The first thing Joseph noticed when he came back was the different aura around Mira. 
“ I'm sorry it took longer than expected. ” He embraced her, giving her an apologetic smile. 
“ It's okay. ” Mira forced a smile to cover up, but he wasn't convinced. 
“ You okay? ” He cupped her face lovingly.  “ Not really. ” the temptation to lie was there, but she knew better. She had learnt that relationships are built on two foundations, trust and transparency and without those, a relationship won't survive.
If there's one thing she has learnt, then it's that love isn't always enough. 
Just like water isn't enough to prepare a meal. There are also essential ingredients which bring flavor and sweetness to a meal, just like it does to a relationship and trust and transparency are one of the main ones. 
     “ Let's go there. ” He pointed to a private room in the room.  Mira nodded, following his lead to a room whose entrance was made out of pure glass. Why didn't I notice this before? She wondered. 
   “ What would you like to have, Sir and Madam? ” A waitress greeted them as soon as they had their seats. 
“ A glass of water and two glasses of orange juice with some crisp crackers. ” He watched as the waitress carefully noted down his requests. 
“ I'll be back in Five. ” she said with a bow, before walking out of the room leaving the duo to themselves.
“ You've been silent, Babe. ” He pulled her closer to himself.  “ What's the matter? ” 
   Mira rested her head on his shoulders as warm tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. 
  Stunned at first, Joseph didn't know how to react to this. His mind went haywire as he started wondering what went wrong. 
What could cause his Baby girl to be in tears? Exactly what?
He left for just fifteen minutes. What could have happened in just those minutes?
He made a mental note, to request for a copy of the CCTV footage of those fifteen minutes.
Cus, what exactly could have happened then?
   “ Shush. It's okay, Babe. ” He patted her hair lovingly. 
   Few minutes later, Mira stopped crying and raised her head. 
Seeing her tear stained face, Joseph's heart broke. What exactly happened? 
He brought out his white handkerchief from his trousers and carefully used it to wipe off her tears. 
“ What happened, Babe? ” He inquired lovingly, cupping her face. 
   “ I had an encounter with someone, but I guess I overreacted. ” she averted her gaze from him. 
    “ Who was it? ” Joseph kept his voice at a minimal level, so as not to Intimidate her. 
    “ Vera Lynn. ” Hearing that name, Joseph could already guess what had transpired between them. 
But that still shouldn't have caused her to lose her cool this much.
Only if there's more. 
But what could it be? 
“ What did she say? ” he asked carefully. 
“ She claimed she was your first and you were hers. ” Though she didn't emphasize her words, He understood what she meant. 
  “ Mira. ” He locked his gaze with her.  “ Um? ” seeing he had gotten her attention, he continued. 
“ Ever since I gave my life to Christ, I've read a lot of gospel books and have listened to tons of sermons. One of which was a sermon titled, “ Soul ties. ” According to it, we automatically form soul ties with whoever we have intercourse with. ” Mira gave an affirmative nod, prompting him to continue.  “ We were taught about the exchanges that go on during intercourse. It's said that a man automatically becomes a wizard after having an intercourse with a witch and vice versa. Evil curses and covenants are also made during intercourse. ” 
“ Um. ” 
“ But you know the most amusing thing about this? ” 
“ Yeah? ”
“ Most of this only happens when the intercourse happens outside marriage. The intercourse that happens inside marriage is protected and shielded by the blood of Jesus. So no evil curses and covenants are exchanged. ”
“ Yeah. ” 
“ Knowing that, I made a vow to myself and God to avoid premarital sex at all cost. ” Mira nodded, reminiscing the weeks before their marriage when their desires became so uncontrollable that they had to keep their distance for a while, so as not to fall into the sin of premarital sex.
    “ It was a tough battle, Miranda. ” She could only imagine. She'd read that younger men had high testosterone levels, compared to older men. 
“ But God proved himself faithful. ” 
“ Um… ” 
“ I'm sure you've got your answer by now. I never did it with Vera. You were my first and will be my last, Love. ” His last sentence caused her to blush heavily. 
  Joseph pinched her red nose playfully.  “ It was worth waiting for, I must admit. ” He winked at her, earning a blow from her. 
“ I've told you multiple times not to hurt yourself by hitting me. ” he scolded with a smile, whilst rubbing her fists lovingly. 
“ She claimed you guys had make out sessions. ” Mira voiced out. 
“ If pecking and hugging can be classified as make outs, then yeah. ” he placed his hands on his ears, like a child who had done something wrong. 
   “ So you mean you never kissed her? ” she stared wide eyed at him.
“ I almost did. But never did. ” he still had his hands on his ears. 
“ Why not? ” She was surprised indeed, as kissing was considered okay even in Godly relationships. It was only considered wrong when it got too deep that the parties involved become so aroused that they lose control themselves.
“ It just never felt right. ” He admitted. Thinking of it now, he realized that God had always been intentional about him from the very beginning. Though he made the mistake of falling for the wrong person, he was able to avoid falling into sexual sin. 
   “ Okay. ” 
“ Are your doubts cleared? ” He stared straight at her. 
“ I trust you, Joseph ” She cupped his face this time. 
“ I know. ” He pulled her to his chest. 
“ It's just that sometimes, the feeling of doubt is just difficult to avoid. ”
“ Um…. ” 
“ Mira… ” He called out to her.
“ Um? ” 
“ I'm human. Therefore, I can't be perfect. But you can always trust in the Lord who is slowly molding me into becoming like him. ”  His words made Mira's heart swoon.
The words,  “ Marry a man who loves the Lord unconditionally and you've got nothing to worry about. ” rang in her head.
“ I will. Thanks for the reminder. ” 
“ You are welcome. ” 
“ I love you, Babe. ”
“ I love you more. ” Mira raised up her head and laid a peck on his lips. She was about to move away when he captured in a long kiss. 
The waitress who walked in at the moment, blushed red watching the scene in front of her.
She didn't know whether to laugh or cry, being stuffed with so much dog food.
And for the first time in a while, she understood why being single sucks.
She made a mental note to start going on dates, so maybe she'll be  married soon.
That would be great.
So at least, she'll not be stuffed seeing scenes like this. 
….
A/N : I wrote this chapter in 45 minutes. What do you think, guys?