Echoes of Unrequited Love (Xaviera and Hogan) novel Chapter 7

Hogan's surprise drop-in totally caught everyone off guard.

At that moment, Jack, who was pulling an all-nighter, came out of the pantry looking like a hot mess, with a toothbrush still dangling from his mouth.

Just another day in the life of us coders, but Hogan still raised an eyebrow when he saw it.

I get it.

Our little studio was no match for the big leagues like Rainbow Capital.

I bet Hogan was kinda kicking himself for parking Cecilia here.

But Cecilia herself didn't seem to mind, pointing to a spot by the window and saying, "Hogan, this is where I camp out."

Hogan kept mum.

I followed his gaze and saw it land on the desk opposite Cecilia.

That was my usual code-crunching haunt.

On the desk, besides the desktop, there was an old black laptop, prize from Hogan's sophomore year competition.

One of the few gifts he had ever given me.

It had got decent specs, been using it till now.

"Huh, Xaviera, your laptop looks exactly like the one Hogan has." Cecilia noticed it too, her eyes wide as saucers, she asked me, "Is it comfy for coding?"

I had no idea Hogan had the same model.

But to dodge any drama, I played it cool and said, "It's old, doesn't hold a candle to the new ones."

No sooner had I finished speaking than Cecilia turned to Hogan and asked, "What do you think, Hogan?"

Doing interviews, is she?

Instead of answering, Hogan shot back, "Thinking of switching laptops?"

Cecilia rubbed her nose, "Got duped by the sales guy when I bought the last one, didn't pay attention to the specs."

"You, I swear."

It was a line that screamed 'I'm disappointed in you,' but coming from Hogan, it sounded oddly indulgent.