ã€ŠJack Of Artsã€‹


 Chapter 1 - Prologue: Tayaw and the Percussive Corrections (1)

    ===============

    Hello, new readers.

    I''ve written 170 chapters as I''m writing this note. This is my first novel and I''ve learned a lot. After writing 170 chapters, the things I''ve learned also made me realize some things and it makes me want to amend them. However, I think it''s best to just leave those things untouched.

    Anyways, I want to establish some expectations. First, y''all can skip the prologues as they have been my practice chapters when I almost had zero experience writing.

    Secondly, this is a wish-fulfillment type of novel however, I''m making the process of the MC in making his songs/ making movies as realistic and more digestible as possible.

    Thirdly, don''t expect a lot of drama. I''ve made the MC as rational as possible and the things he does are digestible too. Instead of drama, this novel is more of a chill-type, relaxing novel; just cruising along with the MC and some of his friends.

    It''s also a feel-good novel. Personally, I''d love to make this novel as dramatic as possible to meet the demand of readers of , but I''m stressed enough so why not make use of this as my personal therapy?

    So. that''s that. Please. Enjoy.

    =================

    Another note.

    Recently there have been Brazilians spam posting about a certain someone accused of s.e.x.u.a.l predation of an underage girl. I am NOT that someone, but another author who at one point commented / reviewed this novel. Such interaction with that author and me resulted into these comments coming to my novel.

    I do not know whether the accusations are wrong or not, but I''d rather leave those comments on, if they are in fact true. So, to prevent misunderstanding that might scare away new potential subscribers of my novel, I decided to write this note.

    Anyway. Please enjoy.

    -Dagem, Author of Jack of Arts

    ==================

    "It''s finally Friday." Tayaw mumbled to himself as he was staring into space while waiting for the cashier.

    *Ding!*

    "That will be 46000 BGC, sir." The cashier said blandly to Tayaw.

    Tayaw just bought a few construction materials to replenish the stocks of an ongoing renovation project that he''s working on. It''s one of those projects that have low effort to earnings ratio.

    Despite that, he has no choice but to do the best he can to renovate the place. If it were another project from some bachelor or bachelorette that doesn''t really know what they want in the long run for their house, he would just do an okay job, as long as the finished renovations or construction follow the safety standards.

    This current project though, is different. His conscience cannot carry the guilt to willy-nilly renovate a house that a family will be raised in.

    While the workers of the hardware store loaded up the supplies to the truck, he walked a few tens of feet away and lit up a cigarette as he contemplated his life and situation for the nth time. This is a habit of his that slowly came to be when he finds the work boring.

    He finds construction tedious but he had to admit that he has some talent in the field. It''s just that he''s become bored after mastering the work enough that no new job poses a challenge to him anymore.

    Regardless of his abilities though, he was never promoted beyond Foreman. He''s been in his position as a site foreman for almost ten years now.

    He has no complaints about the pay as he is one of the highest paid people in his position due to his well-deserved pay raises over the years. He even has savings and some left to spare for his hobbies.

    The inescapable inhalation of chemicals and cement dust doesn''t help either. It wasn''t as bad as the front line construction workers but still, he isn''t getting younger so it makes him worry how these things will affect his health.

    This is one of the reasons why he did not delegate the task of material procurement to a subordinate just so he could get away from the site just for half a day.

    Maybe it''s his initial quick rise that makes his disappointment and frustration grow to its current almost unhealthy state. He started as an office intern and it only took him 4 years, at 26 years old to become a foreman not only in position but also in ability. However, since then, some of the colleagues he started out with already blew past him over the years.

    "Was it because I did not kiss ass enough? Should I have?" He sighed as he exhaled his cigarette smoke.

    But as he sucked the last lungful of smoke he can from his almost burnt out cigarette, a sense of pride consoled him, as always.

    Deep inside he knows that his unwillingness to kiss ass and boot lick held him back in climbing the organizational ladder, but did he ever regret not sucking up? He never regretted going against his principles.

    In fact, this trait of his is one of the things in himself he is most proud of. He started rocky and weak in his career, but as he grabbed opportunities for himself, offered his ideas for efficiency in the field to the right superiors, and did his job that satisfied both the company and his clients, he was smoothly promoted.

    The company, despite the bureaucracy in every level, recognized his abilities. He reached his current position without owing anyone, and at a comfortable position at that where he is at no risk of getting fired any time soon.

    "You can cry louder

    Just cry all you want for yourself

    The sadness in your eyes

    Will break out anyway

    No one will hear

    Under the sound of the rain

    No one will see

    Among the covers of the haze"

    With his spirits lifted back up, he started singing discreetly by the mound of sand as while browsing the internet in his phone.

    He wanted to sing another song but was timely interrupted. "Hey customer boss! We''re all loaded up! Where do we go?" asked the driver of the Hardware store''s truck.

    "The hill at Nasiri. You''re not familiar with Nasiri? The place South?" Seeing the driver''s clueless face, "It''s on the opposite side of the city from here." Tayaw decided to show the way.

    "I took a taxi here, so I don''t have a ride back. I''ll go with you." Tayaw said as he ran towards the truck and helped himself up to the passenger seat.

    Noticing the strange expression of the truck driver, Tayaw realized that he must have appeared presumptuous so he promised half a taxi fare''s worth of tip as he casually fastened his seatbelt. The truck driver just nodded in acknowledgment.

    Internally though, Tayaw was quite puzzled and annoyed. He could not, by the situation, understand why he isn''t at least entitled to a free ride after buying that much construction supplies.

    The forty minute ride that would have been twenty minutes without the traffic, to Nasiri''s hill was uneventful.

    "I''m new to the city, so I don''t know a lot of places. Forget about the tip; just tell me about this place." The driver started to chat with Tayaw.

    "I don''t know where to start. This city has grown so much. The people have become richer that there is a boom of private car owners over the years. Still, I miss the time when Ouigab was just a hybrid of an artist city and a university city. Hungry aspiring artists along with university students commuted in public transportation. Now we instead have a lot of suited assholes in their offices and entrepreneurs." Tayaw replied as he noticed a few high end cars and old pick-up trucks in the same lane.

    "I''ve just been here in Ouigab for a few weeks so I really don''t know. You''re a native here, so you might be right. Before I just assumed that you can only make it in Ouigab if you''re some form of an entertainer or a professor in a university. I moved here because many of my friends and relatives, after studying in various universities and colleges in the city, decided to settle here." The driver replied.

    Their small talk was interrupted when Tayaw''s phone beeped. He checked it and it came from his Chat Group "Percussive Correction". He smiled as he read the message. This prompted his imagination of his usual routine in preparing his voice for his weekly activity later in the evening.

    Percussive Correction, as Tayaw and his friends would call their group, is a six member cover band started by Tayaw and friends from way back in their junior year in college. At first, they just did gigs as a form of relaxation in between classes and study sessions.

    They also craved the crowd''s and other acts'' response to them as affirmation of their skills in their respective instruments. They were proud that they, as college students and casual performers can become opening acts easily with their skills.

    After graduation and the licensure exam, the band stopped looking for gigs for a year and went their separate ways. Within that year though, the group was smacked hard in the face by reality.

    Except for Tayaw with his good grades and Ike with his family connections, everyone else in the group struggled to find jobs in the field of engineering as there were just too many engineer graduates to compete with.

    They were not only competing with engineers that graduated the same year as them, they also had to compete with much more experienced engineers that graduated a year or two or three before them.

    Tayaw was just hired as a paid intern in the construction company he is currently working at, when the band decided to gather together one day to plan how to elevate themselves from opening acts to regular acts.

    At first glance, the drive they had was probably brought upon by their poverty and common love for music and performance. But at that same day, they realized that they were all brought together by their helplessness over the lack of control over their lives.

    Tayaw, the vocalist and second guitar just enjoyed singing and just liked to continue performing with the band. It was also an outlet for him from the stress at work.

    Ike the drummer who was a product of nepotism at his job was suffering stink eye and harmless but tiresome hazing among his co-workers.

    Hoon, the lead guitarist while still looking for jobs was actually making ends meet by offering guitar lessons to adolescents and teenagers who wanted to learn.

    Inson, the bassist was then working as a temporary clerk at a small hardware company and still actually kept up with his practice.

    Bay-an, the keyboardist/pianist was working as a customer support service at a company outsourced by a cable company.

    Finally, Ramil the saxophonist/violinist was working as a chauffeur and was saving up to go to welding school.

    The six of them that day, together found that the piece of control they''re looking for is found through their already existing skills they''ve honed out of love and passion. Fifteen years later since that day, they are currently the resident band of a locally famous bar, performing every Fridays and Saturdays during the peak hours. Every night they play, they get a share of the bar''s profit during the hour they performed in on top of their base pay.

    While they earn around 2000-3000 BGC every night they played, they no longer valued the money that much. After all, seventeen years is a long time and they are all now financially stable from their own livelihoods outside the band. They still do gigs after all these years because it''s still one of the few things they all find fulfilling the most.

    Tayaw, as a site foreman has bouts of depression from his career.

    Ike, who quit his first job found his fortune buying and selling property with the capital he borrowed from his parents. Despite the money he earns, it also made his life either monotonous or stressful from potential losses of certain properties'' values.

    Hoon, through his continuous practice even outside the band became a locally respected guitar teacher, but despite the good pay, teaching guitar was never his passion.

    Inson, who stayed at his job at the hardware company and learned the skills to start and grow his own gravel/sand/cement business, was exhausted and bored by the daily grind.

    Bay-an who stayed at the customer support company, actually climbed the company''s ladder and is already at middle management level. But despite that, he sacrificed so much pride and owed so many favors to many people.

    And finally Ramil, who finished welding school, was actually able to become an industrial pipe welder, a very well paid job. But just like Tayag, he is worried of the consequences of his job to his health.

    ROH Factory ¨C 9 pm.

    "The Fiiighhhterrr innnnn

    youuuuuuu¡­."

    The bar was filled with cheers and applause after the song by a band ended. It was a power ballad with powerful guitar and bass distortion accompaniment and slow but dramatic beating of the bass drums and cymbals. Sung originally as Power Ballad by the balladeer Mike Damon but the band rearranged it into a good rock ballad.

    "Let''s give another round of applause for NOCTURNAL EMMISSIONS! Man! That was an exciting last song from them guys! How could the next act follow that!

    "Ooh¡­ I joke, I joke! Of course you guys already know who the next guys are! They won''t back down! While they prepare, l want to talk to the new customers of the bar. The next band is a local legend around these parts of the city. For ten years now, they are the kings here!

    "I still remember the day I first saw these fellas. It was seventeen years ago across the street when that restaurant was still our rival bar! They were an opening act! Now, why would I go watch an opening act from a rival bar? Because I recognized them! How? They were my college seniors! They were engineering students though. I was studying Hospitality Management back then.

    "My only regret is that these guys never made it out of here! In my opinion, they could have been stars! But hey, they had other things going and as far as I know. At least we kept our secret treasures here!

    "oh.. hey Iris, are they ready? Well then. Let''s welcome to the stage, PERCUSSIVE CORRECTIONS!!!"

    A wave of enthusiastic applause and whistles came from the audience as they welcomed Tayaw and company to the stage.

    "Good evening folks. How are you all tonight? Good?" Tayaw was talking to the audience as the rest of the band was making last adjustments to the set up.

    As the crowd noticed that the band was finally ready, they quieted down.

    "Ah One. Ah Two, Ah One, Two Three, let''s jam" After Tayaw signaled the band with his raspy baritone voice, Inson, at the word "Jam" slapped his lowest bass string as he slid his finger from the higher fret down to the lower for a "dropping the bass" effect followed instantly by both Ike''s crisp and subtle cymbals and snares, and Ramil''s riffs with his saxophone.

    This instantly caught the crowd''s attention and got they heads bopping. Despite the relatively fast paced intro, they know instinctively that this is only the beginning.

    After they reached the verse, Tayaw''s voice entered the fray and with great control of his voice and his skill in the appropriate vocal timbre, along with his timely emphasis on the consonants to enhance the sound of the beat, made the crowd feel exhilarated with goose bumps. "This is great!" would have been the crowd''s reaction if translated into words.

    Each phase of the song, having subtle but obvious differences made some of the more experienced listeners among the patrons appreciate the skill of Percussive Corrections have over the three prior acts. The subtlety, despite not being directly pointed out by the rest of the crowd, can be clearly felt.

    As the final chorus finished, and the song is coming to a close, Bay-an who had only been playing chords on the piano throughout the song displayed an incredible series of jazz influenced improvisational riffs that tickled the audience''s senses as it signaled song almost ending. As Ike''s and Imson''s drums and saxophones slowed down while maintaining their power, Bay-an then played a powerful cadence which sounded like a series of chords played as fast as his riffs. Gradually, he slowed down to match Ike''s and Imson''s rhythm as the three ended the song.

    The crowd roared in excitement at the first song. Tayaw also noticed that the crowd is pumped up enough for the next song. Tayaw waited for the crowd to calm down and spoke a very sincere "Thank you" which was again accompanied by another round of applause. Noticing that it was time for the next song, Tayaw signaled Ike to begin with the drums.

    The second song was not as exciting and as fast paced as the first song but it contained much more understandable lyrics for first time listeners of the song and a much more nuanced emotions throughout. The crowd was clapping along, while many of those who know the song being covered sang along. Soon the second song ended.

    The next five songs were songs that the crowd could simply sing along to.

    The last song however is something that is unusual for the audience to hear. It was acoustic and folk-influenced. Despite this, the audience did not recoil from the change, but became curious instead. Hoon already switched his electric guitar with his acoustic one as he started plucking the strings in the key of G.

    This song was originally a pop song written composed and performed by the pop star Justine Brea titled "What I want". It is a hell of a boppy song: the melody, the beat, the rhythm made it sound like the song was designed for night clubs. But the lyrics tell a different story. It was actually about a broken hearted woman who just wishes to be held in someone''s embrace.

    With Hoon''s idea of rearranging the song, he started working on it with Tayaw for a few days. If Justine Brea, the original singer of the song were to hear this rendition, she might either feel moved or feel angry. Feeling moved from the raw and direct emotions brought out by the arrangement, or anger for Hoon and Tayaw for umasking the song''s happy exterior.

    As the song ended, the crowd felt a great sense of catharsis. The song may have made the crowd sad, but the arrangers of the song made sure that the sound of the rendition is not really sad but more relaxing.

    That was how Tayaw''s Friday ended just like many times before.

 Chapter 2 - Prologue: Tayaw and the Percussive Corrections (2)

    The Saturday gig was not much different from their gig the previous night. They were anticipated, watched, and applauded. The night itself though, Tayaw felt something was different within the band. In the green room, while the band was resting and chatting among themselves, Bay-an said something that silenced the room.

    "Guys, I''m moving to the Capital City." Bay-an said with a guilt ridden face. Seeing the band''s silence urged him to clarify "I was just promoted to the main office. I can''t miss this opportunity. You all know things are also going great with me and my girl so I''m planning on proposing after I settled in the new job."

    After a few seconds of recovery, Ike finally broke the silence.

    "Well. Congratulations man! While it''s a shame that you can no longer perform with us, I''m happy for you. This is a huge step man, you should be proud!" Ike said and the rest of the band nodded in affirmation except for Inson who with his unusual serious expression appeared to be thinking deeply about something.

    The band started to feel tense. Is he angry? Is he mad? Inson, staying quiet for almost thirty seconds only aggravated the feeling of tension within the room.

    "Inson, you okay? Wanna say something?" Ike was worried and wanted to break the tension.

    Noticing this, Bay-an was confused and also guilty so he felt he had to say something "I''m sorry Inson. I''m sorry guys that this was too sudden." he says.

    Inson, on the other hand waved his hand at the apology.

    "It''s fine brother. I''m actually thinking of quitting too." Inson''s confession gave the band another round of silence.

    "My company is now at a point where I can start preparing for the expansion to steel and hollow block making. I also have enough savings to start a new branch. Bay''an''s situation actually gave me the balls to make this decision." Inson explained further.

    Tayaw felt as if he was punched in the gut at the two''s sudden decision. He felt betrayed but he also knew, almost since the beginning that this will inevitably happen. He just did not expect it to be tonight. With a mixed feeling of emotions, he sighed.

    "I also knew that the band will not last forever. At some point, we will have to move up in our lives, get married and have children. Why I am even surprised actually? At least one of us should have a kid by now. Anyone else thinking of wanting to quit? Don''t worry, I will understand."

    Ramil raised his hand. "I''m thinking of quitting my job and starting my own metal working business. I''ve been planning it for a long time now. I know I will not have time for the band once I start preparing for the business, so with Bay-an and Inson leaving, I think it''s not such a bad idea to leave as well and start my preparations earlier." The band knew that Ramil, despite having a great paying job, also often works in dangerous places. This decision of Ramil''s, to them was very understandable.

    Hoon also spoke up. "Monkey See Entertainment reached out to me. They want me to be a guitarist for their various artists for the recording of their songs, and I also get to play with them when they go on tours around the country. Hey, I may even get to perform overseas." This was a surprise for the band.

    Monkey See Entertainment, based on Ouigab City itself, is a nationally known entertainment company that signed some of the most famous singers and musical acts in the country. They weren''t that surprised that he was offered a job because they knew that Hoon, aside from his lacking creativity, his skills earned him a few recording jobs from various recording studios over the years.

    What surprised them more is that Hoon is willing to get out of Ouigab. They all knew that Hoon was never comfortable outside of Ouigab. The most he spent outside the city is the band''s trip years ago to a neighboring city to perform in a music festival.

    At the third day, Hoon was anxious to go back and had a series of panic attacks that was finally relieved after they rushed back to Ouigab after the festival. It was just Hoon''s luck being born in Ouigab that he didn''t have to move to other cities for jobs as a guitarist. Despite that though, the band knew that had Hoon not have this condition, they would have a different lead guitar player starting from at least ten years ago.

    Tayaw in his confusion asked "What about your condition? Will you be fine?" Hoon despite already appearing to be anxious just thinking about touring, forced himself to smile as he assured the band.

    "I will have to force myself to be. We''re only a few years from turning 40. I realized that I have not lived and experienced life fully. I''m just relieved that it''s not yet too late for me." He received an encouraging look from the band at those words.

    Ike then turned to Tayaw and rhetorically asked "So, it''s just the two of us, huh?" Tayaw helplessly laughed at that.

    "Yes. How about you Ike? This may also be a good chance for you to do other things as well."

    "Well, I was indeed thinking about doing other things. Maybe I could even start a legit real estate business instead of just me buying and selling properties. It''s a miracle that I was able to keep making money without really knowing the market that much. Maybe I would start dating again even! You should too. It''s been what? A year and a half, or two years since you broke up with your c*nt for a girlfriend. I''m surprised you two lasted two years." The band laughed at that.

    They knew about Tayaw''s last relationship. They were proud that Tayaw, despite looking just above average, was able to hook up with possibly one of the best looking women they have ever seen in person.

    Arianne, who works as a secretary for some executive of a fashion company, could have been a celebrity had she had at least the minimum ability to sing, act, or be photogenic. She and Tayaw met one night at ROH Factory after him and the band''s gig. They started dating not too long after that.

    It just turned out that Arianne is a manipulative, jealous, self-entitled woman. She wanted to take control of Tayaw''s life, encouraged him to kiss ass to be promoted at work, attempted to destroy Tayaw''s reputation among his friends and family, attempted to stop Tayaw from playing with the band, and managed to make Tayaw''s apartment look like she owned the place.

    It was just when Tayaw finally realized that Arianne''s looks and the s.e.x was not worth the misery of staying in a relationship with her that he finally broke up with her.

    Tayaw just waved Ike''s jab off. He didn''t like to talk about that relationship as the thought alone of the suffering he went through just made him angry. "Maybe I should. Well, I''ll just keep working as a foreman for now. Maybe it''s finally time for me to suck up and learn to play with the bureaucracy of the company."

    The band knew Tayaw well and the image of him sucking up left a better taste in their mouths. They also knew that Tayaw really loved to sing and perform with the band, so the band breaking up and leading Tayaw to even entertain the thought of going against the trait that they admired in him the most, made them feel very guilty.

    Noticing their expressions, Tayaw also felt better about the band breaking up. "What''s with those faces? We''re all trying our best in our lives here. With the opportunities coming your way, this deserves a celebration! So what if we don''t play together anymore? Aren''t we still great friends? We can still hang out when we can." The band felt finally relieved.

    As they were packing up their instruments, Inson suddenly said "Tayaw, you can still play solo. You can contact the substitutes we had." The rest of the members felt the idea was good, only to be shot down by Tayaw.

    "I can. But it''s not the same. I still want to perform under the name Percussive Corrections but without you guys in it, I''d rather not. But it''s okay guys. Maybe I can use the spare energy to do something else." Inson just nodded.

    "Okay. Guys! Let''s go to dinner near Tayaw''s place. My treat!" The band cheered at that.

    After the dinner, the band parted ways. As Tayaw was walking home, he couldn''t help but relive the memories he had playing with the band; Ike''s crisp and masterful subtlety with the drums, Hoon''s rock star aura while shredding the guitar, Inson''s reliable and never out of beat bass, Bay-an''s flexibility in the piano with different genres, and Ramil''s versatility in the saxophone that could accompany almost any song.

    He wondered when they will able to play again. Percussive Corrections, originally an idea that in his mind became a separate entity that tied his friends together, gave them happiness and hope when him and his friends needed it the most, is now gone.

    Arriving at his apartment, he put his guitar under his bed and he drove straight to the sheets. He couldn''t help but shed tears from the mixture of happiness and sadness. Happy that him and his friends has together taken a step in their lives that will only result in something positive, and sad at the loss of something that him and his friends built together out of passion and their youth for seventeen years.

    At the same time, the rest of the band members are also mulling about the night. It was a huge decision that they collectively took together. They all would still want to keep on performing but, they know that life is not only about their own happiness, but also filled with responsibilities; various responsibilities that come and go at each stage in life.

    Of course, they wanted to have become legitimate artists who can make their own songs, but as soon as they realized they did not have the ability and the "it" factor that would make them stand out among hundreds of bands in their region alone, they finally settled at what they were good, stayed as a cover band and performed as long as they were happy doing it.

    Within the week after their final gig, the band still kept in touch with each other through their chat group. The band even gathered in Wednesday together once again to have a send-off party for Bay-an after he was done preparing to move to the capital for his new job.

    Tayaw however still felt the utter barrenness of the new pattern of his life. The project he''s working on is still going smoothly and is now in its final touches, but he just did not have the usual energy as he did not have anything to look forward to anymore for the weekend.

    Friday arrived and it was the emptiest Friday Tayaw endured for the first time in a long time. It was only barely relieved by the lively Percussive Corrections Chat Group. Barely is apt because everyone in the chat felt that each of them would rather be at the place doing what makes them happy than at their own homes.

    Despite that though, all of them agreed to never step into the doors of ROH Factory again until they all got accustomed to their new lifestyle. The Chat Group is their only substitute to their former activity.

    Midnight approached and Tayaw bid everyone goodbye as he had to go to work the next day to fill out forms and finish his reports regarding the almost finished project. He turned his phone screen off, laid it next to his pillow, as he assumed his most comfortable position to sleep.

    "I have enough money. I live comfortably. My parents are doing fine. I have decent relationship with my brothers. I should stop thinking about what could have been."

    Unknowingly, to the just fell asleep Tayaw, somewhere where Where and When did not matter, are a couple having a squabble

 Chapter 3 - Prologue: Please skip this one. It might ruin it for you. Promise. (1)

    Prologue : Negotiations Between Husband and Wife

    Woo, as usual was playing his lute in a grand lobby. He was a respected musician, almost of a noble standing, due to his skills with the lute and other stringed instruments adding to his musical masterpieces that could be counted in the hundreds.

    He never had a rival in his life ever. Wherever he went to play, they showered him in jade and gold for every song he performed. Never in his life would he have thought to have become a glorified private bard.

    Every day, he played for at least four hours in this same lobby for fifty years now. However, he is very satisfied with current circ.u.mstances.

    He always thought he would go to hell due to his excessive fornication. Most of the women, be it commoners or nobles, who wanted and bedded him, aside from the pleasures of the flesh they offered, offered him nothing else.

    Rarely does he makes love with a woman he wanted to know more intimately. That disinterest caused some of those women to be resentful enough to attempt to cause harm to him of varying degrees and forms.

    But what made him felt most accountable is the harm and death brought upon to his friends and kin by the jealous husbands and lovers by many of the a.d.u.l.terous women whose carnal desires he reciprocated. After his mortal life ended, he was just glad end up where he is now.

    He at first, assumed to become bored from the position he was divinely forced into. He was proven wrong soon though because of the privilege given to him by those same beings that acquired him; to learn even more knowledge in the art of music from those beings'' limitless compendium of insights in art.

    As Woo was playing his newly composed piece, a product of his recent masteries, he was interrupted by a woman''s thunderous voice from above that shook the whole palace. "HOW DARE YOU!"

    He was so startled he accidentally broke his strings. His Masters rock their abode once every few years with laughter or songs, but this is the first time he heard his Mistress shout in anger.

    The Mistress, as addressed by Woo, the feminine epitome of art, usually known for her mysteriously ethereal looks, most divine beauty even amongst gods and deities, looked like she transformed into the personification of death.

    Her usually elegant robes and dazzling black hair that flows smoother than the purest of waters, were billowing vigorously. Her anger directed towards a man across the room.

    The Master, the masculine personification of art; known for his elegantly featured handsome face, a jawline that can cut to any woman''s heart, a manly physique even the gods of war envy, then appeared to be a wounded gazelle looking for somewhere to as if being hunted by a lioness in the savanna.

    "Love, please hear me out. It''s not that consequential a loss on your part anyway." The Master pleaded.

    "NOT THAT CONSEQUENTIAL?! They are MY artists! THEY are to CHANGE THEIR REALM!" the Mistress replied, not having any of her husband''s requests.

    The Master also knows that he "borrowing" his wife''s mortal artists from their realm would cause those artists'' deaths and would stump the artistic progress of their realm of origin for many years. More importantly, even if those artists he borrowed will be reincarnated to his realm or realms of his choosing, they can never go back to their original realm.

    Once he takes away those artists from her realm, they''re gone in that realm for good, never to contribute their arts ever again. The reason why he considered his request inconsequential in his wife''s part is that just like him; his wife has influence over millions of realms when it comes to art. What are a few artists to take among the trillions?

    "Come on, wife. I''ve also helped with that realm. I gave epiphanies to Rodin, Michelangelo, and those fellows from Tang and Ming. I gave inspirations to Da Vinci and Van Gogh. I provided momentary enhancements of brilliance to Mozart and Robert Johnson. Just this once, my love, and I will not touch any of your realms ever again."

    "I never asked you to! You offered your ''help'' as gifts in the first place, remember? And you dare called it ''Help''? Your ''HELP'' is the one that should you should call INCONSEQUENTIAL! Those people were already brilliant enough on their own!

    "All your ''Help'' had done was to hasten their contributions. They would have become great eventually even without your help! By the way, remember what happened with Van Gogh and Johnson! Had you not interfered, the other gods would not have killed them untimely with their stupid sense of righteousness! You also know that human civilizations are rare across all realms, so losing those two IS CONSEQUENTIAL!"

    The Master''s case was getting weaker and weaker by the moment. It did not help that he indeed caused the death of two era changing artists that could have contributed substantially more than what they did, rare humans at that.

    Still, he was not willing to give up. The realm he wanted to transplant his wife''s artists with is a realm containing billions of those rare humans, dominated by that arrogant c*nt for a god of athletics.

    It was petty, but he has no choice but to be since that realm''s humans has no era changing art prodigies currently. The chance of one being born is falling by each generation.

    "Well. How about we exchange? There are twelve of my realms containing humans civilizations,; pick out twenty four prodigies that are under 12 years old from each realm, in exchange for thirty-six of your living artists in their peaks. It''s a great deal, right? Please love, I really need this!"

    "Hah! That''s one of my favorite realms! It''s already generous of me for you to touch it! I would not, ever again, let you even set your eyes on it! Also, I''ve talked with Fate. According to her, I have waaaay more prodigies already in that realm, and more to be born, than the 288 you''re offering." The Mistress countered again with a scoff.

    Another point shot down.

    He did not know she had that many in that realm alone. He was jealous but he can''t do anything about it. She worked hard and cleverly to spread the arts in her realms, resulting in the propagation of arts resulting further into the extensive study of arts by those realms'' dwellers.

    Every god knows that the more extensive studies mortals do in a law, the higher the chance of prodigies and geniuses being born out of the people who are interested in the knowledge.

    The master is actually a better artist, across many forms of art, than his wife could ever hope to be. It''s just that compared to her as a god, he is not as competent in spreading his knowledge in his own realms of influence without upsetting the karma with his fellow gods. He could only cheat and ride with other gods'' laws, to those gods'' ire.

    Suddenly, an idea popped inside his head. This made him mull over for a moment. The sudden silence and serious and thoughtful expression confused her.

    "Very well, I''m sorry for bringing this idea up to you. How about this? I can promise to never ask this of you ever again. I have only one request. Grant me permission to have me send a mortal incarnation to your realm for fifty years with luxurious accommodation and resources. After that, I will owe you a favor."

    The Mistress was taken aback at the unusual request. No matter how she thinks about it, there are only two outcomes she can figure from her husband''s request: a fruitless one, or her husband causing trouble for her.

    She can refuse the request, but if she granted it, his husband will not only drop this matter forever, she will also gain a favor.

    So, she decided to grant him his wish and to eliminate the second outcome, she said "Swear in the name of the supreme, that during your time in that realm, you will not do anything that would remotely affect it either positively or negatively."

    The Master, hearing this was secretly rejoicing on the inside. The reason why he made this final request regarding the matter is that, he found a way, albeit an uncertain and risky one, to boost his realm''s arts without violating the fundamental law established by the Supreme that concerns spreading a god''s influence: That is for a god to never offer a mortal, of any level of evolution, their own wisdom and knowledge of any law they mastered or governed.

    In this case, Master with his mastery in the law of Arts, should not share his own wisdom to any mortal. A god is also not allowed to directly interact or even make his presence known to any mortal. Giving inspirations and epiphanies, boosting brilliance, however, is still allowed as long as the god granting them will not overdo it. A treasure is allowed to be granted as long as it within the reasonable limits.

    "I swear, in the name of the Supreme, that I will not, in any form or intention and in any degree, disrupt the flow of laws in the realm my wife granted me access to, during the stay of my mortal incarnation." The Master confidently swore.

    He was immediately, but momentarily washed over by a mysterious white light which signified the acknowledgement and acceptance of his oath by the Supreme.

    "Thank you, my love. I owe you one." Master said as a figure, formed of his appearance, suddenly warped into existence beside him and sent it to his wife''s realm. After his mortal incarnation sank into the realm, the Mistress suddenly felt that something was wrong.

    Not long after that, her husband informs her that he is going to visit a friend, and then disappeared. She didn''t know exactly why, but she is feeling cheated. She looked at her husband but he was not exhibiting any signs of deceit, but relief instead.

    She of course do not doubt that his husband will follow the conditions he stated in his oath, which made her feel confused as to why she somehow felt deceived. Curious of what her husband is up to, she sent her will to watch what her husband''s incarnation is currently doing in her realm. What she saw was both confusing and mundane.

    Her husband''s incarnation, not long after its appearance in her realm, for what looks to have been days, looks like it hasn''t slept for days but still energetically browsing the internet.

    She observed for a few years more but all she saw was the same daily routine of eating, exercising, bathing, browsing the internet, and sleeping.

    Aside from those are the occasional walks in the park, attending sporting events, attending concerts, going to libraries, and trimming trees and bushes. Its activities were as random as the life of a human mortal from that realm, except for having a job.

    Her husband hadn''t returned yet from his visit to his friend, so she cannot question him. She felt like she has already seen everything about her husband''s incarnation, so she resumed her attention to her other realms, continuing her godly duties.

    Meanwhile, the Master did not lie and indeed visited one of his friends, one who is at the same level as he is, a god of two laws: numbers and craftsmanship. "To what do I owe Mr. Art and Ideas his visit?" the numbers god, albeit glad with the Master''s visit, was surprised with the sudden uninvited arrival.

    "It''s been a long time, Mr. Logic. I have a project that I want to ask your help with. Are you free?" The Master, comfortable with his relationship with the numbers god, stated his intentions immediately.

    The numbers god, who often worked to materialize his friend''s ideas, was excited to hear this. However, he did not show his excitement, and instead wanted to get something out of this. After all, his services are not free. "Well, it''s always a pleasure to work on your ideas. But just as before, every project has a price, yes?"

    "Of course, I would not exploit you my friend. I want a treasure, just a small one, of course, that I can store some of my knowledge of the laws I mastered. I also want the treasure to be transplantable to one''s soul." The Master, hiding all signs of deceit, stated his request.

    The master knows that his idea, when used to what he intends to do is a very risky one. So to prevent his friend''s suspicion, he asked for something so absurd, no one can figure out the real intention behind the idea.

    "I can do that, but, from what I understand, that''s a treasure intended to be given or traded to someone. You can just exchange insights the old fashioned way with other gods, so why the roundabout way? Unless of course¡­ You''re not intending to give it to another god." The numbers god said seriously.

    This made the Master''s insides churn. "I-I¡­ My friend, you-"

    "So, who is the lucky servant? I''m sure you, doing such a blatant way of granting knowledge mean you finally saw a deity among your subjects with good enough potential to pass your wisdom on." The numbers god, who can only come up with such conclusion, asked further. The Master was relieved by his friend''s misunderstanding.

    "My friend, you really never fail to see through me! As for the deity''s identity, that will be a surprise of course. Also, I want the treasure to be flexible so that I can divide it into different independent treasures according to the level of the knowledge I want to them to contain. I don''t want to grant my knowledge all at once." The master laughed to hide his relief.

    His friend did a good job misinterpreting the real intention of the treasure, so he capitalized further on it.

    "Sure I can do that, but what do you offer me for my services?" the numbers god started his negotiation. But because he also likes the master, he wants the master to offer what he is willing to give instead of him asking for the price.

    The master, thankful for his consideration, decided to be generous as well. "I can give you Woo. That lute player by my palace''s lobby. He''s the youngest but has one of the best potentials among the deities in my palace to become a god. He can liven up your abode." The master offered.

    "He''s far from enough." The numbers god said after weighing Woo''s worth.

    "Woo is Human. You know it''s rare for such a level of an artist to come out of our origin, my friend." This surprised the numbers god.

    "A-a real human?! I thought you just made him appear to be one!" The numbers god knew of the Master''s preference of changing his non-human subjects'' outer appearance to humans. He both liked and looked down this habit of the Master because despite already becoming a god, he still held strong affection for his race of origin. Affection the numbers god has lost despite being a former human mortal himself.

 Chapter 4 - Prologue: Please skip this one. It might ruin it for you. Promise. (2)

    "Yes. You heard me right, my friend. I don''t know if it''s because of your lack of knowledge in human art of music, but you should have realized that. From the beginning, you never saw him play any other instrument that belongs to other civilizations. I think he should be enough, no?" The master pumped Woo''s value even more.

    This gave the numbers god another round of consideration. Was a human artist''s worth enough in exchange? At first glance, because of their rarity, Woo should be enough. But as he mulled of the treasure''s worth and application, Woo''s value still seemed to be shrinking in his mind.

    "Woo is still not enough. We both know that despite your great idea for the treasure, you will only be the one using it, yes? Unless you can let me produce more of your treasures and exchange them with other gods, I don''t think Woo is worth the trouble of me creating your treasure. If you let me reproduce your treasure though, you can keep Woo, and I will give you larger shares of the favors I earn exchanging your treasure with."

    Had it any been like any other idea, the master would immediately agree with his friend''s request. The numbers god, like the master, is not that good in managing his realms. Despite both their shortcomings, the reason they still held their influence over their realms is because of the countless treasures they built together. Treasures they traded with other gods for favors.

    This idea however is different. If they are to trade the treasure, then it''s an automatic increase in the chance of other gods figuring out the real purpose of why such treasure was built in the first place.

    Some gods are just as smart, if not smarter than him so they will immediately see the applications of the treasure he came up with.

    Plenty of times before, did him and his friend felt almost cheated of their treasures because they failed to realize the potential of the treasures they built together in the hands of the other gods who traded for them.

    Lucky for them that they still had, with the power of oaths from the Supreme, the freedom to change their treasures'' price however they see fit as long as the price is reasonable.

    In addition, this treasure may become a game changer. If the Supreme allowed his treasure to be used in the way he intended it, it will change how gods play their influence games.

    This idea will also inspire other gods to come up with treasures of similar functions only in a different form and in accordance with their mastered laws. The Supreme has no problems of gods stealing other gods'' ideas and making a version of their own.

    "Let me change up the request then. I can give you Woo now, while you can give me just a few segments of the treasure you see fit, for now. How about it? After all, the deity who will receive the treasure will take time to digest the knowledge, so the rest of the treasure will only be in store. I will also take this time to decide what I can offer you for the rest of the treasure." the master amended.

    Of course the master knew that Woo will not be enough for the value of the treasure he asked, but will the treasure he asked for really be intended for the purpose he claimed it will be used on?

    The numbers god, finding this modification of the treasure reasonable, nodded in agreement. "Deal." He said, to the Master as he started working on the treasure.

    "I''m sorry I can''t stay for longer, I have other things to deal with."

    "Very well, I also can''t wait to work on the treasure. Pleasure doing business with you, my friend." The numbers god said as the Master dissipated away.

    Soon after that, in another place, the Master gathered all the gods that had influence in the realm of his interest. They were having a chat amongst each other until the last god arrived.

    "Fellows, thank you for agreeing to my request for a meeting." The master addressed.

    "To what, in the Supreme''s name, did you gather all of us here, Mr. Arts?" the haughty voice of the sports god questioned the Master.

    The sports god''s dislike for the Master rooted out of jealousy for various reasons. To the gods present, the sports god, who had a thing for the Master''s wife in the past, is still bitter about being defeated by his rival.

    Unknown to them however, after the master and the mistress fell in love, the sports god moved on.

    To the sports god, his jealousy came out of the master''s mastery of a law that is superior to his. His mastered law, sports/athletics, can only branch out to the law of health, law of heroics, and law of fertility.

    Meanwhile, the Master''s law of arts is almost limitless. As long as the Master can learn to express his creative skill, imagination, and emotions to something, it becomes Art.

    This means that if the master can express his creativity and emotions in war, then the can master the Art of War. If the master can express himself in caring and health, then he can master the Art of Healing.

    Even if the arts the master can learn are of inferior influence compared to their equivalents in Laws, he is still one of the most versatile and most influential gods with his mastery of Arts alone. Despite the Master''s chosen Law though, it is still one of the most difficult laws to grow.

    The sports god''s original indifference towards the master, turned into ire because of one instance in the human civilization from the realm they share.

    The sports god worked hard in establishing a dominant influence in the realm''s human civilization''s sports and athletics. While he was celebrating his achievement though, he felt something was wrong.

    The next moment he found out that the Master rode on his influence in sports to spread his influence in arts as well. Despite the sports god having a more dominant influence, he felt cheated when the Master spread his Art of Anatomy and Physiology through his efforts.

    After this, while the humans studied sports and athletics extensively, they also had to study the Art of Anatomy and Physiology to boost their competitive performance, which in turn spread the arts god''s influence too.

    When the sports god confronted the Master about this, he was speechless and the master''s response. "Come on, it was in mutual benefit. They study my Art to supplement your law, therefore more people interested in your law. Isn''t that a greater benefit to you?"

    What made the sports god bitter the most was that he could have also introduced ideas to supplement his influence, but he did not master his law to the extent of coming up with the study of the human body. This resulted in the Master, having mastered countless of arts under his Law of Arts, beat the sports god to the idea first and got a free ride in influence.

    "The reason I gathered you all here is for a request. In exchange for treasures of your desire, I want all of your consents to turn our shared realm''s time back to twenty years." The master stated his request.

    This resulted to the group to bombard the master with questions. Despite the different questions, they share the same essence: "Why?"

    "I just want to try something. No worries. Twenty years is inconsequential to all your influence to the realm." The master responded.

    "I don''t think so. If it was any other realm, I have no problem with acceding. We all know that the value of this realm to all of us is the unusually large number of humans. We all are satisfied how everything is going, so why disrupt it?" questioned the sports god.

    "I may be disrupting it, but at what significant degree? What is twenty years out of the billions of years to come for the human civilization? Mr. Sports, aren''t many of your sports prodigies either lost their path or failed to live to their potential for the past twenty years? Mr. Science, have you not have any significant progress with the technology in the past ten years? Mr. Agriculture, haven''t the humans abused your Animal husbandry that affected Mr. Wellness'' influence?" The master countered. Not only to respond to Mr. Sports but also to gain a reaction from the other gods.

    The gods present fell silent as they considered his point. They knew that the master is also saying that they all have regrets. This also made many of the gods, aside from wanting to agree to the Master''s request, wanted to increase the time will be turned back.

    As the silence continued, the master was already very satisfied that it''s going better than he expected. He further coaxed them.

    "Look, the reason why I thought of twenty years is to minimize the disruption the time turn would cause. This is also the reason why I thought it as inconsequential. Look at the positives and negatives here, fellows. We can turn back time with almost no consequence, while gaining a chance for a few miracles. That''s a great deal!"

    The sports god, despite his resentment for the arts god, finally saw the possibilities of such move. The misled sports geniuses may find their way to the law of sports this time. The sports geniuses who ruined their potential due their excessive indulgence with various temptations may live their lives differently too.

    Although he hated to admit it, but the arts god on the expense of his own treasures for a slim chance of great returns, is doing them a huge favor.

    "This is a great idea, Mr. Arts and I hope the others present should also see that. I don''t know about the others here, but you have my full consent on the matter. I just hope you do not retract your promise of treasures instead."

    Not long after that, the rest of the gods agreed as well. They too, had the same thoughts as the sports god. Feeling their consents, the master in subdued excitement, showed a subtle nod of thanks.

    "You all have my gratitude. I shall take the specifics of your preferred treasures, as long as I have them, after we are done with this. Shall we visit the Supreme then?" The master said as he led the group in the chant to seek an audience with the Supreme. Shortly after, they all vanished from their spots and reappeared at the Supreme''s white void.

    "Granted." The voice of the Supreme washed over the master and his fellows, as they felt the realm they share turn back in time. That single word, filled with mysterious power, is enough an indication of approval of their request.

    The next moment, they all each found themselves in their own abodes. Unbeknownst to the group of gods, the Supreme appeared at the white void with a complicated expression.

    "Interesting. I never expected such method to appear in my domain as well. Had I not seen you end your own existence, I would have mistaken him for you, old friend." The Supreme sighed to himself.

    Mr. Arts'' plan was something his old friend utilized in the past as well, only in a much larger scale, which the Supreme is sure that Mr. Arts'' plans will fall on to as well.

    He wanted to see his old friend''s reaction when he was to see what this humble arts god is planning. Unfortunately, his old friend, despite his power that countless Supremes could never hope to match, got tired of his own existence and contentedly happily took his own life.

    After being sent away, the Master felt the most excitement he felt in a long while. With his objectives smoothly being achieved and the anticipation towards the completion of his goal, how could he not feel excited?

    "Mr. Logic, is my treasure done?" The numbers god, who was busy spreading his influence in his realms, was interrupted from his activity by another uninvited, but expected visit from his friend. "Fresh from the oven." Number god passed a sphere of light to the Master.

    "Thank you my friend. I just got back from a meeting with other gods which got me busy again. Next time I visit, I''ll bring my finest of wines that we can drink together." the master, who usually spends years playing with the numbers god, apologized for, albeit unintentionally, being rude.

    "It''s no fault, my friend. I understand." Numbers god just accepted. ''You don''t understand it all, my friend. I''m sorry for the deception.'' The Master could only apologize within his heart. He decided to use the exit of number god''s abode out of respect.

    As he was about to step into the portal, he was stopped by a familiar voice.

    "MASTER! I have done wrong! Please don''t abandon me here! I''ll take any punishment, and I will find ways to serve you better!" Woo, who saw his master pass by, instinctively ran to him and pleaded on his knees and elbows.

    His master, however, saw through his subject''s intentions immediately and just chuckled. "Woo. Don''t worry about it. You can still use my compendium from here. I''ve asked old numbers to give you a door to access the compendium from here. Here, take this lute, never out of tune and indestructible. Work hard."

    Being exposed from his insincerity, Woo was horrified but relieved as well because his master spared him the punishment. It even moved him due to the gift and encouragement from his master. "Thank you for your mercy master! I will work hard and make you proud!" he said, sincerely this time as his master disappeared into the void.

    Meanwhile, the Master''s incarnation was finally done with his fifty years of time in the Mistress'' realm and all its experiences were sent back to its owner.

    The Master, after digesting his incarnation''s experiences and all the things it experienced, was finally ready for the next step to his plans. Before that though, his wife who he had not seen for a while, questioned him of his activities. For the time he was absent, the mistress, no matter how hard she thought about it, could not figure out the clear purpose of her husband''s recent actions.

    "My love, what have you been up to? Do you miss being a mortal or something? Why would you give me a favor for something so mundane?" asked the Mistress to at least soothe her curiosity.

    "I''ve been recently looking for inspiration to further my mastery of my Arts, my dear. Mortals have more to offer than just their potential." The Master replied mysteriously to his wife. The Mistress, who knows she will not be able to get a clear answer from her husband, dropped the matter for now. It''s not like he did something as bad as asking for her human artists.

    "I''ll go over my incarnation''s memories to see if there''s something I can use." The Master excused himself. The Mistress, understanding this, just accepted it. It''s not like they are not spending their time together enough.

    The master then started his next step. The treasure, as assumed by numbers god, was to be used to train a deity. The treasure, as assumed again by the numbers god, was to contain the Master''s insights toward arts.

    However, who said that he will grant the treasure to a deity? Who said that he will put his insights into the treasure? He was going to put in all of the knowledge his incarnation gathered on its time in his wife''s realm into the treasure.

    Then, he will give that treasure to a mortal! Who said that a realm''s knowledge of a law is not allowed to be passed on to a single mortal? Nobody did and this is the loophole the Master decided to exploit.

    After dissecting, sorting, and classifying the knowledge his incarnation gathered, he cut a very tiny segment of the treasure he just gained from his friend, just enough to contain all of the knowledge that his incarnation gathered.

    He kept the rest of the treasure for future uses. He plans on doing this again with other human civilizations or other civilizations that just as rare. He may even give some of the treasure, filled with his own wisdom, to a deserving deity to offset his deception to the numbers god.

    He is finally ready to look for someone who can carry the treasure in his realm.

    "Eeny, meanie, miny, mo¡­ Wait, I''ve gone to so much trouble, I should at least decide better than this. Oh? This person feels right. Interesting. Countless realms, yet a small world. His name is the same as mine was when I was still a mortal. Very well, I choose you." After scouring his realm of interest, he finally decided on who he felt was a suitable, despite his choice seemingly ironic and narcissistic, host for the treasure.

    "This is a long shot, but I hope you can give me a miracle, Tayaw." He said as a grain of light on his palm flew away and descended to the realm

 Chapter 5 - 2010 Once again

    "HEY TAYAW! WAKE UP!"

    A voice startled Tayaw awake and he quickly opened his eyes. He turned his eyes to the direction of the annoying voice, only to be put in a daze by what he saw. Someone, leaning upside down from the top bunk, appears to be his younger brother.

    It would not be unusual had it not been first; Tayaw did not wake up in his apartment, second, he had not slept on a bunk bed since his college years, and third, his younger brother appeared to have become a teenager.

    "Payew, is that you? Am I-" said Tayaw almost incoherently to his confusion.

    "Who else? You told me to wake you up, you can''t blame me if you can''t get to Ouigab in time!" Payew replied as he disappeared from Tayaw''s view, probably lying back down.

    With his drowsiness vanishing, Tayaw looked around the room once again, and a huge feeling of nostalgia hit him. He can smell the mixture of odors of wood and his brother''s unique scent emitting from the bunk bed that he shared with him since they were but small children.

    The study table with a disarray of various notebooks and sheets of paper that he instinctively knew was his own. The concrete, but polished and clean concrete floor that he scrubbed with coarse fabric every Saturday.

    The layers of bed sheets, with faded color from repetitive washing. He looked outside the window and saw the familiar shadows of the wild shrubs and pine trees in full bloom by the nearby hill sides.

    The familiar early morning rain can be heard hitting the tin roof. He was back in Okuba, his hometown, a serene and calm suburban neighborhood three and a half hours from Ouigab City.

    Standing up from the bed, he knew everything he''s seeing is real as he felt the cold concrete floor sending shivers from the bottom of his feet up to his spine. He looked at Payew at the top bunk for a few seconds and confirmed it is indeed his younger brother, in teenage version, probably up all night playing with his old but still playable handheld game console.

    Tayaw is confused, excited, and happy, but could not let out a hint of those emotions as his mind churned into chaos. He felt it was unreal and wanted to scream how unbelievable it was, but only an idiot would not figure out that he went back in time.

    He also did not believe he had a long dream and just woke up in reality because his memories of his future self are just as real as the room he''s currently in.

    Approaching the study table, he saw his old phone, but in this case, his current one. A Mottlr flip phone he got as a hand me down from his mother when he graduated high school. He picked it up and opened it with the instinctual flick of his thumb.

    "5:00 a.m. July 1, 2010. Saturday, Weather ¨C Cloudy to Rainy" He read the date in his phone as he tried to remember which time in his life he came back to. He realized he is now currently 16 years old, turning 17 the coming September.

    He knew he attended his high school graduation ceremony in June 30, 2010. Over his senior year high school, he has been studying for the college entrance exam. From his brother''s earlier words, he is to leave for Ouigab today, which probably means that today is the entrance examination at Northwestern University where he will study civil engineering in the future.

    He prepared himself for what he is about to see before he opened the bedroom door. From his bedroom door is directly the kitchen/dining room, and he saw his mother, Kilat, cooking something at the stove and his father, Liboo, playing chess by himself at the table.

    He was choked up in emotion as he saw his parents, younger once again, with their straight backs and wrinkles non-existent in their faces. The silent and peaceful atmosphere within the house and the sound of rain outside brought a mixture of emotions within him.

    "Good Morning."

    Tayaw greeted them but rushed immediately to the bathroom to recover. He remembered that his parents, despite appearing to be jolly and energetic in the outside, had to grind themselves to exhaustion just to put him and Payew to college.

    They even stopped him and Payew from looking for part time jobs when Payew also started college during Tayaw''s junior year in college. His mother, a high school teacher, had to take as many overtimes as she can at work for extra pay.

    His father, a driver who transports passengers from town to town around Okuba with his van, who usually started his day at 6:00 am and comes back home at dinner time at 7:00 pm, had to extend his working hours and had to come home at midnight, sometimes even way past that.

    Despite their opinions against having him and Payew getting part time jobs, he was also thankful of his parents'' current job situations. His mother is currently an 18 year employee at her public school so her job is secure and her pay is in ratio with her experience. His father owns his own van which means he can keep all his earnings.

    With his parents'' full support, Tayaw was able to graduate with satisfactory grades to earn him a stable job. He was able to provide support for Payew''s education, and later on, the youngest brother, Agew''s too.

    Speaking of the currently 14 year old Payew, Tayaw remembered how he turned out in the future. Since he was little, Payew was oddly interested in farming and crops. This interest persisted and went on to study at Nabla State University, which is known in the province for its Agriculture College.

    Because of his interests, his studies in college came relatively easy to Payew, and graduated with honors. He was able to land a job soon after in Nabla province''s agriculture department. He was able to climb up to the position of the Chief of Field Operations, which was already a high position in a province that covers a famous city like Ouigab, and its surrounding municipalities like his hometown Okuba. Payew too was able to get married before Tayaw came back in time.

    Their youngest, Agew, currently 10 years old, turning 11, is a discreet but a stubborn person. Because Tayaw and Payew turning out fine and landing stable jobs adding their financial contributions to the family, Liboo and Kilat gave up on making Agew more social and outgoing and capitalized instead on what Agew''s interests are and his innate talent with his hands.

    Agew, after graduating high school, immediately went to look for a place he can work as an apprentice. With his talent and potential, a potter had no hesitations in hiring him. Years later, Agew broke away from his mentor and with the help of Tayaw and Payew, established his own workshop.

    It was not long after that Agew''s beautiful quality porcelains became popular not only in Ouigab, but also outside of Nabla province. This led further to many restaurants around the country, with varying numbers of stars attached to their names; contact him for their needs for porcelain dishes.

    Reminiscing these, Tayaw was able to control his emotions. It made him proud of his family and looking back at his previous life, he should not have been as bitter as he was. After he relieved his bladder, Tayaw was thinking what he can do this time differently.

    "I already know enough about civil engineering, shall I pursue music and arts more this time?" As he said that, he felt like he was being pulled away, with the speed he never experienced before.

 Chapter 6 - Playing Roulette

    Tayaw, unable to understand what was happening tried to scream, or fight back with whatever is pulling, to no avail. After a blink of an eye though, he found himself among a white void.

    He looked around, trying to find a way out, but no matter how much he ran, he didn''t felt like he was getting anywhere. The white void still looks like the white void.

    "IS ANYBODY HERE?!" Tayaw screamed hoping someone will hear him.

    Suddenly, two huge words appeared in front of him, comprised of bright blue floating objects rapidly morphing into different letters. As if waiting to be touched, the list scintillated in a hypnotic rhythm, inviting Tayaw to come tpwards it.

    As Tayaw came closer, he was able to finally read the words as the flickering of the letters stopped. He looked at the words "Arts Record" floating quietly in front of him for a minute.

    "Hello?" Tayaw said after waiting for something else to happen. The floating words, as if hearing him, started to light up in a pulsing manner again.

    Tayaw then touched the words, and suddenly a white, basketball court-sized roulette table with a spinning roulette wheel appeared in front of him, only, no numbers and just a grid of countless blank white tiles adorned the table, with "Odd" and "Even" the only choices.

    Tayaw was confused about the situation. "I was brought here; make me experience something so mysterious, just to play a giant roulette?" He asks to anyone who might be listening.

    Seeing that nothing else is happening, he shouted "EVEN!" as he picked up the white shot put sized ball on the table and threw it in the wheel. After the wheel stopped, one tile on the table lit up, floated up to the middle of the table and a few words appeared on it.

    "Literary records: Random piece x 8."

    Tayaw was getting more and more interested by the proceedings as he read the tile. In the next moment, the tile flew to him at an incredible speed and smashed on to his head. With the speed, he had no time to react at all, or even brace for the impact. He felt an impending sense of doom as he closed his eyes.

    Surprisingly, he felt no pain and just felt like his head was hit by a breeze of wind. In the next moment however, he felt the worst headache he ever had, pain he never imagined was possible, as if his brain is being compressed by a grid road roller.

    Along with the pain, is information constantly being pumped into his brain. He could only try to decipher the information to distract the pain. ''Grimm''s fairy tales. The Halfling. The Ruler''s Ring. The Boy with the Lightning Scar. The Ballad of the Dragon and the Wolf. Moneyball : Statistics of Baseball. Saturday Night Lights : A Community''s Dream. 42 : The Jackie Robinson Story.''

    As the last of the information entered his brain, the pain also disappeared as if it was not even there in the first place. After regaining his bearings, he opened his eyes and to his surprise, he was back in the bathroom.

    He slapped his face, and with the stinging pain, confirmed that he was where he really was. He pulled out his phone to check the time, and to his surprise, it was only 5:10 am. It was as if his time in the white void passed only in a blink of an eye. To confirm if the white void was real, he tried to remember the information that was pumped in his brain.

    To his excitement, he can access in more detail, as if written in his brain, the information he gathered. To further his excitement, the "Literary Records" in his brain are stuff he never heard of before.

    He considered himself as a well-read individual when it comes to novels and such, so he realized immediately that these things that the literary records gave him are of quality that he has never seen before in his world. Stories that are much more compelling and immersive than the fictional stories he read in his past life.

    If he remembered it right, the white tile from before said "Literary Records: Random Pieces x 8". Literary Records must mean a list of records among the many records of the "Arts Record" he first touched. X 8 meaning eight pieces of literary works. And finally, the key word for him, "Random" meaning these 8 are just random literary works out of who knows how many, and they''re already the best written works he''s ever seen in his life.

    As he was to exit the bathroom, he noticed at the bottom of his field of vision are the floating letters "View Points : 0". After his coming back in time, the white void, the gigantic roulette, he isn''t surprised anymore at the floating number. He''s not sure what View Points are for now, but he has an idea what they can represent in the future.

    He then went back to the kitchen and sat by the kitchen table across his father, watching for the incoming check mate from the white pieces. He and his brothers played chess as a hobby after their father taught them the game. They just are not obsessed with it as their father is, but they still enjoyed it.

    Tayaw was about to ask his father for a game, when his mother was finally done cooking the breakfast and put the dishes on the table, prompting his father to put away the chess board and pieces as well.

    "Are you prepared for the exams today, Tayaw?" His mother asked as she sat down the table.

    "I''m confident. Why is there only enough for two?" Tayaw replied but as noticed the amount of breakfast on the table was much less than usual, he couldn''t help but ask.

    "Oh. Your father will bring you to Northwestern, so you two will eat breakfast first. I will have breakfast with your brothers when they''re up." She explained.

    "Thanks honey. By the way, I''ve been noticing that Payew has been spending too much time on his game console. I heard his voice a few minutes ago. Was he up early? Or he never went to sleep?" Liboo asked his wife, hinting at taking away the game console.

    "Don''t worry; don''t you think he earned it? He was in the top of his class all year anyway. He also does as he is told, and does his chores without us reminding him. His recent all-nighters though, I will talk to him about that today. I''ll tell him to leave his console with us by 9 pm starting today." Kilat assured her husband.

    Tayaw, while eating his omelette, just silently listened with a subtle smile on his face. He missed this seeing this. In his past future, he was too busy with himself and his life that he ignored and taken for granted these moments. He also wondered what his parents lost ever since they had him and his brothers. His mother had him when she was only 25 years old and never got to experience the single life he enjoyed in his past future life.

    Tayaw never fully realized what he truly wanted until he was thirty, but his father on the other hand, already had three kids by the time he was thirty-one. The pressure his parents endured made him appreciate them more now.

    After they were done with the breakfast, Tayaw gathered all the required doc.u.ments for his exam while Liboo washed up. And when Tayaw was washing up, Liboo started the car and checked everything.

    By 6:30, Tayaw and Liboo started their trip to Ouigab. It was a five hour drive, so Tayaw had plenty of time to plan his new future and how to use the current blessings he received. This time, he promised himself to live a more fulfilling and joyful life.

 Chapter 7 - Doing Things Differently This Time

    As expected, he passed the exam way above the passing grades of each subject. Proving his "newfound" self-sufficiency to his parents, he was allowed to travel by himself to Ouigab, look for a dorm near Northwestern University, and buy the required textbooks for the coming term.

    He was also able to convince his parents about him moving to Ouigab a month earlier in July 25th, than the initially scheduled August 25th to take part time jobs before the term starts. Thankfully, during this time, Tuengeb had not yet adjusted its eligible age of opening a bank account to 18 years old, so he was able to open an account for himself.

    Before opening his bank account though, he went first to the Social Security Administration Office and got his Social Security Card. He also went to Ouigab''s Internal Revenue Service to apply for a TIN Number.

    In his old life, he initially only planned to polish his English pronunciation to cover English songs, but for some reason; he polished his English fluency that unintentionally resulted with him hooking in foreign clients for his company, and makes English speaking clients more comfortable working with him.

    Presently, he used his English skills for something else. He was able to immediately land a job as online English tutor for Chinese and Japanese kids for 34 BGC (17 USD) an hour. For a 17 year old who just graduated high school, 34 BGC is more than a generous salary and he actually out-earns most fresh college graduates.

    With his teaching skills and English proficiency he displayed to his employers, he proved him more skilled a teacher than most of the tutorial company''s employees. With these, the employers decided to sign a short ¨C term high paying contract with Tayaw, a privilege only given to freelance veteran tutors.

    It was also convenient for him that the tutorial company is only a ten minute walk from his dorm.

    Seven days on the job, working 6 to 8 hours a day, he was finally able to save up to buy himself a brand new Lenovo Thinkpad X201s. A reliable laptop that Inson, his bassist friend in his old life, used until 2018, if he remembers correctly.

    This computer will be his partner for writing and editing his audition videos in the future. For now, he is to use it to write down the literary works he received from the giant roulette.

    He transcribed 100 stories, around one half of all of the stories within the Grimm''s Fairy Tales in both the 19th century dark originals, and the 20th century child-friendly version into the computer. He named the darker version of the Fairy Tales as "Grimm''s Fairy Tales for A.d.u.l.ts ¨C Vol. 1" and the child-friendly version as "Grimm''s Fairy Tales for Children ¨C Vol. 2".

    The "Grimm''s Fairy Tales for A.d.u.l.ts ¨C Vol 1." ended up being thicker than the kids'' version because there are stories in the original version that just cannot be translated into the kids versions. The a.d.u.l.ts'' version also is a lot more descriptive than the kids'' version. After his final editing and formatting, he applied them for copyright.

    His world, the popular culture is fifty percent occupied by athletes and other types of sports personalities. Despite that, he has not chosen to publish the literary works about sports that he received from the roulette.

    There are a few reasons why he decided to open up with the fairy tales. First, he is to publish as a rookie author, so he knew he will be low-balled by any publishing companies he will contract to publish his work to, which is normal.

    Second, in his eyes, the literary values of the fairytales are much lower than the rest of the literary works he was blessed with, so him not earning much from the fairy tales will not hurt that much.

    Third, the market is over-saturated with both fiction and non-fiction works in the sports genre. Therefore publishing fresh and good fairy tales as a debut author may give him a unique quality among other authors that makes his name distinct, a good boost to his name as an author. If he published a sports novel, he will only be buried along the countless authors who also write sports novels.

    Tayaw surprisingly found that copyrighting a literary work is actually pretty easy. It is not free, and with the copyright fees for both the US Copyright and his country''s Tuengeb copyright, his remaining savings for the week he worked were wiped out.

    If his first of two theories is right, then the "View Points" in his eyes would increase if he could share the works he got from the roulette to the people of his world.

    Another week has passed, and another week''s worth of savings refilled his bank account. It was more than enough for him to buy a decent mid - level quality acoustic guitar. His trip to the music store though, was very fruitful. Because he knew more than the music store clerk and owner, he was able to spot a very well-made acoustic guitar that was overlooked by the owner and bought it at a great deal.

    He guessed that the guitar owner did indeed buy the acoustic guitar from its maker at a price of a mid-range level guitar due to its mid-range wood and lacquer. Despite its inferior materials, it was given the best sound and comfort it could achieve. The guitar, crafted to the limits of its materials made it almost as good as a professional level acoustic guitar.

    Had the materials been better, the guitar would have been at a professional level, one that is like what is commonly used by touring musicians. Tayaw, who regularly played guitar in his old life for a long time, noticed this and considered it a minor jackpot.

    His family has a guitar, but he left it behind at Okuba because it is a beginner level guitar and it will not sound good enough for a gig. A music bar owner with good experience and ears would smash that guitar at a singer who dares bring and play such guitar with them in a gig.

    The reason he bought a decent guitar is to look for a place where he can do gigs at. If his second of his two theories is right, then the "View Points" in his eyes would increase if there are people who would watch him perform.

    The savings left, he used to buy a decent digital camera.

    One day, after finishing his daily self-set tutoring quota at the company, he went home to pick up his guitar and find a recording studio to record his audition tape. Thankfully, he was skilled enough with the equipment and the software that he was done recording three songs just after an hour, and saved the mp3 of his recording to his flash drive.

    After that, he decided to head for ROH Factory, his old life''s weekend retreat with The Percussive Corrections. If only he knew where his old friends are at this time, he would look for them to form the band two years earlier than the time they formed it in his past life.

    It was 4:30 pm when he arrived in front of the ROH Factory and saw that the doors to the bar are still closed. He knew though that the employees and the owner are already inside restocking their shelves as it would soon open at 5:30 pm. It was also the time when the staff inside is just finishing up and would just take a break as they wait for the opening time, so it''s a perfect time to enter without causing much disturbance.

    The ROH Factory, at this time was still half the size it will have in the future and it is still in rivalry with the music bar the street across from it. The flower shop on its right, and the convenience store on its left, will be gobbled up by ROH Factory in the future. This gave him a round of nostalgia as he remembered how the ROH Factory grew in his past life.

    Despite the ROH Factory being its early version, Tayaw knows the backdoor is still in the same place even in the future, and headed for the alley behind the building. The backdoor in the alley is where owner, employees, and sometimes the musicians use as their entrance.

    Arriving in front of the steel door in the back of the bar, he made a fist and pounded at the door three short times and one thumping one; a code implying that the one knocking at the door is someone the owner knows.

    The door opened was opened by a tall, muscular man. Seeing Tayaw, he was confused and asked "I haven''t seen you before, kid. Are you lost?" Tayaw didn''t take any offense to this because indeed, currently he looks like a kid.

    He just smiled and said "No sir. My name is Tayaw, is the boss man looking for a new musician?" The man, pondered for a while while giving Tayaw a once over, before making way for Tayaw to enter.

 Chapter 8 - ROH Factory - Once Again

    Tayaw, guided by the muscular man, passed through the small kitchen and got curious looks from the employees preparing ingredients. As they reached the green room, the muscular man told Tayaw to stay put and headed for the boss'' office.

    After two minutes or so, the door of the boss'' office opened and exited the muscular man followed by a man Tayaw recognized as the younger version of the boss. The boss with handsome face composed of sharp features, long wavy salt and pepper hair tied to a high ponytail, and a well fitted three piece suit, looked very striking as always. One could only guess how many ladies and gay men he has charmed over the years.

    The boss, Rudy, was someone Tayaw and most of the musicians who performed at the bar respected very much. Unlike most bar owners, Rudy treated the musicians very well and shared a similar passion with music. Maybe it''s his love for music that he was able to grow his bar to what it will be in the future. Despite that though, Rudy has a very high standards in hiring musicians who will perform for his bar and will normally not make time for musicians unless the musician is someone he has heard of, or if the musician was introduced by a musician he regularly hires.

    In Tayaw''s past life, Rudy was very close to him and The Percussive Corrections. Currently however, he is looking at Tayaw with a stern expression and asked with a dismissive voice "Looking for a gig, kid? Lucky for you I needed a break."

    Tayaw saw this expression and same voice from Rudy many times in his past life when talking to musicians who wanted to audition, so he wasn''t feeling intimidated like a rookie should be. "Yes sir. Thank you for sparing me the time. I surely won''t waste it." Tayaw simply smiled and replied in a matter of fact manner.

    Seeing Tayaw''s subdued but strong confidence, Rudy nodded led Tayaw to the bar proper. "Unpack your guitar, we''ll do it unplugged. HEY ROCKY! CALL THE OTHERS HERE TO TAKE A BREAK! WE HAVE AN AUDITION!" Rudy gestured Tayaw to the platform in front of the bar room and ordered the muscular man to call for the employees.

    Tayaw saw this as an opportunity to not only impress Rudy, but also to make a good impression on the employees. After all, if he gets the approval of Rudy and will gig here regularly in the future, he will interact with the employees often. As he unpacked his guitar, Rudy''s face twitched a little.

    Rudy, noticing the new unblemished guitar, had his impression of Tayaw dip lower. A musician''s instrument, especially an acoustic guitar, tells the musician''s story if one knows what to look for in the instrument. Tayaw''s guitar, to Rudy, looks like a blank resume, a sign of utter inexperience. It was too late to stop Tayaw, so he just let it continue.

    As the employees settled themselves on the empty chairs in the audience, Tayaw was also done tuning his guitar. The song he is planning to sing is not an original, as he knows his band''s originals are not that good. He also will not be singing songs that will come out in the future because he respects the respective writers of those songs too much, it will eat away at his soul to steal from them.

    Feeling ready, he nodded at Rudy, and Rudy nodded back as well.

    Tayaw started to pluck his guitar, giving out a slow but refreshing melody. After two bars of the intro, his voice finally joined the guitar.

    "You meet me, without a worry

    In your own beautiful way

    Your glamorous design

    heals my stiff and awkward

    song¡­

    You''re like the dancing leaves

    Soothing the broken music inside me

    With you, my fears turn to pretty pictures

    That''s all I need.

    Can you smile for me

    So my heart melts silly."

    The song "Leaves" originally written and performed by a famous folk musician Buddy Fridman in the 80s is filled with feelings of longing and love. It tells a story of a travelling man painting a picture of how he feels towards his wife while he''s out on the road. Matching the beautiful core melody with a hypnotic plucking pattern of the guitar gives the song a more dreamy feeling.

    The cover by Tayaw, infused by his own memory of his ex-girlfriend, the one who got away, made the performance felt genuine. After Tayaw was done with the song, Rudy''s eyes were in a daze, as if thinking about someone as well. The whole room, although with the attendance of all the employees of the bar, is filled with silence. Tayaw did not feel nervous. As a performer of almost twenty years in his past life, he knew that there are many types of silence from the audience, and this one is the type that is good.

    The silence was washed away by the sound of modest clapping from a chef in the back, the one Tayaw saw prepping ingredients in the kitchen earlier. The chef''s clapping was followed by others, and Rudy was awoken from his blank stare as well. Rudy nodded at him, this time with a subtle but a relaxed smile on his face. As the clapping stopped, Rudy said "We have time for another."

    Tayaw proceeded to sing another song with a different vibe. In contrast to the relaxing plucking of the guitar of the first song, the second song is accompanied by the guitar''s variety of strumming patterns.

    It was a refreshing song meant to liven up one''s spirit, with lyrics that are well timed with the tempo of the guitar; it makes it easy to sing along to. After the song ended, there was an immediate round of polite but sincere applause from the room.

    After the applause, Rudy told the employees to resume with the preparation for the evening. It was only thirty minutes before opening time after all.

    Rudy then told Tayaw to follow him as they headed to his office.

    "I am satisfied, kid. By the way, you look like someone straight out from high school, yet carry yourself like a grown man. How old are you?" Rudy asked. "Yes sir, I''ve indeed just graduated high school last June. I''m 16, turning seventeen next month." Tayaw didn''t hide his age. After all, working as a minor in an a.d.u.l.t establishment is not illegal as long as he is supervised by a responsible a.d.u.l.t.

    "Ah. A minor. It''s incredible to express such emotions in your singing at your age. Did you arrange your cover of ''Leaves''?" Rudy, looking impressed is now much more interested in Tayaw compared to before he did his audition

    .

    "Thank you, sir. It was my own arrangement. A friend also helped me polish it." Tayaw replied. This Leaves is one of the arrangements he did in his past life, and with the help of Hoon, the lead guitarist, it turned out more polished.

    "Good, good. How about the guitar? Do you only play acoustic guitar? I''ve noticed that your skills are not bad." Rudy asked. He noticed that Tayaw''s skill with the guitar is way over-polished for a musician his age.

    While it did not appear that Tayaw''s skill with the guitar was not practiced with the purpose of being a lead guitarist, Rudy is more than satisfied of Tayaw''s skill as a rhythm guitarist. Such skill is great asset for a good solo musician.

    "I mainly use the acoustic guitar. I also use it to arrange songs, specifically songs that I can arrange into acoustic versions. I also play the electric guitar but not as good as my skill with the acoustic guitar. I have some licks and riffs in my repertoire on both the electric and acoustic that I can use as I see fit. I never practiced improvisation like any good lead guitarist, though." Tayaw pitched himself, without over-selling of course.

    Hearing this, Rudy was even more impressed. To his eyes, Tayaw can play as rhythm guitarist in any good band, including the bands of famous singers. Adding that to his arrangement skills as well, Rudy felt like he found a potential in Tayaw. After assessing the value of Tayaw, Rudy no longer hid his satisfaction.

    "Good. You seem like a smart lad, so you probably already know my decision."

 Chapter 9 - Kilat

    "Bye son! Be careful, and call us every day! If you don''t, your father and I will immediately drive to Ouigab to talk to you." I said, almost tearfully as I bid my son goodbye at the parking space near his dorm room.

    If it was a month ago, I would totally be worried. Currently, however, I am not as worried as a mother bird should be when her hatchling leaves the nest.

    Since the day of his college entrance exam, I felt something change in my son. At first, I thought his nervousness for the exam is what changed his attitude, but as I observed him more, I realized that it''s like he matured overnight.

    First, he no longer squabbles with Payew. If it was before, Tayaw would start raising his voice at the littlest bit annoyance from his brother. He prioritized his brothers over himself when sharing snacks to the use of the computer.

    Whether Payew or Agew would play or browse the internet, Tayaw would limit his own use and no longer made up excuses to hog the computer like he used to. If he really needed an uninterrupted use the computer, he will either negotiate with his brothers, or goes to the neighborhood internet caf¨¦.

    He became very self-sufficient. He cleans the house and does his chores and more without being told. Not only does he clean the house without being told, he no longer misses many spots like he used to. He also no longer hates it when I send him to run errands.

    Whenever I ask him to get groceries, he always bring back extra ingredients that I forgot or didn''t bother to put on the lists I give, as if he knows which dishes I will use the ingredients for.

    I was also surprised one morning when I slept in late after writing my reports for the school the previous night. When I headed down the stairs from the master''s bedroom to the kitchen, I walked in on him cooking breakfast.

    He used three of the four burners of the stove at the same time! One for cooking rice, one for cooking soup, and one for cooking omelets. I was nervous looking at first glance, but was finally reassured when I noticed he knew what he was doing with practiced skill.

    Over the past few weeks, I honestly felt like my son eased up a lot of burden I didn''t know I had. With the house always neat and tidy, I have a more relaxed mind. Instead of spending my time cleaning, I found more spare time to relax, thanks to Tayaw.

    He also, even only maybe temporarily, solved my problem of teaching Payew and Agew to do the chores. Tayaw made a deal with them that if they clean their rooms to Tayaw''s satisfaction, Tayaw will give them his time in using the computer. At first, Payew and Agew were indignant at Tayaw''s proposal but gradually eased up and did as Tayaw said. After all, Tayaw never went back on his word.

    I also saw my husband feel the benefits of Tayaw''s change. Tayaw took it upon himself to pack Liboo lunch every morning. In addition, Tayaw also took upon himself to wash the van every morning and even did a better job at it than Liboo did by making the van spotless and shiny both on the outside and on the inside.

    With Tayaw''s assistance, it''s as if Liboo got younger by a few years. That may also have led to more steamy nights between me and Liboo, which we never had in a few years. I was reminded of how good of a lover Liboo is.

    A few nights ago, Tayaw asked to speak with us in the master''s bedroom. Over his actions the past few weeks, we asked him if he wants anything, and we''ll get it for him. We were moved when he refused our offer to buy him something, saying that he knows we will spend a lot on his school expenses and dorm accommodation.

    His intentions however of wanting to speak with us had both me and my husband worried. Instead of a gift, he asked us if he can move to Ouigab ahead of schedule. In addition, he also asked if he can do part time jobs before the semester starts.

    We wanted to refuse him at first, but we knew it''s better for Tayaw to be more ready for society as early as he can. He reassured us by asking us to accompany him the next day to Ouigab, let him do everything, and prove to us he can take care of himself.

    4 am the next morning, Tayaw, I and my husband headed for Ouigab City. Following Tayaw''s lead, we went to the Internal Revenue Bureau office for him get his TIN number and Tax ID card. It usually takes two weeks for someone to get their Tax ID card, so we were puzzled how he was able to get one immediately.

    He told us that after the first day of the college entrance exam, he went to the Tax bureau to apply when he had nothing to do while waiting for my husband to pick him up. My husband also explained that he had decided to pick up a few fares while waiting for Tayaw to be done with his exams. That gave Tayaw the time to apply. Both my husband and I realized that Tayaw was already planning his move to Ouigab city for a while now since he got his college acceptance letter.

    After he received his number and Tax ID, we went to a branch of a nationally known bank and Tayaw registered for a bank account and asked us to pay for the deposit, which we happily did. We were puzzled when he led us next to an online tutoring company. He said he was called in for an interview for a job, to our surprise.

    An hour later, as we waited in the van, Tayaw walked out of the building with a smile on his face. He was hired as an online English tutor for kids from East Asia. Mixed with our pleasant surprise were our unanswered questions as well.

    Tayaw saw this and explained that he applied online for some jobs, and the tutoring company was the only one that responded, and did an initial interview with him over the phone.

    As a science teacher in a public high school, I sometimes substitute for absent co-workers, which included English teachers. I read science books written in English so it gives me some ability to substitute for my English teacher co-workers

    On the drive back home, I tested Tayaw''s English proficiency. I thought my English wasn''t bad at all, but to my shock, I couldn''t compare to Tayaw''s English proficiency at all. He speaks English with the fluency and pronunciation that is comparable to a native English speaker. This led me to ask him why he did not just enroll for an English degree instead of Civil Engineering, which he answered by saying along the lines of "I think I''ll make a better engineer."

    That day, while we felt conflicted of being deceived, we also felt reassured of Tayaw''s maturity. Later that night, while lying on bed, my husband and I had a very long conversation about our son until we fell asleep.

    Today is the day he moved to Ouigab, exactly a month ahead before our initially scheduled date for him to move. We wanted him to stay home for a little longer but he starts his job tomorrow.

    "Don''t worry mom. I''ll call every night. If I can''t, at least I''ll text you." Tayaw assured me with confidence.

    "Hey Tayaw, I hope you bring back someone special next time you visit home. I know you don''t have room mates yet, so I hope you don''t bring a girl here." Liboo also said with a smirk, which made me pinch his ass.

    "I''m an attractive lad, so you know I can''t promise you that, dad." Tayaw replied with a smirk of his own, which made me pinch his cheek. They just laughed together while rubbing the respective spots where I pinched.

    "You two should head back. I hope Payew learned from me and have dinner by the time you arrive home." Tayaw said

    Over the past few days, I no longer see my Tayaw as a helpless little boy who I should always protect, but a young man who is ready for the world.

 Chapter 10 - Boss Approval

    "Thank you, sir! You won''t regret hiring me."

    Rudy already actually intended to hire Tayaw right after his audition. He just talked to Tayaw to assess how much he is willing to pay Tayaw for his gigs, and if Tayaw will be a consistent musician. There''s also an additional advantage that Rudy realized while talking with Tayaw.

    If Tayaw makes it big in the future, it will be a great benefit to his bar. Just like those famous athletes who give credit to training centers and coaches that helped those athletes in their achievements, Tayaw can also give ROH Factor a similar accreditation.

    "I will hire you, just not now. Unfortunately, I cannot promise you any gigs for the rest of August. Unless of course a band or a singer backs out from their gigs, I will find you as their substitute. By the way, are you planning on going to the university?" Despite Rudy''s assessment of Tayaw, he cannot just cancel his finalized arrangements with the musicians he already booked. He also took in consideration Tayaw''s time with his education.

    "Yes sir, I''ve already enrolled to Northwestern to study engineering. If you''re worried about time, I''ve already arranged my schedule so that I can be free after 5:00 pm." Tayaw explained to Rudy that he can juggle his time well.

    "That''s reassuring. Being a minor though, I can only give you gigs that you can finish before 9:00, with enough time to go home before the 10pm curfew. Too bad, you can''t see the peak hours of the bar." Rudy said, immediately planning which hours to put Tayaw in.

    "That''s very nice of you, sir." Tayaw said, grateful for the boss'' consideration.

    "On the other hand, why engineering, kid? There are some good musical colleges and institutes around, why not just capitalize on your already existing skills? You''re going to Northwestern, right? I heard they have a budding Bachelor of Music course there." Rudy asked, confused about Tayaw''s decision of his major.

    "It''s actually my first choice sir. But knowing my parents, they would rather have me study another degree. I also understand that it''s rare for musicians to have a stable income, so I''d rather choose a more stable path to not worry my parents. I also have been dabbling in civil engineering knowledge since I was in middle school, so I''m confident I''m going to do well getting my engineering degree." Tayaw explained.

    He made up a convincing reason based on his real situation. His parents currently only know that he plays the guitar as a hobby. His experiences as a real civil engineer, he disguised as a childhood interest.

    "With your skills, I thought that your parents will appreciate it more. Fill this out and leave your contact number." With a sigh, Rudy pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Tayaw. Tayaw L. Dagem, 17 y/o, acoustic guitar, 082-313-xxxx, TIN no: 252-915-xxx, in a short while, Tayaw was done filling out the form.

    "Don''t be complacent with the skills you already have. In fact, also try dabbling in songwriting. Only musicians who can make good songs are the ones who will become rich. Anyway, welcome to ROH Factory." Rudy said to Tayaw as he looked at his watch, signaling the end of the conversation. Rudy stood up and shook Tayaw''s hands. It was already 5:30 when they left the office.

    As they were passing the green room, Rudy suddenly said "Tayaw, why don''t you play some ambience music with your guitar on stage? The opening act will not arrive until right before her performance gig at 6:00. I can pay you 14BGC for your trouble and extra if you can set up the equipment for the first singer." Tayaw also agreed the idea as he unpacked his guitar from its case.

    Rudy headed for the kitchen and Tayaw headed for the bar room and stepped on the stage once again. He noticed that the bar room is still empty aside from a few couples already ordering from the servers. Not bothering with this, he plugged in his guitar and played with the speakers and microphone.

    The sounds from the speaker gathered the attention of the few patrons of the bar, but went on with their own thing after seeing that Tayaw was only setting up the sound system.

    After setting everything up quickly, Tayaw was satisfied and picked up his guitar. He chose not to play anything complicated. He just played some chord progressions with charming finger style picking. He modified the chords in their respective forms to fit finger style instrumentals, which gave the bar room a relaxing feeling.

    Despite the well sound-proofed bar room, Tayaw''s playing, amplified by the speakers, spilled out into the street outside because of the opened doors. This also prompted many passersby to take a look at the inside of the bar, some even deciding to take a sit and called for servers.

    At 6:00, the seats in the bar room are now more occupied. A petite girl in simple blue t-shirt and jeans walked out from the back stage with her encased digital piano she carried like a backpack. Seeing the petite girl carrying a keyboard almost as tall as her on her back, Tayaw suppressed a giggle and finished playing with a satisfying series of chords and the guitar picking slowing down to a stop. Tayaw unplugged his guitar and stepped down the stage.

    "Hello Ma''am. I''m Tayaw. The stage is all ready for you." Tayaw walked to the musician and greeted her. He was surprised that the petite girl isn''t a girl but a young lady who he estimates to be in her mid-20s judging from her face.

    The musician, having a closer look, was surprised at how young Tayaw is. But as she remembered the consistent and uninterrupted guitar music she heard from the back stage, she assumed that Tayaw is the new musician hired by the boss.

    "Hey kid. You''re the new guy? Nice playing by the way." The musician replied as well at Tayaw''s casual but polite greeting. "Thanks ma''am. I had an audition just an hour ago, and the boss was satisfied. He can''t give me gigs yet because the schedule is full." Tayaw replied.

    "Stop with the ma''am. Just call me big sis, or just Amelie. I heard the boss said you set the speakers up for me, so thanks. When I was passing by the kitchen earlier, I thought I was going to be replaced when I heard someone was already playing." Amelie said with a laugh.

    "No need for the thanks, sister Amelie. I am going to get paid for it anyway. There are already enough people; I think they''re ready for you." Tayaw said, happy that he made a good impression on Amelie. Amelie then stepped on to the stage and unpacked her keyboard.

    Tayaw also headed for the backstage to look for the boss, who he found is back in his office. After getting his pay, a generous $10 for a thirty minute casual guitar play in Tayaw''s part, he bid farewell to the boss. He also left through the main entrance of the bar to wave goodbye at the performing Amelie. When he stepped on the sidewalk on the street, he easily found a cab with no passenger and hailed it.

    There is a smile plastered in his face on his cab ride back to his dorm. As he looked at the View Points on the top of his field of vision, it still remained at "0". Tayaw was not bothered, as the day was much more valuable for him than the unknown View Point.

 Chapter 11 - Agent For Hire

    August 16, 2010, Monday, two days after his audition at the ROH Factory, is the start of Tayaw''s third week in his online tutoring job. Only two weeks away from the end of his contract with the company, just in time for the start of the school term.

    This week, Tayaw is planning to really save as much as he can for future expenses. In his past two weeks, Tayaw had to tighten his belt to buy his laptop, guitar, digital camera, and his new IPhone4. It was a blessing that his parents already paid the deposit for his dorm, enough rent for two months.

    Starting this week, as arranged by him and his employer, his schedule at work will begin at 1:00 pm. Reason being is that he will start looking for a literary agent for his book in the mornings. He himself will not be enough to walk around Ouigab and other cities to look for a publishing firm for his books, if he wants to publish his books as soon as possible.

    Getting up from his bed at 5:30 am, he opened his laptop and started posting notices to various job websites. After posting, he also looked up if there''s an office of Writer''s Guild of Teungeb in Ouigab City. To his relief, there is. Ouigab is not only a university city, but also a hub of arts and music that is the go to place of artists and musicians from all over Teungeb, so finding a local office of the Writer''s Guild of Teungeb is not surprising. Closing his laptop, he also double checked his manuscripts before shoving them in his backpack.

    He already printed out the manuscripts of both pg-13 and general audiences versions of his Grimm''s Fairy Tales. From his research on the internet, debut authors like him will usually get around 18000 bgc ($9000) as credit from the publishing firm, along with a 7% royalty from each book sold.

    Regarding the 7% royalty though, a debut author will not get a share of royalty until after the publisher earns back the credit they gave the author. In Tayaw''s case, if he was able to successfully sign a deal from a publishing firm, they will give him a credit of 18000 bgc, and offer him a 7% share. He will not earn from his royalty until his fairy tales will reach a sale of 18000 bgc. The sales of the books after that will give Tayaw his 7% share.

    After showering, he headed to his go to mom-and-pop restaurant for breakfast. While eating, he was checking his phone to double check the notices he put out. He also slowly mulled over the difficulty of publishing a book. Even though he has excellent works in his head, it''s no use if he cannot publish them.

    At 8 am, Tayaw arrived at the Writers'' Guild office. It took him almost 2 hours because he also had to buy himself a card for the subway which he will use to get to the Writers'' Guild Office. It was too far from his dorm that taking a cab will be foolish. The reason he came here is to ask for a list of literary agents franchised and accredited by the Writers'' Guild.

    After stepping through the entrance, he saw that all the tables in the office are empty except for the one closest from the entrance, occupied by a lady busy typing on her computer. ''Nelly C. Ley, Secretary'' Tayaw read what was written on the glass name plate on the office lady''s table. With no one else present, Tayaw headed for her.

    "Good morning Ms. Ley." Tayaw greeted the office secretary. The lady looked up from her computer screen to Tayaw, gave him a look from head to toe, curious what a kid is doing at the office. "Do I know you, young man?"

    "No ma''am. But I learned of you from your name plate here." Tayaw replied. Understanding this, Ms. Ley asked "What can I do for you? Are you sure you''re in the right place?"

    "I''m currently looking to hire an agent for myself. I know this is the Writers'' Guild, but I don''t know where to look for an agent, so I came here hoping to get help to where to start looking." Tayaw replied.

    The office lady raised her eyebrows at this. ''Either this young lad has written something good, or he''s just too full of himself.'' She thought to herself while considering entertaining Tayaw any further. Prompted by the sore feeling in her eyes, she turned off the screen of her computer to let her eyes take a break.

    "So, which type of writer are you?" Ms. Lei asked.

    "I would consider myself an Author, ma''am. So I''m looking for an agent to help me look for a publishing firm." Tayaw replied.

    "I can actually give you a list of our contracted agents right now." Ms. Lei said to Tayaw''s surprise. Tayaw was about to think this was easy when he heard Ms. Lei''s next words.

    "In exchange, let me take a look at your work. After all, I couldn''t just give away names and contacts of agents if your work doesn''t cut it." Tayaw found this request reasonable so he took out the envelope containing the children''s'' version, and handed it to the lady.

    Ms. Lei opened the envelope and was disappointed at the title page "Grimm''s Fairy Tales for Children ¨C Vol. 1". Fairy tales in this world, although dime a dozen, are hard to write, and even harder to compete with the old fairy tales that already embedded themselves in the culture.

    She knew it was unfair of her to judge the manuscript without reading its contents, but she also knew enough that fairy tales are nigh untouched in the literary industry. With low expectations, she turned to the next page.

    ''THE FROG PRINCE - Long ago, when wishes often came true, there lived a King whose daughters were all handsome, but the youngest was so beautiful that the sun himself, who has seen everything, was bemused every time he shone over her because of her beauty. Near the royal castle there was a great dark wood, and in the wood under an old linden tree was a well; and when the day was hot, the King''s daughter used to go forth into the wood and sit by the brink of the cool well, and if the time seemed long, she would take out a golden ball, and throw it up and catch it again, and this was her favorite pastime.''

    Reading up to this point, Ms. Lei''s low expectations were almost nullified by the descriptive quality of the story. In all the fairy tales she read, the fairy tales were never this descriptive using words.

    Most of the fairy tales she read are accompanied by pictures to set the scene of the story. Her interest piqued, she read on. As she read the story, she was again surprised with the emotion from the words, a quality she rarely found in fairy tales. Most fairy tales she read lacked the descriptive trait for emotions and the authors of those fairy tales relied on the a.d.u.l.ts who will read it to their children to put emotions into the story.

    After reading the Frog Prince, she moved on to the next story, ''Cat and Mouse in Partnership''. ''Cat and Mouse in Partnership'' was a story she liked better than the Frog Prince. Although it was bleaker, she found parallels of the Cat''s cunning to the Mouse''s naivety, with the reality of human society.

    Tayaw on the other hand, just stood there, watching in amus.e.m.e.nt at Ms. Lei turning pages in silence.

 Chapter 12 - First View Point

    After a few minutes of reading, Ms. Lei finally looked up at Tayaw in a new light. Noticing that Tayaw must have been standing for a long time while she was reading, she embarrassingly said "Oh, for f*ck''s sake, brat. You should have at least asked if you can sit somewhere. Whatever. Drag that monobloc chair over there here, and sit down."

    After Tayaw finally sat in front of Ms. Lei''s table, Ms. Lei continued to talk to him. "Alright, let me print out a list of the names of the available agents I know personally. You can also state my positive evaluation of your work to these agents. They should at least not ignore you once they hear of my name. I''m also doing you a favor of including the names of the agents I know that are competent and are veterans in the industry."

    Ms. Lei said as she printed out a piece of paper and passed it to Tayaw. Tayaw accepted it with a smile. This was a huge favor to him by Ms. Lei. From the things he heard, it''s really actually hard to make an agent notice a talent, and even harder to even make them interested in working for someone.

    He heard it talked about many times during his time with the Percussive Corrections. Many of their colleagues and fellow musicians took months, even years looking for agents, only to no avail. Even if one found an agent, it was just a tiny step in starting their careers in the show business. So with Miss Lei giving Tayaw permission to use her name, it will immediately eliminate many difficulties in trying to find an agent.

    "I noticed a copyright symbol on the page after your title page. Publishers usually do the copyrighting of the books on their authors'' behalf. Did you not know this?" Ms. Lei started chatting with Tayaw. She found Tayaw interesting and wanted to find out more about the young man. Tayaw, meanwhile, was surprised that publishers actually do the copyrighting, but hearing Ms. Lei''s positive review of his manuscript, he did not regret copyrighting the fairytales himself.

    "I was actually told by a friend, who is also an avid reader, to copyright my work if I''m planning to self-publish. I just don''t have the money to publish my book myself." Tayaw replied, making up an imaginary friend.

    "Well, a copyright is indeed beneficial. He must have liked your book too, to suggest you to self-publish. I also liked your book, and with its quality and it''s immediately digestible originality, there''s no telling if someone gets greedy especially the smaller publishing houses." Ms. Lei nodded.

    She at first scoffed at the copyright symbol in Tayaw''s manuscript when she saw it, but when she immersed herself in the stories within, she found that the copyright symbol is indeed a good precaution against people who will have ideas on stealing Tayaw''s work.

    "Your title page says ''Vol. 1'', are you planning to writing more? Or do you already have more stories in stock? " Ms. Lei switched the topic to Tayaw''s book.

    "I do have a few more ideas stuck in my head, I just haven''t had the time to write and polish them down." Ms. Lei was surprised at Tayaw''s response.

    The manuscript has around 400 pages, each story having 3 to 5 pages; it means that Tayaw has written at least 30 stories.

    "You''re impressive, young man! You also wrote your book in English. That tells me you''re ambitious enough to dream of selling your books internationally. If a publishing firm picks up your book, I suggest you also release a version in our Teungebian language." She was also impressed at Tayaw writing in English.

    She herself, who loved books and hopped across many jobs in the industry, knew how hard it is translate books into English; much more write books in the language.

    Tayaw, on the other hand, was feeling guiltier and guiltier by each compliment. Yes, he can write well in English, but he knew himself he was not creative enough to write these stories by himself. But what can he do? The only use he can see for the literary works given to him is to publish them and share them to his world. It''s not like he''s stealing someone''s work, right?

    Those works were given to him.

    If it was before, he was afraid of the consequences and maybe even divine punishment of him publishing the works in his head. Now, however, he is confident that the roulette itself wanted him to publish the books it to him because right after Ms. Lei was done reading just a part of his manuscript, the "View Points" in his vision, which stayed at "0" since he it appeared, has changed into "Vision Points : 1".

    This was no punishment, but a reward. He also want to see how the people, maybe even the whole world, will react at the works he will release in the future, and in the process earn himself a fortune.

    "I will, ma''am. I hope to sell internationally as well." Tayaw replied. After a few more minutes of chatting, an employee entered the office.

    "Well, look at the time, I should get going. I''m sorry for taking up your time. My work also starts in an hour at my job in Cioni." Tayaw, feeling like he already spent enough time at the office, looked for an excuse to leave.

    "Indeed. I was too absorbed reading your manuscript; I took up your time." Ms. Lei said as she didn''t know what else to talk about with the young man. Throughout their conversation, the young man never took the lead when she gave him permission to.

    "It''s actually a pleasure, Ms. Lei. I''m also thankful for sparing me the time. As a token, please keep my manuscript. I can make more copies of it. I hope to give you its book version soon." Tayaw said as he bid farewell to Ms. Lei.

    Watching Tayaw leave the office, Ms. Lei had a smile on her face. "What an impressive young man." She said to herself as she opened the manuscript once again. She wants to look for a story she can tell her child later in the evening.

    Leaving the building where the Writers'' Guild was, he was already planning in his head how he would write the e-mails to the list of agents he received from Ms. Lei. While in the train, he checked his phone if he received any e-mails from agents who saw his postings on the job websites he made in the morning.

    Seeing no e-mails, he took out the list of agents and copied their e-mail addresses to his phone.

    Aside from their names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses, there are no further information about them, so he really had no idea how to pitch himself to each agent.

    He also cannot gather any more information after he looked them up in the internet with his phone. He can only work with what he has, so to pass the time in the train, he started writing and re-writing his pitch of himself to send to the agents.

    "Dear ---,

    Grimm''s Fairy Tales of 95,000 words, is a compilation of 50 of my original fairy tales that defies the convention established by our predecessors when it comes to what fairy tales should be. With some of the tales'' hidden social commentary for our world, it can also give our children a closer to life sense of reality and how the world works earlier and will prevent them from carrying idealistic principles and unrealistic dreams into a.d.u.l.thood.

    Since time immemorial, we heard and saw stories that taught us lessons and gave color to our childhood, and helped reshaped us into the people we grew up to be. I myself can retell from memory some of the stories that my parents and teachers told me as a child.

    However, as I grew into a young lad and revisited the stories I have been told, it came to me that the tales we grew up with are nothing short of being too fantastical and too simple to pass on to the next generation.

    I am currently about to enter as a freshman to Ouigab City''s Northwestern university, but I have been writing and polishing the tales I have in my work for five years now. I hope that my skepticism of our currently established fairy tales along with my enthusiasm to change them shows through my stories'' settings for you to see.

    The first three short stories included in my work are enclosed to this letter, while the completed manuscript is available upon request. Ms. Nelly C. Lei of the Ouigab City''s Writers'' Guild of Teungeb office also spoke greatly of your experience in the industry.

    Thank you in advance for taking in consideration my work. I look forward to your response.

    Kind Regards,

    Tayaw L. Dagem''

    A few days after he sent the e-mail to the agents, he gained 13 points to his View Points. Adding to Ms. Lei''s 1 point, he now has 14.

 Chapter 13 - Chala Rotala

    August 30, Monday. Since his visit to the Writers'' Guild office, Tayaw''s two weeks was filled with fruitful events. Just three days after he sent his query letter to the agents through e-mail, 9 out of the 13 agents in the list Ms. Lei gave him responded.

    7 of the 9 who responded expressed their regret of being unable to work together with him because of prior arrangements, and the remaining two agents asked for the complete manuscripts for their consideration, which Tayaw sent in .pdf format to their respective e-mail addresses.

    A day later, the two agents expressed their interest in working with him. Both agents currently have their primary clients in their hiatus giving them free schedules which was great news. This however also gave Tayaw a difficult decision to make.

    His choice ultimately fell upon which of the two agents is a native of Ouigab City. This left one agent in disappointment, and the other in gloating which means the two agents know each other.

    Tayaw also agreed with the agent''s final offer of 18% share in whatever Tayaw makes from his Grimm''s Fairy Tales ¨C Vol. 1. Normally, a book agent takes 12 - 15% of a client''s earnings but because the agent Tayaw hired had more than 25 years of experience in the industry and has plenty of connections, Tayaw took the offer.

    Matters regarding the book aside, after Tayaw hired his agent in the 21st, he found himself having more spare time. Rudy, the boss of ROH Factory had not contacted him at all as a substitute for any gigs.

    He then decided to read his textbooks in advance on the major subjects he enrolled for the coming semester. As a civil engineer for almost two decades in his past life, he did not buy the text books of subjects he considered himself to be skilled in like Plane/Spherical Trigonometry and Engineering Drawing. Subjects like College Algebra and General Chemistry, on the other hand, he needed to brush up on or learn in advance.

    On the 27th, his contract with the online tutorial company also ended. Before that, he was also able to save as much money as he can by increasing his quota, asking for co-workers for some of their regulars in exchange for shares of what he makes from their students.

    On the 28th, Tayaw''s dorm mates also arrived and moved in with their things. Because Tayaw this time, chose a different dorm than his previous life, also got strangers for dorm mates. Their dorm room is big enough for two bunk beds for four students. Tayaw, considering moving to another place to occupy solo after his deposit in the dorm is used up, did not bother getting to know his dorm mates aside from their names.

    11 am in the morning, and Tayaw was rudely awoken by his ringing IPhone. He stayed up all night to learn as much as he could from his textbooks before the start of the term. Picking up his phone, he realized it is a call from his agent. It has been 8 days since his agent notified him that he started looking for a publishing firm.

    "Mr. Rotala, what''s up?" Tayaw answered the call, curious about what the call is about. Chala Rotala, the independent literary agent Tayaw hired, is a man in his mid 40s. Despite being a veteran in the industry, Chala did not give the impression of being an agent at all.

    If someone would talk to him, they would think that he''s just friendly, well-dressed neighborhood uncle who will often treat you to a beer. He also talks to strangers like they''re already acquaintances regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, or even the status of the person he''s talking to.

    Chala with his friendy demeanor and casual style has the ability to make any person who he talks to have a favorable impression on him. Tayaw noticed this during the day they met to sign their contract. It doesn''t matter if Chala talks to a security guard, a waitress, or a lawyer, they always treat him favorably shortly after talking to him.

    Chala''s current demeanor, however, is comparable to a kid who just got a surprise gift from his parents. "Tayaw! I can''t believe it! It''s only been a week since I started pitching your book, and there are already two publishers interested! I didn''t call you last Saturday when I got a call from a small company, but this call I got today, is from Topaz Publishing!" Chala''s voice was loud it was distorting the internal speaker of Tayaw''s phone.

    "That''s good news! Why does Topaz sound familiar to me though?" Tayaw replied, also feeling happy and excited. "You probably saw their name many times. They publish language textbooks of grade-school up to college levels!" Chala explained. Tayaw was enlightened at this.

    He retraced his memory of his current self and realized that he indeed had English and Teungebian Language Textbooks.

    After calming down, Tayaw assessed what Chala told him about Topaz and said "I''m happy of the news. I''m confused though. Why would a textbooks publisher be interested in my book?"

    "Ah, I understand. You see, they have actually published numerous children''s books in the past. It''s just that they could only publish the same stories in different looks for so many times until their sales of their children''s books were no longer worth the effort and gave away that pie to small publishing houses. Because of this, they have not published any children''s books for almost ten years now. This is also the reason why Topaz is one of my priority firms to approach. I''m honestly feeling great about myself right now. Aside from my primary author, I have not worked so smoothly like this in years." Chala replied, with obvious pride in his voice.

    Tayaw is also happy with Chala''s work and satisfied with his decision of choosing Chala over the other agent who contacted him. "So, what''s next?"

    "I will head over to Topaz this afternoon to see what they would offer. You''re not busy, are you? Would you like to join me?" Chala said and offered Tayaw to join him. Tayaw considered actually wanted to go, but decided not to after some consideration.

    His currently physical age is 16, which is basically but a child in any creative industry. In addition to being a debut author, Topaz may also use his age against him to further lower their starting offer. Tayaw, despite publishing as a debut author, knew that the value of Grimm''s Fairy tales deserve much more than a debut author''s pay.

    "I won''t join you. Mr. Rotala, I know you often disregard people''s backgrounds, but other people may not. Topaz might lowball us when they see me, so please prevent them from asking questions about my age." Tayaw replied.

    Chala, hearing this, was surprised at Tayaw''s foresight and was forced to acknowledge his own inexperience. In his 20 plus years of experience in the industry, he never worked for an author of Tayaw''s age. Realizing this, he further realized that he has never heard of an author Tayaw''s age.

    He was relieved to have realized these facts before going to the negotiation. Sure, publishing firms only care about whether an author is new or has previous works but if he slipped up and bragged about Tayaw''s age in comparison to the quality of his work, who knows what the consequences are.

 Chapter 14 - Contracts and such

    The next day, Tayaw and Chala met up at a sparsely crowded caf¨¦ near his dorm at 8 in the morning.

    Yesterday evening, Chala, after a whole spending the entire afternoon in the negotiations, called back again to inform Tayaw that the negotiation has gone smoothly and would bring over the contracts for Tayaw to sign.

    From Chala''s voice over the phone yesterday, it seemed like this deal was better than the usual deal for debut authors.

    Joining Chala, who was already waiting at a table furthest from the entrance of the caf¨¦, Tayaw was wearing an anticipating expression on his face. "So, did it go well?"

    Chala took out a few pages of papers from his briefcase handed them to Tayaw with a smile. "Oh. I think it went better than we expected. You can take a look." Tayaw also began reading the contract.

    Topaz offered Tayaw a 12000 bgc credit with 15% starting royalty for net sales of hardcover books and 10% starting royalty for net sales of paperbacks.

    Topaz, in accordance to Tayaw''s demands, is planning on publishing hard cover and paperback in novel forms, instead of Topaz''s original idea of making each story in the book into children''s picture books.

    They begrudgingly relented when Chala told them that Tayaw would rather not publish the book with them if they cannot meet this condition.

    Regarding the hardcover versions, Tayaw''s royalty will start at 15% for the first 3500 books sold. After that, it increases to 20% for the next 7000 books, after that to 25% for the consequent book sales.

    With the paperbacks, Tayaw''s starting royalty is at 10% for the first 3500 books sold, 15% for the next 7000 books sold, and finally at 20% fixed royalty for the consequent books sales.

    This means that if a hardcover version is sold for 30 BGC in stores, Topaz''s share from that sale is around 15 BGC, around 50%. Out of the 15 BGC that Topaz earned, Tayaw will get an initial 15% share of 2.25 BGC each hard cover book sold.

    After the 3500th book sale, Tayaw''s share will increase to 20%, 3BGC from each book sold. After the 10500th sale, his share will increase to 25%, 3.75 per hardcover book sold. The same principle applies to the paperback versions.

    Tayaw was satisfied with the numbers. He was also sure that Chala deserves credit for a huge part in this deal. The royalties offered to him are better than the royalties offered to debut authors, which tells Tayaw of Topaz''s confidence in his book.

    "So, are we good?" Chala asked Tayaw rhetorically seeing the satisfied smile on Tayaw''s face. He then handed Tayaw a thick envelope. Seeing this, Tayaw was confused, and as he opened the envelope, his confusion turned to surprise. Inside the envelope are tens of 100 bgc bills.

    He looked at Chala for an explanation. "5,000 BGC, an off the books gift from Topaz. You''re a smart lad, you know what this means right?" Chala said. Tayaw just nodded.

    During the negotiation yesterday, Chala called Tayaw a couple of times for his opinions which included Tayaw''s rejection of the Children''s picture book idea. This gift therefore implies many things. One is that Topaz still has not given up with the Children''s picture book ideas, and may want to ask Tayaw the rights to make the stories in his book into Children''s picture books in the future.

    Second, they are also asking Tayaw to publish his second volume with Topaz. After a minute of consideration, Tayaw took 1000 BGC from the stack and gave it to Chala and keeping the rest for himself. Chala, seeing this gesture, nodded in approval of Tayaw''s decision.

    It is best for Tayaw to keep publishing with Topaz. Topaz being generous to Tayaw, expressed their sincerity in working with him in the future. It is just unwise and will result to infamy for Tayaw to refuse.

    "Good. If you''re satisfied, you can sign the contract now. I''ll get us coffee, what do you want? My treat." Chala urged Tayaw, satisfied with his smooth working relationship him.

    "Caf¨¦ au lait." Tayaw replied as his newly bought Parker signing pen got busy.

    A few minutes later, Chala gulped down the last of his coffee and received the signed contract which he put back inside his briefcase.

    "Mr. Rotala, how about another cup of coffee? On me this time, plus some snacks." Tayaw said as he waved for a server. Chala was surprised. This meant Tayaw has another business with him. "Sure." He said.

    Tayaw opened his back pack and pulled out a thick envelope, removed its contents and handed it to Chala. Chala, accepting what could only be a manuscript, widened his eyes when he saw the title page. ''Grimm''s Fairy Tales for A.d.u.l.ts ¨C Vol. 1''. "This-"he was stunned as he looked at Tayaw, who only gestured him to take a look inside.

    Chala read a good part of Tayaw''s Grimm''s Fairy Tales for Children, so he was shocked at the contrast that the manuscript he is currently reading provided. He was familiar with the stories but reading them in a gloomier, darker, and gorier form made him appreciate the stories better.

    As a middle aged man, he felt like he would not be embarrassed reading this in front of strangers. The stories despite being fairy tales are more logical, more immersive, and most importantly more relatable to his tastes and to him as a person. While unknowingly giving a View Point to Tayaw, he slowly immersed himself in the manuscript. He also did not notice the server''s arrival along with the coffee she set on the table.

    "Mr. Rotala, your coffee is getting colder." Chala was interrupted by Tayaw who pushed a cup of black coffee to his field of vision. He put down the manuscript and picked up the cup as and absentmindedly drank. He is still mulling over the images in his head while he was reading the manuscript. He wants to ask Tayaw about the manuscript but don''t know which questions to ask.

    "What do you think of the manuscript, Mr. Rotala?" Tayaw asked after letting Chala sort his thoughts.

    "It was¡­ an experience. I feel like the characters are more alive." Chala, who was usually more eloquent, replied shortly but meaningfully.

    Tayaw agreed with his assessment. While reading the fairy tales while they were still in his head, he also enjoyed the a.d.u.l.ts version and he felt like they are more expandable.

    "I am thinking about publishing it as well." Tayaw said.

    Chala nodded at this. "I think it''s a good idea to publish it along with the Children''s version. It will also boost your name as an author by releasing two books. Although they have the same stories, their contrast will gather the attention of a wider range of audiences."

    "I think so too. We can sign another contract immediately if you want to work on this book as well." Tayaw offered Chala.

    Chala can see Tayaw''s generosity and sincerity in the offer. Even if it will take longer, Tayaw can just find another agent. And yet, Tayaw still chose him for the job.

    "Of course I want to! I like you kid, so I can accept less than my pay with the Children''s version. I will print up an agreement later on. In the meantime, I will bring this manuscript along with me back to Topaz to see what they think."

    Seeing his untouched confection on the table, Chala picked up the fork as he sliced into the slice of blueberry cake. While enjoying the sweetness and creaminess of the cake, something popped up inside Chala''s mind. He preferred the a.d.u.l.ts'' version more, so he was confused at why Tayaw decided to release the children''s version first.

    "By the way, I think the a.d.u.l.ts'' version is better. Why didn''t you release it first?"

    "Do you still remember the contents of my letter when I first e-mailed you?" Tayaw replied with another question.

    Remembering Tayaw''s critique on the existing fairy tales and the dissatisfaction he expressed on his letter, Chala finally understood Tayaw''s reasoning.

    "Not only do I want the current and future generation of children be told more nuanced fairy tales, I also want their parents, who didn''t get to have the chance to enjoy my fairy tales as children, appreciate the my fairy tales as a.d.u.l.ts." Tayaw elaborated with resolve in his eyes.

    If it was another typical debut author that said this, Chala would just curse their arrogance in his mind while fawning outwardly. Tayaw, to him, however is different to other authors even the established ones. An author of Tayaw''s level should just be concerned about his book being published, but what Chala is currently witnessing in Tayaw is something that is bigger and beyond of just writing books.

    Chala''s impression of Tayaw has elevated even higher. In his eyes, Tayaw is no longer just a promising talent. He now sees Tayaw as a real artist. Not just an author who want to tell their story, but a real literary artist who can affect the world with his work. Whether or not Tayaw will succeed to become a famous author in the future, to Chala will always respect him as an artist

    If Tayaw is to know what Chala is thinking, he would be looking for a hole to hide. The intentions he told Chala are real, but an artist? He is not. Not yet, anyways.

 Chapter 15 - Test

    After parting ways with Chala, Tayaw went to his favorite mom-and-pop restaurant for brunch. After the warm hearty meal, he dropped by his dorm room to pick up his guitar and class schedule and walked to the Northwestern University campus.

    The University is open to any visitors especially during this time when hundreds of incoming freshmen that are excited for college are roaming around the campus to familiarize themselves on how to navigate the school in their first day tomorrow.

    Tayaw on the other hand is not here for the same purpose as those freshmen. After all, he spent four years in his past life here and is as familiar with the place as any senior student. He came here to look for a deserted park, or even better, a vacant classroom to practice his singing and guitar.

    Despite his skills in his old life, his current undertrained, immature vocal chords and the inexperienced muscle memory in his hands and fingers cannot yet display fully what he can do. He also is planning on writing down as many song arrangements he can remember.

    After finding an empty classroom, he locked himself in and closed all the windows. He then spent the next four hours by himself accompanied only by himself, his guitar, and his notebook. It was lucky for him that no school staff bothered him.

    At 3:00 pm, around the time he expected, his cellphone rang. It was Chala, probably bringing news about his second manuscript. "Hello, Mr. Rotala, how is it going?" Tayaw answered his phone.

    "Tayaw! It''s going great! Oh, you have no idea. The look of relief on their faces! Hahaha! Anyway, the fellas here loved the a.d.u.l.t version even more than the children''s one. They just printed out the contract for it. I had some little kinks here and there in convincing them, but they offered you pretty much the same as the one you signed this morning. Are you okay with that?" Chala happily informed him.

    "I''m satisfied, Mr. Rotala. They were already generous enough with the first manuscript; I''m quite surprised they offered the same with the second one. You worked hard, Mr. Rotala." Tayaw said, satisfied with the news.

    "Great! I know that school starts tomorrow at pretty much every college and uni tomorrow, so I don''t know when you''re free to sign these." Chala inquired.

    "Well, the first thing tomorrow is the school orientation, so I can just skip that." Tayaw replied. "Oh! No, no, no. I know it''s not mandatory to attend a school orientation, but you will miss a few important things that you might find useful in the future!"

    In Chala''s eyes, he''s still a student entering an important time that is college. Tayaw, despite his actual situation, decided not to insist on skipping the orientation.

    "I''m actually free tonight at around 5:30 or so. What time do you finish there? I will meet you at ROH Factory, a bar along Zolano Street. It''s a just a block away from the corner from Guili road. You won''t miss it, the place and their sign is pretty big." Tayaw offered an alternative plan.

    "Why on all places, a bar? I know you don''t act like it, but you''re a minor!" Chala said in surprise.

    "Oh. Don''t worry about it. We won''t be going there to drink. I have someone to see there later. We also need a table, don''t we? I''m acquainted with some people in the bar, so we can use any of their tables." Tayaw reassured Chala.

    "Alright then. It''s only an hour drive from here. I also have plenty of time to make a contract for my cut on your second book." Chala replied, back to his casual voice.

    Tayaw arrived at ROH factory at 4:30 just like he did two weeks ago. Just like before, he knocked on the back door, and it was also Rocky, the bouncer he met last time who opened the door.

    "Oh, it''s you kid. You''re early. You haven''t been back since last time, been busy?" Rocky said, surprised to see Tayaw.

    "Yes sir. I start school tomorrow so I''ve been reading. May I talk to the boss again?" Tayaw asked Rocky, hoping to be let in again. Rocky made way, to Tayaw''s relief. "You know where to find the boss."

    Arriving in front of Rudy''s office, Tayaw took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He really hopes that Rudy has not forgotten about him. "Enter." Rudy''s voice was heard from the inside. Tayaw opened the door and entered.

    "Good afternoon sir." Tayaw greeted. "Oh, you''re back kid. I thought you would at least drop by a few times after your audition." Rudy said in jest as he leaned back in his chair.

    "I start school tomorrow, so I''ve been busy with tutoring jobs and reading in advance." Tayaw explained, at the same time, relieved. Rudy also nodded in understanding. "That explains it. Anyway kid, the musicians I hired had perfect attendance since, so I didn''t call you. I assume you''re looking for a gig?"

    "Yes sir. I hope there are vacant spots for me. I''ve also been practicing every night, so I think you can rest assured, I''m always ready." Tayaw pitched himself.

    Rudy pulled out a day-planner from his drawer and turned to the page book-marked. "Well let''s see here. You''ve met Amelia, yes? For the first half of September, she asked for gigs as an opener on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and wasn''t willing to take any more. Aside from her, there''s no one else is willing to be openers for Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. I can only get you those spots kid. There are still spots vacant for the succeeding hours, but I can''t give them to you. I haven''t seen you fill an entire hour yet, kid."

    Tayaw understood this point. To Rudy, he is still a total rookie. An opener is the perfect spot for a rookie because there''s much less consequences when they mess up.

    "I''m willing to take the opening spots on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the whole September, sir." Tayaw said.

    He had inkling that Rudy reserved those spots for him. ROH Factory has much fewer customers in Sunday nights compared to Friday and Saturday nights due to the patrons preparing for Monday. ROH Factory is closed in Mondays for the bar''s maintenance and restocking of drinks.

    Tuesdays and Wednesdays have decent number of customers but still fewer than customers present in the Thursday to Saturday nights. So Tayaw thinking Rudy reserved the nights with the fewest customers for him is not that great of a stretch.

    "Good. But before I book you, I still have to see what you can do with a whole hour. It just so happens that the third performer tonight can''t come. I intended to stretch the time all the performers'' spots tonight to fill his absence, but with you here, I have another idea. I will move up the time of the performers before the supposed third performer. That means, I can move up Beyond Cape Town who are supposed to be performing second into the third spot. Amelie, who is supposed to be the opener tonight, will be moved up to the second performer. If they agree with the change in schedule, I will let you be the opener tonight. Is that fine with you?" Rudy explained his plan for Tayaw''s try-out.

    "Yes sir. I''ll be ready." Tayaw said, satisfied with the arrangement.

    Rudy then called Amelie and the Beyond Cape Town''s leader, and after receiving their consent, proceeded to adjust the schedule. "It''s almost 5. Tell the DJ to set up the mixer and speakers, and tell Rocky to open the door when the DJ''s done. It doesn''t matter if we''re early to open. We were closed yesterday anyway." Rudy told Tayaw, implying to get out of his office and get ready.

    Tayaw went to the backstage and headed to the back stage and told the DJ of Rudy''s instructions. Tayaw looked at the mixer and smiled to himself. The first mixer of ROH Bar, he had a vague memory of it. In his old life, when he and the Percussive Corrections were in their earlier years performing here, they always saw the red mixer around in the back stage.

    His phone buzzed. He picked it up and saw a text message from Chala. He went towards the bar room. He wants to finish his talk with Chala as soon as possible. He is, after all excited and wants to get ready for his first debut at the bar.

 Chapter 16 - Chalas Surprise

    Today was awesome. I mean, me making an educational books publisher want to release a non-educational book? I bet my friends wouldn''t even believe me if I don''t have the contracts lying peacefully in my briefcase. Not just one work, but two books! If this works out, even if my other clients fire me, I wouldn''t care.

    I got off the phone after talking with Tayaw about the good news of his books, a few minutes ago. After preparing all that I need for tonight, I made my way to ROH Factory where I''ll meet Tayaw.

    Tayaw must be the most matured teenager I have ever met. If I didn''t know him personally but only talks to him over the phone and email correspondence, I would assume he''s a regular John, not a young Johnny.

    Anyway, I know that he''s basically an a.d.u.l.t all but his age, but what kind of a teenager would want to meet at a bar?

    I got out of the car after parking in a vacant space in front of the bookstore beside the ROH Factory. Looking at the bar, Tayaw wasn''t lying when he said it was easy to find. I''ve been here before; I just forgot its name.

    From the outside, it would be mistaken for a diner if it wasn''t for the huge sign on top of it with a picture of a beer beside the bar''s name. I entered the bar through the entrance while sending a text to Tayaw informing him I''ve arrived.

    Shortly after finding a table, Tayaw walked from behind the stage towards me. "Good to see you Mr. Rotala again. I hope nothing changed since I got off the phone?" Tayaw asked as he sat in front of me.

    "Everything''s ready. Here, sign these." I said while pulling up the papers from my briefcase. As Tayaw was reading and signing, I couldn''t help but wonder why we were in a bar.

    "Do you have a part-time job here?" I asked with the only assumption I can come up with. "Yes. It starts at 6:00 pm." He replied casually not even looking up.

    "Until what time? I''m not sure about laws but I think minors aren''t supposed to work in bars." I fished. "Oh. It''s alright. I know the boss. And, I can make it back long before the curfew, so no worries." He replied.

    "But why a bar, though? Don''t you have plenty of places to work?" I asked further, not comfortable with my client''s workplace.

    "Over the past month, I worked as a temporary online tutor. My contract just ended in time for the start of school. I just wanted to find a place where I can work after school, and this place pays the best." That was news to me.

    It means he already was done with his manuscripts for a while now. After all, he couldn''t possible teach, have a part time job in a bar, and write his stories at the same time. Still, I can''t let him work here. I have to look for another place for him to work.

    After Tayaw was done with the papers, I put them away immediately and talk to him about his workplace. "Look, I can call some of my friends. Some of them owe me favors, so I''m sure they can offer you a job." I offered him.

    "I appreciate your offer, Mr. Rotala but I''m actually quite happy working here." His answer confused me. I was about to ask him why so when he interrupted me.

    "It''s almost time. Look, Mr. Rotala. If it makes you feel better, you can wait for me. I''m sure you''re not doing anything tonight anyway. Order some drinks. I''ll tell the boss it''s on the house."

    This brat. I could only nod as he was already walking back to the back of the bar. Looking around the bar room, I noticed there are already around 20 people, some in groups, some alone, already having drinks on their tables.

    With everyone having their own drinks, I also waved at a nearby server to order. After that, I could only pull out my phone to play with. Soon after though, I couldn''t help but overhear some people''s conversations.

    "Hey. I couldn''t see Amelie on stage. I thought she was opening tonight?" A young lady in the table next to his told someone beside her who seems to be her boyfriend. "Hey. She couldn''t possibly be here every night, right?" Her boyfriend replied.

    "Your drink, sir." The server said as she put down the bottle of beer and a glass on my table. "Thank you." I said, and looked up to see what the server looks like, and she''s quite pretty.

    My gaze followed the pretty server as she walked to the table of the young lady I overheard earlier.

    "Is Amelie performing tonight? Why isn''t she on stage yet?" I heard the young lady ask the pretty server. "She is. We have a new opener tonight, so Amelie was bumped up to perform second" The server replied.

    I was distracted when I heard a "Mic test" from the speakers followed by a tug from the sound of something being plugged in. I looked towards the stage and surprised by what I saw. There he is, on the stage, sitting on a bar stool with a guitar rested on his lap, Tayaw.

    He looked at me and nodded with a smile. I also nodded back. Now it makes sense. This, cheeky brat. He could have just told me earlier. I could only wait in anticipation as he finally leaned closer to the microphone.

    "Good evening, our dear patrons. Welcome to the ROH Factory. To our regulars, my name is Tayaw. I''m trying out as an opener for the month of September as our usual opener; Miss Amelie has changed her schedule. If it goes well, you can see me here regularly as well, so I need all your support." Tayaw introduced himself lightheartedly and the customers responded with polite applause.

    "The line-up tonight is me for your opening act, then Miss Amelie as the second act. After her would be Beyond Cape Town, then the Tub Arsenals. Tub Arsenals will be followed by the main act of tonight, The Eye of Rhythms, then our closing act, Mr. Misch. So settle down, with hands in your drinks as the ROH Factory will start producing music for all of you folks tonight to enjoy." Tayaw finished introducing the whole line-up followed by a supportive applause from the customers.

    I''m impressed by Tayaw. It seems like he is very experienced in speaking on the stage as he looks very comfortable. This subverted my impression of him as a typical introverted writer.

    "My first song for tonight will be my cover of ''You'' by Carl Morgan." Tayaw said as he started playing his guitar. Tayaw plucked chords on his guitar for the intro. It sounded very slowly but has a nostalgic feeling. A few seconds later, he also started singing.

    "When I remember the first time we met

    and you spoke to me in your gentle voice

    my heart beat hard when I look at you, Rose

    That moment I knew

    that I wanna be with you

    forever and ever

    Yes, I fell in love with you

    don''t want this to be over"

    The song ''You'' is a recent rock ballad song I heard occasionally over the radio. But this, with Tayaw''s version, gave me a very different feeling. If the rock ballad song was something that the crowd can sing along to, Tayaw''s version sounds like something that one can play and sing to someone inside a small room.

    It sounds more personal, and more moving. I looked around the bar room and the customers are swaying along the hypnotic and nostalgic rhythm of Tayaw''s sophisticated plucking of the guitar. After the second chorus, Tayaw played an instrumental intermission with more complicated plucking of his guitar.

    This break also prompted the crowd, along with me, to cheer and clap for the nice performance.

    After a few seconds of outro, Tayaw''s song ended. While the song ended, I was still immersed in the feeling the song gave me. A second later, I felt nervous when I realized no one was clapping, and looked around.

    The customers look like they''re in a daze. "Thank you." Tayaw''s voice pulled them out of their state, and they clapped in appreciation. I felt relieved.

    I never expected Tayaw to be this good! Never once during the song was I distracted from a missed note in the guitar of an out of pitched note from Tayaw''s singing.

    I am not wrong with my impression of Tayaw. He''s an artist!

 Chapter 17 - First Dough

    September 1, 2010 5:30 AM, Wednesday. Tayaw who just woke up, is still replaying the events of the previous night in his head. Even though the ROH Factory wasn''t even half filled during his gig, it did not devalue the approval he received from the customers, Rudy, Amelie, and Chala.

    Rudy, handing him 100 BGC last night, sealed the deal, and Tayaw will come back tonight for his first official gig. Amelie looked at him differently than the first time they met. Chala who initially wanted him to find another part time job, became supportive and wanted to know when else would Tayaw perform so he can watch.

    Today is also his first day at Northwestern. He''s excited to go to the university not to learn, but to look for the friends he made in his old life. He knows that they would not know him at all at this time, but that does not stop him from looking forward to seeing them, and hoping they would get to know each other earlier.

    After taking a shower, having his breakfast, and a ten-minute walk, he finally arrived at Northwestern''s stadium. What is normally used for football matches and practice is filled with Northwestern''s new freshmen, some with their parents, for the school orientation.

    Tayaw''s attention, unlike most freshmen present, is directed at another direction. His eyes are currently darting around looking for his Percussive Corrections mates. He spotted Hoon, the future lead guitar, first, a few bleachers down from him.

    Then Inson, the future bassist, sitting not far away from Hoon. He could not find the others yet. In his past life, Tayaw and his friends first met in their junior year, in their Engineering Economy class. They also shared a class in Surveying which is a class that gave them the opportunity to get closer to each other.

    After the orientation, Tayaw attended his first lecture, College Algebra. He read ahead during the summer vacation, so he found a seat among the corner most section at the last row of the lecture hall seats to read anything he pleases.

    The lecture hall is just as huge as he remembered and the professor spotting what he''s doing is very unlikely. He basically did just as he did during the Algebra class in the rest of his lectures aside from Chemistry. He always found Chemistry difficult. Unfortunately for him, he did not share a class with any of the friends he wanted to see which made him realize that their class schedules were still the same as the one in his other life.

    Tayaw chose to eat alone during the lunch break to contemplate his plans and whether or not to look for his friends now, or just go with the flow and let them all meet naturally. If he wants to look for his friends, he has to know first where they are, which currently, he has no idea. He also has to consider that his friends currently are kids who just entered college.

    He has no idea of their mental states. Even if he found them all now, then what? He does not know what to do or how to proceed. Despite that, he also does not want to wait until junior year to meet them. He wants to do things differently this time. Therefore, he decided that if he meets any of his friends around the campus in passing, he will introduce himself to his friends immediately and try to make friends.

    He also thinks that even though he knows what will happen to his friends in the future, he has no right to change the lives of his friends just because he wants to change his own life this time. Tayaw will still try to form the band as early as he can and help with their studies, as organically and as naturally as he can. He will not try and force anything that might change his friends as people.

    While having lunch, Tayaw''s phone rang with an incoming call from Chala. "Hello Tayaw. Have you had your lunch yet?" Chala greeted over the phone.

    "I''m having one right now. What can I do for you, Mr. Rotala?" Tayaw said.

    "Well, a few hours ago, Topaz finalized everything in the contract. They will also send you your up-front advance on your two books, so if you have time this afternoon, please check your bank account. If my calculations are right, there would be two deposits of 9800BGC and 10500BGC for the Children''s version and the a.d.u.l.ts'' version respectively. The 18% and 12% cut will be sent to me anytime this afternoon too." Chala said cheerfully.

    "Thank you Mr. Rotala. I will spend it well." Tayaw said, also happy with the news. "You finally got your first pay! Even though there will be no more of that for some time until the first 3500 sales of each your books, I''m positive we can cross that soon." Chala said in congratulations.

    "I hope so too. If you''re positive, then I can only stay positive as well. You are more experienced with the trends than me, so I trust your judgment." Tayaw said.

    "Well, don''t trust me too much, Tayaw. Trust your books instead. Although it''s a compilation of your short stories, that''s also where its strength lies. Your stories will be known by children of this generation, just like you wanted." Chala said to encourage Tayaw.

    "By the way, you''re playing tonight right? Can you help me with something?" Chala said with a slight hesitance.

    "Yes. What''s up?" Tayaw asked in curiosity. "Well. Can you invite Nelly to see you perform?" Chala embarrassedly asked.

    Tayaw was confused who Nelly is, and suddenly remembered "Nelly? Ms. Lei from the Writer''s Guild? I thought she''s married?" Tayaw isn''t an idiot to not see what Chala is getting at.

    "Well, she was but never really remarried.." Chala informed Tayaw.

    "Mr. Rotala, as much as I would like to do you a solid here, but I only met her once. She liked my book, but that''s all the impression I made on her. I don''t think she will travel a 30 minute train ride from the Guild office to Zolano Street just to see me." Tayaw said not wanting to promise Chala anything.

    "I see. But still give it a try, please?" Chala said not giving up.

    This really subverted Tayaw''s impression of Chala. He always thought that Chala, the charming, friendly, confident man, who always make good impression on others, can easily talk to girls, but this really was a surprise to him.

    "I will try. But next time, talk to her yourself. It''s not like you don''t have good qualities to be proud of." Tayaw said relenting to Chala''s request. "Hey, I can charm the ladies. It''s just Nelly is different that my style isn''t to her liking." Chala replied.

    "Alright then. If she comes, you''ll owe me." Tayaw said, finally understanding. Indeed, Ms. Lei indeed appears to be someone special.

    "Okay. Hey. You''re still a kid, and you already know how to collect favors. Anyway, thank you." Chala thanked Tayaw and ended the call.

    3PM soon came, and Tayaw''s classes are over for the day. He found an ATM machine on his walk home to check his bank account. Including the 4300 BGC he saved up, there is now 25600BGC in his account.

    If he doesn''t care about saving up, he can probably buy a brand new Toyota Corolla 2010 for 20000BGC if he knew where to look, or a second hand 2008 Honda Civic.

    What he plans to do with his money for now though, is to look for a well-insulated studio apartment he can live at alone and practice his guitar and singing without disturbing his neighbors and saving the rest. If his book does well, he will tell his parents about him being its author and use the money he just received to pay for his tuition.

    Arriving at the caf¨¦ where he met Chala yesterday, he found a table and ordered coffee and some snacks. He pulled out his phone and dialed Ms. Lei''s office number. After a three rings, Ms. Lei picked up.

    "Hello. Writer''s Guild Ouigab Office, how may I help you?" Ms. Lei greeted with a business tone.

    "Hello Ms. Lei, this is Tayaw. Are you free to talk for a minute or two?" Tayaw replied.

    "Oh! Tayaw! Of course, it''s not much to do at this hour." Ms. Lei said.

    "How are you enjoying my manuscript? Have you finished reading all the stories?" Tayaw didn''t immediately state his intentions.

    "I like it so far. My son also asked me to read Hansel and Gretel again the other night. I have to say, your stories have a certain charm in them. So, have you found yourself an agent?" Ms. Lei asked.

    "Yes Ms. Lei thanks to you, I found an agent." Tayaw said, hoping not to bring up who he hired.

    "That''s good. That is just a first step. The really hard part is finding a publisher for your first book. I wish you luck!" Ms. Lei said to Tayaw professionally.

    "The thing is, I already signed a book deal, ma''am." Tayaw said to Ms. Lei in a sheepish voice.

    "WHAT?!" On the other side of the Phone, Ms. Lei''s exclamation gathered the attention of the people in the office. Ms. Lei just waved her hand as if telling them not to mind her.

    "It''s been only two weeks since I''ve seen you. Which publication signed a deal with you?" Ms. Lei said in a lower voice.

    "It''s Topaz Publishing." Tayaw simply replied.

    "Topaz? That textbook printer company? They''re finally trying out other things, huh?" Ms. Lei said with a scoff.

    "Yes. They offered me a good deal and also said that my book is their gateway to expand to other types of books. How can I refuse after they said that, aside from the money?" Tayaw chuckled.

    "Well. A book deal is a book deal. Congratulations then, Tayaw. I expect a copy of the book soon, with your signature in it, got it?" Ms. Lei said.

    "That''s actually related to the reason why I called you. I want to invite you for a celebration of my book deal. Are you by any chance free tonight?" Tayaw finally asked.

    "By chance, I actually am. My son is staying with his father this week so I don''t have someone to go home to tonight. Are you asking me for a date? I don''t date kids, young man." Ms. Lei as she teased Tayaw a bit.

    "That''s good to hear. Don''t worry ma''am, my agent will be there with me. It''s just that I have not made friends with anyone in Ouigab yet, so there''s only you and my agent I can celebrate with." Tayaw said in half-truths.

    "May I know when and where this celebration will be?" Ms. Lei asked, not yet deciding to go.

    "It will be at ROH Factory at Zolano Street, at East Ouigab. I hope you''ll be there at 5:30PM" Tayaw replied hoping that Ms. Lei is willing to take the trip.

    "Oh! I know Zolano Street! I used to hang out there when I was in college. It''s only a few minute-drive from where I live. Sure, I''ll meet you there." Ms. Lei finally decided to go.

    "Thank you ma''am. You can also expect a small gift from me. You can call me at this number too, in case you want to ask for directions." Tayaw thanked Ms. Lei, thinking of giving her a copy of his manuscript of the a.d.u.l.ts'' version of Grimm''s fairytales.

    After his call with Ms. Lei, Tayaw immediately called Chala. "Hey Mr. Rotala! Groom yourself well tonight!" Tayaw said and immediately hung up on Chala just for giggles.

 Chapter 18 - First Official Gig, Celebration

    5 PM soon came and Tayaw was already in the back stage of ROH Factory, practicing his guitar skills. A few minutes ago, he took a peek from the front window of the bar and he spotted Chala''s car already parked, probably with Chala inside waiting for the bar to open. Tayaw also checked in with the bar''s cook and confirmed that food that can be eaten as dinner will be served tonight, to Tayaw''s relief.

    5:30 came, and Chala entered the bar along with Ms. Lei who arrived on a cab. Tayaw, who saw them enter, welcomed them and brought them to one of the best tables in the bar room.

    "Well, Tayaw, I didn''t know you would be celebrating in a bar. I don''t support underage drinking!" Ms. Lei told Tayaw sternly.

    "Oh, don''t worry Ms. Lei. I''m not here to drink. But as a consideration for my a.d.u.l.t friends, I chose somewhere that serve alcoholic drinks! Besides, I just got acquainted with the chef of the bar." Tayaw replied as he received a funny look from Chala, who almost let out a giggle.

    Chala knew what''s up.

    Ms. Lei just nodded. "So, I was just talking outside with Chala. I didn''t expect it was him that you ended up hiring. I thought he would be busy with having more than enough clients." Ms. Lei said expressing her surprise at Chala working for Tayaw.

    "Bah. They''re all currently in their writing processes. I don''t even know if one of them will finish their novel series." Chala said.

    "I''m also well aware of the number of Mr. Rotala''s clients, which is why I''m also happy with my choice of him as an agent. His idea of going to Topaz was such a great move." Tayaw said, elevating Chala as much as he can in Ms. Lei''s eyes.

    "I have to admit, that was quite impressive. I can''t even imagine what you told them." Ms. Lei nodded in affirmation. While they were chatting among themselves, Chala also ordered for them. A beer for him, a light beer for Ms. Lei, and a ginger ale for Tayaw.

    Soon after, the sound of the speakers being set up reverberated across the bar room and gathered the momentary attention of the customers. While the sound of the speakers was brushed off by the customers, this got Tayaw a meaningful look from Chala, which Tayaw replied with a look of his own.

    "Ms. Lei. What are your favorite songs? Write them down here, I may be able to have them played." Tayaw asked Ms. Lei.

    After picking up the songs Ms. Lei wrote down, Tayaw stood up and excused himself to the ''bathroom'', before heading to the back stage to pick up his guitar and do some last minute practice for the songs he know from Ms. Lei''s songs requests. 6 PM soon arrived and so did Tayaw arrive on the stage, to the unaware Ms. Lei who was talking to Chala.

    "Mic test. Mic test." Tayaw whispered to the microphone, which gathered some attention from the customers closest to the stage. He then plugged in his acoustic guitar, sat on the bar stool and started playing a guitar plucking instrumental, which gave the customers a welcoming feeling.

    Ms. Lei, who also looked at the stage, was surprised at Tayaw''s appearance. She looked at Chala, who just nodded and smiled at her. Tayaw then, leaned on the microphone and started to welcome the customers while still playing the guitar.

    "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tayaw, and welcome to ROH Factory. To our new guests, ROH factory is a musical bar which presents a line-up of musical acts every night for your enjoyment. To our regulars who were expecting miss Amelie as an opening act, it''s unfortunate that she changed her schedule and will only be playing at nights from Thursdays to Saturdays for the whole month of September. I on the other hand, will be your new opening act for Tuesdays and Wednesdays starting from today. This is my first day, and I wish for your support." Tayaw introduced himself and the customers gave applause of encouragement for Tayaw.

    Ms. Lei meanwhile was smiling widely watching at Tayaw on stage. She was deceived by Tayaw, but she was also very happy at Tayaw''s efforts of pull her leg like this.

    On the stage, after the applause break, continued plucking his guitar as he also continued to introduce the line-up.

    "Thank you. Tonight''s line up will be opened by yours truly and followed by our second act¡­."

    While Tayaw was introducing the line-up, Rudy and the third performer of the night who were listening to this through the speaker in the green room, were smiling at each other at Tayaw''s novel way of welcoming the customers.

    "So sit back, enjoy your drinks, and watch as the ROH Factory makes music for your entertainment tonight." As he ended his introduction, Tayaw''s plucking of the guitar also changed into strums and ended into a nice chord. The customers being warmed up to the stage, applauded at the welcoming feeling Tayaw gave them.

    "The first song I will perform tonight is a song requested by a new friend of mine who is here tonight to support my first official gig. This is ''Flow to you'' by Lorne Cross" Tayaw introduced his song and sent Ms. Lei a smile, which Ms. Lei responded with a wave.

    ''I''ve traveled roads so long

    each step I''m far from you

    my sun rise earlier than yours

    Oh I wanna come back and feel

    Every part of you

    But you can''t hold my dirty hands

    and kiss my sinful lips''

    ''Flow to you'' is an RnB - Soul love song released in the 1970s about a man who despite his love for his woman, can never go back to her because of his crimes and has to stay on the run.

    It''s one of those songs that did not get public recognition by the time of its release but was later discovered and became an instant classic.

    Tayaw did not do rearrange the song as he felt that the song is in his style and that the original arrangement is already perfect. While singing, he also noticed Ms. Lei mouthing along with the lyrics and seems to be enjoying herself, to the delight of Chala who is sitting next to her.

    Compared to yesterday''s gig where Tayaw majorly played relaxing nostalgic songs, tonight''s gig was arranged by Tayaw to be composed by slow songs in the first twenty minutes, followed by exciting and cheerful songs in the middle twenty minutes, and toe tapping songs in the final twenty minutes.

    It was a gig that showed the range of his skill across some musical genres. It also impressed Rudy and the musicians who are in the green room during his performance. After his final song, he thanked the patrons who in turn gave him a round of applause with whistles from the more enthusiastic customers.

    The next performer also shook his hand and gave his kudos to him, on his way to the back stage. He did not proceed to the green room, and rejoined with Chala and Ms. Lei.

    "That was quite the performance, young man. I was pleasantly surprised." Ms. Lei welcomed him back to the table while patting Tayaw''s back.

    "Thank you, Ms. Lei. I wanted to surprise you, which I achieved." Tayaw said.

    "Uhm. Thank you for singing my favorite songs. It''s my first time hearing someone perform it live, and you did a great job singing them." Ms. Lei who seems to be a little under the influence of alcohol, is more cheerful than her sober self.

    "Oh. By the way, you can order more if you want, it''s my treat. I also wasn''t lying when I said this is also a celebration." Tayaw told them, treating the two for their help having his book published.

    "Then I won''t be polite. In fact, we already ordered some buffalo wings earlier and some more drinks." Ms. Lei said.

    After a few more minutes of chatting, Tayaw pulled out an envelope containing a copy of the a.d.u.l.ts'' version of the fairy tales and handed it to Ms. Lei.

    "Here, Ms. Lei. A gift for giving me your time back then. It''s not much, but I hope you''ll like it. It''s better if you read it sober." Tayaw said, and got a nod from Ms. Lei as a response.

    "Well then, I must bid you two an early farewell tonight. The boss and the other musicians must be waiting for me at the back stage. I have to introduce myself to them." Tayaw said as an excuse to let Chala have more time alone with Ms. Lei. Chala also gave him a thankful look.

    "Alright. Go talk to them. You''re good so you''ll probably here for a long time. Thank you Tayaw, I''m having a great time. Good night." Ms. Lei thanked him as she bid him goodbye.

    "I know we will not be working with each other for a while after you''re done writing your second volume Tayaw so I really want to thank you for choosing me as your agent." Chala also said his heartfelt thanks to Tayaw.

    "Thank you too for lending me your services. Mr. Rotala. Who said we can only meet if it''s about the book. You can see me here at Tuesday and Wednesday nights." Tayaw shook both their hands before heading to the green room.

    The green room is already half filled by bands and solo acts on standby when Tayaw arrived.

    "Ah, Tayaw! Great job on the stage tonight! What took you so long? These guys can''t want to meet you. Introduce yourself." Rudy patted Tayaw''s back as he gestured him to stand at the center of the room, in front of the other musicians.

    "Good evening. I''m Tayaw, a recent hire by the boss. I will be opening for two nights a week this September. Nice to meet you all." Tayaw introduced himself to the musicians and the musicians also introduced themselves to him.

    They started asking questions about him including his age, what college he is attending and what major, or how long he''s been playing. One of the guitarists even asked Tayaw if he can phone him to substitute if he can''t make it to a gig.

    Tayaw made a good impression on the musicians he met tonight.

 Chapter 19 - Book Release

    In the 9th of September, only ten days after he finalized his book deal, Topaz called him on his phone to inform that the printing is already in process and also started their small marketing campaign for the book.

    After he finished his classes, he met up with Chala at the Northwestern''s front gate. He found Chala sitting on the stairs of the entrance with a gift box next to him.

    "Good afternoon, Chala. You didn''t come to my gigs this week. Looks like you''ve been busy with Ms. Lei." Tayaw greeted Chala in jest.

    "Oh. I barely made progress with Ms. Lei. I actually had to check in on my other clients, and my place is also quite far from here." Chala explained, not minding the jest about Ms. Lei.

    "They''re my copies?" Tayaw asked as he looked at the box next to Chala. "Yes. 5 copies each of the two versions, specially packed for you by the folks at Topaz." Chala said, picking up the box.

    "It''s a beautiful box, how nice of them." Tayaw said as he sat down next to Chala and received the box.

    He opened the box and took one copy out and examined the cover. The entire book cover has a predominantly black background dotted with stars throughout, portraying a dark starry night.

    The front of the cover is a small full body portrait of a child sitting cross-legged on the floor reading an open book on his lap. There is what appears to be golden smoke coming from the open book from the child''s lap that spreads up to form the letters for title of his book "GRIMM''S FAIRY TALES FOR CHILDREN".

    Surrounding the letters of the title are connected silhouettes of various characters from his fairytales, also formed by golden smoke. At the bottom of the front cover is his pen name written in golden cursive letters.

    "T.L.D. Grimmauld" is the pen name he came up with based on his own initials and a name of a place he found in another work he received from the mysterious roulette, The Boy with a Lightning Scar. It was a beautiful cover giving a feeling of dream-like fantasy.

    He then took out a copy of the A.d.u.l.ts version from the box. It was not much different with the cover of the children''s version. In place of a child sitting, is a side view of an a.d.u.l.t man sitting on a chair leaned down reading a book on his lap.

    Instead of golden smoke, the title and silhouettes are formed by normal white smoke "GRIMM''S FAIRY TALES FOR A.D.U.L.TS". At the bottom of the front cover is his pen name written in silver cursive letters. This book despite of similar format with the children''s version, is giving out a mysterious dream-like feeling.

    He and Chala then went to visit three of East Ouigab''s biggest book stores to see the posters advertising his book. The poster is quite huge at approximately 2m x 4m horizontal orientation that occupies the bookstores'' front wall. The poster''s background is based on the appearance of a white marble, a huge contrast with the actual cover of his book but gives out a similar feeling. "GRIMM''S FAIRY TALES, T.L.D. Grimmauld. Short stories for our generation" Written in the poster, in classy black semi-cursive, is the title of his book, his pen name, and a simple catchphrase.

    Next to the text of the poster is a photo of a hardcover copy of the children''s version of his book. Tayaw appreciated both the covers of his books and the posters and gave a silent thanks to whoever designed them.

    A week later, in time for Tayaw''s 17th birthday, Grimm''s Fairy Tales hit the shelves of bookstores in Ouigab and other cities in the country. Tayaw, who didn''t get to sleep smoothly during the previous night, is currently taking a shower as he got ready for the day.

    While eating at the dorm''s dining area, he received a text of Chala that simply says "Congratulations on your debut, author." Tayaw smiled at the text message and replied "Thank you."

    The lectures of the day are just as uneventful as usual and Tayaw just listened carefully when needed. After having lunch, Tayaw found and empty classroom and took out a copy of both the children''s and a.d.u.l.ts'' version and thought for a moment.

    He then flipped over to the title pages of each book and neatly wrote down "To Ms. Nelly Lei, the first person to acknowledge me as an author. Tayaw L. Dagem." and signed it with his newly made-up autograph.

    After his lectures were done, he went to the Writers'' Guild office at West Ouigab. Entering the office, he immediately looked at Ms. Lei''s table to see Ms. Lei flipping over sheets of paper.

    He walked over to Ms. Lei''s table and waited for a good timing. "Good afternoon, Ms. Lei. " Tayaw greeted Ms. Lei after she finally looked up from her table.

    "Oh. Tayaw. What do I owe your visit?" Ms. Lei asked, surprised of Tayaw''s appearance.

    "I''m here for my promise, remember?" Tayaw said smiling as he pulled out two books from his backpack and laid them side by side over Ms. Lei''s paperwork.

    Ms. Lei was pleased at the gesture and examined the books on her table.

    After bidding goodbye to Ms. Lei, he opened his phone and looked up for a nearby bookstore, only to give up on the idea and hailed a cab instead. He asked the driver to take him to the closest popular book store.

    The driver drove him to a strip mall that a branch of a nationwide stationery retail chain is located. He was pleased when he saw a small poster advertising his book is posted on the shop''s store front. Even though the poster is only one of the many posted, he was satisfied of Topaz''s marketing efforts.

    He walked past the stationery area to the book section in the back and found the shelf where his book is located. Despite the unassuming part of the store, there were some signs adorning the shelf that his books are on display. "24.99 BCG. 34.99 BGC." He read the price of the paperback and the hardcover versions respectively.

    There is also a woman in her 30s browsing the a.d.u.l.ts'' version of his book. He pretended to browse the nearby books while secretly watching the reaction of to his books. After a few minutes, the woman returned the book to the shelf and moved on to her shopping. He was disappointed but stayed nonetheless for longer.

    A few minutes later, the woman browsing his book earlier returned to the shelf and took one copy of his book and put it in her shopping basket. It was just one sale but the satisfaction of watching someone buying the book gave Tayaw hope for his books to sell.

    He was distracted when somewhere on the corner of his vision, something was sparkling. "Oh! Tayaw, you dumb f*ck. How could you forget?" He cursed himself. After adjusting the focus of his eyes, he was surprised by what he saw. ''View Points ¨C 1279''.

    He was about to celebrate at the number but he suddenly realized that View Points does not mean sales, but the number of people who enjoyed reading at least a part of his book.

    They did enjoy browsing the book, but were they intrigued enough to buy the whole book? Even if they bought his book, how many of the View Points are contributed by the children who listened at the a.d.u.l.ts who read them the stories in his book?

    He was interrupted from his thoughts when someone patted his shoulder by someone behind him. He turned around in confusion and looked at the person which turned out to be a clerk of the store judging from her uniform.

    "Is there anything you''re looking for, sir?" The store clerk asked him. He realized he have must either appeared to be lost, or shoplifting. "Hello. Well, nothing in particular really. I''m just looking for stories I can tell the kids I''m tutoring in English." Tayaw replied.

    The shop clerk nodded and walked towards the shelf where his books are displayed and grabbed the reading copy of his book. "Here, sir. This is a compilation of fairy tales that are newly released. I have seen some of the stories and I think they''re more special than the traditional fairy tales. I recommend you to buy this one." The clerk pitched his book to him, which made Tayaw feel funny. "I''ll browse them first." Tayaw simply replied and the clerk left.

    While on his way back to East Ouigab, he was compulsively checking the ''View Points'' in his vision. Since leaving the bookstore, the ''View Points'' increased to 1322 from the previous 1279. He doesn''t know how many cities Topaz decided to sell his books, but the view points surpassing a thousand in only eight hours since the book stores opened today is already impressive in his eyes.

    Arriving at his station in East Ouigab, he headed straight to his dorm and picked up his guitar and continued his preparation of the songs he will perform later in the evening. His practice this day was unusually difficult for him and he could not even begin a single arrangement for the songs he planned to arrange. He simply could not concentrate as he is constantly checking the slowly increasing View Points.

    Arriving at ROH Factory at 4:45 PM, his stomach grumbled so he decided to go to a nearby snack stall to recharge his energy a little before heading in the bar. While walking back to the bar after his fill, he noticed that Chala''s car was parked in front of the stationery store beside the bar.

    He knocked on the window by the front passenger''s side to see if Chala is inside. A few seconds later, the window rolled down, to Tayaw''s surprise, by a man with East Asian features who appears to be in his early 40s.

    "Hello." The man smiled at him as if he was familiar with Tayaw, to Tayaw''s confusion.

    Chala leaned over from the driver seat. "Tayaw! It''s still early! Get in the back seat!" Chala invited Tayaw inside the car.

    Laying his encased guitar and settling himself in the back seat, Tayaw is trying to remember if he ever met the man with Chala before. Judging by the man''s appearance, he is either a Teungebian with East Asian features, or a foreigner.

    "Tayaw, meet Dae Ho Lee. Dae Ho, meet Chala." After Chala''s introduction, he was reminded of the Korean name among the list of agents he e-mailed when he was looking for an agent.

    "Hello, Mr. Lee. It''s a pleasure." Tayaw reached out his hand from the backseat, which Dae Ho firmly shook.

 Chapter 20 - Second Dough

    "Hello, Mr. Lee. It''s a pleasure." Tayaw reached out his hand from the backseat, which Dae Ho shook.

    "Likewise. Despite how much I wanted Chala to shut up about you, I have to admit, I regret not being able to work with you after I saw your book." Dae Ho complimented and gave Chala a drive-by as well.

    "Thank you. Maybe in the future, I can contact you if I write another book." Tayaw replied teasing Chala. "That would be nice." Dae Ho said going along with the joke.

    "Hah! Even if you''re not kidding, what are you going to do? Drop your clients who are paying you just fine? You know it''s rare for us to find decent authors." Chala said not willing to lose the game.

    "Come on. At least you''re independent. My agency, on the other hand is eating a large part of my pies. I can''t simply quit either because they have me by the balls with my shares of the royalties." Dae Ho expressed his frustrations.

    "That''s why I quit the agency those years ago once I realized how their system worked. If I knew I can take care of you, I would have encouraged you to quit with me as well." Chala comforted in understanding.

    Meanwhile, Tayaw who was listening in the back seat noticed the south Teungeb accent from Dae Ho, and found it interesting. Foreigners when learning Teungebian usually pick up Northern accents like Tayaw''s Nabla ¨C Ouigab accent.

    Teungeb''s Northern regions are where foreigners usually find work due its more internationally engaged industries like education, tech companies, sports, movies and fashion.

    Dae Ho, with his southern accent, must have been a part of those foreign ventures that engage themselves in the research, manufacturing and farming industries of South Teungeb.

    "By the way Tayaw, have you heard about Janus Paranik, the author of those basketball novels? Dae Ho here is his agent." Chala said trying to pull Tayaw in the conversation.

    "I see. Although I have not read his books, I have heard of Janus, he''s one of Ouigab''s prides after all. Is he releasing a new book, Mr. Lee?"

    Tayaw connected the dots. "Yes. I visited him today as he just finished his manuscript. You should read Janus'' books if you want to have an idea how to write sports novels. " Dae Ho confirmed.

    "I will." Tayaw politely agreed, even though he''s not really a fan of the genre. "I''ll give you a copy when it''s printed out. I enjoyed the copy of your books that Chala gave me." Dae Ho said as he sincerely appreciated Tayaw''s books. The two continued to talk about Janus'' books until Chala cannot listen any longer.

    "Enough, Lee. Why is it that every time we meet, all you want to talk about is books? I brought you here for drinks!" Chala wanted to change the topic.

    "Just in time then, the bar just opened. Shall we? I have to prepare for tonight as well." Tayaw said as he pointed at the opened front door of the bar.

    The trio exited the car and went to look for a table at the bar room. Tayaw proceeded to the green room to check tonight''s line-up to introduce to the customers.

    ...

    Tayaw''s gig tonight is comprised mostly of lively songs. He performed acoustic covers of some popular dance and disco songs. Even though disco has had a relatively short popularity in Teungeb compared to rock and RnB, Tayaw''s songs tonight still brought unexpected nostalgia to the customers.

    His arrangement of the songs also received a warm response from other musicians in the green room. After his gig, he spent a few minutes in the green room among the musicians, and excused himself shortly thereafter.

    After receiving his pay from Rudy, Tayaw headed to the bar room to also bid farewell to Chala and Dae Ho as he knew that the two will have a long evening. "Chala, don''t forget to call for a designated driver. Mr. Lee, it''s a pleasure meeting you. I have to excuse myself for tonight. I have to go home for some reading as I still have some assignments to finish." The two also understood Tayaw''s situation and said their goodbyes.

    October 1, half a month after his books hit the shelves, Tayaw woke up in his new accommodation. The two month rent deposit in his previous dorm ran out the day before so he decided to find a studio apartment a few days ago and moved in early.

    The new place, just like his old dorm, is a five-minute brisk walk from Northwestern campus. It is also closer to more places he needs like the grocery store, a few restaurants and cafes, and the stationery store.

    The reason he chose to live alone is so that he can have more privacy and a better sound insulation so he can practice his guitar and vocals more. He did not forget to notify his parents of his move, but lied about the place being a dorm room instead of a studio apartment.

    Over the past half-month, Tayaw was also monitoring the View Points in his eyes. He currently has over 45,000 View Points. This gave him a mixture of pleasant feelings. 45,000 individual positive responses for the last half a month is a huge deal for him. He does not know the breakdown of his View Points but the total is enough to satisfy him greatly.

    He was pulled out of his thoughts by a text from Chala. "Good morning, Tayaw. Topaz sent the statistics of the book sales to your e-mail. Who knows, maybe you already paid back the credit given to you by Topaz." This reminded Tayaw. He also hopes Chala''s optimistic estimate is the case as well.

    After classes, Tayaw went to a coffee shop near his apartment. After he ordered his drink, he connected his laptop to the shop''s wi-fi to check his e-mail. Clicking on Topaz''s e-mail, a pdf file of September''s nationwide sales of Grimm''s Fairy Tales is attached.

    The Children''s version has sold about 14000 paperback copies and about 1000 hardcover copies, totaling to a little more than 15000. The a.d.u.l.ts'' version has sold about 11000 paperback copies and 1300 hardcover copies totaling to around 12300 copies.

    This brought a pleasant surprise to Tayaw. This is a little better than his estimates of the book sales he based from his View Points. Both versions'' paperback copies are priced at 24.99 and hardcover copies at 34.99 at stores, with Topaz selling the books to those stores at net prices of 12.50 BGC for the paperback and 17.50 for the hardcover.

    The calculation of his cut from the Children''s version is as follows. The first 3500 paperback sales netted him 4,375 BGC from his 10% royalty on net paperback sales. The next 7000 paperback sales netted him 13,125 BGC from his royalty increase to 15%. Then the final 3500 paperback sales netted him 8,750 from his royalty increased to 20%. The hardcover sales netted him 2,600 BGC from his 15% royalty on net hardcover sales. Adding all up, Tayaw earned a total of 29,210 BGC in royalties on the 15000 books sold. Deducting the 12000 credit Topaz Publishing gave him when he signed with them, and Chala''s 18% share of 5,250 BGC from what Tayaw earned, a total of 11,940 BGC is to be Tayaw''s.

    The calculation of his cut from the A.d.u.l.ts'' version is as follows. The first 3500 paperback sales netted him 4,375 BGC from his 10% royalty on net sales. The next 7000 paperback sales netted him 13,125 BGC from the increased royalty to 15%. The remaining 500 paperback sales netted him 1,250 BGC from the increased royalty of 20%. The hardcover sales netted him 3,410 BGC from his 15% royalty share from net hardcover sales. Adding all up, He earned a total of 22,150 BGC from the a.d.u.l.ts'' version sales. Deducting the 12,000 BGC credited by Topaz and Chala''s 2,650 BGC from his share of 12% of whatever Tayaw earned in the a.d.u.l.t version''s sales royalties, 7,500 BGC would be Tayaw''s.

    From what Tayaw can figure, the reason why the a.d.u.l.t version sold much more than he expected is because of the beautiful cover of the book. Teungeb has a current population of 120,000,000.

    Out of the 120 million people, he does not know how many children and parents there are. What he knows though however is that the 27000 books sold is still very far from reaching the saturation point, therefore there are still millions in his country who has not seen his stories yet.

    Satisfied with the numbers sent by Topaz, Tayaw headed to the nearest ATM machine to check his balance. 41,312 BGC. Never in his previous life would he expect to have this much money even after a five years in the work force.

    The combined up-front payment of 20,000 for his two books paid by Topaz after the book deal was finalized was basically untouched. The "off the books" gift of 4000 BGC from Topaz was used by Tayaw as a two month rent deposit for his studio apartment.

    With his expenses as a college student, the average 350 BGC per gig he receives from Rudy is more than enough for him to pay for his generous daily food budget of 20 BGC. In fact, Rudy was satisfied in his performances in September so he decided to hire Tayaw again.

    He wanted to offer Tayaw the weekend gigs as well but Amelie beat Tayaw into it. Rudy has no choice but to offer Tayaw his previous Tuesday ¨C Wednesday night schedule, which Tayaw also accepted. This is also the reason why Tayaw spoke to his parents to not worry about his daily expenses anymore with the excuse of "I still have plenty of savings".

    Regarding his situation as a musician, he knows he is very fortunate. Usually for both solo musicians and bands, they work hard for a day or two practicing, arranging, and preparing just for an hour of gig. Tayaw, on the other hand already has plenty of experience arranging songs and plenty of practice from his previous life.

    He and the Percussive Corrections also experienced this when they were starting out. It was only because they were all talented musicians and passionate for music that they all got by.

    His current self, however is different. All he has to do is to brush up on the songs he arranged himself in his previous life or choose songs he knows he can easily arrange. After doing so, he will practice them for an hour or two before his gig on the same day. Tayaw can save up days'' worth of work in his gigs.

    Thinking of these things, he strolled back to his apartment. He still has home-works and projects to finish and submit before the start of the preliminary exams.

 Chapter 21 - A Book Review. Theories.

    October 18, 2010 Monday. The prelims exam week has arrived in Northwestern University. Tayaw who finished all his projects and other school works is in a relaxed state unlike the rest of the freshmen who are anxious to take their first exams in college.

    Plane and Spherical Trigonometry exam was a breeze as he used it often in his previous life as an engineer. General Chemistry exam was not as easy, but he still felt he did well because he realized it was fun to know how atoms and molecules combined. Engineering Drawing exam is also easy for him, after all his often use of AutoCad in his previous life helped him visualize the accuracy of his drawings.

    Teungebian was a subject he did not focus on, but he still felt he did alright in the exam.

    After he was done with his exams for the day, Tayaw found nothing school-related to do. In addition to the school work he already submitted, he realized he came far in his advance reading in August. The topics covered in the prelims were things he already studied in advance.

    He then decided to go to back to his apartment to try to write down as many songs he arranged in his previous life he can remember and also to browse songs he plans to arrange. From 3pm to the night, he locked himself in his room to do just what he planned.

    The next day, his exams were much easier for him. College Algebra was easy as he figured out its application for functions and graphs which made him have fun learning it this time around. Back in his enrolment period, he chose a PhysEd class tackled billiards, which is a sport he is very skilled at which made the Physed exam pretty much a sure A. English 1 was also easy for him after reviewing the structure and parts of English grammar and speech.

    After his exams, he decided on skipping his classes. He asked one classmate from each of his different classes to inform him if he missed anything. He even convinced those classmates to write in his name in the attendance sheet on his behalf, in exchange for a cup of coffee or a copy of his school work that they can revise for themselves.

    He decided to skip those classes as the professors and instructors are only checking for attendance while they grade their students'' papers. Those class hours are also to be used by the students to finish whatever school work they have not finished yet.

    At 1 in the afternoon, he dropped by a diner for a late lunch. After ordering his food from a waiter, he saw what appears to be an education major student sitting by the table beside his. On the student''s table is a thick transparent file case, containing a hardcover copy of Grimm''s Fairy Tales among the student''s many files. For a few times now, he saw some education major students carrying a copy of his book. He approached the student to ask for her opinions on the book.

    "Excuse me. Hi." Tayaw greeted the student.

    "Hello." The student replied with a hint of apprehension. Seeing this, Tayaw felt anxious that he appeared creepy.

    "Oh. I won''t bite. I just noticed the book on your file case. I saw it a few times now in the hands of student teachers. The cover of the book is so eye-catching too. Is it any good?" Tayaw explained his intentions.

    The student then lowered her guard hearing Tayaw. "Oh. It''s good. Our professor actually recommended us to buy the book to use in our teaching training with pre-school pupils. I bought the book and just intended to use it for teaching purposes but as I started reading it, I enjoyed it very much instead. So guess what I did? I bought the a.d.u.l.t version." The student said as she pulled out an a.d.u.l.ts'' version from her backpack to show Tayaw.

    Tayaw smiled at this. "There''s an a.d.u.l.t version? What''s so good about it?" Tayaw asked.

    "Oh! The a.d.u.l.t''s version is not much different with the children''s version when it comes to the core of the stories. No matter, these books are too different to the conventional fairy tales! The stories in it have meat on their bones! The good guys are heroes and the bad guys are evil." The student enthusiastically started expressing her opinions on the book.

    "But, isn''t that the same as the convention?" Tayaw asked, playing a critic.

    "Oh. Even though the bad guys are really bad in the stories, there are reasons stated why they are unlike the usual fairy tales. Also, the good guys also fall due to mistakes in their actions, which is a great lesson for the children. The bad guys also get what they deserve. If it''s the conventional fairy tales, the good guys will always make the right choices. The bad guys will not be punished and will quit their ways just because the good guy told them so or beat their asses to submission. These stories really have meat in their bones." The student defended the book.

    "I see. It seems to be good then. Thank you. I''ve interrupted your meal enough, so I''ll get back to my table." Tayaw decided to stop there.

    "It''s okay. If you can spare it, buy a copy of the a.d.u.l.ts'' version. Hehehe. I think it''s for you." The student told Tayaw with a suspicious chuckle. Tayaw only nodded as he knows what the student is talking about.

    This interaction gave Tayaw a great satisfaction about the book starting to propagate into culture. He has a theory that these stories the roulette gave to him came from another world.

    The first version of the Grimm''s Fairy Tales is an evidence of that. Why is the original book in German? Who is Grimm? He figured it''s the German author who wrote all these fairy tales.

    This also gave him the idea that the stories the roulette gave him are not only just obscure works, but actually popular in their place of origin. This gave him more confidence in the other works given to him by that mysterious giant roulette.

    He knows there''s no free lunch, so he figured that the giant roulette also gave him a mission to spread the works it gave to him to his own world. There''s an evidence of this with the appearance of the "View Points" currently in the corner of his field of vision. So tiny yet always seducing him to look.

    Regarding the View Points, he decided he will not focus his eyes on it until the end of the month just for the suspense. Despite that decision, he can already see the signs of his books getting more popular when he read some online articles about it, with majority of the articles praising the books.

    After his lunch, he headed straight to his apartment to practice and arrange the order of the songs he will perform later in the evening.

    "Ah! Tayaw! You dumb motherf*cker." Tayaw cursed himself as he realized something was wrong when choosing which songs to perform.

    He has not arranged many new songs since the beginning of October due to him finishing his school projects and home works so with his previous gigs, he ran out of not only the song re-arrangements he did in his current life, but the songs he re-arranged in his previous life are also starting to be used by him much more frequently.

    "Why do you have to f*cking perform re-arrangements every f*cking time?! This is your fault by not staying to watch the other musicians." He blamed himself for not staying longer in the greenroom after his gigs. As a result, he was not reminded of the practices of bar musicians and cover bands.

    He remembered that he and the Percussive Corrections also performed unarranged covers when they still were not re-arranging songs. While remembering him and the Percussive Corrections'' time when they were just starting out in ROH Bar, he suddenly realized something.

    "OF COURSE! No wonder the boss is treating me so well!" Rudy''s treatment of Tayaw is a far cry from the lukewarm treatment he and the Percussive Corrections received from Rudy when they were still rookies.

    Rudy also currently gives him an average of 350 BGC a gig, which is basically overpaying a rookie opening act like Tayaw. He might even be out-earning Amelie. He knows that Rudy treats his mired musicians well, so he figured he is special to Rudy.

    He also knows that Rudy will not mind even if he noticed what he''s going to do. After all, a regular musician at a bar, performing a couple nights in a week, cannot possible perform different songs each rearranged by the musician in each of their gigs.

    It''s just not doable, so performing unarranged cover songs is a very common practice not only in smaller, emptier bars, but also in huge popular bars like ROH Factory. In fact, he might be the only musician in Rudy''s list that has performed that many song re-arrangements despite his short experience.

    "Rudy must be thinking I''m an arranging prodigy, which I''m absolutely not. How could I not notice it before? I already performed almost two hundred re-arranged songs in the bar. I must be out of my f*ckin mind." He cursed himself further as he started practicing the songs he started looking up songs in the internet.

    He then decided to just play straight out unarranged cover songs. What he wants to rely on this time is his guitar skills and experience in his vocals.

    He plans to memorize the chords of the songs he will perform, and play them in his own way on the spot. For example "Becoming Alone", is a ballad song accompanied by just a piano. What he can do with the song without re-arranging it is just to sing it in his preferred key, play the chords by plucking them as close to the piano accompaniment of the original as he can, and voila! A good cover song!

    He can also choose among the many and love anthems and rock anthems and slow them down. For example, the song "Beautiful Farewell" is a song by a rock band that has simple chords but very catchy melody and easy rhythm to sing along to by a crowd.

    He has plenty of plucking and strumming patterns in his repertoire so he will just use those accordingly when performing a slowed down, more melancholic version of the song. He can even improvise on them, he is confident his skills are enough to do so.

    In exchange with him not relying on his own arrangements though, he has many new songs to practice and familiarize with. He bets Rudy will also not mind him bringing a print out of the songs and put it in a music sheet stand in front of him to serve as a guide. He noticed Amelie doing the same thing and Rudy still treats her amiably. Amelie is a cute girl, but Tayaw knows of Rudy''s preferences in women, so that''s not the reason.

    Despite his decision of using a guide, Tayaw is still too proud and he feels hesitant using it. With no choice however, he will just work with it without forgetting his standards. For Tayaw, making mistakes even while reading from a guide is just a new low. To avoid disappointing Rudy though, he chose to play a re-arranged song as a highlight of his set.

    "Tayaw you stupid c*nt. Whatever. Just treat this as training for your improvisation skills." Tayaw comforted himself as he waited for the printer to spit out the pages containing the fifteen songs he decided to perform later in the evening. So, starting tonight, Tayaw decided to perform less of re-arranged songs.

 Chapter 22 - Rudy

    It''s the middle of Tayaw''s second month in my bar. For the past month and a half, I have someone to look forward to again. I still remember when he first walked in through the backdoor to my office one afternoon in August; a tall and slightly chubby kid who confidently carries himself despite his age.

    I thought it was just another kid who is full of himself only months after learning how to play the guitar. It also didn''t help my first impression of him when he pulled out a pristine middle-range acoustic guitar that I almost accused him of being a poser.

    I remember only giving him a chance to audition because according to Rocky, he knew how to knock properly on the back door. Not not to say my bar is a Mecca of music, but auditioning is a privilege only earned by musicians I know that are skilled or are recommended by the musicians that already proven themselves in my bar.

    Later that afternoon, my impression of the kid changed. He has skills and ironically speaking, experience that is years beyond his age. His singing skills are excellent. Most amateur singers just sing without missing a note and wanted to show off with the high notes, but ultimately barely have any soul in their performance. I cringe further after a crowd cheer for them.

    Tayaw, on the other hand, displays subtlety in a variety of ways in his singing. He knows where to emphasize his vibrato. Most singers will put vibrato in their singing whenever they can even if it''s excessive.

    He knows when and how to use his chest, diaphragm, throat, falsetto and nose when singing. Most singers will just switch to falsetto from chest voice when they can''t reach a high note, or switch from diaphragm to throat voice when they can''t reach a low note.

    Tayaw however, like a veteran singer knows how to use his chest voice at exciting part of the songs, diaphragm to express a narrative, throat and falsetto when expressing desperate emotions, and nasal songs to express emotions of freedom.

    Tayaw is a baritone and does not have much range, but with his skills in his voice, he is a compelling singer. His first song in his audtion, "Leaves", and a song I love dearly, was performed by Tayaw, in his own style, very beautifully.

    I don''t know what Tayaw''s love life is like, but I''m pretty much sure he still has not married the love of his life. But his performance of the song made me feel like he is basically the man in the song. I also got lost in the performance as I remembered my lover from years ago who I had to leave because of various circ.u.mstances.

    In addition to Tayaw''s performing skills, I was also impressed by his song arranging skills. The second song in his audition is originally a disco song, but Tayaw arranged it into a lively acoustic song accompanied by the lovely strumming and half-chords he played on the higher frets of the guitar. With these skills, I knew I found a budding musician who will become famous in the future.

    In his performances in September and early October, I had to reassess my impression of Tayaw. Why? Almost all the songs he performed in his gigs are all re-arrangements! Never in my life had I seen someone come up with hundreds of arrangements. He''s a prodigy! A genius in the making, sharpening himself in MY bar! This is the reason why I always watch him perform.

    Today however, I noticed Tayaw, who just walked in to my office, appear anxious. "What''s up kid?" I asked, curious. "Sir, because of school assignments and the exam week, I had not have much time arranging songs and practicing. I just want to explain myself in case you will be unsatisfied later." Tayaw''s reply reminded me that a college student''s life is also stressful for students especially for a freshman like him.

    "It''s alright kid. As long as you perform well, I have no problems. You can also repeat the songs you already sung last month." I told him. He has never disappointed me yet. He does not know how conflicted I am to send him, with the skills of a headliner to be an opening act, so I always pay him extra.

    In fact, I want to put him as a headliner but I don''t know how the other musicians will react. They themselves spent years in their craft to get to their positions.

    A couple minutes past 6, Tayaw was done with his introductions for today''s line-up. This little segment of Tayaw always amused me, but also made me see a fresh new way of starting the night. I asked Tayaw if I can make other openers like Amelie copy his segment and he agreed.

    Amelie and the other openers are also happy to do it. After all, it will save them one song in their set, and they realized it was actually fun to do the introductions in such a way while getting low-lying fruits that are the audience''s applause.

    While watching Tayaw tonight, I noticed something different. The songs he is performing are shallowly arranged. His performance too, seemed a little lower in quality than his usual. What I noticed though, is that he is performing in a more spontaneous way. Like how blues and jazz musicians perform, Tayaw''s guitar playing tonight felt less practiced but he is more absorbed in his guitar than ever.

    It feels more down-to-earth like watching a friend jamming by himself on the stage. This gave me a bizarre feeling. Yes, the quality of his singing and guitar is a little lower because of the lack of practice, but his in the moment decisions with the guitar and his voice ad-libbing are so exciting to watch. His performance tonight sounds a little off than usual, but to me, this is more exciting!

    Throughout his set, the only time that feels like Tayaw''s entirely in his control is at the middle of his song list. A song which I''m very sure that he re-arranged in detail. I think Tayaw also made the song the highlight of his set. In contrast to the excitement it provided the crowd, I noticed how relaxed Tayaw is while performing the song. This however, bored me as I did not see him struggle and is less spontaneous than the rest of the songs he played tonight.

    After Tayaw finished his set, I welcomed him backstage, something I do not do often. "Hey kid, great set." I said patting his shoulder.

    "Thank you, sir. It was a struggle though and it wasn''t as good as usual." Tayaw said while wiping the sweat on his forehead.

    "No, no.. You did just fine!" I said, debating whether to tell him my opinions. "If you say so, then I''m relieved." Tayaw replied smiling.

    Suddenly, an idea popped inside my head. "By the way, I think you should reserve the songs you will re-arrange for now, and just do your sets just like you did tonight. It''s incredible that you have made so many re-arrangements in the past two months and I know it''s exhausting." I told Tayaw to his surprise.

    "Will that really be alright?" Tayaw asked.

    "Can you promise me then that you will keep on re-arranging songs like you have been? Are you certain you will not run out of ideas in the future?" I asked in return. Seeing the uncertainty in the kid''s face, I held back a smile, bullseye.

    "I thought so. So in the future, you can just do some shallow arrangements like you did tonight as long as it sounds good to you. You can even improvise more as long as you''re confident. To the crowd, it does not make any difference anyway whether the songs you sing are your re-arrangements or just a direct cover." I reassured him.

    "I will do as you say then, sir." Tayaw answered in relief.

    Over the time Tayaw has been performing in my bar, I also noticed how high his standards are not only to others but also to himself. More than once, when I can''t be certain if the musician on stage is messing up their set, it helps me to figure it out by watching Tayaw listen in the green room.

    The slightest wrong note on the instrument, the slightest pitch problems by the singers, I saw Tayaw''s face grimace at them. When Tayaw is on stage, I watch the reaction of the other musicians in the green room and sometimes; they''re listening seriously during Tayaw''s set as if they''re trying to learn from an interesting lecture. This assures me of Tayaw''s high standards in his performances. Considering these, I understand Tayaw''s hesitance in doing direct covers and improvising on stage; he does not like making mistakes.

    The reason that I asked him to start performing as he did tonight however is not because I''m worried that Tayaw will have a hard time re-arranging songs. No, I don''t care much about whether his songs re-arrangements or direct covers, as long as they sound great.

    The request is more selfish in origin; I want to feel the excitement I felt tonight watching Tayaw''s in-the-moment decisions while performing. That to me is much more valuable. If he will maintain the quality of his set like he did tonight despite his lack of practice, I will be satisfied just watching do his thing. Knowing Tayaw''s standards also assure me that the judgment he will make on stage from now on, will remain good.

    I then led Tayaw to the green room to rest as we listen to the second performer. A few minutes later, he bid his goodbyes to the other musicians left the bar midway of the second performer''s set.

    After Tayaw left, Kiyong, the leader and the lead guitar of Beyond Cape Town approached me at while I was talking to Rocky in the back stage. "Boss, wasn''t Tayaw''s performance ¡­ a little different tonight?" he asked me.

    "Yes. What did you think of it?" I asked back.

    "Oh, it sounded great, don''t get me wrong. But honestly, isn''t his songs a little less polished tonight?" Kiyong continued to ask.

    "Yes. They are. The kid is busy with Northwestern''s exam week so he said he wasn''t able to practice much." I explained.

    Kiyong''s eyes suddenly widened. "I didn''t see him play but, didn''t he look exhausted when he was done?" He paused for a moment. "He wasn''t improvising at the interludes, was he?"

    Kiyong asked in anticipation. "I actually think he was. I can see him making split second decisions while playing, not unlike the practiced ease that he usually displays." I answered, smiling.

    "Incredible. He got through tonight through raw skill? I don''t even think I can do that!" Kiyong exclaimed in disbelief.

    "Right? He''s still young too. What do you think if I made him headline one of these nights?" I asked Kiyong for his opinion.

    "Well, even us in the band know him and accept that we''re not as good as him, we''re just not willing to admit it to others. With his skill, he''s good enough to headline. I don''t know about your regular headliners though." Kiyong replied, careful with his answer.

    "I don''t know how they will react either. Even though some of them already seen him perform, I don''t know what they think of him. But, you still think he''s good enough right?" I asked Kiyong.

    "Yes. If we''re talking skills alone, I think he''s good enough to headline." Kiyong answered. I nodded.

    As I was about to leave for my office, he suddenly raised another question. "By the way boss, aren''t you forgetting something about Tayaw?" I raised my eyebrows at him.

    As much as I like Kiyong, he''s like a five year old when you let him continue to ask questions.

    "He''s still a minor right?" He asked. "So?" I answered, confused at what he''s getting at.

    "According to your schedule, headliners start performing at 10PM right?" He asked again. "Yeah. So?" I answered again, becoming impatient.

    "What about curfew?" Kiyong finally asked the key question. I was speechless at the question. That''s right. With my excitement, I forgot that despite how mature Tayaw is, he should still follow Ouigab''s curfew for minors.

    "Can''t you just let him sleep here when he headlines?" Kiyong raised a dumb suggestion.

    "Of course not! Curfews are there for a reason, especially for the safety of kids" I replied.

    "Well, can''t you just let Rocky drive him home when he''s done with his headline sets?" Kiyong raised a good point. That''s also why I like Kiyong. Despite him asking too many questions, I get to reflect on things while answering his questions.

    "I''ll consider that.??? I said to Kiyong as I finally headed back into my office.

 Chapter 23 - Moving up the Line-up

    November 1, 2010 Monday ¨C All Saints Day, no classes due to it being a public holiday. Tayaw woke up late at 10 am after a whole Sunday of learning new songs. He also could not sleep the previous night because of a certain someone he met yesterday afternoon.

    While shopping at a certain convenience store, he saw Ike, a friend of his in his previous life. Ike was the drummer in Percussive Corrections. The guy with well-to-do parents, who got a job with the help of his father''s connection after graduation. If nothing much changed compared to his previous life, then Ike is currently a freshman student majoring in Mechanical engineering. Ike was also the one who named the band "Percussive Corrections". He based the name on people who slam or hit their tools or machines when it stops working, hoping that hitting the thing will make it work again. The name had nothing to do with music; it''s just catchy with a little funny story behind it.

    Tayaw didn''t approach Ike because he was with his girlfriend, a girl Tayaw never saw before. Tayaw remembered how smooth Ike is with the girls and can get a girlfriend relatively easily, to the jealousy of the rest of the band. Based on how touchy Ike is with his girlfriend, Tayaw figured that they must be a new couple who may have just met in college. Because Tayaw has no recollection of the girl no matter how much he tries, he realized the girl must be one of the girls Ike dated casually and will not last for at most two months.

    Tayaw found it unfortunate that Ike did not yet pick up the habit of carrying a drumstick in his back pocket everywhere he went. That would at least give Tayaw an opening to talk to Ike like "Hey, you play drums? How about we jam together some time?" or something. Tayaw could only shake his head as he watched the couple walk away.

    Shaking all these thoughts, Tayaw got out of bed and changed to his gym outfit. He went to the public stadium of East Ouigab and started his exercise with a few stretches. He then went to the running track and started jogging along the first lane. He jogged two five round sets with five minute breaks in between. In total, he jogged around 4 kilometers. After a fifteen minute break, he pulled out his jumping ropes and started jump roping in place and kept going until he reached 100. Jumping rope was fun but his arms and wrists already started burning so he stopped at 100. Who knows how it will affect his guitar playing if he was injured. He then walked towards the stands and started running up the stairs. After a few minutes of running up and down the stairs of the stands, he decided that was it for the day. It was also time for lunch, so after his exercises, he was especially hungry.

    He decided to start building up his endurance because of the recent style of playing he is using in his gigs. Playing newly learned songs, improvising, and adlibbing for an entire hour is actually draining. Tayaw is slowly getting used to playing this way after two weeks of gigs but he figured if he can improve his physical endurance, it will help his stamina on stage as well.

    It was already 1 PM when he arrived to his apartment. He took a quick shower, set up his alarm clock to 3:00 PM and quickly fell asleep on his bed. He learned to never nap in an afternoon for more than an hour and a half no matter how late he went to bed or else it will affect his sleep cycle. Falling asleep later in the night will be the last thing he needs because of his early Monday morning.

    After waking up from his nap, he was now ready for his main activity for the day; looking at his View Points and reviewing the sales numbers that Topaz has sent him today. With anticipation, he focused his vision of the View Points. "View Points ¨C 367917" Tayaw read it in delight. "HAhAAHAhahahaA! It reached hundreds of thousands!" Tayaw was punching the air as he celebrated. From the previous 45000, the view points increased by more than 320000 in only a month. 367000 people have now read his books in Teungeb, to his joy.

    He then excitedly opened his laptop to check the sales report from Topaz. In the month of October, the Children''s version sold 53,000 paperback copies and 3,200 hardcover copies. The a.d.u.l.ts'' version sold 45,000 paperback copies and 5,300 hardcover copies. The numbers coincide with his estimations that he based on his view points.

    The earnings he got from the Children''s version are as follows. The paperback copies sold 53,000 copies with the net price of 12.5 BGC; with this he earned 132,500 BGC from his 20% royalties. The hardcover sold 3200 copies at the net price of 17.50 BGC. He has a royalty of 15% in the 900 out of the 3200, which netted him 2,360 BGC. After that, his hardcover royalty increased to 20% so the remaining 2300 hardcover copies sold netted him 8,000 BGC. In summary, his earnings from the Children''s version totals to about 142,900. Deducting Chala''s shares of 18% from Tayaw''s earnings, Tayaw is to expect a deposit of 117,200 BGC in his bank account.

    The earnings he got meanwhile from the A.d.u.l.ts'' version are as follows. The paperback copies sold 45,000 copies at the net price of 12.50 BGC; with this he earned 112,500BGC from his 20% royalties. The hardcover sold 5300 copies at 17.50 net price and with his 20% royalties, it netted him 18,600 BGC. In total, he earned 131,100 BGC and deducting Chala''s 12% share, Tayaw was left with 115,400 BGC he can keep all for himself.

    He then opened his browser and looked for reviews of his books in a book review website. He saw that the average rating of the Children''s version is at 8.5 out of 10 stars, while the A.d.u.l.ts'' version is at 8.9 out of 10 stars. This gave Tayaw a sense of his mission being accomplished. A Fairy Tale book that is received overwhelmingly positively is basically a great achievement in modern literature. "Wait til you see the other stuff I got from the roulette." Tayaw chuckled to himself as he closed the laptop and got ready for his next schedule, the ROH Factory.

    Before heading to the ROH factory though, he dropped by an ATM machine to check his account. "236400 BGC". Tayaw, seeing this felt a huge weight disappear from his shoulders. With this money, he can put himself, Payew and Agew through university if talking about just the tuition fees. The average tuition fee in an Ouigab university totals to about 62000 BGC for a four year undergraduate degree, so if Tayaw does spend his money now towards Payew and Agew''s education, he will still have enough money left to buy himself a car. Having this much money, he is also trying to figure out how to tell his parents about the source of it.

    This money also made him smile bitterly. He was only able to have this much savings after 10 years of hard work in the construction enterprise he worked for in his past life. Seeing this, he was also tempted to drop out of university, which he ultimately erased from his head because it''s still too early and his roulette may disappear in the future. Withdrawing just 200BGC, he put away his ATM card and hailed a cab to ROH Factory.

    It was already 5:00 when he entered the bar through the back door. His purpose in the bar today is to choose spots for gigs this November. "Good afternoon boss." Tayaw greeted Rudy after walking in through the already opened door. "To you too. Looking for vacant spots?" Rudy asked rhetorically as he pulled out his planner. "By the way, if you want to choose to be an opener this month, then no spots are available. Amelie already took four of the opening spots along with a friend of hers who took the two remaining spots. If only you were here last Saturday, you would have beaten her to it." Rudy said to Tayaw''s surprise. "Oh. That''s okay. Before I was here, didn''t she used to open for five nights a week?" Tayaw asked Rudy. "Well. No. She used to open for four nights. It''s just that last August, that time you auditioned, she was opening for five nights. Anyway, you have already proven yourself more than enough to me. Here, you can also consider taking spots up to third performer." Rudy offered Tayaw. "Thanks boss. Let me have a look." Tayaw said as he took the planner.

    After a few minutes of consideration, Tayaw finally chose two spots as the third performer in Friday and Saturday nights. "I''m choosing these, boss." Tayaw handed the planner and pointed out the spots he prefers. "Good. I can give you those. As you know, Friday and Saturday nights are our best nights for our business. Can you handle it?" Rudy asked. "Yes sir. I can just keep doing what I''ve been doing, right?" Tayaw, maybe influenced by the earlier events in the day, replied quite arrogantly, though he masked it in a jesting tone. "Hah! While you''re right, don''t get it in your head, kid!" Rudy also replied with a chuckle. "Thanks boss." Tayaw realizing he sounded arrogant a little too late was relieved that Rudy took his earlier comment in jest.

    "By the way. Tayaw, what do you think about headlining?" Rudy in sudden seriousness, asked Tayaw. "What? Me, boss?" Tayaw was incredulous. "Yes. IF one of the headliners would suddenly not be able to come, can you handle being a substitute?" Rudy clarified. "Boss, even if I have the skills, I don''t think I can handle being a headliner alone unless the instrument I play is the piano, which I don''t. The best I could do is to substitute as a vocalist or a guitarist." Tayaw replied. He knows that rarely does a solo act become a headliner. In his past life, he only remembered one or two solo acts that headlined in ROH Factory, and those two did so in the time when ROH Factory has not yet expanded. After ROH Factory doubled in size, he is sure he never saw a solo act headline. As the ROH Factory grew, "Also, a headliner starts performing at 10pm. It''s already curfew for me by then." Tayaw added. Rudy nodded. Indeed. The reason why he almost never allows a solo act as a headliner is because there''s only so much one person could do.

    "How about adding a stomp box?" Suddenly, Kiyong appeared by the door and raised a suggestion. "Or a floor tom? Or a beat Box?" Kiyong kept raising suggestions as he walked in the office. Stomp boxes, Floor Toms, and beat boxes are percussion instruments that can be controlled using a foot pedal. They are indeed used by singing guitarists but they only have one pitch of beat at a time. "You have two feet, why not add a cymbal as well?" Kiyong finished as he stopped in front of Rudy''s table. Kiyong''s suggestion sparked interest in both Rudy and Tayaw.

    "This¡­ Good point, Kiyong. Tayaw, if you have those, do you think you can handle headlining?" Rudy, happy with Kiyong''s suggestion asked Tayaw. Tayaw, in his past life, never used foot controlled percussions because he has Ike for those. Currently though, he has to consider using something like a floor tom if he wants to grab the opportunity that Rudy is offering him. Ultimately, he is inexperienced in using stomp boxes so he is can''t, for now at least. "It''s a good idea, boss. It''s just I have not played drums with my foot before, so I''m not sure. I can give it a try and if I''m good enough playing them, I think I can do a headline set." Tayaw replied honestly. "Alright then. Nothing''s sure for now. Give it a try then, will you? You''re still young and you have plenty of years to practice." Rudy just smiled amiably at Tayaw for his honesty and also his courage. "Thanks for the offer boss; I''ll give it a try practicing with stomp boxes." Tayaw also felt pleased at the Rudy''s encouragement.

    "You guys performing tonight?" Tayaw then asked Kiyong who is currently browsing Rudy''s planner. "No, but just like you, I''m just here to choose spots for my band. WHAT THE HELL? You already took our favorite spots!" Rudy replied but suddenly exclaimed when he saw Tayaw''s name already written in their band''s priority choice.

 Chapter 24 - Going Home

    November 15, 2010, Monday. Rains in Tengueb have gotten lesser. Smacked dab in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Teungeb''s climate can roughly divided into two seaons; Dry and Wet. This year, Teungeb is lucky to only have afternoon and early morning rains from June to October and was not affected much by the Typhoons that usually start at West Teungeb Sea and make their way to wreak havoc to east and Southeast Asia. This November marks the start of Teungeb''s dry season. This also meant that there are less vehicular accidents in highways due to dryer roads.

    A week ago, Tayaw finally got his driver''s license and bought himself a 2010 Hilux Double Cab for 50,000 BGC which he paid in full price. He knows how installments work, and he did not like how car dealers get too greedy with the interests. Tayaw always preferred to drive pick-up because of their practicality. Better fuel efficiency than sedans and SUVs, better visibility, the multi-purpose cargo bed in the back, better strength and toughness of the body and engine, and some more. He also liked the heavy feeling while driving a pick-up as he feels like he''s really driving something. The main reason Tayaw chose to buy a pick-up is the hilly and mountainous terrain of Nabla Province. If one wants to stay stuck in Ouigab, a city in the middle of mountains and hills, one could simply make due with a sedan. Tayaw wants to drive often to his hometown of Okuba and the steep, long and winding terrain on the way can be endured by a pick-up truck. Because Nabla province is in the middle of Northern Teungeb, one does not have a choice of traveling through a straight sea-side highway those provinces and cities along the coasts are blessed with.

    Today is the start of Ouigab''s Inter-collegiate sports festival week. Due to this event, classes from all the universities attending the festival will be suspended, which means basically a free week to students who are non-sports fans. Tayaw is a baseball fan, but because baseball and cricket are not big in Teungeb, there is no event he is planning to watch. What he wants to do, on the other hand is to go home to Okuba and spend time with his family for the week. After waking up at 7am, he went out to shop for things he wants to bring back home to Okuba. He bought things like shoes and jeans for Payew, Agew, and Liboo; and a handbag and a purse for Kilat. He also bought two laptops, each for Payew to use for school and for Kilat to use for her teacher stuff. He stopped himself in buying mobile phones for Payew and Agew because he knows that smartphone addiction is a thing in the future and he does not want them having it early. He also bought some of Ouigab''s famous local candies and snacks for Agew and Payew to enjoy. Finally, through Chala, he bought the best bottles of Whiskey and Scotch for Liboo. After shopping, he started packing his clothes, two boxes of his Fairy Tales, and the stuff he shopped, and fastened them in the back of his pick-up truck and went to his favorite diner for lunch.

    At 1pm, he started his drive to Okuba. Tayaw has plenty of experience in his previous life driving for long distances, especially so with the driving to Okuba and back. Currently, however, he is anxious because his current self''s body is not used to it. Thankfully, two hours into the drive, he realized his body is healthier than his previous life''s self, thanks to his self-imposed endurance training. On the third hour, he started feeling tired because of the shopping he did in the morning so he pulled up to the first convenience store that he saw. He bought a bottle of water and a can of energy drink and went back to his car to take a nap for an hour. Feeling refreshed after the nap, he downed the water and the energy drink consecutively and resumed the drive while singing passionately along to the songs he is playing on the cars stereo.

    It was already 7pm when he reached his neighborhood in Okuba. He arrived at the perfect time because everyone in his family is already home and probably just had their dinner. He pulled up the pick-up truck in front of the house, beside Liboo''s van and turned off the engine. Tayaw has not exited yet the pick-up truck to prepare himself on how to explain his sudden fortune.

    With the loud engine of the truck and the headlights, it prompted Liboo from inside the house, to lift the curtains in the living room to peek at what''s happening outside. He saw the pick-up truck but because the windows of the vehicle are tinted, he has no idea whose truck it was that just parked in front of HIS house. As he opened the front door to talk to the driver of the truck, the pick-up truck''s door also opened and saw, to his surprise, Tayaw. Tayaw just walked to him. "Good evening, dad." Tayaw greeted Liboo and gave him a bear hug. Liboo who just got out of his confusion also returned the embrace. "Long time, son. Where did you steal the nice ride from?" Liboo joked to Tayaw. "It''s mine. Haha.." Tayaw chucked in reply, to Liboo''s shock. "What???" Liboo''s exclamation was heard from the inside and Payew ran out through the front door with a Chinese knife, as if ready to fight. "Hey! Put that thing away! There''s no meat for you to chop!" Tayaw reprimanded Payew also surprised at the apprehension Payew displayed. "Bro! What are you doing here?" Payew also asked in confusion as he put the hand holding the Chinese knife down. "What? I can''t go home? Let''s talk inside." Tayaw replied as he walked towards back of the truck and picked up the box of his books and locked sealed the cargo bed once again. He then entered the house followed by the confused Liboo and Payew. "Hey mom! Guess who walked in the kitchen?" Tayaw announced himself when he saw Kilat sitting by the dining table. "Who?- Tayaw?! What are you doing back here?" His mom blurted out in confusion. "Am I not welcome at home anymore?" Tayaw said amused at Kilat''s confusion. "Oh? Bro." Agew who just walked out of the bathroom said in his coolly when he saw Tayaw.

    After a few seconds of getting their confusions out of the way, the family sat around the dining table, complete for the first time after three months. "How about school?" Kilat asked first. "It''s inter-collegiate sports week, and there''s no baseball so I decided to just come home for the week." Tayaw replied. "How about that pick-up truck? You said it was yours?" Liboo asked next, to Kilat and Payew''s surprise. "You have a car?!" "That ride''s yours!?" They exclaimed at the same time.

    "That''s actually one of the reasons why I came home." Tayaw said as he opened the box he carried inside and pulled out two copies of his fairy tales. "I earned big from these." Tayaw said as he pushed the books toward Kilat and Liboo. "Oh! I know this book. T.L.D Grimmau -- " Kilat said and suddenly something in her head clicked. "YOU WROTE THESE!?" She exclaimed also to Liboo''s surprise. "How?" Liboo also asked. "Well, you both know about my English proficiency. I was already writing these for years as practice for my English writing. Someone from work spotted me writing it and he suggested me to publish it. So I did. I just did not expect it would become famous and sell well." Tayaw replied with the lie he prepared beforehand. It''s easier to say than the truth that would make him look crazy. "T.L.D. Grimmauld. Wait. Tayaw L. Dagem Grimmauld?" Payew who was examining the book was late in the uptake and asked rhetorically.

    "I understand that you earned some money. Why didn''t you save it, and instead even bought a pick-up?" Liboo who had too many surprises tonight, tried to reprimand Tayaw. "Yes. These books also will not sell forever so I think you should also start saving early." Kilat also followed. "Mom, it''s only been two months since my book was released and the publishing firm estimated that my books will still be in demand for at least two more months." Tayaw explained. "Still. Unless you''re writing another book, you should not be complacent." Liboo said, still adamant that Tayaw save his money. "I understand your worries, mom and dad. You both noticed that it says Volume ¨C 1 in the title, right?" Tayaw asked his parents. "So you''re planning on writing a second volume? Are you sure it will sell just as well as the first volume?" Liboo asked skeptically. "The thing is I already have the second volume in store. The stories I have in the second volume are just as good as the ones in the first volume, so if the public responded well with the stories of the first volume, I''m also confident in the stories I have not published yet." Tayaw replied, his point silencing the couple.

    "But what if it doesn''t? Look, our only concern is that this is a rare opportunity for you to save up. You''re young so you don''t understand much yet, but you should save as much as possible." Kilat expressed her concerns more. "Alright. However, let me do something for the family for once, will you hear me out?" Tayaw said. His parents are just scolding him out of love and concern for his future. Knowing this Tayaw knows they will disagree with him spending big.

    "Payew and Agew, please go to your rooms and do your homework." Kilat ordered the two kids as its better if she and Liboo to talk to Tayaw alone. After Payew and Agew disappeared to their rooms, Kilat looked at Tayaw as a gesture for him to Talk. "I have actually earned pretty big this month, so please leave mine, Payew''s, and Agew''s college tuitions to me. The full four years. I have enough for the three of us. " Tayaw did not go around the bush and proposed directly. This came as a shock to both Kilat and Liboo. "No. That''s too much, Tayaw." Liboo said and held Kilat''s hands on the table that were trembling as she tries to control her emotions. "No, dad. I think it''s just right for me to do so. Just like you, there''s nothing too much for me when it concerns my brothers'' futures. Even though making a college fund for us three will wipe my current savings, it''s worth it.?? Tayaw said as he reached over the table to hold his parents'' hands.

    His parents could only look at him, and then looked at each other as if reaching a mutual understanding. Tears started flowing from Kilat''s eyes and she nodded. "Very well, son. Do as you please. Thank you." Kilat said in her trembling voice while trying not to sob. Kilat''s simple words of thanks carry a lot of both her and Liboo''s sentiments. Liboo also held Kilat in a firm embrace. "You''ve grown up, son. But, we''re still your parents so you''re welcome to ask us for help anytime." Liboo who is also starting to tear up, choked up and expressed his acceptance for Tayaw''s intentions.

    After the couple finally calmed down, they were now both full of smiles as they asked Tayaw about his life in Ouigab. Tayaw talked about his grades, his daily routine, and if there is a girl he likes. As they ran out of things to talk about, Tayaw decided to bring in the stuff he bought for the family. "Payew! Agew! Come out here for a second." The doors to their rooms soon opened and they stepped into the kitchen. "Eh? Did Tayaw make you cry, mom?" Agew asked Kilat when he saw her reddened and slightly puffed eyes. "Yes. But mom is happy." Kilat replied. "What did you say to mom?" Payew also asked. "I told her I brought GIFTS! Follow me outside." Tayaw said as he walked out of the house to his truck.

    When Payew and Agew reached the truck, Tayaw already climbed up the cargo bed and sorting out the stuff he bought. "Come, help me carry these" Tayaw said as he handed heavier boxes to Payew and the lighter bags of snacks to Agew. He then picked up the remaining stuff like clothes and the liquors.

    That night was full of smiles, exclamations, and laughter.

 Chapter 25 - Giant Roulette, once again.

    November 29, 2010 Monday. A special day that gave Tayaw a pleasant surprise. Inside his apartment, while Tayaw was doing his homework, his world suddenly flashed and he found himself pulled to the same white void he was brought into the day he returned back in time. The familiar huge blue glowing words "Arts Records" scintillating in front of him, in addition to a now enlarged View Points below it. The View Points currently has 1,000,000 which surprised Tayaw. Back in September, he decided to only look at his View Points at the last day of whatever month. He guessed that 1,000,000 is a special figure that he can no longer ignore and was forced in the white void.

    The words "Art Records" is a gain inviting him to touch it, which Tayaw did. After touching the words, the same basketball court-sized giant roulette table appeared in front of him. Only the View Points, in its enlarged letters and numbers is still present and is now floating above the roulette table. Unlike the last time, he shouted "ODD!" this time as he picked up the basketball-sized white roulette ball and threw it into the wheel. While the ball is dancing on the wheels, he noticed that his View Points are quickly reducing in number. As the wheel stopped, so did the View Points he saved up returned to zero. "Oh! So that''s how the View Points are used!" Tayaw said to himself after seeing the proceedings.

    As one of the countless tiles on the table floated up and stood upright in the air, Tayaw was repeatedly chanting "Songs. Songs. Songs. Songs. Songs. Songs this time please." A few words slowly appeared on the tiles. "Random Piece x 4. Random Skill Set x 1" the tile then zoomed towards Tayaw''s head and smashed into nothingness. Tayaw felt like a cool strong breeze washed over his head accompanied by a throbbing headache. Tayaw was relieved as the pain is not as bad as the first time this happened to him. He also noticed that the roulette only gave him 4 random pieces compared to the 8 he was given last time. What makes him more curious is the Random Skill Set, which he figured, basing on the self-evident, common sense definition of the words, are interconnected abilities borne out of practice. After the headache passed, he felt dizzy by the information engraved in his brain from what looks like movie scenes. "An African American man shouting ''Get out!''. A group of three friends looking for some witch. Images from a boxer''s training montage. A man dropping a snow ball while whispering ''rosebud''." The scenes arranged themselves in his brain as they formed into their own respective stories.

    When he opened his eyes, he found himself inside his apartment once again. He was excited from what he just got and concentrated to recall the details of the information he received. From what he can figure out, he won four movies from the roulette. One amazing bonus he figured was that he can watch those movies inside his head. He then looked up the internet, searched on YouTube for the scenes, and Googled the lines from the movies to see if the movies he received already exist in his world. To his relief, these movies are not made in his world.

    He also realized what skill set he got from the roulette is. While watching movie scenes in YouTube, he felt uncomfortable seeing the boring camera angles, the bad dialogues, subpar acting, and more. Tayaw saw many movies in his past life and while he enjoyed them, he knew he did not have a critical eye for movies. Now however, after his trip in the white void, he came out innately knowing what''s good and bad in the movies and how he can make them better. Noticing these, things he found out that he must have received the skill set of a filmmaker from another world.

    With his newfound skills in filmmaking, he realized how advanced the movies the roulette gave him compared to the films in his own world. The films in his world are dominated by the sports genre. With the genre, the style the filmmakers are using are intended to reproduce sports scenes as close to reality as possible that when one watches it, it looks like they''re watching just a normal sports broadcast. Tayaw knows that logically, it makes sense why they decide to reproduce real sporting events, but comparing to Jake Lamotta Story, one of the movies he got from the roulette, he realized that the camera angles in his world''s sports movies that capture the characters'' emotions are almost non-existent and heavily relies on dialogues. Lines like "YOU''VE MADE ME ANGRY!" or "I''m upset at what you''ve done." made Tayaw uncomfortable. "Show, don''t tell." is what Tayaw''s new film making instincts is telling him.

    Some of the scenes, he noted, are also excessively long that it didn''t make sense putting them in as they do not serve any purpose to the plot of the movie. Tayaw also figured that if a movie scene is not a sports scene; his world''s filmmakers shoot in wide angles as if to reproduce a stage play, only difference in the movies is the cuts to change of scenes.

    The choreography of the sports scenes in his world''s films is too close to reality to be compelling. He realized that instead of watching those movie scenes, it''s better to watch real life sports broadcasts instead. He also now noticed that dialogues in his world''s movies are either too forced or too close to reality. From what he feels with his skill set, real life dialogues are boring so putting them in movies makes the movies boring; they should not be realistic. A movie dialogue should give an illusion of reality while maintaining the embellishment to keep the audience interested.

    "Jesus Christ, the movies in my world are embarrassing." Tayaw sighed to himself as he put the thoughts about movies aside. He has homework to finish.

    Two days later, December finally arrived. Tayaw, while walking home from the campus, felt that the spirit of Christmas is becoming more apparent when he noticed the decorations that appeared overnight adorning the exterior and interiors of many businesses. Some are even playing Christmas carols in their speakers as if to say "Hey! We have Christmas stuff inside! Come in!"

    The Christmas spirit is also calling him from his ATM card. Today, just like the first days of the previous months, Tayaw will receive his monthly share from the book sales. During lunch, he checked his current View Points that is currently at 116,000. Adding the 1,000,000 View Points he had before the roulette, he figured that there are now around 1,116,000 people who read his book. Deducting the 360,000 plus View Points he had in November 1, there is an addition of 756,000 new people who read his book in the month of November alone. Tayaw is feeling proud. This means that out of the 120 million Teungebians, more than a million of them already read his book.

    He checked his bank account in the nearby ATM card and was pleased with what he saw. He earned a total of 270,000 BGC this month from the combined sales of 100,000 plus books from both the Children and A.d.u.l.t versions. Adding it to his prior savings, he now has 450,000 BGC in his bank account. He also plans to open another bank account to place 150,000 BGC in for both his brothers'' future college expenses. So deducting that and the full 7,000 tuition payment he is planning to make this December, he will still have 290,000 BGC he can spend as he wished. This calculation, however, is something that will not be as he failed to consider one important thing.

    Reaching home, he picked up his truck and drove to ROH Factory. However, his purpose this time is not to look for spots for gigs. "Good afternoon, boss." Tayaw greeted Rudy who was smoking outside at the alley behind the bar. "Hey kid. You weren''t here yesterday. I''ve only got a few spots left." Rudy told Tayaw, confused at why he is only coming to him now. "Well, about that boss. I''m thinking of taking a break from gigs for now. I''m swamped with school projects and home works." Tayaw lied. He did indeed need a break, but not because he''s busy with school. He is to think about his plans for the future. So many things have changed for him that he has a lot of thinking to do. "I see. Well, I understand. Just make sure not you still practice, alright?" Rudy said. Despite being a little disappointed, he also understands that Tayaw is still a student and he will not make time to practice every week. "Of course, boss. My practice with a stomp box is also going smoothly, so expect me to use it when I come back." Tayaw promised the Rudy. After a few more minutes of chatting, Tayaw finally excused himself.

    While Tayaw was driving back to his apartment, his phone suddenly rang. He did not answer immediately but kept driving until he saw a restaurant, and his phone stopped ringing as well. He parked his pick-up and got out of the vehicle while checking his phone. The one who called him just now was Chala.

    Chala, since the middle of October, went to San Prudencia City to handle the new book one of his clients is planning to release. It''s also been more than a month since Chala called Tayaw so he''s confused at Chala''s sudden call. After walking in the restaurant and ordered his dinner from the waiter, he dialed Chala''s number to return the call.

    After a few rings, Chala picked up. "Hey Mr. Rotala, how''s San Prudencia''s beaches?" Tayaw spoke first. "Oh. It''s great! I''ve tanned from hanging around the beach too much. By the way, I have news from Topaz." Chala replied with excitement in his voice. "What''s up? It''s been two months since I''ve last heard from them." Tayaw also asked curiously. "Well, there''s a reason for that! They''ve actually been busy with your book. They called me earlier this afternoon and informed me that they just started selling your books to international retailers! I was also told that they estimate that your books will hit international bookstores by December 15. That''s the news." Chala said. "Really? That''s great news! Are they planning on changing something in the contract?" Tayaw asked, quite paranoid about Topaz''s move. "Oh, actually no. Unless of course you want to look for an international publishing firm to have them print out instead. That''s breach of contract though." Chala assured Tayaw. "That''s good then. They''ll take care of the rest then?" Tayaw asked in relief. "Yes. Because of the transportation costs and other expenses, the prices of your books will rise in other countries'' bookstores. From what they told me, Topaz will just sell your books at the same prices like they''ve been doing; it''s the international companies who will handle the transportation and logistics. You won''t get extra, but the market for your book just multiplied." Chala explained. "Are they also releasing the books in non-English speaking countries?" Tayaw asked a question as he know that the currently released books are all in English. "Yes, but not at the moment. If I remember correctly, they are currently having your book translated to Chinese, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, and Russian." Chala said. "Alright. Thanks for the news. By the way, bring me something good when you get back." Tayaw said. "I will. By the way, what do you want to get?" Chala asked for Tayaw''s preferred gift. "Hmmm. I heard they have awesome dried seafood there, bring me some dried squid or octopus and other dried fish. I''ll pay you." Tayaw requested. "No need to pay me. You''re my prime client now. I think you''ll make me rich in the next few months so this one''s on me." Chala said. "If you say so." Tayaw just accepted it. Tayaw and Chala spent a few more minutes on the phone, catching up with each other.

 Chapter 26 - Christmas Break

    December 20, 2010. Monday. Tayaw finally submitted all the home works and projects due before the Christmas break. School also currently does not worry him as he just got straight A''s in his midterm exams the previous week. Since December 1, his focus is not actually his school projects or his midterm exams but digesting the skills he got from the roulette. He also re-arranged songs and practiced them with the stomp box. He has finally achieved great precision with the stomp box and can now play it in great rhythm that is almost as consistent as a metronome. That''s only talking about playing the stomp box alone though. He still has a long way to go mastering playing both the guitar and the stomp box at the same time. Despite this, Tayaw is satisfied with the progress he''s making.

    There are also a few things on his mind. Since the school year has started, he already acquainted with Ike, Hoon, and Inson and got their contact numbers. To open them up, he brought up things like "Hey. I saw you drumming your fingers to the beat. Are you a drummer?" "Hey, I noticed the calluses on your fingers, do you play guitar?" "Let''s jam together some time." He also made acquaintance with Bay-an the pianist and Ramil the saxophonist through Ike but did not get their contact numbers.

    Contrary to his expectations, he did not feel as attached to them as he thought he would. They are just too different from the people he knew. The grown men of the Percussive Corrections who knew what they wanted and had the drive to achieve their goals, are currently in their teenage years, exploring themselves, still clueless about their purpose. He wants to help them but he does not even know where to start. Despite his friends'' teenage years not having much resemblance to the friends he knew in his past life, Tayaw is planning to invite them to form a band again. He also has an idea how to hasten their mastery in their instruments, but that will come later.

    He is also thinking whether to write another book, or buy some filming equipment to reproduce a movie that was given to him by the roulette. If he writes the second volume of Grimm''s Fairy Tales now and publishes it, the money he will get from it is minimal as there are not many people around the world who has read the first volume yet. Less demand, less profits. If he writes The Boy with The Lightning Scar now, he is not sure if it would be in demand. If he films the Blare Witch Hunt, he has no idea if such a revolutionary film will be appreciated by audiences. If he wants to release a film, the best bet he has is the Jake Lamotta Story. Even then, he does not have the money or connections to make such a film. He''s a total rookie so no investors will be interested in his film. He ultimately decided to not release anything yet and wait it out. He''s still 17 so there''s plenty of time.

    After school, while sipping a cup of coffee in a caf¨¦ right outside the campus, he couldn''t help but think about something that''s been bothering him for a while now. Because of this, he decided to phone Chala. "Hello Tayaw. What''s going on?" Chala answered the phone. "Mr. Rotala, who else knows that I''m the author of Grimm''s Fairy Tales?" Tayaw asked Chala.

    The reason why Tayaw asked Chala is because in case people turn their attention on him, he could hide as long as he keeps his anonymity. This is also why he told his family to not reveal his identity as an author to anyone, which his parents agreed to while warning him of "Leeches". "Aside from us and Ms. Lei? Topaz Publishing and probably your family. Why?" Chala asked in confusion at Tayaw''s question. "It''s just that I know that my books are getting famous. In case some people would start asking for me, I don''t want my family getting unwanted attention. I also like my peaceful life for now." Tayaw said shamelessly. "HAha! If it was anyone else, I''d say you''re being paranoid or full of yourself. Your books are selling hot, they''re also getting some sales internationally so I get it. Alright, I''ll call Topaz to not reveal your identity to anyone." Chala smiled in understanding at what Tayaw is getting at. He is also impressed because most people of Tayaw''s age would rather seek the attention and fame. He is also confused because he knows that Tayaw is a musician and being one attracts attention. He realized that Tayaw is currently much more exceptional and attractive as an author. "Thanks Mr. Rotala. " Tayaw said. "No problem. I have to go; I have a meeting with a marketing person." Chala replied and ended the call.

    Finishing his coffee, he went back to his apartment to get his pick-up truck. He''s planning on shopping for Christmas gifts for his family. The Christmas break starts at the 23rd but he intends to go home early tomorrow. He first went to a stationery store and bought art materials like a painting canvas with a wooden stand, non-toxic paint, and a palette. In addition to the art materials, he also bought non-toxic air dry clay for kids'' pottery. The reason why he bought these is to help Agew express himself more and hone the dexterity of his hands earlier. In his past life, Agew was a cool man who was not a good talker but great with his hands. The reason why his pottery and ceramic products in his past life became popular is because of Agew''s special care into making them which are apparent in his products. The currently young 10 year-old Agew is already showing resemblance to the brother Tayaw knew in his past life.

    After shopping in the stationery store, he headed next to East Ouigab''s botanical garden. He bought a pot of pristine green lush aloe vera plant that is a foot long. He also bought seeds of uncommon strains of tomatoes, chili peppers, and lettuce. According to the shop owner''s recommendation, he bought seeds of Brandywine Pink Tomato also known as the King of Tomatoes, seeds of Aji Dulce Chili for their mild spiciness, and seeds of Romaine Lettuce for their nutritional value. He also purchased a sack of black soil. He intends to give these to Payew as he is already showing interests in gardening and agriculture. With their small barren backyard, Payew can start gardening as hobby.

    After the botanical garden, his next destination is his favorite music store. He bought Sennheiser Lavelier Microphone and a pricy portable voice amplifier. Kilat, despite being a teacher, has an attractive voice with a raspy and husky color that is nice to listen to but does not modulate well in a classroom. It is a trait that Tayaw inherited from her. Unless Tayaw or Kilat sings aloud, their voices do not travel well in a noisy room. Tayaw also knows that his and his mother''s voice are the type that gets hoarse easily if overused, so considering this, he bought his mother a good microphone and a portable speaker so that she will not strain her voice. He also bought a new high-end acoustic guitar for himself to replace the mid-range professional sounding guitar he has been using in his gigs. He plans to bring his mid-end guitar to replace the beginner guitar back in his home Okuba.

    Putting the speakers on the passenger''s seat, he went around East Ouigab to look for a massage chair. He had a hard time finding a place that sells massage chairs, but after mall hopping and asking around, he finally found a place that sells them. Liboo, being a van driver, uses his upper body and arms a lot every day. It''s no wonder that he asks Tayaw and his brothers to give him a massage from time to time. With this, he decided to buy Liboo a chair that will tirelessly massage him to his satisfaction. This gift also prompted him to purchase a furniture dolly and a folding ramp as additional contraptions for his pickup truck. It was easy to load the massage chair on the back of his pickup because of the store''s helpers and tools but it''s a different story unloading it by him. The massage chair he bought the kind that has better specs and more features than the average pay to use massage chairs he sees in strip malls so it weighs a little more than 100 kilograms. He also knows that the massage chair will be shared with Kilat, so he decided to buy another gift for Liboo. He went to various woodcarving shops he found on the internet and looked for a good ornamental chess set. After finding a chess table with drawers for the pieces, he bought it despite its price for something that is only used to play chess. He also thought the price was worth it because the chess set he bought is beautiful and can be used as a decoration for the living room.

    He wants to buy more gifts he can give to his grandparents but his truck is already full. It''s also not sure whether his parents will decide to visit Alib Village where his maternal grandparents live, or to visit Canotu Village where his paternal grandparents are. Although with the recent changes in the family, Tayaw figured that his parents might even decide to visit his grandparents and just stay in Okuba for Christmas and New Year.

    The next morning, Tayaw woke up early at 4am and he started fastening all the stuff he is bringing home to avoid damaging them on the way. He also brought his old guitar and placed it on the passenger''s seat. He decided to go home two days before the actual Christmas break. "Hey, baby girl. Good morning." Tayaw phoned Jenna first, a classmate in his Algebra and Chemistry that he acquainted with better than his other classmates in those subjects. Jenna with her cute baby face and petite figure earned herself the nick name of "Baby Girl" from Tayaw, a nickname she both likes and hates depending on which context Tayaw to uses it. "Ugh¡­ Good morning. What do you want?" Jenna answered with a sleepy tone. "I''m going home to Okuba today. Can you do me a favor?" Tayaw wanting to keep the phone call short stated his intention immediately. "What? Write in your name in the attendance sheet again?" Jenna already guessed Tayaw''s favor; after all it''s the only favor that Tayaw asks of her. "Yes! Can you? I''ll give you a present on January." Tayaw answered and offered an incentive. "Alright. Make it good because you just interrupted my sleep. By the way, how are you already done with your school stuff? I had to stay up late until 2 hours ago just to catch up with the deadline." Jenna complained, which made Tayaw feel guilty. "Baby girl, I know the fun of exploring a new city, but avoid procrastination. I make sure to start doing my school projects on the same day they are given by the professors. Finishing them early is rewarded by playing around without worry." Tayaw offered his advice. "Easier said than done. I''m hanging up now." Jenna grumbled. "Wait! What do you think about shoe lifts? Aren''t they more comfortable than wearing heels all day?" Tayaw suddenly asked. "You! ..... Fine! Give me shoe lifts!" Jenna said and hung up.

    Tayaw is actually planning on giving her new running shoes with thick bouncy soles. He already figured out Jenna''s shoe size. One day, when he tied his shoelaces in front of Jenna, he got a good look at her shoes and smiled to himself. Jenna''s shoe size just happened to be the same as Agew''s. Thinking for a second after the phone call, he also decided to actually give Jenna shoe lifts so that he won''t appear creepy when he gives her shoes of the right size.

    After the phone call with Jenna, he called other classmates with the same favor but not as generous incentives. He then headed for a nearby diner to eat a hearty breakfast. He has a long five ¨C hour drive today.

 Chapter 27 - Christmas Gifts

    It was already lunch time when he reached Okuba. Public primary and secondary schools nationwide also started their Christmas break in the 18th so he knew that his mother and brothers are home. After he parked his truck in front of the house, he knocked on the front door, which was opened by the surprised Payew. "Sup?" Agew greeted from behind Tayaw which made Tayaw''s heart skip a beat from surprise. Agew was playing with a neighbor''s kid and when he saw Tayaw''s black pickup truck pass by, he hurried home. "Well, sup to you too." Tayaw replied.

    Entering the house, he saw his mother in the living room. She is sitting by the living room table, doing Excel in the laptop he gave her. This made Tayaw smile bitterly. Public teachers, even though they get paid during school breaks, they also often have to work during the first half of those school breaks. "Oh. You''re back. How are you?" Kilat smiled when she saw Tayaw come in and closed her laptop. "I''m good mom. Done with all the projects and assignments so the professors let me go home early." Tayaw replied as he sat himself on the couch. After a few minutes of chatting, they were interrupted by Payew who just came through the front door.

    "Bro! What did you bring home this time?" Payew asked while already carrying the pot of Aloe Vera plant he got from the back of Tayaw''s pick-up truck. "Christmas presents! Mom, excuse me while I get them. Payew let''s go." Tayaw said leaving a curious Kilat in the living room. Tayaw, with Payew and Agew following behind him, went to pick up his mom''s speakers and mic, Payew''s packets of seeds, and Agew''s art materials. They were all still wrapped up so they have no idea what are inside.

    After bringing the presents in the living room, they were finally ready to open the presents. Unlike Europeans and North Americans who wait until Christmas day to open their presents, Teungebians have a different style. "Agew, open yours first." Kilat said to Agew. After unwrapping the painting materials and the air dry clay, Agew did not exclaim or laugh, but the Kilat and Tayaw know he is happy with the smile on Agew''s face and the gleam in his eyes. Payew, on the other hand, was disappointed by the tiny box he received. Seeing this, Tayaw just smiled. "Go ahead. Open it. You might like it." Tayaw signaled to Payew. After Payew opened the box, his face was getting brighter by the moment as he read the labels in the packets contained inside. "Are those seeds?" Kilat asked in confusion. "Yes mom! OH! They''re expensive species of tomatoes and chilies too!" Payew answered excitedly.

    "Yes. Remember that sack we left in my truck? That''s black soil you can mix with the soil in the backyard so you can start planting them. That aloe Vera you picked up is also for your room." Tayaw explained. "Thank you! I''ll start planting the lettuce first for practice. Then, I''ll plant these tomatoes next, then the chilli." Payew already started planning what to do as he continued to play with the seeds he got. "Oh. That''s good. I''ve always wanted to do some gardening but I just could not have the time to start doing it. Payew can do it now instead." Kilat said after understanding. "Yes. I noticed him looking up plants in the internet the last time I came home so I bought him these. Thankfully he liked them. Mom. Open yours, I hope you will like it too." Tayaw explained and also prompted Kilat.

    After unpacking her present, Kilat was surprised at what she saw and looked at Tayaw in gratitude. She was already prepared to return it to Tayaw if she found it too expensive and make him ask for a refund. However, looking at the speaker and small microphone, she knew she really needed it. Tayaw also knew Kilat''s attitude towards expensive presents so he removed all the price tags on the boxes of the presents. Tayaw just nodded as he took the speaker and microphone from Kilat''s hands. "Let me show you how to set it up. This goes there. That goes here." After few minutes of instruction, Kilat finally tested it. "Hello. Hello. Oh it''s clear!" Kilat was satisfied with her new contraption. "Mom! Loud!" Agew who was playing with his clay complained as he covered his ears. "Alright. Mom will turn it off now. Thank you Tayaw." Kilat smiled as she disconnected the speaker and microphones and returned them with care inside their respective boxes.

    A few minutes later, a familiar sound of engine was heard from outside. "Oh. That''s your dad. You know he prefers to come home for lunch when I''m home. You also bought him gifts, didn''t you?" Kilat said. Tayaw stood up to open the door for Liboo. As soon as he opened the door though, Liboo was already in his face. "Hey, son. What did we talk about spending?" Liboo asked quietly and closely to Tayaw. "Oh honey, drop it. It''s Christmas! You also know how responsible Tayaw is." Kilat despite not hearing what Liboo said figured it out looking at Liboo''s body language. "Fine. Tayaw, what''s that big thing on the back?" Liboo asked as he pointed at the boxed up massage chair. "Oh. It''s a gift for both you and mom. Ah-ah. Don''t refuse so quickly and take a look first." Tayaw said as he climbed up his truck, popped up the ramp and asked Liboo for help in unloading the thing. After rolling it in the living room with the moving dolly, they unpacked it.

    Both Liboo and Kilat held their breaths after the slick massage chair was finally unveiled. "You two can''t possibly refuse this." Tayaw said satisfied at his parents'' reactions. Liboo and Kilat both nodded. Liboo especially needs it because of the muscle sores he has to endure every day. Kilat too because of standing for prolonged periods, endures sore calves, h.i.p.s and lower back. Where to put the massage chair is also not a problem because the living room is spacious enough. They just have to move the smaller couch and position it perpendicularly next to larger couch and the space left is enough to fit the massage chair. Only problem is that the massage chair is not facing the television, but that is inconsequential. "You can''t use it for longer than twenty minutes though. And you can only use it three times a week." Tayaw started explaining how to use the massage chair.

    After Tayaw''s introduction, Liboo gave it a try first and sank himself on the chair with a satisfied smile. After watching this for a few minutes, Tayaw went back to his pickup truck to get the chess set for Liboo and also his old guitar. Kilat also took over the chair after Liboo''s twenty minutes was done. Seeing the encased guitar and the wrapped thing that Tayaw brought in, Liboo was planning on reprimanding Tayaw again. Feeling this from the look Liboo is giving him, Tayaw decided to go on the defensive. "Alright dad! This is the last one, I promise." Tayaw appeased his Liboo. "Fine. What''s with the guitar? We already have one at home." Liboo asked Tayaw. "Dad. That guitar was bought when I just started learning guitar. You and I are now skilled enough to graduate to a better guitar." Tayaw explained. "I see. But it''s not like we''re musicians." Liboo said as he scratched his eyebrow. "We''re not but let me play for you later." Tayaw said. "Okay. What''s with that wrapped thing?" Liboo dropped the matter with the guitar for now. "It''s for you." Tayaw said nervously. "But you already gave us the chair! What''s this?" Liboo exclaimed, getting more impatient by the moment. "Dad I promised this is the last one. Okay. Take a look first." Tayaw handed the gift to Liboo. He decided to let Liboo unwrap the present as he knows that unwrapping something will relax anyone.

    "Wow¡­" Kilat said dazedly from the massage chair as she saw the beautifully crafted chess board that Liboo just unwrapped. "Yeah¡­" Liboo also affirmed, stunned by the details of the chess table. The curved smooth legs of the table made from well black lacquered wood gave out a simple but classy look. The small drawers where the chess pieces are kept is made of a dark brown wood and goes well with the color of the legs and the drawer knobs made of small polished Petoskey stones gave a feeling of the seaside. The frame of chess table is made of beautiful solid light brown wood, varnished well to display the wood''s texture. The 15" X 15 "chess board itself is made of brown and white marble.

    Liboo opened the drawer and took out a white queen piece and was mesmerized while observing it. The queen piece is made of white marble and looks like a miniature statue of a European royal. The details in the other chess pieces are not inferior to the queen, like for example the bishop piece that looks like a miniature statue of a Catholic Pope. "I ¨C can''t accept this son." Liboo suddenly said after examining it. This made Tayaw smile bitterly.

    In Tayaw''s previous life, Liboo was also a very practical man. Tayaw never saw him own something that is beautiful just because he liked it. Liboo just bought things he deemed necessary. Once when Tayaw was in his 30s he tried gifting Liboo a nice leather jacket and Liboo tried to return it to him. There a few more times similar things happened. "Take it dad. I know you like chess. Maybe you can even get Payew and Agew play with you." Tayaw said. At this, Liboo no longer hesitated and accepted the gift. "It''s a beautiful table. We''ll make it last for generations." Liboo told Tayaw in gratitude.

    After everyone in the family has put away their presents, Tayaw and Kilat started cooking for lunch. Because of the earlier events, Liboo also decided to call it a day from driving. He called his fellow van drivers and informed them of his afternoon off. After having a sumptuous lunch, the family gathered in the living room to watch Teungeb''s famous noon time TV show. As the show arrived at a boring segment, Kilat remembered something and muted the TV. "Son, you said the guitar you brought is nice, right? Can you play it?" Kilat asked Tayaw. "Sure. I''ll play a song I wrote myself." Tayaw replied. The couple was surprised but didn''t ask any questions. Tayaw opened the guitar case and took out the guitar, which the family finally saw for the first time. They can''t tell exactly why it''s a better guitar, but they feel that it is. "My Home" is a song Tayaw composed in his previous life. It will never be a hit song, but it is a good song, one of those songs that one keeps to themselves and enjoy very much because of the song''s intimate sound.

    After finally tuning the guitar, Tayaw started plucking the guitar for the intro. The notes from the guitar produced a warm and welcoming feeling that reverberated across the living room. It also made amplified the feeling of homeliness in the house. Kilat rested her head and snuggled to Liboo who was sitting next to her. With this, Tayaw started singing as well.

    "In the town I was born and raised

    birds sing, cold breeze brush my face

    Time pass slowly while in a daze

    in the house where I was raised.

    Word leaves bitter taste in my mouth

    In faraway lands from north to south

    From east to west I always felt doubts

    Oh, I miss my town, I miss the house

    Where I was born and raised."

 Chapter 28 - Tax, Impromptu Gig, Surprise

    December 27, 2010. It was already 1pm when Tayaw arrived back in Ouigab with Payew and Agew for a two day visit. Despite being a minor, Tayaw''s parents actually allowed him to bring his brothers with him when he asked them. Tayaw with his age, and how long he''s been driving in his current life only holds a restricted driver''s license. Because of this, he is not legally allowed to drive any immediate family member under the age of 18. This shows how much Kilat and Liboo trust Tayaw. Tayaw''s purpose of visit to Ouigab is to pay his taxes and play in the city with his brothers. Before starting his business in Ouigab, they had lunch at a restaurant of Agew''s choosing

    After lunch, they headed to Tayaw''s apartment to print out all the sales report Topaz gave Tayaw, and drove to Ouigab''s Internal Revenue Beaureu to report his income in the last six months and pay his taxes. He did not leave Payew and Agew in his apartment just to be safe.

    He forgot to consider his taxes because in his previous life, it''s the construction enterprise that he worked for that withhold the taxes in his income and pay his income tax on his behalf. He was in the same situation in his current life with the online tutorial company. Being self-employed to him is foreign.

