Janet's Converting, Part 1

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Janet's Converting
by HONGKONGSMOKE

1. The Plan

Sunday was Janet's 31st birthday. She spent it alone at home watching TV. 
Oh, sure, she received a half dozen birthday cards, some from her friends, 
some from family. She was too old now to expect receiving any presents. She 
did receive a gift certificate for $50 at a popular clothing store though. 
After watching the movie, Janet returned upstairs to her bedroom, not before 
stopping in the kitchen for a glass of water. She sat down on her bed and 
looked down for a few seconds. When she looked up she had a tear in her eye. 
She was sad. You see, Janet had many things, but the one thing she wanted, 
she didn't have yet. She lived at home with her parents, she was in terrific 
health, she had a great paying job at AT&T. She had supportive parents, 
supportive and caring brothers and sisters, great friends, but with all 
these people around her, she was alone. The one thing she wanted, the one  
thing she hoped for was a boyfriend.

Janet was good looking, much better looking than her brothers and sisters. 
She was Chinese, born in Hong Kong, but moved to North America when she was 
5. She had long black hair with a curl to it, she had a beautiful smile and 
had a lot of men interested in her, but she was not interested in them. 
Janet was looking for someone she hasn't been able to find yet. She had many 
men interested in her, at work and at church, but she said no to everyone 
who asked her out. Her friends said her standards were too high, but that's 
where her standards were going to stay for now.

Janet grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes. She looked up, as if she were 
looking to God and asked "I hope...no.....I wish...I had a 
boyfriend...Please.....I need to find one......Please help me..."With that, 
Janet looked back down, wiped more tears away from her eyes and got ready 
for bed.

The next day at work she sat with her 2 girlfriends, Christine Sakura & Elsa 
Cheng. They had been eating lunch together for a year and a half now, ever 
since all 3 of them starting working together at the same time. Maybe it's 
because all 3 were oriental that they felt more comfortable together. But 
they got along well. Christine had a boyfriend, and Elsa was married and 
went to a church like Janet did, but a different Church. Janet had a moral 
problem when Christine said she would be moving in with her boyfriend, Janet 
did not like it, but didn't say anything to offend Christine, whom Janet 
thought was living in sin. Still, the 3 girls ate together for the longest 
of times, but for some reason
today turned out to be a little different

"Hey Janet, how was your birthday yesterday?" Elsa asked.

"Umm..It was OK.." Janet said.

"Did you do anything?" Christine asked.

"No..not much..stayed at home....did stuff." Janet replied.

"Well, hope you had a great birthday!!. Can I ask how old you are?" Elsa 
asked

"No!!!...I don't really want to say!!!" Janet replied.

"Well, we are guessing you are around 30 years old. are we right?" Christine 
carefully asked

"Well, that's pretty close....close enough.....good guess...." Janet 
answered.

"You know Janet....I know we've been bugging you in the last year to find a 
boyfriend. You are pretty, you're smart, you look just like that figure 
skater, what's her name..."

"I know, I know, people tell me all the time.." Janet replied

"Well, Janet, there's this guy at work..Tom..You've met Tom Hibbert, haven't 
you?" Elsa said.

"Tom?..no, I don't think I know who that is." Janet said.

"You know, that cute guy in operations...the tall guy? the guy you were 
looking at the other day?" Christine responded.

"Oh yeah..that guy!! His name is Tom?" Janet blushed. She was ashamed that 
she was caught staring at some guy.

"Yah, Tom..well, he's been asking about you..." Elsa said.

"He has?" Janet replied and looked up at Elsa.

"Now..is he the type of guy you would go out with?" Elsa asked Janet

"Well, it depends if he"

"If he's Christian, if he goes to church, right? Yah we've heard this 100 
times" Christine interrupted, knowing what Janet was going to say.

"Well, yah!!" Janet responded

"C'mon Janet, we've had enough of this, all those church guys are boring!! 
Who would wanna date them!!" Christine shouted.

"Well, Elsa married one and he's nice!!" Janet replied

"Janet...uggh..I guess I have to tell you..when I met my husband Mike, he 
..well...he wasn't going to church at the time..in fact..he didn't even want 
to go to church...He said going to church on Sundays would be difficult 
since he always got hammered on Saturday nights. But then. I asked him to go 
to church...and well..he changed..I converted him!!" Elsa responded.

