That evening, at the concert, the water fight was the highlight of the afternoon. People were shooting water guns at each other.
But it wasn't at random. People who wanted to participate would be given a tag. If the gunners shot people without the tag, they would be disqualified, and their water guns would be taken away.
While everyone was enjoying themselves at the festival, I went to the housing unit made of several converted shipping containers I bought online and met up with Miss Gaynor.
"Hey, how loyal are you to your producer label?" I asked her suddenly as I poured a glass of sparkling water for her.
She added a slice of lemon to the drink and said, "As you can see by me using my own money to travel back to my town, paying the backup with my own money, and even calling the venues myself, I really am happy with them."
I nodded as I understood the meaning behind her sarcasm and asked, "What do people need for a label anyway?"
"Good manager. Connections. Distribution. And most importantly, money to burn. Those LPs aren't cheap."
Placing my hand underneath my chin, I rubbed it and said, "What if I open up a label here in town?"
Gloria was taken aback. She tried hard not to critique me and said, "I know you have good intentions, but there are a lot of moving parts here. If you just wantonly open it, it will not help me or you."
I leaned forward, interlocking my fingers together. "Sure. I know I'm lacking in terms of connections. I need people if I want to make this work. But I have something that's going to help me do that."
"And that is?" Gloria was intrigued.
"Machines." I leaned backward and smiled. "I have machines. I can do 10… sorry, one hundred thousand LPs per day at a very cheap price. Factories are selling them for 1.65 dollars apiece. I can do it for 1.35. Those 30 cents difference… that's the thing that'll help the label."
Gloria was confused. But then, she got it.
"And once they start printing with me..." I smiled. "...they'll start talking to me. That's how I'm going to push out the label's music."
"So you're opening a pressing plant in town." Gloria shuddered. "You're crazier than I thought, boy. That'll cost you millions."
I shrugged and said, "So, what do you think about the idea?"
She thought about it and said, "My contract with the current label will end in October. I'll come to you after that."
"And I'll build the studio before you come by. You might not be the first musician there, though."
She laughed and said, "That's fine with me."
For me to get everything, it would take me around 5 million dollars if I bought everything in 1977.
But, since I bought the automatic pressing machines in 2075 from a bankrupt LP company there, I only needed to pay 250 thousand for 5 machines, and 600 thousand more for the rest.
With the multiplier, I only had to pay 6 grand for the machinery. The automated machines also meant I didn't have to hire a lot of people for my factory.
'The most important thing is shipping and distribution. I'm going to need more trucks. It's time to see if I can buy some hybrid trucks to save on distribution costs.'
I wouldn't be able to do that with the 2025 internet. But the 2075 internet didn't really have that hurdle.
…
"Ahh! Stop it~" Donna said coyly as she and Eric came to the command center. He was trying to shoot her with a water gun again.
Her white shirt was soaking wet, making it almost see-through. She had predicted it and wore a bikini underneath.
"Hyde. Buddy. You're missing everything," Eric said with a taunting expression.
Fez added, "Pam Macy's tube top slipped, and her boobs popped out. Like, boing."
"Ew. Fez. Gross," Jackie muttered. She was the only one in the group that was still dry. "Steven. The water festival is gross. You shouldn't do this anymore."
"Hey!" Fez snapped at her. "Don't ruin this for me!"
Jackie grimaced with disgust before turning back to me.
I smoked a cigarette and said, "It is a bit too much. The ground is becoming muddy. Unless the girls are going to mud wrestle next, I don't think I'll hold a water festival again."
"NO!" Fez whined.
"Where's Kelso?" I asked as I looked around.
Forman shrugged and said, "I thought he was with you?"
"No. He's not." I shook my head slightly. "Do you want a fresh shirt?"
"I do," Fez replied.
"Me too." Donna joined in.
Eric nodded and said, "Definitely. If you have some underwear too, that'll be great."
"That'll be 10 bucks for the shirts. 2 bucks for the underwear," I replied casually.
"What? You're charging us?" Donna was flabbergasted.
"Hey, I'm running a business here," I said teasingly. "But I'll give it to you for free. It's your birthday, after all."
