Aljinon, I knew someone would get riled up about this! Thankfully it was you and not a bunch of crazed-cult, Silas fans. Hey, if Silas doesn't know about it, it didn't happen...wink wink nudge nudge
Chapter Twelve – Rachel Faces a Decision
Silas awoke the next morning, feeling refreshed, and new, as if a great burden was lifted off him. He was going to go to chapel today, and pray there, then see Bishop Aringarosa. He had to tell him. So he got dressed in his "going out" clothes as he called them, and proceeded to walk out the building. He was leaving before anyone else had, so that he could see Rachel as well. When he got to chapel, he saw a few men there, but saw the Bishop already there praying for people. Silas sat in the first pew and knelt to pray, about the same things as yesterday. Once he was done, he lifted his head up to see the Bishop smiling down on him. "Good morning my son! It's nice to see you here with us so early." Silas worked up a smile he had been working on all last night, and said, "I have you to thank Father. She...she is very...nice...to me." He mumbled, barely looking at Aringarosa. The Bishop sat next to him and said, "My child, I hope you are being as nice to her, likewise, am I correct?" Silas nodded. Aringarosa continued. "Silas, it is not my place to tell you this, but you do know of her past, correct?"
Silas nodded. "I wanted to bring her to chapel one morning and have you Baptize her."
Aringarosa chuckled and played with his ring. "Silas, I'm not sure I can do that. Mother superior would have to."
Silas winced at the recognition of this, and said, "I realize Father. I have not forgotten the rules."
Aringarosa leaned forward and said in a lower tone, "Good, because everyday you meet with her, here, in your room, you are breaking the rules."
Silas bit his lower lip and tried to restrain from crying. He had never been scolded by the Bishop before.
Aringarosa went on. "If you must, can't you go to her apartment? I know she has one..."
Silas nodded. "I will Father. Thank you for this...talk. God bless you."
"The bishop stood and kissed Silas on the forehead. "As to you my child."
Rachel pulled herself out of a spooning with Kevin and stumbled to her bedroom. She had a hangover worse than ever before, and she was stark naked. Luckily, she didn't remember anything that went on the night before, but seeing from how Kevin was snoring, she assumed she had sex with him. Marcy was nowhere in sight, so Rachel assumed she left already. Turning on the shower and the shower radio, she climbed in and let what she felt as disgust, dirtiness, entrapment, betrayal, guilt, and shame flow down the drain. The shower radio declared the time, and Rachel cursed as she only had twenty minutes to get ready. The song that came on immediately afterwards, however, made her stop in her tracks. 2 AM and she calls me cause I'm still awake
Can you help me unravel my latest mistake? I don't love him, winter just wasn't my season. Rachel felt as if Anna Nalick was actually speaking to her from her song. Shaking the thought from her head, she quickly toweled off and got dressed, heading for work.
Silas had chosen a purple dress shirt today, and decided that he would never wear this color again. It was ugly, disgusting, and feminine. If the guys back at Andorra could see me...Silas thought to himself, then quickly shoving the thought out of his mind before what came next. His door swung open and there Rachel was, her hair lay a strewn her face, and her shirt was on backwards. Her pants weren't zipped up, and one sneaker was half off. Silas walked over to her and said, "My God, what happened to you?" Rachel removed some of her damp hair from her face and gave Silas a tired smile. "I over slept. It's okay, I'm here now." Silas still watched as she zipped her pants up all the way, fixed her shoes, fix her shirt and French-braided her hair. She turned back to Silas and said, "Now, do I look more presentable?" Silas nodded. She had an uncomfortable vibe producing from her, and Silas couldn't help but to ask. "Rachel, you seem, troubled...Is anything wrong?" What Rachel wanted to do was yell, "I just screwed my ex-boyfriend, and he's probably still laying there on my floor, drunk and naked!" but what she did was, "No Silas, I'm alright." Silas could here her slightly stumble over his name, and he knelt next to her, placing a soft, but firm hand on her shoulder. "No Rachel, everything is not alright. Do you want to tell me what happened?" Rachel bit her lip and weighed her choices. If she told him, would he get angry? If she didn't tell him, but he found out some other way, would he be angry? Either way, he was going to be angry, so Rachel decided to tell him.
"Well, my father gave my friend a key to my apartment, and she let my ex in, and we rendezvoused on my living room floor like animals after getting really drunk. The funny thing is, I don't really know what to make of all this. Maybe it was the lack of sex for ten years that drove me to doing that. But after prostitution, why would someone want to go back to it? I should go buy a nun's habit and find myself a nice little abbey in Austria." Silas turned his head away from her and looked out the window. A small black bird was sitting there, and Silas instantly recognized it. "A crow..." he trailed off in thought as he watched the bird fly away. Rachel gently cupped his chin and brought his face to meet hers. "What did you say about me?" It was a curious question, not an angry one. "I saw a crow. I've seen two crows now..." She smiled and said, "I hope you never forget your first." Silas smiled and then it faded. "I'm going to be waiting at your apartment. It's probably not best for us to keep seeing each other like this. There are...rules...that need to be followed..." Silas stood and walked out the door without a second word.
Rachel watched him leave and slowly went back to cleaning. That is what she was being forced to do anyways. Now all she had to do was make a decision. Did she want Kevin or Silas? She'd know Silas for almost a week now, and Kevin for a year. But that relationship had been a, "I'm horny, let's fuck right here, right now" relationship. With Silas, she felt something more serious, deeper, and almost spiritual. He felt like she could go to him at any time of the day, and just cry into those big arms of his until she had nothing left to cry about. He was more mature and understanding. He was everything she was not.