Julia entered Samson’s office and looked like she had seen a ghost. “Baby, what’s wrong?” Samson asked her. “Everybody, I’ll talk to y’all later.”
The people gathered in the room left, and Samson got up and closed the door. He put his arm around Julia and led her to the chair. “Do you want some water?”
“No, I’m fine.” She looked up into Samson’s eyes. “Delilah needs to go.”
Samson hoped Delilah didn’t go open up her big mouth about them. “What happened?” He sat in the chair beside her and held on to her hand.
“I just don’t like her negative spirit. I think she’s hindering me from being a better first lady.”
“Well, dear, I can’t have anything upsetting you.”
“So are you going to talk to her?”
“Huh. What?”
“Talk to her. Convince her that it’s probably best for her to move her membership.”
Samson said, “I can talk to her, but it’s probably best one of the other ministers do it. I don’t want you getting the wrong idea because you know how you are when it comes to Delilah.”
“I’m confident in our marriage. I trust you wholeheartedly to not jeopardize it with the likes of her,” Julia assured him.
“Since you insist, I’ll have Elaine schedule a meeting with her for later on this week.”
Julia let out a deep breath. “Thank you, baby.”
Samson thought it was odd that Julia wanted him to confront Delilah all of a sudden. He wondered what had transpired. The only way he would know would be to ask Delilah because Julia didn’t seem too eager to divulge any information.
The next day, Samson had Elaine contact Delilah. Before the end of the day he planned to be rid of her for once and for all. He smiled at the thought of being Delilah free.
“A penny for your thoughts,” Julia said as she entered the office.
“Give me a dollar and I’ll think about telling you.” Samson stood up and greeted her with a kiss on the lips.
“I thought I would surprise you with lunch. I took half a day off.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist. “So you’re trying to prepare them for when you leave permanently.”
“Yes, but you know I have to make them think they still need me in the meantime. Don’t want them getting rid of me before I quit on them.”
“Nobody would ever fire you. You’re the best thing since Gates created Windows.”
“Oh, you got jokes.”
Samson released her and picked up a brochure off his desk. “I was going to surprise you at home later. I was thinking about using some of the money I got from my pastor’s anniversary and treating us to a trip to Hawaii.
Julia jumped up and down. “You know I’ve always wanted to go to Maui.” She took the brochure and hugged him. “When do we leave?”
“I haven’t made the reservations yet. I wanted to talk it over with you first.” Samson loved seeing her excited.
“Stop talking and start dialing.” Julia picked up the phone receiver and handed it to him.
Thirty minutes later, they were looking at a printout of their itinerary for their Hawaiian trip.
“Michelle’s going to be jealous,” Julia surmised. “We were just talking the other day about places we both wanted to go. I can’t wait to tell her.”
Julia kissed Samson on the cheek. Julia was so excited when she left Samson’s office. He overheard her tell Elaine about their upcoming trip. He smiled. Now if only the rest of his day could go like his morning. He spent the afternoon responding to e-mails and reading. Elaine buzzed him over the intercom. “Your two o’clock is here.”
“Send her in,” he responded.
“Keisha, thank you for stopping by. I understand you’re a busy woman, so I won’t keep you long,” Samson said.
“Pastor Judges, no problem.”
“Would you like something to drink? Soda? Bottled water?” Samson asked from behind his desk.
“No, I’m fine.” Keisha sat in the chair across from his desk.
“Keisha, I might as well get straight to the point. You know Delilah better than anyone, and as her friend I know you want the best for her. It’s in my humble opinion that she needs to find herself another church home. You seem to be a good Christian lady, so I was hoping you could convince her to move her membership. Maybe even to your church.”
When he finished, Keisha said: “No disrespect, Pastor Judges, but Delilah’s told me all about you. I actually agree with you because she’s not going to be able to spiritually grow under your leadership.”
Samson couldn’t believe his leadership abilities were being questioned. “So will you talk to Delilah or not?”
“Delilah’s a grown woman, and she’s going to do what she wants to do, so no. I’m not even going to waste my breath talking to her about it.”
“It’s in Delilah’s best interest that you do.” Samson tried to keep his voice at an even keel.
Keisha moved to the edge of her seat. “That’s not a threat is it?”
“No, of course not,” Samson stuttered. Samson’s plan to have Keisha assist him in getting rid of Delilah had backfired. He hoped he hadn’t made the situation worse.