Chapter 78:

"Well, that was interesting, I suppose she never stopped training.", Ace grinned at Melissa, "So, what is it you guys usually do here?"

"Honestly, most of the time it is just gossip, they will discuss all things about Hollywood, and figure out if they can join any future projects. Oh, here they come, these guys are better than the usual, so it should be ok.", the four people coming were the three that were with Olivia, and herself.

This time, however, Ace knew their names before even researching them, their show: KIckin' It, was good. It had been one of Ace's favourites - although that was not too hard, considering that he had barely seen any.

"Good afternoon, sorry for that, some of our… colleagues, become a bit crazy.", Leo Howard explained, as he scratched the back of his neck in visible embarrassment.

"I noticed, but it's ok, I knew what I was getting into, if all I wanted was a good conversation, I would have stayed in the other room.", Ace smiled,

Dylan's lips twitched at that, and Mateo laughed, "Yes, most of these guys are not the Erudite type, they prefer to shout and hit each other.", he then gave a side glance at Olivia, and they laughed, while Olivia frowned, "Shut up, d*mb*ass, or I will kick your *ss for real."

Mateo put his hands up in mock surrender, "I am sorry most gracious lady, please do not hit this humble servant."

Melissa grinned at the theatrics, and said: "Well, it is good to see you guys have not changed."

Olivia responded, "And neither have you, so young, yet already hitting on boys.", Melissa blushed, and tried to explain herself, "N-n-no, I wasn't he just…"

Leo tried to calm her down, "Relax, it's ok, no one blames you, she is probably just jealous. You should feel good about that."

Olivia pouted again, and Melissa laughed, Ace was curious about this, they all seemed to know each other, "So, how do you guys know each other?"

"Well, that is actually a pretty funny story, Melissa and Olivia lived in the same city, and were friends even before they blew up. Then, we met her, and since we realised that she was one of the few respectable people here, we all became friends. Honestly, she is amazing at what she does, she will probably give voices to the most important characters of the next ten years.", Mateo smiled at her, and Melissa looked awkward.

"So, how did you guys meet each other?", Dylan asked

"Well, realistically, we didn't, we just crossed paths at the party, and I asked her where the younger people were meant to go, so she led me here.", Ace skipped over the part where she asked him for his autograph, it would offer no relevant context, and he was not sure how they would take it, but from what he had seen, it would make Melissa embarrassed.

"Ah, cool.", Dylan responded, but Ace noticed that both Mateo and Olivia looked pensive, as if they had realised that there was more going on than what he had told them.

"Melissa told me that you guys just gossip, but is that all that happens? I mean, it would be pretty boring if it was.", Ace asked, assuming that these people would probably do something outside the norm.

All four smiled at this, wild grins that made Ace scared. "Oh no, we have a lot more fun than that."

They began by explaining their game, "Ok, so we each place a bet on who we think will get pissed off first, obviously, there are people within the participants who are always favourite, but it also depends on what has been happening: if they did not get a part, and so on. The person that wins the bet, then places a challenge. We bet again, and the loser has to complete the challenge. It seems boring, but trust me, people get so upset so quick, that it is very dynamic. Of course, we also have a twist, you can make the person you are betting for mad, but you cannot interact directly with them. This usually means sharing fake gossip with other people and so on. Of course, if you get caught, you are out."

It seemed like a fun game, and they probably had good anecdotes about specific rounds. "Ok, I'm in."

"Let's do it.", Melissa clapped her hands, and scrunched her eyebrows, inspecting the crowd for a target.

Ace was not doing this only for the fun, of course, he could spread specific things, and the reactions would give him interesting leads, depending on how they responded to the rumour. He also had no plans of losing of course. They would all have to make their person mad, and the last one to do so would lose. If they could not make the person mad within 20 minutes, the round was over.

Ace already knew who he was going to pick, and did so, they each had their own selections, and set the timer on their devices, as just like that, the round started.

Even before they began, they had already lost, it did not matter how experienced they were, or how good they knew the target, Ace was a master of manipulation, a few words here, a few words there, and within three minutes, his target was fuming, and smashed his glass, before walking out of the room. As he finished up, Ace went back to the corner where they had to go once they finished. The others looked at him surprised, but resumed their efforts with even more concentration.

