Chapter 18

                                    

                                          
Emma flicked through the channels on the T.V set in front of her. Days seemed to pass away faster. She sighed and finally stopped at one of the channels, not really caring about what she was watching.
It seems as though days fly by when I don't want them to and when I do, they begin to slow down. 
It was coming closer and closer to the end of the month and she had already received a second letter telling her about the visit that she had no voice in. Why now? Why when everything seems to go as planned? Why God Why? 
It seemed as though He had gone silent. It seemed like every time she prayed, desperately hoping to hear his voice or for him to lead her to a verse that said something, he just disappeared. 
She felt frustrated. Things were popping out from nowhere and she was too tired to even try and handle them. It felt like her cries were just going into the air and coming back down. Sure she had gone through worse. But pain is pain, and no matter what form it comes in, it still hurts. 
She tried to remember promises that were made, promises that stated that everything would work out, but she couldn't and when she could, it didn't seem to bring her as much peace as she expected. 
She was tired and frustrated and the only time she could just forget about everything was when she was asleep or talking, talking to him. 
Cole. 
She let out an annoyed breath. 
Another issue that I don't understand. 
Her head was pounding and the thought of going back to resume her classes just added to it. Worse was work. People came in and out and that was it. People hardly come to buy anything. Once they realized that the movie they were hunting for wasn't there and it was just an old book shop, they were out the door faster than the speed of light. 
Her phone lit up and she saw a message from the youth group; PRAY. Under it was a picture of a flyer showing the upcoming concert; The word 'Pray' was written in bold, light purple letters and the flyer was dark purple with shadows of people kneeling. She sighed. Maybe this is my breakthrough. Maybe God's trying to pass a message to me from this. 
She really hoped this was the answer to all the questions she couldn't explain. Sighing for the millionth time, she dropped her phone face down and began to watch the pictures that flashed through the screen. 
Not up to a minute passed before her phone started buzzing again. She didn't bother checking the ID before she picked it up.
Why, why of all times.  
"Hello." The annoyed and frustrated tone of her voice was incredibly clear as she answered, not caring to hide her displeasure.
"Wow. Someone's not happy to hear me." A deep, slightly offended voice came from the phone. Emma paused and checked the ID before closing her eyes and inwardly scolding herself for her ignorance. 
"Cole?" Emma said, her voice changing from annoyed to confused really quick. 
"No, sorry, wrong number. This is King-Kong am I speaking to Godzilla?" Cole said, making his voice sound deeper if possible. 
"Yep, this is Godzilla. How can I help you?" Emma responded laughing.
There was shuffling heard and her eyebrows knitted in confusion at the sudden silence. 
"Hi, Emma. It's Cole. Sorry about my pet. He tends to get chatty when he's out of Skull Island." Cole said after a moment and causing Emma's laughter to grow once more, already feeling better by the mere thought of his dramatic frustration
"You don't say?" She said as though finding out something important. 
"I do say, but I actually called you cause I'm in a very terrible situation right now." Cole's voice became deadly serious and Emma's face twisted into confusion at the sudden mood swing. 
"What happened?" She said, her voice filled with concern and anxiety. 
"Well this night, I was just reading, then, I heard a sound." Emma waited for him to continue, her anxiety building up. 
"I looked around, trying to identify the source until I found the sound was coming from me." Cole paused, building the anxiety in Emma 
"What happened to you?" 
"I didn't know, then it hit me..... I was hungry." Emma sighed, her tense shoulders relaxing as she shook her head, wishing they could switch problems. 
"I'm so sorry for you."
"See, I thought the same thing, so I decided to go to the kitchen to get some cereal, but the one I wanted was finished, so I went to the store room to get more, but I can't find the key! What am I going to do Twix?" Cole said, sounding as though the world was about to end and drawing a giggle from Emma.
"You shouldn't be taking cereal in the night, I honestly wish that was my problem," She said shaking her head at him even though he couldn't see her. 
"What happened? Cole asked, his tone suddenly changing from playful to worried and causing Emma to sigh in thought. Not much. Just that I have to go see a person that I really never want to see in my life and every time I pray it feels like I'm talking to the air.
"Nothing, just work." She said, casually brushing it off. 
"Okay...." Cole trailed off, he knew that she was lying but if she didn't want to talk about it he wasn't going to push it. 
"But I do have a question though," Cole said carefully, contemplating whether to ask it or not. 
"You know that present you gave me, I've been reading it of late, and there's this part that confused me." 
Emma smiled, he had actually been reading it. Her fear was that if she gave him he would just go back to ignoring her and criticizing her beliefs. 
"Which part?" She asked trying to control the excitement in her voice, at least something good came out of her week. 
"Just assuming that what is in this book is actually true. If God knows all, then he would have known that Eve was going to eat from the tree, since he created us and all that, why didn't he just like program us in such a way that we didn't eat from the tree?" 
Emma cringed at the word 'assuming.' Yes, she knew that he wouldn't instantly believe as soon as he read the Bible, but it still stung her when he said 'let's assume.' She took a deep breath. God, put the words in my mouth to explain to him so that he understands. 
"When God did make us, he gave us a choice. He didn't make us be walking zombies and walk around being controlled, he gave us the freedom to choose and whatever we chose, it was our decision. He wants the best for us but will never force us to do anything. It is all by our choice. And what we choose affects our outcome." She said, letting out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding, and inwardly praying that he understood. 
There was a long pause as Cole thought it over. He finally hummed in response. "Okay Twix. You've solved one of my problems now back to my cereal." He said. A slight whine was heard in his voice and caused Emma to giggle. 
"How about this, tomorrow I'll give you some cereal.. Deal." Emma said laughing in between sentences. 
"Deal," Cole answered in a business-like voice. 
"Bye Twix. I'll be expecting my cereal." He said, still in a businesslike voice, causing Emma to giggle once more and shake her head. 
"Bye Cole." They ended the call and she leaned her head back against the couch, a smile now playing on her lips. 
God, you find the weirdest ways to cheer someone up.