    "Wanna come inside with me? It''s a boring office though." Tayaw asked his brothers. "I''d rather stay here, bro." Payew said. "I wanna go." Agew on the other hand, wanted to look. "I can''t leave you here alone Payew, come with us. It won''t take long anyway; you can play with my phone." Tayaw told Payew. Payew just gave a stink eye to Agew, who just ignored it, before nodding.

    After entering inside, the two younger brothers felt overwhelmed by the crowded office. Payew got over it quickly and started playing Tayaw''s phone. Agew meanwhile, was silently observing the office and the office workers. Seeing his brothers settle themselves on a bench beside the entrance, Tayaw went to do his thing.

    After he paid his taxes, the three came out of the Tax Office after spending 30 minutes in it. Payew and Agew excitedly entered the pickup truck. Tayaw, on the other hand, was shell-shocked. Out of the 400000BGC gross income he reported, he paid a total of 32% amounting to 128000BGC. "hOlY sH*T! No wonder rich people always avoid taxes. Jesus Christ." Tayaw cursed out loud as he slammed the door of his pick-up truck.

    "Man, what''s wrong?" Payew asked, surprised at Tayaw''s outburst. "No. Nothing. I just paid huge in tax." Tayaw replied. "Well? How much was it?" Payew, still not mature enough to ask things about money, innocently asked. Tayaw found Payew''s directness hilariously fresh and calmed down a lot. "Well, see that car over there? I could buy three of those with the tax money I just paid." Tayaw said as he pointed at a 2007 Honda Civic. "YOU''RE RICH!!!" Payew exclaimed. "A little. If people don''t buy my books, I will become poor again. That''s why mom and dad are always telling me to save." Tayaw replied. "Why pay then?" Agew cut in. Tayew started the driving to their next stop while explaining to them how taxes work and why people pay them.

    In his previous life, when he peaked at earning 250000 BGC a year, the taxes he paid is also 30% of his gross income, he just did not pay directly and the company did it for him so he didn''t realize how large 30% of income was. This time, he watched as his tax was computed and personally cut and transferred 128,000BGC away from his bank account that he really felt the sting. Thankfully in Teungeb, people are only taxed on their income tax up to 32% unlike other countries where the tax rate progresses even up to 47% or else he would pay more than just 32%. Still, he could not get it out of his head how large 32% income tax really is for someone who earns big. If for example, he became the CEO of a company who gets paid 2,000,000BGC a year, he will pay 640,000BGC in taxes if he''s single with no tax deductibles and will only keep 1,360,000BGC for himself.

    They drove next to a bank for Tayaw to open college funds for his brothers. The college funds he started each contained 100,000BGC and with the interest rate of .25%, the funds will grow an average of 2,000BGC each year after taxes. This is the bare minimum of the recommended amount of starting a college fund, but he can always add more in the future. With this final expense, Tayaw''s savings was wiped out and left with only 18,000BGC in his own savings account. Despite this, he felt more relaxed as he finally felt that his brothers'' futures will be smoother.

    At 3PM, the trio went back to Tayaw''s apartment to take a rest. They just did a 5-hour travel and visited two offices so they felt spent. After napping for an hour and a half, the trio went out to a snack bar for a quick recharge. While eating in the snack bar, Tayaw noticed the deserted tables, definitely a result of students going home to their hometowns for the holidays. This gave Tayaw an idea. He took his phone from Agew and called Rudy.

    "Hello Sir. Are you guys open tonight?" Tayaw asked. "We are. Although it''s Monday, we were closed during the Christmas day so we have to catch up tonight. Why?" Rudy explained. "Do you have open spots for tonight?" Tayaw asked hoping for a vacant spot. "Yes! We were actually planning on opening at 7pm because we only have 4 performers tonight out of the usual 6 and we expect fewer customers too. Are you available?" Rudy was glad that Tayaw can come. "Yes. But I''m bringing my little brothers. One''s 14, one''s 11. I wanna show them what''s up." Tayaw said, hoping that Rudy will allow his brothers in the bar. "It''s okay. Just this once, alright? The servers will have fewer things to do so I can ask them or even Rocky to look after your brothers while you perform." Rudy accepted Tayaw''s request.

    "Who was that?" Payew asked after overhearing parts of the phone call. "It''s a friend. Do you guys know where I like to have fun sometimes??? Tayaw replied and lured his brothers to go with him to the bar. "Is it cool?" Agew asked. "I think so. You''ll know when we get there." Tayaw replied. "Sure. It''s boring in your apartment anyway." Payew also wanted in. They then strolled back to the apartment and picked up Tayaw''s guitar and stomp box and drove to ROH Factory.

    It was already quarter to 6pm when Tayaw parked his pick-up truck in a vacant spot in front of the bar. Tayaw noticed that the bar''s main door is actually already open. Tayaw figured that Rudy probably decided to open early because of him. The trio entered the bar and Tayaw left his brothers in the care of the bartender by the bar counter while he went backstage to talk to Rudy. "Boss. Why does it seem like your customers are early." Tayaw asked Rudy when he noticed that there are already around forty people in the bar room when he walked in the bar. "Oh! You''re playing the stomp box this time? Good good. About the customers, I actually was not expecting it either. Only two minutes after we opened the doors, a group already walked in." Rudy explained. "So, who''s performing tonight?" The two talked before Tayaw headed out into the stage to begin his gig.

    Meanwhile, in the bartender''s counter, Payew is talking to the bartender while Agew is playing with Tayaw''s phone. A minute later, the bartender suddenly pointed at the stage. "Oh. That''s your brother." The bartender said to Payew and Agew. They turned around and were surprised to see Tayaw go up the stage and plug in his instruments. They could only watch as Tayaw started plucking his guitar and already began his introductions which he had not done since October. "Good evening folks. Belated Merry Christmas to you all. Are you all enjoying your holidays?" Tayaw asked the crowd as a warm up which the crowd responded with a soft but polite applause. "Good. Some of you might recognize me, but to our new patrons, I''m Tayaw, your opening act tonight. I actually have decided to take a break from playing here for a while, but when I heard from the owner that you guys are here tonight despite the holidays; I just had to come to see. I have not practiced in a while too, so I need your support." Tayaw said as he pleased with stage bullcrap. It was however, to his intention, received warmly as they clapped for him once again.

    "Tonight''s line-up will consist of yours truly, followed by ¡­ " as Tayaw was introducing himself and the next performers, Payew and Agew who were initially surprised are now looking at Tayaw in pride as they watch him interact with a supportive and cooperative crowd. "¡­ So sit back, relax, and have a few drinks as the ROH Factory makes music for you tonight." After a few strums and a sudden stop, Tayaw finally ended his introduction and was replied with a round of applause from the crowd who felt welcomed by Tayaw''s introduction.

    Tayaw then looked at the bar counter to see his brothers watching him with undivided attention. Satisfied with this, Tayaw once again started plucking his guitar as an intro to his first song. However, he did not sing immediately but interacted more with the crowd. "We know it''s the holidays, but aren''t you all tired of hearing Christmas songs all the time?" Tayaw asked which the crowd unexpectedly responded to enthusiastically. "Okay. I did not expect that honesty. I guess I''m throwing the Christmas songs I prepared then." Tayaw showed an exaggerated disappointment which the crowd was amused at. "Anyway, I see a lot of couples in the crowd tonight, so my first song will be for you." Tayaw said as he finally began singing.

    Meanwhile in the backstage, Rudy is very satisfied with how Tayaw is stretching his set. He is still short of 1 performer so he has to extend each performer''s gig by 10 minutes each to last the line-up until midnight. He did not see the usual improvisation and adlibs that usually excites him in Tayaw''s sets but he very much enjoyed Tayaw''s new sound with the addition of the stomp box in his repertoire.

    After the gig, Tayaw brought his two agitated brothers to a restaurant for dinner, ignoring his brothers'' questions while driving on the way. After ordering their food, Tayaw''s eyes were attracted by the waitress'' curvy h.i.p.s and perky bottom who was walking back to submit their orders. His appreciation was cut when Payew suddenly spoke. "When did you become a rock star?" Payew asked in excitement. Agew was also looking at him in anticipation. "What rock star? I''m just a bar musician. I have been doing it since September after my teaching job was over." Tayaw explained. "You sang like a famous singer though. You weren''t that good back in Okuba." Payew was insistent. "I practiced a lot for a month. Remember I left Okuba in July? I was practicing hard while teaching." Tayaw replied with an on the spot lie. "One month is not enough right?" Payew was not buying it. "Well, I also practiced hard in October, November and before I went home for Christmas. I???m better now than I was in September." Tayaw took a sung at Payew''s question. "It''s still not enough though! I also play the guitar and I have no idea how to play like you did." Strike one, Payew was getting frustrated at Tayaw''s answers and pitched a non-question question. "Fine. I was already practicing HARD ever since middle school, okay?" Tayaw swung once more at the pitch. "I didn''t see you practice." Agew cut in giving Tayaw two strikes. "I was hiding it from mom and dad. I know they will get mad if I don''t study." Tayaw swung with a powerful but risky lie. Payew and Agew who are still in the age where they are scared of consequences from their parents, understood and took the bait. Tayaw knocked the final pitch of questions out of the park.

    "So before I knew it, I became really good. Also, underage people like us are not allowed in bars, so please don''t tell mom and dad, alright?" Tayaw said while happily running the bases in his mind..

 Chapter 29 - Lake Tabila

    January 1, 2011 ¨C New Year''s Day. 10 AM

    After a late night with the family and neighbors'' New Year celebration, Tayaw woke up groggily on the living room''s couch. His eyes were tired from the bright fireworks and the smoke that irritated his eyes. While adjusting his blurry vision, he could not help but take a glimpse at the only clear thing in his vision. "View Points ¨C 2,265,324". He notices that the small display of the View Points in his vision gleams whenever it reached another million.

    He realized before that a View Point does not mean the actual number an individual who already enjoyed one of his works. It''s the number of times a person positively received any of Tayaw''s work. He noticed this when one day, his View Point increased by one when Chala was reading the manuscript of the fairy tales'' a.d.u.l.t version for the first time, despite already giving a View Point when he enjoyed reading the manuscript of the children''s version that Tayaw e-mailed when Tayaw was still recruiting an agent. This means that if Tayaw released a total of 5 books, a person can contribute as much as 5 View Points if they enjoyed all of Tayaw''s 5 books.

    He also realized that he can access the void now as long as he has at least a million View Points. He found out about this during the second day of Tayaw and his brothers'' visit in Ouigab, when the display of his View Points gleamed when it reached 2 million points. While he was watching the View Points slowly grow for a minute, he was suddenly transported once again in the white void. He also had access to the roulette but he didn''t play because he knows he still has plenty of pieces he has not shared yet with the world. So with a thought of "I want to get out of here", he was transported back to the real world.

    He unlocked his phone and saw an e-mail notification from Topaz. As he opened the Sales Report, he was satisfied with the combined 1.1 million sold copies both nationally and internationally. Tayaw''s fairy tales have already hit the international book stores back in December 15 last year so the huge sales were expected. Today also marks the release of his books in non-English speaking countries like Russia, China, or Korea.

    He sat up from the couch and went to his truck to get his laptop. Because he has no access to a bank and the nearest ATM machine is a few kilometers away, he logged in on his bank account using online banking. He was satisfied at the 7-digit number his savings account currently has. Earlier in the morning at 8 AM, Topaz already transferred his royalties amounting to 2,500,000BGC after Chala''s cut was deducted. He is currently tempted to splurge but stopped himself quickly after realizing that someone his age does not have much use with the money he currently has without an a.d.u.l.t watching over his shoulder. After metaphorically bathing in the feeling of being a millionaire, he closed his laptop and headed to the kitchen.

    Today, the family will take a short trip for a picnic beside Lake Tabila through the side of the town of Bogma, so Tayaw decided to prepare some of the food they would enjoy during the picnic.

    He grabbed a big wheeled ice box he recently purchased and carried dragged it in front of the fridge. Opening the freezer, he took out huge ice cubes and stuffed them into the ice box. Next, he opened the fridge and took out a 4 liter Tupperware containing the potato salad he made in the previous evening and laid it among the bed of ice inside the box.

    Potato salad is one of the easiest dishes to cook, and Tayaw knows how to make a good one. According to his own potato salad recipe for five people, one would need: 3kg of Yellow Finn potatoes, 2 ? cups of mayonnaise, 1 cup of pickle relish, 3 tbsp. of yellow mustard, 1 ? tbsp. apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp. squeezed lemon juice, 1 tbsp. paprika, 5 hardboiled eggs, 5 celery stalks, 2/3 cup of sweet white onions, and salt and pepper. He uses Yellow Finn potatoes because they maintain their shape after boiling them to softness, adding vinegar in boiling the potatoes form a thin crust along the surface of the potato which helps the potato hold its shape. The lemon juice is used to neutralize the smell of the vinegar during mixing process. He uses white onion due to its sweet and mellow taste while still packing a punch of that onion flavor. The amount of salt and pepper also depends on his mood.

    Tayaw then sealed the ice box along with various beverages and dragged it to the back of his pick-up.

    He went back to the fridge and took out two tupperware trays of the few kilograms of chicken and pork he cleaned, washed, and massaged with salt and pepper the previous night. In his previous life, Tayaw and the Percussive Corrections often gather once a month for barbecue while jamming and talking life. Tayaw has been the main cook during those gatherings and is confident in his grilling skills. He also grabbed a jar of his favorite pre-made barbecue sauce in the condiments cabinet and together with the trays of chicken and pork, loaded them to the back of his truck.

    "Good morning dad." Tayaw greeted Liboo. Liboo, who just woke up as well, was dragging the family''s grill and a few bags of charcoal to load on Tayaw''s truck as well. "Good morning. I''ll go get the folding table and the chairs later, got all the other things?" Liboo asked while yawning. "Well, just the ketchup and mayonnaise for the lettuce and cuc.u.mbers and we''re good to go." Tayaw replied. The family is only planning to wash their face and brush their teeth. After all, the picnic is just among them, the kids will also take a dip in the lake, so it''s fine to stink a little.

    It''s already 11 am when they reached the Tabila Lake and parked the truck on the parking spot intended for visitors of the lake. "Oh. Looks like we''re the only ones." Kilat said as she pointed at the shores of the lake that is empty of people. Lake Tabila is a famous spot in Nabla Province but people who visit the side from the town of Bogma are a lot fewer compared to the other more scenic sides of the lake. It''s still Lake Tabila with its blue clear waters, and with the Bogma side closer to Okuba, it''s convenient for the family to have a picnic here.

    A few minutes later, the family already set the grill while the two kids already changed to their swimming trunks. While Tayaw fired up the charcoals into embers, Kilat and Liboo are also setting up the tables and chairs. Payew who just brought the last things from the truck, is now playing the guitar Tayaw brought home last Christmas. Agew who was silent the whole time during the drive, is happily playing sand by the lake''s beach.

    While grilling the chicken and pork, Tayaw is teaching Payew some plucking and strumming patterns on the guitar. "Good. Keep practicing that for a while. Don''t just resort to two strumming patterns. Also, do not use an excessive strumming pattern if it doesn''t fit. Sure, the rhythm you were using goes with the rhythm of the song but it just sounds off." Tayaw explained to Payew as he noticed that Payew is using just whatever strumming pattern. "Give me. Listen to this." Payaw took the guitar and started an on the spot arrangement of the rock song Payew was playing. He started strumming a rhythmic pattern but is only using downward strums. Half strum ¨C whole strum ¨C half strum ¨C whole strum, and started singing. "¡­I play this song but I can''t love you anymore¡­" after the verse was done, he kept strumming the rhythm. "See? In this part of the song, it''s like the beginning of the story so the guitar strumming should be simple as well." Tayaw explained while Payew nodded. "¡­ I''d rather pretend that the sky doesn''t know my wish ¡­" Tayaw continued to the first chorus while changing the pattern a bit but still following the same rhythm. "This is only the first chorus which is tells us first the core of the song, so while it has a little more ''intense'' strumming, it should still be simple and not too much." Tayaw explained further the reason of the strumming change. "¡­ How hard has it been for you even after a thousand years passed ¡­" Tayaw continued singing the rest of the song while teaching Payew the reason in adjusting strumming patterns.

    A few minutes later, the chicken and pork are finally done and the family started their sumptuous lunch. Half of the lettuce and cuc.u.mber was made into salad by Kilat to neutralize the grease from the barbecue, and saved the half of for a healthy snack later.

    After lunch, Payew joined Agew on the beach and they entered the water to swim. Liboo and Kilat were not worried as long as they don''t go any deeper. After all, the brothers are excellent swimmers. Finally alone with his parents, Tayaw started speaking with them. "Mom, dad. How many more years before we can pay the house?" Tayaw suddeny asked. Liboo was shocked at the direct question from Tayaw. "Why?" Liboo asked. "Nothing. It''s just bothering me." Tayaw replied. "You should not be worrying about stuff like this yet, son." Kilat also said. "So, how many years, really? I just heard that the interests are insane." Tayaw still insisted not afraid of offending his parents. Liboo and Kilat exchanged glances for a while before Kilat nodded. "Well, son. We moved in to the house when we got married so that was 19 years ago. We signed a 30 ¨C year mortgage so we still have 11 years." Liboo answered. "I see. I kind of overheard you guys pay 2,200BGC each month for mortgage? I''m guessing the house is valued at 500,000 BGC when you guys signed the loan." Tayaw said to the surprise of the couple. "Yes. You were right. Where did you learn about these things?" Liboo said. "Uhm. It''s just discussed in passing by a professor that banks make most their money from mortgages¡­ We pay 780,000BGC in thirty years for a 500,000BGC house. Unbelievable." Tayaw sighed. "Well. That''s how the world works son. Fortunately, we can afford it. With you already shouldering you and your brothers'' college funds, we may be able to save up to chip away at the principal balance of the house." Kilat said. But that simplified statement had a history of struggle. Tayaw especially imagined their struggle when Kilat wasn''t a teacher yet, and when he was still a baby.

    "Mom, dad. If you don''t have financial burdens, what would you two rather do aside from teaching or driving a van?" Tayaw asked suddenly. "I don''t know. I''m making better money than your white-collar mom by driving a van, so I''m good." Liboo said with a chuckle which earned him a slap to the shoulder from Kilat. "I don''t know either. It''s always been my dream to be a teacher. I just wish it''s easier to teach teenagers." KIlat answered.

    "By the way. You should be concerned of your dreams, not ours. Why are you asking these questions?" Liboo asked, curious what has gotten into Tayaw.

    "Don''t worry; I am concerned about my dreams. Mom, Dad, guess what happened to me this morning?" Tayaw changed the subject to a more uplifting one. "No idea. You were with us the whole time. What could have possibly happened?" Kilat answered. "What? Your crush finally texted you back?" Liboo teased. Kilat also chuckled at Liboo''s joke.

    "Oh. Nothing like that. Your son just became a millionaire."

 Chapter 30 - Liboo

    Ever since July of last year, my son Tayaw has changed a lot. The change was a welcomed one, but very puzzling as well. Before going to college, he took it upon himself to wash and clean my van spotless that some of my regular passengers even appreciated it. I would not also admit it to my wife, but the lunch he packs for me tasted better than the lunch my wife packs for me. When did he learn to cook? Since when was he a clean freak? Since when did he become attentive on social cues? He no longer talks ridiculous idealistic stuff like a kid, and has become very pragmatic. One night over the dining table, when Payew said he will have a big farm someday, Tayaw genuinely asked how Payew is planning to do it.

    Tayaw once dreamed of becoming a famous singer so I bought him his first guitar. Now, however, he expresses a LOT of cynicism at the celebrities he sees on TV. For example, one night last year, when we were watching TV, there was a celebrity being interviewed about her current life and fame. When the interview got to the point where the celebrity started crying while telling a story about how she starved herself for her award winning role, my wife and I started feeling bad for her. Our sympathy for the actress however was cut short when we heard Tayaw''s comment. "You call that a struggle? What do you call the situation of an unemployed fresh graduate living in a bas.e.m.e.nt apartment who eats instant noodles and crackers for lunch and dinner?" What he said wasn''t exactly funny, but the way he said it like he experienced it had me crying in tears. It also made my wife lost it when she heard what he said next. "Mom, Dad, you feel bad for this lady? I''m going to college soon and you''ll spend a lot on my tuition on top of the mortgage payments, you should feel bad for yourselves." Tayaw said while shrugging his shoulders.

    He also laughs a lot at stuff only a.d.u.l.ts find funny. This is why I felt closer to him than ever. Despite this, I can no longer tell if he''s lying and talking to him feels like I''m talking to a fellow a.d.u.l.t. I mean, registering for his own social security number? Registering for a tax ID? Setting up his own bank account? Getting hired for a job that has great pay for his age? How he does these very seamlessly aside from previous experience is beyond me. I admit that I''m not around my kids that much except in the evenings, but it surprised me that even my wife was shocked at Tayaw''s English fluency.

    With all of these changes, I became more and more assured that Tayaw can take care of himself and will get far in life in the future. However, one day in November, I didn''t expect him to get far in life that quickly. He came home with his own brand new, fully paid pick-up truck. He also brought along gifts for the family. A part of Tayaw''s mystery was also solved when he explained that he''s the author who wrote a recently popular book and made money from it. However, I lived my life believing that nothing this good will last forever so I wanted Tayaw to save his money and avoid spending big. My wife and I knew how hard it is to live hand-to-mouth every day and we did not want Tayaw to experience it as well. We were even more adamant that he save his money when he told us he wanted to shoulder his brothers'' future college expenses. Tayaw however knew how to argue and said "No, dad. I think it''s just right for me to do so. Just like you, there''s nothing too much for me when it concerns my brothers'' futures. Even though making a college fund for us three will wipe my current savings, it''s worth it." Tayaw said in conviction. I don''t know why, but even if I refused, I feel that Tayaw will do it anyway. Tayaw wants to spend on something that will benefit his brothers for their entire lives, so me and my wife finally relented.

    During Tayaw''s final year in high school, I noticed that he has not touched the guitar as often as he had middle school, so I thought he gave up on his dream becoming a rock star. I was surprised however when he played us his original song. The way he plucks his guitar, the way he sings, the way he expresses his emotions, it felt like I was watching a real professional musician. I also played the guitar as a kid but I was stuck just playing chords, which is also the level of skill I saw Tayaw''s guitar playing I last saw him have. Tayaw''s current skill in the guitar however, is beyond my understanding. I can also pluck the guitar but I cannot imagine making it sound as beautiful and as smoothly as how Tayaw can. How does he know where to press on the higher frets? What were those chords he played that I have never seen before? It was mindblowing.

    What''s more impressive to me, is his song. It''s like I''m listening to a country star in my living room. The song he played can be played at any radio and no one would think it was made by an amateur. It will never be as popular as those annoying pop songs on the radio, but his original song is the most genuine song I have ever heard.

    Two days after Christmas, Tayaw said he was to pay taxes in Ouigab and wants to bring his brothers to play as well. Kilat and I decided to let him because we also want Payew and Agew to see the city. Both of them never spent more than a day in any city so we decided this is a good opportunity for them to see the difference of the lives of people from the city and the relaxing life in our town.

    The next night, when they finally got back, I saw something strange. Before Tayaw left for Ouigab for college, he was able to gain the respect of his brothers. The night they got back from Ouigab, however, Payew and Agew had a strange look in their eyes when they are looking at Tayaw. It was bizarre to look at. I know that look in their eyes. I saw it many times in people who see their favorite sports stars. I asked them what happened in Ouigab but the three would not tell me. I guessed that it could not be that bad so I dropped the matter.

    Today, I''m having a picnic with my family beside Lake Tabila. We just had our lunch and I have to say, Tayaw''s barbecue must be the most perfect barbecue I''ve ever had. The meat is thoroughly cooked through and through without getting burnt. His potato salad was also great although I had a hard time when Tayaw just had to ask "Dad, who makes the better potato salad? Me, or mom?" I know he was messing with me but my wife is actually waiting for an answer. Anyone with taste buds can tell that Tayaw makes the better potato salad, but I just could not admit that in front of my wife. If I answered honestly, she will bring it up for months every chance she gets. I can''t have that because she cooks my meals. "Your mom, of course. You still have a long way before you can make a potato salad as good as the one she makes." I replied hoping that my wife will buy it.

    We continued talking. My wife and I also answered his questions about mortgages and banks. It even got strange when he asked us what we would rather do if we didn''t have burdens. I''m thinking he must be at that age when he explores his purpose. I did that as well when I was his age. I too had dreams of opening my own Auto Repair shop; I also know that my wife had dreams of becoming a school principal like her grandmother back in Alib. Reality however is harsh on everyone.

    "¡­You should be concerned of your dreams, not ours. Why are you asking these questions?" I asked Tayaw to change the subject. I''m already too old to think of my own dreams.

    "Don''t worry; I am concerned about my dreams. Mom, Dad, guess what happened to me this morning?" Tayaw asked, smiling. "No idea. You were with us the whole time. What could have possibly happened?" Kilat answered. That was true. I saw him already preparing stuff when we woke up and he was also with us the entire time and we didn''t see anything special happen. I on the other hand am hoping he finally gets a girlfriend. "What? Your crush finally texted you back?" I said.

    "Oh. Nothing like that. Your son just became a millionaire." He said. "What?!" My wife exclaimed. True. I know I didn''t hear him wrong despite the wind coming from the lake. "Did you say you just became a millionaire? Are you joking?" I asked to clarify. My son, who was just a regular teenager not even a year ago, is already a millionaire? "Yep. If you convert it to American Dollars, I''m still a millionaire." Tayaw replied. I''m not a Christian but, Jesus Christ. "I thought your books were already selling well? How did you get so much more money?" My wife asked more questions. "My books were actually released internationally in the middle of December." Tayaw explained. While my wife is asking him more questions, Tayaw''s earlier questions started connecting in my mind, and basing on his stubbornness to start a college fund for his brothers'', I realized what he''s getting at and I looked at Tayaw with wide eyes. Tayaw also nodded.

    "Yes. Dad. That''s why I''ve been asking the questions earlier." Tayaw confirmed. "So you want to pay for the mortgage? How can we let you do that?" Kilat asked with instinctive refusal. "Mom. As long as we owe that house to the bank, it will never truly be ours. That''s my home as well. Please let me do this." Tayaw pleaded. "It''s so much money, son. You know this is difficult to accept." I also told him. That''s still almost 200,000 BGC. "I know dad. But if we pay the mortgage now instead of paying monthly like we have been doing, we can save a lot of money by avoiding the interest." Tayaw said, raising a good point. "That''s true, honey." Kilat also agreed after a moment of consideration. I, on the other hand is still hesitant. I don''t know why. "But we can''t just let him pay with his own money." I said. "Dad. Yes it''s my money, but what about family? I can''t help my family?" Tayaw raised another good point I cannot refute. Why am I hesitating? Why am I refusing? If I were in Tayaw''s shoes, wouldn''t I do the same as he''s doing now?

    I have always been a practical man, the world as I understand it is very practical. A pie just doesn''t fall out of the sky; one should work hard to achieve what they want. Even billionaires work hard every day; even lottery winners who don''t work hard to keep their money eventually return to poverty. What Tayaw brought upon our family broke my understanding, but also reinforced it. The world is built by people who work hard, but there are also people who built it who outsmart the hard workers. I finally understand that my son is one of those smart people who outsmart hardworking people like me.

    "Alright. I don''t know what we did to have you in our life, but I could only Thank you, son." I finally relented.

 Chapter 31 - Prospect

    January 2, 2011 2pm

    Tayaw arrived back in Ouigab with a clear heart and mind. During his picnic with his family, he was glad that he was able convince his parents to accept his help. He wished to stay longer but Northwestern resume classes on January 3. He did not immediately go home to his house and bought some gifts for Jenna and Nelly Lei.

    Jenna''s gift, like Tayaw decided is a pair of high top Converse sneakers with some insoles. Nelly''s gift, on the other hand, Tayaw had a hard time figuring. In the end, he just bought three bottles of wine housed in a nicely crafted wooden box.

    Jenna has for the entire semester, always helped Tayaw every time he skipped classes in two subjects. She fills in Tayaw''s name in the attendance sheet, and shares her notes for Tayaw to read the next time he attended class. Nelly too, despite the small matter she helped with, contributed to Tayaw''s fortune. Chala, on the other hand refused at any instance when Tayaw raised the subject of giving him a gift, like now.

    "Mr. Rotala. What''s up? What do you want for a late Christmas gift?" Tayaw phoned Chala. "Nothing you should be the one receiving one from me." Chala replied. "I don''t want anything for now that you can give me though." Tayaw chuckled in reply. "Right.. Oh by the way. Are you back in Ouigab? Buy yourself a second phone for business purposes, and give me the number." Chala recommended. "That''s a good idea. I''ll do that then." Tayaw replied. After a few chatting a few more minutes, Tayaw ended the call and went to the nearest electronic store.

    He decided to buy another IPhone 4. His personal phone is black, so he decided to buy a white one. He took out his personal sim card from the black iPhone and transferred inserted it to the new iPhone. He will now use the new white iPhone as his personal phone while his old black one will be his business phone. He then bought a new sim card and registered it for a plan and texted Chala his business number.

    After having a late lunch, Tayaw decided to window shop for furniture and electronics. After his lease is over in his studio apartment, he is planning on renting a house and moving there by the end of the month. While talking to a clerk in a furniture store, Tayaw''s business phone rang from the call of an unknown number. "Hello?" Tayaw answered the call. "Mr. Grimmauld? Is it you?" a female voice came from the other side of the call. "Yes. What can I do for you?" Tayaw asked in his accommodating phone voice but inside his head, he was thinking ''Chala, you cunning f*ck''. "Good afternoon Mr. Grimmauld. I''m Ophelia Cadali from The Nabla Observer. Are you available to sit down with me for an interview?" Ophelia asked. "I''m sorry. I''m not giving an interview for the mean time. I will, however contact you once I''m ready." Tayaw replied politely. One thing he learned about journalists is either they''re good people doing God''s work, or they''re hyenas hungry for headlines. He read Nabla Observer once in a while and he knows that they are a trusted newspaper. Despite his good impression of the newspaper, he does not know if Ophelia really is Ophelia from Nabla Observer or just a tabloid journalist posing as Ophelia. "I understand. Oh. Instead of a sit-down interview, are you free having a phone interview instead?" Ophelia insisted. "I''m sorry, not today. You can send me a photo of your employee ID to my agent''s e-mail, and I''ll think about it." Tayaw refused the idea. Tayaw then excused himself and ended the call.

    He pulled out his personal phone and called Chala again. "Hey! What was that? You could have at least warned me." Tayaw complained. "I''m sorry. Come on. It''s just one journalist, and someone I know and trust at that. There are more who are bothering me." Chala said. "Why are you even doing this? It''s not a part of your job." Tayaw said. "I have to at least work for the shares I''m receiving from you. Your books are basically selling themselves so I have nothing else to do. Oh, by the way, there are already people asking for rights to make your book into children''s picture books and cartoons. Some are even from overseas. What do you think? " Chala asked. "Don''t give it to them. I am writing down the second volume currently. Six months after we publish it, we can sell the rights of making picture books to Topaz. Let''s consider it a sign of gratitude that they did not demand all rights to my books when we made the deal. The cartoon people, I''ll think about it." Tayaw said. "True. Maybe because they''re an educational books publisher, but if they were your regular publisher, they would have tried." Chala said.

    After the phone call, Tayaw called Jenna next. "Hey baby girl. How was your Christmas break?" Tayaw said. "It was alright. What''s with the call?" Jenna asked who was confused by the phone call. "Are you backing in Ouigab yet?" Tayaw answered. "I''m actually on my way. The bus will probably arrive in an hour. Why?" "I will give you your gift of course. Are you with any of your home town friends?" Tayaw asked. He wants to give the gift without anyone else knowing. "I thought you weren''t serious with the shoe lifts. Well. I''m actually alone. Some of them arrived earlier already. Some have their classes resume later in the week." Jenna replied. "What? I thought your high school sweetheart will at least accompany you." Tayaw said. Jenna and her boyfriend often call each other between classes so he figured they would be inseparable if they are with each other in person. "He had to leave for San Prudencia earlier. His classes also start tomorrow." Jenna explained. "Where''s your bus station, I''ll come pick you up." Tayaw proposed. After the call, Tayaw drove his pick-up truck to pick up Jenna.

    "Damn. Why do you have a huge luggage? It''s probably bigger than you." Tayaw said as he loaded Jenna''s trolley back in the back seat. Jenna has already gotten used to Tayaw always picking at her size. "I wanted to expand my wardrobe so I picked up more clothes this time. How about you? Your parents must be rich. How do you have a car already?" Jenna asked surprised at Tayaw''s vehicle. "My parents are not rich. I saved this up working as an online tutor and as a musician." Tayaw said in half-truth as they started their way to Jenna''s dorm. "Bull! I thought your work there was done? Musician too? You can''t possible earn much from that." Jenna was not buying it. She asked Tayaw once why his English is good and Tayaw informed her of his job at the Online teaching company. "It was. But I''m a competent musician. A gig at a wedding here, a gig at a bar there, they pay well and when acc.u.mulated, I saved enough for the down payment of my car." Tayaw explained. Recently, he''s been getting better at hiding his identity as an author even if he didn''t have to.

    "Huh. Good for you. I also played the violin as a child but I got tired of practicing." Jenna also confessed her violin experience. This sparked Tayaw''s interest. "What pieces are you playing? Classical?" Tayaw asked. "Not really. I learned classical at first but I''m bad at reading music sheets so I mostly played by ear if I hear a tune that I like. I forgot now how to read music." Tayaw''s heart is starting to beat faster. "So, are you good at picking up the tunes?" Tayaw inquired further. "I think so. If I hear the melody of a chorus of a song, it will take me a few minutes to feel out the notes in the violin, and then I would practice how to play it. After a few hours, I can play it." Tayaw is excited of a prospect of a fiddler in Jenna. "Do you sing?" Tayaw asked. "I did when I was in middle school in the school choir. Why?" Jenna asked. Tayaw, who is hiding hard his excitement, answered "Oh. Nothing. I''m just thinking if I you''re good enough to be a musician." "Oh. I''m probably not." Jenna answered according to her own assessment.

    Finding out about Jenna''s violin skill gave Tayaw an idea of forming a duo with her. She also said she sang in a choir so it gave Tayaw an image of them singing in harmony. "By the way, you''re 18 now, right?" Tayaw asked. "Yep, I just turned 18 during the Christmas break." Jenna replied. If Tayaw can gig with her at the bar, he can no longer worry about curfew, which is IF Jenna agrees to play with him. "Good for you. How is school by the way?" Tayaw asked again. If Jenna finds school easy, then she can spare the time to practice for gigs. "It''s alright. Although my scores are not as good as yours, I think I''m gonna have a B+ bordering A- average at least." Jenna replied, to Tayaw''s satisfaction. "Are you still tutoring math?" "Sometimes. Do you have a client to recommend?" Jenna answered as they continued talking in the car.

    Reaching Jenna''s dorm, Tayaw unloaded Jenna''s luggage for her. "Here''s the gift. My attendance would have probably affected my grades if it weren''t for you. So thank you." Tayaw said as he handed her the shopping bag with the sneakers in it. "OH! I always wanted one of these! I can see it matching well with the clothes I brought. Thank you." Jenna said, not shy of accepting the shoes. "You really weren''t kidding about the shoe lifts¡­" Jenna''s excitement was dampened a little when she saw a few pairs of insoles under the shoe box.

    Parting with Jenna, Tayaw looked at the time and it was still 4pm. deciding it''s still early, he went to the nearest real estate broker. "Good afternoon sir, how may I help you?" A receptionist greeted Tayaw when he entered the broker''s office. "I''m looking to rent a house." Tayaw replied. Tayaw''s confidence somehow made the receptionist''s ignore Tayaw''s age. "You can talk to one of our agents there. He''s free." She replied and pointed at the table of a real estate agent.

    "Hello. I''m looking for a house for rent." Tayaw said to the agent. "Before that, may I know how old you are?" the agent asked noticing how young Tayaw is. Tayaw figured it''s unavoidable. "I''m 17, turning 18 this coming September." Tayaw replied honestly. "I see. It would be difficult." The agent said as he rubbed his chin. Tayaw knew it would be difficult for a minor to rent a property. In Teungeb, minors who enter lease agreements without their legal guardian presenet are not legally bound. So if they break the rules of the agreement, they will not be held responsible and the minor can just void the contract without consequences. This is why the agent is hesitating to talk to Tayaw. With this, Tayaw had no choice but to print a copy of his income tax return to add reassurance. "I don''t think it will be for me. Take a look at this." Tayaw took out the copy of his tax return and his Tax ID and put it on the agent''s table.

    The agent was surprised when he read the massive tax payment Tayaw made last December. With this, he took a deep breath and finally looked more accommodating. "My name is Galad. What house are you looking to rent?"

 Chapter 32 - Three Customers

    The next day at lunch break, while Tayaw was having lunch at the campus cafeteria, Jenna joined him at his table out of nowhere. "Hey Tayaw! How do they look?" Jenna asked Tayaw as she showed off the almond colored sneakers he gave her. Matching with Jenna''s white jeans she folded at the hem, the shoes were displayed fully. "It looks great. I''m relieved it fit." Tayaw replied. "That''s what I was thinking! How did you know my shoe size, you creep?" Jenna asked in jest. "Oh. I''m good at estimating. One time, when you were wearing your running shoes, I thought it was my little brother''s shoes. So with that, I bought your shoes according to my brother''s shoe size." Tayaw explained. The muscles on Jenna''s nose flexed when she heard that. "How old is your brother?" Jenna asked which she shouldn''t have. "11 years young. Why?" Tayaw replied flatly and honestly. "Then your brother must be a very big 11 year-old." Jenna huffed. "Oh. Don''t be like that. You are blessed with youthful spirit. Be thankful." Tayaw chuckled. While they were chatting, Tayaw''s phone rang.

    "Sup, boss? Looking for a musician?" Tayaw answered. Jenna''s ears also perked up when she heard Tayaw. "What, are you free? I''m one performer short. Anyway, that''s not why I called. There are people looking for you since yesterday evening." Rudy said. "Hm? What do they want? It''s not like I''ve been around much." Tayaw replied. "Oh, you don''t know them. They don''t look like bad people either, trust me I know. It''s just that they were adamant on talking to you after they saw you perform the night you brought your brothers here. They said they''ll be here tonight. Are you available?" Rudy explained. "It''s Monday though?" Tayaw said. "We are. I closed the New Year''s Eve because there barely any customers so we''re catching up today, again." Rudy replied. "Alright, I''ll be there." Tayaw said, curious of the people looking for him. "Good. Can you also fill in tonight?" Rudy asked. "Sure, but I''m opening. I can''t stay late." Tayaw accepted. "Okay. I''ll see you tonight." Rudy said as he hung up.

    Tayaw then looked at Jenna from across the table. "Wanna go out on a date tonight?" Tayaw asked. Jenna is a popular pretty girl so she knows if a guy is interested in her therefore she also knows that Tayaw is not. "Where?" Jenna coolly asked back. "To where I hang out sometimes. Today''s the first day of classes this year so I''m pretty sure we won''t be taking any homework tonight. Wanna come along?" Tayaw invited. Jenna nodded. "Alright. I''ve been going to the same places anyway. I want to go somewhere new." Jenna accepted the invite. "You want to bring someone else along?" Tayaw asked. "No. They might get a different idea when they see us." Jenna replied. "Okay then. I''ll pick you up at 5:30 in your dorm." Tayaw said. The school bell also rang.

    5:20 pm. Tayaw and Jenna started early on their way to ROH Factory. "You''re playing tonight?" Jenna asked when she saw the instruments in their cases in the back seat of the vehicle. "Yep. I wouldn''t had the boss of the bar did not ask for me." Tayaw replied. A few minutes later, they walked in ROH Factory''s bar room. "Had your first drink yet?" Tayaw started a small talk while they took a table. "Yeah. When I was 16." Jenna answered proudly. "Huh?" Tayaw raised his eyebrow at this. "Come on. I''ve been drinking on occasion since I was 16. I''m also sure you already drank a few times even if you''re not 18 yet." Jenna said. Tayaw, in his current life, had not had alcohol yet. Even in his past life, he did not drink until past 18. If Liboo was a drinker, then Tayaw would have engaged in underage drinking too. "That''s true." Tayaw nodded.

    As Tayaw saw the bar''s clock struck 5:45 as he signed at a waiter to start a tab on him. The waiter, despite knowing that Tayaw is still a minor, started the tab anyway. "Okay. Order whatever you want, on me. I, on the other hand, will have a gig to do." Tayaw excused himself and carried his guitar and stomp box to the green room. "Alright. Good luck."

    "Boss. They''re not here yet?" Tayaw asked Rudy as he walked in Rudy''s office. "Nope. They''ll probably here by the time you start your gig." "Alright. Who will be the line-up?" Tayaw asked and started to prepare for the night.

    Meanwhile in the bar room, Jenna was quite surprised at how huge the bar room is. She figured the bar could also be a restaurant during the day as it has over 40 tables that can each occupy four people and around 20 smaller tables that may be used by couples. She figured that such venue do not hire just any musician, so her impression of Tayaw''s musical skills improved. She also noticed that the walls all have sound insulation, which blew her mind. She does not know how much it is to have a room sound-proofed but she knows it''s expensive. Looking at the huge bar wrapped in sound insulation made her head spin at how much it costs.

    She was then distracted by the sound from the speakers and looked at the stage. There she saw Tayaw already setting up his guitar and an instrument she has never seen before, but could guess what it does basing on the pedal. After Tayaw was done preparing, he nodded her way and she gave him a thumb up.

    Tayaw then started his usual guitar intro to welcome the customers. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to ROH factory. Our regulars may have already seen me before, but to our new patrons, my name is Tayaw and I will be your opening act tonight. It''s actually been a while since I''ve regularly performed here so I''m feeling a bit nervous. Because of that, I need your support." Tayaw introduced himself and received a welcoming applause from the crowd. Still playing his guitar, he continued to present tonight''s line up. "Tonight''s line-up will be opened by me, Miss Amelie ..."

    Jenna, while watching this had her anticipation increase by the moment. She also clapped enthusiastically for Tayaw while saying "That''s my friend!" which also influenced the customers of the tables beside her to do clap as well.

    "Count the steps

    past the cramped and cowardly walls

    I feel sick when I catch the handle

    where are we walking now where did he go?

    Sofa and cat

    which new island I had to calmly face the anxieties

    I filled the empty cup. Maybe I''ll fall asleep a little."

    While Tayaw was playing his first song, Jenna could not help but sway along with the slow plucking of the guitar and the beating of the stomp box. Tayaw''s singing with his smooth but husky baritone voice also soothed her ears and slowly lulled her into immersion.

    "I''ll just hold you

    Stand at the end of the day

    when opening a closed door

    Home sweet home"

    Jenna while watching the entire set, forgot that it is her friend in the stage and just saw him as a good musician playing, playing to people''s hearts.

    "That''s my set everyone. Thank you." Tayaw said as he swept his thumb for the final strum. The crowd also gave him a big applause as Tayaw was unplugging his instruments.

    Tayaw then stepped down the stage but was confused as three men; all in their 40s followed him on his way backstage. "May I help you?" Tayaw asked the three. "Oh you must have heard about us from the owner." One of the men replied. Looking closer, Tayaw noticed that the three felt like office workers or professors with their casual suits and leather shoes.

    "Yes. I was informed by the owner this noon. What can I do for you, gentlemen?" Tayaw asked, curious of their business with him. "I''m Richard Caluz, this here, is Professor Ariel Dinaw from Northwestern University''s Music Department, and this here, is Professor Lopas Gitse from Ouigab College of Music." Richard introduced himself and his companions as he shook Tayaw''s hand. "That was a good set there, Mr. Dagem." Professor Dinaw complimented and he also shook Tayaw''s hand. "It''s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Dagem." Professor Gitse smiled at Tayaw, also shaking Tayaw''s hand.

    Tayaw, on the other hand is confused as to why the professors are acting polite. Only Richard is acting normal. "It''s a pleasure to meet you gentlemen. I''m sorry. Let me put away my instruments first and let''s look for somewhere to talk." Tayaw nodded as he left his instruments to the care of the other musicians he knows in the green room. After putting his guitar away, the three headed to the bar''s storage where it is quiet enough to talk.

    "I''m sorry gentlemen for our ''conference room''. It''s the only quiet place here aside from the alley." Tayaw said, not really feeling sorry. "It''s quite alright. It has a great atmosphere instead." Richard said, actually sincerely while looking around the storage room. "Indeed. We should have set up a place instead." Professor Gitse said.

    "Anyway. What made you gentlemen look for me?" Tayaw asked the three. "Let me go first. We actually saw you perform in the evening of Christmas Day Observed when we three hung out together here. I''m looking to recruit you as a guitar player after I saw your skills. Tonight''s set even reinforced my impression of you." Richard said. "May I hear about the job first?" Tayaw asked. "I just started a recording studio in South Ouigab and I need a resident guitar player. I''ve seen many guitar players but there is barely anyone with your skills. I can pay you 75BGC an hour. That is if you record flawlessly." Richard offered. Tayaw remembered in his previous life that his band friend, Hoon, was a session musician for a while and because of his great skills, he was paid 100BGC an hour. Richard, offering him a generous wage proves of his appreciation of Tayaw''s skill. "Have you informed of the owner of the bar about your needs? There are plenty of skilled guitar players here." Tayaw asked. "I did. But none of them are as consistent as you. I also noticed that you improvise a lot, which is the main reason I was looking for you." Richard said. "I will take it into consideration. While the offer is generous, I also have school. It''s going to be finals by the end of the month and I also have to maintain my grades." Tayaw did not immediately accept. "That''s fine too. I''ll make do with other musicians for now. Here''s my card, you can contact me if you''re available. The address of the studio is also there." Richard nodded in understanding as he handed Tayaw his business card. Tayaw pocketed the card while considering giving it to Hoon after Tayaw assesses Hoon''s current skills in the guitar.

    "Regarding your studies, I can offer you a guitar scholarship." Professor Gitse spoke next.

 Chapter 33 - Renting a House

    "Regarding your studies, I can offer you a guitar scholarship." Professor Gitse said to the surprise of Richard. "What? You can do that?" Richard asked. "I can''t do it directly, but I have connections. Look. There are no remarkable guitarists coming from our college, so if we can train Tayaw there, the scholarship is worth it." Professor Gitse explained.

    "Train him? What do you know about guitars? He doesn''t need your classes. I bet your ass Mr. Dagem here didn''t learn music theory or lessons but became this good through his own practice and self-learning." Professor Dinaw said. "So? He can still learn more. You can learn something every day." Professor Gitse countered. Regarding their points, while Tayaw knows that Professor Gitse is right, his heart leans more on Professor Dinaw''s argument. Many famous and critically acclaimed musicians never learned music in college. They became skilled in their instruments through practice and self-exploration and made music with just their gut. Music ultimately is an art, a self-expression. He also does not like the distant feeling of dissecting music. To him, he likes learning by doing.

    "Mr. Dagem, I on the other hand want to hire you as a lecturer for a workshop that our Music Department is planning." Professor Dinaw also raised his intentions. "You can''t do that! He doesn''t even have a degree!" Professor Gitse was surprised at Professor Dinaw''s proposal. "So what? Does he need a degree while conducting a workshop? He just has to demonstrate and teach some concepts on the guitar, and we''re good." Professor Dinaw shot down Professor Gitse. "You''re crazy¡­" Professor Gitse was speechless.

    "What exactly do I do as a lecturer?" Tayaw was interested. "You can collaborate with the professors to talk about what to teach in the workshop. What the professors will provide are concepts that they are confident you can teach." Professor Dinaw explained. "Who will attend the workshop?" Tayaw''s decision will lie in this question. "We are planning on making two workshops. One is among our current students who are interested in learning about guitar. The other workshop will target high school students and attract them to enroll in our department." Professor Dinaw explained the details. Tayaw wanted to refuse as he is not confident being a teacher, but something inside is compelling him to say yes.

    "I appreciate your offer Professor Gitse, but if you look at my grades in my current major, I''m doing very well. And I expect I will do the same in the future. Also, I like playing and learning music the way I want; through self-exploration." Tayaw expressed his opinions. "While self-exploration is good, you can learn quicker by attending courses." Professor Gitse said. "I know it will, but I like how I''m doing right now. It''s satisfying for me to learn guitar by my own wisdom. However, if there''s something I cannot learn from experience, I will enroll in your classes with my own money." Tayaw said in conviction. "Young man, I hope you change your mind in the future. The offer will still stand." Professor Gitse saw that Tayaw is currently stubborn; he decided to back down for now. ''Young man, I know you''re excellent now, but sooner or later, you will reach a chasm'' Professor Gitse thought to himself.

    After the short meeting, the trio excused themselves and left the bar. Tayaw, also hurried to Jenna''s table. It was already thirty minutes since his gig ended, so she must have been waiting for long. Fortunately, when Tayaw arrived at Jenna''s table, he saw Jenna enjoying listening to Amelie on stage while sipping on what looks like a Mojito. "Enjoying yourself?" Tayaw sat with Jenna. "Yes. You were awesome by the way. No wonder you got to save up for your car." Jenna said in while slurring her speech a little. Looking at the two empty bottles of beer on Jenna''s table and the Mojito in her hand, Tayaw was surprised at how Jenna is still alright. Despite her eyelids drooping a little, her eyes are fully awake.

    "Thank you. That lady on stage is the first musician I met here." Tayaw said as he introduced Amelie. "Yeah? She''s pretty and good. Are you two hanging out?" Jenna asked while raising her eyebrow, obviously implying something. "Good lord. You''ve had too much to drink." Tayaw just shook his head. "Did you? I heard about the recent trend of women seeking young flesh.. Hehehe." Jenna started teasing Tayaw. "No. Not my type. By the way, which set do you like? Mine or Amelie''s?" Tayaw asked for Jenna''s opinion. "Hmm.? I guess you''re really not hanging out huh. I like your performance more. You have more variations in your songs. Amelie just sang slow songs so far." Jenna answered. The two chatted until Amelie finished her set. They left the bar shortly afterwards.

    January 7, 2011 Friday. Ironstone East Ouigab

    "Good afternoon, Mr. Dagem." Galad, the real estate agent greeted Tayaw in front of a two story house. Tayaw, who just got out of his pick-up truck, was examining the fifth prospective house he is to rent. "Good afternoon. This is the first one today? Looking good already." Tayaw nodded in satisfaction. They are currently in Ironstone, a residential area of East Ouigab that is lying at the foot of a mountain.

    This is already the second day of Galad''s itinerary which consist of houses that fit Tayaw''s preferences located in the residential areas around East Ouigab. Yesterday''s houses did not satisfy Tayaw at all. They either had faulty roofing, uneven floors, covered up cracked walls with fresh painting, and weak water pressure. The last one especially puzzled Tayaw because the residential area where the house with the weak water pressure is one of the closest to the nearest water dam.

    Tayaw''s preferences for a house are that it should be at most 20 minutes'' drive away from East Ouigab''s central business district; have four big bedrooms each with their own bathrooms, a garage, a spacious living room and kitchen, and a bas.e.m.e.nt that can be accessed outside with a cellar/trap door. He wants four big bedrooms in case his family visits, and because it''s actually the minimum bedrooms that a house of Tayaw''s other preferences can have. The garage is obviously for his vehicle and the rest of the space for some miscellaneous storage. The living room and kitchen has to be spacious because Tayaw finds the wide space relaxing. Finally, he needs the garage for a practice room after soundproofing it. The reason why the bas.e.m.e.nt needs to be accessed from the outside is that even if he''s not home, it can serve as a hangout for friends he makes in the future, including his band mates. Finally, the house has to be for sale, ready for him to buy.

    Galad led Tayaw inside the house for inspection. Tayaw noticed the paint on the walls are already around two or three years old. "When was this house put up for sale?" Tayaw asked Galad. "Let''s see¡­ seven months ago." Galad answered while checking his notes. Tayaw nodded. Along with the three year old paint in the walls there was also no recent sign of renovation. "When was it built?" Tayaw asked again. "It says here 2007." Galad said. Tayaw was satisfied at this. This house is basically what it looks like since it was built. The floors of the house are also well maintained. "Do you know why the previous occupants left?" Tayaw asked. "Divorce." Galad simply replied. "Ah. That''ll do it." Tayaw nodded and checked every door, window, water pressure and the toilets and found them satisfactory. He also checked the electrical box, which was from the surface looks properly installed.

    They then headed down to the bas.e.m.e.nt. The trap door appears to be made by BILCO and installed slope style which made a great impression to Tayaw. After entering, Tayaw immediately checked for signs of mold or moisture. The foundation walls are also very well sealed and there are no leaks coming from the walls. He pulled out his hygrometer and was satisfied at the 15% humidity despite the bas.e.m.e.nt door locked for a few days. The builders sealed the interior foundation very well.

    After the inspection, they left to inspect two other houses before Tayaw called it a day. Tayaw also told Galad that he decided to rent the house they visited in Ironstone, which prompted Galad to start with the paperwork.

    Monday came Tayaw received a call from Galad and said that the lease agreement is ready. They met up in the Galad''s office together with the owner of the house. Satisfied with the lease, he signed it and paid 24000 BGC for the four month advance rent starting January 15. Because Tayaw made a great impression to the owner of the house, the owner allowed Tayaw to move in two days before his move-in date.

    Tayaw was also able to convince the owner of the property to reserve the house for him to buy in eight months. Tayaw then asked permission to build and renovate the bas.e.m.e.nt. The owner agreed but not without adding them to the clauses in the agreement. Even though the owner knows that Tayaw is still a minor and knew the risks, he bit the bullet and agreed because he saw that Tayaw is a special case.

    After their meeting, Tayaw immediately went to Noise Control Inc., a company he already considered to hire and sought their consultation. Tayaw brought some of the employees to his house at ironstone for inspection. The soundproofing guys did not find any problem in the bas.e.m.e.nt so they expressed their willingness to work with Tayaw. Tayaw then hired them and gave them a list of his requirements for the soundproofing and acoustic treatment. While talking to the employees, he found out that they also build recording studios and maintenance for radio studios. This prompted Tayaw to upgrade the bas.e.m.e.nt not only to a soundproof practicing room, but an actual recording studio. If everything goes well, the recording studio will be done by the time the final exams start, and Tayaw couldn''t wait to make noise in it as much as he wants.

    Tension and anxiety is in the air in Northwestern University campus as January entered its last Monday. Unlike the other students who are still rushing their school projects cramming for the final exams, Tayaw walked in the lecture room with light and bouncy footsteps. He already moved in to his new house back in the 14th and because of the spacious house, Tayaw''s efficiency increased in finishing all his assignments and school projects. The source of his current mood however is that Noise Control already finished their soundproofing and acoustic treatment in his bas.e.m.e.nt the day before and is starting to make the bas.e.m.e.nt to a studio.

    "You look relaxed as always, it''s infuriating." Jenna said as she sat on the desk next to Tayaw. "Why not? I''m prepared just like always, I''m sure it''s gonna go well." Tayaw replied. "How about you? You seem alright too. Something happened?" Tayaw asked as he noticed the loose than usual Jenna. "Yep. I actually took your advice. When I got used to doing things early, I actually found myself with more time and with less pressure." Jenna explained. "That''s great baby girl, but you should maintain the habit in the future." Tayaw said. In his previous life, he only beat procrastinating when he was in his junior year. Because of the band practices and gigs, he had to finish all his school work as early as he can and spend the left over time for the practices.

    Tayaw then noticed Jenna straighten her back as she looked at the front of the classroom. The professor already arrived and pulled out their questionnaires.

    "I''m sure this is gonna go well." Tayaw assured Jenna.

 Chapter 34 - 10,000,000 View Points

    February 1, 2011 Tuesday.

    Tayaw woke up in a white void. "WHOA!" He was scared out of his mind until he saw the gleaming "Arts Records" words in front of him. "Holy sh*t! I thought I died!" Tayaw exclaimed in relief as he calmed down. Since December, he has been ignoring the View Points in his vision whenever it shined after each million points achieved. For example last December 28, while playing with his brothers around Ouigab, the View Points in his vision started gleaming when it reached 2 million.

    Today, just like when he was pulled in the white void after he reached 1 million View Points, he realized that his View Points acc.u.mulated to a special figure he could no longer ignore. He was proven right when he saw that the View Points displayed 10 million. He also could not leave the void no matter how much he shouts "I want to get out of here!" so left with no choice, he touched the letters of "Arts Records" to access the giant roulette. The same giant roulette table appeared in front of him, but he noticed a small difference. Below the "Odd" and "Even" choices on the edge of the roulette table, are two 1-meter diameter disc shaped platforms made of silver and gold. He pondered what to do for a while and decided to step on the golden platform and shouted "EVEN!" before he threw the roulette ball into the wheel. As the roulette ball danced, his 10 Million View Points are also quickly reducing. As the Wheel stopped, his View Points emptied to Zero as well. "MY VIEW POINTS!" Tayaw yelled at the board. He was saving those points to roll for ''Works'' or ''Skill Sets''.

    As if not hearing him, a tile on the table slowly floated up and stood vertically just like the last time. This time however, the white tile changed its color into gold and words appeared on it. "Random Ability x 1". The next second, the letters started morphing again on the tile and affixed them into new word saying "Post-congenital Absolute Pitch" before speedily smashing into Tayaw''s head. Tayaw felt a cool breeze followed by a bad throbbing headache comparable to the pain he felt when he first experienced receiving something from the roulette. He felt like it even lasted longer than ever. After he opened his eyes, he finally found himself back in his apartment, the headache gone as if it never happened.

    After finding his bearings, he finally felt excited at his newly acquired ability. Judging from the dictionary definition of "Post-congenital Absolute Pitch", he just acquired an Acquired Perfect Pitch. This ability is one that Tayaw only read in history books. Perfect pitch, from what he read is last seen in classical music composers who can identify or play a musical note without a reference note. Tayaw does not read music but in his skill with the guitar, but he has an idea how it works. He headed down to his newly soundproofed, acoustically treated bas.e.m.e.nt studio and went to pick up his guitar. He opened the studio computer and played a random song through the speakers. After hearing a melody, he tried to play it in his guitar but he found the problem. While he can recreate a melody way easier than he used to, he cannot do it in first try; he cannot fully use his perfect pitch. After a few minutes of pondering what the problem was, he finally realized a possible answer.

    He realized that absolute pitch is more of a sense than an instinct and should be practiced extensively to be applied. If you ask a person which is the color blue in a chart of colors, they can point to it immediately. If you let a person smell an orange blindfolded, and ask them what they smelled, they will immediately identify it as orange. This is the same with absolute pitch. Compared to Tayaw''s other senses, absolute pitch''s difference is that one cannot use it without a wide database like how he already has a database of the names of colors in his head. So what he hears a note? Can he name the note? Does he have another sound of the same pitch he can associate the note with? Can he play it on his instrument on first try?

    With his question answered, he decided to first have to memorize and name all the notes he can play on the guitar. Even if he does, it''s only a start. Just like how a normal person has knowledge of the names of the basic colors like blue, yellow, red, green, orange, and violet; Tayaw also has to know how the note sounds and which octave it belongs to. Just like how a painter knows the shades of violet; Tayaw also has to memorize the sounds and names of the notes that belong to an octave and where on the guitar they are. Just like how a painter knows which colors make up the color green; Tayaw also has to know how to differentiate individual notes that are played together in harmony so that he can reproduce it in the guitar. If he can achieve all of these, he can finally move on the next step: Application.

    Performance wise, he can apply his perfect pitch in improvising in stage. Just like how a singer adlibs when doing vocal runs; Tayaw can also improvise when riffing the guitar, only much more accurately, more spontaneously, and with less amounts of practice. If you compare Tayaw''s current improvisation skill on the guitar to typing on the keyboard, Tayaw has only mastered using the numbers keypad and basic shortcut keys while looking at the keyboard. But if Tayaw''s theory is correct, with enough practice, he can improvise just as easily as typing on the numbers keypad without looking. Given more time, Tayaw can finally master his application of his Perfect Pitch to the guitar, like how a touch typist has mastered all the keys in the keyboard and can type without looking.

    People who had not theorized how perfect pitch work would think that perfect pitch can be trained. But as a musician, Tayaw knows it''s impossible to memorize sound accurately. He himself only trained his ears to relative perfect pitch. A person with perfect pitch can immediately answer the question "What note is X?" Meanwhile, a person with relative perfect pitch will have to be asked "If this is note Y, then what is note X?" to identify Note X.

    "Memorizing notes without a reference note. I can''t even begin to imagine how to do that without absolute pitch." Tayaw smiled at himself as he plans how to train his newly acquired ability. He still has a long way of mastering it so he diverted his attention to another matter; his finances. Today is the day Topaz sent him the sales of his books in the month of January and his royalties. Because he already has a good idea on the number of book sales, he immediately logged in to his online banking account to see the transactions.

    After a few minutes, Tayaw closed the laptop a few million richer. After the international release of his book in December 15 last year, his books sold a combined 1.1 million copies in December alone. This netted him 2,500,00BGC in royalties after deducting Chala''s shares. After the multiple language release that started in New Year''s Day, his books sold a combined 3.4 million copies which netted him 8,000,000BGC after deducting Chala''s shares. So today, he currently has 10.4 million BGC in his account. (5.2M USD)

    He was already rich back in New Year''s Day so he registered for two health insurance policies for himself, which is ironic because he''s currently healthier than he ever felt. He also owns two life insurance policies with his brothers as beneficiaries. He also offered his parents to pay for the remaining mortgage in the house, which they accepted. With these expenses and still lots of money left, Tayaw does not know where to put his money in. He''s still a minor so there are a lot of things he cannot buy or engage in with money without an a.d.u.l.t supervising. For example, buying a house. He could have already bought the house in Ironstone, but his age limited him to. He also does not want to bother his parents to accompany him.

    If he knew he would be this rich this early, he could have convinced his parents for emancipation. But now, with only seven months before he turns major, applying for a long process of emancipation is meaningless.

    Today is the first official day of the school break. Tayaw is not intending to go back home to Okuba for the whole month and a half break from school. He made an excuse to his parents that he would be busy finalizing the second volume of his book, when in fact, he was already done transcribing and copyrighting it during the exam week when he had nothing left to do. He also gave the manuscript to Chala and started the negotiations with Topaz Publishing. The reason why he wanted the whole school break for himself is to practice his skills freely.

    Him being originally a rhythm guitarist has great skills in modifying chords while playing but when it comes to his solo; he could only resort to riffs he practiced and learned from Hoon and other musicians in his previous life. He would start his solo with chords then do riffs, then fill them more with appropriate chords based on the scale to sound fuller. Now that he plays his guitar with the stomp box, his usual solo no longer sounds full enough. He now wants to insert chords in the riffs themselves to make it sound like a rhythm guitarist and a lead guitarist is playing at the same time. The sound he wants to achieve in his guitar playing would sound more close to blues and jazz guitarists than finger style guitarists.

    With his newly acquired sense however, he scratched his initial plan and would start mastering his perfect pitch. This new goal for him would be like hitting two birds with one stone. It would also be a start for his long journey with the guitar. He is only so far familiar with standard tuning and the dropped D tuning. With his perfect pitch, he can not only master standard tuning, but other tunings as well.

    After solidifying the plan in his head, he took his pick-up truck out of the garage and drove to East Ouigab''s biggest butcher shops and supermarkets to buy food that will last him the whole school break. Aside from corresponding with Chala about the book, Tayaw will lock himself in his house and do nothing but learn and practice in his newly built 110,000BGC studio with instruments played by the people he knows.

 Chapter 35 - A Gathering

    March 1, 2011 Tuesday. Ironstone East Ouigab

    Practice is going much better than Tayaw expected. He realized throughout the process that he having great experience with the guitar supplemented his mastery of his perfect pitch. He has already memorized all the sounds of all the notes he can play in each string of the guitar. There are a total of 49 different notes after considering redundant notes, and with the 144 frets on his guitar, he can give those notes different tone qualities to his choice. With this, he can easily replicate a melody with his guitar. Over the last month, he also memorized the sounds of the guitar chords he know and how they relate on specific frets of the guitar. This resulted in him able to figure out the chords patterns in a song and just play the chords in first try. With this newly acquired knowledge, he was able to come up with melodies in his mind and transcribe them in his guitar into riffs blended with chords.

    He also had fun improvising solo intermissions on songs. He would play a song on the speakers and would mute the vocals on different parts of the songs while he improvises on them. He would go a level higher by muting whole parts and improvise on them like what jazz guitarists do; chord soloing.

    The only limit he found for now is that he has not yet mastered how to transition his fingers to other frets he rearely played despite him being able to translate his ideas on the guitar. HE basically knows which frets he would press; his fingers would just not catch up with his brain. If comparing it to typing on the keyboard, he still has not yet typed a lot of words so he would not be able to type them smoothly on first try.

    It''s still not perfect, it''s still in standard tuning, and he''s just beginning, but Tayaw is already satisfied that with this level; he can be a traveling musician and can be a lead guitarist in a band.

    He also started feeling something strange while on the process of coming up with his own riffs and guitar solo patterns. At times when he would come up with a good melody and play it on the guitar, his body would feel a tad bit lighter, his brain would feel tad bit clearer, and his senses would feel a tad bit stronger; and with the acc.u.mulation of his original riffs and melodies over the past month, he felt himself a tad bit stronger, a tad bit smarter, and a tad bit more sensitive. He also noticed that from his usual 8 hour sleep, he can now only sleep 6 hours and a half to feel fully refreshed.

    He felt a little scared the first time he felt the enhancements in his body. However after a full body health checkup that includes a doctor''s assessment, various MRI and CT scans in various parts of his body, and blood and urine tests; it concluded that he''s almost as healthy as an Olympic boxer. He felt relieved and started becoming obsessed with coming up with his own stuff in the guitar.

    The enhancements, however does not come by easy. He does not feel enhanced by each melody and guitar riffs he comes up with, but it has to meet a certain standard to be rewarded. If he could count, out of the more than fifty original melodies he played, he could count at most seven that reached the standard, therefore only seven enhancements so far. The seventh enhancement only came the previous night when he made a melody that improved a certain popular song''s verse melody.

    After getting up from his bed, he quickly washed his face and brushed his teeth and changed to a matching black hoodie and sweatpants. He drove to central East Ouigab to test his most recent enhancement. Arriving at the gym, he checked his height and weight which measured 181cm and 75kg respectively. He sighed at his height. Even though he''s taller than the average male Teungebian height of 174cm, he would be a little bit more satisfied to reach 183 to be a six-foot man.

    He did a few stretches and headed for the treadmill to test his running stamina. He gradually started slow and then maintained 18km/h level for half an hour before he stopped out of exhaustion. He basically ran almost as well as professional athletes. Tayaw never trained intensively and before he got his perfect pitch, he only ran 10 km twice a week that he finishes in 45 minutes. But now, he basically ran almost 10 km in only 30 minutes.

    After a few minutes of rest, he went to the bench press and pressed a maximum of 100kg, a feat he never imagined before. He never had any weight training but after the enhancements, he reached this achievement.

    After the gym, he went to a nearby ATM machine. After his last roulette roll, his View Points refilled to 9.1 Million View Points. In the whole month of February, Tayaw''s Grimm''s Fairy Tales Volume 1 sold a total of 4.3 million copies worldwide that netted him 10,850,000BGC (5.42M USD) in gross income. Adding to his prior savings, his bank account currently has 21,000,000BGC (10.5 M USD) in it.

    This amount really made Tayaw rethink his plans. Should he still go to school? What''s the use of an education with him already set for life with his current riches? He already acquainted with the future Percussive Corrections too so there''s no need staying in engineering school. On the other hand, aside from practicing, he is very limited in his activities for the next 7 months until he turns 18.

    He drove home after the gym for a quick shower and breakfast. He took a morning nap and continued to lock himself in his studio to continue practicing until the evening. Before going to bed, he opened his phone and started writing a text message.

    "Good evening. Please meet me at the second floor of Grillque Restaurant near the campus on Friday at 11am. I have an opportunity to talk about with you. This is not multi-level marketing, but a personal opportunity from me. Lunch is on me." Tayaw typed and sent it to 6 people.

    March 4, 2011 11:15 AM

    "Where the hell is he?" Jenna complained after sending Tayaw her third text since 11AM. She felt out of place amongst the five guys who are sharing the table with her. "He did text you that he''s on his way, right?" Bay-an who is next to her replied while browsing the restaurant''s menu. "Yo. He said it''s his treat, right? I didn''t know he was loaded." Ike said. "He has his own pick-up truck and told me he made some money in his gig." Jenna told the group. "Oh. Now that I think about it, I play the sax, Bay-an here plays the piano, and Ike plays the drums. He probably wants to form a band." Ramil said as he snapped his fingers. "That might be true. I play bass." Inson told the group. "I played lead guitar in my high school band. Jenna, I didn''t know you played an instrument." Hoon who is classmates with Jenna in Engineering Drawing, said.

    "I didn''t know you also play the guitar. I play the violin. It looks like he really is gathering us for a band. I think he was already planning this. One time he picked me up from the bus station last January, he was asking how well my skills are in the violin and if I sang." Jenna said to Hoon. "Picked you up? Are you two dating?" Hoon asked. "No. But we''re really good friends. I know his type too. Hehehe." Jenna chuckled, recalling the times she saw Tayaw check out ladies. One was at school, Tayaw checked out a senior student with well-endowed bosoms. The other time was in ROH Factory when Tayaw''s eyes were following a s.e.xy customer''s h.i.p.s and bottom.

    "Hey. Wait a minute. Maybe that''s not it. Ike, what are you studying?" Bay-an who put down the menu suddenly said. "Mechanical Engineering. Why?" Ike replied. "Look. I asked because I''ve never seen you before. The others here, I''ve seen them before because we are all studying Civil Engineering. Now that you said you''re also studying engineering, I just realized something. Why is Tayaw gathering engineering students?" Bay-an asked the group.

    "Maybe because of convenience, and that I''ve all met you already before." Tayaw replied suddenly appearing from behind Ike. "Tayaw! Where have you been?!" Jenna asked in dissatisfaction. "What? I''m only fifteen minutes late. My prior appointment took longer than I expected. Have you all ordered already?" Tayaw asked the group. "Not yet. If you stood us up, we can''t afford to pay what we ordered." Hoon said. "Let''s order first before we talk. I haven''t had breakfast yet." Tayaw chuckled. Hoon''s words are true. Grillque Restaurant is very expensive for a student''s budget.

    After the group was done with their lunch, Tayaw suddenly said "Let''s order desert." "Hey, can you afford it?" Jenna asked in nervousness. "Don''t worry. By the way, are you all going to enroll for the coming semester?" Tayaw asked the group as he nodded at a server. "Yes" was their collective response. After giving the server their desert orders, Tayaw asked "Why don''t you all enroll together? Be classmates or something? Ike can also enroll to match you five''s schedules." This puzzled the group. "It''s a good idea because we''ve already acquainted with each other today. But, Why?" Ike asked Tayaw the group''s question. "By the way, why are you saying ''you all'' instead of ''us''?" Jenna followed up.

    "Oh. I''m quitting school." Tayaw said coolly. "What?! Why?" Jenna asked in surprise. "I''ll talk to you about that later. Anyway. The opportunity I''m talking about involves you all, and me, as a group, and having the same schedules would make everything easier." Tayaw said to Ike. "Are you forming a band?" Inson asked. "Or a start-up?" Bay-an followed up. "A band." Tayaw said simply. While they already had inkling about it, the group was still surprised. "But we''re amateurs though?" Hoon said, unsure of the idea. "That''s true. Jenna said earlier that you make good money from gigs. So I think you''re forming a band to join you. I don''t think I''m good enough for that." Bay-an said. "Even if we are all good, can we earn enough?" Ramil also asked skeptically.

    "You all raise good points. To answer your question Bay-an, we won''t be having gigs, at least not yet. If you all join, we''ll start practicing. And Ramil, don''t worry. I will pay you all for the practices." Tayaw said which silenced the group.

    "Ooh. That was quick. Thank you." Tayaw said as he thanked the server who brought their deserts. "Everyone. Let''s finish our desert, and I''ll tell you more of the details later." Tayaw said suppressing the questions for now.

 Chapter 36 - An Assessment *

    "Can you all fit in my truck? If you can''t some dudes can ride on the cargo bed." Tayaw said as he realized that his double cab Hilux cannot fit six passengers.

    "Oh. I came here on my motorcycle. I can follow along." Ike said.

    "That''s good. Bay-an, you''re the largest so you''re taking the front seat. Jenna and the rest, on the back." Tayaw said.

    Thankfully, Jenna is petite and managed to squeeze in the back seat with Hoon, Inson, and Ramil just fine with some wiggle room left.

    Because of the slow traffic, the group reached Ironstone after 25 minutes. "I thought your parents aren''t rich?..." Jenna held her breath at the big beautiful house Tayaw brought the group to.

    "They''re not. But I am. At least for now." Tayaw said to the surprise of the group. They also felt it''s not right to ask how so they just nodded.

    Tayaw led them not to the house, but to the bas.e.m.e.nt to his personal studio. This made the group feel anxious at why they''re heading to the bas.e.m.e.nt. With Tayaw leading though, they were at least assured. After descending the cellar door, the group was amazed at the sight.

    "Holy sh*t¡­" Ike can only say at the set-up of the studio and the beautiful Ludwig Beats drum kit.

    "I-is that a Babson Bill Fuss?..." Hoon''s eyes were instantly caught by the beautiful electric guitar made by the popular guitar manufacturer Babson, and the model inspired by the legendary guitarist Bill Fuss.

    "T-that''s a Hamada Action Digital Piano." Bay-an''s was also mesmerized by the digital piano made by Hamada, Japan''s best in musical instrument manufacturing.

    "V-Veder Jazz¡­" Inson was also attracted by the Veder Jazz Bass guitar, a versatile bass guitar made by the famous Veder Corporation.

    "It''s beautiful¡­" Jenna said as she felt an inexplicable feeling coming from the Alessi violin.

    Alessi violins are not preferred by classical musicians, but it''s perfect for other genres with its dark and loud tone.

    "Whoah.." Ramil also can''t hide his impression on the Hamada saxophone.

    "Great place, huh." Tayaw said, but failed to gather the attention of the group.

    "Everyone! How about a demonstration from each of you?" Tayaw said louder and finally heard by the group.

    "Dude! You own all of this?!" Ike asked excitedly.

    "Yes. We have all afternoon. Discuss amongst each other and let me see what you can play together. I''ll be at the control room." Tayaw said as he picked up his personal Babson acoustic guitar entered the control room.

    Because of his recent enhancements which included his senses, Tayaw does not want to listen to the disharmony of the instruments. Thankfully, the control room is outside the soundproofed live studio.

    4pm, two hours after they started discussing the song, Tayaw finally exited the control room and sat himself at the corner of the Live Room.

    "Ready guys?" Tayaw simply asked.

    The group, however, is excited to perform their song with the most expensive instruments they have held.

    "Yes!" Said Ike behind the drums and started hitting his drumsticks together.

    "1!2!3!" Ike said as he started the beat.

    In the intro so far, Ike''s drums are very stable consistent beats. Tayaw was satisfied at Ike''s foundation. He hasn''t seen any complicated patterns yet, but in the basic patterns, Ike can play live. Inson''s bass guitar is also very consistent with his solid basics and knows how to play around with Ike''s drums. Even though Bay-an is playing chords for now, Tayaw can hear Bay-ans sense of rhythm and perfectly matches his hitting of the keys with the drums.

    The song entered the first verse. Jenna, with her violin, is playing the main melody in substitute for the vocals. Jenna displays licks and runs every now and then and it sounded smooth. Her fingerings are actually very accurate and transitions comfortably.

    In the chorus, Ramil''s saxophone entered to substitute the vocals. Tayaw did not expect Ramil to already have good lungs to play long notes followed by short notes without taking a breath. Although he displays basics for now, it satisfied Tayaw.

    After the chorus, the band skipped the second verse and went to the guitar solo. Hoon''s riffs and licks are also very smooth. Although it wasn''t a fast shredding, he displayed good skill with the subtle bends on the string and vibratos and knew what he was doing with the scale.

    After the song, Tayaw was very satisfied. To the untrained ear, their performance would not sound any worse than professional bands. To Tayaw however, this is an easy song but it''s already reaching the limit of the current band''s abilities. He heard some fuzzy parts, but considering they only practiced two hours, proved to him that they are all very talented.

    "Alright. Good enough. I don''t know much about saxophones but Ramil¡­" Tayaw began to give his feedback to each of the group.

    Despite his limited vocabulary on their instruments, Tayaw was able to express what he liked and disliked to each member''s playing. Using his perfect pitch, he played on the guitar to replay the parts he liked or didn''t like, to the amazement of the band. The members also got what he was trying to say, which resulted in them reflecting on Tayaw''s feedback.

    After his review, Tayaw was finally ready to tell the six his offer.

    "You all know that I''m trying to form a band. From what I''ve listened, I can tell that you are all good enough to play live as opening acts." Tayaw offered his compliments first.

    To the eyes of the group, Tayaw is a full-fledged musician after he displayed his skills while giving his feedback. To get a positive feedback to a musician they respect, made them feel validated.

    "Thank you." Hoon said.

    "However¡­ My vision for this band is not limited to an opening act or a cover band, but a real band of artists." Tayaw said which gave goose bumps to the group. They were feeling a mixture of uncertainty, excitement, anxiety, and joy.

    "How do we do that?" Jenna asked.

    "First, I will give you all a mission each week." Tayaw said to the confusion of the band.

    "Every Monday, I will give you all one of my personal composition that I composed out of the guitar including a recording and the basic chords of it. You will have the entire week to cover or even arrange it together to your preferences and perform it to me as a band by the following Sunday night. On the times that I will not be able to give you a composition, I will have you cover a song instead but you have to re-arrange it. Do you all follow me so far?" Tayaw asked.

    "What if we finish arranging it and practicing it early?" Jenna asked.

    "Then I will have no problem as long as you performed it to my satisfaction. I will give you my feedback and if you''re convinced that I saw no wrong, then your mission for that week is done." Tayaw replied which actually made the group perk up.

    "Before you get excited, I will definitely increase the number of missions you will have each week after I see improvements." Tayaw said which dropped the group''s shoulders.

    "Don''t worry. I will consider increasing it only if you guys can handle it." Tayaw assured the group.

    "How about our pay?" Ramil asked, considering if the effort is worth it.

    "4,000BGC a month. We''ll do it off-the-books so you don''t have to pay taxes as long as you keep it secret." Tayaw said which shocked the group.

    "4-4000!? Why?" Bay-an asked in disbelief.

    "T-hat''s more than a half of my mom''s monthly salary¡­" Hoon said dazedly.

    With only two months without spending anything, engineering students like them can pay off their tuition fees for the semester.

    "That''s so more than I earn as a tutor¡­" Jenna also said. Ramile, Ike, and Inson were just speechless.

    "To answer your question, Bay-an. As long as you guys can do your missions, it''s worth it to me. Without financial burdens, I can hope it will serve as an incentive for you guys to do well in school and in achieving your missions." Tayaw said.

    "But. There will be requirements too." Tayaw said. The band is already hooked, and if they can meet all the requirements set by Tayaw, they would immediately join the band.

    "1. You have to maintain an average of at least B- in your GPA every term to stay in the band. 2. You have to meet my standards in your performances; I have good ears so I can tell which one''s slacking or didn''t contribute. 3. Submit one arrangement of your own each month; the quality has to meet my satisfaction of course." Tayaw said. His requirements seemed reasonable enough for the group.

    "By the way, does anyone have a C+ average or lower among you?" Tayaw asked. Thankfully, none of them raised looked guilty.

    "I-if we get kicked out of the band, can we get back in?" Ike asked.

    Ike, as Tayaw knew in his past life, loved to play around too much and was satisfied with only passing grades.

    "That depends on how bad you messed up and how you can make up for it. Let''s say your grades this prelims are C+, if you can achieve a grade of B+ on the midterms, then you can stay. If you didn''t meet my standards in one of your performance, you will have to perform the song the band performed on your own, and if I''m more than satisfied, you can stay. If you aren''t able to submit a quality arrangement in the month, you have to submit two quality arrangements the next month and you can stay." Tayaw answered.

    "So it''s a matter of one-upping the requirement?" Ike clarified.

    "Yes. You double the effort and quality of the thing you messed up. Attitude is also important to me. If the band dislikes you because of reasons I find valid, and you can''t make it up to the band, you''re out too." Tayaw added another requirement.

    "Look, I know my requirements are vague, but you get the idea, yes?" Tayaw asked.

    The band got the gist of it so they nodded.

    "Now, who''s in?" Tayaw asked again. The band basically said yes in unison.

    "Alright. Come with me." Tayaw said and led the group out of the bas.e.m.e.nt. He locked the cellar door and led them to the front door. The group is also very excited to see Tayaw''s house.

    Maybe because of the big exterior of the house and already saw the studio in the bas.e.m.e.nt, they made a collective sigh in disappointment to the utter barrenness of the house. Aside from the basic things like the couches on the living room, dining table set, and kitchen appliances, there are no signs of an artist with the interior design.

    It didn''t help that the sofa is pure white in color; the dining table set and the kitchen counter and lavatory is solid black which matches with the black floor tiles. It''s a very nice house, and it''s supposed to be impressive, but because of their very high expectations, it appeared boring.

    "Hey. Come on. Don''t be like that. I live alone, so what do you expect?" Tayaw said.

    "It''s very clean though ..." Hoon said who likes neatness.

 Chapter 37 - Confession *

    "Go sit by the dining table. We have enough chairs there. Wait for me while I get something." Tayaw said as he walked upstairs to the master''s bedroom upstairs.

    While the group collectively processed the afternoon together at the dining table, Tayaw came back as well.

    "Here. It''s not legal binding, but let it be at least a symbol that our band is formed today." Tayaw said as he passed them forms to fill out and sign.

    "Is it really not legal binding?" Ramil asked in his usual skepticism.

    "Yes. If I''m not wrong, Inson is also 17, right? I am too. So any contract given or signed by a minor is voidable. It''s just entirely because of my trust to you all that I''m hiring you all without legal powers." Tayaw replied which assured Ramil.

    This also assured the rest of the group. They will not steal the instruments, they will not vandalize the house, and they will follow Tayaw''s requirements or else, the incentives are gone forever for them. With this decision, they signed the forms.

    After the signing, Tayaw is satisfied.

    "Thank you guys. At least my preparations have not gone to waste." Tayaw sighed in relief.

    "What do you mean?" Inson replied, excited at the future.

    "Let me ask first, who here are locals of Ouigab City?" Tayaw asked.

    "I''m from the outskirts of West Ouigab." Hoon replied.

    "I''m from the suburbs beyond South Ouigab." Ike said.

    "How long do each of you take each morning to travel from your homes to the campus?" Tayaw asked.

    "About 15 minutes by train, double that by a car." Hoon replied.

    "20 minutes with my motorcycle." Ike answered.

    "The rest are from outside the city, yes?"

    "Yep."

    "Wouldn''t it be convenient if you all lived here?" Tayaw dropped another to the group.

    "YES!" Jenna answered excitedly despite her dorm only of walking distance from the Northwestern University Campus.

    "Who else?" Tayaw asked which was met by a silent ''YES''.

    "Good. We have four bedrooms. I already occupy one upstairs. You can all look around and decide amongst yourselves." Tayaw said and they all sprang from their chairs and together looked for their own rooms.

    "GUYS WAIT!" Jenna who had the shortest stride was left in the dust.

    The group after a lively discussion among themselves finally agreed on their arrangements. Jenna was unanimously told to live in the big bedroom next to the living room, Ike and Inson would bunk in another big bedroom upstairs, and Ramil and Bay-an would bunk in the last big bedroom opposite Ike and Inson''s room. Hoon, because of his introverted nature, valued his privacy just as much as Tayaw does. Because of that, he chose to be left out. While he doesn''t have a bedroom yet, he is actually left with two choices. He can either occupy the vacant closet room facing Jenna''s room, or the attic. He does not have his own bathroom but he can just use the guest bathroom by the dining area.

    "Hey Hoon. How about the attic? It''s very well insulated and ventilated. The temperature can also be controlled by the air conditioning so you won''t have to worry whether it''s the dry or the wet season." Tayaw helped Hoon decide, which Hoon ultimately agreed with.

    March 7, Monday.

    The band did not move in immediately last Friday. After they were able to enroll together today and became classmates with each other, except for Ike who enrolled a schedule similar to the rest, did they only start moving in their stuff in the house.

    Ike and Inson, who are Ouigab locals, just took what they needed from their own homes and moved in easily. The others terminated their lease in their current dorms, which was easier than they thought, and started to move their stuff to Tayaw''s house with a few trips using Tayaw''s truck.

    While the six are moving their stuff in, Tayaw had an idea.

    "By the way, Ramil, you have a driver''s license right? A proper one?" Tayaw asked Ramil.

    "Yep. How''d you know?" Ramil was surprised.

    "I saw your observing me while I was driving you guys here last week. I know you have good experience driving." Tayaw said.

    He was lying. He knew that Ramil was an experienced driver based in his previous life. Because of that, Ramil was able to make a fair living by becoming a chauffeur right after college and managed to save up for welding school.

    "I see. Yeah. I was actually impressed by your smooth driving. You probably already started driving long before you got your license, right? Someone our age doesn''t really know how to take care of a car''s tires." Ramil smiled and gave Tayaw a knowing look.

    "Yeah. It''s not like you also didn''t." Tayaw chuckled.

    "True. Why are you asking, by the way? Wanna lend me your truck?" Ramil said in jest.

    "Actually no. I want to by a Korean van to fit everyone to go to school." Tayaw said.

    "Man, just how rich are you?!" Ike who overheard the conversation was surprised.

    "What''s going on?" Jenna who just came out of her room to pick up more of her stuff in the garage, asked when she heard Ike''s exclamation.

    "This dude wants to buy a van for our daily transport!" Ike replied loudly.

    "What? Really?" Inson also overheard and came over.

    "Okay. We should know. We don''t want working for someone who might be doing illegal things." Ramil also said seriously.

    "Fine. Fine. Gather everyone to the living room." Tayaw said as he went to the garage and picked up a box containing copies of his fairy tales. As he made it back to the living room, the six mates are already sitting on the couches.

    "Hey. What''s in the box?! Ramil said you''re doing something illegal." Bay-an said as he saw Tayaw walking over, the box he''s carrying seemed suspicious in his eyes.

    "That''s not what I said! Ike! You better say what I said accurately." Ramil replied in annoyance.

    "Bay-an, Ramil said he doesn''t want working for someone who might be doing something illegal. There''s a huge difference." Tayaw chuckled. He''s not doing anything illegal, so he was not offended..

    "Alright. Calm down and read these for a few minutes before you ask your questions. After five minutes, I''ll answer your questions. Trust me." Tayaw said as he took out copies of the book.

    "Oh. I know this book. It''s quite popular nowadays." Jenna said as she flipped over the pages and started reading.

    "What''s with the fairy tales?" Inson asked while appreciating the book''s cover. The others also opened their copies.

    A few minutes later. "YO! THEY HAD THEIR EYES PECKED BY BIRDS! How is this for children, dude?" Ike exclaimed as he read the ending of Cinderella.

    "Hey stupid! You''re holding the a.d.u.l.ts version!" Inson shut Ike up.

    "Oh. That''s right. I thought I was holding Children''s version because that''s what Ramil''s holding." Ike said as he realized he did not carefully read the title of the book he''s reading.

    "I didn''t know fairy tales could be this fun to read. Too bad the stories are too short." Ramil said as he closed the book. The others closed their copies as well.

    "So, can you tell us now?" Bay-an urged Tayaw.

    Tayaw then grabbed Bay-an''s copy and stood up.

    "T is i who is''t wroteth the books thee holdeth in thy palms." Tayaw said theatrically.

    "Uhh.. What?" Ike asked.

    "You wrote the books!" Inson said, understanding the first part of Tayaw''s sentence.

    "What?!" Jenna exclaimed. Ramil, Bay-an, and Hoon just stared at Tayaw.

    "Oh my god! It''s true! Look! T.L.D. Grimmauld! T.L.D stands for Tayaw''s initials! I''ve wrote his name many times before!" Jenna exclaimed as she figured it out.

    "Whoah ¡­ We have a world famous author right here."" Ramil said and just stared at Tayaw in amazement.

    "I''ve heard rumors about you. I think they''re saying you''re an old man enjoying his retirement." Bay-an said.

    "I heard that too. I also heard that you are actually a famous author who published the fairy tales in another pen name." Jenna also informed them of what she heard.

    Hoon, on the other hand who already recovered from his surprise is giggling to himself at the contrast of the rumors to the actual person. Tayaw, who saw Hoon giggling, started laughing as well.

    Because he locked himself inside his studio practicing for the entirety of February, Tayaw did not have the time to scour the internet enough to find rumors about him. Many tabloids and online news portals expressed their difficulties in finding T.L.D Grimmauld''s real identity. He also did not follow up with Ophelia from Nabla Observer for an interview so the rumors just snowballed into various theories.

    "Anyway, that''s the source of my fortune. Questions?" Tayaw said the the group.

    "Well. You''re already rich. Why the music?" Ike asked.

    "My real passion is music. Why else would I go the trouble to build a recording studio and form a band?" Tayaw told them.

    "I don''t know. Because you can afford it?" Inson just said while started daydreaming about becoming rich as well.

    "While that may also be true, how else did I become good enough to live as a musician? I was a musician first before an author." Tayaw explained.

    "That''s true. I think you''re a genius guitarist. I don''t even know how to play like you." Hoon nodded at Tayaw''s reasoning.

    "So you just got lucky?" Ramil said.

    "While luck has something to do with it, I think it''s also because I happened to have written something for an untapped market that is fairy tales." Tayaw explained.

    "Hmm. I get it. I didn''t know fairy tales could be better until I read your book, actually." Jenna said.

    "I understand. If the movies we''ve been watching are like the old fairy tales, and someone would release greater movies, of course the world would watch it." Ramil said while nodding to himself. Ramil''s simile however almost gave Tayaw heart palpitations.

    "Aherm. Yeah. It''s just like that." Tayaw affirmed.

    ".. I bet the taxes are a btch though." Hoon casually said, but made Tayaw obviously flinch in their eyes. Seeing this reaction, Hoon''s brows rose.

    "I know it''s not right to ask, but how much?" Hoon asked seriously.

    "I earned 400,000 last year and I paid 128000." Tayaw answered.

    "Holy sh*t." Hoon''s eyes widened.

    "yeah¡­" the rest of the group was also speechless.

    Unknown to them, Tayaw''s tax in the first half of 2011 will be enormous.

 Chapter 38 - July

    Four months since the band moved in and everything has been going great so far for Tayaw. In the past four months. He never touched his View Points and has currently acc.u.mulated 57 million. He''s guessing he will be forced to the white void again once it reaches 100 million. While his View Points climbed, his books started reaching its saturation point. His book sales peaked last May when the combined books sold of the two volumes reached 5 million, and it started coming down last June when his books sold 4.8 million copies. Still, he currently has saved 40,500,000 BGC after taxes.

    "16¡­ 17¡­ 18¡­ 19¡­ 20¡­" Tayaw counted his 20th bench press and returned the barbell to its rest. Tayaw placed his weightlifting set in his room as he didn''t want anyone see him bench press or lift weights because of his unique situation. The barbell he was bench pressing just now has two 20kg plate on each end. Adding the 20kg weight of the bar alone, he bench pressed a total of 100 kg twenty times lying down only using his shoulders, chest and upper back muscles. Four months ago, his limit is 100kg for just one repetition, and that was a sitting down bench press which used more muscles. Not only that, he also noticed he was getting smarter; could think faster and process information easier than ever. He also found it fortunate that his brain is being enhanced as well because he could have a hard time processing his enhanced senses too. These huge changes in his person is caused by the mysterious enhancements he noticed since his February roulette draw.

    At first, he attributed it to his original melodies using his Perfect Pitch mastery. He later on realized that it wasn''t. Before his Perfect Pitch draw, Tayaw has already felt that he was healthier than he''s ever been compared to his past life. He realized his health came from the hundreds of song re-arrangements he has done for the songs he performed on his gigs at ROH Factory. It was only when he got his Perfect Pitch that making original melodies came easier, therefore he made more originals than ever before. Original compositions, compared to the unnoticed incremental enhancements by re-arrangements, gave Tayaw obvious enhancements. This made him classify the enhancements to two levels. Level one would be the unnoticed enhancements from the re-arrangements, and level two would be the enhancements from original melodies.

    Over the past few months, he was able to compose around three hundred original melodies averaging three a day. Out of those hundreds, he was only able to count around forty compositions that met the standards for enhancement. While enjoying each enhancement, he also noticed that they are getting less and less noticeable each time he receive them. This however, did not dampen the fun he is having coming up with melodies.

    He actually stopped measuring his strength a month ago. The reason why he bought his bench press table in the afternoon was because of his enhancement a day ago, one that is the most drastic he has ever felt. Yesterday, after performing to himself his most recent completed song on his guitar, his strings broke after he overexerted his strings on his last strum. He has written songs before, lyrics included and he never felt enhanced at all. He figured that his recent composition has finally met the standard required to receive the ''third level'' of enhancement.

    After resting for a while, Tayaw sat up from the bench and headed for the bathroom. He looked at himself n.a.k.e.d in the mirror, and he examined his body which he wouldn''t have even considered in his previous life. Tayaw, last February was 75kg, and he''s still the same weight only his baby fat and other adipose tissues were replaced now by muscles. Aside from his sharper face, no one else, even among his housemates realized how ripped he truly is under his loose long sleeve shirts he loves to wear. The tiny pink and red dotty bumps throughout his body have also disappeared along with the pimples a teenager usually suffers from. His olive skin tone and sweat from his workout highlighted the details of his well- defined muscle tone from his body and limbs.

    Satisfied with what he saw, Tayaw headed for the shower and washed off his filth, he is to assess his band''s performance of the latest assignment he gave them to perform. Even though he told them his high requirements back in March, he was actually very lenient when it came to enforcing it. If Tayaw really enforced his rules, then no one will be left in the band. He understood that his band is still starting, and being students at that, have their limits. Despite that though, the band actually progressed much better than he thought.

    Ike, the drummer, who had a hard time maintaining a stable tempo can now start and end in a perfect stable tempo. He is also now more subdued, unlike before when he would often overpower the other instruments. He also now knows how to fill beats appropriately which before was just excessive and would put chops in places he shouldn''t. He is also now learning the rudimentary beats and grooves of other genres outside his main genre of rock drumming. He now also learned to communicate with Inson, the bassist.

    Inson, who was just useful but has no style, is now starting to be a good support for the band''s melody. Together with Ike, he''s also starting to be a pillar of the band''s consistency in tempo and quality of the groove. He now also is starting to learn how to use different tones in his playing and apply them appropriately to the melody. For example, he would just use the second string to play an E note every time just because it''s easier, now he looks for the E note in the third string to give the note a thicker voice if the song needs it. He also now plays licks and riffs consistent with Hoon''s guitar to give Hoon''s riffs a fuller, supported sound.

    Hoon, the lead guitar, has improved tremendously. Before, he only mind numbingly practiced and imitated famous shredding from famous guitarists. When it came to foundation, he was lacking. After a few months of coaching from Tayaw, he quickly filled up his basics. He can now pick every single note cleanly and would sound clear to a trained ear except for Tayaw''s. Hoon also has now very consistent hammers, pulls, bends, and vibratos that would rarely miss or sound muted. He is also now displaying the basics of improvisation; Hoon would attempt to create the sound in his head to his guitar.

    Bay-an, the pianist who only had great skill in chords, is now skilled in playing individual series of notes in accordance to the needs of the band. Bay-an actually is the most versatile of the group as he can express different styles in his chord playing and give notes and chords feelings. Tayaw has no idea how to play the piano, but he memorized the keys, so he used his perfect pitch to coach Bay-an about what sounded good or awkward and Bay-an took those advice and ran with it. He also has great sense of tempo that would in turn judge his timing on inserting his flare with the drums and bass.

    Ramil, the saxophonist has also improved a lot due to Tayaw''s feedbacks. Ramil no longer excessively bends his notes and is starting to bend them wisely. He also learned how to do a variety of vibratos. He would play a straight note, a narrow vibrato note, or a wide vibrato note at appropriate parts. Just like Ike, Ramil also learned to be consistent and smart in his dynamics, how loud or soft he should play certain notes. Tayaw''s suggestion of letting Ramil play the saxophone as a substitute for the vocals at half of their assignments from Tayaw helped too in hastening Ramil''s improvement.

    Jenna, the fiddler, has also improved in her own skills. A violin has no frets like a guitar or bass so there is a lot bigger risk in playing sharp or flat on notes. Tayaw told her to play scales to familiarize herself how notes should sound. Jenna played violin just for herself before Tayaw recruited her so she had the worst sense with playing with a band. Tayaw gave her a metronome to help catch up with the great sense of tempo the rest of the band already has. Despite her shortcomings though, her bowing is very consistent and reliable which is something that even experienced violinists have problems with. What Tayaw appreciated more, however, is Jenna''s stable vocals. She doesn''t have a unique charming vocal like he does, or fancy techniques, but it''s stable enough to serve as a second vocal to Tayaw. Her and Tayaw''s voice when singing together is actually pretty good.

    To Tayaw''s eyes and ears, the band is still very nascent. Tayaw however also know his standards are too high and avid music listeners will be more than satisfied with his band. With this, Tayaw approved the band as good enough to play as regulars at the ROH Factory. Technical skills alone, Tayaw''s band can give Beyond Cape Town a run for their money. Tayaw''s band, however still lacks experience and their own styles compared to Beyond Cape Town members. They only practiced 20 songs in the past four months which can only fill an hour and a half set. They also never performed in front of a crowd, and Tayaw is not a crowd.

    Tonight''s assessment is the last the band will undergo this month. Next two weeks will be busy for the band as they finish all their school projects and study for the final exams, then after that they will go home to their own hometowns. Because of that, this assessment is also different than the ones the band has done before. This time, Tayaw will join their performance. He will play with the band and assess them at the same time. Over the past few months, Tayaw in many occasions have jammed with the band, which led him to give feedback to each member. Just like his jamming sessions with them, he will play rhythm / second guitar tonight and sing.

    After changing to fresh clothes, Tayaw headed to the bas.e.m.e.nt where the band is already waiting.

    "You guys good?" Tayaw asked the band as he entered the studio.

    The bad straightened their backs when they saw Tayaw not of anxiety or fear, but out of esteem. Over the past four months, their respect for him has grown a lot. Tayaw has treated them very well not only monetarily but also as a good friend. Tayaw, despite no longer studying engineering, can still help them in their school work and even supplement their knowledge with Tayaw''s past life experience as an engineer and his currently enhanced brain. Tayaw also accommodated as much as he can, the members'' personal concerns when they asked for help or advice. Because of this, the band received a lot of help in maintaining a good mental health.

    One big reason for their respect is also because they watched Tayaw''s gigs at the ROH Factory. Tayaw signed up as the third in the line-up during the busiest days of the weeks which proved how capable he is as a solo musician.

    At first, when the band just started their training under Tayaw, they just saw Tayaw as a very experienced musician. But as their skills and knowledge in music grew, they also realized how far ahead Tayaw really is compared to them.

    Ironic as it is because of Tayaw being the youngest in the house, they already started treating him as a mentor and a teacher.

    "And¡­ We''re set." Inson said as he finished fine-tuning his guitar with the piano. Tayaw then picked up his acoustic guitar and joined the band in the live room.

    "Good. Ah-one, ah-two, ah one, two, three let''s Jam."

 Chapter 39 - Coming Home

    The next day, Tayaw drove home back to Okuba, bringing with him some gifts. Even though he video chats his family often during the past six months, it''s still different spending time with them in person. His purpose of visit also involves talking to them about his plans in the future which his parents may not be comfortable agreeing with. His parents, after all liked living stably.

    Since January, the combined sales of the Fairy Tales'' two volumes totaled to 25.8 million copies worldwide. This netted him a gross income of 73 million BGC. After he paid his taxes last month, he is left with an enormous 49,000,000 BGC in pure income. This amount is enough for him to help his parents really do what they want to do in life. He will not ask them to stop working. He can''t just ask Liboo to stop driving his van and just stay home doing nothing. That is also the same with Kilat. Asking them such thing is like ending their existence. He too, in his past life fell into depression after Percussive Corrections broke up.

    It was already 6pm when he got home in Okuba, perfect timing as everyone in the family just got home. "I''m home!!!" Tayaw shouted as he entered the front door which he unlocked with his own key. "You brat finally decided to come home, huh?" Kilat said in jest as she gave Tayaw an embrace. "How come you''ve become more handsome?" Liboo said as he also gave Tayaw a bear hug. "What can I say, I''m finally turning to a man." Tayaw just said in reply.

    Agew is still introverted, but has hit a growth spurt. He used to be around 143cm in December and now he''s around 150cm. Since his last visit, Agew has actually started painting in his spare time. This was evidenced by the more than 20 painting canvasses he already finished. He was also starting playing with the clay Tayaw gave him, and had his finished products baked and transformed into clay pots that he gave to Payew for some of his plants.

    Payew who turned 15 last February has grown a little taller in the past six months Tayaw didn''t see him. He is also almost done with 9th grade with an assured straight A''s. Payew has also managed to grow the seeds Tayaw gave him last December into lush fruitful plants. Tayaw''s gift actually moved Payew''s interest in agriculture much earlier than he did in Tayaw''s past life. Payew''s interest also is not the type that is short which is typically seen in teenagers, but a genuine interest as he displayed some knowledge in plants and farming while talking to Tayaw.

    Kilat is still a busy teacher. Only difference is that compared to before, she is a lot less stressed, and more energy in her voice after a long day.

    Liboo is still driving but he can now stand straighter and seemed more relaxes with the comfort that the massage machine provides him 20 minutes a day, three times a week.

    It was already 8:30 pm when they finished their dinner and caught up with whatever Tayaw was up to. "Payew, Agew, please go to your rooms." KIlat told the two. After the two kids entered their rooms, Kilat finally want to talk to Tayaw about things his younger brothers should not hear. "Tayaw. What made you so busy that you can''t come home for months? It''s not like you''re going to school." Kilat said as she finally expressed her displeasure to Tayaw.

    Tayaw informed his parents before the semester if he could skip school at least temporarily to settle things regarding his book. Despite that, he knew he should have at least gone home from time to time, but with his time with the band, he neglected his parents'' worries. Tayaw knew he could not escape his mother''s ire without lying. If he told the whole truth, he would worry his parents more by sounding crazy. He therefore decided to make up stuff like he''s been doing. "I''ve released my second volume and there are a lot of companies nationally and internationally talking to me. I''m also writing a new book. I have to do a lot of research and chase inspirations." Tayaw explained. Tayaw is indeed currently transcribing The Halfling which is set in a world of different races and creatures like elves, hobbits, dwarves and orcs that has been based on the forgotten lore of European countries. With his reputation as a Children''s fantasy and fairy tales author, he figured that The Halfling is the next book to publish.

    Despite his explanation, Tayaw can still see the unsatisfied expression on his mother''s face. "Alright. I''ll let you read the draft I''ve written up for now." Tayaw said as he retrieved his laptop and opened a doc.u.ment. Kilat took the laptop and started reading the manuscript. "Dad. Let''s have a game of chess." Tayaw asked Liboo while waiting for Kilat''s feedback. He also wants to know how much difference his enhanced brain can make in the game of chess.

    After a few minutes, and a checkmate win by Tayaw, Kilat finally closed Tayaw''s laptop. "I get it¡­" Kilat said as she sighed deeply and she continued "I can''t even imagine how you started to write this." ''Neither could I, mom.'' Tayaw said in his mind as he just smiled at Kilat. "Is it that good?" Liboo asked. "If Tayaw finishes it, I think it will be a great book." Kilat told Liboo her assessment.

    "I still have some things to finish on my laptop. You boys talk. Don''t stay up too late." Kilat said to the two, and she headed to her and Liboo''s room. This also gave Tayaw the opportunity to discuss one of his worries to his father.

    "Dad, isn''t it dangerous driving on winding roads in the mountains every day?" Tayaw asked Liboo. "Yes. But it''s not like I haven''t mastered the roads around Nabla already. I''ve been drivin the same routes for more than 15 years now, what brought this up?" Liboo asked in return. "I don''t know. I''m just worried. If you can find something as substitute to driving, what would it be?" Tayaw said. "It''s not like I''m a reckless driver. I would have gotten in an accident already if I was." Liboo explained. "Then why don''t I get you your own Auto-repair shop and have your own employees?" Tayaw asked. Liboo doesn''t know what to make of it. "This. You''re not kidding are you?" Liboo asked. Liboo would actually prefer to work at one place doing something he loves than driving on dangerous mountainous roads every day, rain or shine. "I''m not, dad." Tayaw said seriously.

    Liboo wanted to refuse, but looking at Tayaw''s eyes, he knew he will have a difficult time having Tayaw drop the matter. Still, such offer is hard to actually accept.

    "I haven''t been a mechanic for more than 15 years son. If you''re worried about my safety, there are also dangers in being a mechanic too. The chemicals, the equipment, and more. Maintaining and repairing my van is not enough to store my skills as a mechanic." Liboo said.

    This made Tayaw think for a moment. Indeed, repairing is also a dangerous job. However, hearing about the van, he immediately thought about another idea.

    "Dad, didn''t you buy your van cheaply and overhauled the thing yourself?" Tayaw asked. "Yes. But it took me quite a while to save up for the overhaul. Why?" Liboo answered. "You already have that skill, why don''t you start a business flipping cars instead? You know? Buy old cars cheaply, refurbish them, and sell those two or three times the price you bought them. Yes, it''s still dangerous, but unlike repairing actually damaged cars, refurbishing cars aren''t that dangerous." Tayaw offered another idea.

    This got Liboo hooked. If he was to become a mechanic and repair damaged cars, there will be a lot of risks from dangerous cutting equipment and melting chemicals. But if he only restores old cars, then safer equipment and chemicals will be used, therefore smaller risks. This is a good idea for him.

    He can just hire a younger mechanic who is familiar in installing GPS systems and other newer tech in cars.

    "This is a good idea. However, starting a workshop for that business is expensive. The tools, the rent, the bills and employee pays and insurance. I can''t even start to imagine how much it will cost." Liboo''s excitement was dampened by thinking about the costs in starting out the business. "Does that mean then that if we can afford it, you''d rather flip cars than drive?" Tayaw asked. "Of course. But it''s not like we can afford it." Liboo just shrugged his shoulders.

    "I can afford it." Tayaw said. Liboo just raised his eyebrow, not sure if he heard right. "My books sold much better than I expected. My riches have multiplied." Tayaw clarified. Liboo was speechless at this. After some thought, Liboo realized it made sense. He has been asking his wife about how Tayaw''s books have been doing, which he found are selling well internationally. "If I studied well, would I have written good books too?" Liboo took a deep breath asked himself aloud. "Probably. But hey, you passed your creativity to me so all''s good." Tayaw said.

    Liboo just chuckled at this. He''s not stupid and he knows that Tayaw is just kissing his ass. Still, he was thankful of the help his son has been providing the family, and still be generous enough to offer much much more. What Tayaw is offering is also similar to his youthful dream of having his own auto repair shop. By how it looks for him, it will take at least a decade and half more of driving until he can save up to even start a business. Now, however, his son is offering him an opportunity to live his dream, and offers adamantly at that. Ironic as it is, it would seem ungrateful of him to refuse his son''s offer.

    "Okay. I''ll do it. How do you plan we start?" Liboo finally relented.

    "Oh. That''s simple for me. I''ll just provide the capital, you do the rest." Tayaw replied quite gratingly. This however made Liboo satisfied.

    "We''ll do that."

 Chapter 40 - Baptism

    July 16, 2011 Ironstone Ouigab

    The rains are getting heavier again this time of the year. Thankfully, it''s like they''re often scheduled in the afternoon. I and the band are about to head to ROH Factory, which according to Tayaw, is one of the most difficult bars in Ouigab to get into as performers.

    "Hey Ramil! Is there anything fragile in your case?" Bay-an yelled over from the back of the van as he moved my saxophone case to make space for his digital keyboard. "Nothing. Still, be careful." I replied. The instruments we just loaded on the van are new mid-range instruments that Tayaw bought us to use outside his studio.

    While practicing with the new mid-range saxophone, I was reminded how great the difference of sound quality is between the expensive saxophone I use in Tayaw''s studio to the saxophone I personally own. Tayaw reminded the band that we are not really qualified to use his instruments for public performances with our skill levels. "I got you all new instruments. With your skills, I don''t want you all appearing to be posers by playing expensive instruments with your current skills." Tayaw said a few days ago. It was harsh, but it''s very true. I can''t really contest him of his judgment because he can basically pinpoint our errors.

    I first met Tayaw in passing through Ike when Ike said Tayaw was interested in jamming with me and Bay-an. My first impression of Tayaw was that he''s a straight A student who didn''t do anything else but study. That changed until one day he texted me and 5 more people to gather at a restaurant to hire us to be some kind of a personal band. This left a bitter taste in my mouth at first because I just thought he''s just someone who just dabbles in music with money he got from his parents, but with the generous pay plus accommodation, it was hard not to accept his offer.

    It surprised me however when he confessed of being a self-made millionaire. With my suspicious nature, I asked something which instigated the band to corner him to that confession. His situation made me realize that he is actually a legitimate musician who just happened to write something in demand while dabbling as an author. In the past four months, he''s proven to us time and time again that he''s only not a legit musician, but a legit artist who makes his own music.

    He made us arrange some of his songs but I especially liked the most recent original he made. I don''t think it will be as popular as sports anthems and typical ballads, or even his previous original songs when released, but I think his recent song is a piece of art. It was very difficult to arrange it too. The original song was made by Tayaw for an acoustic guitar and a stomp box, yet it''s strangely difficult to make it sound as good with a band.

    "All set?" I asked everyone, and getting affirmations, I started the drive to ROH Factory. "By the way, what should we name the band?" Tayaw, who chose to ride with us, asked us. We never considered naming ourselves because we thought Tayaw had no intention of the band having public appearances. The band stayed silent for a second before a rain of suggestions started.

    "How about ''Love Dogs''?" Jenna said. "What? Why?" I asked, finding the suggestion odd. "I just like how it sounds." Jenna answered shamelessly. With the band''s corny suggestions like "Graceful Benefits" from Bay-an or "Growing Stands" from Hoon, Tayaw put a stop to it. "Alright. Stop. We have days to think about it. But we should have something to name ourselves tonight." Tayaw said.

    Today is the first time the band is to have a gig. We''ve seen Tayaw perform a few times now, and he looked really comfortable on stage and can play with the mood of the crowd. The band however is facing pressure currently because while we were practicing, we slowly realized how difficult it would be to perform for an hour straight especially in a popular bar like the ROH Factory where some of the best acts in Ouigab perform. The pressure further increased when Tayaw said he will play with us and will perform according to his line-up, which is the set before the headliner.

    "Ike. What do you call that thing when people hit dysfunctional machines hoping they will work? There''s a name for that at the mechanical engineering department, right?" Tayaw asked Ike, who is sitting beside me, shaking his legs from nervousness. "Oh. Oh. Percussive Corrections. Why?" Ike answered. "Ooh. That''s clever." Hoon said as he chuckled at the name. "Alright. We''ll use that for the name of the band for now." Tayaw said. "It actually sounds cool." Jenna agreed from the back. "I think so too." I agreed as well. The name has a certain charm in it. Even though it originated in mechanical engineering students, it sounds strangely music-related as well.

    Tayaw is really a genius. The name was settled just like that after asking Ike something he''s heard in passing. Genius: I''ve given him that assessment ever since we started practicing as a band. Aside from the songs he make, and great ears, he''s also helped us many times with our studies. It''s very odd because he already quit school but aside from training us in our instruments, he also trained us in the practical applications of our subjects Analytical Geometry and Solid Mensuration. At first, I was skeptical of his knowledge in the subjects but our professors in those subjects also talk about the stuff Tayaw already taught us. It was incredible.

    A few minutes later, we already arrived by the alley behind ROH Factory. "Alright. Let''s unpack and talk to the owner of the bar." Tayaw said and we went to work.

    "Good evening boss. I brought my band tonight." Tayaw said and shook Rudy''s hand. Rudy intimidates the hell out of me, but I also wish I''d look like him when I get to his age. He has long salt and pepper hair tied beautifully in a high ponytail, has sharp handsome features, tall and lanky build that he highlights with a dark red velvet suit. Rudy is around my dad''s age, but Rudy didn''t let himself go and probably still works on his health and appearance.

    Rudy then looked at us, from head to toe which didn''t help with the nervousness of the band. "HEY! Straighten your backs, chest out! I didn''t bring you all here if I thought you were sh*t!" Tayaw smilingly yelled at us which loosened our shoulders. We were going to be intimidated by Rudy again had he continued staring at us any longer. "Tayaw, let''s talk in my office."

    We weren''t worried for Tayaw as we knew that he has a good relationship with the boss. This was proven when after five minutes, he stepped out of the office smiling. "We''re good to go. Come, let''s go warm up." Tayaw said as he led us to the green room which we will see for the first time.

    Meeting other musicians was a new experience for me. Looking at age alone, we definitely stood out as rookies. Most of the musicians we met are in their late 20s to 30s which is basically an age group our band do not hang out with. Interestingly enough, I felt comfortable talking with them about music. Maybe it''s because we talked a lot with Tayaw for the past five months, we know what to ask and we know how to answer. Does that mean that Tayaw has maturity beyond our age? I would not be surprised if he is that matured.

    9 pm approached and Luck Luck, the third act is already wrapping up their set. We are also done tuning our instruments and had pre-plugged everything else with the instruction from Tayaw. I felt my heart beat faster and harder each step we take towards stage. I was confident because I''ve practiced as much as I could, and Tayaw also said that everyone is good enough. Being on stage in person however is very nerve-wrecking.

    "Good evening folks. To our new patrons, my name is Tayaw. To our old patrons, you may have been used to watching me perform alone, but today is a special day. My band behind me will make their debut tonight and they need your support. The band, including me, will be called Percussive Corrections, I hope you enjoy." Tayaw introduced the band while plucking his guitar. I''ve watched him do it many times, but to be introduced by him is a bizarre feeling.

    My time has come. According to the song line-up arranged by Tayaw, we are to play "Every Week", an original song by Tayaw. This song, however, needs my saxophone for a prelude. First gig, first song, first player, me. I took a deep breath and started playing my sax.

    A few notes in, I could already feel my breath running out. This has never happened before. Is it because I''m too nervous? I barely made it through the measure and the last few notes of it were shaky. Tayaw looked behind to me and gave me an encouraging nod and gestured me to keep going. He doesn''t look angry or mad; therefore I''m still doing alright. This is good. I should relax. I should play just like I practiced.

    After the prelude, Ike started playing his drums softly and Inson started playing his bass for the intro. It sounds nice and the crowd is nodding along the beat. Tayaw joined in and started strumming his guitar as well and Bay-an started playing the thematic riff of the song on his piano. Not long after, Tayaw started singing.

    "It is a story I couldn''t see

    can you tell it to me?

    Don''t give me a sad face

    our smiles should stay

    The hand that wipes away our tears

    Though it looks so pitiful

    I frown, I wonder if these feelings come easy

    And I hate myself for it"

    Tayaw''s voice is a typical baritone but has a very raspy and hoarse tone that is attractive to listen to. I rarely hear him belt out a high note often but when he does, it is satisfying to listen to.

    The second verse soon ended and Hoon''s guitar entered for a little interlude. I thought Hoon''s guitar before was sick because of how he shreds on it, that when Tayaw said he lacked foundation, I was offended on his behalf. Tayaw then played Hoon''s riffs much cleaner and taught him how to solidify his basics. Now, Hoon''s guitar is almost as good as Tayaw''s demonstration back then... I think.

    The song ended its last chorus and it''s time for my saxophone again for the outro. The melody I''m playing this time is the theme of the song that Bay-an has been playing throughout the song. The song itself is about love and blind decisions. I''ve been very considerate of my decisions, but the melody is somehow talking to me.

    Soon after, our first song is over. I''m relieved and finally got a taste of validation from the crowd''s applause. I''ve never thought the band, including me would be applauded this well. I have regained some of my confidence and if I maintain it, and if the other band members are feeling the same, we might just nail our first gig.

    At first, I was skeptical as to why Tayaw would choose me as a part of the band. Over the past months however, the improvements and the skills I gained finally made me feel that Tayaw''s investment to me is worth it. Was it because I worked hard to reach his expectations, or did Tayaw really see something with me and the other members that he chose us? Whatever the reason is, I''m thankful to Tayaw for the opportunity he''s given me.

    ))

 Chapter 41 - Movie Rights - Manuscript

    September 19, 2011 Monday , Nuilye St. East Ouigab.

    "Pleasure doing business with you." Tayaw said as he shook hands with the previous-owner of the house in Ironstone he now owns. "No. It''s a pleasure for me. That house, was supposed to be a home where I could have raised my children. Unfortunately, only bad memories remained for me in that house." The previous owner replied, appearing lighter after the deal.

    Tayaw just bought the house he''s been renting in Ironstone since January for 1,500,000 BGC. Despite the huge spending though, it was practically just a dent to his wealth. Last week, Tayaw told Galad the realtor and the previous owner of the house to prepare for the purchase soon after his 18th birthday.

    Two days ago, Tayaw spent his 18th birthday in Okuba with his family. That time, Kilat was less displeased of Tayaw''s non-visits between July and his birthday. Tayaw was also given updates by Liboo regarding the car renovating business.

    Since July, Liboo was able to find an empty lot for cheap rent half an hour away from Okuba, have the workshop built, bought the equipment, and immediately bought 5 vehicles for renovation. Last August, he was able to sell his first car. Out of the 5 cars he bought was a 1987 Corvette Convertible for 23,000BGC. After overhauling the thing for another 9,000BGC, he was able to sell it for 69,000BGC. Although it was a huge profit, Liboo also knew it''s difficult to even find such a car for sale. Despite that though, he was lucky that Ouigab has a lot of car enthusiasts that were willing to buy the Corvette.

    After having lunch with the previous owner of his house, Tayaw drove back to Ironstone to wait for Chala. It has been a while since he released the second volume, which was in March, so he is planning to publish another book. Even though he''s plenty rich now, he needs more stuff to make movies and play more. After all, he wants to live a more fulfilling life this time. Drowning himself in music should not be what a person does no matter how talented they are in it.

    Regarding music, Tayaw has recorded two albums now. Since February when he acquired his perfect pitch, he was able to compose thirty-eight complete songs. Out of the thirty, he only found twenty-four he deemed good enough for people to listen to.

    Another added benefit to his songs is that he received two more enhancements from two of his thirty-eight songs. His strength basically a double of his strength since his July enhancement and he can now bench press 100kg for 43 repetitions while lying down. He actually found no real use of his strength aside from the healthy body. It''s not like he''s planning on becoming an athlete either. He appreciates the increase in his brain power more. One side effect to him though is that it seemed as if the world slowed down a bit. It''s a very odd feeling.

    Many times, he would rather run on foot to wherever he wants to be rather than driving. While he can''t outrun a car in full speed yet, being on foot has more mobility, agility, and most importantly, no being stuck on the traffic.

    It was already 1pm when he arrived in Ironstone. The band is out to school so the house is empty. The band, just like the previous semester, enrolled to have the same schedule as each other. All the members finished their first year in university with quite good grades. Hoon, for example had the best grades among them averaging an A with the rest of the band having an average GPAs of B like Ramil and Inson has, or an A- like Jenna and Bay-an. Ike had to work the hardest because he doesn''t have Tayaw''s help, but still got an average of B-. In Tayaw''s previous life, Hoon did not have interest in school that much and only graduated by cruising with passing grades. He felt glad he helped a lot with the band''s school performance.

    A few minutes later, Chala arrived as well. "If it isn''t my favorite author. How come I''m only coming here for the first time?" Chala greeted Tayaw as he looked around the house. "Oh, I just bought the place today. I''ve been raising a band as well. By the way, how are we doing with the people looking for rights?" Tayaw asked as he served Chala a cup of black coffee and a slice of blueberry cake.

    "Well, I''ve sold the movie/animation rights to Pixie Studios last week. Tisney offered smaller." Chala replied as he sipped his coffee. "Pixie? That company from USA?" Tayaw clarified. Pixie Studios is one of the biggest animation studios in the world, which he remembered in his past life, was worth 10 Billion USD in 2030s. They have been making animated movies based on traditional fairy tales, movies about action figures of different sports, movies about young kids training to be athletes, and more.

    "Yes. It was actually difficult to squeeze them. Thinking back, I should have just started a bidding war between Pixie Studios, DreamReels, and Tisney Animation, I wonder how much we would have gotten. Damn it." Chala said as the hand holding his cup started shaking out of regret. "F*ck, I got too excited and absorbed during the negotiations. I''m sorry Tayaw." Chala continued and put his cup down.

    Tayaw was wondering how much Chala messed up. "So, how much did we get?" Tayaw asked. "$25 million, 8% of gross revenue, 1% of DVD sales." Chala replied. Tayaw raised his eyebrows at this because he found it a very generous offer, especially the box office sales. "Wait. 8%? Isn''t that huge? Not even some investors get that much share. Also, gross revenue isn''t affected by Hollywood accounting." Tayaw asked. "I know it is. It''s just I could have gotten more if I had other studios bid on it." Chala said. This made Tayaw speechless for a moment. ''This greedy f*ck.'' Tayaw said internally.

    "Think about it this way. Think back. Did they even give you the chance to even have a second round of negotiations? Think back at what you felt during the negotiation when they offered that amount. Was there anything strange?" Tayaw asked. Chala thought about it for a moment, and his eyes widened.

    "I found something strange! We were an hour in the negotiation, and their offer was slowly climbing up until we got stuck at $25 million for the movie rights. Neither of us would back down, and they asked for a fifteen minute break. After that, they suddenly offered the 8% box office shares and said that''s their limit. I felt like I already won at that time. I tried to squeeze them for more, and that''s when they gave me the 1%." Chala said. "I think that''s the key part. They blinded you with the huge box office share, and stroke your ego with the DVD shares." Tayaw explained. He has seen this happen in various forms in his previous life.

    "I''ve been had..." Chala said as his shoulders dropped. "No. It''s my bad. I should not have sent you there alone. They had home advantage." Tayaw shook his head as well. "Anyway. It''s not like they did not buy the rights cheaply. They had to be generous to prevent you from knocking on the doors of other studios. You still did well despite your disadvantage." Tayaw, despite feeling it was a shame; he felt that the deal was fair.

    "F*ck. I should not have underestimated them. What was I thinking?" Chala said, still dazed at the realization. "Don''t beat yourself up. You did well." Tayaw consoled Chala. This made Chala feel better. "By the way, we should be receiving the $25 million on your bank account any moment now." Chala said, changing the topic to a more positive one.

    Tayaw opened his laptop and logged in on his online banking and his heartbeat raised at the money he currently has. He already had 50 million BGC in savings, and with the recent remittance by Pixie, his account now has 100 million BGC in it. If he puts aside Chala''s share of 15% from Pixie and the 32% in taxes, he will still have a bit short of 80 million BGC.

    "I bet you can retire now, Chala." Tayaw said as he slapped Chala''s back. "Yeah¡­" Prior to this deal, Chala was already worth more than 10 million BGC if Tayaw???s calculations are correct. With Pixie''s purchase, his net worth almost doubled.

    "There''s basically nothing left for you to do." Tayaw said. "Thanks Tayaw. I thought I would still grind until 60 to be half this rich." Chala replied, excited almost in tears. Tayaw is a god-send to him. He is already imagining how he would spend his money until he dies, when suddenly Tayaw said something to break his daydream. "Wanna have another deal? I''ve finished writing my new book." Tayaw mischievously smiled.

    "I''m sorry, what?" Chala wanted to confirm. "You heard me." Tayaw said and opened a pdf file and showed it to Chala. Tayaw, just like he planned, finally finished his manuscript of The Halfling, all 400+ pages including the prologue and ill.u.s.trations. He was also finished registering the copyright for it.

    Tayaw watched Chala as he read the manuscript in silence. About thirty minutes later, Chala looked at Tayaw with worship in his eyes. "This¡­ Ho- Wh- y- ¡­ Glued." Chala said unintelligently. "Excuse me, what?" Tayaw chuckled. Chala took a few seconds to calm down and said. "I thought your previous book was already good. But this! This is the ultimate fairy tale!" Chala explained himself excitedly. Tayaw was satisfied at Chala''s response. Even though he just transcribed it, he also hoped that this book would be something he wrote himself. He has not received any literary skills from the roulette to even start to appreciate the greatness of the book and the books that follows it.

    While reading The Halfling and the Ruler''s Ring in his head, he can''t even begin to imagine how clever, smart, and creative the genius of an author who wrote it. Tayaw was tempted to write a book of his own, but looking at the pieces that the roulette gave him, he would only embarrass himself. Not to his world, but to the authors of the books he was given.

    He is actually tempted to play the giant roulette again. He currently has 96 million View Points and he would rather wait for the white void to drag him in again. He wonders if there will be a third platform in the roulette table after the silver and gold platforms. The silver platform, which was colorless during his 1,000,000 View Point rewarded him movies. The gold platform which cost him 10 million gave him his Perfect Pitch. He is excited to see what reward a 100 million draw would give him.

    "Thank you. It won''t be targeted to children however. Children can still read it, but they''re not my primary target this time." Tayaw said. "That''s true. I noticed that the writing style you used is too advanced for children to read." Chala nodded. "Still, I think you will win an award for this though." Chala continued. "That would be good." Tayaw replied, but he is still afraid of his fame and how it would affect him.

    "So. Want to work with me again on this? While we''re already rich, we are still young." Tayaw finally offered Chala. "This¡­" Chala is moved. Tayaw could have just found another agent, but Tayaw had to wait before Chala finishes his work to release his book. "Of course. It would be an honor to work for a future legend." Chala accepted.

    The two talked about their new contract. Chala being grateful for Tayaw''s trust in him, decided to take less shares this time. Chala will have a share of 8% to whatever Tayaw makes from The Halfling.

 Chapter 42 - Album - Clothes

    September 21, 2011. Monday. Ironstone East Ouigab.

    His passport application was finally approved and would expect the passport to arrive by the end of September. What excited him on the other hand is what he received today.

    The copyright certificate of his first album, "18" finally arrived in his mailbox. The copyright registration for songs took almost a month unlike copyright registration for books that only took around two weeks. There are a lot more songs being made therefore much longer processing time.

    Tayaw is planning on releasing the album through music streaming platforms like ITunes and Stoppify. He has no problem uploading his stuff on Stoppify directly but his problem is ITunes. Only artists who have released at least one well-sold album can publish songs directly on ITunes so he has to make use of an aggregator accredited by ITunes to publish his songs on his behalf. Thankfully, he already found an aggregator that does not take any royalties and only takes fees each year.

    He opened his laptop and went to TuneNation''s website to upload his work, provide his bank account, and pay. He registered under the stage name "Yawat" based on a play on letters of his name.

    TuneNation charges a base of 100BGC per year to sell songs on music platforms and collect earned money from those platforms on their subscriber''s behalf. For an additional fee of 150BGC per year, TuneNation can handle various royalties like mechanical, performance, print, and sync royalties and collect what a subscriber''s songs earn from those. TuneNation thankfully, does not take any percentage of royalty.

    If everything goes well with TuneNation, then his first album will be for sale on music streaming platforms by the first week of October.

    Even though ITunes will end ten years later, it is still pays the best out of all the music platforms aside from actual record shops. ITunes will sell songs for 30% cut of the sales.

    After visiting TuneNation''s website, he closed his laptop and went to his bathroom for a shower. He is planning to go out to shop for some clothes. The clothes are not intended for his daily use, but clothes he will use in public performances. He does not want to be recognized for now. He is also planning on making his YouTube channel to cover songs and promoting his original songs at the same time.

    It was already lunch time when he drove to central East Ouigab and to go to lunch at a branch of his beloved Grillique restaurant. While eating, he''s trying to imagine what type of style would contrast with his simple style of long sleeve shirts and well-fitted jeans.

    His eyes then was caught by a man who appears to be in his 40s walking out of the restaurant''s entrance and disappeared outside quickly. Even though it''s only a short glimpse, with Tayaw''s enhanced brain and eyes, he was able to memorize the man''s clothes.

    The man was wearing a Cuban shirt, black slack-jeans, brown loafers, and a straw colored boater hat. Tayaw liked the style and decided to adapt it in public appearances and in his YouTube videos.

    After lunch, he headed to East Ouigab''s largest apparel store and started looking. For shirts, Tayaw bought a couple of dark colored Hawaiian shirts, Cuban shirts, and short sleeved Guayabera shirts of varying lighter colors. He was going to change his style but he will not forgo his like of darker shade of colors so he bought those types of shirts in black, brown, dark red and blue colors as well.

    For pants, Tayaw bought a couple of straight cut pairs of jeans of varying colors of the lighter shade; white jeans, khaki colored jeans, light brown jeans, sky blue jeans, light pink jeans. Even though he didn''t like wearing them, they would go well with the shirts he bought. He bought jeans because he doesn''t like the folded creases found in slack jeans that the man in the restaurant he saw wore.

    For the shoes, he bought loafers and casual dress shoes in varying shades of brown.

    He actually found it difficult to find boater hats so he had to drive around East Ouigab until he found an exclusive store of a hat making company. Looking at the hats, he actually fell in-love with them. He was strictly a beanie guy even in his past life, but the beautifully crafted hats in the store have slowly seduced him.

    After an hour in the store, he walked out with a couple of boater hats, trilby hats, and bowler hats in various shades of brown. He will use the boater hats for the looser Hawaiian shirts, and the trilby and bowler hats for the more fitting Cuban shirts and guayabera shirts.

    After buying the shoes, he still found something lacking. He realized that he also has something to partially cover his face, so he decided to buy some sunglasses. He wanted to find those sunglasses that have that vintage / antique look on them so he opted for those huge aviator sunglasses. After looking around for a while, he finally found a store that sells aviator sunglasses bought a few pairs with varying darkness of lenses.

    After the shopping spree that totaled 9,000 BGC, he went to look for a well-lit parking lot and parked his car. He took out a sky-blue and white striped Cuban shirt, white jeans, a light brown pair of leather shoes, a light brown boater hat, and a pair of aviator sunglasses out of their packages, and hastily wore them inside the car. He then got out of the car and did some final touches and looked at himself through the truck''s side mirror.

    Rich. That was his assessment of what he looked like. Because of his brown Polynesian complexion, he would be mistaken as a rich South American terrateniente with his outfit and the sunglasses that hide his eyes. The shirt hugged his figure and exposed his well-toned forearms so it made him look more attractive.

    He actually likes how he looks with the clothes. It''s just that he prefers darker clothes with simpler designs to blend in with the crowd. He finds bright colored clothes very eye-catching so he tends to avoid wearing them. With his future as a musician in stage and in the internet however, he found it unavoidable to gather attention so while performing in front of a crowd or a camera, it''s not a bad idea to wear good bright clothes. When he goes to the streets, he will wear his usual style of a beanie, baggy long sleeve shirts, jeans, and rubber shoes. Such contrast can help in keeping his privacy.

    He then got back in the car and drove back to Ironstone without changing back to his regular clothes. After parking his car in the garage, he decided to go inside the house first to fetch a garbage bag so that he can pick all the things he bought all at once.

    Entering through the front door, he found all of the band mates in the living room doing their homework. Ike spotted him first and burst out laughing. "YO! WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU WEARING MAN?! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Ike exclaimed as he pointed at Tayaw.

    "You look like a drug lord." Ramil said while giggling. "He looks cool though?" Hoon said. "He looks a lot more matured." Jenna said as she walked forward to touch Tayaw''s clothes, "Ooh. Nice fabric." "Man. You finally look like how much you''re worth." Inson was nodding as he examined Tayaw''s clothes. Bay-an just fell on his back on the living room couch, wheezing in laughter.

    "Hey. Is it that funny?" Tayaw asked Ike. "No. It''s just a surpris- WHOAH! You''re ripped!" Ike exclaimed again as he noticed Tayaw''s broad shoulders, toned arms, and flat stomach. "Come to think of it, you always wore those baggy sweatshirts. Why don''t you show off your body more?" Jenna asked, this time, blatantly patting and groping Tayaw''s body. "Do you like them that much? Alright, alright, that''s enough." Tayaw said and he knocked on Jenna''s forehead and went to the kitchen for a glass of water.

    "Hey. Your hat, they look expensive. Like handmade expensive." Bay-an said, his eyes glued on Tayaw''s boater hat. "They are. I have more, wanna borrow? You have to look good on it though." Tayaw offered. "Thanks. By the way, why are you dressed like this?" Bay-an thanked and asked something that didn''t occur to the other members.

    "Oh. I want to wear this for gigs and Youtube." Tayaw replied. "You have a YouTube channel?" Inson raised his eyebrows at that. "No. I''m planning on making one to promote my original songs. I want to have some sort of disguise." Tayaw explained. "Will we be in it?" Ike asked. "You will. I''m planning on recording all the cover songs we''ve played so far." Tayaw explained simply. Since the Percussives'' first gig at the ROH Factory, they started performing twice a month. An amount of gigs Tayaw found the band can handle comfortably.

    "Oh! That''s cool!" Jenna said, already imagining how she would dress on the videos. "I get it. I have to disguise myself as well." Ramil nodded. "Why?" Ike asked simply. "I don''t know. I''m not that type who posts his face publicly. I wouldn''t even have a Facebook account if I didn''t find the chat function in it useful. Having a sort of disguise would make me feel less uncomfortable." Ramil explained. "So, you don''t want to appear on the videos?" Ike asked again. "I want to. I just want to be seen as a saxophone player, not as myself." Ramil explained. "I don''t get it¡­" Ike said in confusion.

    "Anyways. I''m the only one filming for now. I have to research which songs can be uploaded." Tayaw said. YouTube have some sort of contract with many music publishers regarding cover songs. Instead of the covering artist paying for the song''s mechanical license and sync license fees, Youtube will automatically share the ad money earned from the cover videos to the music publisher. Therefore, Tayaw has to make sure that the songs they will upload are owned by music publishers who have an agreement with YouTube, or else he will be hit by copyright strikes.

    He is also planning on uploading covers on BeatsCloud. He will have to spend obtaining mechanical licenses for the songs he will cover. It''s not expensive to use a service for obtaining licenses in the first place, so it wouldn''t feel the expense.

    "By the way. Your prelims exams are still about a month for now. I''m thinking about something we could do as a band." Tayaw said to the group.

    "What is it?" Jenna asked.

    "I will have to let you experience busking one of these days." Tayaw said to the shock of the group.

 Chapter 43 - 100 Million View Points: Artist Record

    September 26, 2011 3pm Monday, Ironstone Ouigab

    Tayaw was just done talking with the head of PinkApron, an American meal delivery service company. In his previous life, the company started business in the latter half of 2012 but with Tayaw interested in investing, he is sure that the company''s services will launch earlier.

    They have accepted Tayaw''s proposal to buy 51% share of their company for $12M. He will not manage the company but proposed to hire the lead developer as a CEO for $300K annual salary. The PinkApron people will do the paperwork of the investment proposal, a requirement for Tayaw''s application for an E2 ¨C Investor Visa. It will take a day or two, but he has another thing concerning him at the time being so he went down to his studio and picked up his electric guitar.

    He is practicing shredding on the guitar, which he rarely did in his previous life. He never liked shredding in performances as he found them unnecessarily flashy, but he loved to do them as exercises to practice his finger placement. He is currently playing something that reflects his recent inspiration.

    Tayaw felt proud playing with the band. Over the past week, Tayaw performed twice at the ROH factory. Once by himself, and once with the whole band. The band actually reached the skill levels to become studio musicians, skilled enough to be approached by recording studios to play for them.

    Ike has become much more refined in his drums, Ramil has stabilized his breath on the sax, Inson can perform complex bass lines smoother, Hoon has started with the rudiments of improvisation on his guitar, Bay-an has become comfortable playing all the keys in the piano, and Jenna plays the violin without going out of tune and started playing with scales too.

    They actually have not been approached by any recording studios; it''s just that they are that good in Tayaw''s assessment. The reason why he compared their skills to studio musicians is because Richard Caluz, the man who approached Tayaw before to be a session musician for his newly built recording studio last January, came to recruit Tayaw again after Tayaw never got back to him.

    Richard, seeing Tayaw has refined his guitar once again, got hungrier to recruit him for his studio. Unfortunately for him, Tayaw refused and promised to send his band members for consolation.

    The actual reason why Tayaw is spending the whole day in the studio, however is to prepare himself for being pulled in to the white void. When he woke up earlier in the morning, his View Points are only a few tens of thousands away from reaching 100 million. His estimation proved right when he was suddenly pulled away.

    He found himself again in the white void with the huge words of "Arts Records" in front of him. Tayaw actually wanted to practice his music within the white void; unfortunately he can''t bring anything else inside but himself. He also tried to practice singing in the white void but after only five minutes, he was returned to the real world.

    Tayaw then looked at the View Points under the Arts Record. 100,000,000 View Points. He was right when he guessed it would be an important number. He touched the words and the giant roulette appeared again. It still looked the same but in addition to the silver and gold platforms, a green crystalline platform appeared beside them.

    Tayaw then excitedly picked up the roulette ball, stepped on the green crystal platform and threw the ball inside the wheel. As the ball danced in the wheel, his 100 million View Points also quickly drained until it reached zero.

    A few tiles from different parts of the board floated up at the same time and converged into one big tile standing upright in the middle of the table. The huge tile flashed and the words "Artist Record ¨C Peter McKinsey" appeared. The tile flashed once again and out from it appeared a silhouette of a young Caucasian man in a well fitted suit and bowl haircut, carrying his acoustic guitar in the playing position. Tayaw watched as the young man slowly grow old into a man into his 90s until he dispersed into golden dust. The gold dust then rushed towards Tayaw just like how tiles did in his previous draws and Tayaw felt a huge headache.

    The headache this time felt much different, it made him fall on his knees, his heart also started hurting and his skin felt like they''re burning. Tayaw didn''t know how long the pain lasted but after it disappeared, memories flooded his brain of Peter McKinsey''s first hand experiences on all things artistic. Music writing, music inspirations, performances, and watching live performances of other musicians.

    The emotions hitting Tayaw all at once made tears freely flow from his eyes as he felt how Peter felt when writing songs dedicated to the passing of his mother, passing of his good friend and band mate Jon Kennon, and the passing of Linda, Peter''s first wife. He also felt Peter''s sentiments about his son, James, and his dog, Martha as he wrote songs about them.

    Tayaw, after a few minutes of digesting Peter''s memories, was finally transported back to his studio. Tayaw lay down on the studio couch and mused over Peter. Tayaw only truly admired a few artists in his own world. Tayaw''s newfound admiration to Peter however, is bordering worship. Peter''s inspirations and feelings translated perfectly in his songs, his lyrics, and his performance. Tayaw has better technical guitar skills and vocal techniques than Peter, but he is not confident of performing Peter''s songs as well as Peter did. "Is this the essence of a real artist?"

    Tayaw quickly watched all of Peter''s songs in his brain. He then realized that even Peter''s worst hit song is only a little inferior to his own''s best written songs. Of course, Peter has many bad songs as well, but Tayaw knew that Peter was simply unmotivated or was only stroking Linda''s artistic ambitions when he was writing those appalling songs. Still, Tayaw respects Peter more than any artist he knows in his own world.

    "Are our world''s artists simply incompetent? That''s not it. We can play instruments and sing just as well. Are we uninspired? What''s the problem?" Tayaw started analyzing why a single artist from that world can write so many great songs by himself.

    Tayaw himself, despite using his enhanced body and mind to write hundreds of songs since he got his perfect pitch, does not think he has as many songs that Peter wrote that are just as good. His album, 21, already contains 14 out of the 32 of his best songs.

    And, out of his 32 best songs out of the hundreds of songs he mass produced, he can only choose three songs that can compete with Peter''s songs.

    Except for jazz and blues musicians who record spontaneous stuff most of the time, the best of musical artists in his world after the WW2 would only have two albums or three in their careers. If they don''t release a single from time to time, their fame would slowly die down.

    Tayaw then heard the studio''s door open from the outside and Bay-an walked in followed by Jenna. "Hey Tayaw. I didn''t expect to see you here still. You look like crap, you alright?" Bay-an asked, when he saw the groggy and sweaty Tayaw lying on the studio couch. Tayaw sat up from the couch and rubbed his face. "I''m alright. Hey. Wanna listen to something? I have another song." Tayaw said as he picked up his guitar.

    "Jeez. You sure you''re okay? You look like you spent the whole day here." Jenna said worriedly. "I''m fine. Take a seat." Tayaw said and he went to the live room of the studio and sat on a stool. Jenna wanted to stop Tayaw but was attracted instead by the beautiful plucking Tayaw made with the guitar.

    "Small bird singing in a quiet night

    Take your tired wings and keep on flyin''

    All your life,

    you have always waited for this moment to arrive

    ¡­"

    Bay-an and Jenna could not help but be mesmerized by the song. They have always liked Tayaw''s original songs, but this one to them, feels different. It''s simple, but it is enough.

    "Small bird fly¡­"

    Tayaw ended the song and the studio was engulfed in silence. The silence though was cut short by Jenna''s sniffing. "You okay, baby girl?" Tayaw raised his brows at this. "Yes. I''m okay. The song is beautiful." Jenna said wiping the remaining tears that pooled in her eyes. "Dude¡­ wow." Bay-an simply said as he started clapping. Tayaw shook his head at this. He wished he was the one who wrote the masterpiece.

    This got him thinking. He does not want to keep Peter''s song only to himself but at the same time, he also does not want to release Peter''s songs under his name. He''s fine releasing other stuff that he got from the roulette as he does not have much attachment and pride in books and movies, but songs, it''s a different matter to him.

    He''s a musician with a musical artist''s pride and respect. He has pride in his own ability on writing his own songs and stealing other people''s songs will eat away at his soul. Even though the roulette gave him Peter''s songs, and that Peter is not of this world, Tayaw has too much respect for Peter to even publish Peter''s songs under his name.

    It''s not that it''s impossible for Tayaw to publish Peter''s songs under Tayaw''s name, but Tayaw figured he has to become a much greater artist than Peter who can write songs like "Smallbird" very easily before he can publish Peter''s songs in his name without guilt.

    Tayaw found that very difficult so he has another idea. He would release Peter''s songs to the world under the name "Peter McKinsey". That way, his world would recognize Peter''s songs as Peter McKinsey''s even though Peter does not really exist in his world. Tayaw is also sure that Peter''s songs will become a hit so he will use what those songs will earn for some charity or something.

    "Are the rest of the guys home?" Tayaw asked Bay-an and Jenna. "Yep. Ramil brought us all home." Jenna replied. "Do you all have home works or projects?" Tayaw asked again. "Just one homework. It''s gonna be easy though." Jenna answered. "Alright. Were you two going to practice?" Tayaw asked, curious at why only Jenna and Bay-an were here. "Yes. The rest are to come down as well after showering. They sweated too much in PhysEd class. I''m going to shower later and Bay-an was done showering at school." Jenna explained.

    A few minutes later, the rest of the band joined them in the studio. "Good afternoon guys. I actually want to record our first video on our YouTube channel. Do have any suggestions on which songs to cover first?" Tayaw asked the band.

    "Today? Wait! I haven''t decided what to wear yet!" Jenna exclaimed at Tayaw''s announcement. "Me too! I haven''t chosen a good disguise yet." Ramil also said. "Can I borrow your clothes and sunglasses?" Hoon, who didn''t seem to have a problem appearing in front of a camera suddenly, expressed his desire to disguise himself.

    "No. Not today. We will just discuss which songs to cover first so we can practice for them. Use that time too to decide how you will appear on the video." Tayaw said.

 Chapter 44 - Financial Marine Biology

    October 4, 2011 Tuesday ¨C 4AM. Shelby Hotel, Kangpan Capital City, East Tengueb.

    Tayaw woke up feeling re-energized. Because of his enhancements, his sleeping time has reduced to around 4 hours for a whole night''s full sleep. He opened his laptop and checked Topaz''s e-mail and Chala''s e-mail of the finalized contract of Topaz Publishing for The Halfling. For September, Tayaw''s fairy tales sold 3.8M copies giving Tayaw 6.2M BGC after deducting Chala''s share and what he set aside for the taxes. Chala expects that the fairy tales would sell below a million copies a month starting January of 2012.

    Unlike his fairy tales books, Topaz''s deal with Tayaw for The Halfling has a starting royalty of 20% for the soft cover books, for the initial 7,000 copies sold and peaks at 30% starting after 21,000 copies are sold. The hard cover books start at 25% for the initial 7,000 books sold and peaks at 35% after the 21,000th copy sold. A much more generous offer.

    Tayaw reached for his business phone and texted Chala "How''s the translation by the way?" Unlike the Fairy tales which can be translated by multiple translators in each language because of the different independent stories in it, The Halfling is one continuous novel that requires a much more careful and much closer interpretation to the original English version so a single good translator per language is a much better choice.

    Tayaw then closed his laptop and opened the window curtains in his hotel suite to look at the flat terrain of Kangpan City and compared it to Ouigab and Okuba''s hilly and mountainous terrain. Tayaw came to Kangpan Capital City last Sunday to visit the U.S. Embassy for his E2 Visa interview. Tayaw, in addition to investing in PinkApron, contacted Cognito as well. Cognito is a 360 degree video capture tech company that will become a huge success in the future as the world enters into an era of virtual reality and panoramic photography and videography.

    From what Tayaw can remember, Pink Apron would go public on 2015 with a valuation of $2 billion but its stock price and valuation would plummet soon after going public.Cognito, on the other hand, Tayaw knew that they will be a huge success in the future. Cognito would be a private company until the year 2025. He could clearly remember Cognito becoming a news sensation when they became public and was valued at $250 billion dollars by the North American stock market and that market cap hardly rose since then because of the rise of many if its competitors.

    Just like his proposal to the head of PinkApron, he gave a similar offer to Cognito and offered $15M for 51% share of the company and offered yearly salaries to the company''s head developers. Tayaw, however cannot invest in the companies without having a US visa so he talked with the folks at Pink Apron and Cognito to write up investment proposals for him as it is a requirement for the visa. The E2 visa is a non-immigrant visa used by non-us citizens to enter the United States to conduct business activities like what he''s intending. So with the investment proposals at hand, and an international lawyer by his side, he was able to have an impressive interview with a U.S. consul.

    Tayaw closed the curtains and went to the bathroom for a shower. After the shower, he packed all his things to his luggage and checked out of the Hotel. "Thank you for your stay, you''re always welcome in Sheraton." The manager himself came down to bid Tayaw goodbye and thanked Tayaw for staying in a presidential suite for two nights. "I will." Tayaw replied amicably and exited the hotel''s front doors. A valet also brought Tayaw''s pick-up truck to the front, ready for Tayaw. Driving away from the hotel, Tayaw smiled bitterly. He knew that being rich affords him many material luxuries, but to receive a much different treatment from other people too, is a bizarre feeling.

    After a few minutes of driving, Tayaw finally arrived at Kangpan City''s fishing docks. Teungeb is an island nation the size of Kazakhstan smacked in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, positioned just north of the equator, with the east coast touching the International Date Line. With Teungeb''s location, the fishing industry is one of the biggest contributors to Teungeb''s economy. Kangpan City''s fishing docks is the largest fishing hub in Teungeb''s East Coast and millions of kilograms of fish are traded in it every day.

    Stepping out of the vehicle, Tayaw can smell the warm early morning sea breeze mixed in with the typical smell of a fish market. Tayaw actually does not know anything about fish, but still wants to bring home a fresh fish to Okuba. Okuba, even Ouigab City, belonging to a province like Nabla which is in the middle of the country, only has limited types of fresh seafood to sell.

    Reaching the market, Tayaw noticed a gathering of a few men in a store. To satisfy his curiosity, he entered the store and he found it was an auction for a fish. The men surrounded a crate containing a huge tuna labeled as ''Blue Fin Tuna ¨C 220 KG'' with what looks to be the boss of the store conducting the auction. "28,000 from 28. 30,000 from 13. 31,000 from 36. 32,000 from 28. 35,000 from 13. Anyone else for 36,000? 36,000 from 28. 38,000 from 13! Anyone for 39,000? No one? Sold!" The boss said and his employees, in a practiced manner, dragged away the auctioned tuna and one employee talked to the man holding a number 13 sign.

    After satisfying his interest, he walked out of the store and took a deep breath. He did not expect that a blue fin tuna would cost 38,000 BGC for 220kg. That''s more than a half of his pick-up truck''s worth. Thinking about it though, it made sense if that fish was going to be used by sushi restaurants.

    Tayaw walked around for a few more minutes before entering another store that just finished their auction. He entered the store because he noticed its boss speaking Japanese earlier. The Japanese when it comes to handling tuna are a lot more careful fish butchers than any other people in the world and the fish they process smell less fishy, at least from what he read in his previous life. Ikejime, if he remembers it right, is what they call their process.

    He noticed that there are still a few crates of fish left in the store. Tayaw walked towards one that caught his eyes; Yellow Fin tuna 164 kg is written in the label. An employee then walked to him. "How may I help you?" The employee asked. "It''s not being auctioned?" Tayaw asked back as he pointed at the tuna. "Maybe it will when smaller sushi restaurants and fish dealers come. If no one buys it, we''ll just sell it at a fixed price of 19BGC per kilogram." The employee explained. Tayaw knew he appeared like a newbie with his questions, but he''s not a sucker; he already looked around for prices.

    "19BGC? Come on. I saw a Yellow Fin tuna selling in another store for 11 per kilo." Tayaw replied. He''s lying. He did not look around that much but the cheapest price he saw for a yellow fin of the similar weight is 14 BGC per kilo. He also knows that this fish will not be auctioned off because the other stores didn''t auction their Yellow Fin that weighed less than 170 kg. "True but those are of inferior quality." The employee replied smugly. "Right. It looks like I''ll go to that store that sells that inferior yellow fin then." Tayaw replied as he started walking out.

    "Okay! Fine. I''ll sell it to you for 16 BGC per kilogram. That''s my bottom limit. Even though it''s more expensive than the one you saw by a lot, I wasn''t lying when I said my fish is of better quality." The employee said. Tayaw was confused at how easy it was. He knew however that the employee isn''t lying. The 14 BGC per kilo yellow fin he saw looked horrendous compared to the beautiful plump yellow fin in front of him. That''s the reason why he wants to buy this particular fish in the first place.

    "Alright. I''ll take it. Please pack it for me; it''ll travel for a day or two to Nabla. Can you also debone and cut it up? I''ll pay you extra. I??ll take the receipt too. Thanks." Tayaw said and he handed six 500BGC bills to the employee. The employee, excited with Tayaw''s 380BGC change he''s giving away, went to work.

    While waiting for his tuna to be packed, Tayaw went out of the store to look for a place selling octopus and lobsters. Tayaw always loved lobster dishes in his previous life, but could only eat it twice or thrice a year. While he liked the taste of lobsters, he doesn''t like spending his money on something that was treated like an ocean pest only a hundred years ago. Octopus, on the other hand, is something Tayaw never had before so he was curious on how it would taste.

    A few minutes later in another store, he received two Styrofoam ice boxes containing two big lobsters in one, and two octopi in another. "Here. It''s best if you cook them as soon as you arrive." "Thank you." Tayaw said as he went back to the store where he bought his Tuna. The tuna was just finished flash freezing and Tayaw watched as the employee packed his tuna in a styrofoam along with a lot of dry ice. Tayaw has no problem unloading his stuff when he reaches Okuba because of his enhanced body.

    He decided to have a hefty breakfast first before driving back to Okuba. Even though it''s still early in the morning, Kangpan Fishing Dock and market is busy 24 hours a day including the restaurants. He ordered two big grilled squids, a whole lobster, a whole deboned salmon grilled well, three cups of white rice and a vegetable salad. The server of the restaurant who took his order was dumbfounded at Tayaw''s order. To the server, he estimated that the amount of food Tayaw ordered can be shared by two burly customers with great appetite. Looking at the tall and lean Tayaw, the server was skeptical if Tayaw can finish them all so he also prepared some packaging, sure that Tayaw will have his leftovers packed up.

    To Tayaw, it would have been a large amount of food. After his body''s enhancements however, this is barely enough to fill his stomach. Despite that, he didn''t want to order more because feeling his stomach may make him feel sleepy while on a drive.

    His food finally arrived and he started eating. While enjoying food that he would rarely have, his thoughts also wandered to the route he will take home. There are basically two routes he can take. The first route, preferred by most, is a straight highway through two cities but will take him a day and a half drive. It would pass through Gonto Province''s Clambu City and Nukab Province''s Kubing City before reaching Nabla Province''s Ouigab City. If he did not buy seafood, he would visit Clambu City and look around because it''s known as Teungeb''s Hollywood. He would also visit Kubing, Ouigab''s closest and more elevated neighbor city, which has a great rock-climbing scene and is also a place frequented by famous athletes for high-altitude training.

    The second route, which he will take is a shorter one that will only take him a day, but more dangerous. From Kangpan Capital City, it will pass through Gonto Province''s flat and straight rural roads, then to Nukab Province''s foggy winding terrain, and to Nabla''s even more dangerous zigzagging roads. If it was before, he would not be confident driving the route. But with his body and brain''s enhancement that granted him better senses and a fighter jet pilot''s reflexes, he drove this route on his way to Kangpan City and will drive this route again home to Okuba.

    After finishing breakfast, he paid his bill on the counter and got on his truck. Unknowingly to him, the server was dumbfounded while folding back the packaging he already prepared.

 Chapter 45 - Marine Biology of Public Performance

    October 7, 2011 Friday ¨C 6AM

    "That''s the portion we told you to take to Ouigab, right?" Liboo asked dumbfounded as he watched Tayaw load the 80kg portion of the tuna easily in the back of the truck. "Yep. I overestimated how much meat a 164kg tuna would have. Haha." Tayaw replied.

    The family enjoyed the lobster and tuna very much. The octopus, however, despite tasting like the lobster after being well-cooked, tasted bland to the family as they lacked good spices to go with it. Tayaw''s proposal of eating it raw also freaked out the family so they just steamed it.

    "At first, I didn''t believe you can eat all of the portions you''re taking with you, but with how strong your body is, I realize you will definitely eat it all before we consume our portion." Kilat said, dumbfounded as well at Tayaw''s strength as she patted Tayaw''s muscles. The couple doesn''t actually know Tayaw''s real strength; they just believed Tayaw''s excuse of training like an athlete to stay healthy.

    "Yes, my appetite really increased after I started training. I''m also sharing the tuna with my agent." Tayaw agreed. "By the way, when will you visit again? It would be nice if you visited more often." Kilat told Tayaw. "I will mom. But if my application for the US visa gets accepted, I may have to stay in the US for a few weeks to a few months to sell the movie rights for my fairy tales." Tayaw explained his circ.u.mstances. He did not want to reveal his intention of investing on start-ups because his parents would definitely disagree. It''s not their fault of not knowing about the future.

    "Alright. I also hope they will buy your rights fairly. I want to see your fairy tales in movies." Kilat nodded. "The film companies that contacted me make animation movies though." Tayaw replied. "Of course. Your stories are for kids after all. I don''t think the world is ready to make a movie based on the a.d.u.l.ts'' version of your fairy tales." Kilat said.

    "So, have you got everything you need?" Liboo asked after he sealed Tayaw''s cargo bed. "Yes. Please tell Payew that I took one of his potted plants." Tayaw replied. "You don''t have to worry about it. I don''t think it would matter to him. He already gave your mother and I some of his plants; one for your mom''s office table, and one for mine." Liboo assured Tayaw. "Okay. I''m off then." Tayaw finally bid his goodbye. After hugs and some more words, Tayaw started his drive back to Ouigab.

    On his drive, Tayaw is also practicing his singing. His naturally attractive husky baritone made him rely on it too much in his previous life but realizing the limitations of it in expressing emotions; he started learning to sing higher notes. After many months of training himself, he can now sing high notes that lower tenors can sing. He cannot hit those high notes continuously though and needs a lot of warm up and conditioning.

    While listening to Peter McKinsey''s song in his head, he also realized that although those songs are great, they can even be greater by applying subtle vocal agility to make the emotions even more apparent. A singer''s vocal ability is displayed when they are doing vocal runs like how a lead guitarist does riffs on the guitar. Excessive display of vocal agility is also not good, which is why Tayaw doesn''t like listening to some RnB singers that much.

    Despite that, Tayaw still found it useful to have some vocal agility. Just like his playing in the guitar, he can now do vocal runs in whatever ascending or descending scale. Adding his vocal agility to high chest-head voice notes during the climax of a song, Tayaw found it very attractive to listen to and great to display more variations of emotions like freedom, desperation, and anger. (Look up Park Hyo Shin ¨C Wildflower. I based Tayaw''s voice on him only in baritone)

    His vocal practice lasted just as long as his five hour drive. Tayaw could not practice his high notes for that long before but because of his enhancements, he noticed that his healing and recovery time has also reduced.

    Tayaw arrived at Ironstone just before lunch and immediately stacked the tuna inside the freezer. He will cook some tuna dishes for the band later in the evening so he spared two large cuts and put it in the refrigerator to slowly thaw.

    Tayaw was still not feeling tired after the long drive, so he went packed his acoustic guitar and microphone and went out again and drove to his favorite music store in East Ouigab. After an hour or so, he walked out of the music store with two portable amplifiers, a portable mixer, microphones and power banks. He bought these things to familiarize himself how to set up their instruments and sound system. The portable amplifiers are for the instruments and microphones, the mixer for clear recording of the audio, and power banks for electric supply because public electric supplies in parks and plazas are very unstable.

    Tayaw bought all these for the upcoming busking. Tayaw does not know exactly when they will do it, but the band is in the process of finishing up arranging the last few songs out of the 30 songs they have decided to perform. Tayaw also did not sign up in the ROH Factory for gigs this October to help speed up the arrangements and practice before Northwestern''s Prelims exam week starts.

    Loading the stuff he just bought, Tayaw did not go back to Ironstone immediately and went to drive around Ouigab. He wants to find a good spot for the busking; a spot that is fairly crowded, has no other buskers around, has a good backdrop, and is away from the noise of cars. Tayaw found it fortunate that he is in Ouigab, an arts and University City that is filled with just the people he wants for an audience; young people like University Students and aspiring artists that are active in the internet.

    After two hours of going around Ouigab, Tayaw found himself in West Ouigab. He parked his truck in a public parking space just a few minutes on foot away from Nabla Institute of Engineering, NIE for short. NIE is one of Teungeb''s best Engineering colleges but is very difficult to get into. If Tayaw was as academically inclined as Payew, he could have gone in it instead of Northwestern. He is in West Ouigab not to actually visit NIE, but because of the good spot he found for busking a few minutes of walking from NIE.

    He got out of the truck and surveyed the park around him. It is comprised of mainly grass and trees that visitors of the park would have a picnic on. The park interested him because of its downwards, inward sloping layout to the middle which makes the park bowl-shaped. His eyes however are caught by the 15 x 15 meter man-made lake, or in this case, a pool, in the middle of the park. In the middle of the lake is a stable fountain which Tayaw judged to glow up in the evenings judging from the turned off lamps pointed at it. The lake is surrounded by brick pavement which Tayaw estimated is wide enough for his band to set their up instruments at without blocking people''s path.

    Tayaw seeing that the skies are clear, with no signs of raining anytime soon, he went back to his truck and changed into his performing clothes which he always keeps in the glove compartment in the backseat. After changing, he unloaded an amplifier, a microphone, a power bank, and his acoustic guitar and brought them beside the lake. After a few minutes of fiddling around, he finally set the sound equipment up, ready to be used.

    Busking in Ouigab needs a permit but because he''s intending on busking without profit, he figured it is fine to just set up and start playing. The park is still sparsely crowded but because he''s just performing to get a feel of the place, he didn''t care and started playing a finger style guitar instrumental composed of his original melodies.

    Because of the sentimental and nostalgic piece that is coming out of the speaker, the people in the park got curious and started gathering in front of Tayaw''s set. A couple that Tayaw saw jogging around the pathway surrounding the park descended down to the lake to watch him. A man walking his two terriers also stopped by and sat down on the grass to watch and listen. Some people that were having picnic also moved their mats and rugs closer to Tayaw''s set.

    After the instrumental was over, some of the people gathered gave a polite applause, which Tayaw returned with a couple of nods. Because this isn''t a gig, Tayaw did not interact with the crowd like he did in ROH Factory, but limited his response with just nods and smiles.

    Tayaw then moved on to play his cover of a rock love anthem. He has two versions of the cover; one is for a wider audience, one sounds more intimate intended for a smaller room or a smaller crowd. Tayaw chose the second version and started playing the intro. The people around found the melody familiar despite coming out from an acoustic guitar. After plucking the intro, Tayaw''s voice entered.

    "Our times together keep trapping my heart

    did you ever love? Was it a passing relationship?

    Our times together weren''t long but trapped by heart

    You who set my heart on fire

    Did you ever love me? "

    The people found the arrangement refreshing and actually started listening more seriously. They started swaying with the rhythm too. "Hey. It''s like a different song." One woman whispered to her friend after the song ended. Tayaw moved on to his other songs, only giving slight bows and nods to the crowd in between.

    Seven songs in and thirty minutes passed since he started, and there are now at least 40 people gathered in front of his set. It''s currently four in the afternoon so many students from NIE have already finished their classes for the day and some just happened to be passing by the park when they heard Tayaw singing so they decided to drop in.

    Tayaw found the situation wonderful. He did not expect that him performing alone will gather this many people. Tayaw is not tired yet but he decided to take a break to gather more information about the crowd and the place.

    "Hi. Good afternoon everyone. I''ve been playing thirty minutes straight and I need a break." Tayaw greeted the crowd which they responded with applause. "Hi! Are you a celebrity?" One girl yelled her question confidently at Tayaw. She was impressed by Tayaw''s performance. She also noticed Tayaw''s expensive clothes, sun glasses and classy hat so she figured Tayaw must be a famous singer she has not heard of. "No. I''m not. I''m actually here to scout the place out for my band. Are you a student from NIE?" Tayaw replied through the microphone. "I''m from a different university. Some guys here must be from NIE." The girl replied which some young lads in the crowd nodded at in agreement.

    "I see. That couple over there, hello! Thank you for staying this long." Tayaw said to the jogger couple. The lady in the couple waved in response, and the man gave Tayaw a thumb up. Tayaw noticed the oldest person in the crowd, a man who appears to be in his 50s who just joined the crowd a song ago. "Thank you mister for dropping by. Is there a song you wish to request?" Tayaw said to the man.

 Chapter 46 - Culinary Arts of Public Performance

    The man walked forward to Tayaw, not wanting to yell his request, and said "Can you play Leaves by Buddy Fridman?" Tayaw smiled and nodded at his request. ''Leaves'' is the first song Tayaw played in his audition for Rudy last year and it''s been a while since he played it. However, his cover of the song is also one of Tayaw''s best arrangements; there''s no way he is forgetting how to play it anytime soon.

    He smiled wryly upon hearing Buddy Fridman''s name. Tayaw felt that had Buddy Fridman been more creative and had not engaged himself too much in temptations, he would have at least become his world''s Peter McKinsey. Tayaw felt that Buddy would never be as good as Peter McKinsey, but he still found Buddy Fridman''s story a pity.

    "Sure. Anyone else from the crowd?" Tayaw accepted the man''s request and the crowd started raining suggestions at Tayaw as well. The crowd must have subconsciously realized Tayaw''s type of music so most of the songs they requested have actually been covered or at least heard by Tayaw before.

    An hour more passed by and there are now only a little short of a hundred people in front of Tayaw. The skies are also turning darker so the lights for the fountain behind Tayaw were turned on by the park''s manager.

    Tayaw did not expect the crowd retention rate of this place to be this good. He also figured that because it''s Friday, students have more time to spare. Tayaw decided to finish the band''s arrangements and practice before next Friday.

    Unfortunately for the crowd, Tayaw is about to wrap up his set up because his new power bank is actually not fully charged. "Thank you guys for staying and listening. There are still requests I haven''t played yet, but I guess an hour and a half is my limit. This is my last song for the day."

    Tayaw started bidding his farewell. The crowd felt disappointed but they still gave Tayaw a warm applause of understanding and listened as Tayaw played his song.

    "The life I haven''t lived would be better for me

    My knees are shaking, legs stumbling as I walk

    Another empty day is passing today

    Love is just for all those who are the same

    There''s nothing to make my heart flutter"

    Tayaw soon finished his set and was met by the loudest applause he got today. "Thank you, thank you again. If you want to see more of me and my band, you can look up our YouTube channel. Also, thanks to your enthusiasm, I decided to bring my band back here next Friday at 5pm. I hope to see familiar faces then." Tayaw said, promoting his YouTube Channel while also leaving a promise to the crowd. After that, he unplugged his microphone and guitar that signaled the crowd that the set is really over so they also started dispersing. Some people of the crowd also walked towards him.

    "You were great young man. What''s your name? I hope you become famous someday." The man who requested ''Leaves'' said as he shook Tayaw''s hands in heartfelt compliment. "Thank you sir. I???m Yawat from the band Percussive Corrections. I also hope that my songs will be listened to by many in the future. Please check my original songs on Stoppify for free." Tayaw thanked the man and handed him a small card containing his iTunes, Youtube, and Stoppify channels. Tayaw decided his stage name long ago. Although it''s just an anagram of his name, it still has a nice ring to it.

    The man was not the only one who shook his hand and said their compliments. There was also strange lady that Tayaw actually knows from somewhere but never met in person.

    After a few handshakes and compliments from the crowd, Tayaw ran out of the cards he brought with him and finally started packing up his equipment. He texted the band earlier in the afternoon he will be cooking dinner so he doesn''t want to be late.

    It''s almost six o''clock in the evening when Tayaw got back to Ironstone. Tayaw went behind the house first and saw the bas.e.m.e.nt door was open meaning there are members already practicing inside. He also heard Ike''s and Jenna''s voice bickering inside. It didn''t sound like an actual argument so Tayaw proceeded to the house. Tayaw did not go down into the bas.e.m.e.nt to avoid disrupting the band''s practice. He has not seen them for almost a week so they will have questions and answering them will take a lot of their time. It''s better to talk to them over dinner.

    Entering the house, he saw the bands'' back packs scattered around the living room.

    Tayaw shook his head. Tayaw is a neat freak but this is the best he can get from his band. He negotiated with the band that it''s okay to have a little of disorganization in the house as long as the band vacuum dust often and does not leave mess that bacteria and mold will grow on whether it''s in their room or the shared spaces of the house.

    His requirement of preventing the growth of bacteria and mold pretty much solved Tayaw''s concerns in living with people. The kitchen is spotless and so is the fridge. The bathrooms are also very clean and dry. There are no scattered food and crumbs around the house. The dishes are also washed immediately after use. And the band knows how to handle trash very well.

    Tayaw took the two large cuts of tuna he set aside earlier from the fridge to thaw it thoroughly. Looking at the plump cuts that came from the tuna''s belly, Tayaw started salivating and separated a 1cm slice and ate it directly like a sashimi. Tayaw plans to cook the tuna as a steak so he then pulled out a griddled pan from the kitchen cabinet he will use to grill the tuna later. He also prepared some ingredients for the tuna like Lemon which he will squeeze juice from, and basic condiments like salt, pepper, thyme, and olive oil.

    While waiting for the tuna to thaw, he quickly cooked a pot of cream of spinach soup which will serve not only as a soup but a dip for the bread as well. A few minutes after the soup was done, he was also done grilling 14 juicy two centimeter thick slices and massaged them with spices. By 6:45, he was done setting the table, the utensils orderly arranged and made the dining table look like a real restaurant''s table; only difference is it only has the main course.

    Tayaw pulled up his phone and sent a message to the group chat. "Dinner''s ready." The group shortly joined him by the table and their eyes were attracted by the appetizing looks of the two slices of tuna steak with caramelized surface on each of the ceramic plates and the milky green spinach soup garnished with some sort of a leaf on top.

    "Oh my, it looks fancy." Jenna said poking the steak with her fork. "Dude¡­ is this fish? How huge was the fish to have a slice like this?! I thought it was beef at first." Bay-an commented. "It''s tuna I bought fresh from Kangpan." Tayaw replied. "You went down to Kangpan just for tuna?" Ramil asked in disbelief. "Ugh¡­ ''Just Tuna''? It''s a 164 kg Yellow Fin Tuna." Tayaw replied in fake offense.

    "What?! That''s four times my weight!" Jenna exclaimed. "Then you should eat more. You''re almost skin and bones." Hoon commented on Jenna being underweight for her 159cm height. "Give me your serving then. You''re getting fat." Jenna snarked back. "Nah. Tuna is rich in protein. It also has a lot of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids can help¡­" Before Hoon could continue, Ramil cut him off.

    "BY THE WAY. Why buy that much though? It''s not like we can eat it all." Ramil raised his eyebrows as the scale of a 164kg tuna dawned on him when he realized the tuna is also more than twice his weight. "Oh. I left the half of it to my family back in Okuba. Regarding what I brought here, don''t worry, it will run out before we realize it." Tayaw replied.

    "Thash twue. I wouldn''t mind hawing thish wor dinner ewery night." Ike said, already chomping down on the tuna steak. "Mm. It''s delicious. Man, I didn''t know you were a great cook. If you cook for us every night, I''m okay receiving less salary." Inson complimented Tayaw''s cooking.

    "Anyone tried the soup? It tastes healthy AND delicious." Bay-an said. "Hm. I don''t like greens much but this I can have every day." Ike replied. "Anyway, that''s still a lot of tuna. Won''t we get sick of it?" Hoon asked. "Maybe. But it''s not like you can have that much fresh tuna ever again." Tayaw just shrugged. "True. I actually can''t believe the difference of taste between canned tuna and this." Hoon nodded.

    "So, how''s practice?" Tayaw asked the band. "While you were gone, we collectively gave up on arranging the final six songs. Aren''t twenty four arranged songs enough? Even though you already arranged 14 of those, the 10 we arranged are already a miracle for us. We decided to just play a straight up covers for the remaining 6." Jenna explained.

    "Yep. It''s very time consuming. We''d rather practice." Ramil also commented. Tayaw understood their concerns. It''s not easy even for experienced musicians to re-arrange a song into a version that can do justice to the original.

    "Okay. We''ll go with that then. Hey. Guess where I went this afternoon." Tayaw said to the group. "I don''t know. Didn''t you just get back from Okuba?" Ramil asked. "Yes. But I got back before lunch. I actually went busking." Tayaw revealed. "You went without us?! What about our prep?" Ike complained. Tayaw''s confession disappointed the group.

    Looking at their agitated eyes, Tayaw almost felt guilty. "Hey. Hey. I scouted out places that we can perform at. Also, I only performed the songs I already performed at the ROH Factory." Tayaw explained. The band finally understood and calmed down. "Did you find a good spot? How was it?" Bay-an asked.

    "Yes. It''s at Monna Park in West Ouigab, just a few minutes'' walk away from NIE campus." Tayaw said. The group was quite intimidated by the name NIE. As engineering students, they felt quite inferior to the students of NIE. "Oh come on guys. We''re performing, not to discuss engineering." Inson pulled them out of their intimidation.

    "He''s right. How''s the place?" Ramil said. "It''s actually good. It''s like a park version of a stadium because of its bowl shape. I think we should also film it. The lake has a fountain in it that light up in the evenings." Tayaw described the park to them.

    "Oh. That sounds nice. Are there a lot of people?" Jenna asked. "Yes. I was performing alone for an hour and a half and by the end, there are more than a hundred people watching. Most are around our age from NIE." Tayaw answered. This surprised the band.

    So far, they have only been performing at ROH Factory with a crowd of under a hundred people. Performing in an open venue like a park that would have a higher limit of audiences made them feel anxious. "You''ll be fine. It''s not much different than performing in a bar. You all have plenty of experience." Tayaw assured them.

    "It doesn''t matter that much, it''s still a new experience for us. When will we perform?" Ramil asked. "Because we no longer have to arrange any more songs, I think we have plenty enough time to practice. So, on Friday, we''ll set up our equipment at 4:30 and begin at 5."

 Chapter 47 - "Baby Girl"

    October 14, 2011 Friday, 2PM ¨C Northwestern University, East Ouigab ¨C Engineering Department Faculty.

    "Thank you guys. It''s rare for me to receive finished projects before the last minute." Our professor in Differential Calculus smiled at me and the guys after we handed our term paper in the professor''s faculty office. "A friend taught me it''s better to finish my school work as early as I possible." I replied and the guys also smiled knowingly.

    "Miss uhhh¡­ Agmat, is this friend of yours by any chance, named Tayaw?" The professor asked me after he looked at my school ID. His question surprised not only me but the guys as well. "How did you know, professor?" I asked.

    "I was actually Mr. Dagem''s professor in Trigonometry last year. Mr. Dagem made quite an impression to me when he submitted term papers that included very realistic practical applications of the subjects we tackled. I saw you with him a few times in the school cafeteria." The professor explained which cleared our surprise.

    From what the professor said, it sounded just like Tayaw to write such papers. ''Practical application'', something that Tayaw teach us to prevent us from getting bored with our subjects. "How is he by the way? I never saw him since last February. He also didn''t enroll in my Advanced Algebra class last semester." The professor asked.

    I looked at Inson for help on how to answer. "Professor, he uhh¡­ actually quit school." Inson answered. "Oh. Looks like it''s not only Miss Agmat here who is friends with Mr. Dagem." The professor said, probably noticing from our body language that us five knew of Tayaw. "Anyway. I thought he transferred. What happened? He was such a good student. Is he having financial difficulties?" The professor asked again.

    I know that Tayaw values his privacy so I felt it''s not right to tell the professor about his affairs. Even us who are living with him for a few months now felt like he''s still hiding secrets. I cannot lie about Tayaw''s affairs either, as we were caught unprepared, the professor will definitely tell if I lied. I was about to answer when Ramil beat me to it.

    "Quite the opposite professor. Let''s just say that Tayaw doesn''t need to go to school anymore. He''s set for life." Ramil revealed. I gave him a look saying ''Isn''t that too much?'' which he responded with a shrug.

    "Really? Well that''s good news! Did he win the lottery or something?" The professor asked, joy can be heard in his voice. We were stumped again until Hoon elbowed my shoulder showing me his phone. In it is Tayaw''s text message "Let me talk to him." It turned out that Hoon quickly texted Tayaw shortly after the professor began asking about Tayaw''s affairs.

    A few moments later, Hoon''s phone rang. Hoon picked it up and answered. He then passed his phone to the professor. "Hello Mr. Dagem! I was just talking to your friends. It looks like you''ve made great friends; they were shifty and were covering for you." The professor asked jovially. This made us laugh awkwardly.

    "Ah. I see. It looks like I underestimated you... Uhuh, uhuh. I was disappointed when I didn''t see you, but this is great as well¡­ Oh! It''s me who wished to have had an entrepreneurial spirit like you do¡­ Good, good. Are you sure you want to do it for free? Alright, I''ll drop my car by sometime¡­ Ah! No wonder! They are good students as well? Impressive¡­ Of course! I''ll be there if my friends at NIE are available, you know it''s uncomfortable for me to hang out with younger people¡­ Yes. Well thank you then, call me when you have time." After a few minutes of talking with Tayaw, the professor finally passed the phone back to Hoon.

    "Why didn''t you all tell me that you were all in a band? I didn''t expect that not only are you kids good students, you''re musicians too." The professor complimented us. I don''t know what Tayaw told the professor, but knowing him, he probably didn''t tell the entire truth to the professor. Still, I''m glad it''s cleared. "We''re still rookies, sir, but we''re progressing well." Ramil said.

    "That''s good. I used to play the guitar too when I was younger. Just like what I told Tayaw over the phone, I might go watch your performance later if my friends at NIE are free today. I live on the outskirts of West Ouigab so it''s on the way too." The professor said. "We''ve prepared something good professor; we hope you''ll be there." I said.

    "Well then. Tayaw said that you will still have to prepare for your performance, so you guys go ahead." The professor gestured us to the door.

    A few minutes later we arrived at the school parking lot, Ike already waiting for us by Tayaw''s van. While on the ride back to Ironstone, I couldn''t help but think of Tayaw after that small situation back in the professor''s office.

    I met Tayaw during the first day of College Algebra last year. At first, I actually felt inferior of how smart Tayaw is, not only in Algebra. He''s like the perfect student and don''t indulge in joys that people our age engage in.

    Thankfully, that inferior feeling didn''t evolve into a complex once Tayaw started to ask me for favors in cutting classes. What evolved instead are the things he exchanges for the favors. It started with a cup of coffee and got more expensive like a pair of genuine Converse sneakers last January.

    It also confused me as to why of all the students in the class, he only chose to make friends with me. I thought he was interested in me romantically and that assumption was strengthened when he started calling me "baby girl".

    As we spent more time together however, I felt like he treats me like a little sister instead. Because of our size difference and his maturity that isn''t found in guys his age, I started treating him like an older brother I never had. It was awkward however when I found out that he''s actually younger than me by a few months. Still, it didn''t make any difference in our friendship after a while and I have grown to like the ''baby girl'' nickname Tayaw calls me.

    Last March, I finally found out more about Tayaw. His excuses about cutting classes to play around? Saving up for his truck''s down payment from his gigs? They''re all bullsh*t. He cut classes to re-arrange and compose songs, practice for his gigs, or write a famous f*cking book. He didn''t pay a down payment for his truck, but straight up bought it from his earnings as a famous author.

    Despite my trust in him, I still can''t believe entirely what he says sometimes because of his habit of telling half-truths. Anyway, since then, I gave up comparing myself to Tayaw. He reads our textbooks faster than we do and teaches us in advance. He also re-arranged a LOT, like hundreds of songs and on top of that composed his own songs. He''s a genius; there''s no point comparing anyone of our age to him.

    We arrived soon in Ironstone and Ramil pulled up the van to the driveway of Tayaw''s house. I still can''t believe I''m actually living in such a big beautiful house. I know that Tayaw is very rich, but I still cannot believe his generosity towards the band. Why did he choose us? I asked Tayaw before but he just answered "Gut feeling."

    Entering my room, I immediately went to my closet to pick out what to wear for the performance later. After a few minutes of picking and choosing, I finally decided on a simple peach colored long sleeve sweat shirt, a pair of blue skinny jeans, and the sneakers Tayaw gave me.

    I chose them to appear casual to prevent looking like a poser. If I wasn''t performing with the band, I would have chosen to wear something bright. After the first few gigs with the band, I learned that wearing bright colors would make me stand out and it felt burdensome.

    I have not changed my clothes yet and I went down to the bas.e.m.e.nt instead for a last minute practice. Over the past five months, under Tayaw''s guidance, I actually improved my violin skills tremendously. I now have the skills I never knew I could reach before I joined the band.

    I''ve realized how pitchy my playing was and that I never stepped out of the parts of the violin I got used to playing. After learning how to arrange songs a little and learned how the other members use scales, I finally can figure out why I should play a series of notes instead of just blindly copying notes by ear.

    Aside from my violin skills, I also improved my singing, which I never thought of improving before. I actually want to sing as the main vocalist in some of the songs but my vocal techniques are not that good and that my range isn''t that wide yet so I''m satisfied supporting Tayaw''s voice for now. Speaking of Tayaw''s voice,

    I think it''s very beautiful especially when he hits the high notes during the climax of a song and mix in subtle vocal runs. I don''t know if Tayaw realized but over the past few months, I''ve noticed that Tayaw''s speaking voice and singing voice are starting to sound the same. His speaking intonation also became more complex and expressive, as if he''s reading a poem or song lyrics when talking. It''s never boring to listen to him talk even if what he''s talking about is actually less than mundane.

    I finally felt it was enough after practicing for an hour and I put my violin in its case and brought it to the van. The others also packed up and loaded their instruments in the van a few minutes ago. Tayaw was in charge of the speakers and other stuff and loaded them in his truck. Looking at all the instruments and equipment jammed in the vehicles, I felt my anxiety become more apparent.

    Unlike the ROH factory where the customers are prepared to listen, the park where we will be performing tonight might have a crowd with different mindset. I felt like they will be more difficult to impress. Whatever, it''s not like my band mates are incompetent. We''ll be fine.

    4:30 soon came and we arrived at West Ouigab''s Monna Park. I noticed while we carried our instruments to the middle of the park that there are already around thirty people gathered beside the lake in the bottom of the park. I thought there''s another event in the park until I saw Tayaw, who went ahead of us, walk in front of the people gathered and started setting up the speakers.

    "Wait, did Tayaw invite all those people?" I asked the group, confused as to why there are already people waiting. "He probably did. Or maybe those people were here when Tayaw busked last week." Inson replied. It made sense. Tayaw probably informed his audience last week that he will come again today with us. Inson''s guess proved true because after we joined Tayaw and set up our instruments, we saw Tayaw start chatting with some of the people in the crowd.

    While testing the sound system, we all noticed the crowds slowly grow. I also spotted our Calculus professor join the crowd with three men his age with him. The professor waved at us and gestured that we shouldn''t mind him as he started chatting with his friends.

    The time finally came and Tayaw also leaned forward to his microphone. "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I see some new faces, and also familiar ones. Thank you for coming. We are the Percussive Corrections, a bunch of musicians who wish to give you all a lovely Friday night."

 Chapter 48 - Journalism of Public Performance 1

    October 14, 2011 ¨C Friday 4:30pm, Nabla Observer, West Ouigab

    I just closed my laptop after I saved the finalized the draft for my article tomorrow in a flash drive for my editor''s consideration. At first, I loved it when I was promoted to a feature writer because of the pay but also I can write whatever I want to write about. A few months in on the job, however, I realized that''s not the case. The editor refuses most of the stuff I propose and replace them with topics he wants instead.

    I understand however why the editor wants this control. The previous feature writer basically wrote articles that not many people read. That resulted to the newspaper receiving a lot of mails and e-mails every day from a lot of our readers, all suggestions on what to write about. The previous feature writer basically ignored the suggestions and kept on writing stuff he wants to write about. The editor too could not do anything because the previous feature writer has many friends among the newspaper''s sponsors. It also didn''t help that the previous feature writer was the oldest employee in the newspaper before he retired.

    Since I took over, we have received less and less suggestions from our readers which meant that they liked what I was writing, and that the editor''s ideas for articles are actually good and attractive to the readers. The editor also let me take all the credit, so it''s not like I can complain. I like the editor as a person as he treats every journalist in the newspaper fairy and generously; I just felt more freedom writing real articles about real news, real events, and real people.

    I find writing these feature articles very tedious. The draft I just wrote up is one good example. Who cares if a Nabla artist''s painting sold for 3 million BGC? That''s so stupid. It''s not like it''s a beautiful painting either. Even my 5 year-old nephew can paint something like that. I bet the painter just splashed different colors of paint on the canvas and called it a day. And critics called it his masterpiece. How pretentious. I bet the editor knows that it''s stupid too; he knows however, that it''s an interesting topic for people.

    I might have volunteered for demotion had it not for my goal of becoming one of the bosses of the newspaper. I was about to crack an entertainment company''s terrible practices towards its artists when I got promoted after the previous feature writer suddenly resigned. Because of the sudden promotion, I had to pass my assortment of notes about the case to Madi, a fellow journalist.

    I really didn''t make friends in the newspaper, and Madi is just an acquaintance at best. Thankfully, he was able to complete my investigation and added more before publishing an article under our names. I discovered at first that the entertainment company would send their new artists to gigs and keep the pay, under the excuse of exposure and compensation for the signing fee.

    In addition to my discovery, Madi also discovered that that company finds promising artists and sign them to what is almost a sl*ve contract. They would offer these hungry artists at least a 5 year exclusive contract and would ask the artist to publish their work under the company''s name. It''s basically giving up their copyright. In addition to the unreasonable conditions, the company would include sky high penalty fee if ever the artists break the contract.

    The artists, having no other entertainment company approach them would sign the devil''s contract hoping that it will change their lives for the better. Many of them however would just end up trapped in the company''s metaphorical dungeon until their contract is over and leave just as desolate as they have been when they entered the company. Worse is that they lost years they can never get back.

    Unfortunately, even though the article made me and Madi''s names famous, it did not do anything to that evil entertainment company at all because how legally tight the contracts they gave. The best the article did is to warn aspiring artists to be careful choosing an entertainment company to sign with and read the contracts they are offered thoroughly.

    I arrived in front of the editor''s office, knocked on the door, before entering. "Oh. You''re submitting early, Ophelia?" The editor said as I walked in to his office. "Here. Read it first." I replied as I passed him the flash drive I saved my draft in. Two minutes later, the editor finally looked up from his computer. "Good. We can print this tomorrow. I''m guessing you''re clocking out early?" The editor asked. "Yes. I don''t feel too well." I lied. "Okay. You worked hard. Call me tomorrow if it gets worse." The editor said. "Thank you sir." I replied.

    I was about to leave his office when the editor called out to me. "Ophelia." I looked back to see him wearing a more serious face. "How is it going with the author by the way? Didn''t you tell me you personally know his agent?" The editor asked.

    "I do know his agent. I called the author himself even but I was refused to even have a phone interview. It''s been ten months since then and he still hasn''t gotten back to me; I don''t think he will either in the future." I replied wryly. "What? Is he dead or something?" The editor asked, now frowning. "Oh. No, no. Maybe he just doesn''t want the attention. His agent showed me his upcoming book that will be released next month, so I called Mr. Grimmauld again. It''s just that he blocked my cellphone number." I explained.

    "I see¡­ I''ve met plenty of people like him, so I think you''re right. It''s just unfortunate we can''t get an interview. Well, as long as he''s alive, he gives Ouigab City''s authors more prestige." The editor said. If there''s an interest the editor and I have in common, it''s T.L.D. Grimmauld who wrote the new fairy tales. "BUT¡­ I still hope you don''t give up convincing the agent to set up a meeting with the author, alright? You can go." The editor said. "Yes sir, I will try again for the nth time." I replied and walked out the office.

    I know that my comment just now was sarcastic, and that the editor did not intend to offend me, but I''m a journalist, and the editor recognized me as one so he should have realized that it''s not like I haven''t done anything I can to meet the author. He should also know how frustrating it is for a journalist to not get a good scoop even though they''re close to it.

    I have gotten really close to an interview with Mr. Grimmauld; it''s just that the person blocking my way is not only a person I know; he''s also a good friend. Chala, when I was just a rookie journalist, helped me get access to places a rookie author like I was should not have accessed. Not only that, over the years, he helped me write articles about Teungeb''s literary circles. Even though we used each other in the beginning, a strong friendship started from it and lasted even after twelve years later.

    If Mr. Grimmauld''s agent was anyone else, I would have even resorted to bribery. It''s just I value my friendship with Chala too much and it''s not like he didn''t let me take a peek at what Mr. Grimmauld is like either. The fundamental reason stopping me more importantly is Mr. Grimmauld himself. If he doesn''t want to be interviewed, then there''s nothing I can do. Now that he''s become even more famous and established his name internationally, I bet Mr. Grimmauld would keep to himself even tighter than the time I talked to him.

    In the end, the only articles I wrote about him are the analyses of his stories, the coverage of his book sales and international recognition. Other newspapers, TV news, and radio news also reported similar articles like the ones I''ve published about him, but the only difference is that I can brag to them that I was able to talk with Mr. Grimmauld personally and has an idea about his personality.

    Thinking about this only made me feel more frustrated so I took a deep breath and walked back to my cubicle. After sitting down for a few minutes, I grabbed my car keys and wallet, and finally left the office.

    I drove my car out of the parking lot and headed for Monna Park, the real reason why I got off the office early. I usually don''t get off work before six in the evening but tonight, I have something to see. Last week, when I was doing my research at Monna Park for my article about the best places in the city that one can relax at for free; my attention was caught by a young man named Yawat who was performing for free by the park''s lake, with a small crowd watching him.

    He looks to be in his early twenties but I can''t be certain because of the way he dresses and the huge vintage looking sunglasses and hat he wore. If one looks at his build alone, one would mistake him for a professional swimmer or runner. If I hadn''t heard him singing before I saw his appearance, I would have laughed at what could have looked like a professional athlete holding a guitar, surrounded by legitimate sound equipment set-up.

    Because of how great he sounded though, I decided to stay and watch his whole performance. I was a little disappointed when his set ended but when I looked at the time, an hour already passed. Thankfully, he promised that he will bring his band with him tonight and with that, I''m filled with anticipation as I drove closer to Monna Park.

 Chapter 49 - Journalism of Public Performance 2

    Buskers are very common in Ouigab but I saw nothing the like of Yawat. I first mistook him for a famous singer in disguise. His guitar playing is beautiful and his voice is very charming. His aura too was something hard to describe but it was very special. That''s why it was a surprise when he cleared my misassumption by answering a young lady''s question of him being a famous singer.

    He also transformed famous songs into his own style. It''s not uncommon for famous singers to cover each other''s songs but it''s very rare for them to arrange the songs, much more arrange them into a version that is just as good as or even better than the original. Yawat''s re-arrangements however, were all very satisfying. Even when the crowd requested songs, it felt like he re-arranged them on the spot.

    When his performance was over, I had to approach Yawat and warn him of evil entertainment agencies, not wanting for someone talented as him be a victim. I introduced myself to him as a writer of an article about that one greedy entertainment company. His reply however was a surprise, and also a relief to me. He said "Thank you for the warning Ms. Cadali. Don''t worry; I know how the entertainment businesses work. I also know that you''re a journalist from Nabla Observer. Thank you for publishing that article to warn young artists." He gave me a knowing smile as if we''ve already met before. It was confusing.

    He also gave me a good idea for an article. "By the way, Ms. Cadali. I think the power of music labels and publishers in the future will shrink because of the rise of internet platforms for music distribution. That''s why I''m planning on being an independent musician forever."

    When I went home later that day, I immediately checked out Yawat''s original music on Stoppify, and after listening, I had to download the whole album from iTunes. I found his original songs better than most songs in the radio today. Maybe because his album was released not even a month ago, the listens and downloads are only in a few thousands. Still, I hope that Yawat will become famous in the future.

    -

    I soon arrived and parked my car on Monna Park''s parking space and saw that there are already people gathered beside the park''s lake. Yawat, still wearing a Hawaiian shirt, hat, and sunglasses similar to the ones he wore last week, is cuurently with what can only to be his band, tuning their instruments. The rest of the band are dressed casually, but I found it amusing that they are all wearing sunglasses that are just as big as the one Yawat is wearing, only with varying colors of the lenses.

    I walked down and joined the crowd and saw familiar faces; people who were also here last Friday. The young lady who asked Yawat a question is sitting in the front, the jogger couple is sitting in the middle, the man with the dogs is sitting near me, and the middle aged man is sitting near one speaker.

    The fountain suddenly lit up which gave the park''s atmosphere a serene vibe. The park manager, who just turned on the lights on the fountain joined in with the crowd as well. I thought the performance will start immediately but I saw Yawat''s band members look stiff, a strong contrast in comparison to Yawat looking at ease.

    Yawat then gathered them to a circle, told them something and they left the set and dispersed to invite more people outside, and in the other parts of the park. Tayaw on the other hand, set up a tripod camera and two portable lamps and pointed it to their set, most definitely for filming their performance.

    The band members soon came back and they look a lot less nervous. Them inviting people themselves must have gone well because they are now more relaxed.

    The band soon assumed their positions and together started playing a jazzy instrumental. Tayaw''s voice also came out of the speakers. He did not sing yet, however. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for coming. We are the Percussive Corrections. My name is Yawat and I''ll be the vocalist." Yawat introduced the band which was met with applause from the crowd. I felt it is already an incredible start. The busking is slowly starting to feel like a mini concert.

    "On my left here, is the lovely Jenna, the band''s violinist and second vocal." Tayaw pointed at the lovely petite girl beside him. Jenna then started playing a beautiful melody from the violin for around thirty seconds. She looks stiff but that doesn''t take away anything from her skill. "That fiery fella over there is our drummer, Ike." The flashy dressed drummer changed the beat and played a subdued but fast beats on the snare drums and cymbals. Ike''s drumming was lively and after around thirty seconds, he finished his solo by hitting the other parts of his drum set very rapidly, but not obnoxiously like a regular drummer, before he resumed the original background beat.

    "Our young rock star here is our lead guitarist, Hoon!" Hoon played a funky melody on the guitar and proceeded to produce a strange and unusual but mesmerizing melody. "This here on the bass is young Inson." Inson played the same funky melody and riffs that Hoon played, but in bass form. Unlike Hoon''s high pitched and lively playing that perks one''s ears up, Inson''s bass playing made me feel secure and supported. "That guy hiding his face with his hat is our pianist, Bay-an." Bay-an who I didn''t notice was playing all along, suddenly played very beautifully, the melody he played was based on Jenna''s riff, but has more crisp and variety of notes in it.

    Yawat continued on to introduce the remaining member of the band. "The jazzy looking fella here is our saxophonist, Ramil." I liked Ramil, the saxophonist''s solo the best because I found it lively and s.e.xy at the same time. The low notes on his saxophone caressed my body, and high notes seeped deep in my bones.

    The band then moved on to play proper songs. I noticed that their sound together is much more different that Yawat''s solo performances last week, not just because they have more instruments, but they are all like puzzle pieces that complete each other.

    I thought at first that Yawat''s band is just a background band for him, but I was wrong. They are all excellent musicians. They each have their own vibes and atmosphere. Jenna is a cute but a down-to-earth violinist and a strong support vocal for Yawat''s attractive husky tone. Inson is an unassuming but a very reliable bassist. Ike looks flashy but his playing is just loud enough and plays a subtlety I can''t describe but just feel. Hoon looks lazy but when it came his time to shine, he would transform into a rock star. Ramil is a gaunt looking young man but transforms into a s.e.xy saxophonist the next moment. Bay-an is a pianist who for the most time is invisible but if one listens closely, he makes each instrument sound fuller and is also in charge of the piano licks that would linger in one''s head.

    An hour into their performance, the crowd grew into maybe around a hundred people. The band however is starting to look exhausted except for Yawat. The cute Jenna is already sweating which made her more adorable but I don''t think she can play any longer. This is the case for the other members of the band.

    Yawat rescued them from their exhaustion by calling for a break; which gave the crowd an opportunity to cheer out the appreciation they weren''t able to express because of the band''s quick transition from finishing one song to another.

    The band then relaxed and settled down on the foldable camping chairs they brought with them. Ramil and Jenna each drank a bottle of water maybe to wet their throats. Yawat on the other hand, is just as relaxed as before their performance started, and still energetic enough to interact with the crowd. "Thank you, thank you. I want to thank you all for staying as I see a lot of familiar faces still in the crowd. The band looks exhausted, and so might also be you all. I offer this time as well for you all to get your own refreshments."

    I can see a veteran performer in Yawat. Had it been another busker, they would have already left after being exhausted and would never interact with the audience aside from a few Thank you''s. The band members have also immersed into their own elements as their performance progressed. They were all stiff in the beginning but they all looked and sounded natural after each song they played.

    "We also thank the manager of Monna Park, not only for maintaining the park''s cleanliness all year long, but also for allowing us to play a long gig here tonight. Please give the man a round of applause! He deserves it!" Yawat pointed at the park manager. The crowd cheered to the manager, to his embarrassment. This warmed my c.o.c.kles.

    The park manager, to me, is only a glorified janitor. People like the park manager, however have thankless jobs. Ouigab is filled with parks and playing grounds that needs to be maintained and when park managers do a great job, it gives people the feeling of nature and results to them taking the hard-maintained cleanliness of the parks for granted.

    I actually spoke to the park manager last week during my research. In addition to my article just being about places like Monna Park to hang out for free, I also included anecdotes and stories from employees like the park manager around the city; stories about cleaning unspeakable things, chasing vandals, and dealing with rude entitled visitors. Yawat did a great thing by giving the spot light for a moment to the park manager. He''s also more than right about the park manager deserving recognition; they contribute to the atmosphere and happiness of the city.

    A few minutes later, Yawat and the band must have rested plenty. "Thank you guys for the wait. We will now start the second half of our performance. I hope you enjoy it just as well as you enjoyed our songs earlier." And with that, the band played a much more different sound than they did in earlier. At first, I expected their songs to all follow one theme for the rest of their performance, but I was wrong.

    Anyway, If Yawat and his band don''t become famous in the future, then the world has gone crazy. I would be writing my heart out in the future when they become big and brag about being one of their first original fans.

 Chapter 50 - Financial State of Legal Matters

    October 18, 2011 Thursday 10 a.m. Ironstone East Ouigab

    "I see. Thank you very much." Tayaw was just talking to an employee of the US Embassy in Kangpan. He just received a notification of his passport finally receiving a visa stamp. He can now travel in and out of the United States. As long as the companies he invested are still in business and that he has at least 51% of the shares, he can renew his visa every two years. Happy with the news, Tayaw immediately made preparations.

    He opened his laptop and looked for a freelance business lawyer to assist him with his investment matters. He chose to hire a freelance lawyer because he knows that freelance lawyers are more willing to do extra work outside their law practice unlike the lawyers belonging to those famous big law firms.

    The name Alexandra Garcia caught his eyes. Alexandra, according to her online profile, for two years, worked as a contract lawyer a year each under two famous law firms before deciding to freelance. Deciding on her, he e-mailed his intentions of hiring her and enclosed a photo of his visa and the copy of DS-160 form that PinkApron prepared on his behalf, to assure Alexandra the legitimacy of his status.

    It''s still 5pm in New York so Alexandra responded promptly expressing her availability. Tayaw then made an international call to talk to her more spontaneously. He told Alexandra to start her meter on the 20th of October at 8AM, two hours prior to the time Tayaw wants to arrive on New York. He gave her that extra two hours because Tayaw asked her to pick him up.

    After talking to Alexandra, Tayaw looked up the time difference between Teungeb and New York City and the flight time of a direct flight. He found out that Teungeb is 17 hours earlier than New York and a direct flight to New York from Kangpan will also take 15 - 17 hours. With this information in consideration, he booked an Air Teungeb flight that will depart on October 20th at 9AM which will arrive on New York on the same date and roughly the same time as the departure time.

    Tayaw then contacted the people from PinkApron and Cognito and told them to prepare everything needed for his investment.

    Finishing his important preparations, Tayaw drove to the city proper and looked for the best suit tailor in the city. Tayaw in his present life never needed a good formal suit. He doesn''t need it now either but he at least wants to look respectable in front of the people from the companies he will invest in. Tayaw never liked wearing suits but unfortunately for him, it''s still the early 2010s and wearing sports casual to business meetings hasn''t caught up yet in the business world.

    A few hours later, he walked out of the suit tailor''s shop with five sets of well-fitting three piece suits made out of high quality wool. Tayaw almost refused the tailor''s recommendation of getting a trench coat but after remembering that New York is getting cold this time of the year, he bought two just in case.

    He moved on to look for a high end clothing store and bought five dress shirts, five neckties, five pairs dress socks, and five pairs of long wing brogues that would go great with his three piece suits. In addition to the clothes, he also bought a good quality leather wallet to match his formal attire.

    He over-shopped because he realized that he looks very handsome in formal / business attire after his body and features were enhanced.

    After buying the clothes, he wants to go all in so he went next to a store that sells vintage watches. From what Tayaw can remember, watches that has luminous hands and numbers made before the 1970s used radium, a radioactive element that has a glow in the dark property. To avoid radiation poisoning from a mere watch, he decided to buy a non-luminous vintage Rolex and had the strap replaced with full grain leather.

    He still felt something was still lacking and thought for a moment before immediately shopping for a big set of suitcase and carry on, coated in leather, spacious enough to fit all the clothes and shoes he plans to bring with him. He also does not want to look funny by carrying the cheap duffle bag he''s been using while wearing a three piece suit.

    His last stop in the city is a barber shop. He decided to cut his long fade styled hair into shorter military style fade for a cleaner look. With his new haircut done, Tayaw had enough of spending for the day and headed back to Ironstone to pack his luggage.

    OCTOBER 20, 2011 8:30 a.m. Thursday. La Guardia Airport, Queens, New York City

    Tayaw finally arrived in the Land of the free and the home of the brave. The flight took shorter than he expected and he was left with a lot of time. Tayaw just alighted from the plane and picked up his luggage at the baggage claim. He then headed for the nearest airport lounge, a facility that offers some luxuries for first class passengers like Tayaw, and asked for a room.

    While he can take a nap in the room provided to him, he opted not to as the first class treatment in the plane was comfortable enough for him to have plenty of rest and sleep, so he went for a shower instead. He also decided to change into a mocha colored three piece suit and everything that goes along with it.

    Tayaw looked at himself through the full body mirror in the room. "Damn. I wanna take over some sh*t." Tayaw said to himself as he saw his reflection look like a rich and powerful young business man.

    Looking at his vintage Rolex, Tayaw figured there''s still a lot of time before Alexandra picks him up. He went to look for an AT&T store to buy a phone he can use during his stay in America. While purchasing his phone though, he noticed that the employee in the store seems to be charging a lot of extra. Tayaw would have spoken out but he realized he could afford a few dollars of extortion. The store is in an airport too. He would rather not spend his time and mood arguing.

    It''s already half-past nine so Tayaw gathered his luggage, wore a pair of aviators and walked out of the terminal and headed to the waiting area where he and Alexandra agreed to meet. He forgot one important thing however. Tayaw does not know what Alexandra looks like and he also covered the photo in his visa when he sent a photo of it to Alexandra, so Alexandra also might not know what Tayaw looks like either.

    He didn''t panic and looked around the waiting area to see if someone is holding a sign of his name. With his enhanced senses and brain''s faster processing speed, it only took a second or two for Tayaw to spot a gorgeous Hispanic lady in a dark blue pantsuit, sitting on one of the waiting area''s benches, holding up a sign with his name on it. He figured it''s exactly Alexandra Garcia, his lawyer.

    Tayaw did not approach immediately even though he saw that she''s already looking at him. He walked past her while pretending to take a phone call. Behind his sunglasses, he saw with his peripheral vision that the lady''s gazes follow him, but because she did not call out to him, he figured she did not know him as her client. After feeling that the lady looked back on the entrance, Tayaw looked at her directly for a simple assessment.

    Tayaw is surprised at how young Alexandra is. He guessed that she is only in her mid-20s: basically a rookie in the legal world. He shook his head. He doesn''t want to underestimate the lady as he doesn''t like being underestimated either as a rookie even in his previous life. In addition, if everything in Alexandra''s online profile is true, then she must at least be a competent lawyer. She managed to work as a contract lawyer for two famous law firms after all, despite not graduating from any of the best Law Schools in the United States.

    He also could not help but appreciate Alexandra''s physical features. She has straight dark hair and a sand beige complexion that is pleasant to look at. Her bright eyes, wide lips, and slightly upturned nose gave her heart-shaped face beautiful features. Wearing an intelligent expression, she lets out a strong and successful impression. Because she''s wearing a well fitted pantsuit and white inner shirt under her blazer, Tayaw also noticed her lean but healthy figure adorned perfectly by her well-proportioned, not overly large ''assets''.

    A minute later, he finally decided to approach Alexandra to introduce himself. "Good morning, Ms. Garcia." Tayaw said hello. Alexandra surprised at Tayaw appearing suddenly, dropped the sign she was holding up. "OH! Mr. Dagem? Hello. It was you all along." Alexandra said as she stood up, held her hand out for a hand shake. "Yes. Sorry, I missed your sign. It was me all along? We haven''t met before, haven''t we?" Tayaw asked as he took off his aviators and shook Alexandra''s hand. He asked what she meant just to tease her; he already noticed that Alexandra was checking him out since he walked in the waiting area. "Well, no. I was just¡­ Anyway, it''s nothing. How was your flight?" Alexandra changed the topic quite forcefully, which amused Tayaw.

    "Good. I''m well rested. Did you wait long?" Tayaw asked as he gestured to Alexandra to sit down. "I was here about half an hour ago." Alexandra replied. "I see. I forgot to ask for your cell number so I couldn''t text you earlier. By the way, did you drive here?" Tayaw asked, hoping that he can start his matters immediately.

    "Yes. Owning a car is a lot cheaper than riding cabs." Alexandra explained. "Good. Let''s go." Tayaw said.

    A few minutes later, Alexandra led Tayaw to her car in the parking lot. After stuffing his luggage in the trunk, Tayaw entered the car.

    "Where do you want to go first?" Alexandra asked after Tayaw settled himself in the back seat. "How far is the hotel suite you booked from here? Let''s drop off my luggage there first." Tayaw said. "We''ll be there in half an hour." Alexandra replied.

 Chapter 51 - S.e.xuality of Financial Investments

    After lunch, Tayaw with Alexandra by his side finally started their work. They went to PinkApron, Cognito, some offices, and banks. After signing papers and talking to executives, Tayaw successfully invested in PinkApron and Cognito, following the agreement they made prior to Tayaw''s visa application.

    Seven hours passed like that, and it''s now 6 in the evening. "Phew. Half of my money just like that." Tayaw sighed to himself after they entered Alexandra''s car. "It seemed to me like it was a reckless investment." Alexandra commented as she started the engine and drove out of the bank''s parking lot. In Alexandra''s estimation, Tayaw spent over 25 million dollars today.

    "Even if it was, I''d like to hope it''s not." Tayaw replied simply, not bothering to explain why invested in the two companies. "Well, it''s not me who spent millions today. You also seemed to have prepared very well and knew what you were doing. The advanced fees you paid for my services were basically easy money." Alexandra chuckled. Alexandra is an independent business lawyer so her fees aren''t actually that high, despite that Tayaw still paid her a lot of extra.

    "I did think I was too generous in overpaying. It''s not too much to ask for extra services, right?" Tayaw said. Alexandra smirked at this, already having her suspicions. She''s a beautiful lady and had many rodeos before. If she''s right about her assumption, she thought it''s not too bad since Tayaw is quite a good looking athletic young man.

    She also knows that her looks is one of her proudest assets but for Tayaw to not even show an ounce of attraction to her makes her want him more.

    "I''m fine with whatever. BUT, I''m paid by the hour so you have to pay extra." Alexandra said.

    "Good. I actually didn''t expect to finish everything to day. I don''t want to go back to Tengueb either after a tedious long flight. I want you to hire someone that can drive me around New York City in the next few days." Tayaw replied. Alexandra almost laughed out loud at the contrast of her assumptions to Tayaw''s actual request. She was a little disappointed as well.

    "Consider it done. I will text you the details tomorrow morning. Do you want to go to your hotel now?" Alexandra asked. "Not yet. What do you want for dinner?" Tayaw asked. The lunch they had earlier was barely enough to sustain him for four hours so Tayaw is currently very very hungry.

    "What about sushi? It''s recently getting more popular in New York nowadays. Tuna prices hiked up because of it." Alexandra suggested. Hearing tuna, Tayaw''s face twitched. For the past week, he has been eating tuna. While his band mates loved every dinner he cooked with the tuna, Tayaw who had to eat tuna three times a day for the past week is getting sick of it.

    "Ugh. Nope. I''ve eaten a total of 50 kilograms of tuna this month. That''s a hundred and ten pounds in America." Tayaw replied. Alexandra lost control of the steering wheel for a split second hearing that. "What? Are you serious? Why would you even eat that much?" Alexandra asked in disbelief. "What can I say? I''m a young healthy man. Anyway. Because I live in the middle of Teungeb, fresh fish is rare so when I went down to Kangpan to apply for my visa, I excitedly bought a 360 pound yellow fin tuna." Tayaw explained.

    "Ah. Rich people. Why don''t we go for French cuisine then? Your hotel actually has a Michelin Star restaurant in it." Alexandra said. "French sounds good." Tayaw nodded.

    -

    Two hours later, they were just done eating their main course that consisted of a medium rare steak for Tayaw, and a salmon en papillote for Alexandra. While waiting for their cr¨¨me brulee, Tayaw sipped on his wine. "It''s good that they didn''t ask me for my age when they poured we wine." Tayaw remarked. "Oh. I almost forgot you''re still below drinking age. You look like an experienced drinker." Alexandra chuckled.

    Tayaw didn''t answer directly but shook his head instead. "It doesn''t make sense. America seems to have the largest number of 18-year-old p*rn stars." Tayaw said to the confusion of Alexandra. "What do you mean? How did we get to p*rn stars now?" Alexandra said. "It''s just¡­ I''ve seen these 18 year olds even engage in gangb*ng p*rn." As if Tayaw did not hear Alexandra''s question, continued to talk about p*rn stars. "So what? It''s not like they didn''t agree to do it, right?" Alexandra asked, getting carried away by Tayaw''s musings.

    "Yes. They might have. From the videos that my buddies showed me, I noticed that they are indeed enjoying it. But as it gets to the more aggressive parts, I see that they are also feeling pain. They even have to be willing to be ''sprayed'' on, if you know what I mean." Tayaw continued. "Okay? What''s your point? Can we move on?" Alexandra getting uncomfortable with the topic wants Tayaw to stop. "By the end of the filming, they should have felt spent, yes?" Tayaw asked rhetorically.

    "That goes without saying." Alexandra replied. "Yes! That''s exactly what I''m saying!" Tayaw exclaimed. "What?" Alexandra asked in confusion, starting to suspect that Tayaw is out of his mind. "After suffering all through that, even though get paid for their work by the end of the day, don''t you think they deserve a beer? Don''t you find it odd that they aren''t allowed to drink alcohol after that experience?" Tayaw finally got to his point.

    Alexandra guffawed and burst into laughter, attracting the attention of the nearby table. She felt relieved that Tayaw isn''t talking about teenage p*rn stars in sick fascination, but in empathy. The relief she felt fueled her to laugh even more not because it''s funny "If you but If you put it that way, it''s indeed weird." Alexandra agreed. "Not only that. You give minors who are prone to reckless behavior, access to guns and cars, but not alcohol? Shouldn''t it be in reverse? I bet you can calm down rebellious teens with alcohol instead as long as their drinking is supervised." Tayaw commented again. "Alright, alright. I get it." Alexandra said, embarrassed at Tayaw''s weird logic.

    "By the way, can you buy me a bottle of good scotch later? I don''t like the teeny bottles in my room''s fridge and they don''t have good scotch from room service either." Tayaw suddenly asked. This errand confused Alexandra. "Why don''t you just order from room service? This is a good hotel, so I don''t know what scotch you''re looking for that they don''t have." Alexandra replied.

    "I want to both celebrate my investment and console myself for spending half of my fortune today. I don''t want just any regular scotch but a scotch that is at least older than me." Tayaw explained. Alexandra didn''t expect such reasoning but she gets it. "Alright fine. Give me your card." Alexandra said. Tayaw handed her his credit "Pay for our dinner too."

    "Man. I feel filthy. I can''t wait to take a shower. You know my room number." Tayaw said and stood up. "No desert for you?" Alexandra asked in confusion because Tayaw still looks just as sharp and fresh when she met her this morning. She guessed Tayaw is quite the neat freak. "I don''t like sweets that much. You can have mine. Thanks." Tayaw said and headed for his suite, leaving a mischievously smirking Alexandra behind.

    Half an hour later, Tayaw just stepped out of the shower and dabbing himself dry when he heard his suite''s doorbell ring. He hurriedly wore a bathrobe and went to the door. He looked through the door''s peephole to see Alexandra standing on the opposite side of the door. Wearing no clothes but his robe, Tayaw slowly opened the door ajar and only showed half of him while reaching out to the paper bag on Alexandra''s hand. "Thanks a lot." Tayaw said.

    Alexandra however withdrew the bag away out of Tayaw''s reach. "You''ve made me walk a few blocks for your scotch. Can I at least come in?" Alexandra said. Tayaw noticing that Alexandra is slightly breathing heavily, lightly sweating, and her face flushed, he felt bad and fully opened the door. Alexandra walked in and Tayaw sighed, mentally slapping himself for his inconsideration.

    Tayaw closed the door behind her and as he turned around, Alexandra suddenly stepped close to him, grabbed his nape with a strength that drew him closer to her, her face already approaching his. Tayaw was stunned frozen and failed to stop Alexandra from sealing his lips with her own. Dazed while processing the sudden action, Tayaw was late to realize Alexandra has already slipped in her tongue.

    Finally catching up to the situation, he felt the pleasure he has not felt in a long time. The amorous stimulation released the subconscious shackles he put upon his own physical desires. His instincts slowly taking over and he held Alexandra even closer making the kiss deepen to another level of l.u.s.tful pleasure that the two felt deep to their flesh.

    Alexandra then pulled away. "You have no idea how much I''ve wanted to do that the whole day." She said looking at Tayaw in a fiery gaze. "Trust me. I know, and I''m glad you acted on it." Tayaw replied and they kissed again, this time to his initiation while relishing in her seduction.

    The next moment, they were already on the bed, with Alexandra only a garment away from revealing herself fully. "Are you sure you want to do this? We should only satisfy our desires." Tayaw said, establishing that their activity will not mean anything aside from fulfilling their l.u.s.tful yearning.

    "Take me." Alexandra said heavily, unable to wait for Tayaw to ravish her to her satisfaction. These short words were enough and Tayaw finally ripped away the last piece of concealment to unveil Alexandra''s personal paradise. Realizing that she''s fully humid, Tayaw no longer hesitated and merged his deeply into hers.

    The two panted in delight as Tayaw repeatedly exerted pressure and gradually increasing rhythm deep into Alexandra. The two''s awareness retreated inwards into the world that they created; time slowed down and nothing else mattered to them as they fell deeper into their l.u.s.tful ardor.

    Tayaw felt Alexandra''s desires strengthen and let her straddle atop him. Her h.i.p.s moved slightly, ever so slightly at first, and slowly intensified. She leaned down, sealing Tayaw''s lips once again as she started to grind. Grinding forwards and backwards. She ground forwards and backwards into a rhythm that Tayaw followed through with his own rhythm. The next moment, the grinding turned into a vertical motion. Up, down, up, down, again and again.

    The two didn''t know how long, how many repetitions, how many repositions, and how many bouts of fulfillment they felt. Alexandra could not help but arch her back from the most irresistible pleasure she felt tonight. Tayaw under her felt her whole being tremble, writhe, and clamp even tighter upon his male menace.

    Alexandra''s pleasure grew even further, her being convulsed even tighter. She hungered for more and with her remaining strength, made Tayaw approach his limits. After one final rhythm, Tayaw could not help but finally explode. Alexandra did not let go and wanted to feel Tayaw''s whole body tremble, writhe, and spasm out of pleasure and pain under her. She let herself filled up, wanting to feel the product of her work, squeezing out as much nectar she can from Tayaw''s tree of life to the final drop.

    Only when Tayaw finally eased fully did she collapse on Tayaw''s chest out of exhaustion and whispered ''thank you'' as she fell into a deep slumber.

 Chapter 52 - Critical Virality of Theater Drama

    The next morning, just as usual, Tayaw woke up early at 2 in the morning feeling refreshed as if he did not just have a busy night. The strange room and bed confused him at first but after a split second of regaining the memories of all that happened the previous day, his mind was cleared again.

    He heard the gentle breathing beside him and looked at the sleeping Alexandra, lying on her side facing him, some of her limbs exposed uncovered by the blanket they shared. He observed her for a little and basked in the pride of spending a night with such gorgeous woman.

    His face couldn''t help but feel hot when he recalled how proactive she was the previous night in bed. She was so unlike Arianne, Tayaw''s ex-girlfriend in his previous life who was just a plank in bed.

    He never imagined indulging in a one night stand this early, and in a foreign land at that. Perhaps it''s because of his newfound blessings, freedom, and obsession with music that his libido was almost non-existent ever since he came back in time.

    Having enough of lying down, Tayaw finally got out of the bed, and covered up Alexandra with the blanket. He threw on himself the bathrobe and went to look for his personal phone. He couldn''t help but raise his eyebrows as he saw the number of notifications on his Facebook app.

    It turned out that the band is still awake and some of the members sent him separate personal messages throughout the past few hours. "Tayaw! Check out the video of our Monna Park performance!" Ike''s message said which was sent just a few minutes ago. Similar messages are also sent by the other members.

    Tayaw, despite already having an inkling of the reason of the band''s excitement, also could not help but anticipate. He quickly sat himself down to his hotel suite''s sofa and opened his laptop to check the band''s YouTube channel.

    The channel currently has 46 videos. The latest uploads were the two-hour long video of the band''s full performance at Monna Park last week, and then 30 other separate videos cut from it, based on the 30 songs they played.

    The full performance video, despite only being seven days since its upload, has the most views amongst all the channel''s videos. It currently has 539,000 views, which in 2011, is a huge deal for a video that recent. Their other videos prior to the busking videos also benefited from their busking video''s popularity and had all crossed 200,000 views. Before their busking, the views of these videos are only in the single digit thousands.

    He couldn''t help but slam his fist on the sofa''s hand rest out of excitement. Tayaw intentionally chose a place like Monna Park for the busking to promote their band to younger people. College kids and young artists are more active in the internet so Tayaw figured that if these young people loved his band''s performance, they are more likely to share it to others in social media. Looking at the numbers, Tayaw''s plan not only worked, it worked too well.

    He then opened his iTunes and Stoppify accounts to see how well his album, ''18'' is doing. Looking at the numbers gave him a pleasant surprise. In iTunes, his album sold 2,000 and the singles separately sold more in average which has earned him around a total of 18,000 BGC.

    In Stoppify, each of his songs were streamed an average of 5,400 times which earned his account 450BGC. This is the difference between people purchasing songs in iTunes and people streaming for free in Stoppify. This is why Tayaw found it a shame in his previous life when iTunes, Google Play Music, and other music platforms that sell songs and albums to music fans stopped selling and adapted Stoppify''s streaming style. It''s great for music listeners, but bad news for artists.

    Looking at the numbers gave him great satisfaction. For an unknown artist like him, selling thousands of digital copies is still more than a good start. He''s still not sure if the sales of his songs and YouTube views contribute to his Roulette View Points, but he''d be glad if it does.

    Quickly calculating the time, Tayaw figured it''s only around 7pm in Ouigab so he called Inson, who always spend his time on his laptop, through Skype. During the video call, Tayaw and the band talked about how they are going to be popular soon and that they are going on TV soon, to Tayaw''s amus.e.m.e.nt.

    Tayaw also bragged about the band''s internet popularity being a result of his careful planning, to the band''s awe. The band also grabbed the opportunity to ask Tayaw to buy them something good in New York which they will pay back when Tayaw returns to Ouigab. The band also expressed their confidence in their grades their pre-term because they just finished the last of their pre-term exams this week.

    After an hour of chatting, Tayaw finally bid goodbye and ended the video call. Looking at the time, he figured it''s still 8pm in Okuba so he contacted his parents next and talked to them and his brothers for the next two hours. He was not able to talk to his parents yesterday morning because when Tayaw arrived at the airport, it was already past midnight in Teungeb. He also was not able to call his parents the previous night because they were busy at work, and he was also busy doing the nasty.

    Tayaw ended the call just in time to see Alexandra who just woke up, roll around the bed and stretched.

    "Good morning Miss Garcia." Tayaw greeted Alexandra. "Hey. I was confused when I heard a foreign language half-asleep. I forgot English isn''t your language." Alexandra replied as she sat up on the bed, covering herself with the blanket. "hmm. I was just bragging to my friends how I spent the night with a beautiful lawyer. Teenage boys love that stuff." Tayaw joked.

    Alexandra''s face froze at the possible meaning of what Tayaw said. "¡­ You didn''t take¡­" Alexandra barely said. "HEY! I was joking! I was just talking to my parents." Tayaw said in defense against whatever Alexandra is implying that he did. "Ohh. Thank goodness. I thought you sent n.a.k.e.d pictures of me to your friends." Alexandra said in relief.

    It was Tayaw''s turn to have his face freeze. "Good lord, why would I even do that?" Tayaw said in slight indignation. "uhuh. What time is it?" Alexandra asked as she got out of the bed, covering herself with the blanket to pick up her phone from the bedside table.

    "Quarter past five. What''s with the sudden shyness? It''s not like I haven''t seen everythin already." Tayaw said in amus.e.m.e.nt at Alexandra''s actions. Alexandra rolled her eyes. "Well, it was appropriate last night. Unless¡­" Alexandra said, smirking in insinuation.

    Two hours later, Alexandra sank back in the bed, sweating in exhaustion. "¡­ You know *pant*, I don''t think *pant* I can *pant* be satisfied *pant* by anyone else *pant* ever again *pant*." Alexandra said catching her breath. Tayaw also lay back down beside her to cool down. "Well, I''ll take that as a compliment. However, I think it''s difficult for me to find someone who can keep up with me without injuring themselves." Tayaw replied. Tayaw was actually being nice. Although Alexandra has incredible stamina, it wasn''t enough for Tayaw to fully relieve himself. He actually had to pump himself last night after Alexandra fell asleep to neutralize his dingdong.

    "That somehow hurts my pride." Alexandra scoffed as she fell back asleep. Tayaw on the other hand, got back up and went to the shower. After showering and dressing himself in business casual attire, he left Alexandra a note on the bedside table. He then grabbed his laptop, phone, and wallet and went out to explore the city by himself.

    After an early lunch, he found himself in Central Park. Central Park isn''t actually that impressive to him: wide lawns, some structures, some lakes/ponds and fountains, nothing new really. He however, is curious to see the world famous Delorac Theater.

    Luckily for him, he wasn''t too late arriving as he received one of the last tickets given away by the theater people. There are a lot of theater houses in Teungeb but the dramas in Teungeb are not as good and not as matured as American, British, French, and German plays.

    Delorac Theater, though, is public open-air theater known for the performances of old English plays that can be watched by anyone for free. "Mycetes the Great" as written on the ticket, is a play written in 1588 by the famous English playwright Kit Harlowe. Harlowe based the play on the real historic figure Mycetes, a 15th century Persian shepherd who found his talents as a warlord and climbed his way to establish his own powerful kingdom.

    Tayaw is not actually a great fan of plays, but he finds old classics like ''Mycetes the Great'' very interesting. This is his first time seeing an old classic, but from the videos of plays he has seen, he feels like he''s being transformed in time and immerse himself in the culture of the time the play was written.

    Tayaw found himself a seat in the audience and the play finally started. Mycetes, the main character, started a dialogue with Xenocrates, his philosopher friend.

    "Come, lady, let not this appall your thoughts;

    The jewels and the treasure we have ta''en

    Shall be reserv''d, and you in better state

    Than if you were arriv''d in Syria,

    Even in the circle of your father''s arms,

    The mighty Soldan of Aegyptia."

    The vocal resonance and phonetic clarity in the delivery of the lines by the actors really displays their theater training. The exaggerated body language, however, kind of distracted him a bit. He''s not sure if it''s because he saw the movies he received from the roulette many times, but the body language of the actors looks very unnatural in comparison. He guessed it can''t be helped because they had to do it for the audiences in the back could see, but it still took away the immersion of the experience.

    Still, he enjoyed the performance very much. It urged him to make a decision to spend the next few days to watch all drama plays and musicals all over Broadway in the next few days.

 Chapter 53 - Statistical Mystery of Baseball Music

    October 28, 2011 Friday 7:00pm ¨C Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

    Tayaw is currently sitting on the stadium stands with the crowd and waited for the game 7 of the 2011 World Series of Baseball to start. Tayaw was also here the day before to watch Game 6 where he witnessed the St. Louis Cardinals, in their home ground, finally tie the series against the Texas Rangers. The crowd has predominant Cardinal Jersey wearing fans but there is also the minority that is the Ranger fans doing their best standing their ground.

    Tension can be felt in the air as the Cardinals fans are still in a high from yesterday''s win and are expecting the team''s first championship ring in five years. The Rangers fans are also hungry for the win as they want their first championship this year after the team''s brutal 4-1 loss against the San Francisco Giants in the previous year''s World Series.

    The players were shortly introduced and the game finally started.

    Two Rangers had RBI doubles in the first inning against the veteran Cardinals pitcher, who became the first pitcher in a decade to make three starts in one Series. A Cardinal hitter had a game-tying two-run double in the bottom of the first.

    After the scoreless second inning, a Cardinal hit a go-ahead homer in the third giving the Cardinals the lead. The crowd erupted in a cheer and shook the stunned Rangers fans. Fifth inning soon came and Cardinals scored another two runs off against the Rangers'' star pitcher with straight up homers.

    The Rangers fans were given hope in the fifth inning when their most consistent hitter struck a pitch to a high flying ball on the deep center field.

    The Rangers fans however felt like they were punched in the gut as the Cardinals'' midfielder caught the ball on top of the fence, robbing the Rangers a two-run home run.

    The Rangers never had a chance for a comeback as the Cardinals used four fresh relief pitchers to hold them scoreless over the final four innings. The game finally ended with a 5-2 score to the Cardinals. The Cardinals fans went wild and cheered so loud they almost shook the stadium. The fans raised big ''11'' signs, bragging their 11th World Series Title. The Rangers fans gave up on the game long ago so they were already starting to evacuate the stadium.

    "WWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo!!! 11th BABY!" A fan screamed near Tayaw''s ears.

    Tayaw, basking in the Cardinals'' fans'' energy, couldn''t help but feel emotional as well. The fans sitting beside him pulled him to a group hug and a few high fives. One even offered him a bottle of beer, which Tayaw chugged in satisfaction because couldn''t get one throughout the game because of his age. After spending a few more minutes for the celebration, Tayaw finally left the Stadium.

    Halfway on his taxi ride back to his hotel near St. Louis'' Lambert International Airport, he suddenly felt a heart palpitation, and getting stronger by the moment. *BADUMP* *BADUMP* *BADUMP*. Tayaw experienced heart palpitations in his previous life but the palpitation he''s feeling now is different. It''s not causing him difficulty of breathing; he doesn''t even feel uncomfortable feeling it. It somehow feels pleasant.

