Capítulo 8: 8. At The Church
Today is Sunday. Pamela picked up Rissa and James early in the morning. And then, they arrived at the church at seven o'clock. James entered the youth class, which was located some distance from the public place of worship. Meanwhile, Rissa and Pamela joined Esther's family. And luckily, she didn't see Satria.
Esther went to the church with her family: Uncle Irfan, Aunt Irene, and their daughter, Felice. Uncle Irfan is a very kind person. He is tall, he has a bald head, and his skin is exotic. Anyway, he is about forty years old. He smiled wide when he saw Rissa.
"Shalom, Rissa! Pamela!" Uncle Irfan greeted.
"Shalom, Uncle Irfan!" They shake hands.
Aunt Irene also greeted Rissa and Pamela. "Shalom, Darling." She kissed Rissa's cheek.
Aunt Irene is a gorgeous woman. Her big eyes are so beautiful, and her hair is long and curly.
Esther looked similar to her father's family. If Rissa did not know that Aunt Irene was Esther's aunt, she might have thought that Aunt Irene was her mother.
Their daughter, Felice, had a beautiful face like Aunt Irene's. She had curly hair and big eyes. Well, Felice was the same age as James. She entered the youth class, joining James.
"Esther, are you alright?" Pamela asked. "You said you were sick yesterday, didn't you?" Her face looked worried.
"Don't worry, Mel. I'm fine," Esther replied.
There was a slight blush on her cheeks. Rissa guessed that Esther was wearing blush to disguise the pale colour that was very obvious on her face.
Eventually, they went up the stairs together. The place of worship is located on the second floor. Two ushers greeted them. The usher shook hands while greeting: "Shalom!"
The air in the hall is very cold because of the air conditioner. That place is so large so that it can accommodate more than two thousand people. Rissa saw the light is bright yellow and felt so warm.
Uncle Irfan chose a seat in the middle row. Meanwhile, Rissa sat next to Esther, on the far left, near the exit door.
Five minutes later, the worship began with great wisdom. The Worship Leader performed a worship song with a gentle rhythm. And then, they prayed.
Rissa knew that she had sinned because she could not immediately focus on praying. Her thoughts kept drifting to the angel. She couldn't forget the smile of the man who had turned her boring life into a brighter and more colourful one.
Worship continued with more vibrant hymns. Now, Rissa can memorize some of the songs in the church. Previously, she only relied on the text of the song that was on the big screen displayed at the back of the stage where the worship leader and singer stood.
The screen was very, very large, as wide as the stage and about four meters high. The screen displays song texts, Bible verses and a weekly info video about the church.
Rissa feels very grateful to be able to worship in this very large church. It turned out that several congregations contributed funds for the construction of this church so that this church could grow so rapidly with so many congregations.
After the hymns were over, the priest came up to the stage and started the sermon. This time, Rissa tried her best to really focus on the preacher's sermon.
Time passed. Finally, worship finished at half-past nine. When Rissa came out through the hall door, she saw the man who had fascinated her yesterday. Instantly, her heartbeat fast, her adrenaline increased.
Rissa was sure that it was Charlos. The man was wearing a grey plaid shirt and jeans. He was standing alone, waiting in line to go down the stairs, about ten meters from where Rissa was standing.
Unfortunately, too many people just left the worship room. Rissa doesn't care about anything else. This time, she should be able to, at least, greeted him. When Rissa was about to approach Charlos, Esther held her hand.
"Hey Rissa, where are you going? Aunt Irene said she would take you to lunch at our house." Esther nodded towards Aunt Irene, who was chatting with her church friends with Uncle Irfan. "You come with me."
Rissa let go of Esther's hand slowly. "I'm sorry, Esther, I think I have some business. I ... I ... Uhm, I saw Mrs Kiki," Rissa stammered. "There's something I want to ask to her. Uhm, Esther, you can go first." Rissa glanced at the stairs, and Charlos was no longer there.
"Are you sure?" Esther asked suspiciously.
Risa nodded quickly. She glanced slightly at Pamela. "I'm sorry, Esther. I'm in a hurry. Please convey my apologies to Uncle and Aunt. Bye!"
"Rissa! Rissa!" Pamela shouted. "Where is she going? She's gone so fast."
Esther shrugged. "I do not know."
"She's being weird."
"What's weird, Mel?"
"Yeah, that's it. I don't understand. She's been acting weird since yesterday's practice." Pamela was still watching Rissa, who immediately disappeared from the crowd of the congregations.
Esther pretended not to care as usual. Then, she sat again on the chair, waiting for Aunt Irene, who still hadn't finished talking with her friend.
Rissa immediately left there. She was almost running through the crowd of many people towards the stairs where Charlos stood. She kept running down the stairs as fast as she could because there were so many people there.
She arrived on the first floor, then turned right into the parking lot. Rissa hoped she could see Charlo. Probably, he was with his drama friends. She hoped she could move faster.
Rissa continued to search until she reached the parking lot. She was surprised when suddenly, a car honked at her from behind.
Rissa immediately jumped to the side. She felt a little discouraged while her eyes were looking for Charlos's whereabouts.
Actually, she did not know what she would do if she met Charlos. Say hello is clear. And then, what? How? She felt so nervous.
Well, at least, she got to see him one more time.
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