Chapter 94: Playing around.
(double chapter today cause I forgot to post yesterday.)
"Mic check Mic check 1 2 1 2."
I was doing the mic check like RDJ asked me to do, but the guy face-palmed and said, "Dude. Trey could do that himself."
Trey–referring to the staff member doing the sound check before this. I was surprised that he knew the staff member's name.
"Then, what do you want me to do?" I asked slyly, pretending that I didn't know what he meant.
"Sing." RDJ said with a hidden intention. He actually wanted to study more about my performing style by watching it himself, but he wouldn't admit that.
"Okay sure." I said jokingly. "Only because you asked me too."
He rolled his eyes before grinning as he walked to downstage and mingled with the audience. He stood among the crowd members to experience the performance naturally and was crossing his arms as he waited for me to get ready.
"There isn't any instrument though." I said before a staff member suddenly ran towards me and handed me a guitar before disappearing like a shadow. Even RDJ was stunned as he saw that. Suddenly, he understood what happened as he saw the movie director standing beside him.
"John. Finished your argument with Susan?" RDJ asked while I was tuning my guitar.
"No. I will continue that later."
John Favreau had come to watch the guest member play, becoming one of the many hired crowd members today. The crowd of 100 people screamed as I went up the mic.
"This reminds me of my first ever performance in a cafe." I said while grabbing the mic, making a few people laugh here and there.
However, before I could continue, a fuming Renaldo walked briskly towards me and stopped my performance by shouting at me from down the stage.
"Mr Newgate! Can I have a moment with you?!" He said with gritted teeth as he gestured for me to come closer to him.
"Uh-Oh. Am I in trouble?" I said to the mic again before crouching at the edge of the stage to hear what Renaldo had to say.
"Hmmm? What happened?" RDJ asked himself.
John sighed and said, "I think I know…"
I returned to stand behind the mic after Renaldo explained to me a few things, and I said, "Okay. So apparently I cannot sing my songs here without my lawyer, so I will be doing a cover song instead. Also, I need to say a disclaimer that 'the footage captured purposely, or accidentally during my performance had no connection to the movie the studio is producing.' Is it okay now?"
I looked at Renaldo, and he sighed before nodding his head.
"Huh?" RDJ was confused so he turned to John. The director then explained, "If he doesn't put a disclaimer, we will be able to use it. Not that I WANT to do that, but that's how copyright law works."
"Ahh… I get it now." RDJ exclaimed before inwardly praising Renaldo.
"So, any requests?" I asked the audience after thinking for a while.
RDJ suddenly shouted the first name that came into his mind, "ELVIS!"
I looked directly at him and said in disbelief, "Seriously? How old are you?"
"Shut up. His songs are timeless." He retorted quickly. I ignored him and greeted Kaya and Anna who were jumping up and down while in their Ironette uniform, making me grin widely as my eyes followed their bounciness.
The top part of the uniform was a crop top – Iron man themed shirt with gold and red color while a replica of the arc reactor was pushing the girls breast upward, making them pop out of their shirt. The bottom part was still made with the Iron Man theme, and the short pants hugged the dancer's bottom snugly.
"Talk about fan service!" I muttered. RDJ and John nodded stealthily as they agreed with my words.
(Just a costume reference)
"Since RDJ requested it I will be singing a song but as I'm feeling old school there is nothing else I can do so I will be honoring "The King" and try to give you a worthy version of "I Can't Help Falling in love." I said before picking on the guitar strings to create the melody.
I closed my eyes as I immersed myself in the music and slowly, the murmurs from the crowd became less and less, until it finally stopped.
♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪
"♫♪Wise men say…. Only fools, only fools rush in!!♫♪ " I sang with a soothing and a jazzy voice, mesmerizing the entire crowd. Kaya cupped her mouth in awe while Renaldo raised one of his brows.
"Dayumm." RDJ exclaimed as his jaw dropped from his shock. I didn't know whether it was because I love this song before this, or that my Druid's [Soul Voice] leaked out without me realizing it, but my voice had started to shake the souls of those who heard it.
[Renaldo POV]
"But I can't help falling in love with you!♫♪"
I was honestly shocked when I heard his voice. I knew he was good, but I never really listened to his vocals properly before.
