Chapter 74: What happened while I was sleeping?

(Note: I will only be posting till Thursday, and will take a break starting Friday till Tuesday next week for Eid Adha.)

[Edward POV]

"(Yawn), Finally, I finished it. Oh. It's already 5 am now."

Walking out groggily from my room, I put my hands up to stretch my back while glancing at the clock as I had been working on the editing for 7 hours.

Despite my advanced skills, there was still a lack of editing tools I needed, therefore I created them on my own after hacking on editing software. Otherwise, the whole editing process would only take me 1 hour.

'Still, I closed all of the two ways the software communicates with the company, making it look like pirate software.'

I was satisfied by how the video turned out, but I still needed to hear what the director and others thought about it.

"Maybe I'll do a premier tomorrow after school." I said while stifling a yawn. I tried to shake my sleepiness as I felt it was more damaging for me to go to sleep now. Therefore, I decided to just stay up all night and sleep during the classes at school today.

My presence downstairs startled my aunt who was staying in my house for the night, and was drinking beer after waking up early. She was only in a white tank top and wearing short pink-coloured yoga pants that were hugging her perfectly shaped ass tightly. Her nipple was protruding as she wasn't wearing a bra, and her hair was a bit messy as she hasn't tended to it yet.

"E-ED. Why aren't you sleeping?" Aunt Camila asked with a stammer, spitting back the beer into the cup. Some of it dripped from her chin, and she wiped it off with the back of her left hand. She covered her chest by crossing her arms, and was taking a step backward as she felt self-conscious when dressing so sexily in front of me.

"Why aren't you?" I asked back casually as I went to pour myself a cup of coffee. Honestly, I was too tired to even notice what she was wearing at this moment.

"Did…Did you stay up all night staring into the computer? But..YOU HAVE YOUR FINAL EXAM TODAY! You should be well rested!"

"It's fine. It's fine. Also, my final is next week. I don't have anything special to do today." I replied playfully before walking to the living room and turning on the TV. I wanted to check the news to study the stock market.

Camila got mad and snatched the remote away from me before saying, "GO TO SLEEP! You should get some rest, at least for an hour!"She also grabbed the cup of coffee from my hand and pointed to my bedroom while huffing cutely.

"...Nah I'm good. Can I please have my coffee back?" I asked calmly, not trying to move at all.

"...Are you being rebellious? Did you reach puberty?" My aunt asked in disbelief. I finally turned to look at her, and was a bit startled when I saw what she was wearing.

"I haven't gotten the dream yet if that's what you were asking. Also, Wow." I smiled and exclaimed as I saw the sight in front of me. Her face flushed and she tried to cover up her chest again, but all it did was make her look even more seductive.

"Shut up. Don't leer on your aunt." She said in embarrassment and ran to my dad's room to change into a robe. Dad was on the night shift today, so he would only be home at 6 or 7 am, depending on whether he wanted to have breakfast with the crew first or now.

As I was watching the news, she returned while wearing a proper robe this time. She sat next to me and said, "Are you really not sleeping?"

"Yeah. It's fine." I replied with my eyes glued on the screen as I was still studying the stock market news.

My aunt narrowed her eyes as she looked at me with a scrutinizing gaze, and she asked, "Is this a normal day for you."

"Depends. Sometimes I stay up all night. Sometimes I sleep early. It depends on if I have work to do that day or not." I replied without thinking much.

She sighed secretly and said, "Why do you need to do so much work anyway? With the games, the music, the clothes…"

"I don't know. I have the ability to do it, so why shouldn't I do it?"

"Yeah. But, did you enjoy doing it, or were you just doing it, because you think people expect you to do it?"

I went silent at my aunt's words. However, I threw the matter to the back of my mind as I saw a stock that I had bought before had doubled in its value, earning me twice of my initial investment before.

"NICE!" I exclaimed.

"So, you're just going to ignore me?" My aunt asked again.

