Chapter 254: Visitor (2)

[Edward POV]

The rhythmic thud of a basketball echoed across the empty gym. Walking slowly to the source of the sound, I saw President Obama throwing a ball into a hoop while wearing his suit. This was like a fever dream I had, only this time, it was real.

"Oh, Mr Newgate. You're here. Mind if I call you Edward?" He greeted me cheerfully, pointing his finger at me in a casual manner as he grabbed the bouncing ball.

Smirking internally, I replied with a smiling face, "I don't mind. I'll keep calling you President. Anything would sound weird to me."

He tried to break boundaries by acting familiar, which was a great way for him to make way for the apology, but I built it back up. It didn't deter him however as he threw the ball at me, "Fancy a game?"

For an ordinary kid– no, that's inaccurate. Playing basketball with the President is the dream of the majority of the citizens of the country. It was supposed to make me feel awe with the situation, even provoking my patriotic spirit.

"..." I was silent as I processed the situation, just for a few seconds.

It would've worked if I didn't know what he was doing. However to be fair, it did work a little bit at the moment. 

"Sure." I agreed and started bouncing the ball on the ground. He took off his suit, gently placed it on the chair nearby, and folded his sleeves before re-entering the court.

"I have to warn you. I have a lot of experience playing the game before. I played it ONCE with my neighbor." I said with a straight face as I bounced the ball with my left hand and right, alternating them as I faced off with the president.

"Pfft-" He chuckled and lowered his head, which allowed me to throw the ball into the net from the 3 pointer line.

"That's awesome." He admired the shot greatly and was excited. "Are you sure you only played it once?"

"Yeah, but I'm also a quarterback, so throwing is my thing." I replied casually as I threw the ball to him. We played for a few rounds before he broached the topic. However, it was different from the topic I had in mind.

He said, "Edward, do you like Percy Jackson books?"

Although confused, I answered, "Yeah…Why?"

He smiled and said, "It must be hard for you to see the story getting butchered in the adaptation."

Agent Smith had reported my hobbies and complaints to the President it seemed.

"I do like the books. But I got to say, it seems like you have ulterior motives while bringing that up." I said jokingly while hinting at him to get to the point.

He smiled slyly and said, "Listen to this. Both of my daughters love the books too. And they are pretty disappointed with the same thing you are. As a father, I couldn't let that happen. I don't want to make them sad."

I scoffed internally and played along, "Oh, so what do you do?" I dribbled the ball casually, but didn't throw it into the net yet, pretending that the 47 years old man could give me a challenge.

"Personally? I didn't do anything. But I have asked some nice people to talk with the producers and the scriptwriter of the film." He replied in a casual manner. "After some discussion about our worries, they, regretfully, dropped the production of the movie, giving the rights back to Rick Riordan."

-Flashback–

Inside a dark confined space, both the producer and scriptwriter of the story– which had just entered the initial stage of production, were chained to metal chairs and their heads were covered with a black cloth.

Horrified, the duo shrieked loudly, trying to call for help. 

"Anyone out there!?" The producer shouted, "If this is a prank, IT'S NOT FUNNY!!"

Agent Smith slowly walked out of the shadow and turned the table light. Two agents stood behind the duo and yanked the black cloth, making them squint their eyes in agony as the harsh light was pointed to their faces.

"Ahh. Wh-What- Who are you guys?" The producer asked.

"What we are is not important. What's important right now is…" Agent Smith took out a file and scattered some printed images on the table, containing evidence of several crimes the producer had committed, "...How are you going to get out of here alive." 

Agent Smith turned to the scriptwriter as the producer was flabbergasted. "For you, we don't really have anything against you, so just be obedient and it'll all be over soon."

The scriptwriter nodded hurriedly, fear evident in his expression.

