Chapter 45: Countdown before the Concert.

(Sorry I'm late. I'm pretty sick rn.)

[Edward POV]

Taylor's studio was a top of the line, 4 storey-high,huge entertainment complex full with a recording studio along with dormitories, pantry, showers, sound room and many other extra commodities. The training hall had walls full of mirrors, the acoustics within the recording room were the highest quality, and there were even a whole lot of instruments collected by the teenage pop star.

The dancers were friendly, and the musicians picked by Pepper weren't egoistic bastards therefore I could get along with them pretty easily. Without me even realizing it, two whole days had passed. Luckily Friday was Arbor day(tree planting day, Americans didn't celebrate labor day on the first of May.), therefore I didn't have to skip school today as it was a long holiday.

It was now Saturday and it had been 2 days since I started living here. The concert was tomorrow and I could feel the tension inside the studio had drastically increased.

On Friday night, I chose to sleep in one of the empty male dancer's dorm rooms instead of the hotel Pepper booked for me. I had slept there Thursday night but I didn't like it very much. I was also staying at the dorm as I felt it was easier to commute back and forth during practice over there.

However, I didn't realize that a few dancers were using the empty male dorm room as they felt it was too stuffy inside the packed dorm housing 20 female dancers at the same time

Alex: Grandpa flew a model airplane into Dad's face today and broke his nose.

Edward: Too bad I was not there to see that. .

Alex: Why? So you can mock him? (LoL.emoticon)

'So I missed the third episode huh.' I thought sadly.

While I was laying in bed texting Alex, the door suddenly opened and two dancers came in their almost see-through underwear as they walked right into the room.

They were surprised when they saw me there, yet they decided it was too much of a hassle to walk back to the female dorm– which was only 20 meters away and just slept on the bed beside mine after talking to me about it. I didn't mind much as there were 20 beds inside the room, but I was a bit concerned that even with all those free beds they still wanted to sleep beside me.

They didn't even use the blankets as they slept, therefore it was a challenge for me to fall asleep that night because of how my body was reacting to them. They kept moving around with their hands all over each other, giggling and moving restlessly as they slept on the same single bed together.

"Hey…" I called out hoping to get them to stop , but the only thing I heard in response was loud snoring sounds coming from their bed. Turned out, both of them were already asleep.

"Ah damn." I muttered and walked to the edge of the dorm to sleep far away from those two girls.

They were gone when I woke up the next morning as they were following a strict training routine. However, I met the two of them again when I was finally done with my band rehearsal.

"Edward. That was really awesome." Kaya, a 170 cm latina dancer with a fiery personality, and short bob cut hairstyle complimented me as she had witnessed my rehearsal earlier on with the rest of the band members.

She walked toward me while swaying her hips as she wiped her wet hair with a clean, white towel. Crouching right in front of me while I was sitting on the floor to test out the expensive guitars alone in Taylor's studio, she said with a mischievous smile, "I saw something nice after waking up this morning. Apparently someone decided to pitch a high tent inside the dorm room."

She was incredibly sweaty from the intense practice before this, and her efforts could be seen from the sweat dripping down her abs on her bare stomach. The dancers were only wearing a sports bra and yoga pants as they rehearsed their choreography, Kaya not excluded.

"That's normal for a growing boy." I replied casually despite her teasing.

"Uhun~" Kaya smiled blushingly and kept staring at me.

Suddenly, I could see clear wet marks on the crotch area of the pink yoga pants as she spread her knees slowly while squatting. I accidentally gazed at it and she caught my action with a sly smile

"Little Perv." Kaya muttered mischievously using a sultry voice. "I couldn't help but have a stain down there…" She inched closer to me and whispered to my left ear at the same time her vanilla perfume tickled my nose. "...Because I am not wearing any underwear underneath…"

After blowing gently into my ears, Kaya retreated back to her initial position while expecting an embarrassed teenage boy tripping over himself because of her seduction . However, her smile froze as she saw I had no noticeable change in my expression after her attack.

"Why don't you? Won't the friction burn you up over there?" I asked with an innocent face.

"Kaya what are you doing?!" A long, red haired, 175 cm tall white girl with a few freckles on her face stopped her friend from continuing her seduction immediately after she finished her practice.

Kaya turned to the girl and said, "Anna. Nothing, I'm just talking to Ed."

Both 17 year old girls with hourglass body shape were good friends with each other therefore Anna couldn't be deceived by Kaya's lousy lie. She grabbed her friend's ear and pulled it, making Kaya have to stand up if she wanted to keep her ear.

"Ouch! Why?! You said you were going to release the training stress with him too-"

Anna quickly shut Kaya's mouth with her palm while looking anxiously at me.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked with a tired voice. I wasn't dense therefore I knew what they wanted from me, but right now I was feeling too depressed to care about it.

