Chapter 82: Chapter 82: Interview (Part 2)

    (This counts as 2 Chapters lol.)

    [3rd Person POV]

    In a certain agency meeting room.

    "Seriously, 2 Million views in a live broadcast? SHUT DOWN THAT SITE RIGHT NOW!"

    However, the staff member of the agency ignored the words of the Board of Directors that wanted to scheme to get Ed into their agency. It''s not that they were being insubordinate, but there was nothing they could do to disturb the broadcast. Ed was currently cementing his name in the people''s mind, and his influence was growing exponentially from the broadcast.

    Little did they know, 1.5 million views were coming from the international community– Europe and Asia. It would be hard for Ed to get 2 million viewers if he targeted the United States alone.

    -Studio-

    "At your concert, you did a legendary thing by playing a game with the audience, and created a song on the spot. Many fans are waiting for you to announce your next concert date so that they can play the game too. I''m even waiting for it." Rebecca said with a gleeful smile on her face.

    With a wry smile on his face, Ed replied, "Well. I don''t know if I will ever have a chance to do something like that again. The game at that time was only because I was tasked to drag the time in my performance, so I don''t think that it''ll ever happen again."

    The chat was filled with disappointed emojis and people wishing for Ed to change his mind.

    "However, I may be able to do that in smaller groups. If planned properly, it shouldn''t be impossible for me to conduct the game again." Ed added, flipping the audience''s mood once more.

    ''But the ticket will be far more expensive.'' Ed schemed in his mind.

    -Dunphy''s house-

    "As expected of the song vending machine." Alex mumbled to herself. Jay heard Alex and chuckled as he thought the nickname was accurate for the kid.

    -Studio-

    "Talking about your concert, how''s your relationship with Taylor?" Rebecca asked a point blank question, making Edward stunned for a second.

    It''s finally here!

    The MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION TODAY!

    I really hope he says they are dating. I ''ship'' them so much!

    "We''re close friends. I met her for the first time during the concert preparation..."

    So...No meeting him when he was a baby? Disappointing.

    Stop pushing that theory. How is it possible that Taylor would meet him? She was 5 years old at the time, and WAS LIVING IN A DIFFERENT STATE!

    "... She even gave me a birthday present before. So yeah, she''s a close friend of mine. "Our thing" is a friendship and I would like to keep it like that till I become an adult."

    Rebecca smirked and said, "So...There''ll be a different label when you''re an adult huh."

     OH YEAHHHH!!!!

     IT''S GOING TO BE LEGAL THEN!

     WE SUPPORT YOU ED!

    Ed looked at the interviewer with dead eyes, making her feel bad for her mistake in not filtering her words.

    "Next up, Ed is going to perform 2 songs for the audience, to show his appreciation and show the world what he''s made off. Be right back, after the break." Rebecca said to the screen before the staff member changed the broadcast to include some commercials instead.

    "How many commercial offers do we get?" Ed asked Pepper as he wiped his sweat and got ready for the live performance.

    "13. All offered us more than 250,000 dollars as we already surpassed 2 million viewers." Pepper said in excitement.

    "Good. But we only have slots for 3 of them, so choose wisely." Ed said.

    Pepper nodded and said, "Of course. We had picked Nike, Swarovski, and Facebook. All paid in full."

    "Harvey did a good job." Ed complimented sincerely. It was a miraculous work to finish the commercial negotiations in only 25 minutes since his interviews started. The money was already in the company''s account, and the commercial deals were already finished.

    "By the way, Nike wants to sponsor your concert. But we''ll talk later." Pepper said. "Even Ellen called us-"

    "ED!" Taylor suddenly appeared out of nowhere and lunged at Ed before giving him a hug.

    "Taylor. Why are you here? I thought you weren''t coming?" Ed asked with surprise in his eyes.

    "I wouldn''t miss this for the world." Taylor said.

    The interviewer widened her eyes as she saw the pop star, but didn''t say anything that could bring her more trouble as she already had her first warning from the agency.

    "30 seconds before resuming." The staff called. Ed turned to Taylor and said, "Thank you for being here- Wait. Let''s do this." He then whispered something into Taylor''s ear, making her blush a bit before widening her eyes and slowly biting her lower lip.

    Pepper came up and quickly pushed Ed to the next venue – the recording room with the band members standing by, and far away from Taylor as the time was almost up.

    "Break a leg." Pepper said.

    "That''s ominous. But thanks." Ed replied mischievously, making Pepper roll his eyes.

    "We''re starting in 3...2...1..."

    The live broadcast resumed again, and Ed sang the song Believer to the audience.

    (A/N: The song was already written before in the concert, so I won''t put it here again)

    After the song ended, the audience and the staff members inside the studio gave a big applause to his performance. Ed rested a bit and drank some water with a smile on his face as he read the audience reaction.

    As he performed the song without holding anything back, the number of his fans worldwide skyrocketed, especially among young adults and teenagers.

    ''It felt different from a concert. I was feeling as if I''m an internet broadcaster instead. Maybe I can be a famous Twitch streamer when it finally comes out?'' Ed thought secretly.