Suddenly, I found myself transported to the 80s where everything was in a sepia filter. A dance club in the middle of nowhere. Only me, and the one person who was always in my mind was there. I wrapped my hand around his muscled waist as we danced.
Ed's voice reverberated at the dance floor. "♫♪Shall I stay? Would it be, would it be a sin?"
'Oh Dwayne.' I thought as I placed my head on his chest while he wrapped himself around me.
"♫♪If I can't help falling in love with you♫♪"
♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♫♪
[General POV]
Ed finally opened his eyes and he was a bit startled by the crowd's reaction. Some were in tears, some started dancing with a partner. Even Renaldo was hugging himself and was dancing as he enjoyed the song.
"♫♪Like a river flows
Surely to the sea
Darling, so it goes
Some things are meant to be♫♪"
And just as he expected, some people started to kiss each other. However, it wasn't at the level of brainwashing. Those people were in fact a couple. The single guys in the crowd couldn't help but show a look of longing as they heard the song.
RDJ and John Favreua were in a trance and was actually slow dancing with one another. They noticed it a minute in on their dance, and separated from each other with disgust immediately afterward.
"♫♪Take my hand
Take my whole life too♫♪"
The crowd waved their hand in the air, gently saying it as they followed the song's rhythms. Ed didn't stop singing from the crowd's strange reaction, but instead he poured his heart and soul into the song as he sang.
♫♪For I can"t help falling in love with you
For I can"t help falling in love with you
Yeah~♫♪
With a hint of sadness in his voice, Ed locked eyes with the audience members and sang the last verse.
He finished the song with a soft outro, and then a thunderous applause was heard, shaking the entire movie set. Renaldo snapped out of his delusion, and hurriedly recovered his focus to try and protect me better.
Edward smiled at the crowd and said, "Everyone, if you have someone you love, don't wait until it's too late to let them know. With that I think it's safe to say the Mics are ok no?? Also Robert you now owe me a signed Iron Man Helmet, and you bet your sweet Hollywood ass I will cash it soon."
The crowd giggled before they started chanting "ENCORE!" to encourage Ed to continue singing. Even John didn't say anything and agreed with the rest of the crowd as it wasn't yet time to shoot the next scene yet.
But then, Edward suddenly shushed them.
[Edward POV]
"Hey. Can you guys hear that?" I asked the audience as I suddenly heard something strange.
The crowd thought I was acting at first, but in their silence, they could hear some grumbling and screams coming from behind the stage set.
John was concerned and he walked to the source of the disturbance hurriedly.
"Ed. Let's go take a look!" RDJ said with a hint of excitement. "Someone might just die here, and the whole place will have to be locked down until we find the culprit!" He said, failing to control his excitement anymore.
I rolled my eyes at him before jumping from the 1.5 meter tall stage, completely making Renaldo feel horrified by my action.
"Are you crazy?!" He yelled.
I looked at him with a grin and said, "Calm your tits. Let's go take a look."
"That's offensive." Renaldo retorted.
"Why? It's a bird." I said in confusion.
Renaldo was completely stunned by my reply, but he couldn't do anything as I had already followed Robbie to look at what was happening. Kaya and Anna hugged me in each arm as I walked, making him sneer at my 'misery'.
"Ed. Thank you for the opportunity." Kaya said with a sincere tone.
Anna nodded and said, "If there's anything… And I do mean ANYTHING you want from us, you can just-"
Before she could finish, I interrupted her quickly, "Don't say that. My intentions are pure. I just think you guys are great dancers, so I was only helping out a bit. You don't need to repay me with anything."
Kaya bit her lips and said, "But-"
"No Buts. Also, your scene is barely less than a minute. Even Penny had more screen time in my music video." I said teasingly as I changed the subject.
Anna noticed what I was doing and she didn't say anything lest I felt uncomfortable with their persistence. After all we were only surface level friends, and not really that close. She released me and gestured to Kaya to do the same.
The latina girl reluctantly released my hand as I smiled wryly at them. We arrived at the source of the disturbance, only to find several dancers were clutching their stomachs as they banged on the toilet door. Not only the dancers, several staff members had already run out of the studio in search of a toilet while trying hard to clench their buttocks to prevent leaking.
