Now and at the Hour of Our Date

Story Submitted by Joel:

Mandy mentioned on her profile that she was Catholic and pretty serious about it.  Each of her profile essays mentioned Jesus or her church.  I had no issue with her beliefs, but she wasn't the sort of person I would typically message.  The fact that she wrote to me was a little strange, and I told her upfront that I wasn't as religious as she seemed to be.  She said it wouldn't be a problem, and it didn't come up again.

We met at a mall, where I figured we could walk around for a bit before lunch or what-have-you.  We hadn't been walking for long before she told me, "This is going to be my last date, ever.  I'm going to become a nun."

I asked, "Something I did?"

She said, "No.  I've been going back and forth on it for a while.  I'm ready to take my vows."

I said, "That's a big decision, and I wish you a lot of luck."

She said, "You aren't going to try and convince me otherwise?  That's funny, I thought you would."

"Why?  It's your decision."

She leaned in close to me, about six inches away from my face, and asked, "Can you resist the temptation?"

I said, "Yep.  Ready to move on?"  I stepped away from her and sped up a bit.  She caught up and took my hand.  I asked, "What are you doing?  This isn't very nun-like."

She said, "Nuns can hold people's hands.  They might even have sex with each other.  Just so long as it's not a man."

I said, "I don't think that's accurate, but if you do, then maybe you're not cut out to be a nun."

That made her really upset.  She let go of my hand and said, "I'm going to be a nun.  I'm going to be a nun.  You'll see."

Then she started praying, right there, in the middle of the mall.  Hail Mary.  After a few moments, I asked her if she wanted to continue on.  She prayed ever louder.  I asked her again, and she upped the volume once more.  I said, "I'll meet you over at the food court when you're done," and left her praying there.

I waited for her at the food court for about 45 minutes, had lunch, and went home.