One Night Sin - Maddy & Declan (A Forbidden Love Story)

It's not me, it's you, Paul

*** MADDY

"Do you need me to do anything else, Father Patch?" I ask him.

"No," he says with a smile. "I should be all set. Thank you, Maddy. You've been a great help."

"I... alright," I say, stumbling for words.

"Declan's coming home today, isn't he?" he asks me, a faint twinkle in his eyes.

"Oh! Yes. It'll be late, though. I'm not sure when he's getting in. I might be sleeping already. I think his flight arrives at around ten. He said he would take a taxi from the airport so we didn't have to worry about picking him up."

"Can I leave a note for you to give to him?" Father Patch asks me. "I was thinking since he'll be back here for the summer he might want to help me with some things around the church. It'd be good practice for when he graduates from seminary school, don't you think?"

I hesitate, unsure what to say. I mean, yes, of course I'll give Declan a note, but...

"Wait right here a moment," he says with a smile. "I wrote the note earlier, but I think I left it in my office. I'll only be a second."

I smile and nod and wait, because what else can I do? I know this isn't exactly God's will or anything, because it's just a note, but I am in a church, and I was asked to do a favor by a priest, so...

I sit down on one of the pews up front and fold my hands in my lap. Looking up at the ceiling, I stare at some of the higher stained glass windows. It almost seems like there's another world entirely out there. Maybe the colored glass makes it so that there's another world entirely in here instead? I wonder which one God prefers. Does he like the quiet, inner sanctum of the church with all its cozy comfort, or does he prefer the wide open expanse of sky and the vast forests, the deep oceans and lakes, the wild animals, and... just the world.

I hear footsteps behind me coming up the aisle. Turning over my shoulder, I smile to greet the newcomer.

"Hello," I say, before seeing who it is.

"Hello, Maddy," Paul says, smiling at me in a way that somehow seems incredibly sinister.

I freeze and try to look away, but my eyes stay stuck on his. He walks closer to me until he's right beside me, then he sits next to me without asking.

"What brings you to church?" I ask him, swallowing hard.

"I thought I'd take confession with Father Patch," Paul tells me. "Is that why you're here? Have you been having many impure thoughts lately?"

"It's nothing to joke about, Paul," I say. He inches closer to me on the bench and I scoot a little further away.

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant... are you still going to reject me, Maddy?" he asks.

"I haven't rejected anyone," I say, tossing him a sidelong look. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He shakes his head and laughs. "I guess I should be more upfront. I'd like to take you out on a date sometime, Madelaine Hamilton. What do you say?"

"No," I say. Well, he asked, didn't he? That's my answer!

"See?" he says with a smirk. "Rejected again."

"I'm not rejecting you," I tell him, except, no, I am. "I don't believe in dating casually, Paul. I want to find something serious with someone."

"And who's to say I don't want to date you seriously, Maddy?" he asks me. "How do you know I don't want to marry you some day?"

"Paul, please. Don't even joke about things like that."