Re:life with Karmic Gacha (Modern Family)

Chapter 326: Chapter 326: NYPC (2) – Trust.

[General POV]

At 9 PM, when the party had barely started, Phil and Claire walked side by side as they entered.

Claire styled her hair into a classic chignon—gathering it at her nape and tying it into a knot. She wore a classy peach-colored dress with a leg split and carried a small red pouch.

"They have a free sundae bar! I love it here!" Phil exclaimed, his eyes glued to the ice cream cart. He didn't even notice Scarlett Johansson standing beside it, eating a sundae with a spoon before she walked away to join her friends.

"Hey, guys! Over here!" Gloria waved her hand excitedly, calling them over as she sat with the rest of the family. Mitch and Cam, Gloria and Jay, Ted and Frankie were all gathered at the same table in the VIP section.

Gloria wore a tight-fitting blue dress with a deep cleavage that made people think she was one of the models or celebrities at the event. She definitely eclipsed some of them in presence.

"Look, look, look! Britney's here!" Mitchell whispered to Cam in excitement, both of them giggling as they saw Britney walking toward the backstage, escorted by her security team.

"Mitchell, this is literally the best party I've ever been to in my entire life," Cam squealed before turning to Frankie. "Can I get a peek at the list of all the celebrities coming?"

"That list is private," Frankie replied curtly, leaving Ted amazed by how she wasn't a people pleaser. Frankie excused herself to resume her work coordinating the party and greeted Claire briefly before she left.

Cam giggled in embarrassment and exclaimed deflatedly, "Oh. I guess that wasn't really appropriate for me to ask."

Jay grumbled to Cam, "Don't bother them, Cam. It's an important party for Edward."

"I'm not going to bother them!" Cam defended himself hurriedly.

"Hey, guys!" Claire greeted her family members as she and Phil reached the table. "The party is quite crazy, isn't it?" Claire snickered, bragging to her family.

"Yeah, Pepper really knows how to throw a party," Jay agreed with a smile. "The drinks, especially, are outstanding." He raised his glass before sipping his whiskey.

The hidden CIA agent Sarah Walker smiled in satisfaction as she saw Jay's reaction while holding a bottle of Euphoria drink.

Near the stage, Abed was holding a camera as he filmed Maggie.

As they paused the recording, Abed told Maggie, "Next time, try not to stare directly into the camera for longer than three seconds."

"Stop criticizing my work, or I'll quit," Maggie threatened Abed.

"You hired me," Abed replied casually. "Also, when are we getting the backstage shots? We need to get a few of those before the performance starts."

"Let's go backstage, then," Maggie sighed slightly as she led Abed to the location. She had access, so Abed needed her to get inside.

The recording was just a hobby for both of them, and the video was for personal use only. Despite their frequent creative clashes, they had become quite close during their time working together.

However, as they entered the backstage area, Britney's security immediately pushed the camera away to prevent any footage of her and chased them out violently.

Mickey, Edward's head of security, immediately intervened, placing himself between the mean-looking security guy and Abed. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"No cameras!" the aggressive guy said gruffly.

"Okay, you can calm down now," Mickey said intimidatingly. "Why don't I let him talk first? Oh, Miss Newgate. It's you. I didn't notice. I'm sorry."

Maggie was a bit taken aback by the sudden politeness but played along immediately. "That's okay, Mickey. Just call me Maggie as usual."

The security detail suddenly hesitated, wondering if they had messed with the wrong person. They speculated whether Maggie had a connection with 'The Edward Newgate,' which made them change their attitude immediately.

Abed quickly explained the situation. "I needed to take some shots before the concert and also get some background footage."

"You guys cannot film Britney. It's not in our contract," the security detail said gruffly.

"We're not here to film her. We didn't even know she was here. Why is she even here?" Maggie complained. Even Mickey was confused by that.

"She's supposed to be at the party or resting in her waiting room in the house." Mickey turned to the security and interrogated them. "The concert is in two hours. She's not called up here yet."

