Chapter 111: Second Single Release. 

[Claire's commentary]

Claire's hair was a little unkempt and her nose a bit reddish as she sat on the couch wearing dowdy mom's clothes.

"I went to the girls room to take out the trash…But…"

-Flashback-

As Claire tied up the trash bag, it hit her legs a little, which made her notice a metallic texture of the thing inside of it. She got a bad feeling, therefore she opened the trash bag to check.

Her face paled as she took out Alex's Decathlon gold medal from the trash bag.

-Flashback ends-

"She threw away her medal! That thing made her extremely excited and couldn't shut up for 2 days, but now I found it in the trash?! Why did Alex throw it away? Is it really because of me?" Claire asked with her voice breaking from the pressure and guilt she was feeling.

"I tried to talk to her and ask her about it, but she wouldn't talk to me at all!"

"And now, I don't know what else to do."

[Commentary ends]

"Honey. You made a mistake. Everyone made a mistake." Phil comforted the upset Claire as she leaned into his arms. "I will talk to Alex. Who knows, she might not necessarily be mad at you."

"Phil! She is mad at me! Why else would she throw away her medal and tune me out?" Claire muttered in grief.

Inside the teenage girls' room, Alex was quietly listening to Edward's songs with her headphones as she studied hard. Haley tapped her shoulder from the side, making Alex snap out of her focus and turned to her smiling sister.

"What?" She asked.

"I finished inviting people to the party. You've invited Ed right?"

Alex was confused and said, "Why don't you just invite him?"

Haley rolled her eyes at Alex and said, "Don't you know how long I've been trying to invite him to a party!? He just won't say yes!"

She was aggrieved at Edward's tendency to stay home and work instead of going out and enjoying themselves. Haley had tried a few times as Edward and her were basically invited to every single party, but to no avail. Edward wouldn't budge if the party wasn't an important party for him, or one thrown by his close friends.

That was why she was too excited to stop inviting people to the party at her house tomorrow. The amount of people she invited had already surpassed the 3 digit figure, which made Tara and Abby both speechless by her actions. Haley knew she would get lectured by Tara after this, but right now, there was a bigger problem.

"Ummm…Ed isn't answering his phone." Alex said. "Or replying to my messages."

"Err…" Haley was bewildered, and didn't know what to do now. Alex then remembered something and said, "Oh yeah. He did say he has a very busy schedule today and tomorrow. I don't even know if he can make it over."

Haley opened her mouth wide, and was frozen for almost a whole minute before she exclaimed, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT BEFORE I INVITED EVERYONE!"

…

[Edward POV]

"Healty's Choice Chicken Soup, it's so good, you are gonna want to fire your grandma." I said to the camera with an innocent smile on my face.

"CUT! Second take!"

"Healty's Choice Chicken Soup. It's like lying in a wet and warm bed…That you're not ashamed of."

"Okay CUT!"

The female director controlled her laughter as I improvised in the scene I was shooting today. Not only her, but most of the people in the filming set were giggling.

Wearing a simple white shirt and jeans, I stood in front of the kitchen set with a can of 'Healty's Choice' soup in my left hand. I asked playfully, "Why did you stop?"

"Ed. That one is really good. But, please…just say the line we've written." The director said in a begging tone. I smiled and said, "Okay then."

"Okay. Third take. Get ready." The director yelled at the crew. And I acted properly this time. "Healty's Choice Chicken Soup. Try it today."

The director finally concluded the short commercial filming by shouting 'Cut'. My assistant Renaldo walked briskly inside the set with a refreshing cold towel in his hands and wiped my head with it gently.

"Good job on the shoots. The commercial will start running on Monday, and I look forward to working with you again in the future." The female director walked to me and shook my hand as my job was over. She realized she forgot something and added, "Ahh…Also, good luck on the song's release. When will it come out-"

"In 3 hours." Renaldo replied before I could.

The sun had already gone down when I walked out of the filming studio. The continuous photoshoot, commercial shooting, the meeting with Adidas's representative, and finally promoting my songs release had made my mind extremely fatigued, but I couldn't stop my day here just yet.

"Renaldo, I need to go to the dock." I said when we got inside the car.

"Okay." Renaldo said before he hesitated, " Mrs Dunphy and your father are already there for the employee meeting, why do you still need to go there on your own?"

"I would just like to check on the company on my own. Ahh, And also to yell at someone." I replied casually before changing the subject, "What did Pepper say after the meeting?"

"He said that if you really want to push forward the album's release, he's not going to stop you." Renaldo explained. "Usually, a new artist takes several months to prepare for their album, but Pepper said if you actually want it, you can finish your entire album song track in a day, so this rule doesn't really matter to you."

'Well Alex did call me the new song's vending machine.'

I nodded at Renaldo's words and let him continue.

"Right now, you have a big backlog of songs. So Pepper advised you to discuss with some professionals in the industry first before releasing it in order to make the final song selection and come out with the perfect arrangement and song distribution; he has already contacted a few guys to help you out with it."

