The Girl In the Purple Heels (Part 3)

The Girl In Purple Heels (Part Three)

I didn't usually approach girls this way. Most of the time when I saw a girl I liked, I normally watched her from a distance for a few weeks. Then I would pray and ask God for direction. If I felt peace then I would approach the girl. But something was different about this girl and I didn't think I could wait several weeks before talking to her.

"Excuse me, hi..." I said flashing what I presumed to be my most charming smile.

"Hi," she replied eyeing me with interest.

"I'm Solomon," I said extending my hand.

"I'm Lylah."

"Nice name. So I haven't seen you around, are you new in church?"

"I've been coming for about three weeks now."

"Oh ok, so I guess you don't know a lot of people around. They're some nice girls in church, I can introduce you to some of them so that you have other sisters to talk to about makeup and handbags and all the other important things you girls talk about."

Lylah smiled. Good, now if only I can get her number. Don’t ask for her number or you'll seem desperate, my brain told me but I ignored it.

"Listen it’s been nice meeting you but I have to go, I'm helping my aunt to host a Christening Ceremony and I'm already late as it is. Thanks for the chat."

"You're welcome, but why don't you give me your number and maybe I can call you sometime and let you know what events are going on in church."

"Thanks but isn't that what the church announcements are for?"

"Well yeahh but..."

"Sorry like I said I have to rush off. Maybe I'll see you next week."

And with that she was gone....

I stared after her until she was nothing more than a speck in the distance.

I didn't know what to make of our conversation. She had seemed interested yet aloof. Probably trying to play a bit hard to get. Well the hunter in me always liked a good challenge. This was going to be an interesting quest.

As I walked back towards the church, I saw Isaac and a few other guys walking out of the door. Isaac left the group and ambled towards me.

"There you are, I was wondering where you had disappeared to. Who was that chic I saw you chasing after?"

"Oh that’s Lylah, she's new."

"She looks nice."

"Yeah I think she is."

"Man you look like you're whooped; you're grinning like a Cheshire cat."

"Don't be silly. I barely know her."

"Yes but you want to, I can see it in your eyes."

"Whatever man."

"I thought you would go after Molly."

"Molly? She's just a good friend."

"Yes, but everyone knows she's got a thing for you and I think she's a great girl. She loves God, she's pretty, intelligent and gets along with everyone. Besides you guys have been good friends for ages, what more could you want bro?"

"She's alright, but she's like a little sister to me."

"Man, if Molly was into me, I wouldn't waste any time with anyone else."

"Then maybe you should go after her."

"I would but it seems like she's only got eyes for you."

As I drove home that afternoon I thought about what Isaac had said. Molly was a cool chic but I just didn't see her that way. I was sure that Lylah was the one. 

I just had a feeling.

Over the next few weeks, things started happening fast. Firstly Lylah and I bumped into each other the following Sunday and we started chatting again. She told me she was from St Vincent and she worked as a Marketing Executive for a small company in South East London. Being a Marketing Manager for British Gas myself I thought it was great that we were in the same field. She finally gave me her number and I started calling her. As we talked and got to know each other, we found out that we both liked the same music, Tonex and Deitrick Haddon to be precise. To top it off we both loved chicken and we were both Nando’s fans. It was as if it was confirmation that we were meant to be. So you can imagine how delighted I was when I asked her out to lunch and she immediately said yes.

I took her out to a posh Italian restaurant in Canary Wharf. When I got there I hoped I would impress her with my Ralph Lauren shirt, Calvin Klein slacks and my neatly trimmed hair.

"You look great," she said as she gave me a big hug.

"Thanks, and you look stunning," I responded admiring her skinny jeans and green halter neck top.

We sat down and ordered. We both ordered a Pasta and Salmon dish with Strawberry and Cream cocktails.

“It’s amazing how we both like so many of the same things.”

“I know. Funny isn’t it?”

