Raven was still livid. Ever since returning to her office from the meeting this morning, she’d been trying to calm her anger and settle her nerves, but nothing was working. Porsha was going too far with all this I’ll-do-whatever-I-please mentality, and she had to be stopped.
Raven picked up her desk phone and dialed Michelle’s extension. “Can you come in here?”
“Of course. I’ll be right there.”
Raven sat up straight and took a deep breath.
Michelle knocked on the door, walked in, and then closed it behind her.
“I hope you weren’t in the middle of anything,” Raven said.
Michelle sat down. “No. Well, I was working on a small project, but it wasn’t something urgent.”
“Good.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Not really.”
“Is there something I can do to help?”
“I’m glad you asked that, because for the last hour I’ve done a lot of thinking. I’ve tried to weigh my options and figure out who I can really trust, and it’s you who keeps rising to the top of that list.”
“I’m glad you feel that way.”
“I first want to say this up front, though. From this moment on, everything I discuss with you, business or personal, has to remain between us.”
“Of course. Absolutely.”
“I know that you work for Porsha, too, but if I had to guess, the things you do for her only take up maybe twenty percent of your time?”
“That’s about right. Some weeks, she doesn’t have anything for me to do at all. Mostly because she likes to handle a lot of her own scheduling and communication.”
“I can tell. This is actually a good thing now, though, because I’m planning to make some major changes within the ministry. These changes won’t happen overnight, but they’ll be gradual and might become a bit uncomfortable for everyone here.”
Michelle looked confused. “Okay.”
“I know you’re a little curious about why I’m getting ready to do this, but before I explain further I need to know that you’ll be loyal to me and only me. Because even though I believe I can trust you, I still need for you to look me in my eyes and tell me that yourself.”
“Pastor Raven, you can trust me with anything. I promise you that.”
“I also need to know that regardless of what happens, you will support me and have my back. That you will defend me and remain in my corner.”
“That’s not a problem, either. I give you my word. I’ll do anything you need me to do.”
“What if it means helping me to get rid of Porsha?”
Michelle stared at her in silence, and Raven wondered if she’d told her too much too soon. But then Michelle said, “I’m actually not surprised.”
Raven raised her eyebrows. “Really? Why?”
“I don’t know. Just a feeling I had. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like Porsha. But I’ve also noticed that you and her don’t seem to be as good of friends as you were when I first started attending here. And it seems like you’ve become even more distant over the last couple of months.”
“Well, I was sort of hoping that no one had noticed. But I guess you can’t hide obvious tension between friends. Or foes, even.”
Raven now wondered if any of the other staff members had discovered the same thing.
Michelle crossed her legs. “It’s not that you seem upset with each other or anything. Just different. You know, like you’re each doing your own thing.”
“That’s because we are. I’m the pastor and founder of NVCC, and Porsha is only a minister—or so she says. But whatever. Anyway, I’m the face of New Vision Ministries and NVCC, and Porsha just works here.”
“But if you don’t mind my saying this, that’s not how everyone on staff sees it. Porsha has made it clear to all of us that she invested the initial start-up money, and that you and her are equal partners.”
“On paper we are, but that’s about to change,” Raven said. “That’s why I want her out.”
Michelle looked at her, waiting for more details, but didn’t say anything.
“I know that sounds harsh,” Raven offered, “but it’s also the truth. I don’t want her here, because she’s trying to control too much. You saw the way she added on this new Sunday message of hers, and now she’s getting ready to start a new singles ministry. And she never talked to me once about either.”
“That’s too bad, and why do you think she’s acting this way all of a sudden?”
“Because she doesn’t like playing second fiddle. She wants to be in charge of the ministry. She never says she does, but her actions prove everything.”
“I really wish things hadn’t turned out like this,” Michelle said. “Especially with how well the ministry is doing. It’s growing weekly, and I just hope these problems with Porsha don’t turn people off.”
“I agree, and that’s why we’ll have to handle this whole situation as carefully as possible. I don’t want this thing to turn ugly, but I won’t lie…I’m willing to do whatever I have to when it comes to getting Porsha out of here.”
“Do you already have something in mind?”
“No, not exactly, but I will. And soon. In the meantime, though, there’s something else. I debated telling you this, but I think you should know who your friends are. And who they aren’t.”
Michelle looked astonished. “I don’t understand.”
Raven hated lying to her. Michelle was so innocent in all of this, but she also had a huge heart, and Raven needed to toughen her up. She also needed to turn her as much against Porsha as she could.
“Porsha has never liked you. She never even wanted you to work here.”
“Really? I guess I don’t even know what to say. Except that she must be a really good actor.”
“She is. Just look at how she claims to be called by God to preach when she knows she was never called by Him to do anything. Porsha is a phony, and it’s time you know the truth about everything.”
Michelle shook her head. “This is too much.”
“I can imagine, and I’m sorry she had you so fooled. And that I allowed it to happen.”
“It’s really wrong for her to deceive people this way. Some of the members in our congregation are really vulnerable. They’ve been through a lot or they’re currently going through a lot, and they trust her.”
“I know, and it’s time for all that to stop. It’s the reason we—you and I together—have to put an end to this. You’re the only person who can help me.”
“Just tell me what you want me to do.”
“I’ll take the next week or two to think things through, and then you and I’ll talk again.”
“Sounds good.”
“Thank you for understanding, Michelle. Thank you for being here for me.”
“Anytime.”
Raven almost told Michelle her whole history with Porsha, specifically how Porsha had slept with Dillon behind her back. But she decided to save that damaging information for another day. As it was, she could already tell how shocked and hurt Michelle was, so it was better to feed her more details a little at a time. That way, Michelle’s dislike for Porsha would evolve gradually and solidly.
Soon she would begin to hate Porsha just as much as Raven did, and this would make all the difference.