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Singles' Ministry---Day 6
“Lord, what do I do when my faith and my feelings are telling me one thing, but reality is showing me something completely contrary…? I can’t help liking him, but at the same time, we’re on different pages. One minute we’re vibing and the next minute, with no warning, or reason, I am being ghosted for a week…there’s but so much a person can take before they just wash their hands of it all…”
***
Nadia was on cloud 9. She had been spending a lot of time getting to know Rob since her graduation party. She’d hosted a handful of events after the graduation party and every time, Rob was there. They had an unwritten pattern for getting together. She would text a group of loyal friends and family, announcing the latest social gathering. Rob would then text her, sometimes to tell her he was coming, other times he would text her the day of the party just to ask who would all be there. It never really mattered though because he’d show up two sometimes three hours after the party started anyway.
By that time, the house had cleared out and Rob would find himself chilling with some combination of Nadia, her cousins Mariah and India, his friend Vince, and Walt, Nadia’s cousin and Rob’s good friend. After the party, the group would sit and talk about life until well past midnight. Rob would always be the last person to leave. It was like he was waiting to be alone with Nadia. Unfortunately, by the time they got their one-on-one time it would be super late and they would have no more than twenty minutes to talk because either one or both he and Nadia would need to get to bed soon because they had to get up early for work.
Nadia didn’t mind so much; all that mattered was that she got to see and spend time with the man who managed to work his way into her heart. Nadia knew she wanted to see Rob more and spend as much time with him as possible, but his work schedule did not allow for much socializing outside of a group gathering here and there. Nadia would host a party once a month, if she could, as long as it meant she would catch a glimpse of that oh so handsome and ever funny Rob Keyes.
It was one of those days. Nadia was wrestling with her feelings for Rob. She did not like feeling like she was stuck in limbo. She needed some answers. She wanted to tell Rob how she felt and wanted to ask him if he felt what she was feeling. How? She asked herself. Nadia was tired of the internal battle so she decided to call her cousin Mariah. She tapped on Mariah’s contact info and waited for the call to connect.
“Hey, Girl!” Mariah answered enthusiastically.
“Hey, Rye.”
“What’s up? You don’t usually call.” Mariah asked with a little concern in her tone.
Nadia sighed into the receiver. “It’s Rob. I don’t know what to do, but things can’t stay the way they are. I either need to know that he likes me too or is interested or he needs to tell me the feeling isn’t mutual…something. I mean when you look back at everything we’ve been through together this past year and some change, it says we like each other, but he’s not making a move. He pulls back any time I hint at the possibility of a mutual attraction. Lord knows what will happen if I be straight up and say ‘Rob, do you like me?’ He’d probably fall off the face of the earth or something…ugh…” Nadia’s frustration was building and she didn’t like it. She was known to have control of her feelings and her responses toward stressful situations and yet here she was in foreign territory, twenty-nine-years-old and on the brink of a temper tantrum.
“Calm down, Dia, don’t get yourself worked up over this. I told you, you and Rob need to do something with just the two of you. Y’all keep getting together at these parties and group events, but you never get to spend any time with each other especially with that daggone India, ugh she irks my soul.” Mariah rolls her eyes as she thinks of their cousin’s obvious flirtatious advances towards Rob.
“Rye!” Nadia interjects.
Mariah shakes herself from her thoughts. “My bad. Girl, y’all need to go bowling, go to the movies, go out to eat, mini golf, batting cages, something, anything. Just make sure when you do it, it’s just you and Rob.”
“Okay, cool.” Nadia takes a deep breath.
“You good?”
Nadia smiles weakly into her phone. “Yeah, I’m good. Alright, I’m going to hit him up and see if he’s doing anything this weekend. Thanks for looking out.”
“Of course, you know I got your back.” Mariah replied with sincerity.
“Love you, Rye.”
“Love you too, Dia.”
The call between the cousins ended. Nadia scrolled through her messages to find Rob’s conversation block.
Rob! Hey are you doing anything this wknd?
Nadia waited for a response. Ten minutes later her phone vibrated to announce a new notification.
Hey Dia. Nah, just workin…why what’s up?
Nadia didn’t want to seem too eager, but she didn’t want to wait the standard five minutes before responding.
Nothing much. You’re always working and I just wanted to do something nice for you.
This time, it was a full thirty minutes until Rob responded to her text message.
What did you have in mind?
Nadia smiled. I was thinking I’d cook dinner for the two of us. We could maybe listen to some music, dance, talk…have some fun?
An hour passed and Nadia had yet to hear from Rob. She tried to keep herself busy while she anxiously anticipated his text. Another forty-seven minutes went by when Nadia’s phone vibrated.
Sounds good.
Nadia was slightly offended, “That’s it?” She couldn’t believe he had nothing else to say. She shrugged her shoulders and pressed on with their weekend plans.
Ok. Be here Saturday night at 7:30.
Nadia didn’t wait for Rob to respond. She didn’t need to. As far as she was concerned, she had given him the details for their weekend date, all he had to do was show up.
