The Curate loses his virginity. By Blacksheep. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. At this Sunday's service, there was much talk of the upcoming harvest festival. Members of the congregation were encouraged to donate fruit and vegetables, along with non-perishable items for the local food bank. Jenna had made an effort and brought along a bag of apples. She placed the bag on the side table in the church hall. "I don't know how a brazen hussy like you has the cheek to set foot in a church."Jenna remained calm, as she turned to face Mrs. Norris. "Well I'm a Christian, the same as you." "Huh! Christian my foot. I saw what you and the organist were getting up to and I think it's disgusting! In the church of all places! And he's old enough to be your father!" "Well if you clutch those pearls of yours any tighter they'll crumble to dust. And Gordon and I happen to be consenting adults. Single consenting adults. So there." "Why you, you, .horrid little slag!" Mrs. Norris fumed, lip quivering. She stormed off. Jenna exhaled and rolled her eyes. "Coffee or tea?" a friendlier voice asked. It was Debbie, the Sunday school teacher, who was volunteering to do today's hot drinks rota in the hall. "Tea please," Jenna replied. "You okay?" "Yeah. I don't think I'll be on her Christmas card list." "Don't let that old bag get to you. She's a nasty one. She's horribly ageist. Not to mention xenophobic too. I overheard her mocking Yulia's English skills last week. I can't stand her. Her husband's not that bad, he's a tedious fusspot, but there's no malice in him. But her, she's poison." "I heard her hubby spreads gossip on Facebook." Jenna said. "More likely that's her doing." Debbie replied. "I'd be surprised if John Norris even knows how to switch on a laptop." A brief chill ran through Jenna. What if Mrs. Norris were to post some bile about her online? "I don't use social media anymore," she said. "Briefly poked my nose into Twitter as a teen, but didn't like the pile-ons." "Wise. I'm on Facebook, but only to keep up with church stuff. I never post anything about my private life. I imagine Mrs. Norris would have a stroke if she knew I was dating a woman. A married woman at that. Keep it to yourself. I'm not ready to come out yet." "Don't worry, I won't say a word." Jenna sipped her tea quietly as she observed the other members of the congregation file into the hall. She was hoping Reverend Morris would soon arrive, but after fifteen minutes, there was still no sign of him. Then there was Gordon; he never came into the hall after a service, and he'd sent her that amusing text message on Friday, about Charles Wesley and his "bulging hymn book." She headed out of the hall, in search of Gordon, when Josh the curate came staggering in, carrying a massive pile of hymn books. He almost collided with Jenna and dropped a couple of books. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" Josh stammered. "How clumsy of me." Jenna bent down and picked up the books. "You're loaded up like a pack horse. Let me give you a hand. Where are you taking all these?" "Um. So kind!" His pale cheeks went pink. "The storeroom at the far end of the hall. These are spare hymn books." "Ok. Lead the way. By the way, you haven't seen the vicar have you?"" "Oh, he and the organist are in a meeting. One of the organ pipes has just been repaired." "Damn," Jenna muttered under her breath. "Oh dear. How sad. I guess he'll miss his tea and biscuits." She followed Josh down to the storeroom. She'd never paid much attention to the curate before, but looking at him now, she realized that he was rather cute. Mid-twenties, tall and stocky with fair hair and a chubby face. There was an endearing innocence about him. Reverend Morris had said he was hoping to complete his ordination next year and become a fully-fledged vicar. He'd been impressed by his devotion to the church - but he needed to come out of his shell a bit and interact more with worshippers. Josh was a shy man and lacking in self-confidence. Remembering this information made Jenna smile. I think this innocent curate needs some other kind of help, The storeroom was vast, and crammed from floor to ceiling with box files, books, old furniture and plastic crates. "Holy sh,, I didn't know this room existed. And what a lot of stuff for one small church!" Jenna exclaimed. "Heh, yeah." Josh said, putting the books down. "It's not just for St Michael's. We share it with St John's and the Methodist church on Oakwood Road." Jenna began putting the books on the shelf. "Um you don't need to do that,” "Jenna." Josh blushed again. "Jenna. It's kind of you to do that but,” "Oh I don't mind. Why should you have to do all the donkey work? This room is a tip. Besides, a good Christian should help others, right? Especially the vicar's right-hand man. That's what a curate is, yes?" Josh relaxed a bit. "Pretty much, yeah. Like Batman and Robin." "Have you always wanted to be a curate?" Josh sat down on a stool. "In truth, no way. I ...