"What the hell happened here?" John asked furiously as he stopped an anxious staff member. It was the same staff member that RDJ had called to remove the salad from the buffet table before.
"Uhhhh…I…"
"It was the chicken salad!" A dancer said with gritted teeth as she held her hurting stomach.
"Holy mother-" RDJ exclaimed in disbelief as he thought about what happened before. He turned to me quickly, but I only shrugged as a response.
"I did tell you that salad had gone bad before." I said casually.
"Ughh AGRHHH!" The same dancer who tattled before screamed in pain as she banged on the toilet door again. John and RDJ went to help the people who were clutching their stomachs, and some even fainted. I asked a staff member to call 911 as a lot of people needed medical attention.
Before long, the place was crowded with EMTs. Robbie gulped and inwardly thanked himself for trusting my words before this.
"Otherwise, I would be in one of the ambulances." He muttered to himself while wiping the cold sweats on his forehead.
…
The scene filming had to be postponed as the majority of the dancers were hospitalized. John Favreau invited me to the director's office to talk after I settled my business with the dancers.
However, Anna and Kaya decided to go home instead after getting out of the Ironette uniform as it was almost 2 am now. I didn't stop them and before they left, they invited me to their apartment, saying that I should stop by whenever.
I just agreed to be polite, but I didn't actually have any plans to go there.
I knocked on the director office's door two times before turning the door handle.
"Is this the Ultimate Fighting Champion's room?" I asked.
John chuckled while RDJ said in excitement while mocking the director, "BOOM. I knew he would recognize you. You owe me 20 bucks."
"(Tsk) Okay. Come on in Ed." John said before ignoring RDJ. We talked a bit about FRIENDs TV series before John finally spoke of his purpose of inviting me there.
"You know. Linn told me that you had guessed almost the entire movie plot correctly." John said with a serious face. "Is the plot so predictable?" He asked with a hint of concern in his eyes.
I shook my head and said, "No. Most of the new fans won't even know who Iron Man's enemies are. Not everyone is familiar with the comics after all."
"Then, how did you know? Did someone leak it to you?" He asked. He didn't accuse me, but he was genuinely concerned whether or not the storyline had been exposed.
"Well…I AM familiar with the comics." I lied, but my acting skill made it seem like I was telling the truth. John eased up a bit and we got into an intense discussion about Marvel comics.
"Like I said. Pick one villain. It's a loss if you put both in the same movie." I debated.
"Not a lot of people know about Whiplash or Justin Hammer. It's the only plotline that made sense." John argued back.
"Justin Hammer created the Super-Adaptoid. A robot that could break the Avengers if used properly."
"What the hell are you guys talking about?" RDJ shook his head in disbelief after John and I had been arguing non-stop for 30 minutes.
John suddenly sighed and said, "I understand your concerns. But, there's too many villains in the series. And we're also going to introduce some new characters, so we can't-"
"Let me guess. Nick Fury and Black Widow?"
John was shocked once again, but after a thorough discussion, I understood his dilemma in the production. It wasn't his fault that the movie was going to be critiqued in the future. He really tried.
But to be honest, even though some people critiqued the story, a lot more people thought that the movie was awesome. There were a lot more leisure watchers than diehard fans after all.
"Hey… I…actually have an idea, but I don't know if it is good or not." I said while scratching my cheek shyly.
"Huh? What idea?" RDJ asked.
"A song idea." I explained a bit more.
John's eyes lit up and he said, "Let's hear about it!"
…
4 am. I finally returned to the hotel, mind full of exhaustion. I jumped on the bed without even changing my clothes and muttered in amazement, "Can't believe I have RDJ's phone number."
Renaldo had done his job perfectly and even acted as a mediator in my negotiation with John after he decided to accept my idea. The good news was, it would take a long time for the movie production to finish, so there was no rush for me to do what I suggested.
"The bad news is… now I have added extra work to my already crumbling hill of unfinished projects."
I sighed as I set an alarm to wake up at 8 am, which was barely 4 hours from the time now.
"Rest…wait…how do I activate the skill?" I muttered as I tried to summon the active skill. I tried a few chants. Zim Zim zala bim, avada kedavra, abrakadabra, but nothing was working.