"Miss Spears is familiarizing herself with the stage," the security detail replied. "Just wait until she's done."

Mickey didn't press further and took Abed and Maggie with him as he left. Inside the backstage area, Chuck talked to Sarah using his earpiece as he glanced secretly at Britney.

"She looked dazed, and she's also crying." Chuck reported. "We should get her to a doctor too to see what they have her on." He was referring to any potential medications that were prescribed to her.

Time passed by and the party was in full swing. Edward however, had to watch everyone having fun at the party from the window as he had to hide himself first to make an even greater appearance later.

"I feel like 'Squirdward watching Spongebob and Patrick having fun' meme." He muttered to himself. Even though he was surrounded by many people, the entertainment was without a doubt targeted at the outdoor party. He wanted the sundae too.

"Edward, can we talk?" Vanessa asked before the concert, and Edward went inside a room with her.

As Edward went to the other room with Vanessa, Tara teased Haley about it.

"Your date left you alone at a party and went into another room with another pretty girl. Hmm, what could they possibly be doing there?" she snarked sarcastically, clearly dissatisfied with Edward's decision to leave Haley by herself.

Haley, however, didn't really care. "He's Ed. It will be a lecture or a pep talk."

"All I heard is that she's going to make him give her a 'penis talk.' Are you really not jealous?" Tara looked at Haley incredulously. "Whenever a girl even tries to talk to your ex-boyfriend in high school, you used to unleash hell on him—" She added.

"I'd never unleash hell! When did I ever unleash hell!?" Haley was taken aback by the accusation.

Tara recounted, "You made it seem like it was his fault for her talking to him. You started fights and threw things around—"

"Okay, stop!" Haley cupped Tara's hand and continued in a whisper, "I have changed. Besides, Edward isn't like the other boys."

"Oh, what's he like?" Tara asked playfully.

"Trustworthy," Haley replied curtly. Suddenly, everyone in the room heard piano music playing. The sound was coming from the room where Edward had gone.

"What song is this?" Jenna asked in confusion. Finneas replied, "I think it's Debussy's Clair de Lune."

"Eww, Finneas, why are you saying 'the pussy'?" Enid scowled at him. Flabbergasted, Finneas tried to defend himself. "Not 'the pussy'! Debussy! He's a classical musician!"

"He must've had a rough childhood," Jacob muttered with some empathy for the classical musician.

"Not really," Alex chimed in. "The word only took on the meaning of female genitalia in the 20th century. So I think in his childhood, it only meant 'cat.'"

"No one is interested in the history of the word, Alex. God, both you and your boyfriend are real perverts." Elsa grinned as she sipped her drink.

"One throws those words around casually, and the other has the history of it," Elsa said seriously, though a playful smirk on her face made both Finneas and Alex speechless.

The entire group of young adults there suddenly became quiet as they were mesmerized by the music. Everyone stopped joking around and they slowly moved closer to the room Edward was in to hear the melody better.

...

[Edward POV]

Vanessa and I walked from the lounge to the first room. It was a cozy reading room, complete with a lone chair, a fireplace, and a small piano beside it.

"You can sit in the chair," I said as I took a seat on the piano bench, facing Vanessa rather than the instrument. I pulled out a notebook from my back pocket and clicked my pen twice. Crossing my legs, I sighed, "So, Vanessa, how can I help you today?"

"Uh-uh! You're not playing therapist with me. I only role-play with my boyfriend..." she whispered, adding, "If I had one." She snatched my notebook and held it for the duration of our conversation.

Vanessa threw her hands in the air, whining, "I don't think I can perform tonight, Ed! I can't—" Her voice became breathless as she pursed her lips, tilting her head slightly to give me her best puppy-dog eyes, quivering her chin at the same time.

Amazed by her technique, I placed my hand on my chin and exclaimed, "Wow. That really tugged at my heartstrings. Did you learn this from Annie? Is Annie here?" I pretended to look around.