The week flew by. Nadia had sent Rob a few texts throughout the week just to check in and to remind him of dinner on Saturday night. He had responded to most of her messages up until Thursday. She was unfazed by his lack of response. Rob was known to text here and there, but there were a few times when he wouldn’t text back, but still show up.
Nadia busied herself with preparing a special meal for two. She planned the entire night around Rob. He often talked about how men deserved to be spoiled too. He believed men ought to be appreciated for who they are and what they contribute to life and relationships. Nadia kept that in mind as she developed the menu for the evening. Nadia had ordered a dozen crabs, got a pack of premium New York strip steaks, a bottle of wine, and decided to pair it with buttered parsley potatoes and broccoli. Nadia was not a fan of seafood, so she decided to make lasagna for herself.
“He better appreciate this too.” Nadia said as she grabbed the tongs and prepared to put the live crab into the pot. Nadia had never cooked crabs before. The only reason she decided to steam crabs was because Rob missed out on the crab feast at the Taylor family reunion. Nadia thought this was the perfect gesture to show Rob how much she thought about him and considered him in her decision-making.
“Sorry buddy, better you than me…” Nadia said as she grabbed the next crab with the tongs and tossed it into the pot.
Nadia checked on dessert once all the crabs were steaming in the pot. She knew Rob had a bit of a sweet tooth. She noticed his affinity for her cupcakes and brownies at each party. She settled on a decadent, triple chocolate brownie cake. She wanted it to still be a little warm when she served the sweet treat. She planned to scoop ice cream to take the dessert over the top and to score major points with Rob.
Everything was ready for a perfect date night about an hour later. Nadia had showered, dressed, and applied a light amount of makeup. She had lit flameless candles and turned on the fireplace in the living room. Light music emanated from the soundbar connected to the large flatscreen TV. Nadia went upstairs into the closet in the spare room and pulled out her nice plates. She had set a table fit for a king…But where was her king?
Nadia had sent a text to Rob right before her shower. She told him dinner was ready and she was looking forward to hanging out with him. She didn’t check her phone after that because she was too busy putting final touches on the evening.
Nadia didn’t want her food to get cold, so she started eating without Rob. As time went by it became pretty obvious that Rob wasn’t going to show up. At 8:53, Nadia turned off all the candles and cut the power to the fireplace. She sat on her couch in the living room as tears streamed down her face. The song in the background reminded her of her loneliness. She swallowed hard as the depth of her feelings mixed with her hurt, shame, and disappointment. Nadia was lost, so she did the only thing she knew to do…she prayed…
***
Come back tomorrow to find out what happens next in Nadia and Rob’s story…
***
Nadia was on cloud 9. She had been spending a lot of time getting to know Rob since her graduation party. She’d hosted a handful of events after the graduation party and every time, Rob was there. They had an unwritten pattern for getting together. She would text a group of loyal friends and family, announcing the latest social gathering. Rob would then text her, sometimes to tell her he was coming, other times he would text her the day of the party just to ask who would all be there. It never really mattered though because he’d show up two sometimes three hours after the party started anyway.
By that time, the house had cleared out and Rob would find himself chilling with some combination of Nadia, her cousins Mariah and India, his friend Vince, and Walt, Nadia’s cousin and Rob’s good friend. After the party, the group would sit and talk about life until well past midnight. Rob would always be the last person to leave. It was like he was waiting to be alone with Nadia. Unfortunately, by the time they got their one-on-one time it would be super late and they would have no more than twenty minutes to talk because either one or both he and Nadia would need to get to bed soon because they had to get up early for work.
Nadia didn’t mind so much; all that mattered was that she got to see and spend time with the man who managed to work his way into her heart. Nadia knew she wanted to see Rob more and spend as much time with him as possible, but his work schedule did not allow for much socializing outside of a group gathering here and there. Nadia would host a party once a month, if she could, as long as it meant she would catch a glimpse of that oh so handsome and ever funny Rob Keyes.
It was one of those days. Nadia was wrestling with her feelings for Rob. She did not like feeling like she was stuck in limbo. She needed some answers. She wanted to tell Rob how she felt and wanted to ask him if he felt what she was feeling. How? She asked herself. Nadia was tired of the internal battle so she decided to call her cousin Mariah. She tapped on Mariah’s contact info and waited for the call to connect.
“Hey, Girl!” Mariah answered enthusiastically.
“Hey, Rye.”
“What’s up? You don’t usually call.” Mariah asked with a little concern in her tone.
Nadia sighed into the receiver. “It’s Rob. I don’t know what to do, but things can’t stay the way they are. I either need to know that he likes me too or is interested or he needs to tell me the feeling isn’t mutual…something. I mean when you look back at everything we’ve been through together this past year and some change, it says we like each other, but he’s not making a move. He pulls back any time I hint at the possibility of a mutual attraction. Lord knows what will happen if I be straight up and say ‘Rob, do you like me?’ He’d probably fall off the face of the earth or something…ugh…” Nadia’s frustration was building and she didn’t like it. She was known to have control of her feelings and her responses toward stressful situations and yet here she was in foreign territory, twenty-nine-years-old and on the brink of a temper tantrum.
