Re:life with Karmic Gacha (Modern Family)
Chapter 83: Relaxation.

Chapter 83: Chapter 83: Relaxation.

[Edward POV]

"I'm starving."

"Oh that's right, you haven't eaten dinner yet."

I nodded at Pepper while holding my gurgling stomach as the clock striked 10 pm. I haven't eaten anything yet since I came to the studio, and only ate a little food for lunch before this.

After shooting a few more scenes with ABC studios for them to create a montage, Rebecca and the tv crew left the studio. The ABC studio version of the interview would be broadcasted on TV tomorrow evening.

My live broadcast was uploaded to Youtube and the website I used to stream before. I had planned to develop that website to become my own personal celebrity page as people kept sharing the website link. There, they could also buy a few of my posters, my merchandise t-shirt and caps, mugs, and much more.

"Poor dear, let's get you some food." Pepper said as he tried to bring me away, but Taylor suddenly walked in front of me with her friend by her side.

"This is..." Taylor tried to introduce.

"Selena right?" I interjected as I held my hand for a handshake with the latina woman.

Blushing a bit, Selena took my hand and asked, "How...do you know me?"

"I watched Wizard of Waverly Place before. Although only a few episodes." I said with a light chuckle.

She brushed her hair behind her ear and avoided my eyes. While fidgeting, she said, "I like your songs."

"Thanks. I also like yours."

"Un."

Taylor gave us a death glare for a second before changing her expression to a kind and innocent lady as I turned my head towards her.

"Have you eaten dinner yet?" I asked. She had done me a favor by coming to the interview today, and I wanted to do something nice for her.

"No. I'm starving~" Taylor replied cheekily and grabbed my arm as she hugged it. "I want to eat the food you cooked, but I know you're tired, so let's just go to a restaurant."

Selena rolled her eyes at Taylor as she was being coquettish before I asked her too, "How about you?"

"Um...No I have eaten-"

"Her agency doesn't all0w her to eat after 6 pm." Taylor explained as Selena was troubled by the question.

"OH you POOR DEAR!" Pepper exclaimed and gave Selena a hug. Even I was sympathizing with her situation. Her contract was really strict, and she was under heavy pressure all the time. That's why she easily became friends with Taylor. They were in the same boat.

"No. It's- It's fine!" Selena was flabbergasted by the sudden kindness and blushed hard. She looked at Taylor to get some help, but her best friend had betrayed her and was currently gazing at my face.

"Hmm..." I thought for a while before suggesting, "If...she had no choice but to eat something...then she won't be in trouble right?"

Pepper released Selena and asked me, "What do you have in mind?" Selena and Taylor also perked up their ears to hear what I was going to say.

"How about..."

I explained to them with a sly smirk on my face. Pepper guffawed loudly before saying, "Okay. I will call the restaurant!"

Selena was startled, "He-Hey! Wait! I really can't-"

Taylor put her hand on her shoulder before saying, "Don't worry~ You won't get in trouble~"

"We can have the 11 pm table at Amelia's." Pepper said after finishing his call. It took him less than 30 seconds to get a table at the best restaurant in the city because of his connections.

"Call Harvey too. We're making this an afterparty... remember?" I said. Taylor chuckled and grabbed my hand with her left hand, and Selena's hand with her right hand. She dragged both of us to the front door and said, "Let's go!"

But, my phone rang at this moment.

"Oh. It's Phil." I said before picking up the call. "Hi Phil!"

"Ed!!! Your interview was awesome!!!! HA HA HA! Everyone was watching it!" Phil said in excitement. Cam snatched the phone from Phil and said, "Is Taylor there?-"

Claire grabbed the phone back from Cam before I could answer, "Ed-"

She only managed to get one word in before it turned into a 3 way fight between Phil, Cam and Claire to see who would get to speak to me first. I waited patiently as I heard the sound of their scuffle from the phone.

Taylor was confused as I didn't say anything for a while and asked in a whisper, "What's happening?"

I closed the bottom of the phone and said, "They're fighting. It's fun to hear."

Finally, Claire won.

She said breathlessly, "An-Anyway. We're all here, and we want to congratulate you..Great job! Also, now that it's over you go home and get some rest. You still need to go to school today. Just because you're DEFINITELY famous now, doesn't mean that you can skip school!"

I laughed and said, "Okay~"

I talked to the members of the family one by one, and had a short conversation with each of them.

It was Haley's turn, and all I could hear her say was, "Nice song. Wonder who were you singing it for?"

"Can't tell you anything about that one.." I said, not sure why I felt anxious as I heard her question.

"Really? Then, you sang it for multiple girls?"

"Nope." I replied curtly as I knew it was useless to try and defend myself.

"Hmmm... Sure?" Haley asked with suspicions.

"Yeah." I replied with a smirk.

She paused for a while and cursed softly, "...Damn you."

I also received a call from my dad and my aunt who watched the show at the airport, and even my grandparents were calling me to compliment me. It was hard for me to keep up with their praises after a while.