-Flashback ends-

Dumfounded, I watched as the President snatched the ball from me. He dribbled it briefly before shooting and scoring a neat basket. As the ball swished through the net, he turned to me with a smile. "So, I think your movie studio could try to negotiate with Mr. Riordan to get those rights," he hinted.

I returned the smile. "That's really fortunate news," I replied, and began dribbling the ball again.

Although I was tempted to ask him directly about his intentions, his indirect manner of speaking made me realize he wanted me to work for the movie rights myself, rather than simply handing them to me. This way, Hollywood wouldn't misconstrue my studio as a gangster operation willing to blackmail and force people to relinquish their rights– or whatever else they did to the producers.

We sat down on the court after he grew too tired to continue playing. While opening a bottle of water, he expressed tiredly, "Young people have too much energy. I can't keep up anymore."

I grinned and said, "I'm also shocked. I didn't think you had it in you."

He chuckled as he heard my remark. Wiping his sweat with a clean towel, he said, "You think that I'm only here today to change your mind about the agreement."

I nodded in reply. He smiled kindly, "You're guarded against me, and I don't blame you. I don't want to lie to you either, so I'll just be honest. It was part of my aim to come here and try to change your mind. I even have information that could help me in the negotiations."

By being upfront, he placed us on equal footing, no longer speaking as the President, but as himself. "What do you mean by 'was'?" I asked, confused. "What made you change your mind?"

He smiled wryly and said, "I won't share the details, as it's a matter of national security." Slowly, he got up from the floor and said, "All I want to do today is apologize to you."

Suddenly, he bowed down to apologize, which startled me. I jumped up from the court to stop him, "You don't have to do this."

"No, I had to do this," he said sternly. "The government itself has betrayed your trust in the country. I have no excuses to give you."

"Please stop," I said anxiously. He straightened his back and continued, "Before coming here, I planned to discuss this as an adult. But as we played basketball, I realized I had greatly misjudged the situation."

"You're only a kid, despite your height. You're only 3 years older than my daughter. And I wanted to put the weight of responsibility on you, to make you change your mind. I am ashamed of myself."

"Seriously, you don't have to do this," I tried to stop him again. Scheming and manipulation, I had anticipated all of that, but he disarmed me with the truth.

He placed his hand on my shoulder and said, "It's fine. I've said what I wanted to say. I hope you can forgive me, Edward."

"Yeah, fine. I forgive you," I replied hurriedly. 

He smiled and patted my biceps as he said casually, "Good. Now, I'm hungry. Let's go eat some lunch. I hope you don't mind that my daughters are joining us. They're your biggest fans, so I couldn't say no when they asked to come."

I was speechless by his turn of attitude, and I sighed with disbelief after that. The whole thing wasn't a negotiation, it was just the introduction. And despite my efforts, he did manage to break down the boundaries between us, which I admired a bit.

While at lunch, I learned a few things about the President's current state in the political arena, and felt a bit guilty about it. He made a lot of enemies after I implanted the suggestion to help the people inside his brain. He earned the support of the members of the public, but not the authority figures in the country. 

As I listened to words that came out of his daughter's mouth, not getting it directly from him, I made another decision that interfered with his destiny. Without anyone noticing, I used Fern's protection spell on him. It was to make myself feel better, however, little did I know that he was going to need the protection spell soon.

…

"They finally left." I sighed after I ushered the President and his family out of the company building. Pepper's eyes were still glittering with excitement after he was gone. While Harvey mulled the entire interaction with her eyes closed.

Pepper smacked my bicep with a rolled up paper, "You played basketball with the president?!" His voice was high pitched, and he asked with excitement.

"Ow." I exclaimed slowly before I said, "It's just basketball."

Pepper was flabbergasted and said, "Don't you realize what just happened? That's the FREAKING PRESIDENT!"

"Eeh." I shrugged nonchalantly. "I'd rather play with Scarlett."

"Playing her ball?" Pepper was confused. I stopped and looked at him before muttering with disbelief, "How did you know that?"

