Queen and Bishop

(II) Angela

"What else is woman but a foe to friendship, an unescapable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic danger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature, painted with fair colors!"

St. John Chrysostom

"It's good to see you, Jon."

The voice that had once so captivated his heart and soul. Angela.

Yet, somehow the voice was weaker than he remembered it. She always had a very pleasing and soothing voice, but there was now a softening in the way she spoke. Jon couldn't quite think what it was.

"Good to see you too, Ange," he said with a smile. "Though I won't lie, I wasn't expecting to see you ever again. The last time I think was graduation."

She smiled, but that too was feebly done.

"Hard to believe how long it's been, huh?"

Before he had a chance to speak, his parents and family all came up suddenly, each one giving him a hug.

"Proud of you, son," his dad said with a pat on his shoulder. Jon couldn't help but smile. "You defied my expectations, and only ended up exceeding them. Wish your granddad could've seen this day."

His best friend, Derek Shaughnessy, also came up to him and, in true nerd fashion, shook his hand vigorously.

"Nice service, dude," he said.

Jon laughed. "Thanks!"

His dad looked from him to Angela and back to him again. "I imagine you're wondering how this young lady came to be here?"

"Ah, well," Jon stammered, not sure how to respond.

"Ha! Ran into her at the market not too long ago, and she asked about you. Told her you would be presiding over your very first Mass here at St. Stephen's, and she said she'd love to come and see you."

Jon had his eyes fixed on his one-time love interest as his dad spoke, and she turned to look at him, and their gaze locked. In just those few brief moments, a flood of memories seemed to fill the church, swirling about them in a very strange and inexplicable manner. They must have stared at each other for a long while, because his dad tapped him on the shoulder.

"So, will you?" he asked.

"So – sorry, dad, got sidetracked. What was the question?"

His father smirked. "You coming home for dinner tonight? Your brother and sister-in-law were kinda hoping you would join us." He spoke the last sentence in a wink-wink, nudge-nudge manner.

"That's right," Alex, his brother and eldest sibling, said. "I mean, it's been almost a year since we saw you, and your two nieces want to see their uncle."

Gabrielle, Jon's French-Canadian sister-in-law, was holding up her ten-month-old, and her three-year-old was busying herself playing in the pew. "It would be great if you could come, Jon," she said.

"Let me just tidy up a bit, and I will make my way there," he said, beaming at seeing his two nieces.

"Dinner at five, as usual." And with that, the family all made their way out of the building.

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"Bro, what are you thinking?" Derek asked in a lowered voice, his tone deathly serious.

Angela had gone outside with Jon's family. To say she was out of place among them would've been absurd, since she had spent many happy days at the Shane residence when she and Jon were still a couple.

Truth be told, Jon wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn that his dad had actually intended to invite her, and his little story of their chance meeting at the market was merely meant to disguise the fact.

"What do you mean?" Jon asked.

"You and Angela were practically boring into each other's souls," his friend replied in astonishment. "You didn't even hear your dad ask you three times if you were coming to dinner!"

Jon flushed. "Don't make the mistake of thinking I'm going to leave my vocation as a priest for her, Derek. So many memories were coming back in those moments, you know?"

"Guess so," he shrugged.

Ah, poor Derek, Jon thought. Never been in a relationship. Maybe he should...

Jon broke out in laughter at the thought of his friend becoming a priest, but corrected himself over what he determined was more of a cruel joke than anything.

"What?"

"Nothing, man. Hey, you know mom and dad wouldn't mind having you over tonight. How about it?"

"Nah, thanks, I got a Call of Duty tournament tonight."

Derek's "tournaments" were weekly matches with his other buddies online, which were usually always accompanied by pizza and loads of beer.

"You should come to Mass more often, Derek," Jon said, turning to enter the sanctuary.

"Yeah, right, see ya around, Father Shane," his friend said as he was walking out of the building.

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Jon had just finished with a few things in his office when he entered the sanctuary. Seated in the middle front pew was Angela.

"Ange," he said, his voice echoing inside the building.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"Thought you'd left," he said as he walked up to her. She stood.

"No. I wanted to see you." She smiled at him.

Jon's heart started pounding. "Oh?"

"It's good to see you, that's all," she said, brushing aside her shining chestnut hair, her smile never leaving her full red lips.

"You too. Hey, uh, I'm surprised mom and dad didn't invite you over?"

"Oh, they did." She laughed. "They said it would feel like one big family reunion if I could join, but I have other plans for tonight."

Of course they did! What were they thinking?

"Gosh, it's just hard to believe I haven't seen you in so many years!" he blurted, unable to resist an attempt at prying into her personal life. "I mean, what have you been up to this whole time?"

Angela had closed the gap between them, which Jon only then noticed. He blushed slightly at having her so close to him.

"I think it would be nice if we could go out and talk about it, maybe for coffee or something." She glanced up into his hazel eyes with her own fiery green eyes, hopeful for a certain reaction.

"Oh!" he said almost in a shout, caught off guard by both the closeness of her body to his, and being asked out by his former ex. "I'm awfully busy at the parish this week."

"It wouldn't be a date or anything," she said mendaciously.

"Oh, of course not! Impossible!"

"Just catching up..."

"Okay, yeah, catching up," he repeated, feeling like an idiot for a sudden loss of words.

"How about this next Tuesday, Starbucks?"

"Okay, sure."

Boldly, she leaned forward and gave him a very quick peck on the cheek, then turned and walked out of the building, leaving behind a very stunned and surprised Father Jonathan Shane.