Unforgettable Melody - S01 E25

Story 2 weeks ago

Unforgettable Melody - S01 E25

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 25

"Ok, I'll have one of each!" Melody's eyes lit up excitedly.

Mike handed his credit card to the cashier. "And two glazed for me, plus a Coke to share."

The pair took their food to go, eating in the car before heading inside to church. Melody was absolutely adorable, as per usual, even with her lips smeared with chocolate frosting.

"You, uh, got a little something... everywhere," Mike said, pulling open the car mirror for her.

"HAHA! I'm messy!" After she cleaned herself up with a napkin, they headed across the church parking lot.

Melody was pleasantly surprised by how warm the atmosphere was. In her mind, she was prepared for Mike's church to be a rather stiff experience for newcomers, but the friendly greeters and soothing organ sounds of Bach's Air on the G String soon quieted her mind. As they sat listening to the prelude, Mike pointed up to the chairs surrounding the altar.

"See the girl with the dark straight hair? That's Ashley Perkins, the associate pastor. She's my friend I was telling you about. We grew up in Sunday school and youth activities together. You'll love her."

For most of the service, Melody was very self-conscious. Mike had expected that she would be reserved and nervous, and made a point of gently rubbing her knee every so often to reassure her. She stood and sat whenever he did, though was unsure about joining in whenever they hymns were sung.

Ashley's sermon, on the other hand, was easily Melody's favorite part of her first church experience. Ashley spoke on the parable of the Prodigal Son, opening the sermon by asking the congregation if they had ever felt they were unworthy of love in some way. Tentatively, Melody raised her hand along with much of the congregation, Mike included. Ashley's message went on to explain that mistakes do happen in our lives, because we are human. This doesn't mean we shouldn't try to avoid them, but she also emphasized that mistakes don't make us unworthy of love.

Processing Ashley's words in her mind, Melody was beginning to make sense of the events of the last twenty-four hours.

The boy in the parable was such a foolish, flawed individual, yet he was welcomed home by his father, which allowed him to turn himself into a better person in the long term. If even he was deserving of such love, maybe this servant genie is in fact deserving of her kind and generous master. I didn't DO anything to deserve his love, but... maybe that's the point?

As the service came to a close, Melody's mood had brightened considerably. She joined in singing the final hymn, and was very excited to meet Ashley. Once the congregation was dismissed, she was about to start walking out with Mike, when he gently held her by the arm. "Not yet, wait 'til you hear the organist's last piece," he said with a wink.

Almost instantly, the organ started playing another Bach piece, The Little Fugue in G Minor. Much faster than the prelude, Melody was Immediately impressed as the organist effortlessly danced her hands up and down the keyboard. As the piece came to an end, she joined the small lingering portion of the congregation in applauding the organist. She turned to Mike, excitedly asking. "Can we go meet Ashley now?"

Mike laughed. "Sure thing. You really enjoyed that sermon, didn't you?"

As they walked out into the gathering room, the pair saw Ashley finishing her goodbyes to an elderly couple. Spotting Mike from across the room, she made her way over to him, announcing her presence with her traditional greeting.

"Hello friend!"

Ashley had been greeting everyone she met that way since high school.

"Hey Ashley," Mike responded, stepping into her side hug. Wanted you to meet my new girlfriend."

"Hi, I'm Melody Roberts."

"Delighted. Ashley Perkins." She shook Melody's hand.

Melody seemed a bit more shy than usual. "I, um, really enjoyed your sermon. It really spoke to me."

Ashley beaned. "Well thank you. It's one of my favorite topics to preach on."

Biting her lip slightly, Melody said, "It was exactly what I needed to hear."

Mike chuckled. "I think you've got yourself a fan, Ashley."

"Well, tell you what," Ashley said, "I've got one more service I'm preaching at, but afterwards, how about you two join Trey and me for lunch?"

Nodding, Mike replied, "Sounds good to me. I've got a quick errand I need to run, so we'll meet you at Lenny's Subs at, say, noonish?

"That'll work. We'll see you there. Bye Melody, great meeting you!"

"You too!" Melody waved as they strolled to the parking lot.

Mike drove a few miles up the road, arriving at the local Home Depot. As they entered the hardware store, he mentioned to Melody, "I've got a couple things to pick up. Why don't you wait for me in the garden section? They've got lots of plants and flowers I bet you'd like."

"Sounds good to me!"

As Melody strolled through the greenhouse, inspecting the various brightly colored flowers and plants, she was completely entranced by the variety of pleasant scents entering her nose. Stopping to read the description of every plant she passed, she hadn't even realized that it had been a full thirty minutes before Mike returned.

"Hey baby!" She saw he was empty handed. "Didn't find what you needed?"

"Nope, they were out. Ready to head to lunch?"

"Sure. You said the place is called Lenny's Subs?"

"Yep," he replied. "It's a sandwich shop. They're mainly based in Philadelphia, but are working to expand into other states now."

During the short drive to lunch, Melody described the various flowers and plants she had seen in the greenhouse. Her favorite smelling ones were the daisies, though she loved the look and feel of lamb's ear plants too. As the pair pulled into the parking lot, they saw Ashley already inside the sub shop, sitting with her husband, Trey.

As the pair entered, Mike introduced Melody to Trey. He was a large man, well over six feet tall and 270 pounds, but his imposing figure was quickly overtaken by his sharp wit and jovial personality.

I like him, Melody thought to Mike. He seems very much like you.

I figured as much, Mike responded, chuckling in her head. Like I sald, he and Ashley are some of the few people I actually choose to keep around as friends.

As they stepped up to the counter, Mike let Trey and Ashley go first to give Melody time to decide from the enormous menu. After a couple of suggestions from Mike and Trey, she settled on a 6" Philly cheesesteak with provolone cheese, being that the shop originated in Philadelphia. Mike ordered his favorite 8" meatball mozzarella sub.

As the quartet ate their lunches, Mike and Melody repeated their now familiar origin story. Ashley smiled wide hearing of Melody's interest in Mike's spiritual life, nodding in approval.

"While I don't believe in predestination," Ashley mentioned, "I do believe that God puts us in situations where, if we make the right choices, we can find exactly what we need, sometimes in the most unexpected ways."

Melody grinned. "That basically sums up my experiences with Mike to the letter," glancing at him in admiration as she said so.

With the plates on the table now empty, Ashley stood for a moment. "I'm gonna go freshen up a bit. Melody, care to join me?"

"Sure." Melody bounced up, following her to the restroom.

Now alone for some guy talk, Trey turned to Mike. "Ok, dude, give it to me straight. Is she for real?"

Mike laughed. "You know, I had that same thought the first time we played Call of Duty. She absolutely destroyed the competition."

Trey sat there, openmouthed. "She likes video games?!"

Nodding, Mike replied, "She might even be able to whip your ass!"

Trey sat back with a smug look on his face. "Well... we'll see about that. Seriously, man, where is this going? I just have to ask after that whole Amanda thing-"

"I know, and I really appreciate you looking out for me," Mike interjected. "In all honesty, this is it. She's the one."

The look on Trey's face turned skeptical. "She's great, but how well do you really know her? That's a bold statement."