They had a pleasant evening, just as Jessica had predicted. They talked about politics, the economy, and the education system. She regaled Dewayne with stories about her years in America—the culture shock, the pace of life, and how different it all was from what they’d grown up with in Guyana. In return, he told her about his college basketball days, how a knee injury cut his dreams short, and how he’d fallen into tour guiding as a second act.
It should’ve been enjoyable. And it was—on the surface.
But Mark’s voice echoed in her head the entire time. You have nothing in common. The sneer behind the words tainted everything. Did Mark always have to live somewhere in the back of her mind, rent-free?
By the time the evening was half over, Jessica knew she and Dewayne would never be more th
