33. Father Alexander #2
“You leave first, Celine. I’ll be fine staying here until that day comes.
I’ll deal with whatever Father Keaton throws my way, but you—” Her eyes find mine again, and in the shadows, I see curiosity lingering there.
“You need to act your ass off in the next couple of meetings with your mother and be on your best behavior in the convent. That is the only way you’ll get out. ”
“I can do that.” Her head bobs, and I can hear the determination in her voice. “What if something happens and he follows through on his threat to you?”
I haven’t thought that far ahead. “I’ll deal with it.”
She doesn’t push further. Instead, she asks, “What will you do when you’re free?”
“I’m not sure yet,” I tell her a half-truth. “Visit my mom more.”
“Will you move back to New York?”
“After my recent visit there and how cold it’s starting to become, I don’t think I’d survive.” I lightly chuckle. “I like the warm weather.”
There is a hint of a smile playing on her lips. “If you stay in the area, then maybe we can hang out somewhere other than a church.”
“I’d like that very much.” Invisible strings tug at the corner of my lip. “What about you? What will you do with your freedom?”
“Spend time with my friends because I’ve missed them so much. And try to find a job since I was fired before coming here.”
“Fired?” I quirk an eyebrow. “What did troublemaker Celine do to get herself fired?”
“Have a bitch for a boss.” She sighs. “She always had it out for me, and I endured her fury for three long years. Then she decided she had had enough of me, when I wasn’t even doing anything wrong.”
“She sounds like a bitch,” I agree, which makes her laugh.
It’s in this moment that it dawns on me that, even though I’m obsessed with this woman, there are things that I don’t know about her life. Important things that I never thought to ask her, because I was either too worried about getting caught with her or acting on my impulses whenever I could.
That needs to change.
“What did you do for work?”
“I worked for a publishing company, and I was hoping to work my way up to being an actual editor.” Her eyes turn sad. “That was before I got fired, and my boss threatened that I would never work in publishing again.”
“She can’t do that.”
“She thinks she can. I had a job interview lined up, but then I was coaxed into coming here. Whenever I get out, who knows if they will still be interested.”
“How could they not be interested? You’re perfect, and they’d be stupid not to give you a chance.”
“Although it’s not true, thank you for giving me hope.” A shy smile spreads across her mouth. “Wait, what are you going to do about Father Keaton? I mean, after you leave here, how will you put a stop to what he is doing?”
“I’m still working on that.”
“I’ll be there if you need any help,” she offers with a warm smile.
“Thank you,” I tell her. “We should probably get out of here. We’ve been in far too long.”
“Right.” She nods and stands to leave the booth.
As I open my door, she walks in front of it, and while I normally try hard to keep my hands from touching her, I can’t help but grab her and haul her into the booth with me. The door shuts quietly behind her. My arms wrap around her body in this small space, and her face fills with confusion.
“What are you doing? We could get caught!”
“It’s okay, I didn’t see anyone out there. So they couldn’t have seen us,” I lie, because I definitely saw two women in the front pews, praying. “I also didn’t want to leave here without kissing you again.”
My guilt from lying fades when I see her beautiful smile, looking up at me with a sort of shyness. My hand meets her cheek, guiding her towards me. Our lips meet, and the gesture she returns isn’t like our normal kiss.
This one is passionate. Slow. Full of the emotions that she’s too scared to let out. She hasn’t said it, but I’m hopeful that what is causing her to move her mouth with mine in such a sudden need means that she is starting to have deep feelings for me, too.
I am leaving the priesthood for good, and there is no other woman I want to be spending every day with when I get out; she is the one I want to occupy my time with.
I don’t end the kiss; I wait for her to, and when she finally does, she looks down.
When her eyes slowly met mine, I saw her eyes glossing over.
“Are you alright?” I can’t put my finger on it, but her expression seems to show multiple emotions running through her mind: a mix of happiness, relief, and worry. All at the same time.
“Yes, Alex, I’m okay.” Her voice is calm, sending a wave of warmth through me. “We really should get out of here, though.”
Without another word, I open the door slowly, scanning the room.
I was nervous that the two women in the front pews would still be there, but they had already left.
It puts me at ease, knowing Celine won’t be nervous walking out of here.
Even though I know they didn’t see us go into the booth together, a part of me still feels a little guilty for the white lie I told her.
“Will I see you tonight for our prayer?” She interrupts my thoughts.
“Yes.” I think about it for a moment. I know we won’t be reciting the prayer, so there’s no need to go to the library to meet. “We will meet at a new place. Be outside the chapel after everyone has gone to sleep.”
Confusion lines her face, but then she agrees. Slowly, Celine backs away with a tiny smile on her lips. She doesn’t say anything as she spins on her heel and leaves the chapel.
Along with my other duties today, I need to figure out how to sneak Celine into my room.