The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

President Poe was chomping at the bit the next day, shooting off messages to check on how the chit-chat was going between

Sophia and Brandon.

He had a chinwag with Sophia and knew she was just breezing through the West district, not sticking around for long. So, he was

sweating bullets that Sophia might be hitting the road before Brandon even made a move, and he was all over this like white on

rice.

Plus, since both Brandon and Kent had gone out of their way to friend Sophia, he figured the odds were looking pretty darn good -

like an 80% sure thing. He was on pins and needles for the oue, so waiting a whole day and night was pushing him to his limit.

"Mr. Crawley said he'll holler at us when there's news," Sophia relayed Brandon's response to President Poe.

After a night to sleep on it, she was cool as a cucumber about the whole thing. But President Poe sniffed something fishy, "Did they

mention when we might expect a verdict?"

"I didn't ask," Sophia replied.

President Poe's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly shot back a message, "I'll shoot my shot and ask. I'll ping you as soon as |

hear anything."

Sophia replied politely, "Alright, thanks, President Poe."

But the thrill and anticipation she felt yesterday had fizzled out. When it cto collaborations, she always gave it her all, but as

for the oue, that was out of her hands.

As the thought "always" flitted through her mind, Sophia paused, puzzled at her own realization. Just then, Amanda's voice floated

in from the doorway, "Sophia, tto eat. Don't et your meds. | whipped up snourishing porridge especially for you."

Sophia snapped back to the present.

After replying to Sophia's message, President Poe wasted no tin giving Kent a ring.

"Kent, it's me, President Poe. Just wanted to get the skinny on that design blueprint of ours. Have you had a gander? What's the

word? Can you givethe lowdown?"

Kent had just clocked in at the office and was still in the dark about the whole thing since Brandon was calling the shots, but he

smoothed it over, "Mr. Crawley's still mulling it over. He's up to his eyeballs in work these days; probably hasn't had a chance to dig

into it. I'll light a fire under him for you, alright?"

"Much appreciated, Kent." President Poe said, chuckling, but then he couldn't help but hedge a bit, "Any chance we'll wrap this up

today? The designer isn't local, see, and she's bouncing in a couple of days. We'd love to lock this down before she jets off."

Fearful that Kent and Brandon might worry about the designer's availability affecting the project, he quickly added, "But I've

already bent her ear about it, and if we go with her design, she's down to stick around for the build. It's just she's got other fish to

fry, and it's not really cricket to have her hang about waiting for a decision, in case we don't go for her design."

"Gotcha." Kent chuckled, "I'll pass it on and ring you up when there's word."

President Poe replied, "Thanks a million, Kent."

He added, "And one more thing - the school's gearing up for its centennial shindig. We want to invite Brandon back as an alum of

note and announce Mr. Crawley's museum donation during the festivities. What's the scoop? Can Brandon swing it?"

"I'll scope it out for you," Kent offered.

"You're a star, thanks again," President Poe said with another grateful chuckle.

"No worries," Kent uttered, smiling.

After hanging up with President Poe, he saw Don stroll in from outside. Spotting Kent, Don threw a casual salute his way and asked,

"Where's Brandon?"

Kent gestured towards the closed office door, "In there."

Remembering that Brandon had left the museum design decision up to Don, he casually inquired, "By the way, Mr. Dempsey,

what's your take on the West District High's museum design? Are we going with President Poe's rmended designer? He's been

on the horn, itching for an answer."

"I'm here to hash that out with Brandon." Don said, "I reckon Designer Bright's draft hits the nail on the head, and the price is right.

No need forto throw my hat in the ring. Since you're reporting in too, you might as well pass on my two cents."

While handing over sdocuments to Kent, Don added, "I won't bother going in."

"You're here already, might as welle along." Kent urged, nudging him towards the door, "Your two cents carry more weight."

Chatting away, they knocked on Brandon's office door.

e in," a deep voice beckoned from within.

Kent swung the door open, "Mr. Crawley, President Poe was on the blower again, probing about our take on the design. The

designer's not local and has other gigs lined up, so it's a bit of a sticky wicket to leave her twiddling her thumbs here in West

district."

Brandon's hand froze on the mouse as he reminded once again of that blueprint. Maybe because he had pinned such hopes on it,

finding out it wasn't Sophia's work seemed to have put him off the scent. The decision on the design had been back-burnered as a

result.

Brandon didn't reply but turned his gaze to Don, who had followed Kent in.

"Guess what? | was just about to hit you up to chat about this very thing." Don said as he stepped closer, "I've given this design

draft a good look-see, and | gotta say, it's pretty slick. It vibes well with the school's architectural style, oozes that scholarly feel

that's right on the nose with the school's theme, and it's got aesthetic appeal to boot. Plus, it leans towards a more refined and

gentle vibe with a cultural touch. My own style's a bit more rough around the edges, a tad more free-spirited, you know? Might not

totally jive with the school's cultured architectural vibe."

As Don spoke, he handed over the annotated design draft from Sophia to Brandon, "Here's the printout of the design rendering |

was talking about; it just so happens to mesh well with..."

He was about to say it was similar to Sophia's style but hesitated, not wanting to stir up Brandon's sorrow, "Since you're donating

in her name, this architectural style reallyplements her personal image and aura."

Brandon reached out to take the rendering Don was passing over and flipped them open. When the graceful and delicate design

style caught his eye, he couldn't help but pause for a nearly imperceptible moment.