"Yeah." I replied playfully, annoying her. She pinched my waist, which made me flinch and laugh, but then she grabbed my head and made me lay down on her thigh.

"Go to sleep. You're a growing boy. You need to sleep better. I'll call your dad to see if you can take a day off today." She patted my shoulder in a loving manner as I laid down on her lap with a confused expression plastered on my face. I tried to get up, but she held my head down.

"Wait. Camil-"

"AUNT Camila. Don't be rude. Or I'll put the Primo pepper in all of your food again."

She laughed it off in a joking manner, but I knew that it was a thinly veiled threat and gulped my saliva in fear. But, as I laid down on her laps, my eyelid got heavier and heavier.

"Damn it." I cursed and I fell asleep soon after as my tiredness from yesterday's shooting dragged me down into dreamland.

[3rd Person POV]

"You're the same as your mother. Can't sleep if your mind isn't at ease." Camila patted her nephew's shoulder lovingly even though he had already gone to sleep, and she smiled as she brushed his hair from falling to his face.

"I can't believe I have a pretty awesome nephew, and it took me 14 years to finally meet and get to know you."

…

-Dunphy's house, 9 am-

"Hey hun, what's the nickname Jennifer Lopez stole from Jon Lovitz?"

Claire was laying down on the sofa while Phil was getting ready to go to an open house when his phone suddenly rang. "J-LO!" Phil answered the call before Claire could answer his question.

Claire pursed her lip as she thought the line this time was not that bad, while Phil was excitedly snickering from his own joke.

"Hey Phil. I wanted to ask you, do you want to come watch Ed's music video premie-"

"I DO I DO I DO I DO!" Phil said excitedly before Ted could finish his words.

"Okay great. So you and your family members will be here at 6?" Ted asked.

"Wait. Why don't we use Jay's house? He has a projector, and we can make it a red-carpet event." Phil said. Claire heard what Phil was talking about, and she stood up and walked to him as she was intrigued by the conversation.

"What's going on?" She asked Phil whisperingly as her husband was still on the phone. Phil covered the phone mic and told Claire about the situation.

The news spread like wildfire, and all members of the extended family knew about the premier.

-Pritchet's house-

"YES. YES. We can do it here!" Gloria said in excitement after Phil had called her to ask for permission to host the event at her house. Dressed in a floral blue dress, Gloria jumped up in excitement. Her chest jiggled as if a 10 scale magnitude earthquake was shaking the world, causing Jay to turn toward her.

"What needs to be done here?" He asked, fearing that his plan for a peaceful day had gone to the trash.

Ignoring Jay, Gloria said, "We can all dress up. Take a photo-"

"What is it? What's happening?" Jay asked again, his voice shook a little as Gloria's plan sounded tiresome for him even though the event hadn't started yet.

"I even bought a new dress yesterday." Gloria said before finally noticing Jay. Her eyes shook and she said to the phone, "O-Of course, I didn't buy the dress for nothing. My sixth sense was telling me that I would need it soon-"

"Save it. What event?" Jay asked, not minding the meager spending of his new wife at all. Especially after signing the deal with Ed, Pritchett's Closet reputation had surpassed his long time rival, Closets Closets Closets Closets, and sales were booming for the company right now.

Not to mention that a few extremely capable employees had been hired by the company recently, and the employees had helped the company to brace through the active development period perfectly.

'However, they were extremely interested in the website. But, I didn't plan to tell them who created it yet. I want to see the shock in their eyes when they find out a 14 year old was the one who'd done it.' Jay thought secretly.

…

-FBI Headquarters-

"Did the agents we had sent to infiltrate Pritchett Closet come back with any information yet?" A tough looking FBI team leader asked.

"No sir. The information is only kept by the top brass of the company. One of our agents even tried to seduce Jay Pritchett, but…" A meek-looking white guy said.

"What is it?" The team leader asked.