Donna flipped her hair back and said, "I thought you'd forgotten about it. Well, thanks."
Forman grimaced and said, "This is unfair. It's blatant sexism."
"It's your girlfriend's birthday. Are you really trying to argue with it right now?" Fez interjected.
Taken aback, Eric turned to Donna and saw she was staring at him with dissatisfied eyes.
"No. What I mean is… 10 bucks for the shirts. That's unfair. That's too expensive."
"10 bucks for three."
"Oh. Okay. That's a pretty good deal." Eric immediately gave up.
They changed their clothes inside the command center while I waited outside with Jackie.
"So, I was thinking. Why don't you write a song using my name? Like, Jackie!"
"Where is this coming from? Are you jealous because Donna has her own song?"
Jackie snorted derisively and said, "No. I'm not jealous at all. Why would I be jealous? Donna is a horrible name."
She turned her head to me and said seriously, "Write me a song with my name in it!"
"I'm not going to write a song for someone I'm not having sex with," I replied casually.
Jackie furrowed her eyebrows before scoffing again. "Why do you keep smoking? It's your second cigarette now."
"Actually, it's my fifth."
Jackie widened her eyes and pulled the cigarette from my lips.
I grimaced in annoyance and said, "Don't do that."
"Don't smoke, and I'm not going to do that. You'll have to sing today. It's not the time for you to smoke a lot and ruin your lungs."
She dropped the cigarette on the ground and stomped on it.
I took out another one, but she tried to grab it again. I raised my hands up high to prevent her from doing that.
"Alright. Geez. I'm not going to smoke."
"Good." She smiled with satisfaction.
Suddenly, we saw Kelso walking around with a group of girls.
The girls were dressed quite sluttily, with only bikini tops and short pants.
"Alright. I'm going to talk with the concert head—who is my best friend. He's definitely going to let you all go backstage. Just remember what you promised me after I do that."
Kelso stopped the girls a few meters back while he approached me alone. Suddenly, he begged me, saying, "Hyde. I need some backstage passes."
"No," I replied, grimacing slightly.
"Hyde. They promised me something I could only dream of getting. So please… please! As my best friend. Please give them the backstage passes," Kelso said seriously.
I was taken aback. Jackie grimaced and said, "No, Michael. You're going to ruin his concert by giving all of his bands STDs."
"They only want to look around. They aren't going to sleep with the band," Kelso replied innocently.
I chuckled and said, "You really think that?"
"Yeah. I'm a movie star now. Movie star is better than rock star. Just do the math here," he said confidently.
"Alright, then." I called the girls by gesturing for them to come near.
"Hey. So, can we go backstage?" One of them asked.
"Yeah. Sure. But it's only until the concert starts. Then, you need to leave."
The girls were visibly disappointed.
One of them approached me and said flirtatiously, "Can't you make us an exception? I really want to see Van Halen and Eddie."
She touched my body, sticking her chest out and pressing it against my torso while looking up. "I'll make it worth your while. Why don't we go… inside for a bit?"
Kelso was taken aback. "Hey! I thought you said you were going to do that for me?"
"Um. We appreciated you bringing us here. So thank you, Michael." She quickly drew the line with him.
I snorted and pushed the girl away. "Yeah, I'm taking the offer back. You can't go backstage now."
The girls grumbled and left.
"Wait. Girls! Come back!" Kelso quickly rushed towards them.
Jackie guffawed, really enjoying seeing Kelso's misery.
Suddenly, my instinct flared up. Maybe it was because I had been playing a fighting/killing game for four days, but I was more attuned to sensing killing intent.
I traced the killing intent to two men wearing suits and fedoras. They were staring at the concert venue and whispering to each other.
Picking up my walkie-talkie, I contacted the security there and said, "Eagle 1 to base. Come in. I have two bogeys out here. Need an eye on them."
After putting someone to follow them, I told Jackie, "Why don't you come with me backstage?"
'Since it's quite dangerous out here.'
Jackie flinched and blushed hard. She twirled her hair and said, "I can't do that. We're not even dating yet."
I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously.
"What are you even talking about?"
Chapter 140: Summer Rush.
[General POV]
Tyrell followed the two men Hyde had marked from afar.
