Wayside: A Serial Novel - Episode 6
This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Episode 6: Brunch
September 22, 2016
Cassie awoke to the sound of notification alerts on her phone. One after another they came, rapid fire-style. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sat up in bed, moving as slowly as she could. Once the baby in her belly sensed she was awake, the stretching and kicking would begin. She welcomed every movement, every sensation. Even the good, swift kicks to her ribs. Uncomfortable though they were, they meant the baby was healthy, thriving, shifting around to take up more space as he grew.
She reached for her phone on the nightstand to see that she had 18 unread messages.
The first was a notification which read, “You have been added to the group chat ‘Fine Ass Ladies of the Founders’ Council’ by Siado Martinez.” Cassie couldn’t help but laugh as she opened the chat to read the message thread.
Siado Martinez: Good morning ladies! I’m setting up this group chat just for us!
Josina Hussein: LOL good morning! When do you get back to Wayside?
Siado Martinez: In a few minutes! I flew into Charlotte this morning at the crack of dawn. Bellamy just picked me up and we’re en route back right now.
Jessica Rae: I’m dying over the name of the chat group!!! 😂
Prateeka Singh: Same here! 😂
Siado Martinez: The chat group for just us ladies was Bellamy’s idea. I take full credit for the name tho!
Reese Ternier: I dig it. It’s been a while since I had a group of fine ass ladies to hang out with.
Siado Martinez: Speaking of a hang with the ladies, Bellamy said that we should set up a weekly brunch date at The Black Sheep now that the dining patio is open.
Josina Hussein: Thank goodness. I’m glad that we’re finally getting back to the things that really matter. Is life even worth living without brunch? 😂😂😂
A flurry of laughing emojis followed.
Su-Jin Kim: Sounds good to me! I’m free on weekends and off on Wednesdays!
Siado Martinez: Bellamy said weekend reservations went fast and she’s already booked up for the next couple of months. She wants some feedback on the breakfast menu items before she gets hit with big crowds this weekend. Today is Wednesday btw. Who’s up for omelets and pancakes at 11 this morning? I’m starving!😊
Jessica Rae: You’re in luck! Fall break at the Academy started as of noon yesterday so I’m off today. I’ll be there!
Reese Ternier: I’m free at 11 this morning!
Prateeka Singh: I have something on my calendar at 11:45 so I’d have to leave early, but I can join you all for a bit.
Josina Hussein: I can make it today
Su-Jin Kim: Same, I’ll be there
After catching up on messages, Cassie added her reply.
Cassie Corio: Count me in. I just woke up and baby is already kicking the daylights out of me. It’s going to take some scrambled eggs and hash browns to calm this little dude down.
Siado Martinez: It’s a date! See you all shortly!
Cassie rolled out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. She poured a glass of skim milk and reached for her medication planner. She swallowed a series of pills, including an immunosuppressant, a corticosteroid, an antimetabolite to keep her body from rejecting the donor’s lungs, and a prenatal vitamin. Once she finished her meds, she peeked into Chris’s workspace.
“Hey handsome.”
His eyes lit up at the sight of her. “Good morning, angel.” Chris removed his headset and stepped away from his desk to embrace her. They held each other for a long while.
Suddenly, Chris pulled back abruptly. “Whoa!” He cried.
“What?” Cassie looked at him with concern.
“Our son just tried to kick me in the balls.” Chris cupped his hands over his crotch. “Wow. That caught me off guard. I didn’t know he was that strong!”
“If you think that was bad, imagine him doing it from inside your body,” Cassie said with a grin. “The past few days, he’s been on a mission to rearrange my organs.”
“Do you think something is wrong? Should we call Dr. Bercerra?”
Cassie shook her head. “She said I could expect to feel the movement increase quite a bit in the third trimester. The baby’s growing fast and taking up more space, so there’s less room for the little guy. I’m logging the movements in my journal and I know all the warning signs of possible problems. If I notice anything out of sorts, I’ll let you know first thing and we’ll call her.”
“Good. Did you sleep okay last night?”
Cassie hesitated a second before answering. “Yeah,” she said.
“Better than the night before?”
“Much.”
“Do you… want to talk about—”
“No,” she said a little too quickly. “Not now, I mean. We’ll talk later. Right now I just want you to feel our kid hiccupping.” She reached for his hand, resting his open palm across her belly.