"He turned it down sir. He had also fired the agent. Also, we found out that Jay Pritchett recently had his second marriage to a Colombian woman. We're now looking into the cartel to see if we can find the information through there."

"Enough. Do you really think that's true? We aren't sure of Pritchett's affiliation yet, but now we have to search inside the cartel?" The tough looking guy gritted his teeth in anger.

"Sir. If I can say something…Are we even sure that he's involved with a crime? I think it's only an ordinary closet company." A female agent with a cold-looking face asked.

The team leader slammed the table with his fist and said, "Don't you think I want to know that too? If our suspicions are true, then, the cartel and the Irish mafia had joined hands. The cartel will supply the drugs, and the mafia– under the guise of the closet company, will deliver it throughout the entire country. And now, they even plan to go international. We have to find out what's going on."

"Our agents are working on it sir." The meek looking guy said before turning to another page, "We're now working with a few university professors to try and bring down the website's defenses as you hypothesized it's a fake site that hides black market trade inside of it. But, despite all of our best work, we can't even scratch its first line of defense."

"Send more people to infiltrate the company. Make sure they do excellent work there for them to be noticed by the top brass. As long as we find the master password, then we can finally see what's truly going on inside the company." The team leader ordered.

…

-Pritchet's house-

"I'm telling you hun, we can go to Expo Internationale Du Closet faster than I thought. The guys whom I kept telling you about, are bringing some of their work friends, and all of them are as capable as they are." Jay shared his news in excitement.

"Ah Jess (Yes). Also, the young lady wants to seduce their old boss. How many of them are you bringing in too?" Gloria asked teasingly as she didn't believe that Jay would have eyes for another woman after being with someone like her.

"This again. I'm telling you. I have already fired that girl. I could sense she wanted something else, and not me." Jay said before he hugged Gloria's waist and made her face him. "Besides, I don't need anyone else. I Just need you by my side."

"Ayy Jay." Gloria said before she rested her face on Jay's chest. Then, she smacked Jay's left shoulder and said, "Go bring Manny from school. We also need food for the event."

Jay sighed and said, "I thought we were going to spend the day, just the two of us today."

Gloria laughed and said, "It's not my fault your day ends so quickly." Jay smirked and grabbed Gloria before putting her on his shoulder, "Then, We should make most of my time before its over. "

Gloria giggled as Jay brought her to their bedroom, postponing the event preparation a little.

…

"Oh my gosh. The music video is done, and Ed is inviting us to the premiere." Cam said in excitement as he called Mitchell who was working at this time.

"Cam, Ugh, I think I'm going to be late today." Mitchell said as he looked at the piling files on top of his desk. "I don't think I can make it."

"Really Mitchell? After all we went through with him? How could you?" Cam spoke accusingly before walking to Lily's room.

Mitchell wiped his forehead with his hand and said, "You know what? I'm so sick of doing overtime. I'll be there as soon as I clock out."

"Good. Maybe next time, you'll have courage to stand up to your boss when he asks you to come in on the weekends." Cam said.

"I don't know- Anyway, I got to go. See you there. Wait- Is there a dress code to this event?"

"I'm not sure. You know what? Why don't we just wear a Hollywood Glamor Fabulous theme. I'll text the others so that they will know what to wear." Cam said in excitement as he leaned in to talk to Lily that was babbling in her crib.

"Yes Lily. We're going to see Edward tonight."

"Yed…Yed…" Lily babbled.

"Hmm…I guess that's better than 'Bed'." Mitchell said sarcastically as he heard Lily's voice through the microphone.

-Highschool-

"Hey. Ed is premiering his music video today at my grandpa's house." Haley said to Abby after hanging up the phone call from her father.

"I know. Mom just told me that." Abby said after hanging up the call from her mother. Desiree was also invited by Ted to the premiere, as friends.

"I still don't know how your mom can be so close with Ed's dad." Haley spoke without thinking. Abby nodded and said, "Yeah. She was smiling all day after I picked her up from the docks. I think…she went on a date with him."

