(the picture on top is David Larking)
When Adam woke up that morning, life felt different, even more than when he found out about his health condition. His father had been formally accused of his alleged involvement in the murder of retired church ministers. The list included the pastor's grandfather. David agreed to cooperate with the police detectives, as long as they kept the whole case private. For the pastor, these situations were more like a drill than something else, for he knew how to control the authorities in New South Wales, even though Australia ranked 11th place out of 180 countries in Transparency International's 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index.
David was in such a state of greed that he couldn't tell his left from his right anymore; he didn't believe, let alone fear God and His word! Church was his way to launder illegal funds, and also to paint a holy and pious image of himself to the world. Only a few people knew his true colors, and most of those who contributed to the corruption of his businesses hadn't fully experienced the length of his cruelty. Pastor Larking was capable of the most atrocious things just to keep his income.
But Adam slowly shifted his attention from his father's corruption to himself and his craving for Debora. Oh, how he missed her! He recreated that night in her apartment many times, in the last recreations he felt no shame in wishing that things had gone much further. All he wanted was her, and he would finally do something in his power about it. For all he cared, his life on earth was summed up to a few months in the best of chances.
He had managed to advance that day's rehearsal to the early afternoon. He had a line of work set and also a game plan.
He arrived earlier at the church, this time Ralph wasn't there, so: no one to remind him of his fight for holiness. What an excitement to see the people walking in, but nothing compared to the moment when he saw Debora walking into the auditorium. He instantly confirmed that seeing her wasn't enough and he would move ahead with his plan.
The band members stood near the platform and Adam climbed down to meet them, excited and jittery. Some people noticed the difference from last rehearsals, others were impacted by the good mood.
Debora still had a hard time disguising what she felt for Adam. For her, he was the most important in the room. It was conflicting, because she had started to pray for somebody else, and she was sure to be following the will of God on that, even though her feelings contradicted her convictions.
As she was walking up the stage with the rest of the band, Adam pulled her aside and whispered casually that they would be working on her solos.
After a prayer, he welcomed Debora to start singing. She was eager to put those solos in place, and managed it rightfully, thanks to her friend Chloe, who gave her a few tips. Adam had expected to point out her breathing problems, and that would be the perfect opportunity to test whether her body reacted to him as it did in the past, but she performed flawlessly; apparently, she had worked that out since the audition, and it disappointed him. The rest of the band congratulated and encouraged her with her gift.
Adam was compelled to change his plans, and so he did. When the band was gathered around for the closing of that rehearsal, he singled Debora out for her performance and informed her that they needed to have a word concerning the coming Sunday. She nodded.
The band was dismissed and Debora waited for Adam at the church's lobby. She was wearing a flowy terracotta dress and sneakers, totally different from the formal outfits she used to go to work. She hoped that the way that dress hid her silhouette would be enough to keep a spiritual distance between them because she wouldn't know how to respond if it didn't. She was nervous, fiddling with her hands.
When Adam arrived to meet with her, she was even more nervous, quite unable to respond to her rationality.
"Debbie, you did a great job, today!" He congratulated her. "Your gift is amazing."
She felt shy but fought against it. Looking in his eyes, she responded:
"Thank you, Adam! I appreciate your encouragement."
It felt good to be around her again and have her full attention, or what seemed like it.
"So do you have anything to tell me about next Sunday?" She insisted.
"Uh..." He needed to come back to his senses because she looked so desirable in the light of that lobby. "Yeah! We'll sing one of those songs on Sunday!"
"Alright!" She grinned excitedly. "Well, how are you keeping?" She wanted to know, because they had lost touch with each other, and she still cared.
"I'm keeping well." He put his hands into his pockets, shy. "What about you? I heard that Richard was arrested..." He hinted.
"He hasn't been judged yet. But he's in custody!"
"Aren't you eager to know whether he's going to be punished?" He was surprised that Debora was so careless.
"I'm living one day at a time. I don't know..."
Adam interrupted her:
"Do you wanna come over?"
"To your parents'?" She wasn't sure.
