I made myself comfortable on the new furniture Mom had purchased a month ago. She really went crazy during those months of pregnancy—odd cravings, a short temper, and of course changing the furniture in the living room.
Thankfully, she was returning to her normal self. Her due date was near, so in a month or so, I would have a little brother or sister. The whole thing was going to be a new experience for me, but then again, so was the last seven years.
My plot against Stardust was going well. My dear billionaire friend was more than happy to go along with my plans. He seemed to enjoy all the scheming and stuff.
The studio had released its statements, none of which had landed well with the public. Heck, there had even been a demonstration in front of the studio—a mix of my genuine fans and some hired folks to amplify the seriousness. It was clear the studio was panicking, at least those not in the loop. I just had to maintain the ruse until the two idiots sold their shares.
I flicked through the channels, allowing the couch to envelop me. Maybe Mom's crazy furniture shopping was good after all; this new couch was far better.
"I really need a hobby," I thought as I continued to mindlessly flick through the channels.
Matt and John would be coming over later. They were both on vacation with their respective families. Thankfully, John had told me Joanna was finally ready to do the live concert. Her family was able to convince her; he told me it was his grandma that finally got through to her.
My interactions with Joanna had been sparse over the last few months. Between being busy and my deliberate avoidance due to her crush on me—a situation I admittedly hadn't handled well—things were awkward. Lucia wasn't pleased with me, that much was clear, even if John and Matt seemed oblivious.
"I really should have talked to her," I muttered.
The doorbell rang, pulling me from my thoughts.
"Danny, get the door!" I heard Mom call out.
"Yeah, I'm going," I replied, pushing myself off the comfortable couch and heading to the door.
Opening the door, I was greeted by two familiar faces. "Hey, Danny boy, did ya miss us?" John said, wrapping me in a hug.
"You guys look like you enjoyed your vacation," I observed.
"Yes, I did, Danny. Yes, I did," John replied, stepping inside with a gleeful expression.
I caught Matt's amused look and motioned with my eyes, asking silently what was up with John.
Matt just let out a chuckle at my confusion.
"What?" I asked, intrigued.
"He claims he had sex while he was on vacation," Matt said, his tone suggesting that he didn't believe it.
Ah, that explained John's extra pep.
We walked in to find John in the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge.
"You know what, I believe him," I said, looking at John. He looked like a changed man, a man who had gained the confidence to take on the whole world.
"Nah," Matt said, walking away to the living room.
I saw Mom coming from the pool area, probably to check who had come.
"Oh, Matt, John, how are you? Having a good summer?" she asked.
"Hey, Mrs. Adler, yeah, things are great. You look…umm…" Matt paused, his eyes going to her enlarged stomach.
"Fat?" Mom finished.
"What? No… That's not…" Matt quickly tried to defend, but Mom just laughed it off.
"Relax, Matt, I'm very much aware of my current... state," Mom said, her good humor evident.
"Yeah, I've become quite the expert in late-night snack runs and deciphering what 'kind of spicy but not too spicy' means," I said, remembering the last few months.
"Now you boys have fun. I am going to take a nap," she said before disappearing into the bedroom downstairs.
"So, what's up? You're being sued. I know you told me it wasn't a big deal on the phone," Matt said, sitting down on the couch.
"Well, it's like I said, it's not a big deal," I replied.
"Really? Come on, Daniel, you were on TMZ every day for the last week. There are some crazy stories floating around, man," he said.
"Yeah, and most of them were made up by me and my team," I said.
Matt gave me a confused look.
"Look, everything will make sense in a week or so. I can't tell you because I can't talk about it," I said.
"Now come on, I just finished another chapter for 'Invincible,'" I said, leading him to my room.
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General POV
Matt showed Daniel his latest sketches on the table in his room. They had been working on the Invincible comic for over a year now and were close to releasing the first issue. Daniel leaned in, his eyes scanning the artwork that depicted Omni-Man's destructive rampage across a planet in an alternate dimension. Matt had improved a lot from last year, and the art was very impressive.
"This is fucking amazing, Matt," Daniel praised, tracing a finger along the edge of the paper.
"Of course, it is. I am Matt Gates, remember?" Matt responded with playful arrogance, a wide grin spreading across his face. "But seriously, having detailed descriptions really helped out."
"Oh, were you going to use your name on the cover? Because I already asked them to print Wonderboy69 instead," Daniel said with a serious look.
"Wait, what, Daniel?" Matt exclaimed.
"Just kidding," Daniel burst into laughter, watching as Matt's expression shifted from shock to relief before joining in the laughter.
"I miss Wonderboy69," John said, entering the room with a sandwich in hand. "You used to make the best porn. You barely made one since you started working on this with Danny."
