The core characters belong to the creators of the show (except for the ones made up by myself in the course of the story). A lukewarm chapter it was, the last one. I hope the story will pick up as we go on.

This is a fairly short chapter.

"Mr. Gowen, thank you so much for coming!" Said a gushing bride, good-naturedly, as she approached Henry at the dinner table. Henry had just taken a sip of wine out of his glass and now did not know what to do with the wine in his mouth. He quickly swallowed it and winced ever so slightly at the burning sensation that he felt in his throat as the red liquid went down. He quickly got up and walked a little over to the bride and nodded in acknowledgement at her and her groom, who was happily holding her hand.

"Thank you for having me here. I appreciate the hospitality." Henry smiled politely and shook hands with the groom.

"Oh, any guest of uncle Mark's is very much welcome in our house." The bride said.

"Henry!" called Mr. Andrews as he approached them. He gave the bride a peck on the cheek. "You look beautiful, Sylvia, just like your mother." He said and Henry swore that he saw Mr. Andrews' eyes moisten. From the little that Mr. Andrews had mentioned to Henry, Sylvia's mother, Annabelle was Mr. Andrews' sister. She passed on following a brief illness and Mr. Andrews was the only sibling she had. Mr. Andrews loved his niece very much and he visited her every other week. "Have you had your meal?" he asked Henry, to which Henry nodded and uttered a "Yes, thank you."

"Good." He continued. "Let me introduce to Mr. Sinclair." He said and Henry nodded. Henry and Mr. Andrews excused themselves from the bride and groom politely and walked towards a table full of haughty-looking, expensively-dressed men. Henry felt his throat dry up slightly. He had never pitched an idea to this peculiar group of men or similar to them. He was never a nervous person but this felt a little off his grid. Mr. Andrews patted him assuredly on his shoulder and motioned him to sit on a chair as he sat next to him. There were 3 men on the table, including Mr. Sinclair. They all had a proud look on their faces.

"Gentlemen, let me introduce you to my most trusted employee, Henry Gowen." Mr. Andrews introduced him.

Henry shook their hands and said "Good afternoon gentlemen. It is a pleasure to meet you all." The men nodded in approval. Mr. Sinclair leaned forward and looked over his glasses at Henry.

"Mark tells me you are a valuable…personnel…in the company." Mr. Sinclair said, amid a brief pause. Henry noted how he avoided using the word "employee" and used "personnel" instead.

"He is kind to have said that. I just do my job." Henry mentioned, slowly regaining his confidence.

"Tell me, Henry. What idea does your company have up your sleeve?" Mr. Sinclair asked as he leaned back again. "Oh sorry," he then said almost immediately, sitting back up. "This is Mr. Reynolds, our finance manager…" he said and motioned to his right. "…and this is the most important man…Mr. Collymore. He is the brain behind the oil pipeline. He has been with it since its initiation and will hopefully see through its success." Mr. Sinclair finished. Henry shook hands with both the men.

"See that man, Mr. Gowen…" Mr. Collymore began talking as Henry turned around to look at a bulky man sitting by himself alone on a table, clutching a wad of papers. "He is from Atlantic Oil." He said and Henry turned back to look for him. "He has offered us a 40% stake in his company in exchange for partnership…among other strategic benefits. I am prepared to oblige. What is different about East Canada Oil?" He asked Henry with respect to what Mr. Andrews' company had to offer.

"Mr. Collymore…"Henry started again, confidently, "We are prepared to match Atlantic Oil's offer…" Henry said and looked over at Mr. Andrews who nodded approvingly. "We are also prepared to offer logistic support. We have one of the best transport networks in the region and we are looking to expand in seven other strategically located cities, with the probability for future expansion to the west and ultimately to the north." Henry said enthusiastically. He then turned to look at Mr. Reynolds, "I would be happy to share our company financial statements with you to give you an idea of how the company is faring. You will note from there our profit projections at the moment. We are very much on the way to realise a 70% return over and above what we made last year."

"That all looks attractive, Mr. Gowen…" Mr. Sinclair said and leaned forward again. "A partnership in business is not all about expansions and growth and profit. What more can you offer to us, over and above all that?" Mr. Sinclair finished and Henry saw Mr. Sinclair's eyes soften a little. Henry searched for the right word.

Just at that moment, he saw her. Her back was to him but he could swear it was her. Her beautiful golden hair tightly tucked in a bun, a strand falling off loosely, just as he liked it, and how he would love to tuck it behind her ears. Her posture, he very well recognized. The lady she was talking to pointed at something on her right and she turned ever so slightly to where the lady was pointing. There she was, the sun shining over her. She looked simply beautiful, a vision before his eyes.

"Mr. Gowen…" Mr. Reynolds called and that brought Henry back to that table. Mr. Andrews looked puzzled and followed Henry's gaze and he saw her too. He looked back at Henry, who was struggling to find the right words. Mr. Andrews jumped in.

"We can offer…" Mr. Andrews began saying and the gentlemen all turned to look at him.

"Loyalty…" Henry said softly, interrupting Mr. Andrews. His eyes had been closed for about 3 seconds in which he envisioned her smile and he then opened his eyes. The gentlemen and Mr. Andrews turned back to look at him.

"Pardon me?" Mr. Sinclair and looked at Henry.

"Loyalty and trust…" Henry said again, again looking at her and back at Mr. Sinclair. "That is what we will offer above and beyond everything else." Mr. Sinclair did not say anything for a few seconds, and in those few seconds, Mr. Andrews did not seem convinced about whether what Henry said was what Mr. Sinclair and the two gentlemen wanted to hear. He felt himself break into a sweat, his heart suddenly wanting to jump out of its cavity.

"If your financial details check out…" Mr. Sinclair said finally, looking squarely at Henry, "You have a deal." He finally said and held out his hand to Henry. Mr. Andrews felt like his insides would burst. Henry let out a careful sigh of relief and shook Mr. Sinclair's hand. Mr. Sinclair held out his hand at Mr. Andrews too. "My team will be in touch." He said and got up to leave, followed by Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Collymore, after quickly smiling at Henry and Mr. Andrews politely.

Henry quickly turned to look up to see her but he could not find her.

"You did it, Henry!" Mr. Andrews finally found his tongue. Henry looked at him. Mr. Andrews was already standing and Henry stood up too. Mr. Andrews engulfed him into a hug. "Thank you, Henry! I knew my decision to bring you here would pay off!" He said and hugged Henry again. Henry could see the childlike excitement in Mr. Andrews as he explained to Henry how nervous he was when Henry had decided to suddenly close his eyes. Henry felt Mr. Andrews' words just floating over his head as he looked around again to look for her, without being rude to Mr. Andrews. Mr. Andrews noted the same as he saw Henry looking around every now and then. "She went this way." Mr. Andrews said as he turned his head towards the left.

"Pardon?" Henry said as he looked at Mr. Andrews.

"She went that way." Mr. Andrews said and pointed towards the right. Henry looked at where he was pointing. Mr. Andrews put his hand on Henry's shoulders. Henry looked back at him. Mr. Andrews smiled at him and walked away. Henry looked surprised.

He walked towards the right, where Mr. Andrews had pointed. He glanced from one end of the venue to the other. He breathed out as he desperately searched. He gave up finally and started doubting himself. Had he seen her really? Or was she just a fragment of his imagination?

"Looking for someone?" A gentle voice called out from behind him. He recognized it too well, that voice. He whipped around to see the joy of his life, in flesh and blood, right in front of him. At that moment, his heart was beating fast, a little more than usual.