    After the cab ran for a few more seconds, the palpitation slowly faded away. "Wait, wait. Stop here." Tayaw hurriedly stopped the driver. "Alright." Tayaw paid the fare and got out of the cab. He was actually about to head back to New York after picking his stuff up from the hotel, but the palpitation was just odd to him. He jogged back, following the route the cab was going. The only explanation he can come up with reason of the palpitation is not health related, nor a bad omen. A pleasant feeling would not come from a bad omen.

    A few seconds of jogging later, the palpitations came back again. The palpitation became more intense as he jogged nearer a guitar store. He found it weird for a guitar store to be still open this hour of the night, but went in nonetheless.

    The interior of the guitar store looks vintage and well-maintained. He couldn''t help but feel the history of the place. There are all sorts of framed platinum and gold vinyl records hanging on the walls. There are also old black and white photos of various African ¨C Americans which Tayaw figured to be famous local musicians of St. Louis as he recognized a few of them.

    "Can I help you?" An old African ¨C American man asked Tayaw. "Hm? Oh. I''m just looking. Are you the owner?" Tayaw replied, still not finding why he''s having intense palpitations in the store. "Yeah. So, you play, kid? I can help you." The owner said. "Yes sir. I ¨C" Tayaw was about to say an excuse when he spotted an old acoustic guitar inside what looks to be a bulletproof glass case near the counter. *BAADDUUMMPPP* his heart beat the strongest yet as his vision shook.

    He unconsciously walked forward towards the guitar and examined it. The part of the body of the guitar where the pickguard is supposed to be looks so worn out to the point that the wood thinned out. The guitar has seen better days but repairing it will ruin its history. There''s also a tag below it saying "Earl Thompson" including a photo of the young Earl playing the very guitar in display. Tayaw was surprised to see Earl Tompson''s guitar here. Earl Thompson was not a pop-star level famous musician but avid blues and jazz fans and guitarists would have heard of him and his legend.

    "Hmm. Earl Thompson''s 1912 Babson L-1 Acoustic. One of Earl''s first guitars." The owner said proudly. "May I?" Tayaw said, could not wait to play it. "Nahh.. uh uh. No, kid. Unless you buy it, you can''t." The owner said, profusely refusing. Tayaw found the owner''s reaction reasonable.

    "Why has no one bought it yet?" Tayaw asked, finding it odd that a famous guitarist''s guitar has not sold. "Well, I just acquired it a month ago. And, it''s not like he''s as famous as Jesse Johnston. Blues isn''t also as popular as it used to be, and blues players are not rich either." The owner explained. ??Although I can''t afford it, may I know how much you''re selling it for?" Tayaw asked. Tayaw knew that the guitar is genuine from what he feels from it.

    "Eighty Grand." The owner replied. Tayaw was surprised. He''s not surprised because of how expensive the guitar is, but because of how cheap it is compared to its history. He thought it would go for hundreds of thousands of dollars. An antique Babson L-1 Acoustic from what he recalls is one of the first acoustic guitars released by Babson in 1900''s. An L-1 in good condition would go for thousands of dollars, which means Earl Thompson''s history with the guitar only costs around at least seventy thousand dollars. Tayaw shook his head, speechless that a guitar by such a legend is so undervalued.

    He then looked around the cash register and spotted a working credit card machine. He only has five hundred dollars in his wallet and it''s too late in the evening to withdraw from a bank. He only hopes that his Teungebian credit card would work.

    Because of his great credit score, and that he''s treated as a VIP client by the banks he opened accounts in, his credit card has a monthly limit of 500,000 BGC or $250,000. "I''ll take it." Tayaw said to the surprise of the owner.

    Half an hour later, Tayaw walked out of the store with the guitar and the papers of authenticity in case. Teungeb was 1pm in the afternoon when he paid so he had no problem confirming his payment.

    He hailed a cab and arrived a few minutes later in his hotel room. While his strong heart beat felt pleasant, he''d rather relieve it as soon as possible as he can as it is very distracting and he hopes that playing Earl''s guitar would help. He laid the guitar case on the bed and opened it to reveal the beautifully crafted antique guitar.

    He picked up the guitar and he cradled it in a playing position hoping to calm his heart down. In the next moment, however, he was pulled away to the white void. ''I see'' Tayaw thought, he could only accept the situation. He was also surprised to see that Earl''s guitar came to the white void with him. It is the only thing he was able to bring in the void after his previous experimentations.

    He saw his View Points currently displayed at a little more than 17 million. It''s been a month since his 100 million points were drained in exchange for Peter McKinsey''s ''Artist Record''. He looked around and his eyes were caught by a matte white guitar stand tens of feet away from ''Arts Record'' letters.

    He walked towards the guitar stand, guitar in hand with his heart beating harder than ever. *Click* the guitar glowed with green light after he placed it on the stand. The green light slowly morphed into crystalline sand and formed the glittering words "Incomplete artist Record ¨C Earl Thompson" just above the guitar. "Cool." Tayaw said at what''s happening.

    "Can I get this thing out though?" Tayaw asked himself and picked the guitar up. Earl''s guitar to him is a guitarists'' relic; there''s no way he''s not going to play it or at least brag about it to other guitarists.

    The void''s green glittering label also disappeared and this time, he no longer felt the palpitation. What he feels on the other hand, are his arms and fingers started to painfully tingle, which feels like what one gets when sleeping on their arm. After a few seconds, the tingling faded away and he felt something change. Tayaw does not know what changed so he decided to test if he can bring the guitar out of the void.

    "I wanna get out of here" Tayaw announced to the void and he found himself back in his hotel room, with Earl''s guitar still on his hand. "YES!" Tayaw exclaimed. "I just wish I can bring in anything else in the there. It will be like a space-time backpack." Tayaw chuckled at the idea. Tayaw then decided to bring the guitar back in the void.

    "Let''s try something else." Tayaw said as he sat cross legged on the floor of the void and started playing something bluesy, as a tribute to Earl Johnson. While playing however, his ring finger suddenly made a guitar lick that he never played before. Tayaw found it strange but kept on playing a blues arrangement of his songs. Many minutes later, he realized what the change was.

    He gained many playing habits that he knows he never had. The lick earlier was one example, the thumb and finger picking next when he moved on to some chords. "Is this Earl''s habits?" Tayaw said to himself, finding it only the reasonable answer after replaying the recent happenings. "Incomplete record, arms and fingers tingling, subconscious licks. Yep. It has to be Earl''s guitar habits." Tayaw said dumbfounded, still finding it incredible.

    "Wait, how long was I playing?" Tayaw said suddenly in confusion.

 Chapter 54 - Exploratory Study of Guitar Structure

    "Wait, how long was I playing?" Tayaw suddenly realized something was amiss after playing his 7th song. In the past, Tayaw can only spend about five minutes inside the void before being forcefully kicked out to the real world. "seven songs, so about thirty minutes. Why am I still here?" Tayaw said to himself as an impending sense of doom slowly dawned on him. "I WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Tayaw said hurriedly and he found himself again in his hotel room still holding the guitar.

    "Oh Thank God. Holy sh*t. Hahahahahaha." Tayaw cursed in English as he began a laughing fit out of relief. After calming down a few seconds later, he took a deep breath and entered the white void again. "That was weird." Tayaw said as he walked forward to the void''s guitar stand and placed Earl''s guitar back.

    "Well. This changes things." Tayaw said. He did not leave the void immediately and just stood in the void for five minutes. After five, minutes he was again transported back out of the void, just like usual. "Nice¡­" Tayaw said in satisfaction as his theory was proven.

    He entered again the void and he picked up the guitar. He did not play the guitar but just stood around for five minutes, and he was kicked out of the void again this time, with the guitar on his hand. He entered the void again, sat down cross legged and started to experiment.

    A few hours later inside the void, "Heheheheheheh ~ this is practice heaven!" Tayaw giggled in excitement after playing his 100th song. 100 songs averaging 4 minutes each, totals to 400 minutes and if he includes the short breaks in between songs, it would total to more. "I''ve been playing more or less seven hours now..." Tayaw said in satisfaction. He also found out more about practicing in the void.

    After he entered and did not hold the guitar, he was kicked out after five void-minutes, just as expected. When he held the guitar without playing it, he was still kicked out with the guitar in five minutes. When he played one song in the guitar and took a break, he was again kicked out after five minutes of break. When he tried practicing the guitar and his singing, he would get kicked out while playing his second song which means he was still kicked out just five minutes after entering.

    However, when he practiced strictly with just the guitar and played songs consecutively like what he just did, he found that he may be able to practice indefinitely.

    "Strangely, my fingers feel like they have not been pressing on the guitar for the past seven hours." Tayaw said as he felt that he still feels fresh.

    In some days last August when he was all alone in his house in Ironstone during the school break, he tried practicing for as long as he could to test his endurance. He felt totally spent after sixteen hours of non-stop guitar and singing practice, and that was only after receiving his first ''third level'' enhancement. After his two additional ''third level'' enhancements from his two best songs in his albums, he no longer tested his endurance.

    Still, he found it strange. No matter how great his endurance is, his fingertips should at least feel a little sore. However, after six hours of continuous practice in the void, his fingers don''t even feel like they''ve been playing. Especially when each song he played was more complicated to play than the last. The last few songs, for example are basically arranged to be shred fest on the guitar.

    He also didn''t sweat. Even though he didn''t sing at all, he should at least be sweating from the concentration and mini contractions of his muscles from shredding a lot.

    Having had enough, he quickly stood up but in the next moment, he felt his surroundings spin. He was dizzy from the abrupt position change from sitting for hours to suddenly standing. He has not felt dizzy in a long time and was shocked. From the shock, he was not able to stop himself from falling. After hitting the ground, guitar then made a horrible sound as it smashed in the void''s floor. "The guitar!" Tayaw exclaimed and hurriedly recovered from his orthostatic hypotension, then scrambled to examine the guitar.

    "Huh? That''s strange." Tayaw said after he noticed that the guitar was not damaged at all, not even a dent. "Wait. That''s really strange!!!" Tayaw claimed as he realized that he actually did not control his strength while playing the guitar earlier. His own personal guitar''s strings would snap if he lost control of his strength so he had to often change his strings.

    Earl''s guitar has been on display in the shop for months, and he noticed when the owner packed it up that there are already signs of rusting in the strings. Because he could not wait to play the guitar earlier, he forgot about the guitar''s condition. He checked the strings and he found that they''re actually pristine compared to the almost rusting condition it had. "This place repaired it? Was it the guitar stand?" Tayaw theorized. He replayed back the proceedings and he remembered that guitar glowed green when he placed the guitar on the stand. "It must have been the stand." Tayaw nodded at himself.

    A light bulb lit up suddenly inside his head. "Wait. I''ll try that." He said as he punched the guitar. *WHRANGGGGggg* the guitar cried. Tayaw then examined the place where he punched the guitar and found that it wasn''t damaged at all. "One more." Tayaw said as he secured the strings with his palm. The horrible sound that came out of the guitar when he punched it made him feel guilty so he muted the strings.

    *THUMP* the guitar''s cry was suppressed this time when Tayaw punched it once again with a considerable amount of his strength. Any other guitar would have been broken by now but when he Tayaw examined it, it did not have any signs of damage at all.

    "Good. How about THIS!" Tayaw said as he smashed the guitar with all his strength on the guitar stand. *BAMPPFFF* if the guitar can speak, it would rain curses that would make even the devil feel offended. "F*ckin'' AWESOME!" Tayaw exclaimed excitedly when he saw that the guitar was not even scratched.

    "Good. This is good. I''m sorry about that." Tayaw apologized to the guitar as he yelled ''I want to get out of here.'' to leave the void.

    "9:12. Time barely passed." Tayaw said after checking the time on his watch. He arrived in his hotel room at around 9:05 and after entering in and out of the void, he realized that time still stopped when he has been inside the void for that long.

    "I''m sorry about this." Tayaw said to the guitar as he punched the guitar''s body once again, this time, quite lightly. *CRACK* the guitar made a horrible sound that would drop the hearts of guitarists everywhere had they heard it. Tayaw felt the same and he hurriedly examined the guitar. The part of the body where he punched it was dented and cracked and some of the wood is only a touch away from falling apart, the fiber of the wood holding them together.

    He hurriedly went back to the void in panic. If there''s anyone or anything that would fix the guitar, he figured the white space is the only answer. He then placed the guitar on the white stand and it glowed green once again. Tayaw felt relieved as he saw the guitar was back in its previously undamaged state. "Oh. Thank goodness. Ohhhhh. Alright. I won''t do that again." Tayaw said, holding his stomach in relief.

    He then looked at the words of the ''Arts Record'' and saw something change. When he first entered earlier, he noticed that his View Points is just a few points excess of 17 million. This time however, his View Points were displaying ''16,643,174''; an estimated 350,000 points were gone. "Hm? Where did some of it go?" Tayaw asked himself in confusion as he replayed the events between when he first entered tonight up to this point.

    "Practice and repair." Tayaw came up with a guess. Tayaw wants an answer so he picked up his guitar and this time, he carried it in front of the words of ''Art Records''. He started playing and he noticed that the View Points are losing 5 points every second he plays. After a minute, the point''s loss increased to 10 points per second. He continued playing for ten minutes and noticed that the point did not increase any further and his practice stayed at a cost of 10 points per second.

    Tayaw smiled at the discovery. He stopped playing the guitar and did a quick calculation in his head. He practiced for around 400 minutes earlier, or 24,000 seconds. If each second of practice costs 10 View Points each second, Tayaw figured he spent at least 240,000 while practicing. The remaining points out of the total 350,000 loss in view points must have been spent for the repair of the guitar.

    "Okay. So 10 points per second on practice, and 100,000 points for the repair." Tayaw concluded. "How could something so convenient exist in the world?" Tayaw just chuckled, asking himself rhetorically.

    Tayaw has long forgotten his worries about the price of having such gift and opportunity to go back in time. It has been around a year and half since he received these blessings and only great things came from it. He realized that it''s like he has a divine casino instead, not some deal with the devil.

    "Hmmm. In exchange for some points, I can cut down practice time and focus on other things instead. Unfortunately, it won''t be long before I become one of the best guitarists in the world even without practicing in there, so this benefit for practice will not be as apparent in the future." Tayaw said in realization.

    "What I need instead is a lot of time for composing and songwriting. Looks like I have to hunt around for more items like Earl''s guitar." Tayaw said in conclusion.

    Unfortunately, he does not know where to start looking. He does not even know what item will give him the benefit of cutting down time for his songwriting.

 Chapter 55 - Culinary Arts of Elevator Structure

    October 31, 2011 Monday, 3 pm. 42 E 20th Street, New York City

    Tayaw just finished his visit to the Pink Apron and Cognito headquarters. He could have just let the people in those companies be, but he has to show himself once in a while to show that he shares the passion of the companies'' founders. He also hired two CEO''s as his eyes for each of the two companies he majorly owns. That cost him another $400,000 as advance payment for the two CEOs.

    Tayaw is currently dressed in his usual three piece suit under a trench coat and a boater''s hat. He could not help but appreciate the orange leaves adorning the trees. The fog coming out from him whenever he breathes out fascinated him when he first saw it.

    "Nice threads, brother!" A man called out to him as he was walked on the side walk. "Thank you." Tayaw smiled back as he tipped his hat towards the man and continued on his way. One thing he noticed about the people of New York aside from being hard working, they mind their own business too much that they don''t care much about other people around them. People also rain curses around each other in the smallest of inconveniences.

    It''s not a bad thing necessarily, but it''s a refreshing sight. These behaviors are borne out of the highly competitive spirit of the city and the people''s aspirations to succeed. They would not be the richest city in the world if they were not that utilitarian.

    He appreciates however, people like the man who just gave him a compliment. In such a fast moving society, it''s very nice to see people like that man who spares their time to make other people feel better.

    After a few minutes of stroll, he arrived in Gramm''s Tavern, one of New York City''s most beloved restaurants.

    "Reservations, sir?" the restaurant''s host asked as he saw Tayaw enter the main door. "Tayaw" Tayaw simply replied. He did not provide his complete name when he made a reservation; after all, Tayaw is a rare name even in Teungeb. The host checked his book for a moment before inviting Tayaw to a table.

    After ordering a full 6-course meal available for an afternoon, he pulled out his phone to make a call. "Hello! If it isn''t the mysterious Mr. Grimmauld! It''s been a while!" Chala greeted from the opposite of the line. Tayaw chuckled at that. "It''s been a while indeed. Are people still looking for me?" Tayaw asked.

    "They stopped bothering me actually. Even Ophelia stopped bringing you up now." Chala replied. "Hm. By the way, I actually met Ophelia two times now." Tayaw said. "YOU GAVE AN INTERVIEW?! TWO TIMES?!" Chala asked in surprise. "No. No. I met her by chance when the band played at Monna Park." Tayaw explained.

    "Was that the one in your Youtube? She was there?" Chala asked. Tayaw actually sent Chala a link to his Youtube, iTunes, and Stoppify channels to help spread the band''s name around. "Yes. She was also there. No, I actually met her the first time when I scouted the place out and busked solo. She just happened to be researching for an article. It''s a small world." Tayaw explained.

    "So, she doesn''t know you''re Grimmauld?" Chala asked. "No. She just knows me by my stage name" Tayaw replied. "I see. Look at you. T.L.D Grimmauld the author, Yawat the musician." Chala chuckled at Tayaw''s situation. "Anyways. I think these journalists will be bothering you again." Tayaw chuckled in reply. "What do you¡ªOH! You''re right. Still, I hope they got your message to not look for you." Chala understood Tayaw''s purpose of his call.

    "Yes. Your books will be on the shelves once the bookstores open today." Chala continued. "Alright. How about the international release?" Tayaw asked. "They will also release it by November 1st according to their timeline. That''s only for the English language versions though. I think non-English language releases will come out on the 15th if I remember it right." Chala replied. Teungeb is 17 hours advance from New York so it''s currently around 8 a.m. there.

    "I see. I guess I won''t be seeing it today then." Tayaw subconsciously said. "That''s tru- wait, what do you mean? Haven''t you seen the early copies I left in your bas.e.m.e.nt last week? None of your members told you about it?" Chala asked in confusion. Hearing this, Tayaw was reminded about the chat message Hoon sent him about a box left by Chala in the bas.e.m.e.nt.

    "Ah. I see. I''m not in Teungeb right now so they must have not opened the thing yet. I''ll text them later. Those are their copies after all." Tayaw replied. "So that''s why you asked for 10 copies. Wait, You''re not in Teungeb? Since last week, so.. How long have you been away?" Chala asked in curiosity.

    "I''m in New York, baby! I''ve invested in two start-up companies and I''m just playing around right now." Tayaw explained. "AH! Why didn''t you tell me? I could have accompanied you! I''ve spent a few years in the US in the past. I lived in Jersey so I often visited New York during my stay. I actually went to visit my friends in Jersey after I sold the movie rights of your book last September." Chala said.

    It''s Tayaw''s turn to be surprised. "Okay. I did not know that. I could have asked you instead." Tayaw said, feeling it''s a pity. "By the way. How did you easily enter USA last September by the way?" Tayaw asked. "The agency I worked at when I was a young man was actually multinational. I worked in America for fifteen years for an American author so becoming naturalized was a given." Chala explained.

    "So a dual citizenship huh. Man. There are a lot of things I don''t know about you. We should drink some time." Tayaw said becoming more curious about Chala''s past. "Heheh. I''m 47 years old, ''young blood''." Chala smugly replied, saying ''young blood'' in English with a New York ebonics accent.

    "There are sh*t ton of things you don''t know about me. By the way, how long are you planning on staying there? It''s not too late to join you, is it?" Chala proposed. Tayaw considered for a moment. It will take a month or so before The Halfling will become popular so Chala will not be busy for a while. This gave him a sudden idea. "How about your other authors? Are you not busy?" Tayaw asked.

    "Hahhh." Chala sighed. "Two of them are in a writer''s block and the other one has not even started writing yet after he released his novel last June." Chala replied. "Okay. Join me then. Let''s play for a while." Tayaw said, happy that Chala will join him. "Good. I''m hanging up then. I''ll prepare my things then. What''s the use of the millions I earned from you if I can''t spend it?" Chala excitedly replied.

    Before Chala dropped the call, he heard Tayaw said. "WAIT! WAIT!" "What''s up?" Chala asked. "Can you do me a favor? Can you hire someone for me there to process tourist visas for my family?" Tayaw said.

    "Okay. I''ll do that right away." Chala said as he hung up.

    A few moments later, his late lunch finally started as a waiter brought his appetizer. "Your appetizer sir; Ranch Deviled Eggs in the style of our tavern. The chef recommends¡­" the waiter blabbered on while Tayaw politely ''listened'' and internally rolled his eyes. He''s not an idiot and knows how to use his hands to eat.

    Tayaw stepped out of the restaurant two hours later with a barely filled stomach, but a satisfied spirit. He can''t blame the restaurant because his body requires a lot of food. The restaurant''s food, on the other hand is also some of the best dishes he''s ever eaten not only in his current but also in his past life. The service was also great as the waiters, aside from their condescending way of introducing the dishes, satisfied Tayaw as they would smoothly remove used utensils and serve food seamlessly without bothering him.

    Tayaw decided to take a break from roaming around so he headed for the hotel. As he entered the elevator on his way to his room, Tayaw felt something strange. With him in the elevator are eight other people. What stood out however, are two well-built Caucasian men and behind them is an old East Asian man who looks to be in his sixties wearing what looks like a Tang suit, cream-colored. Tayaw found the East Asian man''s outfit interesting. In a place like New York City that is dominated by *ssholes in suits, the man chose a traditional East Asian wear.

    Tayaw chose to stay close to the elevator door and turned his back on the three fellows to avoid inciting alert. He peeked a few times at the elevator door to see the reflection of the three men behind him. He noticed the two Caucasian men were sizing him up while the East Asian man looks like he''s lost in his own thoughts, indifferent from his surroundings.

    Tayaw figured that the two Caucasian men were bodyguards as they don''t have anything on their hands and that they are wearing that typical bodyguard earpiece. The East Asian man is definitely their client.

    On the way up, the other people one by one alighted on their floors until only Tayaw, the Asian man and his two bodyguards remained. The two bodyguards still look like they''re wary of him, to Tayaw''s amus.e.m.e.nt. Tayaw actually felt proud that they are considering him a threat. In his previous life, he was not as tall and physically blessed so he had to learn Muay Thai for a year or two to have some form of self-defense. Thankfully, he never got to use it.

    As the elevator climbed, Tayaw felt the tension rise not because he''s thinking of doing something but because he''s preparing himself in case something happens. He cursed his luck. His floor is going to be the one below the VIP floors so he will be in the elevator longer than usual, and it looks like the three men are also heading to the top floors.

    His trench coat isn''t helping either because it may have looked to the bodyguards that he''s carrying a weapon under it.

    *DING* the elevator''s bell rang unusually loud and the bodyguard closest to Tayaw and jumped into action.

 Chapter 56 - Book Statistics of Defensive Combat

    *DING* the elevator''s bell rang unusually loud and the bodyguard closest to Tayaw sprang into action trying to grab Tayaw. Tayaw, through the elevator doors, saw the reflection of the bodyguard''s action and hurriedly dodged. Tayaw thanked his enhancements that his reflexes and reaction time made him perceive the world in slight slow motion.

    Tayaw grabbed the arm of the bodyguard that reached out and yanked it easily as he folded it behind the bodyguard''s back. He also quickly grabbed the bodyguard''s free arm and did the same, subduing the guy truly using only his left hand and his superhuman strength. Tayaw then saw the other bodyguard reach to his waist so he quickly searched the subdued bodyguard''s waist for a gun with his free right hand and pulled it out.

    As Tayaw raised the gun, he noticed that the safety on the trigger is on so he flicks it off before he pointed it to the other bodyguard. The other bodyguard, who only managed to pull out his own gun from the holster, realized he was too late and quickly stepped sideways instead to cover the Asian man.

    "Relax, gentlemen. This is my floor." Tayaw said as the elevator doors opened. The free bodyguard also noticed that the button to the floor was pressed on so he slowly and carefully returned his gun to his holster. Tayaw also flicked back the safety on again and returned it to the subdued bodyguard''s holster.

    Tayaw then released the bodyguard he subdued and watched closely if the bodyguard would jump on him again. Thankfully, the bodyguard did not. "You were too jumpy, my friend." Tayaw said as he patted the shoulder of the bodyguard who was still processing what happened. "Have a pleasant evening, fellas." Tayaw said to the three men as he stepped out of the elevator.

    Tayaw still has not dropped his guard as he saw one of the bodyguards peek his head out from the elevator, scoping him as he walked through the corridor. It was only after he heard with his sensitive hearing the elevator door close did he sigh in relief.

    After Tayaw entered his hotel suite, he finally cursed out. "What in the f*ck was that?! Sh*t, if it wasn''t for my enhancements, I would have been humiliated." After cursing out though, he suddenly laughed out loud. "No. If it wasn''t for my enhancements, I would not have been treated as a threat! Hahahahahahahaha!" Tayaw said as he found the contradiction quite funny.

    "Still. That was awesome." Tayaw consoled himself as he replayed what happened. The way he subdued the bodyguard and beat the other bodyguard to pulling out the gun felt unreal. He never actually held a gun before because of the strict gun laws in Teungeb but he played plenty of airsoft with his previous life''s band members. Thankfully, he was fast enough to consider his actions, preventing himself from getting shot.

    Feeling himself calm down, Tayaw brushed what happened off and went for a shower. After putting on his sleepwear and sent his suits to the dry cleaning service of the hotel, he settled himself on the sofa with his new gaming laptop he bought just a week ago. Regarding his old laptop, it only contains some pdf files and his manuscript so he was able to easily transfer all the files to his new laptop. He''s intending on giving the old laptop to a lucky member of the band.

    Tayaw then opened his e-mail and checked the sales report that Topaz just sent him a few hours ago. What he saw was a surprise. Since May when the monthly book sales of his fairy tales peaked at 5 million copies, the monthly sales have gradually reduced to 3.8 million copies by the end of September. For the month of October however, the book sales suddenly jumped to 5.2 million copies. This coincided with the sudden increase of his View Points in the entirety of October.

    Tayaw then perused the sales report more and soon found the reason. It was annotated by whoever wrote the report that there was a sudden increase in demand for his books in China and Latin America.

    "Hmmmm.. Was it because of the marketing done by Topaz?" Tayaw guessed. Tayaw figured that Topaz hyped up his upcoming book ''The Halfling'' which in turn reinforced the popularity of his fairy tales. "Great job, Topaz." Tayaw said sincerely. He then opened his online banking and saw a single deposit of 12,540,000 BGC a few hours ago in his transaction record. He transferred 32% of it to his other bank account to reserve for his taxes.

    This made him consider hiring an accountant not for his earnings as an author or an artist, but as a business man. Owning a business like he does has a lot of things he can use for tax deductibles. His businesses are in America too so he can''t possibly deal with his own taxes.

    He put aside all the money thoughts and pulled out Earl''s guitar to start writing a song. The situation earlier in the elevator gave him an inspiration. He started playing some random chords while he processed the mixture of emotions inside him. Never in his life, both past and present, has he been put under a life-threatening situation. The situation was dealt with, but still, he knows he got lucky.

    November 7, 2011 Monday 10 am. Tayaw''s hotel suite, New York City

    Over the past week, since his encounter in the hotel''s elevator, he was able to compartmentalize the emotions he felt. Anger, excitement, fear; these emotions inspired him to write three songs in the past seven days.

    "The fight drops deep as does my gun.

    I laugh, and sing even as danger is not my fun.

    Beyond the walls of arms, life is defined.

    I think of my mother as Lady Death speaks to my mind."

    Tayaw is sitting on the sofa with Earl Thompson''s guitar on his hand, and finished singing and playing the first of three songs he wrote in the last seven days. Untitled for now, the song was inspired by the fear that dawned on him after he dealt with the bodyguards. Tayaw wrote it in Teungebian, and in classic rock inspired by the style of Peter McKinsey. While it does not blatantly narrate his experience during the elevator encounter, it still tells its story with metaphors that can pain a similar picture to his experience.

    In the next moment, he felt the familiar feeling of his body and mind getting enhanced (refer to ''third level'' enhancement in ''July'' chapter). He has not felt this great since September when he got list last two enhancements after he wrote his two albums he released.

    Feeling good about it, Tayaw adjusted his strength and began playing the second song he wrote.

    "He''s here, I saw him from afar.

    Never knowing what he will do,

    never knowing when he will strike.

    I wait as the clock ticking was over.

    I heard him roar, I saw him jump,

    Here comes the fun."

    The second song, also untitled, was inspired by the tension and excitement he felt when he subdued the two bodyguards. It is in English this time, and he wrote the heavy metal genre, which he deemed perfect. Just like the first song, he also used allegories to guide the listener''s interpretation and imagination to picture his encounter with the bodyguards.

    As if the white void approved of is choice of the genre, he felt another feeling of enhancement after he finished playing the song. Suppressing his excitement, he carefully moved as to not damage the guitar in his hand.

    After adjusting his strength once again, he started playing the last of the three songs he wrote.

    "He''s a man who lived a life of danger

    to anyone he meets he stays a stranger

    with every action he made, grabs a chance before it fade

    as maybe he won''t have - a chance to see tomorrow "

    While his last two songs are good, this last song he played is the one he considers his best work so far. "The Invisible Man" the song''s tentative title, was inspired by the mixture of excitement and fear he felt during his elevator encounter. Tayaw wrote the song in the English language, and in the style of outlaw country genre which perfectly fits the emotions and the setting of the song. While the song does not tell his actual experience unlike his first two songs, it tells the life of a man who treads the line between life and death. It also hits that such life also gave the man a sense of truly feeling alive every day.

    As Tayaw finished the song, he felt his body get another charge of the "third level" of enhancement. Putting aside his excitement from his enhancements, he felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. If he can have someone judge his compositions, then no one is better than the mysterious ''Arts Record'' itself. If the white void deemed his songs worthy, then his songs are good enough.

    "F*ck¡­ That was great." Tayaw sighed as he sat dazedly in the silence of his hotel room. A few seconds later, he was pulled back to the white void, just as he intended, and placed Earl''s guitar on the void''s guitar stand once again.

    Tayaw then left the void and went for a shower hurriedly; he felt nasty. Tayaw, aside from meeting his basic needs like food, water, and air, never took a shower or never played around as he invested all of his energy and concentration on writing the three songs.

    Unlike almost all of his other songs which he composed without much inspiration, the three songs he wrote this time required much more concentration and more time, which testifies to their quality.

    As the showerhead poured warm water strongly on his body, Tayaw felt pleasure as the water drops lightly dribbled on his skin and he relaxed as he listens to the rain like sound of the shower. His senses have improved once again but thankfully, Tayaw''s brain and his organs also improved to handle what could have been the painful input from loud noises, bright vision, and hypersensitive tactile perceptibility.

    Losing himself in his own thoughts, Tayaw could not help but be proud. "I''ve proven myself as an artist." Tayaw said to himself as he immersed himself under the shower. The next moment, he realized something was amiss. "Wait a minute¡­ Did I just get taller? I''m finally six feet! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Tayaw celebrated in the shower.

 Chapter 57 - Psychological Anthropology of Romance

    November 8, 2011 ¨C Wednesday 6am ¨C Tayaw''s Hotel Suite, New York City

    *Ding Dong* Tayaw''s head snapped to the direction of his hotel suite''s door. "Hm? Room service at this hour?" Tayaw said confusedly as he walked to the door and looked through the peek hole to actually see Chala''s friendly face looking at the door.

    Tayaw then opened the door to let Chala in. "Sup Chala? How was your flight?" Tayaw greeted, not bringing up the fact that Chala is a week earlier than what Chala told him he''d come. "Man, my back is still stiff, my butt sore. While I appreciate flying 9000 meters in the sky, 17 hours of it is just tedious." Chala responded as he settled himself on the sofa. Tayaw chuckled, relating to the experience. "What''s your poison?" Tayaw asked Chala as he walked towards the liquor cabinet.

    "I''ve had enough on the plane. Anything warm would do. Thanks." Chala requested. Tayaw who was just watching the windy city through his window earlier, was also thirsting for a warm cup of tea. "Would tea do?" Tayaw asked. "Tea is great. Nice room by the way. You have a pool too? You''re really doing great." Chala said in jest. "Hey. Just like what you said the other day. What''s the use of money if I don''t spend it?" Tayaw replied.

    "Still. A pool? At this weather? That''s quite a waste, if you ask me." Chala said, finding the unnecessary amenities of the room a waste. "That''s true. Well, someone booked it for me and I liked the view so - " Tayaw replied as he prepared tea.

    Chala stood up and headed to one of the windows and took a look. "Hmm. Fancy huh? You don''t get orange and yellow leaves back home." Chala said and could not help but also appreciate the view from Tayaw''s window. "I''d love to see the snow too, but I probably wouldn''t like the cold. By the way, you said you''d join me next week, it''s only been, what, a week since our talk over the phone." Tayaw said, finally curious about Chala''s early arrival.

    "I realized I had nothing to do. Might as well play around here for a while. Who knows, I might even find a lady." Chala just shrugged his shoulders, as he spotted a trenchcoat-clad couple walking, holding hands. "Sigh. You''d better find yourself a girl too, Tayaw. Trust me, finding a good woman is difficult. I''ve been grinding for years for a good career, and I thought having enough money would make things easier. You will not find the love of your life immediately, but it''s better if you try again and again than not trying at all." Chala said sincerely. Tayaw could only imagine Chala''s face as he said that.

    It''s not like Tayaw also does not understand. He too built a respectable career in his previous life but finding someone to spend the rest of their life with is almost impossibility. Tayaw also mistook Arianne, the most recent girlfriend he had in his previous life, to be the one. But just like his previous girlfriends, he felt miserable and could not imagine raising a family with them. Tayaw was also curious what could have been had he not come back in time. Would he have found a good woman for him? Eventually, yes. But he might also end up like Chala.

    Tayaw was distracted from his thoughts when the kettle whistled, saying the water is ready. "Hey Chala. What do you want with your tea?" Tayaw asked as he pulled out the tea bags and tea cups. "A teaspoon of sugar is good." Chala replied, who seemed to also have been awoken from his own thoughts.

    Seconds later, Tayaw invited Chala outside by the balcony pool where a small table for two is set up.

    "Ever been married?" Tayaw asked Chala. "Yes. When I was in my early 20''s to an American lady." Chala replied, smiling bitterly. "May I know what happened?" Tayaw asked cautiously. "Oh. It''s just¡­ Let''s say we both fell out of love. I had my own career, she has her own. Due to the gradually lessening time we spent together, it could not be helped." Chala said, subconsciously stirring his cup with the tea bag and continued "We would have been perfect.", as he took a sip.

    "Despite that, aren''t you glad though? That you''re financially stable?" Tayaw asked. "Oh. I''m thankful, don''t get me wrong. I''m even more thankful after I dated a few more women after my marriage." Chala said, to Tayaw''s confusion. "How do you mean?" Tayaw asked. "The women I''ve dated after my marriage would demand time that I don''t have. What they don''t realize is that I had to work hard to not turn out to be a loser by my 30s. American women, especially do not understand this. They want a suburban house with the white picket fence, but they don''t like thinking about the work to be done to have that." Chala explained.

    "They do that? Don''t they have their own jobs?" Tayaw asked despite having enough experience himself. "They do. Oh. By the way, I''m not talking about every woman of course, but still, I''m talking about it because these women are common enough. They do have their own jobs but they spend it on themselves and they don''t expect to put their two cents in the relationship or marriage." Chala said.

    "So, the traditional stuff? The man goes to work; the wife stays home with the kids?" Tayaw asked. "Oh. It would be fine if that''s how it is. But I''m talking about couples with no kids here. Some of my previous lovers for example; after we moved in together, they demanded to spend more time together, but they don''t pay their share of the rent. What''s worse is that some of them even have their own job. That''s just not doable in the long run." Chala explained.

    "Let me guess, they could have offered to pay what they can afford but they didn''t? They also want to be taken out on a date often and when you do, they''re never satisfied?" Tayaw responded after taking a sip of his tea.

    "Exactly. When I asked other women why some of them do that, they say ''They want the date to be about them''. So I was like ''What about me? I deserve this break too.''" Chala said while shaking his head.

    "It''s not like you''re having fun with your nose on the grindstone." Tayaw concurred, to Chala just grunted at. Chala took a sip once again after talking that much and they both went silent. They entered a comfortable silence as they felt the breeze of the New York''s early morning autumn.

    After a while, Tayaw suddenly said "Hmm. I guess getting married is quite easy." Chala raised his brows at that. "But what people don''t talk about is how difficult it is to maintain a good married life." Tayaw clarified. Chala chuckled at his words until he found something strange. "You really are strange, buddy. I almost thought you were married once when you said that." Chala shook his head. He wasn''t, but from his experiences in dating alone, he could relate. If a relationship is difficult to maintain, a marriage would be many times grueling if one is not with the right person.

    "I''m a student of human character. Observe people enough and I could not help but put myself in their shoes." Tayaw replied. "Easier said than done. Still, you''re right. If my ex-wife and I didn''t understand each other, then we would have had a terrible marriage." Chala said.

    "By the way. How long have you been staying in this hotel?" Chala asked, suddenly switching topics. "I''ve been here for¡­ Well, I spent the 20th to the 26th here. I came back last 30th and I''ve been staying here since then." Tayaw replied. "So.. what. Three weeks? How much do you pay each night?" Chala asked curious to how much Tayaw would spend or have spent. He never stayed in an expensive hotel room for as long as Tayaw did.

    "$1300 a night, I think?" Tayaw answered. "What the - I know you''re rich but this is basically burning money. 13 times 21 is 273¡­ Good lord, you spent 27,300 on lodging alone. US dollars at that." Chala said dumbfounded.

    "Okay. It''s true; I admit it was a waste. HOWEVER - In my defense, I could have left a week ago, but something happened that gave me the inspiration to write three songs." Tayaw replied. In a way, it was true. After he hired the CEOs for his two companies, he was going to look for lodging in the outskirts of New York, away from the pollution and noise. That plan was scrapped when that situation in the elevator happened.

    "Alright. Whatever. Your money." Chala just gave up and down the last of his tea. Tayaw also did the same. "Want another cup?" Tayaw offered. "Can you mix milk with in it this time?" Chala said. "I''d like to have that as well." Tayaw replied. As Tayaw went back inside to make the tea, Chala stood up and leaned on the railing of the balcony to look below. Despite his age, being in a high place like this with such a great view of a big city makes Chala feel powerful.

    A few minutes later, Tayaw came back with fresh cups of tea. Chala also returned to his seat and looked to be mulling over something. "Oh! You have businesses here. Why not just buy yourself an apartment? Or a house? You can have a passive investment in the property you buy while living in it." Chala said what was on his mind.

    Tayaw raised his brow at this. It is a good idea. Maybe because he wants to go back to Teungeb immediately that buying a house did not cross his mind. "Oh. Okay. Why not? I need your help though." Tayaw said. "Sure. I recommend buying one in Jersey. I know a place that''s just 40 km from here. That''s a 45 minute drive. And. It''s not like you''re coming to New York every day." Chala suggested.

    "Alright. You came from there?" Tayaw asked, finally finding a possible explanation as to why Chala is not carrying any luggage. "Yep. I slept over with a friend there." Chala replied. "Hey. I still could not get over how much you''re spending on this room. It''s a nice room, but still. How good could the songs you wrote here be?" Chala brought up Tayaw''s spending again.

    Tayaw was actually offended a little at that. "Tell you what. I''ll play for you. You''re the first one to listen to them." Tayaw said as he went to the bathroom to retrieve his guitar from the white void without Chala seeing. Chala is actually excited to hear that. "Where are you going?" He asked. "My guitar''s here. The bathroom has great acoustics so I''ve been practicing here! Just you wait!" Tayaw yelled back.

 Chapter 58 - If others can write fillers, why cant I?

    November 9, 2011 ¨C Wednesday 7 pm ¨C Ironstone, Ouigab ¨C Hoon

    The band and I just finished our practice in the bas.e.m.e.nt and I''m currently relaxing in the common room. Bay-an and Jenna are cooking a simple dinner in the kitchen, Inson, also in the living room, is playing with his laptop, Ramil is taking a shower, and Ike is doing his homework. Poor Ike, he always has to study solo.

    I, on the other hand, am reading Tayaw''s new book, The Halfling. Tayaw''s new book was quite difficult to read at first because of the very formal grammar. I could only imagine what the English version looks like. After re-reading the first chapter however, I became used to it and got transported to the world of The Halfling. And that world, when I think about it, is Tayaw''s creation.

    *Bzzzzzt*

    The doorbell''s buzz reverberated in the room. All of us snapped our heads towards the main door. Aside from Tayaw''s agent, Chala, we don''t get visitors. Not even Jenna''s boyfriend or Ike''s girlfriend visits the house.

    "Hoon, can you get that? Thanks." Jenna yellowed over to me from the kitchen, breaking the tension. "Inson, let''s go together. I''m really not good with strangers." I asked Inson to accompany me. "Alright." Inson said as we headed for the door.

    Jenna has become a lot more polite over the past few months especially when Tayaw added another house rule regarding our language. It only not changed how Jenna spoke but also how the rest of us talk to each other. Words like ''Please'' and ''Thank you'' helped a lot in keeping our interactions peaceful.

    I looked at the intercom and saw what looks like a delivery guy judging by his uniform, waiting by the gate. It looks like there''s another package for Tayaw. I opened the door and we headed towards the drive way. I froze at the two big boxes lying beside the delivery man. One is rectangular, and made of wood, the other one is a regular cardboard box. "Hello. Package for uhh.. there''s a lot of names here." The delivery man said as he looked at his clipboard.

    "Is there a Hoon Tiamat among the names?" I asked the guy. "Hoon¡­ Tiamat. Sign here, please." The delivery guy said. After all the small stuff, the delivery man saw my and Inson''s concerned faces. "Don''t worry. They''re a lot lighter than they look." The delivery man said and went back to his truck.

    A minute later, Inson and I got the crates in the house. The crates indeed look lighter than they look, but they were still heavy. From what I saw while signing the delivery man''s clipboard, it looks like these are the ones that we requested from Tayaw to buy for us in New York.

    "Guys! Our stuff from New York is here!" Inson yelled excitedly as the band filled in the living room.

    "I guess Tayaw isn''t coming back anytime soon, huh?" Jenna said.

    "Maybe it''s just a lot for him to take home." Ramil offered a more plausible possibility.

    After a few minutes of unpacking, I finally pulled out the first item in the first box. It''s the item I requested; a replica of King Fischer''s electric guitar. It''s just not a replica of any of King''s guitars, but it''s a replica of the one that he played in his most legendary performance in the 1972 charity concert for Africa. I put the encased guitar aside first and pulled out the rest of the items from the box.

    Ike received his handcrafted red maple drumstick. I have to say, they look luxurious and unlike the typical white wood used in drumsticks, the red shade of the wood used for Ike''s drumstick gives it a heavy appearance.

    Next was Jenna''s make-up kit and her leather bound binder planner. A binder planner can be bought in whatever bookstore in Ouigab, but from what I heard from Jenna when she requested it from Tayaw, the binder folder she got is a replica of a famous TV character''s prop in the show. The make-up by the way, I can''t believe how expensive it is.

    Ramil got a luxury handcrafted saxophone cleaning kit. It''s just as beautiful and as classy looking as the Tayaw''s saxophone in the studio. "Dude. It looks like a mini toolbox." Ike remarked. True. I guess saxophonists need a lot of tools to maintain their instrument.

    Bay-an received an unassembled replica of the New York subway train that came in a box. I have not seen toy trains, but I know Bay-an''s replica is special. "Hey man. Can I help building it?" Inson asked. "Sure." Bay-an simply replied as he studied the box of the toy. Even though I was never interested in toys, the box of Bay-an''s train replica is quite big for me to be curious.

    Inson received his order of his favorite basketball player''s jersey and basketball shoes. "WHOAH!" Inson suddenly exclaimed to the confusion of the group. "What''s up?" Ramil asked. "Dude! Tayaw had them signed!" Inson said as he showed the band Kareem Lee Watson''s huge signature on the jersey and on the basketball shoes. That was cool of Tayaw to do that.

    "Guys. That''s all, right?" I asked the group. "Yes." Ike said as he looked at the remaining unopened box. The rest of the fellas are staring at the box as well. Not only them, I''m also itching on opening it. "I mean¡­ It has our names on it, right? Might as well open it." Jenna hesitantly suggested.

    "Screw it. We''re all in this together, alright?" I concurred. From the expression of the band, they agree with Jenna''s suggestion too. With that, I jacked the lid of the box open. The next moment, I pulled out the top layer of the bubble wrap and looked inside. I was confused to see more boxes inside. I then noticed that the top two boxes are labeled with my name and Ike''s.

    One by one, I pulled out the boxes and distributed them according to the names. The red color of the boxes was also revelead. We got a closer look at the bird logo and the bird perched on a baseball bat made us realize that it''s a baseball team''s merchandise. I then distributed the boxes to the guys in accordance to their names. "I''ll open mine first." Ike said as he quickly popped of the lid of his box.

    Ike pulled the items inside one by one: a pair of baseball cleats, a baseball jersey, a baseball cap, a baseball glove, and a big coffee mug with Ike''s name on it. Ike took off the wrapping of the coffee mug and pulled out what looks like a ring box.

    "Hey. He''s not proposing to me, is he?" Ike said, his words amusing the band. Tayaw, as far as I know, is straight as a rod. "Why don''t you open it and say ''yes!''?" Ramil said, and his feminized voice while he said ''yes!'' made the band lost it. "Hahahahaha! Good one Ramil!" Bay-an said.

    Ike''s face on the other hand, became complicated but he opened the ring box anyway.

    "Wow¡­" Ike just drawled out as he saw what was inside. "Show us! Show us!" Jenna commanded. Ike turned the ring box around for us to see a shiny, sparkly, ring. It does not look like an engagement ring like Ramil jested, but it looks even more beautiful! The ring is thick and massive.

    The band, or the shank, is made of silver. The sides of the band is adorned with what I would expect are fake diamonds. One side of the band has ''2011'' and the other side has ''CHAMPIONS'' that are assembled with small green crystalline stones. The head of the ring however, is the knockout. Just like the logo in the box, the bird perching on a baseball bat is displayed in a mosaic of different types of colors of crystalline stones.

    I pulled out my phone for a quick search and found out that the 2011 World Series of Baseball Champions is the St. Louis Cardinals. Tayaw is one of the few baseball fans I know who are Teungebians, but I didn''t realize he was this huge a fan.

    "Guys, look." I said to the band as I showed what I looked up. "Wow." Realization also hit them. "Guys¡­ Uhh. This ring isn''t expensive, right?" Ramil suddenly said as he also pulled out his own ring from his own gift box. This question made the group froze.

    "Hey. It may be. But not thousands of dollars expensive. I mean, silver is expensive. But I think the stones are fake. These must be fan rings." I said. I mean no matter how rich Tayaw is, he couldn''t possible buy us expensive gifts like a ring with real gems in it.

    "That''s true¡­ Ooh! Thank God the cleats have rubber spikes! I thought they were gonna be professional ones that have metal spikes. I can use them!" Inson said as he examined the baseball shoes. I also opened my box and pulled out the sports merch inside. I''m not a fan of baseball myself, but I think baseball has the slickest fashion when it comes to uniforms.

    "Tayaw is really creepy. How does he know all of the sizes of our shoes and clothes?" Jenna said as she pulled out the baseball jersey from her box. Compared to our jerseys, hers look like a child''s version.

    "I think it''s just a part of how smart he is. He also sees our shoes by the doorway every day so it''s not like he just blindly guessed." I replied. "That makes sense." Jenna nodded as she greedily examined the championship she also got.

    A few minutes later, I pulled out my phone again to check the time. It''s currently 8 pm so if I deduct 17 hours, it will be 3 am in New York. I know that Tayaw goes to bed early and gets up early every day at 2 am, so I tried calling him for a video chat.

    "Guys! Wear your baseball outfit! I''m calling Tayaw right now." I told the group, which they agreed to and hurriedly put on their jerseys and baseball caps.

    After two tries, Tayaw finally accepted the video call and just like usual, Tayaw looks awake and fresh. "Hello there! Oh! Looks like the package arrived. How''s everything?"

 Chapter 59 - Critical Book Studies of Parental Psychology

    November 15, 2011 ¨C Tuesday 7pm ¨C Okuba

    "Thanks honey." I said to Kilat as she served me a cup of tea while I sat on the massage chair Tayaw bought for us. I watched Kilat''s h.i.p.s sway as she went back to sit next to Payew on the living room couch. I then noticed Payew is reading today''s issue of the Nabla Observer with interest.

    The house receives an issue of the newspaper every morning in our mailbox but this is the first time I saw Payew reading it this intently. It''s more unusual because aside from textbooks and his notebook; he does all his reading on his laptop.

    "Son. Something interesting in the paper?" I asked Payew. He didn''t seem to have heard me so my wife nudged him. "Huh? Did something happen?" Payew asked confusedly as he looked up. "I said, are the cartoons in the newspaper fun today? You don''t usually spend a lot of time reading the newspaper like you''re doing now." I said.

    "Dad, I stopped reading the cartoons for a while now. Have you seen this?" Payew asked as he stood up and handed me the newspaper that is flipped to the Featured Section.

    """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

    T.L.D Grimmauld''s ''The Halfling'', a modern masterpiece?

    Ophelia Cadali

    To call this the standard in which all fantasy and fiction novels should be judged, is an outright insult; this is simply one of the best books that I have ever read, or will ever read. The Halfling to me is the lone book in its own genre. T.L.D Grimmauld, our proud Nabla native, frankly, started a genre that would eventually capture the hearts of thousands of people, even millions just like his previous book of fairy tales. This will change the literary world, forever. Unlike the author''s earlier work, T.L.D Grimmauld not only wrote a novel, but created a world.

    Middle Earth, where The Halfling is set, is without a doubt the best fictional world I have ever had the pleasure of picturing. It is richly written, and a product of great creativity and originality. I would not be surprised for future authors to base their work on Middle Earth alone.

    T.L.D. Grimmauld''s commentary to the modern society is very amusing and almost unnoticeable due to the narrative, but a perceptive reader will notice the fanciful contrasts and metaphors he has drawn between his world and the real world. The profundity of Grimmauld''s imagination, to me, is immeasurable. The world he created alone makes me anticipate whatever ideas he has for his future works.

    Falbo, just like me, is blown away by the beautiful landscape of Middle Earth. We must realize that he too is seeing and feeling the hypnotic beauty of the valley of Riverdell and the majesty of the size of Mount Erabor for the first time. Falbo''s reaction as written by Grimmauld, reflects a reader who is also amazed by a world that is as magically beautiful as it is corrupt and ugly; a world in which both the good and the evil reside yet understandable at the same time as the people in it are capable of both benevolence and maleficence.

    The people are diverse and contrasting; the differences between the elves and the dwarves for example, are best captured in their music. Elven music is full of brightness and is quite cheerful while the music of the dwarves is deep, strong and full of resolve to match their tenacious and strong-headed nature.

    Grimmauld''s imaginative world aside, this story narrates the adventure of Falbo Fabbins. The adventure begins as Falbo invites Grandalf for tea the day after their brief encounter. The Wizard then recruits Falbo as the fourteenth member of his gang to be his burglar. Falbo did not really understand what he was getting himself in to when he agreed to join Grandalf and his band''s mission.

    The next evening, thirteen dwarves, headed by Hafthor Ironshield, arrive to Falbo''s home along with their quest to reclaim their riches and slay a dragon: Schmaug. Schmaug has also stolen their home, a complicated cave system under a mountain, Erabor, and the dwarves want their home back. Bilbo, at first hesitant at the group''s journey, quickly had his reluctance overcome by a strong, hidden desire for adventure.

    The story becomes more cynical as they came closer to the mountain. The group is attacked by spiders and abducted by the wood elves who want a share of the dwarfish treasure. The dwarves also began to rely on their burglar who they rightfully believed at first would become a liability. Bilbo was destined to come along as he proved himself worthy gradually throughout their journey.

    The game of riddles and the finding of the ring is one of the more memorable parts of the book and is Falbo''s gateway into heroism. I think the power he receives from the ring helps him to discover that not only does he have courage and fortitude, but he has lots of it. Grandalf, if anything, is an excellent judge of character.

    At first, I thought that the ending of this book is undeniably rushed. Falbo was unconscious for most of it, and we receive a post battle update, some recalled by other characters. There are off the page deaths and victories. As I remunerated however, I realized that it is a part of T.L.D Grimmauld''s message ; it is not about the tragic death of a dwarf who went almost rogue, but redeemed himself; it is not about a lowly whaler who slayed a dragon and became a renowned hero. No. It is a story in which a Halfling who thought himself had no courage and no bravery, found it when pushed into responsibility. It is a story about a Halfling who was too scared to leave his house without a handkerchief, eventually evolving into a Halfling who was able to outwit dragon.

    It is the story of Falbo Fabbins, The Halfling.

    """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""??""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

    I could not help but feel proud. Aside from reading the newspaper and some flyers, I basically don''t read anything else; therefore I do not have the experience of appreciating Tayaw''s books. Reading this article made me realize how good a writer my son is.

    Ophelia Cadali, a familiar name to me, has reviewed Tayaw''s books many times before in the newspaper. I have inkling that she''s a big fan of my son.

    I have also read The Halfling when his agent sent the family early copies of it. I read the English version and I had to take time before I got used to the writing. In the end, I still found very good. However, the last time Tayaw called us from New York, I was embarrassed that all I can say about the book to Tayaw is that "It was great." Thankfully, Tayaw saw my sincerity.

    I know the feeling of receiving an empty compliment and how annoying it is. After one worked hard on something and all they receive as a feedback is "You''ve done great" without knowing why they thought so, is honestly useless and I''d rather not receive those types of compliment at all.

    At first, I did not feel good when Tayaw said he was quitting school, even though he said it was only temporarily, to focus on his writing career. Even after he became a millionaire, and even after he assured us that he can take care of us, I still had hesitations.

    I was never book smart, so I did not go to college or university. A choice I will forever be proud that I made. Even before Tayaw brought blessings to the family, I was doing much better than most of my high school buddies. I got myself a good car, I was well on my way of paying off the house, and I was sure that I and my wife would be able to send all our kids to college.

    Even though I never went to university, I always wished I went. Maybe because of the feeling of inferiority to those white collars or the experience of being looked down on in a high school reunion because I did not graduate from college, I really wanted my sons to graduate university. My kids graduating university would also symbolically achieve my dream for me.

    That dream was fueled even more when I realized that my kids are academically inclined, well, except for Agew the youngest, but I know that he''s talented with his hands which he definitely got from me. Anyway, I dreamt that one day Tayaw, Payew, or Agew, will be wearing their graduation toga and my wife and I would hold their diploma for them, and we take a picture together.

    Looking at this article, however, I''m glad that Tayaw is doing what he''s doing. Thankfully I''m not the stubborn and forceful type of a father that I did not force Tayaw to stay in university. If I had, I would have prevented Tayaw from writing what Ophelia dubbed as a "Modern Masterpiece".

    So what if my friends tease me that my kid quit college after I bragged to them that my kid got in a university? So what if Tayaw would never go back to school? Would they have anything to say once they find out that in exchange for his education, my son was able to become a world reknowned author?

    "Hey mom! Dad''s smiling weird" Agew said as he stepped out of his bedroom. I don''t know what my face looked like before I wore my poker face, but I may have been smiling weirdly, just like what my youngest said.

    "I read it too." Kilat said to me with a knowing. My wife really knows me well. Without saying it to each other, we are both proud of Tayaw.

 Chapter 60 - Musical Exploration of Occult Studies

    November 24, 2011 ¨C Thursday 8pm ¨C Hillsboro Pike, Nashville, Tennessee

    Before coming to Nashville, Tayaw was able to purchase a house in Jericho, a suburb in Long Island, New York. The house he bought is a lot like his house in Ironstone; four bedrooms, a garage, a good bas.e.m.e.nt. The major difference is the Italian-inspired architecture plus a courtyard.

    He finally decided not to take Chala''s suggestion of buying a house in Jersey as the nearest suburb in Jersey is quite far from New York City. After buying the house, Tayaw found himself having nothing to do so he decided for a road trip, with Nashville as one of their stops.

    "Wait. Let me touch up my clothes first." Tayaw said to Chala after he stopped the engine of the pick-up truck in front of a bar called "Blackbird Caf¨¦". Tayaw is currently wearing his usual three piece suit, only difference is that he''s now wearing a pair of cowboy boots he purchased the day before after they checked in a hotel.

    This is actually Tayaw and Chala''s second night in Nashville. Tayaw and Chala did not take the plane, but rented a pickup truck for the road, with Nashville, being their first actual stop after a 14 hour drive.

    Chala does not have the endurance for driving long distances so it was actually Tayaw who drove the Ford truck. Tayaw does not have a US driver''s license, but unless they''re violating traffic laws, or if they''re African ¨C Americans, no one would stop them to check. Even if a cop stops them, Tayaw can just quickly switch seats with Chala to have him present his driver''s license.

    After Tayaw fixed up his clothes, he grabbed his special guitar from the back seat and they got out of the truck. Tayaw is actually here as a performer for the bar''s open mic night. The previous night, Tayaw saw a poster about an open mic night in the bar so he talked to the bar''s manager immediately to sign up. The manager of the bar was quite skeptical about Tayaw but when Chala showed the manager Tayaw''s Youtube channel for him to listen to Tayaw''s playing, the manager approved immediately and put him in the line-up, directly at the peak hour of the night.

    As they entered the bar room, Tayaw noticed that the bar is much more crowded than he expected. Blackbird Caf¨¦ is actually just as big as Rudy''s ROH Factory back in Teungeb. Tayaw is incredibly excited to play for such a music loving crowd.

    Cowboy boot-donning, plaid-shirt fashion of the crowd definitely caught Tayaw''s eyes. Nashville Tennessee is the country music capital of America, or the world for that matter, and their outfits are what they consider the standard for a bar night out.

    "Start a tab for me." Chala was able to get an empty table while Tayaw walked to the back stage, unnoticed by the crowd because of their attention on the singer on stage.

    "Hey boy! You''re late!" The wrinkle faced bar manager with his Texan drawl said to Tayaw almost yelling. "Nice suit¡­" He continued, however as he noticed how sharp Tayaw looks. "Oh, I was here from the start. I was just practicing in my truck." Tayaw explained himself. He was bullsh*tting of course, he was practicing in his hotel room. Tayaw, busy writing songs, actually forgot he was going to perform in a country music town, so he had to do a last minute arrangement of two songs into country-blues style. His arrangement was done in only under an hour.

    "Alright. I thought you wouldn''t show. You''re on after the guy on stage." The manager said as he walked away, busying himself.

    "Haven''t seen you around here before, buddy. Where you from?" One of the performers waiting in the backstage with Tayaw, asked. "You''re right. I''m from Teungeb." Tayaw replied. "That''s a place I don''t hear of often. Name''s Travis by the way." Travis said as he offered his hand. "Yawat. Nice to meet you." Tayaw said as he shook Travis'' hand. "Y-yay-wat. Hmm. Quite the exotic name." Travis said, mispronouncing Tayaw''s stage name. Tayaw did not correct the pronunciation. He figured that if Travis is more comfortable pronouncing it that way, so be it.

    "You know you''re supposed to play country, right? I don''t know much about Teungeb''s music, but I know that country isn''t big abroad." Travis said, doubting whether Tayaw would play a country song or not. Tayaw also realized that just like Travis and the bar manager, the crowd and the performers are all Caucasians. "Oh. I''m one of those foreigners who know their stuff. I mean, the manager approved so I''m here." Tayaw said. "If you say so. I think the guy on stage is just finishing up." Travis said hinting that Tayaw should get ready.

    Tayaw understood that a Teungebian playing country is unusual, still Travis'' words didn''t make Tayaw feel good. Tayaw then didn''t bother with Travis any further and started tuning his guitar. As Tayaw tuned his guitar, he was unaware of Travis observing him. A few moments later, Tayaw felt Travis'' eyes looking at him so he took a split-second look and saw Travis'' confused face. ''It''s open D tuning used commonly in Mississippi blues, BOY.'' Tayaw thought.

    A minute later, Tayaw heard the crowd cheer, implying that the guy performing is done. He then nodded at Travis and headed for the stage. As he stepped on stage, there was a mixed reaction in the crowd''s faces. Tayaw noticed that some of them have their brows in interest, while some are confused. Tayaw smiled in amus.e.m.e.nt at the reaction.

    "Hello everyone. My name''s Yawat. I''m from Teungeb." Tayaw said to the crowd and they responded with applause. "Fine, y''all can call me Isaac just for tonight." Tayaw said which made the crowd chuckle. Tayaw only has a limited time of 10 minutes so he immediately started his performance by playing a blues progression. This then gathered more interest from the crowd. "Let me play my originals for y''all." Tayaw announced which now really intrigued the crowd.

    From what Tayaw heard from the radio since they came to Nashville, they are all modern country songs, forgetting their roots in blues, bluegrass, and Americana so Tayaw wanted to bring it back.

    "Well¡­ Preacher, preacher, please save me

    I met a man, white as a cotton field.

    He drove a roaring old black Cadillac

    took a drag from his cigar and offered me a pact.

    Ohhhh. The devil wears a suit and a tie.

    The devil wears a suit and a tie."

    This was a song he wrote after he played around in St. Louis. He was inspired by the rumors and historical anecdotes of Earl Thompson selling his soul to the devil just like Jesse Johnston did. He''s confident of not having his song stolen because he already has an official recognition from the copyright association even though he doesn''t have the certificate yet.

    This song may not have been as good as the ones that gave him enhancements, but he felt that it''s not much worse.

    The subtle but firm strums accompanied by the kickdrum made the audience feel the intensity of the song. The lyrics also painted a picture for them of Tayaw actually meeting the devil. Nashville, being a musical city, also has their legends about people making a deal with the devil, so that helped them paint a picture of Tayaw getting tempted by the devil in the first verse.

    "I know you, young man, and we''re the same

    I see your hands, we set the strings aflame

    Shake my hand and I will give you a chance

    One shake, I''ll learn you how to make the girls dance.

    Ohhhh. The devil wears a suit and a tie.

    The devil wears a suit and a tie."

    The intensifying strumming, the louder kickdrum, and the more gravelly singing by the second verse made the crowd feel anxious and even more immersed in the song.

    "A fool, a great fool is what I am

    Why didn''t I just take off and run?

    A gift, that man''s gift was divine

    It never felt like it was a crime

    Til I saw my home in his abode

    Where I will spend my eternal life."

    The hope that the crowd felt of Tayaw not shaking the devil''s hand was shattered and they let out a collective sigh. Travis who chose to watch by the side of the stage had goosebumps. Chala, who was listening from the audience, clenched his fist, spooked, and finally suspecting that Tayaw is not only singing a song, but actually telling his own story.

    "mmmmhhhhmmm. The devil wears a suit and tie¡­

    The devil gave me his suit and tie¡­

    Ohhh, can''t strip the suit and tie¡­"

    Tayaw ended the last chorus almost whisperingly and gave out a defeated feeling to the crowd. The crowd, seemingly stunned, also stayed silent for a few seconds. Chala, seeing this panicked and started clapping aggressively to encourage the crowd. The crowd, urged by Chala, also gave an enthusiastic applause for Tayaw. Travis, who was finally, convinced of Tayaw''s ability, furthermore, more than impressed by the song, whistled loudly with his fingers. The manager, who was actually anticipating Tayaw''s performance, is also clapping, while shaking his head.

    "Thank you." Tayaw bowed slightly.

    Two country-blues-bluegrass songs later, his set was finally done and he was showered with love by the crowd. He even saw ''strange'' gazes from the ladies. After bowing the final time, he headed back to the waiting room. "Yay-wat! That was f*cking amazing!" Travis got to his face as soon as he entered the waiting room. "Thank you Travis." Tayaw replied, his bad impression of Travis earlier cut down a little. "How have I not heard of you?" Travis asked enthusiastically. "Because I think Nashville will not welcome him?" The manager who also came to the waiting room after Tayaw, said.

    Tayaw and Travis'' faces twitched at that. "No one plays real country anymore in Nashville. All that pop country bullcrap on the radio is what sells, so that''s what the suits of Nashville keep on popping out." The bar manager clarified.

    Travis, who already performed earlier in the evening, was a little offended at that. He''s one of those country performers who are singing the formulaic modern country songs. He could not, however, argue with the bar manager. After all, he saw what Tayaw performed and he agrees with the bar manager about Tayaw''s songs as real country music. Travis knows that even if he covers Tayaw''s song, he will not do it justice. He could not also write such songs.

    "The radio stations too are making money not only from advertisers, but by playing the songs these record labels tells them to play on the radio." The bar manager further explained. This enlightened both Tayaw and Travis. Tayaw finally understood why the radio sucks. Travis also realized why he no longer hears in the radio a lot of the songs he grew up listening to or at least new songs that have as much heart as the old country songs.

 Chapter 61 - Fowlers Barstool: Introduction to Mixology

    "By the way, young man. How long are you staying in America?" The manager asked, changing the subject. "I probably will stay here until next year. What''s up?" Tayaw replied. "Are you looking for extra cash? I have some spots open." The manager said, trying to recruit Tayaw. "You have open spots? Boss! I''ve been looking for weeks now!" Travis said in indignation. The manager for a split second, showed an annoyed expression before resuming to his neutral expression. Travis missed it, but Tayaw didn''t. Tayaw could not help but feel sorry for Travis.

    Travis looks like he''s still in his early 20s so he guessed he does not have enough experience in playing in a big bar like Blackbird Caf¨¦. "Kid. You should realize that there are a lot of guys out there who are just as good as you, and they''ve been trying out for a lot longer than you are. Didn''t I tell you to try out in other bars? I think you will have a better chance with them." The manager explained to Travis.

    "But you only saw this guy play three songs! Why are you offering him a spot already?" Travis said, still not getting why Tayaw is getting an outright offer. Travis admits to himself that Tayaw is good but he''s not that much better than him. "I''ve seen him perform enough. I''ve also seen him perform well in a larger crowd than here tonight." The manager said. Travis does not really believe the manager''s claim. "Can he even fill an hour?!" Travis said, still frustrated at the situation.

    "And you think you can?! I''ve heard of your songs before, kid. They all sound the f*ckin same." The manager said, finally losing some of his patience. Travis just swallowed the manager''s criticism and stayed quiet. He knows that the bar manager knows what he''s doing that''s why he''s been a manager here for decades. He does not have a choice but to give up. He realized it''s not good to offend the manager any further, if he has not already.

    "So work harder and learn, boy. Be more creative. Go home before I ban you. Don''t show yourself here until you can show me something new." The manager finally pointed Travis to the door. Travis glared at Tayaw for a second, uttered the F word before walking out.

    "F*ck. Sorry about that." The manager said to Tayaw. "Is he really not good enough?" Tayaw asked in curiosity after getting pieces of Travis'' story. "I was being polite. Most of the crowd cannot tell, but I think he''s one of those kids that got popular in their high school just because they can play the guitar and sing a little. If he''s not too full of himself, maybe he can tell how bad he is and that he''s nothing special." The manager replied.

    "So why does he get to try out a lot?" Tayaw asked again. "I owe his dad when I was still in Texas back in the 70s. If the kid knows any better, he better not call his father crying about me hiring you." The bar rubbed his eyelid while he said that. Tayaw felt that there''s more to why Travis was quite aggressive earlier. "I didn''t get your name yet, sir¡­" "Call me Henry." Henry introduced himself finally. "Henry. Why didn''t he try out with other bars, by the way?" Tayaw asked.

    "Look here, kid." Henry said as he pointed at the pictures hanging on the waiting room''s walls. Tayaw took a closer look and he realized as he read the labels on the pictures, that many famous country stars have played here in their youth. Annabelle Moore, Thomas Martin, Lee Baker and more gave this bar great history over the past fifty years. "Ah. I can see why Travis is so hell bent on wanting to perform here." Tayaw''s earlier guess was proven.

    "Yeahpp. Just like I told the kid, there''s more musicians who are better than him that don''t even get to play here because of how competitive it is." Henry explained. "I don''t think he respects this place." Tayaw said, judging from how Travis was like. "Good eye, kid. I think he wants a shortcut. I don''t know if you''ve noticed, there are men who are wearing suits, not really fitting in." Henry said. "Yes?" Tayaw said, unsure what it has to do with Travis.

    "Those are people from some of Nashville''s record labels. They look for prospects in places like this." Henry answered. Tayaw finally understood. "Alright. Let me play here." Tayaw finally said, to the relief of Henry.

    "That''s great! Can you start on Saturday? I can promise you $350 an hour for you and if we have a lot of customers during the hour that you''re performing." Henry stated the benefits. "$350? Isn''t that a little too much?" Tayaw said, confused at the generosity. "Kid, most of our patrons here are in their 40s to 60s who have deeper pockets than most. Your style is also what they''ve been looking for for a long time now. And. Usually, I pay bands $100 per person, but because you can perform alone, you don''t get to share what you get with others." Henry explained.

    "Ahh. Alright. You don''t have to pay me." Tayaw said. Even though Henry will be able to save a lot from not paying Tayaw, he almost took it as an offense. Most young musicians would jump at the money, but there''s this kid who casually refused it.

    "Look. This bar has a great fifty year, history. As a student of music, I feel honored just playing here." Tayaw clarified himself. Henry, with his over sixty years of living, more than half of it spent in the backstabbing music scene of Nashville, knows what bullcrap sounds when he hears one. Despite this, he actually that felt Tayaw is sincere.

    "huh. You know I don''t feel comfortable having a good musician like you play for free." Henry said honestly. "I''m not an American, Henry. Even if I wanted to get paid, my visa would not let me." Tayaw explained his circ.u.mstances. "Well, why don''t I pay you under the table? Hm? A young man like yourself would need some ¡­" as Henry is about to offer pay for Tayaw to buy himself more clothes, he noticed Tayaw''s clothes again.

    "You don''t need money, do you?" Henry had a sudden suspicion after he realized that Tayaw''s suit seem to be of higher quality than the clothes of the record label people he often sees in the bar. Tayaw, to Henry, also looks beyond just neat; Tayaw looks very clean; a sign of an unburdened person.

    "I don''t." Tayaw did not explain himself any further. Henry also remembered how many views Tayaw''s Youtube videos are. "Tell me, kid. Are you some superstar in Teungeb?" Henry mumbled after he leaned in closer. It is the only explanation he can figure because of how good a musician Tayaw is and that he can afford not getting paid. "No. I wish. Haha. I''m here on a business visa, Henry. I''m a businessman. Don''t ask anymore." Tayaw just said. Henry also put his curiosity aside.

    "Alright. I can start on Saturday. Is that it? I only play on Saturdays?" Tayaw said, wanting to know more if he can perform more often. "I can put you on stage on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights at 10." Henry said. If it was any other musician of Tayaw''s age, they would not notice one important thing on those days. "You''re putting me on ''prime time''? You¡­ You''re not taking advantage of me, are you?" Tayaw said frowning.

    "HAHA! Don''t back out now, kid. You don''t want to get paid? Then give the bar a little push!" Henry said, looking smug. "Look, kid. Even if you are not able to attract more customers, I can help you get your name out by putting you on the peak hours. If I can''t pay you money, I can at least pay you with exposure." Henry explained.

    Tayaw scoffed. He knows how many venues would not pay musicians in exchange for exposure. Even though Blackbird caf¨¦ is not such venue, Tayaw was unimpressed by Henry''s plan. Despite that, he just let it go. "Tell you what. How about we do this? I''ll play on Fridays and Saturdays. You take what''s supposed to be my pay and divvy it up amongst the performers who are in need of money the most." Tayaw suggested.

    Henry was surprised at Tayaw''s suggestion. Not only because it''s generous but it''s also the first time he''s encountered this. Henry, after a thought, finally shook his head. "Fine, kid. I''ll tell them it''s from you." Henry said he shook his hands with Tayaw.

    Tayaw then packed his guitar and walked back out to the bar room to join Chala. As he looked at Chala''s table, however, he saw Chala talking to a blonde lady who looks to be in her late 30s. Chala looked to be having fun, so he sent a text message instead. After seeing that Chala saw the message, Tayaw looked for an empty table. After a moment of looking around, Tayaw found a vacant seat, by the bartender''s counter.

    "Nice set, kid. What would you have? It''s on the house." Tayaw was greeted by a smiling bartender after he took a seat. "Thank you. Jameson, on the rocks please." Tayaw replied. "¡­" He got nervous as the bartender just looked at him strangely. It would be a bummer if the bartender asked for his ID. "Something wrong, sir?" Tayaw asked. "Ah. Nothing. I thought you were only going to ask for a beer." The bartender said.

    Tayaw sighed in relief. He understood the bartender''s concern; a glass of Jameson is quite expensive after all. "Don''t worry. It''s on me." Tayaw replied with a chuckle. "Quite a strong taste for a kid." The bartender said as he prepared Tayaw''s glass. Tayaw figured that his height and vintage looking fashion passed him off as an a.d.u.l.t of drinking age.

    Tayaw then turned around to watch the performer on stage. After listening for a while, however, he shook his head. Wrong chords, pitchy singing, and the thoughtless strumming made his head hurt. "I guess that''s the best an open mic night can offer." Tayaw said to himself. He found it satisfactory, however. The manager must have pre-filtered the performers tonight from a competent pool. If it was another open mic in a smaller bar, where people from the crowd can just go up on stage and play, Tayaw could not imagine the headache he will get.

    "Your whiskey." The bartender said as he slid Tayaw''s drink forward. "Thanks." Tayaw said and started sipping. Tayaw then stared emptily as he started sorting out songs in his head. He will start on playing on Saturday so he filtered the songs he can easily arrange into modern country, Bluegrass Country, and blues country. If it was rock or indie style, Tayaw can just choose whatever. With Country however, he has to choose songs with lyrics that would fit the country genre.

    Most pop songs are out, and so are sports anthems. He''s left with folk, some rock songs, and ballads. Country music sings about rural lifestyle, love, family, and home so he funneled more of the songs he knows that fit those categories. ''Wait¡­ oddly, my recent songs also fit country." Tayaw suddenly realized. ''Nevermind. I''ll just sing one of those each set.'' Tayaw decided.

    "Hey there." Tayaw suddenly heard. He turned his head to look beside him to see a beautiful young lady with brunette hair and green eyes. "Hello to you." Tayaw replied.

 Chapter 62 - Musicology of Romance (Merry Christmas Everybody!)

    "Hello." Tayaw replied raising one eyebrow. "Isaac, right? I''m Irene. You were great up there." Irene said as she dragged the bar chair closer to Tayaw and took a sit. "Thank you. May I help you?" Tayaw said, a little annoyed that he was distracted from his thoughts. Irene though, did not notice the unwelcoming tone Tayaw gave her. "I''m just curious how a Polynesian man like you learn how to sing country." Irene asked as she leaned forward giving Tayaw a look at the valley of her bountiful hills.

    Tayaw almost rolled his eyes at this. While he was flattered at the flirting, he was always spooked at white American ladies. While not true for all white ladies from USA, he always found them self-entitled. In recent history, Tayaw found that they were the second most privileged people next to white men, yet they dared to claim the same oppression as minorities experienced in the future social war. The loud minority of those would result to two generations of self-conscious American men with inferiority complexes.

    Aside from that, Tayaw doesn''t really know why he''s spooked by them. They''re either really nice or borderline sociopaths. "It''s the love for music, that''s all." Tayaw replied simply. "Oh. And your English is great too." Irene said as she played with her hair. "A product of necessity I guess." Tayaw said as he gulped down a good amount of whiskey from his glass.

    "Where are you from?" Irene asked again, clueless about Tayaw''s body language. "I''m from New York." Tayaw said. He decided to only give straight answers to prevent the conversation from going anywhere any further. "No. What I''m asking is where you are REALLY from." Irene asked again. "Teungeb." Tayaw replied. "Ooh! My granddaddy was stationed in Kangpan before joining the war in Korea! Wheres in Teungeb are you from?" Irene said excitedly. ''Oh for f*cks sake.'' Tayaw thought to himself. Quickly calculating, he estimated that Irene must be Alexandra''s age: in her mid-20s.

    Thankfully, his phone rang as he received a call from Chala. "Excuse me, it''s my girlfriend." Tayaw said which obviously disappointed Irene. "Hey. Chala. Ignore my tone." Tayaw said in Teungebian, his tone sounded lovely. "What on earth? What''s up with you?" Chala asked a little grossed out with Tayaw talking to him in a tone used for a lover.

    "A girl is flirting with me." Tayaw said as he quickly scanned around the bar quickly to look for Chala, his actions unnoticed by Irene. "Where are you?" Tayaw asked. "Oh. I''m going back to my hotel room to continue my conversation with a lady." Chala replied. "The blondie earlier?" Tayaw asked. "The blondie earlier." Chala confirmed. "You have the keys for the truck right? I''m taking a cab." Chala said. "Alright. Have a good evening." Tayaw said and he hung up.

    "That was your girlfriend? That was short." Irene said. ''She''s still not walking away?'' Tayaw thought. "Yes. She just said good morning. It''s 5 in the morning back in Teungeb." Tayaw replied. "I see. Well, she''s across the Pacific anyway so why don''t I accompany you?" Irene said.

    This did it for Tayaw. Although he does not actually have a girlfriend, a woman who will seduce a man who''s already tied, to Tayaw, is repulsive. "Irene, right? While I appreciate the uhh¡­ Hospitality, I''d like to be alone. Your friends over there must also be waiting for you." Tayaw said as he pointed with his palm the group of ladies looking their way. Tayaw always found pointing with his finger a little rude.

    "Fine. Good night." Irene said as she moved forcefully to stand up, almost knocking her chair over. "Have a pleasant evening as well." Tayaw said as he raised his glass to her.

    "Did I just see a man brush off Irene just now? She looked angry. What happened?" The bartender actually walked hurriedly to Tayaw and leaned over the counter to gossip. "I have a girlfriend. You know that lady?" Tayaw asked. "Oh. I see. Well, Irene is the singer of one of the regular bands in the bar." The bartender revealed. ''Oh sh*t'' Tayaw''s heart dropped.

    "Really? Do you know what days she plays at?" Tayaw asked. "I thought you weren''t interested?" The bartender asked and smiled mischievously. "No. It''s just¡­ Tell me first her schedule." Tayaw said. "Okay. Her band plays on Mondays and Tuesdays, I think?" The bartender replied, unusure.

    "Phew. Thank god." Tayaw sighed in relief. "What''s with you?" The bartender said, confused at Tayaw''s reaction. "Oh. I''m Yawat, by the way. You can call me Isaac." Tayaw introduced himself. "Oscar." Oscar introduced himself too. "Well, Oscar, I''m performing here starting on Saturday and then Fridays and Saturdays after." Tayaw replied. "Oh. That''s cool! Congratulations. So, you don''t want drama with Irene?" Oscar said. "Exactly. Another glass of Jameson please. Neat this time." Tayaw said. Oscar just chuckled as he prepared Tayaw''s drink again.

    Half an hour later, he hopped back to his rented truck and drove back to his hotel. Tayaw and Chala checked in a famous hotel when they first arrived in Nashville, but unlike the room that Tayaw rented in New York, they booked two separate double rooms; not too fancy, but still spacious enough. After taking a shower and changing to his sleep wear, Tayaw connected his laptop to the hotel''s wifi to check his e-mail and chat messages.

    One message caught his eyes. It''s from his mother, Kilat. To summarize, it goes like "Son, we just received our visitor visa. Your dad picked up the family''s passports in Kangpan yesterday." Tayaw is not only glad by the quick approval but also excited because he will be able to show his family around in another country, something that the family never did in his previous life. He can also show them his house in New York.

    After leaving a reply to his mother, Tayaw went to YouTube to check how the band''s channel is doing. It has been a while since he actually checked because of he got obsessed writing songs once again after he bought Earl Thompson''s guitar back when he was in St. Louis. What he saw as the YouTube page loaded is a pleasant surprise. 189,000 Subscribers. He clicked on the statistics and saw that since their last upload back in October 16, the collective views of all their videos are at about 14 million; an average of 400,000 views on each video.

    Tayaw then clicked on their second YouTube Channel. Before Tayaw went to America, he told the group to make a second YouTube channel where they can upload their song arrangements. Tayaw also asked them set the videos in private so only the band can see them. The band also agreed to not show their arrangements immediately to their subscribers as they are not confident of their song arrangement skills.

    After a few minutes of watching the band''s submission for the week, Tayaw is satisfied. It''s been 8 months since the band started arranging songs, and they have improved immensely. The average ability of the band in arrangement basically beats out Tayaw''s arrangement skills in his previous life when he was in his early 20s.

    Regarding their technical skills on their own instruments, the band''s learning curve practically flattened. Since their busking in Monna Park, the band''s technical ability already surpassed the playing ability of most of the performers in ROH Factory. Aside from Jenna, the rest of the band has the ability to perform appropriate riffs, melodies, and can play consistently at any rhythm and never go out of beat. They can all substitute as members of a professional band as long as they don''t perform anything complicated.

    If Tayaw could compare Hoon''s guitar playing now to the Hoon of Tayaw''s previous life, then the current Hoon has the ability of Tayaw''s previous life''s 24 year-old Hoon. That says a lot about the band. Tayaw realized that the band in his previous life was actually very talented. Tayaw shook his head while thinking it was a pity for the band in his previous life that they never got a spark of inspiration, or that they never got any more famous. Tayaw is also proud that he found Jenna, a fiddler who is just as talented as the rest of the guys.

    Tayaw is also confident that the band will be able to cross the current chasm that is stunting their progress. Tayaw foresaw this chasm so he had the band learn song arrangement very early on as it will be a useful instrument in shaping the band into real artists. This obstacle is actually what stops a lot of musicians. A lot of musicians, who will fail to cross this obstacle, will stay as musicians who can only copy other musicians'' playing style, and would never ever learn to express themselves with their instruments.

    This is also the reason why Tayaw discouraged the band in sharpening their technical skills for now and learn more how to produce emotion with their instruments. Tayaw explained to the band his purpose of telling them so by asking them questions. So what if Hoon can shred seamlessly? Does he feel something to associate with the notes and melodies he''s playing? If he has, can he communicate with the listeners if his playing is soulless? So what if Ramil can sustain high notes and do runs on his saxophone, can he play it in a way that is distinct? Or he will just fade among the thousands of saxophonists who play like each other?

    Tayaw figured that by making the each member arrange their own songs, they will be able to learn how to process the message of the song and how they can tell the message of the song in their own. This skill will be translated to their playing. Even though Tayaw is confident that the band will achieve his vision, he also knows that becoming an artist is a very time consuming process that requires a lot of trial and error that will take years. Had Tayaw not been blessed with the perfect pitch, it would still take years to surpass his previous life''s self as a musician.

    Tayaw can only hope that when the band graduates college, they would also graduate from his tutelage.

    Tayaw then powered up his camera and filmed himself amend the members'' individual song arrangements. This then will be reverse engineered by the members as a part of their learning.

 Chapter 63 - Sociological Relations of Musical Performance

    November 26, 2011 ¨C Saturday 9:30 pm ¨C Nashville

    "Man. If you weren''t a good musician, I would have bailed on you by now." Chala complained to Tayaw while they drove to Blackbird Caf¨¦. He was actually almost pissed when Tayaw said that they''re staying in Nashville longer because Tayaw decided to start gigging in the bar. He knows however that it''s one of the downsides of traveling with an artist like Tayaw.

    "Come on. You''ve got yourself an all-American girlfriend. Admit it. You''d like to spend more time here." Tayaw said mischievously. "Okay. You''re right. But until Christmas? Isn''t that too long?" Chala said. It''s true that he wants to see if his relationship with his new girlfriend would work out, but if it does not, Nashville is too much like Ouigab, he could not imagine how bored he will be to stay here for a month.

    "Okay. That''s fair. But I can assure you that we can part ways on the 18th in Atlanta. You can go home to Ouigab for Christmas." Tayaw said. "Hey kid. That was low." Chala said. Chala expressed once to Tayaw that he spends his Christmas alone and would rather stay that way until he gets married. He hates spending Christmas with his parents because they will bring up his marriage again. Chala''s parents after all, are already in their 70s and he feels guilty that he has not given them a grandchild yet, an important responsibility for an only child like him. "By the way. Why Atlanta?" Chala asked.

    "I agreed with my family that they will be taking a direct flight from Kangpan to Atlanta on the 18th." Tayaw explained. "But, why am I needed in Atlanta?" Chala wanted a clearer answer. "I don''t have a driver''s license man. I can''t drive my parents around from Atlanta to here. I promise. Just drive us around to the nearest rental car dealer from the airport in Atlanta, and we''re good." Tayaw said. "So it''s my license you needed after all." Chala said as he slapped Tayaw''s back.

    "Why a car rental place? Your dad has an international driver''s license?" Chala asked. "Yep. I asked him to apply right after I asked you to have someone process their visitor visa. If there are no delays, he would be receiving it before the end of the month." Tayaw said. "Hmm. That''s good." Chala said in understanding.

    "Why don''t you spend your Christmas with us, Chala?" Tayaw asked. Even though Tayaw teased Chala earlier about his lonely Christmas days, he wanted his family to get to know Chala better. After all, Kilat, Liboo, and Chala are around the same age with his parents at 43 and Chala at 44 years old.

    Chala was surprised at the invitation and honestly, he felt moved. This is not the first time that he was invited for a Christmas dinner because he has a lot of friends. But when Chala joins his friends'' families for Christmas, he gets the feeling like he''s intruding; especially when he sees his friends play with their kids on the dinner table.

    He also feels jealous at his friends. They all led similar lives, but only Chala and two other friends ended up growing old single.

    Tayaw''s invitation, however, is different. Even though Chala knows that Tayaw''s parents are just as old as he is, they led a different life compared to him. He has nothing much in common with Kilat and Liboo, so he would not feel jealous at all. Tayaw is also a good kid, so he is looking forwardtoe the people who raised him.

    "Alright. I might as well. I would act as a translator." Chala accepted the invitation. "Hey. My mom and dad speak English just fine. You can just have fun with us." Tayaw said. Tears pooled up in Chala''s eyes when he heard this. He doesn''t know why exactly but he felt moved. Thankfully, the tears didn''t fall.

    "Oh. And when they ask, tell them that we just sold the movie rights. They don''t know that I invested in companies. They would lose their mind after finding out how much I spend on the investment." Tayaw asked of Chala. "You really have it rough, huh." Chala said sarcastically."Haha. May I ask by the way, how much you invested? It''s not that much is it?" Chala asked.

    "Oh. I spent what I got from the movie deal." Tayaw said. Chala took a deep breath at this. "Why risk that much money? You can just slowly acc.u.mulate your riches with what you get from your books." Chala said. "Well. I just like the companies I invested in and their business model and vision inspired me as well. If it doesn''t work out, then that''s that." Tayaw said. "Fine. Your money." Chala gave up. He knows that Tayaw is a smart kid, so he knows that Tayaw would just not invest on a band company. He could only hope that Tayaw''s investment would grow.

    It wasn''t long before they reached Hillsboro Pike and Tayaw parked the truck on Blackbird Caf¨¦''s parking lot. As they approached the entrance, Chala noticed the list of line-up written on the blackboard outside the entrance. "''Isaac Yawat''. You changed your stage name?" Chala asked when he saw Tayaw''s stage name on the line-up. "Yep. I''m planning on breaking into the international scene as a singer anyways, so it''s better to choose a more universal stage name." Tayaw explained.

    "Henry, the bar manager, actually suggested me to do it. ''Isaac this isn''t New York where a lot of foreigners live. People might be turned off by your stage name if we put it in the poster'' he said. It made sense so I did it." Tayaw continued.

    "Well. That''s true. It would be funny if a guy named ''Yawat'' would be playing country." Chala nodded in understanding. "Yeah. I''m promoting myself here as well so I also changed my names on iTunes and Stoppify so that any Nashville person who will be interested in my music can look me up easier." Tayaw said. With that, they entered the bar. Chala found an empty seat, and Tayaw excused himself to the backstage.

    While Tayaw walked towards the backstage, Henry came up to him on the way and escorted Isaac to the waiting room. "Kid, you dress more old-fashioned than I do." Henry said as he noticed Tayaw wearing another set of a three piece suit. "I just like looking sharp on stage." Tayaw replied.

    "Everyone, this is Isaac, the new guy. Y''all take care of him." Henry said to the other performers as he and Tayaw entered the waiting room. Henry then went out immediately to do some manager stuff, leaving Tayaw at an awkward position. "Oh. You''re the guy Travis was talking bad about?" One of the performers, a man in his 30s, said in interest. "That might be me. Name''s Isaac." Tayaw said as he offered his hand for a handshake.

    "Rez Clay." Rez shook Tayaw''s hand. "Rez, don''t tell me you actually believe that kid? Hey. Bobby Elliot. Rez and I are in a band with the guys behind us. We''re the closers tonight." Bobby introduced himself too and his band, the Strawberry Front. Tayaw also nodded at the Strawberry Front in greeting.

    ???Of course not. Henry knows who''s good and who''s not. If he says Isaac here is good, then he''s good." Rez replied. "Hmm. I don''t like that Travis kid. I don''t know why Henry still keeps him trying out when he''s just bad." Bobby said. Tayaw almost felt bad at the guys bashing Travis. Almost, because Tayaw just found out Travis tried to sabotage Tayaw''s image to these guys.

    "I heard from Henry that you have a Devil song. Quite ballsy, kid." Rez said, switching back the attention to Tayaw. "Yep. Well. The crowd liked it." Tayaw said, wondering why Rez labeled it as ''ballsy''. "Are you ready, kid? I never expected that you''re up this far into the line-up. When Henry said, a new guy, I thought you would at least be the opener." Bobby said, despite his trust in Henry''s judgment of arranging the line ¨C up.

    "Yep. I''m ready. Performing at a huge bar is not new to me." Tayaw replied. "Good. By the way, next time, you should come at least an hour earlier than your time. Henry doesn''t have a healthy heart." Bobby said. "Alright. I''ll do that. I was actually busy practicing in my truck outside." Tayaw said in excuse. He just does not like waiting around for long, so he came in just before the start of his gig.

    "Hmm. I think the guy is finishing up. Why don''t you play your devil song again? We also want to hear it. Henry had a lot to say about it." Rez, who just looked at his watch, said to Tayaw. "Okay. I''ll put it in the middle of my set; I''ll make it the highlight." Tayaw said as he pulled out his guitar from its case and started tuning his guitar to standard. Rez and Bobby also left him alone.

    However, it does not mean they stopped observing Tayaw. "Hey. Look at that..." Bobby said to Rez as he discreetly pointed at Tayaw''s guitar. "Yep. Holy sh*t, it looks old. Like antique old." Rez replied. "Do you think it''s a copy?" Bobby asked. "Nah. I don''t think so. Look at body, where the pick guard is supposed to be, the wood thinned out; probably worn out from years of play." Rez replied.

    Tayaw after tuning his guitar played a bluegrass progression. "Oh. It''s clean. He''s good." Rez said, impressed by Tayaw''s fingerpicking. "How good?" Bobby asked. "I don''t know exactly. But when it comes to acoustic guitar, I think he''s better than me." Rez said. Bobby was surprised at this response. Rez, in his day job, is a session musician for some recording artists based on Nashville, and is the best guitarist Bobby knows personally.

 Chapter 64 - Notice From Author of

    it''s been four months, and I have to say, I feel proud of my novel. at first, it was just for practice when I write another idea of mine, but after gaining 240,000 views and 700+ collections, I slowly took it seriously.

    that other novel idea also slowly became less and less attractive for me to write. As I was writing this novel, I realized that writing a popular story is just as difficult as I expected.

    I also realized that unless I come up with an interesting title and a premise, I won''t earn money from being a writer.

    While I want to say that I''m writing Jack of Arts because I love doing it, I''m slowly losing passion. I have ideas on where the story will go but writing chapters looks like they''re not worth it anymore.

    HOWEVER, I''m not dropping it yet. I just want to thank you, readers for sparing your time on my novel. I would have stopped writing chapters a month ago had I not seen some growth in the collections. The positive comments also makes me feel good.

    So, starting this January, once I go back to the city, I''ll probably release chapters a little more often. After all, I don''t have a job and I have more spare time.

    I can''t release two chapters a day as I still have to look for a job, but I can promise that I will release maybe one chapter every 36 hours, and that''s my limit.

    who knows, when I get more experience in writing and get spurts of inspiration or motivation, I might do some double releases, and maybe over time, I would be able to write faster and release one chapter a day.

    .

    .

    The next Chapter will be posted maybe 9 hours from now. I will do some final edits after before going to bed and one last polish after I wake up. I want to have as few errors if possible for y''all.

    So yeah, that''s it for now. Happy New Year.

 Chapter 65 - Parallels of Anthropological Backgrounds

    A few minutes later, Tayaw finally walked out of the waiting room, on standby to replace the band on stage. Tayaw looked around the bar room and saw Chala who already found a seat. There are also five or six familiar faces that he saw last Thursday''s mic night. "Thank you, that''s our set everyone. Let''s welcome Isaac." The vocalist of the band said after they just wrapped up their last song. With the guitar on hand, Tayaw walked up to the stage and shook the hands of the band members.

    After a few pleasantries, Tayaw introduced himself to the crowd while the band members pack their things. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Having fun?" Tayaw said the crowd and was responded with some polite nods. "Alright. While the band packs up, I''ll give you fellas the time to adjust your eyes to a new shade." Tayaw joked playfully pointing out that he''s the lone person of color among the predominantly Caucasian performers. There were African American and Asian performers too but they''re in the background as instrumentalists.

    The band behind him as they were stepping off the stage also laughed at Tayaw''s joke and continued their way back to the waiting room. The crowd also was a little tickled at this. Tayaw was glad that the crowd reacted the way he was hoping. It was not at all said in spite but in jest. After all, it''s rare for people outside the white American demographic listen to country music, much more play it.

    "Let me begin by paying a classic by Doc Hartford." Tayaw said as he strummed a cheerful bluegrass intro on his guitar. Doc Hartford, a V.i.r.g.i.nia born country legend, made a name for himself in Nashville in the 1970s as he brought back the 20s-30s Americana style of country music.

    "I grew up overshadowed by the green mountains

    Couldn''t catch the eye of no city girl

    Here I am devoted to Fraulein

    How I love the way you look in your blue dress

    Can''t believe I let the smog cloud my eye

    Where the Green Mountains stand

    And the Cold Creeks surround

    I''ll ride my truck with you by my side"

    Tayaw''s own hometown of Okuba, shares a lot with the picture the song paints about V.i.r.g.i.nia. Tayaw also remembered his childhood girlfriend and looking back on it, how adorable the love was. With his own feelings about his childhood memory and purity about Okuba, he was able to produce a nostalgic feeling. The crowd, though they cannot point it out, can feel the sincerity in Tayaw''s song.

    "There''s a whisper in the V.i.r.g.i.nia breeze

    reminding me of plains

    that whisper builds

    that whisper cries

    Lake in the morning skies"

    As Tayaw ended the song, the crowd showed their appreciation with a huge applause. ''Yes. A great start.'' Tayaw nodded in thanks at the applause. Tayaw, however spotted Travis in the crowd, looking at him stone-faced. ''Is this guy supposed to be distracting me? That''s cute.'' Tayaw almost laughed at Travis.

    Looking at Travis, however, he suddenly got an idea. "I''m sure that not everyone in the crowd tonight is from Nashville, yes?" Tayaw asked the crowd, to which half of them actually affirmed. "Hnn. What you don''t know is that ¡­ So am I." Tayaw joked again which made the crowd laugh. Tayaw knew the joke is going to work because it''s perfect for the situation.

    "I don''t know if y''all will like it, but I want to share to you all the first song I wrote. If that''s okay with y''all of course." Tayaw said, and the crowd permitted him. "Great. This song is called ''My Home'' and I hope it speaks with you all." Tayaw introduced his song and he played the intro.

    ''My Home'' is the only song he played in front of his parents after he came back in time. Although he''s not that confident with his song, he still felt it''s good enough.

    Unlike the first song he performed, ''My Home'' is in the indie and folk genre. It is close to country in its roots so the crowd welcomes it as well as proven by their swaying in response to the warm and homely feeling that Tayaw''s plucking of the guitar is producing.

    "In the town I was born and raised

    birds sing, cold breeze brush my face

    Time pass slowly while in a daze

    in the house where I was raised."

    In a country music city like Nashville, many inhabitants of it naturally grew up in rural areas around farms, mountains, and chilly nights. This song is perfect for soothing the nostalgia of the crowd.

    Word leaves bitter taste in my mouth

    In faraway lands from north to south

    From east to west I always felt doubts

    Oh, I miss my town, I miss the house

    Where I was born and raised."

    Even though Nashville is filled with people who came from rural areas of America, Nashville itself is a big bustling city. And cities mean competition, uncertainties, and immoralities. Tayaw himself, in his past life, after spending enough time and experiencing enough the noisy, polluted and corrupt unpleasantness of the city of Ouigab, he could not help but miss his peaceful home in Okuba.

    Tayaw soon finished his song but the feeling still lingers in the crowd. Even Travis who was trying to distract Tayaw is also in a daze. Tayaw knows that this song will never be a hit, but his song is sincere enough, and genuine enough to speak greatly to a crowd. The best that this song would achieve is to be that type of song one would listen to alone and keep it to themselves. They will keep too close to their hearts that they will not bother to share it with others.

    It is not the type of song that the radio will force on a person, but the type of song that a person will chance upon. It will be the type of song that people will overlook when they don''t need it, but it will speak to them when they feel like missing home.

    "Thank you." Tayaw said. The crowd also clapped for him. Tayaw felt proud. This song is what he wrote in his past life. It was not written after he was enhanced. It was not written with the help of perfect pitch. It was written using his pure experiences, his natural talent, his inspirations, and his ability he honed for 17 years.

    After stabilizing his emotions, Tayaw finally moved on to the next song.

    Five songs later, the first half of his set is finally done and the crowd''s reception of him has only gotten stronger. The first seven songs he played all expressed nostalgia, happiness, freedom, love, and warmth. For this next song, however, will be the turning point of his set. He will be singing his original song, "The Devil''s Suit and Tie", the song he sang two days ago during the open mic night. After this song, he will be singing darker and more narrative songs until the end of his set.

    Before he sings the song though, he wants to catch the crowd off-guard. As he started to switch his guitar''s tuning from standard to open G, he decided to fill the silence and joked around. "So. This is a Chinese ritual called ''Too Ning''" Tayaw said. After a second or two, the crowd chuckled, getting the joke. It''s a play on the word ''Tuning'', pronounced as if it''s in Mandarin. Tayaw knows it''s childish and a bit racist but he knew it works well with a very culturally homogenous crowd.

    "This next song is another original of mine and also a request of my new friends in the backstage." Tayaw said finally singing his devil song, a much darker song in contrast to his earlier songs.

    Just like the crowd last Thursday, the atmosphere of the bar also gradually darkened. They went through the emotional journey listening to the man''s story. The interest as the man asked a preacher to save him. The anxiety as the man described meeting the devil. The suspense as the man was tempted to shake the devil''s hand. The despair when the man made a pact. The feeling of defeat as the man realized he will spend his eternity in hell.

    "A fool, a great fool is what I am

    Why didn''t I just take off and run?

    A gift, that man''s gift was divine

    It never felt like it was a crime

    Til I saw my home in his abode

    Where I will spend my eternal life."

    As Tayaw ended the song, a cowboy hat-wearing old man in his 70s in the front of audience wiped the streams of tears that flowed from his eyes. Tayaw saw this, but didn''t know what to make of it so he just nodded at the old man.

    Unknowingly to him, his song did not actually give the old man a feeling of sadness, but a great feeling of nostalgia and longing for the old days. ''Just when I thought my old soul would pass too, just like the old days. Thank you, young man.'' the old man thought to himself as he responded at Tayaw''s nod with a tip of his hat. Tayaw smiled at the gesture and he moved on to his next song.

    Six songs later, the crowd was able to listen to different stories of betrayal, losing one''s way, living in crime and danger, and being disowned. While the crowd felt somber at the songs that Tayaw sang, their attentions were focused on Tayaw much closer than before.

    "Thank you. Thank you welcoming me at my first set here at Blackbird Caf¨¦. I will leave you my last song tonight with another original of mine." Tayaw said as the crowd sighed, wanting Tayaw to sing more. This song, while not giving him a third level enhancement, gave him a series of second level enhancements while he was writing it. This is his best work before he got his perfect pitch.

 Chapter 66 - Musical Interpretation of Violent Crimes

    This song was inspired when he witnessed a man confront his girlfriend who cheated on him. The confrontation almost got violent, thankfully people have interfered. Tayaw can only imagine what could have happened had the couple been alone. After the thought bothered him for a whole after noon, Tayaw wrote this song as what he imagined it could have been.

    "The crow can be a mocking bird

    His feathers black as coal

    He perched outside my prison bar

    His stares ''sif I had no soul

    Like a judge he looks down at me so

    ''Down to hell, is where you go

    For you murdered Belle O''Brien''."

    As Tayaw sang the first verse, he noticed a lot of the crowd almost tuck their chin to their chest from the song''s imagery. Their eyes however, are still on him, anticipating the story he would tell.

    "I went courtin'' Belle O''Brien

    got a job and stopped my gamblin

    Every pay I get, half of it I''m savin''

    For her I''d bought a house, a ring

    But one day I came home,

    the house is empty

    My angel is missing,

    my heart sank, it was hefty"

    Tayaw painted a picture of how the man in the story fell in love with Belle O''brien and would sacrifice a lot for her. The crowd relaxed a bit at first due to the man''s sacrifice, but the end of the verse made them anxious again by the foreboding.

    "So I looked ''round the town

    my feet bled, I walked til sundown

    Tired, I made for the lake

    Where she and I first met

    Found my love soaked with another man

    My eyes ain''t lyin''."

    This third verse finally enlightened the crowd at Belle''s sin of a.d.u.l.tery. They felt for the man. They saw him work hard to provide, only to be repaid by infidelity. Tayaw''s closing line, however, made the crowd feel the song become even more tragic.

    "My head went dark, my eyes saw red.

    I pulled my colt and pulled the trigger.

    To Belle O''Brien and her man,

    I put six rounds; I know my life is gone"

    Tayaw''s strong strums at the climax gradually went down to a dark, restrained plucking of the base strings of the guitar. He kept on plucking the song''s motif melody until it faded and lingered around the crowd''s mind.

    The song even left a great impact on the crowd. They did not clap immediately but sat on their seats dazedly. Tayaw saw that it''s already 11, and it''s time for him to leave the stage.

    "Thank you. That was my set." Tayaw said softly. He bowed to the audience and he stepped off the stage. Tayaw actually wanted to leave coolly, not waiting for the audience''s applause. He wanted to exit that way to make a memorable impression to the audience. Leaving a great impression would also make the audience remember Tayaw, and maybe even get curious of him.

    Thankfully, Earl''s guitar that he''s using is an antique so it cannot plug into anything. Because he only had to point a spare microphone to the guitar, he did not have to unplug anything. If he used a guitar that was pluggable, the sound of the unplugging would have pulled out the crowd from their immersion.

    Also, there will be a break after Tayaw''s performance for 30 minutes, so there is no one waiting to take over immediately after Tayaw was done with his set.

    Tayaw is already halfway back to the waiting room when he heard the crowd cheer. Tayaw just chuckled at this, hoping his plan of being memorable worked. As Tayaw stepped on the waiting room, he saw Rez, Bobby and the rest of the Strawberry Front look at him strangely. The members of the band, who performed before Tayaw, are still in the waiting room and are also staring at Tayaw. Tayaw, despite his discomfort from their stare, just nodded at them in greeting as he sat down on one of the chairs and started to put back the guitar on its case.

    After a few seconds of silence, Bobby broke the silence. "Goddamn. You just sang a murder ballad! You''re f*ckin crazy, kid." Bobby said. Tayaw was reminded of the term. He has heard of murder ballads before, but it''s been a long time since he came across the label so he did not realize that he wrote a murder ballad. By dictionary definition of the words, then Tayaw indeed wrote a murder ballad. Tayaw though was puzzled at Bobby''s reaction.

    "I guess I did. Is it taboo?" Tayaw asked. "Is it illegal?" Tayaw asked more softly and carefully. "What? No. It''s just. Nevermind. Great job by the way." Bobby said not bothering to explain himself. "Oh. Thanks. As long as I didn''t do anything wrong, I''m fine then." Tayaw said. "I think what he meant was no one actually release murder ballads these days. Some have tried but they just turned out to be cheap knock-offs of the classics." Henry said suddenly popping out from behind the waiting room''s large couch. Tayaw figured that Henry must have been taking a nap.

    Tayaw''s stomach sank at Henry''s words. "Was my last song that bad?" Tayaw asked. "What? Nobody said that. I thought it was great, even. It''s just that no one was expecting you to sing dark songs in your set, much more a damn murder ballad." Henry said which gave Tayaw great relief.

    After chatting for a while, it was already 11:15, only 15 minutes away from Strawberry Front''s set. "Alright then. Oh, look at the time. Sorry, Rez, Bobby, it looks like I''ll have to check out your set next time." Tayaw said. "Oh? You''re going already? Do you have another gig?" Rez asked, feigning offense. "No. It''s just I promised my folks that I''ll talk to them tonight. It''s Sunday morning back home." Tayaw said, lying. He already talked to his parents earlier this morning. He just does not like the strange gazes from some of the people in the waiting room. Their gazes are not hostile per se; he just doesn''t being scrutinized this closely.

    "Oh. I almost forgot that you''re not actually from America. I''ll see you tomorrow then. Henry said you''re scheduled on the Fridays and Saturdays." Rez said, secretly relieved that Tayaw is leaving. Not only Rez, but the rest of his band are relieved. They are actually intimidated after listening to Tayaw''s performance. They are not confident that they can follow after Tayaw basically killed the stage.

    "John, Aaron, George, Lenny, Jimmy, Eric. It was nice meeting you." Tayaw also said goodbye to the rest Strawberry Front and the band that performed before Tayaw. After Tayaw stepped out of the waiting room, it was as if the room suddenly got lighter. "Jesus Christ, where did you pull that kid out from, Henry?" Bobby finally expressed what the room is thinking. "PUHAHA! He came to me. I knew he was good, I never thought he was THAT good." Henry said, feeling proud of his decision.

    "Man. Are you sure he''s not some international star that''s decided to play around here?" Aaron, Strawberry Front''s banjo player asked. "No. I made sure when I had my granddaughter look them on the interweb. He has an album he released last month, but it''s not country. Oh. He has videos on the internet with his band too." Henry explained.

    "He has a band? What''s it called?" John, Strawberry Front''s drummer asked. "I don''t remember. Wait." Henry said as he pulled out his wallet and pulled out a card. "Here. The fella who was with Isaac handed me this. My granddaughter looked Isaac up using it too." Henry said as he handed them the card.

    "Oh. That''s funny. Did he change his name? I don''t even know how to say his name." Bobby said as he read Tayaw''s card. "Yeahp. I told him to. This ain''t California where people say exotic names all the time." Henry said. "Let me." John, who has a smart phone that can use the wifi, took the card.

    A minute later, he found Tayaw''s YouTube channel and the members of Strawberry Front gathered around John''s phone. "Holy. Look at them! They''re so young!" Bobby exclaimed when he saw the members of Percussive Corrections. "OHhohoho! Look at him go!" Rez exclaimed too, when he saw Hoon''s guitar solo. "Mmm. I didn''t know this song can sound like this." Aaron commented on the famous dance pop song that Tayaw arranged into a ballad. "I can''t believe this drummer sounds like this." John commented at Ike''s subtle and subdued drumming compared to his young age.

    "Still. They look like Isaac''s backing band. They ain''t no real band." Bobby commented. "True. It also looks like Isaac is just playing casually. He''s holding back for his band''s." Aaron agreed. Right after Aaron said that, however, "Scattering awwAAAAAyyy¡­ Ohh OOHH HoohHOhOh.." Tayaw''s belting mixed with a vocal run rang out from the speakers of John''s phone. "Whwoah! Okay. I didn''t know Isaac can sing that high." Bobby said, shocked at Tayaw''s vocal power and agility.

    Henry, who did not watch Tayaw''s YouTube videos in a great extent, was also dumbfounded. "Jesus Christ." He sighed as Tayaw''s voice gave him goose bumps. "It''s like he''s a different singer." Rez said as he shook his head.

    "Ya sure he ain''t famous? A label would have signed him by now. Are the folks at Teungeb deaf?" Aaron said. John, who was silent for a while, noticed something. "Gentlemen, look at the date. Isaac, or his band, put this out on the internet only last month. October 16, 2011. Look here. The earliest on is only dated back in September 21, with only Isaac playing. That''s just two months ago." John said to the group.

    "So they''re basically rookies?" Rez realized. "No. Except for Isaac, they''re not even rookies. I don''t think they''ve written their own songs yet." Bobby disagreed. "Not even rookies, but they''re better than most people here." Henry crassly said. The Strawberry Front gave a sharp look at Henry. It was true, but he didn''t have to say it. Nashville has its own pride after all. Even though Henry is from Texas, he''s lived long enough in Nashville to know not to say that.

    "Hey. We have more time. Want to check Isaac''s original songs?" John suggested to the band. "No. Later. We only have five minutes before we start." Rez shut the suggestion down.

    "Alright." John said.

    Henry, seeing Rez''s expression, was amused. He knows that Rez had too many shocks from Tayaw tonight. "Oh. I''ve heard his originals, alright. I remember one of them. It was actual ¨C " before Henry could continue with whatever he wants to say, Bobby cut him off. "Alright Henry! Jesus Christ! We''ll at them later."

 Chapter 67 - Pride of a Headliner

    ==============================

    Happy New Year Everbody!

    Thanks for the Power Stones ladies and gentlmen. We''ve crossed to the top 600 baby! If it''s not too much to ask, keep ''em coming!

    Shout out to Dayside, BallisticBunny, lazyhobo, Shadowed_Fate, WidePeepoHappy for the consistent support.

    Thanks also to Shadowed_Fate, Ballistic Bunny, Darksoul_YT, WidePeepoHappy, Sad_Tweety, lorenzo86, Dark_knight2517, and finally Rileyshima for the gifts. I can''t cash them out yet, of course, but I just want to say, I appreciate them very much.

    Anyway... On to the story.

    ==============================

    December 1, 2011 ¨C Thursday 1 pm ¨C Berry Hill, Nashville ¨C Tayaw''s Hotel Room.

    "Text me if you need anything." Chala said before leaving the hotel. He just informed Tayaw that he''s going to be out for the entire afternoon with his date.

    Tayaw then closed the door and walked back to his room''s desk. The whole morning, Tayaw was filming himself as he gave feedback to each of his band mates'' arrangements. This has become Tayaw and the band''s agreement since Tayaw left Ouigab last October. Uploading another video, one that is addressed to Inson, Tayaw was done with his teaching for the week.

    Tayaw then opened his e-mail to check how ''The Halfling'' went. Last week, on their way to Nashville, Tayaw made a short stop in Lexington, Kentucky where he saw a bookstore there have a poster for ''The Halfling'' on their store front. He bought a random book while he observed for half an hour to see how well ''The Halfling'' would sell. In that half hour of observation, he saw two other people purchase a copy of ''The Halfling''. It was only then that Tayaw felt first-hand the international popularity of his book.

    Tayaw soon found the sales reports that Topaz sent him. He opened first the sales report of the fairy tales and the sale went down once again to 3.5 million copies 1.8 million copies less than the sudden spike of sales last October. This netted him 5,700,000 BGC if he deducts the taxes. Tayaw expected just as much.

    He opened next the sales report of ''The Halfling''. Since its release last November 1, ''The Halfling'' sold 8.9 million copies worldwide, around 5 million of it was sold in Teungeb alone. With the net price of the book at 25 BGC and his agreed 30% and 35% shares from soft and hard copies respectively, Tayaw earned 69,000,000 BGC. Deducting Chala''s 8% share, Tayaw received 63,500,000 BGC in his bank account. Setting aside the tax, Tayaw, just in the month of November, got another 43,000,000 BGC he can spend however he wants.

    "Man. Where am I gonna spend this money?" Tayaw said as he chuckled. He knows that if anyone would hear him, they would surely beat up Tayaw to their heart''s content. After spending more around $27M in investment, $2M for his house in Long Island, Tayaw is back at 90,000,000 BGC or $45M in readily accessible cash.

    Looking at the number, he was suddenly reminded of the 900,000 BGC contract he worked on in his previous life. It was the last project he finished before he was sent back in time. Nasiri, a currently undeveloped place in South Ouigab, will become a high-end neighborhood in the future.

    If the events of Tayaw''s previous life will stay the same, then Teungebian government will have a huge project of building an express highway that would connect the mountainous Nabla and Nukab Provinces to the Northernmost coast city of Biongo. Biongo is an important city as it has one of the busiest international airports of Teungeb, therefore a busy international trading scene.

    This highway will cut down the driving time from Biongo City to Ouigab from 10 hours on zigzagging roads to 3.5 hours on a straight path. This will result to South Ouigab gradually develop in the next fifteen years into Nabla Province''s business center. Rich people from all around Northern and Central Teungeb will flock to it, making Nasiri, the closest undeveloped area, be developed into a high end suburban neighborhood these rich people would build their mansions on.

    As to why Ouigab, of all places would benefit the most out of all the cities in Northern Teungeb, is simply because of the most pleasant weather and scenic places in Nabla Province. It is not as hot and humid as the coast cities, and Nabla has more naturally beautiful places than the neighboring Nukab Province. More pleasant assets, then more people. More people, then more money. More money, more benefits.

    Processing all of this, Tayaw plans to check with the government once he goes back to Teungeb to see if there are talks about the express highway project.

    Slapping his laptop shut, Tayaw once again grabbed his guitar to write some songs.

    December 3, 2011 ¨C Saturday 1 am ¨C Hillsboro Pike, Nashville

    "That was us. Thank you all for staying." Tayaw from the waiting room, heard Bobby address the audience as Strawberry Front finish their last song, and also signified the end of Blackbird Caf¨¦''s night. Tayaw also heard the enthusiastic applause from the crowd.

    "Man. Great Set!" Tayaw gave a high five towards the members of Strawberry Front as they entered the waiting room. Tayaw, who always went back to his hotel right after his set the previous week, was true to his words and stayed to watch the Strawberry Front''s set for the first time tonight.

    "Thank you, but, damn it..." Bobby said as he dabbed the sweat running down his face with a towel. "Huh? What happened?" Tayaw asked in confusion. "It''s because of you." Aaron said as he slapped Tayaw''s back playfully before taking a sit, obviously exhausted as well. Unlike Tayaw and the other performers who only had to perform an hour, Strawberry Front would perform an hour and a half as both the headliners and closers during Friday and Saturday nights.

    "Huh? What did I do?" Tayaw asked, still confused. "Because we had to follow you." Rez said as he puffed his cigarette. It took Tayaw a few seconds before he finally realized the source of Bobby''s reaction. Tayaw and the Percussive Corrections, in his previous life, when they first headlined at the ROH Factory, had to maintain their prides as headliners by not being upstaged by the performer before them.

    If the performer before them killed it in the stage, then Percussive Corrections has to do an even better job so that they will not leave a forgettable impression on the audience. Still, Tayaw didn''t think that he upstaged the Strawberry Front. If he did, then at least not by a significant amount.

    "You did great though. What''s the problem?" Tayaw said. The Strawberry Front members look at each other before Rez sighed. "We had to prepare and perform extra harder to catch up to your set." Rez said. "And I don''t think we did." Bobby said, looking at the ceiling.

    "Well. Based on the crowd''s reaction, I think y''all did better than me." Tayaw said. "Psh. If it''s about how loud crowd is, then I guess a dance song is better than a country song ALL THE TIME. It wasn''t the cheers, Isaac." Rez explained. Tayaw thought it made sense.

    "I think so too, Bobby. I think the crowd responded well because, what do you call it? The uhh.. memory bias, was it? Isaac. There was a 30 minute break after your set, so it gave the crowd the time to calm down from your set. Then we had to perform a lot longer than you did, and because our set is more recent, that''s what they remember more." John analyzed.

    "Couldn''t have said it better." Rez nodded. Tayaw processed what they said, and didn''t know what to say. What could he do? Hold back? Then that''s not fair to him. "So uhh.. What can I do to help then?" Tayaw asked to console the group. "Nothing. Just do what you''ve been doing. This is good." Bobby said. The others nodded as well.

    "There ain''t no enough bands that could compete with us in this bar, we got¡­ loose." Bobby continued. "That''s not how musicians should be. We should grow." Rez said. Tayaw is somehow flattered at this. If one looks at it another way, Tayaw is helping Strawberry Frpmt to grow as musicians. "So.. Yeah. We haven''t worked as hard as we did during the past week in a long long time, and honestly, we enjoyed it. So. Thank you Isaac." Bobby said.

    As Bobby said that, Tayaw felt his body tremble. This trembling felt familiar because this is exactly what feeling enhanced feels like. Tayaw also noticed that this level of enhancement is what he got when the void acknowledges the quality of the song he writes. ''So, someone expressing gratitude can also enhance me?'' Tayaw thought to himself.

    To confirm his theory, he put his hand on his front pocket of his pants and subtly rummaged inside to look for a coin. After he found what felt like a dollar coin, Tayaw pinched it between his thumb, index finger, and middle finger until it folded. Tayaw nodded as his theory was proven correct. Even though he can fold a dollar coin before, he felt it was easier this time.

    "So. Yeah, man. Still, guys, don''t you wish Isaac would take it easy a little?" John said, continuing the chatting as if Tayaw did not just display a feat of strength. "Well, I don''t think so. If we can''t follow his sets, then too bad. We can just try again." Rez replied. John just shrugged his shoulders.

    "Still, Isaac ain''t even country." Aaron suddenly brought up Tayaw''s status as a Nashville outsider. The band also nodded in agreement. "Hey. That sounds a little¡­ Strange." Tayaw said in disagreement. "After seeing me perform and listened to the originals I did on stage, you can''t honestly tell me I''m not a country musician." Tayaw continued.

    "That- If you put it that way¡­" Aaron has no words. "Isaac is country, alright. If he released a country music album first instead of that acoustic rock album he released, we would not even be thinking that he''s an outsider." Bobby argued for Tayaw.

    As they were chatting, two men, one wearing a police uniform, and one wearing a typical suit and tie, suddenly entered the waiting room. John saw the cop first. "Good evening¡­ morning, officer." John greeted the cop. The cop just nodded in response before asking "Is there an Isaac Yawat here?" This confused the group, especially Tayaw.

    "That would be me, sir." Tayaw said as he packed up his acoustic guitar. "We have received reports about your immigration status. It would be great if you followed me back to the precint to answer some questions." The cop said, to the shock of everyone in the waiting room.

 Chapter 68 - Criminology of Alien Anthropology

    "Hey Isaac. You''re no illegal, are you?" Bobby asked wide-eyed. "What? Oh gods, no. I''m not even an immigrant." Tayaw chuckled in response. "What did the report say, officer? If I may ask?" Tayaw asked the officer. "We received a call that you, Mr. Yawat is working illegally in the bar." It was the man in suit and tie that answered the question this time. "We''d prefer it if we continue this conversation in the precint, Mr. Yawat. If you would cooperate, please, there won''t be trouble." The cop added.

    While Tayaw has no problems because he knows he did nothing wrong, the other people in the room become vigilant. "This is no arrest, is it, officer?" Rez asked. "No. It''s only for questioning." The officer replied. "Then Isaac don''t have to come with you, right?" Rez asked again.

    "I''m agent Ross from Homeland Security. Yes. Mr. Yawat does not have to come with us to the precinct, but it would be best if we do it there so we can doc.u.ment it immediately." Agent Ross'' reply stumped Rez.

    Tayaw is still while listening, suddenly has an idea. "Officer, Agent Ross. Isn''t doing paperwork a little tideous? What if I can save us the time?" Tayaw said. This actually got the attention of the officer and the agent. "What do you suggest we do?" Agent Ross said.

    "Where''s Henry? I need him. Also, why don''t we continue this on one of the tables at the bar room? I think the bar''s customers have long gone home by now." Tayaw said. The agent and the officer entertained the suggestion. If this would save them from the chore that is paperwork, then they have nothing to lose.

    As the group arrived at the empty bar room, Tayaw spotted Travis looking through the bar entrance''s glass door. With his enhanced eyes, he saw Travis is smiling smugly. ''That *sshole.'' Tayaw thought to himself, annoyed at Travis'' actions. Tayaw then pulled out his phone and made a call to Chala.

    "Who''re you calling?" The officer said, suddenly becoming apprehensive. Tayaw ignored the question because Chala answered immediately. "Hey Chala. You have my passport, right? Yes. May I borrow your laptop too? Thanks. Bring it over to the bar; I''m in a little bit of trouble. I''m fine. See you." After Tayaw confirmed that Chala is on his way, he hung up the phone.

    Because Tayaw spoke Teungebian on the phone, the people concerned are curious about the phone call. "Hey Isaac, you didn''t call your lawyer, did you?" Bobby asked. "What? No. Where would you even find an immigration lawyer at this hour? You remember that guy that drives me around? That''s who I called. He''s bringing my passport right now." Tayaw replied.

    "Alright. While we wait, can we start with some questions?" Agent Ross said as he pulled out his notepad, ballben, and a tape recorder. Tayaw was amused at the tape recorder. In the future, once more advanced smartphones would come out, tape recorders will be outdated.

    "Before we begin, is it okay for my friends here to listen in as well? They look curious as hell." Tayaw joked a little to lower the officer and the agent''s apprehension. The whole of Strawberry Front, Henry, and Oscar the bartender actually surrounding Tayaw and the law enforcement duo might also be contributing to the tension.

    "Everyone, silence is of importance during the questioning. And, don''t interrupt." Agent Ross said, and the people in the bar nodded. Agent Ross turned on the tape recorder and spoke to it. "December 3, 2011 1:15 am, Blackbird Caf¨¦, Hillsboro Pike Nashville. Subject is one Isaac Yawat, approximately 6ft in height, Pacific Islander descent." Agent Ross set up the record.

    "State your name please." Agent Ross said starting the questioning. "Tayaw Legno Dagem." Tayaw replied. When the people present heard Tayaw''s real name for the first time, and they felt Tayaw become more mysterious because it sounded a lot different compared to what they''ve been calling him. Agent Ross handed his phone to Tayaw to type his name in. After getting his phone back, Agent Ross sent Tayaw''s names to his buddies in his office to look Tayaw up.

    "Age and birthdate, please." Agent Ross continued. "18 years old. Born September 15, 1993" Tayaw replied, winking at Henry and Oscar. Oscar especially, after all, he served Tayaw a lot of drinks over the past week. Even though Henry and Oscar were agitated at Tayaw''s answer, they chose to keep it to themselves. Strawberry Front''s members, on the other hand, were shocked. Rez and Bobby especially because they have the best approximation of Tayaw''s guitar and singing skills out of all the people present; they could not believe Tayaw''s skills belong to someone so young.

    "Place of Birth? Be as specific as you can, please." Agent Ross continued. "Nabla Children''s Hospital. Nabla Province, Teungeb." Tayaw answered. "Legal status in America?" Agent Ross asked, getting ready to write on his notepad for the first time. "Non-immigrant resident." Tayaw replied, deciding to hold back just to get a reaction. True to his desire, Agent Ross and the cop flinched at that. "Legal." Tayaw continued, which helped only a little with the situation.

    "Visa?" Agent Ross moved on. "E2 Treaty Investor Visa." Tayaw answered. Except for Agent Ross who raised his brows in interest, all of the people present were clueless. They only heard of Work and Student visas in their life. Agent Ross'' phone also rang and read the text message. Whatever Tayaw said so far matches with the text his buddy sent from the office.

    "Business enganged in?" Agent Ross wanted a clarification. "Investor for Pink Apron and Cognito Technologies. Both based in New York City." Tayaw replied. "Position on the companies?" Agent Ross asked an important question. "Majority Owner." Tayaw replied. Agent Ross wrote it down. "Founder?" Agent Ross dug deeper. "No." Tayaw replied, already knowing what question would come next.

    "Ownership status?" Agent Ross continued. "51% on both companies." Tayaw replied, and Agent Ross nodded. Tayaw knows that if he wants to just be an investor, and not to manage the company himself, he has to have at least 50% ownership of the entire enterprise.

    "Capital invested?" Agent Ross asked. This surprised Tayaw. He did not expect to actually be questioned about the money he invested. "Excuse me?" Tayaw asked. "The amount of money you invested on the companies." Agent Ross restated his question. "I know. But, do I have to answer?" Tayaw said, regretting having his bar acquaintances listen in. "Yes. It would help to clear your status." Agent Ross said, with no signs of deception that Tayaw can detect.

    "$12 mil to Pink Apron. $15 mil to Cognito." Tayaw said in resignation. The people present, including Agent Ross either gasped, or sighed. Agent Ross, who recovered quickly after a sigh, continued to do his job. "Source of capital?" This question once again made Tayaw freeze so he just looked at Agent Ross. Agent Ross got Tayaw''s meaning, "It''s important." Agent Ross said as he wants to make sure that Tayaw''s money came from a legitimate source and not laundering money.

    "Fiction author." Tayaw answered. "Title of the novel and the publisher." Agent Ross continued. "May I state the publishing company only?" Tayaw asked. "The title of your works would help." Agent Ross did not back down. Tayaw, feeling he already revealed a lot, decided to just cooperate fully. "''Grimm''s Fairy Tales'' and ''The Halfling'', printed by Topaz Publishing Inc. in Teungeb." Tayaw replied. This answer pulled out the largest reaction from Agent Ross as he stayed silent for a few seconds.

    Tayaw figured Agent Ross recognized one of his books at least. He also saw Henry, Rez and the police officer react. Agent Ross stared at Tayaw this time, as if asking if Tayaw is telling the truth. Tayaw nodded in response. Agent Ross did not show any signs of being convinced and moved on to the next question.

    "Is it true that you have started working in Blackbird Caf¨¦ as a musician last week?" Agent Ross asked. "I was performing but I wasn''t getting paid, therefore I wasn''t working." Tayaw corrected; he knows that getting paid from anything aside from his investments is illegal. Agent Ross processed his answer for a second and wrote something on his notepad. "Can you prove that?" Agent Ross as he scratched his brows; he knows he just asked a stupid question.

    The people present also shook their heads as if saying ''He''s a millionaire, why would he need to get paid?'' "Henry can vouch for me." Tayaw said as he pointed his hand at Henry. Agent Ross also looked at Henry, scrutinizing him for the first time. Agent Ross then motioned Henry to sit with him and Tayaw. Henry was hesitant but with Tayaw''s reassuring look, he walked to the table and sat on the vacant chair.

    "State your name for the record." Agent Ross asked Henry. "Henry Spencer." Henry answered. "Age and relation to Mr¡­ Dagem." "68 years old, manager of Blackbird Caf¨¦.". "Can you say, in honesty, that Mr. Dagem is an unpaid performer in the bar?" Agent Ross asked. "Yes sir." Henry replied. "Please clarify."

    "Isaac, as what he told us to call him, proposed to me that he will perform for free in the bar. His supposed pay will be distributed to the performers who are most in need." Henry clarified. "Can you prove that arrangement?" Agent Ross asked.

    "Yes. I have copies of all the pay slips I gave to all the singers. Isaac has no pay slip. You can see that some of the performers have their pays suddenly increase since last week too." Henry replied. Agent Ross nodded. "Thank you Mr. Spencer." Agent Ross said. Henry stood up from his chair to go back next to Oscar, and Agent Ross also did not stop him.

    *Knock Knock Knock* Everyone heard a loud knock from the bar''s entrance, and they saw Chala. Oscar recognized Chala so he hurriedly opened the door for him. Chala, noticing that everyone is quiet, and that Tayaw is sitting in front of a police officer and what looks like a law enforcement suit, raised his shoulders in guard.

    Chala then handed Tayaw''s passport to Tayaw. Tayaw flipped his passport to the page where the visa was stamped and passed it to Agent Ross. Agent Ross took the passport and studied it for a moment. Agent Ross sighed and passed it to the police officer. The police officer also studied it even though he does not really know what he''s supposed to look at.

    The police officer however, knows for sure that Tayaw is in the clear and he handed the passport back to Tayaw. Agent Ross then turned off the tape recorder and returned it back, together with his notepad and his pen, back to his pockets. The people in the bar, seeing Agent Ross'' actions of wrapping up, are relieved for Tayaw. The police officer fixed his tucked uniform and sighed. "Well. That was a waste of time. Unless ¡­ I bust him for underage drinking." The police officer said.

 Chapter 69 - History of Lager Methodology

    ///// Hello dear readers. We''ve peaked at top 300 baby! Thank you all. Thank you for your power stones.

    I just wish my novel will be featured once more at ''Weekly Featured'' for huge exposure and therefore collections. We''re slowly approaching 1000 collections.

    Anyway, thank you again for following my novel and see you again in the next Chapter.

    -Dagem

    /////

    This made the people present nervous again. Agent Ross, however, assured the people present. "Hey. Come on. You don''t get to meet a famous author every day." Agent Ross said as he offered Tayaw his hand for a shake. Even though Tayaw was not comfortable with some of the questions earlier, he still shook Agent Ross'' hands out of courtesy. Those questions cleared his name after all.

    "It was a joke! I''m Eric McNab; my daughter loves your stories." Officer McNab introduced himself and he also offered his hand to Tayaw. "I''m glad to hear that." Tayaw said and returned Officer McNab''s handshake,

    "So, they know now?" Chala, who had no clue what happened, asked Tayaw. "Yep. I had no choice. Some *sshole reported me as an illegal alien." Tayaw explained. "Hmm. I think this was personal." Agent Ross offered his suspicion. "Yes. I think so too. There are plenty of foreigners here in Nashville, and targeting Mr. Dagem seems too specific." Officer McNab agreed.

    "Well. It doesn''t matter. I''m cleared anyway." Tayaw said. "Hmm. Well. It was pleasure meeting you, Mr. Dagem. I''ll excuse myself. I still have to drive back to V.i.r.g.i.nia." Agent Ross bid good bye. "I also have to go back on patrol. If you need some help, just call the precint and ask for me." Officer McNab also excused himself.The duo soon left the bar and the bar staff and Strawberry band started chatting amongst them lively.

    "Sorry about that, gentlemen. Y''all should have been home by now." Tayaw apologized to the people in the bar. As he said that however, he noticed that they''re looking at him differently.

    "Did I hear that right? So you wrote my daughter''s favorite book." Rez was the first one to talk. "I read it to my grandson every night." Henry also said. "I read it for the gore." Bobby, on the other hand, read the a.d.u.l.t version. One thing is for sure, the three all know his fairy tales.

    "Yes, gentlemen. However, I''d appreciate it if y''all would keep it a secret." Tayaw told the group. "Oh. Don''t worry. Even if we slip up, there are a lot of people who won''t recognize your book. I mean, I don''t know your books." Aaron replied making the others chuckle.

    "You know, it''s funny. We thought he was a country musician. Then we found out he didn''t start with country. Now, you''re an author too?" John said, amused. "Oh. Don''t worry. I just got lucky that my book sold. I''m still a musician." Tayaw said.

    The next few minutes are spent with his buddies doing the questioning this time.

    -

    December 3, 2011 ¨C Saturday 1pm ¨CCentennial Park, Nashville

    Tayaw is currently sitting by Lake Watauga, appreciating the view of Nashville''s Parthenon. The building caught his attention while aimlessly strolling through the walking trail beside the lake after having lunch at Patterson Street. Nashville''s Parthenon, from what Tayaw could remember reading in the internet, is a life-size replica of the Athenian Parthenon; the representative of Europe''s classical architecture.

    Even though it''s just a replica, it still looks great in Tayaw''s eyes. Tayaw could only imagine what the original looks like. "Oh. Maybe the actual Parthenon can give me those intense heart beats. Maybe I can put it away in the space just like Earl''s guitar." Tayaw mumbled to himself. "Haha. That''d be ridiculous." Tayaw then laughed at the absurdity of the thought.

    *Ring Ring* Tayaw''s business phone rang and he picked up the call. "Henry. What''s up?" Tayaw said, curious at Henry''s phone call. "Hey Isaac. Can you come in earlier tonight?" Henry asked. "How early do you want me there?" Tayaw asked in return. Although he is willing to arrive earlier, he doesn''t want to if it''s too early.

    "Can you come in at 8?" Henry asked. "Man, that''s too early." Tayaw replied. "Hey, kid. This may interest you." Henry said in assurance. Even though Tayaw likes Henry, Tayaw found Henry and him share a small trait; baiting others to say yes to their favor. "Hey, I want a free bottle of Jameson, and I''ll come." Tayaw replied. "Fine. Pour it yourself backstage." Henry agreed. After what happened in the previous night, Henry and Tayaw agreed that Tayaw can only be served beer and wine at the bar. No hard liquors.

    -

    The night quickly came, and Tayaw also arrived at the bar at the agreed time and went directly backstage. "Henry. No agents are here for me again, is there?" Tayaw asked Henry after finding him. "No. Some people are looking for you." Henry explained his reason. "Really? How come they didn''t find me yesterday?" Tayaw asked. "They did but had not time to wait for you." Henry explained.

    "Wait by my office up the stairs." Henry said as he asked one server to invite the people looking for Tayaw. As Tayaw climbed to the second floor of the building, he saw more country music memorabilia hanging on the walls. A few framed vinyl records, some photographs, and some clothes worn by country stars.

    After waiting for a few minutes, four men joined him. "Good evening gentlemen, I heard you were looking for me?" Tayaw said as he shook hands. "Hello, we are ¡­" Two of the four men introduced themselves as representatives of one of Nashville''s music Agencies. They were looking for Tayaw to ask him to join sign with their agency. One man is a representative from a record label, and the last man did not introduce himself.

    "My apologies, gentlemen, I think you have wasted your time. I''m not looking for an agent right now, and I''m in the process of talking with a label in Teungeb." Tayaw said. The three men could only give Tayaw their business cards before walking out of Henry''s office empty-handed. The last man, who did not introduce himself, is the only one that has not spoken to Tayaw yet, and remained behind.

    Tayaw just stared in curiosity at the man as he thought the man is with the others. "Hello. I''m Donald Harris, Don for short." Don finally introduced himself. "My boss and I became a fan of yours after watching you last week." Don continued. "Ah. That''s good to hear. What can I do for you, Don?" Tayaw said, not really believing that Donald is fan.

    "I want you to take a look at something." Donald said as he pulled out his phone. Looking at the phone, Tayaw raised his brow and internally slapped his forehead. Tayaw realized that he has missed the introduction of 4G technology in Tengueb. He''s been using iPhone since last year because iPhones was the best he could buy at the time. He forgot that at this time, Android phones have basically caught up with iPhone and released 4G phones earlier.

    Donald then passed his phone to Tayaw. Tayaw saw on the screen a YouTube channel. "Red Abbey Sessions. Are you from an internet show?" Tayaw asked. "No. My boss owns a beer company, Red Abbey." Donald said. "Ah. You''re branching out into music???? Tayaw asked. Donald on the other hand, took a moment to gather his thoughts.

    "It''s not that. How do I say this? I''ll just leave it to my boss. Can you join us for a few minutes back in my car? He''s waiting there." Donald scratched his head and invited Tayaw out. Tayaw, not feeling any hostility or predatory behavior from Donald, decided to indulge the man. "Let''s go." Tayaw said.

    A few minutes later, Tayaw and Donald stood in front of what looks like a luxury Dodge SUV. Donald then opened the door for the backseat for Tayaw, and Tayaw entered in hidden alert. No one grabbed him, no one pointed a gun at him, Tayaw''s unease was unwarranted as he found a lone old man sitting in the backseat. Tayaw as he got a closer look at the old man was surprised. The old man sitting beside him is the same old man that cried when Tayaw first performed "The Devil''s Suit and Tie" in Blackbird Caf¨¦. The old man, turns out, owns a popular beer brand in America.

    "Ah. It''s good to see you again, sir." Tayaw greeted the old man. "Good to see you too, kid." The old man replied. *slam* Donald entered the SUV as well and sat on the driver''s seat. Tayaw, despite feeling glad to meet the old man again, is dying to know why he was asked to have a meeting, quite shadily at that.

    "Forgive me sir, but I find it unusual meeting like this." Tayaw joked, shedding the last of his nervousness. "Haha. Spare an old man like me in chasing you, alright?" The old man repled. "By the way. I''m Walter Strickland, owner of Red Abbey Brews." Walter introduced himself. "Isaac, great to meet you, sir. I''ve heard from Donald about your business. I wonder however, what a brewery owner wants with me." Tayaw said.

    "Passion, Isaac. I like the passion I saw in you when you were on that stage." Walter said. Tayaw, from what he learns from his previous life, is that old people has stories. "Did you know that I too, was a poor hungry musician? But because I found out early that I had no gift in it, I turned to my second love, beer." Tayaw chuckled at that. "Fifty years later, here I am; the owner of one of the best beer brands America can offer." Walter said, pride emanating from his aura.

    "It''s a great achievement, sir." Tayaw sincerely said. No matter how many times he heard of ''pulling yourself up by the bootstraps'' and the countless renditions of it, Tayaw knows that a very small fraction actually make it upward the economic ladder. Climbing up to the peak is even more difficult. Tayaw has respect for people like Walter who did just that, climb up to the peak of the beer business.

    Even though Tayaw does not drink beer much, he knows of Red Abbey as it even made its way to Ouigab, where it''s selling well. Tayaw also has a vague memory about Red Abbey having a brewery at Teungeb itself that''s why its price in Teungeb competes with the local brands. If Tayaw had to guess, Walter is at least worth half a billion dollars, and a few billion at most. This estimation was supplemented with Walter''s next words.

    "Yes. It is. But I am even more thankful for having a happy family. Tell me, Isaac, as a billionaire, what else do I want more in life?" Walter asked Tayaw suddenly. "I don''t know sir. Power?" Tayaw could only come up with that answer. "HAH!" Walter scoffed at the answer. "I''ve seen many friends and enemies fight for power. It was dishonest, dirty, and disgusting. I''m a God-fearing man, Isaac, I am not like those men." Walter said.

 Chapter 70 - History of Public Image and Marketing

    "I have enough money, Isaac. From how my kids are managing my beer, generations of Stricklands would not have to work in their lifetimes. I have no more worries. But do you know what I still yearn before my time comes?" Walter asked. Tayaw does not know, and also knows that Walter''s question is rhetorical. Tayaw therefore just shook his head.

    "Music. Isaac. Not just music, but the music of my home; the Blue Ridge Mountains. I can tell, Isaac, while you''re no American, I can feel the mountains in you." Walter said. "My hometown, Okuba, is indeed surrounded by the mountains of Nabla." Tayaw also introduced his home. Tayaw also noticed that Walter''s eyes shone at his reply.

    "Ah. Nabla. I don''t know what happened to my cabin there. It''s been a while since I heard of the name." Walter said as he reminisced. Walter''s very specific reaction made Tayaw curious. "How is Nabla now, by the way, Isaac? Does the air still smell like pine trees? Can one still fish from Lake Tabila? Are there deer left?" Tayaw is shocked by Walter''s series of questions.

    After recovering from his surprise for a few seconds, Tayaw finally responded. "Yes sir. I still open my windows in the morning to the smell of pines. I can still swim without worry and fish only using a harpoon. And the Nabla deer are still plenty, and just as evasive." Tayaw said proudly.

    "That''s good. That''s very good. You must be wondering how I know so much about your home, right." Walter asked. "Indeed, sir." Tayaw replied and could barely hide his curiosity. Walter then loosened his belt and dragged his tucked shirt up to show his bare abdomen. Tayaw saw two circular scars on Walter''s sides and studied it for a moment. Walter then fixed his shirt after Tayaw had looked enough.

    "I was 21, and was a part of the last troops sent by the government to Vietnam in the 50s. The end of the war was approaching and the Vietcong raided my unit''s camp in the jungle as a last attempt to draw blood. People we thought were farmers or food hawkers were also among the Vietcong forces. For the entire night, we had to fight tooth and nail against enemy soldiers we could barely see in the dark. Had the Koreans not come to our rescue, we would have been wiped out." Walter opened up about his time in the Vietnam War.

    "I was shot two times, the scars you saw were the proof of my time there. Thankfully, the doctor said I was shot by carbine, and had it been a higher caliber rifle, I would have been done." Walter said as he put his palm to where his scars are located. "After two weeks of recovery, the government sent for planes to pick us up, the wounded, and transferred us to Clark Air Base in the Philippines where there were enough medical supplies for us.

    "However, there were too many wounded. I didn''t know what happened back in the Philippines, but as the base was filled with more wounded soldiers, many of us were transferred again, to Kangpan next." Walter finally revealed his first time in Teungeb.

    "I was just a private, a non-commissioned soldier at that, so I was only paid 1500 dollars for my 8 months of service, so I decided to stay in Kangpan to work for the logistics department of the airforce. So, during my stay in Teungeb, I had to look for a place closest to home, to visit." Walter said.

    "Nabla Province." Tayaw said. "Yes. Nabla. While Teungeb is has a tropical climate, I found Nabla a warmer, more humid Tennessee." Walter affirmed. "I found the place beautiful and me and my buddies would go there every June to swim at Lake Tabila." Walter continued.

    "After four years of working in Kangpan, I decided to go home. That was 1959, I was 25." Walter said as he pulled out a metallic case from his coat and took out two cigars from it.

    "You never went back since then?" Tayaw asked as he accepted the cigar that Walter cut for him. Walter did not answer and lit his cigar. Walter then passed the lighter to Tayaw. Tayaw, who never smoked a cigar, despite being a cigarette smoker in his previous life, followed how Walter lit his cigar.

    After Tayaw blew out the "old smoke" to spit out the acc.u.mulated chemicals in the cigar''s wrapper, Walter continued his story. "No. I went back in ''71, 12 years after. That time, my brewery was just making craft beer, but I earned a lot. I was exhausted and bothered everyday by slimy business people so I had to leave the business to a friend, my dear Donald here''s uncle." Donald, who was silent the whole time, nodded, already familiar with the story.

    "After Donald''s uncle assured me everythin will be fine, I brought my wife and my firsy baby somewhere far where I can fully rest. That''s when I bought a parcel of land by Lake Tabila, when your government was still selling lands in your forests. With the help of a few locals, I built my cabin, where my family and I stayed for a whole year." Walter said as he took another drag from his cigar. "After that long vacation, we came back home and I put my nose to the grindstone again to grow my brewery to what it is today¡­ I have not been back in Nabla since then." Walter concluded.

    "40 years." Tayaw as he took a drag from his cigar, feeling the buzz from the nicotine. "40 years. After I raised a family, and had two generations of employees that rely on me, I never bothered going back to Nabla." Walter said. "Ah. That''s right. Isaac. You must be wondering why I wanted to meet you." Walter went back to their conversation before it was sidelined by Walter''s war story.

    "Yes sir." Tayaw simply replied. "What do you think is important for a beer?" Walter asked. "Alcohol? The taste and how it goes down?" Tayaw answered pragmatically. "Hm. That''s true. Aside from the taste, what makes Bud sell? Why do people keep drinking Coors? Why do people buy my Red Abbey?" Walter asked. Tayaw had no answer. "Image?"Tayaw answered more abstractly this time.

    "Good answer. Bud is famous for the age of their beer, making it a gentleman''s beer. Coors, their light beer especially, are has a refreshing image. My Red Abbey, however, has no fixed image. We had to catch up to Bud and Coors'' images by making as many flavors as we can to cover more people''s tastes." Walter explained.

    "That''s the second thing I wish in my life; to give my beer the image I want it to have." Walter finally confessed what he wants. "Not power, no. I''ve become rich and happy because of my love for beer, and now, I want to devote my beer to my home." Tayaw has no idea however, how Walter wants to do that.

    "I want my beer to be a symbol of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and to achieve that, I think you, Isaac can help me with it." Walter finally said Tayaw''s purpose here. "I''m sorry, Walter, I don''t know how I can help." Tayaw replied. Walter chuckled.

    "But I know. Unlike Bud and Coors, I finally have my own vision for the image of my beer that is different from theirs. At first, I only want people to see what my beer represents, but after I saw you last week, I was inspired. I also want people to HEAR what my beer is." Walter said.

    After Tayaw thought about it for a moment, the dots connected. "Red Abbey Sessions." Tayaw said as he finally figured out the purpose of the Youtube Channel that Donald showed him. Walter nodded. "You''re a smart man, Isaac. How did a tire company, become associated with food? I''m trying to do the same." Walter said. Michelin, the tire company, marketed their tires by making the Michelin guide. ''Buy a tire, you get free restaurant recommendations''

    While Walter''s idea is not exactly like that of what Michelin did, Tayaw figured it follows the same path; ''Listen to our music, while you drink Red Abbey''. "You, Isaac, among the musicians of today, is the only one who made music that perfectly fits my vision." Walter said. "So, how about it? Do you want to be the first musician to feature for Red Abbey Sessions? Help me achieve what I want. Music and my beer''s image."

    "That would be great, Walter." Tayaw accepted. Even though Walter is a businessman, Tayaw sees the essence of an artist in him and it is enough for Tayaw to contribute to Walter''s vision. Walter is an artist, and his Red Abbey Lager is his piece.

    "Good. I want you then to perform 5 songs for my staff to tape and record and I''ll pay you $2000 for each song." Walter offered. This surprised Tayaw. From what he can figure in his previous life, artists would not get paid when they appear on TV or Youtube channels. Sometimes, it would even be the artists that pay for the exposure.

    "Before that, tell me, Walter, do you also intend to pay for the artists you invite in the future? Will you be offering the same¡­ monetary incentive?" Tayaw asked. Walter is confused to what Tayaw is getting at, but decided to indulge Tayaw.

    "Yes. Donald and I will carefully choose artists like you that represent what I want. And if they are just as good as you, I would pay them just as much. If they''re better than you, I will offer more." Walter explained. This cleared Tayaw''s curiosity on why Walter is offering him that much money.

    "No. Keep it for other artists who will need it more than I do." Tayaw said, refusing the money. Walter''s brows rose at this. "I''m a businessman, Walter. Even though I have not made money from being a musician, my business gave me the opportunity to fully devote myself to music." Tayaw clarified as he took a drag from his cigar.

    Walter puffed his cigar too, and thought for a moment, "Alright. I''m glad of your help either way." "Walter, it''s not like I''m not benefitting from this enough. Once your platform will grow, my music will also be seen by more people. My band in Teungeb will also appreciate the littlest bit of exposure they can get." Tayaw said. Walter''s interest was piqued hearing Tayaw mention his band.

 Chapter 71 - Cinematography of Musical Performance

    "Oh? You have a band?" Walter asked, the gears in his mind already rolling. "I do. However, I won''t consider them as real artists yet. Unlike me who started making music as a child, they have a lot of catching up to do." Tayaw explained. "I see." Walter was a little disappointed. "What music do they play?" Walter asked nonetheless.

    "They have a long way playing Country, Walter, if that''s what you''re asking." Tayaw said. Walter nodded at this. "True. Country music has not caught up in Teungeb. Even when there were a lot of American soldiers who were based there, Teungebians did not like Country that much." Walter understood.

    "Yeah. You have no idea how hard it is for a country fan like me." Tayaw confirmed. "Oh. Walter, when you post my video online, can you do something for me?" Tayaw asked. "Sure. Well. I''m not really familiar with all the inter-web stuff. Tell Donald here." Walter passed the question to Donald.

    "Can I leave links for my band''s YouTube channel as well? I don''t really care about the exposure, but my band needs it." Tayaw asked Donald. "Sure. I''m planning to do that for other artists we invite in the future anyway." Donald said. "Thanks." Tayaw said.

    "By the way, Isaac. Since you don''t want the money, why don''t we do this? I have some friends ******* Records. I don''t like you staying unknown." Walter said. Tayaw shook his head. "I appreciate the offer, Walter but it will be a waste. May I reserve your offer instead? Maybe in the future, you can help me." Tayaw asked.

    "Hmm? What''s stopping you? You''re already in Nashville." Walter asked in confusion. "I''m here on a visa. An investment visa to be exact. I can''t make money or make any deals outside the reason why I''m here." Tayaw explained. This surprised Walter. "So ¡­ how do I say this? You''re not in America do music?" Walter was dumbfounded.

    "No. I was done with my business in New York, so I decided to travel around America before going back home. But because I fell in love with Nashville, I''m here." Tayaw replied. Walter stayed silent after that and just calmly smoked his cigar, Tayaw cannot figure out what Walter is thinking. Seeing Walter, Tayaw mirrored his actions and savored his cigar too.

    "Tell me, Isaac. What do you really do?" Walter asked, breaking the silence. Tayaw was about to lie, but thinking back on Walter sharing his war story, Tayaw is conflicted how to answer. Tayaw also thought deeply about Walter''s question; what does he really do? Considering the blessing he''s been given, what should he do?

    "First and foremost, I''m a musician, Walter. Second, I''m an author." Tayaw started. Walter and Donald perked up in interest hearing this. "It just happens that my book was more in demand than my music. Using what I earned from my books, I started investing. That also makes me a part-time businessman." Tayaw explained.

    "What books have you written?" Walter asked. Skeptical about Tayaw''s identity as an author. "Well. I released two volumes of fairytales. Then just last month, I released my first real novel." Tayaw said. Walter is not a reader of books, much more read something so specific like fairy tales. Donald, however, has a suspicion on Tayaw''s identity.

    Donald opened his glove box and pulled out his 9 year-old son''s favorite book to read in the car. "By any chance, is it this?" Donald passed the book to the back seat for Walter to see. Tayaw is also pleasantly surprised to see that his book made it to Nashville. Walter opened the book to scan what is inside. "Snow White¡­" Walter muttered and he read on.

    A minute later, "Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" Tayaw beautifully recited as he took a drag from his cigar. Walter also just happened to read that part of the story. "This¡­ How I wish I read this as a child." Walter said as he brushed off the cigar ashes that fell on the pages of the book. "Donald, have you ever met someone this talented?" Walter suddenly asked. "No." Donald simply replied.

    "By the way, Walter, when and where do I record?" Tayaw asked, changing the topic. Walter just smiled at the question. "You''ll see later on."

    December 7, 2011 ¨C Wednesday 10 pm ¨C Greensborough, Tennessee - Outskirts

    Tayaw parked his pick-up truck on the parking lot of Red Abbey Brewery after a 30 minute drive. This is not the Red Abbey''s main brewery/factory, but a small replica for tourists. Despite being a replica, it has a working machinery system for people to actually see the process of making beer, from raw ingredients to the packing the beer to the can.

    "Oh-ho. I see what Walter''s tryin to do." Tayaw said, amazed after entering his supposed filming location for three of his songs. In the labeling room, he found a recording set-up of a microphone for his voice and a clip microphone for his guitar. There are also two digital cameras on the left and right side of the microphones, the set-up brightened up by those huge photo studio lamps. On standby is a small crew of a camera director, a lighting specialist, and a sound engineer. It''s a small crew, but is enough for a recording like this.

    Tayaw''s smile is brought upon by a closer look at the continuously moving conveyor belt in the background, rolling seemingly endless cans of beer in a single, orderly line. Tayaw chuckled at this. He could already imagine how the video will come out; Tayaw playing a song with a busy brewery in the background. It''s a refreshing look.

    After a few pleasantries, the crew made a few adjustments to the equipment, and Tayaw started tuning his instruments and warming up his voice. Before starting however, Tayaw was reminded of his filmmaking skills he got from the giant roulette.

    "Fellas. Why don''t we do this?" Tayaw instructed the camera man to shoot at a certain angles. The camera man was also glad to listen to Tayaw''s suggestion when he realized that the camera angle Tayaw directed him actually looks better than the angle he''s planning to shoot at.

    Thankfully, the shoot only used two cameras so Tayaw was assured that he did not accidentally teach some revolutionary techniques in filming. After a few more adjustments, Tayaw and the filming crew is finally ready. "Shall we start?" The camera director asked, and Tayaw nodded.

    Tayaw then started pressing his foot for the kickdrum to produce low pitch beats, and his guitar shortly joined in.

    "Hmm¡­ Yeah..

    Preacher, preacher, come save me¡­"

    Tayaw''s morning was spent recording three songs in the factory. Him and the crew started with ''Devil''s suit and tie'' at the labeling room with the conveyor belt in the background. Tayaw then suggested to the filming crew to move on to other parts of the brewery instead of shooting everything in the labeling room, which was Walter''s plan.

    Next was ''Belle O''Brien'' on the cellar with rows of shelves filled with beer in the background, and finally ''Invisible Man'' at the wort separation room with shiny silver water tanks in the background.

    Tayaw also suggested keeping some of the background noises of the brewery to the audio to add a more candid effect and feeling to the videos.

    After a late lunch break, Tayaw and the crew travelled to a wheat field nearby where Tayaw played his three more songs that roots more from Folk, which included Tayaw''s ''My Home''. With the wheat field in the background, and a pristine "Red Abbey Brewery" sign the crew just erected in the background, the video shot would still look like it was recorded for "Red Abbey Records".

    This time, Tayaw did not suggest anything else to the filming crew as he found that a wheat field is enough of a backdrop to help achieve the desired effect of the videos.

    "Great work, everyone." Tayaw said to the crew. It was already 3 pm by the time they''re done. "No. You did great. Had it been anyone else, we would have been here until 9." The sound guy said. "True. Most of the people we tape, they sound great on the radio, but they don''t sound as good live." The camera guy said.

    Tayaw was curious at this statement. In his previous life, Tayaw witnessed a lot of singers produced by entertainment companies who are not traditionally musically skilled or talented. The entertainment companies would find good-looking and charismatic people, train them for a bit, and have these people do music.

    While these people would train, the entertainment companies would market them to gather as much fanfare as possible. When it came time for these good-looking people to debut, the company would make big bucks.

    However, these singers, who were not passionate about music in the first place, would often disappoint people when they step on live stages. While this process of the entertainment companies would unearth hidden gems, actual artists and talented musicians, they would be overwhelmingly outnumbered by those singers who will fade into obscurity after their debut.

    While this would happen most often in the electronic pop music, Tayaw is seeing signs of such factory-like process in country music itself. This is why Tayaw held disdain to the current music scene in Nashville and decided to bring back the outlaw, Americana, and Blues roots to his gigs in Blackbird caf¨¦.

    However, the music companies of Nashville still would actually look for talented singers who can sing their factory produced songs. This is why Tayaw is confused that country singers would also sound bad live.

    "Really? Even country?" Tayaw asked. "Oh. Even country. But hey, at least we don''t record pop where the singer would spend an entire afternoon just for one song. We don''t get to work for the famous ones, so we avoid working for pop singers." The sound guy said. Tayaw nodded at this. There are too many pop singers, but the few famous at the top are the only ones who are actually consistent and great singers.

    After packing up the equipment, they saw a man approach them on a dirt bike. "Hey fellas. Is there an Isaac among you?" The man asked. "I am." Tayaw replied. "Donald prepared some barbecue and beer for y''all." The man said. This made Tayaw and the crew excited and they jumped to their vehicles and followed the man to the wheat farm''s barn.

 Chapter 72 - Psychiatry of Radio Broadcasting

    December 15, 2011 ¨C Thursday 1pm ¨C Nashville

    "That''s song is brought to you by Red Abbey, ''We make your favorite beer''. Kiss the Radio by me, will be back after a short break, and don''t change the tune." Tayaw watched the radio host do his DJ thing.

    Tayaw is currently inside the studio of 97.5 WSDF FM, a well-known music radio station, one of the many of its kind in Nashville. Tayaw was actually invited by Joe, the radio host himself, after Joe saw him perform in Blackbird caf¨¦ the last weekend. Tayaw was hesitant at first but because he was also curious about the interiors of a radio station, and that doing an interview will be beneficial, he agreed.

    "Hey Isaac. Come, take a seat here. Do you have your guitar ready?" Joe asked. "Yep. I''m all set. What are we doing?" Tayaw asked in return. "Oh. Nothing much, really. Just some questions about your background, you playing two songs, and reading some questions from our listeners. Thanks for coming.?? Joe explained what Tayaw will do later on.

    "Here. Be sure to always speak close to the microphone and press this whenever you want to clear your throat." One producer of the radio show instructed Tayaw on what to do. Tayaw, interested in the workings of the studio, is also absorbing everything he can.

    "Hey, I wish you would play ''Invisible Man'' later. I like that very much." The producer, who has seen Tayaw''s video on Red Abbey Sessions, requested. "Sure. I''m glad you know the song." Tayaw said. Tayaw then heard in his headphones a voice. "Alright. Joe! Back on air in 3, 2, 1!"

    "You''re listening to Kiss the Radio with your friend, Joe. Today, I''m joined by Isaac Yawat, a young man y''all may have not heard of. Even if that''s the case, you will surely hear of him in the future. Isaac Yawat, say hello to our listeners." Joe introduced Tayaw.

    "Hey everyone, I''m Isaac. It''s great to be here." Tayaw smoothly introduced himself. "So, Isaac, what our listeners don''t know is that you''re actually not American." Joe asked.

    """"""""""""""""

    "That''s right Joe. I''m a Teungeb native." Travis heard Tayaw answer Joe''s question on the radio. Travis then pulled over his car on the side of the highway to listen.

    Since his report to the police and immigration didn''t work in removing Tayaw from Blackbird caf¨¦, Travis already gave up bothering Tayaw. Travis, over the past two weeks, was blown away by Tayaw''s sets in Blackbird Caf¨¦. He also had to witness the musicians of Strawberry Front, people he looks up to, focus and work hard in preparing their sets just to catch up to Tayaw.

    While listening and watching Tayaw practice, Travis also realized how much he lacks as a musician. He was able to look more into himself and his skills. Knowing how to play some chords is not enough. Singing a song is just not as simple as singing it. Copying famous singers'' styles, while impressive to some, will stay as a party trick.

    He learned from watching Tayaw that strumming a guitar is not as simple as just strumming it to the beat. He has to strum with the appropriate pattern and appropriate rhythm to match the story and emotions of the song. He learned from watching Tayaw''s face that singing is not simply hitting the notes, but to also feel them. Why did Tayaw slurry his voice in some lines, but not in some? Why Tayaw chose to sing softly in some words, and loudly in some?

    After exploring these questions, Travis stopped signing up in Blackbird caf¨¦''s open mic nights. Not only did Travis realize how far Tayaw is up the music ladder, he also realized how good other musicians are in the bar. The performers he thought are worse than him; actually have the subtlety and artistic flair honed from experience.

    He realized that they have experience he does not have. With this, he finally took Henry''s advice and looked for other bars for a stage. Once he grinded enough for experience, he will go back to Blackbird caf¨¦ again to try out.

    "Tell me, Isaac. How did a young man from across the pacific, learn to play an all American music genre? Even though I''m looking right at you, I still can''t get over how unusual it is." Joe asked Tayaw. Travis, hearing this question, got curious as well. He also shook his head as he remembered his words of dismissal at Tayaw''s knowledge in playing country.

    "Just like truckers here in America, my dad also has a similar job driving dangerous winding roads every day. He found that country music is the only genre that gives him the feeling that he can keep on driving. So, as a child, I always listened to my father''s mix tape of various country classics." Tayaw replied. "So, even though you''re a Teungebian, you basically grew up listening to country music, much like us here in Tennessee." Joe said in understanding.

    "Exactly. So after I got my first guitar from my dad, I also started playing those songs I listened to. I mean, who among the people here in Nashville did not, once in their youth, learned how to sing and play Annabelle''s ''Charlotte'' on the guitar?" Tayaw expanded on his story. "Haha. That couldn''t be any truer." Joe also chuckled in reply.

    Travis, listening to this, realized that it''s the music that matters. It did not matter whether Tayaw came from Teungeb or from China, as long as he loves country music just as an American would, he is qualified to play country.

    "Everyone, I actually first met Isaac here at the famous Blackbird caf¨¦ last week. That''s when I became a fan. I also want others to listen to your songs, but not everyone from our listeners can listen to you here in Nashville every week. Where else can they check your music out?" Joe asked.

    "Oh. There''s a new Youtube Channel made by Red Abbey Brewery called Red Abbey Sessions. I''m the first musician to perform for them. Y''all can listen to five of my songs there for free." Tayaw said, promoting Red Abbey sessions for free.

    "Are you advertising for Red Abbey? Haha." Joe nervously asked, caught off-guard by the plug. "Oh. No, no. But hey, Red Abbey, if you''re listening, call me if you want me to promote your beer." Tayaw denied Joe''s suspicion by promoting himself to be an endorser instead. This also amused Joe. "Hahaha. Anyways, everyone. You can listen to Isaac''s five songs for free at the YouTube channel Red Abbey¡­" Joe forgot the name of the channel. "Sessions." Tayaw added. "Red Abbey Sessions." Joe finished.

    "Isaac, I noticed that while you have your original songs, how come I can''t buy them anywhere." Joe, who loved almost every original that he saw Tayaw play, found it a shame when he found out that Tayaw does not have a CD album.

    "Ah. I''ve just released them on iTunes a few days ago. You can find it if you search Isaac Yawat. It''s in iTunes for now as I have not yet signed with a label." Tayaw replied. "No wonder! Well. I sure as hell am going to download them later." Joe was glad to hear it.

    Travis, who watched Tayaw for a few weeks, was also curious why Tayaw was not selling CDs. Travis, estimated that Tayaw at least have played 10 original songs in his gigs, so he looked up Tayaw on iTunes. Only then did he find that Tayaw has not released any country song, aside from rock, ballads, and folk.

    "Oh. My producer just informed me that you actually released an album last September. It''s not country though." Joe said, with a conflicted face. Tayaw who saw this, has to think of something fast. Many country fans are purists after all, so he has to answer carefully.

    "That''s right. I actually wanted to release my country songs first, but in Teungeb, country music has very small number of fans. That''s why I had to rearrange some of my songs that were originally country, into genres like rock, folk, or ballads for Teungebians'' tastes. I also had to replace half of the songs in that album with Teungebian songs." Tayaw bullshitted.

    "Ah. That''s unfortunate. Had you been born here in America, you would have released more country songs." Joe said in understanding. Travis who was listening to this, also felt a little bad for Tayaw. "To be a talented country musician in a country that does not appreciate country must have been difficult." Travis mumbled.

    """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

    "Let''s read a question from our listeners. Isaac, if you may?" Joe asked Tayaw to read the question.

    "This is from -8312 and they asked. ''Joe, my abusive girlfriend always threatens to kill herself whenever I tell her I want to break up. We''ve been together since we were 17 and after 8 years, I''m still with her, suffering everyday. She would punch me or slap me when she gets mad at something. It doesn''t actually hurt because she''s 5''1 and petite and I??m 5''11 and I work out.

    "''Still, it gets stressful. I''m always watching my back where or when the next punch will come from. She also verbally abuses me. Calling me names, insulting my parents, insulting my manhood.''" As Tayaw read the question, he started feeling horrible about the man''s situation. He continued.

    " *sigh* ''Whenever I tell her I''m leaving after we fight, she would point at a knife and say she would slash her wrists, or point at the balcony and say she would jump the moment I get in my car. She would say that everyone will find out that I''m a piece of shit when she''s dead. I''m afraid for myself, Joe. I''m even more afraid of hurting her, or even worse once I can''t take it anymore. What do I do, Joe?''" Tayaw sighed deeply in frustration after he read the listener''s concern.

    "To our dear listener, let me tell you this, first of all. You are a strong and brave man. I could only imagine how you feel being in your relationship. You are also kind, very kind that you put her first before yourself even though she''s treating you that way.

    "Even though you''re kind, I believe she does not deserve the kindness you''re giving her. So, I advise you to go ahead and leave her. Talk to her parents, talk to the cops to watch over her. Uhh." Joe was basically stopped here. He does not know what else to say to advice the listener. "Isaac, what do you think about this?" Joe passed the question to Tayaw, to Tayaw''s shock.

    "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" ""

    g''day folks. I beseech your help to share my novel. I''d appreciate it very much.

    thanks you.

    "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" ""

 Chapter 73 - Domestic Criminology of Psycholoy

    It took Tayaw a second to process what just happened. He immediately stared at the ''View Points'' in his vision to access the white void. While waiting to be pulled away, he started to piggyback on Joe''s advice. "I agree with what Joe said. You should leave. Staying with her out of guilt should not be the basis of a relationship." ¨C Then Tayaw was pulled away.

    Tayaw found himself in the white void, and immediately cursed in frustration. "WHAT THE F.U.C.K?" Tayaw cursed out, frustrated that Joe did not even give him a signal before passing him the question. "A serious question at that." Tayaw shook his head. Tayaw then started to think, with his full concentration of what he will say.

    Five minutes later in the void, he was kicked out and Tayaw picked up where he left off. "I''m no expert, but I think her suicide threat is a tool of manipulation. She is using the guilt of any decent man to her advantage, so I know it''s scary to actually leave. I agree with Joe when he said you should call the cops. When she starts threatening you, call the 911 immediately and ask the operator to stay on the line to listen in, hold on to the phone until the cops come. That will assure that the cops won''t come for you, but her.

    "Then, make the cops talk to her, make her realize that threatening to kill herself is no threat at all. If you can muster the courage, and if you can financially afford it, just leave without telling her, but call the cops, her parents, and your parents to tell that you''re leaving.

    "Technology is also improving and our phones are getting better, so buy a smart phone. While gathering your courage, try to secretly record every fight you have. You spent many years with her so you should know her habits. In the first sign that she will start attacking you, start recording immediately and secretly. Also, record every call you make to the cops.

    "Why am I telling you to doc.u.ment? Because I''m almost certain that your girlfriend will definitely not kill herself. Once you leave, she will have no one to vent her anger at. I''m also almost certain of what she will do next after you leave; she will harass you through your phone. She will send you a photo of broken glass, your balcony, or a wounded wrist, but those are just her manipulations. So when you leave, block her number in your phone as well.

    "If harassing you through the phone won''t work, she will threaten to ''Expose'' you as a ''piece of shit'' to your friends and your family. Don''t fall for this as well. That''s why I told you to record. You have proof that she''s the piece of shit and she''s the one who should be exposed. Even if you did not gather evidence against her, you know that you did nothing wrong.

    "Once her threat to your reputation didn''t work, she will be cornered. She might do something more dangerous. She will try and incriminate you; she will accuse you of being an abuser to the cops. This is why it''s important to record her abusive behavior before you leave.

    "She''s not a child who doesn''t know any better; this means she DECIDED to abuse you. You are also an a.d.u.l.t, and had your kindness been in the right place, then you also would not have been MISLED TO DECIDE to getting abused is better. She decided to abuse you; you decided to get abused, so you can also DECIDE TO LEAVE. What would you rather do? Suffer indefinitely and get killed? Risk possibly becoming a criminal once you retaliate? Or do the right thing? Just leave and start anew? If it was me, I''d rather look for someone who will treat me justly, and with love.

    "I''m not a hundred percent sure that she will not really do it, but she really does it, then I''m a hundred percent sure that you are zero percent NOT responsible. If you really love her, then leave because it''s also the best for her. If you don''t love her anymore and just staying because you''re scared, please leave. Leave her now, before it''s too late for you, or for her. Just look around you. The first girl you will see is a hundred times better than your girlfriend."

    Tayaw, after a few minutes of tirade, finally took a deep breath and sighed. The studio has also gone quiet; no flipping of papers, no typing, and no tapping on any surface. Only the fans of the computers running are heard. Joe, being an experienced broadcaster, recovered first.

    "Good advice. To our dear listener, I hope you got all that, follow it, and start fresh. Please give us an update soon¡­ I will play you a song and I hope it helps¡­ We''ll be right back." Joe said, smoothly ending the segment.

    As the show entered another commercial break, Tayaw could not help but give Joe a glare. Joe saw this and felt guilty at the situation he put Tayaw in. "I''m sorry about that, Isaac. I know I shouldn''t have done that. In the many years of my show, this is the first time I was called about abuse! I didn''t know what to do so I stuck to my habits of asking the guest for an opinion.?? Joe apologized and quickly explained himself.

    "I''m just glad I was able to give a reasonable answer. What if I didn''t though? What if it was another guest?" Tayaw started venting his frustration at Joe. "I don''t know how I can make it up to you, but in the future, I''ll be on my toes better." Joe could only promise. Tayaw also have no idea what else Joe could do, so he finally dropped it. Tayaw also felt Joe''s sincerity in his apology so he is starting to calm down.

    "Or maybe, go back to the original practice of sorting the questions from the mail and prepare an answer for it." Tayaw said, that statement finally draining the frustration he has left. Tayaw''s words were also felt by the production team; the producers of the show especially. The producers want to tell Tayaw that Joe''s shows became famous because of the advice segment''s spontaneity and that it''s a rare and revolutionary practice in radio broadcasting.

    They had no choice, however, but to swallow Tayaw''s suggestion. Tayaw after all saved the show from having a broadcast accident.

    During the commercial break, Tayaw and Joe had to talk about mundane things to regain a calm atmosphere, or the listeners would notice something wrong. Thankfully, it worked. "We''re back. I''m still joined by Isaac Tayaw, who just gave one of our listeners earlier, a good advice." Joe introduced Tayaw once again, for the listeners who just tuned in. "Hello everyone." Tayaw said, regaining the mood he had in the beginning of the broadcast.

    "Isaac here is a young promising artist that I became a fan of, and I''m glad he''s here today. Isaac, I believe you have a song for us?" Joe saying it''s finally time for Tayaw to play his song. "Yes. This is a song I wrote. It was inspired by the legend of the famous Blues guitarist Jesse Johnston." Tayaw replied. "Ah. I know this one! Music fans would have definitely heard of Jesse Johnston and the rumors. So, what''s the song called?" "''The Devil''s Suit and Tie''" Tayaw responded as he started playing.

    -

    Somewhere on the other side of Nashville, listener 8312 is seated on his cubicle, secretly listening to Joe''s Kiss the Radio on his phone. With the good cover of his cubicle, no one noticed his reddened eyes, tears threatening to roll down his face. For a long time, he wants to end his relationship, but worried about Kay''s life, he could not bring himself to do it. They spent years together after all. When 8312 heard Tayaw''s advice for him however, he felt it gave him the final push to move out.

    He realized that Tayaw is right. He knows that Kay is not the type to hurt herself, much more take her own life. 8312 laughed bitterly that he never noticed the manipulation. He realized he was too blinded by fear and guilt to actually think logically. Had he not fell for Kay''s manipulation, he realized he actually could have left a long time ago.

    The closest he got to leaving was prevented by Kay actually cutting her wrist. Looking back, the wound Kay inflicted on herself did not need any stitches or a visit to the hospital. She just covered it with a handkerchief, and even then, he did not remember the handkerchief being soaked with blood. A handkerchief being soaked in blood is something that he would remember.

    Tayaw''s advice also opened up a plan on 8312''s mind to avoid as much consequences as possible from leaving Kay. He could totally see Kay doing what Tayaw said she would do. Kay is a dangerously petty person and does something extreme in retaliation to the smallest annoyance that 8132 would cause, so her destroying his reputation to their friends is a certainty. With a plan in mind, 8132 is ready to prepare.

    8132 stood up from his chair and headed to his manager''s office. "Boss. May I leave for the day?" 8132 asked his boss. "8132, you alright man? Jesus, you don''t look good." the boss said, misunderstanding the reason for 8132 red eyes and face. "Yeah. I think I just caught the flu. I don''t want to pass it to others." 8132 replied. "Alright. Go home. You''re basically a lot ahead with your work anyway."

    "Yeah. Just call me when you need something." 8132 said. "Tell you what, here." The boss opened his drawer and pulled out a laptop. "I''m lending you this. Save your work in it and when I need you to change something, I''ll call you. Take the whole week off." The boss said as he handed 8132 the laptop.

    "Alright. Thanks boss." 8132 said in sincere gratitude. "I''ll see you Monday. If you''re still sick then, I''ll need a doctor''s pass." The boss said, urging 8132 to leave.

    8132 went back to his cubicle, powered up the laptop and hurriedly saved every file he worked on since the beginning of the month and packed some other reference files. After leaving the office, he then proceeded to buy extra li-ion batteries and a larger capacity memory card for his digital camera.

    An hour later, 8132 arrived home, finding Kay watching TV in the living room. 8312 then secretly turned on his camera and positioned it somewhere hidden. ''You spent many years with her so you should know her habits'' Tayaw''s advice replayed inside 8312''s mind, and he felt an unprecedented feeling of excitement to what he''s about to do.

    8312 over the years, mastered Kay''s landmines to avoid triggering them; but today, he will use that same knowledge to trigger as many landmines as he can. So, with camera all set up and his phone''s recorder on, 8312 is finally ready.

    "Hey Kay. I''m done. I can''t take being with you anymore. I''m packing my bags. Whatever you do, you can''t stop me from leaving."

 Chapter 74 - Familial Relations and Tourism of Country

    December 20, 2011 ¨C Monday 10 am ¨C Atlanta, Georgia.

    Tayaw and Chala just picked up Kilat, Liboo, Payew, and Agew from Atlanta''s International airport. Just like what Tayaw planned, he had Liboo rent an 8 seater GMC Yukon SUV. Chala is sitting shotgun and Tayaw''s family in the backseat. Although the SUV is rented under Liboo''s name, it is Tayaw who is driving the car.

    "I know every man in gas stations

    I know their children, I know their names

    Every waitress in every town

    Who''s open, who''s not, I know who''s around."

    Tayaw and Liboo are currently singing along to the playlist prepared by Tayaw. Liboo, like the usual Nabla driver who spends their daily on winding roads, is a fan of country music as it is perfect to listen to while driving long days. It was only Tayaw who acquired Liboo''s love for the music unlike the rest of the family.

    Because Liboo has the great endurance of a driver, he''s actually the only one who''s still lively after a 16 hour flight. Kilat and Payew are asleep; and Agew is dazedly looking at the orange leaves of the trees they pass by. "Chala, Tayaw isn''t making things hard for you, is he?" Liboo asked Chala. "Oh. Tayaw is a great kid. He''s the one who might as well be taking care of me." Chala chuckled.

    "That''s great. NASHVILLE! Tayaw! How come of all places, you chose for us to go to Nashville first?" Liboo asked, actually excited to see the place. With all the country songs he''s ever heard over the years, Liboo had obviously heard songs that either mentioned Nashville, or heard songs devoted to the place.

    "Dad. I wanted to take a break, so Chala and I started a road trip. When I got to Nashville though, I could not stop myself from playing." Tayaw explained. "Oh? Where do you play?" Liboo asked in interest. "It''s called Blackbird Caf¨¦. A famous bar in Nashville." Tayaw answered. "Hm? Why a bar?" Liboo asked, conflicted about the idea of Tayaw playing at a bar.

    "Dad, you know of Lee Baker, right? Or Annabelle Moore?" Tayaw asked. "Yes. ''The road won''t wipe your tears. The roads don''t need you here. The roads don''t care where you go. But I do''" Liboo actually started singing Lee Baker''s classic. "Of course I know them." Liboo said proudly.

    "Yeah. They played on the bar before they got famous." Tayaw revealed. "OH? Are you that good?" Liboo asked in disbelief. "PUHHHAHAAAA!" Chala actually guffawed in surprise at Liboo''s words. He was also surprised that Liboo actually does not know the full extent of Tayaw''s skills as a musician. "I''m that good, dad." Tayaw replied.

    "Come to think of it. Remember when you brought your brothers to Ouigab, December last year?" Liboo asked. "Yeah?" Tayaw replied, already having a suspicion that his brothers must have told on him. "Payew said that you brought them to a bar to watch you play. He says you''re like a rockstar." Liboo said. Tayaw is relieved that Liboo does not look mad after finding out.

    "Oh. Yeah. I used to play there when I was writing my first books. I still play there from time to time." Tayaw finally came clean. "Hmm. That''s so? Well, it would be a waste if you didn''t. You played for us a lot last year at home; it''s a shame if other people don''t see you." Liboo nodded.

    "Why don''t I bring you to the bar where I play on Friday? You''d love the place. I always play rock or folk in the bar in Ouigab, this time it''s a country music bar." Tayaw said. "Oh. I''d like that very much!" Liboo replied in excitement. "HEY! CAN I COME TOO?" Agew, who they didn''t know was listening in, yelled over from the back. "You have to ask mom." Tayaw said. Agew smiled, but didn''t ask Kilat as she''s deep asleep.

    Liboo then opened the window beside him to look at the view of the Georgia''s rural scenery under the bright sun. "Oh. Thanks for the sunglasses by the way, Chala." Liboo, who is wearing the spare sunglasses Chala lent him, suddenly said. "Hmm. I told you it looks good on you, I didn''t say you can keep it." Chala said, suddenly feeling protective of the expensive pair of sunglasses.

    "Oh, I think I''d look good on them forever." Liboo said playfully. "Hahahahaha!" Tayaw laughed. It seems like Chala is the newest victim of his father''s playfulness. Chala just shook his head, not knowing whether Liboo is serious or not. Liboo then took off the sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. "Something wrong with your eyes, dad?" Tayaw asked when he saw this.

    Liboo then put the glasses back on. "No. I just wanted to clear my eyes. MAN! How did I live in a world without these sunglasses?" Liboo said again, expressing his intention of keeping Chala''s sunglasses for himself. That gave Tayaw, and the now awake Payew have another round of laughter. "Whoooahhh. The world looks so different through these sunglasses gifted to me by Chala." Liboo continued to tease Chala.

    Chala, who just caught on to what Liboo is doing, also joined in the laughter. "Oh. I''m so happy that you like them. BUT, it won''t take long before you take them off. I''m sure that Tayaw is thinking of buying you a better pair." Chala said which just so happens to guess Tayaw''s plan on doing like he said.

    Two hours later, the group finally arrived in Nashville. "Why does it feel like it''s just a snowy Ouigab?" Kilat said as she watched through the car windows the view of Nashville. She also saw the scant amount of snow in the process of dissolving from the rays of the sun. "Just like what I told Tayaw." Chala said. "Hey. The terrain is similar, but the weather, the people, is what makes the difference." Tayaw defended why he chose to stay in Nashville.

    -

    The next few days are spent by the family looking around the famous spots of the city. The day they arrived in Nashville, the family had to adapt to the cold December weather of Nashville so they all stayed in their hotel rooms. After that, their energy is back and excitedly hopped from one spot to the next.

    Tayaw finally entered Nashville''s Parthenon for the first time, which he only looked from afar before. They visited next the Music Row, Nashville''s version of the Hollywood walk of fame.

    Liboo had a blast when they visited the Grand Country Opera, the Ryman Auditorium, and the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. As a country fan that only interacted with country music through mixtapes and CDs, Liboo immersed himself as he went through the music''s history.

    Kilat, on the other hand enjoyed General Jackson Showboat''s tour along the C.u.mberland River. Kilat, while she spent a lot of time boating around Lake Tabila, she always wanted to ride on a cruise ship. 2.5 hours on General Jackson Showboat was a great experience for her first time on a cruise ship.

    Payew''s favorite was Traveler''s Rest Plantation. Ignoring the history of the place when it came to slavery and war, Payew was interested in the farm of the plantation and how people lived there in the 1800s. His interest in the daily life of people in the olden times was even more piqued when the family visited Fort Nashborough''s log cabins, fortified walls, and block houses that were based on the life of European pioneers in America.

    Agew''s favorites, which were a surprise to Tayaw, are the old buildings. Ryman Auditorium''s gothic architecture, Belmont Mansion''s Italian Villa inspired style, Presbytarian Church''s Egyptian inspired architecture, and the Parthenon''s Greek classical architecture. He was even more interested in the museums, especially the crafts displayed in it. Agew took very close looks to the ceramics, potteries, and the silverware.

    The family on their third day of touring, made a visit to Red Abbey''s Brewery where Tayaw taped his songs for Red Abbey Sessions. This was Chala''s favorite place in the tour. While Chala is not a big drinker of beer, he was interested in anything alcohol-related.

    "Guys, want to see something cool?" Tayaw said to the group as he led them to the exhibit area of the brewery. They all were surprised when they saw a framed photo of Tayaw, hanging alone on one wall of the room. In the photo, they saw a still picture of Tayaw wearing a three piece suit, a cowboy hat, and aviator glasses, hugging his guitar while leaning forward to a microphone. Tayaw''s facial expression singing was also captured. The long line of beer on the conveyor belts in the background added a strange attractive effect.

    "Hey. Why are you here?" Payew asked and looked at Tayaw with stars in his eyes, the rest of the group also having similar questions in their minds. The a.d.u.l.ts especially are curious as Red Abbey Lager is the only international beer that is famous in Teungeb, and they could not believe their eyes that Tayaw has his mark on the company. "I was the first musician invited to play for Red Brewery Sessions, the beer company??s side project." Tayaw replied as he pulled out his phone and opened the YouTube App.

    The group then saw Tayaw''s videos in the channel. "Son, I didn''t think you could sing like this. You sound like the country legends in the 70s." Liboo said in appreciation. "Whose song are you playing?" Kilat also asked in interest, hearing the haunting but beautiful songs for the first time.

    "I wrote these songs while I''m in America. The songs filmed in the wheat farm are the ones I wrote a few months ago." Tayaw replied. This surprised both Kilat and Liboo. "I don''t know our son anymore." Kilat said as she smiled, almost tearing up. "Honey. He''s still the Tayaw we know. I just didn''t expect that he''s made a lot of himself." Liboo hugged Kilat.

    "Hey Tayaw, what is this song about?" Payew asked as he played ''Devil''s suit and tie'' again. Even though he felt the dark badassery of the song, he could not understand a lot of the lyrics because the song is in English. "It''s about selling my soul to the devil." Tayaw replied. Payew and Agew felt goosebumps at Tayaw''s words. "Did you really meet the devil?" Agew, with his young mind, naively asked. Payew, who Tayaw thought to know better, also looked at Tayaw in interest.

    "Haha." Liboo, Kilat, and Chala were all amused at the question.

    Tayaw also smiled. "Let me tell you the legend of Jesse Johnston. Eighty years ago in Mississipi, the young Jesse was just a beginner guitarist with bad skills and no bar would hire him to play. He would also annoy other musicians when he practices.

    "One day, Jesse left Mississipi and disappeared for a year. Nobody knew where he went or what he was doing but when he came back, he was suddenly Blues music''s best guitar player¡­"

    The family''s tour of Nashville ended by Tayaw telling his family the inspiration of his songs.

 Chapter 76 - Real Estate of Television News

    January 5, 2012 ¨C Thursday 5 am ¨C Kangan Capital City ¨C Sheraton Hotel

    """"""""""""""""""""""""

    "¡­ And in the other news: A young woman was arrested today with the charge of assault and battery towards her boyfriend. Anne McCall has the details."

    -

    "Earlier this morning, the police escorted a young woman after his boyfriend called 911."

    ("911, what''s your emergency?" "Hello? Yes! My girlfriend and I are having an argument and she''s attacking me! Please send the cops before something bad happens!")

    "The young woman as seen in this censored footage is resisting arrest as the police asked her to enter the police mobile. After her boyfriend, who we''ll call ''J'' told her that he wants to break off their relationship, she reacted violently. It turns out that the young woman has been abusive to J for years."

    ["6 years. For 6 years, she would punch me, kick me, or hit me with something when she''s mad at something. She wasn''t like this when we were in high school."]

    "J called 911 many times before reporting the same incident. Unfortunately for J, the cops did not take his reports seriously. This made J film many of the young woman''s abusive behavior. We''ll show you one of the videos he filmed. Warning to the viewers, you may find the following footage disturbing."

    ("*Bleep* YOU! YOU LITTLE *Bleep*! WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? HUH? WHAT?! WANNA FIGHT BACK *SLAP* HUH?! COME ON! *SLAP* HIT ME, *Bleep*!" --- "Please *name muted*. Babe! Please stop! That''s not what I meant! Stop hitting me!")

    "According to J, the young woman would also threaten to take her life whenever J would want to break up."

    [Yeah. She would say that she''ll kill herself. I''m just scared she would actually do it, so I never left her.]

    "Here''s the footage of that happening. Be warned: the following has sensitive content."

    ("WHAT? WHAT DID YOU SAY?! WHAT THE *Bleep* DID YOU JUST SAY???" *CRASH* "I''m leaving *bleep*, I can''t take it anymore." "STOP! DROP YOUR LUGGAGE OR I''LL *Bleep* STAB MYSELF." "Will you really? That won''t work on me anymore." "I''LL KILL THE CAT! I SWEAR TO F*CKING GOD, I''LL GUT THE LIVING *Bleep* OUT OF THE CAT!" "No, you won''t! I''m calling the cops." ----- "DoN''T LeAvE mE PlEaSe *Sob*. I lOvE You! i''M sorry! I''lL Change!*Sob*" "No. I know what you''re doing. I''m done, *bleep*. I''m taking the cat with me.")

    ["So, what made you finally leave?" "I sent a message to Joe Farley''s show, and thankfully they picked it out. Joe''s guest at the time, Isaac, gave me a great advice, which I followed."]

    "And that advice was heard by thousands of listeners of Joe Farley''s ''Kiss the Radio'' two weeks ago."

    ("I''m no expert, but I think her suicide threat is a tool of manipulation. She is using the guilt of any decent man to her advantage, so I know it''s scary to actually leave¡­ I''m almost certain that your girlfriend will definitely not kill herself¡­ You have proof that she''s the piece of *bleep* and she''s the one who should be exposed¡­ it''s important to record her abusive behavior before you leave¡­ leave because it''s also the best for her¡­ Leave her now, before it''s too late for you, or for her.")

    ["People told me that Isaac left Nashville, so I didn''t get to thank him. So, Isaac, if you''re watching, I wanna say Thank You. You saved my life."]

    "While J''s former girlfriend will be spending time in prison, J is finally released from the prison he was forced in. For now, according to J, ["I''ll get myself a cold 12 pack of Red Abbey, hug my cat, and chill with Isaac''s songs."]. This is Anne McCall, reporting."

    """"""""""""""""""""""""""

    *slap* Tayaw closed his laptop after he watched the video link that Chala sent him earlier. "Thank goodness¡­" Tayaw deeply sighed at the news. Although he was confident about his advice being correct, he could not help but worry about 8312.

    While Tayaw did not show it to anyone, listener 8312''s question haunted him up until today. Often, Tayaw would brood if 8312 heard his advice. If 8312 did hear the advice, Tayaw was still worried if 8312 took his advice or not. If 8312 took the advice and ran with it, Tayaw lost sleep as he could have gotten 8312''s girlfriend killed.

    Remembering 8312''s bright voice and humor, Tayaw''s subconscious burden was lifted, his heart feeling light. He finally got closure.

    After stretching a bit, Tayaw got up from the bed to take a leak in the bathroom. After a week of visiting spots in New York, Tayaw and his family arrived back in Teungeb two days ago while Chala actually went back to Nashville to see his girlfriend. Tayaw over the past two days stayed in Kangpan while his family, after a bus ride, is home in Okuba, safe and has a lot of stories and photos to share to their friends.

    The reason why Tayaw remained in Kangpan is to scout out the main office of Teungeb''s Public Works and Highways Department; PWHD for short. Yesterday, while eavesdropping with his sensitive ears, Tayaw was not able to hear anything about the "Biongo Expressway Project".

    In his past life, it was the project that was able to connect the cities of the mountainous Nabla and Nukab provinces, to the busy northern coast city of Biongo and its international airport. This will in turn, boost the tourism of Nabla Province, and the economy of Ouigab City, especially Southern Ouigab.

    After taking a shower, he put on his three piece suit. Yesterday when he just wore his usual hoodie and rubber shoes to eavesdrop outside the PWHD office building, he spooked some employees and he was almost chased away by one of the guards of the office building.

    Today, under the guise of researching government owned lands, he will enter the office this time. He wore his three piece suit to not get recognized as the one who spooked them the day before. He also had to look expensive, and in turn he would be treated more amicably.

    After having a breakfast from the hotel buffet, Tayaw drove once again to PWHD Office building, arriving just in time for the office hours.

    "Good morning sir, the purpose of your visit?" The guard by the entrance asked Tayaw. "Just a few inquiries about public lands. Where do you suggest I start?" Tayaw asked. "Ah. Look for a Mrs. Yohnie at that office over there." The guard pointed to somewhere inside. "Thank you very much."

    Half an hour later, Tayaw walked out of the office building excited. While half-attentively talking to the people inside, he was able to overhear that there is indeed a "Biongo Expressway Project" and the engineers were just finished planning it. The project will start in a few months after the people involved in the project finish their budget estimation to submit to the Treasury Department.

    "Alright. Alright.?? Tayaw silently celebrated when he got back in his car. The next step will be to buy some undeveloped land in Nasiri Hill. In the future, it will be where the top 1% of Ouigab''s nouveau riche will make their neighborhood.

    In the month of December, his fairy tales sold 3.1 million copies; it is back in decline. ''The Halfling'', on the other hand, sold 9.3 million, 400K copies more than in November. Deducting all the cuts and taxes, he became 53,000,000 BGC richer. This makes his bank account currently has an excess of over 100million BGC, or $50M. This gives him a lot to use to invest in land in Nasiri.

    "Alright. Time to go home." Tayaw said thoughtlessly, finally done with his business in Kangpan. While driving back to his hotel, he saw a huge billboard advertising an upcoming movie in one of the tall buildings. This gave him a sudden idea. "Wait. Should I visit Clambu and Kubing this time?" Tayaw dwelled on the decision. "Let''s go."

    His first stop will be Clambu City in Gonto Province. Clambu City is basically the where 70% of Movies and TV shows in Teungeb are produced. It''s why the city is dubbed as "Teungeb''s Hollywood". Teungebian''s Film Scene, in Tayaw''s opinion, while ''okay'', at least to his world''s standard, is still miles away from the old and powerful American film industry.

    There will be one or two movies that come from Teungeb in every few years that would garner the attention of the international movie fans, but that''s it. That does not mean that Teungebian Cinema does not have a niche international following. They would be the ones to publicize Teungebian movies that would actually be critically acclaimed even by American film critics.

    Thinking about movies, Tayaw has not used the filmmaking skills that he drew from the mysterious roulette. Regarding the movies he drew, Tayaw is still considering whether he will produce them in this world. He will, eventually, but he''s still debating when.

    "Hmm. Should I look for actors in Clambu? Basically everyone there is either actors, or aspiring ones." Tayaw mumbled. "Ah. Big break." Tayaw sarcastically lamented the aspiring actors. "Okay. That was mean." Tayaw corrected himself the next moment, however.

    Tayaw''s next stop will be Ouigab''s six-hour-drive-away neighbor, Nukab city in the small province of Gonto. Unlike Ouigab''s music industry and Clambu''s film industry, Nukab does not offer the traditional entertainment, but offers a second home for famous athletes and aspiring sportsmen alike.

    It is almost universal knowledge that the higher the altitude is, the less oxygen there is in the air. Nukab, having an elevation of 2100 meters above sea level, is the best place for endurance and stamina training that Teungeb can offer.

    It is also almost universal knowledge that aside from marathoners, athletes who train their endurance and stamina the most are boxers and mixed martial artists, so it would not be unusual for a Nukab City or Gonto Province native to spot a famous boxer or a martial artist jogging on some walking trails. This is also why Nukab has the unofficial title of ''Martial Arts Capital of Teungeb''.

    Nukab has great weather; very much like Nabla. Teungeb, lying just above the latitude of Cancer Tropic, does not snow even in the coldest months, except for the highest mountain peaks; so the temperature would only dip to 7 or 8 degrees celcius at the lowest. Except for the typhoon months, Nukab is open all-year round.

    "Alright. Why don''t I look for screenwriters in Clambu? I might actually find a script I like and film the thing." Tayaw said on a whim. The more he mulled it over; however, resolve is slowly creeping up to him to actually do what he just said.

    Since he got Earl Thompson''s guitar in St. Louis, and since he started playing in Nashville, Tayaw has devoted almost all of his time to music. With the help of his perfect pitch, his enhanced brain, and the time freeze feature of the white void, Tayaw has written thousands of melodies and hooks, and compiled them into thousands of original compositions. What he has not done, however, is to write lyrics for the compositions.

    The number of the songs he created is also overwhelming. He does not know which ones he should write lyrics for first. Once he writes lyrics for them, there''s even more refining to do. After polishing, he also has to re-arrange them into the best genre the songs would fit in.

    "It''s easier to make a movie than to deal with those songs." Tayaw could not help but sigh.

 Chapter 77 - Marketing Studies of Songwriting

    January 7, 2012 ¨C Saturday 9 pm ¨C Blackbird Caf¨¦, Nashville

    "So, he left town?" A man asked Rez. "Yep. Since Christmas." Rez replied. "Did he say when he''ll be back?" The man followed up. "No. From what he said in his last gig, he just said that he''s leaving and we never saw him since." Rez said.

    "Hmm. That''s a pity. Alright, thanks man." The man said before leaving the bar. "Did you know who that was?" Irene, a regular performer at the bar asked. "He said he''s some producer from Grand Country Opera." Rez said, smiling. Irene was surprised at this. Grand Country Opera is a weekly concert by the biggest country acts. It is also broadcasted live on TV and Radio all over America. With the Opera''s prestige, even the "undercards" performing before the main act have received some critical acclaim.

    The Grand Country Opera also gives out awards that are similar to sports organizations'' Hall of Fame. A country star that would be "Inducted" to be a "Member of the Opera" will forever have the reputation of being one of the best country artists of their generation.

    "So, what did he want with Isaac?" Irene asked, finding Grand Country Opera looking for Tayaw, quite a big deal. "They''re looking for him to be one of the openers." Rez replied, feeling glad for The Opera''s recognition of Tayaw. "Hmm. Lucky him." Irene scoffed. Since Tayaw refused her invitation for ''company'' last November, the two were very cold to each other whenever they see each other in the bar.

    Rez didn''t like the tone Irene used. "I won''t call it luck. You watched Isaac a lot, do you really think it''s luck?" Rez said to Irene, to Irene''s surprise. Rez would not usually care about other performers in the bar. She also thought that Rez is right about Tayaw deserving to play at the Country Opera, but because she doesn''t like Tayaw, she would not admit it. "Whatever. His loss." Irene just shrugged and joined her band to pack up their instruments.

    "Wonder what happened to them?" Bobby, who was just listening to the two, asked Rez. "I don''t know. It''s weird, right? Isaac is kind to everyone so I think Irene must have done something." Rez replied. "I think Irene somehow offended Isaac. I mean, even though Irene can be a b-¡­ can have a strong personality, Isaac is very forgiving. Even to Travis." Bobby said. "Hmm. It must be really specific then. Well, whatever it is, I don''t care." Rez said, being on Tayaw''s side.

    "Still, The Opera looking for Isaac, huh. Do you think Isaac will come back to Nashville?" Bobby said, feeling it was a pity that The Opera''s people were late looking for Tayaw. "If he is a full-time country artist, then he has to. This is a great opportunity for any artist. But.." Rez sighed. "You don''t think he needs it too, huh?" Bobby finished Rez''s sentence.

    "Yep. You''ve seen him. You''ve seen his band. He can be a rock star if he wants to." Rez said. "True. If we don''t get a big break, we can never be as rich or famous as him." Bobby said as he shook his head. "Hey. I think he will definitely come back." Aaron, their band''s banjo, cut in. Bobby and Rez just stared at Aaron, waiting for Aaron to explain further.

    "Think about it. He''s a famous author, right? He''s also a successful business man. But how many people really know that he''s the famous T.L.D Grimmauld? How many people really know that he''s also a successful businessman? He asked us to keep his status a secret, right?" Aaron barraged Bobby and Rez with questions. "What are you getting at?" Bobby asked, him and Rez confused at Aaron''s questions.

    "Look. He doesn''t want to be famous as both an author and a business man, right? But why didn''t he care when he''s getting popular as a musician?" Aaron said. Bobby and Rez are finally enlightened. "He wants the recognition!" Bobby exclaimed. "EXACTLY. He wants people''s approval of him as an artist." Aaron nodded. "So, just like us, playing for the Opera will be a huge honor for him." Rez said, finally understanding.

    "So if he wants that honor, he will have to come back. That''s why I said I''m sure he will definitely come back." Aaron concluded. "I hope you''re right." Rez said. Bobby also nodded.

    "Hey, this morning, I saw Randall on Red Abbey." Bobby switched the topic. "Randall? That guy from Kentucky?" Rez said, surprised at Bobby''s news. "Yeah. That''s the one. Ever seen him play?" Bobby asked. "Yeah. I''ve seen him play with Kenny Clay a lot. Well, good for him, he deserves this, the guy''s been grinding longer than I have." Rez replied.

    The ''Red Abbey'' that Bobby is talking about is not the beer company, but Red Abbey Sessions, the YouTube Channel started by Walter, the owner of Red Abbey Lager. The YouTube channel quickly gained popularity among country fans. This is evidenced by Tayaw''s five videos in the channel have an average of 900,000 view counts each, after only a month since upload.

    "Why don''t we contact Red Abbey? Maybe we can play there too." Bobby suggested. "Let''s just wait and see. I know others who have already tried. Some of ''em are also good, but they were refused." Rez replied. "Really? Well, why don''t we ask them to promote us instead, we can save up to pay." Bobby said, really desperate to play for the YouTube Channel.

    "Man. They''re different. The folks I know said Red Abbey don''t do promotions. They are the ones who will look for the artists instead. They even pay the artists they invite." Aaron said, shutting down Bobby''s hope. "Why don''t we arrange songs more, then?" Aaron instead suggested. This interested Bobby.

    The Percussive Connections, after all, amassed millions of views in each of their videos, making the band YouTube famous. It''s just unfortunate for the subscribers that the band has not released anything since they uploaded their busking at Monna Park.

    "You saw Isaac''s YouTube channel with his band, right? Why don''t we do the same? We can get more exposure if we do great covers of famous songs." Aaron said. Unlike Aaron''s opinion earlier about Tayaw''s return to Nashville, Aaron''s suggestion sounded less hopeful.

    "Look, Aaron. Why do you think Isaac''s band got famous on the internet?" Rez asked. "I don''t know, they sound great?" Aaron said, unsure of his answer. "True. But others sound just as great. We can even sound better if we practice harder. So, I don''t think they''re famous just for sounding great." Rez disagreed. "What do you think then?" Bobby asked.

    "The song arrangements." Rez answered simply. Aaron and Bobby also thought for a moment about Rez''s answer and they realized it. "That''s right. They can make famous songs sound different. They can even make old songs sound recent." Reaz explained. Aaron, who was hopeful about doing a youtube channel, almost gave up.

    "Well, why don''t we try?" Bobby however, found Aaron''s suggestion plausible. "It''s not like we can''t arrange songs too. If we keep arranging songs, we just might resurrect an old song. We can also improve our originals." Bobby said. Rez, finding it reasonable, nodded. "Why don''t we arrange songs for our gigs and record them?" Rez added.

    "Alright! I have a camcoder. Let''s tape our gig, let''s see how it would look." Aaron, who was downcast earlier, said in excitement. "You do that." Rez nodded, glad that the band is about to do something new.

    "Good evening, fellas. Did I miss something?" John, the band''s drummer and youngest member, just arrived to the waiting room. "OH. We were just talking¡­" The band members caught John up with the discussion. "I think it''s a great idea." John said, finding the plan hopeful. "By the way, why don''t we talk to Isaac? He might be able to help us." John, who got to friend Tayaw on Facebook, suggested.

    "Sure. Why don''t you look up what time it is in Teungeb first?" Rez suggested. "It would be¡­ 4 in the morning there. It''s gonna be rude, but let me try calling him." John said. The band liked to stop John but knowing how forgiving Tayaw is, they just let John call. This was evidenced when Tayaw immediately picked up John''s video call.

    "Huh. Isaac, just how early do you wake up? You don''t look like you just woke up." Bobby was about to apologize first that they''re calling him too early in the morning, but he was dumbfounded instead when he saw that Tayaw looks neater and fresher in his regular home clothes than how the band looks.

    "I didn''t have a gig to do, so I wake up early at 2 or 3 in the morning these days. How about you fellas? Don''t you have a gig to do?" Tayaw also asked seeing that the band is calling from the waiting room of the bar.

    "We still have two hours. We''re planning on starting a YouTube channel and we want to ask for some advice." Rez said. "That''s great! What are you guys planning to do?" Tayaw asked, glad and hopes that Strawberry Front gains a lot from promoting themselves in the internet.

    "Well. First, we plan to arrange some pop or rock songs into country¡­" Strawberry band started telling Tayaw of their plans. "That''s a good start. Why don''t you also try to do some busking somewhere busy, like a street or near a university? ¡­ " Tayaw also approved of their plans and started suggesting the steps he took to advertise the Percussive Corrections.

    "Thanks a lot, Isaac. Hey, I know this might be too much but¡­ Do you have any spare arrangements?" Bobby asked hesitantly. The bad is also surprised of Bobby''s questions and how presumptuous it sounded.

    "Oh! There are! I''ll give you some of them." Tayaw said enthusiastically, to the shock of the band. "Hey! I was kidding!" Bobby said, feeling guilty on how easy it was. "No. No. It''s fine." Tayaw said. Unknowingly to them, Tayaw re-arranged more songs than what he and his band can perform.

    Tayaw does not want to give all of his song re-arrangements to his band, Percussive Corrections. After all, Tayaw wants the band to master re-arranging songs by themselves instead of relying on him. Re-arranging songs would also train the band''s sense in what songs sound good and how to play with them.

    Once the Percussive Corrections starts composing their own songs, Tayaw is sure that their songs will not be good from the start. With their arranging skills however, they can make their not so good songs into songs that would at least be listenable.

    Tayaw also graduated himself from performing cover songs. With his thousands of song compositions, he found that re-arranging and performing cover songs is just pointless unless there''s a song he really wants to cover.

    After talking about the plans for Strawberry Front''s future YouTube Channel, Tayaw suddenly thought about something. "By the way, guys¡­" Tayaw smiled mysteriously, changing the subject. "Why don''t I give you songs?" Tayaw said, to the shock of Strawberry Front.

 Chapter 78 - Analysis of Music Practice

    January 9, 2012 ¨C Monday 7 pm ¨C Ironstone, East Ouigab

    "Home sweet home¡­ ooOOOoohhh."

    Jenna sang the last chorus of the song. The rest of the band also closed the outro shortly. This is the first time, since Tayaw left for USA last October that the band performed live in front of Tayaw. Even though he has been exchanging videos with the band for the past two months, he never really saw them perform together.

    "What do you think?" Jenna asked. Tayaw sighed. The band is good. For the past two and a half months that he''s away, they have grown tremendously. The song they just performed for Tayaw was their collective arrangement, and it impressed Tayaw very much. Aside from the arrangement, the technical aspect of their playing alone can earn the band gigs in ROH Factory. They are at the level of Beyond Cape Town, Qiong''s band that performs regularly at ROH Factory.

    Considering their age, and how short they have been training under Tayaw, their growth showed Tayaw their great potential as a band. Tayaw also noticed that the band is starting to resemble artists. Each of them has their own ''flavor'' in their playing, which is something that can only be displayed by artists. It''s still not apparent, but given time, Tayaw is sure that the band can hone their unique sound.

    "Good. Very good." Tayaw replied, simply. Had it been any other day, he would have given a lot of feedback to the band, but today, he will not. After seeing the band''s rooting artistry, Tayaw finally gained resolve in leaving the band as a performer.

    "Good? That''s it?" Ramil asked in confusion; he was already getting ready for Tayaw''s barrage of constructive criticisms

    "There are a lot of parts that need improvement, but I''ll tell you all later. Seeing you guys perform tonight, I have decided¡­" Tayaw said, and took a deep breath. "That I''m leaving the band." Tayaw said.

    This is not a decision he made on a whim. Tayaw, since he started playing in Nashville, realized that he, too, has developed his own style and sound that is vastly different with his sound in his previous life. The months of exchanging videos with the band also made Tayaw realize that they would never truly be a band, unlike how Tayaw felt with his past life''s band.

    The current Percussive Corrections sound much different than the one in his past life. The members are also growing into different people than the people he knew, probably thanks to his involvement. Even so, Tayaw does not consider it a bad thing. Judging from how the band is doing currently, they are faring much better than they could have been had Tayaw not gathered them.

    Despite Tayaw ''s decision of leaving the band, he will still train and nurture the current members of the band. This is what he owes to his friends in his previous life because they gave him the meaning he needed to live happily, even though that happiness was cut short. To pay for the happiness they gave Tayaw, he is planning on training his band, in this life, to be much better musicians than Tayaw and his friends in his previous life could ever hope to be.

    Looking at the band, Tayaw knows that they are well on their way on just doing that. The current band''s abilities are equal to Tayaw''s band in his past life in their mid-20s. With Tayaw training them this time, the band, by the time they graduate university, may even become a better band than Tayaw and his past life''s Percussives achieved at their peak.

    "W-what do you mean you''re leaving the band?" "Is the band breaking up?" "You''re not serious, are you?" The members of the band, in their own ways, expressed their shock at Tayaw''s announcement.

    "ALRIGHT! Calm down everybody, let me explain." Tayaw said. The band did so. "Now. I know that you don''t see it yet, but in the future, you will. My sound does not belong with you all." Tayaw said. "But you can sing a lot of genres! What''s the problem?" Jenna protested.

    "Like I said, you don''t see it yet." Tayaw said sternly. "Man. I thought we were training to be your band? Just teach us to play with your sound." Hoon also asked. "I can''t do that." Tayaw shook his head. "Why?" Hoon said in confusion. "You''ll see in the future." Tayaw cryptically said again. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!" Jenna asked, yelled this time.

    "Because you are not experienced to see it yet." Tayaw insisted. The band did not protest any further as they know that Tayaw is more stubborn than they are.

    The band, since their performance at Monna Park, became celebrities not only at Northwestern University, but in Nabla Institute of Engineering (NIE) as well, which is the closest college to Monna Park. While the band appreciated the flattery of their school mates, the band didn''t get it to their ego because they have Tayaw to keep them in check just by being taught by him.

    Tayaw has become their benchmark to what a good musician actually is. And Tayaw, being the musician they look up to the most, cannot argue against almost anything music-related that Tayaw tells them. If Tayaw says they''re bad, they''re bad. If Tayaw says they need improvement on something, they will improve on that. And if Tayaw says that they are not experienced, then they know that it is true as well.

    "Then, what do we do now?" Bay-an asked, feeling an almost existential level threat.

    "I will train you all to be a band." Tayaw said. This confused the band, except for Hoon. "You don''t want us to be your band, but you want, just us six, without you, to be a real band?" Hoon asked for clarification. "Exactly." Tayaw confirmed. The band did not know what to feel about the revelation.

    "I mean¡­ If you are not planning on playing with us, why bother training us? I don''t know anyone that ¡­ selfless" Ramil asked. This is different compared to Tayaw''s initial purpose in gathering the band last year.

    "No. The reason why I''m ''bothering'' to train you all, Ramil, is because we''re friends. Do you disagree?" Tayaw asked. Ramil was speechless at this. It''s true that in the beginning, the band started out as acquaintances with mutual interests. But because of those mutual interests, they evolved to the closest of friends. "I guess we''re lucky to meet a generous friend, then?" Ramil said, unsure what to say.

    "Then.. Isn''t this too much? Tayaw?" Inson, whose mind in turmoil earlier finally spoke up, finding it hard to accept Tayaw''s generosity. "For anyone else, maybe. But let''s say that we''re not friends, I would still do the same." Tayaw said.

    "Why?" Ike asked. "Because I see great potential in you all. I would help you guys fully use and benefit what your potential can give you. To me ¡­ It would be a sin to see such potential go to waste." Tayaw said which flattered the band greatly. They never received such high a compliment from Tayaw since they met him.

    "BUT! Don''t get that to your heads. You all know that I was in Nashville for a month, right?" Tayaw asked which the band nodded to in response. "I''ve seen people there our age that have much more potential than you all guys have." Tayaw said.

    This knocked down the band''s pride immediately. Unknowingly to them, Tayaw just lied to them, but he knows that there are many teenage performers in Nashville, much much better than Travis. ''That was mean, but needed.'' Tayaw thought to himself. He told them that because he does not want the band to be complacent. "But because you guys are my friends, I want you all to catch up and prove that potential and natural talent is just a small part of being a great musician." Tayaw said, hoping to motivate the band.

    Judging from the bands members'' gazes at him, it seemed that his words of motivation worked.

    "So. How do we do that?" Inson, who was felt burdened by Tayaw''s generosity earlier, is now fired up. Looking at the rest of the members, they want to know as well.

    "I like your attitude. Now, who among you wants to be vocalists to replace me?" Tayaw asked the band. The band looked at each other for a moment before Jenna, Ike, and Ramil raised their hands. "Good. Who wants to learn songwriting from me?" Tayaw asked again. Hoon, Bay-an, and Inson raised their hands.

    "Good. Now. What genres do you all want to play?" Tayaw asked the group. To speed up the band''s readiness to make music and perform as a band, Tayaw plans for the band to focus on one genre.

    After a small conference of the band, they finally decided. "We want both rock and indie-folk." Bay-an spoke up for the group.

    ---

    A few days later, Tayaw and the band were done planning the group''s training arrangement. Tayaw would send Jenna, Ramil, and Ike, the three he dubbed as the "Vocal Unit", to two of the most well-known vocal teachers in Teungeb. Ramil would be training under the vocal teacher who specializes in rock, and Jenna and Ike would learn from a more all-around vocal teacher.

    Hoon, Bay-an, and Inson, which Tayaw dubbed as "Songwriters unit" would start learning Tayaw''s songwriting process today.

    "Okay. For now, I want you three to just listen. I''ll answer your questions later." Tayaw said to the three aspiring songwriters. "Cool." They replied.

    "Alright. Close your eyes." Tayaw said and the songwriter unit did. "Now. Think about what''s on your mind lately, what distracts you, whatever experience you could not help but look back to often."

    "Now. What do you feel about it? What about that experience makes it cross your mind often?" Tayaw asked. "My crush asked me to study together." Bay-an replied. "Alright. Keep it to yourself. I just want you to remember it, relive it, and feel it." Tayaw stopped the other two who were about to tell about their own experiences.

    "But. That''s a good experience to write a song about. Now. I know you want to talk about it, but keep it for yourself." Tayaw continued his guided imagery.

    Seeing the expressions of the three, Tayaw almost laughed. He continued anyway. "Good. Now, if you were to tell your story to someone, how would you want to tell it? How would you start? How would you introduce your story to the listener. If you were to write the first stanza of a song, this is just like it."

    "Now that you primed your listener with the introduction, go ahead and tell them the key event of your story. How did your experience make you feel? Were you happy? Were you sad? Were you angry? What keeps sticking to your mind? Tell that to your listener. If it was a chorus of a song, this will be like it."

    "Good? Okay. Next, you give the details of your story. How did your story come about? Were you hoping for it? Was it a surprise? What made you feel that way? Tell the details to your listener. That will be your second stanza. If you want to put in more details, go ahead and make a third stanza."

    "Okay. After you told the story to the listener, was there something you wished that could have happened to make it better? Did you have any regrets? Tell that to your listener. That will be the bridge. If you don''t have anything for your bridge, a stanza-chorus structure is just fine. There are a lot of songs that don''t have a bridge."

    Tayaw then let the songwriting trio to internalize their stories. Tayaw did not tell them to open their eyes yet so that they can concentrate. Tayaw wanted to give the trio as much time as they needed so while waiting; he closed his eyes as well, doing exactly what he''s teaching.

    This is just the first day for the trio; and they still have a lot to learn.

 Chapter 79 - Screenwriting of Negotiation

    January 14, 2012 ¨C Saturday 11 pm ¨C Nasiri, Nabla

    "Pleasure doing business with you." Tayaw thanked the former landowner of the lot he just purchased. "Likewise. I hope you make something of it." The man replied. "Would you like to go to lunch? I''ll treat you." The landowner invited Tayaw and the lawyers with them. Tayaw, after spending millions, would not refuse a free lunch.

    When Tayaw came back to Ouigab a week ago, Tayaw immediately explored Nasiri and found out that it is still very bare. Aside from an organic chicken farm and some warehouses, there''s nothing else. He also found a great location on the side of the hill that faces away from Ouigab, having a good view of the North Teungeb Mountains instead.

    He then decided to purchase a group of vacant lots, contacted their owners, and convinced them to sell to him. In the end, he is now the owner of a total of 530m x 530m (approx. 70 acres) land, basically 15% of Nasiri Hill, for the price of 38 million BGC.

    Tayaw shook his head at the price. Even though Nasiri is not rural, he could not believe how low the price of the land is.

    Even if things will go differently this time around for Ouigab, and that Nasiri will not be a rich neighborhood in the future just like it was in his past life, Tayaw would not feel that it''s a waste. Having a big land all to himself, after all, offers him great privacy. With his enhanced body, he can play around as much as he wants and no one will see his oddly superhuman physical abilities.

    If he will not use it as his playground, Payew can use it for his farm. If Payew refuses, Agew can use it to be his workshop and future base of operations for his craft business. If not, then Tayaw can develop the land himself.

    -

    After the lunch with landowner, Tayaw drove to another restaurant to continue his lunch. It would look bad for him had he actually eaten his fill on the landowner''s dime, especially if his fill can feed five people.

    "Yeah. That''s all. Hmm. Don''t worry, I haven''t eaten in 24 hours." Tayaw said to the server when he saw the server''s uncertain face about the amount of food Tayaw just ordered. After ordering his food, he pulled out his laptop to browse his recently-made e-mail.

    Last week, when he visited Clambu, he did not have a way to contact screenwriters, so he just visited famous spots in the city. What he did instead was to buy ad spots in Clambu''s local newspapers to post notes about him looking for a script. He also posted in job websites like how he did when he was looking for a book agent.

    Over the past few days, there were forty or so people who have sent him the summaries of their scripts but none could compare to the story lines of the movies he received from the giant roulette. He wants to check his e-mail nonetheless to see if a good movie premise came up.

    "Why do they all have to be about sports?" Tayaw read some of the new submissions. "Another knight in shining armor tale. They''re not even fresh ideas." Tayaw shook his head that he''s seen these premises before, only in different skins, and immediately scrapped them.

    "Oh. This one looks good." Tayaw said as he saw one submitted by a [email protected]

    [[In a small city, an office worker woke up one day and went to work just as usual. The next day, however, he found something was strange. Because of his habit of watching the TV while eating breakfast, he realized that the morning news was covering the same news he saw the morning the day before.

    The day got stranger when he was on his way to work, he saw his neighbor painting his fence just like the day before as if the paint was undone, the same cab driver picked him up, and it was the same person that served him coffee on his favorite coffee shop.

    At work, the pretty receptionist was wearing the same clothes and greeted him the exact way she did the day before. When he arrived at his desk to check the work he did the day before, he found out that the work he did were all undone as if he didn''t even start doing them.

    The man continued to waking up to the same day for three consecutive days so he finally accepted that he''s in a time loop. He then decided to live his life like it''s his last. He started gambling, indulging in the company of p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.es, and picking fights.

    One day, when he picked a fight with the wrong man, he was killed. Still, he woke up finding himself in the morning of the day he''s stuck in.

    Realizing that not even death can stop him, he continued to indulge himself every time the day resets. After exploring the city and traveling as much as the day would allow him, he grew tired. He''s repeated to do things enough that he grew tired of them and he wanted out.

    Like how the time loop saved him from death, it also prevented him from taking his life as a way out.]]

    Tayaw found the script fresh. Even if he didn''t receive the filmmaking skills from the roulette, as a casual viewer of movies, he found the script revolutionary.

    While waiting for his sumptuous order, Tayaw called the phone number that the screenwriter attached to his e-mail. After a few rings, the screenwriter picked up.

    "Hello? Jouny Yalen?" Tayaw asked, using the screenwriter''s e-mail to address the person. "Yes. May I know who this is?" Tayaw heard a woman''s voice from the other side of the line. "Hello. I''m Tayaw Dagem, the person who you sent the summary of your script." Tayaw said.

    "OH! How did you find my work?" Jouny asked, hoping that Tayaw brings good news. "Ms. Yalen, I like the premise very much. I would love to talk to you in person." Tayaw said. Jouny stayed silent for a few seconds before replying. "May I know first if you''re interested in making it into a movie?" Jouny asked.

    "I can''t promise you that yet, Ms. Yalen. I have to see the entirety of the script first." Tayaw replied. He heard Jouny sigh from the phone. "Alright. Where do I find you?" Jouny asked.

    "I''m based here in Ouigab. So, if you''re ready, you can call me through this number." Tayaw said. "Okay. I''ll be there tomorrow." Jouny said. "I''ll be waiting."

    -

    The next day, Tayaw went to the bus station to pick up Jouny. Tayaw was about to go out in his usual hoodie and jeans outfit but realized that to make things easier, he has to appear more business-like, so he wore his three piece suit.

    While sitting at the waiting area, holding up a sign with Jouny''s name on it, he saw a couple walk towards him. The lady, who looks to be in her late 30s, has the physical features of a regular Teungebian woman, but looked skinny and pale as if she has was not shined on by the sun for years. The man, in strong contrast to the lady, is tall, a little overweight but muscular, and his skin is shiny and dark, kissed by the sun.

    "Hello, young man, I''m Jouny." Jouny introduced herself and her husband, Ongki. "Pleasure to meet you two." Tayaw introduced himself as well. "My ride is this way." Tayaw said, saving the pleasantries for later as the bus station is too crowded and too smoky for his liking.

    Tayaw and the couple then jumped into his truck and left the bus station. As Tayaw drove the couple to a nearby restaurant, Jouny could not help but ask "Young man, can you tell me something about Mr. Dagem?" "Ah. Ms. Yalen, I''m Tayaw Dagem." Tayaw said to the surprise of the couple.

    "Ah. It''s nice to meet you. I didn''t know you are so¡­" Jouny was hesitant in finisher her sentence. "Young? I get that a lot, Ms. Yalen." Tayaw chuckled. Ongki who was silent all the way looked at Tayaw in interest. "Where are we going, Mr. Dagem?" Ongki asked.

    "You two have not had your lunch yet? Yes? You also sat on the bus for what, five? Six hours? Let''s go to my favorite restaurant. My treat." Tayaw said. "Then we thank you in advance." Ongki accepted gladly, but Jouny elbowed him with a glare. Ongki just shrugged. Tayaw who caught the couple''s interaction in the back seat, was amused. They behave a lot like his parents.

    A few minutes later, Tayaw and the couple entered the same restaurant Tayaw had his lunch the day before, the waiter who served him greeted him with a nod and escorted the trio to a table. "Hey. I''ll take this.. that.. and this. Mr. and Mrs. Yalen, you can order what you want." Tayaw said. He also looked at Jouny "You don''t have to be polite." He added as a signal to Jouny to let Ongki eat to his satisfaction.

    Looking at the couple wearing what looks like three layers of clothing, Tayaw figured that the couple does not visit mountain cities that often. "If you don''t mind me asking, where are you two from?" Tayaw started a small talk while they wait for their food.

    "I''m a native of Clambu and my husband here is originally from Kangpan." Jouny answered. "Hmm. I moved to Clambu when my wife and I were dating." Ongki said, perhaps a little too much information. The trio continued to talk about mundane things until Ongki suddenly brought up an important matter.

    "Mr. Dagem, how long have you been making films?" Ongki asked. Jouny is also interested. "I have not made a single film." Tayaw said to the disappointment of the couple. "However, I regard myself a film critic. I know what a good movie is and what is not." Tayaw clarified. He''s not telling the whole truth of course. While he does not have an experience making films in this world, he has the skills of a filmmaker from another world.

    "Speaking of good films, I think your script has the potential to be one." Tayaw said, finally bringing up the script.

 Chapter 80 - Financial Analysis of Screenwriting

    After the trio finished their meal, Tayaw asked for Jouny''s first draft of her script and started reading; the entirety of the story, "September 9th" finally revealed to him.

    """"""""""""""""""""""""""""

    Steven, depressed and afraid that he will forever be stuck in the same day and be his personal hell, had to find purpose in living it. He decided to use this opportunity to change to be a better man. He signed up for music lessons, language lessons, and even went to therapy. He tried to learn as much as he can, but in the end, it became tedious, found it pointless and he lost his purpose, just like everything he did before.

    He looked for people in danger to try to save them. He prevented a person in jumping off a building to their death. He saved a child from being run over by a car. He saved a person from getting mugged. He tried to save everyone, only to find them under the same life-threatening situation the next time he wakes up. He felt his actions in the end, were useless.

    One day, he decided to just stay in bed, and lie all day. He tried to remember what his life was like before the loop, and could not help but miss his ex-girlfriend, Diwaya who he spent 5 years of his life with. They had a pleasant farewell, but Steven knows that both of them still have lingering feelings for each other.

    Steven then, every time his day resets, would find Diwaya and tell her of his situation, convince her by predicting everything that would happen, and ask her what to do. This became Steven''s purpose every day. Even though Diwaya would forget every time, talking to her made Steven feel alive especially because her answers would differ each time he lets her know.

    This purpose not only rekindled Steven''s feelings for Diwaya, but realized that he has loved her very much, all along. Steven then, every day would confess his love for Diwaya. Sometimes Diwaya would walk away, but most of the time it would result to them getting back together.

    One day, Steven finally can''t handle the repetitiveness of the days with Diwaya. He would express his love, confess his situation, and spend the night together with Diwaya, only to not find her next to him when he wakes up in the morning. It helped him at first, but because it became more and more hurtful, he finally let her go.

    Knowing that he loves Diwaya, and Diwaya feels the same, is enough for Steven to know that he did not live his life desolate and he made a difference to at least one person. So in one cycle, one last night together, Steven brought Diwaya home. For the entire night, they talked about what could have been and what the two of them should have done to stay in love.

    When Diwaya fell into slumber, Steven watched her sleep one last time. Steven decided that after this cycle, he would not look for Diwaya ever again, even if he has to walk his days alone, forever. Steven laid down the bed facing Diwaya until he fell asleep.

    The next morning, Steven opened his eyes to see the sun shining through his window, just like countless times before. This time, however, his bed felt warm. He looked beside him and found Diwaya, snuggled up to him. ]] (This is the summary of the movie, obviously)

    ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

    It only took Tayaw, with his enhanced brain, to finish reading the 120-page script in 15 minutes.

    After reading the last page of the manuscript, Tayaw could not help but sigh deeply. It''s serious, it''s darkly funny, and it''s moving. It is a good story, and he can already see the movie scenes in his head. This is only the first draft but Tayaw could not wait to immerse himself more in the script by talking to Jouny about her feelings and inspirations while she was writing the script.

    Even though it does not compare to the movies he got from the roulette, this script is the best story he found in his world that does not follow the norm. Tayaw figured he can also contribute with changing parts of the story so it contains a deeper message.

    "Ms. Jouny. How come your script was never picked up?" Tayaw asked. Jouny smiled bitterly and can''t explain. "Movie studios found her script boring. They also were not sure if it would sell. Some said that it''s very expensive to film." Ongki explained on Jouny''s behalf before holding Jouny''s hand. "But I know my wife''s work is great. I just don''t know why they don''t see that." Ongki said, gritting his teeth.

    Tayaw figured that from Jouny''s struggle to answer and Ongki''s anger, the script must have been refused a lot of times. "May I know when you finished your manuscript?" Tayaw asked Jouny. "July of 2004" Jouny said. The script has been refused for almost eight years now. Tayaw could only imagine what it feels like.

    "What about other scripts? Do you have more?" Tayaw asked again. "I sold five rom-coms, but only two of them were actually made into a movie." Jouny said, shaking her head. Tayaw nodded at this. In his previous life, he heard that just like songs, many screenplays are indeed bought but many of them actually end up in file cabinets.

    "Anyways. I have decided to buy your script. I promise you, I will make it a modern classic." Tayaw said. He was comfortable making that promise because he''s confident that as long as there''s a good script, he can make a good film. The skills he also received from the giant roulette are after all, much more advanced than the filmmaking techniques in his world.

    The couple, feeling the resolve in Tayaw''s voice, could not help but be fired up as well. "Even though I''m hesitant because of how young you are, you are the only person who believed in my script, Mr. Dagem." Jouny said, now smiling brightly. "Please, call me Tayaw." Tayaw is glad to see Jouny appear brighter now.

    When he saw the Jouny in the bus station, he could not help but notice how pale and depressed she looked.

    "Thank you Tayaw for believing in my wife''s work." Ongki also said, raising his hand towards Tayaw across the table for a hand shake. "It''s not belief, Mr. Yawen. It''s a certainty." Tayaw said returning the handshake.

    "By the way, Mrs. Yawen. How much were you paid the most in your scripts?" Tayaw asked, wanting to base how much he would pay for this script of ''September Ninth". The couple was taken aback at the question. Jouny after thinking, finally answered.

    "I was paid 220,000 BGC for one script. That was most I got, including the re-drafts or re-writes." Jouny said. Tayaw nodded. In Teungeb''s Writers Guild, screenwriters get paid a minimum of 75,000 BGC for scripts, if they are not asked for re-drafts. For Jouny to sell a script for 220,000 BGC for the full treatment of two more re-drafts is pretty good.

    Tayaw made a quick estimation. If her best script sold for 220,000, her other script that made it earned her at least 100,000 BGC, and three shelved scripts that sold 75,000 each, then Jouny in her career, earned 545,000 BGC. Even though she''s an unknown screenwriter, she at least is not a starving one.

    What she earned however does not concern Tayaw. What concerns him is that such a screenwriter that managed to write a good screenplay like ''September Ninth'' has suffered the frustrations and dismissals she did not deserve.

