The Choice (All Normani Ships)

2. A Beginning and An End

Present

Normani's alarm went off at 7:30 am. She needed to give herself enough time to shower, dress, and walk to her church. The alarm didn't disturb Dinah one bit. She was still sound asleep. Normani shook her for a good minute, but the athlete wouldn't wake up. With any other person, Normani probably would have freaked out, but she remembered that Dinah was a heavy sleeper.

The model rushed to get ready, drink coffee, eat toast, ran out the door, and left Dinah asleep in bed. In heels, she briskly walked to her destination. After arriving at the church and walking inside, she quickly went to the row where she usually sat. Her friend, Jilly, was already there.

"Did you get a program?" Jilly whispered. The service was already starting. "We have a guest speaker."

"No," said Normani. She still felt sleepy and was wondering when the caffeine was going to kick in. "Who is it going to be?"

"I heard it's going to be some lady from Texas who is going to lead our women's retreat next month. Are you still going?" asked Jilly.

"Only if you're still going," answered Normani.

The choir sung two songs. The pastor took his place at the podium after the performance was over. He didn't talk long before he introduced their guest speaker.

"Today, we are blessed to have Pastor Hernandez fly all the way up from Texas to speak with us. As most of you should know, we're having our women's retreat next month, and Pastor Hernandez has volunteered to lead it. She's written some amazing books about women's roles in the church. They'll be available for sale in the lobby after the service; but, right now, let's give her a hand for leading today's service."

The whole congregation clapped as a small woman stood up from her seat and walked up to the podium. Everyone could notice that she was stepping on something so that her head could be seen, and she could reach the microphone. No one saw her sitting on stage because she was blocked by a deacon. Normani's eyes widened as she recognized who the person was. Jilly caught a glance of her friend from the side and turned her head to get a good look at her once she realized that she was in shock.

"Normani, are you okay," asked Jilly. "You look like you saw a ghost."

"I might as well have," Normani mumbled. "Pastor Hernandez is my ex-girlfriend."

"Nuh, uh!" Jilly shouted.

"Shhhh," Normani scolded her friend.

Jilly struggled to contain herself. "Yo! This is crazy. The pastor? What kind of freaky shit....?"

"And, this is the second ex-girlfriend I've run into the past three days. The day before yesterday, I ran into someone I dated in high school," Normani disclosed.

"Did you get laid?" Jilly inquired.

Normani gasped, "For the last time, that is none of your business!"

Jilly knew her friend well and could tell she was hiding something. "You did! That's why your behind was running into church late. She must have had you up ALL last night."

Normani scolded her friend again. "Jilly, this is the house of the Lord. Have some class."

Jilly turned her attention back to Pastor Hernandez, but had to put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing. Normani rolled her eyes and tried her best to return her focus back to the speaker. Pastor Hernandez gave an inspiring sermon on women's roles in Christianity, especially non-denominational churches. The speech was basically an extension of her books. One was called A History of Women in the Protestant Church; the other was called Women's Role in the Non-Denominational Church. She was definitely progressive in her views about women taking leadership positions as pastors and bishops. Hernandez was the assistant pastor at her church in Houston, TX.