He could guess what she was hinting at, but his parents were away for that day and the next, which was very convenient.
"Yes, mum is looking forward to seeing you again. She truly liked you." He half-lied. "Unless you have something else to do..."
"Okay!"
"So, you are coming."
She nodded.
"Alright, so I'll give you a ride." He announced. "After you!" He was polite, of course, but he also liked the way she moved in that dress.
"I don't know where your car is, so I suggest you lead the way." She insisted.
He did as told, and they walked to his car. As he drove her, he tried to make conversation just trying to distract himself from the tension building up in the air.
When they entered the duplex, there was just one light up, but that light created a scenario that made them aware of their chemistry. Half-light, nearly evening, alone with someone you are strongly attracted to is a recipe for disaster!
Adam invited her to the open kitchen. She followed him and observed him while he was opening the fridge, browsing through the goods.
"Is there anything you wanna drink?"
Debora was distracted by his look; his ponytail falling to his shoulder; so manly.
"Yes." She replied sometime after.
"I'm more for a glass of rosé!" He giggled. "You?"
"A water would be fine."
She observed him straightening up. He stretched to reach for a bottle of rosé in the wine storage. She wasn't herself, because the slightest moves he made struck her mind for romance; the gallant way he grabbed the bottle and opened it was very attractive and distracting. Fortunately, his parents were home - or so, she was led to think - otherwise she wouldn't know what to expect from that dinner.
"Where are your parents?"
"They aren't home." He forced his blasé tone.
She threw a suspicious glance at him and confronted him:
"Are we by ourselves?"
He gulped his wine and nodded.
"I better go, then." She knew she couldn't resist him if they stayed there any longer.
"I was just about to order dinner." He politely persisted with his plan. "Please stay?" He insisted. "We need to talk."
Debora swallowed her water hard and agreed, convincing herself that the physical attraction she felt for him was a one-way street thing.
Adam walked her to the balcony on the upper floor, so that they could watch the sunset, which was a pity to miss. His plan was working out perfectly. Honestly, he no longer knew what the plan was: to be with Debora perhaps? That he had, but it didn't suffice. Somehow he wanted to pick up from what was left off of their friendship, but he also wanted to be physical with her, he had dreamed about that for weeks straight, and the desire grew stronger when she was around. He didn't remember, but that was one of the dangers of repressing feelings, about which Ralph tried to warn.
He sat against the wall, whereas she decided to stay away from him and lean onto the railing. She didn't know, but that decision was worse for their case, all because the sunset light made her long flowing light dress transparent enough for him to stop guessing her silhouette.
Adam stood up on his feet, bringing his glass of rosé with him, and started pacing toward the railing. She was facing the sunset, her back toward him, totally unaware of his approach. When she suddenly feels the warm touch of his hand on her shoulder! Her reaction satisfied him and he smiled victoriously.
"You're alright? You seem tense."
She couldn't reply straight, so she was silent.
Adam gently took her glass and put their glasses away on the concrete railing. When he came back to her, he was even more daring with his hands, starting to massage her shoulders gently, sure that she was completely surrendered to him.
"Does that feel good?" He dared ask, knowing full well the effect of his touch on her.
At that moment, he only felt the need to satisfy that physical desire. So he ran his hands down her arms until her waist and pulled her to him with no hesitation or resistance on her side.
"I missed you so much, Debbie!" He whispered in her ear.
She turned around to him and looked deep into his eyes, losing her rationality.
"I know, I missed you too, Adam."
He drew closer and kissed her as though he needed that more than breathe. He had waited too long to be with her again, but he refrained. He missed her essence as well and walked away from her for a while.
"Is everything alright?" Debora asked, recalling that the last time they were together he had suddenly left, just like that.
"Yes." He seemed lost. "Can we go to the studio?"
She had expected much worse, so her reply was quite abrupt:
"Sure!"
He walked to her to take the glasses with him, but then bumped into her because she thought of the same thing. They giggled.
"Allow me." He insisted, taking the glasses.