But, all I needed to do was to actually close my eyes and have the intention of resting for the skill to activate itself. In less than 30 seconds after I closed my eyes, I had already fallen to dreamland, which was a new record for a relatively overthinking person like me.
…
[General POV]
While the Dunphy's were having dinner, there was one person missing from the dining table as she was preoccupied with her work.
"Honey. Just eat first. I'm swamped with work right now. Ed has just sent over multiple orders that I need to analyze and reply to as soon as I can." Claire said to Phil who called her to have dinner together as a family.
She had tied up her hair and was wearing her eyeglasses as she looked at Phil, asking for his understanding.
" But honey. You've been working all day long. " Phil said in concern.
" Yeah mom. Aren't you working part time?" Luke asked.
Claire said hurriedly to brag and to correct, "No Luke, not anymore I'm already a vice director."
"For a 10 person company." Haley said snidely. However, Claire grinned and said, "No. 75 people now. We're expanding quicker than Luke's pants after dinner."
"Hey!" Luke yelled.
Claire didn't apologize and continued working.
"Well, if mom isn't joining…" Alex tried to stand up and leave, but Phil said sternly, "Sit down. This is our time together as a family. We're going to sit here, eat this pizza, and talk about how your mother loves work more than us."
"Well for one thing, people actually care about what I say and think at work." Claire retorted without even looking at Phil.
"Urgh, but I need to study." Alex groaned in frustration. Haley snickered at her misery and said, "Well. I, for one, do enjoy the time together with my family. Especially with dad, who has worked so hard to show us how much he loves us."
Phil was touched, and his eyes became teary. With a choked up voice, he turned to Haley and said, "My beautiful daughter-"
"So dad. I was thinking after we have this wholesome family time. Could I go to Ed's hotel? You know he's all alone there. "
"..."
Phil was stunned speechless and was influenced , but Claire certainly wasn't.
"No you may NOT! He's working hard, and you're only going to disturb him. Go study for your finals instead. Otherwise you won't be able to reach the next grade."
Haley rolled her eyes at her mother and retorted, "Hey I can go to the next grade! I'm not THAT dumb!"
Then, she continued with a concerned whisper, "I just need to make sure to get at least a D for every subject."
"Dad~" Haley whined, trying to beg her dad to change her mother's mind.
"I'm with your mom on this one." Phil said wryly before turning to Claire again and adding hurriedly. "Are you sure you can't take a 15 minute break? Is Ed still working? He needs dinner too."
"He's going to a movie studio for something." Claire said, before grinning hard as she managed to finish one of her assignments today.
"He's not even working? Then why are you trying to destroy this family Claire?!" Phil asked exasperatingly.
Claire was flabbergasted and finally turned to him. With a pitiful face, she said, "But…this is the first time he's let me handle a big job… I don't want to let him down."
"What is he? Grandpa?" Alex muttered to herself as her mother's desperation to prove herself to Ed had struck a familiar chord in her as it had a clear similarity to the times her mother tried to make their grandfather acknowledge her work.
"Maybe because he is emotionally unavailable too." She muttered again before checking her phone as she got a text message from Jenna.
"He's at a movie studio? Why?" Haley asked. "Is it the Twilight movie?"
"No. It's another movie studio. Marvel Martell something like that." Claire replied casually before returning to look at the laptop screen.
"Mom. He's not…resting again. I need to go there-" Haley tried to convince her mother, but Luke interrupted by shouting, "IRON MANNNNN!"
He ran to his mother and grabbed her arm, startling the woman. "I WANT HIS AUTOGRAPH!"
"W-What? Luke, stop that!" Claire said as Luke kept shaking her arm.
"Whose autograph?" Phil asked.
"IRON MAN!!" Luke said while turning to his dad.
"I'll text him." Haley's eyes lit up and she got to work quickly. Ed noted Luke's request, and he told RDJ about it later on, getting Luke a personalized autograph poster of Iron Man.
The next day came, and after relentless badgering from Luke since early in the morning, Phil gave up and agreed to bring the boy to the hotel to pick up the poster. He definitely didn't go there because he wanted to play at the hotel. 'His intention was totally pure' – he lied to himself.