No one knows the day or the hour

I am nothing if not meticulous. I attend church every Sunday, dutifully, doing my best to socialize with the people there, as this is something Christians are supposed to do. This can be difficult though. I am 40 years old and still single, where as most of the people my age in the congregation are married with kids, so it can be hard to find common ground.

I also try to read the Bible regularly, but I will admit, I have fallen off the wagon a little bit. Its weird, I know I will enjoy it if I read it, but I am always putting it off, and it doesn’t help that I am trying to maintain other reading habits. Mostly novels. I think that novels can tell us a lot. We see into the mind of the author, and their experience of the world. I am certain that reading is good for you, and I try to put in the hours every week.

When I do get around to reading the Bible, I am usually happy to read the gospel of John, or the first 8 chapters of Romans. Even though I enjoy reading the Bible, again, it is something I do regularly because that is what Protestants do. I have read the entire Bible; and some bits of it I have read many times.

Today is Monday, the day after Church. How did it go? Alright, I guess. I stayed for the whole service, but left shortly afterwards. The sermon was on the return of Jesus – that no one knows the day or the hour. I told myself I would stay longer next time.

Now I am in the office, working to pay the bills. It’s lunch, so I’m in the lunch room, eating my sandwiches. There are plenty of nice cafes around, but I am trying to save money, and besides saving dollars, I am saving calories too, as it is too easy to find yourself ordering a brownie or some other sugary pastry.

Michael and David walk in, chatting to each other while getting their lunch out of the fridge.

“Guys, how’s it going?” I ask, disinterestedly.

Michael turns from the fridge. “Hey Steven, I’m good thanks.”

David, lunch in hand, walks closer to me. “Dude, have you seen the new girl at the far end of the office?”

“No, I haven’t. They said we were getting someone new. So, it’s a girl?” I reply.

“Yeah. She’s a hottie too.”

I have a vague idea that he is objectifying a woman, but I get the gist of what he is saying.

“Oh really? I guess I’ll have to say hi to her sometime.” I reply noncommittally.

I continue to eat my lunch, solve today’s wordle, and then all to soon it’s time to return to my desk. The rest of the day I am busy making phone calls and editing Excel files. There is a huge backlog of work, and I pray that I will make a dent in it, and that I can forget about it all when I get home.

One of the Excel files is supposed to be updated with sales figures, but after checking it a couple of times and seeing nothing change, I go to the manager to ask who to pester about it. He tells me the sales figures are Heidi’s responsibility.

“Heidi?” I ask.

“Yeah, she’s the new admin we acquired.” Says the manager. “Why don’t you go over to her desk and ask her what’s going on?”

I put two and two together, and decide that this must be the ‘hottie’ David mentioned. No problem, I’ll see what the holdup is with the Excel file.

I walk out of the managers office and head to the desk at the far end of the office, near the window.

There is the woman. Her dark red hair is in a a sharp bob. I catch her pouring over some file on her desktop.

I knock on the side of the cubicle. “Hello? It’s Heidi, isn’t it?”

Her eyes slowly widen, and she turns in her chair at a laboured pace, as if whatever is on the screen is hard to tear away from.

“Yes, I’m Heidi. What’s going on?”

She’s painted green around her eyes, and the eyeliner she’s wearing gives her face a striking appearance. She has a bemused look on her face. And her smile – more of a smirk actually – is vivacious, and quite attractive. I find myself inhaling a little too suddenly, and hoping that she doesn’t notice.

“Yes… You know the march figures Excel document? It’s one of the main ways we track our sales, and I am told you are the one to update the file with the most recent sales data. I can’t do anything to that file myself until it’s updated.”

Her face relaxes a little, and she purses her lips and smiles again. “Oh yeah, I was just getting around to doing that. Will it be okay if you give me another 45 minutes?”

“No problem. By the way, I’m Steven – nice to meet you.”

I return to my desk, and for the rest of the day her face keeps surfacing in my memory. Eventually, 5pm rolls around, and it’s time to clock off. But just as I’m logging off, Michael and David walk around to my desk.

“Hey Steven. David and I were just arranging some after work drinks with some of the staff. We thought it would be a good way for everyone to meet Heidi. You interested in going?”

This is one of those times I should make my decision carefully. Christians have to be careful with alcohol. We aren’t supposed to get drunk, but exactly where the line between being a little bit happy, a little bit tipsy, and being certified drunk is hard to nail down. But this would also be a chance to see Heidi again. Wouldn’t it be nice to get off to a good start with her?

