Chapter 122: Chapter 122: Kinder Surprise!

    (Sorry for the late Chapter. I have a high fever)

    [General POV]

    Near the Whitebeard business office, a black-haired woman was sitting in front of Claire near the port as the latter read her resume. The woman had a clear view of the ocean while Claire was sitting with her back to it.

    Claire then smiled awkwardly and said, "Francesca Dart. I read your resume...and..."

    "You don''t have to mind your words with me. I, for one, know that my resume is ordinary. I have no outstanding achievements, nor do I have a wide network of connections. Which leads me to the question, why did your boss offer ME...an interview, and also paid for my flight ticket to LA? Frankie asked in confusion.

    Her no-nonsense attitude startled Claire a bit, but she quickly collected herself and asked, " When did he email you?"

    "Last night." Frankie replied.

    "And he told you to come in today?" Claire said, a bit mad about Edward''s overbearing CEO attitude. She was planning to lecture him, but Frankie''s next answer saved Ed.

    "No. He gave me a week''s time. However, I could do all my research about the company from the website and finish it very quickly with the help of my friend Diane and since I found nothing wrong or ambiguous about it I decided to come here today to ask about your intentions in person."

    Claire chuckled a bit and asked, "Why? Do you feel that there is something wrong with the company?"

    "The generous salary, the potential employee housing, and the future trajectory of the company he mentioned in the email, honestly, I thought this was a front for organ harvesting or human trafficking. The offer is too good to be true, especially for someone like me"

    "Luckily for you, we are a legitimate company." Claire joked.

    "I know." Frankie said seriously, making Claire''s smile freeze.

    "A-Anyway-"

    "I''m not pretty enough to tempt a rich man, nor do I have a connection with him in any way that I know of. I''ve lived in Utah all of my life. So tell me Claire, why me?" Frankie asked the question that had been bothering her for a while now.

    Claire was silent for a while, but as the Vice-Director of Logistics, she figured that this was a test from Edward, and she needed to handle the interview properly lest Ed thought she was bad at her job.

    "I can''t answer on his behalf. If you''re really curious about that, maybe you can ask him later on once you''ve taken the job. But for me, I...I am impressed. You received the email last night, and apparently you finished your research so fast you''re here today. Your efficiency is off the charts. I''m embarrassed to admit this but I became super excited about working with you as soon as I heard that."

    Frankie was the one that was stunned then. Her no-nonsense character usually turned people off, as they would see her as a pompous prick. To have someone think kindly about her persona made her blush a bit. The last person who did that was Diane, her ''platonic'' friend and partner in managing her life.

    Claire continued, "To be honest, Edward doesn''t hire people based on achievements, but rather potential and personality. There were a few people he chose, that made me question his ability, but he has not missed his mark yet though, he seems to have this unparalleled talent for seeing through people...."

    As soon as Claire said that Dylan walked past the pier carrying a box of tablecloths in his hands. Only to stumble on a tiny rock, and stagger to the fence until his body was flipped over when he hit the fence without slowing down as he fell into the sea once more.

    The sound of the splash startled Frankie, but Claire just smiled wryly without even looking back and said, "Well... he nailed everyone except for Dylan."

    "DYLANNN Are you okay?!" Dwayne ran to the fence quickly to provide some help.

    "NO NEED. I can swim now." Dylan said with a smile on his face as he swam dogstyle to safety.

    Frankie and Claire both turned their attention back to one another after Dylan''s proclamation. Frankie asked, "Who is Edward? Isn''t Theodore Newgate the boss of this business?"

    "Huh?...Oh yeah right. He''s not on the list of employees. He is Ted''s...Theodore''s son. He''s the one who is mainly in charge of the whole operation. Edward Newgate. Surprising right?" Claire asked with a smirk on her face.

    "Why is that surprising? There are a lot of children who helped their family in the business." Frankie asked, confused.

    "Not that, he''s Edward. Edward Newgate? You... don''t know him?" Claire asked, confused by Frankie''s reaction.

    Shaking her head slightly, Frankie said, "No. Is he someone famous?"

    "He''s...a new artist, his songs are pretty up there. I think my husband and daughters mentioned an award or.... something...He was even on TV a few times!"

    "Oh. I don''t own a TV. Nor do I listen to mainstream music." Frankie said while shrugging her shoulders.

    Claire froze as she heard that.

    ...

    [Edward POV- Back to School]

    As I froze, my skill was suddenly activated, bringing me out from the storm in my mind. I noticed a subtle curling of Taylor''s lips as she pretended to be afraid, and realised that she was trying to freak me out.

    ''Damn. I had almost fallen into her trap.''

    Hiding my amusement, I pretended to be in despair before purposely stuttering and said, "A-A-Are you s-s-sure?"

    "Yes. I am 100% sure." Taylor said.

    ''Hmm...She didn''t clarify. I guess, she wants to use the vagueness in her sentence to make it seem like I freak out over nothing. Ooowww but Taylor sweetie, you have no idea who you are messing with...you have really underestimated me! Play with fire and you shall get burnt... This is really my forte!''

    [Taylor POV]

    As soon as he freaked out about the ''pregnancy'', he would play right into my palms.

    "That''s..."

    Yeah that''s right. Say it. Show me that you hate it.

    "That''s...wonderful." Ed muttered with a smile on his face.