That got a laugh from Matt and Daniel, who then returned to discussing the comic. John, seeing his friends occupied, drifted towards the bookshelves that lined the walls.
He saw what looked like manuscripts and, out of curiosity, began to sift through them. He came across titles like Monsters Inc, Superman: Year One, Batman: Year One, and A Song of Ice and Fire.
"Hey, Daniel, what are these?" John asked, holding up the scripts for Daniel to see.
"They're just some stories I'm working on. They're unfinished, though. Haven't really found the time to dive back into them," Daniel replied.
John took the manuscript for A Song of Ice and Fire and began to skim through it. He wasn't much of a reader but wanted to see what his friend was cooking up. As he read more, his eyebrows shot up in surprise at the adult themes of the story.
"Wow, this is... intense," John remarked, his eyes lifting from the script. "I didn't see this coming from you."
"It's definitely more mature than my usual projects," Daniel admitted.
"Understatement of the year. What's up with all the incest, and how old did you make Daenerys? It's quite disturbing," John pointed out.
"Let me have a look," Matt interjected, snatching the manuscript from John's hands.
"I'm thinking of making the characters older, and it'll be a while before this sees the light of day," Daniel mentioned, a bit embarrassed.
"Wow, this is heavy stuff, Insest and child murder and all in the same chapter? This isn't your usual stuff," Matt commented.
Then, flipping through more pages, he paused and looked at the other scripts.
"Wait, Superman and Batman? Is this..."
"Yepp it's a movie script. I have barely done anything but I do have big plans in the future," Daniel shared.
"Wow, man, this is amazing. Maybe you'll be the one to finally get a superhero movie right,"
"You know There's talk of an Iron Man movie being developed," Daniel mentioned.
"No way, really?" Matt exclaimed, surprised.
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Daniel POV
"John, I almost forgot Joanna, is she up for the live concert?"
John, finishing his sandwich, nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, she's actually come around to the idea.
Then I saw his expression change.
"You know I overheard Lucia and her talking. She mentioned something about you not being around much. Said you've been ignoring her?"
Caught off guard and a bit embarrassed, I quickly tried to cover up. "Oh, uh, I've just been really busy, you know?"
"Makes sense, man. You've got a lot on your plate. But you should definitely talk to her. She seemed a bit down about it."
I nodded, the guilt settling heavier on my shoulders. "Yeah I'll come over to your place tomorrow"
"No no no don't do that you sick bastard" Matt yelled out he was still reading the few chapters of the song of ice and fire i had written.
Maybe I should just skip the books and go straight to the series.
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The next day
The next day, I was standing in front of John and Joanna's house since Joanna had given the okay for the concert. I had given Lucy the green light for the preparations.
The door swung open to reveal Joanna, who had a look of surprise on her face.
"Hey, Joanna," I greeted.
"Daniel, come in," she said, leading me into the house.
"Where's John?"
"He'll be home in an hour," she replied.
"It's been a while," she added.
"Yeah, you know, busy with the whole studio stuff."
"What's up with that? I know you texted me it was nothing, but…" Joanna said, with a hint of concern in her voice.
"It's not a big deal, Jo. Everything is going according to plan," I replied, easing her worries.
'Not as awkward as I thought it would be,' I thought as we sat on the couch.
"Listen, Joanna, I wanted to apologize... for not being around much lately…" I started.
Joanna shrugged it off. "No, no, it's like you said, you were busy, and I've been a bit busy as well. Did you see the new song I posted?" she interjected.
"Yeah, yeah, I did," I said, remembering the song she had posted a month ago. It was very similar to Adele's "Hello." Did I ever give her the idea for that song? Maybe I did. I do remember humming the tune to her the last time we hung out.
We talked more, and the awkwardness between us went away. Things felt like they were back to how they were before.
"So, John told me that you are finally ready for the concert. Your fans have been asking for this for months, Jo," I said, finally changing the topic to the concert.
"Do you think I'm ready?" she asked.
"Joanna, you're one of the best singers I've seen. You're more than ready. You're going to be amazing."
The compliment brought a small smile to Joanna's face. "Thanks, Daniel. I think I am ready, but I can't just let you do all…"
"No, let me handle everything. You only worry about the singing," I interrupted, knowing what she was about to say.
"But…" she started.
"No, no buts. Let me take care of everything," I interrupted her again.
"Fine," she said with a pout.
We continued to talk about the concert, whether she should write any new songs, and many other things related to the live performance. Then, as our conversation drifted to other topics, she looked at me with a grin on her face.
"So, how are things with Haley?"
Aaand she made things awkward again.
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