Who is this Lady in Pink

Ms Rose came to the church by means of one of the outreaches that happened nearly every summer. Her part was to add more life to the scholarship program for aspiring female students. The messages caught her attention and she decided to stay well beyond her part.

Being a curvy full figured woman who enjoyed pampering herself in designer clothing, Ms Rose stood out quickly from the rest of the women at the church. Not that the others didn’t sport their own fashion. It was not mainstream high fashion.

For starters, Ms Rose did not do the broad rimmed hats. She didn’t sport the girly lace gloves. Instead, she wore business inspired suits and dresses. Instead of low comfy heels that would get discarded to accommodate the praise dances, Ms Rose kept to sky high heels that she never took off during services. In fact, one of the points of jealously by many of the women was the stamina Ms Rose had in heels. All day long in them. No visible sign of discomfort seen.

While the hemline of her skirts and dresses always touched the knee, for the Ultra Conservatives, it was too short and was the focal point of many disagreements that threatened to get heated.

Then, there was the perfume. Rose inspired aura that most men could spot and identify instantly. Obviously, this caused a lot of concerns for the married women who could not find a brand or aroma that could get the same results.

The nick name “Lady in Pink” came about because many of the nail polish choices were pink and her broaches usually had pink in the color or was of a rose. That allowed Ms Rose to avoid the ire of the Ultra Conservatives who railed against the color red on lips and nails.

Because Ms Rose was single and was thirty at the time of her arrival, she was soon the focus of scrutiny by many women of the church. The watch for the “Rose Scandal” was in full force.

In steps Mrs Edward. She took pity on the grief being levied on this woman who wanted nothing more than help raise the talent level of the young ladies of the church. The friendship had a bit of a rocky start as Mrs Edward took it upon herself to try and adjust the clothing of Ms Rose.

That quickly faded into history as Mrs Edward saw a strong powerful woman who just didn’t have the good fortune of being married. What surprised most observers, Mrs Edward did not try to set up Ms Rose with a partner. Instead, a strong bond of friendship took off between two unlikely pairs.

A young ambitious single career woman who could easily steal any man/husband and a conservative married woman. Sure, Mrs Edward had a career, but she kept the details of it out of the public light of the church. Only Ms Rose knew of all the ambitions Mrs Edward held. The two worked as a team to move their careers forward faster than they could have done alone.

Mr Edward managed to avoid all appearances of socializing inappropriately with Ms Rose. No matter the scrutiny, no one could find any fault in Mr Edward. His power and fame rose as the relationship with Ms Rose grew closer to Mrs Edward.

First signs of trouble in paradise

Mr Edward was the first to break the news of a pattern in the scandals. His news rocked the church and marked the beginning of the end of the era of scandals.

It turns out that 90% of all the scandals had one common thread. The men in power, who did have the Ultra Conservative agenda, fell victim to a scandal around the time they were consolidating their power for maximum control. Their efforts would have given them more influence than the reverend and his cabinet of officers.

At the helm of that seat of control was a woman who was feared by nearly everyone. Mrs Yvette. Her husband had been a very powerful and very influential founding member of the church and the Ultra Conservative movement. His passing had brought out everyone out of the woodworks for his funeral. He had left his playbook with his wife who used it with great effect to hold the power her late husband had built.

The only way to gain enough power to control the church, even against the leadership of the church, was to have influence over Mrs Yvette. Ordinarily, that would be easy to do. However, power and influence was not the real motive and interest of Mrs Yvette. Her deal was keeping her name relevant as the order keeper. No one knew exactly what that meant, but it was important to her.

The day Mr Edward confronted her and released the information, Mrs Yvette vowed to destroy Mr Edward. The news was dark. It was evil. It was very damaging.

Mr Edward had discovered how Mrs Yvette had used the appearance of wrong doing to undo any man who gained too much power in the church. Her tool of choice, gossip.

It wasn’t long before her own anger at Mr Edward led her to spill too much information in an effort to quickly undo him. She lost the prefix of Mrs and became known as Yvette. The younger generation just called her Vette, which flustered her and angered her to no end. The implied meaning was that Yvette was too fast for her own good with her lips. She spoke too much too soon.

Now that Mr Edward was credited for undoing her scheme, the rates of scandals all but vanished. The power of the Ultra Conservatives started to drop. The leadership of the reverend started to actually steer the church into better and more beneficial territories. The community at large started to see the value of the church and benefit from it’s programing.