They locked eyes.
“I felt it!” Chris flashed his signature gap-toothed grin. “It’s like a tiny little vibration and— there it is again! Oh my God, this is so amazing!” He took Cassie into his arms again. “I love you so much,” he whispered in her ear.
“I love you too.” She kissed him. “I’ll let you get back to work. I’ve got a brunch date to get ready for, believe it or not.”
He laughed. “Brunch?”
“Bellamy is hosting us at the Black Sheep, 11 am today. Founders, but just the girls this time.”
“Uh oh. The ladies are meeting without the rest of us. Should the menfolk be concerned?”
“Don’t know yet.” Cassie winked. “I’ll report back this afternoon and let you know. Want me to pick up something for you while I’m there?”
“I’m still full from last night, and we’ve got leftovers in the fridge that I can heat up. Don’t worry about me. Just go and enjoy yourself. Say hi to the ladies for me.”
“Oh, we have an official name.” Cassie read from her phone. “We’re the ‘Fine Ass Ladies of the Founders’ Council.’ Credit to Siado.”
“Happy brunching, my fine ass lady.”
“Fine ass lady with a fine ass baby who wouldn’t mind having more of that spinach artichoke dip we ate last night. Do you think it will be a staple on the brunch menu?”
“Your brunch, your rules,” Chris said with a shrug. “By the way, have you given any more thought to baby names?”
“I’m still thinking,” said Cassie. “Maybe we can just call him Fine Ass Baby for now. I kind of like it.”
“Fine Ass Baby,” Chris grinned. “How about Fab for short?”
“Fab it is.”
***
Ben awoke to the sound of heavy metal music blasting throughout the house. He rushed downstairs to find Kevin flipping pancakes in the kitchen.
“Too loud!” Ben shouted. “You’ll wake the neighbors!”
“My bad!” Kevin shouted back. He reached for his phone, pressing a button to silence the Bluetooth speaker he’d placed on the dining room table. Then he poured a mug of coffee for Ben and handed it to him.
“Thanks.” Ben took a sip of the coffee, wincing at the bitterness. “Tastes like mud.”
“It would have been fresher if you had woken up earlier. You’ve always been the early bird. Is sleeping in a new thing for you?”
Ben looked down at his watch. “Wow… almost eleven o’clock. I couldn’t fall asleep last night, actually. I finally conked out sometime after the sun came up this morning.” He paused to yawn. “Keep the noise down, please. These houses don’t contain sound very well.”
“I was actually just trying to wake you up, so mission accomplished. I’ll keep it turned off,” said Kevin with a smirk. “I really don’t get why you’d want to live in shipping container, anyway.”
“I don’t expect you to,” said Ben. “Listen, I think I’m going to head back to bed. Save me a plate for later.”
“No can do, amigo.” Kevin piled a stack of pancakes on a plate and carried them to the dining room table. “I’m going to have to take off shortly. Come on, don’t make me eat breakfast alone.”
Reluctantly, Ben grabbed the maple syrup from the refrigerator and joined Kevin at the table. “You’re leaving already?”
“Yeah. I talked to Cheyenne this morning. She moved all of her things out of the house while I was here for the 10-day quarantine. She said she’s ready to talk about a divorce. I’d better get back and get it over with.”
“I’m so sorry, Kevin.” Ben exhaled loudly. “Do you want to talk about it?”
He shook his head. “There’s not much to talk about. We were young and naïve when we got married. We grew apart over the years. Mistakes were made and trust was broken. It’s best we part ways while things are still somewhat civil between us. I don’t want this to turn into an ugly battle in court if we can avoid it.”
“I understand.”
They ate pancakes and drank coffee in silence. Every few minutes, Kevin would check his phone, grin, then hastily type a text reply.
“Let me guess,” Ben pondered aloud. “Bellamy?”
“Yeah.”
“You move on fast.”
“Can’t help it. She’s cute. Great personality, too. We had fun last night. I made mixed drinks for her and gave her a foot massage. She couldn’t stop smiling.”
“You do realize she lives here in Wayside, right? And if you want to see her again, you’ll have to do a 10-day quarantine each time you enter?”