    "Mrs. Yawen, do you write screenplays full-time?" Tayaw asked. "No. I make a living doing jobs for the writers'' guild in polishing other writers'' scripts." Jouny replied. "But. She tries to write her own scripts as much as she can on her spare time." Ongki added.

    "Aside from the five you sold previously, do you still have other scripts that you weren''t able to sell?" Tayaw asked, hoping to unearth another story like ''September Ninth''.

    "Yes. But they''re not good. They are scripts that I wrote following the marketable formula." Jouny said. This disappointed Tayaw. The ''marketable formula'' refers to the common rom-com and sports movies stories.

    "Alright. Are you writing anything else that is just as ''different'' as ''September Ninth''?" Tayaw asked again. "Unfortunately, no. This is my best work, and I don''t know when I''ll get a good idea that is just as novel as this." Jouny said. Tayaw nodded at this, just like writing music, it''s difficult to write a good one.

    "Alright." Tayaw said as he pulled out a folder from and passed it to Jouny. "I''ll take your script for 350,000 BGC on this first draft. In case I require for more drafts, I''ll be paying you more." Tayaw summarized the agreement he proposes.

    Jouny and Ongki read through the short proposal and looked at each other. They could not believe how generous Tayaw is being. "This.. Are you sure?" Jouny asked, finding it''s too good to be true. "It''s a lot." Ongki also said.

    "Look. You''ve waited for 8 years, right? I know it''s worth it." Tayaw said, assuring his sincerity. "If you want, I can book a hotel room for you two, hell, go home to Clambu even. Take your time to make a decision." Tayaw said. Even if what Tayaw said is needless for such a great offer, he knew that buying the script hastily will only make the couple suspicious.

    "I''ll sign it." Jouny finally said.

    -

    A few days later, after all the legal stuff was done regarding the screenplay, Tayaw finally owns ''September Ninth''s rights. In addition to purchasing the script, he also offered Jouny a 2.5% residual (royalty) to whatever the Tayaw earns from the movie, after deducting the cut of the film distributor.

    "Hello, Tayaw. I just received your deposit. Thank you very much. If you need help in making your movie, please contact me, I might be able to help." Jouny said from the other side of the line. "I''ll inform you once I begin production." Tayaw replied and hung up.

    The reason why Tayaw offered Jouny higher than average royalty is that he does not see the reason to hire Jouny again in refining the script. With his film making skills, he can polish the script as he goes.

    Tayaw then went to a stationery store to pick up a lot of stationery. He will need a lot of pieces of papers and pencils for storyboarding.

 Chapter 81 - Introduction to Film Production

    January 17, 2012 ¨C Monday 4 pm ¨C Ironstone, East Ouigab

    "How about the lyrics?" Bay-an asked.

    Since Tayaw''s first lesson to the band''s ''Songwriting Unit'', the trio finally composed their original melodies and finished each of their own songs'' rough composition. Bay-an, being the most excited to finish writing his first song, asked Tayaw first how to write lyrics.

    "Alright. Writing lyrics is quite difficult and if you''re not inspired, it takes a lot of trial and error." Tayaw began, and Bay-an pulled out his notebook.

    "What I''d like to do is to write the lyrics for a chorus first. I can only guide you. So, what do you want to write about? What is it that you want to communicate to the listener the most?" Tayaw asked, rhetorically. Bay-an knowing tayaw''s teaching process, just processed Tayaw''s words and answered his questions in his head.

    "I''m pretty sure that while composing, you also could not help but to think which words would fit, right?" Tayaw asked and Bay-an nodded, relating very much.

    "That''s a good start. I don''t want to influence your songwriting so much, but whatever you''re writing about, try to think as many words as you can that relates to the feeling you want to convey." ¡­.

    Meanwhile, the ''Vocalist Unit'', Jenna, Ike, and Ramil have also started taking vocal lessons. Since their classes started, the three learned to protect their vocal chords, how to warm up, and how to sing efficiently. They also started doing deep breathing exercises, jogging as much as they can together, so they can build stamina to sing longer.

    Tayaw knows that unless the three aspiring vocalist have his enhanced body and recovery, it would take them months or even years to be excellent vocalists.

    Tayaw, after talking with Bay-an, then went back to his room and continue his storyboarding.

    Storyboarding, from the film making experience he was given, is the process of graphically ill.u.s.trating or drawing a film maker''s visualization of how a frame or series of it (a scene) would turn out in the screen. If a layman would look at the story board, they would mistake it for an ugly looking comic book if they don''t look any closer. While not all film makers do this, the film maker whose experience Tayaw gained, would always story board to save time and expenses during the production and post-production process.

    Since he started, Tayaw was able to storyboard a half of the entire script. With his enhanced thought process and body, he was able to ill.u.s.trate what would normally take a few months of trial and error and drawing, in only three days.

    He was able to ill.u.s.trate his visualization of how the main character, Steven, would be introduced. He drew the Steven waking up, preparing the breakfast, and watching the TV. He then ill.u.s.trated the small scenes of things that the Steven would notice on the way to work; the neighbor painting his fences, the taxi driver, and the coffee server. These would also repeat throughout a good part of the movie.

    Tayaw also ill.u.s.trated the scene he imagined of how the main character would realize that he''s stuck in a time loop. He drew what Steve noticed repeatedly, but from different camera angles, to his spiraling down to deviant and promiscuous behavior.

    What Tayaw ill.u.s.trated was not only how the scenes would be shot, but the characteristics of the characters. Steven, in the beginning, would be portrayed as a normal human. When he was confused in the time loop, he would be drawn haggardly.

    When Steven starts gambling, fighting, and whoring, Tayaw would draw horns on Steven''s head.

    While storyboarding, Tayaw also could not help the musician in him to think of melodies that he thought would fit in the scenes or important plot points, so he also has his special guitar always on standby.

    January 25, 2012 - Wednesday 9 am ¨C Clambu City ¨C Silvertone Hotel

    Tayaw walked in a conference and joined Jouny by the long table.

    "Hey Jouny. How was the response?" Tayaw asked Jouny. Since Tayaw bought her script, Jouny volunteered to look for a casting director to hire. Tayaw, however disagreed and asked Jouny to assist him to cast instead. Tayaw is sure that any casting director''s experience would conflict with his vision.

    After Tayaw was done with his story boarding, he immediately booked a conference room in Clambu''s famous Silvertone hotel to hold the auditions. The hotel normally sets up the conference rooms for the purpose of meetings but today, the tables are all removed and all that is remaining in the room is a stool for the actors to sit on, a long rectangular table or Jouny and Tayaw to use, a few cameras on the table, rolling, pointed at the stool where the actors would be sitting.

    "Great actually. 17 actresses called me for Diwaya''s part and 21 actors for Steven''s part." Jouny started a short report. "I still do not understand why you want comedic actors, though?" Jouny asked in curiosity. When she talked to Tayaw about his preferences, Tayaw recommended to have half of the actors be comedic actors.

    "Let''s just say ¡­ my instincts. No¡­ Gut feeling." Tayaw replied. Tayaw in his past life saw that many comedic actors do very well playing dramatic roles, which until this day, he does not understand. What he knows, however is that comedic actors are very adaptable in whatever role they are in. And this adaptability is exactly what he needs for his actors to learn the acting style he wants.

    "Okay. But why choose actors who didn''t have theater training?" Jouny asked again. "I''m doing something new. Trust me on this." Tayaw didn''t bother explaining. Tayaw''s actual reason in asking for actors without theater training is that he figured that if he wants ''real film actors'', he has to choose actors who don''t have to ''untrain'' themselves of the habits and discipline of theater acting.

    "Alright. Your movie." Jouny said helplessly. "Hey *****. Please call in the first actor in. Don''t come in until the actor steps out." Jouna said to the intern she hired for the day.

    ¡­

    Three hours later.

    "You want to know what we''re doing this December? You''re asking the wrong question my man. You what we''re going to do this December? Huh? We''ll still be here, our hands on our keyboards and A4 papers! We''ll be here, in our cubicles, slowly getting fat, getting ugly, it''s going to last ''til we''re in our fifties! That is if we''re even lucky to reach that age without dying of diabetes or heart attack from sitting our asses around!"

    The 10th actor theatrically recited his lines like it is any other contemporary theater play. This annoyed Tayaw greatly. ''Where''s the anger? Where''s the helplessness? Where''s the f*ckin frustration?!'' Tayaw yelled at the actor in his head. ''F*ck. Even the extras in the movies the roulette gave me are better actors that these fellows.'' Tayaw sighed.

    He understood that these actors had different training, but after Tayaw instructed them, they cannot still act believably. Tayaw asked them to speak the lines as naturally as they can like they''re saying it to another person, but they sounded way off.

    Tayaw still has not seen an actor that satisfied him. After seeing the 10th actor''s acting skills, "Alright. Thank you. We''ll call you once we''ve decided." Tayaw said, politely saying that the actor didn''t get the part. He did not bother instructing the actor any longer as he has lost patience.

    Tayaw then called for a break. "Damn." Tayaw sighed, shaking his head. "What''s the problem, kid? I thought some of them were all good." Jouny asked in confusion. Tayaw shook his head. "Tell, me, Jouny, do you really see ''Steve'' in any of them?" Tayaw asked in return. This stumped Jouny. Yes, while the actors did alright, to her eyes, did not see someone who fit her vision of Steve.

    "We gave them two weeks. TWO WEEKS. They did not even digest the character?" Tayaw said in frustration. "Hey. Relax. We have 11 more actors to go; all comedic actors, all of them have no theater training, just like you asked. Maybe you''ll find one from them." Jouny said. This is the first time that she''s working directly in recruiting actors for her film, so she''s very enthusiastic.

    "We should have had them first." Tayaw said thoughtlessly, but this offended Jouny a bit. "Hey. I told you I''m not a casting director. Also, from their qualifications, I placed them in priority." Jouny said. "Hey. Okay. I''m sorry. I didn''t mean anything by it." Tayaw said.

    Tayaw is not usually sensitive, but these days, he''s actually feeling pressured. While he has skills as a film maker, the actors he wants are hard to find. There are also no camera man and other crew that has the skills he requires. Finally, there''s only two months before the deadline for the Sorrento Film Festival.

    After a few minutes of break, Tayaw resumed the auditions, with the 11th actor entering the conference room. Compared to the 1st to 10th actors, Tayaw is actually more hopeful with this new batch of actors who are either comedic or never had theater training. The 11th, 12th, and 13th actors have a more natural delivery that is better for films. However, they are still lacking. Tayaw still cannot see a believable acting. They still all looked like they''re acting.

    Jouna, seeing Tayaw''s better expression now, is actually confused. "I don''t see anything special?" Jouny asked in confusion. "Oh. I see them. Once we begin filming, you will see it, Jouny." Tayaw assured her.

    The 14th actor then came in. Tayaw, recognized the actor and chuckled. "You know him?" Jouny asked. "Yes. If he writes comedy sketches, he''s a comedian. If he doesn''t, he''s a comedic actor." Tayaw replied. The 14th actor, Uranto Vireza is a cast member of the popular weekly late night sketch show by a theater troupe. Every Thursday nights, the sketch show is performed live at the theater troupe''s theater and is broadcasted live at a cable channel.

    "Should I know him?" Jouny asked, finding Uranto''s physical attractiveness a little underwhelming for an actor. "No." Tayaw said. The sketch show, despite being funny, is not really for the general audience. Their dark, mature and racy comedy only has a very small niche audience, and Tayaw is one of them.

    "Mr. Virenza. It''s nice to meet you. I''m a huge fan of ''Mad Concert''" Tayaw said, which surprised Uranto. "Thank you uh.. sir." Uranto said, unsure how to address a young man like Tayaw. "Alright. Please take a seat. Start on Act 1 Scene 5. Take your time." Tayaw said, back in a pleasant mood after seeing an actor he only saw on TV.

    Uranto closed his eyes for a few seconds, gathered his emotions, and took a deep breath.

 Chapter 82 - Creative Analysis of Film Acting

    Uranto sat down on the stool, closed his eyes for a few seconds, gathered his emotions, and took a deep breath. This prep is a lot different than what the previous actors has done, and it piqued Tayaw''s interest. Tayaw then leaned forward, elbowing Jouny''s arm to pay close attention.

    "You want to know what we''re doing this December?" Uranto started his line, smiling bitterly at an invisible person in front of him. Uranto is slouched as he sat on the stool, his back leaning against the wall.

    "You''re asking the wrong question my man." Uranto said, this time in disdain, and sat straighter. "You what we''re going to do this December? Huh? I''ll tell you." Uranto continued, bitterness becoming more and more apparent in his voice.

    "We''ll still be here, our hands on our keyboards and A4 papers¡­" Uranto voice raised slightly, the volume getting a bit louder, his face slowly contorting, his body looked stiff out of anger, as he pointed at the invisible keyboard and papers.

    "We''ll be here, in our cubicles, slowly getting fat, getting ugly, it''s going to last ''til we''re in our fifties!" Uranto''s anger finally burst out of his body as he stood up, toppling the stool over. He expressed anger, bitterness dialed even more, making Uranto''s voice crack.

    Uranto did not express the type of anger that is intimidating, but a pitiful one. Just the type of anger that a defeated man feels.

    Uranto then took another deep breath. It took him a second or two to calm down and picked up the stool, stood it back up, and sat down on it, looking dejected. "That is..." Uranto chuckled and rested his head against the wall, looked at the ceiling, before he continued with the line. "That is if we''re even lucky to grow old without dying from sitting our asses around." Uranto finished the line.

    Tayaw, who is watching closely could not help but be moved. Uranto delivered Steven''s sentiments perfectly in the scene, despite the icky writing. Uranto unlike the actors earlier, acted believably. If the people in the room did not know that Uranto is auditioning, they would believe that Uranto really is an office pencil pusher that is trapped in his life, bottling his feelings up, only to be released by a simple ''What are we doing this December?''.

    Tayaw has seen excellent acting in the movies he got from the roulette, but to see it in real life is a new experience. Tayaw felt that he finally found Steven in Uranto.

    Tayaw then looked at Jouny to ask what she thought of Uranto, only to see Jouny''s eyes pooled with tears. "Mr. Virenza, please step outside for a moment, we''ll call you back in shortly." Tayaw said to Uranto. Even though Uranto was confused, he still did as asked. As Uranto stepped out of the room, he felt hopeful for landing the role as Tayaw did not tell him ''We''ll call you back'', which is a polite way of ''You didn''t get the role''.

    "Hey Jouny, you alright?" Tayaw patted Jouny''s shoulder. This also snapped Jouny out of her daze and dabbed the tears in her eyes to prevent them from falling. "Yeah. Is this what you were looking for?" Jouny asked excitedly, finally realizing what Tayaw wanted all along.

    "Yes. What do you think of him?" Tayaw asked, curious of her opinion. "He''s Steve. It''s like Steve has come alive!" Jouny could not help but exclaim. "That''s my vision, Jouny. I want your characters to come alive in my movies." Tayaw said. "Alright. I understand." Jouny nodded, a glint can be seen in her eyes.

    Tayaw then walked out of the room to talk to Uranto shortly. ''If you don''t have an appointment for the rest of the day, please wait for the audition to be over, and we''ll talk.'' Tayaw whispered to not be overheard by the rest of the actors.

    Tayaw then resumed the audition, and one by one, the six remaining actors after Uranto also satisfied Tayaw. Although they are not comparable to Uranto, Tayaw can make them learn during filming, so he saved their phone numbers to offer them supporting roles.

    After the audition for the day was over, Tayaw invited Uranto and Jouny for an afternoon snack at the hotel''s restaurant.

    "Oh. By the way. We''re not casting directors." Tayaw suddenly said after they got a table. This confused Uranto a lot and felt apprehensive.

    "Heh. Don''t worry. I''m Tayaw Dagem, the director and my associate here is.." Tayaw introduced himself. "Jouny Yalen, the screen writer." Jouny introduced herself as well. This relieved Uranto. "Pleasure to meet you two."

    "Mr. Virenza. May where you learned acting? Why did you choose to stray away from conventional acting?" Tayaw asked Uranto after ordering their food. From the comedy sketches he saw Uranto in, Uranto did not act like he just did in the audition.

    "Oh. I don''t know. I tried to understand Steven for the past week, and what I did, I think is how the real Steven would act and feel at that scene. I can''t explain. I didn''t go to theater school." Uranto said his shoulders drooping, feeling inferior.

    Tayaw was pleased at Uranto''s process and could not help but smile. "Yes. You did not go to theater school. BUT. All those theater actors that auditioned earlier? I kicked them out. What I''m looking for exactly is an actor like you." Tayaw said to lift Uranto''s confidence. Uranto also felt happy at the praise. He was never appreciated with his acting.

    "Thank you." Uranto said.

    "Actually, Mr. Virenza. You and I are similar." Jouny said. "Ms. Yalen, how so?" Uranto asked.

    "You see. I''ve written this script YEARS ago, it was never recognized." Jouny began. "It''s Tayaw here who saw my script''s potential. If I''m not mistaken, you have been looking to act in movies for a long time now, right?" Jouny asked. "That''s true." Uranto said. "And it is also Tayaw here who saw your potential. At first, I was skeptical about what he wants in actors but when I saw you, I finally understand." Jouny said. This lifted Uranto''s confidence once again.

    "I''m thankful, Mr. Dagem." Uranto thanked Tayaw again. "I grew up in the countryside of Gonto. As a child, I would always see actors that visit my hometown to shoot their movies. This inspired me to become an actor. But because my parents can''t afford to send me to Drama School, I was not educated." Tayaw and Jouny were surprised at Uranto''s background.

    "So, when I was 17, after finishing high school, I went to Clambu to work and try to save up for Drama school, but I realized I can''t afford it even if I starved myself." Uranto continued. Jouny understood Uranto''s plight. She herself did not study in college as a writer but trained and worked as a secretary immediately after high schoo. In the end, she quit her secretarial job and did not save up for college. What she did instead was to pursue what she''s been always good at; a film writer.

    "After more than a year of hopping from part-time jobs to another, I finally found my home at my current Theater Troupe. As they do comedies, they don''t require drama school graduates, but people who can act to make the audience laugh. So, for 15 years, I stayed with them. They pay isn''t also bad." This made Jouny look at Tayaw as she realized a few connections.

    "Understanding humor, you understand how the human thinks." Tayaw suddenly said in realization. Comedic actors and comedians have to have the empathy to know how and when to make people laugh. So, Uranto, being a comedic actor, applied his skills in studying the character of Steven.

    --

    Two more days of auditions later, Tayaw found Ilenie Partros, an actress around the same age as Uranto, to play the role of Diwaya. Ilenie just also happens to be Uranto''s fellow troupe member, so when she walked in the audition room, it was a pleasant surprise for Tayaw. Tayaw was even more surprised what Ilenie looks like without her comedic make-up and she looked pretty and dainty.

    While Ilenie is not as good an actor as Uranto is, Tayaw still found her skills satisfactory. After only a few instructions from Tayaw, Ilenie was able to act believably. With a few more nudges from Tayaw, she will start absorbing Diwaya''s character.

    Tayaw then talked to both Ilenie and Uranto about some scenes in the movie.

    "You two have probably read the entire script, yes?" Tayaw asked the two, and they nodded in response. "As you know there are some¡­ intimate scenes." Tayaw said. "Yes. About that¡­" Uranto was hesitant. "Don''t worry. You''ll wear something under the blanket. You, Ms. Partros, will be wearing strapless clothes." Tayaw said, in amus.e.m.e.nt at the two''s reactions.

    "AND! It''s not like you haven''t kissed other actors for a joke before." Tayaw added, remembering the more racy bits of the comedy sketch show that the two are current cast members of.

    "But, Mr. Dagem. The context is different." Iliene said, her concern valid. While she indeed kissed some actors in the troupe, she did it for the laughs. This movie, with its romantic element is an uncharted territory.

    "Well¡­. Are two you dating anyone?" Tayaw asked the two. "I am." Uranto said. Iliene shook her head, saying she''s single. "What does she feel when you kiss an actress on stage?" Tayaw asked Uranto. "She feels fine with it." Uranto replied. "Do you think this will be any different?" Tayaw asked again.

    "I¡­ I think so. It''s just different." Uranto answered after considering the story of the movie. "Well. Just imagine Iliene here as your girlfriend. You can also tell your girlfriend that, so when she sees your convincing performance in the movie, she knows that you did it because you think of her." Tayaw said to Uranto.

    "What do you think about the actors who are married? They are fine with their spouses kissing on the movies." Tayaw added. While Uranto is still uncertain of Tayaw''s answer, he realized that if married actors can handle it, so can he.

    "I still think¡­" Iliene was about to protest further but Tayaw stopped her. "Ms. Iliene. It''s a movie. Just treat Mr. Virenza''s body and lips like it''s just flesh. You''ll soon get over it. Unless of course, you like Mr. Virenza?" Tayaw said trying to help Iliene through reverse psychology.

    "No. Well. I like him as a person and a friend, but that''s that." Iliene replied. "Good. So you two become comfortable with each other or else, we''ll be taking more takes if I''m not satisfied with the intimacy I see through my lenses. The less takes, the quicker we get over the scenes." Tayaw said.

    After filling the main roles, Tayaw was also done hiring the supporting actors. Most of the supporting actors he hired either from the auditions, or from Uranto''s comedy troupe, all of them not having theater training. The extras, he can just hire off the street.

 Chapter 83 - Practical Applications of Film Production

    February 3, 2012 ¨C Friday 2 pm ¨C Pucnas, Clambu City

    "So. You can''t do it?" Tayaw is on his phone talking with the head of the set design company he hired. "We can. But we''ll go over-budget." The head designer explained. "Alright. I''ll transfer some funds and do it." Tayaw said. "Okay. I just don''t understand, why pay attention to these details?" The head designer asked, confused at why Tayaw wants the sets to look realistic. "Don''t worry about it." Tayaw didn''t bother to explain.

    Tayaw was not lying when he said ''Don''t worry about it'' as he indeed has no problems currently with money. His books are still selling well as evidenced by the report sent by Topaz for the January sales. Just as expected, Tayaw''s two volumes of fairy tales, both the children and a.d.u.l.t versions, sold a total of 2.7 million copies that earned him 5.5 million BGC.

    ''The Halfling'' on the other hand, is still hot and sold 9.1 million copies worldwide which netted him 43.4 million BGC. Unlike the November and December sales that came mostly from Teungeb, January showed signs that his book are very popular internationally. The Hindi and Chinese releasing last January also contributed a lot in the sales.

    For the month of January, he earned 49 million BGC in solid cash, or 25M USD. So far, Tayaw has only spent 4 million BGC in the movie so far. This includes the actors'' salary, renting of filming locations, filming equipment like the cameras and microphones, and the set design.

    While waiting for the sets to be built, Tayaw also started shooting as soon as he hired the required actors. Aside from Iliene and Uranto as the main actors, the supporting cast was also hired by Tayaw from the auditions. Two days ago, Tayaw started shooting the scenes at locations that are easily rented and don''t require too much setting - up.

    Today, Tayaw was just wrapping up shooting the scenes at Steven''s house when the set designer called him. Jouny and Ongki actually volunteered their house as the location for Steven''s house. And because Uranto and Iliene doing a great job playing Steven and Diwaya, it did not take too many takes, so Jouny and Ongki are getting their house back after only two days.

    "CUT! GOOD! Now, Mr. VIrenza, Ms. Partros, that wasn''t so hard, now, was it?" Tayaw said to the two actors who were just sharing a bed for the implied bed scene, which they finally succeeded completing. The bed scene actually was not even that s.e.x.u.a.l. The actors had a lot of kissing to do, however.

    "Yeah. It gets technical." Iliene replied, which Uranto chuckled at. All extra emotions they felt were thrown out of the window once they saw Tayaw and the crew''s professionalism.

    "Alright! Ms. Partros, you''re done for today. Go home, and rest." Tayaw said to Ilene as she has no scenes in the next filming location. Iliene who had a lot adjusting, memorizing, and sleepless nights due to pressure, almost cried in joy hearing Tayaw''s words.

    "Men, let''s move!" Tayaw then ordered the 7-man filming crew with him.

    The 7 man crew is composed by three camera men, a lighting director, a lighting technician, a sound engineer, and a boom mic operator. Aside from the camera men, the remaining members of the crew did not have much adjusting to Tayaw''s style as their contributions are not that apparent to the movie screen.

    The three cameramen, however, who are so used to shooting in wide-angles, had a lot of adapting to Tayaw''s preference of closer shots. They even almost argued with Tayaw. But with Tayaw''s promise of increased salary, they had no choice but to follow what Tayaw wanted. They also get to use Tayaw''s newly purchased high-end cameras only used in sporting events.

    Tayaw is currently using four digital cameras, operated by him and the three camera men, to shoot different angles of the scenes. The cameramen are shooting in different angles as instructed by Tayaw, and Tayaw operates the last camera that shoots full or wide shots. He chose to operate this camera as it has the best view to the scene.

    While en-route to the filming location, Tayaw provided the camera men and Uranto more instructions on what they will do. He also showed them his storyboard for visual reference. A few minutes later, they arrived at Clambu City''s branch office of Teungeb''s Writers'' Guild where a few interns and assistants are already waiting.

    "Alright! Is the office set ready?" Tayaw asked one of the assistants he hired. "Yeah. The office workers are ready. We also prepared the fake files." The assistant replied.

    Again, with the help of Jouny, Tayaw was able to convince the managers of Writers'' Guild office in Clambu to be used in filming. The main character, Steven, is an office worker so Tayaw needed a place for office scenes. The Writers'' Guild''s office in Clambu looks vague in what business they are in to an outsider''s perspective, so Tayaw found it perfect to shoot the movie''s office scenes.

    Tayaw had the signs in the office changed and added some fake equipment to follow Steven''s workplace in the script. This did not require the services of the set design company.

    Tayaw also hired the actual co-workers of Jouny as background actors the day the office manager agreed to the shoot. Tayaw instructed the office workers to just get on their day and not mind the shooting, to make the shoot as realistic as possible. Tayaw paid the office workers 20 BGC per hour in accordance to the minimum wage of an actor. The office workers were happy to take what basically is free money.

    "Okay. Have you instructed the background actors what to do?" Tayaw asked the assistant. "Yes, director. As one of the office workers'' said ''We just don''t mind them, right?''" The assistant replied. Tayaw nodded and the crew finally entered the office building to set-up.

    While waiting for the crew to finish setting up, Tayaw brought Uranto to what would be Steven''s office cubicle. "Alright. Sit down, Mr. Virenza and close your eyes. Feel this table. Steven has been working here for 17 years now. What does he do every day? He sits here every day for the past 17 years." Tayaw started to help Uranto get into character.

    "For the past 17 years, he''s done nothing but type on the keyboard, flip papers, and talk to the boss. But think about it, has he really lived?" Tayaw continued. Uranto''s face is also solemn, absorbing his character. "For seventeen years, he had to read the same reports from the same warehouses. Aside from summarizing them and making graphs, has he really achieved something?" Tayaw continued to set in the character''s frustration.

    "Has he really contributed to society?" Tayaw''s final question made Uranto clench his fists. Seeing this, Tayaw smiled and nodded. "Bottle that feeling up, Mr. Virenza. That is what Steven feels." Tayaw said as he patted Uranto''s shoulder and left.

    -

    Tayaw then went to the actors'' tents in the parking lot to talk to the supporting actors that will be on the office scenes.

    "Hello." Tayaw pulled away the first supporting actor that will be shooting today. Nielg, the actor plays Steven''s best friend and office neighbor, is also a comedic actor, a troupe mate of Uranto and Iliena. Tayaw chose Nielg for the role of the best friend as he is also a close friend of Uranto in the troupe for a long time.

    "Hello, director." The actor greeted. "Have you memorized your lines?" Tayaw asked. "Yes, director. Thank you for giving me the role." The actor said, excited to begin.

    "Now. Just because you''re hired does not mean it will be easy, okay?" Tayaw said seriously. "I understand, director." The actor said, getting Tayaw''s meaning. "Now. You know the type of acting I want, right?" Tayaw asked. "Well. From the auditions, you want me to act like how a real person would talk." The actor said.

    "Good. You get the gist. I want more, though." Tayaw started instructing Nielg. "Just like how you spent years with Uranto in the theater, your role also spent just as long as Steven in the office. I know, that it''s not in the script, but I want you to appear just like an office worker." Tayaw said.

    "This.. I don''t know how to act like an office worker." Nielg scratched his head at this. "I understand. Come with me." Tayaw said and walked back inside the office. Nielg does not know what Tayaw wants but he followed anyway.

    Shortly, they arrived at the office. "Alright. Let''s be quiet. Now. Look at them." Tayaw whispered to Nielg and pointed at the busy office workers. "A good start will be to copy what they''re doing. I want you to watch their emotions. I want you to feel why they''re feeling it." Tayaw said. "That''s hard¡­" Nielg sighed.

    "It will get easy. You will not ACTUALLY have to figure out what they feel. Just IMAGINE what they''re feeling." Tayaw said. Nielg, who is slowly getting what Tayaw is saying, nodded. "So I have to copy what they''re also feeling." Nielg said. "Yes. But the appropriate emotion to the lines is still the priority. This will just help you appear on the screen as an actual office worker." Tayaw said. "Stay here and watch. An intern will come pick you up when we''re ready to shoot." Tayaw said.

    Tayaw then left and quickly thought about how to coach the other supporting actors. His advice to Nielg, after all, would not work with all the actors and their characters.

    -

    Throughout the rest of the production, it was not only the production crew that adjusted to Tayaw, but Tayaw had to adjust as well to speed up the production process. Tayaw, with his enhanced body, can go working 20 hours straight without breaks aside from taking meals, but the crew cannot do the same.

    This led to Tayaw doubling the number of members for the production crew to keep up with him. The crew was divided into two groups and worked in 10 hour shifts. Due to this change, the crew was also forced to change their sleeping patterns as Tayaw made the first shift run from 2am to 12nn, and the second shift from 12nn to 10pm.

    He divided the shifts for the two crews accordingly so the two groups were able to share the sunlight. The first shift crew was able to shoot night scenes from 2am to 6am and day scenes from 6am to 12nn. The second shift was able to shoot day scenes from 12nn to 6pm and night scenes from 6pm to 10 in the evening. And finally, 10 pm to 2 am is Tayaw''s bedtime.

    Tayaw also continued to talk to the main and supporting actors to help them immerse in the appropriate emotions of their characters to a specific scene. The purpose of him doing this is not only for these actors to act believably for the sake of the film, but he''s also planning on hiring these actors again for his next films.

    He also hired costume designers and make-up artists to give the actors the look he wanted them to have.

    Even though Tayaw himself, and the cast and crew were unsure whether the movie will be received well by the world, they still worked tirelessly after they slowly understood Tayaw''s vision for the movie.

 Chapter 84 - Finality of Film Production (Please read my note at the bottom)

    ---------------------February 19, 2012 ¨C Sunday 11:30 am ¨C Arkesyas, Clambu City

    Uranto is currently standing on the famous cliff of Arkesyas. "WHYYY??!! I JUST WANT TO LEAVE!! *Sob* I just¡­ want to f*ckin leave..." Uranto screamed his lungs out until it cracked and his voice became hoarse, devolving into a defeated whisper as he collapsed on his knees, his hands on the rocky ground.

    "And¡­ CUT! THAT''S A WRAP EVERYONE!" Tayaw announced to all the cast and crew present. *CHEER**APPLAUSE**HUGS*. The crowd could not help but celebrate, especially the actors. 16 days grueling days their suffering had finally ended.

    Before shooting ''September Ninth'', the actors were expecting to shoot the movie using the conventional method. They would memorize the scripts, practice the scenes, and act like it''s a play. If they did not mess up in their lines during the shoot, then it would be considered a good take.

    Tayaw''s method, however stressed the actors out very much. It''s much more surgical and would take a few to tens of takes to just to shoot a scene. For the first scenes they were in, when they did not see what type of acting Tayaw wants, they were strictly coached, and scene by scene, they were yelled at almost every time. Many times, they would argue with Tayaw but it rarely goes their way. In the end, they are left with no choice but to learn and adjust quickly as the filming went on, they all also got better.

    Despite being stressed out and had to take a lot of yelling at, none of the actors quit. Them having no theater training, would rarely chance upon a role in a film like the opportunity given to them by Tayaw. They also cannot complain about the workload because they all knew that as heavy as their workload is, Tayaw has even more work as he had to be there in all their scenes.

    Uranto, the lead actor, also helped in motivating the cast. ''Look. If this movie becomes a hit, who are the only actors who can act in his next film? US! We''re the only ones who he taught. Even if he casts other actors in his next film, we have an edge over them in the next audition.''

    "Great job Mr. Virenza. I loved that! The way you curled up in the end was the icing on the cake.." Tayaw said complimenting Uranto''s subtle improvisation. "I could not have if you didn''t teach me." Uranto said sincerely. "Ah. Don''t be polite. If it was anyone else, they would not have given me that." Tayaw said as he patted Uranto''s back and they walked away from the dangerous edge of the cliff.

    "Alright gather around!" Tayaw said and all of the cast and crew surrounded Tayaw. As the crew was supposed to transition shifts at noon in case they weren''t finished filming today, both halves of the crew are all present in the site.

    "I want to thank you all for contributing in my first ever film. We''ve had some disagreements but in the end, we all have one purpose; to make ''September Ninth'' a great film." Tayaw began his impromptu wrapping-up-the-film-speech. Over the past 16 days, they have all come to respect Tayaw very much.

    They never saw him sleep while working, in fact, they never even saw him sleep at all. Despite that, he would still work energetically and motivate the cast and crew to do better. When they do do better, Tayaw would spare the energy to appreciate their efforts and hard work.

    "As you all know, the film is not finished yet. BUT you can trust me in stitching up all of our efforts to make a movie we can all be proud of."

    Tayaw has a process called ''on-set editing'' where he will stitch up the scenes shot during the breaks. He would take all the footage from all the four cameras, cut and paste, to complete a rough cut of the scenes. This gave the cast and the crew a peek to what the movie would look like once it''s finished. Despite having only taken a peek, they also realized that the movie will be like no other.

    Unlike the conventional films where the films would be like theater drama plays plastered in real-life backdrop, Tayaw''s film looks like a doc.u.mentation of someone''s life and experiences. The actors would look like real people with real lives, not stage actors whose behaviors on film would subconsciously tell the audience that it''s all an act.

    "Your efforts in adapting to my vision will not be wasted. In the future, when I do my next film, you are all my first priority hires." Tayaw said, to the satisfaction of the cast and crew.

    "Now. Let''s all pack up and go home! Have plenty of rest. Oh! To express my gratitude, I invite you all this evening at 9 to Silvertone Hotel for some food and drinks. Please invite each other. Actors, the crew, I want everyone to be there!" Tayaw said as he concluded the production process.

    -

    "Ahh.. What do you think, Jouny? Should I keep this thing?" Tayaw said after packing up all the cameras to the back of his pick-up truck, he could not help but look at the mobile home he rented, which was attached to his own pick-up truck. "Which thing?" Jouny asked in confusion as the cameras are all his. "This mobile house." Tayaw clarified.

    With the busy 16 days of filming, Tayaw opted for the main and supporting actors to stay in mobile homes or trailers so they can always be close to the filming locations at all times. Tayaw did the same and chose a mobile home; complete with the bed, a kitchen, and a bathroom with a shower, it was perfect for Tayaw''s needs for sleeping and hygiene.

    "I don''t know. You seem to have grown attached to it. But, do you really need it?" Jouny just shrugged her shoulders. ''Do you really need it?'' replayed in Tayaw''s head, and chuckled. He MIGHT need one in the future, but it is not wise to buy one for now.

    "True. Now that they''re taking back the trailers, can I have shower at your house?" Tayaw asked as they got in his pick-up truck. "Alright. Let''s go to my house then. We''ve reserved ''Steven''s room'' for you anyway. My husband and I expected you will need somewhere to stay, but we underestimated how different your filming method would be." Jouny said.

    "I would have actually stayed there but I needed to speed up. But, that would have taken the filming another month." Tayaw explained.

    "Well, you bear all the expenses after all. Couldn''t you have asked investor- oh. That''s right." Jouny was about to ask why Tayaw never sought investors but considering her script and the film being Tayaw''s first , no investor in their right mind would risk their money.

    "It''s not about the money. It''s about catching the deadline for Sorrento." Tayaw said, to the surprise of Jouny. "Sorrento Film Festival? Wow. You really dream big." Jouny said, chuckling, suppressing her excitement at her screenplay being seen at the most prestigious film festival in the world.

    Sorrento Film Festival is a film event held annually at the beautiful Italian coast town of Sorrento, overlooking the deep blue Tyrrhenian Sea in the spring month of May. The film festival is where the best film makers in the world would submit their films for a wide range of audiences would see for free.

    As much as Sorrento locals would enjoy seeing the world''s biggest names in the film industry flock to their beautiful town, the film festival is exponentially beneficial for film makers. The film festival is where film makers and actors would search for both prestige and money.

    For prestige, the Sorrento Film Festival would grant awards for different categories of films. The film festival would have three main categories of submissions; short films, student films, and full-feature films. The film festival''s board of directors would also annually choose the year''s jury; 10 judges who will decide which films would get which awards. These judges would be chosen by the board based on the judge''s critical success, body of work, and respect from other film professionals.

    Film makers would receive prestige by winning awards like ''Sorrento Award for Short Film'', ''Sorrento Award for Best Picture'', or ''Sorrento Award for Best Director'' and the most prestigious ''Fiore d''Oro''. Meanwhile, actors would gain respect by winning awards like ''Sorrento Award for Best Actor/Actress'', ''Sorrento Award for Best Supporting Actor/Actress'', or the elusive ''Sorrento Award for Best Ensemble Cast''.

    When it comes to money, film distributors all over the world would also attend the film festival to bid against each other to either buy the movies, or buy the distribution rights of the films. Film makers who happened to produce the most critically-acclaimed films acknowledged by Sorrento Film Festival would bank big. Even if their films had not won any awards or received any nomination, as long as the film they made is marketable to the eyes of film distributors, they would still hit the jackpot.

    This is the same for the actors who would win awards or would be nominated; their future employment would be assured from the acclaim they received.

    "Of course I''d dream big. I??ve invested time, effort and money. Hoping for an award or a selection at least, is much more beneficial than not hoping for one at all. Imagine this. Jouny Yalen ¨C Winner for Sorrento Film Festival Award for Best Original Screenplay. The long-ass f.u.c.kin title you get from that just sounds grand, isn''t it?" Tayaw said. Jouny''s eyes also gleamed at the idea.

    "Tayaw Dagem ¨C Winner for Sorrento Film Festival Award for Best Director. Hey. Maybe we''ll get Best Picture too." Jouny also started day-dreaming. "Correction. It''s ''Fiore d''oro''. See? Let''s be positive. Imagine if you win an award, you would be in-demand. So, you should think up some crazy script again. This time, it will surely sell. You can have it auctioned among film production companies." Tayaw also indulged Jouny on her day-dreaming, hoping it will help Jouny to squeeze more of her creative juices.

    "Anyway. Do you need help in the post-production?" Jouny offered her assistance. Throughout the production process, she has not contributed at all because Tayaw refined the script and the lines to be as close to reality as possible, which Jouny did not know how to do. Even though Tayaw did not hire her, she would still show up in the filming locations from time to time to watch the process of how Tayaw would give her story life.

    "No. I''m the only knows who knows how to do it. For now at least. And, editors always work alone." Tayaw said. "Oh. That''s true. You''re the only one who exactly knows what you want in your movie, so you might as well do it." Jouny nodded. Any professional working in TV and Film would know that editing is the most important process that may make or break a film''s quality.

    "Have you considered the music, by the way?" Jouny raised an important question and Tayaw is glad that she brought it up. "Yep. I''ll make them." Tayaw said simply, his confidence made Jouny speechless.

    "You''ll MAKE it? Why would you even? It''s not a musical." Jouny asked.

    ========================================================

    Good day Dear Readers,

    It''s been five months and I thank you all, loyal readers. However, I feel like I''m going to betray you all by doing this, so I''m sorry.

    I''ve decided to go premium. I know I don''t have enough collections or enough readers to actually make money from chapter purchases, but the minimum pay offered has tempted me for a while now, and I could not refuse. I need the money. This must be what it feels like to sell-out, only in a puny level.

    Starting January 28, the chapters after chapter 75 can only be unlocked with coins and fast passes. However, I still encourage you all to subscribe to my chapters. Starting January 28, I will also start releasing daily chapters and even double day releases with at least 1,600 words each chapter.

    Unlike other novels that got premiums where their qualities dropped, I assure you all that mine will not. I''m not letting my first novel be something that I will just f*ck up and drop. No, no.

    I''ve hold grudges against authors who wasted my coins and fast passes from their works'' descent in quality and subsequent drops, and I promise you all I''m not going to be one of them now that I''m in their situation.

    I hope that many of you will still read my novel. It''s just unfortunate that now that I''ve mapped out where the story will go, less people will see it because of me going premium.

    Thank you all again, and see you in the next chapter.

    -Intayaw Din Dagem-

    ======================================

 Chapter 85 - Laymans Film Analysis

    February 23, 2012 ¨C Thursday 5 pm ¨C Ironstone, Ouigab

    The Percussive Corrections arrived at their house after a day out. None of them actually went home for the school break, but stayed in Ouigab to focus on their vocal lessons or songwriting. When they entered the living room, they did not see Tayaw anywhere. "Hey. Is Tayaw still in his damn room?" Jenna asked her band members as she worriedly walked to the direction of Tayaw''s room upstairs.

    "Let me join you." Bay-an, Jenna''s best friend in the band said. "Come on, he''s been in there for what? Three days?" Bay-an asked Jenna. "Yeah. But he has to at least step out to eat. You know how much that guy can eat." Jenna replied.

    *Knock Knock Knock*"Tayaw! Are you there?" Jenna yelled outside Tayaw''s bedroom. Slowly, Tayaw''s door opened ajar, and Tayaw poked out his head from inside. "''Sup Baby Girl? How was vocal training?" Tayaw asked, clueless about Jenna''s worry. "FINE! What have you been doing there for five days? You have a secret girlfriend or something?" Jenna asked.

    For days Jenna has been worried for Tayaw since he came home from Clambu City. They would not see Tayaw all day and when they knock on his door every day, he would just say ''I''m busy!''

    "I''m fine. Look." Tayaw said and opened his door to welcome Jenna and Bay-an in. "Oh wow. I surely would not let you see my room." Jenna commented and Bay-an nodded in agreement.

    This is the first time, in almost a year of staying in Tayaw''s house, that they saw the inside of Tayaw''s bedroom. They noticed how clean and neatly arranged everything is; the bed linens and blanket are fastened and pressed on the bed with barely any creases, there is no stray clothing hanging anywhere, every surface looks spotless, and most importantly, the room smells great.

    "I mean. Are you really living here? It does not have a human smell at all." Bay-an also commented. "Maybe that''s because Tayaw does not smell like anything but his body soap." Jenna answered as she walked towards Tayaw''s open laptop. "Are you watching p.o.r.n?" Jenna asked and was about to open the minimized windows when Tayaw plugged out the mouse.

    "No. Have you guys looked enough?" Tayaw said and looked at Jenna sternly. Jenna, knowing that Tayaw looks serious stepped away from the laptop. "Alright. Gather everyone in the bas.e.m.e.nt. I have something to talk to you guys about. I''ll follow in a minute." Tayaw said as he sat down in front of his laptop again.

    The minimized windows that Jenna was about to open was the editing software Tayaw is using to edit his movie. Because Tayaw already did on-set editing during the production process, Tayaw''s editing workload was cut by a third which he almost finished the day before after three days of editing. A 120-minute movie was also edited that quickly because he was working with the film footages in 4x speed, which his enhanced body and mind can process.

    This resulted in Tayaw being less occupied today, so he spared the time to entertain Jenna and Bay-an in his room.

    A few minutes later, Tayaw descended to the bas.e.m.e.nt where the band is already waiting. "Hey man. Nice to see you again. You depressed or something?" Inson asked when he saw Tayaw enter.

    "I''m fine. Like I said I''m busy. Now. I have something to ask of you guys." Tayaw said as he pulled out his flash drive from his pocket and plugged it into the studio''s computer. After a few clicks, a guitar instrumental started playing through the speakers, and the printer started moving.

    "Hmm? New song?" Ramil asked, he could not help but appreciate the music playing. "Yeah. But no lyrics this time." Tayaw answered. After the printer was finished printing a few pages, Tayaw distributed them to the band. What they found are chords and tabs of the song printed on the paper.

    "Alright. Familiarize yourselves with the chords and stuff. Then let''s record after a few rounds of practice." Tayaw said. The band however is confused. This is the first time in a few months that Tayaw has asked them to record something since he asked them to record for his album last July.

    "New album? What? Your first album wasn''t selling?" Hoon said while he studied the chords. "What? No. They''re selling just fine. AND, I still have an unreleased album, and I''m planning on making a country album with pure acoustic guitar and stomp box. This is for something else." Tayaw explained.

    "Whatever, let''s just play. They look good." Hoon just shrugged and picked up his electric guitar to practice. Seeing Hoon get to work, the others in the band were influenced to do so as well.

    What Tayaw is making the band practice are going to be songs for the soundtrack of ''September Ninth''. During the production process, even before Jouny asked him about it, the issue about the soundtrack already popped up in Tayaw''s head. Tayaw was about to follow his world''s practice in regards to the soundtrack, but the instincts from the film making skills he acquired, kicked in.

    Usually, film makers and movie producers from his world, when they make movies that are not musical, they would acquire rights for already existing songs be it from classical music or from the more contemporary genres, and use them for their films. After buying the rights, if the film makers do not want the songs to sound exactly as the original, they would arrange them accordingly to suit the movie. This exact practice however, was refused by Tayaw''s film making instincts.

    Tayaw would not have worked on the soundtrack yet but after editing for the past 4 days, he suddenly realized that it is better to edit the movie along with a soundtrack. So after saving his work as ''Draft 1'', he spent yesterday and today sorting out among the thousands of his songs compositions in his computer which ones would be the perfect songs for the scenes of ''September Ninth''.

    As the band practiced, Tayaw was not satisfied by the feeling he is getting from their instruments. ''I guess it couldn''t be helped'' he shook his head. "Alright, everyone! Eyes on me, please." Tayaw gathered the band''s attention. "Gather in the living room. Sorry about that."

    After a few minutes again, the band is now gathered in the living room, and Tayaw who just picked up his laptop from his room is now setting up the huge TV.

    "Okay. I guess you guys were curious why I went to Clambu for a long time, yes?" Tayaw asked the band. "Yes." Is their mutual response. "I was making a movie." Tayaw said, which surprised everyone present. "Ah-ah-ah. Please. I don''t have the energy to entertain all your questions. As you all know, I''ve been busy in my room for the past five days, so I''m pretty tired." Tayaw said which shut down the band members'' various questions.

    "What I''m making you guys practice are songs that will be used for this film. But because you also need play with the appropriate emotion, I have no choice but have you guys watch it first.??? Tayaw said after finishing connecting his laptop to the TV. This excited the band.

    "Okay. Enjoy and don''t talk too much." Tayaw said as he played ''Draft 1'' of ''September Ninth'' and went to the kitchen to prepare some snacks for the band.

    Meanwhile, as the band watched the film, they had a hard time coping up at first. The camera angles and cuts confused them very much but they soon got used to it. After all, Tayaw''s editing sets the scene very well. Wide angles to set up the location of the scene, middle shots for establishing how the characters are arranged in the location, and close up or over-the-shoulder shots for conversations.

    "Are they real?" Ike could not help but ask as he watched how believable the actors'' performances are. "I don''t know. They have to be acting right?" Ramil replied. The rest of the band is also unsure.

    ["Hey Steven. What are your plans for December? I''m going kayaking!" Steven''s best friend asked. "You want to know what we''re doing this December?" Steven said, smiling bitterly at his best friend. "You''re asking the wrong question my man." He continued in disdain, and sat straighter. "You know what we''re going to do this December? Huh? I''ll tell you." Steven said a little louder, bitterness becoming more and more apparent in his voice.

    "We''ll still be here, our hands on our keyboards and A4 papers!" Steven, continued but his face slowly contorting, his body looked stiff out of anger, as he pointed at his office table.

    "We''ll be here, in our cubicles, slowly getting fat, getting ugly, it''s going to last ''til we''re in our fifties!" Steven finally burst out yelling as he stood up, almost toppling his office chair.

    After a few seconds, Steven took a deep breath and plopped back down on his chair, looking defeated. "That is..." Steven chuckled and shook his head. "That is if we''re even lucky to reach that age without dying of diabetes or heart attack from sitting our asses around." Steven finished the line.

    The best friend who was excited telling Steven about his December activities slowly looked sullen. "I know. Why else am I distracting myself? We''re both stuck, so why don''t you relax for a bit as well, huh? Look at what''s happening to you."]

    The band, watching the Steven''s outburst, could not help but feel pity. "Is this what my mom feels like?" Bay-an wondered, his mother also being an office worker. "I hope not. Steven is lonely. Your mom isn''t." Tayaw said as he served the band with carrots and celery snacks with garlic sauce dip. "Don''t mind me. Keep watching." Tayaw added.

    While he watched the band watch his movie, Tayaw could not help but feel proud and hopeful. The band is much immersed and they got over the novelty of the camera angles. Even Hoon, who takes a lot of convincing by the band when they go to movie nights, is watching intently.

    "Tayaw. They''re acting, right?" Jenna could not help but ask as she felt goosebumps when she watched as a bar drunk kill Steven in the movie. "Duh." Hoon replied on Tayaw''s behalf. Tayaw chuckled at this. ''Indeed. Duh. A time loop doesn''t happen in real life.'' Tayaw thought. On that thought however, he could not help but also have goose bumps when he was reminded of his situation. He shook his head the next moment to shake off the spooky feeling.

    "See?" Tayaw replied when the band saw Steven wake up again on his bed.

    ["Good morning, honey." Steven, finding Diwaya by his side could not help but smile. "Good morning to you too, honey." Diwaya felt the same. The screen faded to black.]"

    After an hour or so, the band finally finished watching the film. The living room is silent even after TV screen displayed the paused media player in Tayaw''s laptop.

    *sniff**sniff* The silence was broken by Jenna crying. None in the band made fun of her, or even consoled her as they are also feeling the same. They watched Steven''s journey within the time loop; how he became a bad man, became a hero, and suffer from helplessness. After Steven was finally released from his hell, coming out a better man with the love of his life, the band could not help but feel happy for Steven. They felt happy and cathartic they almost cried.

    "So. A movie can look like this." Hoon said dazedly. "DUDE! THAT WAS F.U.C.KIN COOL!" Ike exclaimed as he began clapping. The band also started chatting amongst themselves excitedly about the movie they just saw.

    "If you like it that much, then I''m glad." Tayaw said, smiling at band''s positive response. His 12 million for the movie is worth it.

 Chapter 86 - Sociology of Fame Psychology

    March 3, 2012 ¨C Saturday 5pm ¨C Grand Country Opera, Nashville Tennessee

    [[[[["Good evening ladies and gentlemen, this is Billy Jones." "I''m Harvey Lee" "Welcome to ''Before the Opry''". The two radio announcers started their show in the broadcasting box of Rymann Auditorium. ''Before the Opry'' is an hour-long radio talk show broadcast before the concert proper of Grand Country Opera.

    "We are joined by Bobby Elliot of Strawberry Front. They are known for their recent hits like ''Darling, Don''t You Remember'', ''Please Don''t Walk Away'', ''Badge for a Sunrise'' and more." Harvey introduced Bobby.

    "His band will be opening for the opera tonight. Say hello, Bobby." Billy Jones asked Strawberry front. "Good afternoon Nashville. Good afternoon America." Bobby said on behalf of his band.

    "What the listeners don''t know is that Bobby and his band have been playing in the country circle here in Nashville for years now. I especially saw your guitarist play in The Opera once for one of the acts." Harvey opened up for Bobby''s story.

    "That''s right, Harvey. I''m a backing singer for a few stars. The rest of the band also has their own gigs. Strawberry Front actually released two albums over the years, but none of our songs has been a hit. Our latest album though was our ticket. " Bobby explained.

    "Well, it''s nice for you fellas to finally step into the spotlight. I especially liked your song ''The Door''. I first heard it when one of our producers used it as my other show''s intro. Since then, I''ve been listening to it every day." Billy said. "I''m glad you like it, Billy." Bobby said smiling sincerely.

    "I like ''Letter to Grandpa'' better. Anyway, have you signed with a label yet?" Harvey asked. "Oh. Yes. We''ve signed with Snail Records after offering us a good contract." Bobby replied. The label they signed would only handle their music distribution, music production, and booking for shows.

    "Oh. They''re that young but popular label. They''re good. Anyway, you said your band already has two albums, so, what''s the difference with this album?" Harvey asked.

    "We''ve met a good friend, a great songwriter, Harvey. Basically, the man wrote 10 out of the 12 songs in the album. The songwriter basically tailored songs for the band that we would never have written ourselves." Bobby explained.

    "Hmm. That''s interesting. One single songwriter right?" Billy asked, unsure if he heard it right. "Yes. Just one songwriter, his name''s Isaac." Bobby clarified.

    "Well. While Isaac''s songs are wonderful, I''m also sure that y''all have a unique sound that made the songs attractive. Your voice, for example. I mean, it''s been a while since we heard a natural bass. I''m a fan, man." Billy brushed aside the songwriting and focused back on the band.

    Bobby, while flattered, is embarrassed at the seemingly excessive compliment. "Well. My voice dropped when I was 16, after a few years, it sounds like this. It only took casual singing and practice too, and sounded great. Hey, the hard work my band did to be excellent musicians should be praised more .." Bobby, not comfortable with the hosts'' compliments, deflected.

    "Oh. I get what you''re saying. Like what we said to our listeners, Strawberry Front has been played for some of the biggest country stars. I especially like your guitarist Rez." Harvey, detecting Bobby''s discomfort, smoothly switched his compliments to the other members. "Yes. He has a distinct style of playing. If Rez is listening, I think he would at least appreciate what you said." Bobby replied.

    "Well. I''m glad. You know, when I first heard Mark Calway''s ''Time Flower'', I was like ''Oh. That''s definitely Rez on the guitar''." Harvey added.

    "By the way, I heard from someone that Aaron, your band''s banjo player, isn''t just a banjo player right?" Billy moved the topic over to the other members. "That''s right. Even though he''s mainly a banjo player, the man is also a fiddler, a bass guitarist, and a steel guitarist. If you''ve all heard of Colten Peck''s ''Memphis Calling'' album, Aaron played the banjo and the steel guitar in that." Bobby marketed Strawberry Front''s banjo player.

    "Oh! That''s him? Well. It must be nice having someone who can play many instruments." Billy nodded, pleasantly surprised at Aaron''s professional work. "Yes. He''s the one we relied on a lot in our album." Bobby said.

    "Your drummer, though. I don''t think I have ever heard of him." Harvey said, curious at why he did not find John''s name familiar despite the rest of the bands'' reputation as good session musicians. "Well. He''s a drum teacher. He''s young, in his 20s, but he''s talented that''s why we scooped him up when Rez saw him play." Bobby explained John''s situation.

    "Hmm. Looks like you''re all good musicians, so I''m glad that America is ready to listen to what your band has to say." Harvey smiled. "We''re glad as well, Harvey. I hope we can keep on putting out great stuff in the future." Bobby thanked.

    "Okay. I know you have leave now because of the rehearsals. We wish you luck, and I would be glad to see you again in the Opry to play your other songs." Billy said after saw the timer and the allotted time for Bobby is running out.

    "Yes. Thanks for having me Bill, Harvey." Bobby said. "Alright. Everyone, Strawberry Front''s album ''Another Try'' is still in your nearest music stores. You can also listen to their music at iTunes and at their YouTube Channel. We will see Bobby and the Strawberry Front later at the Opera, as the opening act. We''ll be back after a short break." Harvey wrapped up the interview, and the next moment, the trio took off their headphones.]]]]]

    *Phew* Bobby sighed and wiped the sweat that pooled on his forehead and on his ears. "Bobby, that wasn''t too bad, right?" Billy asked. Harvey also chuckled remembering the nervous Billy during the break before the interview. "No. No it wasn''t." Bobby said in relief.

    Opening acts for The Opera are not usually interviewed by Billy and Harvey''s show. So when the two radio announcers invited Strawberry Front to their show, the band was hesitant but they did not want to miss the opportunity for exposure either. So they pushed their front man, Bobby to do the interview on their behalf.

    "So. What are you guys playing tonight?" Harvey asked. "Just some covers and our originals. We wanna play it safe, but it will sound good." Bobby said. "Good. But why play it safe? I saw you guys a lot in Blackbird and I saw you guys play folk rock and southern rock too." Harvey asked. "Oh. Just because it''s safe, doesn''t mean we prepared something boring."

    "A shame. I was listening to the same stuff too much; I thought you were going to do something new." Bobby said. "Alright. There will be some southern rock stuff, but most are still bluegrass, like our latest album. Anyway. The boys must be waiting, we have to prepare." Bobby excused himself. "Yeah. Break a leg." Harvey said.

    A few minutes later, Bobby arrived back at the door of the huge waiting room where his band and other acts are waiting. When he entered, he could not help but smile bitterly at what he saw. Rez, John, and Aaron are surrounded by other musicians. It would have been a good thing to have the attention, except the band exactly knows why the other musicians are speaking to them so actively. They all want Tayaw''s contact number. At the same time, Bobby is confused. The band should have already diverted the attention with the help of Tayaw.

    Bobby approached his band, and spoke a few pleasantries with the other musicians. "Everyone. I''m sorry, we have to rehearse. We have to shake off our nerves." Bobby finally said after a few minutes of small empty talks. "Okay. Good luck!" The other musicians also understood Strawberry Front''s feelings.

    Strawberry front then arrived at the stage where their instruments are already waiting. They did not, however, start practicing immediately. They already had plenty of practice in the past few days, and rehearsed hard since they were invited by the Opera.

    "Guys. Didn''t Isaac make some e-mail of some sort? What happened to that?" Bobby finally asked the band to clear his confusion. "Yeah. But they said Isaac is too busy. They want his phone number or his agent." Aaron explained. "Yep. I guess the e-mail was just a stop gap." John added.

    "What about Chala? Didn''t he come back after New Year?" Bobby asked. After Tayaw left, the band saw Chala a few times around Nashville with his girlfriend. "I already tried. The last time I called, he was in New York. When I said that I want to give his number to the people looking for Isaac, Chala just shrugged that it''s not his responsibility." Rez said, shaking his head.

    "We still should have given them his number. Isaac and Chala would understand, right?" John asked. "I did give them his number. But.." Rez sighed. "They said they could no longer contact it after Chala refused them." Rez said.

    "He must have changed his number, huh. He''s not American so it''s easy for him to." Aaron nodded in realization. "So. We''re stuck huh?" Bobby sighed. "Isaac said that it will die down soon anyways. We should be polite for longer." John said. John actually reported their band''s situation to Tayaw through Facebook messenger but Tayaw also has no good suggestion for them.

    "This¡­ There are 16 more songs he gave us. Should we still put them in our next album?" Bobby said. Now hesitating, and doesn''t want to be bothered again once the musicians find out that the songs in their next album are still from Tayaw.

    "Hey. He basically dropped gold on us. This much trouble is a small price for it. What do you want to say to the kid? That his songs are not good, when OBJECTIVELY, they are?" Rez shook his head. "Why don''t we try writing our own songs again? We have more money and more free time now. After our tour and concert, we''ll have enough money for a few years. That will be enough time for us to write better songs than before." Rez continued.

    "That''s true. Without worries, we can focus more." John nodded and agreed. "Let''s do that then. The next album, we''ll take 6 of Isaac''s songs, and we write the other 6. I don''t believe we will not be able to make songs that are as good as his. There''s 4 of us, so, come on man." Bobby also added in his suggestion.

    "Cool. Hey guys, by the way. Do you have any idea when that thing about Isaac would come out?"

 Chapter 87 - Anthropology of Musicology

    March 10, 2012 ¨C Saturday 12 nn. ¨C Nabla Observer ¨C West Ouigab

    """"""""""""""""""""""""""

    [Tom] This is Tom Klein.

    [Charlie] And I''m Charlie Hunt

    [Charlie and Tom] Welcome to Music Lab.

    [Tom] Why do certain genres seem to sort of just slip across borders?

    [Charlie] From places you would not expect. From Tennessee to China, or to the Philippines. You have a song, from a genre you think that is all American, that strangely moves around the world. Some love it, some don''t. And when we exploring this question a few years ago, it was an idea we first heard from this man.

    (Phil) I''m Phil Jane, musicology professor at Vanderbilt University, Nashville. And I''m a great guitar player.

    (Tom) Country music is a genre we usually relate to Texas

    (Phil) NASHVILLE!

    (Charlie) Or West V.i.r.g.i.nia.

    [Tom] Any part of America really. Talks about things like cowboys,

    [Charlie] Beer, pick-up trucks. You get the idea.

    [Tom] Yep. It has become popular to some of the most unusual places in the world.

    (Phil) One good example of that is the popularity of Country Music or Western music over the last 50 or 60 years with certain ethnic groups in the mountains of Northern Philippines.

    (Tom) You mean, Lee Baker would be recognizable to somewhere in Northern Philippines?

    (Phil) Certainly.

    (Tom) Really?...

    (Phil) Annabelle Moore is another famous one.

    (Tom) Annabelle Moore?

    (Phil) Yes. THE Annabelle Moore, the country empress of the 70s to 90s. That Annabelle Moore. She''s especially among aboriginal Australians, she''s revered like a saint of music.

    (Tom) You know, Phil, this is hard to believe.

    (Phil) Yes, but it''s true. They love Annabelle Moore. You can fill a hall and have a band play Annabelle Moore songs and everybody will know the lyrics. AND. One more artist, who is universally known even more than Lee Baker and Annabelle Moore.

    (Tom) Who is it? (Phil) Don Graham. Cue "Tulsa Mountains"

    (Tom) So, what if Don Graham were to go to Dar es Salaam or to Zanzibar or to Kenya or someplace and book a concert venue?

    (Phil) Don Graham has actually gone to Zimbabwe. In ''76 and ''83, he filled a soccer stadium with 40,000 people, both times.

    (Tom) WHOAW! I just wonder what they hear from country music?

    (Phil) I have asked different people; Jamaicans, Germans, Chinese, Aboriginal Australians, Filipinos, Thais "Why do you like country music?" And their answers will be something like "The stories!"

    [Charlie] Like, what? The stories that the lyrics tell? (Phil) "I was drunk the day my woman got out of prison. I went to pick her up in the rain, but before I arrived at the station station in my pickup truck, she got run over by some train" or something.

    [Charlie] Huh. that doesn''t sound very foreign to me.

    [Tom] What he''s saying is, you ignore the details and listen to the wider story. Migration, regrets, home, industrial work, and your first love. You''re missing something. You miss something like¡­

    (Phil) You know, the foggy mountains of home. The expanse of green grass in your backyard.

    [Tom] Phil says you can break down country music to just these emotions. You long, you miss for something you left behind.

    (Phil) Let''s say, Little Old Log Cabin by the Brook, performed by Roger Carson. ~cue music~

    [Tom] The song was recorded in 1920s, and that happens to be the time...

    (Phil) when America crossed the doorway of agrarian to urban. Before the 1920s, more than 50 percent of Americans were farmers or from the countryside. In the mid-20s, the US Census recorded that 50 percent of Americans became city dwellers

    [Tom] This means that it''s not an accident. Country music really did burst into popularity when most people no longer lived in the country.

    (Phil) Country music is born when the countryside become an idea of nostalgia.

    [Tom] So, in America at least, the countryside became a nostalgic escape that was born in Americans'' minds when the real countryside slowly disappeared. So if that happens with Americans, then it should be obvious that people who move from the country to the city in Asia, in Africa and Australia might have exactly the same experience.

    [Charlie] Okay. But these songs are in English. It''s safe to assume that these people from places very very far away from America, don''t speak English, so what exactly are they hearing?

    [Tom] Well, it''s important to understand English, and the hardcore fans of country music do speak English in these places.

    [Charlie] But I''m pre~tty sure that many of these country fans don''t speak English.

    [Tom] Okay. Good point. According to Phil, in people that don''t understand the lyrics of country music, the message is actually in the music itself. The vocalization of the singers, the way they play the instruments.

    (Phil) One of the most iconic vocal techniques in country music singers call a ''cry break''. A great example of this technique is what you hear throughout yodeling. If such technique was used outside yodeling, they would sound sad. In addition to the voice, is the instrument; the steel guitar, or slide guitar. It is the iconic instrumental representation of a crying human voice. That''s why it''s also called the ''crying steel''

    [Tom] You can hear the longing from the vocal techniques and the crying guitar. With country songs, you can feel that things simply aren''t the way they were before. All over the world where large chunks of the population migrate from the country side to the cities, country music''s story is something all these people can relate to.

    [Charlie] So when Phil said that Don Graham filled a stadium in Zimbabwe, you can say that he was singing their stories?

    (Phil) Exactly. This is not just Country Music that is named after the "country side" but a story of all literal countries. We''re all going through the same thing.

    {{{{{Commercial Break}}}}}

    [Tom] We''re back and we''ve just heard a story about country music that traveled across the world in patches. That story is actually connected to our main story tonight.

    [Charlie] And that story is what I covered about a mysterious young man from Teungeb who left his mark in Nashville during his one month stay in the city.

    (Henry) I first met him when he came one night in my bar to attend the bar''s open mic night. [Charlie] This is Henry Spencer, the manager of the famous Blackbird Caf¨¦.

    (Henry) I recognized immediately the musician in him when he showed me a video of his on the internet.

    [Charlie] and this is the video that Henry was referring to ~ cue monna park busking ~

    [Tom] Hmm. So he''s a ¡­ foreign musician? Why come all the way to Nashville?

    [Charlie] That¡­ that would come later. So from the video, what genre of music was he playing? [Tom] I don''t know. Some folk rock, acoustic. My music vocabulary isn''t vast enough.

    [Charlie] Yes but that''s just the surface.

    *Ding Dong*(Bobby) May I help you?

    (Charlie) Hello. I''m Charlie Hunt from WTEN. We talked on the phone?

    (Bobby) Oh. Hello. Come in. Sorry it''s a mess here, we were just practicing. This is Rez¡­

    [Charlie] That is Bobby Elliot from the recently famous Strawberry Front

    [Tom] W-what?! Ha-ha! You managed to talk to him?

    [Charlie] Yes. Not just him, but the whole band, but Bobby is like their spokesperson. This interview was also done before they just released their recent album.

    [Tom] I see. [Charlie] So, anyway¡­

    (Bobby) Where were we? Oh. Isaac. Yeah. Well, I don''t really know much about him aside from some of the stories he told us about his home and his music. All we know is that he''s the type of musician and singer who can make and perform music of different genres.

    (Rez) Not everyone can do that¡­

    [Charlie] That''s the lead guitar of the band.

    (Charlie) So, when did you notice he started becoming popular?

    (Bobby) Well. He started playing in last week of November last year at Blackbird Caf¨¦. At first, the audience was not used to a Pacific Islander playing country, but once they heard him play, they were all blown away. Not only the patrons of the bars, but also the other musicians who play on the same night as him.

    [Charlie] So, Tom, do you have any idea who we''re talking about?

    [Tom] I have no clue. But this is getting interesting.

    [Charlie] Good, let''s continue.

    (Bobby) At first, he was able to earn a niche group of fans that became regular customers during the nights he played. But his fame really started growing after playing as the first musician for Red Abbey Sessions.

    [Charlie] He''s referring to the YouTube Channel of Red Abbey Lager.

    [Tom] Oohh.. hohoho. I think I have an idea now.

    [Charlie] Can you tell us your guess then?

    [Tom]It''s Isaac! You''ve chosen a good topic this episode, Charlie.

    [Charlie] Well, thank you, Tom! Anyway¡­

    (Rez) It''s actually a funny situation ¡­

    [Charlie] That''s Rez again, the guitarist of Strawberry Front

    (Rez) He was practically unknown when he was staying here, but when he left, that''s where he started becoming really popular. His videos exactly are viewed hundreds of thousands of times ~cue Tayaw''s song in Red Abbey~

    [Charlie] but currently; the videos are now viewed in the millions.

    [Tom] Hmm. I''ve listened to this many times. I still can''t believe it''s written just recently. So, what happened to him? Where is he now?

 Chapter 88 - Anthropology of Musicology 2

    (cont''d from prev chapter)

    """""""""""""

    [Charlie] Actually, we didn''t know exactly.

    (Rez) Then, after his last gig, just before Christmas, he disappeared. We have not seen him since. He even missed the invitation to perform at The Opera

    [Charlie] He''s talking about the Grand Country Opera.

    (Charlie) Then, do you know where he went? Why he came to Nashville?

    (Rez) We don''t know. He said he went back to New York. His friend who came with him also said that he went back home to Teungeb after Isaac toured with his family in New York.

    [Tom] So, that''s it? He''s gone?

    [Charlie]Well, not exactly. Remember when I said I interviewed Strawberry Front before they got famous? That was back in the first week of January.

    [Tom] So, what changed?

    [Charlie] You''ve heard of this song right? ~cue Strawberry Front''s ''The Door''~

    [Tom] Oooh. Yes! I love their songs. They''re novel, but they''re great.

    [Charlie] This is where Isaac comes in.

    (Charlie) Hello Bobby?

    (Bobby) Hello! Charlie right? It''s been a while.

    [Charlie] I talked to Bobby again in the last week of February, when they just became famous. But because they''re busy, I can only interview them over the phone.

    (Charlie) Congratulations on the last album, Bobby. The songs are great.

    (Bobby) Thank you Charlie. So, what''s up?

    (Charlie)I''m still doing the piece about Isaac but it did not reach a satisfying conclusion. I don''t want to scrap the story, so I''m hoping to get if you have an update on Isaac.

    [Tom] Oh. No wonder your story took months to make.

    [Charlie] You know me, Tom. Let''s continue on.

    (Bobby) It''s great that you called! Actually, all the songs except for two are all written by Isaac. (Charlie) REALLY?!

    [Tom] REALLY?! So that means that ''Memorize our Night'' was written by the SAME Isaac?

    [Charlie] That''s right, Tom. It''s the same Isaac we''ve been talking about.

    [Tom] Even ''Letter to Grandpa''?

    [Charlie] Yes. That''s also written by Isaac.

    (Bobby) Basically, the best songs in our album were all written for us by Isaac.

    (Charlie) Wow. I-I''m speechless.

    (Bobby) Yep! We''re also speechless when he sold us his songs and how perfect they are for the sound of the band.

    [Tom] I mean, if he can write such songs, why didn''t he stay in Nashville?

    [Charlie] I also had the same question, but Bobby and everyone that knows Isaac personally in Nashville all had vague answers at best.

    (Bobby) Let''s just say that¡­ He does not need Nashville.

    (Charlie) What do you mean? ~cue Tayaw''s guitar and vocal at the Monna Park Busking~

    [Tom] that''s Isaac? He sounds.. different.

    [Charlie] Exactly. Bobby also agrees.

    (Bobby) He can basically become a rock star if he wants. Rez also said that Isaac sounds like he has roots in Blues guitar.

    [Tom] So, let me get this straight, a rock musician, from Teungeb, was able to write what is basically the best country songs released in the past few years?

    [Charlie] Exactly. To get an idea about how Isaac was able to write these songs, I contacted our mutual friend.

    *Ding**Dong** (Charlie) Hello. This is Charlie, Tom''s co-host.

    (Phil) Charlie! It''s a pleasure to meet you!

    [Charlie] Again, that''s Phil Jane, professor of Musicology at Vanderbilt University, Nashville. (Phil) What can I do for you, Charlie?

    (Charlie) Well. Have you ¡­.

    [Charlie] At this point, we talked about Isaac and his influences. I also let him listen to his other music aside from country.

    (Phil) This¡­ this is incredible. Perhaps, it is only Isaac himself who can answer how he wrote great music in three different genres.

    [Tom] Wow. So Phil also has no idea?

    [Charlie] Well, he has a tiny bit of a theory.

    (Phil) My guess is that he''s an experienced arranger and has grown up listening to Rock, Country, and Folk/Indie music. With these influences, he can arrange and write songs in these genres too. I could only guess. But I want to talk to him.

    [Charlie] With this interest, Phil along with his colleague tagged along with me as I researched on the story.

    (Joel) Hello, this is Joel Winger, a songwriter known for ******, *****, and ******.

    [Charlie]Joel, who also got to know about Isaac through Phil also want to know more.

    [Tom]Wow, you basically had help in your story.

    [Charlie] They offered, Tom. And me, having the best information aside from the people who knows Isaac firsthand, is their best bet.

    *rrrrngg**ding**dong***ding**rrrrngg* ( Isaac) Hello? Where''s John?

    [Charlie] This is Isaac, the person which our story revolves in tonight.

    [Tom]You got him? HOW?

    [Charlie]It''s from an anonymous middle-man.

    (Charlie)Hello Mr. Isaac Yawat? This is Charlie from WTEN''s Music Lab. Your friend here introduced us before.

    (Isaac) Hello Charlie. You''re doing a story about me?

    (Charlie) Yes. This here is ¡­.

    [Charlie] This is basically introductions. I, Joel, Phil, and Isaac talked about Isaac''s songwriting. Isaac was also very evasive when asked about personal information so we dove straight to music.

    (Isaac) Well, I really did grow up listening to country, folk, and rock. Thanks to the internet, I''ve also had influences from blues and jazz to my songwriting. What Professor Phil Jane here, said is right, I think.

    Country music, especially the ones that talk about long drives, migration, and longing, connect with the few but hard core fans here in Teungeb. The truck and bus drivers that spend more time in their vehicles than with their families surely would connect with country music¡­

    [Charlie] Isaac pretty much agreed to everything we talked about in the first half of the story. From here, Phil and Joel basically took over my interview to talk to Isaac about his music and songwriting process.

    (Phil) So, Isaac. I just found your composition here odd.

    (Joel) I do too. This structure doesn''t usually appear in country and rock. Why did you write it this way?

    (Isaac) Well, I just wanted to reach the chorus quickly. There''s particularly no reason.

    (Joel) What about the chorus here? ''Every day, Every day'' part? The latter part of the chorus can be detached and made into a chorus two. Why did it only appear after the first verse?

    (Isaac) Well¡­ I thought it would just drag if it came out again in the second verse.

    (Joel) Hmm. Interesting. Interesting..

    [Tom] Well.. That wasn''t a particularly clever explanation.

    [Charlie] That''s what I thought too. But it wasn''t as simple as he said.

    (Phil)Hey, isn''t'' the composition a little like a dance or pop song.

    (Joel) That''s right! They don''t do this for country ballads or rock ballads! But the structure still fits perfectly.

    (Isaac) Well¡­ That''s right¡­ Okay. Honestly. I don''t know. I haven''t listened to many dance or pop songs.

    [Tom] See? Are you sure he wrote these?

    [Charlie] I''m pretty sure. No one has sued him yet for plagiarism or anything.

    (Isaac) Look. I didn''t analyze it to that extent when I was writing it. What I just felt right is what I did to the song.

    (Joel) Huh¡­

    (Phil) Well... Look at it this way, Joel, if he calculated things like this while writing, then do you think he would have written these songs? And great songs at that?

    [Charlie] What he''s saying is that what Isaac did in writing his songs are what true songwriters are supposed to do.

    [Tom] So. It''s basically gut feeling?

    [Charlie] Exactly. Here''s Joel''s realization at Isaac''s writing process a few moments later.

    (Joel) I asked because I was so confused at the structure of the song. Over the years, songwriters and producers managed to come up with formulas that works, that sells. But I finally realized that if I keep writing song according to some formula, there are times when they don''t feel like a stories.

    [Tom] Ah. I''m slowly getting it now.

    [Charlie] Right? It''s not that simple. Because Isaac wrote the songs just following the flow of emotions as they came to him, it feels like the stories in his songs are much more apparent and more heartfelt than most songs. Not just in the lyrics but in the musicality in itself.

    [Tom] The more I think about it, it''s kind of better for a song to come directly from the emotions of the songwriter. If it was written following a formula, it seems to me like ¡­ They''re just mass-produced and not as special.

    [Charlie] You''re right. Here''s more from Joel.

    (Joel)*Sigh* Music isn''t about rules and formulas but because it is what I was used to doing, I felt like it was too unique. In the end, a song is still a story, and it''s up to the songwriter how they can tell their story and how to make it sound good. Isaac, you make me repent as a songwriter.

    (Isaac) I don''t mean to pay my shoulders or anything, or sound arrogant, but that''s also the reason why I avoided learning music theory since I started playing music. Music theory is just too¡­ analytical for my taste.

    [Tom] I see. It''s so simple to explain but the abstract process is what makes it complicated.

    [Charlie] It is. Also, Joel isn''t just any songwriter. He''s produced some of the biggest hits over the years, so he has to know what he''s talking about, right? And he was still humbled by Isaac.

    [Tom] Listening to Isaac, I just realized that music, in the end is written using human emotion and human story.

    [Charlie] Maybe that''s the reason why many of the songs today do not stay famous for long. They sound good, but the human experience and emotion? I''m not really sure if I can find them.

    [Tom] That''s¡­ poignant. [Charlie] Yeah¡­ ~cue Tayaw''s ''Invisible Man''~ {{Commercial Break}}

 Chapter 89 - Journalism of Celebrity Sources

    (cont''d)

    """"""""""""""""

    [Tom] Welcome back. In the first half of the show, we talked about how what were supposed to be all ¨C American country songs and artists crossed the cultural walls of the west and leap over to very distant and remote lands.

    [Charlie] In the second half, we learned about the story of how a young man crossed his own cultural wall and brought his own all ¨C American songs to the heart of America.

    [Charlie] What''s your take on this, Tom?

    [Tom] I''m not really sure. It''s that music is universal? Yeah. I''m going with that.

    [Charlie] I think so as well. It''s not new that music from abroad become hits here in America. But, a foreigner, from a country that has a vastly different culture than the west, to write country music? An all American music? That is just special, and shall I say, unprecedented?

    [Tom] Unprecedented? I agree. Do you know anything else about Isaac?

    [Charlie] Not really. Because of the time difference during the interview, Isaac had to go to bed. Since then, Isaac no longer accepted any interviews.

    [Tom]Hmm. Have you asked him if he will come back to Nashville, or if he will still write country songs in the future?

    [Charlie] Well, let Isaac do the talking.

    (Isaac) I''ll come back, eventually, I just don''t know when. Country songs? Sure. I don''t have to be in Nashville to write country songs. Also, I''m working on something with Strawberry Front for their future albums.

    [Tom] Well, at least that''s great to hear.

    [Charlie] He just released so many songs in under a year, so I think he won''t be releasing any more songs any time soon.

    [Tom]How about labels that want to sign him? Are there any?

    [Charlie] Oh. There are. MANY in fact are looking for Isaac. Not only labels or entertainment companies are looking to sign him, but other musicians or their representatives are also hunting down Isaac for songs.

    [Tom] With Isaac being so in demand in Nashville, it''s rather a lucrative opportunity for him. [Charlie] I agree. I''d love to hear more from him in the future.

    [Tom] Anyway, that''s our story tonight.

    [Charlie] Next week, we''ll talk about why only humans among all of the species on earth, has the sense of music.

    [Tom] We''ll talk about how birds, dogs, and apes interpret music compared to us humans.

    [Charlie] I''m Charlie hunt.

    [Tom] And I''m Tom Klein. Thank you for watching this week''s Music Lab.

    """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

    *Tap* I pressed the spacebar to pause the video player on my computer. If I can see my face on a mirror right now, I would probably see my face barely suppressing my glee. I just finished watching the latest episode of Music Lab.

    I just saw a good record of Isaac Yawat, or Yawat, as I first knew of the musician, became popular in Nashville first, than in his home country of Teungeb. I could not help but feel proud both as a fellow countryman, and as a fan.

    I have actually never heard of Music Lab; much more saw any episode of it. But thanks to my friend Chala, I was able to grab the DVR-ed episode about Yawat.

    Since December, I actually found out about the connection between Chala and Yawat. While scrolling my Facebook feed one day, I saw a photo posted by Chala. In the photo is Chala, smiling happily with a family of five I have never seen before.

    I know all of Chala''s friends and his parents, so I got curious about the family''s identity. My curiosity was fueled more by how happy Chala looked in the photo; I have never seen him smile that sweetly.

    While I looked closer to the faces of the family members, I could not help but find what I figured to be the oldest child in the family, look very familiar. After squeezing my brain for a few moments, I then realized that it was Yawat, the same young musician I saw perform at Monna Park last October.

    The same Yawat whose songs I listen to every day. The same Yawat who I never saw again in person since him and his band busked at Monna Park. I actually would not have recognized him had he not wear huge aviator sunglasses in Chala''s photo. Every time I saw Yawat, either in real life, or on the internet, he always wore a pair of aviator sunglasses while performing.

    After finding out that Chala and Yawat know each other, I immediately tried to contact Chala. As his Teungeb phone is unavailable, and I did not have his American phone number, I had to send messages over and over again through Facebook Messenger and on his wall.

    I basically begged Chala to send me any news about Yawat''s activities in Nashville. Chala was not able to fight the power of a fan girl in me, so in the end, he relented and became my free correspondent.

    I was also able to talk with Yawat one time over Facebook Video Chat through Chala''s account, which was a benefit I never expected. While talking to Yawat, I found out that Yawat went to America to work specifically on songs and perform wherever he can.

    Yawat also told me of how he met Chala. Chala actually went to America to splurge after earning big from T.L.D Grimmauld''s ''The Halfling''. It also just happened that Chala, while hanging out in a Nashville bar one night, met Yawat who was playing at that same bar.

    Because Chala and Yawat were the only Teungebians in Nashville at the time, they could not help but be acquainted with each other. From there, Chala met Yawat''s family, become friends with Yawat''s parents who are also Chala''s age, and spend the Christmas with them.

    I could not help but feel happy for Chala, and be thankful to Yawat. From then on, I decided to draw a line to my interaction with Yawat, as a gratitude for making Chala happy.

    Knowing about Yawat''s achievement in Nashville though, the journalist in my blood could not help but boil. Yawat: the first Teungebian country star, the first Teungebian to write hit songs in an all-American genre, and the first musician I became a fan of in a very long time. I want to start writing articles about him immediately. I have to be the first to cover Yawat''s success abroad.

    Thinking about this, I immediately got up from my cubicle, took my laptop and went to my boss'' office.

    "Hey chief! I have a great article!" I said in excitement as I burst through my boss'' door. "OPHELIA! CADALI! A closed door means knock! KNOCK! Jesus Christ, you kids nowadays are losing basic courtesy!" The chief yelled at me. Looking at him, I realized that he is not angry, but I must have startled him bad. He''s in his mid-60s, healthy, but I could not help but feel bad.

    "Sorry boss." I could only apologize. "Whatever. How good can an article be for you to just barge in?" After the editor took a deep breath, he finally got curious. "What if there is a Teungebian musician who has recently become popular in America?" I asked.

    "Hah! Never mind! If it''s another one hit wonder pop star, I don''t care!" The editor said in disdain. My heart sank at this. I could not give up, however. It''s personal this time around.

    "Boss! It''s different! He''s not a pop star! Look. He''s become popular recently in Nashville. He was even c-" "WAIT. Nashville, you say?" The editor suddenly cut me off and was suddenly intrigued. "Yes. Boss. Nashville. He became popular by playing country music." I explained further.

    This time, the boss did not interrupt and just silently listened to my proposal. I could see too, that his eyes became brighter and brighter at every piece of information I enumerated about Yawat.

    "Alright! This is incredible. This is just incredible!" The boss mumbled after I presented my proposal. He mulled over for a moment and said "Do it", giving his approval to my idea. "YES! Ahahahaha!" I squealed and giggled in delight at this. It''s been a while since I wrote something I really want to write about. It''s even more special because I like Yawat very much just as I like T.L.D Grimmauld.

    "OPHELIA! For god''s sake! You''re 32! You giggling like a school girl scares me even more than when you barged in earlier!" The editor said, and like I''ve been poured with cold water, my excitement settled down fast, feeling almost offended at the editor''s remark.

    "Fine! Anyway. Thank you for approving my idea!" I just rolled my eyes and walked toward him. "Let me show you who the guy is." After a typing a few keys and clicks on my boss'' computer, I finally walked out of his office. Before I closed the door behind me, I heard Yawat''s voice reverberate through my boss'' speakers.

    "Now. Should I also get an interview with Yawat?" I said to myself. An article about Yawat will not be complete without an interview with the person himself.

    After lunch, I pulled out my phone to call Chala''s Roaming number. It''s 1 pm here, so it must be around 7 in the morning in Nashville. I also know that Chala is an early bird so I''m sure he''s up by now. *ring**ring**ring*

    "Hey! How''s my favorite Lit Agent?" I greeted Chala as soon as I heard him pick up. "I''m good. What''s up." Chala replied, whispering. This sparked my interest. "What''s up with the whispering?" I asked Chala. Before Chala answered, however, I heard something. "Honey. Who''s that?" From Chala''s side of the line, I heard a woman''s voice.

 Chapter 90 - Self Diagnosis of Mental and Physical Statuses

    March 15, 2012 ¨C Thursday 9am ¨C Nasiri Hill, Nasiri, Nabla Province

    Tayaw clicked the video editing software and saved his work. "Done! WOOOOOO!" Tayaw declared and yelled loudly at the vast expanse in front of him.

    He stretched his stiff muscles after hours of sitting on the cargo bed of his pick-up truck. Last night, when the band was done recording the soundtrack, they immediately pestered Tayaw to watch him edit the film. Tayaw wanting to avoid the disturbance, saved the recording to his computer, and snuck out at 2 am in the morning. He drove out to his spacious land in Nasiri where he spent his time editing until just now.

    Tayaw then clicked another program to convert his final edit into a Digital Cinema Package (DCP), a collection of files like the images, sound, and subtitles. While the laptop went to work, Tayaw laid it down, grabbed his newly purchased scythe and hopped out of his truck. He then walked towards to the overgrown expanse of grass blanketing his land, and started swinging his scythe.

    *Whoosh**shkkk**whoosh**shkk**Whoosh**shkk* It has been a while since Tayaw cut grass. Since he went to Ouigab for college almost a year and a half ago, this is the first time he held a scythe. Both in his current and his past life, once in two months, Tayaw would be the one in charge of removing the weeds growing on the front and backyard on his home in Okuba. During the rainy seasons, when the grass grows very quickly, he also cut the grass for their neighbors who are too old to do it themselves.

    *Whoosh**shkkk**whoosh**shkk**Whoosh**shkk* The sound of the scythe''s blade cutting the grass made Tayaw''s mind enter a trance.

    This state of mind is always what gave Tayaw the opportunity to come up with his best ideas in music. Out of the thousands of his written songs, the best 108 songs all came from when Tayaw entered a trance. And out of all the 108 songs, 36 of them gave him huge ''third level enhancements''. It is very difficult to stay in a trance state, but when he can, he is not always prepared to write songs.

    Tayaw however did not always use the state of mind to always make music, so when he realized he entered a trance just now, he just used it to rest his mind and entertain some stray thoughts.

    *Whoosh**shkkk**whoosh**shkk**Whoosh**shkk* Had it been any other filmmaker or editor, they would have taken less time editing than the filming process because of how simple the shots are, and the wide choices they have for soundtrack. But, Tayaw, choosing to make an original soundtrack, got his editing process delayed. The band after all, just finished recording the twelfth and final song for the soundtrack the previous night.

    Had it also been any other film, Tayaw would have already finished the English subtitles himself while editing and he''s done. ''September Ninth'' however, being Tayaw''s official submission to Sorrento Film Festival, had to be subtitled in Italian, so Tayaw had to hire a Teungebian ¨C Italian film translator. Luckily for him, he was able to find a translator currently based in Teungeb and hired the man at the latter parts of the filming process. The translator, after 20 days of careful work, and under Tayaw''s watch, was finally able to complete the translation.

    *Whoosh**shkkk**whoosh**shkk**Whoosh**shkk* Tayaw''s books are still popular especially ''The Halfling'' which sold 9million copies in the month of February. In addition to the 1.9 million copies of his fairy tales, Tayaw earned a total of 47 million BGC after taxes. Calculating quickly, Tayaw realized that since he made his first big buck, he was able to earn a total of 300 million BGC until now after taxes; over half of it coming from the sales of ''The Halfling''.

    Deducting his expenses from his investment on his two companies, his two houses, his huge land in Nasiri hill, and his movie expenses, he still has 207,000,000 BGC lying pretty in his bank account.

    *Whoosh**shkkk*. "F*ck. Now that I think about it, I should have bought some buildings in South Ouigab instead. Tayaw, you dumb f*ck!" Tayaw chuckled. Tayaw realized that if South Ouigab will grow in the future because of the Express Highway Project, then South Ouigab itself will be the first one to be developed.

    "I can''t believe I didn''t think of that sh*t. Oh well. I still got enough money." Tayaw after considering a lot in a short time, he decided to look for a plot of land or a good building in South Ouigab for him to buy. "I might even make it my headquarters in the future."

    *Whoosh**shkkk**CLANG!!!**SNAP!*

    "F.U.C.K!" Tayaw could not help but curse out when he accidentally hit a huge stone with his scythe. With his immense strength, the wooden handle broke and the scythe''s blade rolled a few meters away. He shook his head at what happened and looked around to see his work. He was surprised though when he saw how clear the land now is. He did not realize that he already cleared around two acres in only half an hour.

    "Well. That was quick. HA-HA!" Tayaw said as he picked up, with one hand, the rock that he hit and casually flung. The rock flew a few tens of meters away. After picking up the scythe blade, he saw that the blade is already damaged, dented and chipped, definitely will be an annoyance to use. Tayaw could not help but stop his work and go back to his truck.

    After entering his truck, he saw that his laptop was finally done making the DCP. Tayaw then opened Sorrento Film Festival''s website and filled out an online entry form. The deadline for a full feature film to the festival is on March 31st, but considering the shipping time from Teungeb to Sorrento, he decided to submit early to be sure it makes it in time.

    After submitting his form online, Tayaw also took a spare computer hard drive plugged it in and copied the DCP file. He also pulled out a VHS size case that is already labeled with the name of the movie. Inside the case, aside from the foam where the hard drive containing the DCP will be secured on, there''s a photo of Steven and Diwaya holding up an alarm clock; it will be the tentative movie poster for now. The back of the photo also contains the premise of the movie.

    He then drove to the nearest branch of one of the best courier services in the world. "Hello. I need to send a package." Tayaw said to the employee of the courier service. "Here. Fill these out." The employee said as he passed Tayaw some forms. After filling them out, paying the fees, and hard drive packed by the employee, Tayaw took a deep breath.

    "Miss. How long will it take for the package to arrive at Sorrento?" Tayaw could not help but be paranoid that his movie will not make it in time even though it''s still 11 days before the deadline. "Wait a minute." The employee started typing in her computer and a few seconds later, "The earliest arrival will be on the 24th and if there are delays, it will arrive on the 29th" the employee informed Tayaw. "Thank you very much." Tayaw said and walked out of the building.

    He drove to the nearest hardware store and bought three more scythes to continue his work back in his land at Nasiri hill. He has nothing better to do anyway, and after almost two months of working on the movie, he needed to rest. His body and mind are still sharp as ever, but somehow, he feels tired somewhere else. "Is it what grandpa calls an exhausted spirit?" Tayaw could not help but chuckle remembering his grandpa''s habit of saying cryptic stuff.

    Arriving back to Nasiri, Tayaw assembled his scythes immediately. This time, he wants to be more careful to avoid breaking the scythes. He did not however, start swinging immediately, and started to try something. After making sure that no one is around, Tayaw crouched and after feeling his leg and abdominal muscles contract, he pushed himself off the ground.

    *Crunch* the grass under his shoes were crushed as he launched himself to the air. Tayaw was shocked as he kept rising in the air. When he reached about 9 or 10 meters above the ground, Tayaw felt more nervous as he stopped rising and realized how high he jumped. With a jump that he put almost all the strength of his leg muscles in, he rose to a height of a two story building.

    His throat and stomach also started to twitch up when he started falling. He knows that he has a strong body but he is not confident that he will not be injured from falling at this height. He hurriedly fixed his posture mid-air as preparation to land. When he landed, he felt his heart sink. It is the feeling he gets when he makes a misstep while walking down a flight of stairs. It is the same feeling when one mistakes the floor for the bottom most stair.

    Tayaw then fell on his butt and in the next moment "HAHAHAHAHA! HOLY SH*T!" he laughed out loud in relief. He was not injured at all. He even over prepared his landing that he lost his balance and tripped. "Man. I don''t care anymore. With all the mysterious sh*t that has already happened, jumping like a mythological being is like, normal now." Tayaw said to himself. He also could not help but be pleased at how strong his body has become.

    "Whatever, let''s get back to work." Tayaw said as he started swinging his scythe again.

 Chapter 91 - Professional Analysis of Workplace Systems

    March 19, 2012 ¨C Monday 10 am ¨C Sorrento, Italy ¨C Villa Dei Principi di Sorrento

    I saw the screen turn black, the lights in the hotel''s conference room also turned back on. I and the other judges have just finished watching a full feature film submission in the conference room ¨C turned ¨C mini cinema. Well, no matter how famous the actors are in the film we just saw, I don''t care. I''m throwing that film to the trash bin. It''s a watchable film, but it will not be competing for awards this year. Well, except if the rest of the submissions are worse and unwatchable.

    It''s the fourth day of the selection process of the films to compete for the various awards of the upcoming Sorrento Film Festival. Over the past few days, the panel, which I am a part of, has already seen a lot of feature films. At first, I thought it was going to be a privilege being chosen as a part of the panel of judges, but after four days of watching bad to okay films, I''m honestly starting to feel bored. Why didn''t Sorrento call me when I was younger? I''m 62, for god''s sake. I can''t leave too, because the board already made me the jury president.

    The jury, ten of us, was chosen by the board of the festival. We would choose the best 50 feature films out of the 2,000 that were submitted for the festival. Out of the 50, us the jury would vote again to choose the ones that deserve whatever award. To avoid any conflicts, the festival opted for the ultimate democratic way; through a ballot box. Just like a democratic election, the films that got the most votes for whatever award would win.

    My tensed neck and head muscles are also starting to give me a migraine, and I''m afraid I may soon lash out at the other judges. "Hey Gary, you okay?" Jun Xiaosong, asked. Jun is also one of the ten making up the panel. As a director myself, I like the kid very much. Despite being only 31 years old; he has already directed 3 great films in his short career, which are only the films he released in the English language. He''s considerate too. Is it because of Asian people''s culture of respecting their elders? Whatever it is, I feel grateful someone is looking after an old man like me.

    "Yeah. I''m good. It''s just that I might get a headache soon." I replied as I stood up to go to the bathroom. *click* I hear a satisfying pop from my left knee, releasing nitrogen. Ah. My knees. I guess heavy labor when I was a young man has finally caught up with my body. "Here. Let''s go to the bathroom together." Jun handed me my cane. "Thank you."

    After relieving ourselves, Jun and I took our seats again. "Here. It might help." Jun handed me a lollipop. I was confused at the gesture. "A lollipop? Really?" I chuckled, but I took the candy nonetheless. "When I was film editor, there are days when I sit around all day in front of the computer. The sugar from the lollipop helps me work longer and avoid headaches." Jun explained. Ah. No wonder I saw him over the past few days always sucking on a lollipop.

    "My turn! I''m drawing the next film." A young woman said. Allie Edison, the young actress is a talented kid. I saw her films before and I have no problem with her being chosen as one of the judges. "Sure. I hope you pick a good one." A young man replied. Troy Valentino, an Italian ¨C American screenwriter, is another judge. Seriously, what are they feeding kids these days? Jun, Allison, and now Troy, all in their late 20s or early 30s have already achieved a lot of success in their young age.

    I like how the board of directors chose the judges this year. Three young fellas, two middle-aged fellas, and three senior citizens. That pretty much covers all forms of preferences required to judge the variety of the film submissions.

    "Here. ''September Ninth'' by Isaac Yawat. From¡­ Teungeb." Allie said after drawing from the box. "Isaac Yawat? Someone here heard of the guy?" Jun Xiao Song asked. "Nope" another judge replied. Neither have I. Probably a young director. "Teungeb, huh? It''s been a while since I''ve seen a film from there." Troy said. I agree. The last film I saw from Teungeb was the classic ''In the Name of Love'' from ten or so years ago.

    After the intern plugged in the movie, the movie soon started.

    [Steven woke up his alarm clock, playing his favorite song.]

    "Hm? That''s an odd¡­ choice?" Jun said as we saw how the main character was introduced. The first shot of the film showed a digital alarm clock and the first we saw of the main character was his hand slapping the alarm clock. I''ve never seen a film begin this way. The next scenes too, when the main character was having a breakfast while watching the television, are shot at a very intimate angle.

    ["Good morning!" "Good morning Steve" "It''s nice to finally see you paint your rotting fence!" "The neighborhood watch hounded me for so long. I also saw that the termites are already eating away at the wood." "Yeah? Well, I have to buy them cake then. I thought I was going to be the one to paint YOUR fence so the mites won''t spread to MY FENCES." "Whatever Steve. Have a good day."]

    "Hm.. The dialogue feels¡­ casual¡­" Troy said, twirling his pen between his fingers. After seeing the scene of the main character and his neighbor, I have to agree. It''s strangely compelling, however. It''s not the conventional dialogue, but it''s not exactly how real people talk either.

    "But the acting. Isn''t it too¡­ casual?" Allie said. This. I''m not too sure. While the acting is not conventional, it''s strangely attractive. I feel like I''m watching real people. The angles used in the film are commonly used in doc.u.mentaries, but when using it on a film, it has a strange effect. It does not give the film a doc.u.mentary effect, but something else. It''s immersive.

    [Steve, seeing everything happen the same way two times now, has finally realized he''s trapped. He felt the desperation to get out."]

    The judges and I saw cuts. A lot of them, but they feel smoothly connected. The slow motion of the neighbor painting, the slow motion of the cab driver looking back at the main character from the driver''s seat, the slow motion of the coffee shop barista handing the main character the coffee, and the slow motion shot of the receptionist greeting the character, the slow motion of main character''s boss yelling. In just a couple of shots matching with haunting violin music, the main character''s emotion in his realization was communicated to us.

    "It''s¡­ beautiful." I hear Jun mumble to himself. I agree. Not only is it beautiful, it''s fresh too. Something we have never seen before in film. Slow motion exists of course, but it is only used in instant replays of sports broadcasts.

    [Steven woke up again on the same day, but this time, he felt excited of his situation for the first time. He will get back at the people who wronged him over the years with a vengeance. His boss, the office asshole, the neighborhood asshole, Steven started filling up his list.]

    [Steven arrived late at his work. The first time in years he was this late, and his boss is already waiting for him by his cubicle. "Steve! The report! Do it again! You call this a report?! Huh?!"]

    As the boss''s angry tirade along with the ambient sound of the office faded away as if the main character stopped listening and reverted to his own world. However, we saw the main character become stone-faced; his neck veins started popping up, and his hands clench on the keyboard. The next moment, all the sound came back, the boss'' voice came louder than before. The main character suddenly stood up and¡­

    [*SLAM!* Steven smashed his keyboard on his boss'' head. Steven''s best friend and the other co-workers who saw this were stunned. "Say that to me again, bitch!" "Did you really just do that? You''re fired! Steve! You''re f.u.c.kin fired!" "So what?" *smash* "Huh?" *smash* "Stop! I''m sorry!" Steven''s boss begged. "YEARS! You think you can stop me with just a sorry?!" *Smash* But Steven did not stop.]

    "OH MY GOD!" A middle aged lady judge gasped. I already saw it coming, but I''m still just as surprised. The way the keyboard keys scattered, and the blood running from the boss'' head just caught me off guard. When I recovered from my shock, I took a closer look and saw some tricks. There was a cut that created the illusion of the main character smashing the boss'' head.

    We didn''t really see the actual hit. We only saw the keyboard keys scatter and the sound, but we didn''t actually see the keyboard contact with the boss'' head.

    When the frame cut to the boss'' bleeding head, I smiled. Not because I liked the violence, but I liked the cleverness of the shot.

    ["I''ll kill you, bitch! ''My work is not enough?'' HUH? What the f.u.c.k do you know? I''m gonna squash you like the leech that you are!" Steven picked up his scissors. As he stabbed the scissors to his boss, his best friend stepped in to stop him. Due to this unexpected situation, Steven accidentally stabbed his best friend on the stomach. "NOOO!"]

    The entire conference room gasped in unison this time. The interns, the judges were all shocked at what just transpired in the screen. We were so absorbed in the main character''s revenge that the sudden appearance of the best friend and his subsequent stabbing really caught us off-guard.

    "Jesus Christ.." I heard Troy say. When I looked at him, he was wiping his forehead like a preacher. I agree with his sentiment.

 Chapter 92 - Artistic Substitution of Spoken Language

    March 23, 2012 ¨C Friday 7 am ¨C South Ouigab ¨C Caluz Records

    Richard Caluz, the owner of the recording studio is currently very happy. After a year of his studio in business, this is the first time he is about to make a lot of money from it. The man that made him happy is also the last man he was expecting.

    "Hey Kid. Who would have thought that it would not be me who will need your services, but the other way around?" Richard said to Tayaw. "Well. True. And. To be honest? I would never have played for you anyway." Tayaw replied.

    "HA! I like the honesty!" Richard scoffed. Last year, when Tayaw was still playing at the ROH Factory, Richard, along with his two professor friends approached Tayaw. Richard approached Tayaw to hire as a session musician; the two professor friends offered Tayaw some school benefits.

    The previous night, Tayaw contacted Richard about renting the recording studio. Happy with the price that Tayaw offered, Richard went along with Tayaw''s preference of having a talk at this hour in the morning.

    "Anyway. What would you need my studio for? And for quite a long time at that?" Richard asked in curiosity. Tayaw just paid him 100000 BGC to rent his studio for a month maximum. Tayaw not only rented the studio''s equipment, but also some privileges. Richard and his employees, until the day Tayaw finishes with his work in the studio, would not be allowed to take a look at Tayaw''s work.

    "It''s a secret for now. Anyway. Can I start today? Take a break." Tayaw said to Richard. "Wow. You''re in a hurry, huh. Alright. Be careful with the equipment, alright?" Richard replied. "I will. I''m a musician. I know how to value equipment." Tayaw assured him. "Okay. Call me if you need anything." Richard nodded and hopped on his car and went wherever he wanted to go.

    Tayaw''s purpose of renting Richard''s studio is to record the English dub for ''September Ninth''. In case his film gets picked by a big film distributor, Tayaw would not want them to do the dubbing. After all, his film''s dialogue is special and the theatric style of voice acting in his world doesn''t quite fit.

    This is why he also hired broadcasting students from USA and Teungeb. The voice actors he hired from Teungeb are good English speakers too. He recruited them by posting online on different forums of different universities and colleges his need of voice talent. Among those who submitted their voice recordings, he filtered out the ones that suited the characters in the film the best.

    Tayaw was also very lucky to find two students whose voices and inflections sounded the same. They will be dubbing Steven''s parts, and Tayaw already chose how the two students will divide the lines.

    After making sure that Richard really left the studio, Tayaw started familiarizing himself with the equipment of the studio. He also brought out his laptop and his projector where he will play the scenes that the voice actors will watch to match their dubbing.

    Speaking of the voice actors, he booked them some cheap but clean and comfortable house in South Ouigab itself. The voice actors, all ten of them, already arrived in South Ouigab the day before and are just waiting for Tayaw to call them and where to go. Tayaw already paid them their first third of their contracted salary and they did not want to run away with the money.

    The remaining two thirds of their salary that Tayaw promised will serve as their motivation. After all, the money Tayaw will be paying them will be enough for them to live on comfortably for two or three months. If they keep living on a student''s expenses, they can stretch out what they will earn to up to half a year.

    Regarding the English version of the dialogues, Tayaw already wrote them up while the Percussive Corrections was recording the soundtrack. It is also close to the English subtitles he wrote. The only difference is that the dialogue to be used in the dubbing will be better synced with the lips of the movie''s characters.

    Tayaw then called one of the Teungebian voice actors he hired. "Gather them. Come to this address. Let''s start recording." Tayaw said.

    -

    A few hours later - Ironstone, East Ouigab

    The members of the Percussive Corrections all arrived to Tayaw''s house after they were done with their classes. "Hey guys. What''s up with Tayaw? He disappeared again. We haven''t seen him for days now." Ramil asked the band after he took out an 8-can pack of soda from the fridge and unpacked it on the kitchen table.

    "I texted him yesterday, he told me that he will start working on the English dubbing of his film." Jenna replied and received the can of soda Ramil passed her. "English dub? OH! I want to do it!" Ike said, after overhearing Jenna. "Are you honestly saying that you can speak English? Or pronounce it properly at least?" Jenna replied rolling her eyes.

    "What''s with the attitude? Can you speak fluent English? Pshh." Ike also rolled his eyes back at Jenna as he picked up a can of soda from the kitchen table. "Well. I''m not the one who wants to dub the movie." Jenna replied and drank a good gulp of soda. Bay-an, being Jenna''s best friend in the band, noticed something strange with Jenna. After thinking for a moment, he spoke out.

    "Jenna. Are you sure you didn''t ask Tayaw to dub?" Bay-an asked, smirking. "Huh? N-no.." Jenna replied, obviously lying. "Yep. Tayaw blew her off." Ike said smugly. "Fine! Whatever. I''m still better at English than you!" Jenna said to Ike. "Ohh. Okay, cowboy. I surrender." Ike said as he retreated to his room, giggling, and his can of soda on his hand.

    "Anyway. How is the songwriting thing going, man?" Ramil asked Bay-an. "It''s f.u.c.kin tough. Since January, I''ve already written what.. 7 songs? If we didn''t record for Tayaw, maybe even more." Bay-an replied. "Isn''t that still good? You made 7 songs." Jenna asked. "Not a single one of them is any good, though." Bay-an shook his head.

    "Really? I thought that one you had us listen to sounded good?" Ramil asked, confused at Bay-an''s expression. "Well. It''s alright. But if I compared to Tayaw''s songs I still have a long way to go." Bay-an replied. Ramil and Jenna finally understood, but rolled their eyes anyway.

    "It''s Tayaw we''re talking about here. Duh." Jenna said. "True. And! He''s basically your teacher, right? You only started writing for two months. Two months man! There''s no way you can catch up to Tayaw who''s been making songs since who knows when." Ramil said.

    Considering Ramil''s words, Bay-an suddenly felt embarrassed. "You''re right. What was I thinking comparing myself. Hahahaha." Bay-an said, feeling better about his songs. "I''ll have you listen to them later." Bay-an said and picked up a soda from the kitchen table.

    "Hey you two. Are you really fine drinking something cold? Don''t you have vocal lessons later?" Hoon, who popped out of nowhere, asked Jenna and Ramil. "Oh. I''ll be fine. I''m singing rock. Jenna on the other hand¡­" Ramil deflected Hoon''s question to Jenna.

    Hoon then looked at Jenna with a cold eye. Jenna, looking at Hoon''s eyes, felt intimidated. Even though Hoon looked at Jenna coldly, Jenna knows that Hoon, for some reason, is just being protective of her.

    "I-it''s for you. Here." Jenna said as she offered her half full soda can to Hoon. Jenna didn''t dare quip back as her snarky comments don''t work with Hoon. Hoon would always brush her comments aside or analyze them to her annoyance and embarrassment. "Thank you Jenna. What were you guys talking about?" Hoon, to Jenna''s relief left her alone.

    "We were talking about my songs." Bay-an said. "Oh¡­ Yeah." Hoon said mysteriously, which Bay-an nodded at. "Huh? What does that mean?" Ramil said, obviously missing something. "Well. Hoon is probably frustrated as well with his songs. Same with Inson." Bay-an said.

    "Hmm. Well, Bay-an already played us his song once. It sounded good. Can you play your songs too?" Jenna asked. Hoon then looked at Jenna and raised the soda can Jenna gave him. "Why did you give me a half-filled can?" Hoon said, which made Jenna want to retreat again.

    "Here. It''s warm now. Give me a new can." Hoon said as he passed back the can to Jenna. Jenna could only take it and hand Hoon a can of soda. "I''ll play it for you guys later. I''ll ask Inson too to show you his songs."

    "Where''s Inson, by the way?" Jenna asked. "He''s in his room. Listen." Hoon said. The four stayed silent for a moment until they heard a faint sound of an acoustic guitar being strummed coming from Inson''s room. "Yep. He''s written more songs than me." Bay-an said. "Same here." Hoon also said.

    "Why don''t you share with us? You always hear us three singing, and you guys just keep hiding your songs." Ramil said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Hey. We''re just not that confident sharing, okay? I would have you guys listen to my songs eventually once I polished them." Hoon said he opened his soda.

    "Hey Hoon. Why don''t we just show them all of our songs now? Ask for their feedback? Maybe it will help." Bay-an suggested. "You''re right. Maybe we can make a song better than Inson''s." Hoon chuckled, accepting Bay-an''s suggestion. "What? Inson wrote better songs than you?" Jenna could not help but say in surprise as Inson wasn''t that active when the band was arranging songs.

    "What''s to be surprised about? Inson wasn''t that active in our arrangements, yes, but when he adds something, they''re always good. Remember?" Bay-an said. His words enlightening Ramil and Jenna.

 Chapter 93 - Amateur Assessment of Physical Processes

    April 7, 2012 ¨C Sunday 2 am ¨C Okuba, Nabla Province

    The English dubbing was finished faster than Tayaw expected. The broadcasting students he hired absorbed Tayaw''s instructions very well. Without any theater or voice acting experience, the students did not have any habits that interfered with the recording.

    Even though Tayaw talked their ears off with instructions or insulted them to elicit emotions, it all ended well and the voice actors went back to their homes happy with their small fortunes.

    Tayaw also fiddled a lot with his video editing and sound editing software until he was able to finish replacing the Teungebian dialogue with English. It was a delicate process but he was able to quickly finish the dubbing nonetheless with his enhanced physical and mental processes.

    Finding himself nothing to do he decided to go back home in Okuba where he now finds himself sitting in his truck, with his laptop on his lap.

    As to why he is sitting in his truck and not inside the house at this hour of the morning; he needed privacy.

    He just had a video conference with the CEO of Pink Apron and the CEO of Cognito Technologies, the guys he hired back in October to be his eyes in the two companies while he''s away. According to the CEO of Pink Apron, the company already started business in the latter half of January. Because Tayaw was busy, he did not bother reading the CEOs'' e-mails to him.

    The company started small at first, only advertising themselves in New York as it is still what the current manpower and equipment can handle. After more than three months however, the business quickly gained profit.

    Tayaw could still not believe how the company''s business model became valued at 2 billion dollars when it became public in NASDAQ in his previous life. All the company did was to package measured raw ingredients, attach a recipe in a pamphlet, and send it to subscribers. "Well. Whatever. If this works out, I''ll sell my shares immediately." Tayaw chuckled.

    Cognito, on the other hand, according to the CEO, are still in their Research and Development of drones, 360 degree videography, and phone camera filters. Thankfully, the company is very secretive in their research, and with the small group of electronic, mechanical, and software engineers very focused on their work, the future of the company looks very bright.

    If everything goes well, when the company becomes public 12 years from now, it will be valued by NASDAQ at $250 billion. That value was not really due to the manufacturing power of Cognito in the future, but the patents they will hold.

    After processing the reports of the two CEOs in his head, Tayaw clicked open his e-mail to browse the sales report from ''The Halfling'' and the ''Grimm''s Fairy Tales'' for the month of March. He earned a total 46,000,000 BGC from the combined sales, and he has now 240,000,000 BGC in his account, tax not included.

    "Yep. I''m probably the richest man in Ouigab right now." Tayaw said to himself. Ouigab currently, is a music and academic city filled with artists, students, and professors. Smart people, but their trade is not as lucrative in the grand scheme of things.

    From what he can remember in his past life, the richest artists, pop stars, actors, or authors in the world all did not become billionaires from selling their craft alone, but by starting their own businesses be it cosmetic brands, clothing brands, or liquor brands. The richest musician Tayaw can remember in his past life made his riches with overpriced Bluetooth speakers.

    When it comes to the actual richest showbiz person overall, it would be a film director who owned a film studio that made animated films. Even then, the film director did not make his money through ticket sales, but toys based on his animated films.

    "Thought for the future." Tayaw sighed and closed his laptop, went out the car and went back inside the house.

    After washing up, Tayaw went out of the house again, wearing his running gear on and a backpack on his back. Stepping out the door, he inhaled deeply to smell the early morning breeze of Okuba. It''s not Alib Village or Canotu Village where his parents are originally from, but the air is still a lot fresher than the air in Ouigab.

    After stretching for a while, Tayaw started his jog. It''s still 2:15 in the morning so all the neighbors are still asleep, and the roads are dark. Tayaw didn''t mind the dark as it''s safe for him to test something out without people seeing.

    Arriving at the more desolate parts of Okuba, he pulled out a digital speedometer he recently bought and turned it on. On a jogging pace, he saw his speed is at 15 km/hr; a much faster speed than the average jogging speeds of 9 km/hr.

    He then sped up, his foot less and less in contact with the ground. 20¡­ 30¡­ 40¡­ 50¡­ 60¡­ 70 kilometers per hour. At this point, he noticed that he''s still not putting that significant of an effort. Maintaining his pace at 70 km/hr, he jogged for 10 minutes straight. At the 10th minute mark, he''s still not sweating or feeling any hotter.

    He then increased his pace. 80¡­ 90¡­ 100¡­ 110 kilometers per hour. At this speed, Tayaw started sweating a lot. He maintained this speed for a few minutes until he reached the boundary between Okuba and town of Tabila. Tayaw then decided to stop here for a moment.

    His breathing has gotten heavy but he is still breathing comfortable. Tayaw figured that he can still keep this speed up for 20 or so minutes more before he runs out of breath. "Well.. I can outrun average cars at this pace." Tayaw chuckled, pleased after getting a quantified information of himself.

    Instead of continuing to Tabila, Tayaw turned back around to the direction of Okuba. If Tayaw continued his way to Tabila, a much more populated Town compared to Okuba, people might see him and that would be trouble. After jogging to the straighter parts of the highway, Tayaw prepared to resume his test. His upper limit this time. He stopped again to tie his shoe laces as secure as he can make them.

    *Inhale*¡­*Exhale* Tayaw crouched to a running pose. "go¡­" Tayaw whispered and pushed his leg off the ground. 110¡­ 120¡­ 130¡­ "Top speed of a cheetah¡­" Tayaw mumbled his smile getting wider. He feels that his calves are starting to feel hot. His breathing starting to get labored and the sweat from his forehead flowing down to his eyes, obstructing his vision.

    140¡­ before he can speed up even further, *Snap* *RICKKK* Tayaw''s shoes made an odd sound and his left foot tore through his sock and shoe and his bare foot made contact with the rough asphalt ground. "Tss¡­" Tayaw felt a sharp pain as the same thing happened with his right foot. His left foot then stepped on a small stone and he stumbled. To prevent himself from falling, he forced himself to gain his balance back.

    Before he did however, *SMACK* he crashed to the concrete barrier. Because of the dark, he did not notice the ''curve ahead'' sign and that the straight part of the road has ended. "UGHHHHHHHHH" Air was knocked out of Tayaw and his body reeled from the impact.

    "Hu- Hu- Hu- Huugghh¡­ PHEW." Regaining his breathing, Tayaw sighed in relief. He also examined his body quickly and noticed that he''s still alright. He can still walk, not even limping.

    His abdomen and chest, however is feeling a dull pain. "Shit. That''s going to bruise." Tayaw said. He slowly pressed on his abdomen and chest to assess how deep the damage is and fortunately, the pain is only as deep as the muscles.

    Tayaw then looked over the concrete fence he crashed into and saw an empty darkness down below the road. "Shit. That was close." Tayaw shook his head, not even wanting to think about what would happen had he fallen the roadside cliff.

    He then sat down by the side of the road to rest and examine the soles of his feet. He noticed that they were not hurting at all and that the sharp stone he stepped on did not do any damage. "Thank goodness. Even though it will hurt, I can still run home. Hahaha." Tayaw then stood back up and jogged towards where his shoes scattered.

    "36 enhancements; 2 story high jump, 140 km/hr sprint." Tayaw''s mind is blown at what his body can do. " Looks like running shoes aren''t enough. I might have to start using leather boots when testing my body." Tayaw said as he noticed the shoe was torn at the part where the soft fabric is on anterior part of the shoes. He shook his head and put his jogging shoes and the speedometer he brought with him back to his backpack.

    He resumed his way home, but after jogging for a few minutes, he realized that he has traveled quite far in only the past half hour. Thankfully, *vroom* he heard a faint sound of a vehicle coming from behind him.

    Tayaw then stopped on his tracks and after waiting for 30 seconds or so by the side of the road, he saw a white Wr*ngler Jeep approaching. Tayaw then raised his arm on his side and stuck out his thumb and showed the gesture for the driver of the jeep to see.

    The driver responded by sounding their horn and stopped in front of Tayaw. The window by the front passenger seat rolled down and he saw a Caucasian man in his 50s leaning over from the driver''s seat.

 Chapter 94 - Laymans Critical Film Studies

    "Where are you going?" The Caucasian man asked in awkwardly pronounced Teungebian. "Okuba." Tayaw replied in Teungebian. "Huh?" The Caucasian man was confused at the answer. "Okuba Township" Tayaw clarified in English. "OH! Where is that?" The man asked, relieved that Tayaw spoke English.

    "The next town over." Tayaw replied. "Alright. Hop in. Shotgun!" "THANK YOU." Tayaw sighed in relief, opened the front passenger''s door, and settled himself in.

    "What is a young man like you doing in the middle of the highway at this hour? Barefoot too?" The man asked after taking a closer look at Tayaw. "Wild night. Hahaha." Tayaw did not explain. "Hm. I remember those days." The man chuckled. "How about you? This is the first time I''m seeing a foreigner, an Australian too, driving early in the morning in the mountains." Tayaw asked in curiosity, guessing the man''s nationality from the accent.

    "Ah. Well. I''m driving to Kangpan to pick up a friend." The man explained. "Oh. Looks like you''re familiar with the roads around here." Tayaw asked. "Heh. I''ve been living in Benbenna for a while now." The man said proudly. "Ah. No wonder your Teungebian is alright. Awkward pronunciation but smooth delivery."Tayaw started getting curious.

    "But¡­ why there of all places? Looking at your car, you don''t seem to be living in a city either." While foreigners indeed settle down in Teungeb since the 80s, it''s still rare for them to live in rural places, much more the mountains. Not only that, Benbenna is a municipality that is thirty or so kilometers past Alib and Nacotu villages where Kilat and Liboo grew up, respectively. It is at the edges of Nabla Province.

    "My wife is from there. We got tired living in Los Angeles so we started a weaving business there. Traditional Benbenna weaving. My mother-in-law''s expertise." The man said proudly. Tayaw''s interest was piqued at this. Benbenna Weaving recently became famous in Ouigab and Gonto for their sturdy products. From jackets to bags, especially bags.

    "You own Benbenna Weaving?" Tayaw asked in interest. "Nah. We own Yaran Weaving. You probably have not heard of it, but at least we''re second to Benbenna Weaving." The man replied. "Ah.." Tayaw understood. It''s one of those weaving companies that are riding on the coattails of Benbenna Weaving''s reputation.

    "What''s with the face? Our products are just as good as Benbenna Weaving. They were just first." The man said. Tayaw almost blushed at being called out. "Well. Yeah. Sorry about that. Back when I can''t afford it, I bought a cheap bag made in Benbenna. Because it''s local and of Benbenna''s reputation, I thought it was gonna last long. I was wrong and felt cheated. 30 BGC was not cheap for me back then." Tayaw explained.

    "Ah. I get it. Just because Burgundy has Conti wines, does not mean that all wines from Burgundy are Conti." The man nodded. Tayaw does not know about wines, but he knows Conti, so he nodded at the man''s analogy.

    "By the way, Mister. Why are you driving this early to Kangpan?" Tayaw asked, switching the topic. "Call me Dexter. I''m going to pick up some friends. They have business in Ouigab." Dexter replied. "I''m Tayaw. Teungebian for Fly¡­ Are your friends musicians? Or academics?" Tayaw asked. "Neither. Movie people." Dexter said. "Movie people? Business in Ouigab? Shouldn''t they be in Clambu instead?" Tayaw mumbled.

    "Well. I remember them saying that they''re going to look for T.L.D Grimmauld. You know? The author of ''The Halfling''? They''re planning on making his book into a movie." Dexter explained. Tayaw felt goose bumps at this. "Oh? He''s from Ouigab? I didn''t know that. How''d they find him?" Tayaw asked, trying to look cool.

    "They didn''t. But if I could guess, they will go first to the publisher that printed Grimmauld''s books. Before I retired from the movie business, I used to find people like that author too. So if I were the one to look for Grimmauld, I''d look at the publisher of the book first and start from there." Dexter said. Tayaw understood. It is clearly printed in a page in his book ''Published by Topaz Publishing Co. Ltd. ¨C Taragea Road, Ouigab City, North, TB''.

    "This is the first time I''m hearing this." Tayaw said, fishing for more information. "Are you kidding? He''s the biggest author Teungeb has in the recent years! My friends from LA have been looking for Grimmauld since the release of ''The Halfling'' last year. They even asked me for help to look for him, but I''m busy at Benbenna. I guess hiring Ouigab locals didn''t work either, so they personally came." Dexter explained.

    Tayaw is surprised at how famous his author persona is. Tayaw was also confused as to why he never heard any of this from Chala. But remembering that Chala joined him in New York shortly after ''The Halfling'' was released, Tayaw realized that Chala also has not been contacted.

    Considering also the honeymoon state of Chala and his girlfriend before Tayaw left America, it''s a safe assumption that Chala ignored all of his professional responsibilities once he started his vacation.

    "''The Halfling'' into a movie, huh. If they make that into a movie, I hope they don''t butcher it." Tayaw said sincerely. "Haha. That is true. In my years of working, I saw many writers, novelists, and comic book artists lose their shit because their works were made into terrible movies." Dexter nodded.

    "By the way. Do you know anyone working at Sorrento Film Festival?" Tayaw asked, switching the topic. "Hmm? That''s the first time a Teungebian asked about Sorrento. Are you interested in movies?" Dexter asked back. "Yeah. But the movies lately are all the same. Sports, Romance, Basketball, Love, Baseball, Love. Or¡­ OR! Remakes." Tayaw said, priming another round of fishing.

    "Hm? What''s the problem with those? Sports is already wide enough of a genre. I especially love last year''s ''Yellow Card''." Dexter defended the genre. "It''s just. Don''t you think they''re all the same story? It''s either an underdog team or athlete, gets a coach with weird methods, they succeed. The end." Tayaw said. "This¡­ Aherm." Dexter has no answer.

    "Romance. You have two people of very different characters, of differing outlooks in life. They spend some time together, learn more lovable things about each other, then they slowly fall in love. Then you introduce an obstacle to their love. A parent, an ex, or sometimes, existing relationsh.i.p.s. Then when they get through that, they live happily ever after." Tayaw''s tirade continued. "That¡­ Aherm.. If you put it that way." Dexter has no answer. Basically all of the romance movies he''s ever liked were already covered by Tayaw''s simple summary.

    "I get that success stories are heartwarming. They sell, but they are slowly losing meaning if they follow the same formula. But imagine this. You''ve read ''The Halfling'' right?" Tayaw asked. "Yeah?" "There would have been a movie made similar to that by now if film makers didn''t stick to tradition. Imagine? A new world. A magical society. It''s awesome." Tayaw concluded. Dexter cannot concentrate finding a reply because he''s driving, but he''s also thinking about Tayaw''s words.

    "By the way, heard anything from Sorrento this year?" Tayaw asked, finally fishing for information about ''September Ninth''. "Nope. At this point, only the jury knows." Dexter shrugged his shoulders. "That''s a shame. Oh. We''re in Okuba." Tayaw said after seeing the familiar fences surrounding the entrance of business part of the town.

    "Oh. So this place is called Okuba. How did you end up to where I picked you up?" Dexter said, confused. "You know Tabila right? The town you passed by before you saw me? I drank with friends there last night." Tayaw lied. "I see. I don''t see any houses here though?" Dexter said after looking around. "Yeah. This is the business part. There''s another side-road going to where I live¡­ here it is. I can walk home from here." Tayaw said after arriving at the opening of the road going to his neighborhood.

    "Are you sure? You''re barefoot!" Dexter said as he stopped his Jeep. "I''ll be fine. It''s well paved. The road also ends in my neighborhood so you have to drive back up again. The road is steep too, so I don''t want your Jeep roaring, disturbing the sleeping neighbors." Tayaw said. "Haha. Alright. Nice meeting you Tayaw." Dexter said, tickled at Tayaw''s way of talking.

    "Thank you for the ride! I''ll make sure to purchase some good Yaran products when I get the chance." Tayaw replied before getting out of the Jeep. "Then I hope that''s a promise." Dexter yelled over from the inside of the car.

    Dexter then watched Tayaw jog down the dark road until Tayaw disappeared into the darkness. *Sigh* Dexter sighed recalling Tayaw''s tirade about the movies earlier. For so long, Dexter thought the movie industry was booming but as if Tayaw pulled a veil in front of his eyes, he realized that the movies are somehow getting repetitive, safe, and rotten.

    "I mean. Luca said there''s a movie gaining buzz among the juries this year. Something about revolutionary cinematography and acting. I hope it''s good." Dexter said and he stepped on his accelerator to resume his drive. "Too bad, it''s romance. I would have told the kid."

 Chapter 95 - Introduction to Ceramics

    *Clack* I was woken up by the front door closing. I then brushed aside the curtain by my window to see the sky outside. The sky is still dark, so I''m confused at why the front door was shut. I quickly got up from my bed and saw from the gap under my door that the lights are turned on in the living room. I silently creep to my door and slowly opened slightly it to take a peek. I then saw Tayaw walk by towards the kitchen.

    As I watched his back, he suddenly looked back, looking straight to my eyes. I was so started I shut the door immediately. I then heard him laugh from outside the door. I''m getting kind of scared of Tayaw. I can''t prank him anymore. Whenever I creep behind him or follow him when he''s going out somewhere, he always finds out. I don''t know how he does it. When he finds me, he''s not angry but just brings me along with him to wherever he goes.

    He''s also weird. Whenever I join him in his truck and drive somewhere, it''s always somewhere there are no people. He brings his guitar with him to the brook, to the neighbor''s farm, or to the forests. He just stares into nothing while playing his guitar with ugly tunes. The guitar would sound ugly at first then become more and more beautiful. It''s weird.

    Tayaw is awesome though. He can play awesome guitar and can sing awesome songs. I like it when he plays the songs I hear from dad''s radio. I think he''s even better than the singers in the radio. When we saw him sing when we were in Nashville, the white people like listening to him. A lot of ladies also looked at him with googly eyes. I think they have a crush on Tayaw.

    He also makes good food. Whenever he''s home, I eat a lot because he cooks all the time. I once said to dad that Tayaw''s food is better than mom''s. Dad just laughed and said ''Don''t tell your mom you like Tayaw''s food better''. I asked why, but he just said that ''I''m still too young to understand.'' I also asked Payew, maybe he knows, but he said he doesn''t know.

    I also asked Tayaw but he just said ''Listen to dad well.'' They''re weird. They said it''s bad to lie, but they''re lying to mom. I said it to Tayaw and he said ''Lying is not always bad. You can lie as long as you did not do anything wrong. You can lie too when you''re not planning something bad.'' It makes sense, but why lie at all if you''re doing something good? Tayaw and dad are weird.

    Just like now, I think Tayaw just came back from somewhere and didn''t tell mom and dad. He was wearing PE uniform for college students. You don''t wear that at home. So, he lied but maybe he did not do anything wrong outside.

    I suddenly feel that below my tummy hurts. I have to pee, so I opened my door again to go the bathroom. When I entered the living room, I saw Tayaw sitting in the couch, he already changed out of his PE clothes. "Why are you up early?" Tayaw asked. "I was awaken by the door." I said, I pointed at the front door before I rushed to the bathroom.

    After washing my hands, I went back to the living room to join Tayaw. He''s always up early so I wonder what he''s doing. I saw Tayaw doing something in his laptop. He''s probably writing something. Tayaw is also awesome because he makes good stories. I read his stories a lot. "Are you writing?" I asked Tayaw. "No. I''m just researching." He replied

    "For school?" I asked again. "Yeah¡­ For school." Tayaw answered, chuckling. That was weird. It wasn''t funny. "Where did you go?" I asked again. "Oh. I went jogging." Tayaw said. "Oh. Okay." I said. I understand now why he wore his PE clothes. I looked at his arms and noticed that they''re bigger than dad''s. "Does jogging give you a lot of muscles?" I asked. "No. But you don''t get tired easily if you jog." Tayaw answered. He then closed his laptop.

    "How about you? What were you doing while I was away?" Tayaw asked this time. "School. Homework. Then I paint or make pots." I answered. "Really? Can I see your pots?" Tayaw asked. "SURE!" I said, happy that he asked. "Alright. Bring me to your workshop." Tayaw said and he stood up from the couch. "What''s a workshop?" I asked. "The place you make your pots." Tayaw answered. "Workshop¡­" I like it. So my pottery base is called a workshop.

    A few moments later, we arrived at my workshop behind the house. Tayaw turned on the light and he saw my workshop for the first time. Mom and dad said that all the stuff I use is all bought with Tayaw''s money, so I have to be careful when using them. Thankfully, I didn''t break anything yet aside from the pots I made.

    "Ooh. You''re making a vase already?" Tayaw asked. As he was about to pick up the piece I''m working on, my tummy felt weird. "STOP!" I shouted, surprising even myself. Tayaw also stopped and looked at me weirdly. "What''s up?" Tayaw asked. "They''re not dry yet." I said. Thank goodness, he didn''t touch it.

    "Oh. Sorry about that. How about these? Are they okay to pick up?" Tayaw asked as he pointed at where I put the ones that dad had the guy in town bake for me. "Yeah. But they''re not done. I''m going to paint them." I replied. "Oh cool. Can I see the ones you have already baked?" Tayaw asked again after studying the bisque-fired vases.

    "Here they are." I said and removed the plywood covering the vases I already glazed. Tayaw walked to them and picked one up. He looked at them closely and I see his face get serious. Tayaw also knows pottery? I became nervous that he will say it''s bad. "Hmm¡­ Hey. Isn''t this guy uhh¡­ Falbo Fabbins?" Tayaw said and he pointed at the small guy I painted on the surface of the vase.

    "Haha! No! It''s Rumplestiltskin!" I said, correcting him. "Oh. Well, they''re both little people so I got confused." Tayaw said. I took a closer look at my painting and realized that if I didn''t draw it, I would have mistaken it for Falbo too. But because I made it, when I say it''s Rumplestiltskin, then it is Rumplestiltskin.

    "Here. This is Falbo with Grandalf." I said to Tayaw as I picked out one of my finished vases from my ''finished stuff'' shelf. "Oh. I see. Hey, it''s cool." Tayaw said. I felt happy when he said it''s good. "By the way, why is this one shiny? That Rumplestiltskin is not?" Tayaw asked. This made me stop¡­ So he doesn''t know anything about pottery after all.

    "Well. The Rumple one was ¡­ only baked once before I painted it. The Falbo one ¡­ Was baked.. then I painted it .. then baked again, now they''re shiny." I struggled explaining. Tayaw just looked at me for a few seconds, and then nodded as if he understood.

    "So. What you do is to create that shape over there on the wheel, yes?" Tayaw asked. "No. I prepare the clay first. I roll them. Then I put them on the wheel." I said. "Oh. Okay. Then after you make the shape, you have it baked in Tabila, right?" Tayaw guessed the next step. "No. They have to be dried for two days first." I said. "Hmm. Then you have it baked, then." Tayaw said. "Yes." I nodded.

    "Alright. After it''s baked, you bring them home to paint, yes?" Tayaw guessed again. "Yes." He''s right this time. "Then after you paint them again. You let them dry. Then you bake them again to make them shiny?" Tayaw asked. "Yes." I said, glad that he understood. "So. Aside from dad having your stuff baked, you don''t need help?" Tayaw asked. "At first. It was hard to roll the clay, so I had dad or Payew help. Then I learned how to use a rolling pin." I explained. My hands are not that strong yet.

    "Why don''t you teach me?" Tayaw said as he rolled up his sleeves. I''m curious too. I want to see what Tayaw can do. "Here. Let me mix the clay and the water first." After a minute or so of mixing, we let the mixture sit for a few minutes. After the clay mixture is ready, it''s finally time for Tayaw to wedge the clay. "Okay. Wedge it." I told Tayaw. "What''s wedge?" Tayaw asked in return. I''m stuck.

    Seeing that I can''t explain, Tayaw just played with the clay, and was actually wedging the clay. "That''s wedging!" I told him. "AH! So this is wedging. Well, in baking, this is called kneading. We knead the flour to make into dough bake it to make bread." Tayaw said while chuckling. It reminded me of what I saw on TV once. A chef was playing with the dough on TV. So kneading is what it''s called.

    "Okay. But make sure to remove the air. It will be bad if there are bubbles when it gets baked." I instructed next. Looking at the way Tayaw wedges the clay, though, I am shocked. He''s doing so easily and very quickly. I poked the clay from time to time just to check, but it is still as hard as the clay that I know.

    "You''re strong." I could only say.

 Chapter 96 - Introduction to Chinese Cuisine

    "Oh my. Couldn''t you have covered yourself at least? You ruined your nice clothes!" Liboo exclaimed when he saw the muddy shirt that Tayaw is wearing. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I was excited to have Agew here teach me his pottery. And. It''s just *didas shirt." Tayaw replied.

    "Just because you can afford good clothes, doesn''t mean you just can ruin them." Liboo said and he rolled his eyes. "Alright dad. Let me go change, I''ll make breakfast." Tayaw said, escaping from the scolding. "Wash your hands properly." Liboo let him go.

    Tayaw opted to take a shower, and a few minutes later, he''s changed to fresh clothes and started his work in the kitchen. "What time did you two wake up? It''s barely 6 in the morning" the now awake Kilat asked when she realized it was still very early. "I went for a jog and came back at 5. Agew here woke up at the same time." Tayaw answered as he assembled the steamer.

    "Need help?" Kilat asked seeing Tayaw''s unusual use of the steamer. She herself don''t use the thing. "No. I''m good." Tayaw said as he pulled out a Tupperware tray from the fridge. "What are you making anyway?" Liboo also asked. "Steamed buns." Tayaw answered. He secretly made them the night before prior to going to sleep. He only need three hours of sleep a night after all and he has to find something to do.

    Kilat and Liboo were surprised at this. "The chinese food?" Liboo asked just to be sure. "Yeah." Tayaw answered, understanding the surprise of his parents. Currently, Chinese food is not yet very popular in Nabla, but in the future when the Biongo-Nabla-Gonto Expressway will be done in the future; all kinds of cuisines will start popping up.

    "Oh! I saw that on TV!" Agew said, excitedly as he saw the uncooked steamed buns Tayaw laid out on the steamer. Kilat also stood up from her chair and stood beside Tayaw to watch the process. "Ah. We should have gone to a Chinese restaurant in New York!" Tayaw said, almost slapping his forehead. "Chinese food? In New York?" Liboo asked, confused. "Yeah. Remember? Chinatown in Manhattan? There''s a lot of good Chinese food there." Tayaw explained. "Perhaps next time son. Let''s taste this one first." Kilat said from beside him.

    "Mom, Dad, I saw Agew''s stuff in his workshop. Aren''t they looking good enough to sell? I think someone would buy his pots and vases." Tayaw asked. "That''s only the half of the stuff he made. The half is in my car workshop. They''re displayed at the display room of the refurbished cars. So, even if no one buys my cars, they might at least buy some wares." Liboo explained. Tayaw found the image of a car display room having pots in them funny.

    "Dad, do you have a car you finished? I''ll buy it for mom." Tayaw asked. "Hah!" Kilat just scoffed. "There is. I wanted to give your mom one but she refused." Liboo explained. "What would I need a car for? The town and the school are of walking distance. I also need the exercise." Kilat said. Tayaw shrugged at the answer. It made sense. A 30 minute uphill walk and 20 minute downhill walk every day and one gets their daily dose of cardio.

    "I think the buns are done. Agew, go wake Payew up." Tayaw said. Agew stood up and briskly walked to Payew''s room upstairs, wanting to wake up Payew immediately so he can eat the food he only saw on TV.

    A few minutes later, the family is now gathered at the dining table, hot buns in their plates. It might look awkward to others, but the family opted to eat the buns with the knife and fork.

    "Payew. How are your grades?" Tayaw asked. "Oh. I''m number 1 in my grade." Payew said proudly. Tayaw looked at Kilat for confirmation, and Kilat nodded. "Cool. Do you want to enroll in a private high school for your senior year in high school? I''m not saying that private schools are better, but these private schools teach good study practices that you might find useful in university." Tayaw asked again. This made the family, except for Agew, to freeze their forks and knives. Kilat and Liboo especially, waited in anticipation for Payew''s answer.

    "I¡­ I don''t know. The schools are far." Payew answered. Tayaw nodded. The public high school he went to, the closest to their home is about 3.5 kilometers away and on top of a mountain. The nearest private high school is even farther, it is located halfway between Ouigab and Okuba at Jebung Township 65 kilometers away.

    "How about that fancy high school at Jebung? My workshop is near there. I can bring you there every day." Liboo suggested, going along Tayaw''s idea. "That''s still more than an hour drive from here." Kilat shook her head. "Unless of course¡­" Tayaw started, treading lightly. "He goes there to board?" Tayaw finished his suggestion. Contrary to his expectations, Payew''s eyes, for a split second glinted at his suggestion. ''This kid.'' Tayaw chuckled internally.

    "Hmm. Oh. That high school in Jebung is indeed a boarding high school." Kilat said. "Well. It depends on you, Payew. We want the best for you, but if you can''t bear to stay away from home, we have no problem either." Liboo said.

    "I''ll do it." Payew resolutely said.

    ---

    "I''m off. You guys take care." Tayaw bid farewell to his family.

    After the breakfast, Tayaw packed his bags and three of Payew''s vases and stuffed them to the backseat of his truck. He only stayed for two days in Okuba this time as he found that his family is very busy with their own thing. Kilat is busy with preparing teaching plans, quizzes, and tests for her students. Liboo is busy studying some structures of cars he is not familiar with. Payew is busy studying to get grades good enough to enter a private school. Agew is busy learning to play with stoneware clay and porcelain clay.

    On his drive to Ouigab, Tayaw decided to give Chala a phone call. It''s currently 8 am in Teungeb, which means it''s 3 pm in New York where they parted.

    *Ring**Ring**Ring** "Hello?" Chala answered. "Hey Chala, how''s it going there?" Tayaw greeted. /Oh it''s cool. Hey. Did you receive the DVD I sent you? A TV show in Nashville made an episode about you./ Chala said. "I did but I haven''t got the time to watch it. I want to talk about something else though." Tayaw said.

    /What is it?/ Chala asked, slightly nervous. Tayaw does not always get to the point. "I''ve heard that movie people from LA are looking for me. I found out that their people have personally come to Teungeb to find me." Tayaw said.

    /Really? Oh shit. I haven''t checked my e-mail in a long while. I switched my e-mail because it was spammed with messages from Nashville people./ Chala said. Tayaw remembered that it was Chala''s business e-mail address that he gave to the folks of Strawberry Front.

    "Ah. Okay. Please check your e-mail and find those e-mails from the movie studios." Tayaw said. /Alright. Wait. Let me go back to my hotel first./ Chala said and hung up.

    Thirty minutes later, Tayaw''s phone rung again. Before Tayaw could talk, Chala blurted out his report. /Here! Tayaw! There''s a lot of movie studios interested in ''The Halfling''!/ "So it''s true. Which ones are the ones you''re familiar with?" Tayaw asked. /There''s an e-mail from Wagner Bros. Another one is from Atlas Pictures. There''s also one from Summit Studios./ Chala said.

    "Alright. 4 months is enough for a vacation right?" Tayaw said. /Yeah. Sorry about that. I''ll talk to them./ Chala said. "Alright. Don''t negotiate yet. Just get their initial offers. Once you''ve gathered their offers, get back to me. If the thing I''m working on works out, I''ll come with to negotiate. It''s not just about the movie rights this time." Tayaw said.

    /Understood. Let me settle my... affairs first. I''ll call you./ Chala said and hung up.

    Unlike before, Tayaw is not planning on selling his movie rights immediately. If in case he gets at least a nomination at Sorrento Film Festival, he will gain a bargaining chip to negotiate. He will even prefer it if he will be the one doing the planning and directing of the movie version of ''The Halfling''.

    It will cost a lot to make the movie realistic so he also has to study about how advanced the graphics and special effects of his world''s film industry. From what he can figure, the ''green screen'' from his ''film maker skills'' vocabulary exist in his world; he will use it for the background and scene setting of the movie.

    When it comes to the more fantastical elements like the creatures and magic, it''s a lot more difficult. "If I''m not wrong. There''s something called motion capture." Motion capture however, is more commonly used in games in his world. The games in his world are mostly sports, martial arts, or real life simulators.

    What gave Tayaw the idea of using motion capture is because the characters in his world''s games all have exaggerated physical creatures like overly large heads or muscles. If game developers can make realistic hulking game characters, then they can also make realistic Orcs or Ghouls or walking trees.

    The game characters also have some special effects when doing their special moves. So if game developers can do those in games, then they can make magic real in the movie.

    "I don''t want to risk my money doing all of that yet. Let''s see in the future." Tayaw shook his head at the humongous task of making ''The Halfling'' into not only a movie, but a revolutionary one.

 Chapter 97 - Analysis of Beginner Songwriting

    April 10, 2012 ¨C Tuesday 3pm ¨C Ironstone, East Ouigab

    *DING**DONG*DANG* I was brainstorming on my lyrics when suddenly, the doorbell rang. My room being the nearest to the front door, it''s my job to check to open the door or the gate.

    I walked towards front door and looked at the intercom. I saw what looks to be a delivery guy waiting by the house''s gates. It must be another package for Tayaw. The guy''s been doing a lot of online shopping lately. Although I see the convenience of online shopping, I still don''t trust it. You just can''t beat the expertise of the salespeople about the things one is intending to buy.

    "Good afternoon! Package? Yeah? Speak closer to the thingy please." I asked through the intercom''s microphone. "Can you hear me? Yes. It''s a package for Tayaw Dagem." The delivery guy replied. "Wait a moment please." I said and ran up to Tayaw''s room upstairs to call for him.

    A minute or two later, Tayaw came back in the house carrying a microwave-sized box. The band always gets curious at whatever package arrives for Tayaw, but we never opened them. After all, we eventually see what''s in them. One example is the vinyl records he ordered from abroad that he can''t find in record stores in Ouigab. He also had a vinyl record made for his own album ''18''.

    "Inson, let''s unpack it together. Looks like you wanna have a look." Tayaw suddenly said, to my embarrassment. I must have been eyeing the box. "Cool." I replied and he led the way down to the bas.e.m.e.nt. "Is it an instrument?" I could not help but ask. "No. But it''s better to use it with the PC in the studio." Tayaw replied.

    After opening all the box and ripping away the bubble wrap, the thing in the box was finally revealed to me. It confused me, however. "Is that¡­ a printer? Don''t we have one already?" I asked. "Oh. This one''s special." Tayaw said as he booted up the studio''s computer. He unplugged the old printer and plugged in the new one. He then installed the new printer''s software and after a few minutes, Tayaw sighed.

    Tayaw then opened the table drawer and pulled out a stack of what looks to be blank CD-Rs or DVD-Rs. Tayaw pressed next a button on the new printer and I saw what looks like a DVD drive pop out slowly from the printer. "What the hell is that?" I could not help but ask. "Watch." Tayaw said as he put one CD into the printer''s DVD drive and closed it back. Tayaw then opened something on the computer and the next moment, the new printer buzzed.

    *Nnnggggggg**clickclack* A few seconds, the DVD drive on the popped out again. This time though, the white blank CD that Tayaw inserted earlier now looks a lot different. It has a picture of the three-piece-suit-wearing Tayaw on it. There are also what looks like song lists printed on the cd. "OH. So that''s how they''re made!" I couldn''t help but exclaim. I''ve been using CDs and DVDs all my life and it never occurred to me how the makers actually customize the look of their discs.

    "Yep. I''m going to make my albums in these CDs and sel- well, give them away¡­." Tayaw said. This made me day dream. One day, when I become a competent songwriter, I''ll sell my CDs too. "So. Do the best you can to write songs. If you, Bay-an, or Hoon will be able write good songs, then we can start making an album for the band." Tayaw said.

    Tayaw''s words made me excited. Me, Bay-an, and Hoon are all aspiring songwriters. The three of us, we surely can make an album. If we include the arranging skills of Jenna, Ike, and Ramil, then releasing an album is even more realistic.

    "Hell. If you guys make songs that are enough to satisfy me, I''ll even arrange them for you." Tayaw''s extra remark pumped me up even more. It''s Tayaw, the best musician I know. If he arranges our songs, that will improve the songs even further.

    The band saw the DVD that Chala sent us. I realized then when we were watching that episode of that TV show that Tayaw has already become a star, in Nashville at least. Not only is he a famous singer, he also made a band very famous just by writing them songs or arranging that band''s songs. I kind of got jealous at the stardom that Strawberry Front is enjoying but when I thought about it more, our Percussive Corrections cannot compare to them, even before they became famous.

    They have experience, they have skills, and they can write their own songs. That made them deserve Tayaw''s help in making and arranging songs. Our Percussive Corrections barely has any experience aside from a few gigs at ROH Factory and that one set we did at Monna Park. We don''t deserve Tayaw''s songs yet. The next best thing the band could do is to write good enough songs that Tayaw can arrange for us.

    "How''s the songwriting by the way?" Tayaw asked. This question made me anxious immediately. Even though Tayaw does not rush us in writing songs, I could not help but hurry and feel pressure because I''m basically learning and training on Tayaw''s dime. Even though he said he''s training us for free because we''re friends, it''s too burdensome to receive such generosity. I have to produce results immediately to show that he''s not wasting his time and money on me.

    "I''ve written two more songs since we finished with the soundtrack of your movie. I don''t have lyrics yet though." I said. "Cool. Your first seven songs were alright, actually, but they''re too¡­ plain." Tayaw said. Ouch. But it''s true. My first seven songs don''t stand out compared to other songs.

    "Can you play me your new songs? Just hum them." Tayaw asked. "Alright." I said and went to the practice room and picked up an acoustic guitar. From outside the soundproofed practice room, I saw Tayaw nod at me, signaling me to begin.

    I started plucking some chords. The band has been training under Tayaw for a little over a year now. For the past year, I also learned to play the acoustic and electric guitar better thanks to Hoon. Aside from the bass guitar, the acoustic guitar is the only instrument I can play competently. The acoustic guitar is also my main instrument in writing songs.

    "Hmmm¡­" I started humming my song. I don''t have a great singing voice like Tayaw or Jenna, but I can carry a tune just fine. "Hmm¡­" Oops. That wasn''t right. "It''s fine. Start again." Tayaw encouraged me. That''s what I like about Tayaw. He does not get mad when the band makes mistakes. He helps us instead to overcome them.

    "Hmmm¡­ Da da di da da.. Hmm." After I started the song over, I feel more comfortable. A few minutes later, I''m done playing. "Alright." Tayaw said and joined me in the practice room. He plugged in an electric guitar and started playing my song. It still blows my mind how Tayaw can copy tunes on the first try.

    "Here¡­ I like this part a lot. What were you thinking while writing the song?" Tayaw asked. "It''s just the memories I have as a kid. The feeling I got when I remembered how me and other neighborhood kids would play tag at the hills, or play hide and seek in the forests." I explained. "That''s better too. I like how this one feels free, happy, pure¡­" Tayaw started giving me feedback.

    "Hmm. Hm¡­" Tayaw then started reproducing another part of the song. "This one. It''s iffy a little. It gets tiresome at this point. Why don''t you do this? You should want to make an impact at this part¡­" This time, I know, that Tayaw is finally starting his instruction. Since Tayaw started teaching me how to write songs, this part of his sermons I find the most valuable.

    "You should either do a key change here, or make it simple like raising one octave. This will make the climax of the song even more powerful. No, it will not add any new emotion, but it will make the emotion of the song more¡­ loaded¡­" Tayaw resumed his instructions. I''m also doing as he said and tried raising the key at the chorus after the instrumental break..

    "WHOOOOOOoooOO.." Tayaw sang, and it shocked me how such a tiny key change enhanced my song, by a lot. "It sounds a lot better indeed." I nodded. "Yes. This is very common in writing songs, but you have to know where to put it. Also, key change after key change in every song you make is also not good. It depends on the melody and the feeling you''re trying to communicate. Like your¡­ third song for example. It didn''t need any key change whatsoever but it still sounded good because of the story you''re telling."

    The next few hours are spent by Tayaw instructing me in this song and my other new song. It''s a productive day for me.

 Chapter 98 - Politics of Reel Industries

    April 12, 2012 ¨C Thursday 10 am ¨C Clambu City ¨C Black Deer Pictures

    "F.u.c.k. Our movie didn''t make it?!" A man in his 50s huffed in frustration as he extinguished his cigarette on the ashtray. The man''s fancy and spacious office has its appearance tainted by the cigarette smoke lingering in the room.

    "Yarag. I told you before that it''s not about the movie budget. It''s about the basic quality of the film." A woman, who is of same age, replied. "Well, isn''t the script we chose already the best? You said so yourself." Yarag replied.

    "Okay. That''s fair. But in my defense, I told you too that hiring famous actors won''t work. Hiring actors that ''fit'' the role is a better choice. We could have saved a lot of money from less famous, and more fitting actors. You didn''t listen." The woman replied.

    "Oh yeah? I admit those. But why am I taking all the blame? Huh? I knew hiring your son to direct the thing wouldn''t work. Damn. That must have been the dumbest decision I have ever made as chairman." Yarag said.

    "Hey! I know my son did great in directing! We both saw the film!" The woman defended.

    "Oh yeah? I''m not an idiot. I was a producer, then an executive producer. I know what a good film looks like, I know which films would sell. Our movie could have been better!" Yarag said.

    "That was years ago! You''ve been stuck in your ''throne'' for so long, what do you know?" The woman countered.

    "What do I know? I''ll tell you what I know, Jundiel! I know that even though our films didn''t win any awards over the years, they still sold well. I also know that the movie YOUR SON directed is AVERAGE! Just pray to whatever god you worship that the movie would not flop! So shut up before I remove your production powers." Yarag finally has had enough.

    Jundiel''s confidence faded at Yarag''s tirade. Black Deer Pictures did not grow to its size without Yarag''s expertise after all. She is also afraid that Yaraw will do what he just said. Jundiel has not reached her position as the Vice President in charge of productions at Black Deer with her abilities alone. She has been friends with Yarag when they were just producers, and with that friendship, she rode on Yarag''s coat tails. Yarag has given her power, he can also take it away.

    "OH! TEUNGEB!" Yarag''s secretary suddenly exclaimed from his table. "What was that Kyer?" Yarag asked his secretary. "Oh¡­ uh¡­ nothing." Kyer''s head receded to his shoulders as if he did something wrong.

    Jundiel then walked towards Kyer''s table to look at his computer. "Sorrento Selections¡­ Why are you still looking? Our movie didn''t make it." Jundiel said, venting her frustration at Kyer.

    "Sorrento Selections? Teungeb? Another Teungeb film was selected?" Yarag however quickly connecting the dots and asked for clarification. "Yeah¡­" Kyer said but didn''t bother explaining because of Jundiel standing beside him.

    "Where is it?" Yarag got up from his table and walked to Kyer''s table. Kyer, feeling he''s been rescued, sighed in relief. He doesn''t get why the two has to walk towards him. They''re not wearing their reading glasses, so they can''t read his monitor anyway.

    "Here it is. ''September Ninth'' an indie film." Kyer said, smiling. He''s a fan of movies, and also an ultra-patriot, so seeing a Teungebian movie getting a nomination at the most prestigious international film festival; he could not help but feel immense pride. In contrast to his expression however, Yarag and Jundie''s faces look strange.

    "Who the hell is this Isaac Yawat?" Jundiel said. "I don''t know. Look him up, Kyer." Yarag ordered. "Here¡­ uhh¡­ musician?!!" Kyer exclaimed as he read the search results. He also could not help but click at a video link with Tayaw in the thumbnail. "Hmm.. Preacher preacher, come save me¡­" Tayaw''s song started playing through Kyer''s speakers and his voice tickled the trio''s ears.

    "So¡­ A wolar." Kyer said, gritting his teeth. A ''wolar'' is the derogatory term used by Teungebians to call Teungebians who were raised abroad. Tayaw, having an excellent English pronunciation, Kyer assumed that he is a Teungebian - American.

    Yarag, hearing the term, slapped Kyer on the back of the head. "F*cks sake. If you weren''t competent, I would have fired you just saying that." Yarag scolded. "He''s a good musician. Find out if he has other films." Yarag ordered again.

    Kyer tried various combinations of Tayaw''s names and movie terms, but all he found was Tayaw''s music. "No. *aherm* I think ¡­ uh ¡­" Kyer does not dare say what he thinks. "What? Spit it out." Jundiel commanded. "I think¡­ this movie is his debut work." Kyer finally said in conclusion to Yarag and Jundiel. The Kyer does not dare to look at the faces of the two big bosses and kept looking at the monitor.

    "Are you sure?" Yarag asked. "No. But I think ¡­ it has to be his debut work. I can''t find anything about him relating to movies." Kyer replied. Yarag and Jundiel, after a few seconds of acceptance, finally nodded as Kyer''s words made sense.

    "Oh. Can you look at the awards it''s competing for?" Jundiel asked Kyer. "Wait a second." After some keyboard clacking and mouse clicking, Kyer was silent once again.

    "Something wrong?" Yarag asked. "No.. I''m just surprised. Here. It''s competing for Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Jury Prize." Kyer spat out. The list made the recovered Yarag and Jundiel dizzy.

    "Here. I think my guess was right. He''s also nominated for Camera D''Oro." Kyer concluded. ''Camera D''Oro'' is the award for directors who have not previously made a full-feature film. It''s a newcomer award that directors only have one chance of winning, and that is their debut film.

    "What kind of film could it be? This is not possible." Jundiel said, sighing. If it was any other debut work, the three would have assumed that the film just got lucky. But looking at the list of awards it was qualified to compete for; even an idiot would see that luck has little to do with ''September Ninth''. The three could not help but admit that they were bested, dominatingly so.

    "Can you look at the credits of the film? We should know someone." Yarag commanded. Kyer who just happened to be already reading the credits of ''September Ninth'' read aloud "Director ¨C Isaac Yawat. Screenplay ¨C Original by Jouny Yalen. Editor ¨C Isaac Yawat. Soundtrack ¨C Isaac Yawat."

    "Soundtrack?" Yarag asked, not sure if he heard it right. Soundtracks are not usually credited in films. Kyer did not answer however, so Yarag and Jundiel looked at him. They were both confused at Kyer''s serious and pondering expression. "Something wrong?" Yarag snapped Kyer out of his daze.

    "Yeah. It''s just ¡­ I know the screenwriter, Jouny." Kyer began explaining. "I know her since secretarial school. Do you remember ''Her Shadow''?" Kyer asked the two. "Yeah. The movie we made some years ago?" Jundiel answered. "Yeah. That''s Jouny''s screenplay. That''s also the second screenplay she wrote that made it to the screens. I thought she stopped writing screenplays after we made that." Kyer concluded.

    "Do you have her contact number?" Yarag asked. "Yeah. You want me to call her right now?" Kyer said and pulled out his phone. "Yeah. Put it on speaker phone." Yarag nodded.

    *Ring Ring* [Hello? Kyer, it''s been a while.] Jouny answered, to Kyer''s relief. It''s been a while indeed, and he''s thankful she''s still using the number he has saved. "Yeah. How''s it been since ''Her Shadow''?" Kyer started with small talk. [Well. Same same. I''m still working at the Writers'' Guild. How about you? Still working for ''The Big Man''?] Jouny asked. Kyer almost blushed at this. ''Big Man'' is what he calls Yarag when he''s with his friends. Fortunately for Kyer, Yarag didn''t seem to mind the moniker.

    "Yes. Why would you think I''m not?" Kyer continued. [Nothing. Haha. What''s with the call? Something happened?"] Jouny asked. "I heard you wrote a screenplay for a movie recently? Congratulations!" Kyer said. [Thank you! As expected for the ''Big Man''s assistant, you even heard of that.] Jouny said, to Kyer''s hidden embarrassment once again. Kyer, Jundiel, and Yarag were interested at ''you even heard of that''.

    "Alright. Stop with that. I actually thought you already stopped writing. It''s a pleasant surprise when I found out." Kyer said. [I actually did! I was just lucky that someone bought one of the first scripts I already wrote.] Jouny explained. "I see. Well luck might have something to do with it, but your script must be good enough to sell." Kyer fished for more. [Hah! The ''good script'' is the one I wrote 8 years ago. Remember the one our friends wanted me to scrap? That''s the one!] Jouny said excitedly.

    Kyer, on the other hand, almost dropped his phone. He did not read the script but he''s heard of the script that Jouny never gave up on selling. "That''s the one?! Well.. That''s unexpected." Kyer could only say. [Yeah. Hah! It''s great that I didn''t give up. The director who bought it made it into a great film!] Jouny said in pride.

    "Yeah? It is that good?" Kyer asked. [Oh you have no idea. It''s the best film I''ve ever seen in years! I can''t talk about it yet, but trust me, it''s like my characters really became alive!I don''t know when it will come out, but I hope many people would see it. I''ll give our friends tickets¡­ I''ll show them. Humph.] Jouny started rambling.

 Chapter 99 - Intermediate Dramatic Performance

    Kyer''s bosses are still listening in to the conversation seriously, so he had to keep the conversation going. "Anyway, you sound¡­ cheerful, Jouny. It''s not like you." Jouny asked, genuinely curious as Jouny always had a cold demeanor. [How could I not be? Eight years, you know. EIGHT YEARS! Someone finally recognized my script!] Jouny said.

    "How about the director? You can talk about him, right? He must be a veteran in the field?" Kyer continued fishing. [Oh. He''s not. It''s actually his first film... hmm¡­ What can I talk about him?... That''s a good question... uh¡­ That''s a really good question. I actually don''t know much about him. He said he''s a film critic, but when I looked him up on the internet, I didn''t find anything about him. Aside from that¡­ He''s rich. He used his own money to make the movie.] Jouny replied.

    This made Kyer and his bosses look at each other as if saying ''How could she not know him as a musician?''

    "What''s the name of the director?" Kyer could not help but ask. [Tayaw Dagem. He''s a young man from Ouigab.] Jouny replied. "If he''s from Ouigab, it''s a safe assumption that he''s a musician right? Do you have access to the internet right now? I''m sending you something." Kyer instructed Jouny. A few seconds later, he sent an image of Tayaw he screen captured to Jouny''s e-mail.

    [Oh! Hhm? What''s with the cowboy hat and shades? Yeah. This is him.] Jouny''s laughter reverberated around the office from Kyer''s phone. Kyer and his bosses, on the other hand, found the situation more mysterious. "Are you sure he''s from Ouigab though?" Kyer asked, trying to confirm that Tayaw is not a ''wolar''.

    [Yeah! I met him there. His accent is also obviously Nabla, so I''m confident he''s from there. Okay. How did you find this picture? I know you have resources, but this is just ridiculous. I didn''t find anything, but you did?] Jouny said.

    Kyer was stuck so he decided to come clean. "I actually called you to congratulate you on another thing." [Hm? What''s up?] Jouny replied, confusion apparent in her voice. "Congratulations. ''September Ninth'' was chosen to compete in Sorrento." Kyer said.

    [Huh? What? Really???] "Yeah. Go to Sorrento Film Festival''s website. They just announced the 50 film selections for the competition. I uh... the movie is competing for Best Original Screenplay." Kyer said.

    [Really? Wait a minute.] Jouny said. Exactly a minute later [*Squeaallllll*YES! HAHAHAHA! YES!] Kyer hung up the call to let Jouny celebrate by herself.

    "I can''t believe it." Jundiel said after the phone call. "Well. It''s real. But how the hell did he do it? What kind of film is it?" Yarag asked himself.

    -

    Ironstone, East Ouigab

    Tayaw is currently practicing piano in the practice room when his phone suddenly rang. [Tayaw! The Sorrento selections was announced! Our film made it!] Jouny said immediately after Tayaw picked up the call. "Really?! That''s good. That''s good news." Tayaw felt intense excitement at the news.

    Even though he''s confident about the quality of the film, he was not certain that it will be received well. Considering the members of the jury this year, Tayaw is now confident that his film will have great reception once it comes out.

    He is also feeling proud. Unlike his songs, the film was a combined effort by the cast and the crew. He is excited for the actors especially. They will be the first actors to introduce ''Film Acting'' to this world.

    "I guess it''s time to learn some I-talian." Tayaw chuckled and he pulled out his phone.

    -

    Winnig, Clambu City

    [So. Prepare your passport or whatever.] "Yeah. I''ll do that." I said. Tayaw just informed me of ''September Ninth'' being selected for the festival''s competition. Tayaw also gave me a heads up that I might be one of the people representing ''September Ninth'' for the festival''s award ceremonies.

    This situation feels unreal. The first film I acted on, and it''s already critically acclaimed. Not in just Clambu, not in just Teungeb, but internationally. Even though I''m not nominated for the Best Actor, I''m still very satisfied and proud. Some of the best actors, directors, and screenwriters saw my acting on the screen. They were the first people to see ''realistic'' acting.

    [Hey. You still there?] Tayaw asked me when I got lost in my thoughts for a moment. "Yeah. I''m here. I''m going to register for a passport today." I replied. [Okay. Hey. Even though the judges did not recognize your acting for now, but in the future, they will realize how different it will be. How difficult it will be to act believably. Also. Even though my acting preference will not be popular, you can still act theatrically right? You''ll be more in demand in the future.] Tayaw said. This gave me hope for my future as an actor.

    "Thank you for choosing me for this role, man. If need any help in the future, I''ll be there." I said, sincerely. Even though I was paid 400,000 BGC for my acting, and I may live comfortably for the next two years or three years just from what I earned, the gratitude I''m feeling isn''t just about money.

    [I''ll tell you something that may help your acting. Wanna hear it?] Tayaw suddenly said. His words excited me. During the entire filming process, I realized that acting realistically is not as simple as it looks, and I only got lucky that my process of getting into character goes well with his intention. I also realized that the type of acting that Tayaw preferred for his film is similar to the acting we do in our comedy show.

    In a sketch, when we comedic actors are told to act like a teacher or a rock star, we would learn how teachers or rock stars behave, and then we would use what we learned to act like a teacher or a rock star on stage. However, when I saw my friends at the comedy troupe do it in Tayaw''s film, Tayaw called it ''Caricature Acting''. ''It''s fine to do it in a comedy sketch because it''s funny, but my film is different.'' I remember Tayaw saying.

    It may be a simple remark, but I got immediately what he was saying. Unlike the comedy acting where we just have to copy the stereotypical habits of the characters we play, in Tayaw''s film, we have to study the characters we play as people. What they like, what they dislike, what they do in the morning when they wake up, what they do in the evening before they sleep. We need to become different people when acting.

    "Sure. Whatever it is, I''m sure it will help." I replied to Tayaw, curious at what he would say. [Do this. Do you have a favorite movie? Look up the script of it in the internet. I''m pretty it was posted for free.] Tayaw began. "Okay?" I asked not knowing what he''s getting at.

    [Now. Study the main character''s traits. Just like how you did with Steven in the movie. Look at the main character as if he''s someone you know. Where does he come from? Where was he born? Where did he grow up? ¡­ And.. How does the character walk? How does he talk? Those details are also important.] Tayaw started rambling but I get the idea.

    The process he laid out for me opened the door for me. I could already see myself doing it. "But, what if it''s not in the script? I mean, Jouny did not include Steven''s background in the script. It''s your instructions that made me feel Steven''s character better." I said. It''s a valid concern to me. The scripts I''ve seen in my auditions were just like Jouny''s script when it comes to the structure. The scripts have limited details about the characters as people.

    [Well. Just make up a background for them. Think. Why did the character turn out the way he is? What type of childhood did they have to become the person they are? Something logical that may explain the character.] Tayaw said. "Alright. I get it. What''s next?"

    [Then once you''re satisfied with what you know about the character, once you think that the character is now a complete person, I want you to live like him. How would the character spend his days? Do that.] Tayaw said. This blew my mind however. "Isn''t that going too far?" I could not help but ask.

    [Yes. It is. For a regular person, that is. But you''re an actor. If you want to play your characters really well, you have to go that far.] Tayaw said. It makes sense. If I want to play a character to the best I can, I have to be them. "Okay. I''ll do that." I said replied. [BUT! This method is quite dangerous.] Tayaw''s words drenched my excitement. "What is it?" I asked.

    [I know psychology. And the psyche is an important part of a person''s mental health. You should know yourself well first before you start doing what I said.] This made me curious. [Who are you? Who is Uranto Virenza? What makes you really you? Tayaw said. "What if I know myself already?" I said, finding Tayaw''s questions funny.

    [It''s not that simple. You might get lost in the character. Instead of just playing it, you might become the character.] This gave me goosebumps. Reviewing what Tayaw said so far, if I really follow them well, then I could see myself changing if I''m not careful.

    [I don''t want you losing yourself as a person. Yes, you''re an actor, but more importantly, you''re Uranto. You''re the kid from rural Gonto. You''re an actor who made people laugh. You''re not going to be the character. You''re just going to copy them.] Tayaw concluded.

    I''ll do it. Even though Tayaw''s acting style will not be popular in the future, it will help me immensely when auditioning for roles in the future. I mean, our movie is the only Teungebian movie that was selected in the festival. It''s safe to assume that other directors would ask me to audition at least in their films.

 Chapter 100 - Analysis of Literary Piracy

    April 12, 2012 ¨C Saturday 9 am ¨C Nasiri Hill, Nabla

    Tayaw is currently in his process of learning how to play the piano. He just bought his portable electric keyboard because he did not want to always borrow Bay-an''s or go to the bas.e.m.e.nt to play the expensive keyboard there to avoid disturbing the band''s practice sessions. Because of his perfect pitch, he already memorized all the keys of the piano before he even learned how to play the bare basics of it.

    Because of his mastery of all the keys, Tayaw also recently and very easily mastered playing chords and the different ways to play them. His fingers are still iffy in the positions, but because of his quick reflexes, he can still manage to play chords in succession smoothly. Tayaw is just not comfortable with the discomfort of the way he''s doing it, so he''s practicing his hand positions.

    Aside from practicing piano, Tayaw is also practicing his vocals and exploring what more he can do with his voice. Since Nashville, Tayaw always sung songs that are not challenging his technical skills as a vocalist so he decided to go to his land in Nasiri to belt out as loud as he wants. He is also training his skills in splitting a beat and inserting subtle vibratos or vocal cracks in them. If he can do it on the spot without any preparations, that would be just as great as his guitar solos and improvisations.

    "WhooHHHoohHOohhOO-" As he started hitting a high note,*Ring Ring* he was interrupted. "Cough! Cough.. Cough cough cough. Oughghh. What the F.u.c.k." His business iPhone suddenly ringing startled him and he went into a coughing fit. He picked up his phone and saw that the call is from an unknown number.

    "Hello?" Tayaw picked up the call. [Mr. Dagem? This is Erik Goomal, President of Topaz Publishing.] Erik introduced himself. "Good morning, Mr. Goomal. What''s wrong?" Tayaw asked, curious about the hint of panic in Erik''s voice. [Oh Thank God! You agent told me to avoid calling you, but we have a problem.] Erik said.

    "Please tell me." Tayaw said. It''s already been more than a year since Chala told him that his business phone number was handed to the president of Topaz in case of emergencies. He''s actually impressed that Topaz honored his privacy for so long.

    [Someone just published a book and it''s obvious that it has parallels from ''The Halfling''!] Erik finally reported. Tayaw''s eyebrows rose at this. It''s a surprise but when he thinks about it, it is bound to happen. He basically opened the marketability of fantasy novels.

    "Alright, relax for a moment. Did you read it?" Tayaw said. [Yes. It''s called ''The Dwarf King''.] Erik answered simply. "Well? Is it any good?" Tayaw asked. [I don''t think so¡­ It''s not comparable to your book at all. The characters are basically the same, only with different names.] Erik replied.

    Thinking about it for a moment, Tayaw was disappointed. If it was good, Tayaw would check it out. If the author of ''The Dwarf King'' had an interesting take on the world of ''The Halfling'', he would be glad to see it. But if what Erik said was true, then ''The Dwarf King'' is indeed just a copy.

    "Did you see how well ''The Dwarf King'' is going right now? How are the reviews?" Tayaw asked. [Well, it sold thousands of copies since its release last month. The reviews say that it''s readable or it''s good, but a lot of the reviews are criticizing it too.] Erik replied.

    "Erik, if it''s not as good as my book, what are you worried about?" Tayaw asked. [It''s just¡­ The market share man! You know. You''re the only one in your genre right now and if others would be writing the same thing, our share wo- ] "Alright. Stop, stop." Tayaw interrupted Erik.

    "Don''t worry about it. Look. If you want to talk market, how much is the book?" Tayaw asked. [uhh¡­ 49.99, same price as your book.] Erik replied. "Okay. What''s your favorite pizza?" Tayaw asked. [Pizza? What does this ha-] "Just tell me your favorite pizza." [Pizza from Dice''s.] Erik answered honestly, strangely compelled by Tayaw''s tone. "Okay. If the price of a pepperoni pizza in Dice''s is the same as the price of pepperoni pizza from McDougie''s, which one would you choose?" Tayaw said, comparing a good fast food pizza to a bad one. [Of course I''ll choose Dice''s.] Erik replied.

    "See? It doesn''t matter. If there''s a product in the market that beats out, in all categories, other similar products at the same price, would you buy the inferior product?" Tayaw asked. [Of course not. Even if that''s the case here, I think we still should do something.] Erik said.

    "We don''t have to. It''s not like you can sue the author right?" Tayaw asked. [No. It''s an obvious parallel of your book, but I think the author still followed fair use.] Erik said. "Alright. We won''t sue nor discredit that book. It would not look good on my image; it might affect my book''s rep too." Tayaw said.

    [But if we do not do anything, a lot more people would write books similar to yours.] Erik argued. "Let them. Let my book spawn countless rip-offs or whatever. We''ve already established that my book is good, right? Readers of my books will always see me as the original and they will always buy my books." Tayaw said, his confidence worrying Erik more.

    [You really don''t want to take action?] Erik refused to give up. "No. *sigh* Let me ask you this. Did you ever argue with anyone about your favorite food or drink?" Tayaw asked again. As if it was a replay from earlier, Erik indulged Tayaw''s analogy again. [Yeah. My brother lost his shit when I told him my favorite beer and said that his favorite beer is better.] "Okay. Did you have a taste of your brother''s favorite beer?" [Yes. It was good, but my beer''s still better, maybe it''s the price.] Erik replied.

    "So. It was good. Let''s say a lot of people would like the novel that ''copied'' mine, other people would argue to them that my book is a better novel. What happens then when they see my better written, original novel? You get where I''m going?" Tayaw asked. [So these other novels would open up to your genre, increasing the possibility of them buying your book.] Erik said in realization.

    "Exactly. These books will not shrink our slice of the pie. They will instead increase the size of the pie. The pie will grow big enough that even a small slice of it is much bigger than the size of our pie right now." Tayaw concluded. [I see¡­] Erik said, his worry now replaced by excitement. [But. Are you sure that will happen? I''m not so sure.] He added however, still skeptical.

    "I''m not but it has a great possibility of happening. You already said it sells well currently, right? I hope it sells even more so that other people would really see how much better ''The Halfling'' is compared to others similar to it. What will happen then?" Tayaw asked. [Your book gets more reputation.] Erik replied.

    "Right. Not only the book. I get more influence as an author; your publishing house gets the reputation of publishing the best fantasy novel so more business for you. Let''s use this opportunity to have people indirectly market ''The Halfling'' for us." Tayaw said.

    [Alright then.] Erik said, even though he''s still skeptical, he can''t do anything for now. [By the way, are you planning on releasing a sequel to your novel?] Erik asked. "I am currently writing it." Tayaw replied. [Oh! That''s good to hear. I must have bothered you then.] Erik said. "Yes. Yes you did. But thanks for informing me of this." Tayaw said. [I''m sorry about that. I was just worried.] Erik apologized. "It''s fine. Call me if something like this happens again. I want to know." [Okay. Have a nice day, Mr. Dagem] "WAIT!" Tayaw almost yelled when he suddenly remembered something.

    [What is it?] "Any foreigners looking for me recently?" Tayaw asked. [Oh! That''s right! They came here last week, almost every day looking for you. I gave them Chala''s number but the next day, they said that they can''t call Chala''s number. Where''s Chala?] Erik said. "He''s in America right now." Tayaw replied.

    [I see ¡­ Oh! No wonder they suddenly stopped coming, you already sent Chala. Looks like you''ll make bank again after you sell the movie rights. Congratulations.] Erik said. "Thank you. How about movie people from Teungeb? Are they looking for me too?" Tayaw asked. [Not anymore. I think they were scared away by the foreigners.] Erik explained. "Okay. Have a good day."

    After he hung up, he could not help but chuckle. Imitations. Tayaw found it strange that his fairy tales didn''t spawn imitations like ''The Halfling'' did. Still, he''s glad and excited at the effect his books will bring to the world. Sports novels? Romance Novels? They all tell the same story. What''s left? His genre. It''s fresh, and immersive. If Tayaw had things like ''The Halfling'' for escapism in his previous life, it would have helped him tremendously.

    Tayaw is also excited about what the imitations would bring. Although authors will be ripping off his novels right now, he hopes that eventually, maybe the next day, next month, or next year, an author will write something that is just as original as ''The Halfling''.

 Chapter 101 - Introduction to Celebrity Management

    April 16, 2012 ¨C Monday 9 am ¨C Minarrie St. East Ouigab

    "Alright. That''s our time. Keep doing this at home alright? I also want your pitch to me a little more accurate next week, Ike." The vocal coach said. "Thank you ma''am." I said and I left the sound proofed room. As I exited to the corridors, I saw Jenna already waiting, sitting on one of the benches outside the center''s entrance. "Your turn." I told her. "Thanks. How did it go?" Jenna asked. "It''s fine, she''s satisfied with my progress." I replied.

    I rubbed the bridge of my nose as I watched Jenna go in. The lesson today was about fixing the nasal sounds I make when I sing. ''It sounds whiny'' were the exact words of the coach. She had me pinch my nose throughout the whole lesson and now it feels annoying. I get why she wants to fix my nasality when singing, but I''m still going to put some nasal sounds in my singing. I mean, Tayaw does it and it sounds awesome.

    Still, the coach is right. I don''t want to sound whiny either when I sing, so I''m not going to overdo it. I think it''s cool if I can control the nasality of my voice and use it when I add some subtlety in my singing.

    The second lesson the coach taught me is pretty simple. It''s just pitch exercises. I''m going to borrow Bay-an''s keyboard from time to time to use it when I sing along the notes in it. I never realized how pitchy my voice until I started recording my singing. I can''t believe I sang in front of people with my vocal skills before. It still keeps me up at night thinking of what people who heard me sing before were thinking when they heard me.

    I then went down to the parking lot of the building where I parked my motorcycle. I''m not going to wait for Jenna for an hour so I''m leaving first; she can handle herself. She doesn''t like riding with me either because she feels unsafe riding a motorbike. She can just take a cab like she usually does after we''re done with our lessons, and have Tayaw reimburse the fare.

    I wonder how Ramil''s lessons are doing. Unlike Jenna and I, Ramil is learning to sing rock. He has a raspy voice so it suits him a lot. I heard him sing a few times since we started our vocal lessons and he sounds cool.

    As I got to my bike, I saw a man wearing a suit standing near it, studying my bike. Heh. It''s customized by my cousin, the man must have noticed. "Excuse me." I said to the man as I saddled on my bike. "Hey. Ike, right?" The man asked which freaked me out. "Alright. Be cool." The man said and he stepped back. I feel relieved. He doesn''t look confrontational.

    "Wrong person." I said. "Hey. I know you, kid. Let''s talk for a moment. It might interest you." The man said, lightheartedly. I''m not falling for that. I saw my cousin''s dog act nice to me but when I turned my back, it attacked me. However, the man I got interested, indeed about what the man wants. "I have somewhere to go though." I said.

    "I won''t need much time." The man in suit said and he reached to the inside pocket of his coat. I almost started my bike and bolted. Does he have a gun? Guns are banned in Teungeb, though. I was relieved when he pulled out what looks like a business card.

    "Here''s my card. I''m Ingdon Nyan from Alpine Entertainment." He said and passed his card to me. I took it and studied it for a moment. The card looks shiny with ''Ingdon Nyan, Alpine Entertainment, Talent Agent'' written on it. Huh. Cool. I think I''ve heard of them before.

    "I can print out a business card too and put my name on it." I rolled my eyes though. They guy might be fake. "Okay. Do you have time? You can follow me to the office. If you feel odd, just bail. You have your bike, right? It looks fast too, so my car won''t be able to catch up." Ingdon said. "Alright, f.u.c.k it. Let''s go." I said, deciding to indulge the man. If it''s legit, then it''s not every day an agent talks to me.

    Ingdon then got in his blue shiny sedan and started his car. I don''t know how this guy found me, but now I''m interested, and I started my bike as well. A few minutes later, I saw Ingdon''s car slow down and stop in front of a fancy looking building. Seeing him park his car, I stopped as well and parked my bike in front of his car. I saw two fancy letters hanging on the face of the building; ''AE'' with smaller letters under them reading ''Alpine Entertainment''.

    I''ve passed by here a few times before, I just wasn''t interested what''s in it. Now though, I think I''m going to enter it for the first time. Ingdon got out of his car, locked it and walked towards me. "Follow me." He said and he led the way to the entrance of the building. "Good morning Mr. Nyan." The guard greeted Ingdon. Seeing this, I think Ingdon is legit.

    As we stepped into the lobby, Ingdon turned around facing me. "Ike, wanna have a tour?" He asked. "Sure." I said. I''m very curious now. The lobby looks not that fancy, but its artsy. The color blue they chose for the walls look pleasing to the eyes. It also goes well with the gray tiles on the floor. What got my interest though, is Yoeka Mulyae, a famous pop singer. I just saw her walk by and get on the elevator a few steps beside the receptionist''s table. Man. She''s pretty. I wish I had gotten a closer look.

    "Let''s take a look at the practice rooms first." Ingdon said and he led me to the bas.e.m.e.nt of the building. Bas.e.m.e.nts of buildings usually look gloomy, but Alpine really spent money making the bas.e.m.e.nt corridor look pleasing. "Here''s where our artists and our¡­ kids practice dancing." Ingdon said as he stopped in front of a door and opened it.

    What I saw inside was interesting. It contains nothing else but a wide space, a sofa by the wall, and a wall of mirror. I guess dancers would look at their reflections when dancing. It looks very clean, but it has a faint smell of sweat.

    "Kids?" I could not help but ask at the odd word Ingdon said. "Oh. You know. Good singers are not easy to find so we find talented people and train them here." Ingdon said. This blew my mind. Isn''t Tayaw doing the same thing?

    "You train them for free?" I asked. "What? Well. It''s not that simple. Our ¡­ students don''t pay upfront for the dancing lessons and vocal lessons. But when they make their debut or release albums, we take away their profits to pay for what cost to train them." Ingdon said.

    I guess it makes sense. If I think about it, it''s like what my aunt does. She invests money to an album and when the music does well, she gets her money back plus the profits.

    Alpine though, they invest money in training ''¡­kids'' and when the ''kids'' do well, Alpine makes their money back and some more. It''s strange though. My aunt once lost money when an album she invested in didn''t make any money. Does Alpine lose money as well?

    "What if the singers you train don''t do well? You lose money? How would your trainees pay you back if they don''t do well?" I asked Ingdon. "Oh. We don''t lose money." Ingdon replied. That''s strange. He sounded so sure. "Do you have somewhere for band practice?" I asked putting the matter aside. "Sure. This way." Ingdon said and he led me to another room in the bas.e.m.e.nt. This time, it''s another practice room with instruments in it. Acoustic, Electric, and Bass Guitars. A keyboard and a drum. The usual set-up.

    I''m kind of disappointed though. Tayaw has a better practice room in his bas.e.m.e.nt and his instruments there are cool too. The instruments here are not that great. Is that?! ¡­ That drum set looks like a f.u.c.kin imitation. "I''ve seen enough." I said. Ingdon looked at me strangely. "Don''t like it? I''m sure you''re in a band." He said. "Yeah. But this is nothing new to me." I said. Ingdon shrugged his shoulders.

    He led me next to the second floor of the building this time. "Here''s our vocal practice section." He said and pointed at the numerous small, bathroom-sized soundproofed rooms. It looks just like my vocal coach''s practice rooms, only smaller. I guess it''s for solo practices. It''s just a small soundproofed room, nothing special. But the number of these rooms blew my mind. "Just how many singers do you have? You have 12, 13¡­ 15 practice¡­ cubicles?" I could not help but ask.

    "Oh. Plenty. These are practice rooms for the singers who can''t afford their own practice rooms, so it''s rare that they''re all occupied at the same time." Ingdon explained.

    "Alright, wanna check out our canteen? I think you''d like it." Ingdon said and he led me out.

 Chapter 102 - Introduction to Celebrity Management 2 (Author Notes Below)

    Cool. That''s what I would call Alpine''s cafeteria. They serve both healthy and unhealthy food. From simple snacks, to full meals, to a wide variety of deserts, they''re all found in the cafeteria. What makes it cooler though, is that I saw another celebrity, eating with some people dressed similarly as Ingdon at the corner of the cafeteria. "Dagun is from your company too?" I asked.

    "No. But I heard he''s collaborating with Yoeka for her new album." Ingdon replied. "Hmm. I guess your cafeteria is great. Even celebrities eat here." I said. "Oh yeah. This is the only place where the company''s bosses, celebrities, our trainees, and the janitors all share." Ingdon explained. I guess that''s cool. So if that''s the case, then seeing celebrities here is very commonplace. No wonder no one''s bothering Dagun.

    Ingdon brought me to the self-serve area. "Let''s eat. You can have anything, my treat." He said. "Thanks for the food, then." I replied. I''m already here, may as well go all in. I don''t eat meat or get my stomach full before I go to vocal lessons, so I''m actually very hungry.

    After getting our food and a table, I just have to ask already. I don''t like round-about-ing. "So Ingdon, are you looking for me to be a trainee?" I asked. I know I''m not a good singer or a dancer. I''m quite alright as a drummer, but I admit that being a drummer isn''t that marketable as solo act. What''s only left is my good looks. If my looks is what caught this guy''s eyes, then he could only recruit me as a trainee.

    The guy''s fork and knife stopped cutting his meat. "Yes. Here''s how it usually goes. We''re going to train you to sing and dance and some more lessons if you want like acting or hosting. We''ll be in charge of making music for you and marketing. I think if you work hard enough. Just a year or two of training and you''ll be our next star." Ingdon said. He is sounding more and more like my cousin, and I''m getting suspicious.

    "Oh yeah? How''d you figure I''ll be a star?" I asked. "You have charm. You have that charisma when I saw you play drums." He started. "You''re already starting your vocal training right? I know your teacher and I happened to see you last week when I talked to her. If you join us, we''ll take care of the fees for you." Ingdon said. "Do I have to dance too?" I asked. "You don''t have to but if you can, it will be better. You can perform a wider variety of music." He said. That did it for me.

    "While the offer is very nice, I think I have to think about it." I said. I don''t want to refuse outright. If I refused, he might not let me go easily. "You can do that too. You have my card." Ingdon shrugged his shoulders. I nodded and resumed my brunch. "By the way¡­ "Ingdon interrupted my eating.

    "I''m also interested with your vocalist and violinist. I want to meet them." He said. Ah. I''m seeing a pattern here. When he said he saw my charm, I think he wasn''t lying. Jenna is pretty and has that ''adorable little sister'' charm, while Tayaw¡­ Well, Tayaw is just awesome.

    But didn''t he see the rock star in Hoon? The mysterious aura of Ramil? Bay-an and Inson¡­ well, it''s hard to see their charm but the two of them gives me the feeling that they have the back of the entire band. "Why not just ask the whole band? It''s better if you sign us as a band." I suggested.

    "Well¡­ We think it''s better if you, your vocalist, and your violinist become solo artists. You can just collab in the future if you want." Ingdon said. I almost shook my head at that. The thought of the band breaking up because of this makes me uncomfortable. I also don''t like the way Ingdon said it; too casual.

    "What type of music do you want us to do?" I asked Ingdon. If Alpine has an image of us in their mind, then it''s surely not band music. "Pop. Dance. Ballads. Music that young people would love." Ingdon said.

    Uh-uh. I rarely like pop songs. Dance is too repetitive. Ballads are too slow for my liking. If these are what Alpine wants to make for me, I''d rather stay with the band. Hoon, Inson, and Bay-an are coming along well with their songwriting and I like most of their songs.

    "Okay. What happens when we join your company?" I asked. "You have two choices. First; you can just come to the company for lessons and training. Second; if you guys are not from Ouigab, then you can live in our dorms.

    "You can have accommodation and food, on our tab; payable when you guys start your careers in the business. Oh! And you can also use beauty products if you want and you can pay them in the future." Ingdon said.

    So it works like this, huh. Tayaw is training us for free thankfully, but what about anyone else? "What if I don''t do well? What happens then?" I asked. "Oh. That''s what contracts are for. It will all be in the contract what will happen." Ingdon simply said. Hm. That''s a Tayaw style answer. But I trust Tayaw, this guy, I don''t.

    "Alright. I''ll talk to my friends later." I said to Ingdon.

    -

    An hour passed and I''m back in Ironstone. I went to the bas.e.m.e.nt to use Bay-an''s keyboard for pitch training. "Hmm.. HmM.. HMM.. MMM.. MMMMMM.. MMMMM *Cough*" F.u.c.k. I can''t concentrate. I could not help but think back on what happened at Alpine Entertainment earlier. I turned off the keyboard and left the studio.

    A few moments later, I''m in front of Tayaw''s door. *Knock Knock* I knocked on the door and shortly after, Tayaw opened his door slightly ajar, peeking out half of his body. "What''s up?" Tayaw asked. This guy needs a girlfriend. "I want to talk to you about something." I said. "Alright come in." He said. Hmm. Clean as ever. How does Tayaw do it? I feel like I''m dirtying the room just by entering.

    "So. Today, after my vocal lesson, there''s this guy who approached me¡­" I told Tayaw the entire encounter with Ingdon.

    "Ah. I didn''t know it would happen even though you haven''t put out a video in a long time." Tayaw said. So Tayaw expected it to some extent? "Here''s the thing with these entertainment companies. This type of raising singers is relatively new, but old at the same time. This style existed in America in the 60s-70s but those companies they trained their singers for free. It was an honest type of investment." Tayaw started.

    This made sense. I know that there are no certainties in the world. My aunt lost money a couple of times when the albums she invested on didn''t sell. But she tries again.

    "No matter how rich Alpine Entertaiment is, no one likes losing money. You asked what would happen if you don''t do well, right?" Tayaw asked. "Yeah. Ingdon said it will be in the contract but he didn''t explain." I said.

    "So they''re really that type, huh¡­ Well, that''s the difference with Alpine''s ways to how the American companies did it. Alpine made it a business within a business. Not only would they lend you lessons, they will also put interest in the amount a training singer would use." This gave churned my stomach.

    "So¡­ It''s like a loan on a bank?" I asked. "Not only a bank but a gambling business too. They recruit a lot of trainees, but how many really become singers? How then will those who didn''t make it pay back their debt?" He said. "I don''t know. BUT. Ingdon said they don''t really lose money." I said.

    "Heh. Of course. They won''t. You know what would happen to the singers that don''t do well? The company would have them would work for them, for as long as it takes, until Alpine gets their money back. That way, they break even." Tayaw said.

    "But.. That''s dishonest." I said, finding it unbelievable. "Well¡­ It''s not ENTIRELY dishonest. But that''s how they do business and it''s legal. At least Alpine, if I''m not wrong, is more forthcoming with how they do their business compared to other entertainment companies. They will explain it to the trainees how it will go, so the trainees, theoretically, should know the risks before they sign." Tayaw explained.

    "If they''re forthcoming, why didn''t Ingdon tell me?" I asked. "Why would he? That will scare you away. If I would be in his place, I would do the same thing." Tayaw said. I can''t believe how¡­ shrewd Tayaw actually is. "Here''s how it works, if I''m right. Ingdon, right? He will seduce you with all the benefits, the atmosphere, and the positivity of the company." Tayaw explained. I agree. No wonder Ingdon took me for a tour.

    "What happens next? They will say you''re good, you''re talented, and you''re good looking. They will butter you up and make you feel confident in yourself, confident that you''ll make it as a singer. That''s when the weight of the risks will start disappearing in your mind until all that remains is that ''I''ll surely become a singer.''" Tayaw continued.

    Yikes. Fortunately, I was wary of Ingdon. And. Thank god Tayaw is already providing me all the stuff I need, no strings attached.

    "If they are hiring you as a drummer, or the band as a whole, I would think differently. But they want you to dance and sing pop? Then they don''t value you as a musician. All they care about is your marketability and how to make money out of you." He concluded.

    ==================================

    Dear Readers,

    I need y''all help. Something happened that restricted the voting of my Novel for 10 or so hours. That 10 hours made the novel drop from Rank 273 to rank 438, which is mindblowing. Hahaha.

    Anyway. Y''all can help by sparing me some of your valuable power stones. Thank you.

 Chapter 103 - Presents and Artist Collaboration

    "Alright. Thanks. I''m going to practice." Ike said and excused himself. "Good. Oh. By the way. If anyone else in the band is approached, I''ll talk to them. If a company wants to hire you as a band, not as trainees, then that''s good news." Tayaw said and Ike left the room feeling lighter.

    Before Ike knocked on his door to talk about the entertainment company, Tayaw was about to answer John, Strawberry Front''s drummer''s video call on Facebook. He doesn''t know what Strawberry wants again, but he''s curious so he called John back.

    After a few rings, John answered. [Hello Isaac! My man, my brother, my friend!] John greeted quite excessively. John seems to be alone in the room he''s in, from what Tayaw can see on his screen. "Are you drunk?" Tayaw asked.

    [Well. No. I had two beers, I''m fine.] John replied. "Where''s the rest of the guys?" Tayaw asked. Usually when John gives him a call, the band is always with him. [Oh. When you didn''t answer, we thought you were busy so they went back to their rooms. Wait. I''ll have our assistant call them. HEY Zac! ¡­ They''ll be here.] John said. Tayaw chuckled at this. John has definitely had more than two beers.

    "I thought you guys are touring by now? What time is it there?" Tayaw asked. [It got delayed by three weeks. I don''t know when we''ll start. Its¡­ 8 at night here.] John said. "Three weeks?" Tayaw could not help but ask. A delay is usually a bad sign. [Yeah. Our agency is adding a few more dates to last until November.] John clarified. Tayaw felt relief at the information and felt proud for them.

    [Hey Isaac!] The band soon joined in. "So. What''s with the call, guys? I thought you were busy?" Tayaw asked directly the purpose of the call. [Man, we''ll actually be on the road starting next week. First stop will be Lexington Kentucky.] Rez explained.

    "I see, it''s a neighbor state. So¡­ literally ''the road'' huh? You guys will be on bus trailer?" Tayaw asked. [Yeah. Thankfully, we have beds on the bus. We can sleep while the bus driver drives us around.] Bobby said.

    "Well congratulations! I heard touring is tough. So good luck too." Tayaw said. [About that. Can you join us in Lexington, Saturday next week? It''d be meaningful if you perform with us.] Bobby asked. Tayaw was taken aback. "Like. For the whole tour?" Tayaw asked. [No. Just for the opening of our tour. But if you want to join us throughout, it would even be better!] Bobby said.

    Tayaw was relieved. He would have things to do like practicing the piano, attending the festival at Sorrento, and some more. "Alright. I''ll play with you just on Lexington." Tayaw accepted their offer.

    [Great! Because the spots are already filled, headline with us!] Rez asked. Tayaw again was taken aback. He expected that he would be playing as one of the opening acts, but he didn''t expect to play with Strawberry Front as a band member.

    "What? Are you sure? It''s your tour, man. Also, my presence might¡­ disrupt the band." Tayaw said. [What disrupt? You wrote our songs. You know how we sound. You also know how to play like us. Don''t you remember? When you were playing the songs you gave us? It''s going to be great.] Aaron chimed in. Tayaw felt it made sense. While he won''t be able to play with his own sound, playing as a support for Strawberry Front doesn''t sound bad either. It''s only for one night after all.

    "Alright. Shouldn''t we need to practice though?" Tayaw asked. [We''ll be fine. We''ll just send you what songs we will play, which parts you will sing. You''d get to do some guitar solos too. It''s not like we haven''t seen you improvise before. Even if you don''t practice, if we just give you the signal, you''ll do great.] Bobby said. Tayaw shook his head. "Jesus Christ. Next time you invite me suddenly like this, ''m not going!" Tayaw said. Sometimes, Strawberry Front puts too much trust in him. Luckily, they''re right.

    [Okay. Don''t worry. Next time. Hey. If you have your tour, take us as well.] Rez said. "Fine. I wonder though, why call me only now?" Tayaw asked. [It''s Aaron and John. They got cold feet. You being there would help. We also want to introduce you to more people. It''s been a while since you put out something.] Bobby said.

    "Come on. It''s only been 5 months." Tayaw said. [Yeah. BUT you have no presence here in Nashville for a while now.] Rez said. Tayaw doesn''t know exactly what Rez is talking about, but "Okay. I''ll be there." He agreed nonetheless.

    Tayaw did not resume his piano practice which what he was doing before Ike and Strawberry Front interrupted him.

    It''s 2pm already so Tayaw figured it''s still around 5 pm in Los Angeles where Chala was the last time they talked. Unlike John who is familiar with the internet, Chala is a lot more expensive to talk to because he''s not always online. *Ring Ring* [Hello. Tayaw! Your call was juuuustt timely.] Chala chuckled. "Is that right? How''s it going?" Tayaw asked.

    [I talked to the biggest studios and companies. Like you suggested, I asked for an upfront payment and gross revenue, yes?] Chala asked. "That''s right. Did you make sure it''s gross revenue, not profit right?" Tayaw replied. [Man, of course. I''ve done this before. Anyway. Let me summarize. The minimum I got was $14,000,000 and 0.8% gross revenue. The highest was $38,000,000 and 3% gross revenue.] Chala reported.

    Tayaw shook his head at this. "What do you think of it?" Tayaw asked to test Chala''s foresight. [Well. They''re just the initial offers. If we start the negotiations, I think I can get a lot more. How about you?] Chala asked back. "It''s smaller than I expected." Tayaw answered. It''s a valid opinion.

    [Why? How much do you expect?] Chala asked. "The $38 million is fair for the up front payment, but I value ''The Halfling'' more than the fairy tales. I think 3% is still too small. I mean, didn''t we get 8% from the fairy tales? " Tayaw said.

    [But the fairy tales have more than 200 stories in it.] Chala said. "It''s not about the number, man. Don''t you think ''The Halfling'' is a modern day epic?" Tayaw disagreed. [Well. It''s still one story. Now that I think about it, I really think we should have gotten more shares in the fairy tales'' movie rights?] Chala disagreed with Tayaw''s disagreement. Tayaw is stuck at Chala''s valid logic. "Well, we have our own opinions." Tayaw don''t know what else to say.

    [Hey. Speaking of the fairy tales, I have news for you.] Chala changed the subject. "Oh? What''s up?" [Pixie chose Snow White and Red Riding Hood as the first films they want to adapt. They actually started animating the two films simultaneously last December. They''re going to use 3D animation so it will take a lot of time. If everything goes well, they might finish production by January of next year and release it by June. ] Chala reported.

    Tayaw nodded. He has no idea how animations work but from gut feeling he''s getting from his filmmaking skills, he feels it makes sense. Compared to live-action films, Tayaw actually finds animated films in his world more watchable.

    He finds that the theatrical movement and line delivery actually suits better in animated films than in live-action films. He feels confident that Pixie will do a good job animating the story, so he did not insist on consulting for Pixie unlike what he is intending to do with ''The Halfling'' movies in the future.

    "Alright. Hey, do your other authors need you now?" Tayaw asked. [I''m free. And, oh. It''s just ''author''. It''s you and Meggen that''s left now. I quit working for the two other authors. It doesn''t make sense to keep working for them when you are overpaying me to retirement.] Chala explained. "Okay. I won''t be needing you for now, so do whatever." Tayaw said.

    [Oh? Well alright then. Thank you.] Chala chuckled. "But please, learn how to use Facebook or other chat apps. You have a smartphone, for fcks sake. I need you to stay online all the time in case I need something." Tayaw suggested.

    [I''ll do that.] Chala accepted the suggestion. "Where are you by the way?" Tayaw asked. [I''m still in LA. Tomorrow, I''m returning to Teungeb. I''m gonna buy my parents a new house.] Chala said. Tayaw smiled when he heard this.

    "It''s been what? Six months since you visited your parents right? How are they by the way?" Tayaw asked. [Oh. They''re just fine. Strong, healthy, and still sharp. They even refused my offer of hiring them a caretaker.] Chala said. "Good for them. Give them smartphones too man, it''s a lot more convenient to talk to them that way." Tayaw said.

    [Oh. That''s a good idea. Hey, I''ll also go to your house in Okuba. I promised Liboo and Kilat to visit. AND I''m bringing gifts. Don''t refuse and don''t tell them to refuse.] Chala said suddenly. "That''s cool. They were asking about you the last time I went home. About the gifts, HAH. Good luck giving it to them." Tayaw chuckled.

    Tayaw almost forgot he made Chala rich. Quickly calculating in his head, Tayaw estimated that Chala earned around 30,000,000BGC since he started working for him. Had Chala been working under an agency, he would not even have a share.

 Chapter 105 - Musical Expressionism

    April 28, 2012 ¨C Lexington, Kentucky ¨C Manchester Music Hall

    "¡­ Walking down the highway" I started singing the first song of the band''s first official tour. Over the past month, me and the band practiced hard, and re-arranged our songs even, to prepare for our tour. I''m not nervous at all. This is the moment I only saw in my dreams. A tour throughout America, it starts today.

    "Girl in the city

    Nothing we can carry

    Tell me i got"

    ''Girl in the City'' is one of the songs in our album. Although it''s not Isaac''s song, it still good and many people like it. We chose this song to play first as it fits perfectly for an opening. The sound and the emotion, it opens up people''s hearts. Looking at the two hundred or so people swaying or nodding along, I knew we made the right choice.

    "Stay on the radio

    Pick up my heart

    Ah, we could somehow

    Now baby, baby, blue"

    After I sang the first chorus, the band entered an instrumental break. We usually enter the second verse immediately just like how the song originally goes, but tonight is different.

    "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, PLEASE WELCOME, ISAAC!" I announced to the audience. The audience didn''t know what was happening at first. But the moment Isaac walked out from the backstage, * WHOOO! ** WHISTLE ** ARRHHHH *, I heard a deafening cheer from the crowd. Isaac, wearing his usual three-piece suit, cowboy hat, and huge aviator sunglasses, looks sharp as usual. His appearance and fashion made him very very recognizable to the people. His usual acoustic guitar however isn''t with him this time. He is strapped with a classy looking electric guitar.

    We kept the instrumental break going until the crowd calmed down. After the crowd settled down, Isaac leaned in to his mic.

    "Of this world can do

    I believe in you

    But just to talk to

    Keep up their noise"

    Beautiful. That''s all I can say about Isaac''s voice. Because his voice is not as low as mine, he''s singing the song an octave higher and it sounds incredible. During our rehearsal in the past few days, Isaac displayed to us more of his abilities as a vocalist. We saw heard him sing high notes in his video from Teungeb, but it''s still incredible listening to it live. The crowd also agreed with my opinion as after Isaac sang just the first line, the crowd erupted in cheer once again.

    The band then continued on with the song. I have to say, this is my first time singing duet with a man, but it sounds great. Isaac''s high chesty singing voice fits well with my husky bass pitch.

    Isaac is also playing the electric guitar as our rhythm guitar. It''s usually Aaron''s job, but today, he picked up the bass guitar. I just wish Isaac would join us for the rest of the tour; he makes our band sound a lot fuller.

    We soon finished our first song. The crowd liked it and they responded with enthusiastic cheers. Pride filled my body immediately. This is our song. Our original song. I can''t believe that it would sound this great. Isaac, who joined us a few days ago, helped us arrange our songs, and this was the result. Maybe we can have Isaac arrange our originals in the future so we don''t have to rely on his songs.

    "Thank you everyone. Let me introduce to y''all again to Isaac Yawat. You might recognize him from Red Abbey." I introduced Isaac and Isaac did a slight bow to the crowd. "What y''all don''t know is, it''s Isaac here who wrote most of the songs in our album." I revealed to the crowd. "Oooohh.." The crowd responded in surprise. I chuckled at their reaction. While music industry insiders know who Isaac is as a songwriter, most country fans are clueless. It''s nice to have them know of Isaac''s talents, as Isaac deserves the recognition.

    "The next song we''ll be playing will not be our song, but Isaac''s." I said to the crowd. Isaac, when we were practicing, was against the idea but because it''s four people against him, he relented. I don''t know why Isaac would even refuse but when we convinced him, he re-arranged the song so that me and my band can play it with him. The song is originally a dark acoustic outlaw country song, but after Isaac''s arrangement for the band, it sounded more like a southern rock ballad. We loved the arrangement very much.

    Isaac then started playing the intro for the ''Invisible Man''. It''s one of the best songs from Isaac I think. While all his songs are great, ''Invisible Man'' is just different. The crowd also recognized the guitar intro and they cheered once again.

    "He''s a man who lived a life of danger

    to anyone he meets he stays a stranger

    with every action he made, grabs a chance before it fade

    as maybe he won''t have - a chance to see tomorrow "

    I started singing the first verse. ''Man. I think your voice suits this song more than my voice does.'' I remember Isaac tell me when we were practicing the song. I disagree. While I feel really badass singing the song, I don''t know why I think Isaac''s voice first more perfectly with the song. It must be because he''s the original singer of it.

    "Beware, that pretty face ain''t simple

    A pretty face kills a man who''s feeble

    Ooh, beware what your mouth say

    Or you''ll give yourself away

    as maybe you won''t have ¨C a chance to see tomorrow."

    Isaac sang the second verse, and I saw the crowd''s reaction. I almost chuckled bitterly. Usually, my voice would kill a room because of how unique and deep it is, but here is Isaac, overwhelming my voice not with volume, but with charm. ''Invisible Man'' was originally for Isaac''s baritone voice but when he arranged it for the two of us to sing it together; he lowered the song by a few keys resulting in him lower his pitch too.

    He did not want to sing an octave higher like the first song because it would just ruin how the song sounds.

    When I first heard Isaac''s lower register, I was just as surprised and as mesmerized as the crowd is right now. It''s not natural bass, but the way he sings it is very attractive to listen to.

    The second chorus soon passed and we entered the instrumental break. This is the most exciting part for me. I looked at Rez and he too smiled back. He''s excited as well. This instrumental break will consist of Isaac''s guitar solo. In the original song, Isaac''s guitar solo for the song sounded a lot like blues. A haunting and strong feeling is expressed by Isaac''s acoustic guitar. After he re-arranged the song however, he switched to his electric guitar. During our rehearsals, he would always improvise on the solo. Each time, while still following the scale, his solos would sound very different.

    *Roooarrr* Isaac''s guitar started singing. Rez and I were right. It''s different again this time. The solo started out bluesy, with a similar vibe to the acoustic guitar solo of the original version. Then, Isaac started splitting the John''s beats and the riffing started becoming faster. *Screeechhh* Isaac then made his guitar scream, and along with it, the crowd started screaming as well. After that, Isaac went for the kill. We saw his pick blur, his fingers dancing even faster, and his hand hovering all over the guitar''s neck. Looking at his face, however, it looked like he''s doing it effortlessly.

    The crowd screamed even louder at the godly display of the guitar. I then realized that Isaac is now improvising for longer than we have planned. I then looked at John, and I saw him just nod at me. John does not mind playing for Isaac and he''s enjoying himself doing it. Thirty seconds later, Isaac''s riffing calmed down. We thought it was over, when he switched up the vibe again and it now sounds like a battle call.

    Jesus Christ, he''s in a daze. I think he just lost himself in his guitar. John, who was enjoying himself a minute ago, is now sweating heavily. He''s now hitting his drum in a way that would match the vibe Isaac is making with his guitar. The crowd screamed again and they started jumping. After a minute or so more of Isaac playing, he finally pulled himself out and looked at me and nodded.

    And with his signal, we entered the final chorus. "Invisible man, INVISIBLE MAN. They''ve given you a number and taken away your name." This time, unlike the rehearsals, we had to sing a lot louder because of how Isaac ramped up the vibe in during his solo. Our voices blended again and with a final strum from Rez, we ended the song with a bang. I almost messed up too, but because I managed to catch myself immediately, the crowd did not notice.

    I regretted choosing this song to play. It''s only the second song and it''s already stronger than the song we''ll perform in the highlight. *Sigh* Why did Isaac, of all the times, just have to get into the zone.

 Chapter 106 - Intermediate Level Performance

    May 3, 2012 ¨C Thursday 7 pm ¨C Zolano Street, East Ouigab

    As I reached the front of the green room''s door, I found something strange. The usually chatty waiting room is loud enough for one to hear from outside the room even though its doors are closed, but this time, it''s oddly quiet. Did the performers bail? That couldn''t be.

    I slowly opened the waiting room''s door and peeked inside, cautious of what I might see. What I saw though, are the musicians, 11 or 12 of them belonging to different bands, gathered in the corner of the room, watching something in Ike''s laptop.

    Ike, Percussive Corrections'' drummer is one social butterfly that every musician that plays in my bar like. It is not unusual to see the kid chatting happily with other musicians. What is unusual is that he''s surrounded by them like this. I silently entered and saw that Ike''s band members, five other college kids, are not participating in the huddle.

    "What''s going on?" I asked quietly to Ramil, Percussive Corrections'' saxophonist and vocalist. "They''re watching Tayaw''s recent performance in America last week." Ramil replied. I nodded in understanding.

    Tayaw, who was the best performer in my bar, never came back to perform after his supposed ''vacation'' last year. I was also surprised that one day, the members of Percussive Corrections walked in my office to sign up for a spot, without Tayaw. It surprised me even more when they said that Tayaw left the band. But after being informed of some news by the members of his former band, it made sense.

    Tayaw, who I thought quit music, suddenly became famous in Nashville, the world''s country music capital. Nabla Observer even wrote an article about him recently. He''s now an all-out star. I was planning on keeping him in my bar for a few years at least, to train him, toe give him experience. But after catching up to speed to Tayaw''s songs in the internet and his country songs, I felt almost embarrassed of my foolishness.

    "Shiiitt.. That''s Tayaw? Wow. He was holding back on us all along, boss. Haha." Kiyong, Beyond Cape Town''s guitarist and leader suddenly commented. "Yeah. He was. He didn''t sing his best songs in the bar when he was here." I replied. "Yeah. That too. But take a look at this! Ike. Let the boss watch it." Kiyong said.

    As Ike passed his laptop to me, the small group behind the kid also dispersed. Really? They''re doing that? Hmm? Laptops are this light nowadays? Weird. Anyway, I tapped on the kid''s laptop to play the video. What I''m seeing is a re-arrangement of his song ''Invisible Man'', sung by him and a band I never saw before. It sounds nice. If the original song was of a lonely man''s story, this one feels like a story of two confiding ''invisible men''.

    What almost gave me a heart attack though was Tayaw''s guitar solo. It''s a through-and-through improvisation, smoothly done almost effortlessly. This guitar display goes beyond my experience for me to assess. All I know is that it''s the best guitar playing I have ever seen. I wish I saw it live. Looking at how Tayaw''s hand picking was blurry and I can''t see the details of how his fingers pressed against the frets, Tayaw''s speed with his fingers and hands must have been too fast for the camera to capture.

    "Boss. Look at the views." Ike said after he heard the video end. I looked and my eyes widened at the number: ''3,276,998''. I looked read the information below the video and it was ''published'' on May 30; just three days ago. "Is this how many has seen it?" I asked Ike, finding it unbelievable how many people have already watched in such a short time. "No. That''s how many times the video was watched or opened." Ike replied. I processed it for a moment, and found the difference. No matter, I still found it amazing.

    I carefully closed the laptop and passed it to Ike. Even though Tayaw left the bar, and would probably never perform here again, he introduced me to young talented kids. Ike, Hoon, Jenna, Ramil, Bay-an, and Inson. The six of them, even before Tayaw left their band, are known collectively as ''Percussive Corrections''. I saw these six grow as musicians.

    When the six of them first walked in my bar, I still remember how nervous they looked and it almost disappointed me how inexperienced they looked. However, because it was Tayaw who introduced them, I had to give them a chance. Then, they stepped on my stage for the first time, and I saw how awkward they looked. Even though Tayaw was with them, I still felt the most anxious I''ve felt in a long time. I was so afraid they were going to mess up because of their nervousness.

    When they started playing though, my anxiety was replaced with the most relief I felt in a long time. They were stable. They looked boring, but they sounded good. Since then, they''ve been performing in my bar at least twice a month, with or without Tayaw. At times when Tayaw wasn''t with them, the band made up for it with their skills with their instruments.

    Since they started, I''ve noticed them quickly improve their skills. They also became more and more comfortable on the stage. Despite their improvement, they are still not complete without Tayaw. Even though they''re talented, I thought they were all just going to stay as instrumentalists. That changed however, when Tayaw left their band, for good.

    I think Tayaw''s departure from the band did Percussive Corrections a favor. Since January, The band has gotten even better, and even added something they always relied Tayaw on; vocals. Jenna''s voice is getting better and better; she can hit lower notes and has started using vibrato in her voice. Ike also started singing and brought back the ''singing drummer'' that was the trends in the 80s. And when Ike does backing vocals for Jenna, their harmony sounded fantastic.

    The most pleasant surprise to me regarding the vocals though, was Ramil. The kid''s rough tenor voice is perfect when the band plays rock. So with Ike, Jenna, and Ramil singing together, they finally covered the void that Tayaw left.

    "So, is Tayaw going to be active now in the US?" I asked the members of the Percussive Corrections. Even though Tayaw left their band, the band said that they''re living in Tayaw''s house.

    They looked at each other strangely before Bay-an did the talking. "We don''t know too. I mean, he came back immediately after he performed with Strawberry Front, the guys you saw Tayaw play with in the video." Bay-an said. I see. I hope he plays more here in Teungeb. I found it strange that Americans got to know him first before Teungebians did. Thinking about it however, he got famous with country music. F.u.c.kin country music that Teungebians rarely enjoy, but is beloved in The States. Probably the only country music I enjoy is the old classics, and Tayaw''s.

    *Applause* The waiting room heard the audience clap for Amelie. ~sigh~ Amelie. The Tayaw-less Percussive Corrections blew by her when it comes to the number of fans in the bar. "You six. You''re up next." I said. "Yeah. We know, boss." Ike said and he closed his laptop. After some gentle scuffling of things, the six kids finally stood up and headed to the bar room with their instruments. I followed behind them and found a vacant table in the bar room where I could watch them.

    I''ve seen the other performers enough that I honestly grew tired of listening to them. The Percussive Corrections however, I always look forward to watching. Maybe it''s because they only perform four times a week at most, but I find their gigs very valuable.

    While the Percussive Corrections were setting up their instruments, the audience is already clapping for them. The percussive Corrections have already become the favorites in my bar. The other musicians also accepted and admitted that the band deserve the recognition and favor as even Beyond Cape Town, one of the most experienced regular performers in my bar, could barely match the stage that Percussive Corrections give.

    A few moments later, they are ready. "Hello boss." I was startled when someone called out beside me. I looked and saw Tayaw, already sitting down to join me at my tablee. I almost did not recognize him as he''s not wearing his three piece suit in his videos, or the South American collared shirts he wore when he played here. He''s currently wearing his sweatshirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of rubber shoes. His outfit when he first performed in my bar.

    "It''s been a while, kid." Is all that I could say. I never admitted it, but I actually missed the kid. It also feels weird that just a few minutes ago, I was thinking how big of a star he became, and now he''s standing in front of me, still looking like how he looked when we first met, only much more handsome now.

    "What are you doing here?" I asked. "What? Am I banned now?" Tayaw jested. "No. I thought you were busy with whatever stars do." I chuckled and jested back. "What star? It''s just a few songs that got famous." Tayaw replied. I almost slapped the kid''s head. ''Just a few songs that got famous''? What the f.u.c.k? It''s already hard being a one-hit wonder!

    "Come to think about it, I don''t think you''ve seen them live on stage, right?" I asked, which a valid question is as I only saw Tayaw with his band in the same place if they''re performing together. "Yeah. You''re right. While I was busy, how were they here?" He asked. "They were just fine. Although they can''t put out as many arrangements as you did, they''re still a good cover band." I informed him.

    "Well. That''s good to hear. Alright. Here they go." Tayaw said and when I returned on my eyes on the stage, Hoon already started playing the intro.

 Chapter 107 - Musical Manufacturing of Academic Performance

    May 5, 2012 ¨C Saturday 7pm ¨C Ironstone, East Ouigab.

    "Inson! Ike! Bas.e.m.e.nt! Tayaw wants us there." I heard Bay-an''s voice from the outside of our bedroom door while I was doing homework. "Hm? What''s that about?" Ike asked. He and I are roommates and because our bedroom is huge, it''s spacious for even the two of us. "I don''t know." I said, but I got curious at the news.

    Tayaw, since he ''left'' the band, practically didn''t monitor us as closely as he did before. Aside from tutoring us with our school subjects, and coaching me, Bay-an, and Hoon in our songwriting, Tayaw became almost a recluse. I was worried that he was depressed or something because he would lock himself in his room for days at a time. I hope that''s not the case.

    A few minutes later, I found myself in the bas.e.m.e.nt, with the band and Tayaw. "Alright. I didn''t have time to check, but, your average grades, while still high, I noticed they''ve all decreased compared to the last semester." Tayaw began. This made me nervous. When I looked at the others, their faces don''t look good too. "It''s fine. Look, your grades are still fine. But if you guys are having a hard time, or you can''t handle studying and going to school at the same time, I have to know as early as now." Tayaw continued.

    "Honestly, I''m fine. I just didn''t work as hard in my non-engineering subjects." Ike said boldly. His answer froze the room. It wasn''t only Ike that did what he said, but I and the rest also neglected some of our subjects. Unlike Ike who is studying alone, I and the other four members are all classmates in Civil Engineering. So not only did we neglect our non-engineering subjects, the five of us agreed to do so. After all, why would we spend effort on those when there are more fun things to do like making music?

    "Well¡­ Judging from your faces, you five also did the same?" Tayaw said. We could only nod. "I mean. What would we use History and Culture for as future engineers anyway?" Hoon, the usually silent but frank dude, said frankly. "Do you agree?" Tayaw asked us. We nodded again, even more anxious than before.

    "Alright cool." Tayaw smiled. His smile made me anxious even more. I''ve never actually seen Tayaw angry at us before, but somehow, I don''t want to find out what an angry Tayaw looks like. The dude''s very smart and is built like an athlete. Combine that, I could only imagine how he will be when angry.

    "Cool?" Jenna asked. "Yeah. Cool. I agree. What would you need those subjects for as future engineers?" Tayaw said. This made us sigh in relief. "Cool then. Except for Ike, we all agreed to not care much about those subjects." Jenna said, now smiling. Jesus Christ, Jenna. Thankfully, Tayaw didn''t take offense to her comment.

    "But, are you guys having a hard time?" Tayaw asked again. I''m not and from what I know about the others, they''re not either. It''s busy, but I''m having fun. I don''t know about the rest though. "Not really. I mean, we find our subjects easy. Because we know what the formulas and concepts are used for and we know how to use them, theoretically at least, they''re easy to digest." Bay-an said. "And.. Even though we''re busy, but that''s fine with me. I''d rather do music that doing who knows what." Ramil explained my sentiments.

    "Hmm. Do you also feel the same?" Tayaw asked me because I didn''t speak up yet. "Yeah. I agree that it''s easy. I also agree with Ramil. Some of my high school friends are still in the freshman year because they failed a lot of their subjects last year. If I played around like they did, I wouldn''t be doing fine. I''m fine." I said. Which is true. My high school friends, who had better grades than me in high school, have picked up the habit of partying and smoking when we got to Ouigab for school. Because of those habits, some of them were either held back, or lost the support of their parents in their education so they went back home.

    "Alright. Good. BUT! I still want you guys to stay healthy, alright?" Tayaw said. Tayaw already stopped cooking dinner for us since he came back from America last January, but his dishes made us health-conscious in our dietary decisions. Basically, all of us are scared to have a meal without greens or fruits. His generous ''allowance'' he also gives us afford us to pool together our money to eat meat or fish every night. With how ripped Tayaw is, we were also influenced to maintain a healthy weight.

    "Anyways. I called you guys here for a more positive reason. I want you to stop writing songs and going to vocal lessons for now. Ease up your prep for your gigs at ROH Factory too, then stop going starting next month." Tayaw switched the agenda of the meeting, but his other commands were a surprise for us. "I think that you guys are ready to release your first album." Tayaw revealed. The band exchanged looks at that, with varying emotions. The ''Vocalist Unit'' looked excited, while me with the ''Songwriting Unit'' exchanged looks in confusion.

    Tayaw specifically told us that once we wrote enough songs that satisfied him, that''s when he will help us make an album. However, since Tayaw started teaching me, Bay-an, and Hoon how to write songs, Tayaw did not seem to like our songs very much. "Are you¡­ you''re not making songs for us, are you?" I asked. I''m honestly disappointed if he did write songs for the band already. I worked hard for the past four months to write songs. I don''t want them being scrapped.

    "What? No. Out of the songs you three made, I chose ten songs that I think sound and feel the best." Tayaw said. Which confused me, Bay-an and Hoon more. "Our songs?" Bay-an asked in confusion. "I thought you didn''t like them that much?" Hoon added. "Oh? When did I say that?" Tayaw said. I tried remembering, but he''s right. I don''t remember Tayaw saying exactly that he didn''t like our songs. However, I think that''s just Tayaw speaking sneakily. Me, Hoon and Bay-an all saw Tayaw''s unimpressed face when he was listening to our songs.

    "Yeah. But you didn''t say you liked them either." I said. "Well.. Hnn. That''s true. But I think they''re good enough." Tayaw said. Which finally made me relieved. "Well? What songs did you choose?" Ike, who was unaware of the ''songwriting unit''s'' feelings, asked in excitement. "Here they are¡­" Tayaw started introducing the songs he chose to the band.

    In the end, Tayaw chose three songs from Bay-an, three songs from Hoon, and four songs from me. A total of 10 songs. I''m glad looking at the list. I agree with Tayaw''s choices. Before, when me, Hoon, and Bay-an were day-dreaming about which songs we want for our album, we all chose three songs each to contribute.

    The songs that Tayaw chose are all the songs the three of us liked the best, plus one of my songs. "Oh! ''With My World''! I like this one!" Jenna said. That is one of my songs, thanks Jenna. "10 songs is shorter than the average album, but it''s good enough for your debut." Tayaw started again. I''m not so confident with my songs though. Compared to Tayaw''s songs, they''re nothing special.

    "BUT! You all three realize that your songs are still rough, right?" Tayaw asked me, Hoon, and Bay-an. I agree, that''s why I''m not confident. Looking at Hoon and Bay-an''s reactions, they don''t seem to be confident as well. "Well? That''s what''s a band is for! You all six. I want you all to all contribute in arranging each of these 10 songs. Refine them, and when you''re satisfied, let me have a listen." Tayaw continued. This. This is going to be amazing.

    "YES! I have some ideas!" Ike said. "Me too. Sorry Bay-an, even though I like your songs, we could still make it sound better." Jenna said to her best friend in the band. "Alright. Cool." Bay-an rolled his eyes as he replied. Ouch. Poor Bay-an. But this is good. Ramil also once told me to change some things in my songs when I had the band listen to them, and when I followed his suggestion, it made my song better.

    "I''m also warning you guys. During this process, you guys will have a LOT of disagreements with each other. Hell, you guys might even fight. BUT! That''s a part of it. Even though some feelings may be hurt, don''t forget that you''re all doing this to make your first album the best it could be. Alright?" Tayaw said. I could totally see it happening. We already experienced a lot of disagreements when we were covering songs, but arranging and refining our own songs? That will be tough.

    "SO. I suggest that you don''t let your ego play into this. You can all argue, you can fight, but do not, I repeat, DO NOT attack each other personally. Do not attack each other''s characters and personalities just to win. I want your actual inputs to do the talking. Once I see someone put their ego in this process, I will get involved." Tayaw concluded with a warning.

    I admit that Tayaw''s concern has its merit. I''m not going to say it to others, but I''m afraid that Jenna, Ramil, and Hoon, with their differing but strong personalities will end up dragging their pride and ego in this. Thankfully, with Tayaw''s warning and how serious the band''s expressions are at his words, it looks like I don''t have to be worried about them anymore.

 Chapter 108 - Professional Literary Analysis

    May 9, 2012 ¨C Wednesday 5 pm ¨C CT2 Studio, Central Television, White City, London

    I am currently in the backstage of the ''Shawn Vaughn Show'', a late-night talk show here in London. Because I am the first British author to be awarded the Outcault Prize for Fiction after twenty years, the producers of the talk show invited me. Because I''m also a fan of the show, I did not hesitate and accepted to appear as a guest. The reason why I like the show, is also the reason why I''m hyping myself up. Shawn likes to ask questions that would catch his guests off-guard or even offend them.

    I was actually already awarded the prize last February but after my novel became a best seller, that was only when these TV people got interested in me. I have no grudges for these TV people however; after all, that''s just how the world works.

    After a listening to Shawn''s monologue, I was finally called out. "Our first guest for the night; the award-winning author HELENA PADDINGTON!" I walked out to the platform to join Shawn. I also heard the enthusiastic cheer from the audience members, which I found unexpected, so I smiled and nodded at them to return the greeting.

    After I took my seat at the couch, and Shawn took his at his chair, I had to force my mind to be vigilant. I have to be to not say something stupid during the interview. "I like your dress!" Shawn said as he pointed at my blue dress which a friend forced me to wear when she found out I''m going to this show. "Thank you. It''s like I''m dressed up for a date." I replied.

    "Ah. That''s too bad, I don''t prefer women." Shawn said with a swivel of his head, which the crowd chuckled at. He''s gay. "Well, I just want to look good for you, Shawn. I''m a fan." I said. "Thank you." Shawn replied. That''s what I like about him. Unlike other talk show hosts that would say ''I''m a fan as well'', Shawn is honest.

    "So. While I announced you as an award winning author, can you tell the people at home what prize you won?" Shawn asked. "It''s the Outcault Prize for Fiction. An international award." I explained. "And this is special! Right? You are the first British recipient of the award since Evan Houghton for ''Greater Power''." Shawn said to me, but he''s actually informing the audience. "Yes. That''s right. The first British awardee in twenty two years." I clarified. I heard then an audience member clap followed by the rest of them for applause. I just nodded in response.

    "How does it feel? This has to be huge, right?" Shawn asked. "Well. Yes. I never would have thought I would win this prize ever in my life, so it''s an honor." I replied. Which is true. I did not write my book to win an award but just to tell a story.

    "Hmm. What the viewers don''t know is that you also won another international award years ago." Shawn primed. "Yes. I won the Sohlman Prize twelve years ago but because my books did not sell very well, no one aside from the literary circles appreciated my book." I said. "That''s unfortunate. I hope the viewers at home will not only buy your recent book, but also your other novels." Shawn said. "I hope so too." I said, don''t know what else to say.

    "Anyway, I''ve read your book, but to the viewers who have not, can you tell us a short synopsis?" Shawn said. "My book''s title is Australia. It is a story about people who had gone to Australia as tourists. When they got lost, the wild life is not only their enemy, but themselves, their emotions, and their psychological natures as well. It tells about the stories of people like a lone young man, a childless couple, and two sisters who went to the Australian wild to reconnect to each other." I said.

    "I''ve read your book, and I have to say. It''s thrilling. I reminded me that I cannot always handle things by myself, but with the help of others too. I''m not going to spoil it for the readers, but that is just one lesson I took from your book." Shawn said. "Thank you. I''m glad it gave you a lesson I intended." I said, genuinely glad. Shawn actually read my book, unlike most of the people that interviewed me.

    "But. Why Australia?" Shawn asked a good question. "Well, when I was there for vacation, I noticed that Australia is a place where the modernity meets the primal savagery of nature. So I thought, about the human experience of travelling to the wild. Why would people even leave the comfort of the city to explore the dangerous wild life?" I said. "Many would out of curiosity and adventure, right?" Shawn asked.

    "That''s true. BUT, just like me who went there to know more about myself, I''m certain that other people went there as well not just to see the wild life. I got interested in those people and their stories." I explained without spoiling my book that much. "Hmm. Indeed. In your book, the wild life is not only an experience of the wild, but it also brings out things that we didn''t know about ourselves, and that we would do things we would not even think of doing." Shawn said, supplementing my words.

