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</div></div><br/>For Tolek, since he was rather private, meeting up with Trevan in a different city was more of an auspicious thing for him. Not that he had many friends, but rumors, gossip, crap like that utterly annoyed him, thanks to his wonderful sister supplying him with unpleasant memories from his past. Speaking of which, he'd have to buzz her or send her a text to take care of Nata during his few days of absence. Luckily, cats didn't require a whole lot of maintenance, but he'd miss her for sure. Though this opportunity was not one to be missed. Besides, he only needed Janah to visit once a day to do the essentials: feed, pet, play and take care of the litter box. Since she was already used to stopping by at the apartment, he was okay with her crashing the night in case if she decided to visit during evening hours. On second thought...he scratched out that idea and would encourage her to visit during mornings or right after work. There was no telling if she would experience extraordinary occurrences like him and thought it best to play it safe.<br/><br/>Now as to the thought of making the small road trip, he wasn't sure himself whether the three spirits would follow him or stay at the apartment. It all depended on<i>their </i>humor or state of mind. Two out of the three were mostly benign. The third one was the malefic entity that started the fire ten years ago. It laid dormant for many years--not even Tolek was cognizant that it was still lingering within the apartment, waiting for a trigger to be ignited once again. Hopefully, his meeting with Trevan would not only provide a new start for friendships, but also an establishment of a necessary component in all of this: saving the man's selfish request of being free from the spirits which have attachments to him.<br/><br/>Shutting down his computer for the night, he made sure to unplug everything else. He decided that he was going to work a half-day the next day and take his sister out for lunch before packing up for the trip. He had accrued some PTO from work, so he was in the green in getting a few days off. Nata had exhausted herself from playing with her purple ball and followed Tolek promptly to his bedroom. He brushed his teeth, changed out of his clothes and flopped onto his mattress. His naked back sunk into it while looking up at his ceiling with a blank stare, keeping his smart phone on standby to text his sister. The time was 9:00PM. It was still early, especially when the night was young. Sadly, daunting times came at night for the young man.<br/><br/>His soul was most vulnerable during his sleep. There was always a fifty percent chance that some spirit would visit within his dreams, or would awaken him by doing some kind of childish prank. Kassie wasn't normally one for pranks--with exception to dialing Trevan's number. The other known entity that Tolek was aware of was<a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fkeeneghost.files.wordpress.com%2F2013%2F09%2Fdoorway.jpg&amp;hash=93d260172fcd4785373291d3f9cdf1aa" href="https://keeneghost.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/doorway.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">Wilhelm</a>, an older presence than Kassie, but relatively the same age as her, circa 1901, after The Great Famine. The Polak vaguely recalled back to a dream of himself as if he were the English boy, fitting in his shoes, nervous about the sudden departure from England to Texas, a place where he least expected to move. From his parents' perspective, they thought starting a new life in the states would improve their living conditions, but to their surprise, they, too, had a similar accident, a year later, where the family lost their lives to a fire. Something about the boy's memories struck a similar chord with Tolek who sympathized with Wilhelm, and as a result, took him along as one of the spirits that also followed him after his own incident.<br/><br/>A heavy sigh passed his lips. His weight shifted a bit as his right hand rested on his thigh. He was currently in his black boxer-briefs, contemplating on how he would phrase his favor to his 'lovely' siostra*. He clicked on Janah's name and opened up a new text message box. As he was typing with his left hand, Nata hopped onto his bed and curled up next to him as if she knew how to calm his brief anxiety. Yes, even though she was family, he still had much resentment toward her.<br/><br/><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffff00">"Hey...if you're still up, text me back. I need a favor from you, for the next few days, proszę*."</span></span><br/><br/>His phone vibrated after ten seconds. Sometimes he wondered if she had a much of a life, or whether she really did care...<br/><br/><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff99cc">"Of course, I'll help out--what's the favor, and why for a few days?" </span></span><br/><br/><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffff00">"Something came up at work. Need to check out an area in Austin. I need for you to take care of Nata. I'll leave detailed instructions on the fridge door. If anything happens to her, you let me know. Do not let her outside, either."</span></span><br/><br/><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff99cc">"Dobrze*. I am really jealous! Wish I could go with you. Austin is a fun place. So...when do I start?" </span></span><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffff00"><br/>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">"Let me take you out to lunch tomorrow and we'll talk then. Thanks. Dobranoc*." </span></span><br/><br/><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff99cc">"Night! Kocham Cię!*"</span></span><br/><br/><div class="bbImageWrapper lazyload js-lbImage" data-lb-caption-extra-html="" data-lb-sidebar-href="" data-single-image="1" data-src="/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fbigclosetr.us%2Ftopshelf%2Fsystem%2Ffiles%2Fu1973%2Fgallery3%2FAncient-Laur-Dividers-1a.png&amp;hash=f178c44aa94582dafdda4dd39c86d250" title="Ancient-Laur-Dividers-1a.png">