“I know, I know,” Kevin muttered. “If this goes anywhere, it would make more sense for her to come see me so we don’t have to worry about any quarantines.”
Ben locked eyes with him. “That would dial up Bellamy’s risk of getting infected with Covid, Flu, RSV… all the things she moved here to avoid. You know that, right? Unless you’re planning on adopting precautions like masking and testing.”
“Not my thing, you know that.” Kevin ate the last bite of food from his plate. “She’s an adult. She can make her own choices about what she wants.”
“Have you thought about the fact that she uprooted her life and moved from another country to live here? In a place where her safety and her life actually matter to other people? Don’t you have any respect for that?”
“Let’s not go there. We both know it wouldn’t be productive. You have your opinions and I have mine.”
“I have more than opinions. I have a family here, Kevin. I consider Bellamy part of my family and I don’t want to see any harm come to her. She’s one of our leaders in this community and she’s very important to all of us.”
“Wow,” Kevin murmured. “For someone who swears this isn’t a cult, every word of what you just said sounded pretty culty to me.”
Ignoring his last comment, Ben stood up and collected their empty plates. “Thanks for breakfast.”
“More like brunch,” said Kevin, playfully raising his pinking finger as he sipped from his mug. “Pardon me, but I need a refill. Could you fetch me some more of this decadent coffee? What do you call this exquisite blend, anyway?”
“I believe it’s Great Value Morning Blend by Walmart. If you prefer a mimosa, I don’t have orange juice but I could certainly add some champagne to the jug of Kool-Aid left over from our most recent cult ceremony.”
“That’s the Ben Santos I know and love.”
Ben returned to the table with the coffee pot, pouring the rest into Kevin’s mug. “Bellamy is an adult and can make her own decisions, of course. All I’m asking you to do is think about her and her needs. It wouldn’t be fair to treat her like some casual fling. Consider what she’s been through, and that she might be emotionally vulnerable.”
“How so?”
“Like I said, she left her life behind to come here and live safely. She’s built a business that she’s very proud of. She’s become close to many of her friends and neighbors here, but I imagine she feels lonely at times. There are a little over two thousand people living in Wayside right now. There will be more eventually, but we’ve got work to do in order to increase our capacity. Two thousand may sound like a lot, but less than half that number are single adults, which means the dating pool is relatively small. Those who have tried to meet other singles and date within Wayside have found it challenging.”
“Why do you think that is? You’d think that in a place like this it would be easy to find like-minded people to date.”
“Like-minded doesn’t necessarily translate to romance. We’re all in agreement about our approach to public health and safety, but that doesn’t mean we’re all on the same page regarding everything else. People have different political beliefs. Different religions, different world views. Different thoughts about how to raise kids. I could go on and on, but the point is, single adults who live here are just like every other single person in the world. They want chemistry. They want compatibility. It’s just that their options are extremely limited when they’re looking for love in their own neighborhood. If Bellamy is like most single people here, the Wayside dating scene has been an emotional roller coaster for her. Hence why I’m saying she might be vulnerable right now.”
Kevin gave a slight nod. “I get it.”
“I’m not telling you what to do, Kevin. I’m just asking you to proceed with caution. And compassion. Bellamy deserves it.”
“Yeah.” He took a sip of coffee. “What about you? What’s going on with your dating life?”
“I have no dating life.”
“Oh, come on.” Grinning, Kevin leaned forward, elbows on the table. “What about the girl that sat next to you at dinner? With the head thing?” He waved his hand around his forehead.
“Josina,” said Ben. “It’s called a hijab.”
“Yeah, so what about her? She’s got a nice body and a pretty face. She’d be smoking hot without the hijab thing.”
“She’s my business partner and friend.”
“And she’s completely into you,” Kevin said. “Don’t tell me you don’t know that.”
Ben stared back at him, his expression deadpan. “I think the world of her, but we’re not dating.”
“Why? Are you not attracted to her? Or are there religious differences? Since she wears that...” he swirled his hand around his head again.
“Hijab,” Ben completed his sentence. “No. It’s none of that.”
“So what’s the deal then?”
“I’m not discussing it. End of story.” A notification sounded on Ben’s phone. He glanced down at it for a split second, then looked up at Kevin again. “I’ve got meetings this afternoon that I need to get ready for. Would you like for me to walk you back to the gate and sign you out now, or after I get a shower and get dressed for the day?”
