Chapter 252: Uphill battle.

[Edward POV]

Saturday morning. Villa by the seaside.

Yawning, I made my way to the dining table, bringing the sandwich I had prepared for me and my guests. My hair was disheveled, and my outfit was far from refined – just a simple tank top and boxer shorts.

As I placed the plates in front of the seats, Enid's excited voice rang out. "Come on! Hurry up and eat! I can't wait anymore. I'm too excited for our first hike together."

In contrast, Jenna's expression was one of disdain, her commitment to the outing clearly wavering. "I'm backing out. I don't want to sweat early in the morning–"

Enid quickly interjected, cutting her off. "Oh no you don't. Alex already can't come for whatever reason. Elsa and Jacob have a date, Finneas and Billie have a tutoring lesson. Wait. If you back out, that means I will go on the hike with Edward alone– like a date?!! You CAN leave–"

Jenna's tone shifted to a teasing one as she interrupted, "I'm not going to leave now."

"Um…" I choked on the sandwich, and promptly grabbed the nearby water. After downing it, I turned to Enid and Jenna and asked, "Can someone explain to me, why are there suddenly plans to go on a hike?"

When I woke up this morning, Enid and Jenna were actually at my house, already ready with their outfit, some packaged food for the picnic, and were beaming brightly in front of my bedroom door. I didn't even know what happened and I was already dragged out of my room.

"Meow." Vader hopped on my lap and licked my finger, wanting a bite to eat too. I gave her some bacon and waited for the girls' answer. Enid and Jenna looked confused. Jenna asked me back, "You're the one who planned it yesterday? You don't know?"

"I did?" I was confused. 'Was I so out of it that I didn't remember?' I thought inwardly.

"Yeah. Your dad called my house, telling me the plan." Enid explained. "So I invited everyone in the group chat on your behalf."

"Ahh." I finally understood the situation. I wanted to get mad, but then I realized that I could use a break, so I said, "Alright. Where are we going?"

Dad and Pepper were so traumatized after yesterday's event that they couldn't bear to see me– mostly from embarrassment rather than fear. They spend almost 3 hours clutching to the toilet because of my actions.

 However, after it was done, even their skin was a bit glossy. It worked very well for my dad considering his skin was previously a bit yellowish because of his liver problem.

"Just outside the city." Jenna replied with an excited smile.

I nodded and said, "I'm bringing Vader too. Ah, also…" I walked to the living room couch suddenly. The girls turned their head as they followed my figure, and then widened their eyes as I suddenly kicked the drunken girl sleeping on my couch.

"Wake up Maggie! We're going on a hike!" I woke her up mercilessly.

"Oww." Maggie whined sobbingly as she fell onto the floor. "5 more minutes." She begged.

"Go get ready now." I ordered. "Ah, miss-don't-think-I-don't-see-you-hiding-there, you're going on the hike too." I turned to Vanessa who tried to hide from me after waking up from the shout.

"Damn it." She cursed, but she accepted her fate.

Last night, both Maggie and her came to my place after leaving a club, in which she met her ex-boyfriend Zac there. Both of them were quite wasted, so company security picked them up, and Maggie insisted on being sent here instead of their own place. 

They got ready in 20 minutes, all of us wearing fitness clothes, and I drove us to the hill in a black SUV. Before leaving, I also cooked a few more food for the picnic, and brought a mat with me too.

I carried most of the stuff inside my bag, and also I held a leash for Vader as we climbed the barren hill together. The hike was short, barely 20 minutes to reach the top, and unchallenging…for me.

"Ahhhh!!!..." Maggie shrieked while sweating heavily, bending slightly to support her body by putting her hand on her knee. Vanessa laid down flat on the ground, not having the energy to move. Enid and Jenna were fine, and they were enjoying the food I brought.

Vader ran around the spot in excitement, and I kept an eye on her in case there were predators here. She didn't even have a claw to defend herself if anything happened. Vader didn't go far and rushed back towards me after being startled by a fox's noise. Her reaction made me feel helpless.

'Should I create a mechanical claw for her? Or just go the ultimate way and create Iron armor for her? She won't have claws, but she can shoot beams from her paw. That is enough to ensure her safety, right?' I thought secretly as I mused myself at the concept of an Iron Cat… Well, literally a cat. Not Felicia Hardy kind of Iron Cat.

Too bad I didn't know how to make the armor.

I picked Vader up to ease her before walking to Vanessa and Maggie. "Well…this is sure to happen if you keep going clubbing for 5 days straight." 