Using the earpiece, he said, "They are going to the stage."
The security stopped the men at the entrance, but the men took out a lanyard.
"We're just here to fix up the air conditioning. It's leaking."
"Oh. Alright." The security boy quickly let them inside.
Tyrell sighed and said, "Whose boy is that? He didn't even bother to check with the command center."
"I think that's Jef's brother," Megan replied. "But it's fine. We can see what they wanted to do now."
Megan was in the command center, following the two men using the CCTV.
"What are they doing now?" Tyrell asked.
"They are cutting a metal bar underneath the stage. Should we stop them now?"
"No. Not yet. Steven would want us to gather more evidence before doing anything," Tyrell replied.
Suddenly, a staff member walked towards the two men, trying to stop them. However, the two men became violent, and one of them put the staff member into a headlock.
"Alright. Now!" Tyrell and the other burly mechanics rushed towards the two men.
The two men were astonished when they saw they were surrounded.
They began to run away.
Tyrell managed to tackle one of them to the ground. The other one was quite fast, so they couldn't catch up with him.
However, when the runner turned a corner past the tent selling the shirts, he was stopped and tackled to the ground.
His hand was twisted behind him. "Ahh!" He screamed in pain.
Hyde grinned and pushed the guy's head even deeper into the ground.
"Why are you running now? Your work isn't done yet, right?"
…
"Tell me. Why did you come here?"
Hyde asked the two men, but they kept their mouths shut the entire time.
'I felt the killing intent before. So it's not as simple as just sabotaging the concert venue.'
After thinking for a while, Hyde got a neat idea.
He knocked them both out and put the VR helmet on one of them.
"People in that world all know what VR is. But these guys don't. As long as they don't log out, I can do whatever with them."
Hyde felt bad that he couldn't dive deep into the games again until tomorrow. But he could still play an offline VR game without the time dilation.
Using a parental guide, which parents used to control their children's VR settings in the early stages, Hyde controlled the parameters and dropped the man inside a zombie game.
"What is your true plan? Tell me?" Hyde said casually as he dangled the man above a horde of disgusting-looking zombies.
"AHH! You're the devil!"
"Tell me!" He dropped the rope lower. The zombies could even scrape the guy's hair now.
"I'll tell you! I'll tell you! Just pull me up!"
It turned out the men were from a music agency. Gloria Gaynor's current label. They knew she didn't want to sign with them, so the CEO asked them to hurt Gloria.
Just an accident, so she'd come crawling back to them. The killing intent Hyde felt was from one of them, who just hated Black people. He was a member of the KKK and hated seeing Black people being successful.
'So I guess him being a Ku Klux Klan member actually helped us? This is a weird thought to have.'
After gathering their confession, Hyde finally gave them to the police.
"What did you do to them?" Officer Kennedy, the African American police officer, was horrified when he saw the men drooling, their eyes filled with fear.
Hyde shrugged and said, "Just reading scriptures to them. They never heard it before. Now, they are repenting of their actions."
The sight of Hyde putting those men in true fear began spreading to Hyde's inner circle.
"What is he doing now?" Red asked gruffly, his face full of concern.
Another legend was added to Hyde's reputation.
A few hours passed by quickly. The concert was coming to an end. Hyde was the last performer today, pressured to get on stage by his friends and employees.
He sang "Stacy's Mom," "This Love," and "Beggin'."
The sight of him on the stage invoked a deep, almost feral feeling in the young girls in the audience. Their faces flushed, and they couldn't help but squeal and scream his name.
"I don't know yet if we're going to do another concert next month. Maybe a smaller one. Thank you, everyone, for coming to Point Place. I hope you enjoyed your stay over here."
His speech at the end of the concert made the newspaper the next day.
Time passed by quickly.
Hyde continued filming the movie the next day. He even went on dates with Lydia—the girl he met at the bar.
Hyde also never stopped studying the future internet.
Then, he decided to buy something expensive. A 10 million dollar medical robot.
It wasn't an android, but it was shaped like a large jellyfish. The robot would be stuck to the ceiling and use its tentacles for surgery and other medical procedures.
"In the future… I can actually buy anything I want if I have the money. They don't even care about checking my identity."