“I’m packed and ready to go.” Kevin glanced at his suitcase by the door. “I guess now’s as good a time as any.” He stood and pushed his chair behind him, startled by the loud CLANK sound it made against the floor-to-ceiling glass window.
“Watch out,” Ben said. “This house is narrow by design. This table and chair set are way too big for the dining room. I need to do a better job of warning guests to be careful. I’m worried someone will take that window out someday.”
“Or you could just get a real house,” Kevin suggested as they moved toward the front door.
“This is a real house.”
“I’m just kidding,” Kevin said sheepishly. “Thanks for having me out to visit, by the way. Sorry I have to take off so soon. I wish I could have stayed longer.”
Ben didn’t reciprocate the sentiment. “Thanks for visiting. Hopefully next time we see each other, it will be under better circumstances.” He grabbed his jacket from a hook on the wall and shrugged into it before stepping outside.
“Yeah. Let’s hope I’ll have the divorce over and done with.” He smiled. “And maybe by then you’ll get your head out of your ass, and you and Josina will be together.”
***
Scrambled eggs.
Pork sausage and vegan bacon.
Biscuits and gravy.
Hash browns.
Oatmeal topped with fresh fruit.
Baskets of fresh bread and butter.
Waffles and pancakes with various toppings.
The trays kept coming from the kitchen; the ladies of the Founders’ Council met each one with gratitude and delight.
“Okay Bellamy, what’s your secret?” Cassie asked through a mouthful of eggs. “How did you whip out that amazing meal last night, then hit us with an equally impressive breakfast?”
“Brunch,” Siado said, playfully correcting her. “It’s to die for, isn’t it?”
Everyone laughed.
Bellamy threw her hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, okay, you want my secret? Here it is. I have an amazing kitchen staff. But I also had some help last night as they were winding down their shifts. Ben’s friend Kevin came back here with me and helped me with cleanup. When I mentioned I’d been on my feet all day and they were killing me, he told me sit down and prop them up. And – get this – he went back into the kitchen, made cocktails for us, brought them out on a tray, then gave me a foot massage while I drank mine! It was so, so nice. We just sat here sipping our drinks and talking and laughing. It did sort of feel like I was on a really amazing first date.”
A chorus of oooooohs and aaaaaaahs followed. Each of the women seated at the table abandoned their food to lean in, hungry for more details.
“So what happened after that?” Jessica didn’t waste time asking. “Did he come home with you for some dessert?”
Around the table, a flurry of giggles.
“No, nothing like that,” said Bellamy. “Ben came to get him. It’s probably a good thing he did. Otherwise, I might very well have been tempted to serve up some dessert.” She hooked her fingers into air quotes.
“Oh, you’re not alone,” Su-Jin jumped in. “A lot of us are missing out on dessert. Including a lot of the patients I see. When I’m doing a medical history and I ask about sexual activity, I get a lot of sad looks and comments about how there hasn’t been much going on since the move to Wayside.”
“Aaaaaaaand now you all know why I really called a meeting of the Fine Ass Ladies of the Founders’ Council,” said Siado. “We need girl talk like this! And we need to help each other figure out how we can all get some dessert!”
“Well if it makes you all feel better,” Cassie began, “I’ve had plenty of dessert since moving to Wayside. Check out how it has wrecked my figure.” She pointed to her protruding belly, sending her fellow Founders’ Council members into hysterics.
“You know, I wouldn’t mind wrecking my figure too, Cassie,” said Prateeka. “I’m 33 years old. I’ve only got a few more years before I’m high-risk for pregnancy. I worry sometimes that I won’t meet the right person while I’m still young enough to have children. I think I’ve met every single guy here at Wayside, and didn’t click with a single one.”
“Imagine being a single woman wanting to date other women,” Siado volunteered. “There are less than a dozen of us here in our twenties. We’ve all been out with each other. Multiple times. Everyone is really nice, and some of us have actually become friends. But love connections just aren’t happening, unfortunately.”
Nodding and words of affirmation followed around the table.
“Well, this is all very sad, but I want to hear more about Kevin!” Reese said with excitement.
Bellamy’s face lit up as she stared down at her phone. “We’ve been texting this morning.”