Pepper was speechless. Harvey slowly opened her eyes and grabbed my arm. "Ed, we need to talk."

"I already know what you're going to say, so I'm just going to go ahead and say, 'As long as they give us more benefits, I'm fine with continuing with the agreement.' Now if you'll excuse me, I don't want to miss out on the friends' reunion I had set up."

Harvey broke into a smile and gave me a thumbs up, " You really does have a knack of making people's difficult prepared speech goes to waste."

I smirked and said, "That's because you made it too easy for me to do it."

Well, putting aside Harvey's "persuasion" tactics, I could still see the potential benefits of cooperating with the government on this whole matter. Public pressure was another factor. Although the President didn't say anything specific in his interview after he left, sharp-nosed reporters would still find a way to figure out the whole incident.

Also, now that I had demonstrated my ability to pull the rug out from under them, those who held me in contempt would likely think twice about using me as a chess piece.

As I was leaving the room, I couldn't help but remember a song. Harvey and Pepper were still within earshot as I rapped.

"♫♪I'll be playing basketball with the president, dunkin' on his delegates

Then I'll compliment him on his political etiquette 

Toss a couple milli' in the air just for the heck of it

But keep the fives, twenties, tens, and Bens completely separate

And yeah, I'll be in a whole new tax bracket

We in recession, but let me take a crack at it♫♪"

"STOP!" Pepper shouted as one of my legs was outside the door. I turned to him with confusion, "What?"

"Explain that." He demanded excitedly.

Harvey also joined in, "Yeah Ed. Did you just rap?"

"Maybe." I replied with a smirk. "Seriously. Got to go. I'll see you guys later." I hurriedly left the office.

"Wait! Does that song have a name?" Pepper asked again. I glanced at them again and replied casually, "Billionaire. The title is "Billionaire."

[General POV]

Pepper and Harvey looked at each other after Edward left the office. Harvey couldn't help but chuckle, "What did it even mean? I can't even remember what he said now." She burst into laughter a few times.

Pepper chimed, "Oh. You too? I thought it was just me. Nowadays, I really need a written down lyric to even understand that type of song."

"But you don't have any problems with showtunes. Also, that's a bit racist." Harvey said with mocking contempt.

"..."

Pepper groaned and went to sit at his table again.

Down in the lower floors, Paige Swanson, the new scriptwriter, was holed up in a meeting room by herself. Her wild, curly hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and she had her glasses perched on her nose as she typed away on the computer. Paige looked like your typical worn-out writer - she was wearing an oversized checkered t-shirt that hung loosely on her frame, and had barely any makeup on her face. Dark circles were starting to form under her eyes from all the long hours she'd been putting in.

Suddenly, Paige's concentration was broken by a knock at the door. Thinking it might be the company big shot she was supposed to be meeting, she whipped her head around eagerly.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for the scriptwriter for the new movie. Is that you?" In sauntered Missy Cooper, all dolled up in a fitted, knee-length dress with a bold cherry blossom print in shades of red, pink, and black. She had on a pair of strappy black high heels that elongated her legs as she approached Paige confidently.

Paige's eyes went wide as she recognized the woman. "Missy Cooper?" she called out.

Using a sickly sweet tone, Missy replied, "Yup, that's me-" But then she did a total double take and her tone changed, "Wait a second, Paige Swanson?!?!"

"Missy!" Paige practically shrieked, jumping up to give her old friend a big hug. "It's been forever!" Missy gushed, using a super affectionate tone.

"Over fifteen years!" Paige gushed back. "How've you been? Hang on - what are you doing here in Texas? And at this company of all places?"

They caught up for a while, with Missy excitedly talking to Paige about her trip. As she listened to Missy's words, Paige's initial excitement slowly started to somber.

"Huh." Paige exclaimed to herself, her brow furrowing slightly.

"What?" Missy asked, confusion evident on her face.