“Well just as long as you don’t start wearing the same perfume as me, that’s fine,” she said laughing.

“No way, ladies fragrances are not my thing.”

The afternoon went pretty quick and we had a great time talking about Tennis and movies. She then told me that she had gotten saved about a year ago at a church in Leeds whilst she was visiting relatives. However she hadn’t gone to church for a while after that until she started coming to Majesty. I was glad that she was now taking her Salvation seriously.

By the time I dropped her off at her flat in Lewisham I was beaming. Our date had gone better than I could have expected. That evening when I got home I prayed and thanked God for the lovely time I'd had with Lylah. I also asked Him to lead me and reveal more of Lylah's character to me. I felt quite optimistic about things.

After that Lylah and I began spending a lot of time together. 

One afternoon after church, I bumped into Molly outside church as I was leaving.

 "Hi Solomon, haven't seen you for a while," Molly said. Strangely Isaac and a few of the other guys in church had also said the same thing. Gosh people can be so needy, how do they expect me to have a life and still spend huge amounts of time with them. I smiled apologetically at Molly.

"I know I've been so busy."

"Yes I figured you must be busy, but you always had time to chat every now and then. We haven't seen you at the prayer meetings for a while. How are things? I feel like we haven't talked in ages."

"Sorry Molly, it’s just that with work, family stuff going on and err..."

"Lylah?"

"You know about her?"

"Yeah, everyone in church knows that you two are together."

"Oh I didn't realise. Yes well, I'm also spending a lot of time with her so I hardly have much time for anything else. Anyway I have to go meet her right now but maybe we can catch up sometime," I said just to end the matter.

"Sure," she replied and I could tell she knew that that wasn't going to happen.

As I walked towards the car park, I was glad to get away. Strangely, my conversation with Molly had felt awkward even though Molly and I had always been close. We used to talk about almost anything and everything. I brushed it all aside, after all the bible says "forget the former things..." so I told myself not to dwell on the past.

I got into my car and drove to Lewisham were Lylah lived. The Blackwall Tunnel was a nightmare and I ended up getting there forty five minutes later than we had arranged. I tried to ring Lylah to tell her that I was running late but my phone battery had gone flat. Uggh.

When she opened the door I could tell she wasn't too happy because she opened it and immediately walked away without giving me a hug.

"Hey, I'm really sorry I'm late, I got stuck in traffic and I couldn't call coz my battery was dead."

"Sure," she said with a slight nod looking like she didn't believe me.

"Listen I'll make it up to you. Saturday I'll take you to watch that new Sanaa Lathan movie that’s just come out."

"Cool," she said fumbling about in a drawer.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Why?"

"You seem a bit distant and you're only giving me one word answers."

"I'm stressed that’s all," she said taking out pens, scissors and other miscellaneous things out of the drawer.

"What about?"

"I don't really want to talk about it at the moment," Lylah said pulling out a pack of Marlboro cigarettes from the drawer. Then to my surprise she lit it and started puffing clouds of smoke in my direction.

"You smoke?"

"Yes why, do you have a problem with smoking?"

"No its not that. It's just that...I don't know I guess I didn't expect you to smoke that’s all," I replied trying to hide the fact that I disliked people who smoked. I figured I could deal with the problem later.

After that we were both quiet for a few minutes, each probably wondering what the other was thinking; then I said, "Lylah what’s wrong? You have to talk to me, maybe I can help."

At that point she started sniffing and I saw tears welling in her eyes. Within seconds she was crying uncontrollably.

"Please talk to me."

"I'm sorry but I can't talk about it. Solomon I'm sorry but I need to be alone right now."

"But I don't want to leave you like this."

"Please just go..."

I didn't understand what was happening. The past three months had been amazing; things had been going so well and then without warning things seemed to be taking an unexpected turn.

I reluctantly got up and walked towards the door. I hoped she would call and stop me but she didn't. I walked out of her flat feeling crushed and confused...

To be continued...