The Minister Ch. 01

Hi guys, this is my second story on here. It is quite long and will go over quite a few chapters. Not for people looking for just sex, though there will be sex in this story a bit later, it won't come until later chapters. It is a slow, romantic story with a bit of drama, hope you enjoy! Please leave feedback and rate it :)

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Ivy Wright sat on the train, staring out the window, blank faced as the houses rushed by in a blur of red tiled roofs and white picket fences. It was Friday morning, and the cold cup of crappy coffee in her hand was not strong enough for her 7.00am waking. She had a big history paper due that day on 'Trends of the 1970's' so she had stayed up until 2.00am trying, obsessively to get it perfect. She could barely look at the paper any more without feeling the urge to throw up.

Despite her good grades, hard work and brilliant smile however, Ivy was not the happiest. She wasn't exactly a sad person either. Though sometimes she thought her name was that kind of a name. Ivy. Definitely gothic and depressed, she wasn't particularly fond of the name. Anyway, Ivy was not as happy as she should have been. She had good grades, two loving parental figures, two amazing best friends and well overall, just a pretty good life. She sometimes wondered why she wasn't the happiest girl in the world.

Her parents had died in car crash 11 years ago when she was just 7. However she knew that this was not the cause of her occasional blues. She wondered if it was because she wanted something more out of life. She had a good life, hell, probably even a great life, but what she really wanted was an exceptional life and someone to share it with her and only her. Sure she had her grandparents, and they were great, but let's face it; they were elderly, seemingly incapable of having blinding amounts of fun and disliked anything that involved dancing, drinking or not playing bingo and 5.00 every Friday night.

Ivy of course also had her best friends, Kurt and Lindsay. Lindsay was a bubbly blonde girl, who bounced around almost as much as her curly locks of hair, and never failed to make Ivy laugh. She knew have a good time and she was as irresponsible and crazy as an 18 year old girl could get. Kurt was almost the opposite; he was quiet, shy and down to earth. He still knew how to have a good time but was not the centre of attention like Lindsay.

Ivy loved those two, and they would have been the ones she shared her whole life with except for one small detail. Kurt and Lindsay were crushing on each other. Sometimes Ivy felt like the biggest third wheel. The worst part was that they were both completely unaware of the other's feelings. Everyone looking on could see it as obvious as words written on page, but those two? They had no idea.

Ivy had had a boyfriend before. She had liked those times, hell; she had lost her virginity to one of them. A big deal for a good little Christian girl like herself. She had thought she loved that guy. Oliver. That was the guy she thought she loved, the guy she shared everything with, the guy she lost her virginity to. During their relationship Ivy had felt whole, unlike with some of her other boyfriends, she had very much liked Oliver. But the break up was bitter and cruel and it had taken her half a year almost to get over. That was two years ago now, back, when she was 16 and somewhat more irresponsible.

She wondered if that was what she wanted in life. A boy. No, a man. Suddenly she was jerked out of her thoughts as the train came to a stop. She looked around. 6th street. This was her stop; she grabbed her school bag and jogged up to the front of the train in her short skirt black skirt and white school blouse. She looked enviously at the chilled out public school kids, no uniform, and no worries. Ivy jumped off the train and wove her way through the crowd and away from the station. She had to wear long white socks that reached about half way up her calves and had a black band at the top. She had a black mini skirt, as short as she could get away with. Just because she was a good little Christian, didn't mean she wouldn't be a tease. She had also had to wear a white school blouse which had a red and black school logo on the left breast. She unbuttoned her blouse to show some cleavage, not a lot, just enough to make her feel appealing.

She walked along the busy 6th street as she pondered all of this. She realised her small, black, half empty school bag was still half unzipped from the train ride and her laptop and textbooks were poking out. She reached behind her and zipped it up. As she glanced back she realised that she had walked right past the Church which stood on the corner of 6th street and Eastwood Avenue. She had been so lost in thought she had completely missed the turn off to her school which was two blocks down Eastwood Avenue.

"Shit!" She cursed then spun around and hurried back.

Due to her slight miss-adventure, Ivy arrived at Eastwood Private School, 10 minutes late and was rewarded with a tardy from her grumpy old Biology teacher, Mr. Neilson. Ivy was so distracted with the same extensive train of thought, which had already caused her to miss Eastwood Avenue, that the first 3 lessons flew by and before no time it was lunch.

