They slept together; next day photos of his wedding with music director in church pop up

When Christian was first introduced as a new member of the church, he immediately won a lot of hearts with his dulcet baritone and eloquence.

Taking the microphone to mention his name, he wowed the entire congregation. There was something unique about his voice that got everybody talking after the service.

The head of the church’s media team quickly approached him and invited him to join his crew and be assisting with voiceovers and other pieces of announcement.

The associate pastor himself also walked up to him and complimented his great voice. For him, Christian’s voice was a tool that could be used to win more souls for Christ. They both laughed at this compliment, after praying for Christian at the end of the service.

The tons of compliments he received on that day did not only end on the church premises. That Sunday evening, he found himself in a date with one of the church members; who requested to go on a welcome date with him.

Her name was Babette. Babette was a member of the church choir, and lead vocalist. Her talent was rare and as such she was often used for ‘special ministrations’.

But Babette’s relevance was not only tied to her exceptional singing voice. Her pocket funded a lot of the choir’s expenses. She was that talented rich girl who always availed her time and resources to the benefit of the church at large.

Despite her resourcefulness, Babette had always been unlucky with love. Either her partners took advantage of her or gave her flimsy excuses to ditch the relationship.

Regardless of this trend, she was hopeful of something fruitful with Christian, the newcomer.

“I must say you have a great voice and everything about you is just on point “, Babette remarked as she sat in front of Christian at the restaurant.

Babette’s gestures and comments were very pleasant, but Christian considered it quite unusual. He didn’t understand why Babette appeared to have taken a sudden interest in him on the first day of joining the church.

But despite his silent reservations, he couldn’t resist Babette’s charm and aura. She was simply beautiful and she kept the conversation running, as she ordered more food to the table.

“I must confess, you’re really a wonderful person and I’m overwhelmed”, Christian said as the conversation with Babette continued.

“Oh really? I’m blushing”, Babette replied excitedly.

Soon the night came and the two new friends had to find their ways back home. Babette offered to drop Christan who was lodging with his friends at the outskirts of town.

Arriving home, Christian told his guys about the reception he had received from the church, coupled with his experience with Babette. But despite the excitement he exuded, his friends gave him a very cold reaction.

“See, charley, aren’t you with Anita? … Anita is the music director of the church isn’t it? … So why are you talking about Babette?”, Daniel queried.

“Look my guy, this is not cool. Anita is your girl. She’s the one who took you to that church. Why do you want to now date her friend?”, Philip added.

Clearly, Christian’s friends were not happy with his seeming interest in Babette. They subsequently discouraged him from any such Intentions. Christian on the other hand denied having such intentions.

But his claims proved to be false. Soon, the two had become love birds. What first started as a casual date grew into an actual affair between Christian and Babette.

Babette’s work took her to another region. Therefore, she was no longer part of the church’s choir. As a result, her relationship with Christian became unknown to the church.

Everybody knew about Anita and Christian.

“Chris, when are you going to make this public? We’ve been together for over 10 months and you don’t even post me.

“Even when it was my birthday, you didn’t wish me publicly”, Babette lamented in a phone conversation with Christian.

Having traveled to another region, the two called each other frequently and spent a lot of time together on phone.

“Babe, it’s not like that. It’s not as if I don’t want to post you or anything … See you know what, let me just come and see your parents yeah. To show that I’m serious”, Christian replied.

The response excited Babette. For the first time a man is willing to meet her parents. Initially she was concerned about Christian hiding her from the public. But now this same Christian is willing to have a sit down with her parents.

The day after hearing this, Babette intensified her generosity to Christian. Christian had been unemployed and was feeding off the kindness of Babette.

But after the promise to meet Babette’s parents, Babette did more than usual. Apart from his weekly allowances, she bought Christian a new car and offered to pay for his rent so that he stopped staying with his friends.

In addition, she directed two of her taxi drivers to start paying their daily sales into Christian’s account. All of this was because of Christian’s promise to meet Babette’s parents.