"I didn't know that about Mike, but he's such a good guy now!!" Janet 
replied.

"Yah, but, he didn't start out that way..He went to church with me and he 
changed completely!!"Elsa said.

"Hey, maybe if Tom doesn't go to church, you can do the same thing to Tom!" 
Christine thought.

"Yah, great idea Chris!!" Elsa shouted.

Janet thought about it, Was that the sign she was giving after wishing for a 
boyfriend just last night? It could be..It sounded about right. Maybe if Tom 
didn't go to church, I could convert him like Elsa did to her husband. Maybe 
this was the sign?

"Awww C'mon Janet...at least talk with him..." Christine said.

"Hey Look, here he comes!!" Elsa said, noticing that Tom just entered the 
cafeteria.

"What if I just call him over!!" Christine said.

"No way guys!! don't do that, it's so embarrassing!!" Janet said.

"Why not?" Elsa asked.

"Well, because...I'm not ready for this!! Besides, we're almost finished 
lunch anyways!" Janet said.

"Well that's too bad coz he's walking over anyways!!" Elsa saws Tom was 
walking towards them.

"Hi Tom, how are you" Elsa said. "Come and join us?" Elsa asked

"Hi, my name is Christine, Christine Sakura..this is my friend Janet Wong. 
Have a seat!" Christine said. Tom waited for a second and decided to sit 
down just across from Janet. He reached out his hand and introduced himself 
to Christine and Janet. They talked about the weather for a few seconds and 
then Elsa said something.

"Hey Christine, remember I needed you to come upstairs and check something 
for me?" Elsa said as she winked her left eye towards Christine.

"Umm..Oh..yeah..that thing...sure, let's go!! We'll see you guys later!!" 
Christine said as she got up and both Elsa and her left on purpose, leaving 
Tom and Janet alone. Janet was a little bit embarrassed about the whole 
thing. She was set-up!

"Umm, Sorry about those 2, Tom....they're just..weird sometimes" Janet said. 
She wasn't sure what to say.

"That's OK Janet...I don't mind...I guess it gives us a chance to get to 
know each other." Tom said.

"Well, I guess so" Janet said.

They talked about some pleasantries and discovered they were comfortable to 
talk with each other. So then Tom continued to get to know Janet. It was no 
secret he found her very attractive.

"So Janet..what do you do for fun on weekends?" Tom asked.

"Well, on Friday..I go to church fellowship" Janet replied, knowing this 
would open up a talk on religion and she would find out whether or not Tom 
went to church. She had her fingers crossed.

"What's that?" Tom asked

"Well, a bunch of us get together at church..and..and do stuff" Janet 
replied, saddened to know Tom probably did not attend church since he didn't 
know what fellowship was.

"Oh....are you one of those religious girls?" Tom asked.

"If you mean that go to church, well, I do.....what about yourself?" Janet 
asked.

"Who me? naw.....I don't go to church..that's not for me...." Tom replied.

"Why not? have you ever tried it?" Janet asked, hoping he would try it with 
her.

"Naw..it's not for me..." Tom said.

"It might be..you never know unless you"

"Janet..it's not for me, OK? Let's talk about something else..what else do 
you do on weekends." Tom interrupted.

"Well...I don't do much..sometimes I might go see a movie" Janet said.

"I guess you don't go to bar and get drunk on weekends then." Tom said.

"Don't be silly!! I don't do that stuff" Janet replied.

"I bet you never been to a bar before. I bet you never even drank before. I 
bet you never smoked a cigarette in your life" Tom said.

"Well, so many questions...No, I haven't been to a bar before..but, I did 
drink before, a few times. Sometimes I had a drink at parties, at new 
year's, at a wedding, some of my friends drink, but after one drink, I'm 
just, well, I'm kinda gone. It's not for me. What was the other question?" 
Janet asked, seeming uncomfortable to talk about these topics.

