Chapter 211: VMA (4-F)

[General POV]

Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Taylor, Britney Spears, and Edward posed together outside in front of the VMA billboard while holding their awards. Eminem and the other winners were called, but they hadve other things to attend to, such as a massive party with no inhibitions in NYC. Countless photographers snapped their pictures, illuminating the red carpet with flashes of lights.

"Taylor! Give Ed a kiss!" One of the photographers daringly asked.

Taylor looked at Edward with hesitation. Edward smiled and pointed to his cheek. She smiled and kissed him.

Lady Gaga joked, "We don't all have to do that right?"

Britney added mischievously, "Why not? I kinda want to do it too?"

"You guys can do it if you want." Edward said with a smirk as he heard their discussion. Britney lit up and went to smooch Edward's cheek jokingly, earning laughter from the others. 

Edward had a small talk with Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and Britney during the photoshoot, and managed to get their personal contact number. After giving some interviews, Edward received a text from Marshall.

"He's asking if we want to go to the party?" Edward said to Taylor.

"Really? He said it like that?" Taylor asked incredulously.

"Nah, what he really said is, 'Come by, the party is lit. No cap. For real, for real." 

Taylor's jaw dropped and Edward finally showed the text to her with a smirk. The text was written in the first way Edward asked Taylor before. She smiled with irritation, "You-"

Edward's cheek was pulled yet again, but this time, a photographer managed to capture the sight of them playing around. The photo went trending on Twitter immediately after the award show.

Still on the red carpet, "You're going to go back home?" Edward asked Taylor incredulously. "I thought we're going to celebrate?"

Taylor replied helplessly, "My mom wants me to go back to Texas…You know, after everything. Um…We can still celebrate, after I get back. You also need to go back to your home, right?"

Suddenly she blushed and said, "Or, you can go with me…back to Texas?"

"Um that is a great suggestion honestly. I really wants to hear you say 'YeeHaw' while you're riding–"

"We're in public!" Taylor hit Ed in the arm before he could finish. He smiled as he rubbed his bicep to recover the non-existing pain and said, "A horse. Riding a horse. God, how dirty is your mind?"

"Ah." Taylor gasped. 

On some social media, a heated argument was currently transpiring after the awards show.

Some of the more critical people in social media started questioning the validity of the awards show.

SSSshotgunDog: Are we sure that @TaylorS and @EdwardNewgate aren't nepo babies? (A/N: Nepotism)

JKnotJK: 6 awards out of 16 today went to a lone entertainment agency. I wonder if some backdeals were involved. 

Some accused MTV of making backhanded deals with Entertain, insulting Edward and Taylor, and even supporting K's decision today.

A heated discussion currently underwent with Edward's shots during his speech was a sign of racism, but it was shut down instantly when veteran artists such as Snoop Dog tweeted in favor of Edward.

@SnoopDog: He's calling K a baby, not the entire race. Some of you guys need to hook me up with whatever you're smoking so that I can finally get those last 2 stubborn brain cells I've been trying to kill. 

Rihanna just retweeted back the President's tweet with the caption : " He is a talented artist, and a human being. Both of them. So they may make mistakes in the heat of the moment. But some, may make greater mistakes than others. And they should be responsible for their actions."

Another shocking thing happened right before the day of the grammys. Rihanna's boyfriend was arrested for physically hitting her until her lips split and there's bruises all over her face. Her boyfriend was soon arrested by the police.

Marshall's search for Rihanna in the awards show was in vain because she had never attended in the first place. The whole thing was kept under wraps for almost a day before the paparazzis found out.

In the airport, Entertain staff members who were carrying Edward's drones into his private plane were suddenly halted by a few men in a military uniform, causing a confrontation.

Edward and Taylor finally left under the scrutinizing gaze of everyone and got into a black limousine together. There, Max, Pepper, Selena, and Taylor's mom were already inside, waiting for them. 