Within three months, Christian’s finances greatly improved. His fortunes had suddenly transformed and he had become more resourced.

“When exactly are you going to come here to see my parents”?, Babette asked in one of their ‘late night call’ conversations.

“How about this weekend?”, Christian said.

The response thrilled Babette so immediately, she booked a hotel to accommodate her lover. The region she has been transferred to was the same region all her parents and siblings live in; except that she didn’t live with them. She only went to them occasionally.

Christian’s promise to come see her parents was one of the rare occasions that made Babette go home to see the family. At home, she told her parents and asked them to expect him the following week.

The week came and Christian finally arrived. Babette was extremely happy. Meeting him at the bus terminal, she gave him a warm embrace and drove him to their family house.

It was a brief meeting but the purpose was achieved. While at the dining table, Christian formally introduced himself as Babette’s boyfriend; adding that he had plans of marrying Babette.

Babettes’s father was slightly apprehensive. He had some odd feelings about Christian, but he didn’t want to spoil the mood either. Her mother was however happy and that’s how the meeting with Babette’s family ended.

After that, the two love birds drove to the hotel. It was the first time the two were going to spend the night together alone.

As adults, they knew the possibilities but none of them showed any resistance. Christian jumped into the shower and freshened up. Afterwards, he warmed himself with a cup of coffee from Babette.

The two drew closer to each other with Babette’s head on Christian’s chest.

“I’m so happy today. You finally met my parents. Are you sure you really love me?”, Babette asked.

“Why not love? I do. And I actually want to marry you. Just promise you won’t leave me”, Christian said.

Amidst the promises and cuddles, the two finally started kissing and that led to them having sex. For Babette, it was a dream come true. But the whole time, Christian kept looking at the clock on his phone.

“Babe, I’ve started a new business with the money the drivers give me. I have to go back to meet a partner early this morning so I’ll leave at dawn, is that okay?”, Christian said while lying on top of Babette in a passionate session.

Babette didn’t have any concerns at all. If her man was going to meet his business partners, what could she be bothered about. She was actually proud and she couldn’t hide it.

“You’re really doing well for yourself”, she replied.

Soon, morning came and before 5am, Christian had already left. Babette was asleep and so he kissed her goodbye and off he went.

“Thanks for everything babe. See you”, a note he pasted on the bed side read.

A few hours later, Babette woke up. Seeing the note, she smiled and reached for her phone in an attempt to call Christian. But his number wasn’t going through. He texted him but all to no avail.

Babette started feeling worried. What could possibly be wrong with her man, she wondered.

Browsing through her WhatsApp statuses, she suddenly came across something that made her jump out of bed! Alas! Christian was getting married !!!

Splashed on the status of her church members were photos of Christian’s morning engagement photos with Anita. Apparently, that was why Christian asked to leave early.

The photos left her devastated and she started weeping uncontrollably. She pinched herself very hard to see if it was a dream but no! Reality was upon her.

Feeling lost, confused and shattered, she grabbed her car keys and sped off. Their church was her destination. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Everything was bewildering and she wanted to settle her confusion.

Babette’s anxiety however interfered with her concentration and twenty hours into the journey, she lost control of her vehicle and veered off; leading to a ghastly accident. Alas! Babette had died!!!

Shall I continue or the message is clear? I believe the message is clear. Babette’s excessive trust for Christian had led to her doom.

Perhaps, if she had been more insistent for their relationship to go public, she may have known about Anita and how she was being deceived by Christian.

Indeed, hideous relationships are often dangerous. Though privacy is good, a relationship must not be an entire dark secret.

When it is that way, the consequences can be dire like Babette’s end.

At all times, may God guide us to to know the silent plots against our lives and the evil we do not see.

The author of this piece is a writer, a corporate MC and a JoyNews journalist by name Paa Kwesi Schandorf.

You can reach him via Facebook @Paa Kwesi Schandorf or through email: derrick.ayirebi-acquah@myjoyonline.com.