"Professionals? Who?" I asked as my eyes widened in surprise.

"Well you know one of them. And for the rest, its-"

We discussed for a while, and there wasn't even a minute of silence in the car as we drove to the seaside.

15 minutes later, I finally arrived at the docks. No one noticed, but as the clock was nearing 9 o'clock where my second single "bundle" was going to be released, my fingers trembled a little, and my face paled.

'I…didn't think that to release my trauma to the world would take so much from me.'

'I can't stop working, even when I'm as fatigued as I am right now. I know…that if I stop and let myself be alone with those thoughts, it will be extremely harmful for my psyche. Part of me was screaming, asking me to stop what I was about to do.'

As I waved to my dad who was standing in front of a group of people with a clipboard in his hand, I thought impulsively, 'Should I sail out to sea with dad, and come back a week later when everything has calmed down?'

However, as I kept ruminating about the matter, I became much more confident in that thought. After all 'Natural' and 'Whatever It Takes' weren't just some songs I mindlessly copied from my previous life, but it was created by the 'child me' and was written inside his journal.

The journal's gone, but I could remember everything written inside of it after getting the eidetic memory. The reason I decided to release the songs to the world was, in fact, one of my plans to unlock the traumatic part of my memory, and finally achieve inner peace with my identity struggle.

"With this, I will be completely able to move on from my childhood trauma, and who knows, maybe I could sleep properly at night without using the rest skill again."

I walked next to my dad and stood at his side as he briefed the crew about several security concerns in their next trip.

"I know that some of the customers are hard to deal with. Just so you guys understand, I'm not a fan of 'The Customer Is Always Right' slogan. Most of the people in this world are idiots, so if you really don't know how to handle them, refer to me or Dwayne quickly."

A middle-aged man with pale blond hair, a protruding gut, and a comical high pitched voice raised his hand.

"Yeah Muppe- I mean Gary." Dad almost blurted out the guy's nickname, but he managed to correct it as Gary didn't hear what he was saying before.

"What about Claire? Can we ask Claire?"

To be honest, most of the crew members here had even bigger trust on Claire than my dad. However, the issue wasn't because of competency, but Claire was coddling them by solving every single issue for them.

"I'd rather you guys not call Claire while she's having the day off. Phil complained a few times because of you guys." Dad said with some apprehension in his voice.

I spoke up at this time, causing all the attention to be focused on me, "Claire will no longer be able to solve your problems."

"Huh? Is she fired?"

"What's going on?!"

"Poor Mrs Dunphy."

People started to murmur, but I held my hand at them, making them all silent with a gesture.

"Let me finish. As you guys know, Claire has been promoted to become the logistic director. So if you guys have any questions about dealing with the customers, just refer to our customer service rep Dina. I need to stop you guys from being so dependent on Claire, otherwise the whole company operation would be in trouble when she isn't around."

Despite their reluctance, the crew nodded in understanding.

"Dylan. What's the monthly record of you tripping on the ship's deck and falling into the sea now?" I asked casually.

"11 times." Dylan replied with a proud tone.

"We need to get the number down to at least 10 in the next month, okay? Dwayne isn't getting any younger. He can't always dive into the sea to save you. And how are your swimming lessons going?"

"Awesome. Yesterday, I let myself relax while in the pool. But I don't know why instead of going up and saving myself like the instructor said, I just kept suffocating." Dylan said in confusion.

I sighed and asked, "When you compare your posture to your sleeping posture, are you on your back, or on your front?"

"Oh, I always sleep on my back."

"That may be the problem buddy. You need your nose free from the water for you to actually breathe."

Dwayne smacked the back of Dylan's head as he finally understood why Dylan had so much trouble just for learning how to swim.

"Also, in less than 6 hours, your SATs will be online. Are you excited?" I asked with a mischievous smile, which made Dylan's face pale.

Dwayne interjected, "You know, if you didn't get a score above 800, I will make you quit this job."

"I know." Dylan replied pitifully.

"Glenn, I know we have a lot of fun, eating the leftover foods from the buffet, emptying the alcohol glasses and all, but when you get your 3rd heart attack in less than 2 months, you need to at least try to change what you're doing okay buddy?" I said as I turned to another crew member.

"James. I talked to the insurance agent, and your dentures ARE included in our healthcare plan. So please just go and make one instead of creeping out our customers with your blackened teeth."

An old man with a white beard smiled, revealing his empty gums and his only two remaining teeth in his mouth.

"Lisa. We will pay half of your college tuition if you decide to further your studies, so don't worry about that too much."

"Jerome-"

"Tyrone-"

I called out the crew one by one as I solved their issues, and then I said, "We now have 5 medium-sized yachts, and 2 small party yachts. Although this is great, it also means that we now have to focus more on ship's maintenance and overall safety. We also have hired over 10 ship captains to expand our business."

"Marco, Ace, Thatch, ..." I introduced the captain's one by one, and we had a buffet to celebrate and for the crew to get to know each other. And I had no idea how, but Dylan managed to fall into the sea for the 12th time today, which made me really worried for his future here.

