In the town of Normal, Pennsylvania, there’s a little church at the corner of Wilson and Elm. At five minutes before the start of service, choir director Shane Reed was seated in his place to the right side of the chancel behind organist Walter Tibble. Seated nearby were Senior Pastor Henry O’Donnell and the new Associate Pastor, Michelle Tellum.
Shane snuck a glance at Michelle every few seconds. Michelle was a pretty 28 year-old blonde with long eyelashes. She was wearing a liturgical robe because it was Communion Sunday and on her feet she had shiny, strappy black sandals with a low heel. Shane, 33 years old and divorced, found the look terribly sexy, which in turn made him feel guilty given where they were.
Michelle, meanwhile, was mentally preparing for her first time assisting with Communion in the little church. It was a simple process, really, but she found that the more serious ceremonies made her overly nervous. Periodically she would look out at the pews as the congregation filled them. One of those looks caused her churning stomach to do a back flip.
A dashingly handsome young man named Ian had just entered the church. Ian was not a regular congregant. Rather, Michelle had met him a few days before while on a hospital visit. They had flirted and Michelle felt a chemistry between them… until Ian discovered she was a pastor. Michelle found her job often defused chemical reactions between her and members of the opposite sex.
The real question was what was Ian doing slipping into the back pew this particular morning?
It seemed unlikely that he was looking for a new church and by pure coincidence showed up at hers. But it seemed equally unlikely that he was there specifically to see her considering how awkwardly their prior meeting had ended. She regretted not spending more time on her hair that morning, but was grateful she was wearing the stylish new sandals she’d bought at the mall the previous week.
Michelle made it through the bulk of the service trying and mostly failing not to look directly at Ian. Then Pastor O’Donnell finished his sermon and it was time for Communion.
Michelle was to serve the bread, which had been cut into small chunks and placed in a gold plated Communion bowl. She took the bowl from the altar and walked toward the front of the chancel where Pastor O’Donnell would bless it. She hoped Ian could see her fancy shoes from the back of the church.
Then those shoes played a nasty trick on her. The toe of the left one somehow managed to catch on the carpet, causing her to stumble. The entire congregation gasped as Michelle plunged forward. The Communion bowl flew from her hands, hit the ground, and scatted pieces of bread halfway up the aisle. Michelle landed flat on her stomach, banging her nose painfully on the floor.
Pastor O’Donnell and Shane ran to her aid. “Are you all right? Your nose is bleeding,” O’Donnell said. Shane retrieved a tissue and they tore off pieces to jam in her nostrils. Though her nose throbbed, the only serious damage was to Michelle’s dignity.
“Communion’s ruined!” she moaned quietly.
“Nonsense,” Pastor O’Donnell said, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. He knew how she felt. He’d had a similar accident in one of his prior appointments; only his involved the Communion cup and the replacement of the carpet in the Sanctuary. “We just need to get more bread.”
“I’ll do it,” Shane said, and hustled out of the church. Pastor O’Donnell helped Michelle back to her seat and then told the congregation they’d be changing the order of service and doing the final hymn before Communion. As everyone began singing, Michelle slumped behind the pulpit where Ian couldn’t see her.
Shane went to the closest place to get bread at 11:15 a.m. on a Sunday morning – the liquor store two blocks away. The only bread they had were hot dog buns, which Shane thought was odd since they didn’t seem to have any hot dogs for sale. He grabbed two bags and went to the counter, trying to ignore the customers staring at his choir robe.
That’s when he discovered he’d left his wallet in his jacket back in the choir room. He looked around at the handful of people who were purchasing alcohol on a Sunday morning. They did not look particularly friendly but he was desperate.
“Would anybody be willing to contribute a dollar or two so a church can do Communion?” he asked.
The customers shuffled and avoided his eyes. “Just take it,” the cashier grumbled behind him. “You’re making everyone uncomfortable.”
“I’ll bring the money this afternoon,” he promised and ran out of the store.
After service, Shane found Michelle skulking in a corner at the back of the Social Hall during coffee hour. “How’s your nose?” he asked.
“Okay,” Michelle said, her voice flat due to the tissue still jammed up her nostrils.
Shane noticed that she kept glancing nervously at the milling crowd. “Don’t worry,” he told her. “Everyone will have forgotten about your little tumble by next week.”
Michelle doubted that, but she was actually looking at Ian. She figured he would have bolted as soon as he could but somehow there he was on the other side of the room, sipping a cup of bad coffee as Missy Moore chatted away at him. Missy made it a point to greet all newcomers and find out everything she could about them in the interest of being welcoming. Somehow they always ended up learning more about her than the other way around.
Michelle was debating whether to go rescue Ian from Missy’s inquisition or find somewhere to hide until he left when she realized Shane had just asked her a question. “What was that?” she said.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“Oh, yeah. Sure.”
Shane went to the coffee table and Michelle took the opportunity to visit the ladies’ room to clean herself up. She removed the tissue from her nose, fixed her hair and touched up her make-up. When she emerged, she discovered Ian coming straight toward her. She froze. There was no avoiding him now.
“Hi,” he said. “I was just looking for the restroom.”
“Right there,” Michelle said, nodding toward the men’s room.
“Actually, I was just looking for an excuse to get away from that rather enthusiastic woman I was talking to.”
“Ah.”
“I didn’t realize services in your church were so entertaining,” Ian continued. “I’ll definitely have to come back.”
Michelle blushed, but mustered up the courage to seize the opening. “Why did you come today?” she asked.
“You left so fast when we met I didn’t get a chance to ask for your phone number,” he said. “But it was pretty easy to figure out which church was yours on the Internet. The church website could use some work, by the way.”
“I’ll look into that,” she promised.
“Anyway, can I buy you lunch?”
“Sure,” Michelle beamed.
“First you might want to…” he gestured to her nose.
She touched it with a finger and discovered it was bleeding again. “Right,” she said and went back into the bathroom.
Around the corner Shane stood with two cups of coffee. He’d heard the whole exchange. He dumped one of the cups in a nearby trashcan and quietly slipped away. It was no big deal. He needed to go back to the liquor store and pay for the hot dog buns anyway.
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