It wasn’t long before the last of Yvette’s power was eroded and reduced to a bitter widow who gossiped too much. But, the arrival of Ms Rose was the spark Yvette needed to make another final bid for power. If only she could get Mrs Edward to distance herself from Ms Rose. You see, Mrs Edward was a formidable power source herself. She rarely used her force to shake the course of the church but everyone knew that if Mrs Edward ever took a stand, only Mr Edward could derail it. Nobody wanted to find out how strong their marriage was. The Edward duo was unstoppable if they wanted to be.

Ms Rose and the Edward Family

Over the years, the church accepted the notion that Ms Rose was as good as family to the Edward couple. Under the protection of that family name, Rose was not bothered by anyone about dressing differently. It was just accepted that Ms Rose was single, different, and an asset.

Young ladies aspired to be like Ms Rose. Young men worked hard to gain a favorable wink from Ms Rose. The typical teen shenanigans. Married men stayed clear of her because they remembered the messes Yvette had created. Married women looked at Ms Rose with reservation. No good woman stayed single that long. More intriguing, no good woman could manage to keep a single woman that close to their relationship and not have an issue spring up. However, no one was quite as strong as Mrs Edward

That started to change when Mrs Edward got pregnant. Her pregnancy was hard. Difficult. Lots of bed rest. In fact, her fashion style changed dramatically after she had her first child, Andrew. Mrs Edward started looking like all the other married women of the church. Like an old woman.

The hemline dropped significantly. The broad rimmed hats got broader. The lace gloves covered more than just the hands. The clothing size went up to hide all evidence that she had any curves. Mrs Edward transformed into a “proper married woman”.

The friendship with Ms Rose, though tight, started to appear to fade in church. They didn’t sit together when Mr Edward was busy… any more. Instead, they would chat only after service when most of the members were not around to witness their friendship.

While this did make Ms Rose a bit uncomfortable, the understanding was centered around the fact Mrs Edward was focusing on raising her child. She needed space to do mommy stuff, like breast feeding. Not to mention, Mrs Edward’s mood had shifted. She became a bit less pleasant and more easily angered.

Mr Edward became more involved in the administration of the church. He was less available to sit and socialize with his wife. His attention was still locked on his wife however. People often remarked quietly that Mr Edward had stepped up his romantic efforts towards his wife as she cooled her attention to him.

Once the second child arrived, the friendship with Ms Rose resumed. Babysitting assistance was more important than the appearance of distance between these two.

Mrs Edward had taken on the mantle of motherhood very seriously and had back to back to back to back children in rapid succession. With each, Mrs Edward took on the more traditional trappings of motherhood ever more seriously. Her appearances no longer important, the only connection to her pre-children days was Ms Rose.

Yvette was taking her sweet time. She knew it would only be a matter of time before she found the smoking gun to derail and destroy Mr Edward. The fact this could hurt Mrs Edward was of little consequence to Yvette on the rationale that Mrs Edward was a tough cookie who would be OK no matter what.

Through patiently watching and waiting, Yvette started to see an opportunity. Something about how cranky Mrs Edward had gotten was giving Yvette hope. There was finally a flaw in the perfect Edward family.

The Flaw

Mrs Edward was very concerned about her appearance from a social perspective. While Mrs Edward did not seem to care about her clothing that much, one could understand the choice. Mrs Edward was throwing all her resources into the upbringing of her children. She took on all the tasks with great pride and focus. Anyone who wanted to learn from her was given all manners of tips and lessons on how to raise the perfect set of children.

As the children grew, their model behavior and voracious appetite to learn spoke for itself. Mrs Edward had the perfect family. The perfect smart well behaved children.

While most parents struggled to keep their children well behaved, Mrs Edward singlehandedly managed her troops and kept her husband glowing about her prowest as a mom. Parents would have their children spend time at the Edward home to learn how to behave and act right in church.

To everyone’s surprise, those “intern” days for these troublesome children worked. Problem children found solutions and started behaving. Mrs Edward had the magic touch. The only person who seemed to know the formula and seemed to have the same results was Ms Rose. They worked as a team, Mrs Edward and Ms Rose.

Yvette however saw something different. She saw a budding weakness. Mrs Edward was not prepared for the antics boys had as they approached adolescence. They often tried to sort out their feelings before they understood they had feelings.

The eldest of the Edward family was a very curious and very quick minded child. He saw patterns in people that many adults missed. If Yvette had a chance to mold that impressionable mind, he would make the best replacement to her bloodline. Yvette was not blessed with any children and she saw in Andrew the ability to control his own emotions while reading people and influencing them. The perfect tool in Yvette’s arsenal.

The problem, Mrs Edward hovered too much and too closely. No one save Ms Rose had any influence over the boy. Yvette loved that and hated that. However, that was OK. This level of protection would be the very undoing Yvette needed.