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I look inside to see if anything else is in there, but of course, there isn’t.
Someone is trying to send me a clear message. And the frightening part about it is, I know who this has to be. Kevin, or someone involved in this mess, is threatening me.
None of these pictures are scandalous, but it’s the threat that these pictures don’t look good if they were to get out. People will question why we’ve been spending so much time together.
I try to think this through before letting my imagination get the best of me.
Priests have friends; yes, of course they do. It makes sense I could be his friend. We did plan the gala together. This means nothing.
I bend down to gather all the photos up and place them on my counter. Something catches my eye on one of them. Slowly, I turn the photo around to find the real message that was meant for me.
“SLUT” is written in red lipstick at the very top. Similar to how I left my message to Kevin when leaving.
Below it, written in pen in block lettering, it says, “Your secret isn’t safe with me.”
I need to tell Lachlan.
Chapter 27
The fool gives vent to all his anger; but by biding his time, the wise man calms it.
Proverbs 29:11
Sitting in my office as the morning light spills in gives me the opportunity to reflect. The peace that can be brought only by the silence of not being tormented by your mind is unmatched.
I’m no longer torn about my direction in life. The guilt of that fateful night no longer weighs so heavily on my shoulders, and the hope of what the future may bring energizes me.
I am not the man I was nor the man I thought I would be.
Today, I’m submitting my request to speak with the bishop regarding the laicization process to no longer be a priest. I’ll always in some way be a priest since I was ordained, but I need to take this extra step to be officially removed from the clergy.
It doesn’t sit right with me to just leave and pretend I wasn’t a priest for almost a decade of my life. There will be no convincing me to stay. My resignation from this church will help drive home that message.
I don’t want to leave by simply marrying Avery and changing who I’m committed to. Marrying Avery has been at the top of my mind recently. I can’t wait to make her my wife one day.
I move to my computer screen and begin drafting my request to the bishop. Another bullet item is checked off the list.
Soon, this will just be another chapter of my life. In retrospect, each version of me seems like a separate chapter. Not the same person going through the past fifteen years of life.
I’m ready for the version of myself I am with Avery to be my final chapter.
After sending off the email, I pull together my notes on the gala. I know Patricia said she has it covered, but I want to be prepared for the high donors. That’s a part of my role that I still plan to do tomorrow night, even with the mess going on with Greg and Kevin. News of my departure hasn’t fully made its way to our congregation, and I don’t want any uninvited attention to be on me.
I open up our donor list and study the notes I have for each person.
The morning begins to drift away from me when I see I have a text message from Avery. She instantly makes my day better.
What she has to say is alarming. Her attorney is recommending she stay home?
In no circumstance can that ever be fucking good news. She’s insisting that I don’t head home straight away, but after that picture, how the fuck does she think I can stay away?
The swell of tits and tiny nipples poking out against her scrap of a tank top. She knew what she was sending, and I love the way she still teases me.
I can do this research from home anyway. I have access to this database for anything last minute I want to add to my notes.
Packing up the few papers, I put them in my briefcase. That’s when I see something strange on my desk.
A manilla envelope addressed to Father Lachlan. It must have been lost in the shuffle of the remaining paperwork I was sorting through. Patricia must have placed it on here before I got in this morning.