Maggie held her finger up in order to talk, but her panting breath made it hard for her to retort back. She gave up soon after and kept catching her breath. I turned to Vanessa and shook my head disapprovingly, "Aren't you a dancer? Why is your stamina so weak?"

With a tiny, barely audible whisper, stuttering her words as she did, "Shut up. Please plas- Plas- Pass me a sandwich.."

 I smirked, "If you can get to the picnic basket, you can take it. But if you're late, don't blame us if there's none left for you."

Vanessa stood up abruptly and scolded me, "Demon! Be KINDER!! You look kind, but you're an asshole!" 

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a couple of muscle soreness relief pills and gave it to the two girls. Then, I gave Vanessa extra medicine.

"What's this?" She asked curiously.

"Anti-dependency pill for your drug problem." I replied casually. Locking myself in my lab, I worked hard finding ways to bring the alchemist's formulas to life. It was hard to do considering that I lacked the raw materials. 

I could get more, my action of releasing the formulas made it impossible to do so without the authorities becoming alert since they were monitoring it to find out who the doctor was. My plan was foiled by my own short-sightedness– Well, not really. I just had to run simulations instead.

Vanessa's jaw dropped in disbelief and she was speechless for a while. 

"I don't have a drug problem!" She retorted with an incredulous high pitched voice. I chuckled and walked to Enid and Jenna. 

Jenna yawned and said, "Ed, are you the Most Wanted Doctor? What is it– Ah, Doctor Samaritan? The Human Experiment Doctor? The Strange Doctor? Time Traveller Doctor–"

A bit stunned, I didn't show my reaction on my face and played along."Okay Enough." I shot a disdainful look at Jenna, making her giggle.

Enid's eyes lit up and joined in, "It must be you! No wonder you've been so busy this week!"

"That's not me." I replied casually. "Or else I would already be caught by the FBI or CIA now. Maybe even by Interpol. I would be locked in a dark room, never to see the day again." I joked.

A few days ago, someone released over 100 medicines formulas to the world. Every single pharmaceutical company in the world received that medicine formula. At first, people were skeptical, but some foreign country had created the formula, which turned out to be legit. 

Enid laughed and teased excitedly, "Like… we need to keep it a secret…or–"

I rolled my eyes and said, "I'm not that guy. You know me."

"Yeah. There's no way you're going to do that, without making millions from it." Enid cackled.

"If you did that just to make the world better, maybe the rapture will happen." Jenna added.

Both Jenna and Enid laughed at the same time. I laughed too, but then I gave both of them a 'knuckle sandwich'. 

Although the formulas were precious, it was build based on previous medicines studies, which meant that if 'someone' were to release it, they would have to answer a lot of things such as where did they find it, which party did he stole and improve it from, which meant a lot of lawsuits needed to be cleared. 

It was too troublesome, so that 'someone' just released it everywhere in the world, hoping that it would reach the person who needed them earlier. Also, that 'someone' was drunk maybe when he decided to do it, who knew? 

He certainly didn't think far enough at that time, and unknowingly caused a price crash in the pharmaceutical industry, which meant cheaper medicines for the public, but the companies were furious though.

Enid suddenly shouted from the top of the hill, "Edward sucks!"

"What?" I laughed flabbergasted as Enid turned towards me with a smirking expression. Jenna joined in too, "Edward sucks!"

Vanessa and Maggie also did the same thing. So I stood up and said, "Okay, I got the message. Let's go home."

"No! Let me rest a little bit more!" Maggie widened her eyes and begged. I grinned evilly and said, "I suck remember?"

"NO! You're awesome– Don't leave me here– I HAVEN'T EATEN ANY YET!" Maggie screamed as I packed up the picnic stuffs. 

After the short picnic, we went back to my house as I wanted to work out in the gym. The hike didn't really challenge me, therefore I started working out next after sending my friends back to their place. 

Well, Enid insisted on staying, so I had to call her mother to pick her up. Currently, she's pouting with me, and doesn't want to speak to me again. But as soon as I got home, she texted me asking about another topic.

Vannessa and Maggie looked at me with disbelief as they saw I was doing the ladder pull up without my shirt. Their eyes were glued towards me, which made me a bit self-aware. But I kept doing the strenuous exercises, which took over 2 hours to complete.

Then, I started practicing my swordplay. Maggie was flabbergasted and said, "Ed, why are you working out so hard?"