    Now that the interlude was over, Ed returned to his seat adjacent to the interviewer to start the second part of the interview.

    "What a wonderful performance. I got goosebumps. Do you usually spend so much energy in an act like this?" Rebecca asked while showing her arm goosebumps to the audience.

    "Yeah. I grew up performing, and as I previously explained I think I always knew that I needed to sing so I wouldn''t even dream of going out there without pouring my whole heart into it." Ed replied.

    The interview continued for another 5 minutes with the interviewer asking Ed the details of his albums, and his background before this.

    "You''re a musical prodigy, especially on the violin. But, none of your songs have a violin in it? Why is that?" Rebecca asked.

    Ed was a bit surprised (or felt ambushed) by the question, but he kept his smiling expression and said, "Well...I have quite a bad memory from my childhood especially tied to that instrument. So...it''s been hard for me to touch it since then."

    The audience went silent for half a second before the chat rose up again.

    Seriously? A bad experience? What happened? ??

    Wait, I got an article. (link-Musical-Prodigy-passing-out-on-stage.)

    Oh dang. No wonder he changed professions. Those classical music snobs were really too much. Even when the kid passed out on stage they would still criticize him. ??

    Send me the critic''s location.

    Ed decided to reveal his past on his own terms instead of waiting for people with bad intentions to use it against him later on. It was pre-planned, and even his expressions to pull the public support to his side. Even the link was given by a member of his staff lurking in the chat, and had permission to post the link there.

    Those who wanted to post their own link would be blocked by Ed''s algorithms as he didn''t want scammers to bombard his live broadcast.

    -Jenna''s house-

    Jenna finished typing her question on the chat before thinking to herself, ''How much gasoline do I need this time to eliminate all of those who wronged Ed?''

    Luckily for the critics, no one actually replied to Jenna''s question. They would all live on for another day. She sighed and continued to watch the interview before laughing at Ed''s joke.

    ''Still. The gap between us is growing farther and farther. He''s going to be rich and famous, so what can I do to make him see me?''

    She thought for a while before deciding to ask her mom about the matter tomorrow.

    -Studio-

    "Moving on, we have a very special guest who has flown over, all the way from Ohio, just to show her support for Edward''s debut today. Please welcome, Taylor S.!!!" Rebecca announced.

    The chat went into a frenzy as Taylor walked into the shot, hugged Ed lightly and shook hands with the interviewer before sitting next to Ed. The audience could also see the stolen glances accompanied by playful flirting by those two, and their mind couldn''t take it anymore.

    -Lily''s bedroom-

    "KYAAAAAHHHH! SHE CAME!!! SHE CAMEEE!!!!" Lily, Ed''s fanclub President, shouted madly as she saw Taylor appearing at the interview.

    "Oh my god. My heart." Her face started to feel feverish, and her hand was clammy. She sat down limply on the chair while fanning her face with her hand. "I need a cold bath. I''m too excited."

    Her nose bleeds a little, but she decided to just wipe it off and ordered Ed''s 100,000 fans in the fanclub to show their support on the interview and spread out the broadcast information to all around the globe.

    Before Taylor''s Fearless album came out, she was just an ordinary artist and would only achieve great strides in her career because of the songs ''You Belong with Me'', ''Love Story'' and ''Fearless''. But right now, her career exploded even before she released the album to the market.

    -Dunphy''s house-

    "KYAAAHHH!!" Cam squealed in excitement as his idol– the country artist came out on the screen. He almost reacted the same way as the President of the fan club if not for the fact that he was with the extended family right now.

    "Ayy Cameron, Quiet down. I can''t hear what they are saying." Gloria admonished Cam before he could react any further.

    Haley and Alex however were narrowing their eyes as they took a look at Taylor.

    ''Why the hell is she there?'' Haley asked herself while having a pouting expression.

    -Studio-

    "Fun story, Taylor actually came most of the way here in a helicopter." Rebecca exposed her, making the artist cover her face in embarrassment. Even Ed laughed at her when he found out.

    "Well..I needed to come here quickly. Otherwise I would miss this." Taylor said shyly. Ed nodded in admiration as he watched Taylor acting like an innocent girl. ''She''s really good at maintaining her image.''

    "But why? Why do you need to be here...today?" Rebecca asked teasingly.

    "??I took an arrow to the heart (Ohh)??"

    "Amazing!" Pepper made a premature reaction while opening his hands wide. His hands hit the unlucky Leo''s face as he watched the show at his side.

    "Oh my. I''m so sorry." Pepper apologized quickly before checking up on Leo.

    "??I never kissed a mouth that tastes like yours

    Strawberries and somethin'' more??

    ??Ooh yeah, I want it all??"

    At the Dunphy''s, Haley quickly covered her mouth as blood rushed to her cheeks.

    ''Strawberry? Damn it. It''s me!'' Haley was shaken as she rushed to hide her favorite "strawberry flavored" lipstick and shoved it into her purse as her eyes darted all over the room to see if people knew it was her, but luckily all attention was on Edward. She sighed in relief before someone suddenly spoke.

    "Who''s this... ''Strawberry Lips''" Claire asked.

    Mitchell turned to Haley quickly as he realized it, but Haley shushed him using a gesture before he could say anything.