    "Yes. Will it make a person a hero? Will it make a person more selfish? What are we really willing to do for survival? Would we sacrifice ourselves? Or others? I explored these questions with the stories I wrote in my book." I said. Shawn shook his head while staring emptily. That is not a bad gesture. I can see the audience absorbed looking at the pondering expression of Shawn.

    "What we''re trying to say is, buy the book, everybody!" Shawn concluded. Our discourse about my book would never end had he not cut it short. I didn''t like it to end, but to avoid spoiling too much or ramping up the viewers'' expectations to my book, I''m glad we also moved on. We spent a few minutes talking about mundane stuff like where I grew up, which food I like, or

    "Talking about novels. Have you heard of T.L.D Grimmauld?" Shawn asked. This is the part where Shawn talks to his guests about other things aside from the things the guests promote. His question, however, caught me off-guard. I never expected him to talk about another author. Not only any other author but the enviable Mr. Grimmauld.

    "Oh. Who have not? I''m pretty sure some people here in the studio have read his books, right?" I asked. I saw from the corner of my eyes some audience members nodding to themselves. "I have. By any chance, have you met him, or her?" Shawn asked. I almost scoffed at this. Many people tried to look for the author. I too tried to solve the mystery of his identity. I even think that T.L.D Grimmauld is actually not a single author but a group of them. There''s no way one man can make ''Middle Earth'' by himself.

    "It''s ''him''. From what I heard, he is an author from Teungeb. But, no. I have not met him. I would love to meet him someday, however." I said, which is true. I want to talk to him or them about their writing process. "What about his work?" Shawn asked.

    "Hmm. I am amazed at how he was able to transport us to another world in his novel. The races, the culture, the societies are so detailed; I can''t imagine how much effort he put into making them, or the creativity it even took. I could only say that his novel was fueled by imagination." I told Shawn my opinion. "That is true. I would love to see it in a film. Do you think he deserves an award?" Shawn said. I did not like the question. I don''t know if Shawn did it intentionally, but it is a trap. I decided to tread carefully.

    "Honestly, I don''t know. His book is the first of its own kind and there''s nothing else like it to compare it to. Saying that, I don''t think his book will suit to any existing award. Most fiction awards would talk about the human experience, people''s trauma and happiness. Grimmauld did not go deep into that in his novel." I said. From the criteria of any award right now, ''The Halfling'' does not meet them.

    "So you''re not saying he does not deserve an award, but if he competes, he cannot win anyway?" Shawn asked. "Yes. However, I would think of his work as the definition of a pioneer. If I try to write a novel about a fantastical world of different races and cultures, I don''t think it will even compare to Mr. Grimmauld''s ''The Halfling''. Look, in exchange for the depth of the emotions of the characters that fiction should have, Mr. Grimmauld used that depth in making his novel''s world." I replied.

    "Aha. That makes sense. By the way, you said pioneer. Do you think other authors will start to write fantasy novels like the one in ''The Halfling''?" Shawn said. "Oh absolutely. It''s new and it''s attractive, and it offers great escapism. I too want to seek refuge from the world to a new one, even just through a book. Honestly, I''m tempted to write a fantasy tale too, but I think it will take years for me to write one. I''d rather stick with what I know." I said.

    I was not being entirely honest, however. Even though I want to tell great stories that I want to tell in my writing, I would also want to be wealthy by writing to the demand of the market. Not suffering from financial pressure while writing a book would be very very nice.

 Chapter 109 - Exploration of Character Psychology

    May 12, 2012 ¨C Saturday, 2 pm ¨C Clambu City

    *clap clap* *whistles whistles* the movie theater is filled with cheers and applause. There are only fifty or so of us in the theater but the cheer was deafening. A few days ago, Tayaw sent the cast and crew and me, the screenwriter, invitations to gather at this theater today to watch a private screening of ''September Ninth'', dedicated to the cast and the crew.

    Even though Tayaw said the film was good, even when I received the news that I was nominated for an international award, I could not believe that my story, my baby, has come to life until today, when and saw it play in front of my eyes.

    It''s real, and it''s here. I''m now an acclaimed screenwriter. It got me thinking. Had someone made my film earlier, would my life be any different than the one I lived for the past 8 years? Probably not. My script would have been ruined by any director that is not Tayaw.

    Even though it''s just a private screening of ''September Ninth'' and it has not come out to the public yet, I''m very optimistic seeing the cast and crew who watched it with me give it a standing ovation. These people around me are not the regular movie goers, but professionals in the industry that know their stuff.

    Seeing the group of actors, full of smiles, high fiving each other and shaking each other''s hands, I could not help but be proud of them. I''ve seen these fellows endure Tayaw to be the personifications of my characters.

    Seeing the group of the filming crew discuss enthusiastically and proudly amongst themselves about which shots they took and how they did it, I was reminded that these same people are the ones who almost got into a fight with Tayaw.

    "By the way, where''s Tayaw?" The sound engineer for the film asked the others. "I don''t know. I saw him at the entrance when he was welcoming us in, but now, I can''t find him." A camera guy said. "He didn''t watch it with us. I saw him walk out when the film started." I said to the guys. "Well. I think he was tired of seeing it. He was the one who edited after all. He locked himself for a few days in his room." A young man by the name of Bay-an explained to us.

    Seeing the young man and his band mates, I was reminded by the skepticism I expressed to Tayaw regarding the soundtrack of the film. I didn''t believe it when he said he was going to MAKE the soundtrack and after finding out about his identity as a musician, I still was worried. After listening to the songs throughout the movie though, I got to see why he had to make the songs himself.

    "Mrs. Yalen, Tayaw said he went on ahead to ''the usual'' place with our van. Can we tag along?" Jenna, a member of Tayaw''s band, asked in concern. I shook my head. I''ve always thought of Tayaw to be responsible, but to leave his friends to strangers was such an odd thing for him to do. "Of course. HEY URANTO!" I called for the lead actor, who I''ve made friends with during the production process. "Jouny, what''s up?" "Do you have spare seats in your car? Tayaw went on ahead to the hotel and he left his kids with us." I said.

    "Sure! They can come with me. So you are the fellows that sang the songs in the movie huh? It''s a pleasure to meet you. I''m Uranto." Uranto said and he introduced himself to the band. I saw Tayaw''s band just stare at Uranto. This must be what being star struck looks like. Uranto, having his introduction ignored, looked embarrassed. "You take the boys, I take the young lady." I said and rescued the fellows from the awkward interaction.

    A few minutes later, a caravan of cars hit the road and is heading to the hotel where we had our wrapping up party. "Mrs. Yalen. Steve- I mean¡­ Uranto looks more handsome in real life." Jenna asked me. Me and my husband chuckled at the comment.

    "That''s because he''s supposed to me more handsome than Steven, so make-up artists made him look shabbier in the film." I explained. While that is true, there''s more to it. Uranto, since the filming finished, has become more confident in himself and smiled more often. He got brighter and more handsome.

    "Hah! I don''t know what Tayaw did to Uranto, but he wasn''t that handsome before. My wife too became more beautiful after Tayaw bought her script." My husband said, to my embarrassment and to Jenna''s amus.e.m.e.nt.

    "By the way. Are you guys famous? You did a great job singing the songs in the movie." I asked Jenna. "Well¡­ We were seen by millions of people on the internet, but I don''t think we''re famous. It''s actually - " while on the drive, Jenna told us their stories about meeting Tayaw and their journey as a band. "So.. yeah. Currently, we''re making our first album under Tayaw''s supervision." She ended.

    "So is Tayaw going to write you songs?" My husband asked. I''m curious as well. He has a lot of songs and he even made songs for the movie. "No. He said that it''s better if we sing our own songs. He said he will eventually but we''re still inexperienced." She replied. "That''s a strange¡­ arrangement. I think you guys are great." My husband said and I think so too. "We still have a long way to go compared to Tayaw." Jenna just shrugged her shoulders.

    A few minutes later, we arrived at a private conference room where we the cast and crew gathered for another party. Tayaw really treats people generously. Even though we no longer work for the kid, he still bothered to set up catering.

    The lunch was nice and sumptuous and we ate to our fill. The atmosphere was also nice because we all loved how the final cut of the film came out. While eating, I could not help but notice Tayaw talking to five people, actors and crew people alike, at the same time. This blew my mind. How is he talking to five people without getting confused? But thinking about how he multi-tasked while working on the movie, it makes sense that he can multi-task talking to people too. I guess this is one of the things that differentiate geniuses from regular folks.

    After lunch, as we were about to bid our farewell to Tayaw, I received a text. "Please talk to Ramil before leaving. It''s the young man in the black leather jacket. I have something for you." I looked at Tayaw and nodded at me. As my husband and I approach Ramil, I saw Uranto and the main actors also make their way to the young man as well.

    "So, you guys got Tayaw''s text too?" My husband asked them. "Yeah. What''s it about?" Iliene, who played Diwaya in the movie, asked Ramil. "Follow me." Ramil said and led us to a hotel room nearby. Hm. It''s odd how the young man did not even look at Iliene.

    Ramil then proceeded to the bed of the room and picked up a backpack among the bags scattered in the bed. "So. Tayaw asked me to distribute these things to you." He took out a few fancy envelopes and started distributing them. Uranto opened his first and pulled out another envelope inside and a few cards. "Hey. It''s an invitation and an ID?" Uranto said.

    In each of our envelopes are the invitations to the Sorrento Award Ceremony and a passes to watch the movies screening during the festival. Because Tayaw already gave me and Uranto heads up, we were prepared. The rest of the people here gathered however, they could barely keep their excitement in.

    "I wonder what Italy looks like." I heard Ramil say while looking at Nielg''s invitation. "You guys didn''t get invitations?" I asked. They contributed a lot in the movie so I was confused. "Tayaw said it''s probably because movie people don''t put so much importance to the soundtrack." Ramil replied. "That''s too bad. Wanna come with me?" Iliene, Uranto''s partner in the movie, teased the kid. Iliene is a beautiful woman and her teasing worked well enough that the young man blushed and was gob smacked.

    "Me? We- I- Well. I have ¨C You''re too old." Ramil managed to pull out an answer after struggling with his words. His reply silenced us all in the room until Uranto burst out laughing. "Ahahaha! Khk Khk Khk.. Hooo.. Man that was great." Uranto is trying his hardest to control his laughter as he patted Ramil''s back. I don''t dare to laugh because I am not close to Iliene, but I''m still trying to hold in my laughter.

    Props to Iliene as she took it in grace. "Well. That''s too bad." Iliene said while smiling. After a few minutes of catching up, we left the hotel room. Walking behind Uranto and the other actors, I saw Iliene pinch Uranto''s arm.

 Chapter 110 - Positano

    May 15, 2012 ¨C Tuesday 1 pm ¨C Positano, Italy

    "Ah¡­ I guess this will do, right ladies and gentlemen?" Tayaw said proudly as him and his company arrived at their accommodation. Over the past few days, Tayaw cannot book any hotel rooms in Sorrento and the nearby cities of Pompeii and Salerno.

    Tayaw, with the connections of the translator who worked on his film''s Italian subtitles, managed to rent a huge five bedroom house in the coast village of Positano which is only 9 km away from Sorrento. Without the translator''s help, Tayaw would have had to rent hotel rooms in Naples, which is over an hour away from Sorrento.

    "This will do? You rented a HOUSE! And. The view is also very beautiful. Did you have to?" Iliene said.

    Even though Positano is small, the village built on the cliff side along the Amalfi coast. This means that the sloped layout of the village provides practically every house and every building in the village a good view of the blue Tyrrhenian Sea.

    "Hey. The owner of the house was gracious enough to give me a discount. It''s fine. Or. Would you rather ride an hour or so every day to Sorrento?" Tayaw said which was true. The house is a vacation home by a businessman in Milan and is usually not for rent.

    "Well. You''re right. I mean, the traffic alone¡­" Iliene said.

    This year, an estimated 15,000 people are invited by the festival. It consists of people that are expected to attend like actors, directors and screenwriters. A good chunk of the attendees are also people who work behind the scenes like cinematographers, editors and others.

    Industry professionals however are just a small chunk; around 20% of the 15,000 people. The majority of the people invited by the festival are not even film professionals at all but friends of the Sorrento Festival board like socialites, film distributor representatives, and executives that are sponsoring the festival. Some are also people who will cover the films like reputable journalists, and famous movie critics.

    15,000 people were already more than enough for all the hotels, inns, and other accommodations of Sorrento. 15,000 after all is just a thousand shy away short of the entire population of Sorrento. What makes it difficult to rent a room in Sorrento, and even the nearby cities of Salerno and Naples, is because it''s not only the 12,000 that would flock to Italy.

    Movie fans from all over the world are also flocking in Sorrento, Salerno, and Pompeii. Even though these movie fans were not invited for the festival, theaters all over Sorento, Salerno and Pompeii would conduct screenings parallel to the Sorrento Film Festival. These movie theaters however, are going to show films that are were among the 50 films that were selected by the festival jury for the competition.

    "Alright. I''ll take my room now. You guys also rest, y''all look tired. If you want to go out, please be careful. Uranto, Iliene, your translators are not arriving until tomorrow." Tayaw said and excused himself. He then went up excitedly to the room he already chose prior to their arrival. From the photos of the owner sent him online, Tayaw already knew the general lay-out of the house and which room has the best view and lighting.

    Tayaw is actually not planning on watching any films in the first few days of the festival. From the submissions he read in the film festival''s website, Tayaw could already guess how the films would go. The sports genre is still one of the most popular topics for movies even in an international film festival like in Sorrento.

    Stories about fictional sports stars: sports star struggling with fame, a sports star struggling choosing his love of his life or his career, or an unassuming pro athlete that would change their life after finding love or a new friend. There are also stories about an athlete/s'' journey: an aspiring athlete or a rookie climbing, grinding, and fighting their way to the top.

    Then there are movies about sports teams, the classic underdog story. These movies usually end two ways; the team become champions for the first time, or they are just shy away from winning a championship but they have proven themselves that they''re something.

    There are also the sports movies Tayaw abhors; coach stories. Stories like; a pro athlete that was forced to retire then turns to become a coach to continue his passion. Then the type of movies he hates the most are the ones that tell the story about some coach that grew up in a well to do family that goes to the inner city or slums to train the kids, for charity. This is especially prevalent in English speaking countries like USA and UK, or countries like the ones in South America and south Asia. The story goes the same every time.

    The story goes: a rich coach goes to the inner city and they don''t welcome him. He goes home shell shocked and tells it to his wife or girlfriend. Then the wife or girlfriend convinces the coach to not give up. Then the coach goes back to the inner city, draws out their rough and ragged beauty, then the next scene, he''ll be dancing or wearing shit that he would never otherwise wear, just to belong.

    While he admits that these films are dramatic, heartwarming and sometimes are well told; they''ve been told many times before, only in different skins.

    The second type of movies in the festival, is just as old as cinema itself; Romantic movies.

    The typical premise of a romance movie is that two characters meet, usually of opposite genders, then part ways due to an argument or some kind of hurdle in their relationship. Then, they after going over the hurdle, they finally realize their love for each other. Sometimes the premise goes; two people would meet and quickly becomes a couple, then they must struggle through challenges, like a third party that disapproves of the relationship, or just the traits of each character that would make it hard for the couple to maintain a relationship. Finally, the movie usually ends on a happy ever after.

    "Even though ''September Ninth'' is also a type of romance film, at least it''s different and new." Tayaw said to himself. He classifies his movie belonging to the Romance genre because of how Steven and DIwaya, by the end of the movie, reunited again. It was not as simple as that, however.

    Steven''s character is very flawed; he is materialistic and deemed himself as more important than he actually is. On the other hand, Diwaya is understanding, kind, and optimistic. This is why Steven could never be with Rita because he is too selfish. At the beginning of the film, Steven looked as if he was never going to change.

    In order to change him, Jouny gave Steven an inescapable prison where he is forced to constantly confront his flaws. Whether Jouny intended it or not, it was a genius premise; in the first look at the film, the viewer no matter how knowledgeable they are in films, are not going to notice that Steven under the time loop, will inevitably change. This results to the viewer to anticipate the next step that Steven takes.

    At first, Steve would understand the rules of what''s happening to him. Next, he would try to fix it. When he cannot, he would try to get out. When he cannot get out, he would ask for help from the closest person he knows; Diwaya. And when he realized that he cannot escape his new reality, he will exploit it and is pushed into two paths: He indulges himself until he gets bored, or he challenges a specific goal until he has to admit his loss and move on to the next. The latter being the path he will be forced to take.

    Tired of indulgences, he would now want to take Diwaya back as his goal. He tries everything he thinks of, but fails half the time. Even at the times he succeeds, Diwaya would still see the real Steven under all the gifts and serenades. The rejection and hurtful looks from Diwaya forced Steven to get to know himself, experience his flaws from being both evil and good.

    Then, Steven gives up and would rather die than change for Diwaya. Despite knowing that he cannot die, he would try every way of dying he can think of and pursued them. So once again, Steven is exhausted in that path. That was when he realized that his life and what he wants isn''t only things that matter.

    There is nothing left for him to do, but change. Steve would try to make other people''s lives better and because of how great it made him feel, he started becoming a good man. He goes back to Diwaya to take her back again, and make her realize that he is no longer the man he used to be. Even as Diwaya accepted Steven back, Steven is still trapped in his prison.

    Realizing that Diwaya will never truly be his, he decided to finally let her go. He would let go of his desire and continue to make people''s lives better, over and over again, forever. At this point, Steven reached the true essence of selflessness. That was only when he was released from his trap, and came out of it a better man, a perfect man for his true love.

    In the end, the movie is not about the romance, but how Steven, a seemingly unchangeably unlikable man, change into a much better man that can be loved not only by Diwaya, but every person he meets. How Steven, a man who measured his happiness with things, found true happiness by living not only for himself but for other people.

    "I just hope the Jury saw that." Tayaw wished.

 Chapter 111 - Sorrento

    May 20, 2012 ¨C Thursday 3 pm ¨C Sorrento, Italy

    "Hey, any news about Isaac yet?" a man asked another. "F*ck no. Is he even here?" The other man asked back. "I think so. I heard some people spotted him." The man replied. "So, they got us beat?" The other man sighed. "I don''t know. IF someone got him, they''d be bragging about it by now." The man said.

    Tayaw, while having his second lunch for the day, heard two men talk about him. From what he gathered, the two men are acquisition agents from two different film distribution companies in the US.

    Since the festival began a few days ago, many people were attracted by ''September Ninth'' because of the nominations attached to its name. After seeing the film, the festival attendees, especially the industry professionals basically went crazy and now, they''re on a headhunt for Tayaw.

    By now, everyone who is interested in Tayaw knows what he looks like after looking him up. Thankfully, they only know what he looks like on stage, and with Tayaw wearing sweatshirts, jeans, and running shoes, nobody recognized him yet. However, it''s not only him that the movie people are looking for, but the actors in his film as well. Uranto, Iliene, and Nielg were all immediately recognized and were approached by film distributors.

    Tayaw decided he''s heard enough and waved at a server "Il conto, per favore." Tayaw said in well-pronounced Italian. Tayaw, since receiving the news of ''September Ninth'' being selected by the jury, started learning Italian immediately. In the two months of online lessons and self-teaching by watching Italian movies, Tayaw is fluent enough to hold a conversation.

    After lunch, Tayaw drove immediately back to his rented house in Positano.

    "Hey Tayaw." Tayaw was greeted by Uranto as he entered the house. "Hey. What''s up? You''re back early? You blew off the ladies?" Tayaw quipped. Since the festival attendees saw their movie, some D-list or C-list celebrities would approach Uranto often with differing motives. Unfortunately for the ladies, Uranto is faithful to his girlfriend. The men, Uranto is not fluent enough in English to talk to them.

    "Yeah." Uranto admitted. "Anyway, some people bribed me for your location and contacts. I refused, but I''m not sure about Iliene and Nielg." Uranto reported. The reason why Tayaw has been avoiding film distributors is that he actually wants to release his film through a Teungebian distributor. He figured that if he would refuse these international distributors anyway, it''s pointless to talk to them.

    Uranto''s report however, gave Tayaw an idea. Eventually, he would want to establish connections with these film distributors when he makes more movies in the future, so it''s not a bad idea to meet them now and make a good impression of himself to them. "Alright. May I ask how much they are offering you?" Tayaw asked.

    "I was offered $9,000. I don''t know about the other two." Uranto replied. "Alright. I have a plan. Is Iliene and Nielg around?" Tayaw asked. "Nielg is. I don''t know where Iliene is." Uranto said. "Alright gather them in the dining room."

    An hour or so, Iliene is back in the house and the meeting finally started. Iliene and Nielg reported that they both were offered at least $7000 for information about Tayaw, and depending on how important it is, maybe more.

    "Okay. I''ll help you three earn quick bucks." Tayaw said, to the surprise of the three actors. "Sorry? I almost gave them your number, man. You''re not mad?" Iliene said. "No. I just wished you told me earlier. So, tell them that you''re going to set up a meeting with me. At separate days of course.

    Uranto, you were offered by three film distributors, right? Choose two that I will meet. Iliene and Nielg, two distributors each right? Choose one each. They will get what they want, you three will split up the money they pay. I''ll act as if I was set up for a meeting so they won''t figure out what we''re doing." Tayaw explained.

    "... That sounds ¡­ criminal." Uranto said in shock hearing what Tayaw is scheming. "I never thought you''re like this." Nielg agreed. Iliene is just giving him a judgmental look. "Hah. Come on. This is nothing. Those people back stab each other often. They even steal from the people they work with. Let me tell you about ¡­ " Tayaw started explaining.

    Tayaw is making the three dirty their hands as in the future, acting skills are not all it takes to be successful in the hostile environment of the entertainment business.

    -

    Five days later, Uranto, Iliene, and Nielg pocketed $10,000 each, guilty at how easy it was. Tayaw on the other hand, pocketed a few business cards.

    "So. Yeah. When I have plans of making a film in the English language in the future, I''ll call you." Tayaw said and shook hands with the last acquisition agent he met. "We''ll be expecting it, Mr. Yawat. Congratulations in advance with the movie. I''m certain you will at least win the best director." The agent replied.

    The agent just offered Tayaw a standard 30% share from the gross income of the movie sales. Aside from the 30% share, the film distributor should also recoup the expenses they made from advertising, which is how it is supposed to be. It looks a transparent and straightforward deal at first glance. The thing that worries Tayaw however is the exactly the recoupment by the film distributor.

    If ''September Ninth'' goes very very well, then the film distributor will definitely be tempted to inflate their expenses on the advertising. If for example the film distributor spent $2 million on prints and $10 million on advertising, they can inflate that by reporting incredibly high costs of materials in printing posters like the paper, the ink, and the artists who will make the poster. They can also claim high fees they paid in TV stations and other platforms to play the trailer. That $2 million print expense will then grow to $5 or more million while the advertising fee will grow from the actual $10 million to much much more.

    Tayaw has no way of preventing that from happening if he signs a deal with an international distributor, so in the end, he decided on talking to distributors back in Teungeb. He will also not need a sales agent as ''September Ninth'' being the first Teungebian in years to be selected in Sorrento Film Festival; it would be the Teungebian film distributors that will look for him. Removing the middle man that is the sales agent, he will save another 15-20% cut from the profits.

    -

    After his latest meeting, Tayaw met up with his group back at the rented house.

    "Tayaw! Finally! Are we really going to just wear suits and pant suits to the ceremony? I''m fine with it, but Iliene¡­" Jouny asked. Over the past few days, she realized that Iliene needs a dress being lead actress in the film. "Tayaw, I''m fine. Jouny, why are you panicking? I won''t buy a dress worth at least 10,000 BGC just to wear it for one night." Iliene said.

    Because the actors in his film do not have agents, Tayaw himself was the one that reached out to Teungebian Fashion brands; in Ouigab especially but they never got back to him. Because they only had a little more than a month to prepare for the ceremony, the fashion brands that did get back to Tayaw refused to let them wear rushed suits and dresses as it may affect their brand.

    Because of this, Tayaw eventually resorted to the group wearing suits and pant suits tailor made for them, all with different styles and following the blue theme. "And. Navy blue looks great! If I was attending the ceremony alone, I''d be worried. But because all of us are going there as a group, we would feel¡­ powerful." Iliene added. "Alright. Why don''t we try on the suits Tayaw made for us? We haven''t worn it as a group since we got it." Uranto said.

    "Fine." Jouny said. A few minutes later, the group came out of their own rooms wearing what they would wear for the ceremony.

    "Thank goodness we won''t look like we''re going to a wedding." Jouny relented. Had the suits not styled differently, they would indeed look like a group going to a wedding with a navy blue theme. Tayaw would wear a three piece dark blue suit with a white inner shirt. Uranto would wear a navy blue tux with a sky blue inner shirt. Iliene also matched Uranto''s outfit with her navy blue pant suit and sky blue inner shirt. Nielg would be wearing an indigo suit, black inner shirt, and a neck tie. Jouny would be wearing azure blue pantsuit to match her husband, Ongki''s azure blue suit without a tie.

    "That''s true. I mean¡­ you don''t look like a screenwriter at all. ''Hello, mayor.''" Nielg commented at Jouny while giggling. Aside from the suits, Tayaw also lent the group classy looking watches, other accessories, and expensive shoes. This made their group end up not looking like a group of artists, but a group of executives or young politicians.

    "Alright. I don''t know what you all will do, but I''m going dehydrate myself for sharper features." Uranto said and went back in his room to change.

 Chapter 112 - Awards Night

    May 28, 2012 ¨C Monday 10 am ¨C Clambu City

    /"The nominees"/ the presenter announced. /"Polly Marsh ''Mermaids and Sirens''" *applause* "Asher Green, ''Hard Ice'' " *applause* /"Harleen Novak ''Falling Memory'' *applause* "Joel Lu ''MVP for Hire''" *applause* "Jouny Yalen, ''September Ninth''" *applause*./

    "Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my GOD!" A woman said in excitement. The other people present are also either excited, or shocked when they heard of Jouny''s name. Looking at Jouny''s face along with international screenwriters on the TV, her status raised a few levels in their mind.

    Kyer gathered his mutual friends with Joulen at his apartment to watch the Sorrento Film Awards. As a surprise, Kyer actually never told them that Jouny was nominated for an international award and just invited his friends under the guise of catching up. This resulted in his friends to just sit on his couch eating popcorn and snacks, clueless that they were going to see Jouny on TV.

    "I know that script! I didn''t know it would be made into a film!" Another friend exclaimed.. "SSHHH! Everyone!..." Another friend silenced the group as the presenter on the TV is already opening the envelope on his hand.

    /"The award goes to Jouny Yalen, ''September Ninth''." Orchestral music started playing and the award attendees gave Joulen a warm applause./

    "YES! YES!" "OH MY GOD! JOUNY!" "*Squeeeaaalll*" "AHHHHH--- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" "She did it! SHE F*CKIN DID IT!" Jouny friends, including Kyer subconsciously got on their feet and Kyer''s living room became chaos. They high fived and hugged each other out, and were jumping in excitement.

    "Girl, look at that guy. Hisr smile looks fake. Ahahahahahaha." A friend pointed at the TV, spotting another nominee for the award who is smiling and clapping but could not hide the disappointment on his face.

    /Jouny stood up from her seat, receives a hug from Tayaw and company and walked to the stage escorted by Ongki by her side. "Thank you." Jouny said in English and the crowd calmed down. "I wrote this script eight years ago, and for eight years, I never gave up pitching it to anyone who was willing to listen. Thankfully, eight years later, here I am, feeling the wait was worth it." Jouny started her speech in fluent English. The crowd gave another round of applause at the Jouny''s story because they know how difficult it is for a screenwriter. /

    "*Sniff* Oh Jouney." A friend who witnessed Jouny''s sadness and frustration with her script could not help but cry tears of joy for Jouny. The other friends who wanted Jouny to give up selling the script and move on, however, are hiding their shame for giving Jouny such suggestion. Had Jouny shelved her script forever, her life would not have changed.

    /"Writing a script is always a lonely process. I never wrote this to represent my country, but this is the first award for a Teungebian screenplay in 30 years." *Applause* *Applause*/ "I want to thank my husband, Ongki, for valuing my work just like I do. Without him, I would have thrown away ''September Ninth'' a long time ago. I want to thank the director, Ta- .. uh.. Isaac Yawat, for recognizing my script and made it into a movie, in a way I never thought anyone can. I want to thank the actors for giving life to my characters¡­ I want to thank Sorrento Film Festival for recognizing my work, and giving me this award."/

    "*Sigh* We have a celebrity friend now. I wonder how the movie turned out." Kyer said,

    -

    Okuba, Nabla Province

    Kilat and Liboo skipped work today to watch the award show as Tayaw asked them to. The two actually needed a rest from their work and when Tayaw said he was going to be on TV for a short while, the couple was glad to see him on it. *ring* "Hey. Text from Tayaw." Kilat said to Liboo. "What did he say? Can he even text in this kind of program?" Liboo said, bewildered because the award show is live.

    "Oh. He said he''s on the audience, who cares if he texts. He''s going to be shown on TV soon anyway." Kilat said and the two focused on the TV.

    / "Here are the nominees¡­" The presenter announced the nominees for the Best Director Award. "Asher Green ''Hard Ice. Cory McFadden ''Fallen Memory''¡­ Isaac Yawat ''September Ninth."/

    "Oh wow. He''s still wearing a suit but why those ridiculous sunglasses and cowboy hat?" Liboo commented when he saw Tayaw appear. "There he is! He directed a movie?!" Kilat said, surprise at the more important issue. "Is this what he was busy with last February?" Liboo said.

    "*sigh* No wonder he didn''t tell us. We would have asked a LOT of questions." Kilat said. "That''s embarrassing, but it''s true. Haha." LIboo agreed. "Hey. Shhh. He might actually win." Kilat said but not seriously. After all, Tayaw did not inform them how big of a deal winning an award is.

    / "The Award for Best Director goes to¡­ Isaac Yawat! ''September Ninth''! " The presenter announced Tayaw''s win. /

    "WHoah! He won?!" Liboo was dumbfounded. "Looks like he did. This is an international award, honey!" Kilat said, now partly realizing the gravity of the award.

    / "Thank you.. Thank you.." Tayaw started. "I first want to thank Jouny Yalen for bringing such a great story to me. Without your great script, there''s no film for me to make. I also want to thank Mr. Uranto Virenza and Iliene Partros, without them, I don''t think I would have had a hard time making this movie. I want to thank the crew, Mr. Garra Muloyan, my cinematographer ¡­ for going along my crazy ideas. Finally, I want to thank my parents, Kilat and Liboo, for their supporting my endeavors."/

    "Pfft. He didn''t tell us sh*t!" Liboo was dumbfounded. "Oh my. He''s a good liar." Kilat said in embarrassment.

    / "The first time my friends found out that I was going to make a film, they thought I was going crazy. Me too, I thought I was going crazy when I submitted my film to the festival." The audience was tickled at this. They all know who Tayaw is by now and his status as a musician. "But when I saw Ms. Yalen''s screenplay, I could not help but want to tell it in. Her screenplay was also overlooked and without anyone else interested, I just had to give it a try.

    "I know nothing about film aside from being a viewer and a silent critic, so I was not expecting my film to even be selected. However, I made this film with my heart and I''m glad that the festival recognized that. Thank you for giving this award to an outsider like me." Tayaw concluded./

    "Hmm. He''s like saying ''I know nothing but I still beat y''all.'' Our son is a genius, honey." Liboo quipped. Kilat slapped Liboo''s shoulder for his childish remark. "Oh my god. Please¡­ Don''t go around telling other people that!" Kilat said, but giggled nonetheless.

    -

    Nabla Observer, West Ouigab

    "Ophelia. This is huge!" Nabla Observer''s editor-in-chief said in concealed excitement.

    Ophelia, her boss, and other journalists who are not busy, are currently watching the award show in the boss'' office. Chala informed her of Tayaw''s newest project and that he received a nomination for it, so she was curious to see Tayaw''s success in film. Ophelia and the other people present just saw Tayaw receive the award for the Best Director. Tayaw also received Camera D''Oro award, or the Golden Camera, an award given to the best debut directors.

    Because of this, Tayaw in her mind is getting more and more mysterious and she could not help but become obsessed. She was not a fan of film awards but because of Tayaw, she researched what each award meant.

    / "This year, the festival received more than 2000 film submissions from all over the world. After a process by our Jury, we chose the 50 of the best films in the world to show. After ten days of screenings, with the vote of various industry professionals, we present to you, the nominees for ''Fiore D''oro'', or the ''Golden Flower''." The presenter introduced how important the award is.

    " ''Hard Ice''¡­ ''Fallen Memory'' ¡­ ''September Ninth''. The Fiore D''Oro goes to ¡­ "The presenter opened her envelope. "SEPTEMBER NINTH!" She announced."/

    Ophelia almost had a heart palpitation at the announcement. She still could not believe it. This award means very much to the Teungeb film industry. *SLAM* Ophelia was startled when her boss slammed his fist on his office table. When she looked though, her boss looked excited.

    "F*CK! HEY! THOSE WHO DON''T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO! HELP OPHELIA IMMEDIATELY! Research! Interview! Whatever! Start writing! NOW!" The editor in chief commanded. The journalists in the room immediately stood up and flooded out the office and some approached Ophelia. "Alright. Madi, please contact¡­" Ophelia started delegating for the impromptu arrangement. ''This is going to be a long day.'' Ophelia thought to herself, but she''s currently feeling very happy.

    --

    Naples, Italy

    Tayaw, while he was confident with his film, could not believe it received ''Best Picture''. Tayaw stood up and gestured for his mates to join him on stage. As the group made their way on stage, they received high-fives from many award attendees they passed by. Tayaw and his group never expected to receive such treatment. They were able to receive congratulations from famous actors, famous socialites, famous directors and other big names in the film industry.

    Arriving on stage, the group bowed to the audience. Tayaw then leaned in on the microphone and started his third speech of the night.

    "Thank goodness we didn''t leave immediately." Tayaw said which made both his friends and the audience smile. "This night is probably the time I''ve given thanks to people the most, and I''m glad to do it¡­

    "Anyway, ''September Ninth'' is not just a romantic movie, but about a story of a man who changed for good. Since I started my music career, I noticed how hostile the music industry really is. Not only in the music industry, but I realized how selfish everyone in the world really is. While greed is evil, being selfish is not a bad thing. We have to do everything for ourselves to survive after all.

    "Through this movie, I want to remind everyone that although we must do our best to survive, we should not forget to care for each other. One person doing good is insignificant, but if everyone does good deeds, just every once in a while, then we might just see a better world. If the world is too big for you, do it for your loved ones." Tayaw said and he concluded his speech.

 Chapter 113 - After The Awards

    After the ceremony, Tayaw and his crew were about to leave for their hotel when they were invited by several people for the after party. Arriving at the ball room of the hotel, they saw very familiar faces in the crowd. Because they felt like outsiders, Tayaw''s group is planning to just drop by and leave after greeting some people. Even though they have debuted in the world stage, there are still things they have no idea to talk about with other film professionals.

    "Hey. I think I''ve seen enough. I''m leaving first. You guys want to stay?" Tayaw said to his group. The ball room has nothing but drinks, people, and a live jazz band for the ambience. He would actually stay had he not noticed the looks he''s getting from many actors present. He figured that it will only take one actor to talk to him to start an endless night.

    "I''m having some drinks, and then I''m off too." Uranto said. "We''re leaving as well." Jouny said in consideration to her husband. "I''m joining Uranto." Iliene said. "I''m joining Uranto and Iliene, I can speak English so I think I''m going to chat with some people." Nielg said.

    "Alright then. Jouny, Ongki, shall we?" Tayaw said. As the trio were about to walk out of the ball room, a beautiful redheaded lady blocked his way. "Mr. Yawat. Pleasure seeing you here." She said. Tayaw took a closer look and realized that it''s Allie Edison, a well-known British actress, and also a member of this year''s jury.

    "Likewise, Ms. Edison." Tayaw replied. "I was going to talk to you later, but then I saw you leaving. Congratulations." Allie said. "Thank you. You must have voted for my film." Tayaw said. "That''s confidential, but¡­ I loved your film." Allie said, implying that she indeed voted for ''September Ninth'' for some awards. "By the way. It''s still quite early to leave, isn''t it?" Allie followed up.

    "I''m just not a fan of parties, especially the ones that are not purely for celebrating." Tayaw went with honesty. "Hm. I get it." Allie looked around and noticed that other actors are eyeing Tayaw. "Well then, you better get out of here quickly." Allie said and reached inside her cleavage to pull out her card. "I would love to work with you in the future." Allie said and handed her business card. "When I make something in English, I''ll consider." Tayaw said, not promising anything.

    Tayaw then saw some people start approaching him. One actor he recognized. "If it isn''t my favorite singer." Suddenly, a voice came from behind him. Tayaw looked and was surprised. "Donald? What''s up? You''re advertising Red Abbey?" Tayaw asked, confused at why Walter Strickland''s subordinate is here. "Nah. I invested in a film. You never told me you got into the movie business too. Congratulations." Donald said, with a strange expression in his eyes.

    "Thank you. Which movie? I might have seen it." Tayaw asked. " ''The Green Yard''." Donald replied. "Oh? That football movie. That''s a good movie." Tayaw lied. He has not seen it but he read the synopses of all the 50 selected films. "It is good. But not as good as yours. You should have told me you''re making a film, kid. I would have invested." Donald said.

    "Hey. I would have but after being refused a lot back in Teungeb, it was going to be tougher to look for investors abroad. After all, it''s a Teungebian movie." Tayaw said. "Hmm. No crying over spilled milk¡­" Donald mumbled to himself, but Tayaw heard clearly. "So, have you talked to people tonight?" Donald. "No. I was actually leaving. I lost sleep because of this, I need some rest." Tayaw lied.

    "Alright. Before you go.. I''m sorry about this.." Donald said. "Hm? Sorry about wh-" *Knock Knock Knock* the jazz band suddenly went silent and a man tested the microphone on the stage. "Hello. May I have everyone''s attention please. Welcome all. How are we doing?" The man asked the party attendees. "Good. We are graced tonight by one of the best rising stars in music, and after the proceedings earlier in the evening, a rising star in the film industry as well! Mr. Yawat. Isaac! Can you play us something? We''d be honored..." The man on stage said.

    Everyone looked at Tayaw''s direction making him feel a little stifled at the attention. He looked at Donald with a weird gaze but Donald just patted him on the back.

    "Come on, man. Don''t leave us hanging!" The man on the stage said and the party attendees gave Tayaw an encouraging round of applause. Seeing this, Tayaw is left with no choice but to relent. As Tayaw approached the stage, the applause has gotten louder.

    Tayaw then walked towards the live band. "May I?" Tayaw asked to borrow the guitar of the guitarist. The guitarist gladly handed the guitar. "Alright. Let''s go basic. II-V-I on C." Tayaw told the band members. The band being a jazz band, got what Tayaw meant and the drummer nodded. The drummer started a classic 150 bpm swing drum beat. The pianist also began playing Dm7-G7-Cmaj chords.

    Tayaw, after getting into the rhythm and the pattern, started plucking notes on his guitar, producing a familiar melody to the party attendees. He started slow first, as if introducing how the music would go. After a few bars from the simple melody, Tayaw started improvising on the melody, following the pianist''s chord progression, producing a happy sound.

    The party attendees also started nodding along, the emotion of the music put smiles on their faces. After a minute, Tayaw nodded at the drummer to complicate the beat. The drummer started splitting the beat, from 150 bpm, the tempo climbed to 200 bpm, and the piano also started playing more intensely. Tayaw''s improvised riffing also gotten more complicated and faster, the sound of the band getting not only happier, but made people wants to dance.

    Unfortunately for the attendees, they cannot dance along because of the expensive dresses they are wearing so they just opted to nodding along or toe tapping.

    A minute or so later, "220! 1! 2! 3!" Tayaw signaled the band to raise the tempo again. Tayaw also riffed faster. What''s special this time is that Tayaw is producing two separate melodies; a fast one and a slow one. The fast one is produced by Tayaw''s quick licks and riffs of improvisational notes while the slow one sounds like the basic melody that is familiar to the listeners. The members of the live band, hearing Tayaw''s guitar could not help but be more than impressed. The beat, however is too fast for them to maintain and they are starting to sweat.

    Tayaw, seeing the band approaching their limits, he figured that while they are pros, they''re not the best around, so he signaled them again. "150! 2! 3!" and the band sighed in relief as they entered a more comfortable tempo. This also implied that it''s not long before Tayaw finishes his performance.

    A few minutes later, Tayaw''s guitar display was over. "WOOOoOowow." The crowd responded well and gave Tayaw a round of warm applause. "Thank you." Tayaw said and passed back the guitar to the live band.

    Tayaw has played enough of these impromptu performances in his past life. He chose to play just the guitar as opposed to singing a song that the live band does not know because it does not look good. He also did not play something very relatable to prevent a crowd member from yelling ''Encore''. He played something that was relatable enough to lift the spirits of everyone in the room.

    Stepping off the stage, Tayaw was joined by Donald once again, deterring those who were about to approach.

    "Stepping up into the world. How does it feel, Isaac?" Donald said as he escorted Tayaw out of the ballroom. "Stepping up. You know that''s not true, Donald." Tayaw chuckled. "hmm. I was not referring to that. BUT. Heh, you''re not as na?ve as I thought. It''s good start." Donald said.

    "By the way, how''s Walter?" Tayaw asked. "Hah. Having the vacation of his life! The man finally retired. Can you believe me if I say he''s picked up the guitar again?" Donald said. "Actually? I would. I remember him saying he was a musician." Tayaw said. "That''s right. And now, he''s surrounding himself with musicians." Donald said.

    "Hmm? I''m sorry for being¡­ pessimistic, but, he''s also surrounding himself with opportunists, yeah?" Tayaw asked. "That would have been the case¡­ Heh." Donald chuckled. "But?" Tayaw followed. "Not many people what he really looks like. To them, he''s just an old man with a good pension." Donald explained.

    "Hmm. We''re similar in that matter." Tayaw said. "Oh? How so?" Donald asked. "Tell me, Donald, have you seen me without my cowboy hat and sunglasses?" Tayaw said. "Now that you mention it, I don''t actually know what you look like. I just know what you wear." Donald said as he gave Tayaw a once over. "By the way, how are you seeing through that thing? It''s midnight!" Donald asked.

    "I''m blessed with great eyes. Anyway, even though you put me on the spot there, I appreciate the rescue." Tayaw thanked. "No problem. Anyway, call me next time when you make a film in English." Donald proposed. "If I find a good script, I will." Tayaw said out of courtesy.

 Chapter 114 - Black Deer Pictures

    May 30, 2012 ¨C Wednesday 1 pm ¨C Black Deer Pictures

    Two days passed since the award night and Tayaw and his crew is back in Teungeb. Tayaw decided to drop by to Clambu City to speak to one of the largest film distributors in Teungeb, Black Deer Pictures. Through Jouny''s friend, Tayaw was able to set up an appointment with the office of the CEO of the Company.

    "Hello. What can I do for you?" The receptionist asked seeing the sharply dressed Tayaw. "I have an appointment on 16th floor." Tayaw replied. "Wait a moment please¡­ Okay. Please proceed through that elevator over there. Someone will buzz you in." "Thank you."

    Tayaw then walked, took his time, and looked around to take everything in what a film headquarters look like. He stopped at some floors to see what are in it, but sighed as all he saw are conference rooms and offices. Seeing nothing important, he proceeded to the CEO''s office.

    "Good afternoon, Mr. Dagem. I''m Yarag Darbut. You don''t know how much I''ve wanted to meet you." Yarag greeted Tayaw with all smiles. "It''s a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Darbut. I didn''t realize I was going to actually talk to one of the biggest names in film in Teungeb." Tayaw also said in courtesy. While Tayaw is not the type to kiss ass, his compliment for Yarag came from facts.

    "Hah. It''s because of the great film makers that I''m in my position right now. Anyway, this here is my assistant, Kyer, and the vice president for film productions, Jundiel Tuban." Yarag introduced. "Pleasure to meet you, ma''am, sir." Tayaw nodded to Jundiel and Kyer. Jundiel also returned the gesture but Tayaw saw a split second twitch in her eyes.

    "So. Mr. Dagem, may I ask where you''re from?" Yarag asked. "Well? I''m a Nabla native¡­" The two started the customary small talk about mundane things. "A young Teungebian like yourself to be a country star and an award-winning director, I have to say, is truly remarkable. When I was your age, I was still in college writing a thesis I never actually got to use." Yarag said.

    "I''d say it''s both luck and skills. I''m lucky that the music I play and the movie I made is appreciated by people." Tayaw could only say. "Luck. I have to agree. There are plenty of talented people out there. It just so happens that a small minority gets the opportunity and makes it." Yarag nodded.

    "Many people say they''re self-made but its luck that helped them. I admit I''m a good example. Had I not met a boss that was willing to listen to my ideas, had I not had a very talented team to supervise, my skills would have been useless.

    "However. You, Mr. Dagem don''t seem to belong to that category. You see, my team know films very well. What you made? Luck has little to do with it." Yarag concluded. "Well. I could only thank you for that assessment." Tayaw said, unsure whether Yarag is just buttering him up or is really sincere.

    "Now, I wonder why you wanted to meet me Mr. Dagem. You''re not thinking of making another movie again so soon, are you?" Yarag asked, finally getting to the reason of Tayaw''s appearance. "Actually, no. I''m here to look for a distributor." Tayaw revealed. Tayaw heard a clatter and looked at the direction where it came from to see Jundie picking up her pen.

    "Huh. It''s obvious that we''re surprised. I thought you''d have found a distributor by now. After all, your movie is in great demand." Yarag said in concealed excitement. "It is in demand. In fact, I already got a lot of offers from international distributors. It''s just¡­ ''September Ninth'' is a Teungebian film so I need a distributor here in the motherland." Tayaw started.

    "Well. Thank you for coming to us. If you choose us, I assure you that we''ll put 110% of our effort in promoting your film." Yarag hyped up Black Deer Pictures. "Because of the reputation of your film, I don''t think we have to market that much, so I''m only asking for 28%." Yarag directly went for the kill.

    A film distributor''s job is to promote and advertise the film, and to look for movie theaters to screen the film. Usually, how a ticket sale is distributed is that the movie theater takes 45% and the distributor takes the 55%. Anywhere in the world, a film distributor would then keep 30-35% of the 55% from the ticket sale as their share for distributing the film. Therefore, Yarag''s offer of 28% is generous.

    Tayaw, however is not satisfied with the offer. Since the award ceremony, ''September Ninth''s made front page of almost every newspaper in Teungeb; the film is basically promoting itself. With this, Black Deer Pictures does not actually have to do much advertising.

    "How about this? If I bear the costs of the promotion and advertising, how much would you offer?" Tayaw said. Even though Yarag tried to hide his disappointment at the question, Tayaw saw through it. "Well. That. I encourage you to leave the promotion to us. Promotion is not very simple. Mr. Dagem. The thing here is that your film is not mainstream; it''s an indie film not made for profit, but an artistic expression. The thing with art is that it boils down to subjectivity. Others may like it, others may not even want to see it." Yarag explained. Tayaw internally shook his head.

    While ''September Ninth'' is indeed an art-house film, the awards it got has elevated its marketability. It can compete with many mainstream films. It is also a love story so it appeals to the current preferences of movie goers.

    "Okay. I don''t think it''s that difficult. So if you offer me something just for the distribution fees, I''d appreciate it." Tayaw said. "I can offer you the usual 17.5%." Yarag said. Tayaw nodded, expecting the price. "But, we''d prefer it if you let us handle the advertising. How about this? Instead of 28%, I''ll ask for only 25%." Yarag insisted. Tayaw almost chuckled. Yarag is not a CEO for no reason. It''s not his job to negotiate, but he''s doing well.

    Tayaw however, is confident that his film would do great. Making a deal of 17.5% for only the distribution is the right choice for him. If he takes the 25%, he is basically just giving away an extra 7.5%. The expenses Tayaw would bear for the promotion is going to be a fraction of the extra 7.5% he would pay Yarag.

    "Look. I''m a relatively known musician in Teungeb. I''m also friends with famous musicians. I don''t know if you''ve heard of that famous author from Ouigab? That guy''s my friend too. One post from my friends on their social media; that would attract viewers immediately. If they also advertise the awards the film won, it assures the quality of the film to their fan bases even more. Finally, instead of me paying talk shows for the exposure, the TV people are already looking for my film''s actors for interviews." Tayaw started countering.

    "Therefore, the best choice for me is to have a deal for JUST the distribution. So, I''ll think about your offer. Maybe ask around more." Tayaw concluded, half-bluffing and half-serious about looking for other film distributors for a better deal. He actually wants to finish signing with a distributor today.

    Tayaw''s words made Yarag and his companions silent for a few moments. Tayaw, not wanting to be rude, waited. "Alright. You don''t have to go anywhere. How about this? As a sign of good faith, instead of 17.5%, I''ll take 17%." Yarag finally relented. "Thank you, Mr. Darbut." Tayaw smiled. Jundiel, who was silent throughout the meeting, grunted in disapproval. Yarag just gave her a look.

    "No. Thank you. By the way, have you chosen other distributors yet for international release?" Yarag asked. "Well. I''m still debating which one to choose." Tayaw said, to probe for Yarag''s actual intention with his question. "I actually recommend Werner Company. They''re an independent studio and distributor. Nearly almost every film they made or distributed made profits." Yarag said. Tayaw, glad with Yarag''s good intentions, finally decided to drop another bomb.

    "Hmm. I heard they''re indeed the champions for art-house films. BUT, I''m still hesitant. That''s actually one of the reasons why I came here. Your combat sports films are selling well internationally, right? I noticed that you also handled the international distribution for those films. You already have the resources, why not distribute my film internationally as well?" Tayaw proposed.

    Yarag and his companions were shocked this time. Yarag then gave a smug look at Jundiel. Jundiel also quickly realized how big this deal turned out. Her disapproval for the .5% decrease in the fees earlier was overturned and replaced with excitement that almost made her hyperventilate.

    Black Deer distributing movies internationally is not a big deal for them. What makes Tayaw''s proposal is more than just a blessing for them because of the reputation of his film.

    "Sure! Only an idiot would refuse your film." Yarag said. "Hmm. This time, however, I want you to take care of the promotion and advertising." Tayaw said. "Alright. Because international distribution is different, this is going to be in a separate contract." Yarag said. "That''s understandable. So, what do you offer?" Tayaw asked. "We''re back at 28%. That''s a little lower than the usual." Yarag proposed.

    "I can handle the marketing in the USA. I''ve also finished the English dubbing and English subtitling. So I''d appreciate it if you lower it a bit more." Tayaw said straightforwardly. "That¡­ Jundiel? What do you think?" Yarag asked his vice president. "How are you going to promote it there, Mr. Dagem?" Jundiel asked.

    "I can talk to an influential person. In addition to that, the biggest country band there owes me a lot, so they''ll do the promoting for me." Tayaw explained. This made Jundiel exchange looks with Yarag.

    "Well. In that case. We''ll take 25%." Yarag said. With that, the negotiation was done. Tayaw would hire lawyers and representatives for the actual signing of the contract after the two parties are finally prepared.

 Chapter 115 - Payew

    June 3, 2012 ¨C Sunday 10 am ¨C Okuba, Nabla

    """"""Dear Payew,

    Congratulations! On behalf of Rinowra School of Ouigab, I am pleased to inform of your admission into the 12th grade for this coming 2012 ¨C 2013 school year.

    The academic achievements you have achieved in your current school reflect what we value, respect, and expect from our students. Ambition, compassion, and curious intellect are the foundations of the Rinowra School experience. Be proud to have joined a select group of students.

    For 72 years, students who have entered Rinowra School have left prepared for success in their college education. Rinowra graduates gain a clear advantage among their peers and boast an admission rate of over 90% into the best universities around the world. We believe that the personalized education we provide and are still striving to improve, allows our students to thrive both in the campus and in their future studies.

    Payew, we are excited that you have been accepted to join the Rinowra School Class of 2013. Please review the enclosed ''Checklist'' for the next steps needed to make our school a part of your future. If you ¡­ """""""

    I''m accepted. I''m surprised. Even though I''m the top of my grade in my high school, it''s a fact that public schools in general are lacking compared to those high schools for the rich. However, I know I deserve it. Even though I''m from a public high school, I''ve given extra effort to study and read outside the curriculum to be number 1.

    I actually don''t care about being number 1 in my school; I just followed Tayaw''s advice. Before he went off to college, he said ''Don''t just study hard for the sake of studying. Make sure that every lesson on the textbook; know how to apply them in real life.'' It was hard at first. If it was how I studied before, I would just memorize things and I''m good. But when I started studying and researching on each subjects, my reading basically multiplied.

    Thankfully, knowing how to apply them to practice made the stuff I read go down easier. The amount of information I also process while studying made me realize I''ve become smarter. I can connect information easier, and my memory improved as well. While I reduced the time of reading, my time applying the knowledge increased.

    "That''s the admission letter? Congratulations man." Tayaw said when he saw the letter on my hand. He came for a visit again after coming from Italy as an acclaimed movie director. I can''t believe a world famous director is still sleeping in a bunk bed in my bedroom.

    "Yeah. It sounded braggy." I said. "Well. They have the right to. That''s why I chose it for you." Tayaw said.

    Instead of applying to the Preparatory High School near dad''s auto shop like the family talked about, Tayaw instead had me apply at Rinowra in Ouigab. It''s not a boarding school, but still one of the best private high schools in the whole Northern Teungeb.

    "mm. That''s good. It actually won''t make a difference what you study. Just study the way you''re doing, and you''ll be fine." Tayaw said. He''s assuring me, but I''m honestly anxious.

    "Hah. Easy for you to say. I heard they''re full of snobby kids from rich families." I said. "Hey. That school is different. They only care about grades. Sure, there may be a lot of rich kids there, but if they worked hard in studying, I bet they did not have the time to learn to be snobby." Tayaw said.

    "I''m jealous of you man. You didn''t study hard in high school and now, according to dad, you can now retire if you want to and go for vacation for the rest of your life. I wish I''m an author too." I said. Sincerely, but I hid it in a jesting tone. I know though that I''m not an artist like him. Writing songs, writing books, and making a movie, and I don''t even know how to do them even if I''m given millions of BGCs to start. I can say for sure because since Tayaw became a famous author, I''ve tried writing songs and stories in my spare time.

    "Hey. Play to your strengths. You''re book smart and you can apply what you learn in real life. Just look at your garden in the backyard. I would not believe you grew that from just the knowledge you read from books. Look at your old game boy, you fixed it yourself after looking it up on the internet. Not everyone can do that." Tayaw said, which consoled me.

    "Strength. Is that why mom and dad don''t care if Agew don''t get high grades? Making good vases is his strength?" I asked.

    "Exactly. And painting stuff too. He''s good with his hands. Now. Do you like learning things?" Tayaw asked. "Yes. It was fun measuring the area of our lot, how much of it is occupied by the house, how much is spare for other stuff. You know that whe-" "Alright. The point is you''re having fun doing it. As long as you''re having fun doing something productive, it''s good." Tayaw said and went back to fiddling with his laptop.

    Why is he always busy? He''s already rich and he just finished a movie. "What are you doing?" I asked out of curiosity. "Oh. I''ve wrote a lot of songs, but I can''t possibly perform them all. I''m writing them down to sell. " Tayaw replied. ''Possibly''? "Just how many songs have you written?" I asked. "I don''t know. Thousands? I''m sorting out the best ones." He explained as if it''s no big deal.

    "thousands¡­ Then that''s hundreds of albums, huh?" I read on the internet that an album at least have 7 or 8 songs as long as they''re 31 minutes or more combined. "No. It''s not that simple. Most of them are not good enough." He said. "So aside from writing books you wrote the lyrics too? How did you write lyrics for thousands of songs?" I asked, overwhelmed by the amount of work it will take. "What? Ah. I''ve misspoke. The songs I''m talking about are just the music. I''ve not written lyrics for them yet." He said.

    Still, that''s a lot of work. "I see. Is that American band the only people you''ve sold songs to?" "Sold-.. Yes. They''re the only ones for now. Hey. How''s your English by the way?" Tayaw asked me suddenly. "It''s going okay, I guess. I''m listening to recorded radio shows. I''m making some simple poems to practice too." I said. Whenever I do gardening or walk to and from school, I''ve recently gotten into radio shows. Aside from that, I also listen to Tayaw''s English songs.

    "Poems? What type of poems?" Tayaw asked, showing interest, which he usually doesn''t. Now I wish I had not told him about the poems. "They''re just for practice. They''re not anything special." I said. "Why?" "Well, because it''s not formal English. I''m just writing casual stuff to remember new words I learned." I said.

    "That''s good. That''s good. Do you write Teungebian poems too?" He asked, thankfully not insisting. "Yeah. I use them to memorize stuff so they don''t really form ¡­ coherent stories." I explained. It''s fun doing them. Since elementary school, long before I studied using Tayaw''s ''apply into practice'' style, I always wrote poems to memorize stuff easier instead of acronyms that I always forget. "That''s good. Let''s say you don''t have to use formal writing, and you form coherent stories, can you still write poems?" He asked. Can''t he just ask if I can write actual poems?

    "Yeah. I think so. I don''t know if they''re good though. Why?" I asked. "Well, can you let me take a look at your poems?" He brought it up again. I know he will insist or bribe. But I feel guilty whenever he bribes using stuff that are much more valuable than the simple things he wants from me. I also know he doesn''t like embarrassing people, so I guess I just have to show him. "Alright."

    A minute later, *flip* *flip* *flip* "hmm¡­ mmm.. mmhhhmm.. hmm? Hmm." basing on his expression, at least he doesn''t seem to hate it. "You wanna move in my house at Ouigab?" He suddenly asked. "On August?" I asked. "On August. My bed room is large enough for two beds." He explained. So, he has a house too in Ouigab? He can afford it but he never told mom and dad he bought one.

    "Yeah? Why can''t just get a spare room then?" I asked. It''s a valid question. If he bought a house, then he definitely bought a large one just like the one he bought in New York. "Well. You know the band I played with in my YouTube Channel? They live with me. We make music." He explained. It makes sense now. At least I know now that he''s at least not living alone. He''s even living 1,2,3 ¡­ 6 people! He''s living with more people than he did when he was living here. He''s not lonely.

    "Alright! I''ll go." I''m excited. It''s only two months and I can''t wait.

    "You''re 16 now. Had your driver''s license yet?" He asked. "YEAHP. But.. Dad doesn''t allow me to drive by myself when I drive here to and from his workshop in Jebung ¡­ He gets yell-y too, but I get why." I said. "Hmm? That''s a long drive. SO you''re driving to his workshop now huh." He said in surprise. It is understandable. 65 kilometers, more than an hour drive on zig zags is tough. "At first, I would always feel spent. But now, I don''t feel as tired." I assured, when I saw the worried look on his face.

    "Alright. Be careful. If you can drive safely without even leaving a scratch on dad''s van, I may even buy you a car when you get to Ouigab." He said. I''m gob smacked. I don''t even know what to say.

 Chapter 116 - Celebrity Promotion

    June 6, 2012 ¨C Tuesday 8 pm ¨C Nasiri Hill

    *THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK* Tayaw just nailed five 2 in x 8 in x 16 ft lumber together. He just finished leveling a part of his land where he is going to build the foundation for his fairly large cabin, and the lumbers he just merged along with three more will be the four support beams. The rest of the 2''''x8''''x16'' will be used on the floors. For walls and the roof on the other hand, he will use the logs he will make out of the pine trees he will cut down from his land.

    He decided to work in the darkness of the night hours because he does not want anyone seeing him carrying the heavy materials alone. With this physical prowess, he might be able to finish his cabin in only 5 days.

    ''Dad said you can retire if you want to.'' Payew''s words a few days ago actually stuck with him and reminded him of his previous life. In his previous life, Tayaw was always busy with his job, but being in demand, he could not refuse the opportunity to earn for his future wedding. Even if he never got married, he was still saving for retirement.

    He always dreamed of retiring early, buying a parcel of land, and settling down in a cabin in the woods. He will be able smell the pine trees in the breeze every morning and the smell of burning firewood every night. If he can''t retire in the woods of Nabla, he will retire to a place like La Prudencia. He can wake up to the sound of seagulls, and fall asleep to the sound of the waves of the sea.

    *ding* He was interrupted from his thoughts by a notification in his phone. /Package received by ¡­ /

    ---

    Kansas, Missouri ¨C Strawberry Front tour bus

    /What on earth is happening?! *Music*//Good day so far? //Today, tomorrow, what''s really the difference? //I''m stuck in this day!//I''ve been shot, burned, ran over by the truck god but I''m fine! I''m an Immortal!//What do you do?//What''s the point of living?//I just have no choice but to live on.//No. I''m getting out of this. //So, what do you do? //I just have to embrace that nothing really matters.//I can''t keep doing this. I can''t keep waking up here.//Every day, you''d forget about us¡­ It''s meaningless.//At least I have you, someone who''d listen.//*Music*/

    "Shiiiittt. Are these real people?" Bobby said after watching the movie trailer that Tayaw sent them. They just received a box of movie posters and a flash drive containing ''September Ninth'' movie trailer and an exclusive copy of the movie.

    Tayaw asked the band to promote his film, offering pay, but Strawberry Front, always feeling grateful to Tayaw, didn''t want to accept Tayaw''s money.

    "They look like they are, but they have to be acting." John said, attempting dry humor. "Didn''t he say he won some international award from this? I get it." Rez said. "Can we watch the movie now? The English over-voice does not sound awkward at all." Aaron said. "Alright. I''ll plug it in."

    ---

    Nashville

    /Good morning honey.//Good morning to you too.//*Music*//*Credits Roll*//

    "Hmm.. That was¡­ an experience, Donald." Walter said. "It was. It''s just a shame he didn''t find me to invest." Donald said. "Haha. Everything that kid touches turn to gold. Our internet show, those boys from Blackbird, and now a film." Walter said.

    "I''m surprised that Isaac actually sent you a copy of it. I''m however, disappointed. ''Microwave it after watching''? The kid doesn''t trust us? He even had it encrypted or something. Why burn it?" Donald said. "Hah! I''m not sure if he doesn''t trust ''US'' exactly. I think he just sniffed you out, Donald! Hahahahaha!" Walter laughed heartily at Donald''s expression. "Alright. I was going to send it to my friends but that''s it. It''s not like they''d spread it." Donald just chuckled.

    "Sure but one can''t be too sure. Hey Mary-anne! Come, take this thing and burn it in the microwave." Walter called for a maid. "Why would you want to microwave a pendant, sir?" The maid asked after receiving what looks to be a pendant, confused at why she is to burn a silver pendant. "That''s not a pendant. It''s that something you plug in a computer." "A flash drive?" "That''s what it is." "Alright sir." The maid said finally understanding.

    "Wait. You''re not at least going to keep it?" Donald said, finding it a waste. "Yes, Donald. He already trusted us, OR ME, by sending us an early copy. Why not just do the honest thing, huh?" Walter replied.

    "Well. Your loss. This is the first time I''ve seen you like a movie in a very long time. You don''t have to wait for the theater release it to see it again. If you keep it as a personal copy, you can watch it again and again." Donald said.

    "That¡­ didn''t occur to me. HEY MARY-ANNE!" He called out once again, this time louder. "Yes, Mr. Strickland?" "Did you burn the thing already?" "No. I just thought I don''t want to trash a microwave so I''m thinking of burning it along with the other trash in the incenarator later." "Oh thank the lord. Give it to me." "Here you go sir." The maid did not ask questions.

    "So, may I borrow it for so-" "No! You can come over and watch, but it''s not leaving the house" Walter said, nipping any of Donald''s ideas about the flash drive. "Hey. I was just saying. Anyway, he''s not asking for a favor is he?" Donald asked.

    "No. He didn''t even cash in the favor I owed him. That''s why I don''t just treat it as a film, but a gift." Walter said. "You weren''t this ¡­ sentimental, Walter." Donald shook his head at how much Walter valued the film copy.

    "Well, if you get to my age, kid, you''ll understand. Sure, nice cars, a nice house with nice things are important, but someday, those things won''t matter. Why else would your father become so loving only AFTER you graduated college? It''s not just because he was proud that you changed from being a punk. He realized what''s truly important." Walter explained.

    "Whatever you say, Walter." Donald said, not liking cheesy stuff. He likes affection, but he only wants to see it and feel it, not to say it out loud or hear it.

    ---

    "Do we really have to burn it?" Rez asked. They were also just done watching their copy of Tayaw''s movie. They were not fans of romance and romantic comedies but they found Tayaw''s movie more than just a romance movie.

    "Should we? Can''t we just keep it? We won''t show it to anyone. Plus it actually looks nice like an actual necklace." Aaron said. "John should just keep it. He''s the one who knows gadgets stuff." Bobby said. "Thank you." John gladly accepted. *Ring* *Ring* John''s phone suddenly rang.

    [John! It''s Isaac. I just received an e-mail that you received my package.] The band heard Tayaw say. "Oh. Yeah. We picked it up in the post office in Kansas. Your movie was great by the way." John said. [Thanks. You''re offline. Can''t connect to the web?] "Yeah. The bus'' internet has no internet. What''s up?" John said.

    [Can you give me the biggest names among the ones looking for me? There''s a LOT of e-mails here from Nashville.] Tayaw''s words confused the group. "Sure. There''s Teddie Collins, the agent of Kit Moore.." The band started telling Tayaw the names of the people they know.

    "You''ve dodged them for months. You need an agent or something?" Rez asked. [No. I don''t need an agent for now. I''m selling songs, man.] Tayaw replied, to the surprise of the group. "Good for you! If you had songs, why didn''t you release them yourself?" Aaron asked. [I have some for myself. These songs don''t fit me, but they sound good.] "Cool. Why don''t we buy some?" John said, jokingly but got glares from his band.

    [I''m not selling for money, but for favors. My movie needs more promotion.] Tayaw explained. "OH! That''s¡­ sometimes you make people feel bad." John said. [What''s wrong?] Tayaw''s clueless tone made the band almost laugh.

    "Nothing. Good luck on the movie. We have to get back to practice. Hey, Nashville isn''t just about country, just want to remind you." Bobby said. [I know. There are plenty of pop stars that came from Nashville. Alright, I''ve bothered y''all enough. Good luck, gentlemen.] Tayaw ended the call.

    "Are we sure his songs are good though?" John asked his band. "Probably. I mean, all the songs he gave us, while not all of them are hits, are all good." Aaron said. "It''s been what? Four? Five months since he gave us his songs. Imagine how much more songs he made. Adding to that the songs he made before he went to Nashville." Rez commented. "Wasn''t he busy with his movie? But I get your point. I think he still has a lot of songs." Bobby said.

    "Well. My point is that it''s really discouraging that someone can make a lot of good songs but we ¨C " John sighed. "We''ve been grinding and here comes someone who makes it so easy." John continued.

    "Well. Not the first time happening. How many younger folks blew by us over the years? Hm? But Isaac is different man. He''s an actual genius. Don''t you feel it''s better to be ¡­ outshined by someone who actually deserves it?" Rez said. "That''s true. How the hell did that Kirk kid become famous by the way? He can''t play for sh*t, and he can only sing a little." John started gossiping.

 Chapter 117 - Basic Psychology in TV Broadcasting

    June 10, 2012 ¨C Sunday 7 pm ¨C Clambu City

    "Man. Wow. That''s me right there." Uranto said when he saw the third billboard advertising ''September Ninth''. "So, I''m invisible?" Iliene rolled her eyes. The two are currently driving their way to Clambu Broadcasting System to tape an interview in a talk show. The car behind them has Jouny and Nielg.

    Tayaw, after his negotiation with Yarag, went to an advertising firm for the promotion of the movie. Unlike the promotion fee that Yarag asked, an advertising firm would not be getting a cut from ticket sales. The interview however, that Uranto, Iliene, Nielg, and Jouny are going to, was not set up by the firm, but was set up by the talk show producers themselves.

    Over the past two weeks since winning the awards, Teungebian papers covered topics about ''September Ninth''. Initially, they just covered the happenings in the Sorrento Film festival and why the film won, but as they ran out of things to write about it, they also wrote about the coverage of international papers and critics about the movie. Adding the entertainment media''s coverage and the national pride for ''September Ninth'', the people''s excitement for the film did not die down.

    "We''re here. We have that pre-interview thing, right?" Nielg asked. "Yes. It makes the filming smoother. How is it? Talking on TV without a script?" Jouny asked them. "Okay. We agreed that we would not talk about that, now I''m nervous again." Uranto chuckled.

    ---

    "Please welcome, the cast of ''September Ninth''" The host announced and Uranto and the crew walked in from the back stage, wearing exactly the same clothes they wore back in the Sorrento award ceremony. The crowd finally saw the people they have been seeing in the movie trailers they''re seeing on the TV and internet.

    "Welcome. Welcome! Can you introduce yourselves to the viewers at home, please?" The host asked. "Hello everyone, I''m Uranto Virenza and I play Steven, the leading man." "I''m Iliene Partros, the leading lady." "I''m Nielg Wygan, the leading man''s best friend." "I''m Jouny Yalen, the screenwriter." The crowd clapped for them, making them feel more comfortable now, with the attention.

    "So¡­ Sorrento, huh." The host began. "Yeah¡­" Uranto and the rest just nodded. "That''s a big deal! The first Teungebian winner of the award. Not only that, three awards! How does it feel?" The host asked, trying to remove the awkwardness brought by talk show rookies. "It is still surreal, Llabal. We can''t believe it either, but hey, it''s a great film." Nielg said.

    "Well, we know that it''s a great film, but no one actually saw it yet aside from a few. Everyone''s excited to see it! Right?" Llabal asked the crowd. *WHOOO!! APPLAUSE*

    "Thank you. It comes out tomorrow in the theaters near you! Trust me; the trailers do not do the film justice. The cool camera angles? That''s just not in the trailer. That''s how it''s going to be the entire film." Nielg happily promoted the film. Jouny, Uranto, and Iliene exchanged glances at how comfortable Nielg is on the talk show couch.

    They chatted with the host about mundane things like where they''re from or what they loved about Italy, until one question made them feel close to discomfort. "So, what are the films you have all appeared in?" Llabal asked. "Well¡­" "Hmm¡­" "Well, the thing is¡­ We''ve never been in a film. This is our debut appearance in a film." Nielg, unlike his uncomfortable fellows, said proudly.

    "Wow! No acting experience? Straight to the film?" Llabal asked, pleasantly surprised. "Actually no. I, along with Uranto and Iliene, are a part of a comedy troupe. Have you seen ''Mad Concert''? We''re a part of the cast." Nielg explained.

    "OH! That show at GTV! Oh my god! Now that I think about it, Uranto¡­ you''re that teacher at that parenting class sketch!" Llabal exclaimed finally "recognizing" Uranto. "Yes. Yes. That''s me." Uranto said, embarrassed. "Incredible. You''re so different with how you were in the movie trailer! Have I seen you two in the show?" Llabal asked Nielg and Iliene.

    "I''m that ''clueless pharmacist''." Nielg said. "You might have seen me in the tango sketch; I''m one of the dancers. There was also a retired sketch where I played the female coach." Iliene said. "My word. I didn''t know comedians can play dramatic roles!" Llabal said. "We didn''t either. Not until Isaac, the director, picked us for the role. Thank goodness, he didn''t change his mind once we''re starting to mess around in the film set." Nielg said.

    "Well, it''s natural for comedians to make people laugh. Talking about the director, how come he didn''t show? I don''t know if our viewers know, but¡­ can you tell us about him?" Llabal said. The actors looked at Jouny, who was silent the whole time, as she knows Tayaw better than them.

    "Well, he''s only not an award-winning director, he is also a musician. He''s made a name of himself in America. That''s also the reason why he couldn''t make it tonight. He''s busy writing songs or something." Jouny said chuckling, lying on behalf of Tayaw instead of telling Llabal the actual reason. ''I don''t like talk shows. They''re phony, most often than not, are fake.'' are Tayaw''s exact words.

    "That''s true, everyone. I think we have footage of Isaac Yawat, the director." Llabal said as he pointed at the big screen behind them, making Jouny and her fellows realize they were primed for the answer about Tayaw. The audience saw Tayaw''s performance with Strawberry Front and his solo guitar blasted through the speakers.

    A few seconds later, the crowd gave a round of applause for Tayaw. "He''s¡­ different, isn''t he?" Jouny said proudly.

    The rest of the interview was spent by them talking about the atmosphere about the set, Jouny''s story about how Tayaw bought her script, and some funny personal stories. Uranto, Iliene, and Nielg also promoted their comedy sketch show by telling stories about the backstage.

    ---

    *clunk**clunk* Tayaw is currently practicing piano in his room, the output of the keyboard going directly to his headphones. "Tayaw! I can''t take it anymore!" his practice was cut short when Ike suddenly barged in his room. "What''s up? Another argument on your songs?" Tayaw asked. "NO! It''s Jenna. She''s angry again at us. We were just giving her advice about something she would not shut up about." Ike said. "What?" Tayaw was confused.

    "You know Jenna, we come home, she complains about her girlfriends." Ike said. "Didn''t I tell you to just you know, listen?" Tayaw said.

    "Yes! But today is different! I just gave her advice to deal with her friends, but she goes all pissy again." Ike said. "Okay. Where are the rest of the guys? Do they feel the same way you do?" Tayaw asked.

    "Yes. They''re enduring it, but I think Bay-an, her best friend, BEST FRIEND! I know he''s losing it." Ike complained.

    "So, you want her out of the band?" Tayaw asked to probe how bad it really is. "NO! ¨C Ah, I''m sorry for yelling. Of course, we don''t want her out. We like her, but sometimes she''s difficult to understand."

    "Hm? It''s not that bad?" Tayaw asked, relieved that it''s a small problem.

    "Of course not, but I''m here for advice. I just never saw you piss off Jenna before, even though you''re very honest with her." Ike said. "Well, I know when to. Wheneve¡ªOkay. Where are the rest of the boys?" Tayaw was going to explain but he''d rather talk to them all at once. "They''re practicing." Ike said.

    "Alright. I was going to gather you all here, but Jenna might notice, so I''ll tell you something to tell the other boys, alright?" Tayaw said. Ike is excited to hear it. "Here''s what you''re gonna do¡­"

    ..

    "Ok.. I don''t get it. So, if she complains, it''s not necessarily a problem?" Ike asked confused. "Exactly. Remember when I told you last year to just listen? That''s what she just needs. A listener." Tayaw said.

    "So, we''re not supposed to help her then?" Ike said. "Well, you should of course. If it''s not serious, then only help her if she asks." Tayaw explained. "There''s 5 of us, except for you, we might be able to make her problems go away." Ike said.

    "Ah. That might have been one of the reasons why she''s pissed at you. When you give her an advice she does not need, she might hear it as ''Oh. Do this, I''m smarter than you''." Tayaw said. "But how do you know which ones she needs help?" "Even this is very tricky. What I do is just ask ''Can I help?'' but be careful with the tone."

    "I did that once but I remember her saying ''never mind, thank you''." Ike said. "Well, there you go. Don''t offer advice when she doesn''t need it. Most, if not all the time, she doesn''t want you to solver her problems. What she may need is to give her ¡­ emotional support so that she can solve her problems by herself." Tayaw explained.

    "Hmm. I think I''m kinda getting it." Ike said. "Do you? Okay. What if she says ''Ugh. The barista was so rude today.'' what would you say?" Tayaw asked. "uhh.. ''Maybe you should not be too specific with your coffee''?" Ike said.

    Tayaw just shook his head. "Try again." "Uhh.. empathy... emotional support... an ear¡­ I got it! I would say ''I know, what an asshole''." Ike said. "CORRECT! Okay one more. ''Ike! The radio driving me crazy!'' what would you say to that?"

    "uhh. ''I know. The songs are shit.''" Ike said proudly. "NO." Tayaw said. "What? Alright, I''m confused." Ike said. "Turn off the radio! Haha. That''s a lesson for another time. But, from what we''ve talked about, I think you''ve got it." Tayaw said.

    "Okay. So just endure her complaints, support her emotions, and we''re good?" Ike said, feeling skeptical at how easy the advice was. "Yes. That''s it. If you get to patronizing though..." "What patronizing?" Ike said. "That''s another lesson for another time. We''ll talk about that when we get there." Tayaw said and Ike skipped back to the studio.

 Chapter 119 - Foreign Language Study of Marital Finances

    June 17, 2012 ¨C Sunday 7 pm ¨C Nasiri Hill, Nabla

    *crackling**sizzling* Tayaw is currently grilling steak in his makeshift grill in front of his recently finished cabin.

    It took longer than he expected to enjoy his cabin because it took quite a while to have a water tank welded. In addition to that, he also had to dig and build a septic tank. The solar powered electric supply was easy to set up but for a more stable power access, he had a lot of waiting to do because 80,000 mAh outdoor power banks are still not as widely used currently than in the future, so he had it ordered from China''s Visen Inc.

    """ The concept of jade has not been strictly defined. The types of minerals called "Jade" in China are very diverse. Generally speaking, minerals that meet the characteristics of beauty, hardness, and warmth may be called "Jade". At the same time, There are also some minerals that meet the usual definition of jade, but they are not called "jades" in the habit. For example, the ancient "qionggui" is now called "agate". The ancient "langgan" is now "turquoise jade" """

    While grilling, he is also listening to a random Chinese doc.u.mentary on some minerals, playing in his laptop on the log table. One of his dreams in his previous life is to travel the world without ever needing a translator. Understanding a new language also opens up a new world. This was proven when he became a little fluent in Italian before going to Sorrento. He was able to watch Italian films and appreciate the things about the culture that would otherwise become lost in translation.

    Tayaw however, is not learning Mandarin seriously yet. He is only still familiarizing himself with the melody and rhythm of the language. Despite that, with his enhanced brain, it will not take years for him to converse in the language with the native speakers of it.

    *Ring* His laptop suddenly received a notification from Facebook. He put down the tongs and sat down by his log table, the strong scent of the pine tree sap clearing the greasy smell of beef stuck in his nose.

    A minute later, "Heh. F*ck high school reunions. I don''t know anybody." Tayaw said as closed the chat tab of his alumni class. He just received a message in Facebook from one of his high school classmates inviting him for a high school reunion. Since his world was flipped two years ago, he was fortunate that he did not run to a single high school school mate or he might not have recognized them.

    In his previous life, he remembered he only attended his high school reunion once, the same exact reunion he is being invited to today. He just remembers he did not like the atmosphere so he never attended ever again. He also lost in touch with his high school friends since he graduated college and became busy with his career.

    Being a son of one of the teachers also did not help Tayaw in his social life in high school so he did not have some sort of a best friend. The children of his mother''s co-workers are either young or too old to hang out with.

    "Maybe it''s different this time around." Tayaw said as he opened the chat again and clicked the Facebook profiles of the people in his high school chat group, he figured he should at least recover his high school memories. A moment later, "Whoah. I don''t remember someone being pregnant." Tayaw said as he saw congratulations and photos in someone''s profile.

    "Hmm.. go or not go? Go or not go?" Tayaw mumbled as he went back to the grill. He picked up the tongs and picked up a well-done steak. He tossed it tens of feet in the air and grabbed a plate. As the steak tumbled in the air "Go... no go... go..." he picked up a plate ready to catch it. *thuck* the steak landed on the darker, more caramelized side. "hmm." Tayaw hummed at his handiwork. "Smells great, looks good. Tayaw''s steak." Tayaw said, his mood lifted by the drool-inducing steak.

    Tayaw then removed the rest of the slices of steak and onions from the grill and sprinkled some lemon juice. He started his sumptuous dinner shorty after.

    ---

    Black Deer Pictures - Clambu

    "Damn it, I''m jealous." Yarag said as he read the ticket sales of ''September Ninth'' in his office. "It is enviable. I heard from Jouny it didn''t take that much money to make it compared to what it earned." Kyer agreed. "Well. Don''t tell me then." Yarag said as he read the report in more detail.

    Since it opened last Monday, ''September Ninth'' earned a massive 94,082,018 BGC in ticket sales in only 6 days. The film screened at 2,000 out of the more than 10,000 screens in the entirety of Teungeb. Only blockbusters show at such number of screens but ''September Ninth'' being Teungeb''s pride however, it was treated like a blockbuster.

    It is also now the highest grossing opening week for a film in Teungeb''s history by a long, long shot. The majority of the ticket sales for the week were pretty much earned in the weekend. With the movie tickets priced at an average of 16 BGC, it is estimated that the film was already seen 6 million times in Teungeb alone. The cooling hype was once again ignited by couples who spread the film''s reputation by word of mouth, and the bandwagon started by entertainment journalists.

    The reviews of the film are also overwhelmingly positive, universally acclaimed by Teungeb''s top film critics. ''September Ninth'' is the type of movie that both the average viewer and serious film fans love.

    "Tayaw was very much correct to not take our offer of advertising and promotion." Yarag chuckled. "Yeah. I can''t believe we were talking to a rookie." Kyer said. After taking the 55% of the sales from theaters, the gross income is around 51.7 million BGC. Black Deer Pictures will take 17% from it amounting to 8.8 million BGC, and Tayaw will take 81% amounting to 41.9 million BGC. "Hah. Directors weren''t even supposed to be good at negotiating. He''s not just a director." Yarag said. Kyer nodded in understanding. "He wasn''t like a clueless artist at all." Kyer agreed.

    "Hey. Looks like my friend made bank too, huh." Kyer said when he saw something else aside from the shares of Tayaw and Black Deer. Tayaw reserved 2% of remaining shares of the gross income for Jouny. This earned Jouny a little over 1 million BGC.

    "Well. Good for her. I heard from Jundiel that one of the producers refused the script a few years ago when your friend brought it to our doorstep." Yarag said, shaking his head. "Hah. That''s rough. That person wasn''t fired, was he?" Kyer said.

    "He was, but when I heard about it, I had them reinstate the guy back. Those types of people who learned a very very valuable lesson will be able to an asset in the future. That guy''s firing was also very dramatic that many of his co-workers witnessed it. He will serve as an example for the others to now look at screenplays more deeply." Yarag said.

    "That makes sense. Who fired him? Nobody would have known that Jouny''s screenplay would do so well." Kyer asked. "I had to ask Jundiel to reprimand that guy. He dared to fire someone when he himself saw the script and thought the same of it. What was even that?" Yarag shook his head.

    "Maybe jealousy? Pride? Indignation? He did not want to be ''that guy who kicked away the goose that laid the golden egg'' and found a scapegoat. Happens all the time." Kyer said. "Happens all the time¡­ Well, that guy should have gotten fired instead." Yarag shook his head.

    After years of working at the top, he forgot the jungle beneath him. "Heh. I don''t like those types of people but I think it''s pointless¡­ Could we have made Jouny''s script a good movie like Isaac did? You saw the film." Kyer asked.

    "Hmm. That''s true. No one''s to blame; I would have refused her script too. *sight* At least we''ll be able to earn more after the film is released internationally." Yarag just shrugged his shoulders.

    ========

    "Honey. I can''t believe it would get even better." Jouny said as she cuddled up to Ongki by her side, on their living room couch. They are looking at Jouny''s bank account online. "You deserve it. Divide it up by 8 years of wait and frustration, that''s uhhh¡­ 125,000 a year. This is only the first week, it will get even better." Ongki said.

    "Still. Screenwriters don''t usually get a share from the profits. Tayaw is very generous." Jouny said. "He''s different indeed. I already knew he was a different breed when we first met him, but I still underestimated the kid¡­" Ongki said.

    "Hmmm. This is enough for me to quit my job right now and focus more on writing. I have to write something that is even better than ''September Ninth''." Jouny said. "Sell it to Tayaw again? The kid will definitely go for a film that has to better than this one." Ongki said. "True. But even if my next script will not be as good as ''September Ninth'', I hope it will sell to other people." Jouny said.

    "Hmm. Honey, why don''t you quit driving and I''ll get you a store at the market instead?" Jouny asked. "Driving is all I know how to do. I don''t know how to run a store. I mean, I''m earning just fine selling fish to stores." Ongki replied.

    "I just worry that''s all. Every time you drive down to Kangpan, I get anxious." Jouny said, hugging Ongki tighter. "I didn''t know you felt that way¡­" Ongki sighed. "Fine. Give me some time to prepare." Ongki relented.

    They stayed silent for a moment. "Honey?" Jouny called out. "Yeah?" "I''m sorry of how I was over the past years." Jouny said, almost tearing up. She realized that her mental state in the past 8 years took a toll on their marriage and had Ongki not have been as supportive, they would have gotten a divorce, and Jouny could not imagine how she could have been.

    "It''s okay honey. What''s important is that you never gave up." Ongki said. "Thank you." Jouny said. "Hey. It''s what I should have done anyway." Ongki consoled Jouny and they entered a warm silence.

    "Honey?" Jouny called out again. "Yeah?" "We''re not getting any younger." Jouny said. "Indeed, we''re not." Ongki agreed. "Don''t you think we''re ready for a baby?" Jouny said. "¡­ ¡­ Thank you honey. I''ve always dreamed of having a son. I think it''s time." Ongki agreed. "Or a daughter." Jouny added.

 Chapter 120 - Introduction to Film and Music Analysis

    June 18, 2012 ¨C Monday 12 nn ¨C Northwestern University, East Ouigab

    The members of Percussive Corrections are having lunch in the cafeteria. They already got used to the stares from their schoolmates. On the other hand, they are also thankful that their school mates do not care enough to bother them, so they can comfortably have lunch in the cafeteria like normal college students.

    Today, however, they are gathering more attention than usual.

    "I just don''t get it. Why would you want to cut it?" Ramil asked.

    "It''s not like I''m doing it just because I want to." Hoon shrugged.

    "Well, I get that it''s your song, but why do you cut it? I think it sounds good." Jenna asked.

    "Come on. Just explain, we might understand." Ike said.

    The vocalist unit of the band is currently grilling Hoon for his stubborn attitude about his choice in his song, and they are talking loud enough for the other students to get distracted.

    Finals week is approaching and the students are studying as hard as they can, at any place they find possible. Unlike the band who are helping each other to study, the other students do not have such luxury.

    "Look. I know that you love the chorus, but I think it''s too long. I think it''s enough to play it whole just for the first time. The next stanzas, we can just play the second half of the chorus." Hoon said.

    "But it just doesn''t feel whole, you know?" Jenna asked.

    "I get it. But in this case, the listeners will exhaust their attention and they would find the stanzas boring." Hoon explained.

    "I don''t think they will, though. We don''t know how our listeners will think." Ramil said.

    "Huhh.. A little help?" Hoon got tired from the questions and asked Bay-an and Inson for back-up.

    "I''m with Hoon in this one." Bay-an said.

    Ramil, Jenna, and Ike just gave him a dirty look.

    "Look, I''m not defending Hoon''s point because I''m also writing songs." Bay-an began.

    "We have three verses, similar, yes, but they are obviously varied. If we put the whole chorus after each verse, that''s gonna be over 4 minutes already. Adding our cool intro and the bridge, That''s almost six minutes. It''s too long." Bay-an said.

    "Well. We can just vary the choruses a bit like the verses. They don''t have to sound exactly the same." Jenna argued.

    "Unless, you want to remove one stanza or the bridge?" Inson suggested to the vocalist unit.

    "NO!" "That''s not-" "We''re just saying-" Jenna, Ike, and Ramil were stumped.

    "See? The verses and the bridge are just as important. The idea of the whole chorus is mostly contained in the second part of it, so that''s what Hoon wanted to save. The first half is just a repetition of some words." Inson explained.

    "Couldn''t have said it better myself. Plus, the after the first chorus, it only serves as transition and call back after the second and third verse. It''s catchy enough. I''ll take your suggestion though, Jenna, I''ll arrange the other choruses so they don''t sound the same." Hoon concluded.

    "Uhhh.." "Fine." Jenna and Ramil are getting convinced.

    Ike, on the other hand, "Can we ask Tayaw about this?" said.

    "You can call him." Hoon shrugged. He learned how to write songs from Tayaw so Tayaw most probably would agree with his decision.

    "Aiyay-yay. This is just the third song." Inson said in amus.e.m.e.nt, and the rest of the band chuckled too.

    "Where''s Tayaw by the way?" Bay-an asked.

    ---

    Nasiri Hill

    "YES!" Tayaw threw punches in the air in celebration. He did not care how loud he yelled because of the privacy his land provided.

    ''View Points ¨C 218,342,794''

    He noticed that the increase in his view points jumped in the past week. Before ''September Ninth'' was released, he gains an average of 320,000 view points a day. After the movie release, it increased to an average of 800,000, a day. He is sure that it did not come from his book sales because it is too drastic an increase.

    With this, he figured that he also got view points from the original songs he sold or gave away; he just did not notice it. After all, the ''View Points'' does not have a break down like how sales reports are.

    "I wonder what a billion View Points would give?" Tayaw mumbled to himself.

    The first million View Points he spent, he gained three movies and film making skills. Even though he has the skills, ''September Ninth'', the film he meticulously worked on, when compared to the movies he got from the roulette, is still very much lacking. He can understand that the three movies he got from the giant roulette are better, but he cannot explain yet how, therefore the film making skills he got must only be the basics.

    The next ten million View Points, he got the ''Post-congenital Absolute Pitch''; an extinct ability in his world. Even though it''s an almost godly skill, it has limited uses. Tayaw felt fortunate that he knows how to use it as a tool to write songs. Adding enhanced brain function, he can play notes in his head and write down the best melodies and hooks he can come up with without the help of an instrument.

    The next hundred million View Points, he gained Paul McKinsey''s ''Artist Record''. On the surface, it can only be used for copying songs, but Tayaw valued more Peter''s songwriting process. After borrowing Peter''s songwriting process, Tayaw was able to pump out thousands of compositions in only eight or so months.

    "I''ve plenty of time, healthy body, and more than enough money to enjoy. What''s the point of thinking about it now? Oh, then there''s the movies." Tayaw figured.

    Even though he got free movies from the roulette, he does not want to release any of them yet. Unlike ''Grimm''s Fairy Tales'' and ''The Halfling'' which he simply copied; the movies are different. Unlike the books that have their essences embedded on their pages themselves, films are more than just what is shown on the screen. This is why he has to fully understand them first before making them so the original essence of the piece will not be lost.

    He also now had a taste of the success and pride of directing a film and fell in love with it. Unlike writing a book, Tayaw has a much more visceral appreciation of the art of film making so he feels a lot more guilty thinking about blindly duplicating the movies a vast contrast from the almost guiltless copying he did with the books.

    ========

    Montecito, Santa Barbara, California

    "We can''t just copy the scenes, Xiao Song." Gary shook his head.

    "Well. Good point. Hey, look at that. Why did he make that choice for a shot? Why is it lower?" Jun Xiaosong said when he noticed something.

    The two directors are currently watching Tayaw''s ''September Ninth'' in Gary''s house, at Gary''s personal mini theater. The two directors, belonging to two generations, became friends after getting acquainted at Sorrento Film Festival.

    The two of them being members of the festival''s jury gave them the benefit of scoring exclusive copies of Tayaw''s film. Thankfully, it is a digital reel so it was not worn out by the number of times the two directors played it.

    Since the end of the festival, Gary and Jun Xiaosong have been studying ''September Ninth''.

    "Okay. I think we''ve learned enough, right? I''m not even a Christian but Jesus Christ, you look wrecked. Let''s have a rest." Xiao Song said.

    "Come on. We''re on a roll. Play the thing again." Gary said.

    "Hey, ''On a roll''? What? It''s been three days and we learned nothing new. Why don''t we look for the other directors, huh? Fresh eyes. And while we wait for them, we rest." Xiao Song said.

    While he liked to study the film more, he is worried about Gary.

    "Dad! Why aren''t you ans- Oh¡­ hey¡­" A lady walked in the movie room. She was about to reprimand Gary when she saw Xiao Song.

    "Oh, hey Claire, honey. What are you doing here?" Gary said.

    "You''re not answering your phone for two weeks! TWO WEEKS, Dad!" She said and approached Gary for a hug.

    "Even though your housekeeper says you''re alright, I was still worried¡­" Claire said.

    "Ooh. I''m a little offended, sweetie. I''m healthy as an ox! I can keep up with Xiao Song right here." Gary said.

    "Hey. I''m Claire." Claire introduced herself, finally addressing Xiao Song.

    "Jun Xiao Song, Gary''s friend."

    "So uh, Jun? Nice to meet you. What are you doing here?" Claire said as she played with her raven-colored hair.

    "Ugh. Claire. Leave him alone, he''s a married man." Gary said, looking at Claire''s flirtatious habit.

    "Ooh. A pity. *sniff* *sniff* ugh.. It smells like¡­ Man in here." Claire noticed Gary''s musky smell from not showering for days.

    "We''ve been practically living here for the past two weeks. We''re studying." Xiao Song said.

    "Oh dad, is this one of your obsessive episodes again? What is it this time?" Claire asked. "It''s just a stupid movie. Wanna watch it with us?"

    ---

    A few minutes later.

    "I''ve seen this plenty of times in the festival, dad. It''s basically just the movie I''ve seen there. So, you''re studying it now?" Claire asked.

    "Yep. It''s revolutionary. A modern classic." Gary said as he turned on his focus again.

    "Claire¡­ can we talk outside for a moment?" Xiao Song whispered to Claire.

    "mmm¡­ of course ~" Claire smirked and led the way out.

    "So, how do we do this?" Claire asked.

    "Do what? I want to talk about your dad." Xiao Song said, clueless at what just happened. Claire was relieved Xiao Song is not a native English speaker or she would have been embarrassed by the misunderstanding.

    "What''s up?" Claire asked.

    "I''m worried about him. He has not been sleeping enough, he''s not eating right. Hell, I''M not eating right. Two weeks of tacos and burritos?  Get him out the house." Xiao Song complained.

    "Ughhh. This is why I told him to hire some help around here. By the way, do you know the director of that movie?" Claire asked.

    "Yeah? Isaac? We met. Why?" Xiao Song replied.

    "Oh. I was just wondering when he''ll make a new movie." Claire said.

    "What? Want a role from him? The acting is more complicated than it looks." Xiao Song said, figuring out Claire''s intention.

    "I know, and I''ve been trying to learn the acting style. You think you''re the only ones who''s obsessed with the film? I had to go Teungeb to watch the film again! Had I known that dad has a copy-"

    "Claire, you can have my copy. Just take your dad out to lunch or something."

    "Jun, just tell my dad you want to go home, alright?" Claire chuckled.

 Chapter 121 - Agricultural and Business Mechanics

    June 21, 2012 ¨C Thursday 1 pm ¨C Queens New York ¨C Pink Apron Headquarters

    "So, because you''ve been pumping your profits back into the company, we managed to expand our New Jersey facility and just last April, we opened another warehouse and shipping facility in California." The CEO reported.

    Tayaw is back in New York.

    "Hmm.. Cool.. Cool." Tayaw nodded almost losing interest.

    Since he bought 51% of Pink Apron last October, he never cared about the company like a shareowner should. Aside from his future knowledge about how the company would go, he also earned and still earning a lot from ''The Halfling'' so did not bother going back to check in to Pink Apron.

    "Cool? That''s it? Tayaw? This is a huge deal! Look, you''re my boss, but I have to ask, why do look like you don''t care?" The CEO asked.

    "Look, Phil. I''ve been reading your reports. I have to say, it was very exciting at first but it wore off. That facility in California? Okay. That was a pleasant surprise, and I know how big of a deal that is. We''re expanding to the west coast after all." Tayaw said.

    "Ugh. I''m just bothered by your attitude that''s all¡­ Sorry about that. I''m just not used yet in working without someone breathing down the back of my neck." Phil said.

    "It''s been 7? 8 months? Calm down, you''re doing fine." Tayaw said.

    "Doing fine. It''s all the work of the developers and founders. I have to say, it''s a good choice letting them do the real work, and us handling the money. But I find it too easy that it makes me uncomfortable." Phil chuckled.

    "Heh. At least you have a heart unlike those assholes from Wall Street." Tayaw was amused.

    "By the way, I know you''re not here for reports. What''s up?" Phil finally addressed Tayaw''s real intention.

    "I want to ask something. While we talk about that, I want to visit the site in New Jersey." Tayaw admitted.

    "Alright. Let me call them up."

    =======

    "Our facility is regulated by the FDA.  Some local and state agents come by here once in a while to check like we''re some children. We have designed some meticulous food safety program here and in California. They think they can do food safety better than us?" The facility manager complained while explaining.

    "Hmm. I could see that." Tayaw said.

    He noticed how hygienic the sorting area is and he likes it. The room looks pristine and neat like a vacant surgical room, and the workers are wearing more protective equipment than surgeons.

    "Moving on¡­  We''re moving ¡­. This place! Here, we carefully pack the boxes with insulated thermal liners and refrigerants to maintain appropriate temperatures during transit from here to other cities. They will even stay cool until these boxes arrive at our subscribers'' doorsteps." The facility manager explained.

    "So that is what these shiny foamy things are called." Tayaw said.

    "Yeah. So, that''s all we have. You can look at the trucks if you want.  If there''s anything you need, just call me, I''ll be in the warehouse." The facility manager said as he ended the tour.

    "This place is great, huh? We have a thing in the office. ''Your table is dirtier than the facility floors''." Phil said.

    "Hmm. I''m quite obsessive about cleanliness myself. Thank goodness I don''t have to visit the offices." Tayaw said.

    "So, earlier, you said you want to talk about something." Phil said.

    "Yeah. How many subscribers do we have at the moment?" Tayaw asked.

    "Around¡­ 95,000 customers." Phil said.

    "How many of our subscribers are recent? Like in the past two months?" Tayaw asked.

    Phil is starting to get nervous at the question because he knows where it leads to.

    "15,000." Phil simply replied.

    "Come on. How many really?" Tayaw asked. "Ughhhhh. 40,000." Phil admitted.

    "Hah. I knew it. Our numbers grow but we are also losing a lot of subscribers, huh." Tayaw chuckled.

    "Wait. You''re fine with it?" Phil asked.

    "Yeah. I know how it is. I''m guessing that our subscribership will be like this in a long while." Tayaw said.

    "Hmm. Just like what the founders said." Phil said.

    "So, don''t press them." Tayaw said, which Phil accepted.

    "Anyway. I want to use our services for something else." Tayaw said.

    "Will it help? In keeping our subscribers?" Phil asked.

    "It may, or it may not. Wanna hear it?" Tayaw said.

    "Sure."

    "I want to use our services to promote my movie." Tayaw revealed.

    "What? You have a movie? Wait, not that. Do you know how bad that would look?" Phil said.

    "It won''t. Listen. Our boxes go with flyers that has the recipe and procedure on how to cook the ingredients yes?" Tayaw said.

    "So, you want to print a promotion on the flyer for your movie." Phil said, getting Tayaw''s purpose.

    "Exactly. Not only that. Our subscribers can have some discount on the movie tickets by giving them a promo code on the flyer." Tayaw said.

    "How does that work?" Phil said, getting more interested.

    "You do know you can order movie tickets online now, right? We will also print out a web link on the flyer on how to order a ticket online and how to enter the promo code for the discount." Tayaw explained.

    "Look. I like how it sounds but how do we even do that? How does that help our company?" Phil said.

    "Leave the ticket discounts to me, I''ll just leave you the printing. I will also promote the company through the movie posters. Hell, I even made a cut of the film that specifically shows our brand and product." Tayaw said.

    "Oh¡­ That sound great and all, but is your movie even going to be a hit?" Phil asked.

    "Well, I can''t assure it will be a hit, but a lot of people are going to see it. It won awards in an international film festival after all. It beat the films made here in murica. AND, some singers will be talking about it.

    "Anyway, I will put on excerpts of movie reviews, label it with the awards it won, and it will be attractive." Tayaw explained.

    "Alright. I''ll talk to the other folks." Phil said. While still skeptical, he hopes Tayaw''s suggestion would work.

    "You''re not coming?" Phil was about to leave when he noticed that Tayaw is still standing, scrutinizing the sorting room.

    "No. You go back. I''m going to watch the folks. Maybe even get in one of those suits and join the line to see how it feels." Tayaw said.

    "Okay. Have a great time." Phil said.

    =================

    Okuba ¨C 8pm

    [Liboo. These¡­ We don''t need this much tractors! How''d you even get the money to buy these?] Liboo''s father, Nungen, said from the other end of the line.

    "Dad. The business is doing great. It''s okay. You''re not getting any younger and if it saves your back for a few years, I''d be happy to help." Liboo lied. The tractors are from Tayaw.

    [Then two should have been enough. One that replaces ours, one for Kilat''s family. The horsepower of these tractors are incredible.] Nungen said.

    "Well, doesn''t Keayo need one for his farm?" Liboo asked.

    [This is why you should come home often. Your brother got a new tractor last year.] Nungen said.

    "Alright. Then give one to Kilat''s brother." Liboo suggested.

    [Lammay''s farm is in the mountain side!] Nungen said.

    "Dad¡­ Kilat told me that he''s building a road. It''s not like I sent a huge one. The terraces can handle the weight." Liboo said.

    [Alright. I''m just overwhelmed. I feel guilty that it would feel a lot easier, that''s all.] Nungen said.

    "That''s exactly what we want from you. Spend a more time with your grandkids." Liboo said.

    [That''s true. By the way, your nephew is in the running for valedictorian! I guess it''s not only Payew now, huh?] Nungen said.

    "Well, we''re sorry we can''t come home for the graduation. We''ll send him a gift.  Where is he going to college?" Liboo asked.

    [I heard he''s going NPU to study fisheries sciences. He''s going to take over some of his mother''s side''s fish ponds in the future.]

    "I see. Well, I guess Payew and Loyan will be school mates in the future. Payew is planning on studying Agriculture in NPU too." Liboo said.

    [Hmm. That''s good. That''s good¡­] Nungen said, his tone however, changed.

    "Something wrong, dad?" Liboo asked.

    [Nothing. I thought your kids would not be interested in farm work just like you are, so I lent what would have been your share of the land to your brother.] Nungen said.

    "Oh. That''s fine. Look, Keayo''s son would be handling his mother''s fish ponds, and then Payew can lend a hand to Keayo in the future." Liboo said.

    {Oh. That''s a good idea. Talking about our kids, how come you haven''t talked about Tayaw recently?] Nungen asked. ''Uh oh'' Liboo said to himself.

    While Liboo and Kilat are proud about Tayaw''s achievements, they do not want their relatives finding out yet. As much as Liboo and Kilat hated to admit it, half of their first and second cousins are drunkards and gamblers, earning just enough for the next bottle of gin and a round of poker.

    As much as Kilat and Liboo do not want to imagine their cousins to flock to their wealthy son, they know that there is a huge chance of them exactly doing that. Liboo when he made his first buck driving his van, his cousins went to him to borrow money for various reasons.

    Until this day, they have not paid him back yet. Their smug attitudes of ''I can''t pay, what are you gonna do about it?'' attitude also bothered Liboo very much that Kilat proposed for them to move away from their villages and that is why they settled in Okuba.

    "Well. He''s good. He''s actually a bar musician right now and he''s earning enough to pay for his tuition fees." Liboo said.

    [Really? Ahh. If he''s good enough to play at a bar, then he must at least be better than us.] Nungen chuckled.

    "Oh, he is. Give the kid enough time; he might even become a famous singer." Liboo said.

    [Mmm, doesn''t that sound nice? Oh. Your mom''s here. She just got back from the neighbor-]

    [Hello son! Is that you? The tractors!] Liboo''s mom yelled.

    "Yes. Mom. Don''t worry about it." Liboo sighed.

 Chapter 122 - Musical Economics of Public Performance

    June 23, 2012 ¨C Saturday 11 am - Long Island, New York

    Tayaw is currently seated in a coffee shop, waiting to meet someone. While waiting, he is busily browsing his phone, like how people are doing in the future with their time. The look of him immersed in his phone however destroyed what would have been a vintage look from his three-piece suit.

    "Mr. Yawat?" A caucasian woman who looks to be in her early 30s approached Tayaw, interrupting Tayaw''s immersion in his smartphone.

    "Hello. Ms. Martin?" Tayaw asked for confirmation.

    "That''s me. A pleasure to meet you, THE Isaac Yawat. Please, call me Leslie." Leslie introduced herself.

    "Pleasure to meet you too, Leslie. Please just call me Isaac." Tayaw greeted.

    "Thank you. Well. Thank you for responding to our e-mail. We didn''t think you would when you didn''t get back to us for so long." Leslie said.

    "I was just occupied by something else. Thank you for meeting me here in New York. Anyway, I hope this place will do for our talk, I have no ''base'' here in America after all." Tayaw said.

    He lied about not having a ''base'' in New York. When Tayaw found out that he is going to meet a woman representative, he purposely set up the meet at a place that has many people around and is covered by a CCTV.

    In the future, a social movement will bring some of biggest s*exual offenders within the sports and show business industries to the ground. While Tayaw is glad to see those perverts get what they deserve, he was also sad to see some of the innocents who had their reputations smeared from wrongful accusations.

    Tayaw, knowing that he now has a recognizable name in the music industry, wanted to avoid getting dragged down by that social movement in the future at all costs. Meeting a lone lady at a safe place is one of Tayaw''s approaches in avoiding potential accusations in the future.

    "Oh, don''t worry about it. I''m from the New York office of the label. We also know that you''re from Teungeb so it''s understandable." Leslie replied.

    Leslie Martin is one of the executives of Milky Way Records, one of the more recognizable record labels and music agencies in America. Leslie is not the only representative that Tayaw met since he arrived in New York, and she will not be the last one he will meet during his stay.

    "Anyway, just like what I said in the e-mail, I will give you the recording licenses of the songs you want, for free." Tayaw finally began their negotiation.

    "Yes. It was a confusing thing for us. You want something in exchange though, yes?" Leslie asked.

    "Exactly. Well, you see, I just made a film. It won awards internationally so we decided to bring it to America." Tayaw introduced.

    "Then, congratulations. I didn''t know you were a film maker as well. Ah.. Is the film the ''something'' you were occupied with?" Leslie asked which proved that she has been paying attention since they started talking.

    "Precisely. That''s where the EXCLUSIVE recording licenses comes in. I''m giving them to you in exchange for your artists or whoever will record the songs, to promote my film." Tayaw revealed his intention.

    "T-this¡­" Leslie had to gather her thoughts for a moment.

    "Just the recording licenses?" Leslie asked to fill the silence she made.

    "Yes. Just the recording license. I still want royalties, of course." Tayaw replied calmly, hiding how dumbfounded he was at the question.

    "Oh. Oh. Of course. That''s not what I meant. Anyway, promotion huh. When it comes to it, I don''t have sole authorization to make that deal." Leslie said.

    "I see¡­ It''s good that we didn''t spend too much time so we can still move this meeting some other time." Tayaw said as he shrugged his shoulders.

    "Wait. Let me make a call." Leslie however, didn''t want to leave empty-handed.

    "Please. Take your time." Tayaw replied, and Leslie left her seat for privacy.

    Seeing Leslie''s actions, Tayaw is glad that his tactic worked. While it was not obvious to others, Tayaw intended his comment to make Leslie think that there are also other people intending on buying the songs that Leslie''s label want.

    Tayaw is also hiding his surprise at Leslie''s behavior. Since he came back to New York, Tayaw already met with other executives and sold recording licenses of 18 of his songs to two record labels in exchange for free promotion. Tayaw noticed from the executives he met that they thought they got a bargain from Tayaw''s deal, so Leslie, not jumping at his free recording licenses was a surprise for him.

    A few minutes later, Leslie walked back to Tayaw''s table, still on the phone.

    "Isaac, can we ask, what type of promotion are you looking for?" Leslie asked as she put her phone that is still on call on the table.

    "It''s simple really. All you have to do is have your singers post an image of the poster of my movie and a link to its movie trailer in their social media accounts. They just have to post them on July 1st, and on July 14th, the night before the official release in the theaters. If the artist has both Twitter and Instagram accounts, it''s best if they promote my film on both those websites." Tayaw explained.

    This was also the deal that Tayaw proposed with the executives he talked to. At this time, social media marketing is still in its infancy and rarely are celebrities getting paid by promoting products in their social media.

    The executives, who were short sighted and did not see the potential of what Tayaw is asking, foolishly jumped on the deal. Had the executives known that in the future, a celebrity will get paid $100,000 for just one post, they would lose their minds.

    /We can do that, Mr. Yawat./ Tayaw heard a voice come out from Leslie''s phone, and along with the reply, Leslie also nodded in approval.

    ''Nice~~~~~'' Tayaw celebrated in his head.

    "Well. It''s a deal then. I still hold authorship and royalties." Tayaw said.

    /That much is obvious, Mr. Yawat. Pleasure doing business with you. Leslie will handle the rest./ The man in the phone replied and the call was ended.

    Tayaw however saw Leslie''s face twitch.

    "Something wrong, Leslie?" Tayaw could not help but ask.

    "No. Are you sure you''re really giving us licenses for just that?" Leslie asked.

    "Yes, Leslie. I''m also doing it for rapport. If I have songs to sell in the future, I hope Milky Way Records will buy them. Please tell that to your friends." Tayaw said, feeling smug inside at his lie.

    ==================

    June 25, 2012 ¨C Monday 11 am ¨C Northwestern University

    Northwestern and the other universities throughout Ouigab finished their finals week last Saturday. If it was any other city, the university campuses would have been deserted by now. Ouigab universities however are different this time of the year.

    As a celebration for another school year done, Northwestern is the starting their annual Music and Arts Week today. It is not only Northwestern that has its own Music and Arts week. Ouigab, being a city of music and arts, influenced the universities in it to have a yearly tradition of having their own music festivals.

    "Man, it looks like we''re more famous than we thought." Ramil chuckled after taking a peek at the filled seats in the auditorium. This is the largest crowd yet, that they are going to perform for.

    "I know. I kinda feel bad for the other bands though. I feel guilty that we''re taking up an hour and a half when they only have fifteen minutes each." Jenna said.

    "Hey. Just like Tayaw said, we deserve it. And, we''re doing the music department a favor." Hoon said.

    The Northwestern''s music week is managed by the university''s School of Music. Professor Lopas Gitse, the professor who once approached Tayaw in ROH factory, finally got a call back from Tayaw after more than a year.

    Tayaw asked Professor Gitse to feature Percussive Corrections in the festival. With Percussive Correction''s fame in the internet, Professor Gitse was glad to indulge Tayaw''s request as he also wanted to use the band''s fame to attract students to enroll in music courses in the future.

    "It''s not like we''re performing throughout the week unlike the others. Anyway. Too bad Tayaw isn''t with us." Bay-an said.

    "True. I hope these folks won''t be disappointed when they don''t see Tayaw." Inson said.

    The news of Tayaw''s fame in Nashville also made it in Ouigab through one of Ophelia''s articles, so there has been buzz even before the Music and Arts Week about Tayaw coming to Northwestern University with the Northwestern brew Percussive Corrections.

    "No. That''s not what I mean. I mean, Tayaw didn''t perform for a large crowd like this before, right?" Bay-an said.

    "Have you forgotten about his performance in Kentucky with John''s band? I think that crowd is just as big as this." Ramil reminded Bay-an.

    "Oh! That''s right. Still, it''s a shame that he''s not with us in our first huge performance." Bay-an said. This made the band feel a little bad for Tayaw.

    "Well, whatever. It''s him who did not want to come. The best we can do for Tayaw is to blow the crowd away. Let''s make him proud. He''s gonna see it because Chala''s gonna film us, right?" Jenna said.

    "Yeah. Also, we look awesome. Thank goodness, you told us to wear the baseball clothes that Tayaw gave us. It''s like he''s also with us." Hoon said to Jenna.

    The band is wearing the St. Louis Cardinals jersey that Tayaw gave them and for those who do not know them, they look like a solid team just by the way they''re dressed.

    "Hey. Hey. Are we ready?" Ramil said when he saw one of the floor managers signal to him that they''re about to take the stage.

    "Huddle! Huddle! *HOOO* *HOOO* HOOO* *AARRGHHh!*" Despite the nervousness they felt, they are even more fired up and with imposing huddle chant they just did, they are ready to kill the stage.

 Chapter 123 - Culinary Arts of Songwriting

    Sunday 7 pm ¨C Jericho, New York

    Tayaw just arrived in front of his gate after a swim at Beekman Beach. While it is ironic that he has a Mediterranean style house without a seaside view, Beekman Beach is only a 20-minute run for his enhanced body. Regarding his body, he was able to measure more of what it could do during his swim at the beach.

    The last time he swam at Lake Tabila in Nabla a year and a half ago, he was only able to hold his breath for 3 minutes. Today, was able to hold his breath underwater for more than 24 minutes. Almost double the world record of a free diver.

    He also felt like laughing when he recalled how fast he swam. He did not measure his speed but he was able to catch up with a fish that was fleeing from him. He was also swimming underwater at the time to avoid the eyes of the other swimmers on the water''s surface; a much slower speed that would have been his freestyle speed.

    Entering his house, *Clack* *Slam* Tayaw almost laughed at the echo in the living room that his door made when he closed it behind him.

    "Aiyayay. Should I sell this house?" Tayaw chuckled. The house is too big for him.

    "Nah. Let''s see if my royalties could cover the property tax first." Tayaw shook his head. Even though the house is too big even for one family, he still likes the house very much.

    Aside from the meeting he had with Leslie the day before, Tayaw had two more meetings with other executives from different labels earlier this day. He is not sure how many artists will promote his film but he is sure that he sold a total of 36 songs that he is confident that would sell as long as the right artist will sing them.

    After taking a shower, *Ding* *Dong* the doorbell echoed throughout the house. It almost made Tayaw jump in surprise as all the visits in his house are all either scheduled or announced. Phil the Pink Apron CEO, Yoshi the gardener, and his newly hired accountant were his only visitors in the past few days. Not only that, even though the sky is still bright like Teungeb''s 5pm skies, it is already 7:30 in the evening.

    Tayaw looked at the camera feed of the gate. Seeing that it is someone familiar, Tayaw hurriedly dressed and went out to greet the visitor.

    "Hello neighbor!" A blond lady who seems to be in her late 40s greeted Tayaw by the gate enthusiastically.

    "Hi!~~..." Tayaw was taken aback at how jovial the lady is.

    His attention was also attracted to the window of the house across the street.

    "Oh. I''m Charlotte Duhill. I live there with my family." Charlotte said as she pointed at the nice house next to Tayaw''s.

    "I''m Tayaw. I own this house." Tayaw said.

    "*gasp* So you''re Tayaw! Teungebian name, yes?" Charlotte asked.

    "Yes, ma''am. May I help you with something?" Tayaw asked.

    "Oh, drop the ma''am. It makes me feel old. Well, I saw someone open the gates here for the past few days so I thought, ''Huh. Is Chala back?''" Charlotte said.

    Tayaw however feels that Charlotte is fishing. As for what she''s fishing for, Tayaw is unsure.

    "Ah. Chala. He went back home to Ouigab after visiting L.A. I, on the other hand, have business here in New York again." Tayaw said.

    "Well. How long have you been back? We didn''t meet last year!" Charlotte asked.

    "Ooh. That. Yeah, I should have introduced myself back then but Chala and I were excited to leave for a road trip. In fact, I should have introduced myself since I got back last Thursday but you know, I was very busy so..." Tayaw replied.

    "I see. Well, welcome to the neighborhood!" Charlotte said.

    "Well, thank you for dropping by. I feel welcomed. " Tayaw said as he looked at the window of the house across the street.

    =======================

    "Honey, Charlotte is crazy! Hahaha. Oh. He opened the door for her!" A neighbor across the street is watching Charlotte and Tayaw talk through his window, his wife by his side.

    "*GASP* DUCK!" his wife suddenly exclaimed.

    "I told you Lily, something''s odd with that guy! He looked at us, right?" The neighbor asked.

    "I''m sure! I think we even made eye contact! George, you know how good my eyes are." Lily said.

    "Well, at least he doesn''t look like trouble. He also has a knockout mango pie." George said.

    "Really? Because of a pie, you''re fine with him?" Lily rolled her eyes.

    "What? It''s us who''s been peeping at the guy." George shrugged his shoulders.

    "Hmm. Well, I have to say, the pie he gave us must be the best fruit pie I''ve ever had." Lexi said.

    "Coming from you, then it really is good¡­ Hey honey¡­ did you by any chance tell Charlotte about Tayaw''s pies?" George asked.

    "Well, I was talking about it with the other ladies at our book club last Friday. And Charlotte is in the book cl-*Gasp* Charlotte didn''t get one?!" Lily exclaimed at the realization.

    "Oh boy. He left Charlotte''s out?" George grinned.

    "Honey¡­ Charlotte isn''t that bad. She''s just a little ¨C intense." Lily said as she slapped George''s shoulder.

    ===========================

    "Well Charlotte, it''s nice meeting you. By the way, I might drop by some time to meet my next-door neighbors. I''ll bring a pie too. That''s what Americans do, right?" Tayaw said.

    Had Lily and George not been talking out loud, he might not have overheard, and he might not have been reminded that he left Charlotte out because no one was around in Charlotte''s home when he introduced himself to the other neighbors.

    "Oh, Tayaw. That''s so sweet. It should be the other way around¡­ Also, almost no one follows the tradition anymore." Charlotte smiled.

    "Ah. I see. Well, I''d drop by to introduce myself nonetheless." Tayaw said.

    Of course, Tayaw knows how it really is and read up on the classic American tradition, but the neighbors have already welcomed Chala when he stayed in Jericho and he is not so thick-skinned to receive another welcome.

    He never would have bothered to introduce himself but over the past few days, he has overheard a lot of things from the neighbors and they seem to be tight knit. There is book and yoga club for the wives, and a golf and yacht club for the men. The thing that bothered him the most was that his neighbors assumed things about him just because he has not talked to them.

    "We''ll be expecting you then. Good night." Charlotte said.

    Going back inside, Tayaw shook his head. He is still uncomfortable with how snoopy his neighbors are. Unlike his neighbors in Ironstone that he never talks to, his neighbors in Jericho would ask him various things like where he is from or what he does for a living. The Caucasian neighbors especially are interested in his livelihood.

    ''Ugh... Gated communities...''

    Shaking all thoughts, he pulled out Earl''s guitar from the white void. He then mindlessly tuned the guitar as he walked to his backyard and sat at the table by the side of his outdoor pool.

    While he was mindlessly swimming about at the beach earlier, he was reminded that today is around the time that he and his previous life''s Percussive Corrections got acquainted with each other at the university''s music festival. The nostalgia and the melancholy he felt inspired him to write a song about it.

    After tuning his guitar pitch perfectly, Tayaw started plucking a simple guitar intro. It is just as simple as Peter McKinsey''s ''Small Bird'', and with a similar nostalgic feeling.

    "I met a friend today; it has been a while

    and we almost felt ashamed

    But we laughed as we know deep inside

    That our feelings stayed the same."

    Tayaw wondered that had he not come back in time, he and his friends would each find their career for life, the women they would grow old with, and would build their own families. That next phase in their life would eventually lead them to grow apart.

    "I was lost in my own thoughts in my empty mind,

    And through a crowd of strangers I''m walking blind,

    I hear a familiar voice there across the street

    Come walks to me an almost forgotten friend."

    Tayaw knows that he still has remaining sentiments in his previous life. Almost every time he talks to the current Percussive Corrections, a memory of their alternative incarnations pops up in his head. Tayaw wants to live in the present so he wants to avoid triggering these memories; and that is one of the reasons why he decided to stay outside Teungeb for a while.

    "We don''t have to say a word.

    We really know what''s left unsaid.

    Through my eyes I recognize

    All the faces that I know"

    Tayaw hopes that one day, he will be able to detach the emotions he feels for his previous and current life.

    *Zmm* "An enhancement. That was easy." Tayaw chuckled as he felt it.

    ---

    Just opposite the outdoor wall that separates Tayaw''s property, a couple is drinking wine in their backyard.

    "It was a nice song ¨C You okay honey?" A woman said when she saw that her husband''s eyes are teary.

    "It''s just a good song. I was reminded of my friends back in Omaha." The man replied as he dabbed the tears that pooled in his eyes with his sleeves.

    "Why don''t you make up with your family? I haven''t met them yet." The woman said.

    "I can''t honey. You know how it is." The man replied.

    "*Sigh* Well. It seems that the new guy''s a singer. Why don''t we invite him over some time?" The woman asked.

    "You read my mind." The man smiled.

 Chapter 124 - Neighbors

    June 28, 2012 ¨C Thursday 10 am ¨C Jericho, New York

    *Ring**Ring* "Hello Chala. What''s up?" Tayaw answered the unexpected call.

    /Tayaw, how''s New York?/

    "Fine. And boring. What''s up there?"

    /Nothing. Except for your kids in the band. / Chala chuckled.

    "Oh. I''ve heard. Thanks for being there." Tayaw said.

    A day ago, Percussive Corrections reported to Tayaw how they got the crowd going at Northwestern''s music festival even without Tayaw.

    /I understand why you don''t want to get on TV, but your band needs the exposure. / Chala said.

    "Wow. I scared them off that much huh? Hahahaha." Tayaw laughed when he remembered their faces when explained that broadcasting people rarely have pure intentions when it comes to rookies of the industry.

    /It shouldn''t be as bad as what you told them right? / Chala asked.

    "Of course not. It''s just that their fear has overridden the benefits of those interviews. Well, I can just promote them in the future when they most need it. Relax, man." Tayaw said.

    /*sigh* I said I was going to assist them just this week and for free, but I got more invested in them more than I expected./

    Tayaw asked Chala for a favor to help Percussive Corrections as a temporary manager and agent during the music festival. Chala, curious at the behind the scenes of such events, agreed to do it.

    "Anyways. They''re going to perform at the closing night, right?" Tayaw asked.

    /Yeah. I told them it''s best if they take spots in the opening and at the closing nights, for more exposure, but I didn''t expect your band to be headhunted by a LOT of these entertainment companies./ Chala said, frustration in his voice.

    "That''s supposed to be a good thing, yes?" Tayaw probed at Chala.

    /Yeah, it is. I was even glad at first, but I almost got yelled at by your drummer. / Chala chuckled.

    "Well, what happened?" Tayaw asked despite having already an idea about what happened.

    /Well, Ike said something that got me thinking. When I looked closer at the offers of these companies, I understood. They all want to change how your band operates. Seeing as your band is very¡­ close, it breaks my heart to imagine what would happen. / Chala said. Tayaw nodded in approval.

    "That was my concern as well. I gave them a little test before I left and I have to say, there will be no concerns about them disbanding anytime soon. They know what they want. How about managing them in the future, huh?" Tayaw proposed in a casual tone. Chala, on the other hand was taken aback.

    /uhhh. No. Even if I want to, not yet at least. I barely know anything about the music industry. I''ve grown to like the kids too so I don''t want to harm them with my inexperience. / Chala shook his head.

    "Okay then. Well, I don''t think they''re ready yet anyway." Tayaw nodded.

    /Mm-hmm. By the way... When are you going to release your sequel to ''The Halfling''?/ Chala changed the subject.

    "I don''t know. Maybe by the end of the year, maybe next year. Why? It''s still selling well." Tayaw asked.

    /I see. How about I go around to start a bidding war for its film license?/ Chala proposed.

    "Not yet. I''m still deciding whether I''d make the film myself or whatever. What''s the rush, Chala?" Tayaw asked in curiosity. Chala after was never impatient with him.

    /Man, I get that you''ve won awards, but you just made one film. Making this your second film, honestly, I don''t feel confident./ Chala said.

    "I agree. However, I want to make more films to build up my name as a director and by then, I have enough experience. I don''t trust other people to make the book into a film yet." Tayaw argued.

    /Look. You''ve talked to the head of Topaz, right? His concern is more important than you think./ Chala said.

    "How so?" Tayaw got interested.

    /How fast can you put out movies? By the time you gain enough experience and prestige to be on equal negotiating power with film studios, how many fantasy novels will be there? ''The Halfling'' would not be as in-demand then. PLUS, do you think you''ll be the first one to put out a fantasy film then?/ Chala explained.

    "Looks like you thought about this a lot, huh." Tayaw said, while digesting Chala''s arguments.

    /Yes./ Chala said.

    "Well. What if the sequels, can be just as good as ''The Halfling''? I think that an epic and a saga that goes after ''The Halfling'' would hike up its demand and value over other fantasy novels." Tayaw argued.

    Chala went silent for a moment.

    /While that may be true, I still think we have to sell the film rights for now. Just like how your book was the first of its kind, there''s a lot of benefit in being first in anything./ Chala argued.

    "No. I don''t think there''s much benefit. If a film studio would make a fantasy film, that''s pure gambling. They would just be riding on the hype of the genre I started. Even if they make a film adaptation of other fantasy novels, the fan bases of those novels would not be enough to match ''The Halfling''s fanbase." Tayaw countered.

    Chala went silent once again.

    "Look. I get your concern, so I''ll think about it. I''ll even look for a director who I think can do a good job." Tayaw said.

    In addition, he realized one important matter from Chala''s proposal. He cannot do everything by himself. On the other hand, he is not sure whether any director in his world has the skills to make ''The Halfling'' to the best film it could be.

    He also does not have the resources, infrastructure, and the connections that movie studios have in handling what is obviously going to be one of the biggest film productions in history.

    /Alright. While you think about it, how about giving me something to do? Huh?/ Chala said.

    "Well, aren''t you busy with the band?" Tayaw asked.

    /No. Not anymore. Your band shot down any offers they get or any interview, so I''m just hanging back./ Chala explained.

    "Why don''t you invite your girlfriend over there? Or is your relationship not that serious?" Tayaw asked.

    /I would but she''s busy with work so I''m bored out of my mind. I''m also guilty taking millions from you, man. Just tell me to do anything or I''ll go f*ckin crazy./ Chala said in desperation.

    "Alright. Jeez. Let me think for a moment¡­ Oh! Did you know that Payew is going to be a senior in high school this coming September? He was accepted at Rinowra." Tayaw said.

    /Oh? That college prep school? That''s a nice school, huh. I didn''t know Payew is that smart¡­ What''s that has to ---/ Chala suddenly paused.  /You want me to babysit him?/ Chala said in realization, almost dumbfounded at Tayaw''s implication.

    Just as soon as he spoke however, he realized the gravity of Tayaw''s request. He knows that to Tayaw, family is important. And Tayaw entrusting him to take care of Payew says something about Tayaw''s trust in him.

    "I was not going to call it that but ¡­" Tayaw was about to sugarcoat it.

    /No. It''s fine! I''ll show him the ropes in the city. Did you get him an apartment? He can stay at my house./ Chala ended up loving the idea.

    "Hey. He''s going to take my room in Ironstone. He also has a student driver''s license now so just get him a car and help him drive around." Tayaw said.

    /Wait. He''s not a hothead on the road, is he?/ Chala asked, worried, knowing about the stereotype of young and new drivers.

    "Don''t worry about it. He learned to drive in the zigzags of Nabla. Dad also removed his bad habits. Just help him get used to following traffic signals and signs." Tayaw explained.

    /Alright. That''s good. Manual or automatic?/ Chala asked.

    "Man, manual of course. Ask Payew if he wants a new car or something from dad''s workshop." Tayaw said.

    /Good. Hopefully, it will get me busy for a while./ Chala said.

    After the two chatted about a few more things, Tayaw ended the call.

    Half an hour later, *DING* the oven rang. Tayaw opened the oven and pulled out two freshly baked mango pies. One pie for his own consumption, and one for Charlotte and her family.

    After cooling the pies down, Tayaw wrapped one on a glass pie plate and carried it out the house.

    *DING DONG* Tayaw rang the doorbell by gate of Charlotte''s house.

    ---

    "Tayaw! Good morning." Charlotte welcomed Tayaw.

    "Good morning Charlotte. Here, thanks for welcoming me the other day." Tayaw said as he passed the pie to Charlotte.

    "Oh. Come in, come in! My kids are home, let me introduce you to them." Charlotte dragged Tayaw inside.

    "Welcome to the Duhill household."

    The house looks like a typical American suburban home and the interior is made of the conventional American drywall and carpeted hardwood floors. The only difference the Duhill house has from the typical American home is that it is much bigger, better designed, and can only be afforded by a multi-millionaire.

    "Mm. It''s homely." Tayaw can only remark. It is the first house he has visited in his current life and it''s odd.

    "Oh? Honey, there you are! This is Lee, my youngest." Charlotte called down a boy, who looks to be 12 or 13, peeking from upstairs.

    "Hello Lee, I''m Tayaw, your new neighbor." Tayaw introduced himself and reach out for a hand shake.

    "Nice to meet you, Tayaw." Lee smiled and shook Tayaw''s hand.

    The next moment, Tayaw felt a small shock in his hand and almost clenched his hand hard. Thankfully, it did not hurt as much, he didn''t crush the kid''s hand, and he kept his smile. Lee on the other hand has surprise smacked on his face at Tayaw''s non-reaction to the practical joke. Lee then quickly retrieved his hand and looked at the small toy in his hand.

    Lee then touched the metallic part of the toy and almost shrieked when he was shocked by it.

    "What''s wrong, honey?" Charlotte asked as she sliced the mango pie.

    "Nothing!..." Lee said in panic as he held his left hip, hiding his shock toy.

    "Go call your sisters here, please." Charlotte who had not idea at what happened, ordered Lee. Lee took this an opportunity to flee from his embarrassment.

    "Hmm. Lee has quite the mischievous spirit." Tayaw chuckled.

    "Oh, dear. I knew it. He did something again huh? ¡­" Charlotte said.

    "Well. I just saw it in his eyes. My youngest brother is the same." Tayaw did not sell Lee out.

    ¡­

    "Mhmm! THIS! This is a good pie!"

    =====================

    =====================

    Dear Readers,

    We''ve reached the 1,000,000 views mark! Oh, I feel proud. Thank you all.  *hugs* *HUUGS* *mwah...* *MMMWWWAAAHHH* ... **** *****.

    I just wish that my novel can retain more readers, but hey, one can''t just have good things happen.

    Anyways. Even though I''ll still keep the daily releases, I''m sorry, but the story progression will slow down for a bit.

    It isn''t without reason though. It''s to lay down the logical foundation for Tayaw''s mass movie releases in the future of the films he gained and will get from the Giant Roulette. I''ve also thought about new characters and how I''m gonna use them in the future.  I''m also trying to decide what to do with the ''View Points'', but I have great ideas, at least I think.

    In summary, I''ve got a lot of idea juggling and arrangement to do.

    Don''t worry though. After I''ve laid down the foundations and resources for Tayaw, the progression will become a LOT smoother again.

    To wrap this note up ... I wish I''m a bit smarter so I could write faster and I''d mass release right now, for celebration. But for now, I can only thank you all again for reading up to this point, everyone.

    -Intayaw Din Dagem

    =====================

    =====================

 Chapter 125 - Hair Fashion of Musical Competition

    July 3, 2012 ¨C Sunday, 5 pm ¨C Harlem, New York City

    /"The NBA announced today that Corey Hill, the shooting guard for the New York Knicks is going to be suspended for the rest for the upcoming season. Corey Hill, 29, was charged with some counts of driving under the influence, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer¡­"/ The newscaster in the TV reported.

    *Snip* *Snip* "Shiiit, I told you that fool was crazy. Damn." A barber remarked.

    Tayaw is currently having a haircut.

    Tayaw, throughout his past life, repeatedly heard about the legendary skills of the African-American barbers and their shops'' atmosphere.

    "You think he goin to jail?" Another barber asked.

    "He might be held up in a precinct, but the brotha got chahps, he ain''t servin sh*t." Tayaw''s barber replied.

    "Psh. Suspension. How ''bout suspicion, huh? I tell you, they tryna take the brotha down. The man got two rings, IN A ROW. Ain''t no Knicks without Corey." Another barber chimed in.

    "The f.u.c.k you talkin'' bout, man? I''m glad that he''s gone. He be holdin back Zeshawn and Denton. Ball hoggin mothaf*ckuh. One man team ain''t gon'' last." A customer remarked.

    Tayaw does not know much about basketball, but he''s enjoying the free exchange of opinions around him. Listening to them also gives him a sense of intimacy in the barbershop.

    "You been quiet, kid. Ya not from here, ain''t you?" The other customer besides Tayaw asked.

    "No. I''m from the Pacific. I saw great reviews of the barbershop online so I came here." Tayaw said.

    "Cool. Cool. This my shop right here, they do some clean sh*t. So.. why you wearing some fancy-ass suit, man?" The customer asked.

    "I''m going to an event after this. Looking at sir barber''s fancy briefcase here filled with stuff, I''m confident I''ll look even better." Tayaw said and casually dropping a compliment to his barber.

    "You goin on a date or somethin''?" Tayaw''s barber asked.

    "No. I''m heading later at the Apollo." Tayaw replied.

    "Man. It''s a good night there tonight. You gonna see the show?" Tayaw''s barber asked.

    "Nah. I''m performing." Tayaw replied.

    "You playin?!" The other customer exclaimed. His barber also stopped cutting his hair, and the shop went quiet.

    "Maaan. You know some sh*t then, huh. My cousin auditioned a lot of times and only played there once. Boy, she only made it to the first round too." Another barber remarked.

    "I guess I''m lucky then." Tayaw shrugged.

    The Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York is a famous for being the Mecca of African ¨C American Musical Artists. One of their weekly events is the ''Music Night at the Apollo" where some the best amateurs of various backgrounds will compete against each other. The winner will take $20,000 by the end of the night.

    The show runs for three hours and is nationally broadcasted both on the TV and radio. For serious aspiring musicians, lasting throughout the night will also earn them huge exposure.

    Tayaw would not consider himself an amateur anymore, after all, he makes some of his money from playing and selling music. However, Tayaw wants to break the rules as he considers it an honor to play at such venue, so he grabbed the first opportunity he could get to play. Tayaw does not care if the staff of the theater would discover his status as a musician and the consequences of it.

    King Fischer, one of Tayaw''s idols and one of the pioneers of American rock and roll, also once won an event at the Apollo Theater in 1964 so Tayaw wants to follow that mark.

    ---

    6:30 pm

    Apollo Theater''s waiting room is huge and even a little larger than the stage proper itself. Tayaw is currently sat by one of the chairs and doing last minute polish on the songs he will perform, his new electric guitar on hand and his new stomp box by his feet.

    Because the contestants are only allowed a four minute maximum time in each of the songs they are performing, Tayaw is making a series of decisions in his head which parts of the songs he is to perform should he take out or how long he is going to play a guitar solo.

    Tayaw is not the only the one who is doing their last-minute practice. The event tonight has a total of 12 acts competing elimination style for two rounds. Each round, half of the acts would be eliminated and in the final round where only three would remain, the night''s champion would be chosen by the audience.

    ''Done'' Tayaw whispered and stopped fiddling with his guitar. The disarray of different instruments in the waiting room is giving Tayaw great discomfort but it did not stop him from assessing the other contestants.

    From what he observed, he can say for sure that there are only two other acts, aside from himself, who are at the professional level. Even though Tayaw knows that he is a better musician than the rest of the contestants, Tayaw cannot say for sure which ones the crowd tonight would prefer.

    Despite knowing that fact, Tayaw chose to give himself a disadvantage to at least even the odds with other musicians. He chose three songs to cover that are classics but are rarely covered. The songs he chose belong to the type that are not mega hits per se but are familiar with everyone once they hear it, and may even sing along with.

    "Hopkins Brothers, please be ready. We''ll start in ten minutes." One of the staff announced to the waiting room.

    The band of brothers stood up stiffly made their way to back stage which Tayaw found adorable.

    Tayaw being the 11th performer in the first round, still has a lot of time to spare so he walked to the piano in the waiting room and started playing randomly. He chose a song to play with the piano in his second round, if ever he makes it.

    ---

    "Please welcome, Isaac Yawat!" The host announced. It was finally Tayaw''s turn. "Hello, Isaac. Where you from?" The host asked following the usual short introduction of the act before they perform.

    "I''m from Long Island." Tayaw said. *Whoo!**Clap* Some audience members cheered as recognition.

    "So, what are you going to sing tonight?"

    "Long Nights by Darius Goodwin." *Whoo!* *Applause* around a third of the crowd recognized the song.

    "Whenever you''re ready." The host said as he stepped back away from the spot light.

    Tayaw started the intro with his electric guitar an intense combination of chords and guitar riffs and licks. The stark difference of the intro to the ballads sang by the earlier acts awoke the crowd and they started nodding along.

    "When everything is over

    The devil walks by my side

    You remember be as your lover

    I''ll need you to hide behind"

    Long Nights is one of the first songs Tayaw learned to sing and play in his previous life outside the country and folk genre. The song is originally in the sound of classic rock but Tayaw arranged it to a blues rock song.

    Darius Goodwin is a famous singer songwriter who is known for the blues-rock genre and peaked in the 70s. Despite being African ¨C American, Darius was first gained popularity among Caucasian rock and roll fans before being recognized in his own community.

    After two great albums however, his career took a nose dive. Darius still might be getting royalties for him to live off of in retirement, but it is not enough for him afford the life style he once lived.

    "I''m scared of memories stolen

    I don''t wanna say goodnight

    Even if I would see you in the mornin

    I''d see your eyes, I''d feel your heart."

    After Tayaw sang the second verse, he started riffing on his guitar for the guitar solo. Unlike how he played with Strawberry Front or the jazz band back in Sorrento, Tayaw opted to improvise using chord soloing because he has no other instruments to back him up. While his guitar solo is less intense than usual, it is still charming and full enough. As higher the notes he picked and strummed, the crowd''s excitement also climbed.

    The predominantly African American crowd, despite being predominantly rhythm and blues fans, connected with Tayaw''s performance. Some of them even stood up and were clapping along. Some of the audience members'' faces, despite making odd expressions, are matching appropriately with Tayaw''s guitar face.

    After the solo, Tayaw stopped playing the guitar and maintained the beat on his stomp box. Tayaw took a deep breath and belted out.

    "I should have told you of my long nights

    How I wake up lonely on the sunrise."

    The climax coming, Tayaw prepared to sing the highest he has sung throughout the song. His voice only backed by his stomp box gave an auditory illusion that the lines are in fact the song''s climax.

    "How the heroes of the night hide

    I no longer long for the starlight!"

    The crowd''s ears were tickled by Tayaw''s husky high notes and vocal runs and they cheered in excitement. The other acts in the waiting room, even though they are competing with Tayaw, could not help themselves from feeling impressed and awed.

    "Ah. F*ck." One of the contestants who already performed, uttered at the realization that his chances of winning has drastically reduced.

    "I''m scared of memories stolen

    I don''t wanna say goodnight

    Even if I would see you in the mornin

    I''d see your eyes, I''d feel your heart."

    Tayaw then sang the last chorus more somber and softer to signal the crowd that the song is coming to a conclusion. After a few more riffs and licks on the guitar, the song ended.

    *CHEERS**APPLAUSE**

    Never in his life had that he received such a warm applause from a crowd.  The vibration in the atmosphere from the cheers; him alone, receiving it.

 Chapter 126 - TV Broadcasting of Public Performance

    /"I know am a bit complicated

    so thank you for the wait

    I know am a lil conceited

    But you''re the reason we made it"/

    "Man, dat boi can sing!" Tayaw just made it into the second round and the barber who cut Tayaw''s hair earlier in the evening is currently watching Tayaw''s second song in his living room.

    "Babe, you know him? You don''t watch music shows." The barber''s wife asked.

    "Nah. But I cut his hair today. I got a picture of him too and now Imma put it on the window. Good lookin mofckuh."

    ---

    Jericho, New York

    Charlotte walked in the bedroom of her son, Lee with Lee''s clothes she just folded. She however found something strange.

    "What are you guys watching?" Charlotte asked when she realized that Lee is not the only person in his bedroom.

    Her two daughters and her son, who are rarely in the same room together, are currently watching something in the Lee''s TV.

    "Mom! It''s Tayaw!" Lee said, admiration apparent in his gaze to the television.

    Charlotte does not have good eyes but her ears are sensitive enough to hear someone singing in the television so she joined her children to watch. "It doesn''t look lik-¡­ hm? It is him! Ooh, He can sing!" Claire said in surprise.

    She did not recognize Tayaw at first because she only saw Tayaw wear loose sweatshirts and loose cotton sweat pants. Tonight however, Tayaw is wearing a three-piece suit, a fancy hat, and huge aviator sunglasses; and is currently playing the piano while singing. The contrast of the context that Tayaw is currently in was almost unimaginable for her.

    /"I won''t ever let you down, down, down

    But when I do, you won''t be on the ground

    You picking me up when I''m down

    I''m glad that it''s you I found¡­"/

    Tayaw soon finished his song and the four heard the crowd on TV give a huge round of applause.

    "Mom, he''s so cool!" Lee exclaimed and clapped softly.

    "I didn''t know he''s a singer. He must be famous?" Charlotte asked.

    "I don''t know. Tayaw just told me this morning that I should watch something tonight. Hehe. He didn''t say he''s gonna be in it." Lee said.

    Charlotte hearing that understood why Lee is watching the TV instead of his usual use for the thing to play video games. She is however curious as to why her son is not fighting with her daughters already especially since they are in his space.

    While the host of the program interviewed Tayaw, "Hmm. He''s hot¡­" Charlotte suddenly heard her eldest daughter utter. She looked at her daughter and did not like the sultry gaze her daughter is giving to Tayaw on the TV.

    Holly, currently a sophomore at a community college, was one of the ''cool girls'' in her high school but she paid for it with her grades. Charlotte would not want to admit it to her children, but she was once just like Holly. She however does not like that Holly made the same mistakes she did in her younger years.

    "Ugh, there she goes again." Lexi, the second daughter said in repulsion at Holly''s attitude, and she opened her laptop, resuming her reading.

    Unlike Holly, Lexi is what would be considered an overachiever in school. Straight A student and would have no problems getting to a good university or college in the future. She is the perfect daughter.

    "Honey, he''s a lot older than you. Drop it." Charlotte reprimanded Holly.

    "No, he''s not." Lee remarked.

    "What''s that honey?" Charlotte asked, half annoyed and half curious at Lee''s interruption.

    Unlike Charlotte and the other neighbors who are wary of Tayaw, Lee visits Tayaw every day since Tayaw''s visit to their home, making Lee the most informed about Tayaw.

    "He said he''s 18. Holly is 19. Tayaw is younger." Lee explained simply.

    "See, mom? He''s perfect." Holly said smugly.

    Charlotte became even more annoyed because Holly''s expression is also the one, she used to make when she was younger at her own parents.

    "So? He doesn''t go to school. He''s a good singer, but there are better guys out there." Charlotte insisted on teaching Holly a lesson.

    "Still, he''s rich. His house is bigger than ours." Lee interrupted again.

    "Thank you, Lee! I don''t know why you''re helping me today, but thanks." Holly said, getting smugger by the moment.

    "Honey, why don''t you go to your room?" Holly said, having enough of Lee''s unintended ''sabotaging''.

    "This IS my room... whatever." Lee rolled his eyes and went walked out of his room.

    "He might be a spoiled kid, honey. I don''t want you dating jerks like him." Charlotte said.

    "Hmm. I don''t think he''s a spoiled brat, mom." Lexi, who was silent, replaced Lee.

    "See? Mom. I have a shot." Holly, feeling the upper hand insisted.

    The next moment, however, Holly felt betrayal.

    "AHAHAHAHAHA! OH... Oh. That! That is funny! No. He''s out of your league. Drop it." Lexi followed up, laughing the hardest they have ever seen in a while.

    "What does a loser like you know?" Holly could only say.

    "Oh, I don''t know. I know more than what you know now when I was 13. Anyway~! I looked up the name he used in the show. Look at this¡­" Lexi passed her laptop to Charlotte and Holly.

    "Isaac Yawat¡­ September Ninth¡­ Sorrento Film Festival Best Director¡­ Songwriter known for hits like ¡­" Charlotte read the sparse Wikipedia page of Tayaw.

    Charlotte felt Tayaw become more respectable in her eyes. Even though she loves Holly unconditionally, she knows that Tayaw is indeed way out of Holly''s league.

    "OH honey¡­ Go ahead. Give it a shot. He might like you." Charlotte''s reprimanding mood earlier suddenly transformed into a supportive one. If Tayaw is a good man, Charlotte wants Holly to have him.

    Holly, on the other hand, is still speechless as she read Tayaw''s Wikipedia page over and over again. Charlotte, Lexi and Holly fell silent as they mindlessly watched the next performer on TV.

    "MOM! Tayaw is not a spoiled jerk!" Lee, who they thought went somewhere, suddenly barged back in the room.

    The indignation on his face made Charlotte feel guilty about the words that Lee overheard.

    "I didn''t mean it honey. But tell me, honey, am I so wrong?" Charlotte wanted Lee to calm down so she gave Lee the chance to explain.

    "He let me talk to his parents online! His mom is a high school teacher and his dad repairs cars¡­ They''re great people!" Lee said.

    This piece of information blew the ladies'' minds even more, Charlotte especially.

    "Ooh, I''m sorry honey." Charlotte said. Lee, hearing the rare apology from Charlotte calmed down immediately.

    "And YOU! Don''t date him! He''s a good guy!" Lee however was not done however and told off Holly.

    Holly, seeing Lee this emotional for the first time, was not able to come up with something to say back.

    "Ooh... Looks like Lee has a crush on a boy ~" Lexi on the other hand, decided to tease Lee.

    "I like girls! But I like Tayaw too¡­ Why don''t you date him?" Lee said in defense and unintentionally made Lexi blush with his suggestion.

    Seeing Lexi blush, Charlotte felt relieved that Lexi is not a lesbian. Charlotte is not a homophobe but she still prefers it if Lexi is a ''proper'' woman.

    "So, this is where you all are." A man said as he walked in Lee''s bedroom.

    "Peter, honey, you''re done with the rest of the laundry?" Charlotte asked.

    "Yeah. What''s going on? I heard Lee yell." Frank asked.

    "Well, we were just talking about the new neighbor¡­" Charlotte started explaining.

    "MOM! SHH! It''s decision time for the three finalists. I hope Tayaw goes through." Lexi, who was given the pass to shush her parents, interrupted.

    ---

    /"The third and last act going to the finals is¡­ ISAAC!" One of the judges announced and the crowd erupted in cheers. Tayaw subtly pumped his left fist as if he was not expecting it, and gave the last person eliminated in the round, a consoling hug./

    "YEAH! I told you B! Ain''t no way dat lil b*tch gon be the one!" The customer who was with Tayaw earlier in the barbershop exclaimed.

    "Yo, chill G''. That''s a JUVENILE right there¡­ Of course he ain''t gon be better." The customer''s friend said.

    The two and their two other neighborhood friends are currently watching the ''Music Night at the Apollo''. Sunday nights should be sports nights for the group of friends but because no major sports started their season yet, they have no sports to watch. The customer, finding out that Tayaw is going to play, called his friends to watch the show together.

    "Ain''t gon lie, I don''t like his music. But he gon win for sure." Another friend remarked.

    "Fo'' sho''. The guitar AND the piano? That''s a modern maestro right there." The customer agreed.

    "B, you forgot he got PIPES! Brother can sing the phonebook." Another friend added.

    "''Dis overkill, man. Ain''t no way he ain''t famous. He be like Corey Hill playin'' college ball. Shiiit." Another friend said in sympathy towards the other acts beside Tayaw.

    "Anyway. ''Dis mof.u.c.kuh GOOD. ''Na mean? Like, superstar GOOD." The customer concluded.

    ---

    Apollo Theater

    "Contestants, please proceed to the backstage and prepare for your final stage. Congratulations." The announcer instructed Tayaw and the two other acts.

    "Man, who is he, really?" contestant 3, who was eliminated in the second round, said to Contestant 7 as they saw Tayaw return with the other finalists in the waiting room.

    "I don''t know. But he has to be famous, right? Maybe famous in the internet." Contestant 7 replied.

    "Maybe, but if he''s a professional, there''s no way the he''s be on the show, right? I mean, they said he''s 18, right? Maybe he''s an amateur with pro skills." Contestant 3 rambled.

    "Maybe. But I''m glad he ain''t gon'' be back if he wins." Contestant 7 said.

 Chapter 127 - Breakfast Analysis and Journalism

    6 am next day ¨C Midtown, Manhattan

    """""

    ¡­ The last night''s Music Night at the Apollo was probably one of the most anti-climactic nights of its history. While the night was filled with great performances from some of the best amateurs, one among them stood out.

    Isaac Yawat, 18, won the night with his incredible cover of ''May This Be Love'' by Miles Brown. Isaac is a good singer, but too good that it made one wonder if he is really an amateur, or an unknown professional.

    With a quick search on the internet, we found that Isaac would not be what one would consider an amateur. Not only is he a rising star in Nashville''s country music scene and has performed alongside one of Nashville''s biggest bands, he is also an in-demand songwriter who has written some hit songs for country stars.

    This made us wonder what really is the criteria for ''amateurs'' to partake in the Music Night. Is Music Night really what we thought of as a show that tells the heartwarming stories of ordinary people with big dreams? ¡­

    """"""""

    "WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK!" The main producer of the show slammed the tabloid newspaper on her office table

    "Rashida, we didn''t know! No wonder he.. well.. He had us distribute his prize money among the contestants!" A producer said in defense.

    "It''s NOT! About! The! F*CKING MONEY! What do we do? OH, what do we do?! Call the --- Ahh sh*t, here''s that asshole." Rashida said when she saw one of the executives of the TV network walk towards her office.

    "Hello James, So you''ve heard?" Rashida sighed when she saw the smug smile on James'' face.

    "Oh, I did. Hahaha. I have to say¡­ *Giggle*" James could not finish his sentence.

    "You''re already here to tell me we''re in trouble, so come on.. Rub it in. Rub the salt to the wound." Rashida said through gritted teeth.

    Both Rashida and James didn''t know where it started but they just never saw eye to eye for years. Perhaps it is because they belong to the opposing parties of the creative side VS the executive side.

    "AH! After years of knowing you, I finally see the great Rashida mess up." James said in glee.

    "SO, what''s the verdict, huh?" Rashida said.

    "Oh nothing. I have to say, after seeing you like this, I don''t hate you as much now. Hmm." James said.

    "Nothing?" Rashida asked to confirm if she heard right.

    "Nothing. Seeing you panic at a small matter like this made my day¡­" James said, smiling and less smug than before.

    "What happened exactly?" Rashida asked.

    "Well, I had the marketing people work on it immediately, and guess what? It''s not a big deal." James reported.

    "Not a big deal?" Rashida is confused at the news.

    "No. First of all, this is the first time this happened to the show. Second, we can just be honest to the reporters and the viewers; it was an honest mistake. Here''s the gist of what the folks downstairs said. We''ve had 500 plus episodes of the show. We''ve had obvious amateur participants so over time, we just assumed that all the people that audition are." James'' report comforted Rashida very much.

    "So, we just come clean, promise that we do background checks again, and let it blow over." Rashida rephrased.

    "Exactly. And, we can just, you know, with the power of suggestion¡­  tell the reporters that you know¡­ it''s Isaac, that little shark, that sneaked in to the fish pond." James said.

    Rashida, however felt guilty at the suggestion. "But, he''s just a kid... He might not have known any better." Rashida said.

    "That''s why we won''t blame the kid blatantly. It''s up for the people to decide. And, it''s not like he can just plead ignorance, which he probably is, because you know, he''s not American." James explained.

    "Can an 18-year-old really handle that?" Rashida asked.

    "An 18-year-old can''t, but Isaac can. The kid is a good songwriter so he''s a cash cow; he has a lot of powerful people he can fall back to. I''ve also read that he won an award for best director at Sorrento, so even if he becomes hated here in America, the rest of the world is enough a playground for the guy. He can take it. We divide this mess between us and him." James said. Rashida is speechless and just shook her head.

    "Why am I explaining this to you? It''s not like I need your permission. All I''m saying is that you don''t have to feel so guilty." James concluded their talk and walked out of Rashida''s office.

    ---

    Jericho, New York ¨C 8am

    Tayaw is cooking a feast for a breakfast when his doorbell rang. *Ding**Dong*

    "Must be Lee. He''s early today." Tayaw said as he heard Lee''s faint voice from outside.

    Tayaw walked to the front door to look at the camera feed of the gate.

    "OH boy." Tayaw sighed however at what he saw.

    Tayaw ran back to the kitchen to adjust the stove before heading outside to welcome the visitors.

    Tayaw opened the gate and he saw what he already expected.

    "Good morning, Duhills." Tayaw greeted Charlotte, and the rest of the Duhill family.

    "Good morning! We just want to meet our celebrity neighbor! I''m Peter. Nice to finally meet you." Peter introduced himself.

    Because he is always busy at work, he never met Tayaw until now.

    "Tayaw. Pleasure to meet you. So Lee told y''all huh? " Tayaw asked.

    "Yep. Here''s a personal welcoming gift from me." Peter said and he handed Tayaw some cards.

    "Mmm. Southdown Coffee?" Tayaw raised his eyebrows at the familiar looking name.

    "Yeah. I think it''s the best coffee place here in Long Island."

    "Really?... Well, thank you Peter. Please, come in." Tayaw said as he led them to his house.

    "Shoes off, please." Lee told his family as they arrived at the doorstep. Having spent some time in Tayaw''s house, Lee already knows Tayaw''s rules.

    "Oh dear, it''s clean¡­" Charlotte gasped at how spotless Tayaw''s house is.

    "Thanks for noticing Charlotte, I like cleaning. Have you guys had breakfast yet?" Tayaw asked.

    "Yes" The family replied except for Lee''s "No." Tayaw raised his brows at the Lee''s answer.

    Tayaw can still smell a whiff of maple syrup when Phil was talking earlier but he offered breakfast just for courtesy.

    "I guess pancakes aren''t enough, lil'' fella?" Tayaw chuckled.

    "I like your food. Haha." Lee shamelessly answered.

    "How''d you know? Pancakes?" Lexi, the second daughter however, is interested in Tayaw''s deduction.

    "Lucky guess?" Tayaw said.

    "Maybe, but I don''t think so. Why not toast? Why not egg and bacon? Statistically speaki-" Lexi started.

    Tayaw already heard about Lexi''s habit of rambling, so he cut her off.

    "Or, I have very sensitive nose that I can smell the maple syrup wafting off of you guys. That narrowed it down to me choosing between pancakes or waffles."  Tayaw''s answer surprised the family.

    "Anyway. Come, I know you already ate but have breakfast with Me." Tayaw said as he led them to the dining area.

    While he liked to devour the feast he is cooking for himself, he loves to cook for other people more and see how they enjoy his food.

    "I have enough seats, please." Tayaw offered them while he resumed cooking.

    A few minutes later, "Enjoy." Tayaw is done cooking.

    "Why are you having dinner for breakfast?" Holly was dumbfounded when Tayaw started serving them.

    "Smells good." Peter on the other hand, didn''t care and smiled at the smell of the skillet grilled chicken b.r.e.a.s.t topped with creamy garlic soup. On the side is a simple vegetable salad made from lettuce, leafy greens, and other chopped vegetables freshly marinated with vinegar, onions and cuc.u.mber.

    "Thanks Peter. Well, Holly. I didn''t know there''s such a distinction from the American breakfast and dinner." Tayaw said. He lied but he does not like eating a lot of carbohydrates for breakfast.

    "MMM! The chicken is perfectly cooked! The sauce is great too." Charlotte savored the chicken and nodded in approval.

    Lee on the other hand, loves to eat the tastiest part of his meals last, so he hesitantly reached for the vegetable salad. While he does not like vegetables, he trusts Tayaw''s cooking after having eaten Tayaw''s food a few times now.

    "Hmm. I like this!" Lee who was wary, was surprised as he chewed on the vegetables.

    His family snapped their heads to Lee''s direction when they heard his remark, surprised because they know Lee does not like eating vegetables.

    "See, honey? Vegetables are good." Peter chuckled.

    "Mom''s veggies don''t taste like this though?" Lexi said after having a taste, while Charlotte felt like she was punched in the gut.

    "Holly¡­ Tayaw can sing, can play piano, can play the guitar, can make a film, and his food is good too. What can you do?" Lee asked, innocently weighing the pros of Holly and Tayaw as he could not wrap his head around the two possibly dating.

    Holly however, felt like her heart was pricked with needles and was forced to look into herself.

    "She''s pretty and she knows how to party. Hahahahaha. But Tayaw is a director; he knows a lot of pretty actresses from parties." Lexi took Lee''s innocent question and turned it into snarky teasing.

    Holly also didn''t try and make fun of Lexi for being a nerd, it being her usual response, as she knows it would only make her look bad in front of Tayaw.

    "That''s enough. You should not be like this in front of the neighbors." Charlotte reprimanded her children.

    Tayaw is not stupid and gathered information at the interaction so he did not ask them what is going on.

    "So, school break, huh? I remember the excitement I felt every time the final exams are over." Tayaw changed the subject.

    "You don''t seem like you go to school though?" Peter asked.

    "No. I quit last year and focused on my music and my movie. Still, I miss being a student. I was a good one too." Tayaw said.

    "Speaking of your movie, I know a small thing about it." Charlotte said. The group turned their attention to her.

    "You know that meal kit service we use for dinners?" Charlotte said as she pulled out the recipe pamphlet from Pink Apron from her pocket.

    "It''s here.." Charlotte said and she showed them the page containing the advertis.e.m.e.nt for Tayaw''s movie.

 Chapter 128 - Basics to Alternative Marketing

    July 5, 2012 ¨C Tuesday 2pm ¨C Los Angeles, California

    "Man, how''d you think the showing''d be?" Aaron asked his band members.

    They just passed by "Welcome to Los Angeles" sign along Highway 99. Since they parted ways with Tayaw in their opening night in Kentucky, they made their way across 8 states cutting through the middle of America.

    Two months: 8 states: 18 cities: 19 out of 22 sold out venues. The band never expected that in each of the places they performed at, they were warmly welcomed. Never in their life had they expected to be at the level of fame they are enjoying but they had to get used to it.

    A part of getting used to their sold-out venues is the anxiety of their upcoming venues being sold out as well. It is not that they do not want to be informed of the ticket sales of their tour, but their promoters told them it is better not to find out and just prepare to perform at any venue like it is sold out.

    Los Angeles especially is a city that the band is both excited and anxious to be at. It is not known for its country music scene and there are plenty of musicians and artists belonging to different genres to satisfy the city population''s music needs.

    "I think it''d still be fine. Look, LA has over 2 million people in it. There has to be country fans among the people. Even if the venues won''t be sold out, I think there''ll be a lot of people." The band''s manager said.

    "What he said." Rez said, who unlike the anxious Aaron, looks a lot more relaxed.

    "Ooh! There''s finally data signal! Hey Blake, did you promote Isaac''s film on our social media?" John suddenly exclaimed.

    "Yeah, I did. Every two or three days. Why are you doing this for him though?" Blake, the band''s manager asked.

    "We owe him. Big time. We won''t be here and you won''t be here without him." Bobby replied and did not explain any further.

    "Huh¡­ Well then, it''s good that I took it seriously. I sent the venues a copy of the movie posters. California is a movie town after all. Oh, you don''t mind if I plug his twitter and Facebook, right?" Blake asked.

    "Yeah. You do that too." John said.

    ---

    New York City ¨C 11 AM ¨C Pink Apron Headquarters

    "Phil! What the fucK?!" A man barged in Phil''s office.

    "For f.u.c.k''s sake, Rahul. Stop yelling and sit your ass down. Who are you scaring?" Phil said to Rahul, Pink Apron''s Chief Operations Officer.

    "Phil. I''m alright with Tayaw''s posters on our boxes, but why did you include his f.u.c.k.i.n.g CD too? Behind my back too?" Rahul said after taking a seat.

    Rahul is currently complaining about the CDs of ''September Ninth'' soundtrack that Tayaw had Phil include in the Pink Apron boxes.

    "Ughh. Because I know you''re a ¡­ purist. I know you won''t agree. Want to hear why we''re doing this?" Phil said.

    "Fine." Rahul said, calming down a bit.

    "You already know that we''re not retaining most of our subscribers, right? So, to appreciate and improve loyalty of our subscribers, Tayaw decided to give them a freebie. Not only are those CDs not for sale currently, people can only get them if they''re our subscriber." Phil explained.

    "Okay. I get it. That all sounds good and all, but how much did that cost us?" Rahul asked.

    "Nothing. The cost of CDs, setting up the promo codes, to the cost of printing his flyers, they''ve all come from Tayaw''s pockets." Phil explained. Rahul calmed down totally at this.

    "Hmm. But why is he using our company? Yes, he''s majority owner, but why Pink Apron?" Rahul asked confused.

    "Here''s the thing. This is a two-way promotion. We promote his film; the film will show our company. He made a scene that specifically shows our pink box being used by the main character. It appears organically too and it''s not an obvious advertis.e.m.e.nt." Phil explained.

    "Product Placement!" Rahul said in excitement.

    "Exactly. While we were dreaming of doing it before, Tayaw already is doing it for us." Phil said.

    ---

    Jericho, Long Island ¨C 11 AM

    "Mm. Finally." Tayaw finally had his Facebook and Twitter accounts as ''T.L.D. Grimmauld'' verified.

    T.L.D. Grimmauld''s social media accounts have been active for a while now and have been posting quotes from his book along with photos that might relate to the quotes. Tayaw also uploaded some photos of Agew''s potteries inspired from Tayaw''s books. But because he does not have the coveted blue check mark, his social media accounts do not have the credibility of actually being T.L.D. Grimmauld''s.

    Unlike in the future where the verification process is very stringent and requiring at least 500 followers, the verification in 2012 is simpler and having 10 followers is enough. The process for verification also has one step that Tayaw did not want to deal with; the Photo I.D. for identification purposes. So, after failing on circ.u.mventing that step, Tayaw resorted to Erik''s help.

    All Tayaw had to do is have Topaz Publishing''s president, Erik Goomal, and Black Deer Pictures'' president Yarag Darbut, call Twitter and Facebook''s offices in Teungeb to vouch for Tayaw''s identity.

    "Now, let''s do this." Tayaw said as he started typing with a sh*t eating grin on his face.

    ---

    *CRASHHH!* A woman is currently playing in her bas.e.m.e.nt bowling alley.

    "Nice one Jas. You''re getting better at this." Her friend complimented as she prepared for her turn.

    "Double strike, girl. I''m catching up." Jas said.

    *Crash* "Phew. At least I have chance for a spare." The friend said after only knocking 7 pins.

    *Whistle! * Jasmine''s phone received a Twitter Notification.

    "Ugh. Another hate post¡­ Hm? Blue mark? T.L.D. Grimmauld¡­. WHAT THE FU-?!" Jas exclaimed at her phone.

    "Girl, what''s wrong?" The friend asked.

    "Someone just attacked my book!" Jas said.

    "What? You get hate comments all the time?" Jasmine''s Friend asked.

    "This is different, Casey! It''s that fantasy book author! How dare this.. how dare he.." Jas could not even finish her sentence before she started tapping away at her phone.

    Casey looked at Tayaw''s post and was annoyed too. " ''A book for teenage girls''?! WHAT?!"

    |I can''t take your comment seriously, coming from you who wrote fairy tales''| ¡­ This *sshole." Jas cursed as she sent her reply.

    Jasmine Brown, or Jas to her friends and family, is one of America''s most beloved novelists known for her romance novels. Her 350 thousand Twitter followers is an evidence of how famous she is. T.L.D. Grimmauld is very memorable for her because Tayaw''s books always outsold her books despite the extensive marketing her publisher does.

    ---

    "Hmm good point¡­" Tayaw mumbled as he considered for a moment. A few seconds later, he started typing.

    ---

    |@JasmineBrown Well, I can''t take your book seriously. Coming from an author who targets a.d.u.l.t audiences, the romance in your book is even more unrealistic than my fairy tales. Good job. You''re a better fairy tale writer than me. |

    "What the f*ck is wrong with him??!!!" Jas said and is now struggling for a reply.

    Unlike any other hate comment she dealt before, Tayaw never attacked her identity or personality but stayed focused on her book alone. Had Tayaw attacked her personality or identity, she would have the right to accuse Tayaw of libel or defamation.

    Before she can even think of a reply, *Whistle* another reply came in.

    |@jasminebrown I mean, a guy following her love interest home? That''s not a prince charming, that''s a creep. Handsome, yes, but a creepy stalker nonetheless. |

    *REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE* Jas screamed in frustration. Her friend on the other hand, is trying not to laugh at Tayaw''s tweets.

    ---

    It did not take long before Jasmine''s fans took notice.

    "Who the f*ck are you? You f*ckin nothing!"

    "What''s your problem? How about you write a book?"

    "You''re in trouble now, I''ll have you hacked, *sshole!"

    The Jasmine''s fans started backing up Jasmine once they noticed that Jasmine did not reply to Tayaw any further.

    While the fans are busy defending Jasmine, some spectators are enjoying the show and started sharing Tayaw''s posts about Jasmine.

    "Oh my God! I can''t believe it! Grimmauld is crazy!"

    "Holy sh*t! That makes sense! HAHAHAHAHA"

    "I read the book, but I didn''t see it that way. Now that I think about it, ***** is really a stalker! Hahahaha!"

    ---

    |***** having ample beard but has hairless shiny chest? How on earth did that happen? You should have written that he went for a Brazilian, and then your novel would have been a comedy as well. An architect going for a Brazilian like a vain celebrity? Now that''s funny. |

    Tayaw made another post. He made sure to stay on Jasmine''s book alone. If he attacked anything else about Jasmine, it would also ruin T.L.D Grimmauld''s reputation. Tayaw only criticizing Jasmine''s book will only make him appear as an outspoken and unreasonable critic.

    It is also not in Tayaw''s nature to attack someone''s identity as a person.

    ---

    "I don''t care! He''s perfect!"

    "You have the hairy chest!"

    "Don''t you have something better to do with your life?"

    Jasmine''s fans are still proving their loyalty.

    "LMAO" "Yooooo¡­"

    "I''m an architect, and I assure you I don''t know any of my associates going for a Brazilian. Hahaha."

    Jasmine''s fans, however are obviously starting to lose ground. Them not addressing Tayaw''s nitpicky but logical posts and instead are attacking Tayaw''s identity is making them look like an unreasonable mob to the eyes of the spectators.

    "Hey! Now I know where I saw that name from! He''s the guy who wrote ''The Halfling''!"

    "He also wrote ''Grimm''s Fairy Tales''!"

    "Oh my god! I never thought he''s like this! HAHAHA!"

    The spectators who were wondering who it was that had the balls to attack Jasmine, also started looking up and figuring out T.L.D Grimmauld''s identity.

    ---

    "Haha. It''s going easier than I thought." Tayaw chuckled at the number of followers his Grimmauld account now.

    Before Tayaw had received the verification notice, T.L.D Grimmauld''s Twitter account only had 50 or so followers but after only a few minutes of antagonizing Jasmine, his followers grew to more than three thousand.

    |If I would be writing romance, I wish it would be like a book version of ''September Ninth''. It''s that movie that won Fioro D''Oro this year. The premise is unrealistic but the romance is cool. |

    He is attacking Jasmine to get traction and promote his movie. He could have used other ways to gain internet fame, but becoming infamous is way easier. He is also inspired to do this by how the social media stars in the future would attack each other both online and in real life to boost their following.

    The social media of the celebrities, belonging to the companies that bought Tayaw''s songs, have also promoted his movie. While their promotions gained attention of their fans, Tayaw is not satisfied with the uncertainty of how much movie goers they will attract.

    The reason why he chose to attack Jasmine first is because she is also an author. His persona attacking another author would get more attention. And the second reason is Tayaw actually read Jasmine''s books because he got curious at the best-selling author. He did not like her books however.

 Chapter 129 - Basics to Alternative Marketing (2)

    "Ooh. Let''s get him with this." Jasmine finally saw something she can come back to because she saw September Ninth during the Sorrento Film festival.

    She was also invited to Sorrento last May because a previous novel of hers was made into a movie.

    |I saw the film. You''re daydreaming if you think you can write something like it. Just focus on your fairy tales. |

    "That was okay... I guess." Casey said, finding Jasmine''s response a little bit weak.

    ---

    |Maybe it was you who is daydreaming while writing your books¡­ Anyway. Your book is still well written. I hope we can collaborate in the future when I write the next volume of my fairy tales. |

    Tayaw has had enough and sent one last post for Jasmine, for now.

    ---

    *huff**huff* "Casey, help me sh*t on his guy. He can''t just get away with it." Jasmine who was sweating from playing bowling earlier, is now drenched in sweat in anger.

    "Alright. I have in fact read some of his stuff too." Casey just shook her head.

    ---

    "One down. Next." Tayaw started typing again.

    Tayaw''s next target is the singer slash actor 26-year-old Nathan Barnes. Nathan Barnes is not the best actor around but because of his good looks, he has a lot of fans and is generally very marketable. Tayaw is confused as to why Nathan is still as popular and would be still in the future despite the numerous instances of his bad behavior towards his fans.

    Nathan also rubbed Tayaw the wrong way in his previous life. Nathan was not that great a singer and never wrote a single song, but whenever he puts out a new single, it becomes a hit despite the subpar music. Now that Tayaw has the eyes of a film maker, his dislike of Nathan deepened after seeing Nathan''s poor acting skills.

    Nathan also currently has an incredible following of 3.9 million followers on Twitter. This number tempted Tayaw''s hands like how a Samoyed''s fur would to a dog lover.

    Taya quickly looked up the first movie scene of Nathan he could find in YouTube, copied the link and tagged Nathan on Twitter with a post.

    |@therealnathanbarnes Ah my gawd. Your fans actually call this kindergarten acting, a performance? Jesus Christ. It''s KINDERACTING, I say! |

    ---

    "Check this out! Oh my God I can''t believe this is happening! LOL XD!"

    "Holy sh*t! He''s even crazier than I thought!"

    "We''re in for a show, boys!!!"

    Tayaw''s new followers feel another brewing of chaos and they entered an extreme state of anticipation.

    "DUMB B*TCH! I BET YOU''RE ONE UGLY B*TCH!"

    "@tldGrimmauld, fight me!"

    "Hey D*ouchebag! Who the f*ck are you?"

    "@tldGrimmauld must have been hit in the head as a child."

    It also did not take long for Nathan''s fans to notice.

    ---

    "CUT! Alright, see you tomorrow Nathan." A film director said in relief. It took 14 shots for Nathan to get his lines right.

    "Thanks. I''ll see you then." Nathan said as he went back to his trailer.

    Nathan''s manager handed him his phone with a complicated expression.

    "What? Something happened?" Nathan asked noticing.

    "Nothing. Someone posted something about you on Twitter." The manager said.

    "Ugh¡­ another hater. Don''t these people have something better to do?" Nathan said as he unlocked his phone.

    A few seconds later, "Kinderacting?!" Nathan was dumbfounded at Tayaw''s insult.

    "F*ck, I know I''m not the best actor, but kindergarten acting? Isn''t that too much?!" Nathan knows that he is only marketable because of his looks and he has always felt inferior about his acting.

    "Hey, how do I reply?" Nathan asked his manager.

    "Hmmmm¡­ just call him cruel or something. I''m not sure." The manager replied.

    Both Nathan and his manager know about Nathan''s subpar acting so they both did not bother addressing directly at Tayaw''s jab.

    |@tldGrimmauld I can stand this cruelty but I hope you find something better to do with your time.|

    ---

    "Ooh. Peaceful, non-confrontational, and respectful. That was clever." Tayaw nodded at Nathan''s response.

    Tayaw however was annoyed at a word Nathan used and quickly came up with another reply through word association.

    |@therealnathanbarnes Cruelty? I''ll tell you what''s cruelty. Good deserving actors who got their roles take away.|

    |@therealnathanbarnes They just needed one last push and someone took their opportunity away. Now they''re starving. AH! The cruelty!|

    ---

    "How the f*ck is that my fault?!" Nathan exclaimed. He is now feeling wronged.

    "I know I''m a sell-out, but what am I supposed to do? Not take the money? Who the f*ck is this asshole?" Nathan said through gritted teeth.

    He knows that Tayaw is right however. He became a star at the tender age of 17 and since then, he never ran out of acting roles. He is also very aware that there are better actors than him and it gave him fear to compete with them.  With that fear, he did not hesitate to take the roles he was offered and made money to make his and his family''s lives better.

    "Relax. You gave opportunities to good actors, which is a good thing. Don''t take this joker seriously. Give me your phone before you post something stupid." The manager consoled Nathan.

    Nathan, to neutralize his guilt of indirectly taking away jobs from more deserving actors, has helped some obscure actors to land auditions they otherwise would not have the opportunity of participating in.

    ---

    "WHOOAHH!"

    "BUUURNNN!"

    "He said it! He f*ckin said it! LMFAO!"

    Tayaw''s new followers and spectators are now clamoring. While they see Tayaw''s point, they are also venting their jealousy of Nathan''s success.

    "@tldGrimmauld. Zack Stone, Elliot Day, Jayden Fischer. Sound familiar? Nathan helped their career."

    "If directors want him, what is he supposed to do? Shut the f*ck up!" "So, what if they''re better actors? They don''t look as good."

    Nathan''s fans meanwhile are also hell bent on defending Nathan.

    ---

    "Okay. I got emotional." Tayaw shook his head.

    He was only supposed to criticize Nathan''s acting skills but Nathan''s use of the word ''cruelty'' triggered him out of nowhere.

    The frustration he felt in his previous life when he and the Percussive Corrections were not recognized despite being better musicians than most of the famous acts came flooding back to him; and Cruelty was the exact word Tayaw used often in his past life to describe the situation they were in.

    While Tayaw knows that Nathan is barely at fault at how the movie industry is, he does not want to back down from his last post.

    |@thesegustthings 3 actors, and a few more. That''s nothing compared to the number of his undeserved roles. Boohoo. Good job to Nathan.|

    |@thesegustythings how many roles did Nathan really audition for? If Nathan can land a leading role by competing with other actors, then your point is valid.|

    ---

    "@tldGrimmauld HEAR HEAR! BABY!"

    "PUH-REACH BROTHER!" "I can act better than Nathan, but I''m here doing plumbing. F*ck Nathan."

    "Nathan can''t even win an Actor''s Globe, and that award is a sham. I can''t believe he''s famous." Tayaw''s new followers and the third parties are now helping Tayaw to pile on Nathan and his fans.

    Nathan''s supporters on the other hand, are only hurling insults now that have nothing to do with defending Nathan.

    ---

    Seeing that there is nothing worth responding to among Nathan''s fans, he no longer paid attention to their posts. He instead decided to have some fun with his new followers.

    |@lemonhermit I can act better than Nathan, but I''m here writing books. F.u.c.k my life¡­ XD|

    |@TLDGrimmauld If Nathan can win an Actor''s Globe, then I can win an Academy Award.|

    "BRUUHHH! XDDDDDD!"

    "#GrimmauldForBestActor!"

    "#lemonhermitforbestactor" Tayaw''s followers are having a blast.

    Tayaw''s recent tweets however, gave Nathan''s fans an opening.

    "What do you know about acting!"

    "@tldgrimmauld acting? That''s the biggest joke I''ve ever heard today!"

    "You were acting like a hero for unknown actors earlier, now you''re making a joke of their job. What a hypocrite."

    It did not take long before Tayaw replied.

    |@nathanspillow I''m not making fun of the actors, I''m making fun of Nathan''s acting skills.|

    |@daphne88 I know enough to say that Nathan is a bad actor. Swap his role as ***** to his role in ***** and no one would notice. I saw good acting recently in ''September Ninth'', a Fiore D''oro winner in Sorrento.|

    |@daphne88 That film not being nominated for the Best Actor award is another injustice.|

    |@sgLovah The joke is paying Nathan for acting like himself, not the character. He played a basketball player, he can''t even move and act like one. WTF|

    |@sgLovah He can''t even play himself right. That''s another joke for you.|

    Another round of insults came Tayaw''s way from Nathan''s fans. Tayaw''s fans on the other hand, stepped back to once again watch the spectacle.

    A few moments later, Nathan''s fans have their back up arrive.

    |@tldGrimmauld. You sad, untalented, sack of sh*t.|

    |@tldGrimmauld Nathan is a singer too! He has two jobs! Give him a break.|

    |@tldGrimmauld I''m disappointed. I didn''t know you were like this. I love your books too."|

    |@tldGrimmauld Why are you doing this?!|

    Tayaw has now switched to his computer to catch up as much as he can to the tweets and to launch more tweets to Nathan.

    |@kCooldown Oh! I forgot his music sucks too! He sounds like this *goatbelching.gif*|

    |@tinapuss At least I''m talented in one aspect. Nathan isn''t a talented actor or a singer. Unless being handsome is a talent. Open your eyes and ears!|

    |@holdingnathandown Thank you for reading my book, dear reader. My personality however, has nothing to do with my creations. It''s not like I''m saying anything wrong either.|

    |@therealnathanbarnes How is this guy not selling more records than you? *link/youtube/isaacyawatstrawberryfront/**link/youtube/percussivecorrections/*|

    |@therealnathanbarnes I find it unbelievable. Like, I LITERALLY CANNOT BELIEVE that your fans think you''re a better singer than the guy.|

    Tayaw took this opportunity to promote his musician persona. Tayaw also made sure to impress anyone that would click on his links so he chose the video of his best guitar solo performance and the video where he sang the most high notes and vocal runs.

    He is also confident in bragging his skills compared to Nathan''s singing. After all, Tayaw now considers himself an actual artist.

 Chapter 130 - Intro to Alternative Marketing

    |@therealnathanbarnes Hey Nathan. You should check out a film I saw in Sorrento. It won top awards too so it''s coming to America soon. Maybe you''ll learn what real acting really looks like.|

    "I''m done, man! Everybody''s gonna see I''m a f*ckin phony! I''m gonna f*ckin have that bastard whacked. Find him!" Nathan is at the verge of tears from Tayaw''s comments.

    This is not the first time someone criticized his acting and his music. It is also not the first time he was confronted by people in both the music and film/tv industries about his skills. This time however, is his first time to be publicly called out and humiliated like this.

    "Jesus Christ Nathan. Here, have a drink." The manager never saw Nathan like this so he just poured Nathan a drink.

    "We''ll have PR people handle this. I don''t think a lot of people saw this anyway. You have faithful fans too, so calm down." The manager consoled Nathan.

    Nathan however is currently inconsolable and is now at the point of hysteria.

    *CRASH* *CRASH* *SNAP* All sorts of things are being thrown and broken inside the trailer. The manager was afraid that he was going to be vented on next, but thankfully Nathan did not. After every furniture and appliance in the trailer is broken, Nathan exhausted his energy and plopped down on the couch.

    "I''m gonna show that f*king guy. Sh*t, I''m gonna f*ckin audition. I''m gonna f*ckin win a f*ckin award. And I''ll take that f*ckin trophy and I''m gonna f*ckin shove it up his f*ckin *ass. F*cking b*tch¡­"

    "Hey Nathan, slow down. Are you serious? What are you saying? Audition? Are you crazy?!" The manager did not want to take Nathan''s rambling seriously, but with how serious Nathan is in his state currently, he is afraid.

    "YEAH! I''m F*CKIN CRAZY! After this filming is over, cancel everything. CANCEL THEM! Book me an acting coach, a vocal coach, whatever!" Nathan yelled.

    "How about the penalties, huh? What are you gonna do about them?" The manager argued.

    "What?! Do you think I can''t afford them? I''m rich! I''ll sell one of my houses if I have to!... Sh*t¡­ As much as I hate that bastard, he''s f*ckin right¡­ I can''t let him get away with this. Hey, I''ll sue him too."

    "Sue him? We don''t even know who he is or where he''s from. Us suing will just make you look like you''re admitting what he said." The manager said.

    ===

    Ouigab 3 pm

    Chala''s car is on the way to Tayaw''s house in Ironstone. It is not Chala, however who is driving the car.

    "Turn right over there." Chala said to Payew.

    "Here? Okay." Payew replied.

    Today is the day that Payew is to move to Ouigab for his senior year in high school. Just like Tayaw arranged with his family, Payew was picked up by Chala from Liboo''s workshop in Jebung. The part that Tayaw doesn''t know however is that Payew asked Chala to drive Chala''s car, which Chala hesitantly agreed to.

    "I have to say, I did not expect you to drive smoothly." Chala said.

    "Haha. I''ve been driving even before I got my license, so no biggie. I''m still getting used to city traffic though. There are a LOT of bad drivers here." Payew remarked.

    "Mmm. Sometimes your driving ability is not enough to prevent accidents, so be careful with reckless or bad drivers." Chala warned.

    "Noted." Payew nodded.

    "By the way, would you like to pick up the Jeep I bought you now? It''s by my house, sitting pretty." Chala asked.

    "Can we do it tomorrow? I want to see Tayaw''s house and his mates first." Payew said.

    "Okay. You''ll probably like it there. It''s just as quiet as your house in Okuba and those kids are the best ones you could possibly live with." Chala said proudly, remembering the very short time he spent as an unofficial agent for Percussive Corrections.

    "Great. I''ve heard good things about them from Tayaw." Payew replied.

    Fifteen or so minutes later, Payew and Chala arrived at Ironstone and parked in front of the gate of Tayaw''s house.

    "Damn. It''s not his house in New York but still, this is huge." Payew gaped at size of Tayaw''s house.

    "True. Even my house is not as pretty and huge as this." Chala sighed.

    "Anyway. Tayaw''s kids might already be home. They can help you with your luggage." Chala said.

    "Okay¡­Kids?" Payew asked, confused.

    "Oh, I mean his band. Wait a second, I''ll announce our arrival." Chala said and pressed the bell by the gate.

    A few moments later, the gate opened and Payew parked the car carefully inside the garage, beside Tayaw''s truck. After getting out the car, Payew walked towards Tayaw''s pick-up truck and examined it.

    "Hey, why can''t I just drive this one? Why''d you have to get me a new car?" Payew could not help but ask.

    "Oh, trust me. I don''t know when will Tayaw be back, but when he does, he will have a great need for it. It''s better for you to have your own." Chala said.

    "How about the van outside?" Payew asked?

    "Oh, that''s for Tayaw''s friends. And.. don''t say you''ll ride with them. They don''t have time to drive you to Rinowra. You also can''t drive it as their schedules will be affected if they wait for you to pick them up from school." Chala explained.

    Payew found it made sense so he just nodded.

    Their talk was interrupted when they heard "Hey! Hey! He''s here!" and shortly after, six people entered the garage.

    "Hello! Payew, right? I''m Ike. Nice to meet you. This is the band, you will get to know them better later." Ike introduced himself.

    "I''m Ramil. We''ll help you unpack." Ramil introduced himself.

    "Thanks Ramil. I already know each of you. I''ve seen all y''all videos. Tayaw also had me look at your Facebook profiles. Nice to meet you all." Payew said.

    "Well, that''s good. You''ll have fun here with us." Jenna said.

    "Y-Yeah."  Payew was taken aback that a pretty girl like Jenna is talking to him.

    ** Preacher, preacher, please save me I met a man, white as a cotton field. ** Thankfully, Chala''s phone ringing saved Payew from acting any more awkward as they all looked at Chala. Chala on the other hand, paid them no mind and picked up the call.

    "Hello Erik! It''s been a while.. Uhh.. Uhuh¡­ WHAT?!" Chala exclaimed, attracting the attention of Payew and the band once again.

    "Excuse me. Y''all take care of this." Chala excused himself and entered his car for privacy.

    ===

    Jericho, New York

    /Tayaw! Are you F*ckin crazy?! What''s wrong with you?!/ An hour or two after Tayaw started his attacks, he received a frantic call from Chala.

    "Yep. I''m crazy! But come on, relax. It''s a marketing tactic." Tayaw said, already figuring out Chala''s purpose of calling.

    /Marketing tactic?! How is slandering supposed to be marketing?!/ Chala said.

    "Hey. Any type of publicity is still publicity. Also, it''s not slander. Borderline, yes, but I''ve read up on the guy. Everything I said about him wasn''t really that direct, the ''shoe just fits him''."

    /It would affect your image! Ever thought about that?! Delete your posts before it''s too late!/ Chala is not convinced.

    "HAH! I won''t! Even if I did, a lot of Nathan''s fans probably took a photo of them already. Hahaha. Am I ruining my rep to Nathan''s fans? Yeah. How about my image to other parties? Just look at the comments and responses, they''re having a great time!" Tayaw did not budge.

    /Let me see¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Oh sh*t. You''re actually right. BUT! There''s still more negative posts about you!/ Chala said.

    "So what? Everyone can see that all of those negative ones are Nathan''s fans and actually have nothing to say about Nathan''s acting and singing. Look, I now have more than twenty thousand followers. Just an hour ago, I only had 50. That''s positive." Tayaw said.

    /What if he sues you? Then what?/ Chala said.

    "The he can go ahead and sue me. BUT, he''s got nothing to build a case. Not even his agency can sue me. The only thing I can be sued with is me saying that he stole roles from actors. Even then, with how I did not outright accuse him and just implied, it''s very easy to defend. Take a look."

    /F*ck. When I told you to give me something to do, I did not imagine it to be like this./ Chala sighed.

    "You don''t even have to do anything about this. Just sit back and enjoy the show." Tayaw said.

    /Enjoy the show my *ss. Even Erik was hounding me when he got wind of what you were doing./ Chala said.

    "Did you handle it? Just tell him he has nothing to worry about and tell him of my plans. Nathan isn''t a big deal if you look at the bigger picture." Tayaw said.

    /Tsk. Alright. Wait a minute ¡­ I have to say¡­ your posts are quite fun to read now that I''ve calmed down./ Chala chuckled.

    "Hmm. I''m just telling what I think. Anyway, I won''t stop here. I may have to call out other celebrities too but it won''t be as bad as Nathan." Tayaw warned Chala.

    /You''re not done?! Wh- Wh- ¡­ FINE! Man, I know I can''t stop you anyway. Just be careful¡­ Americans have sued for less./ Chala gave up, for now.

    "Thanks. I''ll be careful."

    ===

    |@EvanPoole You call this singing? How? *doghowling.gif*|

    |@queenthany you call your disgrace of an album, music? *phonebook.jpg*|

    |@AvaRichards How were you paid in this role? It must be nice getting paid by just memorizing lines. What a waste.|

    |@ChrisCriss best original song? More like best original nursery rhyme. I know a teenager who wrote better songs than this noise you call a song.|

    |@JulianneSaunders All the CEOs I know are busy especially the young ones. Your CEO in your novel however, awfully has a LOT of free time. What are you? 12? CEOs don''t spend their time on a bath tub or sipping coffee by their office window.|

    Tayaw who started this trouble for marketing purposes, now finds criticizing famous people fun. With the continuous rise in his social media following and the attention it is gathering, Tayaw is feeling more and more validated and felt less and less guilty throwing insults around.

    He finds nothing in this world that has given him as much entertainment as the pieces of works that he received from the giant roulette. So, with this opportunity, he decided to make an entertainment that he can easily share with others.

 Chapter 131 - Caffeine Study of Film Making

    The next day, 7 am ¨C Southdown Coffee, Long Island

    Tayaw is currently sitting inside the coffee shop that his neighbor, Peter Duhill recommended. It is quite an odd sight for a young man like him who is wearing a hoody to be proudly reading a tabloid newspaper while sipping on a warm cup of black coffee.

    While Tayaw usually opts for reliable newspapers for his dose of current affairs, the tabloid''s front page attracted him, so he bought it.

    """"""

    Best-selling Author Launches Attacks on Social Media

    Yesterday morning, the author T.L.D Grimmauld known for his best-selling books ''Grimm''s Fairy Tales'' and ''The Halfling'', shocked the online community after he started bombarding various figures in the entertainment industry on the Facebook and Twitter.

    The author began his armada by criticizing his fellow author, Jasmine Brown''s latest romance novel.

    "A senseless romantic story suited for the romantic fantasies of teenage girls¡­"

    Grimmauld commented on various aspects of Brown''s novel like its unrealistic romance and character flaws.

    After a few exchanges with Brown and her fans in social media, Grimmauld moved on to the actor and singer Nathan Barnes¡­

    """"""

    While the story of his previous day''s online activities are not headline news in the tabloid, Tayaw still felt a strange feeling of satisfaction from it as one of the things he hoped for happened exactly like he wanted.

    The novelty and outright violation of decorum by his behavior online gathered enough attention for it to spill outside just the social media platforms and became an interesting story for uninvolved people. This will be an additional help to make his personas famous.

    *Flip* He closed the newspaper and switched on his laptop. He went online to look if there are more articles on the internet and online portals about him. He was surprised to find more than he expected.

    Just like the tabloid, many entertainment journalists online also jumped on him. Some are objective and just stated what happened, many are criticizing him for his rudeness, and a considerable few are expounding on the criticisms that Tayaw posted. Overall, Tayaw figured he achieved his objective.

    There was however an article that caught his eyes.

    """""

    Social Media Drama. A Marketing Ploy?

    ¡­ ¡­ While the author''s criticisms towards his peers have been valid, we at the ***** Sun could not help but theorize that T.L.D Grimmauld is purposely ruffling feathers.

    The author has been blatantly promoting a certain international singer/director in some of his tweets. The singer/director in question recently won a prestigious award as a director and his film that won the grand prize, is opening in American theaters soon.

    In July 1, a similar situation happened when various singers posted on their social media promoting the same film that T.L.D Grimmauld has been posting about.

    While we judged that the director/singer is indeed talented, we wonder what T.L.D Grimmauld''s relationship is with the singer/director that of all the talented artists, it had to be that one man¡­

    """""

    "Heh. They got me." Tayaw chuckled and said sarcastically. It did not take long for many of the netizens to figure out that his smack posting the day before is for marketing.

    While he could have thrown other artists to recommend other than himself, Tayaw wanted to establish an impression to people that T.L.D Grimmauld and Isaac Yawat are closely acquainted. This way, his two personas will share each other''s following.

    After browsing some more articles about him, Tayaw''s third cup of coffee of the morning ran out and ordered another cup. Tayaw then put away his laptop and pulled out his sketch book. Because of his storyboarding for ''September Ninth'' his ill.u.s.tration skills have improved a lot.

    Since he came to New York and finished his business at both Pink Apron and Cognito, he found nothing to do. What he found however is that his interest in film making slowly grew. With this interest, Tayaw studied the movies he received from the Giant Roulette more closely and noticed a lot of things that he did not notice before.

    To make learning those movies easier, Tayaw started storyboarding and ill.u.s.trating the movie starting with the ''Sunken State''. He also wrote some side notes regarding the stuff he realized or learned from the scene he storyboarded. In the film ''Sunken State'', he noticed that every scene has a secret in it. For example, he noticed zoom-ins and zoom-outs of the frame and how it built up tension. He also noticed the play on colors and lighting based in each character''s perspective.

    In the bottom of the page he ill.u.s.trated, he also placed annotations about the screenplay and plot. For ''Sunken State'', he noted many scenes that foreshadow important plot points and revelations. He also noted the parallels it has on the racial issues in the real world.

    While Tayaw is lost in storyboarding the scenes of ''Sunken State'', he was interrupted when someone joined him at his table.

    "Hey, Tayaw. Busy?" Tayaw looked up and saw Peter Duhill, his next-door neighbor.

    "Yep." Tayaw closed his sketchbook. "But I''ve got time for a neighbor. I have to say, I like the coffee here, Peter." Tayaw said.

    "I told you. It completes my mornings. Anyway¡­ Writing a comic book, huh?" Peter chuckled.

    "Yep. Something like that. This however, will be made into a movie." Tayaw revealed.

    "OH? Your film hasn''t come out here in America yet, and you''re already planning on making one?" Peter asked.

    "Hey, what would I rather do?" Tayaw shrugged his shoulders.

    "That¡­ hmm. Good point. If only Holly is as motivated as you¡­" Peter sighed.

    "Ah. She just hasn''t found her interest and what she''s good at yet. I''m just lucky that I discovered what I''m good at, at a very early age." Tayaw consoled Peter.

    "I hope you''re right. Still, I''m concerned. Most kids your age would still be lying on their beds at this hour¡­" Peter said.

    "What about you, Peter? Your kids might still be in bed, and here you are, already doing the daily grind." Tayaw said, changing the topic.

    "Well, the real estate business is busier than most people think." Peter said.

    "I see. Well, I think I-"*chime**chime* Tayaw was about to say something when the caf¨¦''s door opened.

    Tayaw would have continued his sentence but chose not to when he saw recognition in Peter''s eyes as Peter looked towards the door.

    "Looks like my day starts now. That''s my guy over there." Peter said as the man who just entered the door took a seat on the table near the door.

    "It''s nice to see you, Tayaw." Peter said as he stood up.

    "Have a nice day, Peter." Tayaw said.

    Tayaw however got his interest piqued. Peter''s ''guy'' looks nothing like what Tayaw expected Peter to do business with. The guy is wearing a nice red suit but no tie, and his black shiny hair is brushed up and back and gelled. Tayaw figured the man as being an Italian descent.

    Tayaw''s curiosity was yet again raised when he saw Peter reach to his jacket''s inner pocket and pulled out a thick envelope and handed it casually to the ''guy''. The guy opened the envelope and pulled out folded pieces of paper and started reading. While Tayaw does not like eavesdropping, he feels that this situation is different.

    A minute or two later, "By the way, why is it you today? Where''s Marco?" Peter asked the guy.

    "He made captain. Lucky bastard." The guy replied.

    "Hah. I knew it was gonna happen soon. He deserves it." Peter smiled.

    "Yeah. Well, at least I get to work with you." The guy said.

    "Hmm. Thankfully we know each other. I don''t like the other captains, they''re too dirty for me."

    "Hey, ''Landlord''. Watch it." The guy said.

    "Whoah. Okay. I will. But, you know what I mean. Hell, I should even be working under Baldini. I like Marco, but why can''t Baldini handle legal business?" Peter said.

    "Good joke. I like it..." The guy sarcastically replied. "I don''t know why Marco didn''t tell you before, but you''re not a shark, Peter. Baldini has more important things on his hands." The guy said.

    "Pff. I''m not stupid, Lucas. He didn''t have to tell me and I''m good where I am.  I''m just saying, you know. Anyway, send my congratulations to Marco." Peter said.

    "Yeah. See you next week." Lucas said as he put away the envelope and ordered something. Peter on the other hand, stood up and left the caf¨¦.

    From what Tayaw can gather, Peter is most probably managing a mafia family''s real estate business. After a quick search on the mafia''s usual chain of command on his phone, Tayaw figured that Lucas is a ''made man'', a soldier, the bottom level member in Italian mobs. Despite being a soldier, he is still a member and would be considered lower management. He manages some ''associates'', non-member members of the mafia; and gets a cut of these associates'' rackets or businesses.

    Peter, on the other hand, does not seem like a regular associate and might be an actual employee hired by the mafia family to manage their real estate business.

    Marco, who Peter used to directly work with, is a soldier who was recently promoted to a ''capo'', or a captain. A captain will be managing at least ten soldiers and would be getting some cut from what the soldiers make.

    Finally, Baldini who Peter wants to work under may be the mafia family''s underboss, and what could be considered higher level management. If what Tayaw read in the internet is correct, then Baldini is in charge of bribing police chiefs and politicians to do the mafia family''s bidding.

    Even though Tayaw has heard that crime families in New York City is only now a fraction of their power thirty or so years ago, he is still very curious as he knows of the mystique of the American Mafia.

    "If it was in my past life, I wouldn''t be doing this." Tayaw mumbled to himself as he hurriedly packed his things, left the cafe, and got inside his car.

    He did not leave yet however and is now watching Lucas inside the coffee shop through his car window. He is planning on following Lucas to see what a mafia member''s day is.

 Chapter 132 - Artistic Impression of Community Psychology

    July 8, 2012 ¨C Sunday 9 am ¨C Ironstone, East Ouigab

    "Oooh. I don''t want a fight, baby

    I hate that we''re that way lately¡­"

    Ramil sang. The band is currently practicing one of Inson''s songs. Since Tayaw decided them ready to release an album, the band has been working hard on arranging and writing lyrics for the songs written by Bay-an, Hoon, and Inson.

    "STOP!" Inson shook his head.

    "What''s wrong?" Ramil asked.

    "The lyrics are odd." Inson said.

    "Agree. ''No, I don''t wanna let you down, I feel we''re crazy now.'' Something feels off." Ike agreed as he sang a part of the lyrics again.

    "It sounds okay to me." Jenna said, confused.

    "It doesn''t connect." Bay-an said.

    "Hmmm.." The band collectively contemplated.

    A moment later, Ramil noticed something.

    "What''s up Payew?" Ramil asked Payew who has been watching them practice.

    "I didn''t say anything?" Payew said.

    "No, you didn''t, but your face did." Ramil said.

    "Come on, out with-it man. It may help." Ike said.

    "No no no. It''s you guys'' song. Don''t worry about me." Payew said defensively as he waved a sheet of paper.

    "Hmm¡­. You''ve been staring at the lyrics since we started. Oh? What''s that that I see? Scribbles? Come on, you have something." Ramil said.

    With the band''s gaze, Payew is finally pressured to speak up.

    "Okay. But don''t laugh, alright? You forced me, alright?" Payew said as he took a deep breath.

    "Alright. Give it a try, will you? One. Two. One, two three." Ike led the band to play the verse again.

    "O--.. Oops." Payew missed the beat at first, but with the supporting gazes of the band, he tried again to catch the timing.

    "Ooh, I won''t let you down

    Or drop your body to the ground

    Or leave you at a lost and found

    then watch ''nother woman come''r''ound."

    Payew sang. While he does not have Tayaw''s pipes, he still sang stably in tune. After he sang the verse, the band stopped playing and looked at each other.

    "Yep. That''s our second verse." Inson said. The song, being his own, has the authority on the matter.

    "I agree. I like it." Ike, being the singer of the song agreed.

    "We''ve confirmed. You''re really Tayaw''s brother." Jenna said to the agreement of the group.

    ===

    Valley Stream, Long Island ¨C Saturday 7 pm

    During the past few days, Tayaw has followed Lucas around Long Island and learned a few things. Lucas is a member of the Coniglio Mafia, a crime family that has originated in the 50s in Las Vegas and later branched out in New York. While Coniglio Family became big in the 1960s, decades later compared to the other Italian Mafias in New York, it is the most powerful.

    Even after the government''s purge of the crime families'' illegal businesses in the 80s, Coniglio Family today, is still one of the most powerful crime family in New York City, and one of the most powerful crime syndicates in America.

    At first Tayaw was interested in watching and listening in on how Lucas, with his ''associates'' would go around Long Island and collect debts from debtors. He found it ridiculous that the mob would actually loan money with at least 10% monthly interest. Tayaw, in his past life once took a loan from a bank and was given 19% ANNUAL interest and that was already considering his above average credit score.

    After a few days of watching Lucas do the same things, Tayaw felt tired of it and almost stopped scouting out Lucas when the day before, he overheard that Gonzalo Coniglio, the old ''Don'' of Coniglio is planning on having dinner with the current top members of the crime family in a fancy Italian Restaurant as a simple celebration of his 92nd birthday.

    For assurance and protection, Sylvio, the current Don and Gonzalo''s son, ordered all the capos and some of their most trusted soldiers to attend the dinner. Lucas, being one of those most trusted soldiers, was invited by proxy through Marco.

    That brings Tayaw tonight, in his car, parked near the restaurant where the dinner will take place.

    A few minutes of waiting later, he sees twenty or so cars fills in the parking lot behind the restaurant and around 50 people steps inside the restaurant.

    He spots a few people he only recognized after reading in the internet. Gonzalo Coniglio, his son Don Sylvio Coniglio, and the underboss Amos Baldini.

    After the members settled themselves in, Tayaw also goes out of his car and stands closer to the restaurant. He concentrates hard to filter out the other voices from the other mobsters and focuses on the most powerful table.

    "Father, why of all places, here? The villa is spacious enough and we could have invited the rest of the family." Tayaw hears Sylvio ask Gonzalo.

    "My boy, I''m an old man. I would like to be spared of the attention." Gonzalo says.

    "We could have just had dinner at home. Immediate family only." Sylvio says.

    "It''s not me who called your people, no? Anyway, this place holds meaning to me." Gonzalo says.

    This statement makes Sylvio silent.

    "What''s the history, Don Gonzalo?" Amos asks.

    "I worked in this restaurant''s kitchen as a young man." Gonzalo replies simply.

    Amos nods in realization. Amos is familiar of Gonzalo''s sentimental nature and after knowing Gonzalo for decades, he understood why Gonzalo is so.

    Tayaw, hearing all of this from the outside, feels his hope rise. His aim today is to introduce himself to Gonzalo, make a good impression, and set an appointment for an interview. After reading about the Coniglio Family in the past few days, Tayaw became curious about how a man from a humble background started and built one of the most powerful crime families in America.

    Now that he found out about Gonzalos'' sentimental tendency, Tayaw is finding that his longshot method of initiating connection might just work.

    Tayaw then returns to his car and quickly changes from his hoody and jeans outfit into his fancy three-piece suit, boater hat, leather brogues, and his huge aviator sunglasses. After making sure he looks sharp, he takes what looks like a thin shopping bag from the passenger seat and gets out of the car with it.

    Tayaw walks to the front door of the restaurant and approached Lucas, who happens to be on guard duty.

    "Good evening, sir." Tayaw greets Lucas lightheartedly.

    "Get lost, kid." Lucas replies.

    "Look. I don''t want trouble. I just want to give something to Don Gonzalo." Tayaw said and held out his shopping bag.

    This catches Luca off-guard. The next moment however, Lucas flashes his gun under his jacket.

    "Last warning, kid." Lucas warns once again.

    "Okay. Give me one last chance. I''m going to slowly¡­" Tayaw says as he slowly reaches inside the shopping bag and pulls out what appears to be a painting or a picture, encased in a fancy wooden frame.

    "It''s just a gift man. I assure you; Don Gonzalo would like it. It''s about Italy." Tayaw says as he hands his present it to Lucas. The mobster then hesitantly takes it.

    After taking a closer look at the present, "*Whistle*" The Lucas signals to the inside of the restaurant and another mobster comes out, ready to replace him. Lucas on the other hand, takes the shopping bag from Tayaw, puts back the frame inside it, and brings it inside the restaurant with him.

    Sighing in relief, Tayaw stands beside the mobster who replaced Lucas and is now acting as if he is also a guard.

    "Aherm. What are you doing?" The mobster asks.

    "Nothing. Just passing time, waiting to talk to your buddy who was here." Tayaw says.

    The mobster, seeing as Tayaw is doing exactly what he just said, chose to pay no mind to Tayaw any longer.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    "Aherm.. Don Gonzalo." Lucas approaches the bosses'' table cautiously and greets Gonzalo.

    "Hey. Can''t you see us talking here?" Amos says, intimidating the soldier.

    "Some kid says it''s for you. ''A gift for Don Gonzalo'', he said. It''s safe, I checked." The mobster promptly reports, hands the shopping bag to Amos, and he backs off after doing so.

    "Give it to me." Gonzalo orders.

    "Father, something must be in it." Sylvio says, stopping Amos from handing the bag over at the same time, signaling a capo to watch Lucas who he finds suspicious.

    "Mio Dio! my boy. I''m not a threat to anyone now, who would harm an old man? Amos, hand me the bag." Gonzalo orders Amos again.

    The people at the table also felt a little tickled at the image of a 92-year-old man calling a man in his 60s ''boy''.

    Despite his words, Gonzalo still feels anxious as he reached inside the bag. Over the years, he has made many enemies in both sides of the law. Even though he outlived many of his enemies, he knows that one should never be too sure. He however, would still want to show a brave front to the younger generation.

    Soon, Tayaw''s painting is revealed to Gonzalo and his son by his side. Sylvio is confused at the painting, but Gonzalo is stunned. The other people in the table are surprised to see Gonzalo''s expression. A moment later, they are even more surprised when tears almost rolls down from Gonzalo''s eyes.

    The people in the table gives Don Gonzalo time to either express his emotions or calm down. Even though the atmosphere turned strange, no one dares to say anything, except for Sylvio.

    "What is it, father?" Sylvio asked Gonzalo.

    "Ah. It brings back long lost memories¡­ Quarteri Spagnoli." Gonzalo says as he shows them Tayaw''s painting.

    Quarteri Spagnoli is a neighborhood in Naples where the poor and middle class live. It was built in the 17th century by some Italian Viceroy and up to present, it still is a residential area for generations of Napolitano''s.

    This painting by Tayaw however is special. It is not what the current Quarteri Spagnoli looks like, but a painting he based on an old photograph of the neighborhood in the 1940s.

    "It''s been ¡­ more than 80 years. I almost forgot what it looks like." Gonzalo continues.

    "Before I moved to America with your grandmother, Sylvio, we lived in this neighborhood." Gonzalo says. This revelation makes the people understand Gonzalo''s reaction earlier.

    "Something''s written in the back of the painting." Sylvio''s consigliere notices and points it out.

    Gonzalo flips the painting and takes a look.

    "Un regalo da uno sconosciuto¡­" Gonzalo reads out loud; except for the phone number Tayaw  wrote in pencil.

    "A gift from a stranger." Sylvio translates.

    Lucas, who brought the gift, witnesses what is happening and Tayaw became more mysterious in his mind. While he is lost in thought about Tayaw''s identity, he is pulled out from his mulling by Amos.

    "Hey! Are you listening? I said who is it from?" Amos asks.

    "Oh. Uh. It''s this one kid who approached me at the door." The mobster reports.

    The Lucas'' answer got raised eyebrows as a response.

    "Go see if he''s still here. I want to thank him, personally." Gonzalo orders.

 Chapter 133 - Proposal

    "Hey kid. Don Gonzalo wants to see you." The Lucas finally returns to Tayaw by the restaurant''s entrance.

    "¡­ Like, now?" Tayaw is taken aback. He only wanted to see how it will go and is not expecting to be called in.

    "Yes. Now." Lucas says firmly and won''t take ''no'' for an answer.

    "Well, did he like my present?" Tayaw asks.

    While his painting was very close to the photograph that he based it on using his skills in engineering drawing, he is still anxious. After all, he only finished the painting in a few hours the previous night and is not confident if he was able to draw the essence of Quarteri Spagnoli to the canvas.

    "Don''t worry kid, he liked it." The Lucas says, noticing Tayaw''s odd expression.

    "Alright." Tayaw replies and Lucas escorts him inside.

    As the two make their way to Don Gonzalo, Tayaw feels scared, deep inside, but is not showing it. While he knows that he has crossed the limits of a human body, he is still not confident in running away from 52 people who have their guns with them.

    Reaching the boss'' table, Tayaw takes a deep breath and calms himself down.

    "Buona sera, Don Gonzalo, Don Sylvio. Don Gonzalo, ti ¨¨ piaciuta la pittura?" Tayaw greets in Italian.

    Tayaw is thankful he kept learning Italian after the Sorrento Film Festival. Because Italian is close grammatically to English, Tayaw picked it up quickly. With his skills as a musician, Tayaw also picked up the rhythm of the language. And finally, Italian being easy for the Teungebian tongue, Tayaw''s pronunciation did not sound awful.

    The people present, on the other hand, including Don Gonzalo and Sylvio, are surprised at Tayaw''s Italian and how young he seems to be to dare step inside a mob gathering. Tayaw also notices the other tables looking at him, examining him and his clothes.

    "Ah! Ciao, figliolio. Vieni pure pi¨´ vicino. Non essere timida." Don Gonzalo smiles as he gestures to Tayaw to come closer and not feel shy.

    Tayaw feels that Don Gonzalo is welcoming enough so he takes off his aviators, approaches Don Gonzalo and reaches out for a hand shake, not caring about the eyes on him. Tayaw however is  surprised when after Don Gonzalo shakes his hand, he is pulled closer and receives a kiss on both of his cheeks.

    "(Italian) Thank you for the gift, my boy." Don Gonzalo said after the greeting.

    "(Italian) I''m glad you liked it, sir. It was difficult to come up with a gift for someone who has everything." Tayaw replies.

    His answer impresses both Gonzalo and Sylvio. The rest of the top members however are confused as they do not speak or understand Italian.

    "Someone, grab this boy a chair." Sylvio orders someone.

    Sylvio, and the rest of the top guys venerates Gonzalo very much for the legend he is, so they are glad to indulge the man. While the top people did not feel offended that an outsider like Tayaw gets to join their table, it is a little different for some of the caporegimes.

    "Thank you, sir." Tayaw thanks the fellow who brought his chair.

    "Let''s switch back to English. While it''s great that you speak my language, I''m rusty and these guys are feeling left out. Native languages are forgotten in two generations after all." Gonzalo says.

    "I like you kid. You have balls. You know who we are and you still walked in here." Sylvio patts Tayaw''s back.

    "Honestly, I feel intimidated. However, I know that the people here have more integrity and principle than most people." Tayaw says.

    Tayaw''s reply made the people at the table laugh out of amus.e.m.e.nt. Even though Tayaw was sincere, he vaguely understands why the gentlemen found his comment funny.

    While he knows that most, if not all of the people present in the restaurant are criminals, they are not the type of savage criminals who will hurt him without reason.

    "Now, now. While I appreciate your gift for my father, my boy, who are you really?" Sylvio asks and the atmosphere suddenly becomes cold.

    "Well. First of all, my name is Isaac. I''m just a kid from Teungeb and I have a tendency to admire self-made men." Tayaw stands up introduces himself.

    "I see. Are you sure you''re not from the Landopil from California?" Sylvio says as he sips on his wine.

    Tayaw realizes that he did not realize being Teungebian will become a factor. The Landopil is an active crime syndicate started by Teungebian immigrants in San Jose, California in the 1920s when the U.S. Congress at the time passed a bill granting Teungebian immigrants the right to become American citizens.

    Tayaw, however is surprised why a crime family in the other side of America is concerned about the Landopil.

    "Ah. No, sir. I''m just an aspiring painter." Tayaw says as he points at his painting on the table.

    "I''m also a musician, and a film maker. That you can be certain of." Tayaw says. The gentlemen looks at him skeptically however.

    "I would not dare to tell lies in front of you, gentlemen. That would be foolish." Tayaw says.

    "I believe you kid." Gonzalo nods. "It was me who invited the kid in, remember? You weren''t expecting to sit here, were you Isaac?" Gonzalo asks.

    "No, Don Gonzalo. I was just hoping to get an interview from you through the phone number I wrote behind the painting. I would not dare intrude on your dinner." Tayaw says.

    "But I know that an average artist would not have found out about our dinner tonight, or have the balls to just walk in." Gonzalo asks.

    Tayaw considers carefully how to answer but ultimately went with honesty.

    "I actually know of one Peter Duhill." Tayaw begins.

    "Peter Duhill? Remind me who that is?" Gonzalo asks as he has never heard of a Peter Duhill before.

    "It''s that guy that runs your real estate business in Long Island." Tayaw clarifies.

    "A few days ago, I ran into him in the coffee shop he recommended to me. At that same shop, he was meeting with one of your soldiers." Tayaw points his hand at Lucas.

    "Me, not knowing what kind of movie I would make next, I decided to follow your soldier for ''inspiration'', and maybe try making a film about the life of a mobster.

    "While I was tailing him for the past few days, I happened to overhear his phone conversation with one of your caporegimes about this gathering tonight. So, I read more on your family and that''s when I was fascinated even more by your story, Don Gonzalo." Tayaw concludes.

    "I knew it! I knew I wasn''t being crazy." Lucas almost exclaims at the revelation, but he suppresses his emotions immediately when the bosses looks at him.

    "No, you weren''t. I hope we''re even when you flashed me your Colt earlier." Tayaw says. Lucas'' face freezes for a moment before he nods.

    "Well, what do you want, my boy?" Gonzalo asks.

    "I want just want to arrange a sit-down interview with you, Don Gonzalo." Tayaw says.

    Gonzalo then goes silent. The rest of the people in the table also know the possible implications of Don Gonzalo indulging Tayaw''s request.

    Tayaw knows how difficult his request is and is not expecting Gonzalo to agree. Gonzalo has done a lot of illegal things in his time, although by proxy. Even if he does not tell any of those illegal activities to Tayaw, many others would assume that Gonzalo would. A small slip from Tayaw''s mouth to the wrong people will also get Gonzalo in a lot of trouble.

    After thirty seconds of Gonzalo not talking, Tayaw realizes that Gonzalo will not agree to his request.

    "You don''t have to agree, Don Gonzalo, it''s a presumptuous request after all." Tayaw says as he sipped on the glass of wine he was poured.

    "However, I still want to ask permission to make a film about you. It''s going to be a film that is loosely based on your story that I can gather from the internet and people on the streets." Tayaw clarifies.

    This gets a more positive reaction from the table.

    "Before I give you my permission, boy, are you qualified to make a film on me?" Gonzalo finally speaks.

    "I admit to being a bambino, Don Gonzalo but I assure you, I''m at least qualified. Are you familiar with the yearly film festival at Sorrento?" Tayaw asks.

    "No." Gonzalo answers, wanting Tayaw to explain more.

    "If I may, Don Gonzalo. It''s that international film festival where the best artistic films compete each year." A mobster from another table remarks.

    "Ah, I might have heard of it. What does that have to do with it?" Gonzalo asks.

    "I won the best director award and my film won the top prize. I beat out veteran film makers and their films, Don Gonzalo." Tayaw reports as he pulls out his phone, googles himself, and passes it to Sylvio to read.

    Sylvio, however has bad eye sight like Gonzalo and is also not versed in technology so he calls on a young soldier. After the soldier read Tayaw''s qualifications, the people at the table changed their impression of Tayaw.

    Despite their image as criminals, Italian mobsters especially, appreciate finer things in life like good food, good wine, and good art. Tayaw being a critically acclaimed artist earns him some respect.

    "Do you need investment, my boy?" Gonzalo asks, assuming it as Tayaw''s intention.

    "No, sir. After my film comes out here in America, I will take what I will earn from it and use it to make my next film." Tayaw says.

    "Well, then I see no problem. Fellas, what do you think?" Gonzalo asks the other top men.

    "I don''t see a problem too, Don Gonzalo." Amos says.

    "We will have to take a look at your script first, child." Sylvio, on the other hand, adds a condition.

    "But of course, Don Sylvio. Even though it will be, like I said, only be loosely based on real events, my movie will last forever, and so does its association with Don Gonzalo. I don''t want to make it a bad movie." Tayaw concurs.

    "Good. If you want help with the film, you can come to me. Over the years, we have also gotten involved in the movie industry from time to time so I have connections." Sylvio nods.

    "Then, I thank you in advance, Don Sylvio." Tayaw smiles.

    "Then, let''s drink to it! I''ll leave Isaac here the task of giving me immortality¡­" Gonzalo says gleefully and he raises his glass.

    Despite the cheery tone of Don Gonzalo, his words seemed heavy to the mobsters, especially to his son Sylvio. Don Gonzalo after all, is already 92 years old today. Even though he is still healthy, no one knows what would happen.

 Chapter 134 - Film Economics and Critical Campaigning

    July 10, 2012 ¨CTuesday 4 pm ¨C Jericho, Long Island

    *ding**dong**deng* Tayaw''s doorbell rings disturbing him from packing his luggage.

    *Beep Beep* *Shut* Tayaw let the person waiting in.

    "Tayaw! How the f*ck did you talk to Don Sylvio and Gonzalo? Are you crazy?!" Peter storms to Tayaw''s living room.

    "Yeah. What? Are you in trouble?" Tayaw asks calmly as he notices that Peter does not look angry or afraid.

    "No. Nothing like that. Lucas just talked to me about you." Peter says.

    "So? What''s the problem?" Tayaw asks.

    "Huh.. well. Huh." Peter has no answer.

    "Panic?" Tayaw chuckles.

    "No. I guess I wasn''t thinking straight. Hahaha." Peter says as he plunks down on Tayaw''s sofa.

    "How about you? Trouble with the mafia? Why are you packing?" Peter asks when he notices Tayaw''s clothes and stuff scattered throughout the living room.

    "No trouble. I''m just packing just in case. After I''m done with my stuff here in New York, I''m going to travel for inspiration; maybe Italy is my first go." Tayaw says.

    "Huh. Inspiration. Good for you¡­ Man, I wish I could go to vacation there some time." Peter says.

    *thud* the two hears Tayaw''s door towards the courtyard open.

    "Dad! What are you doing here?" Lee who was taking a swim in Tayaw''s pool comes inside.

    "So, this is what you''re doing when I''m at work?" Peter is dumbfounded at the sight of the drenched Lee.

    "Your dad and I were talking about something. Please wipe the floor, Lee." Tayaw shakes his head.

    Lee also quickly followed Tayaw''s order.

    "I wish my daughters have that level of respect to me." Peter says as he watches Lee clean up the wet mess.

    "It''s funny but children somehow tend to follow orders from a.d.u.l.ts who are not their parents. Anyway. I''m not a father, but I think you probably spoiled them. Had you treated them like how you''re raising Lee, you won''t have that problem." Tayaw casually says as he continues his packing.

    Peter however, as if receiving an epiphany gets lost in his thoughts at Tayaw''s response.

    *Crunch**Crunch**chomp*

    Peter is shortly distracted from his thoughts however, by the approaching Lee who is carrying a plate of something while munching whatever is in the plate. Peter, seeing this, almost flushes in embarrassment at Lee''s casual behavior.

    "Jesus Christ, son. You''ve really made yourself at home here." Peter says.

    "Dad, Tayaw offered. You said that it''s rude to refuse." Lee says.

    "That-"Peter does not know how to explain that sometimes, one has to act as if they''re hesitant to not appear rude.

    "Ah. Don''t worry about it Peter. I offered the kid before he started swimming. It''s good too. Celery, lettuce and carrots is good for him. Why don''t you try some as well? The whip is good." Tayaw offers.

    "Alright¡­ Mmm. This is good!" Peter nods in agreement after having a taste.

    "Yeah. Not everyone likes to eat straight up celery but with that whip, it''s killer." Tayaw said.

    ===

    Wednesday 9 am ¨C Black Deer Pictures, Clambu City

    "I see. Thank you very much." Kyer ends his phone call with a smile.

    "What happened?" Yarag asks.

    "An addition of 10 theaters in New York just asked for the screening license. That''s all." Kyer says.

    "Oh? Well, that''s a surprise. How''d that happen?" Yarag asks in confusion.

    While Yarag does not care about just 10 additional theaters, Yarag did not do promotions for ''September Ninth'' in America, let alone in America''s East coast, but he still found it unusual that 10 theaters at once purchased screening license.

    "Some guy said that it was handled by Tayaw himself. I don''t know how though." Kyer says.

    "Well, well. Looks like Tayaw can hustle too, huh." Yarag chuckles.

    "I don''t get it. Yes, 10 theaters are a big deal, but Tayaw is already rich." Kyer says.

    Since ''September Ninth''s release last month in Teungeb, it sold around 16.5 million tickets and earned 216,000,000 BGC. Black Deer Pictures got 36.8 million BGC from their 17.5% share and Tayaw getting 119 million BGC from his share.

    "If I was him, I''d just sit around and wait for the money to pour in." Kyer follows.

    "He probably likes feeling busy. Anyway, I didn''t expect it to earn this much." Yarag says.

    "You''ve seen the film. It''s great for repeat watching. It''s also an experience. I''ve seen the film myself three times now at home." Kyer says.

    "Ah. Is it? Huh¡­" Yarag almost mumbles.

    "You haven''t seen it, have you?" Kyer asks almost incredulously.

    "No. Bahahaha! I don''t like romance movies, that''s all." Yarag admits shamelessly.

    "Pfft. Sir, yes, Tayaw wanted to label it as a romance to attract viewers, but the romance is just garnish." Kyer shakes his head.

    "Anyway, adding those 10 theaters, there are now a total of 573 screens in the US that will show Tayaw''s film." Kyer reports.

    "Hmm. Even though it''s not some blockbuster, it''s still much more than we expected huh?" Yarag nods in satisfaction.

    "Yes boss. That''s 2% of all the American screens. If the movie''s reputation increases, there may be more theaters that would call us." Kyer says.

    "Hmm. That''s good. That''s good. By the way. Kianga said they managed to get the film in China. How was it?" Yarag asked.

    "Well, I''m not sure. There are only 300 plus screens that bought screening licenses there. Teungebian films are not that popular in China after all. Still, I hope it does well." Kyer shrugs his shoulders.

    "Hmm. That reminds me¡­" Yarag said as he pulls out his phone.

    ===

    "Anyway. Lucas said that you can tag along with him if you want research for your film." Peter tells Tayaw.

    "Huh. It won''t help that much as I already tailed him for some days. What I need however is to talk to old school guys. The way mafia people talk in the 1950s or 60s during Don Gonzalo''s prime and time is different to how mobsters talk now." Tayaw replies.

    "Huh. You''re going that far in detail?" Peter is dumbfounded.

    In their world today, the films set in the olden days talk as if they are in modern times. Peter found that practice normal however, and Tayaw''s explanation of his plan on making the film about Gonzalo''s prime time, is both ridiculous and incomprehensible to him.

    "Yeah. Even the accents too. Have you seen ''Rebound''? Why does a basketball player who is supposed to be from California speaking like he''s from Texas? That''s so stupid. It''s also set in the 50s, so why is the words used in the dialogue were not widely used until the 70''s?" Tayaw says.

    "Hmm. I get the gist... Still, huh." Peter shakes his head at the detail.

    "How else would I have convinced Don Gonzalo and Don Sylvio if I didn''t tell them my plans? I didn''t win awards for nothing." Tayaw says.

    "Still. Would writing your script take a lot of time if you''re including those?" Peter asks.

    Before Tayaw can answer, *Ring* *Ring* his phone suddenly rang. "Excuse me."

    "Hello, Mr. Darbut!" Tayaw answers in Teungebian as he walks upstairs to his study for privacy.

    /Hello to you, Mr. Dagem! Great job adding 10 theaters./ Yarag says.

    "Ah. That''s nothing. I made some new friends, that''s all." Tayaw says.

    /I see. Who wouldn''t want to be friends with you, after all? Anyway. I want to talk to you about something. I would have gone to you personally had you been in Teungeb, but it''s better if we begin talking now. / Yarag says.

    "Oh? Something wrong?" Tayaw asks.

    /Well, no. But. You see. Your film is the first internationally acclaimed film in years, and won a Sorrento award in decades. Why don''t we go further?/ Yarag opens.

    "How do you mean?" Tayaw asks, confused.

    /Let''s go win an Academy Award./ Yarag proposes.

    "Pfft. Hahaha!" Tayaw laughs as if he heard a good joke.

    He thought about ''September Ninth'' winning the prized trophies of the American Academy, but after reading on how it is done, he gave up out of annoyance at the complicated process.

    /What''s so funny?/ Yarag asks, confusion in his voice apparent even over the phone.

    "I''m sorry about that. You do know the process of even getting nominated, right?" Tayaw asks.

    /Yeah. We campaign./ Yarag says.

    Unlike Sorrento Film Festivals which a film maker would simply submit their film through official channels, the Academy of Motion Pictures works differently. Aside from the official submission of the film for consideration, the Academy would also require the producer or the distributor of a film to appease all if not a considerable number of the 4000 plus members of the Academy.

    A film submission should hold as many exclusive screenings for the Academy members and a question-and-answer session after each screening. This part of the campaign is already too tedious for Tayaw but the other aspects of the campaigned disgusted him.

    The ''Academy Season'' as film enthusiasts call it, is also filled with parties hosted by the campaigning film to influence the Academy members. There will be no bribery of course, but such practices, parties, bootlicking, to Tayaw, has already strayed away from the meaning of the awards and has smeared the dignity of the art of movies.

    Tayaw also heard that some distributors have already started spreading rumors regarding other films to smear those films'' reputations.

    "Exactly. I find campaign practices disgusting. If they''re like how Sorrento is, then I would covet those shiny statues. But if we have to spend money and our valuable time to kiss their f*cking asses, then no thank you." Tayaw says.

    /Look, as much as I like your integrity Tayaw, we can''t miss this. Even a nomination would give you a huge boost in reputation. Hell, it will make you recognizable in your next film!/ Yarag argues however.

    "What reputation? I already won an international award. Barely any Academy winner would win a Fioro D''oro." Tayaw rolls his eyes.

    /True. That''s true. But USA is a large market, man. You have to admit; they produce much better films and in greater number than any other country''s film industry. Gaining recognition from them is a big deal./ Yarag insists on persuading Tayaw.

    ''Recognition'' from Yarag''s words triggered an idea in Tayaw''s mind.

    "Alright. Fine. Whatever you say, I still don''t think I need THEIR recognition. However, Jouny and Uranto need more recognition." Tayaw says.

    /Alright! Now we''re talking!/ Yarag says excitedly.

    "BUT! Just do the screenings to occupy at least a thousand members. That will be enough and it won''t cost us much. No parties too, just a few souvenirs for the attending members." Tayaw adds his conditions.

    /Just a thousand? That''s just ten separate screenings. We can afford more than that. Also, the parties are the next most important thing!/ Yarag protests.

    "Fine. Make it two thousand members." Tayaw amends. "Still, no parties. F*ck them."

    /But why? If we have no parties, we won''t make a good impression on them./ Yarag argues again.

    "Look. My movie is obviously a cut above the others this year. If our film would not get any nominations, I''ll go ballistic on them on social media. If the Academy awards are really as prestigious as they claim they are, then free screenings are enough for them to do their job." Tayaw is not giving in.

 Chapter 135 - Movie Release

    /*chch* Alright. How about the TV interviews and the Q&A''s?/ Yarag asks.

    "I''m not going. Have Jouny and the main actors attend. Give them good interpreters too. How much do you think all of it will cost me?" Tayaw asks back.

    /An additional 3%./ Yarag says.

    "Hnn. Nope, I''m sorry. I''ll just hire a promotion company here and spend two or three million dollars." Tayaw says, surprised that Yarag actually attempted to get more shares.

    /Hey! I was kidding! We''ll take care of the private screening costs. Give us that two million dollars for us to spend./ Yarag says, successfully shaking off the embarrassment of getting caught.

    =====

    11 pm ¨C Jericho, Long Island

    "Honey, plug that in please." Tayaw''s neighbor from across the street, Lily, asks her husband, George.

