[General POV]
"We have twelve hours left before the party kicks off. There's no need to rush, but please ensure you're following all safety measures. We can't afford any accidents with our top performers on stage," Renaldo instructed the team.
"Ahem," Pepper interjected, clearing his throat to get Renaldo's attention. Renaldo sighed and added, "And Britney too…"
The New Year's Eve venue buzzed with activity as staff, technicians, dancers, and construction workers filled the space. Located in the Palisades, the grand mansion featured an oak wood exterior and an infinity pool, sprawling over 30,000 square feet and enclosed by a gated stone wall.
"When will the caterers be here?" Pepper asked, his irritation simmering, though he wasn't yet yelling since time was still on their side.
"The caterers are scheduled to arrive at noon. Max is also preparing 500 cupcakes for the event," Frankie replied casually as she flipped her notes. "So far, 50 VIPs have RSVP'd, 23 are attending," she added.
"Why? I invited them specifically, knowing they might not show up," Pepper said, confused.
Various executives from TV networks, distribution companies, and studios were on the guest list, including a Disney executive.
Edward had ensured Pepper built relationships with these individuals over the past three months, which Pepper had done, albeit reluctantly. Though he found their behavior off-putting, he believed in Edward's vision and formed casual acquaintanceships with them. They weren't bad people per se, just a bit eccentric.
"I think it's related to Edward's search for a new CEO," Frankie remarked nonchalantly. Pepper's eyes widened in shock as he gasped, "He's replacing me?!"
Startled, Frankie quickly clarified, "Oh no, not at all! He's just splitting the telecommunications division from Entertain—"
"Oh right, he mentioned that to me," Pepper said, visibly relieved. His focus shifted to a staff member carrying a white lily.
"What's this?! I specifically asked for tulips! And the tablecloth is off-white?! Why didn't you just tattoo 'POOR' on my forehead?! I can't take this! I'M DONE DELEGATING!"
Frankie let out a sigh of relief as she watched Pepper storm away in frustration. "Wait, I still need your confirmation—" she called out, but he disappeared into the throng.
Determined to find him, she followed the sound of shouting. More guests were arriving that she needed to update him about, including some of Edward's connections from Marvel: RDJ, Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Additionally, Edward had invited Eminem, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg, all of whom preferred to stay in New York rather than head to Vegas for the celebrations. The cast members and director of his new movie were also coming by and they brought guests with them.
Maggie and Penny had also invited club girls from their favorite clubbing spots. Brenda Song, Ashley Tisdale, Ashley Benson, Shay Mitchell, and several other young actresses eager to meet Edward, all confirming their attendance for the New Year's party.
With a mix of tech enthusiasts, academics, models, and photographers, the guest list had ballooned to over 500 attendees.
"Can we even fit all of them in the venue?" Renaldo muttered anxiously as Frankie caught up to Pepper, forcing him to halt.
Pepper collapsed onto a sun chair, a handkerchief shielding his face as he tried to calm down from the stress of party planning. Renaldo and Frankie fanned him to help cool him off when Randall jogged over, slightly out of breath.
"H-Hey, bosses," Randall stammered, drawing Pepper's attention. He pulled down the handkerchief and groaned, "Oh great, what now?"
Randall scratched his head nervously before continuing, "Um, it's the Billboard guys again."
"Edward and Taylor didn't want to go to their party, even after winning Artist of the Year," Frankie replied matter-of-factly, noting that Billboard had announced Taylor as the best female artist and Edward as the best male artist.
They were set to present the awards at a broadcasted event, but since no appearances were mandatory for collecting the awards, both decided to send representatives instead.
"No, not that," Randall interjected quickly. "Well, it is about that, but not in that way. They said since both will be at our party, can they— No, they asked, not outright said—"
"Just spit it out, Randy," Frankie urged firmly.
"Okay," Randall took a breath, still speaking quickly. "They want to send a cameraman and an award presenter here to record Ed and Taylor receiving their awards—live, or not live; they said they could record it and insert it into their live show later."
Frankie considered the request, but Pepper firmly stated, "They can record it at the company. No press will be present here."
"I'm on it," Randall replied, dashing off to handle the situation. "By the way, is the party kid-friendly?" Frankie asked Pepper, her concern evident. "Ed wants to bring his friends—will it be appropriate?"
