8. Myer
M yer~
My heart was beating rapidly inside my chest, but not because there was a very possible chance that we were about to get brainwashed in a few moments.
No, my heart was slamming against my ribs because this really did feel like a date, despite how Calista had been joking earlier.
When five o’clock had rolled around, I’d gone to knock on her door, and even though she’d kept it casual, she’d made an effort, and she really was so fucking perfect.
In fact, it’d taken everything in me not to hold her hand during the walk across the street.
“If I see one pentagram, I’m outta here,” she muttered under her breath.
“And I’ll be right behind you,” I assured her.
When the front door to Louise’s house finally opened, she stood on the other side, smiling like I had just presented her with the papacy. “Oh, my gracious,” she rushed out. “I can’t believe what I am seeing. You’ve managed to get Callie to come to one of our meetings.”
“We’ve been over this before, Louise,” Calista said. “It’s Calista, not Callie.”
“Callie is better suited for your open channels,” Louise said, and I almost grabbed Calista’s hand right then and there to drag her back to the safety of her home. “Callie is the person that God is always talking to me about.”
“Well, until I hear it from God directly, I prefer Calista.”
Feeling like I needed to nip this in the bud quickly, I said, “Thank you for having us, Louise.”
“Oh, yes, yes,” she gushed. “Please, please come in.”
Unable to help myself, I placed my hand on the small of Calista’s back, making it clear that we were here together, even if it did give off a little more personal vibe. Nevertheless, I wanted Louise to understand that I was on Calista’s side, no matter what.
“We are all gathered in the sunroom,” she said like she was a reality housewife, and though her home gave off the impression that Louise was a minimalist, it was still obvious that she was a very expensive minimalist. I mean, her house resembled the rest on the block, but none of the rest of us had goddamn sunrooms, so that’d been customed designed.
When we walked into what Louise called the sunroom, there were already four other people present, and the first thing that I noticed was how all the women looked similar in coloring.
Yeah, the facial features were different on each woman, but they all seemed to be the same age, were some shade of blonde, and all had blue eyes.
They were also all curvy like Louise, and if there was even one pair of real tits on any of them, I’d be surprised.
Still, that wasn’t all. The three women were also joined by one man, and I was pretty sure that this was more of a sister/wives situation than a religious cult.
While most of the furniture in the room matched, there was a single chair that stood out from the rest of the décor, and he was sitting in it.
“Everyone, these are my neighbors, Calista and Myer,” Louise announced, introducing us. “They’re very interested in what we do here, and I think this is a sign that God really is herding his lost sheep.”
Like a tool, I just waved at the group, Calista mimicking the move, only the two of us feeling the awkwardness of it all. Everyone else seemed thrilled to be meeting us, but I had a feeling that Calista was their target, not me.
“Welcome,” the guy said, though he didn’t stand up, which was customary when a woman entered the room.
What a fucking douchebag.
“So, let me introduce everyone,” Louise went on, sounding like world peace had just been solved. “From left to right, this is Linda Grant, Donna Dougal, and Gina Margorie.” Then when she gestured towards the man, she added, “And this is Jury Patton.”
“Nice to meet you all,” Calista muttered, and the I-told-you-so in her voice made me want to get her the hell out of here.
“I’ve set aside two chairs for you two, and as you can see, there are refreshments on the table,” Louise went on, oblivious.
Once again, I placed my hand on the small of Calista’s back, making sure to let Jury see the possessive gesture, and I even held onto her chair as she seated herself.
Whatever this was, we weren’t leaving this place without everyone here thinking that we were a couple, if only to make them aware that Calista wasn’t alone in the world.
“Well, since we have newcomers, I think a quick refresher of our mission is in order here,” Jury announced, and it was clear who was the one in charge here.
“Of course,” Louise quickly agreed, the other three women stone-cold silent.
“Our purpose here is to foster a relationship with God that is deeper than your normal churchgoer,” Jury said. “We believe that you can actually reach out and touch the hand of God if you open your mind and heart to the possibility. You can have a direct line to God’s ear if you just believe.”
“Isn’t that what prayer is?” Calista asked, and there was nothing sexier than a feisty woman.
“Generalized prayer is your direct line to God, not the other way around,” Jury answered. “Of course, God can hear all our prayers, but this is about hearing his answer directly. While there are signs everywhere, some of us need the answer given to us in a way that erases all doubt.”
“But being only human, how would we even be able to process God’s voice?” she asked. “Our ears shouldn’t be able to withstand such greatness, don’t you think?”
Something flashed in Jury’s eyes, but he quickly masked it. “God is all. So, since He is capable of all things, then it stands to reason that He could make such a communication happen.”
“Okay, but how does one go about opening that kind of avenue?” I asked. “Because, not for nothing, there are a lot of devout Christians that don’t possess that kind of relationship with God.”
Jury looked over at me, and it was clear as day that he did not appreciate another man in his hen house. “While they might be devout, they haven’t transitioned the way that we have.”
“Transitioned?” I echoed.
“It’s in the choice to live purely,” he said, making me arch a brow. I mean, while I didn’t give much to how people lived their lives, I seriously doubted that anyone in this room was ‘pure’.
“Meaning?” I asked.
“Everything that we take in must be pure,” he explained.
“While we cannot do anything about the pollutants in the air, we can control everything else. We eat only clean food, nothing processed. We cleanse ourselves with organic products only. Even our entertainment is pure. We do not watch violent or vulgar movies or television. We even make sure that our clothing is freeing, nothing too constricting. It’s a lifestyle, Myer. One that you have to commit to fully.”
“And do you guarantee this transition?” I asked, feeling like he was nothing but a predator the more and more that he spoke.
“Whatever do you mean?”
“How do you know that everyone in this room is fully dedicated?” I clarified. “I mean, how do you know that Louise doesn’t sneak in a hamburger every now and again?”
Louise let out a dramatic gasp as Jury said, “Because, not only do I trust them, but we would not be in sync if one of them was desecrating what we’ve created here.”
With the women still silent, I asked, “And what of their husbands? Partners? What if they don’t adopt a clean living also?”
“Oh, none of us are married,” Louise answered, finally chiming in. “That term of service isn’t in God’s plans yet.”
Term of service?
“So, everyone here is single?” I asked, glancing over at the women. “No...husbands or boyfriends?”
“Our priority is getting right with God first,” Louise answered.
“Well, you have definitely given us a lot of food for thought,” I lied. “However, I find that I like bacon and tacos way too much to make that drastic of a lifestyle change.”
“That’s because you haven’t ever felt the presence of God before,” Louise replied, and she was wrong about that. As a man that’d had plenty of orgasms in his past, I knew what it felt like to walk with God.
“Well, I’m curious as to what Calista thinks,” Jury remarked, and that almost had me laughing.
“Who? Me?” she squawked as she pointed to herself.
Jury nodded. “I’m interested in whether or not you feel as if you deserve a pure relationship with God. I’m interested in whether you wish to become one of His chosen ones.”
“Aren’t His chosen ones already chosen?” I asked, dying to hear more of his nonsense.
“You can still earn your position with Him,” he answered easily, like a man that knew what to say at all times.
“I guess you can,” I muttered, ready to go the fuck home.