"No Edward. It– it's nothing. You can continue doing your work!" Anna said in embarrassment and with a bright red face before he pulled Kaya out of the small music instrument room.

"Weirdos." I muttered as I continued testing the next 10,000 dollar price guitar. "She really has some good stuff." I said as I played Careless Whispers with the guitar –not knowing that a few of the dancers were resting nearby the instrument storage door in order to listen to me play.

…

"Edward There you are." Pepper suddenly approached me after I got out of Taylor's instrument storage room. He had been searching for me all over, and was the reason Anna had pulled Kaya away as to not let their actions be exposed.

"What's the matter Peps?" I asked as I saw Harvey following Pepper from behind. They led me into a small meeting room where Harvey started to explain the situation.

"It's about the melody you created with Taylor before this." Harvey said and gave me a piece of paper.

"Honestly, you are entitled to some claims of her song as you had helped her in creating the melody. I really wish you guys would have told me about this situation sooner. If she decides to not recognize your participation in the creative process, We're looking at a hard lawsuit to get the claim.."

"Wait-wait-wait-wait." I muttered hurriedly as I didn't understand anything about what was going on. "Can you explain it to me from the top?"

Suddenly, the door of the meeting room was opened, and Taylor walked into the meeting room with her own firm representative. Unlike me, Taylor was tied to a record label and several entertainment companies therefore she didn't have much freedom in her decision making.

"I'm not that petty. He did help me in creating the melody, therefore I won't be stingy." Taylor said sarcastically while rolling her eyes at Harvey as she sat next to Pepper, and directly in front of me.

She tied up her curly hair into a small, loose bun at the back of her head, and wore a cropped tank top with no bra and a high waisted denim short. As the meeting table was small, her legs were brushing against mine underneath it.

"Don't worry Ed. I'm not an asshole." Taylor said as she immediately ran her bare foot up my thigh while maintaining eye contact with me. Two days of training together had brought us really close together, and we were on very good terms, even what anyone would call friendly terms right now.

"Ah, royalties and credit." I muttered as I finally understood why the meeting was currently taking place after Harvey and Pepper explained everything to me. "I forgot about that."

"That's okay. That is what I'm here for." Harvey said with a confident smile.

"Ed. This is afterall, your decision. What do you want to do?" Pepper asked.

"Hmm…" I held my chin as I pondered the situation and how I could take advantage of it.

"Ed. Just take the royalties. I won't hate you for it." Taylor said honestly while still stroking my leg with her foot while pretending she wasn't doing anything.

She knew about her entertainment company's plans of wanting to poach me into their entertainment company, therefore she was pretending to have a lot of freedom in the decision making process to illuminate the company in a good light.

"No. Instead, I want something else." I said after thinking for a while. That was, after we decided that I would be getting a salary on my work with Taylor's song and my name would be mentioned as credit for the artists participating in the song creation.

Biting her lower lips, Taylor looked at me in anticipation. "What do you decide?"

"How about…instead of giving me royalties, you just agreed to feature in one of my songs?"

"Wait…what?" Taylor was flabbergasted when she heard the counter offer. "A feature?"

In the near future, Taylor had to sue for the rights to some of her earlier albums where she finally won and released the 'Taylor's Version' of the said albums. I already knew her company right now as like a blood sucking bat, therefore I wanted to avoid having any entanglement for them.

"More like a duet." I explained with a smirk and returned her playful gesture with my foot . She blushed a little when she saw it and turned her face toward her lawyer.

"Can we do that?" she asked hesitatingly.

"It's up to you. It's your decision." The lawyer replied while texting his actual clients a.k.a the record label and other entertainment companies that truly owned Taylor's music. Getting the okay from them, then the lawyer hinted at Taylor to play along with the farce. Too bad I could see everything they were planning.

I was lucky in this matter as I had Pepper on my side who made sure I would always hold full right for any of my solo songs and the team from Pearson Softman would make damn sure I would still hold the right to the mentioned duet.

Taylor thought for a while before she replied, "I'm going to listen to the song first before I make my decision. Is that okay?"

"Sure. We can do that." I replied casually. Then, Taylor and I relocated to the sound room where I played the duet for 'Two is Better than One' for Taylor.

Nodding her head excitedly, Taylor said, "I'LL DO IT!" Even the lawyer of the firm was smiling widely as he heard my song and he was sure that the client would love that.

In this entertainment firm, I would've never played a new song I just 'created' because there was no telling whether they would claim the copyright to the song just because I was using their instruments or their facilities.

Therefore, I had already given Harvey the melody to the song 2 days earlier as I had planned to feature Taylor in my album for a while to boost my prestige upwards.

"When did you create this song? This is Totally My Style!" Taylor said excitedly and kissed my left cheek as she hugged me from the neck.

