Echoes of Unrequited Love (Xaviera and Hogan) novel Chapter 112

Chapter 112 

Bustling neighborhood, there was only this one main drag, and if I wanted to swing by Morgan’s studio there was no way to sidestep Hogan and Cecilia. 

We weren’t exactly miles apart, but Hogan was all ears for Cecilia’s chit–chat, so he didn’t even clock me. 

Just found out that Cecilia was ticked off about more than just me playing third wheel–she was also green with envy about work stuff. 

Didn’t mean to eavesdrop, and was about to hit the road when Hogan’s deep voice hit my ears. 

“Who was it looking all sad and sorry in my office last night, and who ditched the morning meeting to keep you company?” 

In a flash, my feet felt like they were filled with lead. Turned out, Hogan was the one who skipped the meeting to come over. 

Then I overheard Cecilia laying on the guilt, “I know this breaks your rules, but look. Xaviera and Wallis are already at their wits end. I just couldn’t bear it. Besides, it was my idea to tweak the character design: I wanted to pull my weight. Sorry for the hassle.” 

I 

“No trouble,” Hogan said cool as a cucumber. 

At that, Cecilia’s face eased up a bit, she hooked onto Hogan’s arm with a beaming smile, “I just wanted to show off in front of everyone, my bad for being jelly of Xaviera.” 

Hearing my name, I glanced up, my gaze involuntarily landing on Hogan’s face. I saw him with slight smile, speaking softly. “No rush, take it easy: we’ve got all the time in the world.” 

That was when I realized, Hogan had this patient side to him. The guy who thought even growing a bougainvillea was a waste of time was actually willing to push aside his hectic work to nurture his little darling slowly. 

Guessed I wasn’t that lucky. But looking at it another way, I should be stoked. Once Hogan had set on something, there was nothing he couldn’t do. I figured, it wouldn’t be long before we saw FreeMan. 

Back at the company, I filled in Wallis on the latest developments. She was all doom and gloom, “Nothing to celebrate. If Cecilia gets one up on us with this, the work ahead’s gonna get thornier, maybe even slip through our fingers.” 

I’m baffled, “What do you mean?” 

“Think about it, FreeMan’s handling the art for our game. If Cecilia pulls strings to get him over, they could start their own clique. What then, we battle it out daily?” 

A few words from Wallis, and I suddenly grasped the gravity of the situation. Looked like I’d got to pull out all the stops to win FreeMan over at this meet–up. 

docomo 

I waited a whole two days, but there was zilch from Morgan’s end. Logically, with Hogan backing us, Morgan had no reason, and shouldn’t dare, to give us the runaround. 

Feeling a bit uneasy, I decided to ring up Morgan. 

“He watched the short video, FreeMan thinks your project is really intriguing, but shame he’s tied up with another work right now, so he’s declined this collaboration.” 

Declined. Such big news, and I was the last to hear? 

“But lucky for Mr. Zade, the bright spark insisted I set up a meeting with FreeMan.” Morgan shifted gears, “There’s a private art show tomorrow afternoon in the eastern suburbs, FreeMan will be there too. What, Mr. Zade didn’t mention it to you, Ms. March?”