“Sure Michael. Where are we going?”

“The Marble bar.”

“Alright, let’s do this.”

Soon everyone is gathering outside the foyer of the building. I look around, hoping to see Heidi, and eventually notice her coming down with some of the other girls in the office. Once everyone is in the group, we make our way to the Marble bar.

In the corner of the bar there is seating that follows the wall, with a large table. I manage to get a seat close enough to Heidi to be able to talk to her, after ordering a beer.

I sip my drink, and try to get involved in the conversation Michelle is having with Heidi. They are talking about cars. Michelle is talking about how much she loves her Tesla.

“It’s just so nice not having to pay for fuel anymore. And its so quiet on the inside! I can listen to music, audiobooks, whatever. Definitely worth it.”

“And what do you drive, Heidi?” I ask.

She puts her drink on the table. “Nothing special. A Suzuki swift. What about you?”

“I drive a Toyota Corolla. What I love about them is that they are so reliable. I’ve done about 100,000 k’s already and I’ve had no trouble.”

Before she can reply, I ask her a question.

“So how are you finding working at Goodman and Fielder?”

She flicks her hair out of her face. “Pretty good, I guess its not much different from the last place I worked at – except it pays better. You know, gotta chase that cash.”

She rubs her pointer finger and her thumb together.

I laugh. “I don’t know what kind of deal you made, but I can tell you they are not paying me enough for what I do. The whole place is just one huge stress headache.”

“All jobs are a giant stress headache.” Heidi shrugs.

“True that.” I reply.

The evening passes by, and people leave to go back to their homes, but a few of us continue the social in the bar. I’m on my third drink for the night, and I’m starting to wonder if I’ve crossed the line between social drinking and too much, but staying here with Heidi keeps me from leaving. Heidi and I are getting on really well, and I am so happy to be holding her attention. She is definitely pretty, and I am enjoying conversing with her.

“So, what do you like to do to enjoy yourself, Steven?” Heidi asks me.

“I read a lot. Lately it’s mostly been fiction. I think fiction has many insights into the world and life in general, at the very least the author’s perspective.”

“Wow no way!” She replies. “I love to read too! Do you know Liane Moriarty?”

I smile. “I do. Suburban Psychodrama, brilliant”

“What about Haruki Murakami?”

“Yep. Urban surrealism. Love it.”

“Wow you know some of my favourite authors!”

We get into a frenzied discussion of books. I can’t believe we have so much in common. We both order another drink. Somewhere along the line, the last of our workmates leaves the bar, and it’s just us two.

“It’s getting late, how are you getting home?” I ask her.

“I’ve just got to catch the train back to Strathfield.”

“Oh really? I get off at Lidcombe, we could catch the same train.”

“That’d be great!”

We walk together out of the Marble Bar and make our way to Town Hall station, still wrapped in conversation. I find in the back of my mind I am wondering why I am doing this to myself. Chances are she is not a Christian, which means I can’t date her. I decide to ask her.

“So, are you any particular religion?”

She puts a finger to her bottom lip. “My parents are Catholic, but I stopped going to church when I was 15. I believe in something, but I don’t know what it is. Like, life is just too beautiful to have come about by chance, but I don’t believe any of the major religions have got it right.”

I try to hide my disappointment. “Oh… I am a Christian myself – Anglican. My parents used to be religious, but when I was about 16, they stopped pursuing it. But I came back to the faith when I was about 19. It’s been a bumpy ride at times, but I am determined to stick with it.”

Even as I say that, I begin to wonder. What am I doing here? If I want to date a girl, I should be looking in my church – or making a dating profile on Christian café. But of course, whoever I find, wouldn’t be Heidi. And just at that moment, she asks me something surprising.

“Hey Steven, I know we’ve only just got to know each other, but would you want to come back with me to my place tonight?”

I am in shock. Heidi wants me to come with her to her place tonight? That can only mean one thing. She really likes me that much? She must. But what about my faith? I don’t want to be an adulterer, if anything happens it is supposed to be in marriage, and that is with a believing woman too. But she is so nice. Lovely even. I don’t have time to deliberate on this, she is waiting for an answer. I hear myself speak.

“Wow… um, yeah I’d love to.”

It’s as good as done. I’ve said I will, so now I’m going to have to do it. But at that moment, something strange happens. The earth begins to quake, and the sky turns red. A great sound echoes across the sky, a trumpets blast. The clouds rip apart, and there, shining and terrible, is Jesus, surrounded by angels.