Most of the time, Hyde used the VR world to study practical effects and used the game world to study how to make movies.
All of the videos uploaded to the future internet went viral. Hyde received a cumulative 500 million views in the seven days he was connected to the 2075 internet.
Hyde's 7 days were akin to 149 days for the people over in the VR world.
That's how he managed to rack up a lot of views.
"Repairing heart muscle after a heart attack. Cell regeneration. Personalized butler. Hmm… I need to stock up on a lot of stuff."
Hyde bought an expensive 10 million dollar auto-lab that could create over 1,400 medicines for him. Paired with the doctor-bot and the illness scanner, he could open up a hospital if he needed it.
"The best part… is the renewable energy research."
After the current president of the country urged citizens to think about renewable energy, Hyde decided to openly use solar panels for his shops.
While Hyde was studying, Leslie managed to find a man who would become the host of the renovation program.
A college professor who loved house restoration.
"My name is Ned Waterman, and you're here with me on Second Chance."
The tall Midwestern man was quite shy in front of the camera at first. But after a few days of shooting, he was finally at ease.
"When can I meet the producer?" Ned asked as he watched the walls around the house being raised.
Ned picked up the blueprints and house design from the table. The design was unlike anything he had ever seen before. He wanted to meet the one who drew it.
"You can go meet him anytime," Leslie replied casually. "But after Michigan. Those people have no roof, and Hyde wants to do it before school starts since they have a lot of kids."
Ned nodded and said, "Five houses at the same time. This is a giant gamble, isn't it?"
Leslie smirked and said, "It is. But for some reason, I'm pretty sure he is going to win again."
Donna, Eric, Kelso, and Fez went to the new basketball court for a pickup game. But they had to wait until late at night since there were hundreds of people there.
"Don't you think the town has changed?" Donna asked Eric as she looked around.
Eric nodded. "Usually it's just us."
Adults, teens, and kids were all hanging out at Hyde's public park.
The streetlights spanning over 3 miles were a huge investment for the town. They allowed people to stay out late and take over the night.
Not to mention the town cleanup and the new businesses that popped up after Hyde turned this town into a concert town.
"Should we go to the club instead?" Kelso asked.
"There's a club?" Fez asked, curious.
Kelso immediately shushed Fez, putting his hand over Fez's mouth.
"Don't talk so loud. The club is a secret club!"
"A secret club?" Eric was intrigued. He turned to Donna and asked, "Should we go to the secret club?"
"We should go. But if it's a nudist or a swingers club… again… I will beat your ass up for a week, Kelso," Donna warned him seriously.
"No. This is a true club. I think… Um, who is that guy—Oh, right. Bart and Buddy Morgan. They opened up the club on Warehouse Street."
The group left the basketball court to go check out the club. There was a line of people waiting to get inside, but Kelso brought everyone to the front immediately.
The bouncer recognized him and let them get inside.
"Alright!" Eric became excited. "It's the first time I ever walked into the club without needing to bribe the bouncer."
Donna grinned and said, "You bribe people?"
"Had to. Or I'll stand with those dorks all night long," Eric said, pointing at the people waiting in line.
Bart and Buddy had used the money from the film to open up a club in town. Hyde gave them a business loan and invested in the club, too.
That's how Eric walked right into the club.
The bouncer thought secretly, 'No wonder his friend had to make a deal for him. I would've never let that dork inside the club if I had the chance.'
Not only Bart, but Megan and a few more people who benefited from Hyde began investing in the town.
Megan used her money to build an entire apartment complex. It was just a small, three-story, 30-unit apartment, but it was enough to signal to the other investors that something was going on in the town.
Inside Hyde's conference room.
"So, we met again," Hyde said to the owner of the aluminum factory.
The guy shook his hand gleefully and said, "I've been waiting for you to contact me."
The town lost the aluminum factory deal since they chose to ask for bribes in order for the factory to move in.
The hassle was enough for the owner to stop the venture and move to another town.
"I've met with the auto factory owner." Hyde said, pulling out a stack of documents and giving them to the aluminum factory owner.
"He'd agree to sell the factory 30% lower than the market price," Hyde added.
