Admirable Faith

"Brandon, come on. Now," Gary snapped. "Already late enough because you're too God damned stupid get off an elevator."

A moment later, William's voice filled Mercedes's headset.

"Mercedes? Could I have some ice? And a paper towel?" William asked.

"Yes sir," Mercedes agreed, getting to her feet.

In Conference Room three, Brandon sat, hand clutched to his eye. Gary sat, face still dark with anger. William sat, handsome face impassive as Mercedes entered, small cup filled with ice and two paper towels in her hand. She stood and watched as William quickly improvised an ice pack and placed the ice pack to Brandon's left eye.

"Thank you, Mercedes," William said.

"That will be all," Gary Ellis snapped.

"Yes sir," Mercedes said and backed out of the office.

The moment the door shut, Mercedes could hear Gary Ellis's voice bark out. She could not hear the words, but could hear the man's anger.

A few moments later, Gary and Brandon left. Mercedes cheerfully whished both a good day. Neither Ellis responded as they left the office. Brandon still clutched the ice pack to his left eye.

"I'm too old for this shit anymore," William sighed heavily as he and Mercedes watched through the thick glass doors as Brandon and Gary waited for an elevator.

"You're not too old," Mercedes smiled up at him.

"As long as you believe that," William smiled and bent to kiss her.

"Sexual harassment," Stacy quipped as she exited her office. "Mercedes, you don't have to put up with that."

"But I WANT to put up with it," Mercedes smiled, blushing at being caught.

"Got a fun one for you," William told Stacy. "Dancer at El Vaquero, named Billy, uh Edmonson."

"Ooh, Momma! Mercedes, want go with me? Watch some of them little boys shake their thangs?" Stacy asked.

"Uh, no," Mercedes said, heavy blush coloring her face.

"Uh, no, she's got a lunch date," William said.

At Bombay Café, William looked into Mercedes's hazel eyes. It wasn't hard to look into her eyes; she never took her eyes from him. He smiled and she returned his smile.

"Are you wearing..." William asked, fingers tracing her thigh through her dress's light cotton material.

"Pantyhose. Remember? I'm at the office," Mercedes verified.

"I absolutely detest pantyhose," William smiled.

"Then I'll take them off for you," Mercedes said and actually moved to shimmy out of the offending garment.

"No, no, Sweetheart," William smiled, gently touching her hand.

He leaned and kissed her softly.

"After lunch. In my office," he whispered.

"Oh," she squeaked.

They finished their lunch quickly and returned to the office. Mercedes followed William into his office. She closed and locked the door, then quickly hoisted her dress up to underneath her armpits. William sat behind his desk and looked at the distasteful pantyhose. Mercedes pushed the top of the garment down, exposing her sparse thatch of carrot orange pubic hair, her puffy inner lips.

Mercedes then sat in a chair, facing him. She wiggled the pantyhose down her thighs, bending to push them down to the tops of her three inch heels. She slid the shoes, then the pantyhose off of her feet.

Mercedes sat back in the chair, dress still bunched up underneath her armpits. Then she looped her thighs over the wooden arms of her chair, exposing her wet slit to his gaze.

"You know what I'm going to do, don't you?" William asked as he approached her.

"You're going to put your manhood into my, my..." Mercedes said, then whispered. "Cunt."

"No, Sweetheart. We don't have time for that. I've got a highly sensitive call with Jonas Biermann in Colorado in, damn, ten minutes," William chuckled.

He unzipped his suit trousers and fished his hard cock out. He gripped a handful of her hair and fed her hungry mouth his cock.

"But we do have time for..." he husked and bent slightly.

She squeaked around the head of his cock as his thick fingers began to play with her wet slit. She hummed happily as she swallowed his cock into her hungry throat.

"Mmph!" Mercedes grunted as he quickly diddled her clitoris.

"MMPH!" she screamed as an orgasm welled up in her guts.

"Oh, damn it," William groaned and began to fill her mouth with semen.

Then, with a kiss, Mercedes wiggled her pantyhose up her legs and was gone from his office. A moment later, his phone buzzed.

"Mr. Biermann, from Colorado on line three, sir," Mercedes said.

"Thank you, Sweetheart," William said and punched line three.

-.—

Reverend McCall smiled smugly as William Walters sat in front of his desk. It had galled him, angered him when William Walters had called him, a Man of God, nothing more than a well-dressed crook. It had filled Reverend McCall's stomach with bile to see the arrogant man, once again seated in his temple, his sanctuary, and with such a lovely young girl as Mercedes Scott.