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</div><br/>Sunday.<br/><br/>After turning off his phone alarm, Tolek started his morning visiting Marcus at the barber shop. He got a nice cut and enjoyed listening to some classic rock tunes while he caught up with the older man. He wished he could have spent more time, but he was scheduled to meet with Janah within a few hours and still needed to pack and finish up some work back at the apartment. The day was productive and things progressed quickly.<br/><br/>By 3:30PM after withstanding the longest, grueling hour of lunch with Janah, he bolted out the door as fast as he could, leaving her a tad flustered but then again, she was used to it. Although, by now she would have expected Tolek to have forgiven her, her brother was stuck in his ways. Maybe one day, he would forgive her, maybe he wouldn't. Maybe she needed to prove to him that she was going to take herself more seriously around him instead of treating him like a child all the time. She'd make a mental note of it.<i><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff99cc">Don't worry, braciszek*, little by little, I hope to earn a spot back into your heart. </span></i><br/><br/>Prior to the road trip, he filled up on his 2010 black Honda Civic, plugged in the directions on his GPS app, and set a few radio stations for the two and a half hour drive. It was a straight shot down on US-290W. One decent quality about Tolek was that he always showed up on time to any type of engagement. He had checked in to a hotel room close to Opera House, giving him ample amount of time to relax, unpack, reapply some deodorant and do a shirt change. He gave himself a look-over before heading out. He took his hotel key card, put it in his wallet and made the seven minute walk to meet with the psychic. Perfect. His watch showed that he arrived a few minutes early, but was pleasantly surprised that Trevan already nabbed a little corner table by the hearth. The ambiance was charming.<i>Carmen's </i>"Habanero" was softly playing in the background Trevan greeted the out-of-towner cheerfully, while Tolek approached him with a half-smile. He was dressed in a tucked-in Hunter green shirt and dark denim boot cut jeans. He extended his arm and took the other male's hand, giving it a firm handshake.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffff00">"Tolek, Tolek Zajac, and thank you,"</span>he said without trying to be too stiff. He took his seat, glanced at Trevan's handsome complexion, then gazed downward at the small paper menu in front of him. He might have eaten lunch not too long ago, but his stomach always welcomed good food.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffff00">"Gingerbread Irish Coffee sounds good for now. I appreciate you letting me join the team." </span><br/><br/>Trevan's next words stunned the Polak. His pale blue eyes cautiously shifted upward toward him. Were strangers usually this friendly? He hardly knew the other Texan in person. On TPNC, though, that was another story. He had a fabulous reputation within the online community, which lured the introvert to meet him in the first place. Unfortunately, Tolek booked his hotel; however, depending on how the two would get along, the invitation wasn't entirely out of the question. He folded his hands in his lap, offering another attempt at a smile.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffff00">"I have my arrangements for the time being. But, I can tell you have a kind heart. I...am just not used to... how do you say, Southern Hospitality,"</span>he followed up with an awkward chuckle. For now, he didn't want to run the risk of bringing trouble. A simple bathroom break would validate whether Kassie and Wilheim weren't with him. Based on his experience, they were more active at night, but they also could have stayed back at his Woodlands apartment. That, and it was also the first night for the two to get acquainted.<i><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffff00">He's definitely a nice, attractive guy...but I'm not sure if it's safe...yet. </span></i><br/><br/><div class="bbCodeSpoiler">
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<span>Spoiler: <span class="bbCodeSpoiler-button-title">Polish Terminology</span></span>
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<div class="bbCodeBlock-content">siostra = sister<br/>
proszę = please<br/>
dobrze = okay<br/>
dobranoc = good night<br/>
kocham cię = I love you<br/>
braciszek = little brother</div>
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