"Learn what?" Vanessa asked, puzzled.

"That Disney Princess face," I said, waving my hand over my face in a dramatic gesture.

She rolled her eyes and replied, "I'm from Disney! This face is my trademark, not Annie's!" She gestured to her own face while trying to maintain the expression, though a smile crept onto her lips.

I chuckled before asking her seriously, "Tell me why."

"I—" Vanessa was taken aback by the question and stammered, "I don't feel ready yet. I still need more training for the dance—"

"You're already nailing it. And I don't think that's the real reason. Tell me the truth," I interjected, staring straight into her eyes. Vanessa slowly averted her gaze and lowered her head, clamming up.

I sighed and said, "Alright. If you don't want to do it, then you don't have to."

She looked up at me in disbelief. "Wait. Really?"

"Yeah. It's fine." I waved dismissively, not wanting to pressure her further.

"So you don't care about me getting back out there and making you more money?" she asked, her expression incredulous.

I grimaced. "Do you really think money is an issue for me? Please. You could train for another ten years, and it wouldn't even make a dent in my finances."

"Um, so you're not going to try to convince me again? Like—like you did before, about revenge and so on?" She stammered, slightly taken aback by my straightforwardness.

"Spite is indeed a great motivator. But since you've been quite happy these past few months—despite the minor bumps—I don't think it'll work the same anymore." I shook my head slightly.

With a smirk, I asked, "Why, do you want me to motivate you again?"

"NO—NO!" She waved her hands immediately, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. I turned to the piano and said, "If you don't mind, I'd like to turn my attention here. The piano looked quite lonely, like it hadn't been touched for a long time..."

Vanessa sighed in relief and said, "Okay. I'll go tell Pepper that I won't perform tonight."

However, instead of leaving, she stayed and watched me test out the keys for the piano. "It was maintained well." I muttered.

"Do you want to stay for a song?" I turned to Vanessa and asked, gesturing for her to sit next to me on the piano bench. "Come on."

Vanessa's eyes shook and she hesitated. "I feel like this is a manipulative ploy to get me on the stage later on."

"It's just a composition. It won't take long. 5 minutes, max." I said casually and then waited for her to come to a decision.

/watch?v=wsvXfK72Znw&ab_channel=tsif86]

Vanessa finally relented and sat next to me despite her skepticism. Our shoulders touched slightly as I placed my fingers on the piano keys.

"This piece is called 'Clair De Lune,' and it's one of my favorite pieces in the world. Not because of its complexity, but because of the journey it paints," I whispered.

I slowly began to play the song while speaking softly to Vanessa. "This song doesn't have a grand crescendo or much build. It's not very difficult either, but it's quite hard to nail whenever I perform it in a competition. Do you want to know why?"

"Tell me," Vanessa said, absorbed by the story and the close-up sight of my fingers dancing on the piano keys.

"My piano teacher told me that this piece is a journey of introspection. How can he expect a ten-year-old boy to know what that is?" I whispered jokingly.

I added, "It's uncatchy and lacks a distinctive rhythm. It breaks harmonic rules that musicians had been following for hundreds of years when Debussy created it. I don't think anyone could win a competition by playing this piece."

"So why did he make you learn it?" Vanessa asked curiously.

"He told me that it's something I won't understand right now, but I will later in my life. And he was right," I said as I pressed down on the keys gently, entering the 'waterfall' part of the music.

"Every touch, every breath, every thought, every memory—all of it superimposed together as I play this piece. Some parts make me think of my struggles and bad memories, but other parts remind me of the journey I went through."

I fell silent and played the rest of the composition for Vanessa without saying anything. She closed her eyes, and her breath became calmer as she listened.

She laid her head on my shoulder as I played the composition again. After it finished, she called out to me, "Hey, Ed."

"What?" I replied casually.