Ivy could not have been more relieved class was out; she dropped all her books back at her locker and hurried to the cafeteria to find Kurt and Lindsay. When she got there, all she could see was the back of Lindsay's head which was resting up against some jock's side and Kurt who was prodding the suspicious looking green-y goo on his tray with a fork while trying his best to ignore Lindsay cuddling with some douche.

Kurt looked up and saw Ivy, his face light up slightly, obviously glad for a distraction. Lindsay must have seen his face and looked over her shoulder.

Lindsay waved "Hi Ivy! Come sit with us, stop lurking over there." Lindsay was bubbly as ever. Ivy quickly sat down next to Kurt and finally got a look at Lindsay's 'play thing.'

It was Zach Trenton, one of the cute jocks from the football team. He looked Ivy up and down appreciatively as she sat down and both girls noticed. Lindsay just rolled her eyes and ignored it, so did Ivy. He would be gone before the day was out, never to be seen again. Kurt's brown curly locks had not risen since Ivy sat down. He was jealous, that was for sure. Ivy smiled to herself a little. As much as she hated being a third wheel, those two would be the cutest together. Her inner teenage girl was talking. Lindsay and Zach were murmuring to each other, something dirty and inappropriate Ivy assumed, not something she cared about.

"Kurt?" Ivy asked.

He looked up, a questioning look on his face, eyebrow raised. He was a man of few words.

"You ok? You are bit quiet today." Ivy said.

"Yeah, just..." his gaze travelled toward Zach. "Just distracted, it's nothing." He said absently.

"Ok, how'd your basketball game go last night?" Ivy asked, regretting it almost immediately.

Basketball was the one thing Kurt would talk about for hours.

His eyes brightened and he lifted his head "Great! The team's getting so good. Jackson got three dunks. Can you believe that? Jackson getting THREE dunks?!" He chuckled to himself. "We smashed Northfield Grammar. Let's just say that, no need for a score." He said proudly.

He should be proud too, Ivy thought, he was the captain of the schools best basketball team.

"Well, I mean, there is no need for a score unless you want to hear it? Do you want to hear it? Who am I kidding? Of course you want to hear it. We smashed them 34 – 12."

Ivy laughed, "Humiliated."

"They so were, you could just tell they wanted to bawl their eyes out like babies" He mimicked crying actions and laughed.

Suddenly Zach got up and left, making somewhat a show of kissing Lindsay full of the mouth before walking off to join his group of hollering buddies at another table.

Lindsay smiled graciously at Ivy and Kurt.

"So you're screwing him now?" Kurt asked.

Lindsay narrowed her eyes at him, "I am... seeing him."

Ivy laughed "If that's what you want to call it. Slut." She joked.

"Says you, prude." Lindsay grinned.

"Hey, I just like to have an emotional connection with a guy before I sleep with him." Ivy challenged.

"Pfft, emotions, messy things those are. Ignore the guys you got 'feelings' for." Lindsay raised her fingers and made mocking quotation marks at the work feelings.

Suddenly a shrill bell sounded and Ivy almost jumped.

"Damn, that lunch break went fast." Kurt said, as he watching Lindsay.

She didn't notice. They quickly parted ways and went off to classes.

The rest of the day flew by and soon enough it was 3.30pm. School finished and Ivy packed up her school books and hurried out the front gates. As she was walking along the front fences, she heard someone call her name. She turned around; it was Lindsay, jogging, to catch up, her super short skirt flipping up slightly with each step.

"Hey, didn't think you were leaving without me did ya?" she asked. "We have a date remember, we were going to get hamburgers at that great place down town and talk about how you should meet my hot cousin, Heath."

"Oh, I, uh, forgot about that. I'm really sorry Lindsay, can we do it tomorrow; I sort of have other plans tonight." Ivy lied.

"Oh." Disappointment was clear on her face. "Sure, make it lunch time at the same burger joint and don't be late, I have a date with Zach to get ready for afterwards. Hey! We could go shopping, get me a new outfit, my dad totally raised my allowance last month. I can finally get those gorgeous shoes I've been dreaming about from that designer store in Ferdinand Mall." Lindsay blabbed.