“When are you going to see him again?” Jessica asked.
“I don’t know. He said he had something come up and he has to go back home today, but he’d like to keep in touch. And he added a heart emoji.”
“Awwwwwwww,” the ladies crooned in unison.
“I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I like him,” said Bellamy. “The thought of us trying to see each other again could be tricky, though. I couldn’t expect him to put his life on hold and do 10-day quarantines to get into Wayside on a regular basis. And me going to visit him would be risky. We’re not on the same page with masking and precautions. Unless one of us was willing to make some big changes, we don’t have much of a future together.”
A chorus of disappointed sighs followed.
“I’m kind of in the same boat,” Siado chimed in. “I met someone during my trip to New York. Another musician, Scarlett Wiley.”
“I’ve got one of her songs on my favorite playlist!” Cassie said with excitement. “How did you meet?”
“My record label took me and my manager out to dinner at Bello’s, this amazing 5-star restaurant,” Siado began. “Of course, I masked the whole time and had the kitchen bring me a smoothie instead of ordering a plated meal. Which made me a pariah. Everyone at the table talked around me and ignored me at first. But lucky for me, my manager really liked the food and asked the label execs how they’d discovered the restaurant. They explained they had just signed Scarlett a few weeks prior. When they asked her to pick a restaurant for a celebratory dinner, she chose Bello’s. It’s the top-rated restaurant in her neighborhood and she’d never made enough money to eat there, so she decided if she ever got a recording deal, she’d finally go. Anyway, while we were at Bello’s, one of the label execs texted her to see if she was free to come join us. She showed up a few minutes later and sat next to me. We spent the rest of the evening talking to each other. Turns out we have a lot in common. We really clicked.”
Smiles and congratulatory remarks followed.
“We even took a selfie together when we left the restaurant,” Siado said. She searched through her phone till she found the picture of herself with her fellow musician and passed it around the table. “Isn’t she beautiful? She took the picture and asked for my number so she could text it to me. Slick, huh? Then she kissed me on the cheek and whispered in my ear that she would have gone for a kiss on my lips if I hadn’t been masked. I laughed and said ‘maybe someday.’ So that’s where we left things.”
When the phone made its way back to Siado, she smiled once again at the sight of the picture.
Then she frowned.
“I really wanted to pull off my N95 for the pic, but I didn’t. Looking at it now, I’m thinking about what Bellamy said just a few minutes ago, about how tricky it could be for her to try and see Kevin again. It would be the same situation for me and Scarlett. We’re both starting our careers in the music industry and I’m fighting tooth and nail to stay Covid-cautious. I mean, I literally lost money on the negotiations in my contract in order to have testing and masking requirements for staff on tours and in performance venues. And I see how easy it is for people to ignore me when I’m masked. I know it will cost me even more down the line. The world really wants to pretend everything is back to normal and they punish anyone who reminds them that it isn’t. I couldn’t expect Scarlett or anyone else to take up this fight just to be with me. But I’m not giving up my precautions, either. I don’t want to live anywhere but Wayside. So that makes the idea of a relationship with someone on the outside extremely complicated.”
Bellamy reached across the table to rest her hand on top of Siado’s. “Complicated, yes. But not impossible. Don’t give up hope.”
Siado nodded. “Thanks. I’m glad somebody else gets it.”
A hush fell over the table.
“I’m sorry you both are going through this,” said Cassie. “I feel really fortunate to have Chris. I know I never would have made it this far without him. And I can’t imagine uprooting my life to come to Wayside all by myself. Bellamy, Siado, you both are incredibly strong women and you deserve partners who are as amazing as you are. Cheers to you both.” She lifted her glass.
The rest of the table followed. “Cheers!”
“And cheers to you and Chris,” said Bellamy. “You’re the power couple we all look up to.”
“One of the power couples we look up to,” Prateeka interjected. “Don’t forget about Ben and Josina!”
Josina, who had been uncharacteristically quiet until that point, sat up straight in her seat. “What? Come on, you all know we aren’t a couple.”
“Oh yes you are,” Siado laughed. “You two are joined at the hip. You share the same brain. Honestly, I think this may be the first time I’ve ever seen you without Ben by your side and it’s weird! You two belong together. I think it’s amazing.”