"2 days ago when I saw you again." I replied casually, however my words made Taylor's face blush for the first time ever.

Harvey was a bit disappointed as we didn't have to go to court for the matter as we only settled the royalties and credit issue with a contract. We returned to the meeting room after Taylor agreed to collaborate with me.

Harvey managed to catch several ambiguous and potentially damaging wording in the contacts the firm drew up and was in a deep discussion with the firm lawyer for the collaboration agreement. Therefore Pepper asked me to go out with Taylor as he didn't want me to lose my innocence listening to the dark side of the industry.

Taylor and I were sitting alone in the sound room as she wanted to hear more about the duet song.

"Are you okay?" I asked her as I noticed she kept holding the fake smile on her face even though her eyes were in pain.

"Sometimes…I'm jealous of your relationship with Pepper…" Taylor said in a dejected tone before she changed the topic, "Anyway, want to perform Love Story on the stage together tomorrow?"

"What do you have in mind?" I asked.

Several hours later, the meeting finally ended.

"I could've gotten her to give up everything she ever loved.." Harvey murmured to herself as she finalized the contracts with the firm lawyer.

"Maybe some other time." I comforted the devilish lawyer before she left the studio. Never once did Taylor's lawyer scheme manage to go undetected by Harvey, which raised my impression on the woman.

"Okay. Let's go home now." Pepper said. But before we could walk away, Taylor walked out of the meeting room and stopped us.

"Hey. You're coming to the afterparty right?" Taylor asked.

"Hmm? Sure." I replied after thinking about it.

"It'll be on your dad's boat anyway." Taylor said and giggled hard. I was confused so I took out my phone and checked the company's booking schedule.

"Mona Karlson? Is this yours?" I asked as I checked. She nodded with a smile and said, "I actually bought the spot from her." For a premium price of course. Not only that, she also bought the spot for 3 more people to make it a round day trip.

The profit from Taylor's premium payment was enough for my dad to support me through an ordinary college. Even Claire would have a 5 digit salary this month because of Taylor as her job's salary was based on the profit of the company.

"International water cruise. Nice. It will take a day to get back though, and I have school on Monday.." I muttered in contemplation.

"Just take one day off. The teacher won't mind." Taylor grabbed my arm and tried to persuade me. She then whispered to me, "In international waters, the laws won't be as restricting as in this country.."

"Get your hand off him vixen." Pepper said hurriedly and removed Taylor who was latching onto my body. Luckily, he didn't hear what she whispered to me.

After thinking hard about the matter, I decided to agree on the invitation. "Okay, I will go. If it's my dad, I would be apprehensive to party in front of him. But Dwayne is the captain for that day."

"Ohh Dwayne." Pepper muttered in a lusty voice as he remembered the buff ship captain. I didn't want to say anything to Pepper therefore I turned to Taylor.

"By the way, you have a very good guitar collection. I'm a bit jealous."

Taylor flashed a proud smile and said, "Thanks. Your birthday is this Tuesday right? Any plans for it?"

"Nah. I need to catch up on my work that day, so I won't be celebrating." I answered.

"Too bad. That means you won't need a present too right?" Taylor asked mischievously. While chuckling, I said, "Of course presents will be necessary. Don't cheap out on it either."

"I had never cheap out on anything." Taylor laughed. We split ways and I was driven home by Pepper. I wouldn't be able to see Taylor again till the concert as she has an award ceremony to attend to on Sunday morning.

"Next ceremony, I'll be looking forward to wearing a dress of your design." She said before we parted ways.

As I reached home, Pepper gave me some unexpected advice.

"Don't just start chasing after girls right now. Let yourself heal first." He said from the driver seat as I closed the passenger seat door of the Mercedes convertible while slinging my guitar case on my back.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

Turning his face toward me, he said, "It's normal to want to chase after girls when you break up with someone. But that will only hurt you more. Believe me, I know.. It's called a rebound, and I noticed that you're coming unhinged…"

"You know the feeling of chasing after girls?" I asked teasingly.

"See…Deflect deflect deflect. You can repress your feelings if you want, but I will make sure to include going to therapy in your contract if you do. Do you really want me to do that? You know I will do it."

I was stunned by Pepper's words and my face turned serious. "No need. I can handle it on my own. It wasn't my first breakup."

"You dated before?" Pepper was surprised when he heard that. He put on his sunglasses and said, "Okay, nevermind that. Also, a small piece of advice, be careful when you guys decide to play footsie with each other under a small table. Remember that other people there can sense your movement too." Then, he drove off quickly.

I was stunned at the sidewalk for a few seconds before I cursed slowly, "Fuck."

…

It was 9 pm on Saturday while I was resting in the living room when I suddenly heard someone knocking on my front door. Wearing a simple t-shirt and short cargo pants, I opened the door carefully just to see an angry little girl gazing menacingly at me.