    "Alright." George says as he plugs in the CD of ''September Ninth'' soundtrack Tayaw gave them a few days ago. It is the same CD that Tayaw had Pink Apron put in the meal boxes.

    "Ooh. What a day, what a time!

    What a rare feeling I''m in!

    Mmh, it''s just like I''m in love."

    ''Feeling Good'' has become the couple''s favorite song.  The groovy pace, jazzy piano and saxophone, and Tayaw''s lively voice expresses the song''s happy expression.

    ''Feeling Good'' is the song played in the scene where Steven, the main character, was able to score his first date with Diwaya after their break-up. The song perfectly embodies the character''s feeling. As a standalone song, it puts the listeners in a good mood.

    "I can''t believe Tayaw made such a good song just for his movie!" Lily says as she starts dancing along with the song.

    Tayaw was not able to stop his neighbor Charlotte, Phil''s wife, from spreading his status as a musician and a director. Tayaw despite feeling a lightly bothered by Charlotte''s action, he still felt a little gratitude for her.

    With the neighbors finding out, Tayaw used it as a chance to promote his movie and his music. Because Tayaw underestimated his neighbors, he was glad to find out about a few pleasantly surprising things. George for example, owns three clothing stores and because George liked Tayaw''s music so much, he chose the slowest of Tayaw''s songs from Tayaw''s first official album and the ''September Ninth'' soundtrack and played them in his stores.

    Lily, who is a restauranteur volunteered to post ''September Ninth'' posters in her restaurants in exchange for autographed CDs of Tayaw''s first album and a future autographed DVD of ''September Ninth''. Just like her husband, Lily also chose some of Tayaw''s songs to play in her restaurant.

    What Tayaw does not know is that it is only not Lily and George who is enjoying his CD very much.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    July 15, 2012 ¨C Thursday 6pm - Nassau County Police Department, Long Island

    "Sergeant, we''ve got movement." A young detective reports.

    "What''s that?" The sergeant asks, confused at the detective''s words.

    "We''ve received reports from several informants that there''s a gathering of Coniglio''s men, 95 of them." The detective reports.

    "Something going down?" The sergeant asks, excited.

    If something big is being set up by the Coniglio family, it will be a huge arrest for their department.

    "We''re not sure, sir. Some undercovers are already on standby. It''s at a theater owned by Coniglio''s men, on Baldwin Harbor." The detective says.

    "Theater¡­ Baldwin Harbor?! Then it''s damn nothing! There''s no criminal activity in that fancy town. You had me excited for nothing." The sergeant says, looking as if he was robbed.

    "But sir, that''s almost a hundred people! If there are some who have parole violations, we can use that." The detective says.

    "This¡­" The sergeant realizes the implications.

    If a criminal with parole violation is in a location of potential criminal activity, then according to the law, the police can investigate the location without a warrant from a judge.

    "Fine. But monitor the location for now. I''ll have SWAT on standby in case something happens. Damn it, my wife''s gonna be on my ass again." The sergeant rambles.

    "Thank you, sir. I''m sorry you have to cancel your date." The detective apologizes, almost sarcastically. Fortunately for the detective, the sergeant did not take his words seriously.

    A few minutes later, the detective arrives in front of the theater in question at Baldwin Harbor, joining his partner who has been staking out the location through through the car window.

    "Updates?" The detective asks his partner.

    "Oh yeah. Huge deal! We just identified 4 caporegimes enter. You won''t believe this though¡­" The partner pauses for dramatic purposes.

    "What?" The detective asks in anticipation.

    "Amos Baldini, Sylvio Coniglio and Gonzalo Coniglio just entered."

    "WHA- what?! This is huge¡­" The detective almost exclaims.

    "Oh yeah." The partner smirks and nods in agreement.

    While they are chatting, they notice another car arrive and park in front of the theater.

    "Who''s that?" The detective asks when he sees a sharply dressed man exit from the car.

    "I don''t know. He looks suspicious. Who wears huge sunglasses like that?" The partner replies.

    A limousine then arrives in front of the theater. As the two detectives watches the proceedings, a terrible feeling starts brewing in their guts.

    "Oh¡­ boy¡­ We''ve got it wrong, partner." The detective says as a group of lavishly dressed ladies alight from the car and enter the theater.

    "Yeah¡­ It looks just like¡­" The partner is almost speechless.

    "A f.u.c.kin party. BUT WHO F*CKIN SETS UP A PARTY IN A THEATER?!" The detective exclaims in dismay.

    "Jesus Christ. Who''ll report to the sergeant?" The partner says.

    "Shit.. Rock paper scissors?" The detective sighs.

    "On three. *rock**paper**scissor* YEAAHHH!!!"

    The detective''s partner celebrates as he punches the air.

    ===

    "Fine. I knew it." The sergeant, while sitting at his office, wrapping up his stuff for the day, receives the news from his detective.

    /Sorry sir. I''ll disperse our men now./ the detective reports.

    "No. You''re already there. Just monitor them. Who knows if other crime families got a wind of this. It''s no longer as wild as in the 70s but stay there just to be sure." The sergeant says.

    /Okay. Is SWAT still on standby? /

    "Yeah... Oh, my wife''s here. Call me if you need anything."

    /Sure, thing sir. /

    "Hello dear. Something happened?" The sergeant''s wife asks, hearing the last part of the phone call.

    "Nothing. I hope it''s just false alarm. Anyway, I''m ready. Thanks for picking me up." The sergeant says.

    "Thank God. I thought we''re canceling again. We''ve got our tickets too." The sergeant''s wife sighs in relief.

    "I''ve been clearing my schedule for weeks just for tonight, no one''s stopping me." The sergeant says and he leans in for a kiss.

    -

    A few minutes later, the couple is now driving to a nearby cinema.

    "So, a foreign film, huh. You know that black people don''t see foreign films, right?" The sergeant says, a tinge of hesitation in his voice.

    "Hey. You promised we try something new. Our daughter also recommended it. She said that some movie critic she knows recommended it." The sergeant''s wife says.

    "Huh. I haven''t talked to her since she left. How''s she?" The sergeant asks.

    "Oh, she''s just fine. We raised her right. Caltech is so unlike the school we went to so she won''t do something crazy." The sergeant''s wife reports.

    A few minutes later, they arrive at their destination and parked their car at the cinema''s parking lot.

    "Ooh. That''s a long line." The sergeant says, noticing the long queue of people going in the theater.

    "Thankfully, I got tickets this morning." The wife smirks.

    As they pass the entrance, a young man suddenly leaves the long queue and approaches the sergeant and his wife.

    "Hey man. What movie are you seeing?" The young man asks.

    "That foreign film. Why?" The sergeant asks.

    "Got extra tickets? I''ll buy them." The young man offers.

    "Sorry, kid. We only got two for us. Is this line for the foreign film?" The sergeant says.

    "Yeah. My friends said it''s a cool movie. Had I known; I would''ve seen it with them this afternoon." The young man says in regret.

    "I see. Well, good luck scoring a ticket. Our movie is starting soon." The sergeant''s wife interrupts, pulling his husband away from his habit of small talking.

    A minute later, the couple are finally inside the theater proper.

    "Huh. How did you get tickets?" The sergeant asks as they take their seats.

    "Well, I just bought one when I was out for errands this morning. I didn''t expect to have this many people though." The wife says as she looks around the packed theater.

    "Damn. It''s hot in here... Oh. It''s here." The sergeant says anxiously as the lights in the theater turns  off and the screen lights up. ''September Ninth'' will be the first foreign he will see in his life and if he will not have a good time, his wife is going to notice.

    [*music* Steven woke up to his alarm clock, got up the bed, and made breakfast.]

    The sergeant feels uncomfortable at what he is seeing. Not because the opening is disturbing but because unlike regular movies, the sergeant feels like he is in the character''s bedroom and kitchen; he feels like he is intruding.

    "Honey. That box." The sergeant''s wife whispers.

    "He''s having dinner meal for breakfast?" The sergeant chuckles.

    They are subscribers of Pink Apron.

    -------

    [*CRASH* Steven slammed the keyboard on his boss.]

    *GASP* The people in the theater gasp, including the sergeant''s wife. The sergeant however, is smiling, feeling catharsis.

    ''That''s assault, but I''d let him go if I were the cop.'' The sergeant thinks to himself.

    Every day in his job, he would cross paths with all types of people who would wrong others just because they can and think that they can get away from making trouble. Not only criminals, but his superior officers as well. Just like what he saw Steven in the movie did, many a times was the sergeant tempted to do terrible things to the people he hates.

    --------

    ["I can''t do this anymore. I save them but the next day, they''ll be in danger just the same. What''s the point?"]

    The sergeant cannot help but relate to Steven. While he is not stuck in a time loop and that he is not saving or arresting the same people every day, the sergeant feels like his job is as meaningless as Steven''s meaningless pursuit of saving people.

    The sergeant processes arrests and assists prosecutions but he knows that criminals will never run out. He also knows that criminals are getting smarter everyday, basing on what he observes through his position as a leader in an NCPD precinct''s organized crime unit.

    -------

    ["I have to let you go." Steven kissed the sleeping Diwaya''s forehead one last time. While his life has become meaningless, he would still look for people to save and help for the rest of his days in the time loop.]

    The sergeant is almost choked up. As he watches Steven finally accept to spend the rest of his life helping people without recognition, he realizes that his job is not as meaningless as he thought. Even though he only contributes so little in fighting crime, he figures that helping his county the best he can is enough a meaning for his existence.

 Chapter 136 - Romantic Matchmaking of Videography Softwares

    Baldwin Harbor ¨C 8 pm

    "Heh heh." Tayaw chuckles as he notices that the police are still camped outside the theater.

    "What''s so funny?" A Coniglio captain asks when he heard Tayaw''s chuckle.

    "Cops are still camped outside." Tayaw replies.

    "Cops? COPS?!! What are they doing here?!" The mobster exclaims, becomes apprehensive and asks Tayaw.

    Before Tayaw can say he does not know, "Because it''s a rare occasion! It''s expected. They don''t have anything on us." Don Sylvio, who is walking ahead of Tayaw explains.

    "My boy, except for the classics, that must be the best film I''ve ever seen in my life! If you can tell my story just as well this, then I am assured." Gonzalo, who is in front of Sylvio, backtracks to Tayaw using his electronic wheelchair, not caring at all about the police presence.

    "Thank you, Don Gonzalo. I can assure you that my film, inspired by your story, will be much better than this." Tayaw says.

    In addition to the 95 other members of Coniglio family, Gonzalo and his blood family in attendance, just finished watching the free screening of ''September Ninth''. As an unneeded apology for infiltrating Don Gonzalo''s birthday dinner a few days ago and introducing himself with a false name, Tayaw hosted the screening and hired the best non-fancy Italian caterer in town for the short dinner.

    Don Sylvio was apprehensive at first when Tayaw proposed treating them to a movie and a meal, but when Tayaw said he was going to reserve a theater in Coniglio territory, he agreed.

    "By the way, I didn''t know you are using a wheelchair?" Tayaw asks.

    "Oh, I can still walk, but not for long distances. And.. a wheelchair makes everyone make way for an old man." Gonzalo chuckles.

    A few moments later, the screening attendees arrived in the cinema''s lobby again.

    "Ah. Young fellas of your senses are rare even in my prime. You know what we like." Don Sylvio remarks when they sat themselves by the fancy catering set up in the lobby.

    "It was not difficult to figure out that you all love home-cooked but savory Italian dishes. I would have cooked for you all but there''s too many to cook for. Let me serve you the chef''s recommendations." Tayaw offers.

    Before Tayaw can step away from their table however,"It''s the sentiment that counts, young man. Join us." A lavishly dressed lady in her early 50s says, and she waves to one of the soldiers to serve their table.

    "Thank you, madame." Tayaw thought it best to not refuse the the lady''s request.

    The lady after all, is Delfina Coniglio ¨C Sabattini; Sylvio''s sister, and Gonzalo''s daughter,

    "By the way, Tayaw. Do you have a woman in your life?" Delfina suddenly asks.

    "No ma''am. I''m too busy to accompany one." Tayaw says, to the amus.e.m.e.nt of the people on the table.

    "Delfina, my dear. You''re making my niece quite uncomfortable." Sylvio says when he sess Adriana, Delfina''s daughter blush.

    The people at the table, including Tayaw, know Delfina''s intention with her question to Tayaw just now. Sylvio  on the other hand, always wanted to have a daughter but with his wife no longer in a fertile age, did not get to have one. That led him to become very spoiling and protective of his niece.

    "No, no. I think Delfina is right, my boy. We''ve had you Sylvio, when your mother and I were 26. Then I became busy, as you know, and we only had Delfina when we were 40, your mother almost didn''t make it too." Gonzalo expresses his agreement with Delfina''s actions.

    "It''s better to raise a family early. You''re 24 now, right my dear Adriana? You and Tayaw here can get to know each other for a year or two, and maybe I''ll have a great grandson before I go." Gonzalo offers his opinion.

    "Dios mio, papa. You can''t always get to use your twilight years to get what you want." Don Sylvio shakes his head.

    "Then give me a grandson, Sylvio. What happened to your sons, huh? They didn''t inherit my virility? Those punks aren''t even here." Gonzalo busts Sylvio''s balls.

    Seeing Sylvio silent, Gonzalo continues.

    "As I was sayin. Tayaw, our Adriana here is quite the pretty face, no? Adriana, Tayaw here is not only a director, he''s also a musician and quite a handsome man. Why don''t you two get to know each other, hm?" Gonzalo is insistent on setting Tayaw and Adriana up.

    "Ah. Don Gonzalo. My skin might be quite fair, but I''m not Italian, I''m not even white." Tayaw says, trying to get out of it.

    He has heard that Italian mobs seem to be very selective of the ethnicity of who they marry.

    "What are you saying, my boy? We''re not those jokers from Sicily and we are not those lunatics from the KKK." Gonzalo says, proving Tayaw''s assumption wrong.

    "Don Gonzalo, I don''t mean to be disrespectful by refusing, but I think Miss Adriana might find me too young." Tayaw says. That got raised eyebrows from the people at the table.

    "Excuse me?" Delfina cannot help but ask.

    "I''m 18, turning 19 this September." Tayaw drops casually as he drinks from his glass.

    The people around him turned silent for a moment before Don Gonzalo burst out in a wheezy laughter.

    "hhhhhhhhAhahaha! Tayaw, my boy. Ah! I envy your youth and talents, but there are still things you need to learn." Don Gonzalo says. Gonzalo did not say it but Tayaw felt Gonzalo''s words are laced with annoyance.

    "Alright. With your permission ma''am, may I ask your daughter for her contact number? We might get along." Tayaw finally gives in, his words, making Delfina and Gonzalo very happy.

    ===========

    The next day.

    Tayaw arrives at the Cognito Technologies headquarters in a small neighborhood in Queens. While Cognito Technologies will only become a big company on 2018 for their camera AI and filters, drones, and other sorts of videography software, he figures that he should see what the current status of the company is at this time.

    He also invested $15 million so he wants to see if his money is not being wasted.

    "Good morning Mr. Dagem." A man welcomes him at the front gate of a big house.

    "Good morning Mr. Schulz." Tayaw greets.

    Gabriel Schulz is the man that Tayaw hired to act as a CEO for Cognito and his eyes and ears at the company.

    "Why''d you move from your office? They were doing fine there." Tayaw cannot help but ask as he looks around the neighborhood.

    "It''s actually cheaper for the company to just rent two houses and combine the living space and working space of our engineers." Gabriel replies. Tayaw almost winces at the seemingly bad treatment.

    "And they were okay with it?" Tayaw askes.

    "Yeah. They were actually happy with it. Their workspace is actually either in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the houses or in the garages." Gabriel explains.

    "I see. None of these guys are married?" Tayaw again cannot help but wonder why the employees want to stay together in one house.

    "Oh, the married ones didn''t move. That''s the reason why we put their work space in the bas.e.m.e.nt and garage so the guys who aren''t staying here would still see it as an office." Gabriel explains.

    "Parking?" Tayaw asks.

    "There''s a parking lot a block away." Gabriel replies.

    "Well. As long as they''re fine with it." Tayaw shakes his head.

    As they enter the first house, Tayaw cannot help but scrunch his nose at the smell.

    "Jesus Christ, Gabriel. Hire a house keeper." Tayaw says.

    "Noted." Gabriel nods, not at all ashamed at the filth of the house.

    The two then proceeds to the bas.e.m.e.nt.

    "So here is the workspace. It''s messy, but hey, the old place wasn''t any better. At least that''s what they tell me." Gabriel reports.

    "It''s okay. Whatever makes them comfortable working." Tayaw says as he looks around at the busy people in the bas.e.m.e.nt.

    "MAN! That''s not what we do here!" Tayaw and Gabriel''s attention is taken by a man yelling at an employee.

    "Hey Fred. What''s going on here?" Gabriel says as he quickly walks towards the man who was yelling.

    "Hey Gabriel. Hey, Mr. Dagem. It''s been a while." Fred greets.

    "Good to see you, Mr. Keaton." Tayaw greets back. "So, what''s going on?" Tayaw asks.

    "This kid right here isn''t doing sh*t, but oh boy, is he so passionate with this side project." Fred says.

    "Side project? Man, what''s your side project?" Tayaw asks, his interest piqued by the employee.

    "I-it''s nothing, man. I won''t do it again." The employee however, is nervous and apologizes.

    He has only heard of Tayaw from his colleagues and he is afraid he just made a bad first impression.

    "No. No. Just show me." Tayaw simply orders, gently.

    The employee then hesitatingly opens a game in one monitor and some software in the other monitor.

    "New York Sim City?" Tayaw is confused when the employee opened a recent best-selling game.

    ''New York Sim City'' is a game that Tayaw played plenty of times during his college years in his past life.

    Tayaw liked the game as it offered him freedom that he never experienced in any other games. It also gave him the virtual experience of New York City in the game because the game is practically a small-scale gamified version of the real city. The game, to have a purpose aside from just exploration, has set missions in it for players to complete.

    The game soon finishes loading and the screen displays the employee''s character, "Here it is boss." The employee says as he grabs the camera by the side. The employee then pointed his camera at the game screen and a green rectangle started hovering within the game, the green rectangle following where the camera is pointed at.

    "That''s it?" Gabriel says.

    "That''s what I''m sayin''." Fred also said.

    "There''s more." The employee says as he presses something on the camera and the rectangle on the game screen changes to red. The employee again controls the camera and points it around the screen. The difference this time, is that the game character''s head and vision is following the rectangle.

    "And that''s it." The employee says.

    "Well, it''s nothing. I can make that too if I want. The point is, it''s not useful to the company." Fred says as he rubs the bridge of his nose.

    "Fred, I have a different approach. Let me show you." The employee says as he opens something.

    Fred also took a look and a minute later, "Yeah. It''s kind of complicated by I can make that too. Have you been spending time more on this than on your actual work? Jesus Christ." Fred says.

    Tayaw on the other hand, is silent and appears to be thinking deeply about something. The employee notices and he looks at Fred and Gabriel.

    A few seconds later, "What''s your name?" Tayaw asks the employee.

    "Steven, Mr. Dagem." Steven replies.

    Tayaw chuckles at the coincidence.

    "Yeah?" Steven is confused at Tayaw''s reaction.

    "Anyway, Steven. I have to talk to you about this." Tayaw says.

    Tayaw''s words has given Fred, Gabriel and Steven differing assumptions.

    "Let''s talk in your office, Gabriel. Fred and Steven? Please join us." Tayaw says as he walks out of the bas.e.m.e.nt, barely tolerating the smell.

    "But¡­ I, don''t have an office." Gabriel shakes his head and Fred chuckles.

 Chapter 137 - Psychiatric Consequences of Cinematic Excellence

    A few minutes later, Tayaw, Gabriel, Fred, and Steven arrived at Gabriel''s house - slash - office.

    "So, I haven''t seen you last year, Steven." Tayaw said. "I just got hired last¡­ January." Steven said. "I see. Where were you working before Cognito?" Tayaw asked. "I was working at Gametail. I was a temporary contractor for ''New York Sim City''." Steven replied.

    "I see. So, what were you going to do with your side project?" Tayaw asked. "I don''t really know, Mr. Dagem. I just found it cool I guess." Steven replied. "Fred, is his ''side project'' be considered a property of the company?" Tayaw asked. "Yes. He''s using our resources after all. It''s also written in the contract. If only he''d make something that could help us make money, he''ll get a bonus. We can''t patent it too because he used a game engine." Fred explained.

    Tayaw nodded in understanding. It is just how scientists and engineers that work for a company are. If an engineer''s patent is used or sold by the company, the engineer will get some fractions of a percentage from profits. If the engineer found a good application for an already existing patent or product, they will get a huge bonus.

    "I see. That''s why you were mad earlier? Because he wasn''t making something sellable?" Tayaw asked, and Fred nodded. "Well. Lucky for our dear Steven here, I can see something that his software can be used on." Tayaw said. The revelation shocked Fred, Gabriel, and most of all, Steven.

    "But first, may I know what you did at Gametail?" Tayaw asked Steven. "I just built some of the buildings and cars in the game." Steven said. "Very good. That''s just F*CKIN PERFECT!" Tayaw said in excitement. His reaction making the trio of Cognito anxious.

    "Now, do you all know that I''m a film maker?" Tayaw asked the three, to which they responded no. "Anyway. I can see Steven''s project here beneficial for movie productions." Tayaw said. "How?" Fred asked.

    "You''re all familiar with special effects or CGI used for backgrounds of the movies, right?" Tayaw asked. "Right." "Well, we can use Steven''s project here. Imagine. You make a stadium in the game engine, make it as realistic as you can. Then, a huge room with ultra-HD LED screens for walls and ceilings. Then, just transfer how the character in the game would look around to the camera just like how Steven did. Voila! VIDEO WALLS!" Tayaw explained.

    While he did not explain it as concise and as properly, it did not take Fred and Steven to see what Tayaw is trying to say. (Please look up how The Mandalorian''s virtual production.)

    "T-THIS! While we''re still developing software, we can use what we earn from this for our development!" Fred said, glint apparent in his eyes. "It''s doable! It will take a lot of work and more people but it will work!" Steven also excitedly said. "Steven, I''m sorry for yelling earlier." Fred apologized. "It''s fine Fred. I didn''t know it could even be used at all." Steven chuckled.

    "That being said. Why don''t we set up a new department, huh? I am going to make my next film soon, and I''m gonna be the first one to use a virtual set, produced by our company. I''m gonna pay for the construction of the virtual rooms and the screens, but by the end, I''ll still keep them for myself." Tayaw proposed. "Of course! Anyway. I''m going to take some of spare people for now and work on this!" Fred said.

    "Fred, No. Just let them do what they''re doing. Remember, this is only a side project for the company. The reason why I invested to the company is your vision, remember? Focus on that. Let Steven here, take care of this side project." Tayaw said.

    Steven on the other hand, was overwhelmed by what seems like a huge responsibility. "I can''t supervise people, Mr. Dagem." Steven said. "Then I''ll hire some sort of a project manager, you do the technical and consulting stuff, alright? Let''s talk for a bit. Fred, Gabriel, I''m going to have to borrow Steven for a bit." Tayaw said as he brought Steven out with him.

    -----

    A few minutes later, Tayaw and Steven are having an early lunch at a nearby restaurant. Unlike Steven''s poor assessment of himself, Tayaw found Steven to be a man with good ideas.

    "So, unlike NYSC, the buildings and cars have to be very close to reality, is that possible?" Tayaw asked. "Yeah. Unlike games, these will only be back drops right? Unlike games, layouts for this do not have bugs and we can complete them smoothly. It''s possible. It will take a lot of time though, depending on the number of people and what you require." Steven replied.

    "Okay. My movie will be set in the 30s, 40s, and 50s Italy and New York. Can you make video walls of the streets of those?" Tayaw asked. "We can take HD photos of places that still look like those times and plaster them on the surfaces of the objects we create with the game engine. Example, we take photos of houses in the Lower East Side; I lived there so I know that a lot of them are very old.

    "Now, we take the photo of the surface of a building and paste it on the surface of the virtual building, and after some easy tweaking, we can make the virtual building look realistic. The cars, we can work them too using the same process. Then after we have enough materials and virtual models, we can just drag and drop them to make a city or a town, just like what we did with NYSC." Steven explained.

    "How about the going of background people? I intend to save money on hiring a lot of background actors and not just locations." Tayaw asked. "hmmm. I think we have two choices. First is the classic CGI; the blue screen will use the virtual city we will build. If you want real realism, we can use body capture like how Gametail developed the latest NBA Game. But designing the clothes in the engine is going to take a lot of work. Thank god, there are already free models on regular items like light posts or fruits and baskets, we won''t have to work on that." Steve explained. Tayaw nodded his head.

    He also considered that the background will also be blurred; as most of the time, Tayaw''s lenses will be focused on the actors in the foreground. Thinking about this, he figured no one would notice if the clothes of the background virtual actors will be repeated from time to time.

    He also prefers it if he will build a set inside the future LED dome. If for example, Don Gonzalo''s young self in the movie is to work in a market or a kitchen, Tayaw will have to build a kitchen or a market replica inside the LED dome.

    "Okay. How about¡­" Tayaw and Steven discussed a bit more on their plans.

    ==========

    Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles

    "See you on Wednesday Nathan." "I''ll see you doc." Nathan replied.

    Nathan''s breakdown in his trailer was the last straw for him to finally seek the services of a therapist after years of refusing his agent''s recommendation of doing so. By dropping all his professional commitments, he unknowingly achieved the first step that the therapist would have asked him to do; free himself of burdens and try something new.

    His therapy also helped him to deal better with hate comments. He even followed the same person who triggered his breakdown. While waiting to be picked up by his manager, Nathan is currently browsing all T.L.D Grimmauld related tweets on the internet.

    |@tldgrimmauld thanks for the recommendation #septemberninth was f*ckin cool! |

    |@tldgrimmauld I thought you were bullsh*ttin, but I''m now a fan. |

    |@isaacyawat Best film of the year!!! #september ninth#|

    Nathan saw ''September Ninth'' the day before to find everything wrong with the film, just to spite T.L.D Grimmauld. After seeing the film however, Nathan felt like a door to something bigger was opened to him. His hate towards Isaac Yawat, accessory to his hate towards Grimmauld, has turned into respect.

    *Beep Beep* Nathan''s manager finally arrived in his fancy car. "I have to say, I didn''t expect you to actually last this long in this therapy thing." Nathan''s manager said after Nathan settled himself on the comfortable front seat.

    "Well, it helps. By the way, heard any news about Isaac?" Nathan asked. Since he saw ''September Ninth'' Nathan wants to try auditioning for roles in Isaac''s next films.

    "No. The guy just released his film, he''s probably switching to music again." The manager said. "Makes sense." Nathan shrugged as he entertained his own thoughts.

    =========

    Tayaw just parted with Steven and is having another lunch. He is also currently browsing his Twitter notifications. When he woke up earlier, he noticed that the twitter logo on his phone has over 99+ notifications. He didn''t open it until now, and currently, he is pleasantly surprised.

    His @tldgrimmauld account now has currently over 110,000 followers while his @isaacyawat account benefitted tremendously from the film and earned 34,000 followers in only one day.

    Tayaw also found out that his film is currently trending on Twitter and he is optimistic that through word of mouth, or on this case, word of social media, his film worldwide will be recognized not only by film critics but also by casual moviegoers.

    """ Best film of our Year? I never knew that movies would look like this. ¨C Ritz Omar, Cinema Watch"""

    """ ''September Ninth'', an amalgamation of unexplored genres. While ''September Ninth'' is labeled as a romance movie, romance is not even a fraction of what the film is. ¨C Yan Yongliang, Shanghai Movie Post"""

    """ Deserving of its accolades. Will Teungeb films surpass the great American film industry? ¨C Angela Kelley, The Weekly Reel """

    Tayaw also noticed that many film critics from all over the world who did not get to see ''September Ninth'' in Sorrento, got busy and his film received hundreds of new reviews at Online Movie Database, or OMDB for short.

    Tayaw soon finished his lunch and pocketed his phone. After arranging his plans in his head, he stepped groggily out the restaurant.

    This afternoon, he will talk with a few people that knew Gonzalo in his prime.

 Chapter 138 - Science of Audio Visual Recording

    July 20, 2012 ¨C Friday 7 pm ¨C Ironstone, Ouigab

    "Done? Right? ¡­ ¡­ HUDDLE!!!" Jenna screamed in delight! "Huddle!!!" The boys of the band also did and they huddled.

    The band finally finished their re-arrangements of the songs in their album. While they are still not confident, and that Tayaw might still say something for them to amend, they have done their best in polishing their songs. While they can still brainstorm, they do not have the confidence to make their songs sound any better.

    "Payew! Come here, big guy! You''ve helped us too!" Ramil pulled Payew to their huddle.

    Payew, in only two weeks or so, and with the band''s welcoming attitude to his inputs, helped the band in making their lyrics catchier, easier to sing, and easier to understand. While he changed some words, the band were fine with it as the changes either did not change the songs'' message, or even made the message possibly simpler to communicate to listeners.

    "Alright. Alright. Congrats guys. I''m going back upstairs." Payew said as he pulled away from the group hug.

    "Man, you''re just like Tayaw, you hate physical contact, huh? Go, go. Fancy school guy." Ike said.

    "Cool. Let''s record."

    Meanwhile, upstairs, Payew started swimming in his textbooks once again, however, he cannot concentrate.

    A few days after he moved to Ironstone, he was contacted by Rinowra School for a tour along with incoming grade 11 students. He noticed that some of the incoming grade 11 students look younger than usual. He then found out that they are only around 12-14 years old, a year or two younger than the average students of their grade. Payew himself was an average 15-year-old grade 11 student before enrolling to Rinowra.

    The age difference and achievement of some of the incoming students made Payew very insecure and intimidated to attend Rinowra.

    Payew opened his laptop and went online. He checked to see if Tayaw is online, hoping to have a video chat with him.

    /Hey man. Sorry for not talking to you for a while, I was busy./ Tayaw picked up the call, giving Payew a sense of relief.

    "Hello. It''s fine. It''s understandable. Chala said that you just released your film there." Payew said.

    /Ah. Yeah. And the movie''s doing better than I expected. Anyway, how''s it going there in Ironstone? Do you like your new housemates?/ Tayaw asked.

    "Oh, they''re cool. They even asked me for my input, and some bits of my ideas made it to their songs." Payew said, underselling his contribution intentionally, feeling guilty of neglecting his studies for a bit.

    /I see. That''s very good then. BUT¡­ you must have done more than just ''a bit'', yeah?/ Tayaw chuckled as he asked.

    "w-. Well, I did change some words and re-arranged the stanzas, but that''s it. I''m still studying a lot!" Payew defended himself immediately.

    /Hah. Don''t worry about it. I know that it''s fun alright? And I know you''re responsible, so I can trust you''re doing your best for school./ Tayaw said.

    "How did you know by the way? That I did more than what I said?" Payew could not help but ask how easy his lie was caught.

    /Well, I know those three, Bay-an, Hoon, and Inson, are very very protective of their songs. They even argued a lot with their band mates when they started arranging. So, them letting you touch their lyrics, that tells me that they must have at least valued your ideas./ Tayaw said.

    "Ah. I see¡­ Hey¡­" Payew''s tone changed.

    /What''s troubling you man?/ Tayaw asked when he saw the hesitation on his brother''s face.

    "I just had a tour of Rinowra. The kids there are talented, Tayaw. I don''t think I can go there, or I''ll be the dumbest guy." Payew said.

    /Hmm.. I don''t think you''ll be the dumbest there. You know what? Let me give you some truth./ Tayaw prefaced, and Payew is anxious to hear what Tayaw is about to say.

    /We were born in a middle class family. We weren''t poor, nor were we rich. We didn''t have the resources that the kids in your new school have, so our education was average. Despite that, why are you still number one in your grade in Okuba?/

    "I don''t know? I studied harder than anyone?" Payew said.

    /Yes. You did. Now, imagine. Had we been rich since we were born, and you still studied as hard as you can? Do you think you''ll also be like those students in Rinowra?/ Tayaw asked.

    "I don''t know man." Payew shook his head.

    /I think you could have. Hell, I think I could have too, and I was a worse student than you. So, now that you have the resources, make the best use out of it to catch up to those kids. Also, don''t be scared to be around them. If they''re as smart as you think they are, then hang out with them. Surround yourself with smart people and you will challenge yourself to be just as smart. /

    "But what if I can''t catch up?" Payew said.

    /Well, you have to try to catch up first. Even if you can''t, you''re still smart because you made it to the best high school in North Teungeb. If you graduate with good grades in Rinowra, that will assure you to get to the best universities in the country. Hell, you can even apply for the best schools here in America./

    /Also, just do what you''ve been doing. Learn as much as you can. There are a lot of kids who will kill to take your place, so squeeze as much as you can from Rinowra./ Tayaw encouraged.

    Payew''s confidence slowly rose. He does not know if it''s because of Tayaw''s words or Tayaw''s voice, but he is now not as insecure as he was.

    "Alright. I''ll do my best, Tayaw. Thank you for paying for my school man, I''ll pay you back someday. Haha." Payew said.

    ==============

    Tayaw does not know if it was because of the sincere gratitude or something else, but Payew''s words moved him. "Okay. Just make me, mom, and dad proud and that''s enough payment for me." Tayaw said. /Ugh. What a bullshit price. I''ll make you guys proud AND I''m paying you back./ Payew said, his reply amusing Tayaw.

    After telling each other what they''re up to, Tayaw ended the call in a brighter mood.

    Tayaw for the past few days have been in quite an odd mood. For the past few days, negative reviews of his film started popping up.

    ''Too much swearing.''

    ''Too violent.''

    ''S.e.xual scenes were unneeded.''

    The criticisms mostly came from Christian groups in the United States, which Tayaw did not expect his movie would attract attention of.

    While the negative criticisms came from very few people, they are a very loud minority. Tayaw could not help what the reactions would be from these people once his next film comes out, and how these people would affect it.

    Another concern that Tayaw is having is about his script. It has been 15 days since he started reading and gathering information about Gonzalo''s story. It has also been 12 days since he got to know Gonzalo.

    There have been very conflicting anecdotes about Gonzalo''s life from what Tayaw gathered from both people who owed the Coniglio Family, and Coniglio Family''s members. Thankfully, while Gonzalo did not agree to a sit-down interview, he was fine with confirming some facts for Tayaw.

    Tayaw also realized how difficult it really is to write a screenplay. He is struggling to write places and sets, how to set the general plot, and how to write good dialogue.

    "Agh. I already gone this far, might as well finish what I started." Tayaw shook his head.

    When it comes to the general plot and the sets, Tayaw is planning on going linear; he will tell his version of Don Gonzalo''s life from childhood to his rise to power. To make the story compelling, Tayaw is thinking how to embellish Gonzalo''s journey.

    When it comes to dialogue, he is planning on spending more time with Gonzalo and his friends who are still alive to capture how they speak.

    In addition to his struggle in writing, Tayaw also is currently pressed with time. Even though Don Gonzalo might still have a few years left, no one can be too sure. He is however, is still optimistic he can finish the film and have Gonzalo enjoy watching a fictionalized version of himself.

    He already has Steven''s newly formed team start on working on the virtual sets of 1920s Quarteri Spagnoli and the 30s, 40s, and 50s Queens, Brooklyn, and Las Vegas. According to Steven, him and his team can finish all the virtual sets that Tayaw needs first in four month''s time at the quickest.

    Regarding physical sets and costumes, Tayaw also found them more accessible than he thought. Had Tayaw finished his script, he could already start filming the film''s villa scenes using his own house. He can also start filming scenes for Gonzalo''s younger years at Lower East Side, which is filled with vintage apartments, boutiques, and bars.

    New York, being the home of Broadway, offers Tayaw excellent stage designers. He will hire stage designers instead of film and TV set designers as stage designers are more experienced in making historical sets.

    "Ahh¡­ Then there''s ''The Halfling''" Tayaw shook his head.

    The movie about Gonzalo is not the only thing that is on Tayaw''s mind, but also the film version of the Halfling. Since his discussion about Steven regarding the virtual sets, ''The Halfling'' film version has become more achievable in Tayaw''s eyes.

    While Tayaw found it more achievable, he still does not know where to start. As he has no idea how to start, Tayaw is getting more and more inclined to agree with Chala''s suggestion of selling the movie license to a movie studio.

    ============

    A few hours later, Tayaw finally received the first recording of the songs that Percussive Corrections have worked hard on in the past 6 months.

    Even though Tayaw now has raised standards compared to his past life, he still finds Percussive Corrections'' first songs listenable.

    "These''ll do. A few adjustments and they''re good." Tayaw chuckled to himself as a sense of pride rose within him.

 Chapter 142 - Alternative Finance

    August 3, 2012 ¨C Friday 2pm ¨C Jebung, Nabla

    *Grind* *Grind* *Shhaavveee* Liboo is currently supervising his crew as they started refurbishing another car.

    It has been a year since he started his workshop and his business is doing great. In addition to his initial business of refurbishing cars, Liboo expanded his shop to also become an auto repair service.

    He profits an average of 30,000 BGC a month from his refurbished cars sales and an average of 20,000 BGC a month for auto repair services. His shop''s repair service was an unexpected surprise for Liboo but when Liboo thought about it, he found his decision of his workshop''s location a lucky guess: cars from Jebung and the towns surrounding it get their parts worn out due to long drives.

    His competent mechanics and his above average wage for them also gives Liboo''s business a huge advantage among other workshops in Jebung and the neighboring towns.

    Despite the lucrative business however, if Liboo borrowed from a bank to establish his business instead of getting it from Tayaw, then Liboo only earned enough to break even the cost he used in purchasing expensive equipment like the diagnostic tools.

    "Boss. Someone''s here to see you." One of Liboo''s mechanics entered the workshop and reported.

    "Have you seen him before?" Liboo asked.

    "Never. He looks fancy though." The mechanic replied.

    "Alright." Liboo said, confused at who it could be.

    Stepping out of the workshop into the display room, Liboo saw the man wanting to see him. While the man indeed looked sharp, he is someone Liboo does not have the pleasure to see.

    "Liboo! Hah! Long time! Stepping up in life, huh? You have a great place going here." The man said. Liboo does not know if the man is being sarcastic or sincere, but the man''s voice grates in his ears.

    "Kingbo. What are you doing here?" Liboo asked, hiding his irritation.

    "Come on Liboo. That''s how you treat your cousin after not seeing him for years?" Kingbo said.

    "Well, that is if I''m really pleased to see you. How''d you even find my place?" Liboo''s irritation released after not liking the casualty of Kingbo.

    "Ah, the internet of course! I even saw your pictures in America. Oh, I wish I can go as well." Kingbo said.

    "What are you here for really?" Liboo did not buy Kingbo''s small talk.

    "Okay. Anyway, I''m here to thank you for the tractors. They were very helpful at the farm." Kingbo said, ignoring Liboo''s expression.

    This made Liboo''s irritation turn into concealed anger.

    "And how did you get your hands on them?" Liboo asked.

    "Well, Uncle Nungen was very nice to rent the tractors to us." Kingbo said.

    "Oh? And are you planning on paying the rent of the tractors? -cousin-?" Liboo said finally revealing his displeasure.

    "Aw. Come on. You''re still angry at that debt? I think you''re rich enough to write that off, right?" Kingbo said shamelessly.

    "It''s not about the amount! You know how important that money was for me and my wife! You spent it on what? Cars and booze?! I trusted you!" Liboo yelled.

    "Whoah. Okay. I didn''t know then. You never asked for me to pay you back since you lend me." Kingbo said.

    "You know damn well why I didn''t. What happened to your little gang, huh? Still borrowing money from people for your next drink or round of poker, huh? If I knew about your scheme then, I never would have given you that money." Liboo said in indignation.

    "Oh you think that low of me? We don''t do that anymore. We''ve graduated to something else¡­ BOYS!!!" Kingbo called out.

    The few "customers" browsing the cars for sale suddenly sprang into action. Half of who are now revealed to be Kingbo''s men, surrounded Liboo and the other half, closed the display room''s door and window blinds.

    Guerin, Liboo''s shop''s clerk was about to do something stupid when one of Kingbo''s gang members pulled out a knife on him.

    "Settle down, big guy. You can''t take us alone. So, sit down, and nobody gets hurt."

    "What the f.u.c.k are you doing?!" Liboo is shocked at what is happening.

    "This, my dear cousin, is what the cops call ''Extortion''. Like I said, we don''t borrow money anymore, we take them." Kingbo''s mouth morphed into a sinister grin as he stepped closer to Liboo.

    It crossed Liboo''s mind that he must be dreaming but smelling Kingbo''s bad breath, he knew that he is in a bad position.

    "This is low, Kingbo. We''re blood!" Liboo tries to reason.

    "You''re right! And because we''re blood, you get a special treatment! I have a great proposition for you!" Kingbo began.

    "You call this proposition?!" Liboo exclaimed.

    "It''s best if you are not in a position to refuse¡­" Kingbo said nonchalantly.

    "Anyway. Proposition¡­ Usually with others, I would take 50%, but for you, I only want 33%. A third of your monthly profits, in other words. Quite generous, huh?" Kingbo said, going straight to the point.

    "You''re going to -- *Buwahh* *Huff* *Huff*." Before Liboo could speak, Kingbo punched him in the gut.

    "And, don''t try doing something stupid like calling the police. Seeing as you have shiny cars, it must have taken a lot of equipment and good mechanics, huh? You don''t want them great hands with pretty tools broken." Kingbo said. Seeing as Liboo is still catching his breath, Kingbo continued.

    "Don''t also try something like moving your store. Uncle Nungen would be sad for you to move even further away." Kingbo gave another threat.

    "You wouldn''t¡­" Liboo found it unbelievable that Kingbo would involve his father.

    "Hah. I don''t like the way that old man looks at me anyway. Looking at me like I can''t get my d.i.c.k hard. You think I wouldn''t?" Kingbo reinforced his threat as he spat on the shop''s tile floor.

    Liboo seeing as he has no way out, calmed himself down and thought hard.

    "Look, man. Even 30% would kill my business, Kingbo. I still haven''t paid my loans at the bank." Liboo reasoned.

    Kingbo considered Liboo''s excuse for a moment and found it reasonable so he nodded.

    "Hmmm¡­ Seeing as you''re very cooperative. I''ll give you a break. How about 20% this year, huh? Then next year, it''ll be 30." Kingbo amended, feeling generous.

    "Fine. I just don''t want anyone else getting hurt." Liboo finally relented.

    "Well then. Pleasure doing business with you! I''ll have a man come check in from time to time, maybe they can offer some assistance, okay?" Kingbo said, his smile getting even wider.

    "Yeah. Whatever." Liboo bitterly swallowed his pride.

    "Before I go, can you say to Tayaw, Payew, and little Agew that Uncle Kingbo said hi? They seem like good kids." This comment finally broke Liboo''s rationality and he sprang into action.

    Before Liboo can take a swing at Kingbo however, Kingbo''s men already subdued him.

    "Don''t you f*ckin get my children into this. If you do something to them, I''ll f*ckin take you to hell with me!" Liboo shouted. Kingbo on the other hand was not at all threatened and was instead amused.

    "Ah. Now why would I do something that would displease my business partner? As long as you don''t do something that would displease me, we''re going to be fine, alright? Now, I can excuse your attempted assault just now ..." Kingbo said as he walked to a car in display.

    "¡­ if you give me this car. I was taking a look earlier, and I have to say, I fell in love with it." Kingbo said as he caressed the newly refurbished 1970s GM muscle car that is for sale for 50,000 BGC.

    "Boss! That''s ¨C"Guerin was about to protest, but Liboo stopped him.

    "It''s fine. Take it with you." Liboo said, defeated.

    With that, Kingbo and his men took the car and deserted Liboo''s shop as if they were never there.

    "Boss, I know some people. That son of a b*tch can''t just get away with this." Guerin said in indignation at the treatment and offered his help to Liboo.

    "No. I''ll think of something first. Don''t call the police too." Liboo said.

    "But we''ve got CCTV footage! We can submit that to the police!" Guerin said.

    "Yeah? And how long will it take for them to respond? By the time the police take action, what would happen to my father then?" Liboo countered.

    "So, don''t tell anyone about this." Liboo concluded.

    "Boss. I''ve seen people like him. Yes, he asked 20 today. But what happens after you paid your loan? He would get greedier and even ask for more than just 33%." Guerin reasoned.

    "It will be a while before then. But for now, I''ve got time to think of a way. Don''t worry about it, okay? I''ll be in my office." Liboo said.

    Despite his words, Liboo is at a loss. He does not know how to deal with Kingbo at all.

    6pm - Okuba

    Agew was just done painting a vase when he heard Liboo''s car arrive at their front yard. Usually, Agew would only take a peek at Liboo to make sure it is Liboo and then go back to his pottery. Tonight however, he noticed something different in Liboo.

    Seeing Liboo''s downcast expression, Agew felt something was not right and he immediately set aside his pottery matters and hurriedly joined Liboo by the front door.

    "Dad, you look weird. Something happened today?" Agew asked.

    "Do I? Well. Maybe it''s because I''m just tired. We were working on two cars at once today." Liboo said and forced a smile. Agew knew that Liboo is lying but did not say anything.

    ''He looks tired, but he looks sadder.'' Agew thought to himself however.

    "Okay. Mom must be done with the massage chair by now. I''ll go take a shower." Agew said.

 Chapter 143 - Introduction to Infiltration and Hand-to-hand Combat

    During dinner, Agew observed Liboo even more closely. He noticed that Liboo and Kilat are quieter than usual. Usually they would talk about mundane things, but such atmosphere is not present tonight. ''They must have talked about something when I was in the shower.'' Agew''s suspicion grew.

    "Thanks for the dinner mom. I''ll do the dishes." Agew said.

    "Okay honey. Your dad and I also have to go to bed early. We''re both spent at work." Kilat said as she and Liboo both stood up.

    ''Same weird smile as dad''s'' Agew noticed Kilat''s forced smile.

    "Okay. Good night mom, dad." Agew said and he was left alone by the dinner table.

    *Clack* After he heard his parents'' room''s door shut close upstairs, Agew quietly made his way there and stuck his ears against the door. Shortly after, he heard Liboo and Kilat''s voices.

    "(indistinct) trouble. (indistinct) the shop. (indistinct) destroyed!"

    "(indistinct) police?"

    "No police! I think (indistinct)"

    "(indistinct) Kimbo (indistinct) why?"

    "(indistinct) hurt the kids, hurt dad. (indistinct) Kimbo will¡­"

    "(indistinct) get away?"

    "No! (indistinct) Kimbo¡­"

    Agew then heard Liboo and Kilat become silent. Hearing the panic in his parents'' voices, Agew stepped back from the door, and felt his stomach sink. Agew pressed his ears once again against the door but hearing Liboo and Kilat''s voices become more indistinct, Agew gave up on eavesdropping.

    "The shop¡­ Dad''s in trouble¡­" Agew said in realization and he rushed down the stairs. Ignoring the dirty dishes on the dining table, he went to his bed room.

    "I hope Tayaw can help." Agew muttered to himself as he turned on the laptop Tayaw gave him and went online.

    [Hey man. What''s up?] Tayaw immediately answered, making Agew sigh in relief.

    "Hey Tayaw! Uh¡­ I think dad is in trouble!" Agew immediately reported.

    [What?! What happened?]

    "Dad came home tonight and his face looked weird. During the dinner, him and mom were being all quiet and weird. They even went to their room early, so I tried to listen in¡­" Agew reported everything he overheard.

    [Wait. Did you say Uncle Kingbo?!] Tayaw exclaimed.

    "Kimbo? Kingbo? I don''t know. Uncle?" Agew on the other hand, was confused.

    [You also said dad say something about his dad?] Tayaw asked again.

    "I don''t know? Is that what it was?" Agew confirmed, his confusion growing.

    Seeing as Tayaw went silent and put on a thinking face, Agew became worried.

    "Is dad really in trouble?" Agew asked.

    [Yeah. He is. But he''s not in trouble with the cops, so he''s not going to jail like you think. This is different. Thank you for telling me this as I''m sure dad never would have.] Tayaw said.

    "So, how can we help?" Agew asked.

    [I''ll handle it. You on the other hand, just act like usual. If you notice something, just tell me. Don''t tell dad you told me, okay? I will tell you what''s happening after this is over, alright?] Tayaw enumerated a series of orders, which Agew all noted in his head.

    "Okay. I won''t tell. Should we call the police?" Agew suggested.

    [Not yet. Dad is not in danger, yet, so I have time to fix this. Don''t worry, alright?] Tayaw assured Agew.

    =============

    Jericho

    "That son of a bitch!" Tayaw shouted in anger as he connected all the dots after talking with Agew. Kingbo, his uncle, in his previous life, is the relative he hated the most.

    "That f*ckin asshole. Threatening MY family?" Tayaw started pacing back and forth in his study.

    In Tayaw''s previous life, he knows Kingbo as Liboo would always express his grudge against Kingbo from time to time. Tayaw thought it was only Liboo that Kingbo wronged until the day his paternal grandmother passed away.

    During the funeral, Tayaw saw Kingbo do his hustle of borrowing money and gambling. What he witnessed confirmed to Tayaw that every gossip he ever heard from his relatives about Kingbo''s atrocious nature were true. Since then, Kingbo became a dog in Tayaw''s eyes.

    Now in his current life, that Kingbo targeted his father and his family, Kingbo''s status became that of some vermin in Tayaw''s eyes, and deserves to be crushed.

    Tayaw stopped pacing and his earlier anger turned into sharp focus as he thought about how to deal with Kingbo.

    A minute later, "I''m going home." Tayaw said in a voice that if one would have heard, would see that his words mean more than just their definition.

    =======

    Nacotu Village, two weeks later.

    Tayaw is back in Teungeb for almost two weeks now without the knowledge of anyone he is close with. He booked a room from a local inn and started his actions according to his plans.

    Over the past two weeks, Tayaw scouted out Kingbo and his gang. Tayaw found out that Kingbo''s gang is in fact, quite small, with only thirty-seven men, but enough men to be feared by small villages like Nacotu and Alib.

    He also overheard that Kingbo and his gang committed acts of violence and maiming of people who would stand up against them. One example is a young man from Alib who refused to part his earnings from his food truck. This led to Kingbo ordering his men to stomp on the poor young man''s hands, taking away the young man''s ability to cook.

    As to why the villagers would not report to the police, they could not bear to part with their farmlands or afford to leave their hometown for generations. The threat to their relatives when they do move away is also a strong deterrent.

    "Thug 1, thug 2, thug 3 ¡­." Currently, Tayaw is sat on a chair beside his bed, sorting a pile of photographs he took for the past few days.

    The photographs are of the gang members and their families. One loophole Tayaw found is that the gang members are from neighboring villages of Nacotu, so he had no problems running around and following the gang members home.

    "Thug 37. Phew. Let''s do this." Tayaw said as he wore a black colored, tight fitting outfit, matched with ski mask. He then put the photographs inside his backpack along with other tools he will be using for his activity later.

    Tonight is the perfect time that Tayaw found to take action. While scouting out Kingbo''s gang, he found out that the gang members would gather every Saturday to pile on their earnings for the week. The place of meeting is also Kingbo''s own residence.

    After a few minutes of running in the dark and jumping from rock to rock, Tayaw arrived outside of Kingbo''s house. Kingbo''s house is located on top of a hill and is quite large; made of concrete and bricks with tin sheets for the roofing. While the house is large, any architect or engineer would frown at the house''s structure. It would not surprise Tayaw if the house does not even have a bas.e.m.e.nt which is a norm in large houses.

    "And then¡­ PUHAHA!.. And then¡­ The daughter said ''Please. I''d give you my body, just stop bothering my mom.'' Oh boy. Was she TIGHT! AHAHAHA!"

    Tayaw then overheard Kingbo bragging to his men from inside the house. Tayaw almost stumbled as he felt his blood pressure rush at Kingbo''s anecdote. He had to stop himself from blindly rushing inside.

    Tayaw then scouted out the exterior and found a possible entrance. He jumped up and rose to the air and landed in front of a trapdoor on the roof. After entering, he noted that the attic is very dusty and is filled with all sorts of junk like broken furniture. The most important thing Tayaw saw however is the house''s circuit breaker, which Tayaw found funny as it made no sense for the electrician who wired the house to put it in the attic.

    "Alright. Screw it." Tayaw said as he pulled the circuit breaker down. The next moment, he heard the house become silent, followed by curses from the gang members.

    "F*ck. Look at the houses next hill, they have power." One gang member remarked which prompted Tayaw to put on his night vision goggles he bought with his connections with the Coniglio.

    He then quickly made his way down to the first floor where the gang members are gathered.

    *Smack* *Smack* *Ugh* "What the f.u.c.k?!"

    "Who the f.u.c.k did that?"

    "Ahh!"

    Tayaw started hitting the gang members in glorious fury. His suppressed anger resurfaced and he despite caring about how much he controlled his strength, he did not care about how many times he hit someone as long as they drop to the floor unconscious.

    Kingbo and the rest of the members who are still standing hurriedly pulled out their phones or flashlights and started to look for Tayaw. It did not take long for them to see the form of a man who alone is incapacitating them one by one.

    "Who the f.u.c.k is you?!" Kingbo exclaimed and pulled out his knife, which the members followed with what they can grab for a weapon.

    Tayaw did not answer and just kicked or slapped away whatever is being used as a flash light to maintain his advantage in the dark. Then he heard something that almost neutralized his anger.

    *SNAP* "My hand! AH!" One thug''s hand whom he kicked broke and the thug rolled on the floor nursing his hand.

    Thinking however of the people the gang terrorized over the years, Tayaw did not feel guilty and kept on his work.

 Chapter 144 - Introduction to Business Negotiation

    Six, seven, eight, nine, and ten men on the ground later, Kingbo soon realized that his gang is no match for the intruder. He started running out to the door, planning on going to his bedroom to grab his pistol. Before he can even reach the door, the intruder is already on him, a fist going towards his face. *Smack* Kingbo''s world went dark.

    =======

    "Uhhhh." Kingbo wakes up with a huge headache.

    Kingbo did not know how long he was out but he found himself in the living room, the lights are turned back on. He then saw his members, all of them who are now awake, kneeling on the living room floor, their hands and legs tied with what looks to be zip ties, and their mouths gagged.

    Kingbo was about to make a move but he realized that he too is tied up like his mates. He then looked around and saw the intruder clearly for the first time. The intruder is quite tall. The skin tight outfit displays the intruder''s very athletic build. The intruder''s face however is unrecognizable with the intruder wearing a ski mask. Kingbo noticed that a strange gadget is on the intruder''s neck, which he guessed is a pair of night vision goggles.

    He could not believe that a lone man was able to take them all down.

    "Who the f.u.c.k are you?!" Kingbo defiantly asked.

    The intruder however, did not respond and instead pulled out a stack out of his back pack. Kingbo seeing as he cannot get a word out of the intruder, decided to observe. ''At least 6 foot tall, fair skinned, and looks to be in his twenties based on the skin exposed.'' Kingbo started gathering information he can use once this debacle is over.

    ''He does not want to kill. Big mistake, big guy. Too bad he''s wearing gloves.'' Kingbo already started planning his revenge.

    He then saw the intruder carry the stack to his gang members and started laying what looks to be photographs in front of each kneeling thug. Kingbo became curious, but when he saw the faces of his thugs, he became anxious. Every thug who saw what was given to them by the intruder all had looks of panic and fear.

    After the intruder was done distributing the photographs, Kingbo saw the intruder approach him and leaned closer.

    "Curious?" The intruder whispered.

    Kingbo then looked down at the intruder''s hand and his heart slightly sank at what the intruder is holding. Kingbo saw in the intruder''s hand, photos of his parents, his brothers, and his girlfriend.

    While at a loss of what to do, Kingbo felt the intruder grab his hair and the intruder used it to drag him to the side of the living room. Kingbo had no choice but to stop resisting to avoid being injured any further.

    "Who are you? I can give you money, women, whatever you want! Just let me go." Kingbo tried to negotiate.

    "Money? I earn a few million a month. Women? I''ve got plenty. There''s really nothing you can offer me." The intruder replied.

    "Land! I can give you land! You just have to help me get it! My par ¨C " Before Kingbo could say another word, *Smack* Kingbo felt dizzy as he was slapped to the floor by the intruder.

    "I''ve read up on your family. Now, tell me. Why would I want the land of those nice, hardworking people? Hm?" Kingbo, while trying to scamper back up form the floor, heard the intruder ask.

    "Then, what do you want?! Why are you doi-" As Kingbo managed to sit back up, *Smack* he was sent to the floor once again.

    "I''m not done talking. Speaking of nice, hardworking people, why do you have to bother them? Hm? Answer." The intruder casually asks. Kingbo now gave up on getting up.

    "I-I¡­ " Kingbo knows that he does not have anything to justify his actions.

    "Because I worked hard too! Why do they get nice things? I worked just as hard." Kingbo found a reason however and answered in indignation.

    "Really now?" Kingbo then felt the intruder prop him up.

    "That''s not what I heard. 1992. What could you have worked hard on before you started your gang in 1992?" *Thump* Kingbo felt his lungs scream in pain from the intruder''s punch to his gut.

    "Ugghhh.." Kingbo''s pain intensified as he landed to the floor once more.

    "But thinking about it, I think you''re right. You worked hard scamming people, borrowing money you can''t pay, and wiping your foot on people''s dignity like a doormat." Kingbo then felt the intruder''s shoe on his face. The next moment, he felt the intruder start to rub his shoes on his face like a doormat.

    At this point, Kingbo gave up on arguing with the intruder. "What do you want me to do then?" Kingbo asked.

    "Now you''re asking the right questions." He felt the intruder prop him back up, this time assisting him to sit down, his back against the wall.

    He then saw the intruder walk towards the living room bar, kicked away the thug that was on his way, grabbed an expensive bottle of gin, opened it, and drank straight from the bottle.

    "Hm. Yuck." The intruder said in disgust after gulping the gin down. The next moment, Kingbo''s heart almost broke when he saw the intruder use the expensive gin to wash the blood on his gloves.

    "Now. Kingbo. What I want you to do is to give back all what you took from the good people of Nabla. Cent by cent." Kingbo heard the intruder say.

    "W-what?! B-but that''s impossible!" Kingbo found the intruder''s demand ridiculous.

    "Oh. I know. How could you possibly give someone''s hands and legs back? How could you possibly give someone''s purity and chastity back? Lastly, how could you give someone''s life back?" The intruder says as he approaches Kingbo once again.

    "Ah. I- I- don''t know what you''re talking about!" Kingbo tried to deny.

    "Oh, I know what you have done. Your men already told me how you took that poor man''s life. Detail by detail, it matches the body that was found a few months ago." Kingbo then saw the intruder approach once again, lifted his leg and stomped down. *Snap*

    "AHH!!!" Kingbo screamed to the top of his lungs as he felt his left knee shatter.

    "I''m sorry. I''m sorry. I won''t do it again!" Kingbo begged as he rolled over the floor.

    "Sorry? Oh no. You never would have said that had I not come here tonight." The intruder grabbed Kingbo''s elbow.

    Kingbo tried resisting but the intruder''s hand is like that of a vice grip.

    "AHHH!!" Kingbo screamed once again as he felt his elbow shatter.

    "F*ck you! F*ck you! I''m gonna kill you! I''m gonna kill your family, I''m gonna kill your dog!" Kingbo realized there''s no use being polite to the intruder anymore.

    "Yeah? Kill me? I''ll give you a chance." Kingbo saw the intruder hands blur and the next moment, realized that the restraints were cut off.

    Kingbo tried his best to stand up and tackle the intruder with all his strength, but the intruder simply stood still. *smack* Kingbo felt like he ran into a wall. He then felt the intruder grab his jaw used it to raised him into the air with one hand. The action shocked every thug in the room and one even peed his pants.

    "Y-you¡­ monster!" Kingbo''s tried to claw, kick and punch the intruder but the intruder simply took them all as if they are nothing.

    "Come on. Monster? Who of us maimed and killed good people? Hm? Kill me, you vermin. Your leg''s gone. Your arm''s gone. Your men can''t help too. How does it feel? To not be able to fight back as someone just do what they want with you? Hm?"

    "Why? WHY?!" Kingbo, exhausted after giving his all to fight back, already gave up.

    "Why? Let me borrow your favorite expression. ''It gets my d.i.c.k hard.''" Kingbo then felt his remaining good elbow shatter.

    "AHHH!! Kill me! Just kill me now!" Kingbo begged.

    "oh. I''m not a killer. And if I kill you that means my fun is over." The intruder simply said. Kingbo then saw the intruder grab his good knee.

    "No. NO!" *Crack* "AHHHH!!!!" Kingbo''s begging was left unheard. He then felt the intruder''s hand holding him up let go and he crashed to the floor.

    "Why don''t we move this conversation someplace else, hm?" Kingbo tried to resist the intruder gagging him, but to no avail. He could only let the intruder tie him up to a chair.

    "Ah. Gentlemen. Thank you for your hospitality." The intruder now addressed the thugs.

    "If you don''t want to see me again, why don''t you all start fresh? Hm? Even better! Why don''t you all get out of Nabla? If you don''t do one of those things, you will end up like what I did to your boss here and what I will do to him later. You''ll find out in the morning."

    "Anyway. Given time, I''m sure you will all take off your restraints, so I''ll take my leave now. I hope we never see each other again. Don''t make me come for you and your families." The intruder concluded.

    Kingbo, who usually likes to terrorize people by his words, now feels like his style was like a child babbling after seeing the effects of the intruder''s words to his men.

    Kingbo was soon dragged outside his house by the intruder.

    "Hmm. Nice muscle car. The shop lost a lot of money when you took it." The intruder said.

    As the intruder pushed him inside the car, Kingbo soon connected the dots and Kingbo''s eyes widened in realization.

 Chapter 145 - Psychological Etymology of Mob Mentality

    "You! You''re Liboo''s man back then?!" Kingbo said in disbelief.

    "No¡­" Tayaw then took off his ski mask.

    "It''s me, Tayaw. Remember me, uncle?" Tayaw revealed his identity.

    "T-Tayaw. I-t can''t be..!" Kingbo''s sanity took a hit.

    While he tried to deny it, he can see clearly the features of Kilat, the woman he once l.u.s.ted over, in Tayaw''s face. It is also apparent to Kingbo that Tayaw inherited Liboo''s athletic figure.

    "You should never have touched my family, uncle." Tayaw said as he started the car.

    "Tayaw¡­ nephew. For our blood''s sake. C-can you let me go this once? I promise I won''t tell anyone!" Kingbo said, fear now dawned on him realizing that the grudge is real and personal.

    "You ignored our blood once you decided to appear in my father''s life again, uncle. Not to mention how you intimidated grandpa to get his tractors, you still dare to mention blood?" Tayaw said through gritted teeth.

    "So, what are you going to do? Kill me? It''s not easy to kill a man, kid." Kingbo said.

    "I''m not going to kill you, uncle. No. Once you''re dead, how can you suffer for your actions? But! I''ll still take your life." Tayaw said cryptically.

    "W-hat?... Whatever you''re going to do, you''re not going to get away with it! You should have never showed me your face!" While Kingbo is unsure of the meaning of Tayaw''s words, he at least gained Tayaw''s identity as a bargaining chip.

    "Now, I''m sure you will tell everyone after I leave. But, would anyone believe you? Who after all, would believe the words of a broken man? ''He must have gone crazy after what happened to him'' will definitely be what would be on the mind of the people you will tell." Tayaw said.

    This sent chills down Kingbo''s spine.

    "I also made sure that no one knows that I spent the past two weeks here in Nabla. Everyone who knows me even think that I''m overseas! Haha!" Tayaw started bragging about his planning.

    Kingbo however found Tayaw''s words useful.

    "If you won''t kill me, then I''m sure I can find out on the internet what you''re up to. I can make a convincing story.  So, to avoid that trouble, why don''t we stop here now?"

    "Hm.. So, what if you can concoct a story? Like I said, you''ll sound crazy. ''How could that nice boy done something this terrible?'' or maybe ''How could that nice boy beat your whole gang alone?'' Sounds stupid right? AHAHAHAHA" Tayaw said, cackling in delight.

    This stumped Kingbo and he remained silent, trying to come up with something.

    "And even if you say that I wasn''t alone, why would they believe the words of a man like you? Hm?  What would you say? ''Because I extorted Liboo, the kid wanted revenge!''? You wouldn''t say that, right? HAHAHAHAHA!" Tayaw rambled on.

    "If I can''t touch you, I''ll drag your father and your grandfather. Mark my words, Tayaw." Kingbo threatened.

    "How? Your men have lost their spirit, and they are hurt to do anything in the near future. While I won''t kill, I can cripple them. Where are you going to get new thugs? Huh? One of the things I learned about you is that you aren''t smart enough to lead a gang as a cripple." Tayaw countered.

    ''Cripple'' made Kingbo realize that he may never walk or even use his arms ever again without assistance.

    "So, here''s what I want you to do. If our townsmen are kindhearted enough to get you to the hospital after everything you''ve done, and make it out alive today, I want you to get out of Nabla. My men who gathered information on you and your gang will stay here in Nacotu, watching you and your men.

    "And if you still do not do as I say, I''m going to have my men kill you and your friends for me. If you approach grandpa Cralo for help, I''m going to get him too. Mark my words, uncle." Tayaw bluffed.

    Kingbo could only swallow his spit at Tayaw''s threat. He never considered that while Tayaw could not kill him, it does not mean Tayaw cannot make others do it. Even if Kingbo knows that Tayaw is working alone, he does not know that Tayaw is capable enough to play guardian angel to his family and his grandparents. Time is Tayaw''s problem however, if he is to guard a whole town alone.

    The two soon arrived at the village center. The villagers, being farmers, go to bed early so they are clueless about Tayaw'' late night action.

    "Open your mouth. Go on." Tayaw ordered Kingbo and stuffed a gag in Kingbo''s mouth. Tayaw then wrapped Kingbo in rope and tied him up, and hung him on one of the electric posts where the villagers would easily be able to see.

    ==========

    "Phew. Easier than I thought." Despite Tayaw''s words, he is still feeling the mental effects of the act he just committed. With his hands trembling, he forced himself to start the car and get away from the village center.

    A few minutes later, he recovered.

    "You were wrong, Don Gonzalo. I now feel light as a feather." Tayaw chuckled as he leaned back in the driver''s seat while handling the steering wheel with only one hand.

    - - - - - - - - -

    Two weeks ago

    "I like it. This is the third of what you''ve written so far?" Gonzalo said as he handed back Tayaw''s manuscript.

    "Yeah. I''m glad you liked it." Tayaw said.

    "If you want, you can use my childhood home in Queens to film these. I''ve preserved the building as much as I can." Gonzalo offered.

    "That would be great, Don Gonzalo. This makes things easier." Tayaw is happy to hear it.

    "Now. Why would you show me an unfinished work? This visit is not really about the script, yes?" Gonzalo asked, noticing something is up.

    "Well, I just want to make sure that I''m going the right way with it. I don''t want to finish a script only for you to reject it." Tayaw replied.

    "Hm. That makes sense. But my gut says bull. Even if you''re here for the script, something''s on your mind. Out with it, child." Gonzalo insisted.

    Tayaw thought for a moment and decided to come clean. "¡­ You got me... My father was recently in trouble from¡­" Tayaw started to talk about Liboo''s problem with Kingbo.

    "And so, I''m thinking of going home. Maybe take the man''s ability of extorting people away." Tayaw concluded with his plan. Gonzalo rose his eyebrows as he did not expect Tayaw to be violent.

    "Ah. If I were you, maybe I''d do the same. But let me warn you, child, it''s not going to be easy. Whatever you''re going to do, you will carry the weight for the rest of your life." Gonzalo advised, assuming the worst.

    "Even if you''re right, Don Gonzalo, I have to do it." Tayaw politely disagreed.

    "Alright. Want some help? I could send some men from my friends in Landopil." Gonzalo said.

    "I have to see first if I can handle it. However, if you can smuggle me back to Teungeb, that would be great, Don Gonzalo."

    "Hm? Looks like you have a plan?... Alright. When do you plan to leave?" Gonzalo asked.

    "Tomorrow if possible." Tayaw replied.

    "Good. I''ll contact Landopil, you''ll have news tomorrow." Gonzalo said as he started planning Tayaw''s transportation in accordance to what he can figure from Tayaw''s plan.

    "Thank you, Don Gonzalo." Tayaw says in gratitude.

    "This is nothing. I just hope you would not regret this. God bless your soul, my boy."

    - - - - - - - - - - - -

    Nacotu Village ¨C 6am

    "Hey. What''s going on?"

    "Someone took out Kingbo''s gang. It''s written in there."

    "Is he dead?"

    "I f*cking hope so."

    The villagers are gathered around the electric post where Tayaw hung Kingbo.

    "*GASP*" Kingbo suddenly gained consciousness to the surprise of the people present. "HELP! HELP ME! Whoever brings me to the hospital, I''ll give them money." Kingbo ordered to the villagers.

    Even with the promise of money, the villagers are still hesitating whether to help Kingbo or not.

    "What are you all standing there for? Once I get down from here, I swear I''ll get you." Kingbo now resorted to threats after no one stepped forward to help him.

    "No, you won''t. Your gang is gone! Your arms and legs look broken too! You can''t do anything to us anymore!" A young man, whose hand is in a cast, stepped forward and with indignation, picked up a stone with his good hand and threw it hard at Kingbo.

    The stone did not hit Kingbo squarely but was accurate enough to graze Kingbo''s knee; and a graze was enough to agitate Kingbo''s injury.

    "AH! I''ll kill you! I''ll f.u.c.kin kill you! It won''t be your hand this time that I''ll destroy!" Kingbo was hysterical.

    "Before you do that, I''ll cut your balls first, you monster!" A young lady arrived and threw stones at Kingbo too.

    Some of the villagers tried to stop the two, but Kingbo offended too many people. The young man and the young lady''s actions incited the others who Kingbo wronged to also throw whatever is on their reach at Kingbo.

    "STOP! EVERYONE! SON?! WHO DID THIS TO YOU?!" An old man broke through the crowd and approached Kingbo.

    Before Kingbo could answer. "Cralo! You know what your son has done to us! Whoever did this did us a favor! This much is what your son deserves." The villagers cannot be stopped by a lone old man.

    "C-can we talk about this?!" Cralo tried to reason.

    "We tried to talk to you before, and you know exactly what you did! So, step aside, or you''ll meet your maker a few years early!" The villagers also expressed their indignation on Cralo who indulged Kingbo and let him do what he wanted.

    "Keep this up and I''ll call the cops on you all!" Cralo could only resort to the legal way.

    "Do it! F*ckin do it! So, we can show them every evidence we gathered!" The villagers however are prepared.

    "I have enough evidence, Cralo. I just could not submit it because Kingbo would know exactly it was me who blabbed. Now that he has no men, it''s over."

    Cralo could only watch his son receive the wrath of their village.

 Chapter 146 - Relief and Worry

    August 20, 2012 ¨C Monday 8 am ¨C Jebung Township, Nabla

    "Boss! Boss!" Guerin met Liboo excitedly by the shop''s entrance.

    "What? What?!" Liboo was overwhelmed by the unusually energetic Guerin.

    "Look! Someone left something in our mail box." Guerin reported as he handed Liboo a photo.

    Liboo looked at the photo and felt chills run down his spine accompanied by a bout of nausea.

    The photo shows a beat up Kingbo tied up and hanging under an electric post.

    "H- He''s not dead, is he?" Liboo said.

    "He''s not. At least that''s what the note says. It''s behind the photo." Guerin tried to assure Liboo.

    [Kingbo is out of your hair now. Do not worry, he is not dead, at least he is not when we left him. My men will watch over you and your family in case we missed one of Kingbo''s people. Please do not talk to people from Nacotu and Alib yet unless they contact you first. I took a liking to the car so I am also taking it with me. I will wire you the payment today.] Liboo read the note.

    "Good lord." Liboo was dumbfounded.

    "Shit, I can''t believe you''ve done this boss? I didn''t know you were connected." Guerin said with a satisfied grin.

    "No. I''m not involved in this. And I have no idea who did this. Basically, all the friends I know are some of my neighbors and the mechanics I hired. I don''t even know how this person found out¡­ You however ¡­ You didn''t tell anyone, right?" Liboo said, which caught Guerin off-guard.

    "Whoah. It''s not me, boss. Even if I did, it will take my ''friends'' a long time to help us. Not to mention how much they will ask for it. The guy who did this took care of your problem for free. Oh! Plus! They did send us 55,000 BGC. I checked. They gave extra for the car. If It were the guys I know, they''d take the car for free." Guerin explained himself.

    "Hmm. Alright then. I''m gonna call my father, maybe he knows something." Liboo dropped his suspicion of Guerin and he pulled out his phone.

    "Boss! No." Guerin stopped Liboo from dialing his phone.

    "The guys who did this told us too. It will prevent us from having a connection with the hit on Kingbo. You didn''t tell anyone about the trouble, right?" Guerin explained.

    "Ah... You''re right." Liboo sighed and shook his head.

    "Tell Bagwis to take over for me today. I''m going home." Liboo said.

    "Oh. Okay boss. I understand." Guerin nodded his head. Liboo usually do not skip work as he loves spending time in the workshop, but today serves for a celebration, at least it is what Guerin thinks.

    Half an hour later, Liboo is back in his home in Okuba.

    "Honey!" Liboo burst through the front door.

    "Liboo! I thought you left for work?!" Kilat almost jumped in surprise. With Kingbo''s threat looming over them, Kilat had been jumpy at the smallest things.

    "Never mind that. I have news!" Kilat said.

    "What?" Liboo asked in curiosity.

    "I was talking with my cousin earlier and guess what she told me? Kingbo''s gang is over! Kingbo and his men were beaten up maybe in the early morning of yesterday." Kilat said.

    "You didn''t tell them about his extortion from us, right?" Liboo asked.

    "No. Why? Should I have?" Kilat asked.

    "Oh. Thank god. Look at this." Liboo sighed in relief and passed the photo he received to Kilat.

    "Oh, my goodness... Oh my goodness." Kilat felt light-headed at the image and had to sit down and read the note on the photo.

    "And, I have nothing to do with it. I don''t even know how they found out. But this should not be traced back to us, alright honey?" Liboo said.

    "Okay. I get it." Kilat sighed, recovering from the shocking image.

    "So, is Kingbo alive?" Liboo asked.

    "Yeah. But they said he might be crippled now." Kilat reported.

    "That''s good. That''s good." Liboo sighed in relief.

    "Do you really know nothing about this?" Kilat asked, finding it reasonable that Liboo might have done something to get back at Kingbo.

    "Whoa. I swear, honey, I don''t. You know me. I''ve lost sleep over this." Liboo defended.

    "Honey, it''s okay. You did this to protect us." Kilat is still suspicious however.

    "As much as I''d like to take credit, I don''t even know where to start to do something like this. Look, you know Guerin, right? The former felon I hired? I even thought it was him that called his friends, but he denied it. He said that his ''friends'' would not be so kind to pay for the car that Kingbo took." Liboo explained.

    Kilat''s suspicion subsided and decided to drop it for now. "Okay then. At least we''re good now."

    "What''s good?" The couple were startled when suddenly, Agew came out of nowhere.

    "Oh. Why do you always sneak up on us? No. The shop is doing good. That''s all." Kilat said.

    "Oh. Okay." Agew smiled widely but when he saw the photo on Kilat''s hand, his smile froze. Kilat was about to hide it but it''s too late.

    "Oh no¡­ someone got killed¡­" Agew uttered as his face paled.

    "No! No. He''s not. But he was badly beaten up." Kilat said, not wanting Agew to be traumatized by the photo.

    "Oh. Okay." Agew said, his relief obvious to the couple.

    "Son. Sit down. And calm down. What do you know about this?" Liboo while having the same concern as Kilat, noticed Agew''s odd reaction and his use of words.

    "Liboo! Don''t you dare pass suspicion on your son!" Kilat was shocked at Liboo''s question.

    "I know you will hate me for this, honey, but I found his words strange. Son, what do you really know about this?" Liboo insisted.

    "I-I ¡­ Know about what?" Agew tried to play innocent, but not being a skilled liar, Kilat and Liboo saw through him.

    "We won''t get angry. Just tell us what you know." Kilat was finally convinced at Liboo''s conjecture, so she asked in a gentle expression. Agew meanwhile was torn between confessing what he knows or to keep what he knows to himself.

    "Son. This man right here, is a bad man. He took advantage of many, many people in my hometown; that includes your grandfather and my friends. So, if you know who did this for us, for my friends, we want to thank them." Liboo said, trying to convince Agew to come clean.

    Agew feeling like Liboo''s words made sense and that Liboo wants to express gratitude, has decided to confess.

    "Dad, I thought that you were going to be arrested by the police, or Kimbo, I don''t know! So, I asked Tayaw for help. BUT! I''m sure that Tayaw didn''t do that!" While Agew confessed, he still wants to defend Tayaw. Agew however, knew deep in him, that with Tayaw''s ''oddity'', it is a fair assumption that Tayaw has indeed took action.

    Kilat and Liboo fell silent. A minute later, "Thank you for being honest, son. And you''re right. It wasn''t Tayaw who did this." Liboo said, consoling Agew with a smile.

    "Really? That''s good then!" Agew sighed in relief.

    "Good. Honey, don''t you still have pottery to do? I want to be alone with your father." Kilat said.

    "Okay!" Agew gladly complied.

    The two finally being alone, Kilat and Liboo''s faces morphed into complicated expressions.

    "It''s Tayaw, huh." Kilat said, disbelief on her face.

    "As much as I don''t like it, honey, it might be him. You and I didn''t do it. Guerin also didn''t. Kingbo and his men obviously would not sabotage themselves. Then Agew. I don''t know how he found out but he''s the only one who told another." Liboo eliminated suspects.

    "And that other is Tayaw¡­ I can''t believe he can do this." Kilat shook her head.

    "Yeah. Let''s call him." Liboo said.

    =============

    Meanwhile in the outskirts of Nacotu Village

    "Ugh. I tap! TAP!" A man said as he felt the threat of injury from his twisted arm. Feeling his arm was released, the man sighed in relief.

    "Phew. If you can beat all of us at the same time, why bother calling us here at all?" The man said as he pointed to his buddies who are now at watching by the side after being defeated by Tayaw.

    "I can beat you. But that''s not the point. I can''t watch multiple men at the same time." Tayaw explained.

    "Okay. So, did we get the job? We didn''t come so far just to be beaten by you and go home empty-handed, right?" The man asked. The man is the leader of the group of thugs that Gonzalo sent over through his connections. The connection being a high member of the Landopil syndicate of the Teungeb branch.

    "Yeah. You got it. At least you lot are tougher than the former gang here. Here''s the list of the thugs that are still in Nacotu and Alib. You are to watch them here for a month. If they do not leave Nabla after they recovered from their injuries, intimidate them to do so." Tayaw instructed.

    "Ah. No wonder the boss chose us. This is what we''re good at, not fighting. How about our pay?" The leader asked.

    "I know your boss said to give me a discount but let''s go with your regular pay. 30 days and 30 of you, 500 BGC each day." Tayaw said.

    "Isn''t that generous." A thug on the side quipped with a smile.

    "It is. The rent is cheap in a place like this too." The leader agreed.

    "By the way, just out of curiosity, why not just whack them? Doesn''t that solve your problem?" The leader asked.

    "Well, I just want to spare the good people of these supposed to be peaceful villages of any more unrest. So, don''t try to take over Kingbo''s rackets here. It''s best if you avoid tarnishing the relationship of the Landopil and Coniglio, alright?" Tayaw casually threatened.

    "Whoa there. We don''t do that shit. We''re the sophisticated sort." The thug who quipped earlier quipped again.

    "That''s good to know. Anyway. You can start today, yes?" Tayaw asked.

    "Yeah. We''re good to go." The leader said.

    After having lunch with the men he hired, Tayaw is back in his motel room. As he was packing up, Tayaw''s phone buzzed. He opened his Facebook app, looked at the recent message he received, and sighed.

    [Please call us as soon as you read this. We have to know if you''re okay.]

 Chapter 147 - Introduction to Business Management

    "Honey. He''s not answering." Liboo says as he tries to call Tayaw''s phone again.

    "*Sigh* It''s ringing, right? That means he''s in Teungeb at least, right?" Kilat says.

    "Has to be. Oh. A text." Liboo says, which gets Kilat''s attention.

    "What did it say?"

    "He said ''Mom, dad. I''m fine. No one knows that I''m in Teungeb right now. I''m also going back to Jericho immediately. Please delete this message after reading. We''ll talk about it in the future.''" Liboo reads.

    "*Sigh* At least he''s fine." Kilat says in relief.

    "Yeah." Liboo is relieved too.

    The two becomes silent, things running in their heads.

    "I still can''t believe he had something to do with it. I just hope he didn''t do the deed himself." Liboo shakes his head, trying to console himself.

    "Let''s not jump into conclusions, okay? Maybe¡­ Maybe, he just¡­ watched." Kilat says, half believing in Tayaw''s good nature, half disbelieving her own words.

    "I hope so too, honey. I hope so too." Liboo embraces the trembling Kilat.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    Tayaw, seeing Kilat''s text, the guilt he suppressed from his actions, came rushing back. His guilt however is quickly overridden by what could be his parents'' opinions on what he has done. He debated in his head whether to talk to his parents or not, but after a few seconds of extreme consideration, he opted not to. He decided not to confront them at this time as he has no idea how to rationalize his actions to them.

    A few hours later, Tayaw is back in Ouigab using the car he took from Kingbo. Tayaw however did not go to East Ouigab where there is a good chance that his friends will see him, but at West Ouigab where Chala currently lives.

    "Tayaw. Come in. This is a pleasant surprise¡­" Chala, despite his confusion of Tayaw''s text earlier and Tayaw''s current unassuming outfit, let Tayaw in.

    "Hey man. Thanks. First of all, though. Don''t tell anyone that I''m in Teungeb right now. Don''t tell my parents or my brother, or my friends that you''ve seen me." Tayaw says as they enter the living room.

    "Huhh.. Okay?" Chala says, implying that he wants to know more.

    "I''ll explain when the time''s right." Tayaw says.

    "Fine." Chala simply shrugs.

    "So. How are you doing?" Tayaw asks as he sits on Chala''s couch.

    "Great actually. But boring." Chala says.

    "Hm? How''s Payew adjusting here?" Tayaw asks implying that Chala should be busy with Payew.

    "Bah. He doesn''t need babysitting. The kid''s responsible. In fact, I''m more worried about you especially that stunt you pulled online." Chala shakes his head.

    "Man, you''re still on that? It''s been a month. I haven''t been in trouble since. None of the celebs'' people even contacted me." Tayaw scoffs.

    "Heh. Whatever. A drink?" Chala offers.

    "Any hard liquor? Gin? Whiskey?" Tayaw asks.

    "I have Scotch. Are you really drinking this early? Why don''t we go to lunch first?" Chala says.

    "I need the drink, just enough to get buzzed. We''ll have lunch together some other time as I''m in a hurry to get out of Teungeb." Tayaw says.

    "Fine."

    After pouring Tayaw a glass of Scotch on ice cubes, Chala finally wants to know Tayaw''s purpose of visit.

    "So¡­ You didn''t do something that would make me an accessory to a crime, right?" Chala says.

    "Ehh. How would it make you an accessory when you don''t even know what I did... Hehehe. *Gulp* Ahhhh. Great scotch by the way." Tayaw says.

    Seeing as Tayaw does not really want to explain, Chala drops it.

    "I know. I was keeping that for special occasions." Chala says.

    "Well, thanks for treating me a special occasion. Anyways¡­ Actually, I''m glad that you''re not busy. I''m gonna ask you something that isn''t really a part of your job, again. I''ll pay you too as it has a lot of leg work to do." Tayaw says.

    "Alright. Stop guilting me, I''ll do it for free." Chala scoffs.

    "Wasn''t my intention. But it really requires a lot of leg work so I''ll pay for your transportation costs at least." Tayaw says. This gets Chala''s interest.

    "I''m actually writing a screenplay right now. Then, film it as soon as it''s done. But because it''s gonna be a LOT of equipment and actors to work with, I really need to make a film studio. And a film studio needs to be a company so I can practice more legitimately." Tayaw starts.

    "Hm? You didn''t need a film studio for ''September Ninth'' though?" Chala asks.

    "True. But that was a very small budget. And I didn''t know any better. Thank goodness, Black Deer didn''t try to f*ck me over because I had the slack on the rope. This time though, the production is much bigger and I have a lot more risks to take." Tayaw explains.

    "Oh. Wouldn''t the stuff you would buy for equipment and other expenses be deducted in taxes too?" Chala asks.

    "Exactly. I buy more cameras, the office space, the studio location, the costs of those would at least reduce my taxes. It''s also more legit to hire through a company. That''s all simpler to do through a company." Tayaw explains.

    "Okay? But how about business tax? Won''t that increase your taxes nonetheless?" Chala asks.

    "Nah. Because it''s not a shared business, but my own, no business tax. A sole proprietorship company, in short" Tayaw explains.

    "Okay. While that sounds good, have you registered for a business name yet? A license?" Chala asks.

    "Yeah. ''Half Basin Studios''. The process was quick and simple actually." Tayaw says.

    "Hm? ''Half Basin Studios'', there''s a joke in there, right?" Chala asks, confused at the name.

    "Hurhur. Exactly because of the face you''re making right now that I made it the official name. I want a catchy name, but unpretentious at the same time. I''m even thinking of making a chopped off basin, as the company logo." Tayaw says.

    "Heh. You''re f*ckin out of your mind. At least make it a gold basin, okay? But I get what you''re saying." Chala chuckles at the picture of half of a basin being in a film.

    "AH. I was thinking blue plastic basin. A gold one doesn''t seem that bad either." Tayaw nods. The image of a blue plastic basin chopped in half amuses Chala once again.

    "Puhah.! Good lord. Anyways. What do you want me to do?" Chala asks.

    "Buy me two huge warehouses in South Ouigab near Nasiri Hill." Tayaw begins.

    "Okay. For the filming studio stuff?" Chala asks.

    "Yeah. And indoor filming sets. I have two warehouses in mind. Buy them in my company''s name; I''ll send you authorization papers once I get back in New York." Tayaw says.

    At this point, Chala pulls out his phone and taps on his new favorite application; Notepad. Seeing as Chala is ready, Tayaw continues.

    "I also want you to handle the insurance for my company . In case something goes awry during filming processes, I have a cushion. I''ll hire a lawyer to work with you¡­ The cameras, sound equipment and some computers too, I''ll send you a list to put in those warehouses." Tayaw enumerates more enthusiastically as he sees Chala''s smile get wider and wider by the things he is going to do.

    "Finally, once you buy my warehouses, I''d want you to hire people to build some things in there, through my company''s name, again." Tayaw concludes.

    "Okay. I''m guessing you already have someone in mind who will build your filming sets?" Chala asks.

    "Yeah." Tayaw says.

    "Cool. I think it''s easy enough." Chala nods.

    "Alright... Oh! By the way. I want you to buy two apartment buildings. In South Ouigab too. It won''t be purchased with the company name but my own personal property." Tayaw adds suddenly.

    "Okay. Two apartment ¨C Wait! Wait¡­ Apartment buildings?! Not Apartments?" Chala asks, dumbfounded.

    "Yeah. Two apartment buildings. I''ll use them for actors'' lodging." Tayaw says.

    "Huh¡­ The actors'' lodging, I get. But why not just rent?" Chala asks, worrying about Tayaw''s purge.

    "Oh. It doubles for a real estate investment." Tayaw says.

    "Investment? South Ouigab has nothing in it. Why would you expect an apartment building to increase in value?" Chala asks.

    "Hmm." Tayaw thinks for a moment. Chala, however misinterprets it as Tayaw considering his words.

    "Okay. I''m gonna tell you this.  Did they announce the highway project yet? The one that begins at Biongo, passes between the Ocnob and Nabla, and ends right before Sepil?" Tayaw asks.

    "Hmm. I''ve heard of it. What does that have to do with the apartment buildings?" Chala asks, not making connection.

    "Okay. The nearest airport, considering the traveling time, is in Kangpan, which is 9 or 10 hours of straight driving from here. But that highway that they''re gonna make? It will be Biongo International up north that will become the go-to airport, for us. The twelve hour drive there will be cut down to only be 4-5 hours'' drive on a straight f*ckin road.

    "Gonto and Nabla will benefit from that. The immigrants, the international businesses that suffer the heat of the lowlands will climb up here in Nabla and Gonto. Where do you think will be the first places to be developed? South Ouigab is one. The place that has nothing, I think will be ripe when the time comes." Tayaw explains.

    Chala, hearing this, is skeptical.

    "Psh. That sounds like a fairy tale to me." Chala says.

    "Sure. Maybe it is. But Nabla and Gonto has the best weather and most scenic views. I''m confident that there will be a lot of migrations and tourism once the road is finished. That, I''m sure of. Even if the apartments I will own will not increase in value, living spaces will still be popular." Tayaw shrugs.

    "Geez. What if this becomes another failed investment like the one you got in New York? You got lucky with Pink Apron, but the other one, it''s gone, right?" Chala asks.

    "Hey. Come on. I trust Cognito Tech. They''re developing facial and doc.u.ment scanners for cameras. Once the cameras on phones start getting better, their software will sell." Tayaw defends.

    "Another fairy tale. Whatever, your money." Chala rolls his eyes.

    "Come on. It''s not like those are my main source of income." Tayaw says, itching to tell Chala of his knowledge of the future.

    "Anyway. Is that all? The warehouses, studio equipment, some sets, company insurance, the construction for whatever, and finally the apartment buildings." Chala reviews.

    "One more thing. After you''ve all done that, I want you to talk to the landowners of the nearby plot of lands in the vicinity of my land in Nasiri Hill." Tayaw adds another list.

    "Wait. You have a land in Nasiri Hill? Bah. Nevermind. I hope you don''t regret this." Chala shakes his head.

    "So, just talk to the landowners? Not buy?" Chala asks.

    "Yeah. I bet it''s gonna be time-consuming to talk to them. By the time I''m back in Ouigab in the future, I''ll buy the lands you''ll be able to negotiate all at once." Tayaw concludes.

    "Alright. While I love to be busy, I can''t do a lot just by myself." Chala says.

    "Yep. Don''t worry, that''s all. Enough for you to get busy for a while, yes?" Tayaw says.

    "OHH Yeah. Hm... How about accountants? You need someone to process paychecks." Chala asks.

    "OH! Right! Thanks for reminding me." Tayaw says in realization. "Okay. I''ll be the one to look into that." Tayaw says.

    "Alright. Cool. So, really? No lunch? My treat." Chala offers again.

    "No. I gotta get out of here fast. I''ll come by again in secret maybe next week to help you." Tayaw says as he stands up, and quickly left Chala''s house without a goodbye.

    Chala on the other hand, does not mind Tayaw''s rudeness and is instead excited at the image of him starting a company.

 Chapter 148 - Practical Applications of Basic Marketing

    August 23, 2012 ¨C Thursday 10 am ¨C Northwestern University, East Ouigab

    Third week of August is the enrollment week of Northwestern University for the first semester. While Percussive Corrections already enrolled three days ago, the band has decided to spend their next few days scattered by the campus'' gates.

    "Hey miss. Freshman?" Ike said to a female student. Ike confidently approached as the female student has been looking at him curiously for a minute or two now.

    "Y-yeah." The female student confirmed.

    "Well, welcome to Northwestern. May not be the best, but it''s still a great school." Ike said.

    "Thanks. That''s what I heard too. So, what are those?" The freshman pointed at Ike''s hands.

    "Oh. I''m promoting my band''s new songs. Can you check our songs out? I''m the drummer of the band." Ike explained.

    Ike who was assigned by the band by the fifth gate, is currently handing out flyers containing links to the band''s YouTube, Stoppify and iTunes.

    The band''s first album is finally done. The band, watching Tayaw produce the songs for ''September Ninth'', did not bother finding a music producer and mixed their songs themselves using Tayaw''s music software.

    "Sure. I will! Are you guys famous?" The freshman asked.

    "Well, we''re quite well-known in our campus and other universities. Check our YouTube out. We have millions of views of our covers." Ike said.

    "Oh! Okay. I''ll check you guys out then." The freshman said and excused herself.

    A few minutes later, "Oh. If it isn''t the pretty boy drummer¡­" A tall athletic student approached Ike and greeted sarcastically.

    "Oh, what''s up man? How''d your game go?" Ike in contrast, responded amicably. The student chuckled at not being able to make a rise out of Ike.

    "Well? It went sh*t. Their goalkeeper is a fckin beast. Done enrolling?" The student asked.

    "Yeah. You?" Ike asked.

    "Done yesterday. What are you doing here then?" The student asked out of curiosity.

    "I''m here selling the band''s first album. Same goes for the others." Ike said as he shook his flyers in front of the student''s face.

    This piqued the student''s interest.

    "First album? Lemme see." The athletic student smoothly snatched one of Ike''s flyers.

    "Ah! Well, there you go. Hey, you can buy a CD from me now if you want." Ike said.

    "Man, you still sell in CD form? ¡­ Alright. I''ll buy one." The athletic student said. Ike pulled one out

    "15 BGC, buddy." Ike charged.

    "Ah¡­ Not yet, buddy. Why don''t you sign it first? Then I''ll buy it." The student asked.

    Ike''s eyebrows rose at the request, but not seeing problem with it, and hungry for his first CD sale, pulled out his marker pen and did just as the student asked.

    "Nice. Here you go." The student finally paid.

    "I''ll see you on the 1st, Ike."

    "See you. Hey. Spread the word to your team, too."

    "By the way. Why is security or faculty letting you sell here?" The student raised a valid question.

    "Look closer at the flyer. I''m also advertising for the school of music. Had we not decided to include it to our flyer, we wouldn''t have been allowed." Ike explained.

    ---------------------

    "*Chunk-chunk-tap-tap-strum-strum*"

    Unlike Ike whose instrument is difficult to appreciate without accompanying instruments, Hoon is currently playing a cheerful tune with his acoustic guitar by the 2nd gate where he is assigned to. There are around 10 or so people, students and parents, enjoying Hoon''s display with his guitar.

    The song soon ended and Hoon took a break.

    "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I''m Hoon from the band Percussive Corrections. Thank you for listening." Hoon greeted the spectators with the opening statement he rehearsed all morning.

    At first, Hoon was anxious at the idea of busking alone. However, after an hour of performing and promoting, and the spectators'' warm responses, Hoon has grown to love it. His previous anxiety is now replaced with hunger for attention and appreciation to his playing.

    "Anyway. My band just made our first album. You can check us out on the internet." Hoon passed flyers which the spectators curiously received.

    "If you want, you can also buy a CD of our album from me now for only 15BGC. It''s much cheaper too compared to other albums." Hoon also held up a copy of their album.

    "Young man. Are your mates just as good as you?" A parent, who has watched Hoon for two songs in a row, asked.

    "Yes ma''am. You can actually check them out in the other gates. Our saxophonist, violinist, and keyboardist brought their instruments with them." Hoon replied.

    "Okay. Now I''m curious. I''ll take two of your CDs." The parent said. Hearing this, Hoon could not help but smile. So far, he has already sold 2 albums, and adding the parent''s purchase, he now parted with four copies.

    "Hey. Are you studying music here?" A young man who has also spared his time watching Hoon play, approached.

    "No. I''m studying engineering. But I would like to study music here if I haven''t invested time already in engineering." Hoon answered honestly.

    "Oh. Then why are you advertising the school of music?" The student asked as he pointed at the flyer he took from Hoon earlier.

    "Well¡­ Uhh.. because they''d pay me with free lecture. You know RedSkirts? Their guitarist will be a lecturer here this coming semester. The school would give me a free pass in his lessons." Hoon explained.

    "Oh. That''s cool." The student says excitedly, recognizing RedSkirts.

    "I know." Hoon smiles.

    ]Actually¡­ I already recognize you from your band''s YouTube! It''s nice to meet you." The student revealed, obviously excited.

    "Thanks man. Nice to meet you too. How''d you find our covers?" Hoon asked.

    "They''re good man! I especially love the ''Ms. Blue Shoes'' cover! I don''t like old school songs, but you guys made it great!" The student said.

    "Glad to hear that. The band actually worked hard arranging the songs." Hoon could only feel pride.

    "I''m sure. I''ve never heard anyone play it like you guys did. Oh, by the way¡­ You know who my favorite member of your band is?" The student asked, smiling mysteriously. Hoon was taken aback, but thought about it for a moment.

    "I don''t know. The violinist? I''ve seen a LOT of comments about her. Or maybe, our former vocalist, people love his voice." Hoon answered as logically as he could. The student''s smile widened at the answer.

    "Oh, I like them. But I like you the best!" The student revealed.

    "O-oh?" Hoon was taken aback again.

    "Well. I don''t know what to say. Thanks?" Hoon said.

    "Meh. After watching you live, I like you even more. You''re probably the best guitarist I''ve seen live. I''m the lead guitarist of my high school band, and I can''t compare to you." The student said.

    Hoon could not help but feel moved at the student''s words. He had to swallow his spit many a times to suppress himself from being choked up with emotion. No one has ever appreciated his guitar skills, face-to-face at least.

    After suppressing his emotions, Hoon ultimately shook his head at this. Hoon used to think that he is a good guitarist too even after he entered college, but after seeing the acts at ROH Factory, Rez from Strawberry Front, and finally Tayaw, he was humbled. He wants to share this experience with the student in front of him.

    "Man, I''m not that good. Look up Isaac Yawat, he''s our former vocalist, but as a solo, he is playing a lot of guitar now. Check him out. You can also check out other bands in some music bars here in Ouigab, man. You''ll learn a lot." Hoon said.

    "Hnnn. Okay! I''ll do that! Hey, I''ll take one CD." The student bought a CD and excused himself.

    ----------------------

    "*bomp**bomp**bomp-a-domp-dom*"

    "*Buhooomm* *Puhroom-room-roompff* *Fwoooooo*"

    Unlike the solo Hoon, Inson with his acoustic bass and Ramil with his average quality sax are having a duet with their instruments by the third gate.

    As people usually do not see saxophonists and bassists busk, Inson and Ramil have attracted more spectators than Hoon. The two''s upbeat and groovy tune also made the heads of the spectators bob along or their feet tap against the concrete ground.

    The two also sold more CDs and with their flyers displayed just in front of them, their flyers are also running out with the spectators freely taking them.

    The two soon wrapped their instrumental up. *applause* *applause*

    "Thank you. Thank you, everyone." Ramil, who is not used to interact with an audience, is doing so today to a much smaller one to train his stage presence as a vocalist.

    Inson, who is behind Ramil, is just watching in amus.e.m.e.nt especially when he recalled Tayaw''s words a few days ago.

    ''Ike, Ramil, and Jenna. I have to say, you''re all coming along as competent vocalists. The thing though is, your presence on the stage is still lacking. So here''s what you will do come enrolment week¡­''

    Tayaw''s plan led up to crowd interaction training for Ike, Ramil, and Jenna.

    -----------------------

    "*Pling* *Pling* *Pling-a-pling*"

    "*plink**plink**plink-a-plink*"

    Jenna and Bay-an by the main gate is doing a lot better than their other members in promoting and selling. They piano - violin synergy is giving the main gate a lively energy.

    "Thank you for listening everyone. We are members of the Percussive Corrections band. After months of hard work, we finally have our first ever album! Please check our songs. We have CDs of it for sale too for only 15 BGC." Jenna transformed into a saleswoman after they played.

    Unlike Ike and Ramil who are not used to interacting with people, Jenna''s people skills as a tutor transferred into her skills in promoting their album face to face with people.

    "Hi! I''ll take one!" A male student said.

    "Here you go! 15 BGC." Jenna processed the transaction.

    "Hi! I know you guys from the internet! Can I take a picture?" Another male student asked.

    "Sure!" Jenna is glad to comply to the request. It is not the first time that someone requested a photo.

    "Hey! We''ve sold 12 already! This is awesome! Probably because there''s way more people here than in the other gates." Jenna whispered to Bay-an.

    "Nah. I don''t think it''s that. You really didn''t notice?" Bay-an asked.

    "Noticed what?" Jenna asked back in confusion.

    "Look. Every 6 or 7 male student, there''s 1 female student watching. Statistically speaking, uhhh... Well, BASICALLY, the guys find you cute." Bay-an chuckled.

    Jenna then looked around and as if a veil was pulled away in front of her eyes, Jenna saw that what Bay-an said might indeed be the case. Jenna blushed, became self-conscious, and embarrassed at the situation.

    "Hey. I''m sorry if I might be speaking like a ¡­ pimp, but we need as much exposure as we can. If you''re cuteness would help, that''s fantastic." Bay-an shrugged his shoulders.

    "If I didn''t know you, I''d have slapped you by now." Jenna was dumbfounded.

    "Hey. If Tayaw or Ike would be in your place, I''m pretty sure they''d sell to girls with their looks too. I''m just sayin''." Bay-an shrugged his shoulders.

    "Wow. I didn''t know you''re like this¡­" Jenna could only say.

    "Ugh. Fine. To make you feel better, I''ll punch whoever harasses you." Bay-an assured Jenna.

    "Thanks?" Jenna could only accept the situation.

 Chapter 149 - Psychological Intricacies of TV and Film Promotions

    September 1, 2012 ¨C 12 nn. Saturday ¨C New York City

    "Nice to see you again, Mr. Darbut."

    "It''s nice to see you too, Tayaw. It''s been a while. Please sit down. Let''s order first."

    Tayaw just joined Yarag at a table in a fancy restaurant, their lunch a courtesy of Yarag''s wallet. Despite the free delicious lunch, Tayaw is quite apprehensive of why Yarag himself invited him out to lunch.

    "Mr. Darbut. Congratulations by the way." Tayaw says as he takes a seat.

    "On what?" Yarag asks, confused.

    "The film of your company. Right? ''Before Love'' won the Golden Reel Award back home." Tayaw clarifies.

    This makes Yarag pause before shaking his head.

    "Ugh. No thanks to you, the awards of those weren''t even satisfying to receive. The Actress, the director? They were not happy receiving their awards." Yarag says.

    "Hm? What do I have to do with that?" Tayaw asks in confusion.

    "That''s exactly why. You didn''t have anything to do with any of the Teungebian awards! Everyone knows back in Teungeb that your film is the best film that came from our country in YEARS. Probably even decades. But because you didn''t register for any Teungebian film award shows, or even participated in Clambu Film Festival; the next best films, which are nothing compared to your film by the way, have won by default." Yarag rants non-stop.

    Tayaw processes Yarag''s words for a moment before shaking his head.

    "Not about winning the award, but by deserving it. I get it." Tayaw can only say in understanding.

    "Precisely." Yarag shakes his head as he downs whatever is in his glass.

    "How''s my film doing in the homeland, by the way?" After ordering, Tayaw changes the subject.

    "Oh. It''s doing great! Every week last month, we''re still selling an average of two million tickets. Your film just isn''t a film anymore back home. It''s a date hang-out." Yarag reports happily unlike his bitterness earlier. The report surprises Tayaw, pleasantly.

    "Oh? I thought it would slow down by now. Most films only last two months, three months at the longest." Tayaw says.

    "That''s what I thought so as well. But from what I heard; your film is very re-watchable. The message is layered. I mean, I didn''t see it at first because I don''t like romance that much, but I too saw the film more than once. Also, you have no idea how proud Teungebians are at your film, winning top prize and all." Yarag explains.

    "Well, that''s good. I thought we could take it off by September 9th. You know. ''September Ninth'' ending on the 9th. It''s poetic." Tayaw chuckles.

    "Pff. That''s stupid. I get it if it''s your birthday or something, but this is big man." Yarag shakes his head, but undestands the strange impulse that Tayaw has. "But, you''re not entirely wrong either. With the declining ticket sales, I estimate that your film will be off the theaters by the end of the month." Yarag says.

    "Hmmm. That''s numbers though. Like it''s my impulse of taking the film off on the 9th, what if many people will see it on the 9th, just for the f*ck of it, and with the same poetic impulse? Right?" Tayaw says.

    "Oh. I didn''t think of that. Wouldn''t that be nice?" Yarag smiles at the idea as he waves at a server for a wine re-fill.

    "So, what have you been up to? I heard from your ... Chala. Whatever he is to you.. I''ve heard from him that you''ve been holed up like a hermit here." Yarag asks.

    "Nice of you to ask. Well, I haven''t told Chala shit, but I''m not just holed up. I''ve had my adventures too. Who knows? Maybe I''ll make it into a film too." Tayaw chuckles mysteriously. This gets Yarag''s attention.

    "Yeah? How about working with Black Deer Pictures with the production this time? Hm? I can write up a contract that is much more generous than the average." Yarag offers, not wanting to miss out this time.

    "Nah. I''ve got plenty of money. How much have you sent to my swiss account already? That''s enough to start my own production company here in the United States if I want to." Tayaw chuckles.

    Yarag felt like he was shot with an arrow at this.

    Since ''September Ninth''s'' release, it sold 83 million tickets locally and worldwide, earning it $622 million after taxes, with Tayaw''s cut being $275 million. Even taking out the personal tax, Tayaw still has $173 million. Adding the $150 million he saved from the book sales, Tayaw still has more than $320 million in readily accessible cash in his Swiss bank accounts.

    "I almost forgot. The entire budget came out from your pockets. Good lord. I wish I could be as lucky as well." Yarag sighs in a rare moment of honesty for him.

    Watching hundreds of millions of dollars flow through Black Deer Picture''s accounts only to be given most of it to Tayaw still breaks Yarag''s heart.

    "Hey. While luck is important, I deserve it for making something that is first in this world." Tayaw shrugs. Yarag only straight up gulped down his wine again to that. Unbeknownst to Yarag, Tayaw is feeling at a loss at the money he earned.

    "This is making me depressed. Anyway, I''m here to ask you something." Yarag changes the subject.

    "Oh? I thought it''s just lunch?" Tayaw says sarcastically, his initial apprehension rising.

    "Heh. I wish we''re close enough for this lunch to be just lunch. Anyway. I want you to make an appearance in a talk show in Los Angeles." Yarag drops casually. Tayaw is unsure whether he heard it right.

    "What?" Tayaw can only ask.

    "I want you to appear at a late-night show." Yarag clarifies.

    "¡­.. huh¡­ Why me? Isn''t Iliene and Uranto available?" Tayaw asks, caught off-guard by the request.

    "Uranto and Iliene can sure have the interview but they will alienate American viewers by using translators." Yarag argues.

    "What about Nielg and Jouny? They are both fluent in English." Tayaw suggests.  Yarag meanwhile finds Tayaw''s insistent refusal strange.

    "Frankly, TV networks are not interested in unknown supporting actors and screenwriters. Look. Not only will you promote your film, you can also have the chance to promote your music. This is good, so what''s with the reaction?" Yarag asks.

    "I just find it¡­ phony, man. You know how talk shows are." Tayaw says.

    "Ah. I see." Yarag got it, with annoyance. "Look kid. Everyone in the industry knows, and not only you feel that way. However, you have to swallow it down sometimes and go with how the industry works." Yarag says with a tinge of envy for Tayaw''s privilege of not having to do promotional work.

    "Man. I said I''m not doing press. We agreed on it." Tayaw says firmly.

    "Yes. We did. But think of it this way. Your actors and screenwriter dealt with the ''phoniness'' for your film by appearing on talk shows and interviews back home. Can''t you do the same for them? Use the talk show to promote your friends too." Yarag argues.

    This reminds Tayaw a couple of things. He would not have made ''September Ninth'' as good as it is without his actors embodying their characters. He would not even have made an original film without Jouny.

    "Well, if you don''t care about them enough, then I have nothing to say, I understand." Yarag adds.

    Even though Yarag''s remark might have been be a psychological play, it is working on guilting Tayaw.

    "Alright. Fine. Which show?" Tayaw finally relents.

    "It''s ''Late Night with Aiden Gerty''. We chose him because he treats non-English speaking guests well, unlike other hosts who would present non-English speaking guests like aliens. But now that you''ve agreed, we don''t have concerns anymore with that alienation. I think you''ll like him too. He''s the least phony out of all the late-night hosts."

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    Clambu City ¨C 8pm

    """"""

    "Headache and tired again? It''s still early!" A man walks up to a ''co-worker''. "That''s low sugar and low energy, my guy." The man pats his co-worker''s shoulder. "But not you! What''s your secret?" The co-worker asked. "It''s THIS! ZONE ENERGY DRINK. You''ll be in the zone for the whole day!

    "Party last night? Your baby cried all night? Had an all-nighter? Then ZONE ENERGY DRINK is for you."

    -zone energy is not advised for consumers with heart diseases and diabetes-

    """"""

    "Good evening! Did you see it?! HAHAHA!" Nielg brags to Uranto through the phone.

    /Yeah. Yeah. Good for you man./ Uranto is amused at Nielg''s mood.

    "At least it''s not just you and Iliene who has a commercial now." Nielg says.

    /Well. We still have more than you. Hahahaha./ Uranto busts Nielg''s balls.

    "What can I do? I was a supporting character! One commercial is already great! That means I was recognizable enough from the film. That ALSO means that I''m famous too!" Nielg counters.

    /That makes sense. Hey. Speaking of famous, I heard from my agent you were casted for a TV show?/ Uranto asks.

    "Yeah. But I''m pretty scared. I''m the only one who''s not theater trained among the cast." Nielg says.

    /You''ll do great, man. Just apply what you learned from Tayaw and ''theaterize'' it. That would do enough./ Uranto advises.

    "I hope you''re right. That''s what I''m planning as well. I''ll just have to see how they will shoot though." Nielg says.

    /They won''t shoot Tayaw-style, right?"/ Uranto asks.

    "No. I don''t think so. I mean, a TV show is different, so I think they won''t shoot Tayaw-style. Hey. What about you? Not working yet? I was sure that you would be flooded with offers by now." Nielg asks as he has not indeed heart about Uranto working on anything.

    /Oh you''re right. There are a lot of offers. But oh my lord! They''re basically knock-offs of our movie! Some of them even wanted us and Iliene to lead. They''re not even trying man./ Uranto says.

    "HAH! Man, really? Well, it couldn''t be that bad, right? How about the scripts that are not knock-offs?" Nielg asks.

    /After being in an awesome film, the offers I got were¡­.. EEEEEEEhhh. Man, I don''t know. They''re not new. They are scripts that I think I already seen before. They''re not knock-offs of our film, but they''re like¡­ recycled stories from other films./

    "Hah. You pompous son of a b*tch... BUT! I get what you mean." Nielg shakes his head. "Hey, have you heard that thing about Ilene?" Nielg asks.

    /Like, that show at CVN? Yeah, she was about to refuse a role when I said I''m not doing it with her, but I told her to do it if she wants./ Uranto says.

    "Yikes. Anyway. No famous directors contacted you?" Nielg asks.

    /None. I haven''t got news from my agent yet./ Uranto says.

    "Still, don''t be too choosy man. Who knows how long you''ll find a good script? By the time you do, people might already have forgotten about you." Nielg advises.

    /That''s exactly what my agent said. Hahaha. Him and I are actually looking for roles I can audition for./

    "Hey, why don''t you try TV? It''s constant exposure man." Nielg said.

    /I want to but I''m pretty sure that the scripts I got won''t even make it past pilot. Your show though, the writers in them are great, at least from what my agent says. /

    "Yes. That''s why even though they offered me a similar role to the one in our film, I still took it. You know, striking the iron while it''s hot. You should too." Nielg said.

    /Cool. I''ll do that. /

    "Choosy f*ck." Nielg chuckles after Uranto hung up on him.

    "Aiyay. Fck. Here we go." Nielg curses as he is back again in his original mood before the call.

    He is currently in a hotel room booked by the executive producers for the cast and crew''s party of the TV show he landed.

    His experience in the Sorrento Film Festival after party taught him a lesson that these celebrity parties are not celebrations for celebrations sake but for other reasons. He would not have attended this party tonight had he not want to be on good terms with his future co-workers.

    After dressing up, Nielg finds himself in the hotel ball.

    "Hey Nielg. What''s up?"

    "Hey Nielg. I''m ****** from ******."

    "Hey Nielg, can we talk for a moment."

    Nielg is trying his best to maintain his amicable smile and not lash out at the fake smiles of the scheming strangers approaching him. He already knows how these conversations would go and he wants to avoid them as much as he can.

    A few minutes later, Nielg figures he has already shown his face enough. He is not however leaving without enjoying the refreshments.

    "Excuse me. I''m starving." Nielg excuses himself, grabbed a plate, filled it, and went to one of the hotel''s balcony to be alone.

    Before he can enjoy his time alone however, "Hey, Nielg. What''s wrong? What are you doing here alone?" a fellow actor interrupted him.

    ''FUUUUCKKKKKKK!'' Nielg could only scream in his mind as he conversed with the actor with a smile.

 Chapter 150 - Practical Application of Music and Film in TV Broadcasting

    September 4, 2012 ¨C Monday, 9 AM ¨C South Ouigab, Nabla

    Tayaw while he is away in America since June, already finished his project of clearing his land in Nasiri with the help of the construction company he hired. An access road was already built from the highway going up to Tayaw''s massive land. With the access road, it was also easier for the construction company Tayaw hired to install a good drainage and water systems to the land.  He also managed to buy-out more plots of land in Nasiri Hill, more than doubling his initial purchases.

    In addition to his land-purchasing and land-clearing project, Tayaw, through Chala being his authorized representative, also bought two neighboring apartment buildings in South Ouigab, each having 5 floors and 50 units each. The two buildings belonged to the same owner but because the apartment buildings are not even half rented due to the above average rent, she did not hesitate to sell the buildings to Tayaw immediately for the price of 15,000,000 BGC for each building.

    Tayaw did not kick out the tenants of the buildings but he also closed his buildings from receiving more residents. After all, he was thinking of using the apartment buildings in the future especially after the North Teungeb Expressway Project is done.

    Despite his huge spending, Tayaw also started his first ''real'' project. His virtual sets.

    /Yeah. Looks like it''s going well./ Tayaw''s voice reverberated around the office through a man''s speaker phone.

    "Uhuh. Is that all?" The man replied.

    /Yeah. That''s all. I''ll let you know if I want something added or if it needs amending. / Tayaw said.

    "Alright then. We''ll start right away. But if you want something fixed, it''s on you." The man said.

    /Sure./ Tayaw simply replied.

    The man, who is the engineer that Tayaw hired, is currently talking about the on-going construction of Tayaw''s virtual sets. So far, Tayaw has no problems with what the engineer and his men had already built.

    Despite the odd shape of the room, it is still after all, a simple room which only requires a little more complicated wiring and set-up. These virtual rooms located at the warehouses he purchased in South Ouigab during his short visit after the Kingbo debacle.

    "Wait. I have something." Another man, a designer hired by Tayaw, said.

    /Yeah? What''s up?/

    "About the UHD LED screens that you want. The manufacturers said it''s going to cost extra for curvy screens." The designer reported.

    /Wow. Really? Just tell them that we''ll go to STT in China. What curvy. We''re not looking for televisions but just giant monitors. / Tayaw said.

    "Oh? There''s a difference?" The designer asked in curiosity.

    /Yeah. There''s more inside a TV. The monitors we need, don''t./ Tayaw explained.

    "Alright then. It''s gonna take a while for the rooms to be fully wired anyways. I''ve got time to negotiate." The designer said.

    Teungeb, while not a tech powerhouse compared to USA and East Asia, has the best manufacturing hubs of all things visual and audio tech in the world. The work ethic of Teungebians ensure the quality of each product produced. This is the reason why Tayaw did not have Chinese or American companies build his custom screens for him, but preferred to go local as it is much cheaper and at the same time, the quality is assured.

    /Yeah¡­ do that./ Tayaw said with contemplation in his voice.

    "By the way. Just curious. What are you gonna use this for? Some high-tech amus.e.m.e.nt park?" The engineer asked.

    /Yeah. Something like that./ Tayaw chuckled, but not bothering to explain any further.

    "Cool. I wanna see how it works when it''s done." The designer chimed in.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    Studio 29, Beverly Blvd. LA, Ca. ¨C 11 am Local

    "Aiden! Aiden! We got a call from Isaac!" A man reported excitedly as he barged in Aiden''s office.

    Aiden Gerty, a black-haired, green-eyed man in his 40s, is not only the host of ''The Late Night with Aiden Gerty'', he is also the head writer of his show.

    "Hm? Which Isaac again?" Aiden asked the head producer to jog his memory.

    "The ''September Ninth'' director." The producer clarified.

    "Oh? That''s great! Wait. How''d we book him? Isn''t he supposed to be untraceable?" Aiden, while glad with the news, is also curious as to how of all the shows, they were able to book Tayaw.

    Tayaw, since the popularity of ''September Ninth'' boomed, became a talk of the town within the insiders of the entertainment media. However, they did not have a way to find Tayaw for an interview.

    "It''s the distributer of ''September Ninth''. They convinced Isaac to do press. It''s surely to campaign for the Academy Awards." The producer guessed. Aiden just nodded in understanding.

    "So? What''s wrong with you?" Aiden noticed the producer''s conflicted face.

    "Isaac has some ¡­ strange requests ¡­ For one, he also wants to be the musical guest." The producer said.

    "Wait¡­ what are the other requests?" Aiden wants to see first in case Tayaw''s other demands are just as ridiculous.

    "He also doesn''t want a pre-interview. He doesn''t even want to know which questions we ask about his film as long as they''re not destructive. Then he doesn''t care about the rest of what we ask him." The producer said.

    "Huh¡­ Well. Everything just can''t be easy, ain''t it? Hey. What do you think? Can the dude catch up with me? Does he even speak English?" Aiden asked for his producer''s opinion.

    "English? He can. He''s Teungebian, yes, but he''s also a country singer, at least that''s how he started out here. You know the people who like country, they''re ¡­ they won''t take someone seriously unless they speak English." The producer said, trying to be optimistic.

    "Oof. That''s not a fair stereotype. Anyway. It makes sense. How about his talk show experience? I can''t simply let someone who can only answer ''yes'' and ''no'' let loose without a script." Aiden moved on.

    "Yeah. I don''t know. One of the interns pulled this up for me. I haven''t even watched it, let''s see it together." The producer said.

    /// If you don''t love her anymore and just staying because you''re scared, please leave. Leave her now, before it''s too late for you, or for her. Just look around you. The first girl you will see is a hundred times better than your girlfriend./// - Tayaw during the Joe Farley''s Kiss The Radio

    After listening to Tayaw''s only clippable interview, Aiden and the producer entered a silent contemplation, no longer concerned about Tayaw''s English or interviewee skills.

    A few seconds later. "Wow. He pulled that advice out of his ass? That was quick." Aiden said in appreciation as a broadcaster.

    "Yeah. I think so too. It didn''t seem like he memorized it or was reading it." The producer agreed, speaking out of his experience as a producer and a writer.

    [[Hmmm. Preacher, preacher, please come quick¡­]] The two then listened to Tayaw''s songs. The two are not fans of country, being native New Yorkers, but they were nonetheless impressed by Tayaw''s songs.

    "Yeah. Let''s agree to his requests. When does he prefer to appear?" Aiden asked.

    "Wait, really? Be a musical guest too? He''s¡­ country. Our viewers ¡­ " The producer asked, unsure of Aiden''s decision.

    "Come on. It''s good country. When does he want to appear?" Aiden ignored the producer''s concern.

    "Thursday night." The producer said.

    "Let''s do it. Hmm. Who are the guests again for Thursday?... Yeah. Let''s bump the athlete dude. Just tell the NFL fellas that they''re just wasting money on promoting something that people will surely see." Aiden said.

    "Okay." The producer found it fair. "How about him being a musical guest?" The producer asked.

    "Yeah. Let''s also bump ''Jupiter Landing''. Isaac deserves the spot more instead of an actor''s cover band." Aiden slammed his palm on his table. The producer, seeing Aiden''s habit, nodded.

    "Oh. By the way. I thought you were gonna refuse, so I didn''t mention it." The producer started reporting again.

    "What''s up?" Aiden, now intrigued by Tayaw, is excited to listen to Tayaw''s demand.

    "He wants to direct the episode as an experiment or something." The producer said.

    "He. What?" Aiden was caught off-guard.

    "Yeah. He said he wants to edit it too. He said he won''t argue with us about what to show, but he wants to be in-charge of HOW it comes out on TV." The producer shrugged. This made Aiden consider for a few seconds.

    "So he wants to direct our show like a film? That''s gonna give us a lot of adjustments to work with." Aiden asked.

    "That''s what I said too. But he said it won''t be like his movie. He said, that we can just do our interview as usual he''ll only arrange how the cameras are to be positioned." The producer explained.

    Aiden felt excited at this.

    "What do you think?" he asked the producer.

    "I don''t know. Honestly? I want to see how it would look." The producer said.

    "Alright. Let''s do it. And. Reschedule the other guest. We''ll make the whole episode about Isaac." Aiden decided.

    "Whoah. Hey, are you sure we can fill an episode with just him, man?" The producer asked, uncertain about Aiden''s decision.

    "Yeah. Look. Say, 10 minutes about his movie. Instead of 1 song, we''ll do 2 songs, one for Isaac, one for our house band, so that''s another 10 minutes. Then 10 more minutes for the unscripted segment, even more if it gets interesting. Then my monologue. That''s enough." Aiden laid out.

    "Oh! Okay. We''ll do that then." The producer realized it could work out.

    "By the way, he said he wants to borrow the house band." The producer said.

    "Hm? Then don''t ask me. Ask them¡­ They''re not a regular house band, they''re legit artists." Aiden said, confused as to why the producer had to run it up to him.

    "The genres though¡­" The producer said, implying a concern.

    "Oh. Wait. Da Bellum Burning guys are hip-hop / soul and Isaac is country¡­ Huh¡­ " Aiden contemplated.

    "That''s why I''m asking." The producer nodded.

    "Whatever. We''re not musicians. They are." Aiden just shrugged his shoulders.

    ======

    September 5, 2012 ¨C Petit Hermitage Hotel, West Hollywood, CA ¨C 9:40 am local

    "Damn. So, this is what it looks like here." A dark-skinned man, fashioning a sharp faded afro hairstyle, and dressed in a black suit jacket and suit pants, looked around the rooftop pool and outdoor beds of the Petit Hermitage Hotel. He is accompanied by two others who are similarly dressed, the only difference is one is wearing a pair of brown tinted sunglasses and the other one is wearing a boater hat.

    "Isaac must have¡­ fancy tastes. Don''t know if I''d like him." The man with the sunglasses remarked.

    "Bruh. As if your $10,000 watch you''re wearing, right NOW, ain''t fancy. Fck outta here." The man with the boater hat said.

    The three men are three of the members of Da Bellum Burning, the house band of ''Late Night with Aiden Gerty''.

    The three men are the vocalist, drummer, and rapper of Da Bellum Burning. They are also the actual songwriting and producing team of the band, therefore, are the members who has the say about anything music composition and music arrangement in the band.

    When the three heard of the news that Tayaw wants to work with them, their interest was piqued. It always gave them a complex that they are more known as a show''s house band instead of their music, despite them winning some top awards given by critics. So, when a relatively famous musician wanted to work with them, they could not just ignore it.

    After seeing Tayaw''s body of work in music, they immediately agreed with Tayaw''s proposal. This led to the three in the hotel, waiting for their appointment with Tayaw.

    "Man, where''s this cat?" The man with the boater hat said, almost losing his patience. While they are sitting relaxed in some of the outdoor beds by the pool, they have already been waiting for 10 minutes and Tayaw has no signs of showing up yet.

    "Reception said he''s gonna meet here, right?" The man in suit jacket asked, just to check if they''re in the right place.

    They were expressing their impatience to each other when suddenly, *SPLASH* they were startled when a form of a person suddenly came out of the water in front of them, wearing nothing but swimming trunks.

 Chapter 151 - Practical Applications in TV Broadcasting

    "Whoah.. It''s you guys." Tayaw said to Da Bellum Burning trio as he wiped away the chlorinated water on his face.

    "Man, where''d you come from?" The man with the sunglasses said.

    "Been under the water the whole time. You guys didn''t see me? ¡­ ah. Maybe judging from the angle from where y''all sitting." Tayaw rambled as he came out of the pool and started toweling off.

    "You guys are early." Tayaw said, to the surprise of the fellas from Da Bellum Burning.

    This only means one thing. "You''re Isaac? You look¡­ different." The man with the fade afro said.

    Since their talk over the phone, the three already looked up Tayaw''s videos on the internet and also his music.

    Aside from Tayaw''s look without his performance clothes, they are also surprised at how young he actually is.

    "Well, you said ''meet in a hotel'' so we were thinking, ''why don''t we have something cold?'' I''m Shaheed." The man with the fade afro said.

    "Isaac. I already know you guys. Nice to meet you fellas. Andre, OffSett. I''ve recently discovered you guys, but I''m already a fan." Tayaw introduced himself to the other two.

    The glasses-wearing man is Andre, and the man with the boater hat is OffSett.

    "Man, why''d we have to meet in a hotel? And you n.a.k.e.d too." Andre asked, although secretly impressed by Tayaw''s physique, is not impressed with Tayaw''s lack of decorum.

    "Man. Like I said. You guys are early. Oh, by the way, there''s a studio downstairs with great equipment. We''ve got everything we need there." Tayaw said, making the trio understand why the venue of their meeting is in the hotel.

    "Wait! Don''t y''all act like staying under water for 10 minutes is normal!" OffSett however, did not forget what just happened.

    "10 minutes or more¡­ What the hell were you doing in there?" Shaheed asked in curiosity.

    "Oh. That? It''s my own unique relaxation technique. I have sensitive senses so staying underwater dull them. And, I take breaths every 3 minutes." Tayaw explained, but hiding his superhuman lungs and oxygenation.

    Seeing the trio not responding, "You guys had breakfast yet?" Tayaw asked.

    "Nah." Was the trio''s collective response.

    "Alright. They''re preparing my fried rice breakfast. You guys should join me. Y''all go sit by the table there. I''ll go change quickly." Tayaw excused himself.

    After Tayaw has gone to his room, the trio was left pondering over their first impression of Tayaw.

    "Casual but polite. Not bad huh?" Shaheed asked Andre.

    "Yep. I retract my statement earlier." Andre chuckled.

    As the trio discussed possibilities with the collaboration, "Hey! OffSett, right?" a young man in tank tops and swimming trunks, with a beautiful bikini-clad blonde by his side, interrupted them.

    "''sup man? How you doin?" OffSett said, internally regretting they did not bring the band''s bodyguard for deterrence.

    "I''m a big fan! Oh! Shaheed, Andre! I didn''t recognize you all without your instruments¡­ haha. Nice to meet you all." The young man said.

    The trio were not in the mood to entertain fans at the moment, but they have no choice. "Thanks man."

    Fortunately for the trio, the stranger seemed aware enough to notice the mood. "Anyway. Can we take a selfie? Then we''ll leave you alone guys."

    After the young man got what he wanted, he did as he promised and took a dip in the pool with his girlfriend, like he originally intended.

    "So, what was I saying?" OffSett said after the interruption.

    "The possible sounds with Isaac? Are you sure his guitar''s gonna suit us?" Andre asked.

    "Psh. Yeah. I have an idea. If Isaac agrees to arrange that song a little bit, I think we''re gonna sound great together."

    "Which song?" Tayaw popped up suddenly, rejoining the group.

    "Damn, son! Now that''s the Isaac that we''ve seen." Shaheed said, remarking on the sharply dressed Tayaw. The folks of Da Bellum burning are wearing casual suits like they do on stage, and they look great. This made Tayaw decide to wear his black  three-piece suit, boater hat, and huge aviators to not stick out like a sore thumb while he confers with them.

    "*SQUEAL!* Babe! It''s Isaac!" The young man from earlier was startled by his girlfriend''s exclamation. Tayaw and Da Bellum Burning trio were also startled. Tayaw could only wave at the young lady in acknowledgement.

    "Damn. I didn''t think I''ll be recognized here." Tayaw chuckled helplessly as the young lady dragged her boyfriend out of the pool and approached their table.

    The Da Bellum Burning trio, this time are only watching amused and a bit jealous as the bikini clad young lady gets too close to Tayaw for a selfie. Their only consolation is that the attention is not directed at the them.

    After the young lady got her photo with Tayaw, the group hoped that it will be the last interruption and continued on with their chat. Their breakfast also arrived and kept chatting as they enjoyed it.

    Finishing their breakfast and their table now cleaned, Tayaw and the other three now have different mood in their eyes. It is time to discuss music.

    "Anyway, I know this will sound stupid, but¡­ can you guys write some verses for this song?" Tayaw said as he pulled out his phone and played ''The Invisible Man''. Da Bellum Burning fellows found the intro familiar and they concentrated.

    ''The Invisible Man'' is one of the three songs that Tayaw wrote out of inspiration after his violent elevator encounter in his New York hotel last November of the previous year. It is also one of the best songs that he wrote as evidenced by the third enhancement it gave him after he wrote it.  (Refer to chapter 56)

    Tayaw first wrote it as an Outlaw Country song, but the version he is having Andre, Shaheed, and OffSett listen to currently, is a re-arranged version that sounds more like southern/classic rock. Tayaw chose this song out of all his songs as it is one of his best compositions; it also has a haunting bass and snare percussion that he figured is easy to rap to, despite the stark contrast of the two genres.

    "¡­ With every action he made, grabs a chance before it fades

    as maybe he won''t have a chance to see tomorrow¡­"

    The second chorus of the song soon passed and entered the portion that Tayaw recently specially re-arranged for his idea. The rhythm guitar went silent; the bass guitar and drums remained playing, only their pattern changed a bit. The lead guitar only produces licks on the latter eighth of each measure.

    It became apparent to Andre, Shaheed, and OffSett that this part is where Tayaw wants the rap to be in. The trio nodded along to the beat as different things ran inside their heads.

    The song soon finished and the group became silent. While Tayaw waited in both anxiety and anticipation, OffSett spoke up.

    "We can work with this. Man. We''ve heard of this song last night. It didn''t even cross my mind that I can rap on this." OffSett said, smiling, secretly impressed by Tayaw''s idea.

    "True. The beat needs a little work, but I get what you''re thinking, man." Shaheed also smiled at Tayaw. Tayaw, knowing nothing of hip-hop, is interested of their ideas.

    "Hey man, who played the drums on this part?" Andre asked, regarding the part Tayaw made for the rap. "Uhh.. me. Hey, I''m not a drummer, okay? It''s still perfectly in beat." Tayaw said, explaining in case Andre found his drumming horrific.

    "No wonder? Huh¡­ Anyways. Cool sh*t man. We''ve got something here, boys." Andre smiled. Tayaw was relieved.

    ====================

    Studio 29, Beverly Blvd.

    "Thanks..." Aiden remarked as one of the writers placed a folder on his office table.

    "Phew. Jesus¡­" He sighed as the stack of folders in his table grew once again.

    "Hah. Yeah." The head producer said, agreeing with Aiden''s sentiments.

    Aiden is currently reading critic reviews and articles about ''September Ninth'' and Tayaw in his office with the show''s head producer. They do not usually make huge efforts in preparing for a single interview, but they found Tayaw different. Unlike the other celebrity guests, they see Tayaw as an intellectual that is in a level that is almost equal to that of a great film maker, academic or a politician.

    "Man, we shouldn''t have gloated." Aiden chuckled.

    "Nah. We deserve bragging rights." The head producer smiled too.

    After finalizing their episode with Tayaw and all the paperwork is done, Aiden, his head producer, and the staff of the show all bragged booking Tayaw to other professionals who also work in late-night shows.

    This resulted to the blatant curses from their rivals. From ''F*ck, you''re lucky'' to ''F*ck you, I hope you episode tanks''. These responses made Aiden and his staff realize something; the pressure. They are pressured to make Tayaw''s episode great.

    *Ring Ring* Aiden''s telephone rang.

    "Who is it from?" The head producer asked.

    "Another unknown number. Fck them." Aiden said, annoyed by the phone.

    Aside from the pressure, Aiden and his people are also being bombarded by other people for Tayaw''s contact numbers.  They would have given in but in the contract they signed with Tayaw, they are not allowed to, or else Tayaw can sue.

    *Knock* *Knock* "Aiden?" another writer knocked on Aiden''s open office door.

    "What''s up?" Aiden and the head producer almost winced at the folder that the writer is carrying. The writer, seeing the two''s reaction, chuckled.

    "Oh. This is from Isaac himself. This is the lay-out that Isaac wants the set to have in each segment." The writer said as he removed the contents of the folder and laid them out on Aiden''s table.

    "Huh. Cameras pointing at the band? That makes sense¡­" The head producer said.

    "Why does he want a camera that far off to the left?" Aiden on the other hand, was confused as he pointed at the floor plan.

    "Oh. And that far to the right too. The camera will be almost beside the band." The head producer remarked.

    "Jeez. Whatever it is, I hope it goes well." Aiden shook his head, his rivals'' bad wishes are getting into his head, shaving at his confidence.

    "Hey. Isaac said, he won''t care what we ask him, right?" Aiden said, an idea popping in his mind as he grabbed one online article about Tayaw.

    "Yeah. What''s on your mind?" The producer asked.

    "We''ll make the guy squirm a bit. It won''t be fun if we keep it lighthearted. That would make us look like we''re kissing his ass." Aiden smirked.

 Chapter 152 - Late Show With Aiden Gerty

    (Author''s Note 1: Phew. Made it. I just edited the duplicate chapter into an actual one. I hope this didn''t screw up my pay. Heh. Please. Enjoy.)

    (Author''s Note 2: Warning. I''m planning on milking Tayaw''s talk show appearance for a few chapters, for the quota. I''m still gonna write them the best I can though.)

    September 7, 2012 ¨C Friday, 10 am local ¨C Studio 29, Beverly Blvd. LA, CA.

    "He''s here. He''s here!" A female intern hurriedly barged in the production floor of the ''Late Night with Aiden Gerty''.

    "Hurry! Is his waiting room okay?" the show''s floor manager asked.

    "Yeah. What else do you want me to do?" The intern asked.

    "That''s fine¡­ Isaac didn''t specify." The floor manager said.

    "Does he really not want anything?" The intern asked again in nervousness. While it is not obvious, Tayaw''s comfort and satisfaction in his waiting room will affect her record on the job.

    "No. If he''s unsatisfied. That''s on him. He didn''t state his preferences after all." The floor manager said knowing how the intern feels.

    "*bzzt* Morsey, he''s here." The floor manager heard an usher report through his walkie-talkie.

    "Good. Did he say something?" The floor manager said.

    "*bzzt* Yeah. He said he''s gonna take the snacks and take them to the band''s waiting room. He said he''s gonna talk to them about the performance." The usher reported.

    "Okay. Good." The floor manager and the intern sighed in relief despite their wasted effort and worry.

    Not only the interns, but many of the staff are currently very tense, especially the ones who are working on the set proper. A guest like Tayaw to them, is rare, and they would bend over backwards to cater to him just to make a good impression. Hopefully to have him back again in the future.

    -------

    "Hey. Can y''all check? We good?" The show''s stage manager asked his staff.

    "Yeah. It''s all set up according to Isaac''s layout." A cameraman said, annoyed at the repetitive question from the manager.

    -------

    "Isaac! What''s up, baby?" Tayaw was welcomed warmly by Da Bellum Burning members as he entered their waiting room.

    During the past two days, Tayaw and the band have re-arranged and rehearsed Tayaw''s ''Invisible Man'' and another song. Aside from Tayaw''s arrangement skills, the band has witnessed Tayaw''s impressive vocals and his skills on the guitar. It did not also take long for the band to like Tayaw as he has been very nice to them and did not have an overconfident and arrogant attitude that most young people who found success has.

    "Hey. We won''t touch it anymore. We just might ruin the sh*t." Andre said, feeling out Tayaw''s purpose of visiting them prior to the show''s taping.

    "Alright. You got me." Tayaw could only abide.

    "Hey Isaac, you nervous? Wanna let me roll you something now?" OffSett joked.

    In the past two days, the band, especially OffSett has been offering Tayaw Mary Jane in more than one occasion, and in each occasion, Tayaw always refused. Tonight, Tayaw will do the same.

    "Nah. I don''t wanna be f*cked up in my first TV appearance. Even if I want to man, I haven''t smoked before. I don''t know how strong your weed is." Tayaw shook his head.

    "Alright. More for me then. I can''t believe you ain''t smoked before. I mean, weed is legal in your country, if I''m not wrong." OffSett just shrugged.

    "Hey. I would only smoke had I broken something." Tayaw shrugged in return.

    ===============

    "We''re back¡­" Aiden said as the new cut started after his monologue cut.

    "Our guest tonight is a talented young man who in his young career, has great achievements in both music and in film. Please welcome, the award-winning director of the international box office hit, ''September Ninth''. All the way from the Teungeb, Isaac Yawat!" Aiden introduced and Da Bellum Burning immediately started playing their soul/swing version of one of Tayaw''s songs.

    Shortly after, Tayaw with his usual three-piece suit, crisp hat, and huge sunglasses, entered the studio. *CHEERS* *APPLAUSE* The audience gave a warm applause. Unlike other episodes where the staff would encourage the audience to cheer loudly, the audience tonight is sincere as a good number of them has seen ''September Ninth'' and has great appreciation for the film. Even the audience members who did not see the film has heard great things about the film.

    Tayaw, instead of going directly to the stage like how he should have, made a beeline to the nearest seats of the audience members closest to him and shook their hands.

    "What is he doing?.." The head producer said dumbfounded but as Tayaw''s actions made a great picture, he just decided to let it be.

    After Tayaw had enough of greeting the audience, he finally approached the stage but still has not greeted Aiden yet; instead made another beeline to the busy Da Bellum Burning and tipped his hat to them. Shaheed and OffSett who were not playing anything, returned the gesture. Tayaw then took off his hat and gestured to OffSett.

    OffSett while caught off-guard by Tayaw''s impromptu gesture, was quick on his feet and also took off his hat, shook the hand that Tayaw offered, and they exchanged their hats. *CHEERS* *CHEERS* The audience was both surprised and pleased to see the interaction. They were reminded that Da Bellum Burning is more than just a background band for the talk show.

    After that short interaction, Tayaw finally made his way to the stage to join Aiden.

    "Hey." Tayaw said as he shook hands with Aiden.

    "Hey. Nice to finally meet you." Aiden said and gestured Tayaw to the couch. After Tayaw settled himself on the couch, Da Bellum Burning also stopped their playing.

    *Cheer* *Cheer* The audience once again applauded and Tayaw could only chuckle at the response.

    "Man. I feel like I''ve just won a lifetime achievement award. Thank you." Tayaw said as he tipped his hat to the audience. His first ever comment on TV, amused both the audience and the show''s staff.

    "Welcome to the show, Isaac." Aiden finally started introductions.

    "Thank you for having me, Aiden." Tayaw smiled in response.

    "Congratulations on this movie. It''s monstrous! It''s doing pretty good!" Aiden congratulated Tayaw.

    "Thank you. Yeah. It was rather unexpected, man." Tayaw said.

    "It was. It''s not usual for foreign films to do great here. Now, to all the viewers at home who has not seen the film yet, can you tell us about it?" Aiden gave Tayaw the first opportunity for Tayaw to promote.

    "Like you introduced, my film is called ''September Ninth''. It''s about a man, Steve, and his story of what would happen if someone gets stuck in the same day forever." Tayaw summed up the general plot of the film.

    "Ah. Yeah. I''ve seen the film, and I have to say¡­ your main character was quite the ¡­ selfish jerk." Aiden nodded.

    "Yep." Tayaw smirked. "Without spoiling too much, the film shows that it sometimes takes something big to happen to change a jerk like him." Tayaw said.

    "That''s true. Anyway, this is your first film, right?" Aiden said.

    "Yeah." Tayaw said, feeling a follow-up question.

    "First film and you''ve already won basically the top award in the film industry! The Fiore D''Oro from Sorrento Film Festival." Aiden said. *Cheers* *Applause* the audience felt the achievement deserves appreciation.

    "Well. Look, I just made a film I want to see. I didn''t expect that many people would actually like it too." Tayaw said.

    "Ahh. You''re too polite... Look here¡­" Aiden said as he pulled some big flashcards out under his table.

    "You won over some of the best directors in the world. Your film is doing even better than their films! Asher Green, Cory McFadden, Paul Marsh." Aiden said as he showed the directors'' photos on the flashcards to the audience. *Whoo* *Cheers*

    Tayaw is overwhelmed by Aiden''s compliments. While he indeed worked hard in making the film, he is still feeling conflicted in having the filmmaking experience he did not work hard in honing, and get awards for it. Tayaw is even more uncomfortable with how Aiden is comparing him to veteran directors.

    "Hey man. I still can''t believe I''ve won over them. ''Fallen Memory'' is a gorgeous film. ''Hard Ice'' is awesome with the hockey scenes. I can''t make something like those." Tayaw said, trying his hardest to give credit to the other directors, while internally not believing in his own words entirely.

    "Alright. Whatever you say. Anyway. Not only your film is selling well, many film critics are saying a lot about you." Aiden said.

    "Really? Huh. I''m not ready for taking criticisms for now, so I can''t read them yet. Especially after making something so¡­ radical." Tayaw said, lying, probing for Aiden''s idea.

    "Hey, you don''t have to worry. Most if not all that we''ve seen are basically lauding you. Here¡­" Aiden pulled out another big flashcard with an article heading pasted on it.

    "For example, LA Film Mag dubbed ''September Ninth'' as a modern classic. I kind of agree. And trust me, I see a lot of movies." Aiden moved on with his compliments.

    "Well, that''s a relief. Haha. Me, the cast, and the crew are thankful that our hard work is recognized." Tayaw said, preventing himself from downplaying the compliment for the benefit of his collaborators.

    "Hmm. Regarding that. The visuals, the story. Whose is it had the idea to uhh¡­ shoot they way you did? I mean, it''s almost as immersive as a doc.u.mentary. The camera angles, the actors¡­ It felt real and I forgot many times that I''m watching a movie." Aiden asked.

    "Yeah. It''s my idea for it to appear that way. I wanted to make it so that the viewers can see and feel what the characters'' emotions. The screenplay of the film, written by my friend Jouny Yalen, is very good. But to capture her story''s emotions is quite the challenge. So, from that, I had to figure out how to show them." Tayaw bullshitted.

    "I have to say, you did a great job in doing that." Aiden was enlightened by Tayaw''s explanation.

    "Thank you." Tayaw said.

    "How about inspirations? Even though your film is the first of its kind I''ve seen, you must have some inspirations, right?" Aiden asked, to give Tayaw the opportunity to make a good impression to some famous Hollywood film makers. He was however, surprised at Tayaw''s strange expression on his face at the question.

 Chapter 153 - Late Show With Aiden Gerty (2)

    "Well.. Uhh¡­" Tayaw is speechless as he has not gained any inspiration from directors of his world, so he has no idea how to answer.

    ''Come on man¡­'' Aiden meanwhile, gave Tayaw an encouraging look, misinterpreting Tayaw''s speechlessness as Tayaw''s lack of interview experience.

    ''Alright¡­ screw it.'' Tayaw after five long seconds of consideration, decided.

    "Can I be honest?" Tayaw said, his question making Aiden anxious, but he has no choice but to say

    "Sure."

    "I knew nothing about intricacies of film or film making. I also didn''t care who the actors are, or who the director of a film is. My assessment of a good film was whether I liked or not. I care more about the art more than the artist." Tayaw began, his preface grabbing everyone''s attention.

    Aiden meanwhile, immediately had an inkling of what Tayaw is trying to say.

    "Still, you have to have been inspired by some of the best directors, right?" Aiden wants to help Tayaw from burning bridges before he even built them.

    Contrary to his expectations, "Nope." Tayaw said in a-matter-of-fact manner.

    *OOOHHHH* The audience were surprised, amused, or confused at Tayaw''s answer. Aiden meanwhile is trying to hide his panic regarding a possible broadcasting incident.

    "Whoah.. Okay. I did not expect that." Tayaw addressed the audience.

    "Can I explain?" Tayaw asked Aiden.

    "You sure, buddy? Let me move away from you first." Aiden chuckled nervously.

    "Yeah. May I?" Tayaw asked audience too, the audience then unitedly agreed.

    "It''s not really inspired when I made a film that AVOIDS all the convention, right? Firstly, I tried to avoid my film looking simply like a footage of a stage play; which how every film looks like. Like I said from the start, I did not really expect my film to do so well because of how¡­ radical it looks." Tayaw began his explanation. The audience at this time almost nodded at Tayaw''s point.

    Aiden and his staff, on the other hand, felt complicated. Talk shows would always ask a rookie artist or an athlete for their inspirations or role models, which is routine. They did not take in consideration how different Tayaw''s situation is, and how seriously Tayaw would actually answer.

    "Secondly," Tayaw continued. "Except for the few good ones, movies are starting to all look the same to me, especially romantic films."

    "Hmm? What are you saying? You made a romance film." Aiden asked, confused at Tayaw''s words.

    "No. May I sway away from my film first?" Tayaw asked.

    "Go ahead." Aiden at this point, let Tayaw lead the interview. Aiden realized that he and his staff''s preparation were useless now and that he has not studied Tayaw''s film enough to ask good questions nor add good points.

    "Romance films, the formula of it, that has existed since the 1600s, as far as I know. Starting from¡­ let''s say Christopher Ainsley''s ''Thaddeus and Alarice'', to uhhh¡­ ''A Touch of Velvet'' two years ago. Boy meets girl, they fall in love."

    "Then there''s an obstacle or conflict that prevents or tests the strength of their love for each other. Those obstacles include the lovers belonging to different social statuses, the lovers having different philosophies in life, or simply because they can''t make time for each other. Follow so far?" Tayaw let Aiden and the audience catch up.

    "And finally, once the conflict or the obstacle is resolved, the lovers live happily ever after. How many films and plays have you seen that follows this formula?" Tayaw asked Aiden and the audience.

    "¡­" Aiden considered for a moment. "You''re right. It''s almost every other film. But¡­ Isn''t that how your film goes too?" Aiden raised a good question.

    "The romance aspect of my film, yes. It follows that formula. However, my film is the story of a man''s journey to self-exploration and his subsequent change for good. The romance? That is just a tool that Jouny and I used." Tayaw paused for Aiden to catch up.

    "What do you mean by ''tool''?" Aiden asked, finding the keyword quickly.

    "A tool; a measuring stick. Yes, originally, it was going to be a romance film, as Jouny intended, but I saw something more important; that is the character''s journey to become a good man." Tayaw explained. Aiden and the audience mulled over the answer again and nodded at how it made sense.

    "I decided for the film to be more about a man''s journey to redemption. A guy who has few redeeming qualities, into a man who deserves all the good things in the world. The romance is just the ruler we used to measure what the character deserves."  Tayaw concluded his second point.

    "Now that you said it, it really wasn''t that much of a romance film, huh." Aiden.

    "No. No it wasn''t." Tayaw answered simply, allowing Aiden to ask other questions or switch topics.

    "How about the acting? How did you come up with the choice of you know, the characters acting normal?" Aiden moved on.

    "Oh. I just wanted my film to be as immersive as possible. In most films, I always get distracted by the acting." Tayaw said.

    "What do you mean?" Aiden asked for more.

    "The exaggerated movements of stage acting that is applied on film. On stage, it makes sense for the actors to have exaggerated body language for the audience from afar can see them, but with film, I didn''t seem that necessary. I''m actually surprised why I''m the first one, that I know of that is, that made that choice." Tayaw explained.

    "I see. But how hard was it really? I mean, I think I can act just as good as your lead." Aiden said, not believing his words at all, but just wanting to get a reaction from Tayaw.

    "Ah. That''s a common misconception. It''s not as easy as it looks. Do you know how many actors auditioned? Some of them even had their theater training hold them back from meeting what I wanted." Tayaw calmly defended.

    "Really¡­? How hard could it be?" Aiden followed.

    "While I appreciate the awards that my film got, I always felt it was a pity that the actors in my film weren''t even nominated. That''s how much I appreciated the work of my actors. Okay. One very obvious one is my lead''s outburst of anger and when he was frustrated and depressed. That''s not an easy thing to act. It rarely is shown on theater plays too. Aiden, can you cry on cue?" Tayaw said.

    "That¡­ That''s true. It was indeed heartbreaking to see the lead go through it. And, you''re right. I can''t cry to save my life." Aiden nodded.

    "Hey, I wanna tell you something interesting." Tayaw suddenly said with a smirk on his face, his change of mood catching the attention of Aiden and the audience.

    "What''s up? That was sudden." Aiden chuckled; his emotions affected by Tayaw''s smirk.

    "Basically, all of the actors in my film are not what one would consider actors, in the conventional term. They''re either not theater trained, or have had theater training but aren''t really acting in plays and film." Tayaw prefaced.

    "Oh? How do you mean? You''re not saying they''re regular people, right?" Aiden was curious once again.

    "nah. Not to that extent. But. The lead and the supporting cast? They were in a comedy troupe before I cast them. They''re comedic actors." Tayaw said.

    "W-hat? Hah!... Wait.. You''re not pulling my leg, are you?" Complicated emotions dawned upon Aiden as he processed the fact that Tayaw dropped. He does not know what to say.

    "I''m not. It''s probably because of my choice of acting, but stage actors could not process what I want. The comedic actors, I don''t know exactly how, but they did the acting I required." Tayaw said.

    "You''re actually serious. Wait a minute. That guy? That guy''s a comedian?!" Aiden could wrap his head around the fact, nor did the audience.

    "Yeap. Well, they''re comedy troupe actors, to be exact. The very very disappointed love interest. The very supportive best friend. The sleazy boss. They''re all comedic actors." Tayaw nodded, enjoying Aiden''s reaction at every revelation. Tayaw looked around the audience too to see their dumbfounded faces.

    "¡­ This... Unbelievable. So, you think comedic actors are better than conventional ones, huh?" Aiden asked.

    "Whoah. That''s not what I''m saying. I''m just saying that my choice of acting was interpreted by comedic actors better than actual actors. Again. The comedic actors, I don''t know exactly why, but they did just as I required of them in the auditions." Tayaw said, trying to brush off Aiden''s misunderstanding.

    "Okay. Okay.. That was interesting. So, when you make your next film, you would prefer to cast comedic actors again?" Aiden asked.

    "Probably. If conventional actors can act what I require of them, then I''d cast them too. But if comedic actors are better suited for me, they''re my priority. The lead actor especially, Uranto, I''m pretty sure he''s gonna nail his next role." Tayaw shrugged his shoulders.

    "He did well in your film. I want to see him again¡­ Actually, I want to see the actress who played the leading lady more." Aiden jested, half joking and half serious. Iliene after all, while not the best-looking actress around, has a strange charm to her.

    The men in the audience also chuckled at Aiden''s comment.

    "Hah. You''ll have to watch the commercials she''s in, for now. I don''t know if the stuff she''s working on right now will be released internationally, but I hope she does well in that too." Tayaw said.

    "Whatever it is, I''m gonna see it¡­ Anyway. How long did it take you to finish the film? Judging by how detailed your film is, it must have taken a long time, right?" Aiden asked to move on the segment.

    "Yes. Actually, I am¡­" Tayaw explained some of the intricacies he is comfortable in sharing regarding his production process.

    Aiden also asked a few more things about the film before "We''ll be back with more Isaac." Aiden ended the segment.

 Chapter 154 - Late Show With Aiden Gerty (3)

    "We''ll be back for more Isaac, stay with us." Aiden wrapped up.

    "CUT!" The producer of the show announced after finishing the first part of Tayaw''s interview.

    "PEOPLE! We will have a short 15-minute break. Our ushers will guide you to the bathrooms and craft service¡­" As a staff member directed the audience, Aiden and Tayaw also made their way backstage.

    "Huh. I did not expect the ''interview'' to be some sort of a lecture." Aiden shook his head.

    Usually, even if a guest or Aiden go off-script, the interview still has a predictable process and that Aiden still leads the conversations. Tayaw''s answers tonight, however, flipped everything for Aiden. Aiden''s preparation of his controversial questions also went to waste as Tayaw already made controversial comments on his own.

    "Well, sorry? You''re not going to cut a lot of the things I said, right? I hope it wouldn''t be too boring." Tayaw asked jokingly but internally a little unsure of the impression he will make to the viewers with the answers he gave and stuff he talked about.

    "Nah. We''re good. At least, it''s organic." Aiden shrugged his shoulders as him and Tayaw entered Tayaw''s waiting room. Aiden figured it would be better to join Tayaw to talk about what else Tayaw is planning on talking about.

    =======

    The break soon passed and the audience filled the studio once again.

    "hM?" An audience member was surprised at the change of the set-up in the set.

    The section of the house band seemed to have been moved from its usual position at the right side of the stage, into the center stage. They also saw Aiden, not in his table, but in front of the house band, as if preparing to give another monologue. And finally, Tayaw, who Aiden promised will be back, is nowhere in sight.

    Aiden, after seeing the audience settle down once again, nodded to the producer signaling that everything is ready for the filming to resume.

    "Welcome back!" Aiden announced. The second part of the interview has started filming.

    "Tonight, we have a special performance from our very own Bellum Burning!" Aiden gestured to the fellows of  the band behind him. *Applause* *Cheers* The audience welcomed Da Bellum Burning warmly, not expecting the house band to be playing a whole song.

    "Shaheed, what are you playing for us?" Aiden allowed Shaheed to take over the introduction.

    "Hey. We''re gonna play ''Need You'' from our latest album ''Curtain Falls''." Shaheed prefaced. *applause* *cheers* (Song inspired by ''You Got Me'' by ''The Roots''. The lyrics are mine. The instruments, I made more house-band-y.)

    Soon, Da Bellum band''s pianist played a simple but beautiful soul-jazz piano riff for the intro. The bass guitar soon joined and the piano''s riff transformed into simpler chords. Shaheed then started singing.

    "Good for you¡­ You got someone ¡­ who needs ya."

    Shaheed''s velvety voice matched with his narrow vibrations caught the attention of the crowd immediately. A cameraman even saw an audience member, through the lenses, shudder in delight. Every line that Shaheed sang with his subtle vocal runs, in the first stanza tickling the listeners'' ears.

    The chords changed and the song entered its first chorus.

    "Lay~ your hands~ across my heart¡­ mmm."

    The French horn, playing the bass notes instead of the conventional bass guitar, gave the chorus a different sense of impact. Matching it with Shaheed''s velvet voice, the chorus is even more beautiful than the verse.

    "I want ~~ I want you ~~~ Ooh. I want you to be my baby¡­" The chorus ended in a nice note.

    Unlike the studio version of the song, Da Bellum Band this time, did not immediately go to the second stanza and kept playing the chord progression of their song''s verse.

    "Please welcome¡­ Isaac!" Shaheed smiled as he announced Tayaw.

    The door from the backstage opened and the audience saw Tayaw, now carrying a plain but slick looking white electric guitar, enter the studio and walk towards the center stage to join Da Bellum Burning.

    *Applause* *Cheers* *Whistles* The audience were caught by surprise but were excited to see the man they knew earlier as simply a film director, play music with a great band.

    After Tayaw plugged his guitar, he then started strumming his electric guitar, his harmonizing chords added more fullness to the song. Soon after, he began singing the second verse.

    "Time~ I''m oh so sure will bring¡­ Regrets, sadness in many things ~" Tayaw''s raspy baritone voice greeted the audience.

    *Cheers* The audience were pleasantly surprised at Tayaw''s voice. A cameraman, through his lenses, saw a pretty audience member''s mouth open slightly and her eyes in utmost concentration on Tayaw.

    Tayaw''s voice while having a different color from Shaheed''s voice, still gave out a similar emotion that Shaheed gave earlier. Longing, regret, and sadness. While Tayaw did not do vocal runs like Shaheed, his subtle vocal vibrations in the most appropriate words made the audience feel things the song''s songwriter wanted the listeners to feel.

    "Eyh. Lovin been'' my top priority. Yeah.

    Ain''t no need to question my credibility

    Chairman of the board, the president of affections,

    You got me baby, swingin''-in-your direction"

    OffSett entered with his verse for the bridge. While his rap was not technically difficult, the simplicity of the verse and the way OffSett pronounced the consonants blended well with the rhythm of the beat. This forced, in a good way, the audience to bob their head along. OffSett''s lyrics pleasantly assaulted their ears. (Sorry guys. I''m not really a big fan of rap, so I can''t do analysis.)

    OffSett soon finished the bridge tightly but unlike the original, the song did not proceed to the second chorus yet. *ROOARR* Tayaw bust out his electric guitar for a guitar solo. While the riff is very simple in comparison to Tayaw''s skills, he chose simplicity because of the boppy but lonely  theme of the song. Playing a more complicated solo would be overplaying.

    However, Tayaw''s timing, bending, and vibratos on the guitar fret made his guitar produce a very attractive melody. The guitar expressed the song''s sadness, regret that a human voice could rarely produce. Shaheed, OffSett, and Da Bellum Burning, despite rehearsing with Tayaw for the past two days, are still impressed at what they hearing. Never did they think that ''Need You'', a song they thought that was only catchy but was never really something fresh, would sound this good ever.

    With Tayaw''s contribution and arrangement, they felt that their song is better received than usual. They also felt as if their song is now worthy to contribute to music.

    *WHOO!!!* The solo soon ended and the audience expressed their appreciation. The audience did not have time to express it fully though as the song entered its final chorus. Shaheed singing the main melody while Tayaw singing the harmony and playing supplementary guitar licks.

    "Lay~ your hands~ across my heart¡­ mmm." The two''s voices blending together expressed the emotions of the song to its best possible manifestation, the final chorus worthy of being the best for last.

    The song soon concluded and *CHEERS* the audience responded well without being coached by the show''s ushers. Their appreciation for Tayaw''s and Da Bellum Burning''s performance is as genuine as it gets from a restrictive setting like a late-night talk show taping.

    Aiden approached the center stage once more, while clapping, carrying a copy of Da Bellum Burning''s ''Curtain Calls'' vinyl record under his arm. Amidst the audience''s cheers, Aiden pulled out band''s album and faced it towards a camera.

    "Da Bellum Burning''s ''Curtain Calls'' is out now in iTunes and record stores nationwide. Please! Go Check them out!" Aiden promoted smoothly.

    "Oh! We''re not done with the music yet! Isaac!" Aiden next drew the attention to Tayaw.

    "Yeah?" Tayaw replied.

    "The next song you guys are going to play is your song, right? Can you tell us more about it?" Aiden said.

    "Yeah. It''s called ''Invisible Man'' from my country mini-album ''On The Road''. It''s also my song that is doing the best." Tayaw introduced.

    "Alright. Ladies and gentlemen, Isaac and Da Burning Bellum once again!" Aiden introduced as Tayaw and the band started playing intro once again. Unlike the original version''s stomp box and acoustic guitar instrumentals, the version they''re about to play is drastically different.

    *Voom* The trumpet and saxophone joining in the instrumental and produced a jazz/blues/soul feel for the song. The intro still sounds as haunting as the original, only this time has an added graceful sound in it. Tayaw''s electric guitar playing meanwhile assured that his song still has the sound of country/southern rock feel to it despite the arrangement him and Da Bellum Burning did.

    After two measures of the intro, Tayaw finally leaned in towards his microphone.

    "He''s a man who lived a life of danger

    to anyone he meets he stays a stranger

    with every action he made, grabs a chance before it fade

    as maybe he won''t have - a chance to see tomorrow"

    Unlike the original which Tayaw sang in a very low pitch with, he is singing in a mid-range pitch he is most comfortable with. The band also preferred to not have Shaheed sang anything solo in the song as his voice does not suit Tayaw''s song.

    The band however, "Invisible man, INVISIBLE MAN!" sang with Tayaw for the chorus, acting as Tayaw''s backing choir. This made the song grander and more epic. The band''s incredible backing vocals made an impression that the ''Invisible Man'' is trapped on all sides. Meanwhile, Tayaw''s belting with them made it seem like the ''Invisible Man'' is fighting back, alone, against the challenges.

    The Chorus and the Second Verse soon ended and the instruments settled down and only Andre''s Bass beat and the pianist''s chords remained.

    "Yeah. I''m livin on borrowed time, and days go faster¡­ Waiting for the hour, I ain''t waitin'' in no bunker¡­" OffSett''s rap verse set in, unlike his usual lyrics and rap style, he sounds more somber this time.

    -------

    Two days ago

    "*Ughh*. I really wanna do this man, but it''s a lot harder than I thought." OffSett said to Tayaw as they were arranging the songs.

    "Man. You were doing fine. You scrapped another one?" Tayaw said as he saw a crumpled paper on OffSett''s hand.

    "Yeah. I can''t just FEEL it. This one don''t belong." OffSett rambled.

    "Okay. Why don''t I tell you of the inspiration I had for the song?..." Tayaw began telling OffSett an anecdote about a man''s mini adventure in an elevator.

    ------

    "I hear footsteps, I hear him click his blaster

    We see each other with a sick laughter

    A gunfight, here it comes, and here I am

    Ice cold, I shoot him easy like I didn''t give a damn."

    Even though OffSett only spit a short verse for the song, he felt it a great achievement. Usually, he would write lyrics on love, hate, his family, friends, and his neighborhood; he would get praises from his contemporaries. He never realized that he has hit his limit until he started writing a verse for ''Invisible Man.''

    It was tough, and OffSett might think that his new verse is not as good as his usual work, but by tackling this challenge, he saw a new door open up to him.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    Studio 29, Editing Room

    An hour after the show''s taping, Tayaw is now in the editing room, busy instructing the editor of the show.

    "Yeah. Censor their faces, or blur them." Tayaw instructs.

    "Hey, Isaac. The rest of the show already looks good. Why include this. This might not be a good look for you." Aiden asks, finding Tayaw''s decision crazy.

    "Man. Don''t worry. This is why I made sure to show audience''s reactions. And. If this works well, your ratings will go through the roof tonight, you guys can even gain a ''badge'' as being first at doing something." Tayaw says.

    "Fck. I''ll contact the lawyers, just in case." Aiden says.

    "If ever you need them, I''ll pay the legal costs." Tayaw just shrugs.

 Chapter 155 - Watching the Show (1)

    Jericho 9 PM - The Duhill House

    /// "with every action he made, grabs a chance before it fade

    as maybe he won''t have - a chance to see tomorrow"

    Tayaw sang the last verse and the instruments soon closed the song.

    "That was Isaac''s ''Invisible Man'' from his mini album ''On The Road''. Please purchase it from iTunes or stream for free on YouTube and Stoppify. We''ll be right back." *commercial break*///

    "Damn. He''s awesome!" Lee exclaims over the commercial break.

    Lee, and the rest of his family, are currently in their living room couch watching the broadcast of ''Late Night with Aiden Gerty'' on their huge flat screen. Once again, he was texted by Tayaw about another TV appearance.

    "Heh." Peter can only chuckle as he too is impressed by Tayaw''s performance.

    "I know that we''re living next to a celebrity, I still can''t get over that that''s the same hunky film nerd." Lexi remarks.

    "Alright. Popcorn? Anyone?" Charlotte offers as she stands up. She does not like the music style of the song Tayaw just performed.

    "ME!" is the unanimous response of the family.

    While the commercial is running, Lexi starts getting busy with her laptop once again.

    "Hey. Can''t you stop studying for once and just chill? It''s the school break." Holly tells Lexi.

    "I''m chill. And I''m not studying." Lexi replies, her attention still on her laptop.

    "At least look up?" Holly says as she is starting to get annoyed by Lexi''s divided attention.

    "Heh. Coming from someone who is always on her phone¡­" Lexi casually criticizes.

    "Wait¡­ Why aren''t you on your phone?" Lexi realizes and finally looks up.

    "Probably because her crush is on TV." Peter answers for Holly.

    "Dad!" Holly says, embarrassed at Peter''s comment.

    "Let me see that. What are you looking at anyway?" Holly then grabs Lexi''s laptop to divert the attention.

    "Hey!" Lexi is dumbfounded as Holly is not the type of person to touch her things.

    "Twitter?" Holly asks as she takes a look at the screen.

    "Yeah¡­ Give it to me, we''ll read tweets about Tayaw." Lexi takes back her laptop.

    "Oh. This one! TLD Grimmauld. This guy''s a huge author. Wow, he''s live tweeting." Lexi says.

    /@isaacyawat Great set!/ /Check out my friend live! #isaacyawat #latenightwithaidengerty #dabellumburning #invisibleman/

    "I guess they''re really friends, huh." Lexi says as she reads some more.

    /@tldgrimmauld thanks man./

    "Oh. Those are boring." Holly rolls her eyes and opens her phone to look at some of the tweets herself.

    A few seconds using her talent of spotting ''interesting'' tweets, she is starting to enjoy the things she is reading.

    "Hey Lexi, look at these." Holly wants to share.

    /I don''t know who this guy is, but he''s beautiful!/

    /@isaacyawat I love you!/

    /Isaac Yawat is so easy on the eyes. Remove the shades please!/

    /Isaac Yawat''s jawline. It''s distracting me from what he''s saying./

    /Isaac can sing me to sleep./

    "Oh¡­ wow¡­ They love him." Lexi is almost speechless at the tweets.

    "Oh my god¡­" Holly too is almost speechless the deeper she and Lexi go with the tweets.

    /@isaacyawat can split me in half from bottom up, iykwim./

    /@isaacyawat definitely has THAT energy. My legs are weak just thinking about it./

    /I''m thirsty. My thirst for Isaac never stops./

    /I love Isaac''s film. But I have a film I want Isaac to see. ???? ???? ????/

    /I''m gonna film my ***** for you Isaac!/

    /I want Isaac to smash my meat./

    "EEWWWWWW! GROSS!" Lexi can no longer read the dirty tweets.

    "What''s gross?" Charlotte is back with bags of microwaved popcorn.

    "Hey! He''s back!" Thankfully for the two girls, Lee saved them from a potentially embarrassing situation with their mother.

    ///"We''re back!" Aiden greets the audience.

    "Isaac¡­" Aiden then gets the attention back to Tayaw.

    "Sup?" Tayaw asks.

    "That was a great performance man. Your voice, the guitar. It was incredible." Aiden compliments.

    "Thank you. I was afraid I had gotten rusty. I haven''t played in months until the rehearsals with Da Bellum Burning guys." Tayaw says and tips his hat to the band.

    "About that. When did you start playing music? You have to have some inspiration, right?" Aiden asks.///

    "Uh oh. He''s gonna talk smack again¡­" Lexi comments, cringing in anticipation.

    The family, except for Lee all got anxious earlier when Tayaw was talking about how he was not inspired by anyone as a film maker.

    "Oh boy¡­" Peter chuckles.

    Tayaw''s next words however are contrary to their expectations.

    ///"Oh yeah. Couldn''t help not to. As a child, I listened to artists like Lee Baker, Annabelle Moore. You know, country music greats¡­ With my singing, I tried copying them, but as my voice changed, I had to find my own sound. With the guitar, I started playing when I was 13. Wasn''t good at first, of course. But after listening blues and jazz guitarists like Babson, Johnston, Fischer and Thompson¡­ " Tayaw starts to ramble.///

    "Wow. He''s not only a film nerd, he''s an even bigger music nerd." Lexi says.

    "Yeah¡­ he cannot stop talking about them." Holly agrees.

    / //"Not too long ago, you had some sort of a mini controversy, right?" Aiden switches topics.

    "I¡­ am not sure what you''re talking about." Tayaw says with a smirk.

    "Heh. You know, your appearance at the ''Music Night at the Apollo''. You do know that that was only supposed to be for amateurs, right?" Aiden asks with a knowing smile.

    "Oh¡­ Yeah. I didn''t know then. I mean, that show doesn''t really air back home in Teungeb. It''s also not really clear for me from the name of the show that the show was for amateurs. The staff of the show also rushed me and the other contestants to sign the contract or whatever by giving us summaries." Tayaw shrugs. ///

    "Ohhhhhh. Bull¡­" Peter says, amused at Tayaw''s answer.

    "You don''t believe him?" Charlotte asks.

    "Oh. I don''t. I know enough about the guy. He definitely knew, alright. Smart guy like him? He can''t just pull an ignorant immigrant card." Peter says.

    "Wait, how do you know you know, dad?" Lexi asks in defense of Tayaw.

    Charlotte and Peter exchanges looks at Lexi''s question. Charlotte after all, through her husband, is already in the know about Tayaw''s involvement with her husband and her husband''s employer and the extent of it.

    "I just know, alright. You can ask Tayaw yourself." Peter simply deflects.

    ///"So, it was an honest mistake, huh?" Aiden nods.

    "It was, the majority of it. At the time, as the show went on through the rounds, I noticed. At least I''m admitting that. So, in the end, when I won, I just gave back the prize money." Tayaw says.///

    "He doesn''t need it anyway." Lexi remarks.

    /// "So, do you have someone special in your life?" Aiden switches topics once again after closing that chapter.

    "Like, a girl?"

    "Yeah. What else could it be?" Aiden clarifies.

    "Okay. Cultural differences¡­ Anyways, a girl¡­ No. Never really had someone that special." Tayaw replies.

    "Never had a girlfriend?" Aiden asks, surprised.

    "Yeah. There''s really nothing wrong with that, right?" Tayaw shrugs. / //

    "Aww¡­ You have a chance, Holly." Lexi starts to tease Holly.

    "Shut up, nerd." Holly rolls her eyes, but does not disagree with Lexi''s quip.

    /// "Nothing wrong with it, but how come? Talented, and may I say, handsome guy like you, should have no problems meeting ladies, right?" Aiden asks.

    "Maybe. Maybe not. I''m just wary of relationsh.i.p.s, that''s all." Tayaw says.

    "Oh? How so?" Aiden asks in interest.

    "I mean, I''ve got a LOT of friends in relationsh.i.p.s, but most of the guys are quite¡­ miserable. Hehe." Tayaw chuckles.

    "Oh, don''t be so negative. I''m happy with my wife." Aiden says.

    "Bah¡­ All of them say that, but if you look at their eyes, they tell a different story. It''s in the eyes, man. They want to get away. I actually think most of them are just staying in their relationsh.i.p.s just for the s.e.x." Tayaw casually drops.

    The crowd on the other hand; *OOOOOOHHHHHHHH* around 50% of them groans out of surprise, *LAUGHTER* 30% of them thought of Tayaw''s statement as a joke, and the remaining 20%, a majority of which are men, *APPLAUSE* sincerely agree. ///

    "Puhah! Hahaha!" Peter bursts out laughing. Before he can continue enjoying himself, however, he felt a glare from Charlotte.

    "Hey, honey. I''m not like that with you. I got lucky. But Tayaw''s not wrong either." Peter shrugs. "Huh." Charlotte only grunts.

    /// "Okay. But you''re right. Some of them are actually happy. And you''re one of them¡­ Right?" Tayaw asks Aiden.

    "Oh of course." Aiden confidently says."///

    "Ohhh¡­ Tayaw''s gonna get Aiden in trouble. Haha. Honey, look! Look, look. Look closely at Aiden. His legs are probably uneasy." Peter says.

    "You''re enjoying this too much." Charlotte scoffs.

    /// "Then good for you. My parents too, are very lucky to have each other; they had me when they were 25. They have been together a long time too before that. I don''t see myself finding love that early." Tayaw says.

    "Hmm. Now that you said it, there are really less and less young people getting married nowadays." Aiden says.

    "True. But hey, it''s a different time then." Tayaw says. ///

    "Hey. I can''t believe he''s younger than Holly." Charlotte whispers to Peter, finding Tayaw being too well spoken and opinionated at his age, incredible.

    "I know, right? ¡­ Are we bad parents?" Peter whispers back.

    Unlike Peter''s amus.e.m.e.nt earlier of Tayaw''s comments, he is taking Tayaw''s recent ones more seriously.

    "I hope not. I mean, we have Lexi still." Charlotte sighs.

    /// "Hey, I know some people you can hang out with. I can ask them for you." Aiden suddenly offers.

    "Nah. No thanks. I like my man cave as it is." Tayaw''s quick refusal amuses the crowd.

    "Come on. Why not?" Aiden refuses to relent, just for show.

    "Well, once I get a girlfriend, my life, my house will no longer have signs of me and will revolve all around her." Tayaw says, with the men in the audience cheering once again.

    "Well, not really. I mean, I have football or baseball nights in my bas.e.m.e.nt." Aiden says.

    "Bah. Listen to what you''re sayin''. ''Bas.e.m.e.nt''. How come you have to use the bas.e.m.e.nt instead of the living room where the TV and the couch, that I''m guessing you bought, are ready to use for you and your buddies for one night a week? Hm?" Tayaw asks.

    Aiden can only stare at Tayaw, speechless.

    "Exactly." Tayaw smirks smugly, which them men in the crowd cheered on once again.///

    At this point, Peter''s eyes are acc.u.mulating tears from stopping himself from laughing. He can feel Charlotte''s glare and it is making hair on the back of his neck stand.

    ///"And! And, it''s hard to make women happy. Why is John from the Yankees so miserable compared to when he was an honest to God, Christian V.i.r.g.i.n? Why did Joe from HomeDepot have to renovate his kitchen the Nth time when he''s already satisfied with the original arrangement? Why can''t Jack the mechanic just laugh at things he finds funny and enjoy things he wants to do just because Jennie might get mad? I don''t wanna get through all of that crap." Tayaw says. His ranting gathered another round of support from the men in the audience. ///

    "Puh! Hah! *aherm* *aherm*" Peter can no longer keep his laughter and bursts out a syllable of it before suppressing it once again.

    "Hahahahaha!" Lexi on the other hand, laughed in place of Peter.

    "Come on mom. You glaring at dad like that is making Tayaw''s point. Dad, a lot of times has to tiptoe around you just avoid getting you mad. Why are you not happy, mom?" Lexi says.

    "Alright. Stop it, Lexi." Peter tries to prevent drama from starting, but inside, he is pleased that his daughter is speaking up for him.

 Chapter 156 - Watching The Show (2)

    /"Hey. Come on. It''s not that simple." Aiden says, amused at Tayaw.

    "True. It''s not simple, and it''s a gross generalization. But that doesn''t mean there''s no truth with what I''m saying. Look, the guys are with me on this, they''re cheering. Look at that couple over there. Ma''am, you''re glaring too much at your man." Tayaw says as he points his hand to a couple in the crowd.

    The camera also pans to the couple, but the show edited their faces to be censored.

    "Tell me, Sir. Don''t you have to do whatever she wants? If you don''t, she''ll get mad. Right?" Tayaw asks the man in the couple.

    The man tries to ignore Tayaw''s question while shifting in his seat.

    "I have great eyes, and I can see, sir, from your face, that you agree. You just don''t want to admit it in the presence of ma''am on your side. If you had disagreed with me immediately, then you have no problem but because you hesitated, it''s over. Just say you agree with me. Either way, you''re gonna have an awkward car ride home." Tayaw says with an almost sadistic grin.

    The crowd this time, is brewing in chatter.

    After the crowd calms down, "I mean, what is she gonna do? Withhold¡­ physical company in bed? Kick you out of the bed? You can just sleep on the couch for a couple of nights, drinking beer while watching the game, and you''ll be fine. It''s not like I''m making you two break-up." Tayaw continues, and with that, the men in the crowd exploded in laughter and cheer.

    "I disagree." The man manages to get his word out, despite the noise.

    Tayaw nods at him. "You disagree? Good. Smart man. But too late." Tayaw says smugly.

    The man then stands up and whispers to his lady, their body language showing signs that they are about to walk out of the studio./

    "Oh my god, it''s gonna be a TV disaster!" Lexi exclaims in excitement watching the proceedings.

    "This never happened in TV. EVER. HAHA!!" Peter also says, sharing Lexi''s excitement.

    "I hope he won''t get attacked for this." Holly says in worry.

    /"Alright, alright! Don''t leave. I''m sorry, man. I''ll buy you a beer after this. I''ll give you a signed CD too." Tayaw says, stopping the couple from leaving.

    "Ma''am, did I make you uncomfortable? I''m sorry. I''m sorry. I''ll reserve a nice dinner for you two. Please, stay. I''ll stop now." Tayaw continues his apology.

    "I mean, what can an 18-year-old kid know about relationsh.i.p.s, right?" Tayaw smirks at Aiden.

    Aiden, while amused at Tayaw''s comment, has become serious once again to control his show, after Tayaw involved the audience.

    "But, seriously. I think a girl would make you happy, and your life will improve. I mean, I got myself together once I met my wife." Aiden advises.

    "True. That''s very true. But I have my sh*t together right now and I''m doing great without romance. I mean, I make a good living, I have a good home, I have great friends, I cook and eat healthy, I''m as fit as a pro athlete, and I clean my house spotless. I''M MOTIVATED!" Tayaw says as he slams his hand on the arm of the couch, feigning his seriousness and resolve like a politician on a podium. *laughter* *Applause*/

    "Hmm. I pity whoever the girl Tayaw will fall in love with." Charlotte comments this time, Lexi''s quip earlier has opened her up to accept Tayaw''s opinions.

    "Why?" Peter asks.

    "I don''t know. Women''s goal in a marriage aside from raising a family, is to either improve or control their man. Tayaw is already perfect and if his lady is gonna be decent, she''s gonna feel useless." Charlotte says.

    "Meh. He''s gonna be lonely sooner or later. Guys at some point would crave for companionship and¡­ *whispers* s.e.x. He''s gonna learn how to compromise." Peter says, his words to compensate for offending Charlotte earlier, and half as a sincere opinion.

    East Hampton Village, New York

    / "At some point, it will get boring though? To a talented guy like you, you would definitely want to have fun, right? And it''s great to have fun with someone." Aiden has the same opinion as Peter.

    "I''m already having fun, man. If I''m getting uninspired writing songs, then I''ll write and make a film. If making a film gets tedious, I''ll go back to writing songs. If I get bored in writing songs and writing a film, I''ll practice my guitar. In summary, I''m too busy having so much fun and a great chance of ruining the fun isn''t worth it for me." Tayaw says. /

    "Ahh. This kid." Gonzalo shakes his head while watching ''Late Night With Aiden Gerty'' through the television in his study.

    "It''s gonna be hard for him to find a girl. At this point, a woman can only hold him back. That''s saying a lot coming from me." A brown skinned woman in her 30s, dressed in a pair of pale blue scrubs, comments next to Gonzalo.

    "My granddaughter is a great match for him, Kayla." Gonzalo tells his private nurse.

    "Well, if it''s Miss Juliana, then I can see her and this young man as a couple." Kayla says half obsequiously and half serious.

    /"Heh. Well, I guess I can''t go anywhere trying to set you up. You''re a special case after all." Aiden says, to conclude the topic, intending to switch topics once again.

    "AH. You know what I''m gonna do?" Tayaw suddenly asks.

    "Oh boy¡­" Aiden exaggerates his sigh at the unpredictability of Tayaw, his reaction amusing the crowd.

    "What?" Aiden asks.

    "I''m gonna get a dog." Tayaw says, with a pause for Aiden to process.

    "A dog?" Aiden asks.

    "Yeah. A dog. Now, a dog''s love is true love, Aiden. They''re sad when you leave, they''re happy when you''re home." Tayaw prefaces, the audience once again are giggling in anticipation at what Tayaw is implying.

    "Are you saying that a dog is better than a woman?" Aiden asks after he himself recovers from laughing.

    "I''m not saying that. I''m just saying that a dog can add to my happiness." Tayaw clarifies.

    "Are you saying that women can''t add anything to a man''s happiness?" Aiden twists Tayaw''s words for the audience''s giggles.

    "I''m not saying that either. I''m saying that women can''t add anything to MY happiness right now." Tayaw explains. "Ooohhhhhh" The crowd express their impression at Tayaw''s logic.

    "Do you have a dog?" Tayaw asks once again.

    "Yeah. I do, and I love her." Aiden says, not sure where Tayaw is leading the conversation but some people in the crowd are already giggling again because the last time Tayaw asked a question to Aiden, Aiden was forced to discomfort.

    "What kind? What''s its name?" Tayaw asks.

    "A Field Spaniel, and her name is Lola. You should get a field spaniel, I mean, Lola''s nice." Aiden recommends, still staying on the dog topic.

    "Any dog is great really. But that''s not the point. When you get home, who''s happier to see you? Mrs. Gerty, or Lola?" Tayaw asks. The question resulted in an uproar in the audience once again./

    "Ah. God help me." Gonzalo is half frustrated and half tickled at Tayaw''s comments.

    "Hahaha. This is so true!" Kayla giggles.

    "I hope he''s just saying this for fun. He gave me his word." Gonzalo says.

    "Oh. You set Miss Juliana up with him?" Kayla asks.

    "Yes. This kid even got her cell number. But it''s been months now, and Juliana said he hasn''t called, or even sent a text." Gonzalo says.

    "Maybe he''s just busy preparing your film. A man should be either gay, or out of his mind to not go out with Miss Juliana for at least one date." Kayla comments.

    "I hope you''re right." Gonzalo shakes his head.

    "Are you really sure about setting him up with Miss Juliana? I mean, entertainment people aren''t exactly what you may consider¡­ faithful." Kayla says.

    "True¡­ But Tayaw is different. I had him investigated and he''s not the promiscuous type." Gonzalo says.

    "That''s good then... Still, he''s talented and all. But he''s still an outsider to your world." Kayla says.

    "True. But that doesn''t mean he won''t be. He''s only made one film, and he''s already matched my wealth when I was his age. He''s also very motivated." Gonzalo says.

    "Sir, Tayaw and Juliana are still very young. Tayaw may be a good kid now, but you know what wealth does to good men." Kayla says.

    "You''re right again. And it''s not like I''m hoping for the two to actually become a couple, I just want Juliana to spend more time with a person like Tayaw. And Tayaw being a hardworking, motivated young man is exactly the perfect person I want Juliana to spend her time with. Not other jaded, unmotivated trust fund children who never learned responsibility." Gonzalo says. This has Kayla''s interest.

    "To Juliana, I''m just lovely grandfather, that''s all. Her parents and uncle, to her, are just her family that loves her very much. But in her age, now that she''s her own woman, and has her own thoughts, we can no longer teach her like we used to. She was already hard to teach when she was a child, and we also spoiled her too much." Gonzalo shakes his head.

    Kayla is thinking that Gonzalo is entering his late-night musings again, so she hypes herself up to prevent boredom while not interrupting. Half of her job after all is to listen to Gonzalo''s ramblings.

    "My time is near. Sylvio and Delfina''s time will come too. And with how my grandchildren are acting right now, I don''t feel hopeful that they can keep what we will pass down to them." Gonzalo continues. This makes Kayla''s mind entertain many ideas.

    ''Is he thinking of passing Tayaw some of the wealth? No. That''s not it. The kid''s basically a stranger.'' Kayla thinks to herself.

    "Sylvio''s sons are lost causes. Juliana, on the other hand, is still young and can be taught." Gonzalo says.

    "You said that she''s hard to teach?" Kayla asks.

    "From us, his family, yes, she''s hardheaded. But I know that children her age tend to learn more from people closer to their age. I am hoping that she would learn, even without realizing, from someone who has achieved something she could have." Gonzalo says. Kayla also is starting to understand.

    "You want Miss Juliana to be influenced by Tayaw''s hard work and motivation¡­" Kayla concludes for Gonzalo.

    "Precisely." Gonzalo nods. "But looking at Tayaw here, I think it''s going to be harder to get them to hang out. And even though he''s joking, I can tell that he is sincere in his opinion about relationsh.i.p.s, which surprises even me. He''s too motivated and too busy to even entertain the idea of having a woman." Gonzalo sighs.

    "Well. That doesn''t mean that they can''t be close friends, right? If you want them to interact with each other for a long time, then I think the two being just  friends will do a better job." Kayla suggests.

    Gonzalo raises his brows at the unusually sound suggestion from Kayla.

    "Indeed¡­  Lovers who are not meant to be, most of the time, do not part in the best of agreements." Gonzalo nods.

 Chapter 157 - Secrets, Age, and Help

    "If you were me, what would you do?" Gonzalo asks for Kayla''s opinion, which catches Kayla off-guard.

    "I say, if you really want them to hang out. I think it''s great to force them to go on a date." Kayla speaks out.

    "Hmmm." Gonzalo considers. "Indeed. Tayaw seems like someone who, despite what he''s saying on TV, is a nice caring fellow." Gonzalo says.

    "Heh. Might be. But basing on what he''s saying right now, is he going to be nice to women?" Kayla shakes her head.

    "I''m hoping he is. You can''t even imagine what he did for small town strangers back in Teungeb. And Juliana is not a stranger. Even if he will not go on a date with Juliana with romantic intentions, he can take care of her." Gonzalo smiles.

    "If he can take care of her, then I''m sure Miss Juliana will leave their date as Tayaw''s friend." Kayla nods.

    / "While I''d love to talk more with you, our producers are already signaling that we should wrap up." Aiden says.

    *GROAN* The crowd expressed their disappointment.

    "I know, I know. Anyways. Isaac, do you want to say something? Do you have anything else to promote?" Aiden asks.

    "Well, I''ve done enough promoting already. I just hope though, that the actors in my film at least gets a nomination. That would be awesome." Tayaw says.

    "Hey. Before we go, can I ask, is it really okay to say on camera that the producers are signaling you?" Tayaw suddenly asks.

    "Not supposed to be, but it''s not a regular episode, is it? And I just wanna let the viewers at home an idea of some sh*tty things here." Aiden says.

    "Oh. OH! Wait a minute. I have something to promote to actors, anyone who has acting experience, really." Tayaw says.

    "To actors? Okay." Aiden chuckles at how chaotic even the closing segment has become.

    "I''ve just finished a script of a film and will start casting process soon. If there''s anyone who studied the acting style of my film, please submit an application to a link I will leave on my social media." Tayaw says./

    The show soon ends and Gonzalo and Kayla enter silence for a few seconds.

    "Let''s call it a night, Mr. Coniglio?" Kayla tells Gonzalo.

    "Let me just¡­" Gonzalo pulls out a lighter what looks like a skinny cigar from a drawer beside him.

    "Let me smoke on of these before bed." Gonzalo says as *shhik* *shhik* he lights up a stick before Kayla can stop him.

    "Mr. Coniglio¡­" Kayla is about to reprimand Gonzalo but she was stopped with a simple hand gesture from him.

    "Relax, my dear. I already reduced my cigar into this skinny thing because you told me to slow down. Just let me have this." Gonzalo says.

    "Still. You''re inhaling smoke. It''s still hard on your body." Kayla argues.

    "It''s just the coating that''s tobacco. The rest is the relaxing green thing." Gonzalo says as he takes a puff, acc.u.mulates the smoke in his lungs, before blowing it out a few seconds later.

    Kayla can only relent as she already finds it a progress to make Gonzalo reduce his tobacco smoking, replacing it with what is practically medical cannabis.

    "By the way. How''s Tayaw going along with your film?" Kayla asks to fill the silence.

    "I don''t know. But when he visited me a month ago, he''s almost done with script." Gonzalo says.

    "Is it close to your real life?" Kayla asks.

    "Well, it''s an embellished one, but the parallels almost accurate if you know the real story and know where to look. I don''t even know how the kid found out that much about my youth." Gonzalo says.

    "Are you sure none of your men or friends talked to him?" Kayla asks.

    "Nah. All of my friends who were supposed to know the entirety of my story are all dead. Maybe my friends told their children before they died. Who knows? But the kid said he even resorted to old newspapers and public records. If what he said is true, then he''s really going through a lot of work for a film maker." Gonzalo shrugs.

    "How about¡­" Kayla is about to ask another question when Gonzalo waves her to stop once again.

    "Let''s drop the act, my dear. I can''t spare more of my energy on this charade." Gonzalo chuckles as he puffs a smoke.

    "I don''t understand." Kayla says, in confusion.

    "Heh. How many times do you think did the government send people to watch me? I''ve found out long ago that you are not only here to care for me." Gonzalo says.

    "I-I¡­" Kayla is speechless and a dreadful feeling is slowly dawning in her stomach.

    Gonzalo only stayed silent to let Kayla gather her thoughts.

    "Mr. Coniglio. They gave me a deal. Something I can''t possibly say no to. Please, Mr. Coniglio, I just wanted a better life for my kid." Kayla finally confesses as she figures that denying any further will only be to her detriment.

    "I know. I know, my dear. Your daughter needed a heart. How''s Shara, by the way?" Gonzalo asks.

    Kayla on the other hand, is surprised and even more scared that Gonzalo knows her daughter''s situation, and quite possibly her entire family''s identity too.

    "She''s doing fine, Mr. Coniglio. A-aside from the steroids, her doctor says she''s getting along just fine." Kayla answers, feeling helpless.

    "Good. Good." Gonzalo says simply.

    "You''re not gonna hurt me?" Kayla says, hoping that Gonzalo is the same kind old man she has spent a lot of her time with.

    "No, of course not. How many years have you been taking care of me now, Kayla?" Gonzalo asks.

    "A little more than three years, Mr. Coniglio." Kayla says, lowering her guard down as Gonzalo is still in his amicable mood.

    "And over those three years, did you ever see me hurt anyone? Or threaten anyone?" Gonzalo asks.

    Memories flood in Kayla''s head and all she found are fond memories of Gonzalo. "No, sir." Kayla replies, the sense of dread is being replaced by a sense of shame.

    "Hm. That life is behind me now, for decades. And, I never hurt innocent people. I never even hurt government spies." Gonzalo nods.

    "I''m sorry for assuming¡­ the worst." Kayla looks down in shame.

    "Mm. Anyways. I''ve grown fond of you. Even though you had other intentions, you have been sincerely taking care of me, doing things for my good, and helped me be healthy. I didn''t think I''d be this healthy this long enough in one''s care." Gonzalo says.

    Kayla chooses to stay silent, not knowing what to say.

    "I actually found FBI''s approach very novel this time. They sent you, a civilian, to spy on me. Had I not had resources, I never would have found you out." Gonzalo shakes his head.

    Kayla is surprised once again that Gonzalo knows more about her situation than she realized.

    "It''s just unfortunate that a person like you, has to do their bidding. It must have been hard?" Gonzalo asks.

    "It was." Kayla nods.

    "Were they not satisfied with your reports? This is the first time that you are actively looking for ''something''." Gonzalo asks.

    "Yes. They either do not believe my reports, or they believe that I''m just not doing my job right." Kayla reports.

    "Hmm. Did they threaten you?" Gonzalo asks.

    "In a way, they did¡­" Kayla says, starting to sweat remembering her situation.

    "Your life?" Gonzalo asks again.

    "No¡­" Kayla takes a deep breath. "Shara was 8th on the priority transplant list, but I know my daughter''s condition. The heart Shara got was supposed to go to another child, the first in the list¡­" Kayla begins her story but cannot continue.

    "Is that child¡­ no longer in this world?" Gonzalo asks.

    "Yes¡­" Kayla says.

    "Ah¡­ That is unfortunate¡­ Every parent will be selfish when it comes to their children. Are they using Shara against you?" Gonzalo asks.

    "No. But¡­ my ''boss'' threatened to tell that boy''s family my identity and tell them that I stole their boy''s heart¡­" Kayla says.

    Gonzalo almost felt dizzy dizzy at Kayla''s words.

    "*Cough* Oh dear. I didn''t know that the FBI are that cold blooded nowadays. Crime families here in New York did use such methods long time ago, but those were used against criminals." Gonzalo shakes his head.

    "I''m guessing you had thoughts of running away?" Gonzalo asks.

    "My husband suggested it, but with Shara''s condition, I can''t make her live that life." Kayla says. Gonzalo nods.

    "Hmm. Well, then. Let me help you." Gonzalo proposes, to Kayla''s surprise.

    "I don''t know what to say. Why would you? I-I spied on you." Kayla cannot comprehend Gonzalo''s thinking.

    "Because I trust you, despite that. You did not tell them about my real condition." Gonzalo says.

    "I just didn''t find reporting it relevant." Kayla says.

    "That may also be true, but people my age know people. And I know that you are one of the most caring people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting." Gonzalo smiles, comforting Kayla very much.

    "I can only say thank you, Mr. Coniglio." Kayla says.

    "About my help. I can arrange for your family to disappear from the eyes of the government." Gonzalo goes back to the topic.

    "Y-you can do that?" Kayla asks.

    "Absolutely." Gonzalo nods.

    "I-I can never repay you." Kayla says.

    "You can repay me. You can just do what you''ve been doing. And one more thing. Don''t tell my family what you know about my condition, yes?" Gonzalo says.

    "I can do that for you¡­ But, are you really sure about this? Your family cares for you." Kayla hesitates.

    "I know they do. But I don''t want my remaining days seeing my family worry. It''s not like I''m in pain." Gonzalo says.

    Kayla, after processing the gravity of Gonzalo''s request, finally nods. "I understand, Mr. Coniglio."

    "Why don''t you tell me instead what they''re saying about Tayaw on the internet?" Gonzalo wants to move on from the topic.

    "Hang on." Kayla pulls out her phone and starts browsing social media sites.

    -----------------

    @Isaac I can change your mind, honey.

    @Isaac I''ll be your dog, baby.

    @Isaac I''m offended. Not all women are toxic like that. My man''s happy.

    @Isaac what the hell do you know? You''re gonna grow old alone.

    @Isaac my man dropping the truth! Preach brother!

    @Isaac New fan here! Thanks for the boost man! Imma go break-up with someone now.

    @Isaac Bros before hoes baby! Yeaahhh!

    @Isaac I''m not an actor, can I audition too?

    ----------------

    "Well, mixed reactions, but at least he''s got more appreciation than hate." Kayla says and starts reading the tweets to Gonzalo.

 Chapter 158 - Juliana Coniglio Sabattini

    September 9, 2012 ¨C 5pm Sunday ¨C Upper East Side, New York

    "Dear, just have fun. Your grandpa and I already arranged it, so let''s not disappoint the young man, okay?" My mother told me as she did final adjustments to my dress.

    Despite her having something to do with my plans tonight, I can still see some concern in her face about my feelings. That at least, gives me consolation.

    Tonight, I''m having a date with Tayaw, the upstart director and singer who somehow managed to worm in to my grandpa and uncle''s good favor. At the night I first met him, I thought grandpa was just kidding about setting Tayaw up with me. My assumption was proven right even more when Tayaw did not call or even text me since then, while grandpa and mom never said anything.

    I thought the issue was over until Tayaw showed up on TV last Friday night. Tayaw was the guest, FOR THE WHOLE FRICKIN EPISODE, in MY favorite late night talk show. I have to admit, he looked very handsome and very gentlemanly as he was talking with Aiden. The way he explained his film and his process was strangely attractive too. It also warmed my heart when he exchanged hats with one of the house band''s members.

    Wait. Is he really a gentleman? I was quite offended by his take on relationsh.i.p.s and marriage. Whatever, he made it funny.

    As if his charming personality wasn''t enough, he can sing great too. And as if being a great singer wasn''t enough, he''s also a great guitar player. I have to admit, I almost became a fan. It wasn''t only me he charmed, but his appearance on the show also garnered a LOT of attention from the ladies on social media. The comments and tweets alone, I can''t believe how bold they are.

    I guess grandpa also got wind of the feathers that Tayaw ruffled among the ladies that he had Tayaw call me and ask me out. That''s when I knew that grandpa was at least, kind of, serious about setting Tayaw up with me.

    Would I have been younger; I would have blown grandpa''s request off. As a kid, I always thought that grandpa was going to live forever and that I was going to be his little princess forever. Now, I know better; whatever makes grandpa happy, I''d do it, if I can. It''s not like a date with a hot guy is difficult is either. And, judging from his interview, at least I''m not expecting any romancing from the guy, which at least takes off the pressure.

    *ding**dong* Ah. That must be him.

    "He''s here honey. Have fun, okay?" Mom said as she kissed my cheek.

    "Oh. I''m gonna be fine. It''s a date, not summer camp." I rolled my eyes.

    It''s not like it''s my first time going on a date. It''s also not my first time going out with a celebrity. A date with a celebrity, arranged by third party, though, is a first.

    "Christian, please let the young man in. I wanna see him first." Mom ordered the man that my uncle has working as a bodyguard for mom. After a few more adjustments, me and mom descended down the living room to welcome Tayaw.

    *Click* *Clack* The front door was opened by one of our maids and there he is, Tayaw, looking very handsome with his three-piece suit and fancy hat.

    "Good evening Mrs. Sabattini. Juliana. I didn''t make you wait long, no?" Tayaw greeted us as he removed his hat. As he looked at me, his gaze almost took my breath away.

    "A-ah. We-." I guess I''m not the only one affected by his ''presence'', or whatever it is. Mom rarely stutters.

    "You''re just in time, my dear. You look very handsome." Mom got her word out.

    Her frankness quickly returning, she also stepped towards Tayaw and gave him a hug. Wow. I guess mom really likes this guy.

    "Thank you, ma''am. You and Juliana look wonderful as well. Juliana, especially in that dress. You look stunning." Tayaw said confidently.

    "Thank you." his compliment made me feel better. I guess my dark blue c.o.c.ktail dress was a good choice.

    "Hm. I made sure of it." Mom said as she also studied how I look. How many times does she have to check? I look great.

    "Well. I won''t take a lot of your time. Have fun you two¡­" Mom gave Tayaw a kiss on the cheek and whispered something to him. I then saw Tayaw smile¡­ bitterly. Ugh, mom.

    A minute later, we''re out of the townhouse, his vintage looking dark red muscle car already waiting for us by the front gate. Funny, it looks just like a car that my uncle would like.

    "Nice car. Where''d you get it?" I asked.

    "My dad''s auto shop. He did a fine job refurbishing, didn''t he?" Tayaw said, as he gave his car a once over. The look in his eyes however, contains not just his appreciation for the car, but also something else. There is a story there.

    "He did. It actually looks new. Your dad''s a mechanic?" I asked.

    "Yeah, a good one. Anyway, are you ready?" Tayaw didn''t talk about his dad more and just opened the passenger''s door for me.

    A few minutes later, we''re out of the complex.

    "So, where are we going? You''re not going to bring me to see your film, right? The title and the date today matches." I asked, tried to tease him.

    Tayaw looks hot, seems like a nice guy and down-to-earth but he might be boring. And boring is a bit of a turn-off.

    "Yuck. I''m not that corny." Tayaw scoffed, which I''m relieved by.

    "I made a reservation for two at Le Soir at 8." Tayaw followed.

    Fancy, but I rose my brows at the time. It''s not even 6pm yet.

    "So? What are we gonna do for two hours?" I asked.

    "Well? We have another appointment at Woodhaven and if you won''t like it there, I have another place reserved for back-up. You''ll see when we get there." Tayaw said.

    I guess he prepared some sort of a surprise. I''ve been in many dates and I have been underwhelmed a lot, so I''m not expecting much.

    "So, what you said on TV, was it true?" I asked as we drove. If he''s gonna be close to family, I wouldn''t mind knowing the guy more.

    "I''ve said a lot of things then. Which one?" Tayaw asked back.

    "That you have no time for romance?" I clarified.

    "Ah. That one. Yeah. I''m busy. Especially now that I''m preparing to start filming that film about your grandfather, I can''t have anything to distract me that might lead to a shitty film." He explained.

    But still, no romance? How busy could he be?

    "I heard that it takes at least 8 months to make a good film." I ask, curious.

    "Yeah, but it''s not that simple. If it was the conventional film, it would take a few months up to a few years to write a script if a film maker don''t have a ready one. Then pre-production; costumes, sets, hiring actors, that might take a few weeks to months. Then production; the shooting proper. That might take under a month if the story is set in few places. Then finally, editing and music. That would take two weeks at least.

    "But you''ve seen my film, and I''m planning on making your grandpa''s film just as unconventional. That makes the process more intricate, it might take longer." He explained.

    I don''t know much about making films but what he said makes sense.

    "Sorry. I tend to ramble sometimes." He apologized.

    "It''s fine. I''m actually interested. How long did you film ''September Ninth'' by the way?" I ask.

    "The script was ready. The story was small. I found the actors quickly. The filming went smoothly. And the post production was easy. All in all, it took me two months to make it." He explained.

    Jeez. He rambled about how long it takes to make films, but it took him two months to make a great one.

    "Are you bragging?" I ask.

    "Hm? Ah, no. I guess I sounded like it, huh. But no. I''ve put the actors and the crew to hell and I also had 100% creative freedom so it was that quick. If I had more budget, and that I''ve made it more relaxing for the cast and crew, it would have taken 9 months to make it. I may have even made it a better film had I not been strapped in time for Sorrento Film Festival." He clarified.

    Huh. How much better could that film even more be? I don''t see it but I''ll take his word for it. Still, I rolled my eyes at his explanation; he just unintentionally implied that he''s a better director than what he already showed.

    "Wow. You really sound like you''re bragging." I joked.

    "Hmm?" It took him a second to process. "Well then, maybe I am." He just answers with a chuckle.

    Did he just accept it like that? How boring. I was expecting more banter like he did with Aiden.

    "How about my grandpa''s film? How''s it coming along?" I asked just to get the conversation going.

    "Oh. I was just done with the script." He replied. Wow. I didn''t expect that.

    "Huh. I thought you said a script would take months to finish?" I asked.

    "True. But I''m basing it on a true story, your grandpa''s, so I didn''t have to write a story from scratch. It''s been two months since Don Gonzalo accepted my request and I''ve been busy since then." Tayaw said. I want him to clarify more but we''ve already arrived in Woodhaven.

    "Anyway, I hope that I can finish the film before your grandpa''s 93rd birthday. In fact, I already have a friend who''s looking for good actors." Tayaw said as he parked the car in front of the last place I assumed he would bring me to during a date.

    The car already stopped, but I didn''t remove my seatbelt just yet, just to be sure we''re in the right place. Seeing how Tayaw looked at the place, I guess we''re really starting our night here.

    A gun range. "Well. Unusual, but intriguing." I said as I looked at the gun range''s front.

    "Yeah. Hey. We both know that we''re just doing this for Don Gonzalo but that doesn''t mean we can''t have fun, no?" Tayaw said as he got out of the car.

    Hm. True. But a shooting range of all places. Thank God I wore flat shoes if we''re going shooting.

    After opening passenger door for me, "And, I didn''t know what you would enjoy, so I thought, ''why don''t I arrange something so out of the left field, you wouldn''t know what to think''? Your confusion would least reduce the chances for disappointment." He continued.

    "That¡­ is honestly, quite a good approach." I nodded at the ingenuity of it.

    After I got out of the car and him locking the doors, he then offered his arm to me, which I took, and we made our way inside the gun range.

    As we arrived at the counter, "Hey Bryan!" I greet the manager-slash-cashier of the gun range.

    "Hey ~ ¡­ Miss Sabattini. You look¡­ heh. I almost didn''t recognize you." Huh. That''s how a man should react to me right now, not Tayaw''s lack of acknowledgement.

    "You brought a date?" Bryan asked, his eyes studied Tayaw.

    "Nope. My date brought me here." I replied.

    "Wait? You two know each other?" Tayaw asked, surprise apparent in his voice. At least I know now that he can at least be surprised. It has been annoying that he always looks calm and collected.

    "You just happened to choose a Coniglio hangout." I said, and enjoyed the realization in Tayaw''s face.

    "Wow. Coniglio really owns a LOT of fun places in New York, huh." Tayaw chuckled.

    "Yep. Let me handle it from here." I said to him. "Let a girl show you how to handle a gun."

 Chapter 159 - An Actor With an Inferiority Complex

    Roosevelt Center of Arts, New York City

    *Clap* *Clap* *Clap* "~Yayyy~" Ongki clapped sarcastically.

    "That was boring. Thank goodness it''s over." He sighed in relief.

    A play of ''Mantua''; an opera written by an Italian composer/playwright in the 1800s, just finished. Ongki and Jouny are in the front row seats of the audience.

    "''Uhhhh''? Get over it, honey. It''s front row free ticket. Just think of it as burning $300 of Tayaw''s money. You don''t get to do that every day." Jouny said, amused by her husband''s reaction.

    "Hmm. Well. The highlight song was at least beautiful. I guess it''s worth it just to listen to it live. Anyway. Why did Tayaw send you here? An opera? Really?" Ongki asked.

    "Well. He just might have found the first actor for his next film." Jouny said in concealed excitement.

    "Oh? Which one?" Ongki got curious.

    "The lead - " Jouny was about to continue when they overheard something.

    "Ugh. Luca was such a bad actor. Why of all dates did he have to lead tonight?" A man said to his wife, intentionally loudly, as if wanting people to hear his criticism.

    "Hey. At least he''s the best singer out of all the lead actors." The wife said in embarrassment as she glanced at Jouny and Ongki.

    "Hey, hey. Honey, who''s Tayaw''s actor? It can''t be that Luca, right? The stiff lead actor?" Ongki connected the dots.

    "Yeahp. It''s Luca. And ''stiff'' is a bit too much." Jouny defended the lead actor.

    "But why Luca? Look, I don''t speak English much but I kind of understood what that fancy schmancy man said. Luca is a bad actor. Is Tayaw making a musical movie?" Ongki asked.

    "Nope. But I get now why Tayaw wants him. Let''s go backstage." Jouny replied as she got up from her seat and made her way towards the backdoor next to the stage.

    "Really? How so?" Ongki asked as he picked up Jouny''s handbag and followed.

    "Tayaw didn''t just treat us to a front row seat for nothing. He wanted me to have a really close look. You''ve seen Luca''s acting right?" Jouny asked as they walked.

    "Yeah? He looked as stiff as a board compared to the other actors." Ongki expressed his observation.

    "But. Is he really?" Jouny asked again.

    "Uhh.. I don''t know? That''s what I saw, am I wrong? Just tell me. Jeez." Ongki almost scoffed.

    The two shortly entered the backdoor. They saw that it led to a busy corridor and they saw the actors from the opera already stripping from their costumes. Ongki took a peek at one of the rooms and saw an actress wiping her make-up off in front of a mirror.

    "Anyway. His acting¡­ It''s perfect for Tayaw''s style of film." Jouny revealed, distracting Ongki from peeking.

    "You missed it. I filtered out the other actors and just focused on him. Like really focused, ENTIRELY. The way he carries himself, his face, the way he stood. He looked exactly like a nobility, just like his character Duke Ossani." Jouny explained.

    This got Ongki thinking and reviewed whatever he could remember from the play as they walked.

    "HEY!" Ongki was interrupted from his thoughts by Jouny calling out to him.

    "Where are you going?" Jouny raised her brows at Ongki. Ongki realized that Jouny stopped in front of a door.

    "Oh. Sorry. Yeah, I was just thinking about what you said. I still don''t see it, but whatever you say." Ongki said and walked back to her.

    "Heh. Trust me." Jouny replied smugly.

    "Anyway. Luca''s room?" Ongki asked rhetorically as he saw ''Luca Norcia'' pasted on the door.

    "Yeah."

    *Knock* *Knock* Jouny knocked on the door.

    *Click* *Clack* The door opened up to them and a fairly good-looking man, of Italian descent in his early 30s, peeked from inside the room.

    "Can I help you?" the man said to the couple, appearing cautious.

    It took Ongki and Jouny a few seconds to realize that the man is Luca Norcia, the same person they have watched for an hour and a half on stage. They almost did not recognize Luca as he is now wearing casual clothes instead of his fancy costume. His make-up he wore that made him look much older than his age, is now erased. Luca''s downcast look and drooped shoulders, being a stark contrast to his character''s confident posture on stage, also added to Jouny and Ongki''s lack of recognition of Luca.

    "Yes, you can help us, Mr. Norcia. Let us in and we can talk?" After getting over her confusion, Jouny smilingly asked, her harmless and maidenly impression made Luca''s caution disappear.

    "Come in." Luca after considering for a bit, finally let them in.

    As Ongki and Jouny entered the dressing room, Ongki could not help but be underwhelmed.

    "Wow. Your change room. It is uh¡­"

    "Ordinary?" Luca completed what was supposed to be Ongki''s remark in comprehensible English.

    "Heh. Yes." Ongki chuckled.

    "Uhuh. All changing rooms are like this." Luca chuckled as well.

    "Nice show, by the way. Your voice alone was worth the price of the front row admission." Jouny reached out her hand.

    "Glad you enjoyed it." Luca shook Jouny''s hand, then Ongki''s.

    "Please, sit anywhere." Luca said to the couple as he sat back down on his chair by his dressing table. The way he plumped down looked as if he merged with the chair. This made Ongki almost shake his head at how weak Luca looked.

    As Luca poured himself a glass of amber colored liquor, he felt the gaze of Ongki and Jouny on him.

    "Ah. I''d offer some but I only have one glass. Anyway, I don''t know how you got in backstage but, what do you guys need?" Luca contrary to his slack posture, got to the point immediately.

    "What do you feel about working in film?" Jouny got directly to the point as well. Luca though, looked at her as if she just told a bad joke.

    "¡­ Heh. You serious?" Luca shook his head as he sipped from his glass.

    "Yes, I am." Jouny seriously answered which made Luca wear a contemplative expression. As Luca processed, Jounly meanwhile is trying to practice in her head the pitch that she got from Tayaw.

    "I didn''t get your name." Luca said.

    "Jouny Yalen. This is my husband Ongki." Jouny introduced. "Nice to meet you two. Are you a casting agent? Mrs¡­" Luca failed to pick up Jouny''s Teungebian surname.

    "Jouny is fine." Jouny said in understanding.

    "Alright, Jouny. Are you a casting agent?" Luca asked.

    "I''m a screenwriter, first and foremost. I''ve taken a break from writing and took a casting gig for a friend." Jouny answered.

    "I see." Luca nodded. "Well. I guess you''ve not heard of my reputation?" Luca asked.

    "What? You being a bad actor?" Jouny smiled at the opinion of others towards Luca.

    "Yep. Great singer, terrible actor. They said that I only have a job because I can sing. I have to say, I agree." Luca chuckled. Jouny found Luca''s inferiority-complex-fueled assessment of himself strange while Ongki frowned at Luca drinking his liquor like water.

    "Why do you think they''re right?" Jouny asked.

    "Well? Many of the best actors didn''t say it, but they implied, the sly f*cks. But what can I do? What can I say to them? No matter what I do, I can''t look as good as them on stage. I tried to be as ''theatric'' as them, but I only end up looking stupid." Luca explained, the influence of alcohol made him overshare.

    Jouny nodded in understanding despite her disagreement of Luca''s explanation. To her, Luca already has enough presence despite only displaying subtle and almost unseen details of his role as Duke Ossani.

    "Well, I disagree." Jouny said. Her words getting Luca''s attention.

    "If I may ask, what is your approach in playing Duke Ossani?" Jouny asked.

    Jouny''s question lit something in Luca. Ongki also saw that Luca''s disinterested mood transform to that of minor enthusiasm.

    "Uhh. Well. I looked up his real historical counterpart. I studied his territory and I tried to imagine how I can govern in his place. I also looked up old footage of real British and Japanese nobility to study how they carried themselves in public. That''s the summary of it, I guess." Luca explained, his voice sounding brighter than before.

    However, it did not take long before Luca''s enthusiasm died down. "But in the end. It doesn''t help with my performance on stage. The audience? My co-actors? They don''t care. They only care about what they see on stage, which is how it is supposed to be." Luca said as he drained his glass, the liquor added to his bitterness.

    In contrast to Luca''s downcast look, Jouny found it harder and harder to suppress her smile. ''Tayaw, you lucky son of a gun.'' Jouny thought and chuckled as she shook her head.

    "I''m sorry?" Luca was almost offended, misinterpreting Jouny''s smirk and chuckle.

    "You see Luca, I think you''re wrong." Jouny said.

    "Excuse me, but what do you know?" Luca said, his voice rising slightly. Ongki might not know English well, but signs of drunken agitation are universal.

    "Mr. Norcia, calm down. My wife, she explains." Ongki said. Luca was distracted from his offense by Ongki''s somewhat endearingly bad grammar, so he waited for Jouny to explain.

    "Thank you, honey. Anyway. You know what I saw on stage? I saw the experience and wisdom of someone that should belong to the 50-something year-old Duke Borgia. I don''t know if the other lead actor can do the same, but your portrayal of someone beyond your age is something I''m seeing for the first time, and it''s incredible." Jouny began. Luca also listened in interest.

    "And, I didn''t see an actor who plays a duke." Jouny continued. Luca''s face however twitched at this. ''Heh. Now I get why Tayaw speaks in bait and switch.'' Jouny was amused at Luca''s expression.

    "What I saw was a duke who can sing. What I saw on that stage was a real noble surrounded by fakes." Jouny said.

    "Wha-." Luca processed Jouny''s words for a moment and was stunned.

    "Th-thank you?" Luca finally got his word out, his voice cracking, his nose and cheeks turned red at the rare compliment towards his acting skills. Jouny and Ongki, looking at Luca''s state, just let Luca be with his emotions for a moment. Jouny meanwhile tried to recall what Tayaw said to her about Luca.

    A few breaths later. "Anyway¡­" Jouny pulled out Luca from his internal thoughts.

    "I think I know why people can''t appreciate your acting." This got Luca''s attention once more.

    "There''s theater elegance, and real-life elegance. True, your co-actors look very graceful and elegant but if you put them next to real nobility, I think they would look shallow." Jouny regurgitated Tayaw''s words.

    Jouny does not know what real nobility looks like, but she''s taking Tayaw''s words as scripture. Learning about Luca''s acting process also reinforced Tayaw''s assessment as being true in her mind.

 Chapter 160 - Casting. Studying Guns.

    (Cont''d) "But. That''s where your process has its downsides. Many people have not seen real nobility and they don''t care about the subtle details of your portrayal as long as you look graceful and elegant." Jouny brought up Tayaw''s criticism this time.

    "Really¡­" Luca is now more likely to take Jouny''s words seriously. He no longer treats Jouny as a mere stranger but a stranger who says things that might help him.

    "Yes. In other words, your process does not fit theater and operatic plays." Jouny concluded the criticisms and waited for Luca to speak his mind.

    "So. What then?" Luca does not have anything to say.

    "I heard that ''Mantua'' only has a few shows left. You found a new job yet?" Jouny changed the subject. Luca tried to hide his frustrations at the situation he is reminded of by the question.

    "Not yet." Luca shook his head while Jouny nodded.

    "I heard from my friend that musicals are getting more modern. And modern musicals focus more on the story and acting than actual singing." Jouny said what she heard from Tayaw.

    "Hm. So you''re saying that''s the reason I can''t get a job?" Luca asked.

    "Probably, yes. Maybe there are other reasons, we don''t know. But, instead of grinding or waiting around for something that you might not get in Broadway, why not try working for our upcoming film? At least you have something to do for now." Jouny stated her real intentions, pulled out a stack of papers from her handbag and handed them to Luca. Luca looked at the papers and he figured that it is a complete film script

    ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer.'' Luca read the first page and started reading. (I know. I''m terrible with titles. I''ll explain though why I named the film as such.) Luca, after scanning for a minute or two, realized something.

    "A film about the mob?" Luca could not believe it.

    "Yes." Jouny simply confirmed.

    "Are you guys nuts? You''re asking for trouble!" Luca hearing Jouny''s casual tone, thought Jouny is crazy.

    "We''re not." Jouny ignored Luca''s concern.

    "Look, I''ve grown up around people who got involved with the mob. This is serious business." Luca tried to express the risk of making the film. Despite his apprehension of the script''s story, he still eyed the script in his hands hungrily and wanted to read it more.

    "We know. But my friend said it was approved by the people concerned. What was the name? uhh. I can''t remember. The director said that they''re the good type of mob." Jouny tried to recall.

    "The Coniglio Family¡­" Luca was dumbfounded after he connected the dots. His apprehension quickly disappearing, knowing that the Coniglio is not like other mobs.

    "Coniglio Family. That''s what it was." Jouny nodded.

    "How?" Luca asked, hungry for gossip.

    "I dunno. Ask the director, he wrote the script." Jouny just shrugged her shoulders. Luca also dropped his curiosity on the matter seeing as Jouny knows nothing about it.

    "Well. If it''s them then I guess it''s fine. Anyway, seeing as you''ve approached me directly, and talked to me for this long, I just want to be sure¡­ You''re really offering me a role? No auditions?" Luca asked, excited.

    "Yep. And you will play the lead role, Giovanni Cervo. That''s the parallel of the real life uh¡­" Jouny tried to recall again. (Cervo which is ''deer'' in italian. ''real life'' Gonzalo Coniglio is dubbed as ''Golden Rabbit''. ''fictional'' counterpart, Giovanni Cervo ''Golden Deer''. So with the themes of the film, I titled it as "Gold, Blood, and the Deer.")

    "Gonzalo Coniglio? So this film is about his life, huh." Luca connected the dots, looked at the script strangely and his mind ran a mile a minute.

    After letting Luca entertain his thoughts for a few moments, "So, you up for it?" Jouny asked.

    "T-this. May I have another role? Does a fictional version of Don Sylvio in your film? I''ll take that instead." Luca said hesitantly. Jouny while having an inkling of what Luca is feeling, does not want to waste Luca''s skills for a supporting role.

    "Sylvio who? Anyway. No. Take it or leave it." Jouny said, which frustrated Luca. Seeing Luca''s expression, Jouny shook her head.

    "You are our first choice for the role. Look at it this way. This film will prove your acting skills to the world. You will play Giovanni when he was in his late 20s to his 60s. The work you did to play Duke Borgia? You can use it with us." Jouny said. Her words this time, is her own input and impression of Luca''s skills.

    "I would love to but¡­ I''m playing THE Gonzalo Coniglio. I can''t¡­" Luca mumbled. Jouny figured it out. She figured that Luca is afraid of his skills being inadequate as she was afraid that her script was going to make Tayaw lose money.

    "Hey. It is a huge responsibility, I know. But we''re trusting that you''ll do a good job, that''s why I''m talking to you right now." Jouny assured Luca. Jouny''s assurance seemed to have failed however as Luca still looked at her with hesitance in his eyes.

    "You won''t be alone. The director will help you; he will guide you." Jouny added.

    Listening to Jouny made Luca curious. "This director. Who''s he, by the way? He managed to convince not just any mob, but THE mob. He must be a huge deal, huh?" Luca asked.

    "The director is what you may call, a very promising upstart. It''s Isaac Yawat, he made ''September Ninth''." Jouny revealed.

    "He won the Sorrento ¡­ " Before Jouny could continue, "Yeah. I know him, alright." Luca interrupted.

    "Oh?" Jouny nodded.

    "Every actor''s heard of him. He has mixed¡­ reputation. Anyway, you could have just told me that Isaac is looking to hire me, I would have said yes immediately." Luca said, the hesitation that was once in his eyes is now replaced with excitement.

    "Yeah? So, you''ll work with us?" Jouny asked.

    "Yeah. Yeah, of course! I mean, Isaac said on TV that the actors in ''September Ninth'' are comedians, right? If they did great in that film, how hard could it be to do the same?" Luca smiled widely.

    "Good. That''s good then. I''ll take this one first¡­" Jouny said as she took the script on Luca''s hand.

    "Wha ¨C t" Luca was dumbfounded as he watched Jouny put the script back in her handbag.

    "We have not printed a character script for you yet, and it''s better if you don''t see the entire thing, for now. Okay?" Jouny said.

    Luca also understood. After all, there are no papers signed yet, just verbal agreements.

    "By the way. If you know any actors who are also struggling, can you give me their numbers? I''ll take a look at them." Jouny asked. Luca, hearing it, is glad to oblige and help his friends.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    Woodhaven, New York - Juliana

    *ta-ta-ta-ta-taff-taff* Wow. Just like that, Tayaw just emptied his magazine in maybe three seconds. I draw the target back to us and surprise, surprise; nine out of fifteen bullets hit the 10-point circle and the rest on the 9-point circle. Considering how Tayaw almost casually and quickly he fired, this is incredible.

    I have to say, Tayaw is a quick study with a Beretta, with a suppressor at that. At first, he was lost with the recoil of the gun but after my coaching and him getting used to it, he now shoots just as good, if not better than my uncle''s best shooters that I''ve seen. His stance and posture need some work, but all that matters is hitting the target.

    "Phew" "Damn." Spectators behind us agree with me too. Five of my uncle''s men who were doing their own shooting practice earlier, are now watching behind us. Unlike my expectations, our ''date'' has become a spectacle for my uncle''s men instead of a personal intimate one. To be exact, it''s Tayaw''s shooting that has become the spectacle.

    Even though Tayaw and I established earlier that we''re not really on a date-date, I feel like my uncle''s men are intruding. I also think they did it purposefully, basing on the smug smirk on their faces when they did, and their quick stink eye for Tayaw when Tayaw was not looking. I tried glaring at them, but it didn''t work.

    Now though, it seems that they''ve grown to like Tayaw. Not only are they impressed of Tayaw''s shooting, they are also loving Tayaw''s crass jokes. I would have been embarrassed listening to the jokes had I not grown up around these types of men.

    "By the way. How do you hear out of that thing?" Bryan, the gun range''s manager, asks Tayaw.

    I''m curious too. Earlier, I saw Tayaw put earplugs AND THEN wear the earmuffs on top of it.

    "Ah. My ears are very very sensitive. I get migraines when hear loud noises for too long." Tayaw explains as he points at his left ear.

    "So that explains the suppressor." Another man comments.

    "That''s right. Thank goodness, you have these incredible muffs man." Tayaw replies.

    "Fellas! Don''t act like firing a 9mm Beretta like a BB gun, at a rate of a fully automatic, is normal¡­" One of the men says. Oh. I didn''t notice. Me and the rest of the guys also looks at Tayaw for an answer.

    "I-uh¡­" Tayaw seems to struggle answering.  "Well. I lift weights and I do rock climbing a lot back in Teungeb. Grip strength, baby. Adding to that, I also played a lot of airsoft back home." Tayaw finally explains, as he flexes his biceps to them. The guys don''t look impressed, maybe because they''re just as ripped. But I am impressed.

    Not only am I impressed by his arms, but by his figure as well. Before we started shooting earlier, Tayaw took off his suit jacket and loosened his vest, displaying his body hugged tightly by his white dress shirt. Unlike my uncle''s men who have bulging muscles, Tayaw''s muscles look like a deer''s or a cheetah''s, very toned.

    Wait a minute¡­ A guitarist doing rock climbing? That''s¡­ Something''s wrong with that answer. Oh well, the guys seem to have been convinced by his answer, whatever.

    "Ah." Tayaw interjects as he looks at his vintage looking watch. This guy really loves vintage looking things. The car, his suit, now his watch.

    "It''s 7:30. Gentlemen, we have a dinner reservation to catch." Tayaw says to the boys.

    Thank God. I''m starving and I don''t want to yell at the boys out of hunger. More importantly, private time.

    Tayaw grabs his suit jacket and hat, and I also fix my dress to get ready.

    "Wait, my guy. Come hang with us some time, huh?" Bryan steps in between me and Tayaw and he pats Tayaw''s shoulder.

    "I''m customizing and AK74N, take it for a spin when it''s ready. I''m gonna add a can on it for your ears." Bryan says. Wow. Someone has a crush.

    "Alright. I''ll come by again when I want to unwind. Hey. I saw some vintage guns back at the counter. Are they functional? I wanna study them." Tayaw asks.

    "Oh. We haven''t used those in a long time. I''ll take a look at them later." Bryan says.

    "Thanks man. I really need to study them. I''ll even pay you to gather me guns like it." Tayaw says and proceeds to fist bump the guys.

    Huh, it''s like I''m third-wheeling here.

    "Dinner?" I ask Tayaw as I lean on him and I hook my arms on his.

    Heh. That''s it. The discomfort in their eyes looking at my actions. That''s right, it''s my date, not yours.

    "Yeah. See you fellas." Tayaw says, and with that, we''re finally leaving.

    After we enter his car once again, I hear Tayaw chuckle.

    "What''s up?" I ask.

    "Heh. They''re really protective of you. You''re lucky." Tayaw replies.

    "So you noticed?" I ask.

    "Psh. I may be stupid sometimes, but I''m not entirely clueless. I found it adorable though. You must be quite close to them for them to be that way." Tayaw says.

    "Yeah. Sometimes I take them for granted." I shake my head as Tayaw''s words reminds me how good I got it.

    "So, any of them had the balls to ask you out?" He asks.

    "Nah. They don''t see me that way. At least, that''s what I think." I say. I mean, one guy from one of the subordinate families tried to ask me out, but he can''t take the pressure of going out with the Coniglio''s princess.

    "And, if I''m gonna date someone, it''d be a guy who''s not in the mob." I say.

    "Hmm¡­ Is that a hint for me?" He chuckles and I snap my head to his direction. This smooth bastard.

 Chapter 161 - Learning

    September 15, 2012 ¨C 11 PM, Saturday - Montecito, Santa Barbara

    "Gary! I got somethin''." Xiao Song immediately barges in the living room after he was let in the mansion by Gary''s housekeeper.

    "Whoah. Good afternoon to you too." Gary who just came from his kitchen almost drops his freshly opened bottle of beer.

    "You look like sh*t." Gary says as he notices Xiao Song''s sweat ¨C soaked windbreaker jacket.

    "Anyway. We haven''t seen each other in a while. You didn''t even let me know you''re coming. Sit your ass down." Gary calms Xiao Song down.

    This made Xiao Song freeze before plopping himself down on Gary''s couch. Gary then joins Xiao Song.

    "So. How''s home? I thought I scared you away?" Gary chuckles as he takes a sip from his bottle.

    "Aida, sugar, get this man a drink, please. Oh. Is there anything left from the take-out? Grab this man something to eat. He looks skinny." Gary ordered. "

    Just the drink, Aida. Thanks." Xiao Song says, wary of Gary''s greasy food.

    "Sure thing." The housekeeper obliges and excuses herself to the kitchen.

    "Well, home. Catching up with family. Going out with friends." Xiao Song replies as he catches his breath.

    "That''s good, that''s good." Gary nods. Aida then comes back with a bottle of iced red tea and hands it to Xiao Song.

    "Thank you, Aida. You remembered." Xiao Song says and downs his favorite drink.

