Shaking his grey head and chuckling, the priest said, "I know the look. Lost, looking for someone that's gone. It's difficult to figure out all the answers by ourselves."
Looking at him uncomfortably, Lauren asked, "You're going to give me the speech about how God hears our prayers now, right?"
But he shrugged. "Not necessarily." Taking off his glasses, he cleaned them on an old handkerchief before settling them on his nose again. "Have you read David Hume?"
A brow raised, Lauren said, "The Scottish philosopher? Oh, yes. Frank- my dad kept telling me we were related somehow, in fact, my grandfather was named David Hume Fraser, so-" This time, she started crying, humiliated that she didn't know why.
The priest nodded, ignoring her tears. "A good Scottish girl, excellent! David Hume was a strong skeptic and empiricist. He claimed that our beliefs don't come from our reason but rather from our feelings and ideas of how the world should be. He was a passionate advocate of what he called, 'Accepting the Unacceptable.' Claiming that our insistence on believing what the worldshouldbe kept us from accepting and embracing what was." His visitor had stopped crying and seemed to be listening, so he continued, "Mind, this does not mean giving up and resigning oneself to one's fate if a situation is untenable. but it means not raging against whatis. Do you see?"
Lauren nodded vigorously. "I do." Looking down at her fingers, she tried to think of what to say that wouldn't involve Chuck shooting the priest for Knowing Too Much. "But what if the unacceptable is truly - I mean, to God and most of society - truly unacceptable?"
The priest eyed her, frowning thoughtfully. The girl did not look abused, her lively spirit was still glowing, undimmed by whatever circumstance she found herself in. "Then," he ventured, "perhaps one thinks about why one is in this place, this situation. Is there a role for them? A task? Room to do good in what seems dark and hopeless?"
Heart sinking, Lauren tried to picture even a corner of The Corporation or her Thomas that could be changed for the better, that would melt at the promise of redemption. Shrugging and giving the priest a small smile, she said, "Then I'm thinking God has some unrealistic expectations." To her surprise, the priest burst out laughing.
"Have you heard what Mother Teresa said to the Pope when he complimented her on her work with the lepers in Calcutta?"
Lauren shook her head, her smile growing larger.
"His Holiness said," he continued, "that despite the unspeakable conditions that Mother Teresa worked in, that he had complete faith in her, saying that 'God never gives us more than we can handle.' Legend has it that Mother Teresa reared up like an angry cobra and hissed, 'Then I wish God didn't trust me so much!'"
They both burst out laughing at the same moment, Lauren still giggling for longer than the little joke deserved, but it felt so good to justlaugh... "Thank you, Father," she finally gasped, "I haven't laughed like that in so long."
"Ah, laughing is crucial, my child. Every day if you can," the priest said sternly, but with a little smile. "You must make the effort. It pleases God to hear it."
Lauren's smile faded a little, but she held onto it. "I'll do my best." Standing, she uncertainly held out her hand. "Thank you so much for your time, Father."
Instead of taking her hand, the priest laid his on the top of her head gently, uttering a small prayer."Domine, benedicere puero hoc. Da fortitudinem ea invenire viam illam."Lauren felt tears spring to her eyes again, but she felt the warmth of his hands and was still for a moment.
"Thank you, Father," she murmured, and he nodded again.
"I am always here if you need more advice from ancient Scottish philosophers," he joked, and Lauren chuckled as she walked down the aisle, looking back once to see him watching her go.
They were back in the car and heading home before she spoke again. "You heard our conversation, right, Chuck?"
There was a moment of polite silence, before her bodyguard agreed, "Yes." His glance flicked back in the rear-view mirror to see his charge's mouth tight and cold.
"Then you know there's no reason to hurt him." She could hear the faint sounds of traffic outside and the first pitter-pat of raindrops on the windshield.
When he spoke again, Chuck's voice was even more serious and grave than usual. "No reason at all, Miss Lauren. At all." He could see her relax visibly before returning his attention to the traffic, and they were silent for the rest of the way home.
Domine, benedicere puero hoc. Da fortitudinem ea invenire viam illam -Latin for: "Lord, bless this child. Give her the strength to find her way."
Chapter 24 – It Seems I Must Remind You Who You Belong To
In which we discover even the cool, collected Number Two of Jaguar Holdings can fall victim to feelings as passé as the Green-Eyed Monster.
"So, what was the final decision, Lauren?"
Arabella was smiling encouragingly at her, and Lauren smiled back gratefully. She knew this choice wouldn't be popular, the project was based in the poorest schools in London, not the "prettier" options the other committee members preferred. "Thanks, 'Bella. I selected the Genesis Project because of how much they've done with so little. Tracking their programs shows that students involved had a 220% higher chance of graduating than the rest of the class, they also scored consistently higher grades in math and science as well as art. This is important because it shows that the music education they're implementing tracks over to other course curricula." There was tittering from some of the other board members, and Lauren looked up, distracted. "What's so funny?"
It was the third wife of The Corporation's Mergers and Acquisitions Department who answered her. "And the fact the founder looks like a supermodel had nothing to do with your choice?"
Lauren shrugged, confused, "I don't know, I've never seen him." Unfortunately, the excellent secretary assigned to the board had promptly prepared a lovely presentation and had already passed them out to everyone at the table. Included was an 8x10 of founder Miles Rodgers who indeed looked like he'd just escaped from London Fashion Week.
"He certainly would have made up my mind..." sighed Kevin, the gay partner of The Corporation's top sales executive in gold and silver futures.
"Thanks for more or less terrorizing everyone into agreeing to the Genesis Project," Lauren gave Arabella a quick peck on the cheek as she gathered up her materials, stuffing them in her leather messenger bag.
