Chapter 19
She could not believe that he had boldly taken it upon himself to say that he loved her. As they sat side by side on soft minerals aunt Gloria, who had been at the centre of most of the ushering that happened that evening could not conceal her exhaustion. As someone who had Friday morning issues to perpetuate, he took advantage of Delia's trust in him with the ushering and general security of the place to find himself privately in the house with Gloria who had also been trusted with the custody of the main house as the proceedings took over. Upon being requested to change the punctured tyre of Jilian's BMW, he had gotten to an extent of telling aunt Gloria that he had feelings for her. Given that the two were both unattached, there arose a probability of them consoling and filling one another's love void as they had both lost their loved ones. They had talked of that sorrowful commonality and how difficult they had both found it hard to move on.
It was now 4 o'clock in the morning and the party that had gone overnight seemed to be continuing deep into Saturday. Delia and Paul had driven to Redbury nightclub to procure more drinks as those they had bought got finished owing to the increasing number of gate crushers. Jilian had drunk twelve castle light beers but was still pretty much in control of her sobriety faculties. She was a very calculative person who, apart from drinking on specified occasions, also preferred a beer that had a low alcohol content. As people who had broken into some serious party dancing, they had somehow brought themselves to some sobre levels. Paul who had been taking heavy drinks had slumbered for an hour on the chair without touching any gin and had resorted to Jilian's castle light upon being told that it was the only brand that was left. She, therefore, decided to buy more beers so as to accommodate her jovial guests. In all honesty, she had never partied to such insane levels. What was astounding was her strong resistance to casual intoxication and robust regulatory ability during any boozing session.
"If you truly love me, then you have to prove it, Chris," said aunt Gloria as Chris held her hand.
"I really do and I just can't hide it Gloria" he had pursued her proposition.
"I am an Adventist, so I can only feel comfortable with someone from my denomination" she roped in some religious affiliation.
"I am a born Methodist, but I've never been to church since coming to Redbury" he responded in the same regard.
"Can you come to our church?" she inquired.
"I have no problem with fellowship, I have done that so many times before" he responded with an indication of affirmation.
"It's a Saturday, can we go together?" she asked.
"For you, I will" he responded.
"It is never for me, but the glory of God Chris," she said.
"I understand, but If it were not for you, I was not going to go" he responded honestly.
"I do understand but always put God first" she reemphasized.
Chris and Gloria agreed to go to the Seventh-day Adventist church later that morning. Having exhausted their church talk they had switched back to their love conversation. She had informed him that she saw no problem with them dating so long it became a publicly known issue by her church mates and elders as her Reverend encouraged them to do and he had given a nod to it. She had told him that it was too early for them to kiss, but he disregarded that and pushed his lips to hers only to find out that it was not a stubborn but just a shy no after all. What surprised Paul was seeing her push her tongue into his mouth in the course of their preliminary romantic experience. What had appeared to come later had just come before that. Aunt Gloria, who had vehemently made it appear as though she would only embrace his proposal after the church agreement, had just proven that angels and saints were only found in heaven and probably eutopia. Maybe it was a matter of staying for 2 years without a man in her life. Chris had also gone for over six months since he slammed a commercial sex worker. He was not casually given to such repugnant sexual solutions, but his long stay without fucking had compelled him to walk into one of Greylands's brothels for some sexual healing.
There might have been a break in the flow of beer supplies, but the same cannot be said about music. The golf club resident D.J. who hailed from the same neighboured had accepted Jilian's request for a continuation of his top-class entertainment. He briefly stopped the musical flow to accommodate cheers and ululations from the attendees upon Paul and Jilian's return with more beer. The party was going to continue as if it had just started. The arrival of the two also led to the cutting short of aunt Gloria and Chris's mild romantic trial. For people who were both already on the other side of 40, their overnight pact had proven that love does not discriminate as they desperately tried to make up for the mutual loneliness they had been engulfed in with serial kissing which was of course subject to her continual interruptions so as to address any suspicion of anybody trying to enter the house.
Jilian's return also saw Chris leaving aunt Gloria to join others outside. They had been together for a large part of the event to converse in detail to an extent of reaching mutual arrangements. However, his agreement to go to church with her was dealt a blow as Jilian insisted on having him as her caretaker in aunt Gloria's traditional Saturday absence, which was the only day she was off duty ever since becoming Jilian's maid. That church thread could still have mattered as far as the future of their relationship was concerned, but its bearing on the two to start loving one another had already been superseded. Chris did not need to communicate the change of the church plans as aunt Gloria heard for herself as she spoke.
"Thank you so much aunt, you are free to start making preparations for the sabbath Chris will assist" she spoke to relieve her.
"Alright Jilly, hope I will not dose during the service" she responded as she walked to her cottage.
In the meantime. Paul who had slumbered some volume of drunkenness away was now drinking only castle light beers. Jilian had succeeded in using him as a payback jealousy engendering card and it had worked. His presence, let alone free-spirited indulgence with Jilian had made Jason feel threatened and very jealous. Jilian had observed it, but could not show it but inwardly celebrate. All those up close and personal dances and sexually suggestive cues were as a result of her deliberate mission to send a haunting signal to Jason and it had been encoded and decoded fives.