--- *** ---

--- 2 Hours Later ---

2 hours after a relaxing catnap as the former sister of the church's body utterly relaxed, allowing its lethargy sedate her muscles and bones. All she could feel seconds before opening her brittle eyelids as they formed in slits shape, whilst shut that mammoth, surprisingly warm hands cradled her head in a hold and fingers caressing her halo ringlet of glossy old Hollywood aureate tresses, combing and twirling them. Her head was yet positioned on the former man of the cloth's lap as a black silky blanket was sheeting her passive body. Until Jude came to her senses by rubbing with her fragile, petite fists her drowsy eyelids, managing a mere yawn until she utterly opened her eyelids and she was embraced with the benevolent, soft smile of her former lover, swaying across his baby pinkish lips. 

"Good afternoon, dear!" The first words that came to his mind to utter shortly after she came to her senses at last brought her a serene smile, honed up in the corner of her lips, whereas he leant as his baby pinkish, soft as satin lips grease her pale forehead, planting a tender kiss by contacting the lukewarm facial skin. She felt beyond flattered once he called her dear instead with her real name, sensing balmy heat crawling underneath her flesh as it hoarded in her flimsy heart.

"G-Good afternoon, Timothy!" The middle-aged woman mumbled in velvety, somnolent yet voice, lingering on her tongue and stretching her arms at the moment. 

"You fell asleep in the middle of relish. Are you okay? Did you sleep well?" In the meantime, one of his colossal, veiny hands drifted down to her cheek, fondling it gingerly with his long, adroit fingers, enquiring genially. 

"I did. I'm fine and everything is fine." The middle-aged woman replied serenely, exhaling sharply shortly before her response. "I didn't mean to fall asleep a bit too abruptly, but," As she proceed with resuming her sentence, she was suddenly cut off curtly in the middle of it, incapable of finishing it.

"No, no! Do not regret for falling asleep, dear!" At the moment, his fingers were still raking the silken gilt curls, consequently twirling and curling them. His honeyed voice was as soft as a chirping bird in the wee hours of the morning. In the interim, her eyelids frequently blinked like opening and closing blinds as the long, ebon eyelashes flapped like wings, relishing the delicateness of the platonic, pristine touches which sent electrifying shivers and paradoxal paroxysm down her body and spine of sweetness and pleasure. "Have you ever thought of cooking coq-au-vin together?" 

"Why not? I'd like it very much as well." The truth was the older lady liked the concept of cooking coq-au-vin, their favorite meal. Not just by herself but with her former lover and boss in the same time as a part of taking the further step in their toxic relationship as it necessitated to greatly work on it. Furthermore, the former aspiring Monsignor was flabbergasted by the former Briarcliff's administrator response, factly, she may have trust issues and struggle to trust at any worth her former lover, howsoever, at least even the casual activities or collaborating along was bringing them back in the game as team players. 

"I'm glad to hear this. What were you about to say when I interrupted you?"

"Ah, nothing! It doesn't matter anymore."

"In addition to when you were still asleep, I decided to blanket you as I'm really concerned not just about your health, but also about you in general."

"Aww, that's so kind of ya, Timothy! But it wasn't necessary at all." The blonde stubbornly retaliated as she nibbled on the silken skin of her bottom, plumpish lip begrudgingly. Nonetheless Jude genuinely appreciated Timothy's goodwill for being selfless and caring not only for her health condition, moreover for her as well.

"If you get ill or something, what I'm supposed to do then?" A rhetorical, grimly wry question zinged his berry-coloured lips as a ruefully sarcastic giggle escaped the blonde's lips after his rhetorical question.

"Whatever to feel better but I'm surprised how caring are ya eventually." Meantime, they peppered one another's cheeks with affectionate, feather kisses as their lips contacted their milky as snow facial skins. Thereafter the former pious holy woman unwrapped the blanket by leaving it on the sofa as they got from the sofa in a jiff and walking away from the living room as their imminent destination was the kitchen. "What time is now?"

"It's already five o'clock. It's almost evening." Timothy exclaimed out plainly as they set a foot in the kitchen and he picked up an empty kettle, subsequently turning the faucet as jet water was pooling it with fresh, cool water until a quarter a minute later he turned it off. "Would you care for some coffee?"

"Sure, why not?"

"With or without sugar?" In the interval, the younger man placed the kettle with water on the cooker to boil the water and gathering two empty, plain mugs from the upper kitchen cabinet and setting them on the countertop. 

"With sugar and milk, of course!" Meantime, the former priest gathered another kettle by researching the refrigerator for milk and filling it, throughout putting it on the cooker to brew as the box of milk was returned back in the refrigerator. 