Pepper's eyes widened as he pondered this, then decisively replied, "We'll split the party. Outside for adults, inside for the kids. Concerts will be open to everyone."
Frankie nodded in approval, praising him, "Good thinking, Pepper. I'll take it from here, if you don't mind."
Pepper groaned sickly, "Ugh… Alright."
As Pepper lay down, suddenly, Emily Blunt approached him. "Hi, Peps," she greeted cautiously, slightly waving her arm as she bent forward to meet Pepper's eye line. Frankie stopped walking away and immediately turned back to see what was going on.
Pepper jolted upright from his chair and looked at Emily with shock. "Hey, Emily. How—why are you here so early?"
"Oh, I'm not really here—I just stopped by because there's something you might want to hear," Emily said, her face burdened with concern.
Pepper and Frankie exchanged glances before Pepper asked, "What is it?"
"First of all, I should introduce him." Emily pointed at a tall man waving from afar, covering his face from the sun glare. The man approached Pepper and greeted him politely, "Hey there. You must be Pepper Saltzman. I've heard so much about you."
"Jim Krasinski?" Pepper widened his eyes in shock as he shook hands with the man. John Krasinski chuckled and said, "It's John, by the way… John Halpert."
"Oh, sorry. John Krasinski." Pepper blushed slightly as he was teased by the man. "Are you the bearer of the bad news, John?" Pepper asked.
John nodded with a strained smile and said, "I'm afraid so. Should we talk somewhere private?"
They moved to the mansion's reading room. John and Emily sat together on one side, while Pepper and Frankie sat on the other.
"I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your kid has pissed off a lot of people at NBC with his joke in Conan's interview," John said calmly.
John was referring to the time Edward called out NBC for not honoring their contract and canceling Conan's show to give the slot to the previous host, Jay Leno. Both Jay and the NBC executive were friends, and they felt slighted by Edward's comments.
"Also, you invited a CBS exec, but there wasn't anyone from NBC on that list," John explained. "So they are going to renegotiate contracts for airing The Office from your Netflix streaming site." John smiled slightly and added, "Which is troubling for us because, you know, the royalties have been nice."
"They are so petty," Pepper grimaced. "Even though it was their own actions that led to this. How about Leno's ratings—isn't that abysmally low?"
John snorted and said, "See? That kind of thing. It may be true, but don't say it in front of them, or on air." John made Pepper and Frankie chortled a bit with his joke.
He added, "Emily spoke highly of Edward; she kept telling me how nice he is, and she also mentioned he can be vengeful. Never to cross him. So instead of it turning into an all-out war between NBC and you guys, maybe we can figure out an alternative way? A way that I can keep getting my royalties?"
Frankie scrutinized John and asked, "I'm sorry, even though you have good intentions, Mr. Krasinski, I'm still puzzled about how you fit into this upcoming… feud between Edward and your employers."
"First of all, we have to go through three different studios and companies before we even reach NBC—which aired our show," John clarified, drawing a line between himself and NBC. "And I'm not speaking on their behalf."
Emily added with a sly smirk, "He's just a fan of Edward."
John laughed a bit before joking, "Also, Netflix? I watch all my shows there instead of on TV."
NBC was short-sighted, which was what John thought. The main problem was those two people, Jay Leno and his good friend. The others at NBC weren't involved much in this beef.
Steve Carell was a good friend of Judd Apatow. Steve was also a good friend of John Krasinski, who was dating Emily Blunt—the female lead in Entertain's new movie, directed by Judd Apatow.
The relationships in the film industry were quite entangled, and John telling Pepper this information was an act born from all these webs of connection, allowing them to prepare and not get blindsided by the contract renegotiation.
However, Edward and Harvey had placed several clauses in the contract that were impossible for the company to mess with. Maybe one man would have problems with it, but as a corporation, they wouldn't even consider taking the series off the streaming site, at the very least, not yet since they didn't have one of their own.
What John, Steve Carell and Judd Apatow were worrying about wouldn't become a reality. However, their effort did show Edward their character which made him wanting to add them into his celebrity inner circle going forward in his career.
The stage completed its construction around 2 in the evening. The party preparation was finally complete.
"Team Alpha, are you locked in?" Casey asked through his earpiece, lying on a rocky surface atop the hills, a vantage point above the mansion.
Disguised as a stagehand, Chuck stammered, "Casey, are you sure about this? We're really going to go through with it?"