And now the man was asking him, a Man of God, to bend his rules, to allow a member to wed a non-member. Reverend McCall smiled condescendingly.

"Wipe that fucking smile off your face or I'll do it for you," William Walters said, smiling.

"Uh, well now," Reverend McCall smirked. "Do you really think..."

"I really think you're about to find out that you fucked with the wrong son of a bitch, you pompous cock sucker," William actually chuckled, getting to his feet.

"Oh. Well, Mr. Walters, I don't think you'll be..." McCall smugly declared.

"Reverend Cabrerra?" William asked, opening the door of the office.

An older man entered the office. James McCall stood, puzzled at the appearance of the man.

"Reverend McCall? May I introduce Reverend Cabrerra? The Bishop of the Ministries of the Church Of Golgotha?" William smiled, indicating the distinguished looking man.

"The bish..." James McCall sputtered.

"Reverend," Reverend Cabrerra bowed slightly, gray eyes sweeping the office. "May I?"

"Oh, yes, of course," James agreed and the man took a seat.

William remained standing, leaning against the closed office door. After a moment, James sat behind his desk again.

"I must say, Reverend, I was very surprised when Mr. Walters contacted me," Reverend Cabrerra said. "I'd, we've no record of this congregation. We've no record of this church at all. When was your charter granted? I mean, we've got a few that were granted before we installed our computer system, but even looking through all our files, you know our files take up almost two thousand square feet of office space?"

"I uh, well, I mean..." James stuttered.

"And contributions? We've not received penny one from the Oakleaf Church Of Golgotha this year and we're nearly ten months into the church's fiscal year," the Reverend Cabrerra continued.

"Well now, see, there's been some expenses..." James continued.

"Yes, I would imagine so," the visitor agreed. "And you know how it's done. You send in your contributions to the General Fund. You then submit the invoices for any and all expenses and on approval, they are paid from the General Fund."

Again, the visitor glanced around the office. He then looked at the sweating James McCall.

"Reverend? Where are your diplomas?" he asked. "According to church rules, both the charter and your diplomas are to be displayed prominently. It eliminates any chances of impropriety."

"My what?" James stuttered.

"Diplomas, diplomas. Where you went to college. What by the way, were your undergraduate studies? Then your Masters of Theology, your doctorate of divinity," Reverend Cabrerra intoned. "Connelly is a fine college; their Cougars beat my Myndee Blue Jays last year, but mark my words; we're ready for you this year."

"Yeah, yeah, we're so scared. But Connelly doesn't have a master's program in theology, does it, Jimmy?" William spoke for the first time since the visitor entered the office. "They certainly don't have a doctorate in divinity."

"Now, why would I need..." James spluttered.

"According to the by-laws of the Church Of Golgotha, in order for a reverend to lead his or her own congregation, his or her own flock, they must be a doctor of divinity. A minister with a Master's in Theology? Would be allowed to assist, but certainly would never be the sole figurehead of their own charter," Reverend Cabrerra said, actually pulling a thick document from his briefcase. "Right here, under section three, subsections A through H."

"How about a high school drop-out, Reverend Cabrerra?" William smiled widely.

"We uh, we'd allow such a person light duties in and around the church's properties, say in the role of a custodian, or groundskeeper," the visitor said, addressing William. "Why? Are you..."

"Me? No sir, I've got a Master's in Criminal law," William laughed.

William turned and faced James. His smile hardened.

"But Jimmy here is a high school dropout. Didn't even get his G.E.D; failed it twice, didn't you, Jimmy?" William said.

"Is this true?" Reverend Cabrerra gasped. "You've been masquerading as a..."

"I didn't even know there was such a thing as the Church Of Golgotha," James whined.

"Oh, I assure you, there is a Church Of Golgotha Ministries. We have no less than twenty nine thousand members nationwide. We are here to carry the good news to saints and sinners alike; our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, on the hill of Golgotha died for all so that sins may be forgiven," Reverend Cabrerra snapped.

"Even the sins of being a pompous, pretentious dumb ass," William said. "Can I get an 'Amen' my brother?"

"You, you son of a bitch," James hissed at William, his hatred palpable.

"Told you you're fucking with the wrong guy, Jimmy," William said.

"Send in Burke and Taylor," Reverend Cabrerra ordered.

"My pleasure," William smiled and opened the office door.