“But we’re not romantic. It’s not like what you and Bellamy are describing.”
“Who cares?” Prateeka shrugged. “You have somebody to go through everything in life with. Ben is your somebody. And you’re Ben’s somebody. Whatever it is, we all wish we had it.”
Furiously shaking her head, Josina feigned a laugh. “No you don’t. It’s called co-dependency. To be that close to somebody without having romance or intimacy? It’s nothing to envy. We’re worse off than the rest of you because neither of us have had room in our lives to meet other people and try out the dating scene. We’re in each other’s way, to be honest.”
Surprised, confused, the rest of the women stared at Josina. None of them knew what to say.
“Look, I know it’s hard for all of you to understand, but Ben and I are both lonely in our own way.” Josina’s voice was tight with emotion. “We’re actually in the process of moving apart. I’m back in the villa and he’s staying in the house. You won’t see us together as often anymore, but that’s a good thing. We’re still friends, of course. We’ll still work together. But we have to put some distance between us.”
Another long, uncomfortable silence followed.
“I’m so sorry,” Prateeka finally said. “I didn’t mean to be insensitive.”
“Me too,” added Siado.
Reese placed a hand on Josina’s shoulder. “Whatever you and Ben are, whatever the two of you need to do, it’s okay, Josina. We love you both and we’re here if you need any support from us. And if you just need privacy while you’re figuring it all out, we understand and respect that too.”
“Thank you.” Josina reached for a napkin, pressing it to her eyes. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring everyone down.”
“You didn’t,” Su-Jin said with a smile. “It’s my day off work. NOTHING can bring me down!”
“This is the first official brunch of the Fine Ass Ladies of the Founders’ Council,” Bellamy added matter-of-factly. “The first of many. You might show up feeling down or out of sorts, but your fellow fine ass ladies will feed you pancakes and make sure you leave in a better state than you did when you arrived.”
Cassie cleared her throat. “Okay then. On that note, I want to be the first to take Bellamy up on the offer she just extended. If you all can handle a change of subject, this fine ass lady needs someone to talk to. I couldn’t think of a better group of people to share it with than all of you.”
Smiles lit up the faces of the women surrounding Cassie. They leaned in and gave her their full attention.
“There’s something I want to tell you about me.” She hung her head and spoke in a hushed tone, suddenly meek in her delivery. “I don’t know any good way to say this without sounding like I’m insane, so I’m just going to say it, and let the chips fall where they may.”
Around the table, seven faces stared at her, eyes wide with anticipation.
“Sometimes…” Cassie paused to take a deep breath. “Sometimes I can see things other people can’t see. Sometimes, I know things other people don’t know. Sometimes I see things and know things before they happen. I don’t know how. I don’t know why.” She paused to gauge their reactions.
No one’s expression had changed.
“That’s amazing,” Josina broke the silence.
“Holy shit, that’s so cool,” added Siado.
“You believe me?” Cassie was incredulous. “The things I see aren’t exactly warm and fuzzy. They’re often scary. People don’t like to be scared, so I’ve never told anyone but Chris. I wasn’t sure if anyone else would take me seriously.”
“Why wouldn’t we?” Su-Jin asked. “I’ve been practicing medicine for almost 20 years. I’ve seen patients who seem to have a sixth sense. Some know when a tumor is shrinking or growing before any imaging is done. Some predict their deaths with accuracy. Some pregnant women can sense things about their unborn babies long before they show up on tests and diagnostics. Just because we can’t explain how or why it happens doesn’t mean it isn’t real.”
“Sentinel intelligence,” said Jessica. “It’s the cognitive capacity that a small minority of people have to sense threats before others. I wrote my thesis on it in grad school. You’re in good company, Cassie. All of us here – we’re sentinels to some extent.”
“How do you know?” Cassie asked.
“Because we’re here at Wayside.” Prateeka jumped in. “We all predicted how badly the outcome would be once the world decided to pretend the Covid pandemic was over. No one else in our lives believed us when we warned them. But we knew. We can all relate.”
“Exactly,” Reese crossed her arms, rubbing her hands up and down her shoulders. “I’ve got goose bumps, Cassie. Tell us more.”
“I see things in my dreams,” Cassie continued.
They leaned in closer.
“I had a dream about Wayside.”
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