Sarah, dressed as one of the champagne servers at the party, interjected, "Chuck, stop asking questions. Alpha and Delta are ready."
Casey muttered, "I thought this would be a simple extraction, but the security around the target is tougher than I anticipated."
With a tone of disgust, Sarah replied, "They don't want her to break free from their control. Otherwise, how could they explain the quarter-billion-dollar disappearance from her assets?"
Chuck sighed, "I feel guilty pointing fingers at her after everything she's been through. Anyone would go crazy in her position."
Casey shifted his focus from the sniper rifle scope and said, "We'll move to extract her tomorrow. Make sure to plant the tracker on her at the party. We only have one shot at this, so don't fail."
Chuck laughed slightly and said, "Casey, did Edward tell you anything else?"
Casey grunted and scolded, "Just do what you're told."
As Casey was distressed about the debt he owed, Edward decided to let Casey put his mind at ease by handling an impossible mission. If anyone could do it, Edward figured it would be Chuck's team.
The objective of their mission was to save Britney.
…
[Edward POV]
Wearing an apron, I stood next to Max as she prepared and decorated a fresh batch of cupcakes in my kitchen.
"Ed, put the new batch in the oven," Max instructed, swirling white frosting on the finished cupcakes.
"Sure," I replied casually. But when I looked at the dough, I noticed a paw print embedded in it.
"Vader! Seriously?" I called out to Vader, who was playing at our feet. "Meow!? (How did he know it was me?!)" Vader stared up in confusion, licking the dough off his paw.
"We should remake this batch," I told Max with a sigh. She grumbled as she grabbed the tray from me and placed it in the oven. "It'll be fine," she insisted.
I was at a loss for words for a moment until Vanessa walked into the kitchen, purse in hand, interrupting our conversation.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, slightly puzzled. Vanessa shot back, irritated, "I can't be here?"
"No," I replied flatly, meeting her gaze. She looked taken aback and clarified, "I'm waiting for Maggie. We're going shopping for tonight's party."
"Okay," I said curtly, pouring cupcake batter into the liners while she glared at me. "By the way, you're performing tonight, so make sure to come early."
Vanessa's eyes widened in disbelief. "What!? Say that again."
"You're performing tonight," I smirked, turning back to her. "The full performance, with dancers."
"No… NO! No, no, no!" she stammered. "I'm not ready."
I grimaced slightly and replied, "Eh, you kinda are."
"I need more time," she pleaded.
"You've had enough time," I countered. Her eyes darted around as she scrambled for excuses. "My legs still hurt."
"Nope," I shot her down immediately. "You need to be there by six, or else."
"Oooh, Kinky," Max chimed in. I grimaced at her, whispering, "What?"
Vanessa protested, "If you make me do this—"
"I'm your boss. This isn't up for discussion," I interrupted. "FINE!" she huffed, walking away, but then glanced back at me and started limping, pretending her legs still hurt.
"That's not going to work. He's not looking," Max advised her. Vanessa rolled her eyes in frustration and stomped off in anger.
I ate a freshly baked cupcake and said to Max, "You'll be cooking this entire morning, right? Do you even have an outfit for the party?"
"Look, which do you think is bigger?" Max held two cupcakes in front of her breast and asked cheekily.
"Your boobs. You are coming to the party, right?" I ignored her attempt to change the subject and pushed forward with my question.
"Of course I'm going. But, I'll have to go back early as I need to look after Vader." Max replied with a slight irritation.
"Good…" I trailed off before I turned to her seriously, "You're not going to bring a boy home and make out on the couch, probably doing even worse while you're taking care of her, right?"
Max stammered and said playfully, "Um, how did you know? Also, I caught you doing that too yesterday, so you're in no position to stop me from doing that."
Shrugging slightly, I said, "That's true. Alright, I promised my make out partner to take her out today. I'll be back around 3 and then we'll go to the party."
"Wait, are you telling me that you are going on a date? Like, a date- date?" Max grinned as she looked at me with excitement.
I nodded slightly and said, "A date– date."
"Oooh– Edward is finally going to get some." Max jeered.
…
I adjusted my collar one last time, ensuring the V-neck shirt sat perfectly against my chest. Glancing at my reflection in the car window of the new sleek 2010 black Dodge Viper, I checked my hair before stepping out.
'Why am I even nervous?' I thought as I walked to her door.
