The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

Forty-two-year-old middle school art teacher, Lyra, meets physicist, Eric, at a STEAM conference. She spots him as one of the few other Black people attending the conference, and they meet and begin to chat. The conversation flows and they have a lot in common. On the flight home from the conference, Lyra tallies all of the things that she and Eric have in common, but she also rationalizes away her desire to get to know him more and ends up deleting his phone number.

Eric persists in staying in contact with Lyra, even though she is not reciprocating at first. Through conversations with her therapist and sketch sessions, Lyra continues to think about Eric and tries to work through her tendency to talk herself out of good things. She finally calls him, which begins a very intimate long-distance relationship where they chat at night and into the morning. They talk about God, and they watch TV shows together, among other things. Lyra invites Eric to a solo art show that she is putting on in the Spring. As things progress, Lyra once again talks herself out of a good thing and blocks Eric’s number.

Lyra begins to work on her relationship with herself and her sexuality.