The aluminum factory owner, Mr. Simpson, sighed and said, "Even so. The bribes are too much—"
"Don't worry about that." Hyde stopped him with his hand. "Turns out, they are already reported to the state investigator."
Simpson flinched and said, "Did you do that?"
"No. I did not." Hyde shook his head immediately. "They were being watched even before you first came to town."
Simpson breathed in relief.
"To sweeten the deal, I have another proposition for you." Hyde took out another document and said, "A new way of metal processing. And an aluminum radiator design."
After reading Hyde's reports, Simpson was clear on how valuable the papers were.
"What do you want?" He asked immediately.
"5% shares. And to open up the factory in town next year."
"Next year? Why not this year?" Simpson was confused.
Hyde sighed and said, "The town can't handle the influx of people the factory's going to bring. Someone has scooped up all of the available labor in town. So we'll have to bring technicians from outside."
Hyde took out another document and said, "This is going to become the new downtown."
It was a 3-year plan to expand the town. Hyde had already bought a lot of land around the area, and he would begin the development soon.
"You have collected… over 100 million dollars for the town development?" Mr. Simpson was shocked.
Hyde sneered and said, "I actually didn't do anything except for the city planning."
Ross Rockwell was the one who came to Hyde with the plan. The money also came from Ross and his connections.
"They are going to break ground soon. But first, they'll need to deal with the town government first," Hyde said casually while smoking a cigarette.
"I don't think that'll be too hard to do."
…
Race track. Chicago. Hyde came to the venue to watch the show with his date.
Suddenly, Jonathan walked next to him and sat down in the empty seat.
"He's in."
"Great."
Hyde smiled in satisfaction. He was planning a headline today.
{An Actor Mistaken a Race for His Production Shoot, Won First Prize in a Real Race}.
Pierce Brosnan agreed to his marketing ploy. Hyde was prepared to pay the actor, but he was excited to do it even without the money.
So Hyde never offered.
The actor won first prize in the race. With Hyde's future technology, the car had twice the performance of the other cars in the race. Brosnan also wasn't a bad driver.
The news outlet caught wind of the blunder and fun story. Hyde sold them the footage of the race anonymously, which made him a bit of pocket money while still building up hype for his film.
"You're a genius!" Jonathan was almost intimidated by Hyde.
Hyde held a meeting every Wednesday and Friday night with the distribution company employees to discuss marketing strategies for the movies they needed to promote.
From late-night shows to TV spots, the name Salt Belt Distribution began to rise.
Back to the racing scene.
They needed to film a car race with a dangerous stunt.
The cinematographer was confused as to where the director was, but he started the shoot anyway since Hyde had already told him he was in charge that day.
The car hit a bump and rolled a few times. The cinematographer was excited about it.
"Finally! We got it! Tell Hyde we did it!"
The crew quickly pulled the stuntman out of the wrecked car. Everyone wanted to congratulate him.
As he opened his helmet, everyone was shocked to see who it was.
"Hyde?!"
Hyde waved at the crew with an excited grin. "We got it, right?"
He had practiced the stunt a couple of times in the VR world.
'Ah, I miss gaming now.'
After the internet connection was cut off, Hyde was missing the dopamine hit he had when he did dangerous stunts inside the game.
…
August.
Hyde had bought a warehouse in the next town, Sheboygan. He wanted to put the factory in Point Place, but he couldn't find a place that could support his LP factory.
He hired 20 people for the record pressing company. A normal record factory would need hundreds of people.
With just twenty people, Hyde could produce triple the number of records compared to the other factories in the era.
"Now, we just need a studio."
The music studio was built in Point Place. Hyde bought a small building and turned it into a recording studio.
He bought all of the equipment—a synthesizer, a mixer, and everything needed—at a cheap price.
"You named your studio The Head?" Eric was astonished as he entered the studio with Hyde.
"Yup. Has a nice ring to it. But I'm not sure where I got the idea."
He came up with the idea inside the Circle, while he was high.
"Who are you going to sign with first?" Eric asked excitedly.
"Keep this place a secret, then I'll tell you."
Eric made a zipping gesture at his mouth, locked it, and threw away the key.
"It's Cheap Trick," Hyde replied excitedly.