"I missed a couple of days, so I have to cover for them." I replied casually, sweat dripping down my chin. Vanessa hesitated and said, "Hey…Um…"

"You want to ask me something?" I interjected knowingly. Vanessa nodded and said, "Can– Um…"

"You want to have your comeback now?" I interjected again.

Maggie rolled her eyes at me and said to Vanessa, "Don't give him the satisfaction of cutting into your words. Speak clearly. Or else you will be annoyed by him."

Vanessa nodded in understanding and said after pausing a while, "I kinda want to know, what are your plans with me? What should I do first?"

I stopped my swordplay practice and looked at her directly, "I have a few plans…But seeing your stamina today, I have to get you a trainer. You need to increase your fitness level."

Vanessa nodded, her eyes glinting with determination, and also some deep seated anger. I laughed and said, "You're mad because people are supporting Zac, but they are putting you down online?"

"Isn't that unfair? He's the one who cheated, but she's bearing the brunt of the breakup." Maggie crossed her arms and defended Vanessa.

"Eh. It's a common thing. People will support the more popular one." I replied casually, making Vanessa exclaim in disbelief. "This isn't the era where girls back up girls yet. Otherwise, Zac won't be scotfree like right now."

"Yet?" Maggie caught my word, but she didn't think much of it.

"Um…How fast can I…you know?" Vanessa asked meekly. 

I looked at her up and down, making her blush and fidget as I did. I replied with a deadpan expression, "Maybe a month? That's just for exercising and vocal training. I'm reaching out for a dance teacher– Lia Kim to help you with the dance choreography. When she comes here, you can start practicing."

"I can already sing. Did you forget HighSchool Musical?" Vanessa asked incredulously.

"I didn't forget. Especially 'Sneakernight'. That song haunts me sometimes. It also made your music career fall in tatters." I teased, which made Vanessa embarrassed, and Maggie giggled.

"Yeah that was awful." Maggie said.

"HEY!" Vanessa retorted.

I continued with a knowing look, "I know you're frustrated with the whole thing. But believe me, Zac will surely regret it. That's what you want, right?"

Vanessa beamed up and nodded, "Yes."

"Alright. Now drop to the floor and give me 200." I ordered.

"TWO HUNDRED?!" Vanessa and Maggie exclaimed with disbelief.

"I'm just joking. You'll die if you do more than 10. Maggie, you'll join her." I mocked Vanessa, igniting the competitive spirit inside her. Then, after she did 3 pushups, she couldn't do it anymore. Maggie could still do it, but she only got to the 6th.

"Disappointing. And you grow up on a ranch." I said while narrowing my eyes at Maggie.

…

My dad came home from work at 7 in the evening, and I made dinner for the 4 of us. It was curry, in which they all love it greatly, despite it being a little bit spicy. 

While sitting at the dining table, my dad said, "Ed, you know what'll happen tomorrow don't you?"

I waved my hand dismissively as I wiped my mouth with a napkin, "Yeah. I know. I'll go to the company before he comes."

"Who'll come?" Maggie asked nosily. 

My dad smirked and said, "The President."

Maggie scoffed and said, "As if."

"It's the truth." My dad added, which made Maggie doubtful. "Oh right. Do you know who Pepper got to work on the movie?" My dad tried to create conversation again as I didn't say anything.

"Who?" I asked, intrigued. "Also, what movie?" I was confused. 

"Um, let me check the notes. I forgot the movie name." My dad took out a small notebook from his pants. "Ah, the 90 Days Love Countdown."

I dropped my glass filled with water, and it fell to the floor, crashing it into pieces. Maggie flinched in shock as she was sitting next to me. Vanessa and my dad turned towards me with surprise in their faces.

"Wh-Wh-Why is he making that movie?" I was flustered and stammered, a sight which all of them felt refreshing to see. I grabbed the napkin to wipe down my wet pants as I waited for the answer. 

"I'll grab the mop." Maggie stood up and went to the kitchen to help clean up the broken glass.

Confused, my dad said carefully, "Weren't you the one who came up with the idea?"

"No– Yes, but I've never told him about it." I asked, my voice became a bit higher as I was agitated.

"Ah, Pepper heard it from Cam and Mitch." My dad replied casually. Then he added, "Pepper got the director Judd Apatow to join in on the project. Pepper is so excited that he even gave an interview to the reporters to announce the project."

