Heart & Sincerity

24/ Farmie Meeting

Alice ran into Polly around the corner on her way down the hall to her room. "Mom, hey, you're back just in time for our next meeting. It's an exciting one."

"I'm actually feeling a little tired after my long day in Riverdale. I thought I would skip out on tonight's meeting."

"You should really come. I hear Evelyn Evernever will be sitting in tonight," Polly was clearly excited to have her presence tonight. "Who knows maybe if she really likes it tonight it could lead to us meeting Edgar Evernever much sooner."

Alice didn't think twice after his mention. She had to go. "Oh, maybe you're right." Alice agreed to tag along. "I could use a little distraction from my day at the lawyer's office."

Jason appeared into the hall as if on cue. "Polly, ready to go?" He asked. He looked over at Alice. "Will you be joining us too?"

"She is," Polly answered for her. "We should get going."

Alice sat by her daughter as she waited for the meeting to begin. There were a handful of other people waiting too.

"Hello, everyone. It's nice to see you all." Evelyn made an entrance. She looked around the circle. "I believe we have new faces in the group." She had her eye on Jason, Polly, and Alice. "Care to introduce yourself?"

Jason cleared his throat. "I'm Jason," He gestured to Polly. "This is my girlfriend, Polly, and her mother."

"Oh, her mother is joining us too? How delightful." Evelyn smiled. "It's lovely to see a mother and daughter in our mix."

"I told her about it here. I know she'll find good healing here," Polly stated proudly.

"Would you like to tell us about yourself..."

"Alice," She filled in with her name.

"Alice, what brings you to join us?" Evelyn took a seat across from her.

"Me? I don't want to steal the spotlight."

"You're not, please, feel free to speak. This is a safe circle."

Alice could hear Charles' voice inside her head encouraging her to talk. This was for him. This was for her daughter and any innocent mind here. "Okay," Alice began. "It's a little rough getting through my divorce."

Evelyn nodded along as she listened. "It's not easy when it seems like you lost love." She told Alice. "Good thing here is that we all love each other. There is no need for a terrible ex husband."

"He's still my father," Polly slipped in.

"Tell us, Alice, how did you fall in love with this man? It can help us understand what you're going through."

"When I fell in love with him?" Alice questioned. "When I fell in love, he was just a Bulldog. It was back in high school. There were times when I hated the man but I honestly couldn't help but want him too." Alice blankly stared. "He made me feel loved but maybe that wasn't the case. It's always been complicated." Alice felt her eyes begin to water. "It wasn't too long after graduation that I married Hal. It all happened so fast."

"Mom?" Polly wanted to know if she was okay. Alice covered her face. She wasn't expecting to tear up so easily.

"Oh, sister Alice." Evelyn put a hand on her knee. "It's best you stay away from this man in order to recover. He's only going to hurt you." Evelyn said confident in her advice. "We will help you through this here. My husband in particular will be a grant help."

"Your husband?" Alice repeated.

"Edgar Evernever," She nodded. "I will have a talk with him about you." Everyone looked at Alice. It sounded like she was going to meet Edgar very soon.

"Edgar will help you, mom." Polly added. "You're very lucky."

Alice excused herself from the meeting. It felt like too much for her. Evelyn told Polly to stay. It was okay for her to get time to herself.

Alice went straight to her room. She could hear her phone ringing on the bed. She took a look at her screen. It was FP. She let it ring and didn't answer it. She couldn't talk to him right now. Once her screen was clear again she called Charles. "I wasn't ready to open up." Was the first thing out of her mouth.

"What happened today?"

"I sat through a group meeting with Evelyn Evernever and was chosen to speak. I had to tell my story and I seriously wasn't ready to say what I did out loud."

"I didn't mean for you to feel rushed, Alice." Charles was being sincere. "I know I said we had to pick up the pace but your capability to do so is more important.

"She said she was going to talk to Edgar."

"What did you say back there?" Charles was surprised. That was fast for a potential meeting with Edgar.

"It was very personal."

"If you need time to settle down first, again, you can tell me."

"I can do this. Don't worry, sweetheart."

"Okay, only if you're sure." Charles looked out his car window. "And while I have you on the phone I did what you asked about that man, FP. I've only see him go into what I assume is his trailer and a bar further down the street. He was talking to a kid with the strangest looking beanie on his head."

"That's Jughead."

"Jughead? What a weird name for a weird kid."

"It's just a nickname. He's a good kid."

"Alright," He chuckled. "So back to this FP guy. What's so important about him?" He watched the man standing outside of the Whyte Wyrm. He was greeted by four teenagers wearing the same kind of jacket he was wearing. The one with the double headed snake on the back. The girl with pink strands in her hair told him something before he turned his attention to the boy with the neck tattoo. "Is he in a gang?"

"No questions, remember? Just not right now."

"Okay," Charles sighed. "He seems to be doing well physically from afar but he looks stressed."

"Hmm, I wonder why." Alice thought. "Thank you for doing this, Charles. Have you also checked on your sister? I got the chance to see her earlier but I haven't been around for so long."

"She's doing well. It doesn't look like Hal is bothering her."

"That man is..." Alice sighed. She didn't know how to describe him. He was just irritating.

"You don't like him very much do you?"

"He is divorcing me. I don't need to like him very much, dear."

Charles chuckled. As long as she was handling it well he didn't see why he would have to be a part of that conflict.

Charles glanced over the at the bar across the street again. FP had wrapped up his conversation with the four young Serpents. They walked into the bar while FP climbed onto his motorcycle. He was heading to the northside of town.

Charles was very intrigued with who this mysterious man was. His mother wasn't telling him anything about him and by her secrecy he knew that FP had some kind of story.

"Call me if you need anything, alright?"

"I will, goodbye, Charles."

"Goodbye," Charles pocketed his phone. He turned his engine on and discreetly followed in his direction. He wound up at the diner. He waited a few minutes outside in his car before going in.