Echoes of Unrequited Love

Chapter 107

“Gender can help us weed out some of the female fans; then it’s just down to luck with who’s left.”

No sooner said than done; after lunch, Wallis and I hit the road to the resort’s fan

meet–and–greet.

This was my first time crashing a big–time concept artist’s fan event, and boy, was it buzzing. A bunch of fresh–faced kids were clutching FreeMan’s artwork, patiently queuing up.

Every now and then, I’d spot a few older faces – either too nerdy or just riding the hype train – none of them seemed to gel with FreeMan himself.

To top off our bad luck, the security at the entrance made it crystal clear that the invite Wallis was holding was only good for one person.

Wallis dropped a few choice words, “That scalper swore to me it was good for two.”

After a bit of back–and–forth, we decided Wallis would go undercover – she’d got more chops when it came to sizing people up. And me? I was tasked with stakeout duty outside.

streak, he might duck out early. Keep an eye on the back door, and hit me up the moment you

but I replied earnestly, “You

grabbed a coffee and parked myself by the back door, ready to

trap.

shady characters. Just then, I heard someone say, “Move, move, come on,

out of the service elevator not too far from

thought, I dashed over and scooped up the little munchkin. At the same time,

“Watch out!”

of getting slammed by the cargo, nothing happened. I cracked my eyes open and looked up to see a young, innocent face

a twenty–something lad with granny–gray hair, rocking a pair of deep red over–ear headphones, fair

okay, Miss?”

1/2

13:32

Chapter 107