Cheap Trick had 4 years of experience. But they had never signed with a label. They just went on tours all over the country.
Therefore, Hyde signed with them first. He gave them a signing bonus of 100 grand and printed 300 thousand copies of the album for the band.
But Hyde did something else because he knew their first album would only sell around 150 thousand records in their first year.
"You want us to change our songs?" Bun E. Carlos, the drummer, was watching Hyde with a skeptical expression.
He had short hair and a thick mustache, with the demeanor of an ordinary office worker instead of a rock star.
Robin Zander, the guitarist, smoked and said, "We already have enough songs for an album. I don't think we need to change anything right now."
"I think you misunderstood me. I didn't say change. I said add," Hyde said, smoking a cigarette too.
"But the record can hold only 9 songs," Bun asked with a confused expression.
"Not mine. Mine can get to 35 minutes. So you can do at least 11 songs. Maybe 12."
"Oh." The band was surprised.
"But it'll take too long for us to write a new song right now," Robin said again, no longer hostile this time.
"That's where I come in," Hyde said cockily. "I'll give you the three songs."
"So you'll be a producer too?" Bun asked. "But we're still doing 30%, right?"
Unlike with Gloria, Hyde only gave them 30% since he was taking a 'huge risk' with an unknown band here.
Their manager was basically drooling and forcing them to sign with Hyde when he heard the cut was 30%.
Usually, a new band would struggle to even get 5%.
Hyde didn't care much since he was making the records for 3 cents each after the multipliers.
That's how he could give them a bigger cut from the profit after he recouped the marketing and production costs.
"Let's hear your songs, then," Robin said with a grin.
Hyde picked up a guitar and played the tune to "Old Town Road" by Billy Ray Cyrus and Lil Nas X, but it was changed to fit the current era. The lyrics were also slightly changed.
"I'm going to use this song for my movie. So it'll be double marketing for the album and the film itself."
The band also signed a deal to include two more songs on the LP. Hyde would get a partial cut from the profit as the songwriter for those songs.
The other two songs were found on the 2075 internet, and they were just mediocre over there.
"Lastly, distribution."
Hyde contacted a distributor called Groove, which had hundreds of chain stores in the Salt Belt area, even in New York.
(A/N: Hyde's real father is the boss there.)
Jonathan only met with the representative.
After hearing the album, the representative decided to buy all 300 thousand copies they had to put in their stores. Hyde also negotiated with them to open a store in the town.
The deal was completed in the second week of August. Time flew by so fast Hyde didn't even realize it.
Finally, it was time to go back to school.
"FUCK!"
As I watched the countdown for the Jackie Bags Hyde episode, Hyde got even more pissed off.
…
[Hyde POV]
"There's only 3 days left for the summer." I grimaced as I stabbed my fork into the cake and angrily chewed on it.
The Forman's living room. There were streamers, balloons, and all of my friends were there.
It was Eric's 17th birthday. I was quite surprised to see it didn't make the episode, but then I realized they had already celebrated Eric's 17th birthday in the first season.
"The timeline is so confusing."
Mrs. Forman got a pony for Eric. He wore a sombrero and took a picture with the tiny horse outside on the driveway.
It was embarrassing for him, and entertaining for me.
Chapter 141: School Starts.
[Hyde POV]
My living room. I was lying down on the couch alone.
The place was a mess with bags of new clothes, backpacks, shoes, and school supplies.
"Hyde, do you need an eraser? Where's your pencil case?" Nina, the youngest, asked me with an innocent face.
After living with them for a while, they realized calling me Hyde meant we were closer than just calling me Steven.
However, I grimaced at her question and said, "I didn't carry a case from freshman year, I'm not carrying nothin' now."
"What about pens? Do you need pens?" Nina asked, still cheery.
Ophelia was managing her sister's books and asked me teasingly, "Did you at least buy a new backpack? Do you want me to buy one for you?"
She wore a simple rock T-shirt and jeans, and she had her hair in a ponytail again.
"No. Mrs. Forman called and said she bought me one," I replied with a sigh.
"Why do you look disappointed?" Ophelia asked curiously. "Is it because you secretly tried to get past the registration date but failed?" She teased.