    "Hey, you weren''t busy with something, right? I hope I wasn''t intruding." Xiao Song just realizes his presumptuous actions of barging in someone''s home.

    "Nah. I was about to watch the game anyway. You said you got something? Something what?" Gary asked.

    "Man, don''t tell me you forgot? Finding a good script? Making a film together? Or was that just a passing thought?" Xiao Song feels anxious as he asks Gary.

    "Oh! That. Right ¡­" Gary says in realization.

    "Wait. You haven''t been looking for a script?" Xiao Song asks.

    "No." Gary chuckles as he admits shamelessly. "I was still studying the film until a few days ago. I guess time just passed me by." Gary shrugs.

    "Jeez. So, you''re serious about us co-directing, right?" Xiao Song asks.

    "Yeah. Don''t worry. I think I''ve seen enough of ''September Ninth''. I can''t wait to try what we learned." Gary assures. "So, you found a screenplay then?" Gary asks.

    "Well. Not a screenplay exactly, but a novel." Xiao Song says as he pulls out a book from his jacket''s inside pocket, and hands it to Gary.

    "Hmm. ''Australia''¡­ Helena Paddington." Gary studies the cover before reading the synopsis in the back.

    "Yeah. It''s a boring read, but it''s great and uhh... it has depth. It won an Outcault Prize, too." Xiao Song reports.

    "Really? Would it be as explorative as ''September Ninth''?" Gary asks.

    "More. It has three stories in it that explore human experience. It''s less attractive than the premise of that movie, but it''s more grounded." Xiao Song replies.

    "Hm. It''s a good start." Gary says. "Hey. Have you seen Isaac''s interview on TV?" Gary switches topic.

    "Nah. I was home in Hengdian, so no US talk shows there. When was it? How was he on TV?" Xiao Song asks, curious.

    "Oh. He looked great. But he said some things¡­ Hehe." Gary contemplates in amus.e.m.e.nt.

    "Anyway. He probably offended a LOT of people." Gary says.

    "Yeah? What did he say?" Xiao Song asks.

    "Well. To summarize. He wasn''t inspired by any director, ever. If you look at it another way, he kinda thinks that the way the industry make films is crap. And. Oh! He shat on the romance genre too." Gary chuckles.

    "So, you agree?" Xiao Song was dumbfounded at Gary''s report and reaction.

    "Well, not entirely, of course. Still, he''s mostly right. I mean, just look at the guy''s film. I especially like one thing he said. ''I care more about the art more than the artist.'' which really means that he has no respect for the current filmmakers." Gary says.

    "Hm. ''¡­ more about the art than the artist¡­'' I like it." Xiao Song nods.

    "Yeah¡­ Aida! Sugar, grab my reading glasses for me, please. It''s in the theater room. Thank you." Gary requests to the housekeeper.

    "How''s your knees, by the way?" Xiao Song asks.

    "They''re fine. Doc said I should prevent wear and tear if I don''t want a surgery anytime soon." Gary says as he rubs his knees.

    "Hmm. Why not just have a full knee replacement now? You''re just delaying. Your knees will give out eventually. After you recover from the surgery, you can walk again without a cane." Xiao Song suggests.

    "Hah. Young man, I never visited a hospital for treatment for anything. I''d like it that way as long as possible." Gary scoffs.

    "Hey. You know my brother is a surgeon, right? So, I asked him about your thing. He said it''s better to have a surgery while you''re younger as you will recover faster. Less risks during the surgery too." Xiao Song suggests, again. This gets Gary thinking until Aida came back with his glasses.

    "Thank you, Aida. Xiao Song, Thanks for your concern. I''ll think about it after we finish our film." Gary said. Xiao Song could only nod. Over the many months he spent with Gary studying, he learned and rubbed off of Gary''s incredible concentration and focus.

    "Oh. That''s right." Xiao song interjects after something crossed his mind.

    "The budget. Do you have anyone in mind we can ask?" Xiao Song asks.

    "Budget? Hmm¡­ I think I''ll use my own money." Gary says, to Xiao Song''s surprise.

    "Damn. I know you''re rich, but are you sure?" Xiao Song chuckled.

    "Yeah. Looking at the synopsis of this book alone, how much could the budget be? I don''t use my house in the Hamptons, so I think I''ll sell that and we''ll use the money." Gary shrugs.

    "Man, your name has enough star power to get rich people invest blindly on you. Why must you do this?" Xiao Song shakes his head.

    "Heh. Thanks. But, come on. You know all the bullsh*t. Just because they give us money, they can say whatever they want even if it will ruin the film. They¡­"

    "Alright, alright. I get it. Control. We''re trying something new, so you don''t want us to be restricted. I get it" Xiao Song interrupts Gary, finishing Gary''s thought for him.

    "Exactly." Gary nods. Gary''s tirade is now making Xiao Song think, however.

    "Alright. I''ll chip in too, then." Xiao Song finally says after a short consideration. This makes Gary raise his brows.

    "You sure?"

    "Yeah, I''m sure! I''m rich too, you know. Heh. Asia is a huge film market and unlike y''all''s, my films are very digestible there. I can blow off some cash." Xiao Song chuckles.

    "Alright then¡­" Gary simply accepts and proceeds to start reading ''Australia''.

    Before Gary could immerse himself with the novel, *Ring Ring Ring* he is distracted by Xiao Song''s phone ringing.

    "Hey. What''s up?" Xiao Song immediately answers.

    "Uhuh.. uhuh.. Alright. Well, good for her. Really? Are you sure? Alright then. Hang out some time? Sure. Okay. Bye." The call soon ended.

    "Well, shit." Xiao Song sighs as he pockets his phone.

    "Something wrong?" Gary asks in curiosity, seeing Xiao Song''s expression.

    "Yeah. Well, uhhh. A friend of a friend. She just got casted for a film." Xiao Song says.

    "Well, good for her¡­ So? What''s with the face?" Gary asks.

    "Well. That film? It''s Isaac''s. He''s making another one." Xiao Song reports.

    "What?! Already? ''Well, shit'' indeed."

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    September 16, 2012 ¨C 6AM Sunday ¨C Ironstone, East Ouigab

    "*yaawwnn* Good morning guys." Payew greets the members of the Percussive Corrections as he enters the living room, smelling the fragrance of coffee wafting through the air.

    "Good Morning." They all reply, each of them having a cup of coffee on their hands, each of them sporting the St. Louis Cardinals baseball uniform gifted by Tayaw.

    "Good morning to you too. Sorry, did we wake you?" Inson greets Payew.

    "Yeah. But my alarm goes off in a few minutes anyway. So, excited, huh?" Payew asks as he points at the various instruments packed and scattered on the living room floor.

    "Hell yeah, we are." Inson chuckles.

    "Maybe too excited. I can''t sleep last night, which is a b*tch." Ramil says.

    "Yeah. Me too. Thank goodness it''s Sunday, I''ll crash immediately once we come back." Ike groans.

    "Uh-huh." Payew notices that the rest of the band also looks like they need more sleep.

    "Well. You just missed Tayaw. He called, wishing us luck, telling us what to expect." Bay-an says.

    "Ah, I had a long video conference with him yesterday. Man, I wish I could go with you at the OBC. I would love to see what''s in there. Tayaw told me how it was filming that American talk show." Payew says as he walks to the kitchen to grab himself a cup of coffee.

    "Hey, you want to go to the TV station for their production, and not to support us for our TV debut?" Jenna staggers at Payew''s comment.

    "What? Well. Come on. It''s a morning show. It''s hardly a debut, man." Payew simply shrugs in response, his casualness seemingly unempathetic to Jenna. "AND. I''ve seen you guys perform many times. I''m sure y''all can nail your TV performance later as long as you do just what you''ve been doing." Payew continues.

    "Meh. He''s right." Hoon shrugs in reply.

    As Payew sips on his coffee, he notices that Hoon seems to be the most relaxed.

    "We''ve done this many times, just a different venue." Hoon continues, his calmness reassuring the band.

    "By the way. Tayaw said that you guys sound better singing your own songs than your covers." Payew says, adding another calming reassurance.

    "Really? Huh. That''s good then." Jenna sighs.

    *Ding* *Dong* The group''s chat is interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

    "Whoah. People from OBC?" Payew asks excitedly.

    "I don''t think so." Ramil says as he walks over to the intercom by the main door.

    The next moment, "It''s Chala." Ramil smiles as he buzzes Chala in.

    A minute later, Chala is in the house, joining the band in the living room.

    "Hey guys! Good morning. Huh. I thought you would all look like wrecks but, y''all look better than I expected." Chala says as he notices the band''s crisp looking baseball uniforms.

    "Chala! A man of his words!" Ike says as he suddenly gives Chala a bear hug.

    "Whoa¡­ Okay. You must be nervous huh." Chala chuckles at Ike''s actions.

    "Yeah." Ike pats Chala''s back before letting him go.

    Before Chala could recover from his surprise at Ike''s hug, "Oof-"

    "Thank you for coming." Jenna substitutes in Ike''s place immediately.

    "Heh. Young gal, I''d look like an ass if I don''t come. I promised after all." Chala is almost overwhelmed at the warm welcome.

    "Okay. Okay." Chala pried Jenna off of him. "While I like the attention, where are your parents?" Chala asks the band. His question makes the band look at each other.

    After few seconds of exchanging looks, "Ahem. Well, we didn''t tell them. Just in case we mess up, we won''t embarrass ourselves in front of them." Ramil explains on behalf of the band.

    "Huh¡­ people my age should be the one thinking like that, not you guys." Chala shakes his head.

    "It''s too late to call them here anyway. Well, it looks like you guys are really ready. So, focus on getting your mind ready for the show, I''ll deal with the bullcrap of the TV people." Chala says to the band, his words being the final charge to the confidence that the band needs.

 Chapter 162 - Goooooood Morning Ouigab!

    Ironstone, East Ouigab ¨C 8am

    Payew is currently half-watching ''Good Morning Ouigab'' in his room''s television, waiting for Percussive Corrections'' TV to get on, while half of his attention is on his laptop.

    *Click* He opens the Facebook page of Liboo''s workshop on his browser. ''Dagem''s Wagons'' Facebook page, named after the actual name of Liboo''s workshop, is not only for the workshop''s online marketing purposes, but also has become a go-to online page for Nabla Province''s car enthusiasts, earning the Facebook page 8,000 Likes.

    *Tap-ta-tap-tap* ''Waiting for a new band to appear on TV. #GoodMorningOuigab #Percussive Corrections'' Payew posts a new post on the page, hoping to help the band gain a bit of attention.

    *Ring* *Ring* Payew is about to read his school notes when his phone rings. Looking at the caller ID, he is confused and he picks it up. "Hey~ ¡­ bro? Why are you using your Teungebian number? You''re back in town?"

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    Black Sands, South Ouigab

    Tayaw is currently inside his pick-up truck, parked just outside of the two warehouses Chala bought for him where the virtual sets are being constructed. He is speaking with Payew on his phone, laying out an appointment later in the day.

    "¡­ ¡­ Yeah. So that''s the plan." Tayaw concludes.

    /Alright. I''ll watch them on TV first, then drive to the hotel. Mom, Dad, and Agew will be there, right?/ Payew replies.

    "It''s also a late birthday celebration of mine, so of course." Tayaw says.

    /Cool. I''ll go wash up. I''ll see you./ Payew replies, excitement apparent in his voice before dropping the call.

    *Knock Knock*

    "Hey bossman. You ready?" Tayaw''s attention is caught by the engineer he hired, knocking on his car window.

    "Yeah. Let''s go." Tayaw replies as he got out of his truck.

    Soon after, Tayaw is inside his warehouse property escorted by his engineer and his designer.

    "Phew. It''s even better seeing it in person." Tayaw remarks as he studies the exterior of two dome-shaped structures inside the warehouse.

    "Yeah. 15-meter floor diameter, 5-meter ceiling diameter, and 7-meter floor to ceiling height." The engineer introduces the domes proudly.

    "Yeah, yeah. I''ve seen the blueprint. Lead the way." Tayaw chuckles.

    "We''ve only finished the one on the left. Let''s go see that." The engineer says.

    Entering the dome, Tayaw immediately notices the black walls and floors which he figures are covered with UHD LCD screens.

    "Fantastic tile-work." Tayaw remarks as he runs his fingers through the walls, barely feeling indentations between the huge screens.

    "Heh. Glad you noticed. The money we hired on the expert was worth it." The engineer nods.

    "Can we turn these things on? Steven from my company sent you something, right?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah. HEY ZARDI! FIRE IT UP!" The designer orders one operator in charge of the computers.

    A few seconds later *ZZmmmmmm* Tayaw, with his sensitive ears, hears the room  get filled with sounds of running electronics and the next moment, the screens in the walls, the ceiling, and the floor, one by one, in quick succession turned on and the interior of the dome became white.

    "Ooh. Damn.." Tayaw remarks as he is greatly reminded of the place he has not visited in a while; the white void.

    "Y''ain''t seen nothin'' yet." The designer says which prompts the operator to press something on his keyboard again. *zmmmm* Tayaw hears the computer in the distance roar once again and the white room transforms into what looks like the Las Vegas desert backdrop that Steven from Cognito designed.

    "Phew." It made Tayaw breathless as he takes a few seconds to take in the change and control his excitement.

    "So, you like it boss?" The engineer by his side asks, noticing the grin on Tayaw''s face.

    "Heh. I like it very much. I can use it anytime, yes?" Tayaw asks.

    "Not exactly. But, we only need a few more days to test for circuit functions and overheating, then we''re good." The engineer replies.

    "Oh. Boss, we''re also gonna test the detachable walls where the cars and other huge props will go through.." The designer adds.

    "Alright. Good job on this, gentlemen. Expect a huge bonus by the end of the month. Just between us, not through your companies." Tayaw declares. The engineer, the designer, and the workers present, are happy with Tayaw''s words and cheered in excitement.

    "Anyway, sorry gentlemen for calling you here on a Sunday. Bill me your breakfast and lunch. I''m leaving for an appointment." With that, Tayaw contentedly leaves his warehouse.

    OBC Studio 2, West Ouigab

    "Welcome back! You''re with us live here at Good Morning Ouigab!" The male host of ''Good Morning Ouigab'' greets the viewers through the main camera.

    "For those who just joined us, we were just speaking with Professor Kireg about how drinking a glass of wine is just as good as spending an hour at the gym." The female host says.

    Chala, while watching beside a show''s producer, almost rolled his eyes once again at the show''s topic in the previous segment.

    ''What a bunch of bull. I''d be ripped as hell if that study was f*ckin true.'' Chala scoffs.

    "Anyway. What is a Sunday without a bit of music? Right Yana?" The male host asks the female host, according to their script.

    "True. That''s why we''re joined here this morning by our special guests. Will you introduce them to us, Misky?" Yana passes the ball back.

    "They are the rising stars of Ouigab''s music scene. Please welcome the folks of ''Percussive Corrections''!" Misky introduces the band.

    *Cheer* *Applause* Chala is surprised by the staff and crew cheering.

    ''They must be doubling as audience members too'' He thinks to himself.

    His surprise is replaced by excitement and nerves as Percussive Corrections made their way to join the hosts by the show''s couch.

    "Welcome. Welcome. This is weird. I''ve only seen you guys on YouTube and here you are!" Misky greets the band.

    "Thanks! It''s weird for us too! I''ve only seen you two on TV! I can''t believe that we live in the same city!" Jenna answers for the band cheerfully.

    ''Good job, kid.'' Chala chuckles at Jenna''s seemingly honest answer. The hosts after all, already met with the band before the show started.

    Before making their way to the TV Station, Chala and the band all convened that Jenna will be the spokesperson of the band. Jenna, knowing that her mates are not great speakers, had no choice but to agree with the arrangement.

    After a minute or two of chatting, the hosts and the band already know that it is now time for the band to do what they are in the studio to do.

    "So, what song are you gonna play for us?" Yana asks the band. Unlike their mood during the chat, the band now looks more enthusiastic with Yana''s question.

    "It''s our original, ''Yours to Carry''. It''s doing quite well on our Youtube Channel." Jenna blatantly advertises. (Inspired by ''Yours to Bear'' by HoneyHoney.)

    After getting over his amus.e.m.e.nt at the blatant promotion, "Well. That''s great. Once again, ladies and gents, Percussive Corrections." Misky transitions the segment.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    ROH Factory ¨C East Ouigab

    Rudy and some of his staff are currently watching ''Good Morning Ouigab'' in the bar''s huge flat Screen, taking a break from restocking their shelves.

    ///"Oooh. I don''t want a fight, baby

    I hate that we''re that way lately

    ''No, I don''t wanna let you down,

    I feel we''re crazy now"///

    Jenna''s voice reverberated through the bar''s speakers as she sings the first verse.

    "Mmh.. She''s improved." Rocky, the bar''s security guard, remarks, impressed.

    "Yeah¡­ She can sing almost just as well as Amy now." Rudy agrees.

    "Ugh. I''m here, boss." Amelie, the regular opening act of the bar, who took a part-time job at the bar, says in offense.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    Komanik, East Ouigab

    ///"I am yours to carry.

    You''re mine as I''m yours, we share our days

    You are mine to carry.

    With me, I''m with you, our days are gray"

    Jenna sings the first chorus///

    Jenna''s voice echoed from the living room TV of Qiyong, Beyond Cape Town''s front man and leader. The members of ''Beyond Cape Town'' who were practicing their set for their gig at ROH factory later in the evening, paused their session and are now watching Percussive Corrections'' first TV appearance.

    "*sigh* Man I''m jealous." Qiyong remarks.

    "Shhyeah. But come on. They''re great. I thought that them taking a break from the bar will make them rusty, but they''ve improved this much? After just two months?" The band''s lead guitar says.

    "That too, but I''m jealous of their situation. All they have to do is study and do music, not concerned at all with their living expenses¡­" Qiyong starts but realizing he will only produce negativity in the room, stops himself from speaking his sentiments.

    "Anyway. Jenna''s live voice is just as good as the studio version now. There''s no live autotune, right?" The band''s drummer remarks.

    "Nah. I don''t think so. Morning shows like this don''t have the gear to do it." The lead guitarist replies.

    "Aiyay. We should get our sh*t together. They already blew by us. Maybe this is the motivation we need." Qiyong remarks.

    "Not that simple man¡­" The lead guitarist rolls his eyes and the band''s side remarks ended there as they focused once again on the television.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    Pektir ¨C West Ouigab

    ///Inson switches his baseline into a more complicated melody for the second stanza.

    "Ooh, I won''t let you down

    Or drop your body to the ground *Sax Lick*

    Or leave you at a lost and found

    then watch ''nother woman come''r''ound. *Guitar Lick*"

    Ike enters the second stanza with his stable and charmingly simple vocals.///

    Ophelia who is listening through her TV has her ears tickle as she enjoys her morning tea.

    "Hmm. Yawat made it big and I hope these kids are on their way there too." Ophelia smiles.

    Her smile however fades the next moment.

    "Ugh. It''s Ouigab. What am I thinking? They''ve got a lot of competition. Eh¡­ I hope I can help them a bit¡­" Ophelia empties her teacup, sets it on the table, and grabs her laptop.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    OBC Studio 2, West Ouigab

    ///"I am yours to carry.

    You''re mine as I''m yours, we share our days

    You are mine to carry.

    With me, I''m with you, our days are gray"

    Jenna sings the first chorus///

    The Percussive Corrections soon wrapps up the song. Before they could sigh in relief in doing a good job, they see Chala, with exaggerated gestures, signal to them to smile, and so they do, to the camera.

    "That was Percussive Corrections! That was a great song, guys! Good Job."  Misky and Yana walks in front of the camera and congratulates the band.

    "Please check them out on iTunes, Stoppify, and their YouTube Channel." Yana promotes.

    "And! That was our show! We''ll see you again tomorrow. GOOD MORNING OUIGAB, and Good Day!" Miskey and Yana wraps up the show soon after using the show''s catchphrase. After the producer signals the commercial break, *Applause* the show''s staff celebrated at another successful episode.

    "Kids, Kids! Good job. So, how was it?" Misky turns away from the camera and asks the band. The band just stares at him with the question.

    "Oh. He means your first live TV?" Yana elaborates for Misky.

    "It was great. Oh man. We were f*ckin nervous!" Ike says as he sighs in relief.

    "Oops. Sorry for the language." Ike says realizing the word he used.

    "No problem. It''s understandable, the cameras are off anyway." Misky assures Ike.

    "Hey. Good episode. Great job, you two." Chala suddenly steps in between the band and the hosts, interrupting Misky''s and Yana''s intention of speaking with the band more.

    "Thanks man. Are you their agent?" Misky chuckles nervously.

    "Yeah. Sorry, I have to take these fellas for a congratulatory party." Chala says.

    "And¡­" Chala lays his hand on Misky and Yana''s shoulders and leans closer.

    "You don''t have to talk to my kids. Isaac talked to your head producer, so he''s gonna guest on the show someday, for a favor." Chala whispers.

    "Alright then! Well. There''s no problem saying hi again to future stars, is there?" Yana smiles widely at Chala''s revelation.

    "Anyways, we hope to see you again in your next album! We here at Good Morning Ouigab wish you well." Yana says her final words to the band.

 Chapter 163 - As They Gather

    "Hey Chala. What was that about back there?" Ramil asks Chala as the gang walks back to their waiting room.

    "Nothing¡­" Chala smiles mysteriously. "Or maybe, it was about this¡­" Chala says and he opens the waiting room door.

    "SURPRISE!!!" The band is stunned as they see familiar faces in the waiting room, welcoming them warmly.

    "Mom!" Bay-an is the first one to recover and he rushes towards his mother for a hug.

    Bay-an''s actions prompted the waiting room to enter into sweet chaos. Chala, while he watches the event, is feeling more than happy for the band and their families.

    A few moments later, the room finally calms down and enters a surprising silence.

    "By the way, why didn''t you all tell us about this? We had to find out through Mr. Rotala here about your TV Debut!" Onemah, Ike''s mother asks the group.

    "Well. Uhhh. We were scared we were gonna embarrass ourselves on TV?" Jenna answers for the group. "And¡­ Sorry, dad. I thought you were gonna disapprove of me doing music." Jenna adds for her father, which is a great revelation for the rest of the band.

    "Heh. Jen, I''m not as clueless about the internet as you think. I''ve seen you on Youtube for a while now AND, you''re 19 now, sweet cheeks. You can do whatever you want. As long as your decisions makes you happy, and they won''t harm you, of course your mom and I will be there for you." Jenna''s father says as he knocks on Jenna''s forehead.

    "I''m just glad you''re playing the violin again. I feel happy that you seem to be happy playing it." Jenna''s mother adds.

    "Same here. I thought Ramil here lost interest with the sax here. One day last year, his sax which was acc.u.mulating dust at home, suddenly disappeared." Ramil''s mother comments.

    "By the way. Onemah could not stop talking about Tayaw, OR the big deal Isaac Yawat. Chala, you said Tayaw arranged for all of us to be here?" Inson''s mother asks Chala, her question making the band snap their heads to Chala''s direction.

    "Chala?" Jenna asks.

    "Yep. He''s back. And he has a banquet prepared for y''all." Chala says.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    Leckli Lodge ¨C East Ouigab

    *badump* *badump*

    Since he entered the hotel, Tayaw is having palpitations again, similar to the feeling he had when he found Earl Thompson''s guitar back in New Orleans last year. However, he tries to ignore it for now as there is a more important matter to him, at hand.

    "Payew, Agew. Here, take this, get some snacks, or go to the pool. I have some catching up to do with mom and dad." Tayaw orders his brothers. Payew and Agew, seeing the BGC bills handed to them, immediately obliges.

    "Tayaw! You can''t just give them money like that." Kilat''s eyes widens at Tayaw''s actions as she watches her two children skip happily out of the banquet hall.

    "Ehh. It''s okay mom, I''ll tell them that it''s just this time." Tayaw says.

    "Okay. Be sure though. We don''t want them getting spoiled." Liboo says.

    "Damn. I didn''t notice before... Was I like Agew too? I''ve been away for just a few months and the kid is now what? 5''5? 5''6?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah. It won''t take long before he gets taller than Payew." Liboo says.

    Tayaw smiles imagining Liboo''s words. In his previous life, Tayaw was 5''10, Payew was 5''8, and Agew was 5''11 as a.d.u.l.ts. Currently, Tayaw is 6''1, Payew is 5''8, and Agew is 5''5/5''6.

    "..." After the short words about heights, Tayaw and his parents entered an uncomfortable silence. Looking at his parents'' faces, Tayaw figures they still have not gotten over his deed in Nacuto Village.

    "Mom, dad¡­" Tayaw shakes his head. "I''m sorry." Tayaw begins. "That thing with Kingbo¡­" He says hesitantly.

    He was however cut-off by Liboo. "Why''d you have to go that far, son?" Liboo says. Kilat''s expression also asks the same sentiment.

    "He deserved it, dad.. Your friends and family in Nacuto, their children, they suffered under Kingbo and his men. They can''t even get out of there, or call the police." Tayaw explains wanting to cover all the bases for his defense.

    "Still, son. You''re not like him. You''re not a criminal. I may have been fine had you done it with hired arms, but you did it yourself." Liboo says.

    "I¡­" Tayaw is about to lie.

    "Don''t lie to me son. Your grandpa heard rumors that Liboo is saying your name in his nightmares." Liboo says.

    ''Looks like I''ve achieved more than what I wanted.'' Tayaw internally smirks hearing Liboo''s reports.

    "I may have never known those people, and forgot their faces, but I still cannot sit back and go on with my life knowing that they''re supposed to live peacefully. Dad, I would not have had the stomach to have done what I''ve done if I didn''t do it to a sadistic maimer and a murderer." Tayaw says.

    "W-what are you talking about?"

    "A murderer?" Liboo and Kilat cannot believe what they are hearing.

    "Do you know of Ijuck? The hardware store owner''s son? He''s gone missing a few years ago, right?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yippil''s son? I-I''ve heard¡­" Liboo answers, not liking what Tayaw is about to say next.

    "Yippil''s son." Tayaw nods. "Yippil doesn''t know, but Ijuck died painfully, under Kingbo''s hands." Tayaw confirms.

    "I''ll skip over the bloody details. Kingbo''s men confessed to the men who helped me. Kingbo''s men witnessed the deed. Every detail they confessed coincides with the reports of the police to the bones found." Tayaw narrates.

    "Finally¡­" Tayaw clenches his teeth in anger.

    "Kingbo was laughing as he took Ijuck''s life. I do not regret doing what I did to him." Tayaw says.

    Liboo and Kilat is sweating coldly hearing this and they are speechless. Kingbo in their minds has turned from a despicable human being, to something that is no longer human.

    "Mom, Dad¡­" Tayaw takes back Kilat and Liboo''s attentions.

    "I am still the Tayaw you two know. I am still that kid who would could not stomach to watch pesty rats be mauled by equipment and dogs." These words warmed Kilat and Liboo to Tayaw again, remembering the memory.

    "But, when it comes down to it, I''d do everything to protect my family. Had I not have done what I''ve done, not only is our family gonna be harmed, even our relatives back in Nacotu and Alib will suffer. I am not expecting or even asking forgiveness from you two for what I''ve done, I only want you to understand why I did it." Tayaw concludes his defense while establishing that this might not be the last time he will act violently.

    After a few moments of silence.

    "If it''s understanding that you want, we understand." Kilat sighs in relief, which surprises Tayaw.

    Kilat is the last person Tayaw expects to just accept violence.

    "I just pray to Kabunyan that this will be the last time." Liboo expresses too.

    "It would be best if we can live peacefully after Kingbo." Tayaw nods.

    Liboo suddenly shakes his head. Kilat also lays her hand on Liboo''s back.

    "What''s wrong?" Tayaw asks confused at the actions of the two.

    "I¡­ I just wish it was me who took the action, not you. A father should be the one dirtying his hands in protecting his children, not the other way around." Liboo sighs.

    Tayaw is dumbfounded at first before "heh" he chuckled. That chuckled soon was followed by a hearty laughter. It is Kilat and Liboo''s turn to be confused at Tayaw. Before they could ask what is wrong, they see Tayaw''s face contort and redden.

    It did not take long however before Tayaw is able to stop himself from an emotional outburst.

    "Dad. And Mom. For me, you''ve already done more than a child could ask for from their parents." Tayaw says as he played the memories he has of his parents in his previous life, in his head.

    Kilat and Liboo still cannot understand Tayaw''s train of thought and emotion but decided to drop the matter.

    After seeing that Tayaw calmed down. "So, Tayaw. What happened to the car? The one you took from Kingbo?" Liboo asks.

    "ooh. Ow." His words make Kilat elbow his ribs.

    "It''s in my house in New York right now, why?" Tayaw says, also confused at why Liboo is asking about the car.

    "Well. You''re rich now, since two years ago. So, for two years, it hurts me that I can''t figure out what to give you. So I thought, why not I fix you up a vintage sports car?" Liboo says.

    "Hm? Dad, you''re crazy. And, I''m 19 now. I don''t need gifts." Tayaw says dumbfounded.

    "Meh. I want to give you a gift, I''m not asking for your permission.And. I''m not giving you a sports car after I estimated up how much it would cost me, I can''t afford it." Liboo chuckles.

    "Anyway. Two birthdays in a row, I can''t give you gifts. I can''t keep that going. So¡­" Liboo pulls out what looks like a leather case for a pair of sunglasses from his jacket, and hands it to Tayaw.

    "Instead of a car, that you already have two of, you might appreciate this more." Liboo smiles smugly.

    *badump* *badump* *badump*

    Tayaw is made aware of his palpitations again.

    ''Is it this?'' He thinks as he looks at the leather case.

    After he opens it, *BADUMP* his heart beat the hardest it had today and his vision shakes. Inside the leather case lays a humble-looking slick brown fountain pen. With his enhanced eyes, he sees the scratches and patina in the pen, which proves it as a vintage pen.

    "I know that writers these days, like you, don''t use typewriters, much less a pen. But this one''s special. It''s vintage and once belonged to a¡­" Liboo starts introducing the pen.

    "Dad, how much did you get this for?" Tayaw however interrupts Liboo''s introduction.

    "Heh¡­" Liboo''s face freezes at the question.

    "Honey...?" Kilat, who had no knowledge of the gift, glares at Liboo. Liboo can only come clean.

    "It''s 14,000 BGC." Liboo begins.

    "14-! That''s more than my monthly salary!" Kilat''s blood pressure rises at the price.

    "Whoah¡­ Come on, honey. It''s not like we can afford it. And. We haven''t given Tayaw a birthday gift in years." Liboo defends himself. Kilat, understanding Liboo''s sentiments, hesitatingly nods in understanding.

    "It''s a damn bargain." Tayaw smiles, which surprises Liboo and Kilat.

    "It''s a pen¡­" Kilat asks, confused. .

    "It is a pen, yes. But a pen that has great use to me, mom. Thank you for this dad. I like it. No.. I LOVE it." Tayaw says as he takes out the pen from the case and examines it.

    "*Phew* Thank goodness. I thought I wasted thousands of BGCs for nothing." Liboo sighs in relief. Tayaw then put it away in his white void which he disguises by putting it back in the case. He will examine it further later.

    "By the way, I know you''re busy, but you''re not running off to America again after this, right?" Kilat asks Tayaw.

    "Well, not only to America. For the next few weeks, I might be hopping from country to country. But after that, I might be spending more time here in Ouigab." Tayaw says.

    "Oh?" Kilat asks in interest.

    "These past few months, I''ve been preparing to make another movie. The movie studio and props I require are almost ready. Some actors are also cast, so I''m gonna start filming." Tayaw explains.

    "Sounds complicated. Is it gonna be like your first film?" Liboo asks.

    "Nah. Much more violent. No romance too. It involves wars¡­" Tayaw says as he smiles mysteriously.

    "What?! Wait. You know that making entertainment out of the wars is taboo, right? Are you asking for trouble?" Liboo says in panic.

    "Hm? Ah. I misspoke. It''s not about World Wars or other wars. But it does contain some violence." Tayaw says not bothering to explain about the Mafia Wars in the USA.

    "Alright. Just not about the real wars. You will offend a lot of people. Everyone has moved on, so you better not remind them." Liboo says.

    Tayaw is saved by any further reprimands when the banquet hall''s door bursts open.

    "Dad! Mom! We saw them enter the hotel! They''ll be here any time now." Payew reports immediately after barging in the banquet hall with Agew trailing behind him.

    "Oh? That''s great! I can''t wait to meet your friends, Tayaw." Liboo says as he stands up excitedly.

    "Well, I can''t wait to meet their parents. I haven''t had new friends outside work." Kilat is also excited and prepared herself to meet new people.

 Chapter 164 - Commence Filming

    October 15, 2012 ¨C Monday, 9AM ¨C Camp Bugny, South Ouigab

    *Slam* *Slam* Luca and a young man in his late teens who looks similar to him, steps out of a cab, in front of an apartment building.

    "You sure it''s here, Luca?" The young man, a black-haired, brown-eyed fellow, asks Luca as he looks up the apartment building.

    "Yeah. Two similar-looking 5-story apartment buildings next to each other. Just like the picture that Jouny sent. Why?" Luca asks.

    "Heh. I just thought it''s gonna be an old apartment building, just judging from this small-town looking part of this city." The young man explains.

    "Hey. Get the big city out of your ass. It''s gonna be nice here. I actually felt relieved that we were not gonna be staying at Eastern Ouigab we passed on our way here." Luca chuckles.

    "I know. I just didn''t expect our ''pads'' to be in a nice-looking building, that''s all." The young man answers.

    "Heh. I thought so too. And, it''s quiet here unlike New York." Luca says.

    "Yeah. The air''s clean too." The young man says.

    Luca and the newly hired actor, Geoff, just arrived in South Ouigab to prepare for the film production process. It is not only them that arrived, but so are other main and supporting actors. They will be living in Tayaw''s apartment buildings.

    Geoff, playing the teenage Gonzalo, and Luca, playing the older Gonzalo, contacted each other back in New York agreed to take the plane ride to Teungeb together to talk about Gonzalo as a character.

    After taking their luggage out of the cab, "What I don''t understand though, is that why do we have to live here?" Geoff asks as they enter the building.

    "I don''t know. But where would you rather stay? A trailer?" Luca reasons.

    "True¡­" Geoff can only nod.

    "Excuse me?" The apartment building''s manager sitting by the reception table interrupts their chat. "Oh. Yeah. We''re actors." Luca immediately introduces himself and pulls out his passport. Geoff did the same.

    After the building manager counterchecks their names in his list, "Okay. Luca¡­ 5A. Geoff¡­ 1D" he returned their passports along with keys to two apartment units.

    "hey, can we switch rooms? You probably have better energy than me to climb stairs so you take the one on the 5th." Luca chooses the first-floor unit without Geoff''s permission.

    The next moment however *DING* Luca and Geoff heard an elevator chime.

    "Okay. I''m fine by it." Geoff smirks, to Luca''s embarrassment.

    "Alright. Hey. Let''s put our luggage in our rooms first then we''ll go for a snack." Luca says.

    A few minutes later, Luca and Geoff are now sitting at a table in a nearby diner recommended by the building manager.

    "That''s all. Thanks." Geoff sighs in relief after ordering his and Luca''s food. He found it a chore to order from a server with limited English.

    "So, how was the rehearsals of your group?" Luca asks Geoff.

    "Well, we''re rehearsing as if it''s like a play, just like Isaac said." Geoff says.

    "mHmm. Same with us¡­" Luca raises his eyebrows.

    "Yeah. But the acting style though is very different, it''s hard to get used to." Geoff replies.

    "Mmm. Where do you guys rehearse your scenes though?" Luca asks.

    "You know Sean? The guy who plays Anselmo? We rehearsed in his yard. How about you guys?" Geoff asks.

    "Well. Anywhere really. One day we''re at my house, one day we''re at Perry''s. Depends on where the scene is supposed to be, we use our apartments for substitutes." Luca says.

    "Hmm. That''s a nice approach." Geoff nods , envious of their approach.

    They are soon interrupted by the server, serving them their food.

    "I guess the rumors about you are wrong." Geoff suddenly says as they eat.

    "How so?" Luca asks.

    "We''ve heard from Isaac that your group is doing fine, especially you. Us on the other hand, he had a lot to say when whenever we rehearsed for him through a webcam." Geoff says.

    "Meh. The rumors are right. I''m a terrible actor on stage. I just happen to fit the style Isaac wants." Luca shrugs.

    "About that. Any advice? I tried studying the acting of ''September Ninth'' but I just¡­ can''t catch it." Geoff says.

    "Well¡­" Luca hesitates whether to reveal his process or not.

    "Well. All I can say is that you should believe your lines. Say it like you mean it. What''s the motivation of Giovanni Cervo? Why is he saying the stuff he''s saying?" In the end, Luca opted to just generalize his process.

    "Say it like I mean it¡­" Geoff however, found Luca''s summary enough to be inspired, entering a silent contemplation as he continues to eat.

    "There you guys are!" The two are interrupted again, this time, by two Caucasian men in their 40s; Luca and Geoff''s fellow cast members.

    "Hey! Warren, Frank! Good to see you guys! Come, sit with us?" Luca greets and invites the two.

    "Yeah. The building manager told us where to find you two." Warren says as him and Franks takes the spare chairs by the table.

    "Hey there. You play Giovanni''s younger version, right? I''m Frank. I play Reece, Giovanni''s friend in the second film." Frank introduces himself to Geoff.

    "Nice to meet you. I saw you on ''Green Pen'' last February." Geoff says.

    "I''m Warren. I play Nico, Giovanni''s war friend in the second film too." Warren introduces himself.

    "Alright. Please, order first. We''ve got plenty of chances for acquainting." Luca interrupts the chatter. The hungry Warren and Frank happily oblige.

    "So, I thought you were gonna be traveling with Perry?" Luca asks the two newcomers.

    "He actually arrived two days ago. Look at this." Frank pulls out his phone, opened it, and tapped to display a photo.

    "Ooh. Nice car." Luca remarks as he sees Perry in the photo posing to the camera by leaning on a black very vintage looking car.

    "It''s not a car. Hehe." Frank chuckles.

    "What?" Luca asks.

    "It''s just a body of a car. He says that there are a lot of cool and huge props in the shoot location." Frank says.

    "Cool. Have you seen our costumes, by the way? They look awesome. With that car? Man¡­" Geoff reports what he knows.

    "Oh yeah. The vintage ones? They look great. No wonder Isaac wears something like them all the time." Frank comments.

    ----

    An hour later, after having their lunch, Luca and his fellow actors are now in a van, courtesy of Tayaw, and are on their way to Tayaw''s virtual sets.

    "So¡­ Ouigab huh. I didn''t expect to film New York and Vegas here. I thought we were gonna be at Clambu. Isn''t that where they make films in this country?" Frank remarks as he looks at the view of the streets of South Ouigab through the van''s window.

    "Yeah. This place does not look like New York at all. There aren''t even old buildings, looks like." Warren says.

    "We''re here." The van driver and also their part-time interpreter, says to the group as he slows the van down. The actors, noticing that they are in where seems to be the edges of the city proper, becomes worried.

    "Hey man¡­ You sure?" Luca says.

    "Hey. You''re not kidnapping us, are you?" Frank says, worriedly as the driver turns the van to an access road leading to some warehouses.

    "What? No¡­ The bossman says it''s here. Look at that sign." The driver says as he points at a sign with a logo of chopped off blue basin on it, the arrow below it pointing towards the warehouses.

    "Hey. There''s a sign of Half Basin Studios on that huge door too." Luca says, noticing another sign posted on the warehouse''s door.

    "Oh. There''s one of the staff members." The driver points again, to a girl in blue-colored collared shirt before stopping the van in front of her.

    "Huh. Looks like a PA (Production Assistant)." Geoff remarks.

    "That''s so true. Haha. I guess all PAs give out that same energy." Warren says.

    "Hey. She''s cute." Frank says.

    "Hey¡­ remember what''s in the contract." Luca says.

    "Psh. Calm down. I''m just saying."

    A minute later, the group of actors are now escorted by the PA girl and their interpreter into the warehouse.

    "What the f*ck are those?" Geoff says nervously as he points at the two eye-catching, dome-shaped structures in the opposite sides of the warehouse.

    "You are going to film there. Please, wait here." The interpreter translates for the PA, while the PA leaves the group and walks to one of the dome''s doors to talk to the security guard guarding the door.

    "hey. Look. It''s those cars." Warren takes the three actors'' attention and points at a part of the warehouse where three vintage cars are lying pretty.

    "That''s must be where Perry took the photo. Let''s check it out." Geoff says excitedly and quickly walks to the cars. The three others also cannot help but be excited and followed.

    A few seconds of examination later. "F*ck. I think it''s wood, coated with metal sheet." Frank shakes his head and chuckles as he knocks on the surface of one of the cars.

    "Hey. This one is real though." Warren says as he opens the doors to one of the other cars and examines the interior.

    "But¡­ does it run?" Luca behind him, comments.

    "Duh. It''s a prop. Inside a damn warehouse. So maybe not." Warren quips.

    "Oh. I''ve seen that one driven in here." The three are interrupted by the interpreter, who they did not realize followed them.

    "The other two though, are replicas. They look nice, don''t they?" The interpreter says.

    "Yeah." Is the three actors'' unanimous response.

    The PA soon returned and spoke with the interpreter.

    "Okay. She said that she talked to the guard and you guys can now go inside the dome. Leave your phones to her though, they''re not allowed inside." The interpreter says.

    "Why?" Geoff, who is anxious to part with his phone, asks.

    "According to her, there''s potentially sensitive information inside. I''ve not seen inside. Only you guys and the film crew are allowed in there, she said." The interpreter translates for the PA.

    "Can I not go inside, though? I don''t know what''s in there." Warren asks, anxious about the intimidating exterior of the dome.

    "Don''t worry. There are Americans in the staff so you won''t need me inside." The interpreter says, misinterpreting Warren''s concern.

    "Alright. Let''s just go in. It''s surely a film set. I wonder what''s inside." Frank consoles Warren.

    The four actors then enters the door and their eyes almost hurt at how the bright the interior of the dome is after being in the poor lit warehouse. "*Ughh*" Geoff, whose young eyes are very sensitive, cannot help but groan. After the four actors adjusted their eyes, they get confused to see that they found themselves outdoors once again. The difference only is that the place they seem to be in is a much different place than South Ouigab; a large, vast grassland. The cloudy skies also are a contrast to South Ouigab''s sunny clear skies.

    "Shiiit¡­ Now this is a f*ckin set." Geoff says, impressed, as he touches the nearest LCD screen he can reach.

    His actions clears up Luca, Warren, and Frank''s confusion and they too realize that the interior of the doom has big LCD screens for floors and doors.

    "Wow¡­" Warren, who is the oldest of the four and is the least familiar with technology, cannot help but almost exclaim as he rubs the soles of his shoes to the smooth LCD floor.

 Chapter 165 - Apprenticeship of Virtual Systems

    (cont''d)

    "ShhH!" Luca shushes his group and points at the other people in the dome, all facing towards the same direction, with focused expressions. The group sneakily walks behind the wall of crew members, looks over the crew members'' shoulders, and see an ongoing filming process.

    The four actors see the cameras pointing towards a backdrop of a vintage-looking alleyway.

    "Looks like Italy." Luca mumbles.

    They see three children, dressed in early 20th century European clothing, sitting on a real wooden bench, their backs against the screen backdrop, chatting in Italian. A woman then joins the children and fetches one of the kids. After the woman and the child walks out of the backdrop, the four actors hear ''CUT!'' from a young man who is operating one of the cameras.

    They then see the young man nod towards the children and.

    "huh? That was it? They didn''t look like they''re acting." Geoff could not help but comment.

    "Hey. That''s exactly the realism that Isaac wants." Luca says, his comment reminding not only Geoff but also Warren and Frank about the acting process.

    "Alright! Let''s take 30!" The young man then announces.

    The crew and the actors working all disperses and filters out of the dome until only a few of the crew remains.  The four newcomers also remain to see the workings of the state-of-the-art set.

    "Welcome! You guys are early." The young man who was operating the main camera earlier walks towards Luca and his group.

    "Yeah. We''re¡­" Warren is about to introduce themselves when the young man raises his hands to shake Warren''s.

    "It''s me, Isaac." Tayaw says.

    "Oh¡­ I didn''t recognize you." Warren says as he studies the sports get-up that Tayaw is wearing in contrast to the three-piece suit they usually see Tayaw adorn in their video conferences.

    "Neither did we. Hey. Nice to finally meet you in person." Luca says as he shakes Tayaw''s hands.

    "Thanks for giving me the role." Luca says.

    "Meh. I wouldn''t have if I didn''t think you didn''t fit the role well." Tayaw says to Luca.

    "And same goes for y''all." Tayaw says to the rest of the actors'' group.

    "Hey man¡­" Geoff, who is closely observing Tayaw, could not help but be intimidated, and greets awkwardly.

    "Hey there too, Geoff. Where''s the rest of your group?" Tayaw asks, seeing that Geoff is hanging out with Luca''s group.

    "I don''t really know¡­ They''ll probably be here tomorrow." Geoff says, strangely compelled to defend his cast mates.

    "Okay. Anyway. How are y''all feeling? Have a good feeling now about your scenes?" Tayaw asks the four.

    "Hell Yeah. Looking at this place, we''ll be more immersed, so I think we''ll get it better." Frank says who cannot stop looking around.

    "Really? Alright." Tayaw nods in affirmation.

    "Hey Steven!" Tayaw calls out to Steven, his digital team''s leader he hired directly from Cognito Technologies.

    "Yeah?" Steven, with dark bags under his eyes, weakly answers by the computers as he pops his head out for Tayaw and the group to see.

    "Jesus. You need some sleep." Luca cannot help but remark.

    "What I said¡­" Tayaw shakes his head.

    "Can''t. Jet lagged. Didn''t think it would get to me. What do you need?" Steven asks. "Anyway. Is Vegas ready? These are the actors who''ll be using that." Tayaw says.

    Soon after. The alleyway in the dome transforms into the busy streets of 1940s Las Vegas. The view of the dome took the actors'' breaths away.

    "Holy sh*t. I thought those were real people." Geoff points at the virtual people.

    "Oh.. they walk¡­ weird, now that I''m looking closely." Luca remarks at the robotic movements of the game models in the virtual background.

    "Their faces too. They look blurry." Frank remarks. Before the four actors can further examine the background, they are attacked by a bout dizziness as Steven suddenly starts playing around with the set and as if their wall is spinning, the surrounding display walls starts spinning from Steven''s quick adjustments.

    "Alright. Stop it!" Tayaw orders, and Steven obliges.

    "Sorry. Wrong file." Steven says.

    "Switch to the fancy office room, please." Tayaw orders and the surroundings changed again.

    Most of the screens in the dome becomes black and the remaining screens display what looks like a fancy office with window overlooking a vineyard.

    "Wow. That''s MY office right there." Luca says, his emotions attaching quickly to the backdrop as he steps closer to it.

    "Feels real too. Just a few furniture and we''re good." Frank says.

    "Good to hear that from you, too bad you won''t get to use it yet. It needs more polishing. Probably done by the time we start filming the part where y''all appear." Tayaw says.

    "So¡­ Uhh. We''re really filming all of our scenes here? It''s all seems very convenient." Warren asks.

    "Convenient, yes. But all filmed here? Nah. You remember the hijacking scenes? Those will be filmed either in Vegas or in Australia, depending on the weather, after we''re done here." Tayaw says. Warren nods.

    "How about New York? Do you have backgrounds for them too?" Geoff asks.

    "Yeah. They''re done. You and your group will start filming next week." Tayaw says.

    "I can''t wait¡­" Geoff says.

    "Anyways. I''m gonna go talk with the crew. You guys hang around if you want to see how it goes, might help you get ready. We''ve got a long way ahead." Tayaw says, his words putting pressure on the actors'' shoulders.

    "Hey! You''re here! Welcome back!" Tayaw suddenly calls out, in Teungebian, to someone behind the actors.

    "Hey. Good to see you¡­" Jouny replies and approaches Tayaw for a hug.

    "So, How''s ''merica?" Tayaw returns the hug before shortly breaking away.

    "Screw you. You didn''t pay me enough for that shit." Jouny jests.

    "Ohh. Don''t be like that. It''s you who was excited to take the job." Tayaw says.

    "Hey Jouny."

    "Hey. What''s up."

    "Hi there!"

    "Hey" The four actors, who were caught off-guard by the unexpected arrival of Jouny, are pleased to see the person who cast them and intruded at Tayaw and Jouny''s greeting.

    "Hey, you guys. Sorry. I''ll borrow Ta- uhh. Isaac here for a moment. Nice to see you all." Jouny says to the four and drags Tayaw outside the virtual room.

    The four are caught off-guard by the half-dismissal of the lady they thought was very nice, but they brush it off immediately and got busy in familiarizing themselves with the virtual sets with Steven''s help.

    "I thought you were supposed to be relaxing in Clambu right now? Or at least help Ongki with your seafood store?" Tayaw asks Jouny shortly after extending the cast and crew''s break time right outside of the dome.

    "I was gonna, but I have no idea what to do in there. I''ll just get in the way. And, Ongki says my money is enough help." Jouny says.

    "Aside from that, I don''t have much inspiration in writing right now so I don''t have anything better to do." Jouny explains.

    "¡­I thought casting these actors were tedious? Don''t you need some rest?" Tayaw asks.

    "Especially with¡­" Tayaw continues as he glances at Jouny''s tummy.

    "What? I''m just gonna lie around at home and be an unhealthy mother?" Jouny scoffs.

    "Fair¡­ So, what are you doing here? Without Ongki? You and him are almost inseparable." Tayaw asks.

    "Oh. He''s moving our stuff right now to our new apartment in West Ouigab." Jouny says.

    This surprises Tayaw.

    "You''re moving to Ouigab?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeahp! We''ll be living a few blocks away from Chala. And the seafood store will be there too." Jouny says.

    "Hmm. That''s good. But why of all places, in Ouigab?" Tayaw asks.

    "Wow. You sound like you don''t want me here." Jouny says. Tayaw just shakes his head at the comment.

    "Anyways, we like the weather here. You also have that famous maternity hospital at West Ouigab." Jouny says.

    "Nice.... While'' I''m quite happy that you''re moving here, you''re not here just to tell me you''re moving right?" Tayaw asks.

    "Nope. You got me. Hehe. I''m here to actually ask for a favor." Jouny says.

    "Alright¡­ Sure, as long as I can help." Tayaw says, interested.

    "I just wanna tag along. Like, shadow you while you film. It might distract you if I''ll just hang around here without your permission." Jouny says.

    "Oh¡­" Tayaw''s mind starts running at why Jouny would want to do what she said.

    "You can always hang around here, man. But while I don''t mind, you really wanna watch filming again? You weren''t bored when I was filming ''September Ninth''?" Tayaw asks.

    "I wasn''t gonna be in the set everyday then if I thought it wasn''t fun, especially watching the Uranto and Iliene give life to my characters. Anyways. Watching your process may help me write or something." Jouny says.

    "Or maybe learn enough from me to make your own film in the future¡­" Tayaw smilingly says as he smells bullcrap with Jouny''s words.

    "Fine¡­ You got me." Jouny sighs and chuckles, relieved that she was caught in her lie.

    "Heh. Why didn''t you just say you wanna learn film making?" Tayaw asks.

    "Okay.. You know, your style is a game changer to how films will be made from now on, right?" Jouny says.

    "That''s a generous assessment, but I can see it going that way." Tayaw nods.

    "It''s a fair assessment. And it''s exactly because of that that I''ll feel like I''m stealing some sort of a trade secret if I don''t ask for permission to watch." Jouny says.

    "Hmmm." Tayaw processes Jouny''s words. Tayaw almost forgot that even though ''September Ninth'' was universally liked, his directing style is very new and is quite possibly highly coveted.

    Seeing as Tayaw is staying silent, Jouny decides to continue. "Another thing. Me who never learned how to direct, can take this an opportunity to start learning. It''s a perfect time. I mean, I now have the same starting line with most experienced directors." Jouny says.

    "Alright. Tag along with me then. I will also try to teach you something if I can spare the time." Tayaw says, glad of Jouny''s desire to learn.

    "Thank you¡­" Jouny is happy to hear Tayaw''s half-promise.

    "But, making this film is still my priority." Tayaw says.

    "That much is obvious." Jouny says.

    "Oh. You know how I work, right?" Tayaw says.

    "Yeah? Working to exhaustion with almost no sleep?" Jouny asks.

    "Exactly. And if you tag along with me, I wouldn''t want you to be like me especially with your recent¡­ blessings. So, I''ll kick you out if I think you need some rest, alright?" Tayaw asks.

    "Hey. Just like this film is your priority, my baby is my priority too, okay?" Jouny is dumbfounded at Tayaw''s ''threat''.

    "I''m just saying, sorry. You stuck with me closely last February, trying to match my sleeping schedule, so I''m just trying to make sure you won''t do that again." Tayaw says.

    "Aww. You''re so sweet. I''ll leave the set when I''m tired, so don''t worry." Jouny says.

    "Anyways. That''s that then. I''ll resume filming in around¡­ thirty minutes. Come watch if you want. The next scene is just talking and sitting around, but I''ll show you the subtleties of it." Tayaw offers.

    "Alright. I''ll go grab a chair." Jouny smiles in excitement.

 Chapter 166 - A Coincidental Meeting

    December 3, 2012 ¨C Monday, 2 pm - Route 95, Indian Springs, Nevada

    "Dad. I didn''t think we''d drive too far away from Vegas. This place is perfect. Looks just like Australia." Claire tells Gary. (claire. Refer to chapter 120)

    "Maybe? What do you think, Xiao Song?" Gary asks.

    "It''s perfect, I think. Is this good enough for what was in your mind, Helena?" Xiao Song asks Helena.

    "Just a part of it, but this is good enough for maybe half of the scenes." Helena says.

    Gary, his daughter Claire, Xiao Song, and Helena Paddington, just stepped out of their SUV which they parked on the side of the highway. They are currently appreciating the view of the vast desert expanse in the outskirts of the small Nevada town, Indian Springs.

    Gary and Xiao Song, after reading ''Australia'', no longer bothered to look for scripts or other materials to make into a film. A month ago, they already contacted the Outcault Award ¨C winning author of ''Australia'', Helena Paddington, regarding their interest in adapting her novel into a film. Helena, hearing their proposal could not help but rejoice and be hopeful so she immediately sold the film adaptation license of her novel.

    Helena was also hired by Gary and Xiao Song as a consultant, which led her to join the group of two directors and one actress, to scout for possible filming locations.

    *Vroom* *Vroom!!!* The four suddenly hear engines roaring in the distance.

    "Hey! Look!" Xiao Song, with the best eyes, spots the source of the sounds immediately and points them out.

    "Oh my god! What''s going on?!" Claire exclaims as she looks at the source of the roaring engines, anxiety apparent in her voice. Her feeling is also shared by Gary and Helena.

    From their high vantage point, they can clearly see an unpaved road of sand that branched out from the main highway, a hundred or so meters away from them. Along the unpaved road, is a speeding transport truck, followed by four cars and another transport truck.

    The four cars which are the closest to the speeding truck''s tail look like old station wagons and the truck behind the four station wagons looks similar to the truck that is in the front. The dust that the vehicles are producing from their wheels are adding to the intensity of the situation.

    "Wait! What''s that?!" Xiao Song points once again as he spots a drone flying ahead of the land vehicles.

    "A drone? What''s going on?" Gary says.

    The group of spectators then silently watches as the two station wagons and the drone overtakes the leading truck and are looking as if they are trying to slow the truck down. *Bang* The spectators then see the pursued truck bump one of the station wagons in its way, only to no avail.

    The two station wagons then gains more distance away from the leading truck and after leading a considerable distance, they then *screech!!!* made a maneuver to suddenly stop, perpendicularly, blocking the unpaved road.

    The doors of the two leading station wagons quickly open and three men, from each car, steps out carrying what looks like long barreled guns. The men made a linear formation following their impromptu barricade, and point their guns to the truck coming their way. The truck, having its way blocked, with the threat of being shot, *Crrrrhhhhhhh* also quickly stops.

    "Oh no.. Oh no.." Xiao Song mutters in fear as his group sees three of the armed men walk to the truck, still pointing their guns towards it.

    The two other station wagons that remained behind the tail of the truck also soon stops and more armed men exited. The armed men then open the truck''s front and back doors, and drag out its passengers, and makes them unload whatever that is inside the truck, then load it to the other truck which is now apparent that is the armed men''s.

    "Call the cops!" Gary orders Claire after seeing what looks like a highway robbery.

    "Wait! Wait¡­" Xiao Song however, stops the two immediately.

    "Why? It''s a robbery!" Claire says as she dials her phone.

    "I think they''re filming!" Xiao Song exclaims.

    "What?" The rest of the group are confused.

    "Look closely. We didn''t see it but along the men with guns, are what looks like cameramen. Look." Xiao Song points out.

    The other three then look closely and they see that there are indeed four men carrying cameras on the scene, shooting, standing behind each of the four station wagons.

    The group also shortly sees someone, wearing light brown clothes, stand up in the middle of the road, just a few feet ahead of the scene of the crime. That someone also looks like they are also carrying a camera. "What the f*ck. A cameraman in camouflage?" Xiao Song remarks, dumbfounded.

    "Jesus Christ. I thought it was a real robbery." Gary drawls out and chuckles in relief after realizing the situation.

    "Yeah¡­" Helena listlessly says.

    They then see the camouflaged cameraman gesture to who now, apparently are actors, to gather for a huddle. A minute or two later, the gathering is dispersed and the actors get back in their designated vehicles, driving back to the direction they all came from. The camouflaged cameraman also gets back in position and proceeds to lie down on his stomach, positioning his camera once again.

    "Looks like they''re doing it again¡­ So that guy is the director, huh?" Xiao Song says, agreeing with his group''s assumptions.

    A minute or two later, the chasing scene they witnessed earlier is playing once again in front of their eyes. The only difference this time, is that the actors playing the passengers of the pursued truck are not made to unload crates from the truck, but are made to kneel by the side of the road, with guns pointed at them.

    The group sees the camouflaged cameraman stand up once again and talk to the actors involved. The group also did not realize that there are more people in the trucks which they figured are either actors or some members of the crew. A few seconds later, the actors and the crew start clapping and cheering enthusiastically that even Xiao Song in his group can hear clearly despite how far they are.

    "Hey. Hey! Get back in the car! Let''s go see them before they leave!" Gary suddenly orders frantically as he enters the shotgun seat of the SUV. Xiao Song, Helena, and Claire, also realize the situation and they hurriedly filled in the car.

    -------

    "Good! It''s not perfect, but I think it''s already the best we can do. It''s unwise if we go for a perfect sequence. The juice isn''t just worth the squeeze. So, great job, everyone!" Tayaw congratulates the actors and the staff after their last cut.

    *Applause* The actors and the crew, who initially thought they were going to be in the cold desert until the sun goes down, are relieved.

    It has been 6 weeks since filming began. During those 6 weeks, Tayaw, the cast and crew, had basically smooth sailing. The main actors, gaining enough practice before the filming even began, had adjusted very well. The past 6 weeks had also been focused on the main and supporting characters as Tayaw already finished the scenes of extras and side characters last September.

    "Alright. The main actors, the regular extras, and the crew, please pack up. See y''all back in Ouigab in¡­ 46 hours. That''ll be Thursday, 9 am in Ouigab local time. The rest, a word." Tayaw says.

    This prompts the extras and the crew to excitedly hop on one truck and ready to drive away.

    "Oh. Hey, Geoff. A moment before you go?" Tayaw says.

    "We''ll wait in the truck." Luca, Warren, and Frank, tells Geoff before hopping in one of the station wagons.

    "Sup Isaac?" Geoff asks, confused at being singled out.

    "I know that you''ve already done your scenes last month, but I''m sorry, this will not be the last time I''ll be calling you back." Tayaw reveals.

    "Oh, it''s fine. I''ll actually be back in Teungeb to see the sights. But, do we have a lot more to add?" Geoff asks.

    "Not really. But a few kinks here and there requires re-shoots. Don''t worry, I''ll finalize everything before Christmas." Tayaw promises.

    "That''s cool then. Phew. I was worried you thought my acting was off." Geoff says in relief.

    "You did fine. Okay. The guys are waiting." Tayaw says and gestures Geoff to his colleagues.

    After the cast and the crew leave with the trucks, Tayaw then turns his attention to the extras remaining.

    "Gentlemen, thank you for your time, for doing this for free." Tayaw tells the group of extras.

    "Heh. No problem. I don''t know about the others, but I just wanna experience what my grandpa did." Extra 1 says.

    "True. Even though I don''t get to play your film''s version of my grandpa, I''d like to think I just did." Extra 2 says.

    "That''s for you two, assholes. Why can''t I play my grandfather?" Extra 3 asks in indignation.

    Before Tayaw can reply, "HAHA! You dumb f*ck. I''m sure you can''t memorize lines anyways." Extra 4 cuts in.

    The extras, four of them, all in their 30s, are direct descendants of the founding members of the original Nevada Coniglio. (refer to ''Golden Rabbit Chapters'' for extra context)

    The filming location of the scene they just shot, being only an hour or two from their homes in Las Vegas, are convenient for them to travel to, therefore they agreed immediately with Tayaw''s request. Them also being either heirs or members of very wealthy families, sponsored the vintage cars and trucks Tayaw just used, as encouraged by the current heads of their families.

    *Crrrrrrr* Tayaw and the extras'' attention are taken by an approaching blue SUV.

    "Whoah¡­" The extras suddenly become apprehensive and they put their hands on where their guns are holstered, ready for action.

    "Whoah. Calm down, everyone. Why would a car approach us with those prop rifles on your hands if they want trouble?" Tayaw calms the gentlemen down as he hears voices of women coming inside the vehicle. The extras, hearing Tayaw, all calm down immediately at Tayaw''s reasoning.

    The SUV soon stops and Gary, Xiao Song, Claire, and Helena steps out of the vehicle. Tayaw immediately recognizes Gary and Xiao Song as he already met them in Sorrento.

    "Oh! Aren''t you¡­ uh¡­ Claire Messick?" Extra 3 recognizes the recognizable actress Claire.

    "Yeah. Gentlemen, this guy here is Claire Messick, an actress. This is her father Gary Messick, a great film director which y''all may have heard of. This guy''s Jun Xiao Song, a Taiwanese director, and this lady¡­" Tayaw struggles. "Helena.. Author." Helena introduces herself to Tayaw and the extras.

    Helena''s and company meanwhile, slowly realized that it is Tayaw that is in front of them.

    "That''s right! Helena Paddington. Nice to meet you, Miss Paddington, Miss Messick. I''m Isaac Yawat, a film maker and a musician." Tayaw introduces himself to the two ladies as they shake his hand. The extras greets the newcomers too.

    "Well, it looks like you have a boring meeting to do. We''ll excuse ourselves. I don''t want to stay in here. I don''t want my skin cracking from the¡­ arid air." Extra 1 says, assuming that the newcomers'' presence is arranged by Tayaw.

    "Hm. I guess that''s the reason why we ended the shoot early, huh? Oh well, more time for fun for me. I''m bouncing too." Extra 2 says.

    "Claire, if you wanna have lunch sometime? Call me anytime you''re in Vegas." Extra 3, makes a move and gives her his business card.

    "Yeah. I''ll invite your wife to that lunch too." Extra 4 blocks the man''s move.

    "Man, f*ck you." Extra 3 can only say.

    "Anyways, Isaac. You want this one, right? Just park it at Roller''s Casino and leave the thing with one of the guards." Extra 1 tosses the keys of one of the vintage station wagons to Tayaw.

    "Alright. Thanks man." Tayaw says, realizing that he has no ride to town now that the trucks left with his crew.

 Chapter 167 - Liboos Pen

    *Whooshhh* "Fellas. Out of all the places we can run into each other¡­ Why in the middle of nowhere?" Tayaw chuckles as the warm December desert blows by them carrying dust and sand.

    Gary and his group also start giggling at the oddity of the situation.

    "Nice to see you again, kid. Looks like you''re free?" Gary asks.

    "Yeah. Nice to see you too, but let''s get out of here. I need a shower. The sand got in my clothes. Let''s meet again in an hour or so?" Tayaw says, pointing at his dusty, sandy, self.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    Tayaw is now back in Vegas, and is busy inside his hotel room with his luggage.

    He just changed into his street clothes after taking a cold shower, now feeling fresh after washing off his grime and dust. As he folds his camouflage jumpsuit to put it away, he feels an object in the jumpsuit''s pocket.

    Tayaw''s heart jumps for a moment as he panickily takes out what is apparently a case, immediately and opens it, only to find out that it is empty. Tayaw then accesses his -white void- immediately and sees a fountain pen laying pretty in the display case that the void itself provided. (For better visualization. Think of the display cases in Skyrim. Only, pure white in color)

    "Oooh.. Thank goodness." Tayaw sighs in relief. Because he has become busy recently, he would misplace things all the time.

    The fountain pen in the white void, the one he received as a birthday present from Liboo last September, is an artifact that the white void recognized as valuable enough. With some View Points in exchange, Tayaw can use the fountain pen and take as much time as he wants in storyboarding and screenwriting just like how he used Earl Thompson''s guitar in practicing his guitar skills.

    The pen was a valued possession by the Teungebian author, screenwriter, and cartoonist Dolan Nun-go. Dolan, born 1898, died 1974, was recognized by Teungebians as the fairly-known author of the romance novel ''A Lover''s Conquest'' and martial arts novel series ''The White Belt'', and more novels.

    His books were also adapted and made homage to by many Teungebian film makers. ''The White Belt'' novel series for example, is one Dolan''s works that expanded Teungeb''s film scene to be recognized by international audiences. His novels'' film adaptations are what made companies like Black Deer Pictures and many Teungebian film makers to start an artistic overturn in the 80s that established Teungeb''s own flavor in cinema.

    Tayaw found Dolan''s situation unfortunate however. Through the pen, he confirmed the rumors of Dolan having had drafts and completed screenplays that never saw the light of day, by feeling a few slivers of sentiments left by Dolan.

    Dolan in his lifetime, witnessed four wars; the first world war when his father has been one of the soldiers to protect the western coasts of Teungeb, the second world war when he himself was enlisted to protect the western coasts too, the Korean war he commentated on many times during his short time as a newspaper cartoonist, and the Vietnam war that he did not live to see its end.

    The screenplays Dolan wrote are all about the wars and when he tried selling his screenplays to the few Teungebian film companies at the time, and the many American ones, all of them refused to buy his scripts as they assumed that his stories are potentially offensive to people. After all, the people at the time were hungry to move forward with peace instead of re-living their suffering no matter how recent or how distant in the past the wars have been.

    Tayaw also finds it unfortunate that even though he now knows that Dolan has written many scripts, he is uncertain if he will ever see them.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    A coffee shop ¨C Las Vegas 3:30 PM

    "Directors, authors¡­ A coffee shop really isn''t a surprising meeting place, huh?" Tayaw joins the already waiting Gary and company at their table.

    "Deserted, soon to go out of business, coffee shops." Helena agrees.

    "Yeah. This my coffee? Thanks, who ever bought me this." Tayaw sips on the only untouched coffee.

    "The contrast¡­ Heh." Xiao Song mutters.

    "Hm? What contrast?" Tayaw asks.

    "nah. On TV, or any videos I saw you in, you''re always wearing fancy suits. I can''t imagine you in a hoodie and jeans. And your backpack too. I didn''t see you as a backpack guy." Xiao Song says.

    "True. I didn''t imagine your eyes to look like that too. I wonder why you always cover them with sunglasses?" Claire says, still staring at Tayaw like she did back in the desert.

    "And you''re dressing more like your age right now." Gary remarks too.

    "Meh. Privacy purposes. Who would imagine that I''m the same fancy pants on TV if they met me on the streets wearing these?" Tayaw chuckles.

    The group nods at the simple ingenuity of it.

    "Anyways. How''d we end up here?" Tayaw asks the group.

    "Funny coincidence, that''s it." Xiao Song shrugs.

    "Mm. We were scouting film locations when we saw what we thought was a highway robbery. That was a great scene back there, by the way." Gary says.

    "Thanks, that''s the effect I wanted¡­" Tayaw says simply.

    Looking at their curious gazes however, Tayaw still decides to not want to talk about his film any further, for now.

    "You said scouting film locations? Whose film is it gonna be?" Tayaw asks, deflecting their curiosity. The group can only sigh in disappointment that Tayaw passed the ball back to them.

    "Me and Xiao Song''s. We''re co-directing a film adaptation of a novel." Gary says.

    "Oh? That''s unusual. I''ve never heard of a film being co-directed." Tayaw says.

    "Well. It is unusual, but not unheard of." Gary says.

    "Weird though. You guys are great directors on each your own. What type of film could you two possibly be making?" Tayaw asks.

    Gary and Xiao Song exchange looks and they both chuckle without answering.

    "It''s because of you. They want to apply what they''ve learned from your film. They''re not confident in making one like yours on their own." Claire says.

    "Oh? Well¡­ that''s flattering. Anyways. I''m assuming it''s gonna be your novel, right?" Tayaw asks Helena, deflecting his indirect involvement with the two.

    "Yeah. And I''m consulting on their filming." Helena nods.

    "Cool. I thought there are people whose job it is to scout filming locations? Why are y''all doing it?" Tayaw asks.

    "We''re going indie, self-funded even, so we''re saving costs. And, it''s been a while since I went for a road trip and I have three caretakers with me." Gary says.

    "A road trip sounds fun¡­ But a self-funded film, huh. This can only be a passion project for you two." Tayaw says as he sips on his coffee.

    "Yep. We found your style fresh, so this too is a lesson." Xiao Song says.

    "hmm. Hey. May I invest in it too?" Tayaw suddenly proposes, to the surprise of the group.

    "Man, are you sure? It might fl-.. not do well." Xiao Song says, but is hoping that Tayaw is not kidding.

    "That''s a bit much, don''t you think?" Helena says in minor indignation to Xiao Song''s pessimism.

    "It''s a realistic estimation. Your novel is great, but we''re going against the demand of the film market." Gary shrugs, which makes Helena helpless to argue.

    "Well. I just wanna contribute on a fresh, innovative film. Isn''t that what you guys want too? Why are you self-funding a film, and working hard on it, knowing of the risks of it failing?" Tayaw says.

    "Okay¡­ But like Xiao Song said, we''re trying something new here. The story may be great, but we probably can''t make it look good as ''September Ninth''. If I''m doing my usual schtick, I''ll take your money right now." Gary says.

    "Hmmm. Alright. Can I ask you guys something?" Tayaw says. The group nods in permission.

    "How do I say this¡­ September Ninth''s story is different than ''Australia''." Tayaw says.

    "You read it?" Helena says in surprise.

    "Yeah. Great book by the way. Anyways. You two both know that ''Australia'' has a different story and should also look and feel different than ''September Ninth'', right?" Tayaw asks.

    "Of course. We''ll only use what we can use from your style." Xiao Song says.

    "Yeah. That part of your film where Steven has his outbursts of emotions. How you showed those, we can definitely use those on our characters'' climactic moments." Gary says.

    This makes Tayaw sigh in relief and also excited that Gary and Xiao Song knows immediately how to apply what they learned.

    "Hmm. Then I have no problem investing." Tayaw says.

    "Alright. Your money, your choice. You can''t blame us though if everything doesn''t do well." Xiao Songs says in contrast with his thankful expression.

    "Why don''t you consult for us too? When are you going to finish your film?" Gary asks.

    Tayaw considers for a moment.

    "Well, I can finish probably finish the first movie by Christmas. Then, the two sequels by¡­ March at the earliest. Maybe¡­ if the logistics are all ready¡­" Tayaw says while estimating.

    The rest of the people in the table however, especially the two other directors, are dumbfounded.

    "¡­ So, you''re making three films right now?" Gary asks in a helpless chuckle.

    "Yeah?" Tayaw asks.

    "Like¡­ three films that has directing style as ''September Ninth''? That you will finish by March?" Xiao Song asks.

    "Yeah. Am I doing something wrong?" Tayaw says.

    "It''s not that¡­ Isn''t that too fast?" Claire asks.

    "That''s the standard, ain''t it?" Tayaw asks, not getting the problem.

    "The usual, but your style is more intricate." Gary says.

    "Well, what can I say? The actors and the crew, and the set designers are doing great. And. I''m making a trilogy. Three films with a single, but long story. If I combine all three films, it''s gonna be 6 hours long, in total." Tayaw explains.

    "Oh¡­" Gary and Xiao Song nod in understanding.

    "Okay. Never mind about consulting then, as you''re too busy. Your¡­ financing is great enough help." Gary says.

    "Tell you what¡­ I''ll show you something that may help you guys." Tayaw''s words gathered another round of interest.

    "We all know that trial and error during the filming process is a financial black hole. At least that''s the standard¡­" Tayaw begins as he grabs his backpack on his back, opens it, and pulls out a thick binder.

    The other four looks in interest as they thought that the backpack was only for show.

    "This, helped me a lot in saving money AND time during filming. For you guys who are self-funding, this will surely help too." Tayaw continues to say as he opens the binder and starts flipping its pages.

    "is that a comic book?" Claire asks.

    "Nah. That can''t be. They''re too rough to be it." Xiao Song muses, looking at the quickly shifting pages.

    "Mhm. Mr. Jun is right. This... It''s what I call a storyboard." Tayaw says as he finally stops flipping to a certain page.

    "Take a look at these pages." He says as he takes out a couple of pages from the binder and passes them to the group.

    A few seconds later, "This was the scene you filmed earlier¡­" Gary says in realization, his eyes stuck on the pages on his hands.

    "They are¡­ And¡­ from this¡­ Huhh¡­ This is how you want your scenes to come out on screen¡­" Xiao Song expresses his own realization, appreciating the storyboarding very much.

    "Exactly. Using something like this can help you guys." Tayaw says.

    "Good god¡­ No wonder ''September Ninth'' looked great. You were already directing in your head even before the filming process." Gary says, appreciating the potential of the tool.

    "Meh, I often make last-minute changes anyway, but they definitely help." Tayaw says.

    "Hey, Can I take these?" Gary shamelessly asks.

    "Nope. Not for now. Even though I''m done with it, I don''t want others seeing it." Tayaw says.

    Gary and Xiao Song can only hesitatingly return the pages.

    "Anyways. Are you guys gonna compete in Sorrento next year with your film?" Tayaw asks.

    "If we can finish it before the deadline, sure. I don''t think we can though. But, there''s still Moondance and Southwest by South. Oh. There''s also TIFF on September. Where else would indie films get exposure?" Gary says.

    "True. Well, too bad we can''t be rivals in Sorrento then." Tayaw says.

    "Now that you put it that way¡­" Xiao Song sighs in relief while Gary and Claire share the sentiment.

    "Alright¡­ F*ckin hell." The group is interrupted by the silent Helena, surprised by her crisp British cursing.

    "My book is great and you two are brilliant directors. I don''t think ''Australia'' wouldn''t be worse that whatever Isaac is making." Helena says.

 Chapter 168 - In the Coffee Shop...

    "I know right. It''s rather insulting for Helena for you all to not have confidence in her work." Tayaw says.

    Helena, hearing Tayaw''s comment, almost feels insulted again, misinterpreting Tayaw''s compliment for sarcasm.

    "I don''t need you feeling sorry?.." Helena says, annoyed.

    "Psh. I''m not feeling sorry, you don''t need it. Your book is a refreshing read. Yours and Grimmauld''s books are the only interesting reads this year." Tayaw shrugs.

    "Did you really read it?" Helena asks, her annoyance waned.

    "Yeah. Exploring human nature. Why people do what they do when they are forced in a situation where they are the closest to their primal instincts. I especially liked the part where that one guy who hallucinated after being stung by that poisonous plant. Your book explores human psychology and experience too." Tayaw says.

    "T-thanks..." Helena is overwhelmed with flattery in contrast to her expectation.

    "Hm. We need more books like yours. Not those romance crap. They''re disease to society. It''s great that you guys are adapting her novel to film." Tayaw says casually but with disdain.

    Claire and Helena in contrast to Tayaw''s casual remark, are taken aback by Tayaw''s surprisingly harsh assessment for the genre. Gary and Xiao Song, despite knowing about Tayaw''s lack of love for romance stories, are still surprised by the disdain.

    "Hm? Why d''you hate romance books? Not only books, I''ve seen your interview, and it looks like you don''t like romance movies either." Claire quickly asks, subtly defending her love for the genre.

    "I just don''t like how unrealistic they are. They make ladies have unreasonable expectations, and they get depressed when their expectations aren''t met. They make men act unrealistically to meet the ladies'' expectations. When they no longer can keep up with the charade, they feel inadequate and depressed that they can''t make their women happy." Tayaw shrugs.

    "Uhuh¡­ really?" Claire asks while side-eyeing Gary and Xiao Song. To her surprise, the two men nod.

    "Claire. Remind me again why your mom and I divorced?" Gary asks suddenly.

    "She said that you don''t love each other anymore." Claire says.

    Claire has no problem exposing the topic of her parents'' divorce to Tayaw and others as it was a huge deal in show business at the time and she got used to other people talking about it.

    "Mm. I took care of you your mom very well as much as I could when we were married. But I guess being there isn''t just enough. In fact, I didn''t want a divorce." Gary says.

    "This is the first time you''re telling me this.¡­ If you didn''t want it, why?" Claire asks.

    "There is a bit of truth in what she said, though. ''We don''t love each other anymore''. She didn''t love me anymore but where she''s wrong though is that I still love her. She just didn''t feel it." Gary says.

    "But, why didn''t you fight for it?" Claire asks.

    "It wasn''t worth it. I''d rather not be with a woman who doesn''t love me as much as I love her. I was satisfied with her just being there while she wasn''t satisfied by what I''ve shown.

    "Your mother, she said I should do this, she said I should do that, and the more I did them, the more she expected. I got exhausted and I didn''t want to live the rest of my life with her like that.

    "I admit, I became selfish, so I told her that if she really loves me, she wouldn''t have to make me go through hoops to prove what I feel." Gary says with a bit of a wince in his eyes.

    "Ooff." Claire hears Xiao Song interject. She looked at him and she saw him close his eyes and nods in sympathy.

    "We got divorced when you were 11? 12? How many divorces has your mom had since then? I realize now that it''s more her fault than mine." Gary continues.

    Claire becomes somber at the story.

    "Anyway, it''s in the past now. The reason why I spilled it out here is because I was triggered by Isaac''s opinion. Wanna hear what your mom told me that I still remember?" Gary asks rhetorically.

    "''Gary, why can''t you just show me what you show in your movies?'' I knew the difference between fantasy and reality. My fault lies in forcing her to realize that I''m just not my film characters. That not any man in real life can be as romantic as what''s in fantasy." Gary concludes.

    "It''s so ingrained in your culture that I can''t believe it." Tayaw gets back in the conversation.

    "I''m not married, but from what I''ve seen in my country, successful marriage and relationsh.i.p.s are not a fairy tale. It''s about two people, deciding to live life together, through suffering and in health, finding happiness together. But if one side, whether it''s the man or the woman, cannot provide happiness to their partners after doing the best they can do, then there''s a problem with that. I''m not saying that Romance entertainment is the only problem that causes 50% divorce rates here in America, but it contributes substantially to the culture that causes it." Tayaw says.

    "¡­ I have to agree with Isaac. Regarding marriage lives of Americans, at least. Us British are maybe as ¡­ Pragmatic as Teungebians. Still, we love a good romance film." Helena says.

    "So do Teungebians but we love action and sports movies more. We do have unrealistic movies about martial arts and combat sports, but at least it doesn''t do nearly as much damage as romantic films in culture. Thank goodness for that." Tayaw chuckles.

    "I guess that''s why gay couples are happier¡­" Xiao Song comments, which made Gary almost spit his coffee.

    "Hah! Good one!" Gary is amused.

    "True. There are not that many gay movies, are there? And the few that are out there, the gay community hate them for being caricatures or being unrealistic. Good for them." Tayaw chuckles.

    "Good for the gay people. Us lesbians couples are miserable." Helena jokes. This gives another round of laughter at the table.

    Despite the jokes of her companions that closed the subject, Claire is not laughing. Her father''s words, Tayaw''s exaggerated but probable take, and Xiao Song''s silent agreement, gets her thinking deeply about the genre.

    "Oh. By the way, are you considering casting anyone now?" Tayaw asks the two directors.

    "Oh. I''m a sure cast. I''ve studied the acting in your film and I think I can do it." Claire says confidently.

    Tayaw nods. Claire after all is not only a good actress, in the traditional acting sense, she is also the daughter of one of Hollywood''s best directors.

    "Don''t be so sure, dear. You''re the number one on the list for now because I haven''t seen others'' take on your character yet." Gary chuckles.

    Claire''s confident smile quickly crumbles at the comment.

    "Wow¡­" Tayaw meanwhile, cannot believe that Gary will not easily cast even his own daughter.

    "Come on dad. I get why you didn''t cast me in any of your films before, but you''ve seen what I can do. You saw me practice!" Claire says, indignant.

    "Alright. Alright. I was just joking." Gary says.

    "Don''t take him seriously. He just wants you to work for free." Xiao Song suddenly says.

    "What?! IS that true?" Claire cannot believe it.

    "Now. Why would you say that?" Gary is dumbfounded at Xiao Song''s lie.

    "Heh. Payback for that game of pool." Xiao Song smugly smiles. Claire and Gary both sigh in relief.

    "About the casting. How''d you do it for September Ninth? You''re the first one who made use of the acting style. How''d you even find the actors?" Gary asks.

    Xiao Song also has the same curiosity.

    "I thought you saw my interview on TV? I explained it there." Tayaw replies.

    "Well. Comedic actors. Yeah. But I thought you were just messing around." Xiao Song asks.

    "I wasn''t. They''re sketch comedy actors, to be exact." Tayaw says.

    "Huh¡­ Why them?" Gary asks.

    "Because they are experienced performers and their acting requirements are not strict, as long as they can make the crowd laugh and immersed at the sketch." Tayaw starts.

    "At first, I actually wanted to hire regular people but they have no experience memorizing scripts and other actor stuff, so I had no time to train them." Tayaw says.

    "Regular people huh.. Why?" Xiao Song asks.

    "Because they have no habits that I do not prefer. But after consideration, I decided that sketch comedy actors are a better bet." Tayaw says.

    "What habits?" Claire asks, becoming self-conscious.

    "You know actors, they have that actor ''flair''. That actor ''stance''. I don''t like it." Tayaw says.

    Claire listening to Tayaw''s explanation is a bit offended especially because Tayaw seems unreasonable and is not clarifying more.

    "What flair? What stance?" She asks.

    "You know. The way they deliver their lines all dramatic and sh*t. The way they stand all with their back straight looking like they have sticks up their asses. Or, they stand in that stance, like they''re gonna fight." Tayaw says.

    "PUhahahaha!" Gary bursts out in laughter.

    "Yeah! After studying your film, I think I know what you''re talking about! Hahaha!" Xiao Song also loses it.

    "What are you guys talking about?" Helena asks, not following the conversation. This settles down Gary and Xiao Song.

    "It''s like this." Tayaw begins, taking the attention of his new acquaintances.

    "Claire, you said you practiced and read on it, right?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah?"

    "Act out your favorite line in the book. In the style of ''September Ninth'', if you will, please?" Tayaw orders.

    "Okay." Claire stands up from her chair, not minding the other people in the coffee shop. Being an actress, she already flushed out her shame long ago as long as it involves acting.

    "/I''m Sorry! This mess has been all my own fault. I was bringing to Ronny to somewhere that I shouldn''t have. I brought him to that cave thinking: he must be feeling the same? I''ve bared all! Tenderness, affection, personal intercourse. I admit, it was entitlement on my part to expect what I wanted... It''s not your fault, Ronny./"

    Claire delivers the line perfectly, had she been on a stage play. The clear articulation, the confident body language, they are very attractive to listen to and look at. Tayaw however shakes his head. While Tayaw is pleasantly surprised at the surprisingly grounded interpretation of the character from a traditional actress, it still wasn''t enough for Tayaw.

    The part that Claire acted out is from a courtroom setting.

    Claire''s character falsely accused another character of s.e.x.u.a.l misconduct. Because of her character''s weak mental state from the trauma of the Australian wild, she was convinced by her friends to sue Ronny, the male character, for his fortune. Ronny, being also traumatized adding to his indignation, is looking very vulnerable during the legal proceeding. His pitiful appearance in the court pulled out every single shred of guilt out of Claire''s character, leading her to confess.

    The reason why Tayaw is not impressed is because he did not see enough guilt in Claire''s display that her character should be feeling. She also did not address the male character properly. Claire also addressed more the audience, and did not spare some attention on an imaginary Ronny.

    Claire, after delivering her lines smoothly, smiles that she nailed it. She looks at Tayaw for feedback.

    "Was it¡­" Claire then notices Tayaw''s unimpressed expression. "Not good, huh?" Claire says in confusion, her confidence quickly evaporating.

    Tayaw shakes his head.

    "It was good. For the conventional film. But if you want to act in the film you guys want, you have to take a different approach." Tayaw says.

    "How do I do that?" Claire asks.

    "A more¡­ grounded emotional investment to your character." Tayaw tries to articulate.

    "Huh?" Claire''s mind spins.

    "I don''t have time to try and explain to you right now¡­" Tayaw says, to the disappointment of Claire, Gary and Xiao Song.

    "But, I can show you a bit of what I would have wanted. I wouldn''t be showing you this, but now that I''m investing, let me help a bit with the acting." Tayaw says, which gets the actress and the two directors excited again.

 Chapter 169 - A Demonstration

    "Okay. Helena, have you memorized the line just now?" Tayaw asks Helena suddenly.

    "W-what?" Helena is caught off-guard that she is suddenly involved.

    "I''ve written it. I didn''t memorize it, but I''m familiar enough." Helena answers after recovering.

    "Alright. May I invite you outside for a moment?" Tayaw asks Helena.

    "We''ll come back in say¡­ 20 minutes. I know you can spare the time." Tayaw says to the other three.

    "You''re not kidding¡­" Helena says in realization.

    "I''m not. Do this for the film, yeah?" Tayaw says, his benevolent smile disarming Helena''s apprehension.

    "O-kay." Helena can only follow, her curiosity intensifying at the proceedings. The other three can only watch as Helena and Tayaw walk out of the shop.

    "Okay¡­ What do you want?" Helena asks as her and Tayaw arrive at the parking lot.

    "I want to show you how Claire is supposed to act. Hell, if you''re a natural in acting, you might even replace Claire. Hehe." Tayaw says. "

    Alright¡­" Helena says, skeptical.

    "Okay. You''ve written her character well, judging from the dialogue alone. So, I want you to remember, as clearly as you can, what you felt while you were writing it." Tayaw starts¡­

    o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

    Salisbury, Connecticut - 7 PM Local

    "Hey Nathan. Good evening." Bryan enters Nathan''s living room, in the small bungalow that Nathan recently bought and moved in to.

    "Hey. What''s up?" Nathan greets his manager while half his attention is on his television.

    "Nothing. Why are you in here anyways?" Bryan says, referring to the town where Nathan is spending his time recently.

    "What? It''s not a bad place. It''s a small town, but it''s just as quiet as Calabasas." Nathan says.

    "Hm. I''m guessing they don''t know you, then? That''s good." Bryan says as he joins Nathan on the couch.

    "Oh, they know me, alright. But they respect my privacy." Nathan explains.

    "Hmm. Cool... I''m actually glad you moved out of LA." Bryan nods.

    "I didn''t realize how toxic that place really is." Nathan shakes his head.

    "Your therapist''s recommendation?" Bryan asks.

    "Yeah. He''s honest enough to want me out of there, unlike the other therapists that want to squeeze me dry." Nathan nods.

    "Well why didn''t you just move back in with your parents?" Bryan suggests.

    "Nah. I need some time alone. I didn''t realize how my family changed." Nathan shakes his head. Bryan understands and he figures it is not his place to ask more.

    "So, you''re still on that?" Bryan asks, changing the subject, pointing out what Nathan is watching.

    "Yeah. Okay. I can''t focus that you''re talking." Nathan says suddenly.

    "Well, I''m sorry man." Bryan brushes the rude comment aside.

    "Nah. I need a break anyways." Nathan says, exaggeratingly stretching his body on his couch before standing up. .

    "Want a drink?" Nathan asks as he heads to his kitchen.

    "Sparkling water. Do you have it?" Bryan asks.

    "That''s so LA. I''ll just give you a Sprite." Nathan says.

    "Hm. I guess you''re learning stuff? You''ve been watching this since its DVD was released." Bryan asks as Nathan rejoins him.

    "Yeah. I hope I''m more suited to this type of acting. And, it''s even more fun." Nathan says as he skillfully rewinds the DVD like he''s done many times before.

    "That''s good. Well, I heard that your acting coach quit on you?" Bryan asks.

    "Yeah. He was in panic when he did. He''s doing the same as what I''m doing right now." Nathan chuckles.

    "Hmm. Same thing I''ve heard from the others agents'' actors." Bryan says.

    "What do you mean?" Nathan asks.

    "Well, some of the acting coaches have recently closed their studios. I even spotted a few of them together one time. You know how they''re like classic martial artists who have their own ''styles''. Hanging out together is un-f.u.c.kin-thinkable." Bryan explains.

    "Hmm. That explains it." Nathan nods.

    "Oh, right. I heard from other managers and agents¡­ You''re not the only actor trying to learn this. In fact, I think that many of them are already way ahead of you as they saw it first in Sorrento." Bryan reports.

    "That''s¡­ concerning. Well, I''m more marketable than most of them at least." Nathan shrugs.

    "Hnh. True¡­" Bryan scoffs at Nathan''s advantage.

    "By the way. I think I can learn this too. Hehe." Bryan comments.

    "I thought it was easy too. But¡­" Nathan shakes his head as he sips his drink.

    "But?" Bryan says.

    "Well, my coach said it''s not as simple as it looks. He says that non-actors can be great extras, but the leading roles need to have more skill. I''m starting to see it too..." Nathan says.

    "Really." Bryan tilts his head, interested.

    "Yeah. Alright, take a look at this ¡­" Nathan fast forwards the film to a scene before playing it.

    /"WHYYY??!! I JUST WANT TO LEAVE!! *Sob* I just¡­ want to f*ckin leave..." Steven collapses on his knees right at the edge of a cliff."/

    "Can you do that? The pain seems real. The voice cracking... Damn." Nathan asks.

    "Hah. F*ck no." Bryan realizes immediately what Nathan is saying.

    "Heh. I tried copying it, taping myself, but something''s off." Nathan says.

    "Oh. This one too." Nathan rewinds the dvd once again.

    "/*riiingggg* *SMASH* Steven smashes his keyboard on his boss'' head./"

    "Well, he''s just angry." Bryan found the scene less impressive than the crying scene.

    "Look again¡­ Here. The build up of anger in his face. That''s hard to make it believable. I don''t even know what the actor is thinking on this scene." Nathan comments.

    "Let me see that again¡­ Oh. Yeah. It feels real." Bryan says.

    "Yeah¡­ If the boss stopped ranting, then Steven might not have erupted like that." Nathan agrees.

    "Well. That''s what the director wanted us to see, but you know, how about the takes? How many times did this actor need to get it right?" Bryan brings up a good point.

    "Hmm. Actors can only have so many takes. But you''re right. I''m curious though how many takes this guy needed." Nathan says.

    With that, the two became silent as they continue to re-watch the scenes in the film again. Bryan though, gets quickly bored and many thoughts are now plaguing his mind, including Nathan''s recent change.

    "Man¡­ You''re really taking this acting stuff seriously now, huh." Bryan looks at Nathan in a new light.

    "It''s fckin interesting, is all." Nathan feels embarrassed at the comment.

    Before his emotional breakdown, Nathan was never concerned to perform and work more than what he was asked. Now, Bryan sees in Nathan an obsessive and focused drive that he only saw in a few men.

    o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

    Las Vegas ¨C a coffee shop

    "Oh. Here they are." Xiao Song says as he sees Helena and Tayaw enter the coffee shop once again.

    Him and the other two have been waiting patiently and in anticipation. The three then sees Tayaw whisper something to Helena to which Helena nods at. Tayaw then proceeds to the table beside the group''s and sits, wearing a sad expression. They then see Helena approach their table, her appearance looking a bit different to what she looked like prior. They get to have a closer look once Helena returns to her seat. Helena''s shoulders are downcast, looking as if she has no energy to even smile.

    "/I''m Sorry!/" Helena suddenly says loudly as she stands up, surprising Gary, Claire, and Xiao Song.

    "/This¡­ This mess has been all my own fault./" Helena''s energy returns back down and she looks down on the floor, showing a convincing degree of guilt.

    "/I was bringing to Ronny to somewhere that I shouldn''t have. I brought him to that cave thinking: he must be feeling the same?/" Helena looks at the three as if she is explaining to them.

    "/ I''ve bared all! Tenderness, affection, personal intercourse. I admit, it was entitlement on my part to expect what I wanted.../" Helena then looks at Tayaw, the three also looks at him.

    "/None of this was your fault, Ronny. I''m sorry./" Helena concludes her line, her voice even breaking.

    Gary, Xiao Song, and Claire processes Helena''s portrayal and immediately saw the difference. They are feeling as if what they just seen is not from a novel, or a portrayal of an actress, but is something that occurred in front of their eyes real-time, in real life.

    "And¡­ scene!" Tayaw takes the four''s attention back. Helena on the other hand, sighs in relief and is back to herself, but still affected by the emotions of her character that Tayaw forced her to display.

    "Feels a bit lacking, but that''s the gist of it." Tayaw tells the group as he joins them again at their table.

    "Good Lord. Thank goodness, it''s over." Helena says, grabbing a napkin on the table before wiping her sweat with it. Gary and Xiao Song are now looking at Helena as if they are meeting her again for the first time.

    "Hey! Not fair! You helped her!" Claire exclaims, her pride hurt, feeling jealous at Helena''s display, feeling threatened that her role is to be usurped.

    "Hey. Come on. She''s not an actress." Tayaw raises his palms to Claire in defense.

    "And, it''s not easy for her either. Sorry about that, by the way, Helena." Tayaw apologizes. After all, he said some words that might have affected Helena, just to play the character better.

    "Uhuh. I don''t want to go through that again. That was just one scene. Good luck playing the role, Claire." Helena says, unknowingly erasing Claire''s concern.

    "How''d you make her do that, by the way?" Xiao Song asks.

    "Mostly her. She had a very close attachment to her character. She treats her character like a real person, so I tried making her, her character. Claire, if you can achieve that attachment to the character, your portrayal will be more convincing." Tayaw says.

    "How do I even do that?" Claire asks, frustrated.

    "Don''t think of acting. You shouldn''t be an actress playing the part of Mia.  Instead, become Mia. Helena already wrote a good part of her identity in her novel. Imagine growing up like Mia, imagine experiencing what she experienced and why she just had to go to Australia." Tayaw says.

    Claire can only try hard to interpret Tayaw''s words.

    "Hmmm. Become Mia. Write that down, honey." Gary tells Claire.

    "Thank you." Claire tells Tayaw.

    "Damn. The screenplay is already a problem. I can''t even think how we will cast the other characters." Xiao Song sighs.

 Chapter 170 - A Busy Christmas Break

    December 16, 2012 ¨C Sunday 8 P.M ¨C Half Basin Studios, South Ouigab

    "Man does he ever sleep?" Luca whispers to his cast mates as they approach Tayaw''s mobile office just outside the warehouse.

    The final shooting of the year finally wrapped up just a couple of minutes ago but the lights in Tayaw''s office / trailer are still on.

    "F*ck. I don''t know. I was worried for the guy at first, but he always looks great. Must be the age." Warren replies.

    "Nah. It must be the genes, man. He''s been too busy to work out, but he''s still ripped. I don''t remember having the time to work out during busy days when I was his age." Frank shakes his head.

    "Whatever. Let''s go say hi and bye." Luca says.

    *Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

    "Who is it?" The trio hear Tayaw yell from the inside.

    "Luca." Luca simply responses.

    "Come in." and with that, they open the trailer''s door to enter.

    The first thing they notice after entering is what seems to be what Tayaw is doing.

    "Hey¡­ uhh. Music?" Frank asks as he points at Tayaw''s synthesizer and the headphones that Tayaw is wearing.

    "Yeah. For the soundtrack." Tayaw says as he turns off the keyboard and removes his headphones.

    "I forgot that you''re a musician." Frank says.

    "Mm. You wrote the songs in ''September Ninth'' too, right?" Luca asks.

    "Yeah¡­ Anyways, while I''m pleased with y''all checkin in, I thought y''all are on your way to the airport right now?" Tayaw asks.

    "Hah. We just want to say goodbye or something. By the way, we''ve still got plenty of time before Christmas. Why are you sending us home early by the way?" Warren asks.

    "Well, I forgot that there''s this thing Americans call ''Thanksgiving''. This is to compensate for that." Tayaw says.

    This clears up the three''s unanswered question.

    "That''s generous." Luca says, flattered by the sentiment.

    "Thank you. We didn''t say anything then because we saw that Teungeb don''t have it." Warren nods.

    "Hm. Anyways, can you guys spare me 15 minutes or so?" Tayaw asks them suddenly.

    "Yeah. We''ve got time. I, personally, can spare more than just a few minutes." Luca says.

    Warren is not impressed at Luca''s blatant ass kissing.

    "We''ll be taking off next Wednesday anyway, so I''ve got time to spare before then." Warren says, riding on Luca''s comment.

    "Can I listen to the soundtrack, though?" Frank, on the other hand, is clueless at the invisible competition among his two cast mates.

    "That''s exactly why I''m asking Frank. Alright. Take a listen, fellas. Close your eyes please, I need your concentrations." Tayaw says as he fiddles with his laptop.

    The speakers in the trailer soon starts to produce orchestral music. The music is made of sounds from the timpani, cellos, and string bass. The cellos are playing their baritone the melodies while the timpani and bass keeps their foundation. The song is expressing sad but desperate emotions. The three actors'' who were at first hesitant for staying late, are now listening seriously. They are gradually getting immersed in the music and the emotions it is forcing them to feel.

    The music soon ends, and the three actors open their eyes as they take deep breaths.

    "It''s¡­ sad." Warren nods. The two other actors also nod in agreement.

    "Unlike the song in ''September Ninth'', this doesn''t have a lyric. But it''s great." Frank says.

    "Okay. These are all electronic sounds, not real instruments, so it''s not the final version. But, just looking at your faces, I guess it''s a good start." Tayaw says in gratitude.

    "Where does this come in the movie though?" Luca asks.

    "This will be in the latter part of the second movie. This piece will play in the death scene of your character, Frank." Tayaw says.

    Tayaw''s words gives Frank a mixture of emotions inside and he becomes silent.

    A few seconds later. "I know my character''s dying, so I was okay. This though, man. Thanks. Looks like I''m going out with an impact." Frank chuckles.

    "Mm. Your character''s death, after all, is a turning point and is very important in the third film." Tayaw says.

    "Okay. How about this." Tayaw starts introducing the rest of the songs he made for the second film of the trilogy.

    Twenty or so minutes later, *knock* *knock* Tayaw and the actors are interrupted by another knock on the door.

    "Oh. She''s here." Tayaw suddenly says to the trio.

    Tayaw''s words brought various but similar ideas to the actors'' heads; ''Isaac has a girlfriend.''

    Their assumption however is shattered when Tayaw let two people in.

    A Teungebian man in his 30s, assisting a blind Teungebian woman in her 30s.

    "Fellas. This is Shereen and her husband Navi. Shereen is consulting for the film." Tayaw says.

    "Nice to meet you." The three actors introduce themselves to the couple.

    "Alright. They said pleasure to meet you guys." Tayaw translates for them.

    "Okay. Looks like your day isn''t over yet, huh?" Luca asks on behalf of his group.

    "Yeah. Anyways. See you guys on¡­ January. Enjoy the sights of Nabla before you go, huh? You guys haven''t had the time." Tayaw tells them.

    "Exactly why we''ll be leaving on Wednesday instead of tomorrow." Luca smiles. And with that, the three actors left the trailer.

    "I''ll be outside too. Honey? Call when you need something." Navi also excuses himself, trusting Tayaw with Shereen''s care.

    Every night in the past few days, Navi witnessed the boring work his wife is doing for Tayaw.

    "Alright. Thanks for bringing Shereen over." Tayaw says, handing Navi a few BGC bills.

    "Thanks man." Navi also silently accepts the bills, not wanting Shereen to find out.

    The two men''s carefulness in their exchange is for naught as Shereen is busy assembling her braille electronics for taking notes. After Navi left the trailer, Tayaw and Shereen are now ready for work.

    "Are you ready?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah." Shereen says, excited.

    "Okay. Taking from where we left off yesterday, it was when the main character first arrives in America, right?" Tayaw asks.

    "Correct. Were everything okay?" Shereen asks.

    "Yeah. Have a listen." Tayaw says and hands Shereen her headphones.

    Tayaw in the past few months of carefully studying the films he got from the Giant Roulette, has realized a subtle but glaring absence of an important matter in ''September Ninth'' that he intends to fix with the films he is currently making. The sound design.

    In comparison to the films of the Giant Roulette, ''September Ninth'' and perhaps every other film in his world, are too noisy. The ambient and background sounds are too noisy and unnecessary. Tayaw figures that it would have been okay for the sound design to be as natural as possible until he realizes that sound design is a great tool that can be used to direct the attention of the viewers just as much as the visuals of a film.

    Tayaw knows that a director''s job is to direct the attention of the audience, and using sounds is essential for it. For example, in ''September Ninth'', when the main character smashed the keyboard on his boss'' head, Tayaw went for the natural sound of the keyboard smashing, and the best he did to make the impact greater is to make everyone in the office shut up during the shoot. After Tayaw has learned more, he figured that the surprise would have been more impactful if the ambient sound is almost silent and the keyboard a lot louder and more explosive like a bomb.

    In his learning process, and its application, Tayaw seek the help of the first blind person he can find, which is Shereen. Shereen, who lost her sight at a very early age, has almost forgot what it was like to use her eyes.  With her blindness, she learned to filter out other sounds and focus on the sounds that is important or unusual. Such skill is exactly what Tayaw figured he needs to hasten his learning process for his film on how to play with the sounds; which sounds to include in the film and which sounds are unnecessary.

    "This is good, I think. But it can be better. The chatter of the other immigrants in the boat are a given, so they can be quieter. The voice of the ship''s captain, giving directions, though, can be a lot louder. If I was the character, that''s what I''d be paying attention to." Shereen advises.

    "Okay. I''ll do that." Tayaw nods and he begins to take notes.

    "Okay. Here''s the gist of the part we''re going to work on tonight. The main character, and his mother are now living in New York. I want to keep the young Giovanni''s interest in his surroundings and his learning of English." Tayaw says.

    "Okay. Play it." Shereen nods and begins listening with focus.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    3 AM ¨C East Hamptons, New York

    "Sir¡­SIR!" A woman is shaking Sylvio awake.

    "What? What?" Sylvio is annoyed that his sleep is disturbed, it also did not take long for his wife to wake up.

    "It''s Don Gonzalo. He was rushed to the hospital." The maid reports.

    "What?!" Sylvio''s stomach sank at the news.

    "How is he? Where did they go?" Sylvio asks.

    "I don''t know sir. His personal nurse just called in. They''re on their way to the hospital now." The maid reports as she hands Sylvio thick clothes to wear she already prepared.

    "Alright. Call Bennie immediately." Sylvio says.

    "He''s already waiting in the car." The maid says.

    A few minutes later, Sylvio, Juliana, Delfina, and some Coniglio men, are now all gathered in the intensive care unit of South Hampton Hospital.

    "You! How is he?" Sylvio orders Kayla who just came out of Gonzalo''s room.

    "Sir. Don Gonzalo suffered a heart attack while he was sleeping. We revived him on the way here, but he''s still unconscious." Kayla reports immediately.

    "What on earth happened?..." Sylvio can only ask, not knowing what to do.

    "This¡­" Kayla hesitates, hiding her guilt.

    "According to the doctor, because of his damaged kidneys, it released excess chemicals in his body that affected his heart." Kayla says. Gonzalo''s family processes Kayla''s words.

    Right after Kayla''s report, a doctor also comes out of Gonzalo''s room.

    "How is he?" Sylvio asks.

    "His heart is stable for now, but he is in a coma. The best-case scenario is that if the patient wakes up within 72 hours, he has a great chance of recovery. However, because of his chronic kidney problems, we can only hope and pray¡­ If he doesn''t wake up in two or three days, then his brain might never recover, and might never wake up again." The doctor reports, stoically.

    Delfina shakes her head at the situation in helplessness.

    "Wait¡­ Chronic?" Sylvio asks.

    "Yeah. From the blood tests, we figured that his kidneys have been weak for at least 6 months now. You didn''t know?" The doctor asks.

    "No¡­" Sylvio answers in confusion.

    "That''s strange. It was very well managed, what happened is inevitable. Not even a transplant would have been helpful since he won''t survive a surgery in his age." The doctor says as he rubs his chin. The doctor''s words make Sylvio, Delfina, and Juliana turn their heads towards Kayla.

    "Why didn''t you tell us?!" Juliana bursts out in anger and gets in Kayla''s face.

    "¡­ Don Gonzalo stopped me from saying." Kayla confesses immediately.

    "You!." Juliana is about to get violent, but Sylvio''s men stopped her.

    "Juliana¡­" Sylvio shakes his head.

    "Knowing my father, he asked, maybe even forced this poor lady to keep it a secret." Delfina consoles her daughter.

    Despite Delfina and Sylvio understanding the situation, they decide to give Kayla the cold shoulder. They felt betrayed.

    Unlike Juliana, Delfina and Sylvio already had an inkling of Gonzalo''s deteriorating condition. They were quick to realize that Gonzalo, since the beginning of the year, has gradually increased his reliance on a wheelchair and cannabis. They only did not take it seriously as Gonzalo manipulated their perception by dropping subtle comments like ''Ooh. My knees'' or ''Too bad I''m too old for knee replacement.''

    "I''m sorry. I should have told you all." Kayla says, trying to stop herself from crying out of guilt.

 Chapter 171 - Editing

    December 22, 2012 ¨C Saturday, 7 am ¨C Half Basin Studios, South Ouigab

    In Tayaw''s office, all lights are off and the only light source is coming from Tayaw''s laptop screen. Tayaw is currently watching his latest edit for the first movie of Gonzalo''s film trilogy.

    [[[Screen shows a mid-angle shot of two trench coat-clad men, one skinny, the other with a large frame, standing in front of Giovanni, the sound of crickets and the breeze in the background.

    "You can only blame your mother for this." The skinny man says, through an over the shoulder shot.

    "Is there really no way out of this?" Giovanni asks, also shown through an over the shoulder shot.

    "Sorry, kid. I like you, but it''s over." The large man replies, also shown through an over the shoulder shot.

    "It''s my last night anyways, so I want the truth. My mother, was it also you two?" Giovanni asks, through an over the shoulder shot between the two men.

    "It wasn''t us. But you''re right. You deserve the truth, after all you''ve done for us." The large man is heard saying.

    "It was the family. It was Don Orsini who ordered it." The skinny man is also heard but not shown, the shot still staying on Giovanni.

    The screen then switches to a close-up shot of Giovanni''s face, for a reaction shot. After wearing a face of realization and hurt, Giovanni then shakes his head. The camera zooms out a bit, pans quickly down to show Giovanni twitch his left sleeve before a small pistol falls to his palms.

    Then, a quick and drastic zoom out to show an over the shoulder shot of Giovanni, from behind the two men''s perspective, raising his gun towards the direction of the two men. The camera angle changes to a mid-angle shot to show Giovanni *POP* *POP* shoot the two men right on their heads.

    The two men *Plop* *Plop* then fall to the ground, disappearing from the screen. The mid-angle quickly switches to a wide-angle shot with weeds obstructing some of the view, to show Giovanni step towards the bodies of the two men and *POP* *POP* shoots them again for certainty.

    The screen shifts to a high-angle shot view of the two bodies with Giovanni standing over them, while the sounds, except for the crickets, fades.]]]

    [[[¡­ Screen shows Giovanni in poorly lit room, only a weak incandescent bulb, and the candle on Giovanni''s table being the sources of light, a sombre cello music subtly playing in the background.

    The middle angle shot shows Giovanni leaning down on the table, writing something. The frame then switches to a close-up shot of table to show Giovanni''s pen writing down on a piece of paper, and beside the piece of paper is a newspaper that shows a headline reading ''The Japs attack! 1500 Dead in Pearl Harbor!''

    The frame once again shifts to a mid to close-angle shot of Giovanni facing the camera. Giovanni''s voice then enters, reciting what he is writing.

    "Dear friends. Antonio Orsini, my biological father has decided to betray my trust and tried to take my life. I am hoping that he will not come after you too¡­"

    While the voice of Giovanni is narrating, the screen switches to the next day. Giovanni, with but a rucksack on his back, is seen walking to a huge ship on the docks, his head low, his face covered by his lowered hat.

    "My friends, I am leaving New York to a place Antonio would not even think I will go."

    While Giovanni''s narration continues, Giovanni stops walking in front of something. The shot switches to an over the shoulder angle, from Giovanni''s perspective, showing a poster of a mustached man, wearing a general''s hat, pointing at whoever is looking. There is also a print on the poster saying ''Your Country Needs You.''

    "One day, when I''m ready, or if I am even alive then, I will come back for you."

    Giovanni''s narration continues as the shot switches to a wide-angle shot of Giovanni''s entire back figure, walking to what now is apparently, a military ship, with soldiers in uniform at the entrance ushering people in.

    Giovanni then joins and blends in and disappears among the stream of crowd that are also heading towards the ship. The screen fades to black.

    "Until then¡­ farewell." Giovanni''s narration concludes. Orchestral music starts playing dramatically as the credits roll.]

    "Phew.... Alright. One more time." Tayaw pumps himself up as he replays his final edit for one last time, in 4x speed this time.

    While the film is playing the parts he is already satisfied with, he takes out a ceramic jar and a thin sheet of paper from a nearby drawer. He takes out ground leaves from the ceramic jar and lays them out on the thin sheet of paper. Shortly after, he rolls it and lights it up like a cigarette. He takes a drag of the calming smoke and focuses on the screen once again.

    Unlike the most common use of ''grass'', Tayaw is using a CBD based strain which does not make one ''high''. It has relaxation and anxiety reducing effects that he needs very much. With his enhanced senses and mind, the stress he is experiencing is multiplied compared to what it could have been if he was still a normal human who is experiencing stress with normal brain and senses. Three months of non-stop working with minimum sleep, which would have been impossible for a normal human, also adds to his burn-out.

    So having suffered enough from the discomfort, he finally resorts to the ''grass'' to loosen his shoulders and neck muscles, reducing his anxiety. He could have resorted to the tablet forms of CBD, but the ritual of smoking gives him an additional feeling of relaxation.

    (Author''s Warning: smoking anything is harmful to health. Even weed can burn lung tissues. Also, people under age 25, due to some part of the brain not having reached its full maturation, have ten times higher risks to being addicted to nicotine, alcohol, and other recreational substances.)

    In addition to the relaxing effect, the ''grass'' drowning out his anxiety also allows Tayaw to focus a bit better. And focus is exactly what Tayaw needs in the final steps of editing.

    "PHe." The quick replay of the film finally ends and Tayaw sighs in relief. While there are kinks he found which he found would require re-shooting or even re-writing to fix, Tayaw figures that the average viewer would fail to spot them anyway. The effort to fix them is also very high compared to the small improvements it will give.

    "That''s the best I can do, I guess." Tayaw says as he presses something in his laptop. The laptop then heats up as it burns the final cut of the film into a digital reel.

    After finishing another stick of cannabis, Tayaw slacks down on his chair. He pulls a lever from under the chair and it transforms into a reclining chair, allowing for a full-body support for him to lie down on. He closes his eyes as he feels his body relax even further now that he no longer has to worry about the first film.

    "I''ll see you later when I wake up." Tayaw tells his computer.

    Before he can fall asleep however, *ZZMMMMMMMMM* Tayaw is hit with an odd feeling. He feels as if his body is being electrocuted, only not painful and not deadly, but energizing instead. Tayaw basks in the feeling until it faded. Unlike his state before, he now feels like he just woke up from a good long sleep.

    "I guess it''s good enough movie for you, huh?" Tayaw smiles as he asks something or someone that will never answer.

    "Thanks, nice to know."

    The enhancement he just received is much greater than any enhancement he had from his songs. One ''third - level enhancement'' he received from one of his best original songs is but a fraction of what he just received after finishing the movie.

    "Note to self: fourth level enhancement exists. I wonder how many days I can stay up now without sleep." Tayaw says as he sits back up again. His fatigue now gone, he does not want to waste time any further and opens the footages he shot for the second film to start early editing.

    As to why he is anxious to continue working, it is simply because he no longer has works in active sale. ''September Ninth'' is already off the theaters both in Teungeb and internationally by the end of October.

    The sales of ''The Halfling'' and has also reached saturation long ago and only sold two hundred thousand copies worldwide in the month of November. Pirated electronic and physical copies also helped in contributing to the drop of sales in both ''The Halfling'' and ''Grimm''s Fairy Tales.''

    To prevent the same piracy that will inevitably happen to ''September Ninth'', Black Deer Pictures is now working double time to release the official DVD copies of it.

    A few minutes later, *BANG BANG BANG* Tayaw is interrupted from his work by an aggressive knocking on his office door. After opening the door, Tayaw is confused at who he saw.

    "Zwaro. What are you doing here?" Tayaw asks the man.

    Zwaro, is the leader of the group of Landopil Syndicate men he hired to flush out Kingbo''s gang back in Nacotu Village.

    "Come in. Come in." Tayaw gestures.

    "Thanks." Zwaro says and enters.

    "First off. Updates. After we''ve driven out Kingbo''s gang out of Nabla. I heard they''re now making rackets in Salgo Province. At least they''re less¡­ intense without Kingbo, who you crippled, by the way." Zwaro says.

    "Okay. I kinda figured that much. But haven''t you left Nacotu last October already?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah. But I''m actually here to pass a message to you. My boss from high up says that someone from Coniglio called in, I''m not sure." Zwaro says as he scratches his head like he is confused.

    "Oh? What''s up? Coniglio''s men could have just called me." Tayaw asks, confused too.

    "They said that you''re offline and that your American number is unreachable." Zwaro says.

    "Oh¡­" Tayaw nods in realization.

    Since he started editing a week ago, he practically locked himself up either inside his cabin in Nasiri Hill, or his office by his film studio''s warehouses, editing, composing, and designing sound.

    "So, what''s the message?" Tayaw asks.

    "I don''t know if this means anything. But they told me to tell you that ''The De Bacco in East Hamptons is shutting down. You are welcome to visit the location before it closes for good.''" Zwaro says in confusion.

    "That''s it?" Tayaw says, almost dumbfounded at the ''message''.

    "That''s it. They asked me to relay it word for word." Zwaro shrugs.

    "I see." Tayaw says as he recalls the message once more.

    "Hey. I didn''t know you are involved in fast food too. I thought y¡­" Zwaro''s voice fades in Tayaw''s attention as Tayaw is finally starting to figure out the message.

    De Bacco, is an Italian fast-food chain restaurant started by Sylvio Coniglio in the late 90s in New York. He named it after Gonzalo''s original birth surname. East Hamptons, being a neighborhood where some of the richest in New York live, will always be a good place for a De Bacco Restaurant branch to conduct business.

    Thinking about this, Tayaw figures that it makes no sense for a branch in a rich neighborhood to shut down. Aside from that, Tayaw never even knew that the fast-food chain has a branch in such a place with wealthy residents, so it makes no sense that the message is just about a closing branch.

    His second realization however, is giving Tayaw a sinking feeling in his stomach. The only ''De Bacco'' he knows in East Hamptons is Gonzalo, as Gonzalo lives in the East Hamptons. This makes Tayaw suspect that ''The De Bacco in East Hamptons is shutting down'' in the message likely means that Gonzalo probably is dying, but not dead yet.

    Whoever sent him the message, through Zwaro, is saying that they are also permitting Tayaw to visit the dying Gonzalo assuming from the part where they said ''You are welcome to visit the location before it shuts down for good.''

    "Hey man. You alright?" Tayaw is pulled out from his musings by Zwaro''s question.

    Zwaro noticed from Tayaw''s face that Tayaw is not taking the message very well, at all.

    "What? Oh. I''m good." Tayaw says, erasing any signs of emotion.

    "Wow. That restaurant might mean a lot to you huh." Zwaro says.

    "Yeah. I have some good memories with that restaurant." Tayaw says.

    "Oh. Okay. Anyways. That''s all. I''m gonna go. You seem to be very busy and I am too. It was nice seeing you." Zwaro then excuses himself.

    "Yeah. Nice to see you too." Tayaw says, but distracted. Seeing Tayaw''s state, Zwaro just shakes his head and leaves the office.

    Tayaw after being left alone, "F*ck." can only whisper as he packs things in a hurry.

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    WAIT! DON''T SCROLL DOWN YET! I HAVE A QUICK SURVEY. I just realized, I''m not getting a lot comments, and I have no problem with that. I''m just curious at the reader activity in my novel.

    So, To the readers who have read chapters 168 to this current one, in the past two or  three days days, please leave an ''AYE'' to the comment section. Thanks guys.

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    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Chapter 172 - Meeting Gonzalo Again

    December 22, 2012 ¨C Saturday 10 PM ¨C East Hamptons, NY ¨C South Hampton Hospital

    Tayaw drove non-stop to Kangpan International Airport and booked the first flight available to New York. After just 37 hours since receiving the news about Gonzalo, Tayaw is now in front of the hospital Juliana directed him to. He also barely used any time stopping by his house in Jericho to grab his home theater stuff.

    "Hello. How do I get to room I ¨C 503?" Tayaw steps in the hospital lobby and asks the receptionist immediately.

    "I-503? That''s a suite room in the intensive care unit. Take that elevator over there to the third floor. Then, take the bridge to the next building, from there, take two floors up and the room is in there." The receptionist quickly spews, influenced by Tayaw''s hurrying behavior.

    "Thanks." Tayaw says and quickly runs away to the elevator''s direction.

    The receptionist, realizing she just exposed the location of what seems like a high-status patient, waves to the guard immediately. Before the guard can react, Tayaw already disappeared from the lobby, taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

    Tayaw soon arrives in the intensive care unit and it does not take him long to realize which one is Gonzalo''s room, judging by a few men in suits guarding the room''s door, in addition to what looks to be nurses on standby sitting on the bench outside the door.

    Tayaw also sees a familiar pretty face, waiting for him by the door.

    The guards are about to stop him from approaching the room because of the suspicious things that he is carrying, but Juliana stops the guards from doing so.

    "Juliana. How is Don Gonzalo?" Tayaw asks Juliana immediately.

    Juliana, looking as if she has not slept well for a few days, simply smiles bitterly and embraces Tayaw.

    "He''s not awake yet." Juliana says.

    Tayaw then notices one of the guards who have been listening, almost shake his head before stopping himself.

    While he was on his way to New York, Tayaw has hoped that Gonzalo, while being in critical condition, is still conscious. Realizing the contrast between Juliana''s optimistic response, and the guard''s bitter and disagreeing expression, Tayaw''s hopes comes crashing down. The sound of what seems to be a breathing machine he can hear from inside the room is also adding negativity to the already bad news.

    "Let''s pray he will wake up soon." Tayaw consoles Juliana and pats her back with a hypnotic rhythm.

    "Yeah¡­" Juliana breaks away from the hug.

    "Let''s go in. Dad and uncle are inside, mom just left to get some sleep." Juliana offers.

    This makes Tayaw anxious once again.

    "Nah. Maybe later in the evening." Tayaw says, hoping to step into the room while Sylvio is not around.

    "It''s already late. Why later?" Juliana asks, confused.

    "Maybe when they''re asleep. I don''t want to disturb them." Tayaw shakes his head.

    In actuality, he does not want to face Sylvio or Delfina. He made a promise but he fell short.

    "No. Come inside. Dad and Uncle already knows you''re coming." Juliana grabs Tayaw''s arm, while the guard opens the door for them.

    She was about to drag Tayaw inside the room, but clueless about Tayaw''s strength, she almost topples from the unexpected force fighting her.

    "Okay. You''re strong. I get it. But please, get the hell in." Juliana says, her patience running thin.

    Looking at Juliana, Tayaw braces himself and nods.

    Entering the fancy hospital suite that almost looks like a hotel, Tayaw immediately notices the unconscious Gonzalo, lying on a bed encased in a room of glass, with various machines hooked to him. One machine has blood flowing in its tubes, and one machine looks like it is pumping air, assisting Gonzalo''s breathing. Inside the glass cage, there is also a nurse wearing what looks like surgical outfit, accompanying and monitoring Gonzalo.

    Tayaw looking at Gonzalo''s condition, cannot help but feel bad. He has only known Gonzalo for a few months and they had limited interaction, but by making a film based on Gonzalo''s life, Tayaw feels like he has become closer to Gonzalo.

    "Tayaw, my boy. You''re here." Sylvio greets Tayaw.

    Tayaw sees Sylvio with Luis Sabbatini, Juliana''s father, sitting down, playing cards with each other at the wooden table in the room.

    "Don Sylvio, Mr. Sabattini. I''m here to pay respects to Don Gonzalo." Tayaw says.

    "Go ahead. Change into a gown like that nurse is wearing, wear a mask, and wear some gloves. Knock on the glass and the nurse can assist you." Sylvio instructs.

    After changing, Tayaw is inside the Gonzalo''s glass room.

    "Call me immediately if the machines start beeping weirdly." The nurse tells him.

    "Okay." Tayaw says and with that, the nurse leaves to give Tayaw privacy.

    "*sigh* Hello sir. Good evening. It''s me,  Tayaw¡­" Tayaw starts talking.

    Meanwhile, outside, Juliana, Luis and Sylvio are watching Tayaw''s actions.

    "That''s the kid?" Luis asks.

    "Yeah." Sylvio simply nods.

    "He has good manners. I get why Uncle Gonzalo set him up with you." Luis tells Juliana.

    Juliana only nods, smiling subtly.

    "How come you two didn''t work out?" Sylvio asks.

    "He''s too busy and he has a different¡­ philosophy. Long story." Juliana says, not bothering to explain.

    "Hmm. Anyways. Juliana, dear. Please go home. You don''t look so good. Would you really like your grandpa to see you like that?" Luis finally says. Juliana shakes her head.

    "Okay." She obliges with her father''s request.

    After Juliana left the room, "Ah. As a father, I would love it if her and that kid worked out¡­ Just looking at him, he looks like a good kid ¡­ seems smart too." Luis says.

    "Heh. Not as good and as smart as you think. I had to clean up his mess in Teungeb a few months ago." Sylvio nit-picks on Tayaw playfully.

    "What mess?" Luis asks in curiosity.

    "He went on a rampage on some small town thugs¡­ I''ll tell you about it later. He looks like he''s done speaking with father." Sylvio points at Tayaw who just stood up from his chair and is now about to take off his protective clothes.

    After Tayaw ''talked'' to Gonzalo, he finally steps out of the glass room, the nurse going back in.

    "Tayaw, join us." Sylvio offers and Tayaw obliges.

    "Looks like you really rushed here huh. You still have your bags." Sylvio comments on the oddly shaped bags Tayaw entered in the suite with.

    "Oh. No, I picked these up on my way here." Tayaw stands up once again and brings his bags for the two men to see.

    "These are my stuff in my personal mini-cinema theater. I was hoping to show what I''ve finished so far to Don Gonzalo but¡­" Tayaw looks at Gonzalo and then looks away shaking his head.

    "It''s worse than I thought."

    "Yeah. Juliana does not want to accept it yet." Luis shakes his head.

    "How bad is it? When is he going to wake up?" Tayaw asks.

    "He won''t. Every day that passed, the chances drastically fell. Now that his brain is gone, we will need a miracle." Luis says.

    "Hm. We''re thinking of pulling the plug anytime in the next few days after the preparations for his funeral are ready. He might be suffering in there, so it''s better to end it soon. I''m also pretty sure that he must have wanted to just go peacefully and would have hated it that he was brought here." Sylvio says.

    "I''m sorry." Tayaw can only say.

    "Sorry for what, kid? It''s life. Me and my sister are already thankful that he lasted as long as he did." Sylvio says.

    "What do you mean, sir?" Tayaw asks, finding more meaning in Sylvio''s words.

    "Well. He was already sick even before you met him. He just didn''t tell us. Knowing him though, I know why he hid it from us." Sylvio says.

    "Worried about his family til the end. It''s just like him." Luis says.

    Seeing as Sylvio seems to be managing well, Tayaw is a bit more relieved.

    "Anyway. I just feel sorry, and guilty. I feel like I''ve failed Don Gonzalo. If only I worked faster, I would have at least shown him a part of my promise." Tayaw says as he sinks deeper in his chair.

    "Heh. Think of it this way, I don''t think father cared that much about your film anyway. Don''t beat yourself up." Sylvio says.

    Despite the borderline harsh comment, Tayaw somehow feels a bit consoled by it.

    "Well, why don''t you show us? The doctor said that it might be possible that father can still hear things around him." Sylvio says, feeling a bit of a pity for Tayaw as he knew, from his ''eyes'' around New York, how hard Tayaw worked and researched for the movie.

    Tayaw, on the other hand, looking as if he received a recharge from Sylvio''s comment, stands up quickly and proceeds to set up the projector, speakers, and the projector screen.

    While Tayaw is halfway setting up, he suddenly stops.

    "Don''t you gentlemen need some sleep? This will be almost two hours long." Tayaw asks, in consideration for the two men''s time.

    "It''s fine kid. Lately we''ve been sleeping in late and getting up late." Luis says.

    "Alright. I''ll be done setting up shortly." Tayaw says.

    "While I haven''t seen your script, I bet my father had not problems with it, right?" Sylvio asks.

    "He doesn''t. I showed him the script last July. Or was it August? Anyway, he said he liked it." Tayaw explains as he finishes the set-up.

    "Alright. This film only covers Don Gonzalo''s early life in New York until right before he served in World War 2." Tayaw introduces the film before pressing a button in his laptop.

    -----------

    Two hours later.

    [[[After Giovanni exchanged gun fires with his pursuers, he was able to successfully escape and is now hiding safely in his safehouse.

    He is currently writing a letter in poorly lit room; only a weak incandescent bulb, and the candle on Giovanni''s table being the sources of light. Giovanni''s voice enters, narrating what he is writing.

    "Dear friends. Don Antonio Orsini, my biological father has decided to betray my trust and tried to take my life. I am hoping that he will not come after you too¡­" While the voice of Giovanni is narrating, he is shown walking under the glare of the sun.

    Giovanni, with but a rucksack on his back, is seen walking to a huge ship on the docks, his head low, his face covered by his lowered hat.

    "My friends, I am leaving New York to a place Antonio would not even think I will go." Giovanni''s narration continues as Giovanni stops walking in front of a poster of a mustached man, wearing a general''s hat, pointing at whoever is looking as if saying ''Your Country Needs You.''

    "One day, when I''m ready, or if I am even alive then, I will come back for you." Giovanni''s narration continues as continues walking to the ship.

    As Giovanni blends in with the crowd who all seems to have the same destination as him, the screen fades to black. "Until then, farewell." Giovanni''s voice concludes. Orchestral music starts playing dramatically and the credits roll.]

    Tayaw then turns off the projector and silently waits for feedback. Sylvio and Luis are still sitting silently, making Tayaw anxious.

    "Hmm. Heh." Luis chuckles.

    "Yeah." Sylvio nods as well.

    The two, being childhood friends, know what each other is thinking. Both are impressed by what they just watched.

    "Growing up¡­" Sylvio pours a refill of whiskey in both his and Luis'' glass.

    "I''ve listened to father''s stories both from him and his men. Now, looking at it this way, is another experience. You''ve brought his stories back to life." Sylvio says before taking a sip of the amber goodness from his glass.

    Tayaw sighs in relief at this.

    "Great job kid. Even though you changed the names, and maybe even made up some of the parts, they are still believable as Gonzalo''s story." Luis agrees.

    He too has heard some of the same stories that Sylvio heard growing up, and he too, like Sylvio, knows who Gonzalo is as a person.

    "I''m glad to hear you like it." Tayaw says in gratitude.

    "Mm. You don''t have to feel bad anymore. You''ve done great." Luis says consoling the guilty-looking Tayaw.

    While Tayaw disagrees, he only smiles, for courtesy.

    "How many more movies before you tell father''s entire story?" Sylvio asks.

    "Two more, Don Sylvio." Tayaw says.

    "Two more. Good. Father deserves no less than three for his story be told." Sylvio nods.

    "Yes. It would have been a disappointment if you tell his stories in a single film. Uncle''s long and rich life being told in one film is honestly quite disrespectful." Luis says.

    "Thank you." Tayaw does not know what else to say.

    "Alright. Stay in New York for a while for the funeral, will you? My friends and their children are attending. I can''t wait to have them watch this." Sylvio smiles.

    "Sure thing, Don Sylvio." Tayaw is now relieved at Sylvio''s reaction to his film. Unlike what he expected, Sylvio is not disappointed in him.

    "The younger generation is forgetting how great of a man uncle really is. Retelling his story like this, I think uncle really will be immortalized." Luis clinks his glass with Sylvio.

    "I like the sound of that." Sylvio says as he and Luis down their glass.

 Chapter 173 - The Academy Announces

    January 14, 2013 ¨C Monday, 4 am ¨C Okuba, Nabla Province

    "Are you really leaving at this hour?" Kilat asks Tayaw as the family step out of the house to the front yard.

    "Yeah. I''ve already held up the filming for a week now. The actors are waiting at the film studio." Tayaw says.

    "He''s right. He''s been here for more than a week now. You know Tayaw, it''s rare for him to stay here this long." Liboo scoffs, defending Tayaw and also busting his balls at the same time.

    "Don''t be like that, Dad. After I''m done with the two films left, I''ll need to rest." Tayaw said.

    "Ooh¡­ Honey, you know Tayaw can''t sit on his ass for long." Liboo teases Tayaw again.

    "Whatever dad. I''m going now." Tayaw shakes his head as he is indeed thinking of not taking a break for long.

    Tayaw spent his Christmas and New Years days in New York, standing by in Gonzalo''s villa in East Hampton during Gonzalo''s wake and funeral. As he does not want any other film professional to touch his film, Tayaw himself manned the screening of the film for Sylvio''s friends and their children.

    The wake and the funeral were not as somber as Tayaw thought. It was rather celebratory and there was even a stage set-up in the lawn for people to recall their first-hand stories about Gonzalo to whoever wants to listen. The number of people who shared their anecdotes alone gave no opportunity for the Gonzalo''s wake to become boring and sad. The only quieter part of the villa is its huge study where Sylvio allocated for the non-stop screening of Tayaw''s film.

    Tayaw having not spent Christmas and New Year with his family, had to compensate for it by staying in Okuba, spending fun time with his parents and brothers.

    "Heh. You know I''m just playing around. You''re a grown up now so, you do you. I''m rather thankful that you''re still spending time with us despite your busy schedule." Liboo says, finally bidding Tayaw goodbye.

    "I just can''t believe that you''re already your own man. I thought we had a few more years to baby you." Kilat says.

    "Uh.. mom. You say that to me every year." Tayaw shakes his head.

    "HEY! Are we leaving or not?!" Payew suddenly calls out to Tayaw, sticking his head out from the window of his shiny green Jeep. Payew also spent a long weekend in Okuba.

    "You''re going! You''re going!" Kilat yells at Payew.

    "Sorry!" Payew retreats his head inside his vehicle immediately.

    "I''ll call." Tayaw says and with that, he hops to his pick-up truck.

    Payew and Tayaw start their engines and Tayaw leads the drive. Payew being a less experienced driver compared to Tayaw, it is safer for him to tail Tayaw in a dark early morning drive.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    8 AM ¨C West Ouigab

    *Ding* *Dong* *Deng*

    "Hey! Welcome! Welcome!" Chala welcomes Jouny, Ongki, Uranto, Iliene, and Nielg to his home.

    "Shit. Nice place, man." Nielg says, looking around immediately in Chala''s living room from the doorway.

    "It''s wide. Like you own half the floor." Uranto says.

    "I know right? Thankfully, Chala offered his home. Our home is messy so we can''t hang around there." Jouny says.

    "Anyways. Drinks on the fridge in the kitchen. Take-out food on the dining table." Chala shortly introduces his place and the food he is serving.

    "Euh, I can''t eat anything right now. I need a beer." Iliene says as she walks to Chala''s kitchen immediately.

    "Grab me one." Uranto says.

    "I''ll help. We need 10! 10 cans!" Nielg follows Iliene for assistance.

    "Beer at this hour. Good lord. Anyways. Take a seat everyone." Chala leads the three others to the couch which is facing his huge 55-inch LED TV.

    "Did we miss it?" Ongki says looking at the on-going broadcast of ''Jenny Goldman Show''.

    "Nah. This show reserved a segment for the live announcement." Chala says.

    "Cool. Where''s Tayaw by the way?" Jouny asks, expecting Tayaw to be around.

    "Ah¡­ he''s busy. He said he''s preparing because the filming''s resuming tomorrow." Chala says.

    "Ah. That''s right." Jouny says.

    "What are you guys talking about?" Nielg and Iliene joins them, each carrying a tray with cans of beer.

    "Nothing. I just thought Tayaw would be here too." Jouny says.

    "Ah. I get the reason why he didn''t see the announcement of Golden Globes. But this is Academy Awards man, I thought he''d at least be excited..... Heh. Nice TV man. It''s almost as tall as Iliene." Nielg says.

    "Hehe." Chala only chuckles at Nielg''s comment.

    Chala invited Tayaw two days ago to see the announcement of the Academy Award nominees together with the group, but what he got instead is ranting.

    "Speaking of Tayaw. Jouny, how''s that learning from Tayaw going?" Iliene asks.

    "Going great. But I can''t keep up at all. Y''all know how he works." Jouny says.

    "Eugh. I remember, alright." Uranto chuckles.

    "Yeah. Compared to my show, Tayaw''s process was like military training." Nielg says.

    "True that." Iliene says and opens a can of beer.

    "I actually expected to miss out a lot but he''s actually teaching me a lot." Jouny says, remembering being moved by Tayaw''s gesture.

    "Oh. Tayaw also drew a thick f*ckin comic book for Jouny. He made a comic book for September Ninth." Ongki adds.

    This makes the three actors look at Ongki and Jouny.

    "Wait. That thing he references back then?" Uranto says.

    "Yeah. Only, he refined it. Wrote a LOT of footnotes and side notes on each image. I can''t even imagine the effort." Jouny shakes her head.

    "Wow¡­" Nielg shakes his head too.

    "Damn. He really made you an apprentice huh?" Iliene chuckles.

    "Yeah. It''s rather¡­ burdensome." Jouny says.

    "By the way. Jouny''s busy learning, Nielg and Iliene''s shows are doing well. I''m sorry to ask you this man, but you haven''t appeared in anything, Uranto." Chala asks.

    Uranto can only open a can of beer as a response.

    "He''s too picky." Nielg answers for him, which receives a raised brow from everyone except Uranto.

    "That''s true. But come on. I mean, the offers I got. I can''t. The shows and movies just want me to be Steven, again. Only with different names." Uranto shrugs.

    "Come on man. I''m a best friend again in my show. Iliene here is a leading lady in her upcoming movie, which is cool, but the same role. You''ll be Steven again, but at least you''re still a leading man, right?" Nielg asks.

    "Hmm. True. Maybe I''ll finally take the best script I received¡­ After I''m done with a cameo appearance, that is." Uranto says, casually revealing an interesting information for the people present.

    "What cameo?" Nielg asks, surprised as he is the one closest to Uranto, yet he had no idea. Chala, Ongki, and Iliene are also curious.

    "Tayaw''s film. Hehe." Uranto smiles smugly.

    "Daaamn¡­" Iliene is dumbfounded.

    "So that''s why you weren''t in Clambu. You were here all along." Nielg nods in realization.

    "Hehe." Jouny also chuckles.

    "Wait, you knew about this?" Nielg asks Jouny.

    "Yeah. I''ve seen the script. He''s gonna be on screen for only 5 minutes or so, but he is rather charismatic in those 5 minutes." Jouny says.

    "Yeah. It''s quite tough though. The lines are in English." Uranto says.

    "Fellas. Here it is." Chala interrupts the chat, pointing at the TV.

    The daytime talk show broadcast had changed into what looks like a broadcast of a press conference.

    "Turn it up." Jouny says, and Chala raises the volume.

    "Will we be nominated?" Iliene waits in anticipation.

    "You three except me got nominated in the Golden Globes. Worst case is just one of you will be nominated for an Academy." Nielg says, half-assuring Iliene.

    [[[*Music* "Hello everybody. Good morning, and welcome to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I''m Thomas Slater president of the Academy. This morning we will share the news we''ve all been waiting for! I''m very happy to be joined by one of last year''s best actress nominees, Ms. Charice Lander." Thomas begins introduces.

    "Thank you, Tom. Let''s get right to it. The 2012 nominees for Best Performance by an actress in a supporting role are Jessica Nobbs in ''Groom of The Year''. Merriam Brown in ''The Blue Rose''¡­" Charice starts enumerating immediately.]]]

    "This is your part, Iliene." Jouny says. "Okay." Iliene nods, focusing even more closely on the TV.

    [[["¡­ Jessica Harver in ''Dear Dearest''. Melissa Tomlinson in ''Without Fear''. Iliene Partros in ''September Ninth''¡­]]]

    "That''s you!" Nielg exclaims.

    "That''s me!!!" Iliene almost jumps out of the couch.

    "Yes!" Jouny starts clapping, which is followed by the rest for Iliene. They do not care about who else is nominated for the same award.

    [[["Congratulations to the nominees of Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Moving on, for the Best Performance by an actor in a Supporting Role. The nominees are¡­" Charice continues.]]]

    Meanwhile, Nielg focuses immediately hoping to get a nomination on a more prestigious award than the Golden Globes.

    [[["¡­ Kenneth Brandon in ''My Week With Mary''. John Withers in ''Stitches''. Nick McCarthy in ''Hard Ice''. Christoph Meyer in ''Fallen Memory''. And finally, Matt Von Shaft in ''Stitches''. Congratulations to the nominees of Best Actor in a Supporting Role." Charice concludes the part.]]]

    "Ahhh¡­ A shame." Nielg sighs.

    He does not have that much hope anyway, so he is not that disappointed.

    "It''s alright. They don''t recognize your skills yet." Chala says.

    "True. And Nielg has the shortest screen time in the film anyways, among the main actors." Jouny says. The two''s comments consoles Nielg.

    [[["Congratulations to the nominees of the Best Actress in a Leading Role. Here are the nominees for the Best Performance by an actor in a leading role... Damian Buchanan in ''Hard Ice''. George Corver in ''Fallen Memory''. Ellis Duncan in ''Mermaids and Sirens''. Jackson Rice in ''My Week with Mary''. Finally, Uranto Virenza in ''September Ninth''¡­ Congratulations."]]]

    "Yesss!" Uranto pumps his fist to the air.

    "F*ck yeah! But that''s expected." Nielg nods.

    "Congrats man." Ongki says.

    "Ooh. An international celebrity¡­" Chala teases.

    "Thanks guys." Uranto holds the side of his neck out of embarrassment.

    [[["Next up is the Best Achievement in Directing. Here are the nominees. Asher Green, ''Hard Ice''. Cory McFadden ''Fallen Memory''¡­ Isaac Yawat ''September Ninth''."]]]

    "Meh. No way he''s not winning." Chala shrugs.

    "Hehe." The rest chuckles at the comment; they agree as well.

    [[[Congratulations. For Best Original Screenplay, the nominees are:¡­]]]

    Ongki holds Jouny hand.

    [[["Polly Marsh, ''Mermaids and Sirens''. Asher Green, ''Hard Ice''. Harleen Novak ''Fallen Memory''. Joel Lu ''MVP For Hire''. Jouny Yalen ''September Ninth''.]]]

    "Phew¡­" Jouny smiles, sighing in relief giving Ongki a hug.

    "Congrats." Jouny receives hugs from the rest of the folks.

    "Congrats to you too guys. The world is finally recognizing your acting. A shame. Had the industry know how to appreciate it last May, you guys would have been nominated in Sorrento as well." Jouny says.

    "Thanks. There''s still next time though. Maybe when you direct your first film, you cast us. Then we''ll really show them." Nielg says, his sentiment shared by both Uranto and Iliene.

    [[["Those were the nominees for the best animated feature, congratulations." Charice concludes her part.

    "Finally, I''m pleased to announce that the films selected as Best Picture nominees for 2011 are: ¡­" Thomas takes over.]]]

    "Here we go guys." Chala says, increasing the anticipation.

    [[["''Hard Ice'', artist: Asher Green, producer: Samuel Black. ''Fallen Memory'', artist: Cory McFadden, producer: Vagner Studios. ''Stitches'', artist: Steff Rogers, producer: Tisney. ''My Week with Mary'', artist: Zac Jenkins, producer: Spire Pictures. Finally, ''September Ninth'', artist: Isaac Yawat, producer: Isaac Yawat. Congratulations to the nominees for Best Picture¡­ Congratulations again to all the nominees of this year''s Academy. Please join us on February 3 on ABC when we celebrate the magic of movies. Thank you." Thomas concludes the announcement.]]]

    "That''s to be expected. We won Sorrento." Jouny shrugs.

    "Yeah. So. Who''s gonna tell Tayaw the news?" Uranto asks.

    "I will." Chala volunteers.

 Chapter 174 - Juliana in Ouigab

    February 3, 2013 ¨C Sunday, 3 pm - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles ¨C Waldorf Astoria Hotel

    "So, is Tayaw gonna be here?" Nielg asks Uranto as he is being helped by a woman with some last fixes in his burgundy-colored suit, the color matching Nielg''s caramel-colored skin very well.

    Unlike the all dressed-up Nielg, Uranto is still in what looks like sleepwear.

    "Fck if I know. But the little I know of him, he probably won''t- ow.." Uranto winces, showing an annoyed face at the woman in front of him who has been plucking his eyebrows in the past two minutes.

    Nielg and Uranto are currently in their hotel room, preparing for the event later in the evening. The two Caucasian women assisting the actors, are the stylist and the make-up artist hired by Black Deer Pictures for the two men.

    "Sorry." The make-up artist says.

    She does not understand Teungebian, but she understands the universal word that is ''ow''.

    "Nielg, how do you say ''carefully'' in English?" Uranto asks.

    "It''s ''Carefully''." Nielg says, indirectly translating for Uranto.

    "Tell him, I''ll try." The make-up artist says.

    "She says she''ll try. But bear with it, man. It''s not that painful. Jeez." Nielg says.

    "Hnh." Uranto only grunts.

    "Wait. Knowing you, why does it annoy you so much? Huh? Nervous?" Nielg realizes something.

    "Huh. I guess." Uranto chuckles.

    "Ma''am, he says sorry. He''s just nervous." Nielg tells the make-up artist on behalf of Uranto.

    "Hey. I''m not¡­" Uranto was about to express before Nielg stops him.

    "Man, shut up. Bad rumors start from these small things." Nielg says.

    "Really? That bad?" Uranto says, skeptical.

    "Shit, yeah. This lady might be kind, maybe she''s not, but let''s be careful. We''re not just here for our POSSIBLE awards, but we''re Teungeb representatives here." Nielg says.

    "Oh¡­" Uranto realizes the additional meaning of them attending the Academy Awards.

    "Shit¡­ I didn''t need to hear that, man." Uranto says, feeling added pressure.

    "Oh¡­ Sorry. Haha. Hey, I''ll pass you a CBD pill later." Nielg says.

    "Do you have it with you now? Looks like I''ll really need it." Uranto sighs.

    "Later after you wash your face." Nielg says as his stylist is done with his suit.

    "Hey, how long are the ladies next door gonna be done?" Nielg asks the two women.

    o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

    "I love that film! So, you wrote it?" Jouny''s make-up artist asks.

    "Yep." Jouny says, almost rolling her eyes.

    The make-up artist is hired by Black Deer Pictures and Jouny figures that there is no way that the make-up artist does not know her identity.

    "You think you''ll win?" Jouny''s make-up artist asks.

    "Meh. I don''t think so. When have you heard a foreign film winning any awards here in America?" Jouny replies cynically.

    "Maybe they''ll make an exception. Your story is not only great, it also stands out. It''s on another level." The stylist, assisting Iliene on her dress, comments in.

    "Well, I can only hope." Jouny says.

    Iliene is wearing a velvet red dress that will match Uranto''s suit. It was only with the stylists'' help that Iliene and Uranto will not look like they are getting wed. Jouny on the other hand, is wearing a lady pant-suit, similar to her outfit in Sorrento, but this time, it is colored dark brown.

    "Hey. Jouny. Can you talk to me too?" Iliene jests, feeling a little left out as she is the only non-English speaker in the room.

    "Sure. I hope the boys next door won''t be waiting long for you." Jouny teases Iliene.

    "Hey. I don''t want to wear a dress. I wanna dress like you too. It''s just those folks from Black Deer Pictures. They got to my head." Iliene says.

    "Hmm. I get it though. I''m fine wearing this because I''m not an actress. Oh, and by the way? I''m pregnant. I won''t look good in a dress. But you, you need to look fancy to attract some attention. They might help you in case you wanna work in Hollywood." Jouny consoles.

    o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

    5pm ¨C The Beverly Theater

    "Welcome to the Red Carpet of the 2012 Academy Awards. I am Abbie Rogers and I will be with you for the broadcast of the Red Carpet and the events before the award show starts. You have just seen Remy Adler and Matthew Singer exit their car and are now heading our way to the photo shoot area. They are the first of tonight''s many stars to grace the red carpet before entering the venue ¡­" A female reporter from a certain network, dressed in a simple but great looking blue dress, is seen talking to her film crew two or so meters away from the red carpet.

    She and her crew are one of the few who are allowed by the event managers to take camp right in front of the photoshoot area of the red carpet. These film crews and reporters got the privilege being from America''s biggest TV networks.

    "Hi Matt! Can we talk to you?" Abbie calls out to Matthew after him and Remy had their photos taken.

    Matthew however only smiles and nods apologetically at the reporter as he escorts Remy inside the building.

    "Too bad." Abie utters.

    Celebrities avoiding interviews are a common sight in these events. Reporters also deal with rejection all the time so Matthew''s action did not hurt the reporter''s feelings.

    A couple more celebrities and industry professionals subsequently walked the carpet. Some of them stopped by for photos, while most did not even acknowledge the photo area. Many of these attendees are working behind the scenes of the industry and they are unrecognizable to industry outsiders.

    Some of the attendees who stopped by for photos however, were humbled. One example are two actors, attending the event together, when they stepped for photos, only two cameras flashed out of the hundred or so cameras operated by the seventy or so photographers.

    The way these red-carpets work, is that the least recognizable goes in the building first and the most famous ones enter later, within the hour prior to the start of the award show.

    A couple more minutes later, two actors, one male, one female, steps into the photo area. The two, being fairly well-known, are blinded by the cameras flashing at the same time and the couple can only try and look as if their eyes are not sensitive. "Patrick! Layla! Here!" in addition to the camera flashes, the yells of the photographers are also adding to the sensory overload suffered by the two.

    "Patrick! Layla! Can we have a word?" Abbie calls out to the two actors after their photos were taken.

    Patrick whispers something to Layla and Layla whispers something back. After their exchange, the two parts ways and they approach different reporters. Patrick, approaching Abbie, and Layla approaching another reporter from a different network.

    "Hey Patrick! How''s it going?" The Abbie starts the on-the-spot interview.

    "Great! A little buzzed. But I feel great!" Patrick enthusiastically answers.

    "Well, it''s nice seeing you here three years in a row." Abbie says.

    "Oh yeah. I got lucky again this year, I guess." Patrick says.

    "Although you have no nominations this year, ''Mermaids and Sirens'' is nominated for best picture, can you talk about that?" The reporter allows Patrick to promote his film.

    "Yeah. Polly did great writing and directing. I had a great time working with Ellis too. I hope he wins Best Actor." Patrick gladly takes the opportunity.

    As the two talk, they are suddenly overwhelmed by the photographers yelling again at whoever it is that stepped in the photo area. Patrick and Abbie, used to the occurrence, got closer in each other''s faces to hear each other better. Before they try to continue their interview however, their attention is taken by the names being yelled out by the photographers and other reporters.

    "Uranto! Here!" "Iliene! Here!" "Here!"

    Patrick and Abbie exchange glance, and they have a silent understanding to pause the interview and instead observe Uranto and Iliene. Photos soon were taken and the yelling stops once again.

    "Man. That was ¡­ intense." Patrick says to Abbie as they watch Uranto and Iliene, tailed by who looks to be their interpreter, approach a reporting crew for interviews.

    "Yeah. Strong competition this year?" Abbie asks.

    "Yeah. I''m a fan of them. Isaac too, their director. But, they are the ones to beat this year." Patrick says.

    Abbie on the other hand, is trying hard to look like she does not want to kick Patrick aside to get an interview from Uranto or Iliene. Figuring however that she might not get the chance to interview the Teungebians, she continues the interview with Patrick.

    "What did you think of them when they skipped the Golden Globes? Not one of the cast or the director even accepted their awards in person." Abbie, with her reporter instincts, digs for a scoop.

    Patrick however, is disappointed at the potentially dangerous question especially coming from a reporter he thought he is in good terms with.

    "It wasn''t a big deal. They''re not Americans so I think they''ve only heard of the Academy Awards, not the Golden Globes." Patrick answers safely while wanting to get out of the interview immediately in case Abbie asks something else.

    "Hey. Nice to see you again, Abbie. I''m gonna go say hi to them." Patrick found a perfect excuse and excuses himself.

    "Yeah. Good luck tonight!" Abbie gives Patrick a polite hug.

    Patrick then approaches Uranto and Iliene. He sighs in relief as he gets in their space just in time for Uranto and Iliene''s interpreter to translate whatever answer Uranto just gave, to the reporter. This gives him the chance to interrupt. While Patrick used Uranto and Iliene as an excuse, he is in fact had become a fan of the two, especially Uranto after he studied their acting in September Ninth.

    "Hello. Uranto! Iliene! Big fan." Patrick greets Uranto and Iliene. "Thank you." "Thank you." Uranto and Iliene understands enough with their English proficiency.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    3 PM local time ¨C Half Basin Studios, South Ouigab

    *Click* *Click* Juliana is taking a selfie by the old cars in the warehouse. Before she can move on to take a look at other props, she is interrupted by a young Teungebian lady.

    "Miss? Can I help you? I''m a production assistant here." The young lady introduces herself.

    The PA, familiar with all the Caucasian, East Asian, and African faces in the cast and crew, is curious at the unfamiliar face.

    "Nah. Just hanging out." Juliana says, presenting a visitor''s pass hanging on her neck.

    "Hmm. Okay¡­" The PA tilts her head out of confusion.

    "Are you one of the actresses?" The PA asks, assuming from Juliana''s pretty face.

    "No. I''m a friend of someone who works here. I''m waiting for him." Juliana says.

    "Oh¡­ Well, can I help you still? A coffee? A snack?" The PA offers.

    "No thanks." Juliana says.

    *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *Rat-at-at-at*

    The two, and the others in the warehouse, hear gun shots coming from inside on of the domes in the warehouse.

    "What the f.u.c.k was that?!" Juliana exclaims in surprise as she looks for cover behind the prop cars.

    "Phew¡­ That''s hard to get used to¡­" The PA, who was also startled at the sounds, sighs.

    Juliana looks around the people in the warehouse and they are acting like the gunshots were normal.

    "What''s happening inside?" Juliana asks.

    "They''re shooting gunfights or something. We''re not really allowed to take a look. They''ve been at it for days now." The PA reports.

    Juliana then sees three men, in janitor''s uniforms, approach hurriedly the huge doors of the dome, dragging their trolley that contain buckets, mops, and towels. Juliana would have overlooked the men had she not noticed blood spatters on the men''s uniform.

    "What the hell¡­" Juliana can only mutter.

    "Yeah. At first, we felt bad for them. But they look like they''re having fun cleaning though. It''s weird. Those gunshots are like a bell to them." The PA says.

    Juliana looks closer and is bothered by the janitors smiling and chatting with each other casually as if blood is not on their uniforms.

    "Those¡­ Those can''t be animal blood, right?" Juliana asks.

    "No. We thought so too until we saw one of the prop guys mix something up in a bucket and, voila, fake blood." The PA explains.

    "huh. It looks real." Juliana nods.

 Chapter 175 - Academy Awards (1)

    (Cont''d)

    The dome''s door soon opens and the janitors enter. As soon as the janitors walk in, groups of people also filter out. Juliana notes the average looking people she assumes as the Teungebian crew. Her interest is piqued once again when a group of Caucasian men, some of them having their vintage costumes soaked or smeared in blood, walk out of the dome with disgusted expressions on their faces. Juliana then sees the actors be flocked by a crowd of people that promptly assists them out of their costumes or helping them wipe the grime.

    "Oh that''s the boss man!" The PA excitedly points at Tayaw, also exiting the dome.

    "Can I disturb him? He looks really busy." Juliana says as she sees that Tayaw is also approached by a few people.

    "I think you can. He only comes out when he takes a break." The PA says, dragging Juliana to Tayaw.

    A minute later, Tayaw brings Juliana to his office.

    "Please, have a sit Juliana." Tayaw gestures Juliana to a comfortable looking chair.

    "Huh. It looks better inside. I can''t believe we''re in a mish mash of cargo... shipping container... whatever it''s called." Juliana says as she looks around the well-organized office.

    "Hm. This is the best I can do for what I''ve got, heh. I''m gonna build my own office after this is over." Tayaw says as he sits down too.

    "So¡­ What brings you here?" Tayaw asks, not used to a foreign friend visiting his town.

    "What? I can''t visit a friend?" Juliana says.

    Tayaw only stares at Juliana at the answer. Juliana, not being able to withstand the questioning stare, looks away from Tayaw''s eyes.

    "When I left, you weren''t exactly¡­ yourself. How are you doing?" Tayaw asks.

    Juliana scoffs.

    "I''m fine. Still dealing with it, but I''m feeling better. Your film helped, by the way." Juliana says.

    "Mhm." Tayaw brushes aside the comment on his film.

    "Well, I''m glad to see you better now." Tayaw sincerely says.

    "Thanks. Anyways. I''m gonna play around here for a while. I''ve been in Teungeb a few times but I''ve never visited these parts." Juliana says.

    Tayaw seeing no signs of deception from Juliana, simply nods.

    "That''s great. Our tourist spots here are not as visited by foreigners compared to the ones at the south and our beaches, but there sure are some great views up here in the mountains." Tayaw advertises.

    "Yeah. I already hired a personal tour guide and interpreter." Juliana says, excitement in her face.

    "Wait. Wait a minute. I thought you''d be busy? Weren''t you juggling some development projects just last September?" Tayaw asks, remembering Juliana''s job.

    "Hey. I''m doing fine, but I''m not there 100% yet. I need to get away from New York for a while." Juliana says in honesty.

    "Oh, I see. I''m sorry." Tayaw can only apologize at his potential lack of empathy.

    "It''s fine." Juliana says.

    "By the way. Why did it sound like there was war back there?" Juliana asks in interest.

    "Oh. That. You know the story when Don Gonzalo his men were once ambushed by the Russian, Jewish, and Italian mobs in Vegas in the late ''50s?" Tayaw asks. "Yeah? That''s in the movie?! Wait." Juliana asks, excitedly.

    "Yeah. It''s a lot of fun to shoot, but the most difficult scene to shoot so far. I''ve even hired some science nuts and fireworks people just to make illusions that show bullets hitting." Tayaw says.

    "Hmm. Wait.. Isn''t that when my grandpa died?" Juliana says, her interest deepening.

    "Yeah. Your grandpa on your father''s side. Yes. This is a very important part of the movie. Don Gonzalo does not want Rocco Sabattini to be forgotten." Tayaw explains. This gives Juliana a round of nostalgia and melancholy.

    "Okay. Can I watch?" Juliana says.

    "Sure. Let''s go. They might be done cleaning up now. The actors are also strapped up." Tayaw says in estimation.

    "Strapped up for what?" Juliana asks as they start their way back to the warehouse.

    "You''ll see. Maybe you can even play with them before they go back in storage. You''ll experience the illusion of getting shot." Tayaw says.

    "I¡­ I can''t wait." Juliana says.

    While she is apprehensive at the grimy state of the actors earlier, her curiosity drowns her apprehension.

    "Hm. You''re gonna need a shower after. Speaking of a place to shower, which fancy hotel are you staying?" Tayaw asks.

    Juliana can only scoff as she indeed is staying at the best hotel Ouigab can offer.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    8PM ¨C The Beverly Theater, Los Angeles

    The four representatives of September Ninth are now sitting on their assigned seats in the theater.

    "Nice meeting you..." Jouny and the group said to the nth person that approached their table to say hi.

    "Okay. That guy." Uranto says to Iliene after the person left.

    "Yeah. You recognize him?" Iliene asks.

    "No. Do you?" Uranto asks.

    "Yeah. I''ve seen him in that movie last year." Iliene.

    "Ugh. Okay. What''s the score?" Uranto asks.

    "7, me. 3, you." Iliene says smugly.

    "Damn."

    Uranto and Iliene are playing their ''I know that celebrity'' game they just came up with earlier in the evening. Unlike Jouny and Nielg whose jobs it is to speak for the group, Uranto and Iliene who cannot speak English are exhausted using their interpreter to talk to people. This resulted to the two of them being more carefree than their two friends.

    *VVRRRRRUUUOMMM*

    Suddenly, the award attendees are interrupted from their chatter and socializing when a drum roll from a timpani starts blasting. Music starts playing from the orchestra behind the stage which signals the award attendees that the show is about to start.

    "Ladies and Gentlemen! Archie Lane!" A voice soon follows and reverberates throughout the theater.

    A Caucasian man in his 40s, who is apparently Archie walks out from the backstage and after waving to random people, he steps on the podium.

    "Welcome everyone to the 67th annual Academy Awards, live from The Beverly Theater. To the viewers at home, you might know me as an actor and a singer. I''m Archie Lane, your host tonight.

    "It is an honor to be here in a room full of the biggest and most important names in show business. The people in this room, provide entertainment that we need in our hardest times through the art of film. I guess that deserves an applause?" Archie begins his speech

    ---

    "ughh. Patting themselves in the back." Jouny, through her fake smile, and fake applause, says to Iliene beside her, as she listens to the applause of the award attendees.

    "What?" Iliene can only ask in confusion as she blindly follows the influence of the crowd.

    ---

    After a few more words from Archie, everyone is now ready for the first award. Archie introduces the first presenter who will announce the nominees, and ultimately, the winner of the Best Supporting Actress Award.

    The first presenter, some actress, enters the stage and greets the crowd after stepping on the podium.

    "The best actress in the supporting role is ¡­" The presenter introduces the meaning of the first award. After a few more words from her, she proceeds to finally announce the nominees. Each nominee she introduces is shown live in the huge screen just beside the stage, side-by-side with their best scenes in their movie. "¡­ Iliene Partros, ''September Ninth''." The presenter concludes the list.

    Iliene, looking at herself in the screen looking at the screen, is giving an odd feeling to her.

    "Hey, just nod and don''t find the camera." Nielg instructs, which saves Iliene from looking awkward.

    The screen display is then split six-way among the six nominees.

    "And the Academy Award goes to¡­" The presenter then opens her envelope and reads it for herself.

    There was however, a split-second shock on her face and her body language, her ''taken aback'' reaction is seen clearly by the attendees nearest the stage. This adds another intense anticipation by the crowd.

    "Merriam Brown, ''The Blue Rose''!" The crowd took two or so seconds to process the name of the winner before *APPLAUSE* giving an applause. The applause however is awkward at first before intensifying on a full out applause.

    "Congratulations Merriam, please receive your award." The presenter invites Merriam on stage.

    "Ah¡­ A shame." Iliene, finally processing the proceedings, applauds for Merriam too despite feeling a bit disappointed.

    "Yeah¡­" Her companions too are feeling the same.

    "Thank you. Thank you. I-I can''t believe this¡­ Oh¡­ I can''t believe this." Merriam meanwhile can barely gather herself as she looks at the gold statue in her hand.

    "I first want to thank the Academy for acknowledging my work¡­" Merriam''s  tearful speech moves the award show along.

    Half an hour later, the Best Supporting Actress, the Best Actress and the Best Supporting Actor Academy Awards are finally given to their recipients. Now, the presenter for the Best Actor has taken the podium, with the customary envelope in his hands. Uranto and his group are now waiting again in anticipation.

    "Hello. I am Maury McCray. It''s an honor to present this year''s Academy Award for the Best Actor in a Leading Role. Here are the nominees. Damian Buchanan in ''Hard Ice''. George Corver in ''Fallen Memory''. Ellis Duncan in ''Mermaids and Sirens''. Jackson Rice in ''My Week with Mary''. Uranto Virenza in ''September Ninth''¡­" Maury cited the nominees.

    "The Academy Award goes to¡­" Maury pauses as he gracefully opens the envelope and takes a look. The audience sees Maury''s face freeze for a moment while suddenly holding his diaphragm as if minorly shocked at what he is looking at.

    "Damien Buchanan, ''Hard Ice''. Congratulations!" Maury announced theatrically, yet awkwardly.

    The announcement is met with awkward applause from the audience, before quickly evolving into a genuine sounding clamor. Damien is shown in the huge screen standing up dully as if receiving a great shock. He is pulled out from his state by the people beside him and the people from neighboring seats by giving him gestures of congratulations. After the short celebration with his group, he proceeds to walk briskly towards the stage.

    "Wow¡­ Just¡­ Wow." Nielg mirthlessly comments as he claps his hands for Damien.

    "Sorry, Uranto." Iliene says.

    "It''s alright. At least I got nominated." Uranto says, hiding his disappointment from the cameras.

    "Heh. I won''t take it to heart if I were you, Uranto." Jouny chuckles, her oddly non-serious reaction getting the attention of her mates. Jouny, seeing her friends'' questioning stares, just shrugs.

    "These awards are won with the help of marketing and politics. We didn''t market, we didn''t do politics. It had nothing to do with your acting ability. A nomination is enough to prove that you deserved that statue." Jouny says.

    This hugely consoles Uranto and Iliene.

    "Why are we even here?" Nielg chuckles at the situation.

    "It''s for you guys to get more recognition from Americans. We''re here for you guys'' publicity." Jouny says, parroting Tayaw''s words.

    Jouny also asked the same question that Nielg asked to Tayaw a few weeks ago when she found out how Golden Globes and the Academy Awards work. The answer Jouny gave Nielg is the same one that Tayaw gave her.

    Uranto, Iliene, and Nielg, with Jouny''s explanation are now feeling much lighter and are now more predisposed to enjoy the show more.

    "These next few awards, I think really deserve their awards. I think these awards don''t really bother politicking at all." Jouny says as she looks at her invitation where the list of awards is written.

    The awards that Jouny is referring to are the best adapted screenplay, best animated feature, and the best foreign language film.

    "Congratulations again to ''As Long as I Wait'' for winning the Best Animated Feature. I will receive this award on behalf of the artists as they cannot make it tonight." The presenter says as he steps off the podium.

    "Here it is¡­" Nielg says to his group as the next award involves them.

    "Thiago Ponzo" The award show''s announcer announces.

    Thiago Ponzo, a Brazilian actor is to present the next award.

    "Good Evening. I am Thiago Ponzo, here to present the Academy Award for the Foreign Language Film." Thiago begins in a heavily Portuguese accented English.

    "Here are the nominees. ''Signora del Mare'', Italy, directed by Eugenio Insigne. ''Sous La Lune'', France, directed by Armand Bassot. ''Dirtball Diary'', Taiwan, directed by Huang Nianzu. ''September Ninth'', Teungeb, directed by Isaac Yawat. ''Schatz'', Germany, directed by Timm Egner." Thiago cites.

    He then opens his envelope and a genuine smile blooms in his face as he reads it.

    "''September Ninth'', TEUNGEB! Isaac Yawat!" Thiago announces gladly to the audience.

    The audience immediately gives a loud round of applause and cheers to the announcement.

 Chapter 176 - Academy Awards (2)

    The theater''s camera pans to Jouny and friends and they are shown in the huge screen.

    "What do we do?" Uranto asks, not knowing how to react.

    "Up! Stand up! Let''s go up on that stage." Nielg says excitedly, his urging made his friends stand up.

    "Jouny! Let me help you." Uranto offers to Jouny.

    "I''m fine! Let''s just go." Jouny says, smiling widely.

    The group then receive high fives and nods from the people they pass on the way to the stage.

    The group soon reach the stage but they do not have an idea what to do. It is not until Thiago hands over the Academy Award statue to Nielg that the group starts to regain their bearings.

    "Who''s gonna talk?" Uranto asks.

    "Jouny?" Nielg asks.

    "You! You''re holding the statue! Quick! We have limited time." Jouny urges Nielg.

    "But I don''t have a speech! Iliene, you do it!" Nielg argues, dumbfounded as he expects Jouny to give the speech, and passes the responsibility to Iliene out of panic.

    "Hey. We left the interpreter at the table!" Iliene quickly defends.

    "Whatever. Just be yourself." Uranto pats Nielg''s back and pushes him towards the podium.

    Nielg can only step on the podium after almost tripping on it from the push. Meanwhile, *hahaha* the group''s interaction amuses the show''s attendees.

    "Hello. Aherm. I have no speech." Nielg says to the mic out of nervousness. The crowd is tickled once again.

    "The director is supposed to be here, but he''s not. I guess because he thought we won''t win anything." Nielg continues, further amusing the crowd.

    "Anyways¡­ what do I say? Well. Thank you, Academy. I don''t know what or who exactly ''The Academy'' is, but that''s all I''ve heard tonight." Nielg continues, his words receiving the biggest laugh of the night so far.

    Nielg, seeing that the laughter is not mean-spirited, quickly calms down and he regains his confidence.

    "But sincerely, I thank you for the recognition. I also thank the people who enjoyed the film. We wouldn''t be here without you all. I also thank our absent director for making the film, and finally, our film''s dear screenwriter, Jouny Yalen here, for writing a great story." Nielg points the trophy to Jouny.

    "Teungeb! We finally have an Academy Award!... that I know of¡­ That''s all. Thank you again!" Nielg concludes his speech.

    *APPLAUSE* *CHEERS* Nielg and company receives a warm response once again. Some of the attendees are even giving a standing ovation as the group walk to the backstage.

    The group soon returns to their seats through the route from the backstage. Nielg meanwhile is surprised at the situation after they took their seat. He is getting more attention compared to his friends. This is evidenced by him receiving a lot high fives from celebrities and other strangers near them. Aside from the customary ''congratulations'', words like ''Nice speech man'', or ''you were great up there'', came his way.

    "Phew." The group sigh in relief as they are left alone once again by their neighbors.

    "I don''t know what you said back there, but they look like they loved you." Uranto says to Nielg with a certain impressed expression.

    "What did you say back there?" Iliene asks.

    "Haha-ha! Uranto, you told him to be just himself. That''s what he exactly did." Jouny bursts out laughing, remembering Nielg''s very novel speech.

    "I''ll tell you two after I calm down¡­ Phew. F*ck. I almost shit myself back there!" Nielg says, almost hyperventilating.

    "Whatever, you did great." Jouny assures Nielg.

    "HOPE PRICE!" The group''s chatter is interrupted by the entrance of another award presenter.

    "Oh¡­ Here''s your award, Jouny." Nielg say, remembering that the next award also concerns them.

    "I know." Jouny responds, not distracted.

    "Here are the nominees for The Best Original Screenplay. Polly Marsh, ''Mermaids and Sirens''. Asher Green, ''Hard Ice''. Harleen Novak ''Fallen Memory''. Joel Lu ''MVP For Hire''. Jouny Yalen ''September Ninth''¡­ The Academy Award goes to¡­" Hope recites, then opens her envelope, not showing much emotion as she read the cue card in it.

    "JOUNY YALEN! SEPTEMBER NINTH!" Hope announces dramatically. *CHEER* *APPLAUSE* The crowd once again clamors at the announcement.

    "YES!" Iliene, Uranto, and Nielg almost jumped in surprise before excitedly patting Jouny''s shoulders for congratulations.

    "Thanks guys¡­" Jouny says, mirthlessly out of disbelief that she just won.

    "Up! Up! Do you want me to assist you on stage?" Nielg asks again, concerned for Jouny and her pregnant self.

    "I said I''m fine! Jeez." Jouny got her bearings back from Nielg''s ridiculous question.

    As Jouny makes her way to the stage once again, she is met with more congratulations. Right before taking the stairs under the stage, she puts her left hand on her suit''s pocket, feeling out a sheet of paper, enclosing it in her hand. After making it on top of the stairs, she shakes her head before releasing the sheet of paper, then pulling out her hand back out of her pocket. Hope, watching Jouny''s expression, is puzzled, but passes the trophy and her congratulations nonetheless.

    "Hello. Good Evening." Jouny begins her speech, deciding to wing it, instead of using the cheat sheet in her pocket. She figures that speaking straight out of the top of her head and her heart is better, if she wants to be more genuine to who she is intending to dedicate her speech to.

    o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

    7 PM ¨C West Ouigab

    "Congrats man." Chala tells Ongki. The two are currently watching the award show on Chala''s TV.

    [[["Almost nine years ago, I wrote my third ever screenplay. Just like my first screenplay, it was never accepted by any film studio that I tried selling it to. I was about to scrap it, but my husband believed in my work more than I did. Because of that, for 8 years, we never gave up on that screenplay. Despite the heartbreaks, we are thankful we never gave up. That screenplay is exactly ''September Ninth''." *APPLAUSE* *APPLAUSE*

    "Ongki, honey. Thank you for believing in me. This award is not only mine, but yours too." *Applause* *Applause*]]]

    "Heh. That''s my girl!" Ongki says proudly. Chala can only watch in hidden jealousy. Not at Ongki being addressed on TV, but because of the strong bond of Ongki and Jouny have as a couple.

    o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

    "Thank you also to the film''s director, Ta- uh.. Isaac Yawat, for being the second person to believe in my script. A year ago, I was still working in a small office cubicle, refining other''s scripts, until I met you. If you didn''t recognize my work, I believe that I would still be in that office, NOT doing something that I love, full-time.

    "I''ve seen you submit yourself to inhumane working hours just to bring my story to life. To make ''September Ninth'' into a film that exceeded my imaginations. Kid, it''s been an honor writing your first ever film." Jouny thanks Tayaw.

    "Finally, to the Academy, I thank you for acknowledging my work. I wasn''t expecting you to spare an award for a foreigner like myself, so thank you. I''ll explain what you guys are to my colleague." Jouny closes. Her final sentence reminding the audience of Nielg''s speech earlier, resulting to the audience laugh once again. With that, Jouny walks to the backstage with the sound of the audience''s applause behind her.

    ---

    Jouny returns to her seat just in time for the next award to be presented.

    "Man¡­ Look at this big-time screenwriter." Nielg teases Jouny.

    "Big time my butt¡­ But thank you." Jouny says, pleased with Nielg''s comment.

    "I heard Ongki''s name. That was sweet." Iliene comments.

    "Yeah. And with the---" Uranto is about to say something to Jouny too but their celebration is interrupted once again by the entrance of the next presenter.

    "Good evening everyone. I''m Gary Messick, here to present this year''s Academy Award for the best achievement in directing." Gary introduces.

    *Cheer* *Applause* He is met with huge applause, proving his popularity and reputation as a great director among celebrities and other show business professionals.

    "Asher Green, ''Hard Ice''. Cory McFadden ''Fallen Memory''. Isaac Yawat ''September Ninth''. Polly Marsh ''Mermaids and Sirens''¡­" The September Ninth people, hearing Gary''s enumeration, had their focus once again on the stage.

    "Oh. Sh*t. I forgot." Uranto says, to which his friends agree to. They have been absorbed in Jouny''s award that they forgot about the absent Tayaw''s award.

    "The Academy Award goes to¡­" Gary opens his envelope to read the cue card. After smiling in satisfaction, "Isaac Yawat! September Ninth!" He gladly announces.

    The crowd is quick to get on their feet to applause as they already expected the winner.

    "While it is customary that I be the one to receive the award on behalf of the absent winner, I think it would be best for one of his friends to receive it instead." Gary says, looking towards Nielg and company.

    "He''s looking at me, right?" Nielg asks.

    "Even if he''s not. You go." Uranto urges Nielg anyway.

    "I just went up there. You go." Jouny also says.

    "Uranto and I can''t speak English, we didn''t prepare a speech. You go." Iliene also says.

    His friends'' reasons are enough for Nielg to stand up and excitedly, and almost jiggingly walks to the stage. *WHOO!* *APPLAUSE* The crowd is already giving Nielg love before he even steps on the stage. Before he climbs up on stage however, he speaks to a lady in the front row sitting near the bottom of the stairs. Shortly after, that lady takes off her fancy sunglasses and hands it to Nielg. Nielg then continues to climb the stairs to the stage as he pockets the pair of sunglasses.

    After receiving a handshake and the trophy from Gary, Nielg finally steps on the podium.

    "Thank you. Thank you." Nielg says, calming the audience down. The audience are anticipating once again to whatever Nielg is going to say.

    "So. First of all. Thank you, Academy." Nielg says, which initiated another round of laughter among the audience.

    "Sorry about earlier. My friend Jouny finally explained to me who you guys are. But thinking about it, I didn''t receive a nomination from you folks, so I guess you can excuse my ignorance." Nielg says, receiving more laughter, and even applause from the audience.

    "On a serious note. Knowing the director, I think he is honored to receive the award and your acknowledgement for his work. Too bad, he can''t be here to accept the award in person as he''s busy, making another movie or another album." Nielg says.

    His casual revelation silences the audience immediately.

    "HAH!" Gary, listening from a few steps away from Nielg, bursts out in an audible cackle at the comment, before nodding, showing the audience that he knows about it.

    "I guess if he''s here, he''d be like¡­" Nielg''s continues and he suddenly changes his body language, and puts on the huge, fancy feminine sunglasses he borrowed earlier. His actions confusing the crowd.

    "''This award serves as a motivation for me to keep making more films. But for now, let me go play my guitar and write a song about this.''" Nielg says with his best vocal, accent, and body language impression of Tayaw, which entertains the crowd. *LAUGHTER* *APPLAUSE* *CHEERS*. With that, Nielg exits the stage through the backdoor, feeling great at the clamor behind him.

    ---

    "Man¡­ even though I didn''t get an award, speaking TWICE on the stage is great too." Nielg immediately brags to his mates as he sits back down with his friends.

    "You''re a natural up there." Iliene says, looking at Nielg admiringly.

    "Yeah. I mean, he''s the life of the party even back at the troupe. Looking at it here, of all places. F*ckin wild." Uranto says, proud of Nielg.

    "I almost forgot you guys did comedy. Anyways, Nielg. Get ready again. You might go up there again." Jouny says which settles down her friends immediately.

    "THOMAS SLATER."

    "Hello. Good Evening. I''m Thomas Slater, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I am here to present the award we have all been waiting for¡­ These are the nominees for 67th Academy Award for Best Picture: ''Hard Ice''. *Applause*. ''Fallen Memory''. *Applause*. ''Stitches''. *Applause*. ''My Week with Mary'' *Applause*. ''September Ninth''."  The orchestra''s timpani start rolling the percussions for a suspenseful effect as Damian opens his envelope.

    "And the Academy Award goes to¡­ ''Fallen Memory''!"

    *OHHHHH!*'' ''*WHOOO!*'' the response to the winner is very mixed based on the disappointed groans, and genuine applause of the crowd. Amidst the lively theater, the cast and creators of ''Fallen Memory'' walk to the stage to receive the award.

 Chapter 177 - Random Scene Shoot

    February 5, 2013 ¨C 8 AM ¨C Half Basin Studios

    Tayaw is currently sitting on his ''director''s chair'' inside his busy virtual set, talking to someone in his phone.

    "Yeah. Sorry guys. If only I campaigned more, you must have been able to win your awards." Tayaw says through his phone, to Uranto and Iliene.

    /It''s fine. I don''t think it would have helped anyways./ Iliene says.

    /Yeah. We''re on foreign land./ Uranto says.

    "Alright. Call me once you guys are back. Let''s celebrate." Tayaw says as he concludes the phone call.

    "*Sigh*" Tayaw can only let out a relieved breath.

    "I must have cost them some potential jobs. F*ck, I didn''t realize how selfish and arrogant I was." Tayaw shakes his head out of guilt.

    While he was watching the Academy Awards the previous night, a realization dawned on him watching Uranto and Iliene lose. He realized that the Academy Awards, despite the phoniness of it, still holds a certain prestige. While Uranto and Iliene were nominated, Tayaw realized that they would have wider opportunities had they been the winners. Thankfully for Tayaw, Uranto and Iliene did not take their loss to heart and are already content with their nominations.

    "*Phew*" Noticing that he still has plenty of time before the actors and crew arrive at the set, Tayaw runs to his office, sits down in front of his computer, and logs in his social media.

    "Tsk. Let me do a bit of compensation at least." Tayaw shakes his head.

    |||Last night, while watching the Academy Awards, I experienced some of the biggest disappointments in my life. #septemberninth, you were too much for this world. @UrantoVirenza Steven, you were too good for this world. @IlienePartros Diwaya, you were too beautiful for this world. ||| Tayaw posts on his TLD Grimmauld social media accounts. Just to make sure, he posted his sentiment three times, each in English, Teungebian, and Italian.

    Tayaw, despite his criticizing post and a bit of disappointment in the events of the previous night, he is actually not offended from not winning all the awards his film is nominated on. "Fallen Memory", the winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, is indeed an out-and-out good film in the conventional way.

    When it comes to acting, the actors played their characters well. The line delivery and the graceful body language of the characters were also beautiful to watch.

    When it comes to the film making aspect, the scenes are aesthetically pleasing due to the color choices of the director in the scene''s sets and costumes. Tayaw was even impressed by the director''s use of tracking medium-wide shots that obsessively kept the characters in the middle of the frame.

    When it comes to the screenwriting, the lines are even somewhat poetic. Tayaw figured that the only reason why ''Fallen Memory'' did not win the award for Best Screenplay is because the film itself is a modern re-telling of a 1950s romantic film unlike the deeper, more novel, and more philosophical nature of ''September Ninth''.

    One more thing that Tayaw figured ''Fallen Memory'' has an advantage over ''September Ninth'', is the budget. ''Fallen Memory'' producers had disclosed a $32,000,000 budget while his film only had $4,500,000 base budget. That difference in budget resulted to the difference in details.

    ''Fallen Memory'' was able to manipulate the color of the sceneries itself that Tayaw was not able to do. The best he did to control the color of the scenes is through color contrast settings in the editing process. In addition to the filmmaking benefit of the budget, Tayaw also figures that ''Fallen Memory'', and the rest of the nominees have done extensive campaigning.

    To Tayaw, the two awards ''September Ninth'' harvested is already a miracle.

    |@tldgrimmauld. Come on. It was a close competition! While ''September Ninth'' is great, it''s not as beautiful as ''Fallen Memory''.|

    |@tldgrimmauld So True! ''Fallen Memory'' is a gorgeous film, but we see films like it every year. ''September Ninth'' though is so original! Dare I say, an invention!|

    |@tldgrimmauld. It''s just not September Ninth''s night. If it was last year, it could have won best picture.|

    |@tldgrimmauld. We all know ''September Ninth'' should have won. You could even hear it from the audience reaction last night.|

    |@tldgrimmauld. Are you talking about the Best Actor Award? Because I agree! My Steven was robbed! |

    Tayaw''s TLD Grimmauld fans have come out of the woodwork from his post. Seeing the tweets and posts, Tayaw nods as his assessment of the situation coincides with moviegoers'' current opinions. While most people who has seen ''September Ninth'' liked it, they are divided as to whether his new style can compete with the best made conventional films.

    "Well. At least my next film''s gonna be better." Tayaw drowns out the littlest bit of disappointment left.

    |@tldgrimmauld There''s still next time for Isaac.. How about the winner of the night? Nielg Dilla! The guy''s f*ckin crazy, I love him!|

    |@tldgrimmauld. Have you seen this? /youtube link of Nielg''s impression of Tayaw/ This alone deserves a nomination!|

    Tayaw, seeing the posts about Nielg, chuckles. At first, he felt sorry for Nielg for accepting his award for him without preparation, but to his surprise, Nielg unwittingly turned it into a great marketing opportunity. Nielg''s popularity soared as he gained quite a bit of popularity in social media.

    Even the YouTube channel of the Academy posted Nielg''s two speeches first before posting other people''s speeches. The YouTube video of Nielg''s speech that contains his impression of Tayaw, especially is the most viewed clip of Academy Award''s most recent uploads.

    "Good morning Isaac!" Frank, one of the supporting actors, arrives in Tayaw''s office and interrupts Tayaw''s social media play time. Frank is playing the film''s version of Gonzalo''s second-closest friend in the Coniglio Syndicate.

    "Good morning Frank. How are you today?" Tayaw asks. Had it been another day, Frank would have taken Tayaw''s greeting and question for granted. Today however, is different.

    "Great. I''m sorry I can''t get it right last night." Frank says.

    "It''s fine. It''s a rare scene after all. Do you think you can do it today?" Tayaw asks.

    "I don''t know but I''ve prepared. It might work." Frank says.

    "Good. I''ve seen you hang out late in one of the prop cars last night. Was that the prep?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah. Heh. Figured it would help." Frank says, hiding his embarrassment at being caught.

    "It makes sense. Don''t sweat it." Tayaw nods.

    "How about your friend though? Juliana, was it?" Frank asks, with a smirk.

    Juliana has been watching the latter part of the filming process the previous day.

    "She became bored. Haha. She said she''d rather see it on film." Tayaw says.

    "Alright then. I''ll go change." Frank excuses himself.

    Half an hour later, Tayaw is back in the dome. All the required actors and extras are also present and getting ready, all in their 50s style costumes and are all geared up with fake prop guns. They are now all in position, all in standby, ready for the first shoot of the day.

    Around a third of the dome is now full of prop sets. There are wooden tables with leather ¨C cushioned wooden chairs laid out.  There is also a bar counter, some leather cushioned stools in front of it, and liquor cabinet filled with fake liquor behind it. There is also a fake wall and door frame acting as the backdoor leading to a barren part of the dome.

    The main actors including Luca, Warren, and Frank, and various secondary actors and extras, are positioned as if they are sitting randomly inside the dome''s leather cushioned chairs and stools.

    Steven, the virtual set team leader, then turns on the monitors. With the combination of the virtual backdrop and the props, a third of the dome transforms into a fancy looking 1950s Las Vegas bar, and right after the fake walls, is a fake alleyway.

    "Ready?" Tayaw asks the fireworks people, to which the fireworks people nod in response.

    "Giovanni, Nico, Reece¡­ Ready?" Tayaw addresses Luca''s, Warren''s, and Frank''s characters.

    Luca switches himself to become Giovanni, Warren takes Nico''s mindset, and Frank immerses himself to be Reece. The three main actors have taken their seat at the table in the middle of the ''bar'', ready for action.

    "Good. Let''s start." Tayaw orders everyone.

    "Gold, Blood, and the Deer, Part 2, Scene 83, take 8." A crew member claps the slate.

    ||| "How''d it go?" Giovanni asks Nico.

    "Hah. While them Teungebians were disappointed that we don''t like their cocaine, they''ll start working with us in their docks." Nico tells Giovanni and Reece proudly.

    "Are you sure they weren''t just ''disappointed''?" Reece asks, wary of Nico''s easy negotiation with the head of the Teungebian-American Mafia.

    "They operate like us. Don''t worry." Nico assures.

    Suddenly, *Rattatatatata* *Bang* *Bang*. The three leaders of the Cervo Syndicate and their men is assaulted by all sorts of guns from outside the bar. All sorts of bullets of varying calibers start shredding the leather-bound chairs, the stools, and the bottles of liquors in the liquor cabinet.

    "F.u.c.k! The Russians!"

    "How''d they even find us here?"

    The Cervo subordinates exclaim as they find their nearest cover. Being war veterans, they all are all quick on their feet.

    Giovanni, Nico, and Reece hurriedly flip their table and use it as cover. They then draw out their handguns from their holsters and they start returning fire. The Cervo subordinates also dive behind the walls near the windows and also start firing their guns to the enemies outside the bar.

    Soon, the table that Giovanni and his two friends are using as cover, starts to be targeted, and before it is peppered with bullets, the three hurriedly scamper to take another cover behind the bar counter. A few more seconds of returning fire, Reece, who is exposed from his cover while returning fire at the enemies, suddenly runs out of ammo.

    "Damn it." Reece curses out as he miscounted his bullets. Before he can duck for cover once again, *bang* *Bang* he is shot two times in split-second succession; once in the right side of his chest, once in the center.

    Reece then looks down at his chest. Seeing the two bullet wounds start oozing with blood, he shortly collapses to the floor, at the same time achieving cover behind the bar counter once again.

    Giovanni and Nico, seeing Reece''s state, attend to him immediately. Giovanni immediately presses his hands on Reece''s wounds while Nico peeks out of the bar counter to look for an opportunity for them to get to safety. Seeing the enemies reload their weapons, Nico then signals Giovanni and they start dragging Reece to the backdoor.

    The Cervo men, looking at their leaders'' actions, immediately provide cover fire for them. Unfortunately, *Bang* *bang* "AH!" "UGH!" two of the five subordinates are also shot and they drop to the ground.

    However, the two being hardened veterans of the Korean War, are not going down easy and they are still returning fire despite their conditions, using every single last bullet they have left to fight side-by-side with their brothers, fighting until their last breath to protect their brothers.|||

 Chapter 178 - Filming and a Young Band

    (cont''d)

    |||Giovanni and Nico finally manage to drag Reece to the storage room of the bar, finding temporary safety.

    "*Cough* *Cough* Shit." Reece curses out with difficulty as he coughs out blood.

    He is then assisted by Giovanni to sit against the wall, keeping the bullet wounds elevated.

    "You''re gonna be fine, buddy. Our men are coming." Giovanni says, consoling Reece as he presses his hand again on Giovanni''s wounds once again.

    "Damn it. Not like this, Reece." Nico on the other hand, is angry and panicking as he vigilantly guards the storage room door.

    "*Cough* I''m done. You two go." Reece tells the two.

    "Shit. We''re not going anywhere without you, Reece!" Nico says.

    "Damn. They got our cars." One of the subordinates who managed to survive, comes barging in the scene, reporting the situation ''outside'' the bar.

    "Sir. Dennis, Lawrence, and Huang can''t make it." Another subordinate enters the store room and reports.

    "Damn. Ugh.. Give me your gun." Reece, with a painful grunt, orders the one of the subordinates, and the subordinate obliges immediately.

    "What are you doing?!¡­" Nico is frantic at Reece''s action.

    "You¡­ all leave now. I can''t let those three take all the credit." Reece despite the weakness and pain, manages to joke.

    "You can get away. I''ll stop whoever passes here. Go." Reece says.

    "Reece¡­" Giovanni hesitates.

    "Go! *Cough* Live! And make sure my son is safe." Reece says as he checks his new gun and looks at Giovanni and Nico in resolve.

    Giovanni, understanding Reece, finally nods in acceptance.

    "Let''s go, Nico." Giovanni says as he lets go of Reece''s bullet wounds.

    "Giovanni¡­" Nico says, still not accepting the situation.

    "The best we can do is to live for tomorrow and raise his family... Come on. Let''s go." Giovanni drags Nico away from Reece. Despite Giovanni''s logical decision, his heart is heavy.

    "Reece¡­ It was nice knowing you." Giovanni says his last goodbye.

    "I''ll f*cking gut those Russians in your name, Reece." Nico promises, finally accepting Reece''s fate.

    "*Cough* Heh. Yeah. Thank you, brothers. Now, f*ck off and don''t waste my precious time." Reece smiles weakly at the two.

    And with that, Giovanni, Nico, and the two remaining Cervo subordinates, finally exit the storage room to the back alley. Reece can only smile as he listens to the sound of the heavy footsteps of his friends, fading away into the distance.

    Reece then weakly turns his head to the entrance of the storage room and raises his gun towards it, ready to shoot any enemy that appears at the door.

    "I¡­ feel¡­ great¡­" Reece smiles as he feels an unprecedented sense of focus that he did not even feel when he was fighting in the coasts of Okinawa.

    *Slam!* The storage room door bursts opens and an armed man appears.

    *Bang* Reece shoots the enemy down before the enemy even spotted him. He smiles as the Russian did not get up. Another enemy appears and *Bang* Reece shoots once again. His shot was not good enough this time, but *Bang* he quickly follows up and the enemy is dead before he hit the floor.

    One pistol however is not enough for Reece and before he can even muster the strength to grab his fallen enemies'' guns, not only one, but four enemies, with more powerful guns and rifles in their hands, rush one after another in the room.

    *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* Frank let loose his handgun in quick succession.

    *Click* However, when his bullets run out, he only managed to kill only two of the four enemies.

    "Heh. Not a bad way to go¡­" Reece says, looking at the fearful looks of the two remaining enemies in the room.

    His bullets out, Reece then feels all the strength in his body run out all at once and his arm holding his gun up, falls back down. *Ratatata tata* Reece then receives a shower of bullets from the enemies. The enemies, emptying their magazines and making sure that Reece is dead, finally stop their assault.

    Reece, now lifeless, still sitting with his back against the wall, his face down, is wearing a peaceful smile on his face.|||

    "CUT!" Tayaw yells in delight at the successful take and starts clapping his hands.

    "Let''s give it up for Frank! Nicely done, man! Nicely done!" Tayaw expresses his appreciation.

    *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* The crew also express their appreciation for Frank''s performance. Frank then stands up and takes a deep breath. Looking at the crew''s admiring eyes, he cannot help but feel moved. It was the ''fallen'' extras that came up to him first to congratulate him with the job well done. Luca and Warren also came forward from wherever they ran off to, to also congratulate Frank.

    "Thank you, everyone." Frank says, and tears suddenly start running down his cheeks.

    "You alright Frank?" Warren asks, quite surprised at Frank crying.

    "Yeah. I just didn''t think I''d get emotional. *sniff* *sniff*" Frank after a minute or two, quickly gets over his crying outburst.

    "Reece going out like that, I think I''d get emotional too. Great job man." Luca says.

    "Alright everybody! Leave the guy alone!" The people in the dome hear Tayaw yell.

    While the three main actors found it sweet that many of the extras and crew is concerned for Frank, Frank feels overwhelmed and burdened by the attention from people he does not know well.

    "Great job for getting it one shot everyone! Everyone take an hour." The crew and extras, hearing the early and long break, all happily filter out of the dome immediately.

    "Hey. Good job Frank." Tayaw approaches Frank with a smile.

    "Thanks." Frank says, grateful for the sincere compliment.

    "Too bad, that''s your last scene." Tayaw says.

    "Yeah. I know." Frank shakes his head, but is feeling a huge relief, finishing a job well.      .

    "May I stay for a few more days? I wanna watch what happens next." Frank asks. Tayaw processes the simple request and then looks at Warren and Luca.

    He is surprised at Frank''s request. Even though Tayaw had released different versions of the film script, tailored to what each character''s actors need, and that he put in the actors'' contracts to not talk about the parts of the script to actors they do not share the parts with, Tayaw is impressed that Luca and Warren did not blab to Frank. While Tayaw is impressed, he decides to follow what is in the contract.

    "I''m sorry Frank. The next important parts are in the third movie, which you are not supposed to see. But I assure you, your character will be avenged." Tayaw says.

    Frank, despite feeling a bit disappointed, simply nods in acceptance. He knows that the films Tayaw is making will make another big wave much larger than what September Ninth did.

    "Hey. Isn''t there a funeral scene? Frank''s job isn''t really done, right?" Warren asks Tayaw, half-jokingly.

    "Oh. I can act like a corpse..." Frank says, now joking.

    "There is. But it''s an empty casket. That is an important part of the funeral." Tayaw explains.

    "Empty?"

    "Why?"

    Luca and Warren ask in confusion.

    Frank on the other hand, already knows the reason.

    "Because the enemies are supposed to have gotten Reece''s body. The Cervo Syndicate not even being able to retrieve Reece''s body will add to their motivation for revenge." Tayaw says.

    "Damn. That''s cold." Warren shakes his head.

    "Yeah. Was that how it happened?" Luca who is familiar with mob and syndicate stories, asks in curiosity.

    Tayaw only looks at Luca before nodding. The body of the real-life counterpart of Reece, was indeed never found. Nobody living knows where the body is, and Gonzalo also didn''t tell Tayaw what the Russians did to his friend''s body.

    "But! I have something might make you feel better." Tayaw says as he goes to the dome''s control computers and grabs something under one of them.

    The three actors watch in curiosity while the virtual set operators watch in amus.e.m.e.nt, having already seen the thing. Tayaw then walks back to Frank, now with a ribboned box on his hand, and hands it to Frank.

    Frank then excitedly opens it with care and is dumbfounded at what he sees.

    "A cake¡­?" Warren chuckles.

    "A cake¡­ ''Congratulations Frank for a job well done! -Half Basin Studios-''" Frank reads the message written in icing.

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    11 AM ¨C Ironstone, East Ouigab

    "Fellas! Good Morning!" Chala enters the living room in Tayaw''s Ironstone mansion, excitedly.

    "I have great ne--- Oh? Where''d these kids go?" Chala asks himself in confusion seeing a silent and empty house.

    "Good morning Chala. I heard you come in." Chala sees Payew descend the stairs to the living room.

    "Yeah. How you doin kid?" Chala asks.

    "Good. But I know you''re not here for me. They''re in the bas.e.m.e.nt." Payew says as he goes to the kitchen to pick up a drink, before going back upstairs to his room.

    "Heh." Chala can only chuckle as he is already used to the focused and busy Payew.

    "Hey kid. Let''s talk for a minute, yeah? It''s your vacation anyways." Chala waves Payew over. Payew, realizing that he had not seen Chala in a while, decides to hang out with Chala for a while.

    -----

    Meanwhile, in the bas.e.m.e.nt, *Badump* *Bomp* *Pling* *StruM* *Phoom* *plink* an uncomfortable cacophony of instruments can be heard around the practice room, coming from the band tuning their instruments. A minute later, they are done tuning.

    They however do not immediately play their instruments but instead all take seats on the on the floor, making a circle, ready to discuss with each other.

    "so¡­ What now¡­?" Ike asked the group for their plans for the school break.

    They have after all, the first semester of their junior year just wrapped up and they have more than one month before their second semester starts.

    Since September of last year when the band first appeared on TV to promote their music, they have not received the stardom they already knew they were not going to get immediately, but were secretly hoping for.

    There were no big entertainment companies that offered them a record deal, and the small companies that did contact them were sketchy. There are also simply too many musicians in Ouigab for them to blow pass by.

    The most obvious benefit however of their TV appearance is a small jump in their popularity online as evidenced by the sudden boost of views and subscribers in their YouTube Channel. From their original 58,000 subscribers the day before their TV appearance, the subscriber count grew to 80,000 subscribers within a few days after.

    The band however knew that they have not made enough impact so they decided to take a break from making their own music and instead have gone back to arranging and uploading easy, but good covers on YouTube to capitalize on their popularity boost. They have also decided to further practice their skills to go back to ROH Factory for some gigs.

    Unlike their disappointment at the slight impact of their TV appearance, they were pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome by the ROH Factory staff and musicians. They have received all sorts of sincere compliments and appreciation for their improved skills from other musicians, while Rudy the bar owner even offered them headline spots, which they gladly took.

    The other acts who have been eyeing those headline spots can only swallow their slight resentment at the band due to the benefits Percussive Corrections brought on the bar. The band''s online popularity translated to a small but obvious increase of patrons in ROH Factory resulting to the increase in liquor sales which further resulted to the increase in income of musicians across the spots in the line-ups.

 Chapter 179 - A Young Band of Engineers

    (cont''d from prev chapter) (Skip to next chapter if you want. This is just about percussive corrections.)

    When it comes to the income the band earned in their headline gigs, they have earned much more than they had, had they played in the opening or supporting spots. After all, a headliner usually earns six times more than an opening spot, and three times more than a supporting act. +

    Translating to figures, they were earning an average of 3,000 BGC (1500USD) each gig they headline. The band headlining twice a week, is earning them 24,000 BGC a month, and divided among the members, they earn around 4,000 BGC monthly.

    Another benefit to their increase in popularity, is the calls they received for private gigs. Since their appearance on Good Morning Ouigab, the band has performed at weddings all around Ouigab averaging twice a month. With their very diverse instruments, they have become a reliable live ¨C band among wedding planners and wedding receptions.

    Tayaw, in accordance to his assessment of the band''s skills, has recommended the band to charge 3000 BGC per hour of performance. Unlike their gigs at the ROH factory, the band found it easier to perform at weddings as they did not have to do as much song arrangements, and can only practice the songs given by wedding planners. The combined income from their bar and wedding gigs prompted the band to finally decide to stop receiving ''allowances'' from Tayaw.

    One last benefit to their increase in internet popularity, is the band''s increased sales of their albums.

    "So.. You guys ready?" Bay-an says, with a smile.

    The band has agreed to not look at their sales for surprises sake and to prevent it from distracting them in school and their practice. Even though they have sold physical albums themselves, they went out of their way of stopping themselves from tracking the numbers. Only Bay-an, who prints the CDs and monitors the digital sales, is in the know.

    "Yep¡­ Go ahead¡­" The band waits in anticipation.

    "Alright. First off. The digital sales. We have¡­"

    The band has sold 700 digital copies of their albums, combined, from iTunes and Google Play Music which netted them 10,500 BGC (5,250 USD). The combined Stoppify streams of all their songs meanwhile, totaled to 207,000 since the band released it on the platform earning them a total of only 1600 BGC (800USD).

    "So¡­ 12,000 BGC. In five months¡­" Inson sighs in disappointment.

    "Hey¡­ we crossed 100,000 streams though." Ike on the other hand, is optimistic at the result.

    "I mean, it''s our debut album. Considering we''re unknown, we''ve done alright." Hoon says, pragmatically.

    After a few exchanges of opinions, the band finally settles down.

    "How did we do with the CDs?" Ramil asks.

    "The CDs¡­" Bay-an begins his report.

    The physical copies on the other hand, they have sold over 500. 100 copies came from the band personally selling the albums to other college students, and the rest sold in ROH Factory with Rudy''s permission. The physical copies netted them 7500 BGC (3750 USD).

    "Hm. We sold that much, huh. Wow." Inson says, more impressed this time as he can approximate 500 physical CDs better than digital sales.

    "Yeah. Like that''s three CDs a day¡­ Not bad." Jenna nods.

    "So¡­ 1200 in total. It''s like ¡­ 10 lecture halls'' worth of people." Ramil says, helping the group visualize the number of people who bought the albums.

    "Yes. We''ve done great, I think. And while the numbers are still growing, it''s been almost 6 months. It''s slowing down." Bay-an reports further.

    "Yeah. About that. Now that we''re on school break, I can focus more now on writing songs again. I already have written some melodies. I''m not going back home this break." Inson says, excitedly.

    "Yeah. I''ve realized listening to our songs what I could have done better. I''ll ask for Tayaw''s opinions on the songs I''ve been writing." Hoon also updates his song progress.

    "Damn, I thought you guys were just playin around. Oh well. I''ve been learning how to make more up-beat songs with happier melodies lately. I can''t wait to try them out." Bay-an says.

    "Hmm. How about you guys? Me, Hoon, and Ike are from Ouigab so we''ll be here the entire break. Are you guys planning on going home?" Bay-an asks, hoping that Jenna and Ramil, who are not locals, are not going home.

    "Unless we are also taking a break from our gigs, I don''t think I''m going home. I already told my mom and dad." Ramil scratches his cheek.

    "True. And. Wendy called me about a few weddings. It would be a waste to not take those." Jenna, the contact person for the wedding gigs, informs the group.

    Before their meeting can continue, they are interrupted by the door of the studio opened by a familiar face.

    "Fellas! Good Morning! Or is it lunch already?" Chala enters the studio with a stack of folders in his hand, and following him behind is Payew who is carrying two plastic bags of take-out food with him.

    "Chala! My man!"

    "What''s up man?"

    "Hey there."

    "Yo! That''s from that chicken place!"

    "What are you doing here?" The band members ask their questions in quick succession.

    "Oh. You hurt me, Hoon. Am I not welcome anymore?" Chala jokes.

    "Nah. It''s just a surprise, is all. Long time man." Hoon shrugs.

    "Heh, it''s been a long time indeed. Anyways. What are you guys doing on the floor? What have I walked into?" Chala asks as he notices the odd sight of the band sitting on the floor, in a circle.

    "We just decided with each other not to go home for the break. We were about to talk about writing new songs." Jenna answers for the group.

    "Oh? Okay. Anyways. I''m here to give you guys something." Chala says as he joins them in their circle, passing the folders he is carrying to the respective recipients, he intended them for.

    "What''s this?" The band ask as they receive the folders but Chala simply lets them figure the matter.

    "Internship?"

    "Whoa¡­"

    "Dude¡­ three months internship!" The group realize the purpose of the folders and they are more than happy as they discuss the job offers they got with each other. Payew takes this time to quietly slip out of the studio.

    After a minute or two, the band finally calms down.

    "Is this why Tayaw asked for our transcripts?" Hoon asks Chala in realization.

    "Yeah. Tayaw told me you were all in the dean''s list and he didn''t want to waste your great performance at school. So that leads to those folders in your hands." Chala says.

    "Man. Tayaw knows people, huh? Internsh.i.p.s for civil engineering majors are ¡­ almost unheard of." Ramil says.

    "But¡­ Huh¡­ this makes me feel guilty." Bay-an remarks, getting the attention of the group.

    "Why?" Chala asks.

    "I mean¡­ NIE is the best engineering school in Ouigab¡­ Do I really deserve this? Like Ramil said, It''s already rare for students our major to get internsh.i.p.s, but me getting one, without an interview even ¡­ I don''t know what I feel about this." Bay-an says, killing the excitement of the band.

    "This¡­" Jenna especially is immediately infected by Bay-an''s inferiority.

    Chala almost slaps Bay-an and his inferiority complex.

    "Hey. Students from NIE just got in there with their performance using their high school credentials and entrance exams. After they made it in, all they have to do is to meet the minimum grade requirement to stay there. You guys are probably working harder than them and have higher grades than most of them. Do you think you still don''t deserve this opportunity?" Chala says, trying to save the mood.

    "¡­That''s true¡­ I have something to say, guys." Ike says, getting the attention away from Bay-an.

    "Before I even started college, my parents assured me a job in my uncle''s company as long as I finish my degree. At first, I was happy. But as I really worked hard to achieve good grades, I realized how unfair it is to get a job that others might deserve¡­ This though?" Ike raises his folder.

    "I feel like I deserve this job. I''ve worked hard to be on the dean''s list. You, Bay-an deserve yours too." Ike concludes. This consoles Bay-an and his guilt starting to be chipped away.

    "What Ike said is true. You guys truly deserve these. Tayaw himself told me that he only applied on you guys'' behalf to make sure that the people in charge of hiring in these companies will not overlook you guys. Ultimately, it was these companies that saw you guys'' value and made the decisions to hire you kids." Chala adds.

    This assures the band, except for Ramil.

    "Hey. Are you sure Tayaw didn''t pay this company for our jobs? He''s rich enough. And¡­ Look. All of us is hired in the same company." Ramil, asks for certainty.

    "He didn''t. You guys are actually accepted in two other companies. But only this company has enough vacancies to accommodate you six. Ike, even though you don''t have the same major as them, the construction company still have needs for you in their heavy equipment department." Chala explains.

    He did NOT however tell them that the company that hired the band is the same company that constructed Tayaw''s film studio and the basic infrastructure in Tayaw''s Nasiri Hill property, as it might cut away at the kids'' trust and confidence.

    "Hey. At last. I thought I was gonna intern alone too." Ike says.

    "Heh." The rest of the band is amused and feel sorry at the same time. Ike after all, unlike them who study together, had to study solo in his major subjects, and now they are glad that he can finally be with them at something outside of the band.

    "While this offer is great, and might be a huge opportunity ¡­ what are we supposed to do as interns?" Inson asks suddenly.

    This makes the band enter a reflective silence once again. Chala also is almost stumped until his mind recalls his conversation with Tayaw about the matter.

    "Tayaw said that the company that hired you kids, are one of the companies that was contracted by the government last year." Chala begins.

    "I don''t know exactly what you guys are going to do, but I know that this company is going to work on the government''s highway project." Chala explains.

    "Oh! It''s that one from up north to Nabla, right?" Bay-an asks.

    "Yeah. And that''s why they have a sudden demand for interns of your major." Chala says.

    "I see¡­" Bay-an nods in understanding. Soon however, the mood still has not changed into a more cheerful one and instead entered an odd one.

    "What''s the problem?" Chala notices the odd atmosphere.

    "Nothing. It''s just, we had our plans about our music." Jenna says.

    "Mm. Even though we''re busy with gigs, this is important too." Hoon nods.

    "Look. This is a rare opportunity¡­ I wanna do it." Ramil says, being the first one with resolve.

    "I agree. And. It''s not like we still can''t gig this break. Look, f*ckin 44 BGC an hour? That''s way more than minimum wage. Free lodging too!" Jenna says.

    "GUYS¡­" Inson says, his serious mood getting the band''s attention.

    "Let''s do it. Even though we''re gonna earn a little less than what we earn at the bar, this has more weight. I think we can use this to get field experience units that might be useful once we get to our senior year.

    "Not only that. A highway project will take years. If we do a greater job more than they expected, they might want to hire us again for another internship. And after we graduate, maybe we can even get a long-term job there." Inson says.

    The group was not expecting that the member who was so excited to start making music again, easily lets go of his passion for a more practical opportunity. With Inson''s words however, they now understand that the internship offer in their hands is not as simple as it looks, their folders suddenly becoming heavier. It is no longer just a temporary job, but a huge door to a future, stable one.

    "Hmm. Also, after you''ve all adjusted in your jobs, I think you can spare the time again to practice for gigs.." Chala says, making the group excited once again.

 Chapter 180 - An Apprentice

    February 16, 2013 ¨C 2 PM, Saturday ¨C Jericho, Long Island

    "Yo, honey. There''s a party in Tayaw''s house?" George, Tayaw''s neighbor across the street, says as he looks at Tayaw''s house through his window.

    "Looks like it. Looks vintage ¨C themed too. Look at that lady. She''s gorgeous in that dress¡­ Ooh! Look at that coat! Look at that SHAWL! Who are these people?" Lily says, noting the female party attendees entering the gate.

    "They all look high-class. Still, he could have asked me to do the catering." George is concerned about another business however.

    "Look! Look! Charlotte and her family! They''re invited?!" Lily exclaims as she sees the Duhills dressed well in 70s formal fashion, exit their house and walk to Tayaw''s house.

    "Sh*t. I can''t see anything in his yard. What''s up with the green things covering the view? What''s up with that?" George says, in slight offense at the huge green panels acting as walls above the already tall fences.

    "I know right? Look. There''s Tayaw." Lily says spotting Tayaw, also looking sharp in his three-piece suit, exit his gate and meet the Duhills at the entrance. Tayaw and Peter exchange a few words before Peter and his family enter Tayaw''s gate.

    "Where''s he going?" George says as they see Tayaw, not going back in his property and is instead walking, and crossing the street.

    "He''s coming here!" Lily exclaims as Tayaw jogs to their gate.

    *Ding* *Dong*

    "What do we do?" Lily asks, excited at the prospect of them being invited.

    "I''ll buzz him in." George says.

    A few moments later.

    "Good morning Mr. Phelan, Mrs. Phelan. Long time!" Tayaw greets the couple as the door opens up to him.

    "Good morning. It''s been a few months. How are you?" Lily asks.

    "Good. Can you spare me a few minutes?" Tayaw asks.

    "Of course. Of course. Come in." George lets Tayaw in.

    "So. A sudden party?" George asks Tayaw as they settle in the living room.

    "It''s not a party¡­" Tayaw says, confusing the couple.

    "Here''s the thing. I''m actually making a movie these days and I''m shooting one of the scenes in my house today. A wedding scene in fact." Tayaw explains.

    "Oh! So that''s what it was!" Lily exclaims in realization.

    "Oh! No wonder! You just can''t set up a party that sudden. I''ve not seen signs of prep yesterday." George, a master of catering, says in realization.

    "Yeah. Exactly. Anyways. We''re still short of a few extras and background actors. Do you guys have 70s looking attire?..." Tayaw starts asking for a favor.

    George and Lily are happy to oblige and appear in a movie.

    -----------------

    "Hey Jouny! How are you this beautiful in this beautiful day?" Luca greets Jouny after he arrives in Tayaw''s house.

    "Stop it with that! But I''m doing great. Thanks for asking." Jouny says in embarrassment at Luca''s always excessive greeting to her.

    "Anyways. This place¡­ damn. Isaac owns it too?" Luca says as he looks around in Tayaw''s spacious and vintage looking house.

    "I know. Anyways. Nice make-up, old man." Jouny remarks at Luca who now looks like he is in his 50s.

    "F*ck. I know right? It feels awkward on the skin, but the look is worth it." Luca says as he caresses the wrinkled silicon prosthetics on his face.

    "Good. Proceed to the yard. Warren and others are waiting. After the others are done with their make-up, we''ll start shooting." Jouny says.

    Luca exits to the yard and notices what looks like an outdoor wedding party venue. The tables and chairs are set up in a semi - circular formation, at center of it looks like a platform for the newly wed couple to receive gifts and congratulations. Behind the platform are instruments for a string quartet and a grand piano. The extras and background actors are also now positioned at their tables.

    Had it not been for the crew and camera people not wearing street attire, and the strange and tall green walls for CGI surrounding the yard, Luca would have mistaken the film set as a real wedding party.

    A few minutes later, every actor is now ready. Tayaw also arrives, escorting his now dressed up neighbors to their respective tables before assuming his own at the grand piano.

    [[[The third movie of ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'' trilogy, begins with the wedding of the 25 year-old Sergio Cervo, son of Giovanni Cervo. It is set 12 years after Reece Solino''s death at the hands of the Russian Mafia. Giovanni as a loyal gesture to Reece, raised Reece''s son, Luigi Solino. The now 21-year-old Luigi grew very close to Giovanni''s family and he has become best of friends with Sergio and now, Luigi is the obvious best man for Sergio.

    Sergio also married a Cervo leader''s daughter and thus the wedding is a perfect opportunity for Giovanni, Nico, and the other important members to talk about how to take revenge on the Russian, Italian, and Jewish mobs. During the past 12 years, they have consolidated their power and wealth. The Cervo members who infiltrated the government has achieved important positions, and their legal businesses are booming.]]]

    "Alright! Everyone! Are the directions clear?" Tayaw says, using a megaphone.

    "Yes!" The people present answers.

    "Okay. The main actors¡­ I know that this third film, we''ve been shooting out of order chronologically to save time, but PLEASE! Get in your heads that all the things we''ve filmed didn''t happen yet. This is supposed to be the first scene." Tayaw reminds the main actors.

    Luca, Warren, and other regular cast want to retort ''For the nth time! We Know!'' but they simply swallow Tayaw''s reminder and instead get to the mindsets of their characters. Seeing the main actors prepare, Tayaw nods.

    "Alright. Duhills, George and Lily, y''all don''t have to act. Just talk about something fun amongst yourselves." Tayaw says.

    After finishing the fine tuning of the actors'' positions, Tayaw finally sits by the grand piano and starts playing a jazzy tune, accompanied by the string quartet he hired. Their music fitting for a happy wedding.

    Jouny gets in position by the main camera and does a one last once over on her monitor to see the different perspectives of the cameras. After checking, she nods at Tayaw and Tayaw nods back.

    A crew member, seeing that Jouny is ready, "''Gold, Blood, and the Deer ¨C Part 3'', Scene 1: THE WEDDING! Take 1! Action!" he claps the slate.

    3 PM ¨C An hour later¡­

    "CUT! I think we''re good." Jouny announces to the actors and crew.

    *applause* *applause* The cast and crew give Jouny a round of applause for directing the wedding party scene successfully after a few takes. Tayaw, wanting to appear in his own movie, passed the reins to Jouny for a short while, while he ''acts'' as a pianist. And Jouny, secretly itching to start applying what she learned from Tayaw, excitedly took the reins.

    "Alright. Everyone! Good Job! To the extras, you can stay if you all want. Enjoy the refreshments. The main actors, let''s meet in the study in 30 minutes, for the next scene." Jouny announces. *Chatter* *Murmur* The cast and crew then take their break.

    Tayaw then approaches the table where his neighbors are sitting.

    "Thank you guys. It must have been boring?" Tayaw says to the Duhill family and the Phelan couple.

    "It was¡­" Peter says frankly. George too agrees. Lee looks like he just woke up.

    "That''s them. Us ladies like dressing up." Lily says, which the Duhill ladies nod to.

    "Okay. Please. We have some snacks prepared as props, but they''re great." Tayaw excuses himself.

    Tayaw then joins Jouny and does a quick check on the takes.

    "Hmm. Great job Jouny. How was it?" Tayaw says, sincerely.

    "It''s¡­ easy? I don''t know? I mean, the scene exactly isn''t complicated. Just some people greeting Sergio and Giovanni." Jouny shrugs.

    "Good. Maybe. I''ll let you shoot more complicated ones in the future. After all, it''s the third movie and we''ve got plenty of time." Tayaw offers.

    Jouny however, makes a complicated face.

    "What''s up?" Tayaw notices something is odd.

    "Well, I''d love to but¡­" Jouny starts and Tayaw waits.

    "I didn''t know you''d offer me to practice more. I didn''t even expect you to let me direct today¡­ Actually, I was gonna tell you today that this is the last time I''m tagging along after we finish the scenes here today." Jouny says as she caresses her bulging belly.

    "Oh?" Tayaw is taken aback and then looks at Jouny''s tummy.

    "Doctor''s advice?" Tayaw asks

    "No. But. The while me and my husband were driving to the airport, I was thinking ''It''s only three months away before my baby comes out''." Jouny prefaces.

    "Oh? Wow. Time really goes by fast." Tayaw says.

    "To you maybe. But anyways. That thought gave me an inspiration for a story. It just came to me." Jouny says.

    Tayaw''s interest is further piqued. "Story?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah. I have the general plot but I want to start refining that story into a script, maybe I can write a good screenplay again." Jouny says.

    "Hmm. That''s great! So, you want to focus on that?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah." Jouny clarifies.

    "Hm. No wonder you had that ''goodbye'' and guilty vibe since this morning. Hehe. I''m actually happy for you. You haven''t written anything I liked ''September Ninth'' and I''m excited see what you''re gonna write." Tayaw says.

    "Thanks¡­ Also I want to thank you again for teaching me these past few months. The storyboard especially, for ''September Ninth, I''ve learned a lot. I feel like it''s even better than a film making degree." Jouny says.

    "''Better than a film degree'' is quite too much¡­ but thanks. Hey. Can I see it after you''ve done writing?" Tayaw asks.

    "Of course. I might even need your input then." Jouny says.

    "Okay. If it''s good, I wanna make it into a film. We can work together again." Tayaw says, excited.

    "About that¡­ " Jouny hesitates.

    "Hm?" Tayaw is confused at the reaction.

    "If I finish the story. And IF it is good¡­ I''m thinking of filming it myself." Jouny gets out her word.

    "O-oh¡­" Tayaw is taken aback.

    Soon however, he is starting to feel proud that Jouny has more ambition than he thought and that he contributed largely to that ambition.

    "That''s even better! When you decide to start filming, just tell me. I''d love to give you some budget, I promise." Tayaw says.

    "Are you sure? You haven''t even seen the outline of the story!" Jouny cannot believe Tayaw''s generosity and his verbal promise.

    "¡­" Tayaw is taken aback. ''Why did I just promise that?'' He thinks to himself.

    "Tayaw?" Jouny asks again.

    ''Nah. This feels exciting.'' Tayaw smirks to himself looking at Jouny and remembering her progress from the subtle ''quizzes'' he has been giving her on film making.

    "I''m also a businessman. Call this an investment." Tayaw says, pulling an excuse and idea out of his ass.

    "Okay¡­ It''s just odd that you ''promise'' to give me an investment." Jouny shakes her head.

    "Well. That promise only applies IF you manage to write a good story." Tayaw says.

    "Damn. Are you pressuring me?" Jouny asks, joking.

    "No. It''s motivation. And peace of mind. You can take as much time as you can. It may take you weeks or months to finish your screenplay, I really don''t care. But! Once you finish a good story, and once you''re ready, you can always call me." Tayaw says.

    "Okay¡­ I will." Jouny nods, subtly but with excitement in her eyes.

    "Good! Now that you said this is your last day, let''s change something up?" Tayaw says with a playful grin.

    "Change?" Jouny asks.

    "Yeah. You know the next scene, right?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah. The meeting and planning for the revenge?" Jouny asks.

    "Yeah. It''s just a sit-down scene, but I''ve told the actors the subtleties of it and they''ve practiced a lot to get it right." Tayaw says.

    "Oh¡­ I''ve seen it on script but it was boring just reading it." Jouny says.

    "Hm. It''s not simple as it looks so¡­ Why don''t you shoot the next scene too? Huh? I''ll supervise. Let''s see if you capture what I want." Tayaw says, making Jouny anxious and excited at the same time.

 Chapter 181 - March Again

    March 2, 2013 ¨C Saturday 7 AM ¨C Ironstone, Ouigab

    *ding* *dong*

    "Hey¡­ Lady¡­ and gentlemen. Sup? Y''all look like crap." Payew says as he welcomes the rugged ¨C looking members of the Percussive Corrections in the living room.

    "Shyeah. Long f*ckin month. Long f*ckin trip too. I need to crash. I''ll see you guys when I wake up." Ike says as he listlessly drags his luggage to his and Bay-an''s room upstairs.

    Bay-an nods at Payew and proceeds to follow Ike with his own luggage.

    "*Yaawwnn* I slept 10 choppy hours on the bus¡­ I miss my bed!¡­" Jenna too seems too tired to talk too and does the same.

    "UIhh. Bed sounds great. The bed at the dorm was too small for me." Ramil says and also proceeds to his room.

    Payew can only look at the band in sympathy.

    In the past three weeks, the band members spent their time on their internship which is based in the outskirts of Biongo City, a coastal city which is at least a 10-hour drive north of Ouigab. They have served under various civil engineers of their company. They also gained valuable field experience as the engineers actually treated the band not as kids that gets coffee and lunch, but as real assistants that were helpful in the actual job.

    "At least we''ll do some office work starting Monday. Nice to see you man. I''ll go to bed too." Hoon tells Payew.

    "And, oh! Inson has the souvenirs we got for you." Hoon says before climbing up the stairs.

    "Here they are. Nothing much, just some specialty snacks from Biongo. At least you get a taste of Biongo and Japan." Inson says as he draws a paper bag from his backpack and hands it to Payew.

    "Man. You guys didn''t have to¡­" Payew is surprised as this is the first time he is receiving something from the band.

    "Nah. The snacks there were awesome and I don''t even know where you can find them here." Inson says before leaving the living room to his room.

    Payew, alone in the living room once again, can only shrug his shoulder and heads to the kitchen. After drinking a cup of instant coffee and eating a left-over dinner for breakfast, he proceeds to the studio in the bas.e.m.e.nt to play around with the instruments.

    Unlike his usual post at his study table, Payew is planning on lounging around today. Even though he has stuffed himself with textbooks all school break to prepare for the upcoming semester that starts on Monday, and also to study early for the HedSATs, Payew feels that his brain needs resting.

    *Ring* *Ring* While Payew is playing the acoustic guitar, he is disturbed by his phone ringing.

    "Agew. I thought you were still sleeping." Payew answers, surprised at unusual caller.

    /You know I don''t wake up late./ Agew says.

    "Hm. It''s Sunday? Anyways. What''s up? You don''t usually call." Payew asks.

    /Yeah. I was gonna ask to talk to the band. Is the band there?/ Agew asks.

    "Yeah. But they just arrived from Biongo through a night shuttle. They''re sleeping." Payew says.

    /Oh, okay. Wait. What were they doing in Biongo?/ Agew asks.

    "Well. They spent the past few weeks on a job." Payew explains.

    /Oh. I didn''t know ¡­ I don''t have their number./ Agew says.

    "Well, it''s not like you have a lot to talk to them about anyway?" Payew says.

    /Hehe. True. But I really was gonna talk to them about something. It''s why I called./ Agew says.

    "Oh? Why were you looking for them?" Payew asks, curious as Agew was never curious about the band.

    /Okay. They''re not making a lot of money from their music, right? / Agew prefaces.

    "Wait. How''d you know that?" Payew asks.

    /Well. They''re not famous. Only REALLY famous bands make money from music, right?/ Agew says.

    "Hm. That''s true. So?" Payew asks.

    /Okay. So. I was thinking, right? What if they don''t just sell music but something else? You know what? Go online, I''ll call you. It''s better if I show you./ Agew says.

    "Okay¡­" Payew rushes back to his room, turns on his laptop, and soon, he is on a video call with Agew.

    "You were saying?" Payew asks.

    /Okay. Look at this./ Agew says as he shows to his webcam a black t-shirt with Jenna''s face on a front-side-angle view, painted on it.

    The face however is not realistic, but is painted comic-book style. Jenna''s face on the shirt, looks almost like some female character on a random romance comic book. But to those who are familiar with her, would obviously recognize that the painting is her.

    "Whoah! T-that''s¡­ That''s Jenna!" Payew exclaims in recognition.

    /Yes. How does it look?/ Agew asks.

    "Looks great. But¡­ what''s that for? You like her or something?" Payew says.

    /Uhhh. What? Okay. It''s not like that and she''s too old for me... wait a minute, look at this./ Agew says, quickly picking up another shirt, with Hoon''s face on it this time and shows it to the webcam, clearing Payew''s misunderstanding.

    "Shit. That looks great too! You wanna sell those to them?" Payew asks. /No. Why would someone buy a shirt with their face on it? I want them to sell these to their fans./ Agew says.

    "OhhH! Holy sh*t! That''s a great idea!" Payew exclaims in understanding.

    /Meh. I was washing an old ''Red Skirts'' t-shirt of Tayaw''s. That''s where I got the idea. / Agew explains, but glad of Payew''s opinion of his idea.

    "Oh. That''s right. Well. It''s not as fresh of an idea as I thought then." Payew says.

    /Hey. At least, my art work is fresh. The t-shirts of those rock bands and rappers all look generic. They all look the same./ Agew says.

    "Now that you mention¡­ Wow. Your designs really stand-out." Payew says.

    /Thanks./ Agew says, flattered.

    "Okay¡­ Those might actually sell¡­ but they probably have hundreds or so fans who will buy those. Will you paint them all?" Payew says.

    /No bro. Why would I hand paint everything? I paint the artwork or template, then print the rest on the shirts, or even coffee mugs./ Agew says.

    "Oh¡­" Payew almost slaps his face.

    /Anyways. These though are gonna be handmade by me./ Agew pulls out a white porcelain vase with a Jenna playing violin, painted on it. Unlike the colored comic book style of Jenna''s face for the shirt, Jenna is painted on the vase in simple black paint, line drawing style, outlining only some important details like Jenna''s hair, posture, her body figure, and her violin.

    "Damn¡­ That looks great. And! Classy." Payew is impressed again at the shiny handiwork.

    "Why didn''t you color it though?" Payew asks.

    /It wouldn''t be as , like what you said, classy. And¡­ Jenna looks mysterious with only black paint and the shiny white porcelain background./ Agew explains.

    "Oh¡­ No wonder." Payew nods in understanding.

    "hey! Wait a minute. You said porcelain, right? You made those?" Payew asks, as he noticed shiny and smooth surface of the vases.

    /Yeah?/ Agew says, confused at the reaction.

    "I thought you said porcelains are a lot harder to make than your regular ceramic stuff?" Payew asks.

    /Oh. Yeah they are. But I''ve learned the feel after failing a lot.  I can''t make them perfectly yet like those Chinese ones Tayaw gifted me, but they look fine./ Agew says.

    "I see. Well. Damn. I wish I could make something to sell too." Payew is tad bit envious of Agew''s handiworks.

    /At least you''re smart./ Agew says.

    "Heh. Whatever. Okay. I''ll give you the band''s numbers. You can talk to them. Hey. Reserve me one of each of those the next time I come home, yeah?" Payew says.

    /Sure./

    O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

    10 PM, Villa Dei Principi di Sorrento ¨C Sorrento, Italy

    It is March again and that only means one thing for many film industry professionals around the world : it is the time again for this year''s season of the Sorrento Film Festival.

    Just like any year, the judges for the film selections are still comprised of some of the most influential people of the film industry. The current jury includes the following: Maximo Moya, 46, an Argentinian screenwriter; Kenneth Green, 52, a British ¨C African film director; Eleanor Riley, 64, an American film actress and producer; Madhuri Bhavsar, 30, a famous Bollywood actress; and Yuji Maeda, a Japanese film director.

    The rest of the jury have loose ties with the industry, but they represent the opinions of industry outsiders.

    "Hit pause please." Maximo orders their projector operator.

    "Thank you. Can we all agree to skip this film? It''s been 20 minutes and I think there''s nothing more to see and I bet it''s gonna get even more horrendous than it already is." The man says to the group he is watching the film with.

    Sorrento has over 1,500 film submissions on average yearly. To process such number, the festival has a two-step process.

    The first stage is the filtering process by the festival''s ''programmers''. The ''programmers'' are various credible professionals that would see the submissions first before anyone. After discarding what they judge to be bad movies, they would pass the submissions they approve of to the hands of the official festival jury for the second stage.

