Echoes of Unrequited Love

Chapter 40

Hogan cut into our chat, “We’re gonna be late for the concert.”

Cecilia waved at me with a grin, “So, Xaviera, we’re heading off first, alright?”

Once they were gone, I immediately fired up the N University forum.

Boom, there it was, the top post – Hot rumor: N University’s hunkiest prof, Darren, is off the market!

And slapped right there was a pic of Darren and me chowing down in the student cafeteria.

Gotta hand it to the OP, they’d got some mad candid skills. Smiles, forehead flicks- even I, the subject, felt like there was something fishy in those snaps.

The comments were all over the place.

[Holy moly, is this the legendary match of brains and beauty? That prof’s date’s got some killer looks!]

[I mean, how can someone rock both sweet and icy vibes? She got a celestial face!]

[We totally approve of Professor Yearwood’s love life!]

The more I read, the wilder it got, until my eyes landed on this gem: Ain’t that Xaviera, the one who used to drool over the finance department’s golden boy?

fresh, with just a

I decided to play hacker and wiped that gossip post off the map.

about me was fine, but I couldn’t let Darren’s rep

up, it was

elevator, I spotted a lean figure in the distance, standing by the window, fingers holding a half–smoked

man’s face obscured in the backlight, murky and indistinct. But I recognized Hogan from that

I was surprised.

he at the concert? What’s he doing here at the office building?

when I was just two meters from Hogan, I heard him ask, “All

puzzled, and looked up at Hogan.

and I heard him scoff, “Or is it, you programmers are best at making backups for

1/2

12-20 –

yourselves?”

Backups?

totally lost, so I just came out with it, “Mr. Zade, care

as he replied, “Frank’s just being polite for the Yearwood family’s sake. You don’t actually

heart skipped a beat as

why Wallis and

was just

deal we have with your company,”