Sunday

Sunny decided to take Sunday off. Which was out of the ordinary for her considering her workaholic personality. Amie had followed. She had awoken from a long car nap. She opened the car door unsuspecting of anything strange. The chapel was different from what she remembered. 

It's a white chapel. The kind that's imagined in a quick wedding in Vegas. Oddly though, with a humble and quaint touch. It's an illusion. From the inside, the appearance is corporate. After the door, there is a receptionist desk, and rooms of different offices. The hallway to the prayer room is long. In the main area, the benches fill up the entire space. Barely leaving any room for a stage. At the front, a set of instruments are displayed: guitar, piano, and drums. 

Marie, a tall woman in her late thirties is dressed in a proper church attire of a plain blouse and dress pants. She welcomes them to the sermon. The preacher stands at the podium. People are all seated in all seated both the first and second floor. Every person in attendance looks as excited as a spectator at a baseball game. 

All their faces appear eerily joyful. Amie felt a sense of dread ironically. It began to make her question her being there. Before she could leave, Marie stopped her. She patted her on the shoulder, and smiled. There was no escape. The pamphlet Amie had brought from the front suggested that the mass should end in an hour. Time passed. Overextending the promised end time of 10 A.M. Suddenly, it was the afternoon. The preacher was laughing jovially, while reading out the current announcements. 

"Today we have some special guests. Sunny Kim, and her daughter Amie Kim. We welcome you to the church of Adam. And lunch is going to be late, but don't worry the ladies are on it."

The majority of the churchgoers laugh in response. Marie grabs ahold of Amie's hand. The three of them walk towards to the cafeteria. There's a small kitchen. A group of women wearing hairnets work to prepare the food. The others serve the dishes. The men, the husbands, or the single bachelors are sat at the tables. It's an unspoken rule where the gender divide the roles.

Sunny hands the plate over to Amie. She accidentally drops it on the floor. The men seating have no reaction. The women in unison look at her as if the plate had shattered into glass fragments. Without thinking, she runs away.

"You're a fake believer, Amie."

The thought paralyzed her. It had been years since she had gone to church. She tried to go back during college. It was fall semester of 2019 when she met Heather.

She was the idealized version of Amie. Not an ounce of irony or sarcasm in her words. A perfect bible reading girl; a beautiful and pure soul. 

Yet she was the one who said

"Why are you even here? You don't believe in God."

Her eyes blink. In the small wardrobe, she hid behind coats in a closet. She felt a shiver down her spine. There had been someone who looked through the crack in the door. It was the son of the preacher. David was known to be one of the elites. His beauty and smarts made him a target for the unmarried women. 

He opens the door. An awkward young woman who's barely hidden is revealed.  

"First time here" he said, laughing with a small grin.

Her hair dyed a beautiful brown- ugly and fried. The look of a woman who tries to belong. She was dressed in her mother's image. A plain blouse and blue jeans. The denim clashed with the preppy shirt.

"I can talk to you through the door if you'd like. But I'd prefer to see you in person."

From the outside it appears as if David is speaking to a door.

"Honey, what are you doing?"

Deborah