    "?? Lipstick on my guitar (ooh)

    Fill up the engine, we can drive real far

    Go dancin'' underneath the stars

    Ooh yeah, I want it all??"

    Taylor''s eyes twinkled as she heard about the guitar and she remembered their Yacht party together when Ed playfully fed her strawberries with Champagne in her room before they continued to "enjoy" each other.

    Meanwhile in the Dunphy Residence...

    Haley was flabbergasted and thought, ''OW CRAP WHY DID I HAVE TO TELL HIM ABOUT HOW I''M TAKING MY DRIVER TEST SOON!?!? I DON''T EVEN KNOW IF I WILL PASS!!''

    As she couldn''t help but freak out thinking he would be disappointed in her after writing the song. It seemed that Ed''s song had a deep impact on the girls close to him, but he still didn''t quite understand how big his influence was on them.

    "??Mm, you got me feelin'' like

    I wanna be that guy, I wanna kiss your eyes

    I wanna drink that smile, I wanna feel like I''m high

    Like my soul''s on fire, I wanna stay up all day and all night??"

    Right on queue with the lyrics, all the girls blushed at the same time as they heard the next verse.

    ??Yeah, you got me singin'' like??

    "??Ooh, I love it when you do it like that

    And when you''re close up, give me the shivers??"

     Oh my GOD. HE''S REALLY DONE IT!

    AWESOMEEE!!!

    I''m doooonee, take me to jail. I''m in love too... ??

    ??Oh baby, you wanna dance ''til the sunlight cracks

    And when they say the party''s over, then we''ll bring it right back??

    ??And we''ll say, ooh, I love it when you do it like that

    And when you''re close up, give me the shivers??

    ??Oh baby, you wanna dance ''til the sunlight cracks

    And when they say the party''s over, then we''ll bring it right back??

    All of those who heard the song couldn''t help but sway their bodies to the rhythm. Some even started dancing. Not even a Blonde Colombian Latina who just started swaying her hips nor the African American curly haired Beauty that had just caught on the last bit of the interview after someone told her "Believer" was up in the Radio.

    ??Into the car

    On the backseat in the moonlit dark

    Wrap me up between your legs and arms

    Ooh, I can''t get enough??

    "Seriously? He needs a lecture after this!" Claire muttered.

    Somewhere else however a different, younger blonde had a different reaction however as she unconsciously broke her "innocent" fa?ade and just couldn''t stop herself from licking her lips as she stared right at the swaying figure in front of her.

    ??You know you could tear me apart (ooh)

    Put me back together and take my heart

    I never thought that I could love this hard

    Ooh, I can''t get enough??

    "Hehe~" Haley giggled.

    ??Mm, you got me feeling like

    I wanna be that guy, I wanna kiss your eyes

    I wanna drink that smile, I wanna feel like I''m high

    Like my soul''s on fire, I wanna stay up all day and all night

    Yeah, you got me singin'' like??

    Ed picked up the beat a little but most importantly his voice kept hitting all the notes and piercing falsettos(Singing technique that allows someone to hit notes higher than the singer can usually reach) which made the song even more intoxicating.

    ??Ooh, I love it when you do it like that

    And when you''re close up, give me the shivers

    Oh baby, you wanna dance ''til the sunlight cracks

    And when they say the party''s over, then we''ll bring it right back??

    ??And we''ll say, ooh, I love it when you do it like that

    And when you''re close up, give me the shivers

    Oh baby, you wanna dance ''til the sunlight cracks

    And when they say the party''s over, then we''ll bring it right back??

    While at the bridge, he closed a few sound loops and sang using a whisper. He didn''t strum the guitar, but instead he clapped his hand to make a beat.

    "??Baby, you burn so hot

    You make me shiver with the fire you got

    This thing we started, I don''t want it to stop

    You know you make me shiver-er-er??"

    "??Baby, you burn so hot

    You make me shiver with the fire you got

    This thing we started, I don''t want it to stop

    You know you make me shiver...er ??"

    Ellen Degeneres, Jimmy Fallon, and a lot of other celebrity show hosts were impressed by Ed''s performance.

    "We got to bring him to our show!" Ellen shouted, and her thoughts were shared by a lot of talk show hosts.

    Ed strummed his guitar again and sang the ending verse powerfully.

    "??Yeah, you got me singin'' like

    Ooh, I love it when you do it like that

    And when you''re close up, give me the shivers

    Oh baby, you wanna dance ''til the sunlight cracks??"

    "??And when they say the party''s over, then we''ll bring it right back ??"

    "??And we''ll say, ooh, I love it when you do it like that

    And when you''re close up, give me the shivers

    Oh baby, you wanna dance ''til the sunlight cracks

    And when they say the party''s over, then we''ll bring it right back, hey!!!??"

    4.5 million people cheered for Ed''s impromptu performance, and they had fallen to Ed''s charismatic entrapment. Majority of them would always place Ed in his hearts after today, especially among teenagers and young adults.

    "Have a great day you guys. And good night!" Ed said before he waved goodbye to the camera. He cut the footage, but he didn''t shut down the website therefore people could still talk about his performance there.