Melody

He was a rich and successful man. Those who knew him described him as “diligent and debatable.” He was hard-working, industrious, meticulous, contentious and controversial. He butted heads with lots of people. He was always engaged in a battle of wits and more times than not, he emerged the victor. He was an ambitious man and used to getting what he wanted.

And he wanted Melody, his beautiful assistant. They had been working together for a year and a half now. She didn’t have a man and the last relationship he was in was three years ago and he ended it because his girlfriend wanted to get married and he didn’t. He didn’t hide his attraction for Melody from her. She was aware of it and made it clear that she was attracted to him too. They had gone out on dates but she never invited him to her place nor went to his.

One night when they were outside of her building after going to dinner and the opera, he asked her point blank, “Why is it that you don’t invite me up for a nightcap or come to my place?”

“I know that if we are alone either at my place or yours things will get heated between us.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” he demanded. “We’re dating, aren’t we?”

“Yes, we are but sex is out of the question.”

Appalled, he asked her why.

“I want to wait until I’m married before I have sex.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this before we started seeing each other?”

“You know how I feel about premarital sex.”

“Yes, but I was hoping that you would make an exception in my case.”

“Sorry, but as much as I would love to have sex with you, I can’t.”

That frustrated him to no end. Seeing her in the office and out of the office, wanting her and not being able to have her was sheer torture. Why couldn’t she be more like the Christians he knew. They didn’t seem to have any issues with having sex outside of marriage.

“They aren’t practicing Christians,” Melody was quick to inform him. “The Word of God clearly opposes fornication. Maybe they gloss over those Bible verses.”

It was lunch time and he was sitting at his desk, thinking about her and wondering how he was going to resolve this problem. She wasn’t in the office at the moment. She had gone to the drugstore to pick up something for his photo allergic reaction to the new aftershave lotion which he had recently been using. The minute he found out that it was the culprit for the red spots on his face, he threw it away and decided to return to the one he had always been using.

As he sat there, he seemed to recall that somewhere in the Bible it said that it was better to marry than to burn with lust. Turning to his laptop, he did a search and found the verses. It said, “So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—it’s better to stay unmarried, just as I am.  But if they can’t control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It’s better to marry than to burn with lust.”

He sat back in his chair, his brow furrowed as he considered his options. Either he married Melody or go insane. It was hard being around her. Every time he looked at her, he wanted to make love to her. He dared not kiss her because he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to stop when things got too heated between them. He was trying really hard to respect her wishes but it wasn’t easy.

He closed his eyes and did something he hadn’t done in a long, long time. He prayed about it. “You love her. Marry her for that reason.” His eyes flew open and he jumped to his feet. He grabbed his car keys and rushed out of the office.

They were sitting outside on the patio of the restaurant facing the ocean. It was a beautiful evening. The sun was still high in the sky. They had just finished having dinner and were walking along the beach, holding hands. “That was a fantastic meal,” she said, smiling. “You always bring me to the most romantic restaurants with the best cuisine.”

“I aim to please,” he said. His heart was racing. “Melody, this may sound crazy but I’m going to draw a picture in the sand. Turn and face the way we came and I’ll tell you when to look.”

She laughed. “All right.” She turned and faced the other way.

“You may look now.”

She turned and looked over her shoulder. He was down on his knee and beside him were the words, Melody, will you marry me? Her hands flew up to her mouth.

He told her, “I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. What do you say?”

“I say, yes.”

He slipped the ring on her finger, stood up and kissed her. Then, taking her hand, as they continued their walk on the beach, he told her what he had prayed about and what God told him.

Posted for November 2020 Writing Prompts – #24 – Diligent and debatable; 22 – A battle of wits; 12 – Photo allergic

Sources: Merck Manual; The Spruce