As the car moved away from the venue, Edward asked Max, "Why did I get the news that Kanye had to hitch a ride from his friend to go back to his hotel?"

"Who knows? I don't know who's the one crazy enough to stab his car's tires with a screwdriver?"

"Max…" Edward looked into her face with a grin, "No one said anything about his tires, and definitely no one said anything about it being pierced."

"Oh." Max smiled and then laughed dismissively. Suddenly Pepper interjected urgently. "Ed. something happened. The military wanted to confiscate your drones."

Edward replied casually, "Let them try. I already put in a contingency for when this happens."

"For when– Ed, did you already predict this?" Selena asked with a surprise.

"Yup." Edward replied casually before he tapped his index finger on the arm rest. "Robin, ask them to say this; If you want the tech, then use the proper channels to get it. Or, you might find the ones you took away to be nothing more than a piece of broken debris."

After hearing Edward's message, the military representative retreated from the airport with dissatisfaction. 

Pepper asked Edward worriedly, "Won't that give them a bad impression of us?"

"Nah. Don't worry about it." Edward said before he took a bottle of champagne from the mini fridge inside the limo. "For Entertain, Taylor, and Myself, Let's celebrate!"

He popped the cork of the champagne while Max, Selena and Taylor screamed in excitement. Pepper rubbed his sore forehead and mumbled, "I am in a dilemma. Should I let him drink it, or stop– Hey wait Ed! Don't DOWN THE WHOLE THING! Use a glass!"

…

[Edward POV]

When I finally got to the hotel, Pepper positioned some people in front of my room door for security and monitoring before he left to settle some errands. 

The high-class 5-star level room suite was adorned with luxurious amenities, including a jacuzzi and two large rooms positioned on opposite sides. From the balcony, I was treated to a breathtaking view of the entire New York City skyline, which mesmerized me with its beauty. 

As I stood there, taking in the sights, I noticed a crowd of fans gathered below. They were eagerly gazing at the banner proudly displaying my name and the posters featuring my image. It was a surreal moment, witnessing the support and adoration of my fans from such a vantage point.

Most of them were from the awards show, so I asked my staff members to arrange for them to have some dinner in a restaurant nearby and told them that I was going to have some breakfast with them in the morning if they followed along. All of them cleared up the front of the hotel in 20 minutes. I opened up my laptop as I rested because I needed to do some necessary work.

"And now, Max, is going to come into the room naked." I said as I exaggeratedly turned to the front door as I heard it was opened.

Max walked in wearing a gaudy gray sweater that covered up her entire upper body which made me confused. She sighed and unzipped the sweater, revealing her previous black dress that accentuated her chestal area.

"Sorry for disappointing you. Also it's been a while since these babies were put in the dark. I think it scared them." She said as she touched her chest lightly. 

I smirked and said, "Of course. Y-You definitely should comfort them. I give great massages, you know." 

Max laughed and said, "Not a chance. Wait till you're 18."

"Aww." I made an exaggerated disappointed gesture which made her laugh. She then said, "wait. Did I just promise you that you can touch them–"

"No take backs." I said sternly. Max rolled her eyes and then walked to the pantry. "Hey, Where's the booze? Did you drink all of it?!"

"Pepper took them all away. And he grounded me because I said that I was going to give K a visit. So I had to stay in the room."

I blurted that out when Pepper asked me what I was going to do tonight after Taylor was gone. In my defense, he made someone dear to me cry, so a punch in the face is necessary for him. But Pepper gave me an ultimatum about using violence, so I had to let that matter go…for now…

"Should we? I know where he's staying." Max said with a devilish whisper.

I looked at her and said hesitantly, "We should…"

"NOT!" Pepper finished my words as he walked in immediately with several documents in his hand, "My god Ed. You're going to make me bald."

"Ah. Are you having a hair loss problem? No wonder it seems a bit thin these day–"

"No you devil! Don't curse my hair!" Pepper shouted anxiously as his hand went to protect his hair. "Also what is this? When did you patent some new tech? The military is trying to take your stuff."