Slowly, I took a deep breath, and pressed the doorbell. The chime echoed softly inside, and I could hear the faint sound of footsteps approaching. My heart skipped a beat as I sensed her opening the door.
Moments later, the door swung open.
"Hi." Haley smiled bashfully as she saw me. She wore a short skirt that danced around her thighs and a halter top that accentuated her figure while revealing a hint of her belly. Her smile was bright, and infectious which made me smile too.
"Wait." However, Haley's smile soon froze as she saw what I was wearing.
"Hey, Haley. You look–" I greeted, but Haley showed her palm, prompting me to shut up.
"You're wearing a classy outfit!!" She accused me. "You told me ; casual clothing!" She huffed angrily.
"This is my casual outfit." Slightly confused, I glanced down at my green fitted shirt before turning to her again.
"No! It may even be Old Money style. Now compared to you, I just look trashy." She complained as she ran her hand on her outfit.
Stifling my laughter and slightly covering my mouth as Haley kept getting angrier, I tried to comfort her. "You look gorgeous. That's what I was trying to say before you stopped me."
Haley widened her eyes slightly and became abashed, "Oh. Thanks. Um, do you want to come in?"
Slightly taken aback by her action, I reminded her, "I thought you don't want me to come in?"
"That was before I needed to change my outfit again." Haley said as she directed me to her room while holding my hand. Haley paused slightly and whispered, "I'll let you watch me change if you are patient about it."
"Who am I to rush a lady?" I joked, following Haley obediently when Phil suddenly appeared in front of us, munching on a popsicle.
"Oh, hi, Edward," Phil greeted cheerfully. Haley froze, pulling her hand away from mine. "Phil. Hi."
"What are you kids up to?" he asked casually. Haley quickly replied, "We're going shopping for the New Year's party."
That's when I realized Phil didn't know about our date. "Edward, are you going to wear a suit?" he asked, still cheerful.
"Of course he will," Haley chimed in for me. "But we don't have much time, so I'm going to change my top first." With that, she left me behind, darting off on her own.
"Why is she so jittery these days?" Phil mumbled, glancing at Haley before turning to me. "Do you know anything, Ed?"
Just then, I received a text from Pepper, reminding me to accept an award at the company building before heading to the party. "Oh, it's Pepper. I need to take this. Looks like I'm getting an award," I said, pointing at my phone before he could ask more.
Phil's face lit up. "ANOTHER ONE?! Oh my god! That's wonderful! You're amazing, Edward, you know that?"
The more he complimented me, the sharper the prick in my heart felt. I smiled wryly as he asked, "What award is it?"
"I don't know yet. I'm finding out now."
"Oh." Phil took a step back, urging me, "Well, what are you waiting for? Call him now!"
Haley returned within 5 minutes and we left the house in a hurry. Inside the car, Haley fluttered her eyes apologetically at me from the passenger seat and said, "I mean, we did agree to keep it a secret."
I nodded slightly and said, "Don't worry, I'm not mad. A bit disappointed, but not mad."
"Don't use 'mom talk' on me." Haley pouted, then quickly changed the subject. "Where are we going now?"
"We're going to have lunch first." I replied. A silence fell between us, and then she suddenly confessed something.
"I don't know why, but I'm feeling a lot of pressure right now to make it work," she said, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.
[Haley's commentary]
"I couldn't sleep last night. This didn't even happen when I went on my first date ever," she admitted with a strained smile. "I'm excited about it… but it's also making me really anxious."
[Commentary ends]
"Yeah, I'm the same. I couldn't even sleep last night," I told her. She widened her eyes slightly and turned toward me. "Really?"
"Yeah. I kept tossing and turning." Then a thought struck me. "If we're both feeling pressured, maybe it's not a good idea to go through with this lunch date."
Haley slumped in her seat, mumbling in disappointment, "Oh."
I turned to her and suggested, "Maybe we should go to a batting cage instead? We can work off some of this nervous energy before lunch."
"Yeah! We should go there." Her eyes lit up, excitement returning. But as I laughed at her, she suddenly became bashful, our eyes locking for a brief moment.
"Don't look at me, look at the road. I don't want us to get into a car accident." She pushed my face to look forward.
I grabbed her hand and held it along the way as we went to the batting cage. We had our short, yet great date before we went to the company building. I recorded the short speech thanking Billboard and my fans as I received an award.
"Let's go to the party now." I said to Haley after I finished with the video.