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 President Lott to hit up

of the blue.

probed indirectly. “Did he mention what

judging by Mr. Zade’s expression.”

instantly felt a headache coming on.

what kind of game Hogan

hour later, we showed up at the

phone, rattling off at a clip and throwing around some jargon – I

didn’t sound too friendly.

glance

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

1/2

10.04

“Cut to the

said, without beating around

slight raise of his eyebrow, and said, “I hear

had reached

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

and I had a sinking feeling.

say, “If you lack the

were blindsided

for

a sidelong glance and quipped, “Times