"If I become famous again, can I still come to your house for Christmas if my family doesn't want me?" she asked, her chin slightly quivering.

"You basically live at my place with Maggie now. You're part of the family. Of course you can come, but we're celebrating in Wisconsin next year, so you'll need to prepare a lot of sweaters," I joked lightly.

Rather than offer forceful reassurances, I tried to encourage her to think about her future herself.

I could easily make her stand up on stage with some personal attacks, but if I learned anything from Hikigaya Hachiman, though those methods might work, they could also ruin our friendship.

Maybe it was because I had been talking with Dr. Linda for a while, but I didn't want to impose my views on others unless it was necessary.

She told me that I had a tendency to try and control everything and suggested that I make some changes in my life. Delegating work, listening to other people's opinions—or just listening in general—were some of the methods she suggested.

I was pretty anxious at the start since every setback could pull my five-year plan back, but now that I don't have anything holding me back anymore, I could be a little more... human... right?

After listening to the song, Vanessa was silent for a while before she stood up abruptly.

"Gosh, what are you even doing? You don't want to make money anymore? Why aren't you forcing me to go up on stage?! You lack the skill to be a good talent manager, you know that?!" she accused me without looking, trying to shake off her nervousness.

"Hey, I'm also a 'talent.' You have your own manager," I said incredulously. Vanessa was taken aback for a second before she replied, "You know, I kinda forgot that."

I scoffed and asked, "Why are you so jittery now? Have you changed your mind?"

"I needed to," Vanessa said seriously. "But if I fail again—" Her eyes trembled.

I interjected quickly, "Then there will be a third, fourth, and fifth chance. You don't only have one chance, you know?" I stood up and smirked while patting her head.

Vanessa went silent for a moment before saying, "Okay then. No take-backs, and I'll perform today! But not the dance ones. I think I still need some practice for that." She raised her pinky, trying to negotiate a deal with me. I sighed as I interlocked my finger with hers and said, "Alright, I promise."

"And you promise you will become my boyfriend if your date doesn't go well today," she added.

"I pro— Wait, what?" I was taken aback by the sudden addition, but Vanessa sealed the deal with her thumb, saying urgently, "No take-backs! A promise is made!" She quickly separated her hand and stuck her tongue out at me.

Although I was initially surprised, I smirked at her and teased, "I mean, you kinda did a pointless thing. There's no way the date won't go well today."

"Really? If I come out of the room with my hair slightly disheveled or my lipstick ruined, do you think she will still be cool?" Vanessa smirked evilly.

Then, she dismissed it before I could react, "I'm not going to do it, of course, but if I were her and you left me to be alone with another girl at a party, I wouldn't be cool about it."

Her words made me realize my mistake. "I didn't think about that before," I muttered, swallowing hard.

...

After convincing Vanessa to perform again, we both walked out of the room together, only to find a crowd had formed in front of the door.

My eyes immediately searched for Haley, only to find her crossing her arms and tapping her feet in dissatisfaction as she glared at me and Hudgens.

"Ness, by any chance, will you talk to her first?" I asked Vanessa.

Vanessa rushed away, saying, "Sorry, I have to prepare for the concert. I have to start it, so I have no time to mingle."

I walked up to Haley and greeted her, "Did you wait long? I'm sorry."

"What were you doing in there with that exotic girl?" Tara asked, interrupting.

My group of friends joined us, and Jenna suddenly said, "Why are you the one who's irritated? Didn't Edward show us that nothing happened inside?"

Everyone looked at Jenna in confusion. Alex asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well..." Jenna stammered a bit, but her answer left me speechless. "He showed us where his fingers were the entire time, didn't he? They were on the piano keys. So nothing happened inside the room."

Haley widened her eyes in realization and disbelief, immediately relaxing her arms. "Oh my god. That's why you were playing the piano?" She seemed flattered. Tara's eyes darted around as she searched for other points of attack. "He can use other things than his fingers," she countered.

