Late Lunch

Lucy was on her way to lunch with her father who she hasn’t seen since their last argument. It had been a while. She was an attractive petite blond in her twenties who used to be such a sweet angel until she decided it was time to be on her own. Her and her father butted heads quite often but ultimately they end up patch things up over lunch the next day. It was a simpler relationship than any other observer would care to admit, and easily misunderstood.

“Young lady!” a man in his mid-forties implored as he extended a hand to Lucy expecting her to shake it. She did not. “Do you have a minute to speak with us today?” The man gestured to his companion who was just a few years older than Lucy but much shorter than he looked like he ought to be. It was as if his struggle with gravity was a losing one. It seems his only purpose was to hold what looked to be church pamphlets for the older man who did all the talking.

“I really can’t,” Lucy responded as she lifted her foot up to shove her heel back in her shoe, “I’m on my way to meet my dad for lunch.” She wore her hair up today. And her summer dress was as red as the color of her lipstick. She wore her Chuck Taylor’s which were half a size to large but they were comfortable.

“Please, it will only take but a minute, young lady,” the man begged smiling with the little bit of charm that he had.

“I’d rather not,” she answered. Lucy was annoyed and couldn’t be bothered to be polite about the fact that she was running late.

“I was just wondering if you had a minute to talk about God,” the man said in one last ditch effort to lure Lucy. Most people would have kept on walking but there was a mischievous twinkle in Lucy’s eye.

“You’d like to talk about God?” she asked.

“Yes!” the man exclaimed it as if it were some badge to be touted about, like a secret that’s worth telling only the most worthy. “Are you a religious person, miss? For instance, do you go to church?”

“Not particularly. No.” Lucy answered succinctly.

“May I ask why?”

“What’s the point? People go to church to pray. There’s nothing to pray for other than one’s own personal gain.”

“Well I don’t pray for myself. That would be a very selfish thing to go to church for.”

“You’re telling me you’ve never asked God for anything to make your life just a little bit better?”

“I ask God to help those who need helping.”

“Why don’t you just help them?”

“I do help them. In fact, that brings me to my next point. You see, I’m a pastor at a church not too far from here. My name is George and this this is my helpful friend, Jordan.” Jordan nodded his head to Lucy who thought it made him look more like a well-trained pet than a helpful friend.

Pastor George continued to talk about the wonders of his church and Lucy continued to deflect his every advance. George seemed more an experienced salesman trying to make a pitch than a pastor attempting to spread charity. Lucy sensed this early on and allowed the old man to attempt to restore her faith in what he referred to as “God.” At one point, the pastor tried to convince her that Jordan was gifted with the ability to sense one’s closeness to God.

“How about that old man there? Why don’t you show Lucy here what you can do?” George asked he gestured to the old man sitting alone at the restaurant patio. Jordan stretched out his free hand, closed his eyes, and slowed his breathing. It took all of Lucy’s strength to stifle her laughter. Finally, Jordan put down his hand and took a deep breath as if he had been running the whole time. Without saying a single word he looked to George and shook his head.

“I thought so,” George commented to Jordan. The pastor then turned to Lucy. “Jordan here senses that not only is that old man sorely lacking in his ability to be close with God but--” George paused and looked at Jordan to confirm what he was about to say, “But it seems he may have an exceptional capacity for evil.”

Lucy nodded and assured them that she had to get going as to not be any later for her lunch meeting than she already was. Jordan handed George a church pamphlet and the old man wrote down his phone number on it before handing it to Lucy. They parted ways and Lucy headed towards the so-called evil old man.

“Hey, dad,” she said as she put her purse on the table in front of the empty chair. “I’ve got to go freshen up. I’ll be right back.”

“Sure thing, Luce,” her dad responded. “Wait a minute, who were those gentlemen you were speaking to just now?”

“Nobody, but I’ll tell you all about it when I come back. It’s actually a funny story,” Lucy said. As she walked away she tossed the pamphlet into the waste bin.