"But Harvey is handling it, right?" I said with confidence.

"You still should've told me." Pepper said with a hurt tone.

"Don't get me wrong Pepper. It's not that I don't trust you, but you already have a lot of things to do this week, so I just let Harvey handle it. Besides, the military can't do anything about it unless they want to go head to head with the Saltzman Consortium."

"I see. Mother is helping you." Pepper was finally relieved. "Alright since that's being taken care of, we can talk about the party."

"Oh, you're letting me out? Finally!" I said with a sigh of relief.

"No." Pepper replied, making me disappointed once more.

Max laughed and said, "Ed, you've been jerked around so much tonight that I can't help but wonder if your girlfriend would be jealous."

"I know right? Luckily she'd already wrung me dry before she left because she didn't want others to do it for me."

"Both of you need to calm down with the dirty jokes." Pepper shot a glare at the both of us. "This is serious. What are we going to do next? Ed, what's our plan?"

I shrugged and said, "It's not like our company is public, so we don't have to worry about stocks. If you're worried about album sales, it will double tomorrow, or maybe even triple, so you don't have to worry about that either. So, I'm guessing…you're worried…about nothing?"

"Don't say it with a tone that makes me seem like I'm going crazy over nothing." Pepper said aggrievedly.

"But you kinda are." Max replied with a chuckle.

"Pepper. I want to go to the party." I said while flashing my puppy dog eyes. "Selena was already there with Miranda Cosgrove, Jennete McCurdy, JB, and several other teenage celebrities. Let me be with my people, and also bring Max because she wants to get some drinks."

Pepper thought for a while and then sighed, "I can let you go, but Max needs to stay until we are sure that no one is looking for her."

"What?" Max shrugged with a teasing smile. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"Oh yeah, then why is the NYPD is searching for a suspect wearing a gray sweater– is that–"

Pepper finally saw the sweater Max was wearing before, and went into panic mode instantly. 

"NYPD!" Suddenly, the door to our room was knocked. Pepper yelped in horror while I took the sweater and just wore it casually.

"Open the door." I said to Max.

"No! Don't open the door!" Pepper said anxiously.

"Calm down Pepper!" Max scolded him. "Just play cool!"

I laughed as Max opened the door, and widened my eyes when I saw the detectives entering the room.

"Hi, I'm Detective Amy Santiago."

"And I, am-no-way-related-to-Andy-Samberg, Detective Jake Peralta. We're here to ask a few questions."

The detectives flashed their badges with a confident and charming smile on their faces. Detective Amy Santiago has that kind of do-it-by-the-book vibe, while Detective Peralta seemed like a mischievous child.

"AHA!" He said while pointing at me before questioning himself, "Wait. It does not make sense. He's inside the venue. Sorry, Amy, take over."

"What seems to be the matter, detective?" I asked calmly with an innocent and charming smile on my face.

Detective Santiago offered an apologetic tone as she closely examined my face.

"Sorry for my colleague's abruptness," she said. "We want to ask you if you know anything about the vandalism case happening inside your award show parking lot."

I reassured her, feeling at ease despite the situation. "It's okay," I replied with a hint of amusement. "He actually reminds me of a guy I really like in my neighborhood."

"Wait. Really? Is he as charming as I am?" Jake Peralta jokes.

"Yeah, A little bit." The unexpected reply seemed to take Jake Peralta by surprise, and he momentarily froze, his expression shifting from confidence to a frozen state.

Amy took over instantly, "So, do you happen to have any knowledge about what happened?"

"All I know is that K's car tyres got slashed. Can't say that I'm surprised by it." I replied mockingly.

Knowing about what happened earlier, both detectives just smiled wryly. Jake scoured the room and said, "The witness said that he saw someone wearing a gray sweater when they came out from the parking lot."

"And? Because if that is your only leads for the suspect, I can assure you the ratio of finding someone wearing a sweater, especially a gray sweater in the city in the middle of this cold night, is around 100 thousand to a couple million to one. Have you checked the CCTV camera yet?"