___________________________________________________________________________
As they walked into the studio, Adam talked excitedly about his new songs and how he thought of producing them. He offered Debora a seat next to his, at the piano and she accepted.
His leg touched hers, as he played, but that wasn't the trigger of her state, it was his fingers. She couldn't help but imagine how those lean fingers would touch her if they were intimate. She shook it off and at that moment heard him say:
"This one is my favorite..." He referred to the song he had just played.
"Yeah!" She was lost. "Can I read the lyrics?" She leaned onto the piano to see them.
"Sure." He moved out of her way.
As she was looking at the lyrics, Adam moved the strands of hair away from her face and drew closer to touch her cheek with his lips. She turned to him. They looked intently into each other, and with nothing left to say, their lips met once again. One thing led to another and in an instant, she straddled on him, convicted that they craved for the same thing. The way his hands touched her was evidence that this wasn't something new to him, as she expected, so she teased him, saying:
"I thought you were a virgin." She gave him a cheeky smile.
"I wasn't a saint in college." He explained as if that exculpated him of his sexual desire for that woman who wasn't his wife. "Is this your first?" He was suddenly worried.
"No." She recalled some of the bad sexual experiences she had had with Joshua.
"Are you okay with this?" He was worried, for he didn't want to force her to do anything.
"Yes." She leaned onto him and kissed him passionately, assuring him of her decision.
They were intensely focused on one another on that piano stool, slowly entering the point of no return.
Sexual immorality is something that can catch even the most spiritually committed, especially when you think you're strong enough to resist; that's the first sign that you fell into the trap.
Fortunately, she felt that they had gone too far, and called out for him:
"Adam..."
He saw the look of shame on her face, and came to his senses, realizing that they had gone too far again, he retrieved his hand.
"We can't do this." She was embarrassed. "This is not like me, I don't know what happens, but I lose my mind when I'm with you." She explained while readjusting on the stool, next to him.
He was silent, sitting, looking at the piano keys, feeling ashamed of his behavior.
"I should tell you something."
"Yes?" She looked at him, as it wasn't dangerous anymore.
"I don't know how to deal with what I feel for you either." He saw that she was waiting for a more elaborated response, but he had nothing more.
"A-And what exactly do you feel for me?" She wanted him to be specific.
He felt more than just sexual attraction, but he still needed to keep that to himself. If he told her the truth, she would wonder and demand of him a reason for that secret.
"I'm sexually attracted to you." He admitted. "To the point where I lose my morals."
She was sad to hear his response but realized that she couldn't allow herself to be mistreated like that.
"I genuinely thought that we had a connection, that we understood each other." She stood up, defeated, prompted to leave the room.
"We do."
"But?" She anticipated.
"Nothing." He decided not to tell her the truth.
"Why aren't you honest with your feelings?"
"What do you mean?" He was slightly offended. "I'm being honest."
"I think you like me, Adam!"
"I do, that isn't a secret. You also are the person that understands me best." He admitted.
"But couldn't we be more than this?" She was open.
He walked to her, fixing his eyes on her, and replied:
"Yeah, we could." There was that possibility, which included that his secret would be revealed and he didn't want to put her in the position of deciding whether he was worthy or not.
He kissed and embraced her. She rested her head on his chest, relishing in the warmth of his embrace.
"Oh, Debbie..." He sighed, feeling that they weren't supposed to be in that position.
"I'm so in love with you, you have no idea." She disclosed.
"Why that much?" He didn't feel worthy of that appreciation.
"I don't know! It feels like you're meant to be part of me. I love you as I love myself."
"You shouldn't."
"Are you pushing me away?" She teased him.
"No! But I think that I should take you home."
She eyed him with an inquiring look. Fortunately, he had a lie that replaced the truth fairly well:
"Our chemistry could take us even further."
"I know." She regretted that they had gone too far already. "But we could dine out!"
"We could do that...!"
They walked out of the building and headed to a classy restaurant nearby.
That was a merry evening for both of them, especially because Adam left her by the door of her building with a passionate kiss on her lips. The sensation lingered through the night.