Jacob, Jenna, Elsa, Abraham, Abby, Enid and Tara send me texts after the show, all talking about the same thing. Although some behaved exactly like Haley in their lines of questioning.

...

Taylor pouted with her cheek all puffed out as I had to settle a few things first with Pepper, so I was riding with him instead of her. Selena and her took another car to get to the restaurant, 30 minutes away from our location.

While I was in the car, I opened my laptop and placed it on my lap to check the results of the interview today.

"We achieved more than 10 million downloads of all songs together on Itunes. We broke all the records-"

"You said we did, but it's all you." Pepper teased, making me speechless a little. I laughed in embarrassment before continuing, "The merchandise sale is going crazy now. Especially the drip-inducing poster." I said as I checked the sales report.

In one day, I had managed to do what a lot of people in Hollywood couldn't. I'm bound to get some envy and backlash from this later on, but it's normal, and I'm prepared for it.

"So...You finally accepted the name." Pepper said with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and said, "I haven't yet, but it's easier to talk to you when I use that name."

The 'drip-inducing' was the name Haley gave my sexy photograph poster, the one where I only wear a jacket, a necklace, and looking at the camera lens sexily. She said a lot of teens will 'drip' when they look at the poster, and the name stuck.

"Sure sure. Keep telling yourself that." Pepper teased. He wanted to tell me to rest instead, but at the same time he didn't want to diminish my enthusiasm on my special day. Therefore he was conflicted inside and kept making jokes to lighten the mood.

"Total profit for today will be 8.9 million dollars-" I said after totalling the sales, but Pepper interrupted me, "Ed. Don't check the profit yet. Tell me, how do you feel first?"

"I feel rich."

"Ed..."

"Hmm...Although I'm glad that my name and my song is out there, I'm also a bit anxious."

"Why?"

"Expectations. What if I can't do what I did today when I release my next singles, or what if my album reception isn't great?"

Pepper nodded as he listened to my worries and said, "I understand. That's why you keep working, right?"

I shrugged and said, "A bit. Yeah."

He nodded and said, "Okay. How about this? Until we finish eating, we won't talk about work at all. It'll be a few moments of relaxation... just to get the nerves off. Okay?"

"I guess I can do that." I replied.

"Okay. Now. Close the laptop."

"Ummm...." I was hesitating as I wanted to check a few other things. I also haven't checked up on my game sales and reviews today as I was too busy with the singles release.

For the game, I placed Claire as a temporary manager to make sure that it keeps running smoothly. She was supposed to contact me if anything went wrong or if there was a bug report, but as she didn't call me at all before the interview, I wondered what was happening on the game front.

"Close it." Pepper said a bit sternly this time.

I sighed and said, "Fine." I closed the laptop and put it in my bag. Pepper smiled and praised, "Good boy. Now, look up."

I rolled my eyes at him and looked outside the window. As we were still on the desert road, I was shocked when I saw the sky.

"This..."

"Beautiful isn't it?"

The sky was full of stars – a sight that I could never see while in the city. The starry sky was like an endless canvas of the universe, and I couldn't help but feel amazed by it. My eyes reflected the starry stars, and my mind turned relaxed.

I kept my eyes on the sky for a while, trying to take it all in. My anxiousness disappeared as I kept watching the sky and enjoyed the cold desert breeze. Pepper noticed it, smirked, and kept driving without saying anything.

"Thanks Peps." I muttered as I snapped out of it as the sky's color diminished when we got close to the city.

"Why do you think I bought the studio here of all places?" He asked with a smile as he made a turn to enter the city.

"I don't know. It's free real estate?"

"(Gasp!)", He was offended by my guess, and it showed on his face.

...

(Amelia- Rachael Harris. 'Caught in the act' episode- Owner of the Restaurant)

As we reached the restaurant, some paparazzi were waiting in front of the door to take a picture of me. I waved at them as I entered the restaurant calmly before Taylor and Selena did the same thing 2 minutes later.

We didn't avoid the camera as they were there because Pepper exposed my location to them.

The restaurant was devoid of other customers as they closed the restaurant at 11 pm, but Amelia made an exception for us as she watched the interview before this.

"Welcome to Amelia's. I really don't expect the interview's ending game. I still have the... 'shivers' " Amelia, a blonde, glasses wearing woman in her late 30's, and also the owner of the restaurant came to the table as we all sat down.

"Pff-" Taylor couldn't hold her laugh at the bad joke, while I stared at the familiar face in front of me. Amelia gave us the menu and waited for our order. She didn't usually do this, but she couldn't trust her employees to treat such high profile customers on their own.

Taylor sat in front of me, and was warned not to play footsies by Pepper who sat next to me. Harvey couldn't make it, so it'll just be the 4 of us dining at the restaurant today.

"Thank you Amelia." I replied as I took the menu from her, making her grin from ear to ear. It was a good deal for her as her restaurant would get some reputation while serving us and the articles the paparazzi would make had become free marketing for her restaurant.

"I...Really don't think this is a good idea." Selena said as she was afraid of the repercussions if she continued with the plan.