"Ha-ha, sure, sounds like a date; I promise I'll be there. Probably works better for both of us anyway. I love shopping with you Lindsay. Anyway, on to other matters, Kurt so digs you."

Lindsay stopped dead. "What?" She was going red. She really had no idea.

"Linds, it's so obvious. He was so jealous today with that douche Zach you've been screwing-"

"Seeing." Lindsay correcting.

"Whatever, anyway, he's dying with all this shit you pull. I know you got the hots for him too, I mean, he is totally good looking and all, I don't blame you. But seriously, you're killing him. And when you said that whole thing at lunch about emotions only being messy – you should have seen his face! Like someone slapped him." Ivy gushed.

"Really?" Lindsay blushed a little.

"Yep. And see; now you're blushing! You so like him. Admit it." Ivy teased.

"What? No, no way." Lindsay denied.

"Lindsay. We have been best friends for five years. Why do you even bother? Just admit it."

Lindsay looked at her, and then caved. "Ok, fine. Maybe a little. Ok well, like a little more than a little. Or a lot, maybe a lot. I don't know. Emotions are messy! I'm so confused, I don't normally get feelings for guys, and if I do I dump them. But, well, I'm not dating Kurt so I can't just dump him. And lately we've been spending more time together and he is so charming and sweet and boy can he listen well. Geez, I'm rambling. Anyway, he is like super-hot and all but the thing that scares me is that's not the only thing I like about him. I like his quirky smile and the way his eyes crinkle. I like how long he'll just sit and listen to me talk about nothing at all and how safe he makes me feel and – wow. I have never said any of that out loud before." Lindsay paled slightly.

"Shit, sounds like you're fucking in love with him!" Ivy exclaimed. "Like, wow."

"What? No way. I just like him a little, like a crush or something. Anyway, nothing can happen, not if there's emotions involved, I'm not ready for all the shit that brings." Lindsay said.

"Sure, sure, you just keep telling yourself that." Ivy giggled.

They both stopped. They were at the corner of 6th street and Eastwood Avenue, where the church stood.

"Well, see you tomorrow at lunch then. Tell no-one ever about this talk." Lindsay threatened, then smiled and turned with a wave.

"See you." Ivy called.

Ivy waited for Lindsay to disappear into the distance then she turned and walked into the church. She hadn't been going to the church regularly until lately. She didn't know why she started going so much all of a sudden, but whenever she felt down she went and sat there. She sat alone, just her and God. She thought over all her worries until she either found a solution or just couldn't bear to think another word. Mostly the latter.

As she entered the Church she did up a couple of buttons on her blouse and pulled subconsciously at the hem of her skirt. She felt bare whenever she entered the church. She did dress as a tease she supposed.

She took a seat in the third pew. She took a deep breath and looked toward the cross at the front of the expansive hall; time to let her worries disappear.

Derek noticed the girl when she first came in. She had a faraway look on her face and had not noticed him sitting on the side of the room, going over his service for Sunday. Derek was young; for a minister anyway. He was an ex-militant and drug abuser. In early years of life he had not only slept around a lot, he had started to abuse drugs. Admittedly he started sleeping around at 15, whereas the drug issue only began at 21. Both however stopped promptly at age 23, when he almost died of an overdose after he cheated on his girl-friend with some slut because he was too scared to tell her he wanted out.

After he recovered in hospital he went into rehab. That was where he met Minister John Kentworth; the man who introduced him to God and set him on this current path. However, after coming out of rehab he did not become a minister, no, that would come later. He decided to join the military and was almost immediately put into the Secret Elite Squad (SES) as it was commonly known, or Squad Gamma as the military called them. After training until 25 he then went out onto the field and spent six years as a member of the SES, travelling the world doing all sorts of under-cover work. At age 31 he retired and decided to become a minister. So, here he was four years later. He had been a minister here, at St. Pauls Catholic Church, for two years and ever since he had taken his vows, four years earlier, he had not slept with a single woman, nor taken drugs, nor gotten into fight or even so much as gotten drunk. Though he did still drink, it was not to drunkenness.

He noticed this girl walk in, mainly because she was stunning. She was about 5'5" with straight dark hair that touched the bottom of her shoulder blades and an ass so round and perfect it must have been moulded at the hands of God himself. By his expert eye, she had about c-cup breasts and a stunning olive complexion. Even from this far he could see her large, bright, green eyes, cute button nose, high cheek bones and elegant long legs. This girl was extraordinary.