Despite my dad mentioning an expert director, which allowed movies like 'Superbad', '40 Years Old Virgin', and even 'Anchorman' to come to life, I couldn't calm myself down.

"Edward, is something wrong? I thought you'd be excited." My dad asked with concern.

Vanessa asked suddenly, trying to help the mood, "Um, is there a heroine for the movie yet? Cause you know, you have a veteran actress right here."

"Or- OR!" Maggie rushed from the kitchen immediately, "You have an aspiring actress right here."

"Shut it." I clamped her lips with my finger as I stood up from the dining table. "I need to call Pepper. Sorry dad, but can you please clean up."

"Don't worry about it." My dad replied casually.

Under the stares of the girls, I rushed to my room to call Pepper. But as I held my phone in my hand, I hesitated, and instead, I called a different number.

"Umm…Are you free right now?" I asked after the initial greeting.

The stoic voice on the other side of the call replied, "I'm watching TV, so I'm free." Mrs Henderson asked knowingly, "Is there something you need?"

"Yeah. I need some advice." I said.

Mrs Henderson paused for a while before she replied, "Sure."

I talked to her for an hour before I decided to call Pepper.

"Oh hi~ Have you heard the news yet?" Pepper asked excitedly.

I replied, "Yeah. I have. Now that you have gotten a director, who did you hire as a scriptwriter?" 

After talking with Mrs Henderson, I decided to not halt the progress of the movie. One of her advice to me was to let it happen, and maybe, I could see the situation from a third person viewpoint. It'll help me with my current situation.

Pepper was stunned and said, "Wait."

I waited for a while, and heard Pepper's murmuring through the phone. He was talking with someone, asking the name of the scriptwriter.

Pepper said, "It is quite risky, but I decided to go with a new writer, Miss Paige Swanson."

"I'm sorry. Paige Swanson?" I was taken aback when I heard the name. Pepper tried to convince me, "She didn't have a good track record yet. I only met her on Wednesday for an interview. I don't know why, but I felt that she needed this, and I can trust her with it. I'll introduce you guys later."

"Robin, pull up Paige Swanson's pic." I asked Robin while still on the call with Pepper.

"She's pretty. So that's a plus." Pepper teased. I turned to the laptop and looked at the picture Robin had loaded. 

'It is her.' I was shocked internally. Paige Swanson looked like an adult Mckenna Grace, which made me realize where I know her from. A former child genius, who went to college at the age of 10, and also the childhood friend of another former child genius, Dr Sheldon Cooper.

"Um. Peps. I'll leave you to handle the movie production." I said. Pepper gasped and said, "A person with OCD relinquished control? Did therapy help, or are you still depressed from your breakup?"

"Maybe both. What's the movie budget?" I asked. Pepper chuckled and teased, " It will be big if you want Ryan Gosling." 

He continued casually after hearing me laugh, "Romantic comedies don't really have a big budget. We'll have the figure after completing the rough storyline and finding out how many people we need for the movie. If all goes well, we can release it near Valentine's day next year."

"Alright, then when I come to the company tomorrow, we can discuss the storyline with the writer." I said.

Pepper laughed. "Don't have any ideas to hit on her. From what I've seen, she's not that easy to trick."

"When did I ever trick someone into falling in love with me? They'll fall even when I don't want them too." I said cockily.

Pepper laughed and said excitedly, "He's back! Finally, you're back to normal."

"Eh, brooding and all wasn't really my character." I joked. "Also Peps, I need to ask you a favor."

"What is it? You want me to hire another pretty girl?" Pepper joked.

"Kinda. Can you contact Missy Cooper for me? I met her before in Texas. She has a high EQ level– I mean, extremely high. So I wanted to ask her for her opinion…you know, for the movie."

"And this doesn't have anything to do with the fact that she's lovely or pretty?" Pepper asked after thinking for a while.

"Not at the moment." I replied with a chuckle. Pepper breathed in relief and asked, "When did you want her here?"

"Tomorrow."

"TOMORROW?" Pepper was shocked. I continued, "You can send a jet to pick her up. She's not doing anything anyway, so she'll love to spend a few days of vacation in Hollywood. You can invite her mother too, and she can come here to visit Sheldon."

"... It's not that hard to do, but right now, I'm thinking you have an ulterior motive, so I'm not sure if I should do it." Pepper said jokingly.

I rolled my eyes and said, "I don't have any ulterior motives. Well, maybe to bother Sheldon, but I don't really have anything else."

Well, nothing I could say to Pepper anyway.