"Mr. Burke and Mr. Taylor," Reverend Cabrerra said, getting to his feet as two burly men entered the now quite crowded office. "Are going to escort you out, MISTER McCall. A Marshall will be dispatched to the home the Church Of Golgotha has so graciously provided for you; you are not to come within five hundred feet of either this property or the domicile. At least, not until we get all the legal and financial matters straightened out."

"But that's, that's my home! I paid for that," James whined as Burke took a hold of James's right arm.

"Uh, with money donated to the church," William smiled.

"Oh! The automobile; the Lexus parked in the marked parking space? That also in the Church's name?" Reverend Cabrerra asked.

"No," James quickly lied.

"Oh, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy. Really?" William chortled.

"Thank you, Mr. Walters," Reverend Cabrerra said as he sat behind James McCall's former desk.

"Of course, Reverend. The Church Of Golgotha deserves much better than a fraud, an impostor leading their people," William said and proceeded Burke, Taylor, and McCall out of the office.

"You can't do this! You can't do this! I built this church! I built it from the ground up! I'll sue, I'll sue the pants off you," James screamed as the two men hustled him out of the building.

"Well, Jimmy, I understand there might be an opening in the Church of 'you got nobody to blame but yourself.' Give them a call," William said as he swung his leg over the saddle of his motorcycle. "Now, y'all have a blessed day, hear?"

Mercedes looked up as William entered the lobby. She smiled even as her face flamed slightly.

"I feel like celebrating tonight," William said. "You feel like celebrating?"

"Yes sir," Mercedes smiled. "What are we celebrating?"

"That I feel like celebrating, with a beautiful red head," William smiled. "Tokyo Gardens?"

"What time?" Mercedes agreed.

Even though she'd been to this restaurant a few times now, Mercedes still thrilled at the skills of the chefs. She still applauded enthusiastically at the end of the presentation.

Next to her, William smiled. He realized how much he enjoyed seeing Mercedes smile, realized how much he enjoyed her happiness.

He had been married twice before. His first marriage had been to Berri Goodwin, a girl he'd met at the Sticks N' Pins, the bowling alley billiards hall combination in Sweet Oak. Both eighteen year olds lost their virginity to each other in the back seat of William's 1968 Camaro. Two weeks before William was to leave for Boot Camp to become one of a few good men, Berri and Jimmy married. His first deployment was to Okinawa, Japan and Berri found excuse after excuse not to join William in Japan. His next deployment was to Seoul, South Korea, and again, Berri did not join him.

"I'll be home on the fourteenth, Sweetheart," William said into the telephone. "Six weeks R and R, okay?"

"Oh, Baby, I can't wait," Berri gushed.

On the thirteenth, William watched Berri, six month pregnant belly sticking out of a football jersey and two young men he didn't recognize as they hurried to pack all of his worldly possessions into the back seat and trunk of his beloved Camaro.

"You put one foot into that car, I'm going to assume you're trying to steal it," William spoke quietly to the larger of the two boys.

"What? Dude, who the fuck..." the brash young man sneered.

"William!" Berri screamed, seeing him.

"Oh shit," the other young man said.

William held out his hand and the first young man put the keys into William's hand. William rented a storage unit and completed transferring the possessions he'd entrusted to Berri into the unit.

"Let the landlord know I'm no longer on the lease," William said quietly to the sobbing Berri.

"Suppose you going want this back?" Berri sniffed, trying to wrest the engagement ring from her swollen finger.

"Nah, keep it," William smiled. "It's Cubic Zirconia. Like I'd put a diamond on your skank ass?"

His second marriage was to 'a good Christian girl' that his mother set him up with. Roselyn Trent was indeed a good Christian girl and made sure her Texas State Trooper was taken care of. Up until the day William and three other troopers busted up a meth ring. In the ensuing gun battle, William was struck in the chest. As he lay in the hospital bed, Roselyn kissed him on his lips, whispered that she loved him, but she would not repeat living through the agony of seeing him leave every morning, and wait to see if she saw him, or his corpse that night.

"I thought my faith was strong enough, William," she sobbed. "But it's not; I'm not. I'm not strong enough."

Even though that was his last day on the force, even though Roselyn would not have to live through the agony of being the wife of a State Trooper, William did not fight the divorce.

Sitting now, next to Mercedes, William realized he had lusted after Berri. He had settled for Roselyn. But he had not, he could not say he had loved either one of them. He had loved the idea of having a wife, had loved the idea of love, but he had not mourned losing either one of them.