"Red registered me behind my back," I fumed slightly.
Adam, the younger brother, came out of the room with his nose smugly pointed to the air.
"I finally got it," he said, clutching his backpack. "Full black. No design. White trim. I don't need to carry the Batman backpack or the military backpack anymore."
I smiled with satisfaction. He bought it with his own money that he made doing chores around the house. After carrying hand-me-down stuff for years, he finally had something he was proud of and could call his own.
The doorbell rang suddenly. I sighed and flopped my head down immediately.
"Why are you reacting like that?" Ophelia asked me while slowly standing up.
"Forman told me the bag has stars on it. And it's chrome. I'm afraid to see it," I replied.
She giggled and said, "I have to open the door now. I definitely want to see you carrying that."
However, as she opened the door, Lydia, the girl I'd been dating for the past 3 weeks, was at the door with luggage in her hand.
"Hi. Is Steven there? I need to speak with him. It's urgent."
I sat up immediately and rushed to the door. "Hey. What's going on?"
"Steven." She touched my face affectionately. "I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to come out and say it. I'm going to London."
"What?" Ophelia was shocked. She glanced at me with tumultuous eyes.
I grinned secretly at her before turning serious again.
"You're leaving?" I asked, touching her hand slightly.
Lydia nodded and said, "I won't be very long. The cab is waiting for me. I'm going to my aunt's place. I'm leaving… because I want to pursue my dream over there. I know I'm being selfish to you…"
Her voice cracked, and she almost cried. "...You have been nothing but the best boyfriend. And you're the only one who believed in me. I wanted you to come with me, but I know it's unfair to you."
"I think our relationship needs to end here. I'm sorry, Steven." She touched my face, then left in a hurry, crying as she went.
The cab left quickly, too. Ophelia was dumbfounded, and she grabbed my arm. "Wait. What dream is she chasing?"
"Jewelry making. She loved that," I replied easily.
"She left just for that? To London? I—I Is it… Is it, really… Are you really cursed?"
I grinned and said, "Told you."
…
Monday morning. I woke up with a groan and punched my alarm clock to make it stop.
After taking a shower, I put on an expensive suit and tie. Then, I slicked my hair back and put on my cologne.
In the kitchen, Ophelia was making breakfast for her siblings. I entered and poured some coffee for myself.
"Come on, you don't want to be late for your first day of school!" She scolded her siblings, who woke up late today.
Nina wore my chrome, starry backpack. I gave it to her instantly when Mrs. Forman gave it to me.
"Hyde. You look like a movie star," Nina said giddily as she saw me.
Ophelia turned her head and froze for a second. "Why are you wearing that to go to school?"
"I'm not going to school. I'm playing hooky," I said with a grin.
"On the first day?" Ophelia was in disbelief.
"You must not remember what today is." I narrowed my eyes at her.
She furrowed her eyebrows, confused. Then widened her eyes as she got it.
"OH! That's today!"
"Yeah. Go change too. We're supposed to meet them at 8."
"What about my siblings?" Ophelia froze in her steps. She was going to send them to school in her car today.
"Don't worry about that. Eric's going to stop by. We can just throw everyone into his Vista Cruiser."
Ophelia nodded and went to get ready. Eric did come by since Red told him to make sure I was going to school.
"You're not going?! Red's going to kill me!" Eric was astonished when he saw me wearing a suit and tie.
"Donna, you need to skip school too," I told the redhead inside the car.
"Me? Why?" Donna was confused.
I peeked through the window and said, "Because today's the day."
"The day for what—OOOH!"
Donna immediately got out of the car. Eric asked, his arms fully open, "What now?"
"I'm not going to school, Eric. Cover for me."
"I—I can't cover for two people!" Eric was dumbfounded. "What's today?! At least tell me that."
"Today, the check from the movie theater is coming," I replied with a grin.
"It's payday."
Eric was stupefied. I crammed the kids inside his car while he was distracted.
"Go now. Adam goes to our school. Lily's in middle school. Nina's in elementary. Now, go, go, go."
"Oh damn it." Eric ran back inside the car and put on his seatbelt. "We're already late."