"N-Nothing." Paige hesitated for a bit. Then, both of them heard a knock coming from the door.

…

[Edward POV]

"Hello." I greeted as I walked into the room. Missy jumped out of her chair and rushed to give me a hug, "Oh Edward. Thank you very much. Mom and I really enjoy the beach house."

As I was busy this afternoon, the driver drove them straight to the place where they were staying. Mary went to check up on Sheldon, and Missy came to the company after settling down.

"I'm glad you like it." I replied as Missy stood by my side. I turned to Paige and offered a handshake, "Hi. It's the first time we met. I'm Edward, but I'm sure you already know me."

"Paige Swanson." Paige greeted me with a solemn look. I was confused so I asked, "What's wrong? You look like you want to ask me something."

"Um. I do." Paige hesitated. Missy placed her hand on her hip as she stood beside me, "Just ask him. He's not the type to get mad if you ask him a question like Sheldon."

"Sheldon." Paige scoffed. "Did he tell you to do this? To hire me?" She asked carefully, despite the anger visible on her expression. "Did I only get the job because I know the people you know?"

Realizing that Missy was flown out here for a meeting today, Paige easily connected the dots.

I chuckled and said, "I don't even know you were hired until yesterday."

Paige was stunned for a bit and she shrinks back, "So, is this all a coincidence? It seems very unlikely."

"Nope. not a coincidence. I did flew Missy out here for you guys to meet. I wanted to see a tearful reunion, but I was too late," I confessed while chuckling.

Paige was confused and Missy chuckled. Missy looked at me admonishingly and asked, "The tour is still free right?"

"Yeah," I replied casually. Missy grabbed my cheek lightly and said, "Good. 'Cause I can't wait to go around Los Angeles and maybe meet some star."

"You have a star right in front of you," I said with disbelief. Missy placed her elbow on my shoulder and said, "Oh, somebody jealous?"

Paige was still confused, "Wait. Um. I'm sorry, but can I get an explanation– Please?"

I looked at her and nodded slightly, "Sure. I have some beef with Sheldon, so I went to visit his mother during my tour in Texas. We hit it off, and I learned about you too. Like Sheldon, I also have an eidetic memory, so I remembered who you are when I saw your resume. Mary and Missy told me a lot about Sheldon's embarrassing past you know–"

"I told him about you in a passing exchange. I don't think he'll still remember it," Missy interjected.

Paige asked, "What did you say about me?"

"I said I missed you when mom showed him your picture. That's all," Missy replied. And then she joked, "You don't have to make sense of what he's doing. He's rich. Rich people are always different from us ordinary people."

I nodded in agreement, "That's true."

Paige seemed to process everything, her expression shifting from confusion to understanding. "I see. So this was all just...your little scheme to orchestrate a reunion between old friends?" She glanced between Missy and myself, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "I am confused as to feel manipulated or grateful right now."

"Just be grateful." Missy said as she went to hug Paige again. "I didn't think that I could ever meet you again in my life. I thought you had a busy job like Sheldon, hiding in a research lab somewhere."

Paige smacked her lips and said, "I had quit science a long time before. Um, Missy, although I'm glad that we're meeting again, can it wait? I only have a meeting with Mr Newgate from 4-6."

Missy turned to me and asked, "Where are you going later?"

"To bother Sheldon with you and your mother. But I guess I can postpone that if you're staying here a couple more days." I replied.

Missy grabbed Paige's hand and said, "Good. You can bother Sheldon, and I can catch up with Paige. You can show me around LA, right Paige. Cause I don't want to walk around with my mother. Maybe you can show me where the party–"

Paige interrupted Missy quickly as she felt embarrassed, "Um…I only moved here a couple of months ago. And I was working the whole time, so I haven't had the chance to look around yet."

Both of them looked at me and I rolled my eyes, "I'm a teen. I can't even get into clubs."

"Ah." Missy exclaimed. "That's true."