!”

  “Then take Tammy down the aisle. You make me sick, Brian!”

  “Your water!” The waiter appeared with two tall glasses of ice water on a tray.

  Angela turned, ignoring him, and walked out of the diner.

     

  Another night spent in tears, but this time there was no small light of hope in the back of Angela’s mind.
Brian had cheated on her. He was unrepentant. And she had broken off their engagement. Her ring finger
felt strangely naked without her engagement ring.

  Again she poured her heart over her journal, writing down everything that had happened.

  How could this have happened to me? Brian seemed like such a nice, godly man.

  Lord, I’m confused, hurt, and angry. Why did this have to happen?

  The next morning, Angela was up early and preparing for work. Her eyes were red, her cheeks puffy,
and under her eyes were dark circles. Makeup could only cover so much.

  She managed to make it past Jan, her boss, and the other waitresses without much comment. Her morning
shift, which lasted five hours, seemed to drag by.

  She had to force herself not to think of Brian and that whole mess. If she did, the tears threatened to come
again and she couldn’t cry. Not at work.

  Her shift over, she returned home. Once there, she let the tears come again.

  “Lord, I don’t understand. But I’m trusting You. This is hard. It’s really, really hard. I need You!”

  A text notification sounded from her phone. A message from Paula.

  “Are you doing okay?”

  Angela smiled through her tears. What a faithful friend.

  She dialed Paula’s number.

  “Hey girl,” Paula answered.

  “Hi. It’s over between me and Brian. You were right.”

  “Oh, Ange, I’m so sorry! It was all true?”

  She couldn’t stop the onslaught of tears this time. “Yes,” she finally managed. “He doesn’t even care about
me!” She related parts of their conversation the night before.

  “He said that?” Paula sounded enraged. “What a hypocrite!”

  “The only good thing about all of this is that this came out before we got married. Paula, if I had ignored
what you told me - pretended it was just a rumor - I could have ruined the rest of my life!”

  “You are so strong, Angela.”

  “I don’t feel strong at all.”

  “Would you like me to come over?”

  “If it’s not too much trouble…”

  “Of course not! I know you’d do the same for me. I’m on my way.” She hung up on her end.

  Fifteen minutes later, Paula came through Angela’s door and took her sobbing friend in her arms.

  She began to pray, “Lord, I want to thank you for loving us and taking care of Angela. I pray that you would
wrap your arms of comfort around her, and guide her through this difficult time. We don’t understand why
she has to go through this, but your ways are so much higher than ours. Be her friend, her lover, and comforter
right now. Amen.”

  Angela squeezed her friend when she had finished. “Thanks for coming,” she finally managed.

  Paula smiled. “I brought that popcorn you like so much. And my famous hot chocolate. I plan to camp
out here for the night. If that’s okay.”

  “Of course!”

  They popped their popcorn and warmed up the hot chocolate. Paula listened patiently as Angela talked
through her confusion, anger, hurt, and sorrow. The evening stretched into night, and finally, both exhausted,
they decided to turn in for the night.

  Over the next couple weeks, Angela spent her mornings working at the diner, then over at the library
where she worked her second job. Staying busy helped. Her evenings were spent praying, reading her
Bible, journaling, and crying. On Sunday, she had the painful job to tell her pastor and pre-marriage counselor
that she and Brian had broken off their engagement. He prayed with her, then encouragingly said that what
she had done, painful as it was, had been the right thing. Paula gave her room to grief and process things,
but also tried to distract her with visits and invitations.

  Finally the dreaded day came. Angela had hoped she would never have to see him again, but it was inevitable.

  There he was, parking his car in the church parking lot for the monthly game night. Angela was walking
towards the church and couldn’t hide.

  He nodded as he stepped from his Honda. “I didn’t think you would be here. You should be home...crying.
Unless you’re ready to make up.” He spoke in a mocking tone.

  She stopped and turned towards him. Lord, help me stay calm. “No, I’m not ready. I won’t ever be. Brian,
what you did was wrong. I have nothing to apologize for.”

  “You know? You won’t ever get married because your standards are too high.”

  That cut like a knife, but she kept her composure. She forced a smile. “Perhaps. But I’m okay with that.”

  He looked surprised, expecting his remark to strike a deadly blow. “Old maid, working at the library. Maybe
you’ll get a cat too, for those long, cold nights.”

  “That’s not a bad idea.” She found herself smiling. “My future is in God’s hands. I trust him with it. Whatever
happens, he’ll take care of me.”

  He rolled his eyes and looked away.

  “Good bye, Brian.” She turned and continued walking towards the church.

  For the first time since their breakup, she felt a complete peace fill her soul. Yes, the Lord had been watching
over her this whole time. She could trust him with the rest of her life.

  She heard Brian start his car’s engine and pull out of the parking lot.

Blessings by Laura Story

We pray for blessings

We pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep

We pray for healing, for prosperity

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need

Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom

Your voice to hear

We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near

We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love

As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

All the while, You hear each desperate plea

And long that we'd have faith to believe

When friends betray us

When darkness seems to win

We know that pain reminds this heart

That this is not our home

What if my greatest disappointments

Or the aching of this life

Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy

What if trials of this life

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights

Are your mercies in disguise