"Drive, you skinny bitch," Nina scolded him instantly. "I can't be late for my first day of school!"
"I'm going!" Eric pressed the pedal and rushed out of the driveway.
Donna turned to me, asking, "So, did you know the numbers yet?"
"I do. But I'm going to keep that as a surprise."
We all went to my office together. The conference room was filled with people when we arrived. Even though it was only 8 in the morning, a lot of people came by to see the numbers.
Bruce held an envelope in his hand. "So, I just got back from the main office."
The office was in California since that's where most of the dealings happened.
I sat near Patty and watched the scene unfold.
"So our first movie—"
Jonathan interjected, "Not our movie. We only distributed it. All rights are in Steven Hyde's hands."
"He's my people, so it's fine," Bruce said, unbothered. "So the movie made, cue the trampoline—"
Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun.
A staff member played on the trampoline over there. Bruce ripped open the envelope and held the paper inside up high.
"37 million dollars in 3 weeks!"
The room burst into cheers and applause. Ophelia hugged me in excitement, even kissing the top of my head.
It was the first movie after we bought the distribution company that was hugely successful.
The rest gave us peanuts.
Everyone was shaking my hand and congratulating me. They even brought in a cake with the number 3 on it.
"Why three?" I asked, confused.
Bruce laughed and said, "We can't beat Star Wars and the James Bond movie. But we're the third movie in the rankings. So… three."
"Got it." I laughed and cut the cake.
A staff member took pictures of me cutting the cake. We had a celebration with champagne before everyone left to go do their work.
"Fading Colors is only on its fourth day. But the movie is getting a lot of traction, too," Patty told me with a greedy expression. "So you're a hitmaker now."
Fading Colors was released on the last day of summer as planned. I already knew it had made 25 million on opening day from the box-office tracking, even bigger than the comedy movie since we had a lot more marketing for it.
"Now, tell me, Patty. Are the execs at WB crying blood because they didn't sign with me?" I teased.
"They are tearing their hair out." Patty guffawed. "It was so satisfying to see the smiles disappear from their faces."
I chuckled and offered her a cake.
Bruce pulled me away, saying, "So. I have to talk with this guy first. You can continue your conversation later."
He pulled me into my private office.
"Alright. So it's time to divide up the spoils," he said with a grin.
Jonathan opened up his briefcase and gave me a report.
"The theater cut accounts for 50% of the box-office collection. Still, we made around 18.5 million from the movie."
Jonathan added, "We spent 2 million on the movie that we have to recoup. The distribution company takes 30% after that."
"Yes!" Bruce clapped his hands happily.
Jonathan said seriously, "The money will never reach him, so don't worry about that."
"So 6.95 million is going to the distribution company account." Jonathan took out a check and gave it to me.
"The production company gets the rest. The profit for only three weeks of the movie is eleven million, five hundred and fifty thousand dollars. That's for you."
"Nice job, Hyde!" Bruce slapped my back happily.
"Oh hell." I almost spat out my saliva from the strength he put into it.
"Finally—FINALLY! MY DREAM CAME TRUE!" Bruce yelled happily.
Then he broke into happy tears.
Jonathan looked at him with disdain before turning back to me. "As per your request, I have already separated the checks. Do you want to give them to them yourselves?"
"Just two. You can mail out the others."
Jonathan nodded and packed up his briefcase again.
"Oh. Right. How do you know when a song has climbed up the Billboard?" I asked curiously.
"Is this about Cheap Trick?" Jonathan replied.
I had already told him to build a physical media distribution line when we first started.
The VHS train that would come in a few years would be a major moneymaker for the company. It wasn't a bad thing that a lot of the stores also carried albums with them.
"We don't know the ranking yet. But I think it's going to be pretty high," Jonathan replied.
"The album debuted a week ago. I can't help but feel anxious that we're not hearing anything by now," I replied.
Bruce snorted and said, "You wrote one song. And it's on the B-side. I don't think you need to care much about the album. Just focus on movies."
"I wrote three, actually. One of them is on the A-side," I replied casually.
"Jonathan?"
Jonathan said seriously, "I'll contact Groove headquarters. And I think the Billboard results are coming out today."
The music industry was also quite slow.