"What's up Haley?" I greeted casually as I saw her.

Barging into my house, Haley used her index finger to push my chest backward while saying, "You little shit."

"What did I do now?" I asked.

"You disappeared for 2 days, and you dared to ask me (Mockingly) 'what did I do'?"

"I went to practice for the concert. It's not like I disappeared completely. I returned your texts, didn't I?"

She had been calling me, confessing everything that she and Tara had done and how Abby had no part in the spying. She kept telling me to go beg Abby to take me back, and continue our relationship. But after both Abby and I talked to her, and I told Claire about her harassment, she had stopped trying to bring the topic up.

"Now, what are you going to do with Abby? Are you guys really not getting back together?" Haley asked in concern.

"Right now, I'm doing the best I can to keep us as friends. If I push further, what do you think will happen?" I said in a tired voice. She paused for a while, and then had a look of determination on her face. I didn't like where the conversation was going, therefore I changed the subject.

"By the way, did your mom pick up the tickets yet?" I asked.

Suddenly forgetting what she came there for, Haley searched her memory and said, "I…don't know."

"I gave her the VVIP tickets and passes. You can even get backstage with that. Are you coming tomorrow?"

Haley brightened up and said, "Really? I can go backstage?"

"Yeah. I gave the same ticket to Abby too, but I'm not sure whether she will go. Did she say anything to you?" I cleverly guided Haley to the direction I wanted the talk to go toward.

"I…" Haley thought for a while, and then she said, "Let me go check."

"Okay. I'll be waiting." I said and shut the door behind Haley as she ran back toward her house.

[3rd Person POV]

"Wait..I came there to yell at him." Haley widened her eyes in realization as she was already 10 meters away from Edward's house. "Why am I leaving now?" She blinked her eyes twice as she didn't know what just happened.

Haley walked to her house while trying hard to understand the situation.

"Mom! Did you get the concert tickets?!" She asked the second she entered the house.

From the kitchen, Claire replied, "Oh. YES! I got THEM!"

"No, I got them!" Phil interjected and ran toward the living room from the kitchen with a logo t-shirt. The logo was a giant door that was halfway open and written with the word [New] and [Gate]. A ray of light was coming in through the door and landed on a small figure of a man standing on a stage.

"Oh. Grandpa already had sent the shirts?" Haley asked as she saw the t-shirt her dad was wearing. One of Jay's hobbies was to design novelty t-shirts, and he came up with a t-shirt for the concert tomorrow as Edward had invited his entire extended family to come.

"Yup. It's great right?" Phil asked in excitement as he showed the front and back of the shirt.

Claire walked out of the kitchen hurriedly while wearing the same clothes and said admonishingly, "Phil. Don't play with the tickets. It's not like we can contact him if we lose them tomorrow."

She snatched the tickets from Phil's hand for safekeeping immediately.

"I'm not going to lose them!" Phil argued.

Then, Haley walked to Abby's house where she had still not gotten out of bed or done anything. But she was a bit better today as she actually took a bath and changed her clothes.

"Hey. Abby, you're still coming to the concert tomorrow right?" Haley asked carefully.

"Urgh!" Abby cupped her face in frustration and let out a long groan.

"I don't want to…Can I not go?" Abby turned to Haley and asked.

"I mean…if you don't want to.." Haley hesitated.

"No. That's not the answer. If I don't want to go, then you should drag me there." Abby said sternly.

"Why?" Haley asked.

"Because…I promised him to be there." Abby replied with conflicted eyes. "Therefore, I should be there for Ed."

Haley smiled softly and said, "Aww…You're a good…'friend'."

"Shut up." Abby retorted in embarrassment.

Haley shook her head and said, "We'll be going in the afternoon tomorrow. Why don't Tara and I ride with you and your mom?"

"Wait. Tara is coming?" Abby asked in confusion.

"Yeah. We know the artist. I just needed to ask for an extra ticket, and he gave it to me." Haley said proudly. Abby cracked a slight smile before she got depressed again. "Ahh, I don't think I can keep my sanity intact tomorrow."

Haley said with a smirk, "Don't worry, I'll be there to pick up the pieces."

"Yeah…and then mess up when you put them back together." Abby cracked a joke for the first time in 3 days, causing Haley to widen her eyes. Then, she realized that she was insulted and made an offended gasp after 20 seconds had passed.

…

[Edward POV]

"Thank god she will still come." I muttered as I read the confirmation from Haley. Finally, I decided to rest properly that night as I would be standing in front of 5000 people tomorrow.

"I can't help but feel nervous about it." I muttered as I collapsed into the bed and closed my eyes.

Then, I smirked and muttered, "It'll certainly be fun though."