    I froze. He took a step forward and wrapped his hand over my waist as he pulled me in closer to him.

    "Hmm? Where?" She asked, leaning forward to try and look at the back view mirror to see which part of her face was smudged.

    "Here. Let me wipe it." I said as I took a tissue from the box nearby. She smiled and pursed her lips at mine to wait for my fingers. However, I leaned forward and kissed her, licking the ice cream above her lips at the same time. She widened her eyes, and became a bit abashed as she didn''t expect the sudden attack.

    "What''s with you all of a sudden?" She said with an embarrassed smile on her face.

    "I just think it''ll be a waste of tissue paper. You know, I need to kiss you, to save our resources...and also save the world in the process." I joked.

    She laughed and leaned to the side, putting her hands on my thigh as she whispered, "Handsome, and also environmentally friendly."

    "That''s what it said on my merchandise label."

    Taylor smiled and blew her breath in my ears before she whispered, "I missed you."

    I turned to her and said, "I missed you too. And get your hand off my pants. I''m trying to drive over here. Shit- Cops. Act normal."

    Taylor saw the cops too and cursed, "Damn!" She went back to her seat and pulled her seat belt immediately. The cops stopped the car, and I turned the window''s down.

    "Good afternoon officer. What can I do for you?" I asked the rough looking man who was leaning in to look inside the car from the window. Unlike the ice-cream store owner, he recognized me immediately and took off his sunglasses.

    "Edward Newgate? God, I''m such a fan of yours!" the cop said. "What are you guys doing here? Wait is that-"

    "Yeah that''s Taylor. And I really can''t say what we were doing. You understand right?" I said, hinting at him.

    He widened his eyes, darting his pupils between Taylor and I a few times, with his expression changing from disbelief to happiness as he did. "My daughter will be so happy if she hears this."

    "Then, it''ll just be a secret between us, and your daughter." Taylor added with a grin on her face as she hugged my arm.

    "Yes ma''am. Alright. You guys can go." He asked.

    "No need to check for Id? You guys are looking for suspects aren''t you?" I asked curiously. Taylor pinched my waist, hard. She then whispered, "Why the hell did you ask? Did you forget you don''t HAVE a license?"

    Luckily for me, the cop didn''t hear what she said as his walkie talkie was turned on this time. He leaned in again and said, "That''s right. I won''t tell you what the case is, but it has something to do with a serial strangler."

    "Wait. The Tea-time Stranger?" I asked in surprise.

    "I knew you could guess it. Unfortunately, it seems that the guy has moved his sight to this area. There have been 2 cases in the neighborhood already. You kids be careful alright?"

    "Yeah we will. Thanks officer Malone." I said.

    "Thanks officer." Taylor said. I rolled the window back down, and drove away from the police check in a calm manner. Taylor then turned to me and asked, "You know. I still don''t get it. How can you guess their names?"

    "Whose names?" I asked.

    "In the ice-cream shop, and now with the officer. How?" She asked. I turned towards her in disbelief, and said, "You know they were both wearing name tags right?"

    "..."

    "Then, let me change my question. Why did you call them by their names?" She asked after thinking for a while.

    I shrugged and said, "It makes them feel good about themselves. And when they do, it''s easier to get them to have a nice impression of us."

    "After that, we can get away with almost anything." I said with a sly smile. She rolled her eyes at me, before falling into contemplation about what I just said.

    ...

    We arrived at the set of ''Love Story'' Music Video Production.

    "OH boy here she comes." Taylor muttered as we saw a stern looking staff member walking towards us.

    "Just be calm." I replied. "I''m here to support you if you decide to lie."

    "Taylor! You''re finally here!" She then saw me, and she scrunched her brows as she asked, "Were you late because you were on a date?"

    "No. There''s a major traffic jam, Jessica. A strangler is loose in the neighborhood." Taylor replied.

    "What?" Jessica asked, confused. Then, her lips curled upwards as it was the first time Taylor ever called her by her name. Then, her face turned angry again and she said, "Anyway. Glad you could make it. You need to change your outfit now."

    "The princess outfit right? Did you work on that? That looks really nice." I said. Jessica then broke into a huge grin and said, "I know right? It took me weeks to finalize it."

    "I can see that. I can''t wait to see how Taylor looks when she wears it." I replied. Taylor blushed and Jessica put the clothes on her arm before saying, "Go and change. We don''t have much time."

    The female director with black hair and bright blue eyes walked towards us with a cup of coffee in hand before offering a handshake to me, "Edward Newgate right? God, I love "Enemy" so much, I even bought the short version and used it as a ringtone."

    "Well thank you for your patronage. You''re Mrs Trey Fanjoy right?"

    She raised one of her eyebrows and said, "I''m surprised you know me. I''m only active in the country music genre after all. Do you like country music Ed?"

    "I wouldn''t say I hate it."

    "Well then, maybe we can work together sometime."

    "I would love that."

    After exchanging pleasantries with the director, she walked me through the set and talked about her inspiration for the video. She even told us how she draws her ideas from the renaissance and the regency era periods, and also asked me about my opinion on the matter.

    One thing that needed to be noted though was that you had to be careful when you talked to her, otherwise, you would quickly find yourself being among one of the extras in her videos, and be forced to wear renaissance era style clothing as you somehow had to participate in a ballroom scene. Like I currently was.

    "Walk me through how my presence in the video is good for Taylor again?" I asked.