"I should fire him soon before he becomes fish food." I muttered while shaking my head slightly.

"Hmm?" As I watched Dwayne jumping into the water to help Dylan, I noticed a new sailing ship docked right next to the port.

Dad noticed where I was looking and said, "She's a beauty, isn't she? Too bad the engine is damaged, and now the owner is selling it. Although he offered a very cheap price, no one would actually want to buy it as it'll cost too much to fix it."

"Hmm…What's wrong with the engine?" I asked. "And how cheap is he selling it?"

…

[General POV]

-Dunphy's house-

"Oh my god! I'm so excited!" Phil exclaimed like a teenage girl. Sitting at the dining table, he browsed through Edward's fan website to talk with his other fans from all across the world, all of them waiting for the same thing.

"15 minutes till the song's release!" Phil shouted to his family without taking his eyes off the laptop. At the living room, Alex was texting her friends on her phone before Claire sat carefully next to her.

"Alex, Why don't we go out, just the two of us-"

But before Claire could finish her words, Alex stood up and walked away, leaving behind a choked up Claire again.

"Hey. No one can get in contact with him." Alex reported to Haley after trying to get in contact with Edward for the whole day, but she couldn't.

"Ugh! I can't contact Pepper as he's in a meeting." Haley groaned in frustration. "Is he doing this on purpose? Is that it?"

However, despite her accusation, Haley was worried for Edward, and was wondering if she had done something wrong. When someone who usually replies to your messages suddenly gives you the cold shoulder, it's hard to be able to feel okay with it.

"Ummm…." Claire heard what the girls were discussing and she spoke up, making the girls turn to her. "There's a ship crew meeting today at the docks, and Ed will be there. Do you want me to call his dad?"

Haley brightened up while Alex frowned slightly before returning to her stoic face again. "I don't care." Alex said before she walked away to her room.

"Honey! She's talking to you again!" Phil comforted excitedly as he gave Claire a light hug. While Claire was looking at Alex, Haley took her phone and gave it to her.

"Call him. Please."

"You know, he's probably-"

"MOM! Call him, and I will help you with Alex's thing."

"Huh- O-Okay!"

Claire called Ted quickly, and Haley could finally get in touch with Edward after a while. However, Claire was standing next to her, making it impossible for her to invite Ed to a party, without Claire knowing about it.

"Hello? Haley? Did the line disconnect?" Ed asked as all he could hear was silent coming from the other side of the call.

"I- Can I call you back in a minute?" Haley asked.

"Sure. I will turn on my phone. You can just call me there." Ed replied before Haley disconnected the call.

"What did he say? Did he ask about me not coming to the meeting today?" Claire asked nervously as she was supposed to be at the docks together with the crew today.

Haley rolled her eyes as she said, "Mom. I spoke. One line! Also, why aren't you there?"

"With all of Alex's stuff, I don't think that I can focus on work right now." Claire confessed.

"5 minutes!" Phil said excitedly again before adding, "Also. Your mom is missing out on a celebrity cruise. If she wasn't fighting with Alex, we wouldn't even see her tomorrow as she would be an onboard crew member for Iron Man's party."

Claire looked aggrieved, but inside, she felt a bit proud and hopeful. She expected Haley to tell Alex about her sacrifice, and they could mend their relationship again afterward.

" Wow mom. You have a quick fix for your thing with Alex, but you decided to not go?" Haley said ambiguously.

"What do you mean?" Claire asked, grabbing Haley's arm before she could walk away.

"I'm just saying. You know Alex is a huge NERD. She loves Iron Man." Haley said with some ulterior motive. "You know, if you spend the entire day with RDJ, maybe Alex will finally see your coolness, but instead you decided to stay at home in your "mom clothes" and bother her. Even for me that's annoying."

Claire widened her eyes in surprise while Phil was in shock.

"Maybe…some time away from each other will be good for you guys. I can invite some friends, and Alex's friends to come here to cheer her up while you're gone…you know…if you want me to do it."

[Haley's commentary]

"Alex is not a nerd, at least 'THAT' kind of nerd, I think so??. But who cares, this way I can make mom leave the house and we can have the party here without her ruining it." Haley said.

"Also, I talked to Ed, and he said he could barely make it to the party as he has an interview tomorrow. He might make it at the latter half of the party, but I know a lot of people will leave the party if they know he's not coming."

[commentary ends]

Haley didn't mind it if Phil was the one who stayed home to monitor them as there were a lot of ways for her to use if she decided to send him somewhere else later on. But not her mom. Whatever else she does she HAS TO get her mom away before the party starts.

"The song's out!" Phil exclaimed, shocking both Claire and Haley. Both of them ran to the dining room where Phil was sitting and clicking on his laptop. Seconds later, Luke appeared next to Claire while Alex appeared next to Haley.

"I can't wait!" Luke exclaimed as he waited for Phil to buy the songs before listening to it.