"Ewwww…If Ed's dad, and your mom…decided to get married…then, will you and Ed become step-siblings?" Haley said with a face full of disgust. Abby also grimaced and the thought of the matter becoming true haunts her.

"I…don't think so. No. Please…No." Abby muttered with a hint of begging in her tone.

-Middle school-

Alex walked to Jenna, Elsa, and Jacob's table before saying, "Hey. Ed's music video premiere is tonight."

"Really?" Jacob widened his eyes in surprise, before wallowing in self pity as Ed didn't invite him to it.

"Don't feel sad. I think this is a surprise for Ed. He might not even know that the premier is today. Although from the looks of it, it'll just be a premier for his close friends." Alex explained.

"Ah. So another surprise?" Elsa said in excitement. Jenna lowered her eyes, and she wasn't as excited as her other friends after hearing the news.

"I… I don't think I can go." Jenna said with a sullen face.

Alex continued without catching Jenna's mood. "The style is upscale…what? Fabulous something. Just wear something classy. I need to go invite Enid." Alex said in excitement before turning to Jenna.

"I don't have that kind of dress. Can you accompany me to the mall after school?"

"SURE. LET'S GO SHOPPING!" Elsa exclaimed in excitement after interrupting the two girls's conversation.

"Wait. I also need…to invite Mrs Henderson?" Alex read the text from her dad twice as she was in disbelief about what was written.

"Why her?" Elsa asked while Jenna finally showed a little bit of interest.

"I don't know. I'll text him to see if he mistyped." Alex said before walking away. Elsa waved her off with a smile, before her face turned stoic as she turned to Jenna. "So…what did you do now?"

"What?...Nothing." Jenna said while avoiding her best friend's gaze. Elsa sighed and said, "You really are a bad liar. Now, tell me everything!"

…

[Edward POV]

"Hmmm….What time is it?"

With a groan, I finally woke up from my sleep. I find myself to be alone at the sofa, as my aunt had already freed herself after her legs went numb from being a prolonged lap pillow. I sat up from the 3 seat sofa and walked to the kitchen where I could hear some noise.

"Good afternoon. It's already 1 pm. I prepared lunch for you." Aunt Camila said.

"Oh Ed. I knew I should have checked up on you last night. If only Longines hadn't called me to pick him up from the bar." Pepper said while walking toward me. He came to visit after my dad called him to invite him to the premier. He already watched my edit, and had sent a copy to the director while I was sleeping.

"The film is now finished. I can't believe you did it all in one day. Also, the director is pretty happy to see such high quality edits." Pepper said as he grabbed both of my shoulders. "I'm proud of you. Come on, let's eat."

"Wait. Aunt Camila prepared it?" I asked while eyeing the food in front of me suspiciously. She rolled her eyes and said, "I didn't use the pepper again! I CAN COOK!"

"I…It's better if we order out-"

"Sit your ass down and eat!" She spoke sternly as she pushed me to take a seat on the dining table. I laughed at her reaction before turning to Pepper, "So far, we can release the singles without worry right?"

"Yes. All the preparation is finished. You don't have anything else to do for this. Now, it's Harvey and mine's job." Pepper said before criticizing my aunt about her coffee. "Ugh. This tasted factory made."

"Brew your own then." Aunt Camila said in annoyance as she had never met someone more picky than Pepper in her entire life. I took 20 minutes to eat before showering and changing my clothes.

Pepper suddenly stood up as if he was waiting for me to be ready and said, "Let's go. We don't want to be late to your premier now don't we?"

I was confused by the whole situation, then I saw my aunt had already changed into a classy purple dress.

"???"

"Your dad is already waiting at the venue. We'll meet him there." Pepper said before he grabbed me by the arms and started pulling me to the front door. My aunt followed us from behind, and was rushing as it was almost 3 pm, and all the guests had returned from their schools.

"Can someone tell me what is going on?!"