Sex In The Sanctuary. Lutishia Lovely
as long as I have and loved him as much as I do would recognize. “And,” Tai added, smiling at Mama Max, “I can smell pretty good myself.”
“Look, I’m not one to doubt a wife’s intuition. I’ve been right about something with only a feeling to go on too many times. I was just thinking that…” Mama Max’s voice trailed off, and she took another small sip of coffee.
“Thinking what?” Tai quizzed.
“Well, I know with the twins in school you’ve had more time on your hands, feeling a bit, less involved. Trying to find your place again. In the meantime, this Hope girl has come in like gang busters, and it seems like every time you look up at the church, there she is. And she is a pretty girl.”
“One of many with stars in their eyes every time they look at King.”
“Maybe it’s just admiration.”
“Maybe it’s just infatuation.”
Mama chuckled. “Tai, I’m gonna give you some advice that you haven’t asked for. Don’t fear something into happening. King is your husband, and in the name of Jesus, it’s gonna stay that way. You, in the meantime, need to get with God and find out what you’re supposed to be doing for Him.”
Mama Max shifted in her chair. “I also know you’ve been feeling down on yourself for gaining weight. And I’m one to talk with my big butt spread all over your love seat here, but you could drop a pound or two.”
“Now, look,” Tai began, walking over to the love seat and plopping down beside Mama. Mama reached out her hand and placed it on Tai’s arm to stop her response.
“Darling, I love you no matter what size you are, and I know King does, too. It just might make you feel better, more confident, that’s all. You know Mama Max loves you. I’m only trying to help. And I’m not thinking you should do this alone.”
“And just who do you suggest should do this with me?” Tai asked, grinning broadly.
Mama Max just pointed to herself, and smiled.
The Full Workout Fitness Center was one of the newest exercise facilities that the suburb of Overland Park, Kansas, had to offer. Not only did it have every type of equipment known to man, but there was also a full line of workout classes including regular aerobics, step aerobics and water aerobics in their Olympic-sized swimming pool. There was kickboxing and Tae-bo. There was yoga, jujitsu, karate and tai chi. On the other side of the building was a full-line spa complete with a variety of massages and body treatments, a hair and nail salon and juice bar. The center was relatively quiet but still busy for a weekday, with a group of twenty or so women milling about, waiting for some type of aerobics class to begin, and others spread out on the various fitness equipment. A way-too-cheery employee with a perfect smile, size four body and flawless face literally sang out her greeting as Tai approached the counter.
“Welcome to the Full Workout Fitness Center. My name is Daphne. How may we help you become the best body you can be?”
Tai suppressed a wide range of sarcastic responses to say politely, “I’m interested in starting an exercise program to lose weight.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place!” Daphne continued in her singsong voice that in another time and place may have been nice but was presently grating Tai’s next-to-last nerve. “We’ve got a variety of programs available to fit just about any need one wanting to become physically fit could have. In addition, we have a nutritionist and full-time psychologist on staff to balance your exercise program with healthy eating habits and a positive mental focus.”
Tai stifled a laugh as she remembered who this woman reminded her of, one of the robotic Stepford wives.
“What I’d like to do,” the robot named Daphne continued, “is give you a tour of the facility, explain our programs to you and when we’re finished, have you answer a questionnaire that will help us place you in a regimen that will best suit your needs and goals.” Daphne-robot bounced from behind the counter, grabbed a clipboard, then turned and with a dazzling smile back at Tai said, “Right this way, please.” Another employee behind the counter nodded encouragement as Tai turned to begin the tour.
An hour, a smoothie and a manicure/pedicure later, Tai left the land of physical fitness behind, actually feeling better having joined. She’d decided on a beginner’s program since it had been a while since she’d exercised, and also with Mama Max in mind, that included water aerobics and calenetics, a series of stretching and toning exercises. She also scheduled a session with the nutritionist but passed on the psychologist. She was going to work on some of the machinery for abdomen toning and, if she really got into it, hire a personal trainer. Thank you, Mama Max, Tai thought as she returned to her car, turned on the radio and bobbed her naturally auburn curls to the sounds of 91.5, the Oldies Station. Tai felt a little better, but even as she sang “I Can See Clearly Now” with Johnny Nash, that sixth sense feeling in her stomach would not go away.
Good, good
King sat at the head of the table in the church’s tastefully furnished conference room. A committee of Mount Zion Progressive members joined him. Associate ministers, deacons, his personal secretary and others waited to give their progress reports on the upcoming conference.
“As you know,” King began after a lengthy “Baptisized” prayer by Deacon Nash, “this year’s leadership conference will be the largest and I believe best one so far. The speakers are dynamic, the workshops specific and explicit, and it seems that most of the details are in place. If anyone disagrees, now’s the time to voice what needs to be done. I don’t want any surprises at the last minute. Is everybody with me?” Everyone nodded or said yes. “Charles, let’s start with you. How are things looking with respect to our speakers and other guests?”
Charles was the church’s director of business affairs; organized, detailed and concise. His report reflected these attributes. “As you all know,” he said, directing his gaze at King, “we’ve had a few challenges. But as of today, almost all of the leaders we’ve invited have been confirmed. We’re still waiting on final word from a few session speakers and from Dr. Myles Monroe out of the Bahamas. And we’ve not finalized the contract for Dr. Hayden’s Economic Empowerment course. That is proving to be one of the more popular sessions.” He checked his notes quickly and concluded, “Everything’s falling into place.”
“Good, good,” King intoned, pleased as always with Charles’s work. Quick and to the point, that was what King liked about him. Deacon Nash could learn a thing or two from him, especially where “quick” and the deacon’s long prayers were concerned.
“Remind me to put in a call to Myles when we get back to the office,” King directed Joseph, his assistant, before turning to his secretary. “Denise, let’s have a rundown of the conference schedule to date.”
Denise Williams, who had been taking notes, opened her folder and shuffled a few papers before beginning to read. She was an attractive woman in an understated way.
“Okay,” she began, sitting up straighter and taking a deep breath. “The preconference begins Tuesday night with a dinner for the guest pastors and their wives, special guests and others on the list to be provided by Pastor King. Registration begins Wednesday morning at 10:00 A.M. in the church lobby. Over five hundred people have preregistered already, so we hope there’ll only be a few stragglers who don’t make the deadline. The first worship service is Wednesday night, and on Thursday morning, there are four sessions available: Follow the Leader, Strategies for Spiritual Success…”
As Denise continued with her report on sessions and special guests, Youth Minister Mark found himself paying less attention to the words being said and more to the mouth the words were coming from. He’d always found Denise attractive, and he loved her quiet, sweet spirit, but here, seated at the conference table with only a few chairs between them, it was as if he was seeing her lips for the first time. They were full and thick, not so big as to be soup coolers, but in perfect proportion to her face, which was heart shaped and