"Don't worry. If you don't eat, it'll look weird, and people will replace out what the agency told you. They will text you to eat, any moment now." Pepper said. He was confident because he knew someone was keeping track of the artist, and although he was revolted by the way those people treat their 'assets', he knew they cared about their reputation more.

And like he said, Selena received a text from her manager telling her it was okay to go on. Her eyes twinkled as she looked at me, making Taylor annoyed.

"You're very smart." Selena praised.

"I know." I took the compliment cockily, making the whole table laugh. We ordered our food and Amelia went back to the kitchen to yell at the kitchen staff as usual.

"You seem like you know her." Taylor asked as she caught me eyeing the restaurant owner.

"Yeah. In a few movies and series." I muttered. The group was confused by my words, but they thought I was joking and didn't ask further.

"If I'm not mistaken, she has a son around Lily's age." Pepper said. I nodded and said, "Who knows, maybe they can have a playgroup together later."

'And ruin Amelia's 50,000 dollar carpet.' I added to myself.

Selena was still worried, but as the food came, she threw away all of her reservations as she ate.

"I haven't eaten at night for 2 years now!" She exclaimed as she ravaged the ribs.

Taylor and I laughed when we saw her messy face. Pepper took a napkin and gave it to her to wipe the sauce off her mouth.

"AWww noo!" Taylor exclaimed playfully as Selena angrily cleaned her lips. We had a nice time at dinner but didn't stay for long as we had already made the worker there work overtime.

"Ed...wanna get...some 'dessert' with me?" Taylor asked while licking her lips before we got out of the restaurant. However, she was unlucky as Pepper was still within earshot.

"No. He needs to go to school tomorrow. You guys can see each other again on Friday. You ARE staying till Friday right?"

"Saturday morning. My fight is on Saturday morning." Taylor corrected.

"Then, we'll get dessert together on Friday." I said to comfort her.

Although she was disappointed, she didn't show it as we would still meet later on.

"Where are you staying anyway?" I asked.

"Taylor's house." Selena replied.

"Ahh. I see."

"Wanna come over?" Taylor asked.

Pepper was in disbelief and asked, "Do you have the memory of a goldfish?"

Taylor rolled her eyes and said, "Not now. Later on."

"Sure. I will come over when we have the chance." I said and waved goodbye to the girls before going back to my house.

...

[Taylor POV]

'Ahhh I want to be with him.' I thought as we were separated from each other once more.

"Should I just buy a house next door to him?" I muttered to myself. Selena who was sitting at my side was shocked and she admonished me hurriedly, "Are you crazy?!"

"It's just a thought." I replied. Although I was considering it. His popularity skyrocketed after today, and I was feeling a bit insecure about it. Before, I was the popular one, but...

'Now, he might be more popular than me.'

My agency kept wanting me to play it slow, do country music first, tour the country to get experience, but now, two younger artists have surpassed my popularity because I kept it slow. Bieber and now Edward.

"Should I really break the deal with the agency and go with Ed? I mean... Pepper is amazing." I muttered. I know that if I ask my dad, he could help me break the contract. But I would feel embarrassed to ask him to do it as I was the one who made the decision to sign with this company before.

Selena perked up and said, "Well...if you want to go there, then bring me with you."

Although she hides it, I know that she was sick of her exploitative agents. She laughed to make it seem like a joke, but the yearning in her eyes showed her true feelings.

I grabbed her shoulder and said, "...No."

"WHY NOT!"

"It's going to be only me and Ed there. And in the future, our childrens will take over our place."

"You're crazy." Selena said with a dead expression. As we got to my house, I changed into my pajamas and lay down next to Selena on the King sized bed. She was on her phone, reading about the articles that came out after our dinner.

"It's good. There aren't any scandalous or malicious claims about your relationship with him other than being close friends."

"Why the hell aren't there?!" I exclaimed angrily as I snatched the phone from her and started scrolling hurriedly.

"I don't know. Isn't it better if they aren't making you and Ed an item?" Selena asked in confusion.

"Then how the hell can I keep the other bitches in place! Ed's contract doesn't have a scandal clause. He can date whoever he wants! That means, any random bitches can get close to him and try to take my plac- Be his girlfriend!"

"You wanted to say 'Take my place', didn't you?"

"Maybe."

...

[Edward POV]

'It's been a while since I was alone in this house.' I thought as I entered my bedroom. I took a bath as usual, and let myself be shirtless as I lay down on the bed.

I turned my head slightly in the direction of the desk. My laptop was still closed as I put it on the table before.

"(Sigh)... Should I?" I thought.

"Or should I just rest tonight? I mean, Claire and Harvey didn't contact me, so maybe there's nothing wrong after all?"

The indecision even made my body twitch a bit, but there was a chain on the mattress, holding my body still. I couldn't move...or rather, I didn't want to move.

"Okay... Let's do all of that tomorrow." I muttered before I decided to close my eyes and take a well deserved rest.

(End season 1)

(Season 2 will start at Chapter 85 after the interlude. Comment below and tell me what do you guys think about the story so far. I'll see you guys back on Tuesday! )