"Ed…what are you doing?" Pepper whispered to me nervously, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

"I'm just trying to help these detectives. By the way Pepper, don't they remind you of Claire and Phil?"

"What are you spouting– Wait, they really do?" Pepper spoke in astonishment as he scrutinized the both of them from top to bottom. "They are like the younger version of them, except one's latina."

"Umm…Who's Claire and Phil?" Amy asked in confusion.

"They are a married couple I know. They have 3 children together." I replied.

Jake snorted and said, "We aren't like Claire and Phil. Also, we don't have any CCTV footage yet, but we will soon."

I pretended to think and said, "Well, let's not pretend in front of each other. I know you come here because you think I did it, or someone close to me did it. We do have motives. So, let me help you out. One of the staff SUVs is parked near K's car. They have a dashcam on there, so you can check it out if you want."

Max was startled this time. Feeling as if I was going to sell her out, she said urgently, "I have some work to do, so…I'll leave first."

"Max, come on. Don't leave now. Or the detectives would think that you're involved in the case. Hmm, the staff member is already back in LA now, but I can still pull up the dashcam camera because it's connected to the wifi."

"How did you guys have that?" Jake asked with disbelief. Dash Cam was still at its infancy, and the data needed to be accessed manually.

I shrugged and said, "I made the program and modified it myself." 

Both detectives were visibly taken aback by my statement. Sensing their disbelief, I decided to provide some evidence to support my claim. I turned my laptop screen towards them and pressed play, revealing the footage I had obtained.

As the video played, it became evident that it captured the scene in question. However, instead of showing me or anyone associated with the award show, it revealed a towering figure—a man standing at an impressive 6'5" height. He possessed muscular legs and was dressed in a sweaty gray sweater, giving the impression that he had just completed an intense workout at the gym.

The footage painted a different picture from what the detectives had initially presumed, introducing a new lead to investigate. The unexpected turn of events shifted their focus, prompting them to delve deeper into the identity and motives of this mysterious individual captured on screen.

"I could give you our staff list if you want so that you can rule out the suspects." I said casually. 

Taking a copy of the footage, Detective Santiago said, "We're sorry for bothering you. You must've been very tired from the event."

I yawned in front of her till my eyes were teary, "It's fine. I should help if I can. Die Hard is one of my all time favorites after all. I like cops."

Jake Peralta's stern scrutinizing face melted instantly into a big smile, "Wait. You… like Die Hard?"

"Yeah. I do." I replied, then I grinned at him and said, "Do you like the movie too?"

"H-H-HELL'S YEAH! Amy! We shouldn't bother them any longer. It is clear that none of them have anything to do with the case!" Jake said as he pulled Amy towards the door.

"Wait. I still haven't asked the others." Amy protested. Max flinched, but luckily none of the detectives noticed it. 

"No time! We have a culprit to catch!" Jake said as he dragged Amy out of the room. At the door, both of them stopped and said, "Thank you for your cooperation," and then left the hotel.

As soon as they were gone, Pepper and Max flopped down on the couch, practically limping now from their tense nerves.

"How?" Max asked with disbelief.

"Well I can change the footage to anyone." I replied casually. Then, I showed Max's original figure changed into the Grinch, Gandalf, Elmo, K himself, and many more till both of them froze with disbelief.

"You…you are not going to use this…to commit crimes are you?" Pepper asked worriedly.

I rolled my eyes and said, "I won't!"

After settling the affairs, I finally went to the party. It was in downtown New York, inside a loft. I was expecting the party to be a normal party, but as soon as I entered the apartment, I was dumbfounded and almost froze for a while. The people there were wearing animal masks and were licking each other.

"Furry party?" I asked with an unspoken horror emerging inside my heart. Then, I read the door's number again.

"Ah, wrong floor." I replied before closing the door slowly and went to the actual party.