Echoes of Unrequited Love

Chapter 62

Not long after we saw Hilary off, Cecilia ducked out early too, leaving me and Wallis in a real

pickle.

“I doubt there’ll be any pulling of funding.” I mused, thinking about Hogan as mentioned by Hilary. “If nothing else, for Cecilia’s sake, he’d likely steady the ship.”

Wallis wasn’t quite on board with my take. “Even if things do steady, so what? Today Cecilia’s throwing us under the bus in front of everyone: tomorrow she could be hijacking our hard work. If you ask me, we better have a Plan B up our sleeves.”

What Wallis meant was we should start scouting for other investors.

But Frank seemed less than keen, so who else could we turn to?

“Simon’s got some connections. I was thinking of getting him to scope things out for us.”

I was a bit taken aback. “You’re still in touch with him?”

Wallis looked a bit sheepish, “Well, you know, he’s got a certain knack for that sort of thing.”

Thinking about the project’s prospects, I agreed, “Alright, let’s give it a shot then.”

For two straight days. Wallis was busy hobnobbing with Simon. Simon was once a big shot in the Oakridge City scene, had a wide network, and even knew a bunch of international capitalists. He agreed to broker some deals for us.

Wallis and I were on tenterhooks, not daring to slack off for a second.

through. “Mrs. Zade, Mr. Zade’s asking for you and

was out of the

probed indirectly. “Did he mention what it’s about?”

didn’t say, but judging by Mr. Zade’s

and I instantly felt a headache coming

was a no–win situation; who knew what kind of game

hour later, we showed up at the CEO’s office.

was on the phone, rattling off at a clip and throwing around

didn’t sound too

a glance and patiently stood by.

us a cursory glance before asking, “Do you two know why I’ve asked you here?”

1/2

10.04

“Cut to the

Mr. Zade,” I said, without beating around the bush.

of his eyebrow, and said, “I hear

had

cow while I’m still in the picture?” Hogan scoffed. “Ever consider

I had a sinking feeling.

the commitment,

and I were blindsided by Hogan’s

for other

gave me a sidelong glance and