Enid nodded in amazement, essentially ignoring her sister. "That's really a genius move. Although other parts of him can move, there wouldn't be any disruption to the melody, which would certainly happen if he did anything with the girl."

Elsa joined in, "That's true. I don't think he could control it so well if he were making out with her or his penis is ins—" She couldn't finish her sentence as Enid cupped her mouth, stopping her.

Finneas mumbled to himself, "Is this how girls' delusions work? They create excuses that even Edward never thought of."

Alex muttered in relief, "Thank god I'm not part of Edward's groupie."

"What were you doing with her?" Haley asked me whisperingly as she approached her, holding my sleeve and looked upward to my face.

"Just discussing her performance." I whispered back.

"I think we can all move outdoors now. The performances will start in half an hour. You guys need to find a good spot for you to watch the New Years Countdown." I checked the time on my watch and told everyone.

"Do you have something special planned for it? Should I record your performance?" Jenna asked. Enid widened her eyes and scolded Jenna, "Why are you even asking about that? Record it always!"

As I led the group outdoors to where the main party was, I pulled Haley to the side and whispered to her, "Look, I don't want to lie to you, so I'll just tell you what happened. Only if you promise not to tell anyone else."

"Oh no, I'm fine with it already," Haley replied casually, which took me aback.

"Really?" I asked incredulously.

[Haley's commentary]

"I've been friends with Edward for a while, so I kinda know how he works. He gets up close and personal with his employees; he's friendly with everyone except those he can't stand or who have a personality he hates. He can be a great listener... I like him because he does these things."

Haley smiled sincerely as she crossed her arms. "Also, his face," she added playfully, "and his hands."

[Commentary ends]

"Yeah, that's between you and her. You don't need to tell me anything," Haley stressed again with a smile on her face. My expression froze slightly.

The whole situation felt like a trap for me. If I told her, she could say, "I told you I'm fine with it," and get angry. But if I just played it off and said, "Alright," she'd turn it around on me, saying, "Really? You're not going to tell me anything? You have something to hide?" and got angry again.

I couldn't win either way, so I created a different route. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her close. Embarrassed, Haley blushed as everyone watched, clamoring at our interaction.

"I thought you weren't going to do anything in public?" she asked, warily glancing around, but her breath became heavier with anticipation.

"Well, I know everyone here, so I don't really care," I flirted as I slowly brought her hand to my lips and kissed it, essentially announcing to everyone that she was my date for the night. A lot of girls there glared at Haley from afar and murmured in dissatisfaction.

"Are you trying to make up for leaving me alone?" Haley swayed slightly and whispered flirtatiously, "I told you I'm fine."

"Yeah, I know you are. But you're also my best friend, and I want to tell you stuff. Can't I tell you stuff?" I asked flirtatiously too.

She nodded and grinned widely. "Okay, you can. But we can wait until the party's over. We have to hit the pause button on what you're telling me, 'cause I'm pretty sure a lot of people want to talk to you this evening."

I finally took my eyes off her and looked around, noticing that many people were waiting to strike up a conversation with me.

The 'pause button' was something we agreed on beforehand. Since there were a lot of important people at the party, networking was crucial and directly affected the company, so Haley suggested we pause the date so I could focus on that instead.

Pepper walked toward me gleefully and said, "Edward! You finally made it!" acting as if I hadn't been shoved inside the house for over five hours.

"There are a few people I want you to meet," Pepper said as he scanned the surroundings to get the location of where those people were.

Haley cleared her throat and tried to move away, "I'll find a spot to watch the performance—"

"You're coming with me," I told Haley with a smirk, tightening my grip on her palm.

"I can't let people think my date left me behind. I'm not a loser." I said teasingly before pretending to realize I was talking about her, "Oh. Sorry. That happened to you before. I shouldn't have brought that up. "

"Ass," she giggled in disbelief. I grabbed her hand, and we walked to the first couple Pepper led us to.