Derek suddenly felt flushed and quickly turned for a corridor on the side which led back to the priest's offices. He hid there for a good hour. His work day ended at 5 o'clock. After that hour the church would be manned solely by Old Minister Clark, who lived in a small cottage attached to the back of the church.

At exactly 5.00pm, Minister Derek gathered his things and headed for the front doors. When he emerged from the corridor into the hall he almost dropped dead. The girl was still there. She was still staring at the cross at the front of the hall, though now with a slight frown and a crease in her forehead. He approached her cautiously. The closer he got the more beautiful she was. She was stunning from afar, but up close? She was breath takingly beautiful. At least he was still wearing his Minister robes over his tailored pinstripe suit; that would draw a clear line for both of them, and remind him that he was a Minister. He walked down the pew toward her, as a Minister it was his job to make sure she was ok.

"May I?" He asked as he approached, gesturing to the space next to her.

She looked up, startled, then almost gaped at him. He had that effect on women. Especially in the Church as they always expect wrinkly old bald fellows.

"Sure." She said, recovering quickly and returning her gaze to the front.

He sat down and they sat there in silence for a while.

"Anything troubling you that you wish to discuss?" he asked her.

She considered him for a moment. "Well talking to myself and praying isn't doing anything so sure, whatever, may as well give it a go." She shrugged.

He said nothing, just waited for her to speak so he could nod understandingly, suggest something smart then go home and forget he ever met this girl.

"Well, I uh, I feel sort of, sad sometimes I guess. For no reason, I mean my parents did die in a car crash when I was 7 which is sort of sad but that's not it. I mean that's sad, but that's not why I am getting the blues these days. Really, that's what's troubling me. I don't know why I'm getting down every now and then, my life is great, my friends are great, and my grandma and grandpa are great, school's great. Heck, even my piano lessons and cheerleading squad are going great. So why am I getting down, like somethings missing, like there's a hole in my life? It's been really bugging me." She explained.

"Have you considered... depression?" he asked.

"No. It is definitely not that. It's more of a hole, like somethings missing. You know?" She asked.

He did in fact know. He had felt similar things when he was younger and even now, now that he was a priest. It was loneliness. Sometimes when he had a good girlfriend that he really liked it would go away; but then things would get serious and he'd do something stupid and they'd break up. Then it came back again. The loneliness.

"What about a man? Do you have a boyfriend or something?" He asked.

She looked at him sharply. "What? No, I don't want one. I haven't met a guy I like enough yet."

"Oh. Well maybe that's it. Maybe you are just lonely and a little bit of love and romance are what you are missing, the hole in your life." He suggested.

She shrugged "Maybe."

They sat in silence for a while longer. Silent and peaceful, just sitting there.

Ivy sat there in silence. The priest had startled her earlier and she sort of wished he would just leave her alone with her thoughts. She also felt embarrassed because she almost gaped at him when she saw how handsome he was. She had been expecting a wrinkly, old, bald man. But this man, this young priest, he was gorgeous.

He had dark wavy hair which was medium length. His hair was pushed back and messed up slightly like he had just run his hands through it. He had a strong, square jaw and chin with light stubble and high cheek bones. His nose was narrow but not pointed. And his eyes. They were magnificent. They were light brown but turned bronze when the light shined on them the right way.

She tried mostly to ignore him and just pretend he was some old, average priest as she spilled her worries out. He nailed them on the head too. It was the same thing she had suspected earlier that day. She needed a man.

After a while she got up. It was dark outside already. She pulled her phone out of her school bag and turned it on, it was almost 5.30pm. Time had flown by. She would have to stay in the city tonight. She headed toward the door and stepped outside. The evening air had turned chilly on her bare skin. She leaned against the church wall and dialled her Grandma's number.

Her Grandma picked up a moment later ''Ivy? Where are you?" she asked immediately.

"I was just visiting the Church Gran, time slipped away, I'm going to stay in the city tonight, OK?" she asked.

"Ok darling, just stay safe and make sure you take a cab if you aren't home yet, I don't want you walking through the city alone in the dark ok?" her Gran instructed.