Three minutes later, Dylan's, Olivia's and Leo's targets were angered, and they came back. Mateo seemed out of it, just chatting to a girl, while Melissa was running around the room, trying to engage in conversation with people.

"So, how did you do it?", Leo asked, Ace just smiled and said, "What is Mateo doing, he looks like he is just hitting on that girl."

"That's because he is.", Olivia clarified, "He was the one that first proposed this game, and he is probably the best at it, his technique is simple, he will simply hit on the people his target has an eye on. It is pretty effective, but depending on who it is, it takes a longer amount of time. Mateo is very good at judging the time it will take, he will not lose, but will probably cut it short, that is just part of the fun for him."

They waited for some more time, before a guy, a big guy specifically, marched up to Mateo, before grabbing his shoulders, he looked absolutely pissed, angry as one could ever be, and was about to hit him, when their group suddenly appeared behind Mateo, and asked, "Is there a problem?", threats dripped off Olivia's words, and the guy visibly paled, before just releasing him, and after giving them all an angry stare, walking back to his group.

They then walked back to their seats, and so did a dejected Melissa, who had not been able to anger her target.

"Well, that was anticlimactic, does that usually happen?", Ace asked.

"Yeah, it does, Olivia instilled the fear of God in them, so they usually back off, plus while Dylan and I have not been exactly been keeping up with our training, Leo and Olivia did, so no one wants to annoy them too much.", Mateo explained, while Dylan nodded in support of the statement.

"Well, usually, we stop at this point, especially in gatherings like these, angering a few people - usually the worst of them, is ok, but we don't want to ruin anyone's career. Now, we had a game going on from last time, so Melissa will have to complete that challenge, and then Ace will get to pick the next one.

"What was the challenge?", Ace asked, genuinely curious, nevertheless, they all smiled at each other, except Melissa, who whimpered, and said: "Please no, please don't do it."

Olivia gave one of the evilest grins Ace had ever seen, and said, "Ok, Melissa, you know the deal, and of course, I assume you can guess the target, you have until the night is done. Good luck. Plus, think about it, this is probably better than a total stranger."

"Yep, exactly.", Dylan said, and laughed out loud.

Ace, however, ignored the conversation, and looked at his phone, "Ooops guys, I gotta jet, I will see you later."

Ace went out of the room, and put his empty glass of coke on one of the tables. Then, he looked for his grandmother, and once he spotted her, he walked up to her. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, Ace, please say hello to Mr Jobbings, he is the producer I was telling you about."

"Ah, sir, thank you for inviting us to such a wonderful party.", he smiled and shook hands with him. He was an older man, with silver hair, and a short beard, but he could have been an actor, he was in shape, and was pretty handsome, with a nice smile, that made people like him.

"No worries, no worries, I am just thankful for the generous contribution your family has made.", he looked genuinely happy, and Ace began to even believe that this guy was genuinely doing this to help, and not just as a PR stunt.

"Of course, it was the least we could do to help.", Ace traversed the field of conversation perfectly, giving compliments and taking them just as he had been taught. He found out what he could, and focused his attention on the micro-expressions on the man's face. They talked for a few minutes, before his grandmother dismissed him, and then Ace walked back to the room.

"So, what did you think?", Samantha was pleased, Ace was the perfect pupil, and the conversation had gone perfectly, he had even been able to find things out, and by now, probably understood what was going on.

"Well, he is certainly something, you told me he is modelling?"

"Yeah, a friend of a friend asked, and he is doing some work for them pro-bono. It is for a charity I believe."

The man nodded, pleased at that, then, Samantha directed the conversation again, "He also has a pretty big following, and is almost a public figure in certain circles."

"Yes, I know, I am pretty sure my grandson is a fan.", then, he laughed loudly

Samantha smiled as well, she obviously had known that.

"He obviously has the looks, he is his parent's son and your grandson, after all, his charisma is also on point, from what I have seen. And if you have taught him anything, he is probably a great actor. That and the fact that he can sing, play instruments and knows martial arts pretty much opens up any roles he wants. And of course, the fact that he has you behind him pretty much means he can get anywhere.", Samantha nodded at the words, not a single thing in that statement was a lie, and from what it seemed, things would play out perfectly. 'But then again, when do they not.'