"Sure! Do you like coffee?" Their hands were clawing the countertop, looking up at one another's eyes with platonic affection pigmenting them as the former woman of the cloth's pupils widened. 

"Yeah but I don't drink it regularly."

"Alright! It's not healthy at all, in fact, due to its caffeine content."

"What about ya too, Tim? Don't ya like coffee?" The older woman posed the questions slyly with her firm Bostonian accent.

"I like coffee too just like you, however, I don't drink it daily if you get me, Jude!" He paused by swallowing a lump in his throat without averting his stare. "I drink coffee even in the middle of the night when I've astonishingly important tasks to do or otherwise being obnoxiously still sleepy and slothful in the morning." In the meantime, the former devotional member of the clergy managed up to the former nun's hand, taking it into his larger, secure one as the thumb kneaded the back of her hand delicately. Her porcelain, still doubtlessly youthful complexion flushed as sanguine tinges mottled and overspread. 

"Oh, right! What about yar coffee preference? With or without sugar?"

"Without sugar since I don't like it at all. But I don't mind in my coffee as well."

"Why aren't ya into the sugar, Timothy?" The middle-aged lady bobbed her head meekly, faintly.

"Because they aren't my cup of tea with the sweets altogether." The British compatriot explained laconically as the former holy woman wedged her lips in a purse. 

"Oh! I love them, despite I don't eat them a lot." The blonde's naturally rosy-coloured, luscious lips popped up suddenly as she bit her bottom lip. 

Shortly after the milk and the water boiled, then the liquid and the spoon of coffee beans in the mugs mixed altogether until the kettle was filled with water in the kitchen sink, gripping their mugs of hot caffeine beverage and sipping of them, savoring them. 

"I didn't mean to pry or to be way too inquisitive, Judy, but did your former fiancé say anything else as a bad word to you except whore?"

"It's okay, Tim! Ya shouldn't apologize for getting to know me better." In the meanwhile, the former licentious jazz nightclub singer sipped of the caffeine beverage again, licking greedily, gamely her coffee-stained lips with her wet tongue. "And back to yar question, he did."

"Go ahead, Jude!" He insisted to listen attentively her exclaimation, encouraging her without peeling a farther word to demonstrate disrespect to her. 

"He called me a liar." All of a sudden, the Bostonian's inner voice of her former fiancé aggression whirled in her whirlpool of thoughts especially their last moments together after acknowledging she was infected with syphilis and being blamed for this. Her head ducked promptly at the thought of the abhorring words that were echoing through her conscience, enveloping her flimsy heart in obnoxiously incessant heart beats, pulsating into her ears. 

"It's alright! You aren't a liar, nor a whore, rare bird! It's such a shame especially for him to not know your true value." At the moment, the younger man scooped in a tight, warm embrace, absorbing mutual warmness.

"He accused me for being a liar and a whore cluelessly, in fact, I was tremendously loyal to him and he was sleeping around with other women. Moreover, I've never got laid with another man to cheat on him." Meanwhile, the former holy man rubbed lovingly Judy's upper back, in order to alleviate her.

"I swear to God, if I see this hypocritical imbecile, I'll beat the shit out of him for hurting such a pure, loving and loyal soul especially as loyal and pure as yours." Timothy muffled a whisper with mild exasperation, gritting his firm, ivory teeth at the thought of Casey. His blood violently boiled in his veins like erupting volcano. The older woman's face was buried in the crook of Timothy's neck, inhaling inwardly the alluring cologne of his flesh and hair, unable to resist it and to not admire it even for a single second. "And what was his name again?"

"Casey!"

"Casey?" In this moment, the younger man grasped the scooped embrace as its firmness escalated, their chests were pressed on each other.

"Mhm!"

"He will pay for his deeds sooner or later especially whenever I see him in person. I promise I'll never let anyone to hurt you. Even Casey, himself!" Afterwards they broke off the hug by finishing their coffees. 

"I'd imagine an ex-priest beating the ass and mop the floor with it after his defeat for winning the award of the year for being the most incredible asshole." The Bostonian couldn't suppress a joke, escaping her lips along with a husky, heavenly beatrific chuckle, forming a choir along.

"Jude!" Timothy joined her in a hoarse chuckle, tickling the corners of his lips as he choked with some coffee. "That's a bit too much, but I like this joke."

"I'm glad ya get and like it."

"At least, a punch into his face will be the lesson he will be teached."

"Definitely!" As soon as the former pious members of the church finished with drinking their coffees, throughout they washed them in the sink with the kettles. 

To be continued...