He was almost ashamed to admit it, but William had spent more than one night watching the security videos from Ellis Lake. He had lay in his bed, stroking himself as he watched Paige Moore fucking and sucking the two boys. He had stroked himself as he watched Paige being roughly, almost cruelly sodomized by Brandon, by Chance.

The sight of Mercedes's beautiful nude body, though, had always caused William's cock to jerk, to spurt the first of several loads he would spill that night as he watched the silent footage. Her large breasts capped with pale pink areolae, the slight paunch to her pale belly, the plump pubic mound capped with light sprigs of carrot orange hair always sent him over the edge. Watching Paige Moore putting her mouth onto Mercedes's pussy would cause his semi-erect, sticky cock to revive. Then, seeing Brandon mouth-fucking the barely conscious girl would cause the second spurt of William's semen to jet out, spilling onto his belly.

But, by the time he got to the footage of Brandon plucking Mercedes's virginity, the comatose girl's body flopping helplessly, William would feel ashamed. He had gone to the funeral services of the Moore family specifically to see Mercedes again. Upon seeing the beauty, William had made the snap decision to promote Stacy, and hire Mercedes. Day after day, seeing the beautiful girl sitting at the desk, night after night, watching the girl being used, William realized, he was becoming obsessed. After their first date, William realized, he could very easily be in love. He finally did what he should have done after the first time he met Mercedes Theresa Scott; he deleted the Ellis Lake video file of Mercedes being defiled.

"I love you," William said quietly to Mercedes.

Her smile lighted her beautiful face. She leaned over and softly kissed his lips.

"And I love you a hundred times more," she playfully said.

"Oh, impossible," he smiled. "Just impossible, because I love you a thousand times more."

"And I love you..." Mercedes said.

"Infinity," William interrupted.

"...to infinity and beyond," Mercedes finished.

"You win," William agreed.

As she was finishing her meal, another thing William appreciated about Mercedes; she didn't eat half of her food and then pretend to be too stuffed to finish the meal, William took a deep breath. Mercedes looked up from her plate.

"I uh, it'd be a shame, I mean, you say you love me so much," William said, suddenly nervous.

"To infinity and beyond," Mercedes said.

"Be a real shame let that much love get away, huh?" William said, unable to look at Mercedes's shining eyes.

"Yep. Be a shame," Mercedes agreed, giggling lightly.

"I uh, Mercedes, I don't plan to let you get away," William said, digging the small ring box out of his suit jacket.

"And I don't plan on letting you get away either," Mercedes agreed.

Then Mercedes saw the ring and screamed. Someone dropped a plate and it broke. The applause of the patrons drowned out the manager yelling at the clumsy bus boy that had dropped the plate.

-.—

Many patrons of the Church Of Golgotha did not react well to the news that Mr. James McCall had been a fraud, an impostor. Many also found it difficult to accept the true teachings of the Church Of Golgotha, under the ministries of Reverend Cabrerra. The Church Of Golgotha did not frown on women cutting their hair, or wearing makeup, or dressing in flattering clothing. They did frown on the use of alcohol or tobacco or other stimulants. They did frown on premarital sex, did frown on divorce, but of course, there were exceptions. The Church Of Golgotha would never ask someone to stay in a physically or emotionally abusive marriage.

"Our church, our faith is built on the principle of forgiveness," Reverend Cabrerra said. "For God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten son. He did this, so that we may live. That we may be examples of His love."

Mercedes asked William if he wanted her to cut her hair. William hugged her and told her he only wanted her to be happy. If cutting her hair would make her happy, then she should cut her hair. If shaving her head bald made her happy, then she should shave her head bald.

"William, that is not an answer," Mercedes fussed. "Do you like my hair long, or what?"

"I love it long," William admitted, squeezing her tightly.

He did not know when Mercedes had changed from the emotionally fragile girl that had sat in Conference Room One, the girl that had meekly decided that Brandon and Paige and Chance had abused her because she had unwittingly allowed it, to the young woman that demanded he give her straight answers. He had liked, even admired the girl, admired her faith. He loved, adored this young woman.

Reverend Cabrerra met Yvette Scott on his first Sunday as the interim minister of the Oakleaf Church Of Golgotha. But he'd also met ninety three other people on that Sunday. And many of them were angered over the deceptions of James McCall.

Now, as William and Mercedes planned their wedding, the man got to know Yvette Scott as an industrious, faithful woman. He got to know the woman that had put aside her sinful ways when she learned that she was pregnant and had fully given herself to the teachings of the Church Of Golgotha.