"Did you ever smoke before?" Tom asked

"No, of course not!!" Janet replied

"Not even one puff?" Tom asked

"No, never, I have never touched a cigarette before..Why are you asking me 
these questions? Do  you drink Tom, do you smoke?" Janet asked.

"Well, on Saturdays, my friends usually go to a bar, we drink, a bit, and 
sometimes I smoke, but not often, I guess" Tom said.

Janet thought this situation reminded her a lot of Elsa and her husband. 
Maybe this was her cue to change Tom? Maybe this was her sign? Yes, she 
thought, she could change him and convert him. She already liked him He was 
very handsome and they got along very well. This might be the one!!

"Why did you ask me if I drank or smoked for?" Janet asked

"I just guessed you didn't, that's all. What other stuff do you like?" Tom 
asked.

"I like to go on hikes..I like..to serve at church. I like to go shopping." 
Janet thought.

"Well, we seem to be different kind of people, Janet" Tom remarked.

"I guess we are!!" Janet replied. She had hoped Tom would like her, but now 
she wasn't sure.

"Janet, would you like to go out with me this Friday?" Tom asked.

Janet was shocked at the question. He was certainly moving fast. She wasn't 
sure what to say

"Umm, I think it's too early yet..we don't we get to know each other more 
first. Maybe you would  like to go to church with me this Sunday?" Janet 
asked, hoping he would say yes.

"Church? Me? naw..but thanks anyways..how about a movie on Saturday?" Tom 
replied.

"I still think it's too early yet.." Janet responded

"Too early? It's OK if you ask me to church, it's not too early for that, 
but too early for a movie?  That's a double-standard Janet!!" Tom remarked.

Tom was right, it was, but there had to be a way to get him to go to church. 
But Janet didn't know what to say, so they decided to wait awhile. For the 
next 2 days, Tom ate with the 3 girls, and Janet kept asking him to go to 
church, even preaching the gospel to him. Tom liked Janet, but he was  
getting sick of hearing the gospel preached.

"But Tom, God loves you, he would want you to go to church." Janet asked.

"Even if I swear sometimes, and I drink and smoke." Tom answered.

Janet thought about what to say.
"Yes, God loves you, even if you do those things. he doesn't like those 
things, but he likes you, the person!!" Janet responded.

The conversation that day was getting too involved, so the other two girls 
left them alone.

"Janet, stop bugging me!! I won't go to church with you!!" Tom shouted.

"But Tom!" Janet pleaded.

"No butts, Janet...Janet..you go to church right?" Tom asked.

"Yes, I do." Janet replied.

"And you are a caring person, right? concerned for others?" Tom asked.

"Yes, of course!!" Janet said

"Then how come in the last week you have been bombarding me with your 
church, your life, etc, but not even caring or asking about mine? I ask you 
to go out with me for a drink and you don't care to  listen to me!!" Tom 
said

Janet was stunned..Tom was right. Janet apologized.

"I'm sorry, Tom...tell me about your life." Janet replied.

"It's not that Janet, but..I'll be Frank.I like you..You are very pretty, 
you just look like that oriental  figure skater..what was her name.." Tom 
said

"Yah, I know, everyone tells me." Janet replied.

"I really want to go out with you.." Tom said

"I know..so do I, but..I can only go with you to church for now." Janet 
replied

"I  guess we are stuck then" Tom said. Janet did not say anything. Tom sat 
there, contemplating his  next action.

"Ok Janet, I'll make you a deal. Today is Thursday. I will go to church with 
you on one condition"  Tom said.

"Name it!!" Janet said with a smile, she was so happy he would go to church 
with her. She knew he  would come, it's just like Elsa and her husband!

"I'll go to church with you on Sunday only if you go out with me for a drink 
on Saturday night."  Tom said.

Janet didn't really fancy going to a bar, but if this what she had to go 
through to get him to go to church, she would sacrifice having a drink or 
two. She wasn't looking forward to it though. "Sure..Ok..but..don't try and 
get me drunk!!" Janet said jokingly.

"Don't worry, I respect you too much for that, just one drink, maybe two, 
that's it. You can stop when you want" Tom said.

"Great then, see you Saturday!!" Janet said as they shook hands.

"Pick you up around 8 ish" Tom said, and she gave him directions to her 
place.

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