Father Rocco came back after a moment with a bottle of mineral water. He poured it into a glass for Ted.
‘Thank you,’ he said, drinking a few gulps.
The parson cleared his throat again and pulled himself together.
‘I invited you here today to ask you a very concrete question, Ted. A question you probably did not expect...’
He look at the other guest again, who spoke for the first time:
‘Mr Thompson, in the name of the Rome Archbishopric I would like to ask you if you would be willing to work for the Church?’
Ted almost choked on the water.
‘Excuse me?’
‘Would you consider working for us?’
The situation seemed more and more absurd. And yet Ted felt a bit relieved that in the end it was not the issue of his absence at Sunday mass that they wanted to discuss.
‘What would this work c
