Goodbye, Mr. Regret

"All right, I'll talk to him again and see if we can work something out."

Yates hung up the phone.

Vince glanced over and asked, "So, which movie's got you so riled up?"

"It's the one I just mentioned to Timothy. They won't let me have the exclusive rights to invest, promote, and produce it."

When Yates set his sights on something, he always meant to get it—no exceptions.

But this had nothing to do with Vince, so he didn't dwell on it. He just said, "A friend of mine has a film about to hit theaters. When the time comes, could you help arrange some good showtimes?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it. I'll get you the best slots possible. But if it doesn't work out, there's only so much I can do. You know how this business is— everyone's gotta eat. If something bigger comes along, sometimes we have to make room."

"I get it. Just help out at the start."

"Done. Keep me posted when everything's ready."

Before they parted, Yates gave Vince one more piece of advice: he really should stop pursuing Jessica. If things blew up with Timothy, it'd just make life harder for everyone.

Friends shouldn't fall out over something like this.

Yates didn't know Jessica was actually Salome, so as far as he was concerned, his ties to Timothy were much closer. Timothy and Jessica were legally married, and Vince trying to get involved just didn't sit right.

his car, Yates' words echoed in his mind, leaving

interested in Jessica, it wasn't that he thought she'd be better off with Herbert than with Timothy;

was wrong

thoughts were

back, assuring her the theater release wouldn't be a problem. Whenever she was ready, she could reach

the good news with Carlisle when Carlisle called her

when she was

invest and promote the film. they didn't get those rights, they threatened to

up

turned out the company

seemed to be friends with both Timothy and Vince, and Bryant Edge Films had its own theater chain—a real

the release. Could she have ended up talking to

the film's name, Yates probably didn't realize Vince was

Jessica quickly texted Carlisle:

Give me a moment to figure

arrived at his office when Jessica's video call

sounded anxious-it was clear texting was too slow for

into her messaging app on her laptop, started a video