More Than Fine. (Complete)

10- MTF Clean heart

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     "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit." Gia had had the words of Psalm 51 on repeat since the night before, after reading in her Bible. This morning, before work she downloaded the audio of it so she could listen on the way to work. These verses were written by king David after he had adultery with Bathsheba, she had gotten pregnant, then he basically had her husband killed by putting him on the front line of an intense battle and having his troops retreat from him. Of course, Gia hadn't done anything like that, but did it really matter? The point was, she had turned from God, and now she was returning to him. Praise God, he could and would forgive sins of all kinds, just like she told Mr. Bellanti. None was too big or too small.

     "O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." She didn't want her mind to wander from the truths she'd faced the night before. Closing her eyes and soaking the words in, she smiled. When she opened them, a little girl was smiling back at her.

     Before hopping off the subway, Gia looked back at the little girl and her mother. "Jesus loves you!" Gia couldn't hold back the joy and peace that was in her heart. Sure, it was probably a mountain top experience, and a few days in, when frustrations hit, she might not be so joyous. Nevertheless, she was determined, not to fall away like she had for the past year.

~~~

     "You seem to be in a good mood," Allison commented as Gia sat down at her desk smiling.

     "Yeah." Gia grinned. "I sorted out some personal things last night. It's really changed my outlook on things." She quickly put away her purse and grabbed pen and paper for her morning meeting with Mr. Bellanti.

     Walking into Mr. Bellanti's office felt different today. Though she was still greatly attracted to him, she was at peace with pushing that aside. Even if nothing more happened, it was a growing experience for her, and had helped her learn that she could bring her guard down with men, enough to give them a chance. She felt new confidence that she would be able to focus on the job without letting it be a problem that she was around him so much. After all, it would be nice to have a guy friend. It had been ten years since she had one.

     She approached his office feeling content and happy. When she stepped in, Mr. Bellanti's face was tense and he was on the phone. Once he looked up, a smile creeped in as he saw the look on Gia's face, then it turned to a smirk as he hung up the phone. "So you want some intensive training? In addition to the things I already had on my list, we're meeting a client for lunch."

     As the taxi was about to pull up to the Mandarin Oriental, Mr. Bellanti received a call. "Yes? No problem, I understand. Once you get things worked out, call me and we'll reschedule... Okay, talk to you later Jim." He ran his fingers through his hair, then turned to Gia. "Looks like it's just you and me. Jim had an emergency, and had to cancel."

     The taxi had just parked, and Gia looked out the window towards the road, then tapped her chin. "Would you mind if instead we walked around Central Park? We could pick up a hot dog form a cart or something." She winced, waiting for rejection.

     "It's pretty hot, and we're wearing dark suits." He furrowed his brow.

     "We can take off our jackets. Please? I could really use some fresh air and sun." That was the thing she did not appreciate about the city. It took an effort to get out of the shadows of the buildings. It was hard on a girl used to summers in a beach town.