“Calm down, Dia, don’t get yourself worked up over this. I told you, you and Rob need to do something with just the two of you. Y’all keep getting together at these parties and group events, but you never get to spend any time with each other especially with that daggone India, ugh she irks my soul.” Mariah rolls her eyes as she thinks of their cousin’s obvious flirtatious advances towards Rob.
“Rye!” Nadia interjects.
Mariah shakes herself from her thoughts. “My bad. Girl, y’all need to go bowling, go to the movies, go out to eat, mini golf, batting cages, something, anything. Just make sure when you do it, it’s just you and Rob.”
“Okay, cool.” Nadia takes a deep breath.
“You good?”
Nadia smiles weakly into her phone. “Yeah, I’m good. Alright, I’m going to hit him up and see if he’s doing anything this weekend. Thanks for looking out.”
“Of course, you know I got your back.” Mariah replied with sincerity.
“Love you, Rye.”
“Love you too, Dia.”
The call between the cousins ended. Nadia scrolled through her messages to find Rob’s conversation block.
Rob! Hey are you doing anything this wknd?
Nadia waited for a response. Ten minutes later her phone vibrated to announce a new notification.
Hey Dia. Nah, just workin…why what’s up?
Nadia didn’t want to seem too eager, but she didn’t want to wait the standard five minutes before responding.
Nothing much. You’re always working and I just wanted to do something nice for you.
This time, it was a full thirty minutes until Rob responded to her text message.
What did you have in mind?
Nadia smiled. I was thinking I’d cook dinner for the two of us. We could maybe listen to some music, dance, talk…have some fun?
An hour passed and Nadia had yet to hear from Rob. She tried to keep herself busy while she anxiously anticipated his text. Another forty-seven minutes went by when Nadia’s phone vibrated.
Sounds good.
Nadia was slightly offended, “That’s it?” She couldn’t believe he had nothing else to say. She shrugged her shoulders and pressed on with their weekend plans.
Ok. Be here Saturday night at 7:30.
Nadia didn’t wait for Rob to respond. She didn’t need to. As far as she was concerned, she had given him the details for their weekend date, all he had to do was show up.
The week flew by. Nadia had sent Rob a few texts throughout the week just to check in and to remind him of dinner on Saturday night. He had responded to most of her messages up until Thursday. She was unfazed by his lack of response. Rob was known to text here and there, but there were a few times when he wouldn’t text back, but still show up.
Nadia busied herself with preparing a special meal for two. She planned the entire night around Rob. He often talked about how men deserved to be spoiled too. He believed men ought to be appreciated for who they are and what they contribute to life and relationships. Nadia kept that in mind as she developed the menu for the evening. Nadia had ordered a dozen crabs, got a pack of premium New York strip steaks, a bottle of wine, and decided to pair it with buttered parsley potatoes and broccoli. Nadia was not a fan of seafood, so she decided to make lasagna for herself.
“He better appreciate this too.” Nadia said as she grabbed the tongs and prepared to put the live crab into the pot. Nadia had never cooked crabs before. The only reason she decided to steam crabs was because Rob missed out on the crab feast at the Taylor family reunion. Nadia thought this was the perfect gesture to show Rob how much she thought about him and considered him in her decision-making.
“Sorry buddy, better you than me…” Nadia said as she grabbed the next crab with the tongs and tossed it into the pot.
Nadia checked on dessert once all the crabs were steaming in the pot. She knew Rob had a bit of a sweet tooth. She noticed his affinity for her cupcakes and brownies at each party. She settled on a decadent, triple chocolate brownie cake. She wanted it to still be a little warm when she served the sweet treat. She planned to scoop ice cream to take the dessert over the top and to score major points with Rob.
Everything was ready for a perfect date night about an hour later. Nadia had showered, dressed, and applied a light amount of makeup. She had lit flameless candles and turned on the fireplace in the living room. Light music emanated from the soundbar connected to the large flatscreen TV. Nadia went upstairs into the closet in the spare room and pulled out her nice plates. She had set a table fit for a king…But where was her king?
Nadia had sent a text to Rob right before her shower. She told him dinner was ready and she was looking forward to hanging out with him. She didn’t check her phone after that because she was too busy putting final touches on the evening.
Nadia didn’t want her food to get cold, so she started eating without Rob. As time went by it became pretty obvious that Rob wasn’t going to show up. At 8:53, Nadia turned off all the candles and cut the power to the fireplace. She sat on her couch in the living room as tears streamed down her face. The song in the background reminded her of her loneliness. She swallowed hard as the depth of her feelings mixed with her hurt, shame, and disappointment. Nadia was lost, so she did the only thing she knew to do…she prayed…
***
Come back tomorrow to find out what happens next in Nadia and Rob’s story…