    The second stage involves the jury watching the watchable submissions and voting which are to be selected for the competition of the festival''s awards. However, the hundreds of films that make it to the juries, are still too much for its 10 members to go through. This led to the practice of the jury, of any festival year, to not finish certain films they see as lacking interest.

    "Thanks for stopping it. I thought I was the only one. The camera work makes me dizzy." Kenneth says as he rubs his brows.

    "Agree. It''s confusing to watch." Madhuri says.

    "*sigh*. The camera work and the acting style just doesn''t go well." Eleanor says.

    The rest of the jury also agree.

    "Great. We''ve all seen other films like it since we started anyway. I feel like a teenager me wrote this thing. I know where it''s going." Maximo says.

    "Eugh. I love ''September Ninth'' but that movie started this mess." Yuji expressed his frustrations.

    "Right? These¡­ directors. If they don''t know how to do it well, just stick with what they know!" Maximo says in annoyance.

    "Look on the bright side. At least not every submission is experimental." Eleanor says.

    The film they just saw is not the first film that tried to adapt Tayaw''s cinematography and acting. The camera angles used by Tayaw, while put in practice by other directors, are executed poorly and destroyed what otherwise could have been watchable movies had they stuck to the convention.

    "Damn. I just had to be jury this year¡­ *Yaaawwn*¡­ What time is it?" Kenneth asks the group as he stretches on his reclining chair.

    "Uhh. 10 PM." A young female jury member replies and also stretches.

    "Plenty of time for more. I hope we can discard more movies before bedtime." Eleanor tells the group. The group can only hope as well.

    "Alright. My turn, right? Let me draw the next one, if it''s unwatchable, we skip it too, then we take a break." Eleanor says and one young attendant in the room walks towards her with a jar full of folded strips of paper.

    The group watch in bored anticipation as Eleanor draws one strip and opens it. Their boredom however is replaced by curiosity as they see the expression on Eleanor''s face while she stares the strip of paper.

    "Aherm¡­" The Eleanor recovers her composure.

    "Speak of the devil¡­ Okay. Next up. ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'' directed by Isaac Yawat.''" The Eleanor reveals to her group.

    "Isaac Yawat?" Kenneth perks up.

    "He''s finished it already? I thought it was just a rumor." Yuji says, dumbfounded.

    "Ohhhhh¡­ Whatever. I can''t wait." Madhuri says in excitement. The rest of the jury also start chatting with each other in anticipation.

    "Alright. I am excited too but I''m craving a cigarette. Let''s take 10." Eleanor tells the group.

 Chapter 182 - This years Jury

    (Continued from Prev Chapter)

    [[[ A young Giovanni is studying at the dinner table in Micaela''s apartment when suddenly,  *SCREAM* *BANG!* *BANG!*

    A woman''s scream and two gunshots are heard coming from Giovanni and his mother''s apartment. Giovanni''s heart beats loudly and quickly in anxiety. His world slows down when he realizes that the woman''s scream was his mother''s. He stands up and rushes towards Micaela''s door, but Micaela blocks his way and gives him a tight embrace. "It''s okay honey. Everything will be okay¡­" Micaela consoles Giovanni.]]]

    "Ah.. Poor boy¡­" Madhuri and the other jury members cannot help but be immersed at the excellently believable performance of the child actor who played Giovanni and the actress who played Micaela.

    "''September Ninth'' was violent but this¡­" Eleanor is in disbelief at the early tragedy.

    [[[ Micaela adopted Giovanni and thus Giovanni adopted Micaela''s family name, Cervo. For five years, Micaela did her best to fill the void that Giovanni''s mother left. Giovanni however, is still desperate for a family.

    This resulted to him by acting out to the point that he became a mastermind among troubled neighborhood teenagers with his intelligence. Giovanni was happy in Micaela''s care until one day, Micaela fell sick. The frail Micaela had no chances of recovering and wanted to spend her last days in her home, this time, under Giovanni''s care.

    "¡­ Giovanni my dear, I might not see tomorrow, so I''ll tell you what I know. Antonio Orsini, the Orsini Family''s Don, is your father. Your mother came here to America to seek help from him for you to have a better life.

    "Antonio paid your mother to never show herself to him again as he already has a family of his own. I told her, my dear. I told her to never involve herself with Antonio and his gang, but one meeting was all it took for your mother''s demise.

    "Please, Giovanni, as my final wish to you, don''t make the same mistake your mother did and live a good peaceful life. You are a clever young boy, Giovanni and don''t do something stupid when I''m gone¡­" Micaela fell asleep later in the evening, never to wake up again.]]]

    "This is just heartbreaking to watch." Yuji comments.

    "Why''d she have to die?" Another jury member remarks.

    [[[ Giovanni did not listen to his adoptive mother and instead joined the Orsini to get closer to Antonio. He did not confess his identity to Antonio in the few times he met him and instead decided that he will prove himself deserving of Antonio''s appreciation and recognition, no matter what it takes.

    "Kid, grab that fire poker. If one of them gets jumpy, bash their heads in." An Orsini thug orders Giovanni as they fail to collect protection fees from a bar owner peacefully.

    As if the thug predicted it, a patron of the bar drops their glass out of fear. Giovanni''s world then slows down and a series of expressions morphed in his face. Hesitation, decision, and resolve. Giovanni then steps towards the patron, ready to swing his fire poker."]]]

    "Oh no¡­"

    "Don''t!" The jury members wince at the incoming violence.

    The next moment however, they all sigh in relief.

    [[["Don''t hurt anyone! Take everything! Take it!" The bar-owner can only give up everything he has.

    Giovanni then sighs in relief as he did not have to bloody his hands. *Slap* The Orsini thug harshly pats Giovanni''s face.

    "You''re smart, kid. But you''re too soft." The thug says.]]]

    "I hope he leaves the gang." Madhuri says.

    "I doubt it." Yuji says.

    "Giovanni is desperate and he will only sink deeper with the gang ¡­" Kenneth shakes his head.

    [[[*Screech* *screech*

    "Get out of the f*cking truck!" Giovanni, now 20, has become an important Orsini associate, commanding a few other associates. Highway robberies, is one of his best sources of money.

    "Move! Move! Kneel! Don''t try something funny! Our fingers are easy to twitch." Giovanni''s subordinates threaten their most recent victims.

    While the subordinates are working, Giovanni only looks on while juggling his small pistol with one hand, between his fingers, giving out an aura of danger.]]]

    "Hm. At least he''s doing well, even if it''s criminal." Maximo comments.

    The juries look at him weirdly.

    "Hey. He didn''t hurt or kill anyone." Maximo shrugs.

    "I don''t know man. He''s juggling that gun rather skillfully. He may have used it many times already, Isaac may have just decided to not show it." Kenneth disagrees.

    [[["Ah! Giovanni. I''ve heard a lot about you. Come! Sit! Sit!" Giovanni finally meets Antonio, face to face, alone, after he proved himself a money-making machine of the Orsini¡­

    "Now, kid. Tell me. Do you want something? Your achievements deserve rewards." Antonio says.

    "Don Antonio. I have something to confess¡­ I am Julietta D''Amato''s son. I have been told you are my father." Giovanni says.

    Antonio''s smile disappears and has gone quiet out of shock.

    "Do not fret, Don Antonio. I don''t wish anything else. I only want to let you know of my existence and identity. Just let me serve the Orsini and your family in loyalty."]]]

    "¡­" The jury watch in anticipation at what would Antonio''s response be.

    Micaela''s dying words has planted in their subconscious that Antonio had something to do with Julietta''s death despite the money he gave her to leave him alone.

    [[[Antonio, after his silence, sighs deeply.

    "I cannot acknowledge you as my son." Antonio says.

    "That is understandable, Don Antonio. No one else has to know." Giovanni says. Antonio nods.

    "Very well. But, I will reward your loyalty. I am to recommend you to the family as a new official member come the next gathering." Antonio says.

    "That would be an honor, Don Antonio. You have my gratitude." Giovanni says with a sincere smile.]]]

    "Phew¡­"

    "That went better than I expected." The jury members sigh in relief.

    "He must be ecstatic¡­" Eleanor says.

    [[[The night that Giovanni has been waiting for finally arrives.

    "It''s time, kid." A skinny Orsini official member picks up Giovanni at their pre-arranged meeting place.

    "Let me just say my early congratulations." Another official member, a man very large in frame, congratulates Giovanni for the incoming initiation ceremony to finally become their soon to be fellow made-man.

    "Hop in the vehicle. Let''s go." Giovanni is then escorted by the two official members to the place for his initiation.]]]

    "I don''t like this." Kenneth comments suddenly.

    "Why?" Eleanor asks, curious.

    "It''s too¡­ quiet. The two members are too quiet." Kenneth says.

    "The drive too. It''s too long, and they''re out in the middle of nowhere." Yuji comments.

    The two jury members'' words made the rest flip their excitement for Giovanni''s ascension to the ranks, into anxiety.

    "It can''t be¡­" Madhuri says, a dreadful feeling coming over her.

    [[[ "Heh¡­ Hahaha." Giovanni bursts out in laughter as him and the two Orsini made-men step out of the vehicle, in the middle of nowhere, with no one else in sight.

    The Orsini made-men also understand that Giovanni already figured out that the initiation was no initiation at all.

    "You can only blame your mother for this." The skinny made-man says.

    "Is there really no way out of this?" Giovanni asks, and

    "¡­" the two made-men only answer with silence.

    "Heh. I''ve only heard of stories. Treated them as cautionary tales. I thought I did enough to avoid this happening to me." Giovanni says, smiling.

    "Sorry, kid. I like you, but it''s over." The large made-man says.]]]

    "Ugh¡­ Not like this." Maximo shakes his head at Giovanni''s plight.

    "How many minutes has it been already? I hope this is not the end." Madhuri shakes her head, almost giving up hope.

    "I- I can''t watch this." Eleanor says.

    "Smiling at the face of death¡­." Yuji is impressed.

    [[[ "It''s my last night anyway, so I want the truth. My mother, was it also you two?" Giovanni asks the two.

    "It wasn''t us. But you''re right. You deserve the truth, after all you''ve done for the family." The large made man says.

    "It was the family. It was Don Orsini who ordered it. And he orders your death too." The skinny made man says.

    Giovanni can no longer hold his amicable smile at the two and his face expresses realization, and then hurt. ]]]

    "I knew it¡­ I f*ckin knew it." Maximo says, expressing the jury''s sentiments.

    "The fact that he became a criminal to prove himself to Antonio just makes it more heartbreaking." Kenneth says.

    Before they can prepare to wallow at Giovanni''s impending tragedy¡­

    [[[Giovanni twitches his left sleeve and his trusty small pistol falls to his palms. He then quickly raises the gun towards his executioners.

    Before the two made-men can react and draw their weapons *POP* *POP* Giovanni fires two shots.

    The bullets hit true and the two men''s foreheads now each have a hole in them. The two men *Plop* *Plop* then fall to the ground, unmoving.]]]

    "*SSSSSSSSS*" The jury members gasp in unison at the sudden change of the situation. They can only watch on as the movie proceeds.

    "Shit¡­ If we didn''t know Isaac can fake his actors'' death, I''d think they were shot for real." Yuji says, nauseated at the sight of bullet holes on the two made-men''s foreheads.

    [[[Giovanni takes a few seconds to observe the two fallen men.]]]

    "They''re still alive." Madhuri says as the screen shows a close-up of the large man''s fingers twitch.

    [[[Giovanni then walks towards the fallen men and *POP* *POP* shoots them once again, on their heads, for certainty. Everything has gone silent, except for the sounds of the breeze blowing and crickets chirping.]]]

    "¡­" The jury members'' blood runs cold at the act, but they cannot complain either.

    [[[Giovanni soon returns to Queens a few hours later to find Orsini men everywhere looking for him. The two made-men, not returning to report to Antonio prompted the Don to spread out his men.

    "There''s Giovanni!" A thug spots Giovanni and a chase starts.]]]

    "Go! Go!"

    "Oh my god! Get out!" The jury members are now in tension watching Giovanni evade and exchange fire with his pursuers. It is not until Giovanni loses his final pursuer that the jury sigh in relief.

    "He made it¡­" Eleanor, who has had her hand on her mouth, finally exhales in relief.

    [[[Giovanni is now safe in a random house, and is writing a letter.

    "My friends, I am leaving New York. Antonio Orsini, my biological father has decided to betray my trust and tried to take my life. I am hoping that he will not come after you too¡­"

    "¡­One day, when I am ready, or if I am even alive then, I will come back for you."¡­

    Giovanni has taken the government''s call to arms in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor a chance to get away for a fresh start.

    "Until then, farewell." ]]]

    *SIGH* The jury members let out their breaths as the credits roll.

    "¡­" Unlike the previous films which they immediately had opinions of, ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'' has made them speechless, the story lingering in their minds.

    "huh... I wish there was more." Eleanor says after gathering her emotions.

    "He had to have lived after the war, right?" Madhuri can only hope.

    "Let''s just say he did for our peace of mind." Maximo shakes his head.

    "So. What does everyone think about the movie?" Eleanor gathers the jury members'' opinions.

    "Better than his debut film, for sure." Yuji says.

    "¡­ I agree with Yuji. Not only better. It''s much, much better. I can''t believe it." Kenneth says.

    "I thought his style was just a novelty, but... this..." Yuji is not able to complete his sentence out of being humbled.

    "The period of the film too. I feel like I''ve been transported back in time. The way they talk, their accent. It''s incredible." Maximo says.

    The four''s comments initiate a discussion among the jury. The discussion cannot continue however because of Madhuri suddenly says something that silences the room.

    "Do we really have to watch the other submissions? I mean, I think we''ve got a winner for many of the awards already¡­"

    The jury members then look at the festival assistants in the room.

    "¡­" The assistants can only look at the jury as if they are kidding. The one who is operating the equipment even shakes his head helplessly as a response.

    "We have to watch the rest. There''s still hundreds to go through and there might be a better one than this." Eleanor can only say, with herself and her fellow jury members not believing her words at all.

 Chapter 183 - April Stuff

    April 2, 2013 ¨C 5 AM , Tuesday ¨C West Ouigab

    "Ugh. Holy f*ck, you''re really here this early." Chala complains drowsily as he lets Tayaw in his apartment.

    "Hey. I do what I say and you agreed to this time." Tayaw shrugs as he enters the apartment.

    "I was hoping you''ll actually be busy with your film. *Yaawwnn* If you want coffee, make it yourself. I''ll go grab the papers." Chala says as he trod to his study.

    "How do you want your coffee?" Tayaw asks.

    "Just for you. I wanna continue sleeping after."

    "Okay."

    A minute later, and Tayaw now sipping a cup of coffee.

    "Here they are." Chala returns with the papers for Tayaw.

    "Thanks." And Tayaw starts flipping.

    Chala while looking at Tayaw, gets immediately bored but he does not want to fall back asleep yet. Knowing Tayaw''s ability in multitasking, Chala decides to make small talk.

    "So¡­ I get why you bought your first building and the lots beside the warehouse because it''s close to your film studio. But¡­ why''d you have to buy two more buildings plus more empty lots in the middle of South Ouigab?" Chala asks.

    *Flip* *flip* "Just like why I bought half of Nasiri Hill. It''s for investment." Tayaw answers.

    "That highway again?" Chala asks.

    "That highway." Tayaw nods.

    "Hm. How confident are you really that the highway will make South Ouigab grow?" Chala asks.

    *flip* *flip* "75? Maybe 80 percent?" Tayaw estimates.

    "Damn. Still¡­ how much are you spending on these properties? On something that ain''t sure?" Chala says.

    "Hey you haven''t spent much time in there aside from negotiating with property owners on my behalf. As for me, I''ve spent every morning, for seven months, jogging around the streets of South Ouigab. I''m seeing a few properties starting to be developed, practically all at the same time. I''m not the only one who''s already seeing the potential benefits of that highway after it''s done." Tayaw says.

    "Really?... Huh¡­" Chala contemplates Tayaw''s observation.

    "I wanna buy some properties too but if those tanks, I don''t have as much time as you do to recoup my losses." Chala says.

    "Dude, you''re 46. That''s young for you to still try. If my calculations are right, you''ve earned 40 Million BGC from my books. You can spare some to become a landlord. At least you''ll have a passive income once people start going there." Tayaw says.

    "Hmm.. Maybe I will." Chala nods. "But not in South Ouigab. Heh. I''ll look here in West or maybe a few houses near Ironstone." Chala says.

    "Heh. Hey. Even if South Ouigab won''t benefit as much as I would expect, I''ll develop South Ouigab on my own. Maybe I''ll make South Ouigab Nabla''s Hollywood, or maybe establish a few software start-ups." Tayaw shrugs.

    "Huh¡­ Good lord. Say if that highway don''t work out, you''re serious about developing these properties?" Chala asks.

    "Yeah. What would I rather do with my money?" Tayaw says.

    "Charity?" Chala is stumped.

    "Heh. Someday, Chala. Someday when I''m rich enough to actually make changes at things I wanna change." Tayaw chuckles as he finishes reading the stack of papers.

    "Done? What do you think of the offers?" Chala asks.

    "What do you think?" Tayaw asks.

    "I don''t know. I rather had a smooth time convincing them to lower their asking prices. If we go back to them asking to lower more, I don''t think they''d be happy." Chala shrugs.

    "Well, that''s that then. Arrange a meeting for me and them for the purchase." Tayaw says.

    "Good¡­ wait. All of these?!" Chala asks, dumbfounded.

    "Yeah." Tayaw shrugs.

    "Fck. I think my head will spin if I do the math." Chala says, worried about the amount of money Tayaw is about to spend.

    "Hmm.. Let me see¡­ These ones, plus the ones that are in the process of ownership transfers, it''s a total of 150 million BGC after I''ve owned them all." Tayaw quickly adds.

    "It''s not about the f.u.c.kin addition! I can add too, the f*ck?" Chala says.

    "Hey. If I bought this much property in East Ouigab''s business district, or even in the residential areas there, I''d probably spend maybe even double than what I''m gonna be spendin. If these all work out, it''s a f*ckin bargain." Tayaw says.

    "Whatever. Now I''m thinking that your investment to your two companies in New York are more worth it than these." Chala shakes his head.

    "I''m willing to invest that much. Invest too, if you want. Tell you what, if you buy something in South Ouigab, and if in case that property tanks, I''ll buy it from you more than your purchasing price." Tayaw says, half-jokingly as he downs his now cold coffee.

    Chala can only stare at Tayaw talking casually about spending huge sums of money.

    "If you back me, then maybe I will¡­ Hey. Since you said you''d want to develop South Ouigab anyway, why didn''t you just purchase whole blocks instead of scattered properties? Wouldn''t that be easier to develop?" Chala asks.

    "Well, I''m not gonna want to develop those properties immediately. I wanna test the waters with these purchases first." Tayaw says.

    "Test?" Chala asks in interest.

    "Yeah. My first priority for those property is just like I said, investments. Have you noticed something special about the properties I had you scope?" Tayaw asks.

    "I don''t want to guess." Chala says.

    "Alright be that way. Aren''t most of them corner lots / buildings near the main roads? Those are the ones that will have the most pedestrian traffic. More pedestrian traffic, the more valuable the property is. In case the highway affects South Ouigab, these ones? These are the first to become expensive." Tayaw explains.

    "Oh¡­ I see¡­ But if the highway won''t change things?" Chala asks.

    "Then I''ll slowly buy up the neighboring properties near my properties." Tayaw says.

    "¡­" Chala stores the information in the back of his mind.

    "How''s the movies going by the way? You''ve gotten so busy with it; I think you''re forgetting that you''re an author too." Chala asks.

    "Making movies is fun. Erik''s been hounding you again?" Tayaw asks.

    "Heh. Yah. He''s practically offering a 50/50 cut for your next novels, thinking you''re having second thoughts publishing with them again." Chala reports.

    "Well¡­ That''s VERY generous. Is he serious?" Tayaw asks at the unbelievable offer.

    "Yeah. I think so." Chala nods.

    "We''ll talk about it some other time. I''ve got filming to do." Tayaw says as he stands up to leave.

    Chala, having an idea of Tayaw''s schedule understands.

    "Alright. I''ll call you once these landowners are ready to sell." Chala says.

    "Oh. By the way. Come join us for lunch later at Leckli Lodge." Tayaw says.

    "That hotel we went to last September? What''s the occasion?" Chala clarifies.

    "You''ll see¡­" Tayaw says.

    ~~~~~~~Nasiri Hill ¨C 8 AM.

    Luca in old man make-up, with two little boys and a Border Collie, are playing catch in the vast grassland of Tayaw''s Nasiri Hill property, under the bright and warm sunny skies. The delightful cackles of Luca, the giggles of the two boys, and the huffs and barks of the playful Collie makes for a perfect happy sight. A few tens of feet away, there is a group of twenty or so people watching the heartwarming scene. The heartwarming sight however is not to play on longer and is broken by one yell from Tayaw.

    "CUT!" Tayaw announces.

    *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* The crew, Luca, and the two child actors celebrate and are high-fiving each other at the successful take. This take especially is special for the cast and crew.

    "That was our last scene, everyone. You have all done great." Tayaw says, making an odd atmosphere.

    "What''s wrong?" Tayaw asks everyone, noticing.

    "That''s really it?" the lighting directors asks.

    "Yeah." Tayaw nods.

    "Hm. I know we were gonna finish anyways, but it just feels odd that the job is finally done." Cameraman1 says as he turns off his camera.

    "Yeah¡­ Hey. At least we got paid really well. It was nice working with you, Tayaw." A sound guy says as he too turns off his equipment.

    "Thanks man. I didn''t get to say thanks when we finished ''September Ninth'' too. I''ve learned a lot." Cameraman2 expresses his thanks.

    "It feels like the last seven months wasn''t just a job, but an education as well. I would have worked for free." Cameraman3 says.

    "Heh. I should have known, I would have cut your pay." Tayaw jests.

    "Come on man. Your generous pay also had something to do with me taking the job." Cameraman3 says.

    Most of the crew directly involved in the filming has been with Tayaw since ''September Ninth''. After adding ''September Ninth'' to their resumes, they have become in-demand in the Teungebian film industry and they always had gigs. They have experienced first-hand the experiments the Teungebian film industry had done in the succeeding months after ''September Ninth''s release and they are also the first people who noticed that Tayaw is changing the movie game.

    So, when they got contacted by Tayaw again for the ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'' trilogy, they dropped their existing jobs, paid their fees for their breach of contract, and rushed to Tayaw''s Half Basin Studios. Tayaw, finding out their sacrifices, have raised his initial offer pay to them out of courtesy.

    "Alright. Alright. Thank you everybody. I knew this scene was gonna be easy to shoot anyways, so our banquet is still a go! I''ll see you all at East Ouigab later for an early lunch and celebration!" Tayaw says.

    *CHEER* The cast and crew now have shed their conflicted emotions and they applause for celebration.

    A few minutes later, Tayaw is back in Half Basin studios after a short drive from Nasiri. This time however, the film studio is almost barren with people. The crew who participated in the shoot earlier has barely spent any time dropping off the equipment before heading directly to Leckli Lodge in East Ouigab where the rest of the cast and crew are already gathered, drinking, entertaining themselves.

    "Phew¡­" Tayaw plops down in his office sofa.

    He pulls out his phone and sets an alarm to set off thirty minutes later. He then lay his phone near his ears before lying down on the sofa to take a nap to rest his eyes that was exposed from the bright sun.

    Since his completion of the ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer (Part 1)'' last December, Tayaw has accomplished a lot in the next two films with his increased work efficiency. With his huge ''fourth level'' enhancement last December for completing the first part, Tayaw''s body strength and endurance has increased.

    While he welcomed the superhuman effects the enhancement had on his body, his best use of the enhancement came from the further increase in his brain processes and reduced need for sleep. He was able go on for two straight days after only four hours of sleep.

    The extra time and energy have helped him edit, sound design, and compose music for the next installment of ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer''. Aside from the subtitles, he practically finished the second film two weeks ago and it can readily premiere. That completion of ''Part 2'' led yet again to another enhancement and now, Tayaw can go on two days straight after only three hours of sleep.

    While Tayaw still has the energy go on and he wants to make the production of the third film as perfect as possible, he cannot. He noticed that his cast and crew, while still performing well, are burnt out.

    His crew, especially, is noticeably exhausted. For seven straight months, they have worked and tried their best to keep up with Tayaw. However, seven straight months of filming in the film industry is unheard of, and so no one in the crew has worked that long.

    -

    Thirty minutes later *Ring* *ring*. Tayaw''s phone alarm sets off.

    "Uhhhhh." Tayaw stretches his body before going to his computer to start editing the third and final installment of the ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'' trilogy.

 Chapter 184 - Wrapping Up

    (Cont''d)

    Tayaw takes a deep breath and starts arching his body in weird angles. *Crack* *Crack* *CRAACCKK* Him cracking each joint he can, has become his usual ritual to prepare for a long time of sitting around in front of the computer for a few hours..

    Despite his two huge recent enhancements, he did not rest easy after he finished ''Gold, Blood, and The Deer ¨C Part 2'', and he immediately started editing, composing, and sound designing the ''GBTD ¨C Part 3''.

    He found the editing process a very immersive and meditative task. He also uses his editing process as a way to escape the boring and slowed ¨C down world his enhanced senses make him perceive. He can fast forward the footages to speeds he is comfortable with, he can play and record the background music as fast as he can and only slow it down after he''s done, and it is a great way for him to pass his time. Like all film edits, however, the editing of ''GBTD ¨C Part 3'' is also about to come to an end.

    Aside from the last scene, the third film is almost finished with only a few recuts and re-edits needed.

    "Let''s begin."

    [[[The final scene begins with a wide-angle shot of Giovanni playing with his two grandsons and their dog on a huge grassy expanse under a fair weather. The music playing however, while matching the happy scene, is quite odd.

    While the music is happy, it also has a dark undertone to it.

    The frame switches cut to a wide shot showing Giovanny throwing a frisbee to the distance. While the sound of Giovanni''s cackles reverberated, the cut switches to a panning shot of a black and white still image of the Italian Mob bosses of Nevada kneeling in front of Giovanni and Nico.

    The frame switches back again to the colorful grassland, a tracking shot following Giovanni''s dog catching the Frisbee.

    The frame cuts to a panning shot of another black and white photo of Nico, with an open briefcase filled with cash in his arms, holding it towards the down-trodden looking Jewish Mafia bosses of Nevada.

    The frame cuts back to the grassland, with a tracking shot of one of Giovanni''s grandsons taking the frisbee from the dog''s mouth.

    The frame cuts to another panning shot of series of black and white photos of Cervo members breaking signboards of various Italian, Russian, and Jewish businesses, replacing them with new signs.

    The frame switches back to color, a tracking shot of the other grandson giggling while chasing his brother to take the frisbee.

    The frame cuts to another panning shot of a series of black and white photos of the Russian Mob bosses and their family, stuffing huge bags and luggage to their cars to flee Las Vegas.

    The frame switches back to color, a full body shot of the grandson passing the frisbee back to the dog. The dog then rushes the frisbee back to Giovanni''s hands.

    The frame cuts to a mid-shot of Giovanni raising the frisbee to his face.

    "*Huff* *Huff* I got it first! I won, right grandpa?" The older grandson approaches Giovanni, out of breath, the bright sunlight hitting his sweaty and adorable face.

    The frame switches to a first person perspective low angle mid shot of Giovanni''s face and torso, with the sun behind him, implying the shot as the first person view of the grandson.

    Giovanni looks at the grandson and says "No. You let go, kid. Don''t let go next time."]]]

    "Ssss¡­." Tayaw takes a deep breath.

    "It''s not as.... compelling as the two other ones." Tayaw mumbles.

    The third installment of ''GBD Part 3'' has no twists like Antonio''s betrayal in the first film and the ambush in the second film. He finds it hard to see anything wrong with the third film however.

    "More of Giovanni building his legacy and family¡­ and closure of the story." Tayaw says with a contented smile before quickly burning the film in a Digital Cinema Package.

    A few minutes later, the ''GBTD Part 3'' is finally done, ready to be played with a projector.

    "Zzzzzmmmm." Tayaw also feels another boost of enhancement, signifying that the -white void- recognizes the Part 3 too, as good enough film for it.

    "Thank you." Tayaw says, and sighs in relief.

    ~~~ 12 NN ¨C Leckli Lodge, East Ouigab ~~~

    *CLAP* *CLAP* *APPLAUSE*

    Tayaw is welcomed warmly as he enters the banquet hall he reserved by the already waiting cast and the crew.

    "Congratulations!" Steven shouts at Tayaw amidst the noise.

    He is not the only one who paused eating and drinking to express their congratulations. Tayaw then steps to the front of the room, raises his hand in the air and gestures the big room to calm down.

    "No. Congratulate yourselves too. Finishing three films is a great achievement to all of us. Great job everybody!" Tayaw says as he raises the DCP of the third film he just made towards the cast and the crew.

    *clap*¡­. *Clap*¡­

    The cast and crew however only stare at Tayaw with confused gazes for a moment, before also applauding for themselves, shrugging their initial confusion. Tayaw meanwhile did not forget the confusion shown by the cast and crew as he walks to the table where Chala, Jouny and Ongki is seated at.

    "Hey. Congrats buddy." Ongki and Jouny greets as they are joined by Tayaw.

    "Thanks. That was weird back there?" Tayaw says to Jouny and Ongki.

    "What''s weird?" Chala asks.

    "They were confused when I told them to congratulate themselves. Aren''t they happy I''m done with this?" Tayaw says as he puts the DCP on the table.

    "Hm?" Ongki is confused again at Tayaw''s confusion.

    "See? Look. Look. Just like that." Tayaw points at Ongki''s face.

    "I don''t know. Maybe because you don''t look as happy as you should be?" Jouny says.

    "What? I''m happy. We''re finally done¡­ Ooh. Thanks man." Tayaw says as he downs the glass of wine Ongki just poured for him.

    "It''s not that. They''re not surprised that you were gonna finish editing today." Jouny says.

    "Then what''s the reaction for?" Tayaw raises his eyebrows.

    "Eugh. Just how busy are you that you forgot?" Jouny says, which also gets Chala''s attention.

    Looking at Tayaw''s and Chala''s confused expressions, Jouny shakes her head.

    "Congratulations again. The ''Part 1'' is selected at Sorrento to compete for almost all the awards it can possibly get." Jouny reveals.

    Tayaw processes for a moment, before a wide grin spreads to his face.

    "That''s the reaction we''re looking for." Ongki chuckles at Tayaw suppressing his excitement.

    "Go ahead. Pull out your phone and take a look." Jouny scoffs, apparent to her Tayaw''s intention.

    "Heh. Thanks." Tayaw says.

    "What''s the big deal? He already won last year?" Chala asks as he also takes a look at Tayaw''s phone.

    "Man. It''s still the one of the most prestigious awards on the international film scene." Jouny says.

    "Huh.." Jouny and Ongki hear Tayaw softly exclaim.

    [[[''Gold, Blood, and the Deer''.

    Best Picture

    Jury Prize.

    Best Screenplay ¨C Isaac Yawat.

    Best Director ¨C Isaac Yawat.

    Best Actor ¨C Geoff Peterson.

    Premio Per Una Certa Prospettiva - Isaac Yawat.]]]

    "Not only that. I''ve seen forums in the internet saying you''ll probably win Fioro D''Oro again if your film''s the obvious best." Jouny reports.

    "Really? Well. Isn''t that great." Tayaw says absentmindedly while still scrolling through his phone.

    "hmmm. ''Premio Per Una Certa Prospettiva''¡­" Tayaw reads an award he has overlooked and mistaken as simply an Italian caption.

    "Oh. That''s a new award I think that they came up with because of you." Jouny says.

    "Psh. Is it really?" Tayaw asks skeptically.

    "Well, rumors. Anyways, you know Italian. What does that prize mean?" Jouny asks.

    "Well. Literally translates to Prize For A Certain Perspective¡­ Let me look it up" Tayaw starts tapping away.

    "¡­ Huh¡­" Tayaw softly exclaims again after reading something, happiness apparent in his voice.

    "What''s the prize for?" Chala asks, not understanding the Italian webpage Tayaw is reading.

    "It says in the Italian articles that it''s for ''innovative and audacious works''." Tayaw says.

    "Well. There you go. The rumor probably isn''t just a rumor. ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'' is an innovative and audacious work. I just wish they had this for September Ninth too so I can share the credit too." Jouny says.

    "Damn¡­ You''re already a more acclaimed filmmaker more than a musician and an author¡­" Chala absentmindedly says.

    "Oh yeah. I always forget you are also a musician." Ongki nods.

    "Wait¡­ What do you mean ''author''?" Jouny however picks up the small information.

    "¡­" Tayaw and Chala freeze at the question.

    "What author? He said ''investor''." Tayaw says.

    "Y-yeah¡­ I said ''investor''. Imma go to the bathroom." Chala says before ''subtly'' fleeing from his slip-up. Had Chala not react so strangely, Jouny would have accepted that she misheard.

    "No, no. No no no ~. I''m not deaf. I clearly heard ''author. Wait. You''re an investor too?" Jouny asks again.

    ''Chala¡­'' Tayaw internally curses.

    "I''ll tell you about it when it''s just us." Tayaw says.

    Jouny is about to ask further out of intense curiosity but Ongki saves Tayaw. .

    "Honey. Come on. Tayaw seems wary of the crowd." Ongki says.

    "¡­ Alright¡­" Jouny finally understands.

    "Yeah¡­ Like Ongki said ¡­ So, hey, how''s the screenwriting going by the way?." Tayaw changes the subject.

    "¡­" Jouny tries hard to put the ''author'' word to the back of her mind.

    "¡­ Oh Screenwriting. Yeah. Thankfully, it wasn''t just a spurt of inspiration. I''m almost done with it." Jouny says.

    "Huh. You''re quick." Tayaw is surprised.

    "Yeah. Kinda. And, the baby''s on the way so I had to rush it. I''ll refine it while babysitting." Jouny says.

    "So, any day now, huh?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah¡­"

    "Well. I think you should hire a private nurse for your baby. Being a parent must be overwhelming, much more for new parents like yourselves." Tayaw suggests.

    "Heh." "Haha." Jouny and Ongki suddenly laugh at the suggestion.

    "What? Am I wrong?" Tayaw says, suddenly self-conscious, realizing that he is the last person who should be suggesting considering his physical age.

    "Nah. It''s just ''private nurse''. We have a fun story about that one." Ongki says.

    "Oh?" Tayaw is interested.

    "Well. Jouny''s mom and my mom has been arguing for months who will come up to Ouigab to help take care of the baby." Ongki says.

    "Well? Can''t the both of them just come up? Your apartment has enough rooms, right?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah. But they''re both rather¡­ territorial. They''re arguing that just one would be enough as to not impose on our privacy." Ongki says.

    "And ironically, they''re imposing that they make the decision for us." Jouny shakes her head.

    "So, have they settled on who''s coming up?" Tayaw asks.

    "They both are, with some convincing." Jouny says.

    "Oh? How''d you manage that? You said they''re fighting for the position?" Tayaw asks.

    "Honey, I wouldn''t really call it ''convincing''. Heh. Jouny kind of threatened them." Ongki says.

    "Oh? I didn''t think you''re the threatening type." Tayaw asks in surprise.

    "Well. Not exactly a threat. I just told them I''d rather hire a private nurse." Jouny says.

    "Ohhhhh¡­ Well. That does it. Haha." Tayaw says, amused.

    "Yeah. And. They also know that we both have the money to spare to hire one, so the threat really worked." Ongki says.

    "Hm¡­ Yeah. A nurse is expensive. Give your money instead to family. I just hope y''all won''t freak out by their old-school babysitting though." Tayaw says, basing on what he saw with Kilat and Payew''s daughter in his previous life.

    "Uh." "What?" Jouny and Ongki are suddenly anxious at Tayaw''s foreboding words.

    Tayaw however does not want to say anything that might set the couple''s parental expectations wrong, and instead stands up and walks toward the front of the room. Tayaw''s action also gets the attention of the people in the big room.

    "Where''s Tayaw going?" Chala asks Jouny and Ongki as he returns to the table.

    "He''s probably gonna plug in the film they just finished. Too bad you haven''t seen the first two." Jouny says.

    "Oh¡­" Chala can only watch the proceedings.

    "Alright. Just like before, shut off your phones please." Tayaw orders everyone and everyone obliges.

    Some of the cast and crew also stand up and excitedly set up the projectors, the screen, and the sound system. The ones who are not doing anything also focus their attention on the screen.

    "Honey. The first scene, I directed myself." Jouny says to Ongki, which immediately gets Chala and Ongki''s attention.

 Chapter 185 - Three Industry Insiders

    April 4, 2013 ¨C Thursday, 6 PM ¨C Vagner Studios, Pasadena, California

    "Anthony! Can you spare me some time?" Anthony is busy with paperwork when he is interrupted by an unexpected visitor.

    "Michael. The f*ck are you doing here?" Anthony, despite his harsh words, is glad to see Michael, an old friend of his.

    "I just had a talk with your president and it crossed my mind to see you on my way out." Michael says and takes a seat on the sofa in Anthony''s office.

    "Heh. I thought you were kidding. So, did it go well?" Anthony asks as he joins Michael at the couch.

    "Yeah. I''ll be here after my contract in Spire Pictures is done." Michael says.

    "Good. It''s great to have another pro with us." Anthony is glad of the news.

    "Anyways. What are you guys working on right now?" Michael asks.

    "Well? The important ones... Sequels for ''Yard Blues'' and ''Love Campus'', just as you might have heard. And a new project." Anthony says.

    "Nice, nice. That new project is Miss Sellers, right? Based on some best-selling novel?" Michael asks.

    "Yeah. What? You looking to invest in it?" Anthony asks.

    "Nah. Are there still spots for ''Yard Blues'' and ''Love Campus''?" Michael asks.

    This makes Anthony freeze.

    "Wow¡­ So you too, huh?" Anthony scoffs.

    "Man, you know how it is." Michael simply shrugs.

    "Heh. That meeting we had, you guys from Spire, us from Vagner, those fellas from Tisney¡­ After what happened at that secret conference? I know how it is alright." Anthony says, bitterly.

    "Yeah. Folks from different studios coming together, is unheard of. But we needed that for some ideas." Michael says.

    "Hmm." Anthony nods as him and Michael reflect on the meaning of that meeting.

    "F*ckin Isaac." Michael scoffs.

    "Yeah¡­ F*ckin Isaac." Anthony shares the sentiment.

    "So... Are there spots for your sequels I can cash in on?" Michael asks again.

    "Nah. You''re too late. Investors who are in the know already filled those spots. ''Miss Sellers'' though, we got lucky and clueless investors are willing to gamble. Although we have a lot of money for the new project, we need all the funds we could scr.a.p.e." Anthony offers.

    "Nah. No thanks." Michael says, disappointed.

    Anthony is disappointed too at Michael''s refusal.

    "Hey. Since that meeting, aren''t we all studying ''September Ninth''? ''Miss Sellers'' is gonna adapt Isaac''s style. Aren''t you guys at Spire doing the same?" Anthony asks.

    "Yeah. We are. But who''s really confident? You have talented people, we have talented people, foreign studios have talented people. But who''s coming on top right now at Sorrento? F*ckin Isaac. You know as well as I do that right now, making better movies based on what we know is the best bet to take, to take him on." Michael says.

    "We don''t have to compete, yeah. But our board aren''t listening, the f*cks. Are you guys spending a lot as well for the uh, experiments? Our director for ''Miss Sellers'' is pulling his hair out." Anthony nods.

    "... Hey. Can I have a bottle I can take home?" Michael asks, acting as if he has not heard the question. Anthony however notices the small twitch in Michael''s face, which he figures that Spire Studios have the same problem.

    "I do..." Anthony finally drops the matter and he walks to the liquor cabinet under his office desk, opens it an grabs an unopened bottle.

    "Vintage Scotch. An early welcoming gift for you." Anthony says as he passes the bottle to Michael.

    "Nice¡­ Thanks." Michael says while appreciating the classy looking bottle.

    "By the way. Are you available now? I have a dinner meeting. You can join us." Anthony offers.

    "Nah. I''m sorry. I have to go back to Spire tonight so, rain check? Maybe I''ll invite you out on my first day here." Michael refuses politely.

    "Alright. I''ll be waiting for that invite." Anthony accepts the refusal.

    "Hey. Let''s leave the building together." Anthony says as he goes back to his desk to pick up his suit jacket.

    ~~~~~7PM - ''The Kettle Arbour'', Pasadena California ¨C

    "Harvey, how you doin?" Anthony greets one of the people he has been waiting for in the restaurant.

    "Pretty great actually. How about you?" Harvey asks as he joins the man at his table.

    "Good. Good. Order first." Anthony says.

    "Huh¡­ It''s unusual to see you at a place like this... Is Carol coming too?" Harvey asks as he opens the fancy menu book of the fancy restaurant.

    "Yeah. She''s on her wa ¨C Oh she''s here." Anthony says as Caroline enters the front door of the restaurant.

    The three acquaintances, all in their 50s, wearing their stereotypical corporate fashion, are three of the top executives of the media conglomerate Vagner Group. Anthony works in Vagner Studios that produce films and television shows, while Harvey and Carol work in Vagner Cinema that distributes Vagner Studios'' works and other studios'' works.

    "Just us?" Caroline asks as she joins the two men.

    "Yeah. No secretaries, no assistants, just like I said." Anthony nods.

    "Huh¡­ Why?" Caroline asks, echoing Harvey''s concern.

    "It''s a short meeting. And, it''s just you two I wanna treat." Anthony says.

    "heh. F*ckin cheapskate¡­" Caroline scoffs.

    "Hey. I invited Michael Ross. He is joining Vagner Studios. But he refused a free dinner." Anthony says.

    "Right¡­ That''s still just one more person." Caroline jests.

    "About that. You rarely offer dinner or lunch. Something good happened lately?" Harvey asks.

    "Nah. Something possibly bad could." Anthony says.

    This gets the attention of the two and they close their menu books to wait for Anthony to explain further.

    "It''s about Sorrento Film Festival." Anthony continues.

    "Hm? We don''t usually bother with European awards." Harvey says.

    "Ugh. But they know good films. Remind me again what the last year''s winner has done?" Anthony asks.

    This makes Caroline and Harvey silent in contemplation.

    "$50 Million, right?" Harvey says.

    "Yeah..." Anthony nods.

    "But. Didn''t the studio l still profit?" Caroline asks.

    "Here''s the thing. We didn''t." Anthony says, to the surprise of the two.

    "On paper, we did profit from ''Fallen Memory''. But after distributing the money plus profits to the investors, we were left with just a few million. That was just enough to cover the expenses and the crew''s salary." Anthony explains.

    "So, you broke even, but you lost time." Caroline nods.

    "''September Ninth'' ate up what could have been your share." Harvey says in understanding.

    "Yes. I received some dressing down from that one. How could I have f*ckin known?" Anthony says in slight indignation.

    "Is that why we''re here? You feel like something similar''s gonna happen this year?" Caroline asks.

    "Yeah." Anthony simply nods.

    "Well? What happened last year was a special case. It''s not like there''s another ''September Ninth'' coming, right?" Caroline asks, optimistically.

    "Carol''s right. Who knows what kind of films are even competing in Sorrento this year? Even if something as good as ''September Ninth'' comes out, it''s probably not in English. Not only that. It''s no longer just Isaac who will use his own style." Harvey says.

    Anthony shakes his head.

    "That''s the thing. Isaac has made another film and again, it was selected for the competition." Anthony says.

    "No one''s seen any of the films yet, and he''s not gonna win for sure. I''m sure there''s much better films this year, considering the shit that Isaac started." Caroline says.

    "Would it even be as good as his first film?" Harvey asks.

    "I''ve not seen the film so I don''t know how good it is. But. I spoke with one of the jury members. He''s a friend." Anthony sighs.

    "And?" Harvey asks.

    "He said that it''s much, much better than ''September Ninth'' and it''s an all-American cast." Anthony says.

    This attracts Caroline and Harvey immediately.

    "What awards is it competing for?" Caroline asks.

    "Basically all the awards except for actress ones. They even made a new award just for Isaac." Anthony says.

    This news is now making Caroline and Harvey drool more than the food the fancy restaurant could offer.

    "This is good. This is good news. Thanks for the heads-up Anthony." Harvey says.

    "Hey Harvey. Isaac, as you know, is hard to find. How do we even talk to him?" Caroline says.

    "Well. We can start with the actors. Anthony, do you know any of the cast?" Harvey asks.

    "¡­" Anthony can only speechlessly look at the two as they talk about how to sign a distribution deal with Tayaw.

    "Fellas!" Anthony stops Caroline and Harvey''s discussion.

    "I''m here to ask a favor not the other way around." Anthony says.

    "And Isaac''s new film is a problem for me." Anthony adds.

    This makes Caroline and Harvey become apprehensive.

    "Look. Our studio is working on another film. So far, we''ve spent $8 million in pre-production, and we estimate that we''ll spend at least $15 million more in production, and then there''s marketing too. Allie Edison and Vaughn Miller''s agents are asking a high f*ckin price too, so there''s that.  If Isaac''s film takes market share again, we just might lose our investors'' money this time." Anthony says.

    This makes his two acquaintances sympathize and drop their caution.

    "Well? What do you want us to do? You can''t expect for us to NOT AT LEAST bid on Isaac''s film, right?" Harvey says.

    "Hey. It''s not like that. Say, if you really get the distribution rights, I just want you guys to leave me a slice of the market share you two control. If you can assure me that, then I''ll owe you guys big time." Anthony explains his plan.

    Caroline and Harvey exchange glances at Anthony''s request. After almost telepathically communicating, they both express their understanding.

    "Okay." "We can arrange that." Caroline and Harvey say, respectively.

    "However. Once Isaac''s film premieres in Sorrento, I''m betting my left nut that your chances of winning the distribution deal will be a lot lower. I have another request if that happens." Anthony begins.

    Caroline and Harvey can only wince at the image of them unable to chase a cash cow.

    "What''s your plan?" Harvey asks.

    "How are you guys with Centurion Corp these days?" Anthony asks.

    "We''re still partnered up, why?" Harvey says.

    "What''s that got to do with your plan?" Caroline asks, a sense of familiarity dawning.

    "How many theaters and screens do they have?"  Anthony asks.

    "Harvey. You know better with this than me." Caroline passes the question.

    "Well, as you know¡­ they own Archbeam Cinema, Atlantic Theaters, and some other small theaters. With that, they probably have at least 50 theaters nationwide and each theater has at least 6 screens, so that''s around 300 screens, maybe 500 at most. They always have 90 or so screens reserved for one of your studio''s films." Harvey explains.

    "Those aren''t just 90 screens, but 90 screens with 250 seats." Caroline adds.

    "If you''re counting seats for ''Miss Sellers''. There''s 50 more screens we can reserve for you from other theaters we''re partnered with." Harvey adds.

    Anthony shakes his head.

    "140 screens. That''s not assuring. Even if we can fill those seats in every weekend in the first month of release, we''d barely make even, just like what happened last year. " Anthony says.

    "So, you want more screens¡­" Harvey says in realization.

    "Hold on. I know where you''re going with this. Even if we do win the exclusive distribution, you can''t possibly want us to shelf it just so it can''t compete with you. It''s gonna look bad for us. Not to mention how much Isaac''s film can make us." Caroline says.

    "It''s not like you didn''t do this before." Anthony says.

    "True. We did. But those directors we pushed out? They have no pull and their movies are average. Say, even if we can steal Centurion''s screens for you, Isaac is different. If what you heard about his new film is true, then Centurion would want it in their theaters no matter what." Caroline explains.

    "Yeah¡­ We can''t do anything man. One more thing. Let''s say Tisney gets the distribution rights, they''re also partnered up with Centurion. We can''t do anything then." Harvey says.

    "So what? We''re producing more blockbusters than almost any studio lately. Guys, if Centurion is going to decide to screen Isaac''s film, just tell them that we''ll go to other theaters to screen the sequels to ''Yard Blues'' and ''Love Campus''." Anthony pulls out the rest of his plan.

    "¡­" "You''re crazy." Caroline and Harvey are shocked.

 Chapter 186 - Pixie Studios

    April 12, 2013 ¨C 10 AM, Friday ¨C Pixie Studios, Piedmont, California

    [[[ *Credits Roll* *Music*]]]

    *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *WHISTLES* *WHISTLES*

    A crowd of around 100 people start cheering and celebrating in one of Pixie Studios'' conference rooms. They have just seen the final cut of ''Snow White''. The crowd, is composed of Pixie Studios'' animators, other crew, and some executives.

    Unlike the news that Tayaw and Chala received from Pixie Studios a year ago, Pixie Studios dropped ''Little Red Riding Hood'' and focused instead on ''Snow White''.

    They first thought they can save money in making the two films simultaneously as ''Snow White'' and ''Little Red Riding hood'' had very similar settings, but after realizing that the story of "Little Red Riding Hood'' will be hard to stretch into at least an 85-minute film, they gave up.

    Them focusing instead on ''Snow White'' has made them realize that they are making a film not like any other animated film before. The character uniqueness of the dwarves themselves proved a challenge that they were glad to tackle, and the animators had a blast with their trial and error.

    "Great job everyone!" Lights soon are turned back on and a Pixie Studios executive steps towards the podium to congratulate everyone in the room, not bothered at all by the projector light hitting his face.

    "So, no cuts?" A man, who is the editor of the ''Snow White'', asks.

    The executive then exchanges looks with his other executive buddies to the side before nodding.

    "Yeah. No cuts." The executive replies.

    The people around the room, already used to executives cutting their film, are about to protest before the executive''s words catches up to them.

    "YES!" The people around the room celebrate once again in relief.

    Seeing the people''s reaction, the executive steps down the podium and approaches Chala.

    "Mr. Rotala. How was it?" The executive asks.

    "I loved it, Mr. Klepper. It''s great!..." Chala answers with excitedly, but seeing Tayaw''s unimpressed face, "¡­I guess?" Chala concludes his opinion with uncertainty.

    Mr. Klepper shakes his head at Chala''s lack of expertise and looks at Tayaw beside Chala for an input.

    Seeing as Tayaw is also not talking, the executive gives up.

    "''You guess?'' Mr. Rotala, I''m sorry to ask this, but why isn''t Mr. Grimmauld not here? I thought he would be at least excited to see his story come to life." Mr. Klepper asks instead, still in the dark about Tayaw''s identity.

    "Well, he''s rather busy, focused really, in researching and writing his next novels, including the second volume of Grimm''s Fairy tales. Even I had a hard time having a good talk with him." Chala can only say.

    Mr. Klepper also accepts the realistic answer.

    "Well. Artists, right?" Mr. Klepper chuckles.

    "About his other books. It''s been more than a year since ''The Halfling'' was published. Is he really not planning on selling movie rights? We can give him a very, very generous offer." Mr. Klepper starts brokering.

    "He says he prefers ''The Halfling'' to be a movie with real people in it." Tayaw answers this time.

    "¡­" This makes Mr. Klepper speechless.

    "Wait. Who''re you again?" Mr. Klepper asks as Tayaw did not introduce himself earlier and Chala also did not bother introducing.

    "Oh, how rude of me. I''m Agew Dagem, Mr. Grimmauld''s editor." Tayaw introduces himself, finally.

    Chala almost does a double take at Tayaw''s casual lie that he himself almost believed.

    "Okay. Mr¡­" Mr. Klepper struggles to say ''Dagem''.

    "I go by Isiah in English." Tayaw amends his name.

    "Okay¡­ Isiah. You mean Mr. Grimmauld wants a live movie?" Mr. Klepper asks in clarification.

    "Yes." Tayaw nods.

    "That¡­ Is he sure? I''m a fan of ''The Halfling'' but I don''t think it''s a good idea. The costumes, the film locations, hell, the fantastical creatures. I don''t even know how a film studio can make ''The Halfling'' into a realistic looking film." Mr. Klepper says.

    "Uhh¡­We can green screen the whole thing." An animator who is eavesdropping at the conversation subconsciously says, out loud.

    This gets the interest of Mr. Klepper and Tayaw.

    "What do you mean?" Mr. Klepper asks.

    "I mean, we designed the whole castle of the Wicked Queen in ''Snow White''. Why can''t we do the same of ''The Halfling''? Then green screen real actors." The animator says.

    "Have you read the book?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah." The animator nods.

    "Can you make¡­ let''s say, Riverdell? The elves'' home?" Tayaw asks.

    "It''s gonna take a lot of work, but I guess?" The animator says.

    "How about the orcs? Or the dragon? Can you make them realistically too?" Tayaw asks again.

    At this point, Mr. Klepper has taken a step back to let the animator make Pixie more attractive to Tayaw and Chala.

    "The orcs can use make-up and prosthetics. The dragon though, that''s gonna take a lot of work, research, and collaboration with computer effects people." The animator says.

    Tayaw meanwhile, already knows what he can use and is only fishing for more ideas that he might be able to use once he finally decides to adapt ''The Halfling'' himself.

    "Okay! Buddy~¡­" Mr. Klepper cuts in before the animator might say something that might sabotage their image.

    "Isiah. You being Mr. Grimmauld''s editor, what do you think about the film?" Mr. Klepper switches the topic back, already satisfied by the interest shown by Tayaw.

    "It''s good, I think. But it''s rather bland¡­" Tayaw says.

    "Bland?" Mr. Klepper and the animator feel a bad fluttering of anxiety in the pits of their stomachs.

    "Yeah. I th-" Tayaw is about to clarify when Mr. Klepper interrupts him.

    "Hold that thought, Isiah. HEY EVERYBODY. This young man is Mr. Grimmauld''s editor. He has a few words." Mr. Klepper puts Tayaw on the spot.

    Seeing the attention of everyone on him, Tayaw can only walk to the podium.

    "Just like I said to Mr. Klepper over there, I think the film is quite bland." Tayaw begins.

    *Murmur* *Murmur* He almost regrets being so frank as the gazes of the people who worked on the two animated films have become hostile.

    "Looking at it, it''s fine in the first look. The movements of the characters are very expressive, the environment is very attractive to look at. The voice actors did great jobs too, and you all have done a remarkable job in stretching the story." Tayaw switches with compliments, which achieves the effect he wanted; the crowd is now more willing to listen to him.

    "However. Mr. Grimmauld, would want this film to be a classic." Tayaw begins his suggestions.

    "How do we do that? And what do you know about animation?" An animator heckles.

    "Fair question. I''m not an expert. However, I know the vision of Mr. Grimmauld will help the films you will all make based on his work. If you can let me relay his suggestions?" Tayaw says to the animator as a way to ask everyone''s permission.

    The animator can only calm down at Tayaw''s rational words.

    "Okay. What''s lacking, just like Mr. Grimmauld predicted, is music. Specifically, songs." Tayaw starts, immediately grabbing the interest of everyone.

    "But, Mr. Grimmauld is no musician, so we enlisted the help of one." Tayaw says as he walks toward the home theater set-up of the room.

    Tayaw pulls out his phone, fiddles with the sound equipment and finally, plugs his phone in to the speakers. Soon, a song starts playing.

    "Oh, brothers, oh brothers, build him a boat

    That down the magical river he floats

    And every boater in every raft he pass

    There he will inquire for his sweet lovely lass."

    (Based on Pinery Boy by Sam Eskrine)

    The song ''The Lost Lass and Boy'', is one of the songs Tayaw just whipped up with his portable synthesizer and microphone between the day Pixie Studios invited him and Chala for the private screening and today.

    While waiting for today, Tayaw, through Chala, asked the people of Pixie what to expect, which included his questions about the music. While Pixie made well-suited soundtrack for the background music, Tayaw is not satisfied, as he expected, after he saw the actual movies.

    The song itself is not complicated. Tayaw grabbed the melody from his thousands of compositions, quickly wrote up some lyrics, and arranged the song to the humble Loggers'' Songs genre. The song is also accompanied by simple flute, acoustic guitar, and a bass drum. The simplicity of the song however reflects a manly, down-to-earth, and working man sound.

    "¡­" The people in the room can only listen to the song that is playing through the speakers as they can kind of see how it can be used in the film.

    "She was rowing down the stream

    She rows three-a-rafts all in a string

    and every raft that she passes by

    There she inquires for her lovely boy¡­"

    The short song soon ends and Tayaw sees that some of the people in the room are nodding and are starting to talk to each other.

    "It suits well with the dwarves." One person tells Tayaw, expressing others'' opinions as well.

    Tayaw is glad with the reaction.

    "Okay. Here''s one more." Tayaw plays another short song.

    "Who has been sitting in my chair, who has been eating from my plate.

    Who has been eating my bread, who has been eating my vegetables?

    Who has been sticking with my fork, who has been cutting with my knife?

    Who has been drinking from my mug? Who stepped on my bed?

    Someone has been lying in mine as well¡­"

    This song''s lyrics, unlike the first one, is based on the dialogue of the original story. It too, is in the Logger''s song genre.

    "It''s a great way to introduce our good little dwarves." Tayaw tells the Pixie people after the song is over. The people in the room also approve of the song.

    "There are eight more songs for ''Snow White'', that I can have you all listen to for consideration." Tayaw says proving his seriousness to contribute.

    The creators, listening to Tayaw''s suggestion, are pumped up as they know that the songs can indeed improve the movie, and they can already see it.

    The executives however, have conflicted faces.

    "Uhh.. Isiah." Mr. Klepper, takes Tayaw''s attention.

    "Yes?"

    "This all sound good and all, but¡­ We already spent $15,000,000 in production. The head of productions can even tell you why. I don''t know if we can spare more budget adding these. There''s still marketing left." Mr. Klepper says.

    "That is understandable. Mr. Grimmauld does not want to impose himself, but because these two films are gonna be the first adaptations of his work, he''s rather wary of it being bad. We know that if you guys are going to take Mr. Grimmauld''s suggestions, it''s going to take more work and money.

    "On the other hand, films last forever, and this will as well. We don''t want to look back at this film in the future and have a lot of regrets, no?" Tayaw argues.

    "This¡­ I admire Mr. Grimmauld''s vision, I truly do. However, film is different. We have to consider the bottom line. We are also a business. Another thing, it is more difficult for animated films to attract investors." Mr. Klepper argues back.

    "How about this then? If Mr. Grimmauld invests $8,000,000, right now, to this film''s budget. Would you reconsider?" Tayaw asks.

    *murmur* *Murmur* the creative side of Pixie in the room start to chat amongst themselves excitedly.

    Mr. Klepper and his corporate buddies are taken aback.

    After consorting with his buddies for a while, "Isiah, Mr. Rotala. May we invite you to an early lunch?" Mr. Klepper offers.

 Chapter 187 - College Talks

    "I entered that building thinking that the famous Pixie Studios would satisfy you." Chala says as he and Tayaw drive away from Pixie Studios headquarters, on their way to Hollywood Burbank Airport.

    "It''s a watchable film, and they are a bunch that actually care about making quality films instead of brainless cash cows." Tayaw says.

    "ah¡­" Chala nods at the assessment.

    "But, had they released that¡­ Euigh the lost potential." Tayaw shakes his head.

    "Heh. It actually moved me when the prince''s tears fell down on Snow White''s face. But adding your song after she wakes up? And you suggesting that the prince and snow white dance under the moonlight to that song? That''s gonna be killer right there." Chala says.

    "Yeah¡­" Tayaw nods.

    The way the animators expressed the characters'' emotions impressed him very much, so he was confident in also suggesting a musical dance scene be made.

    "Still. $7,000,000. That''s 25% of their budget now, right? That means you''ll also have 25% of the profits?" Chala chuckles at what he considers a smart and sure-win investment.

    "It wasn''t simple investment. I wanted to establish a standard for them for our future collaborations." Tayaw says.

    Chala''s eyebrows raise at this.

    "That wasn''t one-off? You''re gonna invest again?" Chala asks.

    "Yeah. Not only that, I''ll buy shares. Maybe at least 51%?..." Tayaw says.

    *screech* Chala almost loses control of the steering wheel.

    "What the f*ck.. Are you serious?" Chala says after recovering.

    "Yeah. Why not? My remaining money will be cut a good amount, but I can afford it. I just received the Pixie CEO''s number when you weren''t looking. I''ll call him when I have time." Tayaw says.

    "Hmm. Well¡­ Come to think of it, after your investing, ''Snow White'' is going to be even better. And if ''Snow White'' receives some awards, Pixie''s value will spike up. And, you''re also a film maker, and you know how to make good films that sell. If you help Pixie with the adaptations of your fairy tales just as well as ''Snow White'', then¡­ holy f*ck!¡­ " Chala says, getting more excited by each wishful thinking.

    "You figured it out easily..." Tayaw takes Chala''s attention.

    "What?"

    "This is why I bought time, literally." Tayaw chuckles.

    "What?" Chala asks for clarification.

    "If they released that film, it will still sell. After all, it''s a good film on its own and a first of its kind. But by me, investing $7,000,000 and delaying the release, I''ve delayed the company''s valuation rising as well." Tayaw says.

    The information is too much for Chala to handle while driving so he shuts up. Meanwhile, he drives faster seeing that they are approaching Burbank Airport''s Southwest Parking Lot.

    Just in time for him to complete his thought, "¡­" *Scrrrr* Chala finally parks the car.

    "¡­" Chala then stares at Tayaw.

    "You want to buy their stakes for their value right now¡­" Chala says in understanding.

    "Precisely. They''re worth around $200,000,000 right now. If they make a lot of money and acclaim from ''Snow White''? Their value will rise. I can''t buy as much shares as I want then." Tayaw chuckles.

    Chala, realizing the opportunity slams the steering wheel in excitement. His excitement cools down immediately however after realizing something.

    "How would you take over the current shareholders'' shares?" Chala asks.

    "Yeah¡­ It''s not gonna be hard. I heard from Klepper that 49% of the company''s share that is in the control of shareholders, are always switching owners. These shareholders are not satisfied with the growth of the company so they are always looking to sell.

    "Klepper said they''re not even interested in the quality of the movies, but are instead focused on the box office sales. I hope them being American capitalists, obsessed on short term profits, will not see the potential of ''Snow White''." Tayaw shrugs.

    "Huh. How about the remaining 2%?" Chala asks.

    "That''s when I''ll come clean as the award-winning film maker. The majority owner after all, made Pixie to make good animated movies. If we''re kindred spirits, then maybe I just might convince him. Adding to that the awards that I am nominated in this year." Tayaw says.

    "What if you can''t convince them to give up control? You''re gonna sell your shares after the company''s value rises then?" Chala asks.

    "No, of course not. I''ll convince them that I become a co-owner, seal the company from issuing shares from more investors. Then, I''ll make use of Pixie''s resources and experts to make more of my movies." Tayaw says.

    "Forget about South Ouigab. Help me invest in Pixie instead!" Chala says shamelessly, considering the dividends he will receive as long as Tayaw works on the company.

    "Let''s see first if I my plan works out¡­" Tayaw says.

    "Hmm." Chala says, excited as he and Tayaw exit the car.

    Tayaw, seeing Chala''s mood, can only look at him in amus.e.m.e.nt. Tayaw then pulls out his phone to make a call before he switches it to Airplane mode.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Ironstone, East Ouigab ¨C 12 NN

    Payew, the entire morning, had been playing in the house''s bas.e.m.e.nt studio, plucking an acoustic guitar on his lap. The news he received today deserves him a break.

    *¡­We''ve been like this lately¡­* Payew''s is about to leave the studio for lunch when his phone starts ringing.

    "Hello? Tayaw?" Payew answers his phone, accurately guessing that owner of the American number that is calling him.

    /Hey man. Didn''t you receive your HEdSATs yesterday? How was it?/ Tayaw asks.

    "It was actually late and I just received it this morning." Payew says, increasing Tayaw''s anticipation.

    /Good. Good. Well? How much did you score?/ Tayaw asks.

    "34 (out of 36... this one''s basically the ACTs) (1550/1600 for USA''s SATs)." Payew reports simply.

    /34¡­ Wait. 34?!/ Tayaw exclaims after the figure catches up to him.

    "Yeah... Heh." Payew smirks, his smug voice transferring through the phone.

    /Damn. That''s like¡­ Three points compared to your attempt last year, right?/ Tayaw asks.

    "Yeap¡­" Payew answering again in a single word to try and annoy Tayaw.

    /Ooh.. alright, Mr. Genius./ Tayaw instead teases him back.

    "Haha. Hey, how many did you get in yours?" Payew asks, not to compare, but simply curious.

    /I scored 28 (1320/1600 for USA''s SATs) and I got in Northwestern, which isn''t a bad university. / Tayaw says.

    "That was your second attempt?" Payew asks again, this time to compare and brag.

    /Yeah. And I''m content with that./ Tayaw scoffs.

    /Which Universities are you planning on going to? Still thinking about Agriculture? I think you can get in any university in Teungeb with your score./ Tayaw says.

    "Yeah. I still want to study Agriculture. So Nabla State University is still my priority." Payew says.

    /Hmmmm¡­ I mean¡­ Thinking about how you can score that high, why not try taking SATs for USA? Take it soon while your brain''s still fresh./ Tayaw proposes.

    "Why? Want to send me to America?" Payew asks, voicing the only conclusion he can come up with.

    /Yeah. I mean, why not? I''m confident you can score high in SATs too. High enough to enter Cornell University./ Tayaw says.

    "Cornell? Isn''t that an Ivy League?" Payew asks.

    /Yeah. It''s the easiest ivy league school to get in, and I know that you can score enough to get into a better one. But, they have a good Agriculture course, which suits you well./ Tayaw says.

    "Dude. Nabla State isn''t that much worse. And USA has a different climate compared to Teungeb. They might have great professors and stuff, but they don''t know the Teungebian land. And, AND! I don''t like USA''s practices when it comes to discarding food that don''t look good. I don''t want to see that shit." Payew explains.

    /Huh¡­ Well. I didn''t know those things. Anyways, I''m just saying, you have more choices. Just check out Cornell''s courses, will you? They might have something that you can use in Teungeb./ Tayaw says.

    "¡­ Okay. I''ll check ''em out." Payew relents easily as he does not want to argue.

    "Hey. How do I take the SATs?" Payew asks, this time, interested as he wants to know how well he can do in the test.

    /I''ll take care of it./ Tayaw says.

    "Cool... Hey, by the way, I just shipped the band''s merchandise to you just like you said. Did it arrive?" Payew asks.

    /Oh yeah~! I especially love the porcelain vase made by Agew. How are the merchandise selling there? / Tayaw asks.

    "The shirts were sold out. Like, 400 of them. And they''re printing again! It''s crazy. Damn. I''m jealous of Agew, already making money." Payew says.

    /With the shirts? I thought it''s the band that''s making money from them?/ Tayaw asks.

    "Well. Agew''s making change from the shirts and the hoodies. The vases though, he''s making a killing." Payew reports.

    /Oh¡­ Well, it''s not that surprising, considering how beautiful the vases are... About his stuff¡­ Why don''t you study business instead? Hm? Aren''t you helping dad with his money stuff in the shop? Why don''t you help Agew establish his ceramics business too? Hell, if you become an excellent business manager, I''ll hire you to run my film studio./ Tayaw offers his sudden idea.

    While Tayaw is casual about it, Payew takes it seriously.

    "This¡­" Payew, while he loves agriculture, he equally loves the economics of the agriculture industry.

    Not only the economics of the agriculture industry, but he loves counting money in general. That love made him volunteer to be the de facto accountant of the band''s merchandise sales and Liboo''s workshop.

    /I''m just sayin'', you know. You can learn agricultural sciences in your free time. Our relatives in Nacotu and Alib can teach you the real shit of growing food./ Tayaw adds.

    "This¡­ it''s too late though. I''ve already spent a lot of time reading agriculture textbooks in advance." Payew says.

    /Does that mean you would go to business school had you prepared for it?/ Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah. Might be." Payew shrugs.

    /Heh. Well. Think about it, huh? I can help you prep better for business school than agriculture school. I know people you can learn hands on experience from. Learn how to run businesses from them./ Tayaw says.

    "Wait, really?" Payew asks, excitement budding in his stomach.

    /Yeah. And those people just happen to be in the USA. The land of capitalism and entrepreneurship. / Tayaw says.

    Payew at this point, is already breathing heavily in excitement at the image of learning from real professionals.

    "I''ll think about it." Payew says, after suppressing his excitement.

    /Good. Anyways. Congrats on the HEdSATS. I have a flight to take, a meeting to catch./ Tayaw bids goodbye.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    7PM ¨C Rinetta Tavern, New York

    The meeting Tayaw told Payew earlier is a dinner at one of the best Italian restaurants in New York that does not require reservations. Tayaw chose the restaurant especially because despite its fancy dishes, the atmosphere is like that of a diner; very homely.

    "Did you wait too long?" Juliana finally arrives.

    "Not really. Let''s order?" Tayaw offers.

    "Okay." Juliana is also starving and spent after a long day at work.

    "¡­That''s all. Thanks." After five minutes, the two are finally done ordering.

    "I told you we could have met earlier at my office." Juliana says as she rests her elbow on the table before resting her chin on her hand.

    "I was in California and I just came straight from the airport." Tayaw explains.

    "What were you doing there?" Juliana asks.

    "Well. Movie stuff. They asked me to consult on an upcoming animated film." Tayaw explains before taking a sip from his wine.

    "Hmm. Boring." Juliana scoffs, almost making Tayaw spit his wine.

    "Don''t like animations?" Tayaw asks.

    "If I was 7 years old, maybe." Juliana says.

    Tayaw can only shake his head. Animated films after all, are indeed mostly for children. (This is an alternate world, chill.)

    "I don''t feel like this is a date. What I know of you, you also don''t seem the person who asks someone out to dinner without an ulterior motive." Juliana says.

    "Yeah. You got me. I actually want to ask a favor." Tayaw prefaces.

    Juliana only stares, letting Tayaw to continue.

    "Can you set up a meeting with Don Sylvio for me?" Tayaw asks.

    "Hm? Oh. That''s right. Uncle is really hard to reach for outsiders. You didn''t get his phone number?" Juliana asks.

    "No. It feels intrusive asking that. Don Gonzalo allowed me to visit him in his villa anytime, but Don Sylvio''s different." Tayaw says.

    "I see. May I know what it''s about first?" Juliana asks in curiosity.

    "It''s about marketing. You know that ''Gold, Blood, and The Deer'', the first part, is nominated in Sorrento, right?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah?"

    "Well, I''m not sure if it''s gonna sell with its accolades alone. So, in exchange for some shares of the profits of the movie about your grandpa, I was hoping Don Sylvio can allow me to hang some movie posters in each De Bacco branch." Tayaw explains.

    Juliana processes Tayaw''s favor for a while.

    "Hm¡­ He''ll probably agree." Juliana nods.

    "If it was you who''s asking¡­ " Tayaw scoffs. Juliana chuckles.

    "Alright. I''ll bring you to him after our dinner. I want to visit him anyways." Juliana finally promises.

    "Wait. Tonight?" Tayaw is taken aback.

    "What? Too soon?" Juliana asks.

    "No.. no. Tonight is great." Tayaw says and he reserves a part of his mind to prepare for his pitch.

    "Oh¡­ Another thing¡­ well, another favor really." Tayaw prefaces again.

    Juliana this time, is less welcoming and more uneasy that Tayaw might be starting to become presumptuous.

 Chapter 188 - Meeting Walter Strickland Again

    (cont''d)

    Tayaw, seeing Juliana''s dirty look gets anxious but the anxiety disappears immediately as his next favor is not as serious as his previous one.

    "Are you free next month? From  say... 25th to the 26th?" Tayaw asks.

    "Well. I can clear my schedule if it''s worth skipping work." Juliana says, not wanting to promise anything while making herself seemingly available.

    "Ah¡­ never mind then." Tayaw drops what he is about to ask. He thinks that three days after all, is too much for a busy person like Juliana.

    Tayaw dropping the matter, while making Juliana relieved, also made her intensely curious.

    "Just curious. What was the favor?" She asks. Tayaw grins, glad to explain.

    "My friends back in Teungeb are busy. My parents don''t want to go too. I also don''t know anyone else that can accompany me. I mean, sure, Geoff, that guy who played your grandpa can come, but he''s gonna bring his girlfriend. I also don''t think it''s proper to ask the actresses in my movie to be my partner. I''m gonna be alone." Tayaw rambles.

    "What are you on now?" Juliana asks.

    Despite catching each word that Tayaw said, the lack of context confuses her.

    "The awards night at Sorrento. I don''t have someone to go with. I mean, I can go alone, but the plus one is gonna be a waste. It''s once a year experience too." Tayaw finally provides some context, making Juliana understand Tayaw''s situation more.

    "So¡­ You''re asking me?" Juliana asks, hiding how flattered she is feeling.

    "Yeah. Are you comfortable on the red carpet?"

    ~~~~~~~~~

    The Next Day, Saturday, 8 AM - Queens, New York ¨C Pink Apron Headquarters

    "Oh. Hey there Rahul. You missed Tayaw by a f*ckin hour." Phil smirks at Rahul who just barged inside his office.

    "F*ck. I can''t believe you didn''t call me. I had to find from the cafeteria lady. Really man?" Rahul complains before sitting down on the nearest chair he can find.

    "Hey. I was gonna but he seemed to be in a rush. Also, imagine being waken up at 5 in the morning." Phil just shrugs his shoulders.

    "So, what did you guys talk about?" Rahul asks.

    "Nothing much really. The growth of the company and his accounts." Phil says.

    "Ah. The guy refused to withdraw a part of his dividends again, right?" Rahul asks in worry.

    "Right¡­" Phil answers.

    Before Rahul can sigh in relief, "BUT, He asked if he can buy more shares." Phil says, making Rahul hold his breath.

    "This¡­ F*ck." Rahul breathes out in a helpless chuckle.

    "Did he really ask you?" Rahul asks.

    "Yeah." Phil simply relays Tayaw''s intention.

    "Alright, thanks to the dividends he never withdrew, we avoided taking loans and fundraising." Rahul starts, making Phil happy.

    "But you know, I''m a co-owner too and it''s hard to calculate just how much me and the other two shareowners are willing to give him." Rahul continues.

    "Well, if he decides to withdraw now, you know what would happen, right?" Phil says, half-threatening.

    "This is why you should have called me. F*ck. Why does he want more share anyway? He''s already a majority owner." Rahul shakes his head.

    "Majority owner or not, the calculations of his pay-outs are with me, available for you to look at any time. The auditing for the first quarter is on-going too, so you folks decide after it''s done. Or, maybe wh-"

    "Alright. Stop, stop. I get it." Rahul groans, interrupting Phil.

    "So. I heard he received some movie nominations again. Did he want to use our meal kits again for promotion like he did last year?" Rahul asks, optimistic of the idea.

    "Yeah. But his film is set in the 1930s, so there''s no product integration this time." Phil says, deflating Rahul''s optimism.

    "Last time, our subscribers almost doubled, right? How much do you think we benefit this time?" Rahul asks.

    "I don''t know, really. Tayaw said he just put Pink Apron logo before the start of the film, and on the end credits. That''s it." Phil explains.

    "So it''s easy to miss?" Rahul is disappointed.

    "Hey, I was bummed too. But his film is about the Coniglio Family." Phil says.

    "Wait. The mob?" Rahul says in surprise and a tinge of fear.

    "What are you so afraid of? They''re 100% legit now. Our building is owned by the Coniglio." Phil says.

    "What?!" Rahul does a double take.

    "What? You didn''t know? You leased this place without knowing? This entire block is theirs." Phil this time is surprised at Rahul.

    "I didn''t. When we were starting, this is the only place we can afford, it''s a bargain too." Rahul says.

    "Heh. Well, the Coniglio are not shady. Don''t worry." Phil is amused at the situation.

    "Alright. Tell Tayaw that we''ll take on the costs of the printing of his movie poster in our pamphlets." Rahul says.

    "A bribe?" Phil is surprised at Rahul''s action.

    "A sign of good faith. I hope he goes easy on us with the sh*t we owe him."

    ~~~~~~~~

    1 PM - Page Road, Nashville

    *Vroom* *Crrr.*

    Tayaw parks in front of the gates of a huge beautiful all-American inspired, metal fenced property. From the fancy metal gate, an access road, around 25m in length, leads to a huge mansion. The surroundings of the mansion are carpeted by a beautiful huge lawn of bright green Bermuda grass.

    "Phew¡­" Tayaw whistles at the entire front view of Walter''s huge mansion.

    *BZZZ* A moment later, the mansion''s gate opens for Tayaw to enter with his car.

    "Isaac! Hah! Good to see you kid!" Walter warmly welcomes Tayaw as soon he gets out of his car.

    "Walter. Long time!" Tayaw greets Walter.

    "So¡­ that''s what you look like when not in public." Walter notes Tayaw''s plain St. Louis Cardinals hoodie and jeans outfit.

    "Yeah. I like the comfort in these clothes." Tayaw says.

    "Well, come on in! It''s not every day that my favorite singer visits my home. Ingrid! Please put our guest''s bags away, please." Walter escorts Tayaw in while ordering one of the housekeepers.

    "Beautiful house. But the slave-owner vibe of the house really intimidates me. Haha." Tayaw jests as he looks around the beautiful interior.

    "Oh¡­ Well, Sh*t... I think I need to move now." Walter takes the joke seriously however.

    "Whoah. Hey. It was a joke. A joke. Somethin tells me that you''ve been here for years if not decades." Tayaw feels bad now.

    "Hey. I can''t unsee it now. Maybe it''s the architecture that somehow makes my buddies racist when they''re here." Walter says.

    It is Tayaw''s turn this time to be caught off-guard and his smile freezes.

    "HAH! HAHA! I got you back! Heh." Walter loudly chortles.

    "Good lord. I thought you were serious." Tayaw sighs in relief and also feeling his heart warm at Walter who is jollier compared to the Walter he met in 2011.

    "Heh. I admit, some of the folks my age and¡­ shade, are a bit racist. But here in Nashville, people are open-minded." Walter says escorting Tayaw to the pool-side outdoor dining table under a huge gazebo.

    It is not only the dining furniture that is under the gazebo but also a vintage-looking acoustic guitar on a stand. Near the guitar is also an iPad on a stand. Tayaw notes that Walter must have been practicing guitar based on the stool positioned behind the guitar and the iPad.

    "Have you had lunch yet?" Walter asks as they take a seat.

    "Psh¡­ Of course not." Tayaw scoffs.

    "I mean, come on. ''I won''t agree to a meeting, or ever see you ever again if you don''t come over for lunch and hang out.'' Really? I would have accepted anyway." Tayaw says, parroting Walter''s words over the phone a few hours ago.

    "Heh. I''ve just been rather disappointed that you haven''t released music in over a year, and I can''t reach out to you for a drink either... oh. They''ll serve us lunch in a minute. " Walter says.

    "So, what have you been up to, kid?" Walter asks, genuinely interested.

    "I was occupied making ''September Ninth'' as soon as I went home, and you were one of the people who saw it first. After that, I was inspired to make three more." Tayaw says.

    "Hmm. I don''t know if people would consider you a singer or a filmmaker." Walter chuckles.

    "Can''t be both?" Tayaw asks, rhetorically.

    "Alright. Both. Plus being an author too." Walter wrinkles his chin to out of minor amazement.

    "Though, I have to admit. I miss playing to an audience. It''s been a while." Tayaw says.

    "Well? Why don''t you stay in Nashville for a while? A waste of your trip just to visit me." Walter says, hiding his anticipation of seeing Tayaw play live again.

    "Maybe I will after I''ve done with my business in New York and LA. I found it quite a shame that I missed that invitation from Grand Country Opera." Tayaw says.

    "Hm. So I''ve heard." Walter smiles.

    "How about you? I''ve heard from Donald last year that you''ve picked up the guitar again." Tayaw says pointing at the acoustic guitar a few steps away from their table.

    "Yes. I can''t play as well as I used to but it''s enough for me to play in some of the bars around here." Walter brags.

    This surprises Tayaw.

    "Well? Can you show me?" Tayaw asks.

    "*aherm*" Walter clears his throat, hesitating to play in front of one of the best guitarists he has ever seen. Thankfully for him, his helpers in the house saves him.

    "Why don''t we have lunch first?" Walter says, noting his people approaching their table to set it up for lunch.

    A minute later, they now have warm plates in front of them, ready to be conquered.

    "Pork, chicken, shrimp, corn, tomatoes, spices, onions, garlic¡­" Tayaw studies the assorted ingredients of the dish.

    "Hmm¡­ Ingrid, right? Was this grilled, wrapped in a foil?" Tayaw asks the lady who brought them the food.

    "Yes. How''d you know?" Ingrid is surprised, and so is Walter.

    "I love cooking¡­" Tayaw simply says, not explaining any further.

    "Heh. Just another thing you''re probably good at." Walter chuckles.

    "Well? What are you waiting for? Dig in." Walter tells Tayaw.

    Tayaw however, is hesitant.

    "No ''saying grace''? Or something?" Tayaw asks, aware of some of Americans'' practices.

    "Hm? You''re a Christian?" Walter asks, surprised at Tayaw''s concern.

    "No?" Tayaw answers. .

    "Heh. Then never mind." Walter chuckles as he digs in.

    Tayaw also shrugs, following Walter''s actions.

    "Delicious¡­" Tayaw nods as the oily assortment of flavors assaults his taste buds. The two continue to chat about what else each of them was up to for the rest of the lunch.

    -

    "Thanks. That was a great meal." Tayaw says.

    Him and Walter are done and are now heading to Walter''s study.

    "So. Before we play around, let''s get the purpose of your visit out of the way." Walter lets Tayaw speak his mind.

    "Okay... It''s about my upcoming film. I was wondering if I could enlist your help in promoting it." Tayaw says, carefully choosing his words.

    "Pff. I forgot that you''re a business man too. Here we are." Walter says, and him and Tayaw settle themselves at the study''s comfortable chairs.

    "GO on." Walter says.

    "So, last time I was here in America, I drove around Tennessee, Georgia, and New York. I''ve seen many of your delivery trucks and the billboards. If you let me use those, I can give you some shares of the profits my film will make." Tayaw says.

    "Huh¡­ I thought I escaped business folks after I''ve retired, and here you are pitching." Walter shakes his head.

    "Hey, at least I''m not looking for investment." Tayaw says and he takes out his portable home theater equipment.

    "True¡­" Walter says while watching in interest at Tayaw setting up.

    During lunch, Tayaw asked for Walter a blank wall and comfortable chairs. Seeing the projector light up, Walter realizes that he is about to watch Tayaw''s latest film.

    ~~~~~~two hours later~~~~~~

    "I knew you can outdo yourself kid, but this¡­" Walter snuffs out his cigar while the credits of ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer ¨C Part 1'' rolls.

    "How was it?" Tayaw asks.

    "Incredible. That''s all I can say." Walter says.

    While Tayaw expected it, he is still relieved as Walter is a representative of another demographic; white, in his 70s, and Christian.

    "And, I finally saw a glimpse of one of the men I''ve always felt grateful to." Walter says.

    "Wait, you know who this film''s about?" Tayaw asks, surprised.

    "Yes. The first and only time I met Gonzalo Coniglio was when he offered me a deal to have my beer in his casinos and bars. Those huge orders were the lifeblood of my business when I was just starting. After that, it was impossible to have a meeting with him. His stories however, are legendary." Walter explains.

    "Anyways. Why do you have to ask for my help in marketing? It''s not like The Coniglio can''t do the promotion themselves." Walter asks.

    "Ah. Well. Don Sylvio, Gonzalo''s son?"

    "Yeah?"

    "We reached an agreement that he will promote my film in De Bacco branches. But, the film is quite violent. People might be hesitant to see it. And celebrities I know might be hesitant to promote it. So, every bit of marketing is useful." Tayaw explains.

    "Very well. I''ll call my son and see what we can arrange." Walter nods.

    "That''s good. Oh. By the way. Remember that highway robbery scene? When they were stealing stuff?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah?" Walter asks, not knowing where the question is going.

    "Take a look at this." Tayaw fiddles with his laptop and the scene re-plays in the screen.

 Chapter 189 - Blackbird Cafe Once More

    "Is that¡­ my beer?" Walter asks, dumbfounded while feeling an odd sense of pride as he watches the highway robbery scene this time, showing the Orisini men and Giovanni in the film, stealing crates of beers with Red Abbey Lager logo in them, instead of the unbranded ones in the original cut.

    "Yeah. ''Red Abbey Lager'', it''s so good even the mob steals it. This is not the only cut I can put on the American and Teungebian releases. The next two films to this, there''s plenty of chances I can show your beer." Tayaw offers.

    "''Not the only one''?..." Walter says, his brain churning.

    "AHAHAHA! Alright! Whatever share you want to offer, forget it. I''m promoting your film for free." Walter finally says after a few seconds of consideration.

    "Hey. Come on, we''re not strangers, are we? I can''t do free. I have principles." Tayaw says, feeling burdened at the free offer.

    "You''re too nice, kid. Yes, this film is violent. But I feel like it will sell." Walter says his impression of Tayaw rising.

    "How about this? For ''your principle'', I''ll take half a percent. That''s enough to cover the expenses in re-printing our billboards." Walter says.

    "0.5%..." Tayaw is dumbfounded at how small the offer is.

    "Take it or leave it." Walter carefreely says.

    "Okay, okay¡­ I''ll give you¡­ 0.5%." Tayaw finally promises.

    "Good. And, who knows? Maybe that 0.5% can do more than just cover but actually earn me some change. Not to mention a possible raise, no matter how small it is, to my sales." Walter nods in approval.

    "Good." Tayaw sighs, in relief that he reached an agreement with Walter.

    "Hey. Have you checked out the rest of my country album?" Tayaw asks suddenly, changing the subject.

    "Yeah. I love them. About the guitar playing. They sounded easy, and they are, but I just can''t make it sound as good as yours." Walter says.

    "That''s my sound. Maybe you''ll sound better when you play it your style." Tayaw says.

    "Hmph. Harder than you make it sound. But I''ll try." Walter takes Tayaw''s advice.

    "How''s ''Red Abbey Sessions'' doing nowadays? Since I shot my videos, I haven''t really kept up with the others who followed." Tayaw says, the connections in his questions making Walter excited once again.

    "Heh. I''d be happy to have you back. It''s rather hard to look for artists like you." Walter says.

    "I thought it was doing great? You have around three hundred thousand subscribers the last time I checked." Tayaw asks.

    "I was advised to have more variety. So while a lot of people love the singers that appeared, I''m not as big a fan. Aside from those kids from Strawberry front and that kid Randall from Kentucky, it''s your music that suits me the best." Walter says.

    "Huh¡­ Thanks. Anyways, can I put the trailer of my film in your YouTube Channel too?" Tayaw asks.

    "Eugh. Fine. Fine. Whatever. Just make sure that you film more songs for us than you did last time." Walter can only scoff at Tayaw grabbing another chance to promote.

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    5 PM ¨C Hillsboro Pike, Nashville ¨C Blackbird Caf¨¦.

    "The guitar is a given. But what are you doing with that carry-on luggage?" Walter asks as he watches Tayaw unload stuff from the trunk of his impala he insisted on Tayaw to use to come to the bar.

    "Oh. I have a digital stomp box in there but, what''s more important are the camcorders and recording devices. For filming simple videos." Tayaw explains.

    "You''re planning on filming for my YouTube tonight?" Walter asks.

    "Yeah. While your beer factory is nice, I want a more intimate, but more public mood for the ones I shoot this time." Tayaw says.

    After playing around more in Walter''s house, Tayaw decided to come down to town. Walter, having nothing to do on a Saturday, and curious at what Tayaw wants to do, also tags along. Walter has also dressed up with his cowboy outfit while Tayaw is donning his three-piece suit, sunglasses, and cowboy hat once again.

    "Does Henry know about this? I thought he forbids filming with even phones." Walter asks.

    "I''ve asked for his permission, don''t worry. I''m actually surprised that he was so glad to agree with my request." Tayaw says as he picks up his guitar and the carry-on luggage, and walks towards the Blackbird Caf¨¦''s entrance.

    Walter locks his car and follows.

    Before they can enter the door, Walter stops as he points at the new and shiny marquee of the bar containing the names of the artists in the line-up.

    "Hey. Your name ain''t there¡­" Walter notes.

    "I actually didn''t want him to. I''m not planning on playing for more gigs in the near future anyway ... Alright. I''ll see you inside, I''m taking the back door." Tayaw tells Walter and with that, they part, with Walter disappointed at Tayaw not planning on staying longer like he did last time.

    ~~~~~

    "Isaac! HAHA! You''ve finally decided to grace us with your presence?" Tayaw just entered the backdoor and he receives a surprising bear hug from Henry who has been hanging out in the kitchen.

    "Oof. Oh. Good to see you too, big boss." Tayaw is overwhelmed.

    "Good god. You still look the same the last time I saw you." Henry says as he gives Tayaw a once-over.

    "It''s only been a year or so, Henry. You, on the other hand, still look healthy as ever." Tayaw comments on the liveliness of the 70 something year old man.

    "Heh. Work hard, live long¡­" Henry says.

    Before Tayaw can continue the chat, *murmur* *murmur* he is distracted by the staff in the kitchen starting a chatter. Tayaw looks around to realize that the attention of the room is on him and Henry.

    "Hey fellas. Tim, Krystal, Jeremy. How y''all doin''?" Tayaw greets the bar''s chefs.

    "I thought my eyes are playin'' tricks on me. Hello!" Krystal says.

    Before Tayaw can entertain the staff, "Back to work! I have a lot to speak about with him." Henry orders the staff.

    The staff can only shake their head. After all, it''s only an hour before the first order of a long Saturday night service, and they have a lot of prep work to do.

    "So, which spot are you taking? Are you staying in Nashville longer this time?"

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    "Hey kid, what are you doing?" A 50-something year-old patron who is sitting with two of his similarly aged buddies near the stage, asks Tayaw.

    Tayaw is now setting up his cameras and microphone after having Henry place in him in the opening spot, to his request. The act whose spot Tayaw took, also gladly gave the spot as they are still going to receive pay.

    "I''m filming something for the internet." Tayaw explains.

    "Hm, interesting¡­ Are you new here?" The patron asks.

    "Kind of. I performed here for a month back in 2011 but because my visa expired, I had to go home." Tayaw lies just for his own amus.e.m.e.nt.

    "Oh? Welcome back then." The patron says.

    "Thanks man." Tayaw says.

    *Snicker* meanwhile, the patron''s friends, who are also watching Tayaw set up, can no longer hold their laughter and start snickering at their buddy.

    "What''s up with you two?" The patron asks.

    "Nothing." One of his friends simply reply while giving Tayaw a wink.

    Tayaw also gives a recognizing nod as a response. The patron''s friends, who Tayaw recognizes, are two regulars at the bar, present in almost all of Tayaw''s latter gigs last 2011. Aside from the three customers, the huge bar is now a third full of regulars. But unlike the patron''s two friends, the rest of the customers have not realized Tayaw''s identity yet maybe because they are occupied with their company, or are just sitting farther from the stage.

    "What time are ya playin'' kid?" Walter, who has settled himself at a table also near the stage, asks.

    "I''m opening. I''m going home early tonight. Oh. Look at the time." Tayaw says, noticing that it is almost 6, the bar''s schedule for the line-up to start performing.

    "Break a leg." The patron''s friend remarks.

    "Thanks." Tayaw says.

    After a final check with the cameras and his recorder, Tayaw finally heads to the stage with his already tuned guitar.

    Tayaw sits on the stool and starts plucking his guitar for introductions. This also gets the attention of the customers.

    "Good evening folks. Welcome to Blackbird Caf¨¦. I''m the first act of the night¡­" While Tayaw is reciting his usual spiel, the customers *murmur* are roused.

    Many of them, being regulars of the bar, immediately recognize Tayaw, so they all picked up their drinks to transfer to the tables closer to the stage.

    Meanwhile, the servers and the bartenders, looking at the young singer who made a name in the bar, watch in pride at the response of the customers before the gig even properly begins.

    "¡­ Thank you. Y''all might know this one." Tayaw finally ends his spiel and starts playing ''Devil''s Suit and Tie''.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7PM

    "They say time can take the wounds away

    Yeah, they say time will change anything

    But time forgot I broke my heart

    Yeah, time forgot to heal my heart¡­"

    (Based on Daniel Romano''s ''Time Forgot'')

    *CHEER* *APPLAUSE* *WHISTLES* .

    "Thank you." Tayaw finally sang the 14th and last song in his country album for the patrons of Blackbird Caf¨¦.

    Even though Tayaw is already unplugging his guitar and stomp box, the patrons are still giving him a warm applause, even standing up for him.

    "ENCORE!" Walter shouts to Tayaw.

    While he knows that Blackbird Caf¨¦ musicians usually do not do encores because of the time constraint, he wants to see more of Tayaw because he knows that Tayaw will not stay in Nashville for another performance at the bar.

    "Yeah! Play us another!" Another patron also requests quite aggressively, reflecting what the crowd wants.

    "*sigh* I''m sorry. My time''s up and I don''t want to take the next performer''s time." Tayaw says, despite wanting to play more.

    *BOOOO* The crowd playfully jeer out of disappointment.

    "BUT! I will come back again next week." Tayaw promises.

    *WHOOO* *APPLAUSE* The crowd now responds more positively. Tayaw takes this chance to quickly unplug and pack his filming equipment.

    A minute later, Tayaw steps in the green groom.

    In Blackbird Caf¨¦, before the night starts, the green room is always empty aside from the opening act. That is the same when Tayaw was preparing earlier. Now though, the green room is unusually filled and he is welcomed by the musicians who came in early to meet him.

    "He¡ªhello...!" Tayaw starts cheerfully but is taken aback as he does not recognize any of the faces among the people in the room.

    "Hello. I''m Isaac." Tayaw introduces himself after adapting to the situation.

    "We know!" A vocalist for some band says, echoing the other musicians'' sentiments.

    "What''s with the face?" Another musician asks.

    "No. It''s just¡­ I''ve been gone for over a year and it looks like the folks I used to hang with are not here anymore." Tayaw says as he looks around. While scanning, he spots someone trying to hide behind someone, peeking his head out, but still sticking out like a sore thumb.

    "Travis?" Tayaw calls out.

    The other musicians, knowing the name, also look towards Travis'' direction.

    "H-hey, Isaac." Travis greets timidly.

    He is still guilty about calling the cops on Tayaw but he came to the bar nonetheless to see Tayaw. Travis also found out that Tayaw knew of his actions from Henry. The other musicians, seeing that the two know each other, leaves them alone to give them space to catch up.

    Tayaw nod at them in thanks and gestures Travis to the corner of the room.

    "So, Travis. Finally a regular here?" Tayaw asks, no longer as indignant as the last time he saw Travis.

    "Yeah." Travis says, timidly.

    "Well, congratulations. Since when?" Tayaw asks again.

    "Thanks man. I started last February." Travis, seeing Tayaw''s accommodating mood, is now relieved.

    "Man. What happened here? Same place, but different people." Tayaw says, referring to the musicians he just acquainted himself with.

    "Ah. Well, after Strawberry Front left, many also followed. Either they signed with a label, or just focused on playing for others¡­ Iris and her band though, they headline here now on Mondays or Tuesdays¡­" Travis starts updating Tayaw on the events of the bar.

 Chapter 190 - Ryman Auditorium

    8PM ¨C Nashville

    "HAHAHA! Holy shit!" Tayaw cackles in glee as he drives himself away and Walter from Blackbird Caf¨¦ above the speed limit.

    "Go! Go! AHAHAHA!" Walter also shares the same mood, the influence of alcohol now flushed out of his system by the situation, his 2012 Impala''s potential being put to maximum use by Tayaw.

    *SCREECHHH* Tayaw does a drift to take a quick turn from Hillsboro Pike to Tyne Boulevard, before turning off the car''s lights.

    "WHOOOOAHH. Shit! Careful!" Walter says despite being thrilled.

    "Alright. I''ll slow down. I thought they followed us." Tayaw replies as he does and turns back the lights on.

    "Phew. Haha. I don''t understand. Why not just talk to those reporters?" Walter asks.

    "Well, where''s the fun in that? And, I''m not used to being mobbed. Thank goodness they weren''t taping." Tayaw says.

    "Huh. So, are you really going back in there next week, after that?" Walter asks.

    "Ain''t sure. After that? I''m not so sure anymore ... Besides, I''m still busy, so I''m leaving tonight after I pick up my rental car from your place." Tayaw says.

    "Already? How busy can you be? I thought you''ve already finished your film?" Walter asks.

    "True. But I''m consulting on another one." Tayaw says.

    "I see¡­" Walter can only say in disappointment.

    *Ring**Ring* Tayaw''s phone rings and he picks it up immediately, still driving comfortably with one hand.

    "Henry, sorry about that commotion. What''s up?" Tayaw asks.

    A minute later, "Uhuh.. Uhuh¡­ Alright. Thanks." Tayaw drops the call.

    "So, what''s goin on at the bar?" Walter asks.

    "The reporters dispersed¡­ And. It looks like I''m not leaving tonight." Tayaw says.

    "Oh?" Walter asks in interest.

    "A lady from the Grand Country Opera is also there, they missed us." Tayaw says, suppressing his excitement.

    "Nice¡­" Walter looks at Tayaw proudly.

    "Stay in my house for the night, hm? And, I''m telling my internet guy to come over and work on what you filmed the first thing in the morning." Walter says.

    "I''ve got another idea. You have an internet in your house, right?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah."

    "Okay. Why not just have your guy give me the password of your YouTube? Just for tonight? I can easily finish editing my videos and put them on the internet by 11 later at the latest. You can just tell your internet guy to change the password then." Tayaw says.

    "¡­" Walter, not savvy with internet processes Tayaw''s request with difficultly.

    "Alright. I''ll just let you talk to him later. Those folks told me that they followed how you shot your first video for us, so I don''t think they''ll have a problem with however you want it done." Walter finally reaches a conclusion.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The next day, Sunday, 10 AM ¨C Ryman Auditorium, Nashville

    Tayaw exits his rental car in the Auditorium''s parking lot and immediately notices a lot of scanning eyes.

    "Phew." Tayaw takes a deep breath and immediately composes himself to not look assuming.

    Thankfully, he is currently wearing the same Cardinals'' hoodie and cap, and jeans he wore the day before when he arrived in Walter''s doorstep, making him unrecognizable. He is almost certain that the people looking around are looking for him. This is evidenced by some of the many conversations he can overhear as he makes his way from the parking lot to the building.

    "Hey. Have you seen Isaac''s videos? He uploaded it just a few hours after playing at Blackbird."

    "I don''t use the internet much. How are they?"

    "I have to say. They''re better than the studio version. Maybe it''s because of the setting, or whatever, but he sounded more¡­ real."

    "Hm. If we can''t sign him, maybe we can produce and mix his songs for him."

    "Is his mixing that bad?"

    "Nah. But ****** said it could be better. He can also use more instruments and arrangement in his songs."

    "And you really think ****** can make Isaac''s songs better?"

    "Well. I don''t know, but that''s what he said."

    "Is he even coming? He kind of blew off The Opera''s invitation last year."

    "I don''t know. He''d probably not be invited again if he does it again, right?"

    "Say we can talk to him, we''re not the only one who wants to sign him."

    "Even if he won''t. ***** said that if we can buy a song for him, it''s worth the time."

    "Hm¡­"

    "Hey. Are you sure that it''s The Opera''s booker who went to Blackbird last night?"

    "Yeah. ******* said so. Some smokes?"

    "Thanks... Is he really coming today? Are we supposed to wait here every day ''til he shows up?"

    "Nah, but today''s our best bet. Tonight''s Opera night. If he wants to appear tonight, today''s when he''ll come talk."

    "Hey. Let''s take a bet. First one who talks to Isaac wins $20."

    "Sure."

    As Tayaw is 10 feet away from the building''s entrance, "Hey! Excuse me!" One of the people on the lookout calls out to him. Tayaw ignores the call however and keeps on walking.

    "Hey! You on the red hoodie!" The same person calls out again before Tayaw can proceed to enter the building. Tayaw can only stop to acknowledge the person.

    "?" Tayaw looks back at the man points at himself.

    "Yeah! You work here?" The man asks. Tayaw almost sighs in relief.

    "*nod*" Tayaw responds.

    "Is Isaac playin'' tonight?" The man asks.

    "I don''t know. Only Lena knows for now. Please wait for the announcement." Tayaw responds before making his way inside the building.

    Before he can talk to the young receptionist sitting near the entrance of the lobby, "Hey. Didn''t that guy sound familiar?" Tayaw hears from one of the people outside. Thankfully, there are no more signs of recognition after that.

    "How are you today?" The receptionist asks Tayaw, taking his attention.

    "Good. Lena''s office, please. I''m her 10:00." Tayaw says.

    "Name?" The receptionist opens the building''s system on her computer.

    "Isaac." Tayaw says, in a hushed tone.

    The receptionist freezes at the name and looks up at Tayaw curiously. The next moment however, the curiosity in her eyes is replaced by skepticism. Tayaw can only take out his phone and show a text message from Lena to the receptionist. The receptionist, after reading the text, finally takes out a visitor''s pass and welcomes Tayaw to the building.

    "Hey¡­ can I take a photo with you?" The receptionist asks shyly.

    "I''m sorry. Maybe some other time? I''m not dressed properly." Tayaw winks at the receptionist before slipping away to find the nearest stairs he can use.

    "¡­" The receptionist can only watch Tayaw disappear from the lobby.

    A minute later, Tayaw is now at the 6th floor.

    *knock* *knock* "Lena?" Tayaw knocks at the already opened door of Lena''s office.

    A Caucasian woman, who looks to be in her 40s, busy doing something in her office computer, looks up.

    "Who''re you?" She asks.

    "It''s me, Isaac. 10:00, like we agreed." Tayaw walks in the office confidently.

    "O-oh! I didn''t recognize you." Lena can only process as Tayaw comes nearer.

    "That''s fine¡­" Tayaw only stands in front of Lena, waiting for her to say something.

    "Please, sit. It''s a pleasure to finally meet you."

    "Thanks. It''s an honor for me to be here." Tayaw sits on the chair in front of Lena''s table.

    "You have no idea how difficult to reach you." Lena says.

    "I wanted it to be that way." Tayaw says.

    "Why? Every aspiring singer loves to play in The Opera." Lena asks.

    "Oh. It''s my dream too. Last year was just a bad time. My visa expiring and all." Tayaw lies.

    "Ah. I see. Now, I''m quite busy so let''s get to it, shall we? Which spot would you want?" Lena gets to business immediately.

    "Is any spot available for tonight''s show?" Tayaw asks.

    "?" Lena can only look at Tayaw strangely.

    Tayaw also knows how it is for the weekly show and that it takes at least a week for The Opera''s people to prepare whatever their performer''s requests are, so he already expected that Lena might not have a spot for him.

    "I''d love to perform any time really. It''s just because of my upcoming film, I''m not sure when I''m gonna be back again. Adding to that, my visa too." Tayaw says, casually but Lena found his words presumptuous.

    "I can''t

    "Ah.. That''s right¡­ You''re a director too¡­ Okay, I want you to be on the show tonight too, but how about the house band? The backing singers? They don''t have the time to practice for your songs." Lena cites the obstacles to what Tayaw wants.

    "I''ve been doing just fine with a guitar and a stomp box. I can fill an hour with that, and the show only requires me to do twenty minutes. These two instruments are what I''m used to, and that''s what the people who know me are used to seeing me with as well." Tayaw says.

    "It''s just too¡­" Lena is still hesitant.

    "Plain? Boring?" Tayaw gets Lena''s concern immediately.

    "Yes. And, your music isn''t also played much over the radio so only internet users are familiar with your songs. I want you to make an impact to those who have not heard of you." Lena says.

    "Wait, what?" Lena''s words are news to Tayaw.

    "What do you mean it''s not played over the radio?" Tayaw asks.

    Lena then looks at Tayaw before a pitying expression crosses her eyes before disappearing.

    "You do know that your songs are only streamed on the internet, or played in shops and bars, right?" Lena asks for clarification.

    "I did not know that." Tayaw says, dumbfounded.

    "Only the smaller radio stations play your songs." Lena shakes her head.

    "Okay¡­ Because I like your songs, I''ll let you in on something¡­" Lena says, the volume of her voice hushing.

    "You''re independent, and the record labels have the major radio stations on a leash. These radio stations only have too much time in a day to play so many songs so record labels are vying for the spots." Lena explains.

    "So independent artists like me can''t squeeze in." Tayaw nods.

    "Exactly. But hey, you''re still famous. You''re doing better than signed artists." Lena shrugs.

    "Huh¡­" Tayaw only sighs, reminding himself that music is also a business.

    "How about the songs of Strawberry Front? Are they playing on the radio?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah. The same would happen to them had they stayed independent. You should think of signing a deal too." Lena suggests.

    "I''m thinking about it as well." Tayaw lies. He knows that radio is already starting to lose its power of exposure.

    "But still, even though radio listeners haven''t heard of me, I don''t remember boring a crowd with only two instruments though¡­" Tayaw says, not knowing how to proceed as Lena''s concern is valid.

    "Yeah. People want you, but I can''t risk boring the rest of the viewers as well. I can''t agree with you just going up the stage alone." Lena shakes her head.

    "You''re saying I can''t do it tonight, then?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yes." Lena says, frankly. Tayaw can only hide his disappointment, until an idea pops up.

    "How about this? Like any newcomer. I think the opening spot suits me. It''s low risk, and the viewers are not expecting much from an opening act. Also, I heard you don''t usually have the opening spots reserved for that long." Tayaw says.

    "Heh. ''Newcomer''." Lena chuckles.

    "Are you really sure taking that spot? It''s inappropriate considering your popularity. Putting you on the first spot¡­"

    "I''m fine with it!" Tayaw interrupts. "Truly! I can even direct how I would come out on TV to set the viewers'' expectations. I''ll even give some songs to the act who I''ll replace, so they give me their spot in exchange." Tayaw says further.

    "You''ll do that?" Lena is almost floored by the price Tayaw is willing to pay.

    "Yes." Tayaw says, the resolve in his eyes swaying Lena.

    "Fine... What''s your plan?" Lena asks, now interested.

    With that, "Simple, really, but if this works out, you won''t regret it. Imagine this... Imagine a movie theater. Everything else is dark, except for the screen, with everyone''s eyes focused on it. I want that effect. Imagine me, on stage, everything around me''s dark while the spotlight is on me. Make the spotlight blue, yellow, pink, anything that goes with the mood of my song¡­ " Tayaw starts impromptu planning, with Lena gladly listening.

 Chapter 191 - Grand Country Opera

    5 PM ¨C Page Road

    //"They say time can take the wounds away

    Yeah, they say time will change anything

    But time forgot I broke my heart

    Yeah, time forgot to heal my heart¡­"//

    Walter smirks proudly, sitting idly under his gazebo, watching something on his laptop, with a lit cigar on his hand, taking a break from practicing his guitar. He has already lost count replaying not only ''Time Changes Everything'', but also all the most recent videos of Tayaw in ''Red Abbey Sessions''. Aside from enjoying the music, Walter is also enjoying the view count rise.

    Tayaw''s videos, all 10 of them, are averaging 100,000 views each; an impressive count after only 18 hours.

    "Walter!..." Donald, Walter''s former assistant, his best friend''s child, and now a top executive of ''Red Abbey Lager'', joins Walter under the gazebo.

    "Donald! What do I owe you this visit?" Walter says, pleasantly surprised by the man who he has not seen in a while.

    "Isaac. He was here?" Donald looks around.

    "Good lord. And here I thought you''re visiting an old, lonely man." Walter jests.

    "Oh. Sorry. Come on, it''s not like your grandchildren don''t visit you." Donald scoffs.

    "How''d you know Isaac was here?" Walter asks.

    "A friend sent me a text. He saw him with you. Him playing in Blackbird last light is the talk in the office too." Donald explains.

    "I see. Why are you looking for him though?" Walter asks.

    "I''m looking to invest in his film. I know that it''s done, and it''s nominated for awards, but he might need more money to market his film." Donald says.

    "Heh. Too late¡­" Walter can only smirk while he starts telling Donald of the events of Tayaw''s visit¡­

    "Damn. A shame. If you''re contributing to the promotion, then I can''t offer him anything." Donald can only sigh in disappointment.

    "Let''s go inside. Isaac''s opening at The Opera." Walter says, brushing aside Donald''s disappointment as he snuffs out his cigar.

    "Really? ¡­ Oh!  the laptop¡­" Donald follows.

    "Forget it. Ingrid will put it away later. I on the other hand, don''t want to miss a single minute." Walter says, in anticipation.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~

    6pm ¨C Jericho, Long Island ¨C Tayaw''s Mansion

    Chala is currently in the kitchen, fixing up loads and loads of snacks, and some drinks with Lee helping him.

    *ding* *dong* "Lee. Let them in, please." Chala orders.

    As Lee passes him by, Chala can only shake his head. Lee has grown up since Chala last saw him, and is now almost as tall as Chala at 5''8''''.

    "Chala! Hey! Nice to see you back!" Peter greets as he enters the house with Charlotte tailing him.

    "Good to see you too, Peter. I''m only back less than a day, so I can only offer some beer. Maybe some pizza and chicken delivery later." Chala says as he carries an 8 pack to the living room with one hand, and a plastic bag full of healthy Teungebian vegetable-based junk food.

    "Don''t worry about it. Just you?" Peter asks for the obvious absentee.

    "Yeah. Tayaw''s busy. Where''s Lexi and Holly?" Chala asks as they all sit down.

    "They''re busy with school." Peter replies.

    "Lexi especially is so busy these days. She got accepted in Cornell, by the way." Charlotte says proudly.

    "Cornell? Nice!" Chala is impressed.

    "Well, I always knew she was smart. But¡­ can''t she go to better universities? I went to a better school, I thought she''s a better student than I was." Chala asks.

    Peter can only roll his eyes. To him, Cornell is already a great school.

    "Oh¡­ She doesn''t want to be far from home." Charlotte says.

    "Hmm. If there''s a kid who wants to get away from family, I thought she would be it." Chala says absentmindedly.

    "¡­" Charlotte can only glare at Chala.

    "Honey. It''s obviously a joke." Peter appeases his wife while giving Chala a weird look.

    "She didn''t apply to Columbia? Or Princeton?" Chala asks, now wanting to get a rise out of the easily riled Charlotte.

    "¡­" Charlotte only answers with silence, making Chala understand that Lexi might not have made the cut in the two of the top 10 American universities.

    "Well, where did you go? Chala?" Charlotte asks, as an obvious retaliation.

    "Gnnawan University in Ouigab. One of Teungeb''s best." Chala says proudly.

    Charlotte can only swallow her small loss, having heard of Gnnawan''s and other Teungebian Universities'' reputation of stealing Indian and Chinese students from USA''s Ivy League schools.

    "Did Tayaw go there?" Charlotte asks again, despite knowing the answer, wanting to drag someone else with her loss in the banter.

    "No. Still, he went to a good university on the level of Rochester. But, hey. He really didn''t care about his studies to the point that he quit." Chala knows what Charlotte is doing.

    "Jesus Christ. Stop it, you two." Peter can only intervene.

    "Hehe. I''m just playin. Charlotte, you don''t look like the beer type. If there''s any drink you want, Lee can grab it for you in Tayaw''s liquor cabinet." Chala offers as he turns on the TV.

    "I''m fine with beer." Charlotte says, not wanting to give Chala a chance to compensate for his teasing.

    [[[Good even''n y''all. Welcome to tonight''s Opera¡­]]] Peter and Charlotte are distracted by the sound coming from the TV.

    "Why the hell are you watching this¡­ what even is this channel?" Peter asks as he points at the TV screen showing a stage with a host, wearing a rancher''s clothing, talking to the camera.

    "Some rural channel?" Charlotte asks.

    "Nah. The Grand Country Opera. Heard of it?" Chala asks.

    "Oh! So this is what it looks like!" Charlotte says, familiar of the event.

    "They broadcast on TV? I only heard this on the radio." Pete says.

    "They broadcast on TV and radio. I didn''t even know how big it actually is in some parts of the country." Chala explains.

    [[["Tonight, our first performer is a young man who has become the talk of the town last year. Now, he is to play for us, to remind us that he''s still got it. Isaac Yawat, everyone!" *APPLAUSE* *CHEER* ]]]

    "Isaac?" "Tayaw''s playing?" Charlotte and Peter are surprised to hear the name.

    "Yeah. Tayaw texted me earlier." Lee says.

    "Do the neighbors know? We should watch it together." Peter says.

    *ding* *dong* Just in time, the door bell rings, telling everyone that another neighbor has arrived.

    "Lily! Hello! Sit here with me!" Charlotte welcomes the neighbor, and is glad that she is finally not the only woman in the room and that Lily will have her back if ever Chala decides to quip again.

    "Where''s George?" Peter asks.

    "Oh. He''s busy at the restaurant. It''s Sunday night." Lily explains.

    "Alright. Looks like you just made it in time." Chala points at the TV.

    [[[After the host leaves the stage, the lights in the auditorium all fades off, not shutting off as to not surprise the audience. Five or so seconds later, *SSSGG* the spotlight turns on, and under it, is Tayaw, only with an acoustic guitar on him, a pedal by his left foot, and a microphone on a stand in front of him.

    He is wearing a bright, cream-colored three-piece suit but because everything around him is dark, and the spotlight''s color is in a shade of blue, Tayaw appears very lonely on stage.

    *APPLAUSE*

    Despite the applause, Tayaw seemingly is not acknowledging the audience and keeps his face angled low, towards the floor. His eyes, covered with his huge sunglasses also makes it hard for the audience to see the expression on Tayaw''s face.]]]

    "What''s up with him?" Lee asks, unused to Tayaw not playing to the audience.

    Lily, Charlotte and Peter meanwhile, are waiting in anticipation at the mood Tayaw is expressing.

    "¡­" Chala on the other hand, is trying to hold in his laughter. He cannot take Tayaw acting all serious seriously.

    [[[ *boomf* *boomf* *boomf* *boomf*

    Tayaw stars tapping his toe for the stompbox, producing a percussive sound that is neither high nor low in pitch. The weak reverb effect on the stomp box somehow is making the simple beat cover the silence well. .

    *Strum*

    Tayaw starts strumming a simple chord progression. The guitar too is in weak reverb and it sounds fuller than a lone acoustic guitar should be. After two measures of only instruments, Tayaw finally leans in to the microphone for the first verse.

    "Alone again, on a Sunday in the city

    Tryin'' to keep myself from uttering your name

    Hurt in my heart, I keep inside

    For she ain''t got no time for me."

    (Based on ''I Won''t Let It'' by Daniel Romano. Only, imagine Tayaw''s husky and raspy baritone singing it, with a darker tone.)

    Tayaw''s choice of a simple baritone singing, helped by reverb, sounds very stirring, grounded, and atmospheric. Him also looking like he is just playing to himself in his own space, demands the attention of the audience towards the lonely young man.]]]

    "Goodness." Charlotte''s holds her breath.

    "Yeah." Peter too is entranced.

    "¡­" Lily starts swaying with the rhythm, immersing herself in the song, watching Tayaw in a daze.

    "¡­" Chala now, is taking Tayaw seriously.

    The visual, the atmosphere, the music, to Chala, is all blending perfectly. Chala''s mind is also thinking as the song is going. He has always thought that Tayaw is having fun just being busy and getting rich. Now, he is not so sure, from the sentiment that Tayaw is expressing.

    ~~~~~~~~~

    The Hamptons, New York

    [[[¡­ Ain''t got no friend to help me from going crazy

    Ain''t got a phone to call and hear her voice

    Yes, I get by, forcing things inside

    I''ve got to try, so my babe does the same.]]]

    Tayaw''s voice reverberates in the huge living room of Sylvio mansion. Aside from Sylvio and his wife enjoying the show, Juliana and her parents who came to visit the Coniglio couple, are also enjoying Tayaw''s performance with them.

    "¡­" The family can only watch in daze at Tayaw''s mesmerizing musical interpretation of longing.

    "¡­" Sylvio, Delfina, and Luis, unlike their opinion of Tayaw as a filmmaker, only thought of Tayaw as some kind of musician who is only one of many, to be easily buried in obscurit. Now, basing on what they are seeing, now see that Tayaw might just be as exceptional a singer as he is an exceptional filmmaker.

    "¡­"

    Juliana meanwhile, has a mixture of emotions brewing in her gut. Compared to all the times she has been with Tayaw, the Tayaw now is like a different person. The confident Tayaw who took her out to dinner twice, is nowhere to be seen. The charismatic Tayaw who she saw on any other stage was like another person. The commanding Tayaw she saw lead in making a film is like a lie. The Tayaw she is looking at now through the TV, seems to be the realest Tayaw she has ever seen.

    The impressive traits of Tayaw, to Juliana, always made her hold some reservations for him. Tayaw has always been perfect, too good to be true that she can hardly relate to. Now, she feels as though Tayaw has become a person she is now more comfortable to be friends with.

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    Brentwood, Nashville

    [[[ "This world has a way, of keeping us away

    No I won''t let them, baby.

    Oh baby, I won''t let them.

    No I won''t let them take you away from me¡­]]]

    The folks of the Strawberry Front are sitting in their shared living room, with beers on their hands, taking the Sunday off to just relax. Watching a young man they owe their rise to fame also step to country music''s biggest stage, they cannot help but feel immense pride.

    "God damn¡­ Is it just me or he is even better now than last year?" Rez comments.

    "I can''t point it out. But yeah¡­" Bobby agrees.

    "The drum is painfully simple, but why does it sound perfect?" John says.

    "It just can''t be the reverb." Aaron remarks.

    "Alright. John. Get ready blocking numbers again." Bobby jokes.

    "Thank God we have an agent for that now." John sighs.

    ~~~~~~

    ~~~~~~

    Ryman Auditorium

    [[[ "Yeah... This world has a way, of keeping us away

    No I won''t let them, baby.

    Oh baby, I won''t let them.

    No I won''t let them take you away from me¡­

    From me~¡­ From me."

    Ffter a few more strums, guitar licks, and beats, Tayaw finally finishes the song.

    *APPLAUSE*]]]

    Tayaw has successfully performed the song he wrote specifically for a big stage like the Ryman Auditorium. To other people, "I Won''t Let Them" sounds like a sad romantic song, but to Tayaw, it is a song that he dedicates to his friends from the previous life.

    "Thank y''all." Tayaw says, and with that the spotlight focused on him switches from the sad blue into the neutral yellowish white.

    *WHOO* *WHISTLES* *APPLAUSE* The crowd stands up to give Tayaw a well-deserved ovation.

    "Thank you. Thank you." Tayaw nods, bows, and thanks the audience, addressing them now, instead of his aloof attitude before. Tayaw keeps nodding at the random members of the audience as he stands with his back straight, basking in the clamor. His tense body earlier is now much more relaxed, massaged by the applause and cheers from the crowd.

    Tayaw, with his enhanced brain, tries his best to capture and embed this scene in his memory. The Grand Country Opera, a show he never in his previous life even dreamed of playing at, has welcomed him warmly.

    ''Friends. I''ve done it. I wish you all are here with me.'' Tayaw says as he imagines his band mates in his previous life, standing with him on the stage.

    After the audience calmed down, Tayaw is now ready to perform the rest of his set. The spotlight changes color into that with an orange hue; a warmer color. Tayaw''s three more songs are not as sad as ''I Won''t Let Them'', but the most heartwarming songs he has among all the English songs he has released, not just country.

 Chapter 192 - Mansion by the Beach

    The Next Day ¨C Monday, 11 AM ¨C Montecito, Santa Barbara, CA

    "Fellas, breakf--- uh, lunch is ready." Ida, Gary''s housekeeper announces as she enters Gary''s study.

    "Alright. Let''s go." Gary says to both Xiao Song and Helena who he is sharing a huge desk with.

    "I''m fine. You two go." Xiao Song says, his eyes still on the sheets of paper in front of him.

    "We already skipped breakfast. You can''t keep on suckin on candy." Gary says as he stands up.

    Helena also stands up and starts putting away Xiao Song''s stuff on one of the desk''s drawer.

    "Alright, lady. Stop. I''m going." Xiao Song takes out the things Helena has put on the drawer.

    Helena smirks, finally discovering a way to pull Xiao Song out of his obsessive state.

    "Please, may there be vegetables." Xiao Song jokingly laments as they all head to the dining area..

    "I''ve learned how to cook chop suey just for you." Ida says.

    "That''s nice¡­" Xiao Song is flattered.

    "Is there MSG on it?" Xiao Song asks, worrying that Ida, who just learned how to cook the dish, might not have done it well.

    "Uhh.. no." Ida says, to Xiao Song''s disappointment.

    The three soon are at the dining table, enjoying their grilled salmon and chop suey.

    "Kid, MSG? Really?" Gary asks in concern.

    "Yeah¡­ Makes everything taste better." Xiao Song shrugs.

    "I heard it''s bad for the health?" Helena asks.

    "There''s no study that proves that it is more dangerous than any condiment. And! Helena, the potato ch.i.p.s you like? Gary? The burgers and fries from McDowell''s you love? There''s MSG in them. I can taste it. I like MSG but the MSG in those is too much, even for me. They''re not even dissolved, just sprinkled." Xiao Song says in disgust.

    His two friends can only swallow their food at the revelation.

    "It''s just as bad as salt, you know?" Xiao Song adds.

    "I''ll never look at my burger the same ever again¡­" Gary mutters.

    "Me too." Helena shares the surprise.

    The three can only continue their dinner silently, with different thoughts running in their heads.

    *Ding* *Dong* Their silent meal is interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

    "Oh. That must be Isaac." Gary says.

    Ida also rushes to the console by the door to open the gates and door for Tayaw.

    "What''s he doing here?" Helena asks, interested.

    "I don''t know." Xiao Song shrugs.

    "He texted me last night. Asked me if he can visit." Gary explains.

    A minute later, "If it isn''t the country star!" Gary greets as Ida brings Tayaw to the dining area.

    "Country star my butt¡­ Sorry, I disturbed y''all''s meal." Tayaw says noticing Xiao Song and Helena chewing their food.

    "No problem. Come. Join us. You have to taste Ida''s new dish." Gary offers.

    "Thanks. But, no food. I had a huge breakfast before coming here." Tayaw says as he sits with them, laying his huge backpack on another vacant seat.

    "Man, you were great last night by the way." Xiao Song says.

    "Yeah? Thanks. It wasn''t boring? I only had a few hours of practice and planning." Tayaw says.

    "It was great. Xiao Song said your social media blew up." Gary says.

    "Oh¡­" Tayaw is glad with the news.

    "What''s your wi-fi password?" Tayaw asks them as he pulls out his laptop from his huge backpack to check his social pages.

    "¡­ You didn''t look?" Helena says in minor confoundment.

    "It didn''t cross my mind, really. I took the first flight to New York after the show, took a nap, did something else, then took the first flight here." Tayaw explains while Ida enters the wi-fi password.

    ''How can I? I keep replaying shit in my head.'' Tayaw chuckles internally.

    "¡­ Huh." Tayaw after quickly checking his social media and Grand Country Opera''s, is pleasantly surprised.

    He only announced his appearance in the show through his tldgrimmauld and isaacyawat pages and he did not look since then. Now, his isaacyawat pages have doubled and tripled in activity. Gary, Xiao Song, and Helena can only look at Tayaw grinning as he fiddles with his laptop.

    "You didn''t look that happy when you won at Sorrento last year¡­" Gary remarks.

    "Haha. True." Xiao Song is also amused.

    "I''m a musician first¡­" Tayaw explains simply.

    "¡­" The rest of the people present enter a strange mood after that sentence.

    "Alright. Stop it. Look here." Helena cannot stand the mood and takes Tayaw''s attention away from the laptop.

    "You didn''t bother checking with us after you dropped your investment. Want some updates?" Helena says. *SLAP* Tayaw closes the laptop and looks at Helena in interest.

    "So, we''ve cast the leading roles. Claire is still a go. We''ve hired Damian Buchanan, Arch¡ª"

    "Wait. Damien Buchanan? The Academy Award Best Actor recently?" Tayaw asks, surprised. "We can afford him?"

    "Well, he just wants $100,000 in exchange for a sure role." Xiao Song says.

    "¡­ Do you think he''ll do well with us?" Tayaw asks.

    "Heh. He suits the role of *****. You should have been there when he did a read." Gary says.

    Tayaw nods in understanding.

    "Yeah. Moving on, Maury McCray for the role of *****. He auditioned too. Then Nathan Barnes for *******."

    "Wait¡­ Nathan Barnes?" Tayaw interrupts Helena once again, taken aback at the choice.

    Helena looks at Tayaw weirdly for the rudeness before looking at Gary and Xiao Song for support.

    "Nathan Barnes wasn''t exactly a good actor." Gary explains to Helena.

    "Ah¡­" Helena is enlightened.

    "But he did great in the audition. I''ll send you his and the others'' audition tapes later." Xiao Song says.

    "I-I see." Tayaw can only accept.

    If the two directors he trusts say Nathan is a good choice, then Nathan must be a good choice.

    "Also¡­" Helena tells Tayaw the rest of the cast actors.

    "Good?" Helena asks.

    "Yeah. Good. If y''all think they''re great fit for their roles, then it''s good." Tayaw accepts.

    "Okay. I thought you''d have problems... I''m full! Thanks for the meal. Great job with the chop suey." Xiao Song thanks Ida as he organizes his utensils, finding the chop suey surprisingly good.

    Gary and Helena soon finish their lunch too.

    "I''m glad you liked it." Ida says and immediately cleans up the table.

    The next moment, Ida, Gary, and Helena notices Tayaw''s anticipating gaze at them.

    "What''s up?" Helena asks.

    "The screenplay. Was the one you sent me two weeks ago the final draft?" Tayaw asks.

    "No. We just spent a lot refining them, so there''s some finer details that we changed or added." Helena explains.

    "And ''un-theaterizing'' them." Xiao Song adds. "The dialogues you and Gary want though is pretty confusing to do."

    "It''s quite simple, though?" Gary says.

    "Heh. Then maybe Gary is just a natural. I too had a hard time making the dialogues in my film  sound realistic and not boring at the same time." Tayaw comments.

    "Why don''t you help us? Stay here for a few days." Gary suddenly proposes. "I bet you''re just waiting to win awards anyways." Gary says, making Xiao Song chuckle.

    "Alright. Just to clarify, there''s not much change in the plot, right? Just with the dialogues?" Tayaw asks.

    "Correct." Helena nods.

    "Good. I thought my efforts were wasted." Tayaw says in relief.

    "What do you mean?" The three find Tayaw''s words weird.

    "These here¡­" Tayaw puts his hand inside his huge backpack and pulls out four thick doc.u.ment binders before *Smack* dropping them on the table.

    Tayaw with his binders, stimulates a familiar feeling with the three and they hungrily eye the binders on the table.

    "These here is the storyboard I finished basing on the script you sent me and I grabbed some ideas from your novel." Tayaw clears up their curiosity as he distributes a copy to each of them, the last one for himself.

    "¡­" The three do not bother speaking to Tayaw any further and instead start flipping their own copies of the storyboard without a word.

    Seeing the three busy themselves with his storyboard, Tayaw leaves the dining area to find Ida and look around Gary''s fancy house.

    A few minutes later, with Tayaw''s request to Ida for a place he can be alone, Ida leads Tayaw to the back terrace of the house next to Gary''s living room, overlooking the North Pacific Ocean. With the warm ocean breeze, bright blue skies, the sound of the waves and seagulls, and a comfortable looking reclining chair, Tayaw feels like it is a great spot to just lounge around.

    After accepting Ida''s offer to be served a drink, he then retrieves his laptop and opens it once again to take a closer look at his social media.

    |@isaacyawat COOL! That word is enough to describe Isaac right now! #grandcountryopera|

    |@isaacyawat Why so sad? DM me. I''ll make you forget your girl.|

    |@isaacyawat New fan here! I''ve never seen a stage like yours! Play again next week!|

    |@isaacyawat Great performance! But please, I neeeeeeeedd new songs man!|

    Tayaw is feeling proud of himself right now. Even though he wants to release more songs, like his country fans want, he feels like he can give himself a few more months before releasing his next all-English album. After all he still has thousands of compositions in his head to go through.

    When it comes to his Teungebian songs, they are not doing as well as his country songs. Tayaw can only try again after his first album ''18'' and release ''19'' which contains his other songs that he made alongside the songs in ''18'', that he did not release.

    "Alright. Too much compliment is poison." Tayaw shakes his head before signing in his tldgrimmauld account.

    |@tldgrimmauld Please write another book! I''ve grown tired of reading ''The Halfling'' over and over again!|

    |@tldgrimmauld I''m tired of reading copy-cats! Please release a sequel!|

    |@tldgrimmauld Stop promoting Isaac! Worry about yourself instead! I want a book!|

    |@tldgrimmauld If you need a ghostwriter, DM me!|

    |@tldgrimmauld Hey! When''s the next book coming out? It''s been a year and a half!|

    "Oh¡­ Okay¡­" Tayaw is surprised with the demands of TLD Grimmauld fans.

    "It''s really been that long, huh¡­ Was I that absorbed in Gonzalo''s film? ¡­" Tayaw mutters in realization.

    ~~~

    An hour or so later in the dining area, Gary, Helena, and Xiao Song are done reading the storyboard.

    "T-this¡­" Helena can barely get her emotions together, her eyes and nose starting to redden.

    "You okay, Helena?" Gary asks.

    "Yeah¡­" Helena shakes her feelings off, preventing her tears from falling.

    "I can see it now. This is it. This is the movie." Helena says, caressing the last page of the storyboard.

    Xiao Song and Gary just let Helena enjoy the feeling. The two of them, having written their own films, know the feeling of bringing their characters to life. The two cannot wait for the filming. Helena is already moved by the little taste, and they are excited to see her response to the real thing.

    "Ida. Where''s Isaac?" Gary asks Ida.

    "He''s at the terrace." Ida says.

    Tayaw, overhearing the question with his sensitive ears, joins the three.

    "How was it?" Tayaw asks the three.

    "It''s great. I''m not just saying that because of the effort you put into this. I can see the final cut now." Xiao Song says excitedly.

    "All we have to do is shoot it." Gary says.

    "¡­" Helena simply nods, looking at Tayaw with a bit more respect now.

    "I''ve done this many times before and I have to tell you. Many will change in the production process. Sometimes, an actor will do something, either by accident, or by suggestion, that will make some of these scenes better. Sometimes, a better idea will just pop-up while referencing the storyboard." Tayaw says.

    "That much is obvious. Plenty of times I had to change something in the screenplay itself." Gary nods.

    "By the way. Why are your ill.u.s.trations so small? There''s so much space in each page." Xiao Song notices.

    "Oh. I figured that you guys will have questions on why I want to shoot the scenes in a certain way so I left those spaces for notes." Tayaw explains.

    "¡­" The two directors and the author are impressed by the foresight.

    "Well. Why don''t we do that now?" Helena says, seeing Gary and Xiao Song''s expressions, is also excited to learn.

 Chapter 193 - Sorrento (2)

    May 26, 2013 ¨C Sunday 11 AM ¨C Sorrento, Italy

    "hm, hmm, hmmm~" Juliana hums happily as she and Tayaw, arm in arm, walk around, a busy street of Sorrento.

    "You''re that happy?" Tayaw asks, weirded out by Juliana having bounce in her steps.

    "Yeahp! I just wish that grandpa is here to see how much people love the film about him." Juliana says.

    "Hmmm." Tayaw is reminded of his ''failure'' but shrugs it off immediately.

    Tayaw who has been wandering alone around places neighboring Sorrento the past two days, finally has company after picking up Juliana this morning in her hotel in Naples. The whole morning, the two have seen three films selected for the festival including ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer''.

    While Juliana enjoyed the romantic films, she enjoyed GBTD more even though she has already seen it a few times before. She especially likes watching the people in the theater watching GBTD as it gave her pride seeing their reactions to the things ''Giovanni'' did, which parallels her grandfather''s actions, despite the moral complications of those acts.

    "Oh, here we are." Tayaw stops in front of a simple but fancy restaurant.

    "Hm? What''s here?" Juliana asks, noticing the familiarity in Tayaw''s gaze towards the restaurant.

    "Oh. The actors in the film. We''re meeting for the first time since December." Tayaw says.

    "Really?" Juliana says, excited to finally meet the actors.

    Juliana met many actors before, but the acting style of GBTD actors makes them somehow more real to her.

    "He''s here!"

    "Hey man!" Geoff and the other actors welcome Tayaw and Juliana at their table.

    "Long time, fellas." Tayaw says, pulling a seat for Juliana before taking one for himself beside her.

    "Nice to meet you! I''m Juliana, big fan!" Juliana introduces herself to the actors.

    "Nice to meet you." The actors smile in acknowledgment at the enthusiastic Juliana.

    "I''m sorry, I only know your names in the film. Giovanni, Julietta, Micaela, Reece, and Antonio!" Juliana points at each actor calling them their respective roles, amusing the actors.

    "Curtain call?" Tayaw suggests, confusing Juliana, but the actors immediately understanding.

    "Hi. I''m Geoff Peterson. Or Giovanni D''Amato, or Giovanni Cervo, like you said."

    "Adelina Nieves, playing Micaela Cervo."

    "Courtney Hunt, playing Julietta D''Amato."

    "Shaun Gordon, playing Reece Solino."

    "Louie Sotto, playing Antonio Orsini." The actors introduce themselves curtain call style.

    "ohhh.." Juliana stares at them, studying them, comparing them to their film counterparts, at the same time, not picking up the actors'' real names.

    "Hey. You''re staring." Tayaw says.

    "Heh. Sorry. I already met the actors for the second and third films, but I haven''t seen the finished product yet. But these guys on the other hand." Juliana continues staring.

    Louie meanwhile is quick to pick-up the details and connect the dots.

    "Wait, wait. How do you know a lot?" Louie asks.

    "Yeah¡­ Half Basin Studios was as secretive as the pentagon¡­" Geoff also notice the oddity.

    "Hey Isaac. That''s not really fair. I wasn''t allowed to talk about anything with my husband." Courtney says.

    "Juliana. What do I say?" Tayaw shrugs, passing the question to Juliana.

    "Oh! I-m.. I''m an investor! This is the first film I''ve invested in!" Juliana quickly pulls out bullcrap out of her ass, not wanting to complicate things.

    "Hok!¡­" Tayaw on the other hand, is taken aback at the lie.

    "OH!..." The actors eat the lie up, meanwhile impressed at Juliana who seems to be very young to be an investor.

    "About that. Isaac, now I know why you told us to not talk about you in public¡­" Geoff changes the subject.

    "?" Tayaw gives him a curious look.

    Geoff then looks around the restaurant before leaning towards Tayaw.

    "There are a LOT of people looking for you." Geoff reports.

    "Yeah... Well, Geoff too has his own fair share of the attention, being nominated and all. They don''t recognize us." Shaun says, on behalf of the rest of the actors.

    "I bet you''ll win!" Juliana interjects.

    Geoff just looks down on the table in embarrassment, to his friends'' amus.e.m.e.nt.

    "He just might." Adelina says, having shared some scenes with Geoff.

    "Hm. How many job offers have you received now, superstar?" Tayaw teases.

    "Alright. Stop it, guys. Anyways¡­" Geoff puts his hands in his pants'' pocket and pulls something out.

    "Here. They wanted me to pass these to you." Geoff passes the stack of business cards secured by what looks like a hair tie, to Tayaw.

    "They''ll probably looking for a distribution deal or just straight-out buying the film rights. Happened last year too." Tayaw says quickly browsing through the cards. "Too bad, I already have a distributor." Tayaw says before pocketing the cards.

    "¡­" The people at the table though know that he will throw the cards away in dismissal, judging on the disgusted expression on Tayaw''s face.

    "Anyways. Juliana and I will walk the carpet together. How about you guys?" Tayaw asks.

    The group continue their chat.

    ¡­

    ~~~Naples ¨C 9PM

    Tayaw and Juliana just stepped out of their limo as they enter the red carpet. Tayaw is now dressed in a maroon-colored velvet three-piece suit and a black boater hat. The color and the texture of his suit attract eyes but is not too flashy at the same time that it is obnoxious, which is how Tayaw likes himself be seen at a red-carpet event.

    Juliana meanwhile, is wearing a gorgeous skin-tight red sleeveless dress, its hem covering her heels when she is standing still, but also not long enough it touches the ground. The two matching their outfits, and also perfectly matching their stride make them an attractive sight as they glide along the carpet.

    "Isaac!"

    "Isaac! Here!"

    Tayaw and Juliana are blinded by the photographers'' camera flashes as they enter the photo area of the red carpet.

    "Now I get why you always wear sunglasses." Juliana tells Tayaw through her pretty smile as she poses to the cameras.

    "Hm? Oh. Yeah. Your eyes okay?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah¡­ PuhAha!" The second Juliana looks at Tayaw to answer, she sees Tayaw''s eyes are closed behind the dark pair of sunglasses, while still keeping his smile.

    "Don''t tell me your eyes are as sensitive as your ears?" Juliana asks.

    "Yeahp." Tayaw simply maintains his smile, his eyes are still closed as he ''looks'' at Juliana.

    This makes Juliana laugh even more.

    *FLASH* *FLASH* *FLASH* The photographers are quick to capture Juliana and Tayaw''s happy and sweet-looking exchange.

    Having had enough of the cameras, the two soon move over to the press area of the red carpet. Juliana is about to stop and let Tayaw talk to the reporters but Tayaw just keeps walking, not even a glance at the reporters despite their call out to him.

    "No interviews?" Juliana asks.

    "Nah. I''m scared of entertainment reporters. Something about them just irks me." Tayaw says.

    "¡­" Juliana does not know what to think of those words.

    ~~~~~

    ~~~~~4PM - Washington Heights, New York

    Luca, Warren, and Frank, along with the other actors they made friends with during the filming, are all convened in the bas.e.m.e.nt of Warren''s house, their attention all focused on their TV screen.

    [[["The 56th Sorrento Film Festival Best Actor Award goes to¡­ *Drumroll*¡­ "GEOFF PETERSON! for ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer''. Congratulations Geoff." A presenter announces the winner.]]]

    "YEAH!!!"

    "GEOFF-Y!"

    "HAHAHA!" the group celebrate with each other.

    Popcorns are flying everywhere, water bottles are squirted in all directions, the cheers they are making shaking the air.

    [[[Geoff climbs up on the stage with an ear-to-ear smile. After accepting his gold statue, he takes a deep breath and leans into the mic.

    "Thank you, Sorrento jury for recognizing my work. First of all, I want to thank Isaac¡­"]]]

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    ~~~~~~~9AM ¨C Okuba

    [[["The 56th Sorrento Film Festival Award for Best Original Screenplay goes to... *drumroll*¡­

    "ISAAC YAWAT for ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer''." *APPLAUSE*]]]

    "He did it again." Liboo smiles proudly as he watches Tayaw on TV take the stage.

    "Mm. Basing on what he told us while writing the film, I''d be so mad if he didn''t win." Kilat says, feeling that Tayaw is entitled to the award especially when Tayaw showed them the film during his short break in January that he spent with them at home.

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    ~~~~~~~5PM ¨C East Hamptons, Long Island

    [[["Thank you. I did not expect this at all. First of all, I want to thank the man who inspired me to write this story. Gonzalo Coniglio, this is my gift for you. I also want to thank the people who allowed me to use their likeness with a great extent of creative freedom in the film¡­]]]

    "Hey¡­ Don Sylvio ¡­ Is this really okay?" One Coniglio man asks Sylvio in panic.

    "What? Like he said, ''great extent of creative freedom''. Everyone in New York and Vegas have heard stories about father anyway. And, those stories are just as mythical or as legendary as the film." Sylvio says, not a care in the world about the consequences of GBTD having mob ties.

    "Even if the film is an accurate recreation of father''s life, what are they gonna do? Have the cops dig his grave to arrest him? HAHAHA!" Sylvio jokes darkly.

    "¡­" The Coniglio soldier cannot argue with the reasoning as it sends  chills up his spine.

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    9AM ¨C Nabla Observer, West Ouigab

    At the newspaper''s headquarters, Ophelia, along with other journalists, are watching the conference room''s TV. Instead of the excitement they should be feeling, they are watching the award show in boredom at a level movie award shows deserve.

    [[["The Fioro D''Oro goes to¡­ *DRUMROLL*"]]]

    "Ugh. Just f.u.c.kin'' say it. We all know who it is anyway." Nabla Observer''s editor-in-chief interjects.

    *Snicker* The journalists in the room are amused.

    [[[ ''GOLD, BLOOD, AND THE DEER! *APPLAUSE* *MUSIC*]]]

    "That''s the last award, right?" The editor-in-chief says.

    "Yeah boss." Ophelia replies.

    "Okay. Headline. ''Isaac Yawat cleans up Sorrento.'' Go write whatever to fill that." The editor-in-chief commands the room before making his way back to his office.

    "I mean¡­ yeah¡­" Madi, Ophelia''s friend in the office cannot even argue with the headline tag that their boss said.

    "How many awards was it again?" A journalist asks another.

    "4? 5? I don''t know¡­" the other journalist replies with uncertainty.

    "Best Screenplay¡­ Best Director¡­ Best Picture¡­ Jury Prize¡­ Golden Flower (Fioro D''Oro)¡­ and that award with the long-ass Italian name (Premio Per Una Certa Prospettiva)" Ophelia recounts.

    "Yeah¡­ So 5? Okay." Madi says.

    Unlike the previous year, the journalists this time are now numb to Tayaw''s achievements.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~

    4PM ¨C Pasadena, California

    "¡­" Caroline, Harvey, and Anthony can only sit silently and watch the rolling credits of the live broadcast of the Sorrento Awards in Anthony''s office TV.

    "What now?" Anthony asks the two executives of Vagner''s film distribution arm (Vagner Cinema).

    "Yeah. Let me make a call." Caroline says.

    "¡­" Anthony and Harvey wait in anticipation as Caroline turns on the loudspeaker on her phone. *ring**ring*

    /Hello Caroline?/ A man, an agent of the company answers from the opposite line.

    "Yeah. Managed to talk to Isaac?" Caroline asks.

    /No. I''m sorry¡­ I-/ The man replies, making Caroline feel her blood pressure rise.

    "And WHY didn''t you?" Caroline interrupts.

    /He was hard to find, Caroline. Just like last year. Best I did was pass along our card through his lead actor. He hasn''t called yet./ The man explains.

    "Are you sure that''s the best you can do?" Caroline starts grilling her agent.

    /,,,/ The agent has no answer.

    "If I ever find out that our competition managed to sign a deal him, don''t bother coming back. Do you understand?" Caroline says.

    /I-I''ll do my best Caroline./ The man can only vaguely promise to the threat.

    "I''m waiting for good news." Caroline says one last time before dropping the call.

    "F*CK¡­" Caroline sighs..

    "Are you really firing the guy? Or was that¡­ negative reinforcement?" Anthony asks.

    "Motivation. And venting." Caroline answers, making the two men shake their heads.

    "I only hope we get to acquire a film that is as good as Isaac''s." Harvey says, trying to stay optimistic.

    "And if that doesn''t work. I think I''m getting more inclined to go along with your plan, Anthony." Caroline says.

 Chapter 194 - Phone Calls and Sh*t

    May 28, 2013 ¨C Thursday 9 AM ¨C Black Deer Pictures, Clambu City

    "Good morning boss." Yarag is greeted by Kyer as he enters his office.

    "Hm. Good morning to you too." Yarag nods.

    "I heard from the guard that you came in very early." Yarag says.

    "... What''s up with you?" Yarag notices the unpleased expression on Kyer''s face.

    "Boss. Something happened." Kyer says as he fiddles something in his computer.

    "How bad could it be?" Yarag says as he sits down at his desk.

    "I''ll print it out for you." Kyer says and a minute later, the printer beside Yarag starts working.

    Yarag then starts reading each page that is coming out of the printer, and every page he reads, the expression in his face also worsens.

    [Isaac''s new film. Mob connections?]

    [Winner of Sorrento Awards. Too violent for film.]

    [Was Isaac forced to make a film for the mob?]

    [''Gold, Blood, and The Deer'': A product of a greedy director.]

    [Gold, Blood, and the Deer. An overrated film for film snobs.]

    [The Mob still lives through Isaac''s new film]

    [''Gold, Blood, and The Deer''. A colossal waste of time]

    *SLAM*

    "F*CK" Yarag slams his office desk no longer bothering to read the rest of the headlines Kyer is still printing out.

    "I know, right? Did they even see the film?" Kyer says in annoyance.

    "How did they? Most of these f*ckers probably weren''t even invited in Sorrento. Even if they did, I don''t think they''re this f*ckin blind." Yarag lights up a cigarette to calm down.

    "A smear campaign then?" Kyer asks.

    "Most probably. They''re just jealous after we got the deal." Yarag sighs, regretting bragging the deal to the industry insiders he knows from America.

    "What do we do? Contact these journalists? These articles might become more harmful if we ignore them." Kyer says.

    "Let me think for a moment. This is the first time this happened to us." Yarag shakes his head.

    "I''ll call Tayaw. I mean, the mob accusations are pretty valid. That''s the problem here." Yarag says before pulling out his phone, dials Tayaw''s business number, and puts the phone on speaker mode.

    /Hello?/ Tayaw answers immediately.

    "Tayaw! Have you seen these articles?"

    /Yeah. Kyer e-mailed them just now. Why?/ Tayaw says, his tone casual, without worry.

    "You''re not bothered?" Yarag says.

    /Nah. The connection will be figured out sooner or later. In fact, I kinda already admitted who I dedicated the film to. They''re not reporting something new./ Tayaw says.

    "So you''re okay if we just let them do this?" Yarag says, dumbfounded.

    /Yeah. In fact, I''ll even double down on admitting to the mob stuff. These articles are just helping us with the marketing. Let''s thank these journalists instead! They''re Angels!" Tayaw says, his voice bright.

    Yarag after calming down, "¡­ true¡­" now sees Tayaw''s reasoning.

    /You might not know this but American mobs are mysterious to people. Either way, they''ll see it out of curiosity whether they have a positive or negative perceptions of it. / Tayaw says.

    "Still. These might make people hesitate to see the film. These articles'' potential to damage our ticket sales are enough grounds for us to sue them." Yarag says.

    /Nah. Don''t bother¡­ uhhh... yet. Let me work something out. In fact, can you get me an access to Black Deer Picture''s YouTube channel?/ Tayaw asks.

    "¡­ The trailer''s finally done?" Yarag says in realization and excitement.

    /Yeah. These might be enough to counter these negative ''reviews''./ Tayaw says. .

    Kyer meanwhile, is already tapping away at his phone.

    /*ding* oh¡­ Thanks Kyer. You''re actually listening. Alright. I''ll get back to you two in a few minutes./ Tayaw says before dropping the call.

    ~~~~~~~

    Northwestern University, East Ouigab

    *bzz* *bzz* *bzz*

    "Hm?" Bay-an''s phone cannot stop buzzing from the notifications.

    He then looks at the professor before sneakily taking out his phone to check it.

    "¡­the f*ck?..." Bay-an cannot help but softly exclaim at the newest upload in the band''s YouTube Channel. Jenna who is seated next to him notices Bay-an''s actions.

    "¡­what?..." Jenna whispers.

    Bay-an then passes his phone to her.

    A minute later.

    "¡­why would he upload this in our channel? Did he make a mistake?..." Jenna asks softly.

    "¡­maybe. But even if it is, I hope he won''t take it down. We''ll get a lot of traffic in our channel just with this¡­" Bay-an explains.

    Jenna nods, immediately seeing the benefit of Tayaw''s upload.

    "You two there! Am I boring you?" Bay-an and Jenna are not as sneaky as they thought and they are called out by the professor.

    "Sorry Professor!" Jenna can only apologize, but not meaning it.

    ~~~~~~~

    Page Road, Nashville Tennessee

    *BZZT* *Hmm The crow can be a mocking bird, feathers as black as coa--*

    "Hey." Walter answers the phone call from his internet guy.

    /Hey Walt. So, Isaac just called, which was a pleasant surprise. Anyways. He sent me something awesome. Looks like his movie trailer. He said that you agreed to upload this. I''m just double checking. / The internet guy reports.

    "¡­ Oh!" Walter is reminded if his arrangement with Tayay.

    "Sure. Go ahead. We talked about this. It''s a part of our marketing for his film." Walter says.

    /Awesome!~ It''ll be up in a minute. Check it out then./ The internet guy says.

    "Good." Walter is now curious even though he already has an exclusive copy of the film.

    ~~~~~~~

    Black Deer Pictures, Clambu City

    Five minutes later after his phone call with Tayaw, Yarag and Kyer are now watching something in their company''s YouTube Channel.

    ==========

    *fade in*

    |Sorrento Fiore D''oro Awardee|

    |Sorrento Jury Prize Winner|

    |Sorrento Premio Per Una Certa Prospettiva|

    Awards are displayed in white background.

    *fade to black*

    *WHAM*

    *CELLO BACKGROUND MUSIC*

    ||Inspired by true events||

    "What does it mean to live a good life?" Micaela says.

    *WHAM* *WHAM*

    "Money?"

    *random shot of stacks of money being counted*

    "Happiness?"

    *random cut of Giovanni kissing a girl*

    "Family?"

    *Little Giovanni having a nice dinner with Julietta and Micaela*

    *Random cut of smiling Julietta*

    *Random cut of smiling Micaela*

    *Random cut of Antonio turning around to face Giovanni with a smile*

    ~*SILENCE*~

    "How far are you willing to go?" Random Orsini thug says the line to Giovanni.

    *CELLO INTENSIFIES*

    *Bang Bang Bang* Giovanni shooting a gun.

    *SCREECHHH* Giovanni leading a robbery.

    *Wham*

    "Sss.. huuu.. sss¡­ huuu." Shot of Giovanni running away from pursuers, and breathing heavily.

    ~*SILENCE*~

    "For those?...I''LL DO ANYTHING." A close shot of Giovanni saying the line with resolve.

    *Cello mellows down*

    |||Gold, Blood, and the Deer. On theaters this June.|||

    ======

    "Holy sh*t¡­" Kyer is stunned as the YouTube video of the trailer for the film ends.

    "HAHAHA!" Yarag is jovial now.

    /Good?/ Tayaw, who is again in a call with them, asks.

    "Great! Even the trailer deserves a f*ckin award! Tayaw! I''m gonna give you a big hug and a kiss the next time I see you!"  Yarag says.

    /It''s the thought that counts, Mr. Darbut. It''s the thought that counts./ Tayaw chuckles.

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    5 PM ¨C Vagner Cinema Headquarters, Pasadena California

    *ring*

    Harvey''s office telephone rings.

    "Hello?" Harvey absentmindedly picks it up.

    /Harvey. In my office, now!/ A voice he recognizes that belongs to Caroline, orders.

    "¡­" Harvey is caught off-guard by the request.

    Charlotte is usually not overbearing to him so he figures something serious happened.

    A few minutes later.

    [[[ Gold, Blood, and the Deer. On theaters this June.]]]

    "¡­" Harvey shakes his head after watching the trailer and he looks at Caroline.

    "I know¡­" Caroline too sighs in defeat.

    "I don''t know how I feel about this. Even I wanna see the movie now." Harvey says.

    "Looks like it''s indeed better than ''September Ninth''. There are just some films that cannot be stopped." Caroline shakes her head.

    "Citing the film''s awards to establish authority and prestige. ''|inspired by real events|'' to address the rumors¡­" Harvey chuckles mirthlessly.

    "Right. He f*ckin had us." Caroline too, smiles bitterly.

    "Come to think of it, by admitting that his film indeed is inspired by the mob, it will gather more attention. Why didn''t we see that?" Harvey says in bitter regret.

    Caroline has no words as she too supported the ideas on what to smear Tayaw and ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'' with.

    *Ring* *Ring*

    The two''s silence is interrupted by Harvey''s cellphone phone ringing. Looking at the caller ID belonging to a Centurion executive, Harvey takes a deep breath, bracing himself. Harvey shows Caroline his phone''s screen and Caroline''s face also freezes up.

    "Screw it. Put it on speaker." Caroline urges Harvey to answer the phone.

    "Hey Darryl. How are you?"

    /Hey Harvey! Guess what I just saw?/

    "¡­" Harvey and Caroline cannot answer, figuring out that Darryl too has seen GBTD''s trailer.

    /Exactly¡­ So f*ck you and your studio. You almost f*cked us out of a great f*ckin film to screen./ Darry drawls out but he cannot hide the anger in his voice.

    "Hey man. Just so you know? It''s Anthony''s idea." Harvey puts Anthony under the bus immediately.

    /The head of your studio?/ Darryl asks.

    "Yeah. He asked us for a favor. We didn''t know it''d be like this." Harvey says in excuse.

    /Well that doesn''t change the fact that you had something to do with it. So¡­ Tell Anthony we''ll still show ''Miss Sellers'', but this time in only 70 screens. The minimum of the contract./ Darryl says.

    "Darryl. This is Carol. Can we talk about this over coffee? I mean, you didn''t really lose anything, right?" Caroline asks, trying to salvage the situation.

    /No. It''s about you trying to f*ck me over. That''s what''s about!

    You know what? I''ll take what could have been your screens to show Isaac''s film¡­

    Also, tell Anthony that if we didn''t have the contract for the sequels, I''ll take ''Yard Blues'' and ''Love Campus'' and shove them up his a**.

    Have a nice day./ Darryl drops the call.

    "God¡­ DAMN IT!" Harvey kicks the trash can by Caroline''s table.

    "What the hell! Watch it!" Caroline yells at Harvey.

    "¡­ Sorry¡­" Harvey, realizing his actions, calms down.

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    Vagner Studios Headquarters

    *Ring* *Ring*

    Anthony''s personal cellphone rings. Seeing the caller ID, Anthony is hesitant to answer. After bracing himself however, he picks up the call.

    "Hey~¡­ Caroline? What''s up?" Anthony answers in his best casual tone.

    /Hey Anthony. Guess what happened?/ Caroline asks, her tone implying that her question is rhetorical.

    "¡­" Anthony too has caught wind of Tayaw''s movie trailers.

    /That''s right. If I didn''t stop Harvey, he would be kicking your ass right now in your office, in front of your people to see./

    "Hey! I''m in deep shit too! What the f*ck do you want me to say?" Anthony says in indignation, having nothing to vent his frustrations on.

    /Nothing! I don''t want you to say anything!  I don''t even care how deep in shit you are! But I have something to say. Centurion decided that they will only screen ''Miss Sellers'' on 70 of their screens now, not the original 90. There''s no stopping them in doing the same thing for ''Yard Blues'' and ''Love Campus'' sequels. So. Good f*ckin'' luck./ Caroline says.

    Anthony is about to drop the call thinking Caroline is done, but he is stopped by doing so by another voice coming in.

    /Hey d*ck head! Harvey here. If we get lucky and we just get a slap on the wrist after this, don''t forget you still owe us. And with this sh*t you got us in? You now owe us f*ckin double. Good talk and go f*ck yourself./ With that, the call is ended by Harvey.

    Anthony collapses down further into his chair in defeat. His anger however is boiling and it does not take long before he releases it.

    "F.U.C.K!!!" Anthony''s scream startles his entire floor.

 Chapter 195 - Rinowra Class of 2013

    May 31, 2013 ¨C Friday, 10 AM ¨C Rinowra Preparatory School, East Ouigab

    "Hey. Look at her. She looks like a little politician. Walking up there like there''s a stick up her a**. I bet she speaks like a stern teacher too¡­" Tayaw says to Liboo, rather loudly.

    "Puhaha!" Liboo cannot help but laugh at the accurate description of Rinowra Class 2013''s valedictorian.

    Kilat on the other hand, elbows Tayaw seeing that the other parents and attendees of the graduation ceremony also heard his comment. While some of them are smirking at the comment, "¡­sorry¡­" Kilat apologizes to them nonetheless, and with that, they focus on the valedictorian on the podium.

    "Good morning. Honored guests, family, friends, Board of Trustees, teachers and staff of the school, Mr. Mayor, our speaker, and most of all to the Class of 2013, welcome to the commencement. I am honored to¡­"

    *ding!* *ding!* *bzzt* *bzzt*¡­ *ding* *ding* *ding* *bzzzzztttt*

    "Hey. Set your phone in silent mode, please? If that beeps one more time¡­" Kilat reprimands Tayaw, starting to get annoyed by his phone''s consecutive beeping.

    Kilat would not have been bothered had the other people seated near theirs, are also not distracted.

    "Hey. The valedictorian''s speaking. It''d be rude. If she sees me looking at my phone, she might call the ''authorities'' on me." Tayaw jokes, referencing to his words earlier.

    *Snicker* Tayaw''s words are loud enough for the people nearby to also hear it, and they are amused.

    "Go. Go. I know you''re busy. Take the call." Kilat urges Tayaw to leave the school''s gymnasium as not to gather any more attention.

    A minute later, Tayaw is in the gymnasium''s bathroom.

    "Chala? How''d it go at Pixie?" Tayaw answers the phone.

    /Good news, with a bit of bad, depends on how you see it./ Chala responds.

    "Shoot." Tayaw says, ready.

    /Okay. Good news? I''ve talked to the shareholders, and they are all willing to sell./ Chala says, which pleases Tayaw.

    "The bad news?" Tayaw asks.

    /I''ve done the math and it all adds up to $100,000,000 for the whole 49%, which is just their current value. Many of them are not willing to lower their prices. / Chala reports.

    "Hm.. Come on, that wasn''t bad news. I expected to pay more." Tayaw scoffs.

    /Hehe. I just wish, you know. Buying low is f*ckin addictive./ Chala says.

    "Haha. Alright. I''m willing to buy right now, but can you try to negotiate more?" Tayaw says. /Okay? I told you they''re not selling any lower../ Chala says.

    "Just tell them that no one else is buying. Remind them that they can''t liquify them easily anyway because it''s a private company is hard." Tayaw says.

    /Huh.. Why didn''t I think of that? Alright./ Chala approves of the suggestion.

    "Hey. Even if they won''t lower their price, at least we can use ''negotiation'' as an act." Tayaw adds.

    /... You''re right... It''s a big and sudden purchase after all. They''d be suspicious why you''re buying a lot at once. / Chala immediately understands Tayaw''s reasoning.

    "Yeah. Okay. I''ll see you after I''m done here." Tayaw says.

    /Graduation celebration?/ Chala asks.

    "Yeah.." Tayaw says.

    /Did Payew get some honors?/ Chala asks in interest.

    "Nah. He''s smart but he''s become average in Rinowra." Tayaw says.

    /Hm. Too bad. Okay. When will be back here by the way? I''d hate to interrupt your celebration, but it''s best if you buy immediately before they sniff you out./ Chala says.

    "I don''t know... Hmnmm.. Okay. At the earliest, I''ll be there in LA in about 24 hours. If I get hung up here, maybe in two days." Tayaw says.

    /Alright. I''ll have your lawyers and representatives on standby for the purchases./ Chala says.

    "Good. Did Yarag contact you? I gave him your number just in case he needs your help." Tayaw asks.

    /That guy who distributes your film? No. I can''t help him with movie stuff, but it should be nice to hang out together./

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    5PM ¨C LAX, Los Angeles, California

    "Holiday Hotel please. In Hollywood. Thank you so much." Kyer tells the cab driver.

    "Okay." The driver nods, and with that, he drives Kyer and Yarag out of the airport.

    "Where are you guys from?" The driver starts a small chat.

    "Teungeb." Kyer replies.

    "Oh? On vacation?" The driver asks.

    "No. Business."

    While Kyer busies himself chatting, "¡­" Yarag is focused on his phone, which is an odd sight considering 50-something people like him are not usually the type to fiddle with electronics.

    Five or so minutes later, "Boss, how many times have you watched that thing since we landed?" Kier asks after watching his boss watch Gold, Blood, and the Deer trailer on his phone for the nth time.

    "What? Can''t love what I''m selling?" Yarag scoffs.

    "Not sick of it?" Kier asks.

    "I can''t watch the film right now, can I? It''s the next best to the real thing." Yarag shrugs.

    "¡­true¡­" Kier pulls out his own phone to stream the trailers too, not to watch, but see the numbers.

    Just a few minutes after Tayaw uploaded his trailer in Black Deer''s YouTube Channel, Red Abbey Sessions, and Percussive Corrections'' YouTube Channel, he also uploaded the trailer in his social media, with De Bacco and Red Abbey Lager also sharing the trailers in their social media pages.

    "Huh. No wonder Tayaw don''t need our help in marketing here." Kier shakes his head.

    "hmm. Considering we just uploaded this three days ago, these numbers are pretty f*ckin impressive." Yarag nods.

    The Teungebian version of ''Trailer 1'' in Black Deer Pictures'' channel has 6 million views and the English version of the same trailer has 5 million views.

    In Red Abbey Session, ''Trailer 2'' English version has over 8 million views.

    In Percussive Corrections channel, ''Trailer 2'' Teungebian version has 2.5 million views.

    The trailers posted in the social media pages of Tayaw, Red Abbey, Black Deer Pictures, and Percussive Corrections, also have millions of views combined.

    "Oh! Look at that!" Kyer takes Yarag''s attention away as he points at a billboard along the highway, advertising GBTD.

    "WHOAH¡­" Yarag is also surprised.

    They can only strain their necks to look  back at the billboard as it disappears in their view behind them.

    A kilometer or so later.

    "That''s another one!" Kyer points again at another billboard advertising the movie only with a different version.

    .As they get near their hotel.

    "There''s another one!" Kyer points again at a billboard on top of a De Bacco branch.

    "Over a fast food restaurant? That''s something else¡­ How did Tayaw do this?" Yarag says in awe.

    "Whatever it is. It makes our job easier than it already is." Kyer says in excitement.

    "HAHA. If only deals are made over the phone, we wouldn''t have come here." Yarag says, his palms itching to start selling the film to theaters.

    "Are you guys talking about that upcoming film?" The cab driver has been listening to Kyer and Yarag.

    Although he does not understand Teungebian, he noticed that Kyer and Yarag has been reacting to billboards of ''Gold, Blood, and The Deer'' rather enthusiastically which he found strange.

    "Yes. We''re distributing it." Kyer brags.

    "Really?... Well that makes sense. Isaac is from Teungeb." The cab driver says.

    "Wait. People usually don''t bother with directors?" Kyer asks.

    "What? They''re big in LA dude." The cab says.

    -

    A few minutes later, the two having just dropped their luggage in their hotel rooms, are now seated at a table in the hotel''s restaurant, having just finished ordering their food.

    "By the way, the team in Canada tried something. I approved it on your behalf." Kyer says.

    "Okay? Something good?" Yarag asks.

    "Yeah. They arranged some screenings exclusively for theater owners..." Kyer says.

    "So, a shortcut?" Yarag realizes.

    "Yeah. They didn''t have to approach theater owners one by one which saved a lot of time." Kyer reports.

    "Oh? That''s good." Yarag nods.

    "So, I was thinking we can do the same here in US." Kyer says.

    "¡­" Yarag looks at Kyer as if he is serious.

    "Canada don''t make many films so they are a huge importer of films. But, this is America; the biggest film exporter. I don''t think it''d be as easy." Yarag says.

    "I know. I know. But we''ve got enough e-mails already. Tayaw too is not only an established film maker adding his recent awards, but also shares the same prestige as Gary f*ckin Messick, so I''m still receiving more e-mails from movie people interested.

    "Many of these theater owners know each other anyway so anyone who wants the film licenses can just come to us." Kyer says.

    Yarag looking at the crowded and messy Los Angeles through the restaurant window, cannot help but consider Kyer''s suggestion.

    "Alright. That''s a good idea, and a quicker way to do it. The rest of the team assigned here will arrive tomorrow, right?" Yarag asks.

    "Yeah. Uhh.. around 14 of them, I think? The American interns we employed are also divided among them, ready to work." Kyer says.

    "Okay. Spread them out so we can do these screenings simultaneously." Yarag decides.

    "Will do boss." Kyer nods.

    "Good. How is the team in Canada doing?" Yarag asks.

    Kyer quickly flips his itinerary on his phone.

    "According to their reports¡­ a total of 200 screens." Kyer says.

    "WHAT?!" Yarag is shocked.

    "And there''s more buying. If they manage to take 100 more screens, that''s 25% of Canadian screens." Kyer reports proudly.

    "I guess the film being in English had something to do with it." Yarag nods, quickly adjusting himself to the great news.

    "I guess." Kyer agrees.

    "Good. Send them to Australia and New Zealand next. They can handle that, right?" Yarag asks.

    "Yeah. Those aren''t big markets compared to Canada." Kyer nods.

    "After North America, where do we go next?" Yarag asks.

    "If we finish selling in the first week of June here, the second week we''ll be in UK and Europe." Kyer says.

    "Okay." Yarag nods, expecting the timeline.

    "Boss. How about Asia? India, Japan, and China are huge markets." Kyer asks.

    "Let''s get the film gather some steam first. September Ninth didn''t exactly do well in India and Japan, so we can''t risk it yet if there are no rewards." Yarag explains.

    "I hope it''s easier this time¡­" Kyer says.

    "Yeah¡­ *snicker* Heh he." Yarag suddenly giggles as something crosses his mind.

    "?" Kyer looks at him in curiosity.

    Yarag shakes his head as he points outside the window, at a billboard advertising ''Miss Sellers'' in the distance.

    "Nah. It''s just¡­ I wonder what will happen if we somehow meet some film executives from around here." Yarag says, with a smirk.

    "Oh.. Yeah. Haha!" Kyer bursts out laughing too, hungry for an opportunity to gloat.

    ~~~~~

    ~~~~~

    2 NN ¨C Some fancy restaurant, East Ouigab

    The Dagem family is now seated at a table Tayaw reserved earlier in the day for the celebration of Payew''s graduation. Payew is now out of his toga and formal clothes and has changed into a casual wear. The rest of the family also did the same.

    "Go nuts, guys." Tayaw says, urging his family to order all sorts of food.

    Payew on the other hand cannot make himself enjoy and is instead eyeing Tayaw and his parents. Tayaw also catches Payew''s glances and immediately understands his meaning. After the family is finished with their orders, Tayaw nods at Payew. Payew however is hesitant and shakes his head before raising his chin at Tayaw. Tayaw can only sigh.

    "Aherm¡­" Tayaw clears his throat, taking the attention of his parents, and Agew.

    "?" They look at Tayaw.

    "I don''t know how to bring this up, really¡­" Tayaw says as he pulls out a folded piece of A4 size paper from his back pocket before passing them to Kilat and Liboo. Tayaw and Payew can only watch in anticipation as Kilat and Liboo read the paper.

    A few seconds later, "Sss.." Liboo takes a deep breath as he looks away from the paper.

    "Why didn''t you tell us?" Kilat asks with a questioning stare at her two kids.

    "I mean¡­ I didn''t know he''d get accepted." Tayaw smoothly reasons, almost making Payew burst out in laughter.

    Agew who has been watching the interaction, becomes curious and he snatches the paper from Kilat''s hand before reading it himself.

    "New York University¡­ School of Business¡­" he struggles to read the letter written in English before "whoah..." looking at Payew in surprise and pride.

    "Do you really want to, son?" Liboo asks, hesitant in sending Payew in a foreign land.

    "Are you fine being that far away from home?" Kilat asks too.

 Chapter 196 - Arrangements and sh*t

    (cont''d)

    "I really wanna do it dad. It''s a great opportunity for me." Payew says in resolve.

    "I¡­ just don''t feel you''re ready." Kilat shakes her head, her voice starts trembling.

    "Honey. I don''t like it either, but the school seems prestigious." Liboo consoles Kilat.

    "Not just any business school. It''s one of the best in America." Tayaw says.

    "Mom. Think about it. I''m already 17. I left home at 16 and I did just fine here in Ouigab. And, many people my age also go to college abroad." Payew says.

    "I''m just worried that you''ll be alone in New York, which isn''t exactly as safe as Ouigab. Oh! And the guns! Oh, the guns!" Kilat says worriedly.

    "Mom. True. New York isn''t as safe as here, but the parts of where the university and where Payew will stay in, is just as safe as Ouigab." Tayaw argues.

    "Wasn''t Tayaw 16 when he left home? He even lived alone in a big house by himself before his band moved in¡­ Payew will be fine." Agew cuts in.

    Kilat gives Agew a warning glare, but the next moment, she found Agew''s and Tayaw''s words reasonable.

    "Wow. It''s been that long already?" Tayaw on the other hand, is surprised by how time passed him by. Tayaw''s question to himself somehow cuts Kilat''s worries for Payew.

    "Haha.." Liboo chuckles. "Honey. 3 years is a short time and even Tayaw didn''t realize. 4 years will soon pass too and we have a son with a business degree then." Liboo says to Kilat, his words enough to put her worries in the back of her mind.

    "Let''s get one important thing out of the way¡­" Liboo changes the subject, his seriousness getting the family''s attention.

    "When are you kids planning to leave?" Liboo asks.

    "I''m actually leaving tonight. I have an urgent business to attend to. That was what the phone call was about earlier." Tayaw explains. Kilat nods and the family lets Tayaw continue.

    "After my business there, I''ll be back immediately to pick Payew up. It''s better if Payew meet me at Kangpan so I don''t have to come back up to Okuba." Tayaw says.

    "Wait. How about his student visa?" Kilat asks.

    "All done, mom. All Tayaw''s work. Probably bribed some officials to make it quick." Payew says.

    "! *cough*" Tayaw does not confirm or deny.

    Kilat and Liboo give Tayaw a questioning glare, figuring that Payew must have received the acceptance letter a few weeks earlier considering there''s enough time to have a student visa be approved.

    "The more important question is, why are you kids in a hurry? Payew, you will barely have enough time to pack up." Liboo says.

    Payew also realizes how fast things could be from Tayaw''s plans.

    "Oh. Don''t worry. I''ll just bring him there to look for an apartment, hang out a bit, and we''ll be back immediately, continuing our vacation at home." Tayaw says.

    "Phew." Payew sighs in relief.

    "That''s good. That''s good." Kilat says, having more time to spend with Payew.

    "I''ll drive him to Kangpan then." Liboo agrees to the plan.

    ~~~~~

    ~~~~~

    ~~~~~

    June 5, 2013 ¨C Wednesday 1 pm ¨C Mercer Street, Manhattan, New York

    *Slam* *Slam* Tayaw and Payew get out of the car after parking in front of a neat looking, orange brick apartment building. The orange is only for design however.

    "Here''s where I''m staying?" Payew asks, dumbfounded.

    "Yeah. Problem?" Tayaw asks.

    "Dude. Am I crazy? Or that''s the street going to NYU over there¡­" Payew points at the cross street going to West 3rd street.

    "Oh? Okay¡­ You already know your way around." Tayaw chuckles.

    "I used Google Streetview... Anyways. Isn''t this place too close? That''s a minute walk to school man¡­" Payew complains.

    "It''s for your safety buddy. And, you don''t have your driver''s license yet to drive around." Tayaw says.

    "True.." Payew nods.

    "Let''s go up?" Tayaw says and he leads Payew inside the building.

    A minute later, Tayaw opens the door of the 12th floor apartment unit he bought for Payew.

    "Okay. So this is the kitchen on left, laundry on the right. Ahead is the ¨C" Tayaw starts introducing but is interrupted by Payew.

    "Hold on man. I thought this was a student dorm?" Payew says, shocked as he proceeds to the spacious dining area and living room.

    "How big is this apartment?" Payew asks.

    "Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, dining area, and living room¡­ Combined area? 9 x 9 meters." Tayaw says.

    "Damn. It''s wider than our house in Okuba." Payew is dumbfounded.

    "This is just one floor, our house has two." Tayaw ''argues''.

    "Whatever. It''s too big for me. Too big to clean too." Payew shakes his head.

    "Hey. Mom and Dad definitely want to visit sometime. Also, I need to crash somewhere when I''m visiting New York City." Tayaw says.

    "Alright¡­ fine." Payew accepts and takes a deep breath as he takes a closer look around the apartment.

    A few minutes later, Payew is done looking around.

    "You know, I already think I''m gonna miss this place.  I probably won''t be able to afford a place like this once I enter the workforce." Payew says.

    *pat* *pat* Tayaw pats Payews back.

    "Work hard, buddy. Buy it from me someday." Tayaw grins.

    "And I don''t think it won''t take long before you do. Phil has good impressions about you." Tayaw adds.

    "About Phil!... I know you said you have friends here but I didn''t expect you''d introduce me to the CEO of Pink Apron himself!" Payew says, reminded of his disbelief earlier in the Pink Apron headquarters.

    "You''ve heard of them? We don''t have Pink Apron at home." Tayaw asks.

    "They advertise a lot through American podcasters and youtubers. Anyway, now I''m scared I might just get in his way. What if I do something that will lose them money?" Payew says in worry.

    "Oh. Don''t worry about it. Phil told me that he''ll just let you watch, or have you by his side as an unpaid intern." Tayaw says.

    "That''s good. I still get to learn, which is the most important." Payew nods.

    "BUT. He also told me that when he thinks he finds you useful, he just might give you some responsibilities. Who knows? Maybe you can actually start making good money at Pink Apron before you even graduate uni." Tayaw says, bringing the pressure back on Payew.

    "...Then wouldn''t that be nepotism? Haha." Payew chuckles guiltily.

    "Maybe. Nepotism will have something to do with it. But if he actually finds you deserving of whatever, then that''s meritocracy. You just have a higher starting point than others. Either way, it''s Phil''s decision and he''s the boss. He can do whatever he wants." Tayaw shrugs.

    "How''d you convince him to take me in by the way? Does he owe you or something?" Payew asks.

    "Heh. Yeah. Big time." Tayaw says, not bothering to explain any further.

    "I''m not even going to ask." Payew shakes his head.

    The things Tayaw told Payew as Phil''s ''Arrangements'' are actually not Phil''s ideas at all, but Tayaw''s.

    "So, what do we do now? We go back home?" Payew asks.

    "Nah. We go to LA tomorrow." Tayaw says.

    "Cool¡­ What do we do there?" Payew is excited to see the famed film capital of the world.

    "I''m going on a talk show." Tayaw says.

    "Is it that Aiden show again?" Payew asks.

    "Yeah. He''s the only talk show host I like." Tayaw says.

    "Cool!~¡­ Do I get to be in the audience?" Payew asks, his excitement increasing.

    "Hm. That goes without saying." Tayaw nods.

    "Nice¡­" Payew is pleased.

    "Anyways. Aside from that, have you heard of Pixie Studios?" Tayaw asks.

    "No." Payew shakes his head.

    "An animation studio. It makes 3d animated films for kids. You might have seen one of their films." Tayaw says.

    "Okay. We''ll go there too?" Payew asks, getting more excited at the things he will go to the next day.

    "Yeah. I''m consulting. If you want, I can talk to them into having you intern there on August before school starts." Tayaw says.

    "Don''t tell me¡­ Another friend?" Payew asks, his excitement replaced by pressure.

    "Not really. But they''re actually making the animated version of my fairy tales." Tayaw says.

    "So, nepotism again?" Payew jokes around this time.

    "Yes. Haha. Do you want to work there just for a few weeks?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah¡­ But, is it like what I''ll do for Phil?" Payew asks.

    "Yeah. Don''t worry. And, it''s a temporary internship job once every summer, if it suits your schedule. I asked them if you can intern with them as long as they''re working on a movie based on my book, and they said yes. But. You don''t have to if you don''t want to. I''m just giving you an opportunity for experience." Tayaw says, not saying the whole truth.

    Three days ago, he managed to finally become a co-owner of Pixie studios, owning 49% of the company. While Tayaw did not become the majority owner, Pixie''s other owners/ founders welcomed him with open arms. This great welcome is influenced by a few things. One, the owners realized that Tayaw''s name and TLD Grimmauld''s legal name that they signed with almost three years ago for ''Grimm''s Fairy Tales ¨C Vol 1'', is one and the same. Two, the other owners are also passionate in making good animated films and Tayaw joining their ranks will help immensely. Three, they are greatly impressed by Tayaw''s future plans for the company. Fourth, they also figured out that Tayaw is the same award-winning ''Isaac Yawat''. Finally, and most important of all, the owners will make sure to treat Tayaw most fairly and provide him some privileges or else they can say goodbye to getting the movie rights of TLD Grimmauld''s other existing works or his future ones.

    "I actually want you to experience office politics there. It''s gonna be ugly, you might not like some things you will see, but it''s something you won''t learn at school. Pixie isn''t as cutthroat as other companies, but you will have a taste of how cutthroat business really is there." Tayaw says.

    "¡­" Payew hearing this, gets his hesitance replaced by excitement and hunger for drama.

    Tayaw''s shareholder representative ¨C slash ¨C manager, will be the one who Payew will actually work under.

    "Anyways. So, lunch? Do we dine in, or order take out over the phone? There''s a LOT of restaurants around here." Tayaw changes the subject.

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    1 PM - Somewhere in the Australian outback.

    *VROOM* *SCCCRR*

    A tour bus full of passengers stops in front of a makeshift town of trailers and tents. Unlike the usual excitement and curiosity found inside a tour bus, the passengers of this special tour bus are oddly silent, their anxiety and uncertainty palpable in the air.

    "Alright. Now that you''ve seen where we will spend our time in the next few months, I understand if you''re all scared." Gary addresses the other passengers in the bus.

    "¡­" The passengers have no response.

    The passengers, which are the cast and crew who will work in ''Australia'', have just finished hopping from one film location to another, led by Gary, Helena and Xiao Song.

    "Poisonous bugs, poisonous snakes, dangerous animals, hot weather. Rest assured there are medics on standby with antidotes and emergency care. However, if any of you, ladies and gentlemen, back out now, we would understand." Xiao Song says.

    "Nathan. Damien. Claire. You three especially have your looks as your moneymakers. This is your last chance to leave." Gary adds.

    Nathan, Damien, and Claire however, quickly get over their fears and have shrugged off their worries about the dangers that they may face while shooting the film.

    "There''s no way I''m giving my role to someone else." Damien says, his decision final.

    "This is the first role I REALLY want. I''m not leaving either." Nathan says in resolve.

    "I''ve prepared for this role since January. No way I''m not going all in." Claire, despite still having reservations, also decides to continue with her work.

    The crew and supporting cast, seeing the resolve of the leading actors, also decide to stay.

    "Good." Gary smiles in relief and satisfaction.

    "Question!" Nathan raises his hand suddenly.

    "I heard you also have Isaac as another co-director. Will he join us here?" He asks.

    "I wanna meet him too. According to Claire here, he might really help us with our roles." Damien says, hungry to learn.

    "Yes. He''s working on the film. Him coming here? I don''t think so." Gary says.

    This makes Nathan, Claire, and Damien disappointed, and the crew enter into a chatter.

    "BUT! He''s already contributed more than enough, more than you all might think." Xiao Song says. This silences the chatter.

    "Besides. The kid''s got marketing to do with his film." Gary concludes.

 Chapter 197 - June Stuff ... Talk Show and Sh*t (1) (SKIPPABLE FILLER)

    ((AUTHOR''s NOTE: Don''t take Tayaw''s opinions on women seriously.)

    June 6, 2013 - Friday 5 PM - Studio 29, Beverly Blvd. LA, CA.

    Yarag has urged Tayaw again to appear in Aiden''s show for promotion. Tayaw, liking Aiden''s style of hosting and the freedom it allows him to have, agreed immediately which resulted to him appearing on tonight''s episode.

    "Isaac Yawat everyone!" Aiden introduces Tayaw to the studio audience.

    *APPLAUSE* *CHEER* The studio audience are also pleased with the guest.

    Da Bellum Burning folks meanwhile play one of Tayaw''s songs in their own instrumental version.

    Tayaw then enters the studio and just like his previous appearance in the show, does not immediately join Aiden by the stage but instead gives high fives to some of the audience, especially to Payew who is in the front seats.

    The show''s crew and producers are also not as anxious as during Tayaw''s first guest appearance.

    Tayaw then beelines to Da Bellum Burning and shakes their hands. A cameraman also points at the interaction, expecting Tayaw to exchange his hat with OffSett again. This time however, Tayaw only tips his hat before proceeding to the stage, joining Aiden.

    Da Bellum finally stops playing as Tayaw settles himself on the couch and Aiden sits at his desk.

    "Welcome buddy!" Aiden says, expressing a genuine welcome.

    "Thanks Aiden. It''s great to be back." Tayaw says, *applause* his words receiving an applause, which surprises Tayaw.

    "YOu look great!" Aiden compliments, sincerely.

    Tayaw is still wearing a three piece suit but without the jacket. He is wearing a pink dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up exposing his muscular arms and the top three buttons unbuttoned exposing some of his muscular chest. To match the pink shirt, is a violet low cut vest / waistcoat, a pair of violet pants, and a pair of red-brown leather brogues.

    "Thanks. Some of my fans were rather bored with my outfits. I had to pick out brighter colors a couple days ago." Tayaw says as he straightens his clothes.

    "You don''t have a stylist?" Aiden asks.

    "Nah. I''m not thinking of hiring one until I become more active in public." Tayaw shrugs.

    "True. I mean I think you did great. I myself have a stylist but I''ve been wearing suits five nights a week since 5 years ago." Aiden says. *chuckles in the audience*

    "So anyways. How long has it been? 9 months?" Aiden says.

    "uhh. September last year.. Yeah. 9 months. It''s been that long huh? Wow." Tayaw says, mildly surprised.

    "Man. It''s not that long. It usually takes a year or two before a guest appears again in the show. So, what have you been up to since the last time we saw you?" Aiden asks.

    "Nothing much really. Been here and there." Tayaw says, smirking.

    "¡­" Aiden is almost taken aback by Tayaw not acknowledging at least one obvious thing, but he also quickly catches on to what Tayaw is doing.

    *laughter* the audience too catches on and are amused by Tayaw''s response.

    "''Nothing much''. First of all, you and ''September'' gathered some prizes at the Academy awards. We have an Academy Award winner in the house, ladies and gentlemen." Aiden addresses the audience.

    *APPLAUSE*.

    "Oh yeah.. that.. Thanks." Tayaw says, naughtily again. *chuckles in the audience*

    "Also, you''ve made another great film! You''ve won awards AGAIN! And not just any award, it''s Sorrento." Aiden takes this chance to advertise ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer''.

    *applause*

    "Oh yeah¡­ that too. Thanks. Those things would have sounded braggy if they came out of my mouth." Tayaw says. *chuckles in the audience*

    "You don''t look as happy as you should?" Aiden asks.

    "Oh. I''m ecstatic! But after a few days though, it''s bound to wear off." Tayaw says.

    "Like any happy thing¡­" Aiden nods.

    "It is not only accepting awards that you did though, right? I heard you also went to another big stage. Not to receive awards, but to perform." Aiden asks Tayaw share more.

    "Yeah! I finally got to play in Grand Country Opera in Nashville last April. That was an awesome experience. It was a dream come true for me." Tayaw says, this time more enthusiastically.

    *applause* *applause*

    The audience members, not being country fans only applaud for courtesy this time.

    "thank you." Tayaw nods to the audience.

    "Not only did you play there, the video of your performance is receiving a lot of replays¡­ or views." Aiden says.

    "Yeah. Last time I checked it''s 11 million views." Tayaw says.

    *applause* The audience this time, has a better appreciation of Tayaw''s achievement in music.

    "When did you perform?" Aiden asks.

    "Back in¡­ April 14. Man. That night is still fresh in my mind." Tayaw says.

    "Interesting¡­" Aiden looks at Tayaw oddly.

    "What?" Tayaw says.

    "You''re happier performing on a stage, which was longer ago, compared to winning awards." Aiden observes.

    "Well. What can I say? I''m a musician first and foremost. I guess my films are just received better." Tayaw shrugs.

    "Well. Congratulations to your music too, then." Aiden nods.

    "Thank you¡­" Tayaw smiles.

    "So, Isaac." Aiden changes the subject.

    "Thank you by the way for inviting me for a private screening for your film." Aiden says, knowing that it is Black Deer Pictures that invited him, not Tayaw.

    "It''s my pleasure. How was it? And please, be honest." Tayaw asks, as an indirect way to increase the viewers'' curiosity.

    "¡­ Not to knock on ''September Ninth''¡­ but¡­"

    *GASP* a female audience member audibly reacts immediately to Aiden''s preface.

    Tayaw and Aiden look at the audience member''s location and they both chuckle at the reaction. *Chuckle* The rest of the audience members too found that lady''s reaction amusing.

    "Anyway. Yeah. I think your new film is way better." Aiden says.

    "That''s my opinion, ma''am. I can have a different opinion." Aiden addresses the female audience member, which amuses the audience members again.

    "That''s a relief. I mean, I have to outdo myself than last time." Tayaw says.

    "Which isn''t an easy thing to do." Aiden nods.

    "Well, can you tell our viewers about your upcoming film?" Aiden gives Tayaw more time to promote.

    "I don''t want to spoil that much. But. It''s a coming of age film. A movie about a young man''s maturity and growth from youth to a.d.u.l.thood." Tayaw says.

    "¡­ Huh.. Now that you say that. It is about that." Aiden realizes.

    "What did you think it was about?" Tayaw asks, already knowing Aiden''s takeaway from the film, but just enlisting his indirect help in introducing the film.

    "I thought it''s about a young man''s search for family." Aiden says.

    "Yes. That too. It''s also about a young man''s journey in finding something that most of us already have and take for granted. Yes." Tayaw says.

    *applause* The audience, many of who have already seen the film trailer, are more familiar with Aiden''s description of the film.

    "Well. To have a better idea, Isaac brought us a tape." Aiden says.

    "Yes. This is the trailer." Tayaw says and with that, the huge LED screen behind Aiden and Tayaw transforms from a display of Los Angeles'' night view, into playing the trailer.

    A minute later. *Applause* The trailer is done playing, making the audience anticipate and want to see the film. The applause stops just in time for Aiden to see a producer''s signal.

    "That''s ''Gold, Blood, and The Deer''! You can see it in theaters near you tomorrow. Everyone! We''ll be back more with Isaac after a short break." Aiden says.

    *APPLAUSE*

    ~~~~~

    ~~~~~

    "We''re back! We are still joined by Isaac." Aiden addresses the cameras and the audience. *APPLAUSE* The taping continues after a short bathroom break.

    "Isaac. The last time you were here, you were rather adamant on not having a relationship, and a weird take along with it. Do y-"

    "Yes." Tayaw interrupts.

    "What? I''m not done asking¡­" Aiden says.

    *laughter in the audience*

    "Yes. Still don''t want a lady right now. And no, I don''t see myself getting together with one in the near future either." Tayaw says.

    *ooohh* *laughter*.

    "Wait. That pretty young lady you were with at the red carpet in Sorrento isn''t your girlfriend?" Aiden asks.

    "Oh? Her? Nah. She''s a really good friend, but I''m not dating her anytime soon." Tayaw says.

    "Oh¡­ Okay. Then let''s move on to another subject." Aiden shakes his head exaggeratingly.

    "No. Let''s talk about it. Because I''m even more wary, no, SCARED in being in a relationship now compared to last year." Tayaw continues with the subject.

    *silence*

    Tayaw''s words make Aiden and the audience more curious.

    "Why? Who hurt you?" Aiden says sarcastically, cutting the tension.

    *laughter*

    "Nah. No one. But, you know when I was writing the film, I had to follow people, study them." Tayaw says.

    "Uhuh?... Weird¡­" Aiden is confused.

    *laughter* The audience feels the same.

    "Yes. Weird, but understandable and necessary. So. While following people to write my characters, I also had extra stuff that I noticed. The stuff you overhear when you really try." Tayaw continues.

    "Huh¡­" Aiden is even more confused.

    "May I share a common thing I overhear? It just stuck with me." Tayaw asks.

    "Do you need help with structure? I''m rather confused right now." Aiden says. *laughter* The audience is too.

    "Don''t worry. It will make sense." Tayaw says.

    "Okay. Go ahead with your story then."

    "Thanks. Okay. So there are some times I overhear couples having a bad time, and that''s normal. But many times too, I can''t help but get out of my head the things I witness in those couples.

    "For example, there was this one time a guy trying to find out what he did wrong from his girlfriend or wife, whatever. He asked ''Babe, what''s wrong?'' and his lady said ''Nothing. I''m fine.''." Tayaw narrates.

    "That''s normal though?" Aiden asks.

    "It is. But the way the lady said ''Nothing'' and ''I''m fine'' just irked me. It''s not ''Nothing, I''m fine.'' that says she can handle it, but ''NOTHING. I''M FINE.'' like the guy should know what he did wrong." Tayaw says.

    "That''s normal still. Happens with my wife and I all the time." Aiden says again.

    "That''s normal? See? That adds another why I don''t want a relationship." Tayaw says.

    "Wait¡­ WHAT?" Aiden is confused more.

    *chatter* The audience too no longer finds Tayaw''s rambling funny, but confusing.

    "Okay. Going back to the story. That lady''s man? He asked ''what''s wrong?'' in a really caring way. Like he genuinely cares and wants to know, basing on the tone of his voice and the look on his face. His lady should have seen that and just told him.

    "Hey. Maybe the lady even knows that her man really cares. But what did she do? Instead, she answered ''NOTHING'' like it''s a weapon to make the guy feel bad. It''s manipulative. She didn''t want her man to fix the problem with her. No. She did not want to fix things but turn it into an ego trip." Tayaw says.

    "Well. That''s a bit much, I say, a huge and maybe a wrongful assumption basing on just a really small interaction, Isaac." Aiden reasons.

    "True. But think about it. If the guy didn''t know, then it must have been something small, right? Something that can be fixed easily. Guys are less emotionally aware than women, I admit, but I don''t think we''re emotionless reptiles." Tayaw says.

    "Uhuh. I can get around that. Then are you sure that it''s an ego trip? Based on those two words alone?" Aiden asks.

    "You''re right, I can''t be sure that she''s ego tripping, but I couldn''t help but see it as that, based on what I witnessed next¡­ The guy asked many times ''Are you really sure you''re fine?'' two or three times, and received the same passive aggressive reply two more times AND THEN silent treatment.

    "She was ego tripping through manipulation, and it worked. I watched the couple closer. The guy for the rest of their interaction looked like he was lost. I can tell it''s killing him to know what he did wrong or how to fix it. I saw the guy order food absentmindedly. I watch him walk to and back from the bathroom absentmindedly almost bumping on someone. I''m pretty he lost sleep that night too.

    "The lady? I saw her smirking, VICTORIOUSLY, when she was left alone at their table as she fiddles with her phone, probably sharing her ''win'' with her friends. If that''s a normal occurrence in couples, then hey, I''d rather not go through that emotional beating¡­" Tayaw rambles.

    Aiden meanwhile, has entered contemplation. Seeing Aiden''s reaction, Tayaw also looks around the room and he sees *silence* the guys in the audience too, are going through something in themselves, staring blankly at him. Tayaw also notices that some of the ladies are glaring daggers at him.

    "*SHRUG*" Tayaw exaggeratingly opens his arms towards the audience just to taunt the ladies.

 Chapter 198 - June Stuff ... Talk Show and Sh*t (2) (SKIPPABLE FILLER)

    (cont''d) ((AUTHOR''s NOTE: Don''t take Tayaw''s opinions on women seriously.)

    "Wow¡­ That sure killed the room, huh¡­" Tayaw says to Aiden after looking around.

    "Huh.. Sure did. HAHA!" Aiden tries to cheer himself up.

    "Well. What do I know? Don''t listen to me. I''m an idiot, AND a kid, who isn''t even 20 yet. I know nothing." Tayaw shrugs while eyeing the same ladies who are giving him hostile gazes. He almost chuckles as he saw them get angered more.

    "If that''s how you think. Then you''d really have a hard time in the future once you finally decide to start a family." Aiden says.

    "Maybe. And maybe, something will change my mind. But for now, I''m still young. I''d rather stay single than get together with the wrong person. I have a lot of fun things to do to be distracted by heartbreak." Tayaw says.

    *applause* the men in the audience sympathize with Tayaw.

    "Then¡­ how about just dating for the sake of being a musician and a director? Experiencing romance will give you inspiration in making romance films and romantic songs." Aiden says.

    "Nah. Other people''s experiences are enough for me for inspiration. Have you heard some of my songs, man? They''re romantic. Even if you didn''t, people who love country love them." Tayaw shrugs.

    "Okay. How about making a romantic film?" Aiden asks.

    "uh.. September Ninth?" Tayaw says.

    "Nope¡­ I remember clearly you saying that ''September Ninth'' was not a romantic film." Aiden says, barely suppressing his smugness at trapping Tayaw in his own words.

    "Well, whatever¡­ I''m not planning on making a romantic film soon anyway. I''m just saying. I''m romantic enough by myself." Tayaw throws back a ridiculous reply.

    *laughter* The audience find the double entendre amusing.

    "I mean. I think that other men too are romantic enough by themselves." Tayaw adds *groan* *laughter* getting more reaction from the crowd, the ladies disgusted, the men are amused.

    "Are you sure we''re still talking about romance?" Aiden says, riding on Tayaw''s joke.

    "Psh. Yeah I''m talking about romance! Tell me, Aiden. Who do you think is more romantic? Men or women?" Tayaw asks.

    Aiden''s face freezes, familiar with the feeling of the path things will take once Tayaw starts asking questions back.

    "Well. I think women." Aiden says, in caution.

    "OBJECTION!" Tayaw slams the couch''s arm, startling Aiden.

    Then *groan* *ooohhh* the audience are caught off-guard by Tayaw''s reaction.

    "Jesus Christ. What was that?" Aiden says, catching his breath.

    "I''m sorry. I just get so passionate sometimes." Tayaw says, playfully.

    *laughter in the audience*

    "Okay. How was I wrong then?" Aiden says.

    "I''m not saying you''re wrong. I just disagree, based on what I''ve seen. First of all, why do you think you''re right?" Tayaw asks back.

    Aiden rubs his eyebrows, preparing for another round of chaos.

    "I don''t know really. They''re more caring? They consume romantic books and movies more." Aiden says, as rational as he can.

    "Caring. True. Romance fiction consumption? True too. But I still disagree. I associate romance with love. And dare I say AS WELL, men love women more than women love men." Tayaw says.

    *OOOHHH* *APPLAUSE* the crowd becomes divided at that.

    "PUhah! W-what are you talking about?" Aiden''s voice raises in laughter at Tayaw''s ridiculous claim.

    "Let''s talk about love songs. How do you know if a love song is written by a male or a female songwriter?" Tayaw asks.

    "Hmm. I don''t know?" Aiden says.

    "Another question, and please answer honestly, do you prefer songs by male singers or female singers?" Tayaw asks again.

    "I guess male singers'' songs. I especially like ''I Only Want You'' by Summer Alaska." Aiden says.

    "Hmm. Good song, right?" Tayaw says, approving of Aiden''s taste in music.

    "What does this have to do with your first question?" Aiden asks.

    " ''hmm~ I''ll be the mountain you can stand on, be the hand you can hold, when you get old¡­''" Tayaw sings a line of the song.

    "That is written by a man. A romantic man." Tayaw says.

    "Man, of course. Summer Alaska is a rock band of guys." Aiden says.

    "yeah. But the subject, the idea. Male songwriters write more about sacrifice for a woman. They sing stuff like ''I''ll climb a mountain for you'' ''I''ll leave my job for you'' ''I''ll catch a bullet for you''. Right?" Tayaw says.

    "Yeah¡­ Yeah, that makes sense." Aiden nods.

    "How about female songwriters? ''Put your arms around me'' ''Take my breath away'' ''Take a chance on me''¡­ Familiar, man?" Tayaw says.

    "Uhuh¡­ I see it¡­" Aiden immediately realizes what Tayaw is saying.

    "Yes! While men write songs on how to GIVE GIVE GIVE their love for a girl, women write songs that WANT WANT WANT. IT''S UNFAIR! I have to give you something before you give something back? THAT''s not love! That''s being a child!" Tayaw says with fake anger.

    *laughter*

    "Girl, why do I have to climb mountains to make me love you? Why not chase me, too? I''m tired! Why do I have to catch a bullet for you? I''ll be dead! You selfish asshole!" Tayaw continues riffing.

    *laughter* *applause*

    "Oh! OH! Another thing! How about sad love songs? Men write songs on how it''s their fault, that they should have worked harder to love, that they''re sorry, over and over and over again. How about women''s love songs? They just talk about how they feel!

    "Ooh. ''I feel hurt''. Ooh. ''I wish you heart break''. They rarely apologize man! ARE YOU A QUEEN? ARE YOU A SAINT? ARE YOU JESUS? What about ME? What about MY FEELINGS?!" Tayaw continues his comparisons in exaggerated passion.

    *LAUGHTER* *WHOOO* *APPLAUSE* At this point, Aiden and the audience are almost unanimously clamoring in laughter, not because the comparisons are outrageously funny, but because Tayaw''s passionate delivery.

    "Alright. Calm down, Isaac. I hear you." Aiden says, knowing that Tayaw is joking, but his words are effective in calming down the room again.

    "It''s unfair, you know?" Tayaw says, wiping his fake tears under his huge sunglasses amusing the crowd more.

    Aiden seeing this, can only give up leading the show and instead act as an assistant for Tayaw''s jokes and an arbiter.

    "I know. I know buddy. But those are just songs." Aiden says in fake consolation.

    "BUT NOT JUST SONGS! IT''s everywhere in the movies! Why do I have to chase a girl in an airport? Why do I have to make a spectacle just to propose? No, dude. If a girl sees how I love her, then she shouldn''t make me go through all that stuff that might break my wallet or send me to jail." Tayaw starts once again.

    *OOHH* *LAUGHTER* the men audience are riled up once again.

    "That''s just in the movies, buddy. It''s not like that in real life." Aiden says in fake assurance. *laughter*.

    "I know. But in real life, I think men love women more than the other way around though." Tayaw says. *ooohhh* "What makes you say that? My wife and I love each other equally." Aiden says. *oohhh*

    "Good for you¡­ But¡­ I mean¡­" Tayaw takes a deep breath.

    "Look. Say, in a relationship, a SERIOUS one, what happens after a break-up? If I may ask, what happened when one of your past relationsh.i.p.s ended?" Tayaw asks.

    Aiden hesitates in answering but because he does not want to block Tayaw''s flow, he obliges.

    "20 or so years ago. I was in a relationship with a girl I met in college. We dated for three years but after graduation, it didn''t work out." Aiden starts.

    "A month after we broke up. I saw her with a new guy walking along ***** Boulevard and they were holding hands." Aiden says.

    "I bet you were still dealing with the break-up?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yes and it was miserable. BUT that''s just me, and her. My thing doesn''t apply to everybody." Aiden says.

    "Yeah. Your story doesn''t prove my point, of course. But, you''re not the only man I know who had the same experience. According to what I''ve seen, and from the men I''ve made friends with, a man will take months, even years to recover. A lady will take what? Half? A fraction of the time a man does to move on. I therefore conclude that men love women more than the other way around." Tayaw says.

    *WHOO* *BOOO* The crowd is now divided, *LAUGHTER* but find Tayaw''s rambling amusing too as there is some truth to it.

    "Here''s another thing I noticed. No, I really tried my best looking this up¡­ In a young marriage, like a couple in their 30s or 40s¡­ when a spouse dies, what happens?" Tayaw asks Aiden.

    "¡­ I don''t even wanna know." Aiden says, dodging the question this time as the subject seems heavier.

    "If the wife dies, the man would mourn, which is a given. After that, what happens?Half the time, they re-marry, half the time, they would never re-marry ever again. The stuff that belonged to their wife would bring back memories and the man would have a hard time throwing her stuff away. Right?" Tayaw asks.

    "That kinda covers it, yes." Aiden says.

    "What happens if the husband dies?" Tayaw asks again.

    "The same, I guess?" Aiden says.

    "Yes. But there''s a small and important difference¡­" Tayaw says, pausing for three seconds to build up suspense which is effective as *murmur* the audience is brewing in anticipation.

    "¡­ there''d be ¡­ PUHAHA!" Before Tayaw can even conclude his comparisons, he bursts out laughter.

    *Laughter* Aiden and the audience laugh with Tayaw too, but mixed with it, some nervousness.

    "There''d be¡­ Puhhhh.." Tayaw bursts out again.

    "Man¡­ I can''t finish the joke. I''m sorry. *giggle* It''s kinda messed up." Tayaw says.

    *Laughter* The audience this time laugh in relief.

    "Come on. You already set it up that long, what were you gonna say?" Aiden is curious.

    "I was gonna say. If a young husband dies in a marriage, his widow will start a garage sale right after his funeral." Tayaw delivers finally. *OOOHHH* *GROAAANN* *giggles* The audience members are shocked but somehow cannot stop themselves from seeing the humor in the dark joke.

    "Yeah. The guitar, his video game console, his signed baseball, his signed jersey. I wouldn''t be surprised if she sold them for $20 each." Tayaw stretches his joke.

    *LAUGHTER in the audience*

    "PUHAHAhhaa. OHHH my GOD! Man, you''re crazy!" Aiden loses it.

    "I kinda am~! I told you I didn''t want to say it. Now the pedestrians of Los Angeles are all shocked." Tayaw says.

    "EUGHH..Jesus Christ. Let''s cut this short to commercial break before you say something worse." Aiden shakes his head.

    "That would be best." Tayw nods, feeling great at playing the room''s emotions. The producers also sigh in relief, very unsure if they can even air the episode.

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    "We''re back with more of Isaac."

    *APPLAUSE* The taping continues after a short break.

    "We have a ten or so minutes left. Is there anything you want to talk about? I mean, when you''re the guest, we really don''t prepare, so we just have to go all the way in winging it." Aiden says.

    "Hnn. I don''t really know what else to talk about." Tayaw says, wanting Aiden to lead the interview this time.

    "Well, is there anything else you''re up to?" Aiden asks.

    "Nothing really. I''ve spent a few months making a film and I think I need a break. Also, it''s been a while since I released my first album, ''18'' and my country album ''On the Road'' so I think it''s time for me to write new songs again. I have to release an album called ''19'' while I''m still, you know, 19." Tayaw casually promotes his album and his future one.

    "While I''d really LOVE to see more of your stuff, there''s no rush for you. You''re young with plenty of energy, but you also shouldn''t work yourself so hard." Aiden says.

    "Yeah. Maybe I should travel too. Is there a place you can recommend?" Tayaw asks.

    "Ever been to Europe? Italy''s a nice place." Aiden recommends having grown up with Italian-Americans.

    "Ahh.. Ho passato un sacco di tempo in Italia gia." Tayaw says. (any Italian readers? SOrry. It''s google translate.)

    "¡­" This silences the studio.

    "I don''t know what you said, but I''m guessing you''re skipping Italy?" Aiden says. "Yeah. Either way, I might decide to travel." Tayaw nods.

    "Mmm. By the way, you were so happy talking about singing in Grand Country Opera, but how come didn''t play for us tonight?" Aiden asks.

    *groan* The audience express their disappointment as they realize what they have missed out on.

    "Well, I thought if I wanna play again for the show, I really wanna collaborate again with Da Bellum Burning folks, but because I only had yesterday as a heads up, I had no time to work something out with them." Tayaw tips his hat to the members of the house band.

    "Dude. We have a guitar and a drummer. You have all you need." Shaheed says with his mic, which he only uses for singing.

    *applause* The audience love the idea followed by "SING! SING! SING!" an urging chanting.

    "Alright." Tayaw, not wanting to disappoint the audience, stands up and walks towards the band with light steps.

    *applause* the audience is pleased to see Tayaw happily oblige to their request.

 Chapter 199 - Insecurities and Sh*t

    (cont''d)

    "¡­ I was hoping for an acoustic?" Tayaw asks realizing that the band''s guitarist is holding an electric one.

    "Oh. There''s one here." The guitarist pulls one out from behind the curtain.

    "Thanks." Tayaw receives it and heads back to the couch while tuning the guitar.

    The guitar finally tuned, Tayaw strums it and looks at Aiden.

    "What do you want me to sing about? I might have a song for it." Tayaw asks.

    "You sure? Anything?" Aiden asks.

    "Nah. But anything you feel you want for a song?" Tayaw asks again.

    "Hmmm.. well. I''ve an old college buddy visiting from out of town last night. It was a pleasant double date." Aiden says.

    "Perfect." Tayaw nods.

    Before Aiden can show his surprise, Tayaw starts plucking the strings of the guitar. The beautiful and nostalgic melody of the song''s intro immediately catches the attention of the people inside the studio.

    D~ D/C# ~ Bm ~ G ~ D

    D ~ E7 ~ G ~ Asus2 ~ D

    "I saw a friend today; it had been a while

    and we almost felt ashamed

    But we laughed as we know deep inside

    That our feelings stayed the same."

    "I was lost in my own thoughts in my empty mind,

    And through a crowd of strangers I''m walking blind,

    I hear a familiar voice there across the street

    Come walks to me an almost forgotten friend."

    "We don''t have to say a word.

    We really know what''s left unsaid.

    Through my eyes I recognize

    A face I never forgot."

    D ~ E7 ~ G ~ Asus2 ~ D    ¡­ D ~ E7 ~ G ~ Asus2 ~ D

    (inspired by Creed Bratton - All the faces)

    Tayaw soon finishes the song.

    "I guess that''s it." Tayaw says.

    "¡­" The crowd still silent from the lingering feelings the song has given them.

    "¡­" Aiden too is dazed, the song capturing his exact emotions when he saw his old friend for the first time after 12 years.

    *clap* *clap*

    Da Bellum Burning members are the first to get over their emotions and they initiate a round of applause.

    *APPLAUSE*

    "Thanks Isaac. That was a great song." Aiden smiles at Tayaw.

    "Thank you. I guess I''m gonna put it in my next album." Tayaw says, his indirect promotion kills Aiden''s nostalgia immediately.

    "Alright. That''s all the time we have for the show! Once again, please watch ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer''. It opens in theaters near you. Good night!" Aiden closes the show.

    *APPLAUSE* *BIG BAND MUSIC*.

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    Two days later, Sunday, 8AM ¨C Mercer Street, Manhattan.

    Tayaw and Payew just had their breakfast and are just lounging around in Payew''s living room.

    "Where do you want to go today?" Tayaw asks.

    "I don''t - ... Can we just stay inside today? I''m not really feeling it. We took three plane rides in the past four days. I think it did something to me. I feel sluggish." Payew says honestly.

    "You''re probably just tired. Shall we cancel the flight home tonight?" Tayaw asks.

    "Is it fine with you?" Payew asks.

    "Yeah. I don''t have anything important unless someone calls. We can go back anytime you want." Tayaw says.

    "That''s good then. Still, I want to go home as soon as possible. If I feel better tomorrow, then let''s go home tomorrow." Payew says.

    "Okay. What do you wanna do then?" Tayaw asks.

    "Nothing. Just.. nothing. My brain''s tired from reading about Pixie and Pink Apron so I just wanna brainlessly browse the internet." Payew says. Tayaw understands Payew situation, being in similar cases plenty of times.

    "Alright. You do you." Tayaw nods.

    "Sorry, you''re gonna get bored. What are you gonna do?" Payew asks, guilty.

    "Oh, I''m gonna check my Isaac fan forum. It''s pretty fun chatting with them. Then, I''m gonna do some writing." Tayaw says as he retrieves his laptop from his backpack.

    "''The Halfling'' sequel?" Payew asks.

    "Yeah." Tayaw confirms.

    "Just curious. How far along are you with it?" Payew asks, anticipating the sequel.

    "It''s gonna be ready for printing in a week or two." Tayaw estimates, including the time for the copyright to be approved.

    "¡­" Payew is surprised but seeing Tayaw already is busily tapping away at his laptop''s keyboard, he drops the matter. Having nothing to do, he also takes out his laptop from his bag to browse the internet.

    A few minutes later, "Bro. You should look at these reviews man." Payew tells Tayaw as he proudly scrolls through International Movie Base (IMB) website.

    |Gold, Blood, and the Deer ¨C A curious film. One comes to understand or even excuse the morally questionable activities of "The Deer" in search for his identity.|

    |A refreshing film amidst the tired and overused themes of the convention.|

    |A romantic letter to the youth; a lesson to open the youth''s eyes to the real world.|

    |A one of a kind film that does the job of the romance genre and the sports genre cannot achieve on their own. As exciting as a sports film; a strong narrative that any romance films cannot match.|

    |A bloody story, but its greatness cannot be taken away.|

    |Isaac Yawat proves his success is not a fluke. ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'': another milestone set by him for the film industry. |

    |The effective merging of innocence and corruption resulting to a moving film for a.d.u.l.ts. Two hours of well-acted, well-written original drama that is the first of its own.|

    |A door for us to take a glimpse at The Mob. Its ethnic and cultural intricacies makes it also a lesson in 20th century American history|

    |In a filmmaking and storytelling perspective, ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'' is a great achievement. Its dialogue, and performances will make it a film that will remain a classic for generations.|

    |While the film is a first of its kind, its biggest achievement is the establishment of the mood and the time period.|

    |Gold, Blood, and The Deer is a culmination of life; rich with emotions, the aspects of existence, including blood.|

    "Dude. Why are you looking at those? Even I don''t." Tayaw chuckles.

    "Knowing the guy who made the film kinda gives me a different perspective, you know?" Payew says.

    "You don''t care about these?" Payew asks.

    "Nah. There''s nothing they can say I don''t already know." Tayaw jokingly brags.

    "Man, f*ck you." Payew says, but his mood is not spoiled as he makes another tab for Twitter and Facebook.

    |@isaacyawat! You''re a genius!|

    |@isaacyawat Holy sh*t! man, you''ve ruined other films for me!|

    |@isaacyawat Bro! Please release the soundtrack!|

    |@isaacyawat! Hey! Did Giovanni live after the war?|

    |@andilogan Dude, I''m from Vegas. The character is based on Gonzalo Coniglio. If Isaac followed the life of Gonzalo, then Giovanni lives. The question instead is if there''s a sequel!|

    |@isaacyawat is there a sequel?|

    |@isaacyawat I know who the story the film''s based on. When''s the sequel coming out?|

    |@isaacyawat I can''t wait for the sequel. Make sure to make it!|

    ||@everyone GUYS! ISAAC IS LIVE IN HIS FORUM! LET''S GO THERE!||

    "They can''t have enough of the film¡­" Payew mutters.

    "On social media?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah." Payew says.

    "Hm. Those matter to me more than the critics." Tayaw says.

    "I see¡­" Payew nods in understanding.

    "By the way. It says here |@isaacyawat is @tldgrimmauld writing another novel?|. I still wonder why you''re hiding your status as an author?" Payew asks.

    "Like why I don''t use my real name on stage and as a director. I don''t want the attention. That attention will also shine a light on you, mom and dad, and Agew. I value our privacy." Tayaw says an excuse.

    "I get it, but why don''t you have your ''Isaac'' persona reveal that he is also TLD Grimmauld then? That''s a huge news." Payew asks. This immediately gets Tayaw''s entire focus shift to finding an excuse.

    "¡­ Well¡­ I want Grimmauld to be mysterious. It adds appeal to ''my'' books. Imagine people''s perception. ''Who''s this guy?'' ''His writing is old, how old is he?'' ''Is he even a he?'' ''He might be they: a group of authors''." Taaw says a loose excuse.

    ''Sorry man. I just can''t defend those works as my own.''

    "Hmmm. Makes sense¡­" Payew accepts the excuse.

    "So. You have two films in stock and an album in store, and a novel that''s almost done. What do you do now?" Payew asks.

    "I don''t know. Maybe I''ll go prepare to adapt ''The Halfling''. That stuff requires a shit ton of work." Tayaw says which makes Payew''s eyes gleam.

    "But I don''t even know where to start. Maybe I''ll go see the world first. Learn languages." Tayaw says.

    "About that¡­ when the hell did you learn how to speak Italian? Your English too. I don''t remember your English being that good when you were in high school. It''s like you changed overnight when you went to apply to Northwestern." Payew asks.

    "¡­" Tayaw realizes that Payew noticed more things than he expected and he pauses chatting with his fans.

    "I don''t know. English just clicked for me. As for Italian, I started learning the day ''September Ninth'' was nominated for Sorrento. Became fluent in it rather quickly with the help of Italian songs and movies. Hey, actually. Knowing music makes it easier to learn." Tayaw says.

    "Damn¡­" Payew is dumbfounded.

    "It''s like you got all the brains from the family and left me and Agew with so little¡­ Well, Agew is kind of an art genius." Payew jokes, but is a bit jealous.

    "Dude¡­" Tayaw is almost speechless, he saw through the expression of jealousy masked by the joke.

    "I''m not. Well, maybe smart, but I''m definitely not a genius. I''m just lucky. I just happen to excel at things that are instantly marketable. I don''t have your talent for numbers and your interest in things." Tayaw says in shallow consolation.

    "Uhuh. Maybe. But how about your creativity? I can''t even wrap my head around how you come up with your stories and your movies. Agew too. He''s already a good porcelain maker, and he can paint and draw too. All in a span of 3 years.

    "I on the other hand, I''m smart, but I have nothing to show for it." Payew says, now serious.

    "¡­" Tayaw''s brain churns once again, finding a quick explanation, seeing the emotion that Payew is trying to hide.

    "Do you know why I often trip on things as a child? Why other teachers at school reported me to mom for not paying attention in class? Why dad was annoyed whenever I''m distracted?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah?..." Payew remembers the instances.

    "I was always daydreaming. As a child, I always daydreamed of stories. The fairytales and ''The Halfling'' ideas just didn''t pop-up one day. It''s a product of my years of daydreaming." Tayaw explains.

    "¡­" Payew is speechless as he mulls over Tayaw''s explanation.

    "¡­" Tayaw meanwhile, is feeling a cacophony of emotions as he looks at Payew who just revealed his insecurity.

    In his previous life, it was obvious to Tayaw that Payew had the most self - confidence out of them brothers. His good grades in school, graduating c.u.m laude from a good university, and finally a bright career in the government, Payew achieved them with his trust in himself. This made Payew a bit arrogant but he never looked down on people.

    Comparing the current Payew and the one in his previous life, Tayaw cannot help but be guilty and afraid. Guilty that he had an indirect effect on birthing an insecurity in Payew, and afraid that the same insecurities will take a toll on his self-esteem resulting to Payew not being able to use his full potential.

    "You are lucky. You are born with the smarts, managed to learn right habits and hobbies, and the discipline. If you maintain that, you will become successful." Tayaw says.

    "But you''re luckier¡­" Payew smiles, feeling better now after his strengths are called out by Tayaw.

    "Yes. I''m lucky. Extremely lucky. But it could have gone the opposite way. What if the stories I''ve been making in my head not become popular? What if the way I make films somehow are an eyesore to moviegoers? What if I didn''t see the trick in things to learn things easier? What would I have been left with? I''d still be in school, studying to become an average engineering grad that will make better money in my foreign language skills of engineering stuff." Tayaw says.

    "¡­" Payew is stunned thinking about what could have been.

    "Before I won the jackpot, I was actually jealous of you and Agew." Tayaw continues.

    Payew notices that the confident Tayaw is gone, as if reverting back to his high school self.

    "I wasn''t as smart as you and I''m not as gifted as Agew even though I didn''t know what he would be good at. I needed luck to succeed, and it came early. You and Agew on the other hand, do not need much luck, but sheer hard work and commitment to make something of yourselves. And if ever you just get lucky a bit, that''s a huge boost." Tayaw says.

    Payew, hearing Tayaw admit his own insecurities, now relates more with Tayaw. Tayaw also praising him seriously for the first time, he cannot help but be assaulted by complicated emotions.

    "...Thank you. I needed that." Payew says, sighing.

    "Hmm. Don''t compare yourself to me, or to Agew. We might be blood, and we might have some similarities, but we''re our own person." Tayaw says.

    "We are¡­" Payew nods.

    Tayaw seeing Payew now looking better, is beyond relieved.

    ''¡­while I can take the guilt of plagiarizing stuff, I can''t deal with the guilt of the effects it might have on you¡­''

 Chapter 200 - Random Sh*t

    June 14, 2013 ¨C 11 Am Friday - Malibu

    "*whistle* *whistle*"

    Bruce, a bald man in his 50s, wearing a Hawaiian shirt, happily trots barefoot by the beach in a bright and hot California morning. Unlike other rich folks of his age, Bruce is spry and in good health.

    "Hey there." He suddenly sits on the sand, beside three young bikini-clad women lying on their own beach mats, peacefully bathing in the sun.

    "Hey." The brown- haired lady lying nearest Bruce, politely responds as she scans him through her sunglasses.

    "Nice day, huh?" The man starts small talk.

    "¡­" The ladies quickly catch on the man''s intentions.

    "Yeah. Are you from around here?" the brunette in the group ask.

    "Yeah. I''ve got a new place over there." Bruce points over his shoulder.

    "¡­" The ladies look at the direction of a group of fancy beach houses, all in modern design, all having at least two floors.

    "Oh? Which one?" The blonde asks.

    "That one with the solid white walls." The man coolly says referring to the biggest and what seems to be the most newly built house.

    "wow¡­" The ladies say skeptically.

    "May I offer you ladies a drink?" Bruce asks.

    "Nah. Our boyfriends are buying some for us right now." The blonde lies.

    "¡­" Bruce looks at the ladies'' stuff and he does not see anything that belongs to a man.

    "Well then, too bad. I''ll see you around ladies. If you guys wanna hang out somewhere, you know where to find me." Bruce can only gracefully receive the rejection as he stands up and brushes the sand off his butt.

    As Bruce walks back to his house, he is almost annoyed by a question from a stranger he passed by.

    "hEh heh.. Bad day, dude?" A suntanned blonde young man sitting on his surfboard, asks.

    "The day isn''t over yet, DUDE." Bruce says, not bothering to squabble with who he deems a loser.

    A few minutes later, *slide* *thud* Bruce enters his house.

    "*sniff* *ahhhh*" Bruce takes a deep breath to calm down his agitation of the two slights he received a few minutes ago.

    Bruce then goes to the fridge, pours himself a cup of something cold, and drinks it. After finally calming down, he goes to his living room and plops himself on the couch. Looking around the interior of the house, Bruce cannot help but thank the easy sell he did two weeks ago.

    "Thank f*ck, some idiot bought my overpriced shares." Bruce takes in the beauty of the modern interior design of his house and it calms him down entirely.

    *ring* *ring*

    Bruce immediately answers an unexpected phone call.

    While he likes Malibu and his new house, he is not home and his friends are not around, so any call from any friend is welcome.

    /Hey Bruce. How''s it goin?/

    "I''m doing great, Allen. I''m just bored." Bruce replies.

    /You''re in LA! Blow, Booze, Blunt, and gold diggin'' B*tches! What''s to be bored about?/ Allen says.

    "You know me, they get old quick." Bruce scoffs.

    / Well, what about REAL women? I heard you recently bought a house in Malibu. That''s heaven right there! There''s no way you can''t charm even one of them./

    "Not my day today." Bruce says.

    /Not your day. Tell you what? Today is not MY day!/ Allen says.

    "What happened?" Bruce asks in slight worry.

    /Nah. I just regret selling my Pixie shares to you./ Allen says.

    "What?" Bruce is confused.

    /You know! The new f*ckin film! ''Snow White'' was it? I''m pretty sure it''s gonna f.u.c.kin sell./ Allen reports.

    "Oh¡­ That..." Allen''s mind starts running a mile a minute.

    /They released a trailer. I''ll send a link to your Facebook./ Allen says.

    A minute later, Bruce is by his home computer.

    [[[*wham*

    -From the makers of ''The Toy Prince'' -

    *chimes*

    - a ''Grimm''s Fairy Tales'' story -

    *chimes*

    - An Isaac Yawat Film -

    *fade to black*

    *Piano chord in minor*

    ''Mirror Mirror on the wall, who''s the fairest of them all?'' A shot of a caped woman in front of a mirror fades in.

    ''You my queen, are fair. But Snow-white is a thousand times fairer than you.'' The mirror replies

    *PIANO CHORD IN MINOR!*

    ''Bring me her!''

    *wham*

    ''I will, my queen.'' The huntsman says.

    *piano in major*

    ''My Name is snow white''

    *orchestral music intensifies*

    *snow white dancing with a prince*

    *snow white playing in the forest with dwarves*

    *Music stops*

    ''Be careful, Snow-white. Be careful of the queen.'']]]

    "¡­" Although he finished watching the 50-second trailer, Bruce''s eyes are still on the computer monitor.

    /Right? I can''t believe it''s gonna be a children''s film! Bruce, you lucky bastard!/ Allen''s voice from his phone pulls Bruce out of his daze.

    "Y-yeah¡­ I''ll call you back, Allen." Bruce drops the call.

    Bruce then sinks down on his leather chair, a huge feeling of regret washes over him.

    "¡­" Looking at the nice interior again of his house, he no longer feels an ego boost from it but instead a consolation of defeat.

    *ring* *ring* Bruce''s phone rings again.

    "Hello¡­" Bruce answers absentmindedly.

    /Bruce, you haven''t sold your shares, have you?/ A former Pixie shareholder calls Bruce this time.

    "I did." Bruce can only admit.

    /HAH! I''m not the only one! PUHAHAHA! Hey! Call  the others too! / The caller laughs in glee.

    ~~~~~

    ~~~~~

    1PM ¨C Pixie Studios, Pasadena California

    "Nice doing business with you." Konner and Oscar, the two founders of Pixie Studios, shake hands with the two executives of Tisney Media.

    "No. Thank you for choosing us. Anything that Isaac touches turn to gold." One of the Tisney executives says.

    "I hope that next time, we can partner up with the marketing too." The other executive says.

    "Yes. When we have a chance." Konner says.

    The executives can only bitterly smile at Konner''s meaning and at not getting more. With that, they nod and leave the office with their lawyer. Pixie''s lawyers also leave the room from the non-verbal urging of the two founders.

    Konner and Oscar just sealed a distribution deal with Tisney Media with Tisney getting a fixed 17.5% of the gross sales and they are feeling great.

    "Heh. The hell? It''s not like we don''t know how it is. Don''t they know we chose them just because we were former colleagues." Oscar scoffs.

    "Damn right. Thank goodness, Tayaw allowed us to use ''Isaac''. Oh. And the marketing too.." Konner shakes his head.

    "Phew¡­ at least we''re back in theaters after 5 years." Oscar sighs, his shoulders feeling lighter for the first time in years.

    "Yeah¡­" Konner agrees.

    Oscar and Konner, both in their 40s, are childhood friends. The two spent their 20''s and 30''s working for Tisney''s animated films. Oscar was a 2d animator and Konner a former producer.

    In the late 90s, when 3 dimensional games are starting to become a thing, the two immediately realized that if games can be 3 dimensional, so can be animated films. With that, the two left Tisney, took a loan, established Pixie, hired software developers, and they started developing various software for 3d animation.

    Over the years, Pixie has adapted various classic cartoons and fairy tales into 3d animated films. While their films often do not appear on theaters, being their target audience children, they have made a lot of money from DVD sales, stuffed toys, and other merchandise.

    "We took a gamble buying the animated rights for Grimm''s Fairy Tales. I have to say, I was wrong, Oscar." Konner says.

    "I was uncertain too until Tayaw came." Oscar shakes his head.

    In 2010, when they barely profited from their last film, Pixie reached not only an impetus but an incoming bankruptcy. The two founders however decided to ignore the threat and decided to reset the company''s priorities from making cash cows into original ones. Just in time for their change in priorities, Grimm''s Fairy Tales came along. The two became desperate and they pooled their resources and sold some shares just to buy the animation rights of Grimm''s Fairy Tales Volume 1. Even though they secured the rights, they were still unsure whether the fanbase of the novel will see their film adaptation.

    They even became more desperate. Instead of recycling their existing materials, the two made their employees animate a new environment for ''Snow White''. Instead of their usual way of animating two or three films at a time, the two also decided that all employees focus on working on ''Snow White'' alone. They have gone all out with no way turning back.

    They have even prepared to go in debt in case ''Snow White'' fails. However, they found hope once Tayaw came in the picture. With Tayaw''s input with the music, the cinematography, and other more details, Oscar and Konner saw that ''Snow White'' will not just become a short-term cash cow but a candidate to become a modern animation classic.

    "If this goes well, I''m thinking of selling him another 2%." Oscar says.

    "¡­" Konner is dumbfounded.

    "Do you really want him to be the majority owner?" Konner asks.

    "Haha, I''m kidding." Oscar chuckles.

    "Heh.. Well, we''re all satisfied with the current arrangement. But you know, it''s not a bad idea either. We can just let him manage the company while we sit our asses around waiting to cash in." Konner says, half-jokingly.

    "Tayaw just worked with our people for a few days and their loyalty are already switching, whether they know it or not. Someday, we might as well give up control. I''d rather have Pixie grow in his hands instead of it dying in our arms." Oscar shrugs.

    ~~~~~

    Hollywood Blvd ¨C 6 pm

    "Hey."

    "Hey babe." Bas kisses Lauren as soon as she gets in his car.

    "How was work?" Bas asks as he drives the car away from the parking lot of Lauren''s work place.

    "ugh. I hate it. You know Rissa? That b*tch is really getting on my nerves. You know what she said this morning? She ¡­" Bas can only let Rissa tell him about her day.

    He learned a long time ago that Lauren is just venting and the best he can do is to offer her an ear.

    "¡­and you know what I said?" Lauren says.

    "What?" Bas asks.

    "I said ''B*tch. Mind your own business.'' Hmph! She''s talking like she¡­" Lauren continues.

    Bas'' focus however is waning. While he can offer Lauren an ear, he cannot do so for long periods of time.

    "*********?" Lauren''s tone rises.

    ''Oh shit. That''s a question.'' Bas panics a bit, not catching Lauren''s words.

    "Well. What are you gonna do about it?" Bas says, taking a shot in the dark.

    "I don''t know. I can''t tell him to f*ck off either. He was probably just having a bad day." Lauren says.

    "Uhuh.. Yeah. Give him a chance. If he''s like that all the time, then he''s got a problem. And if he''s got a problem with you, just call me." Bas says, taking a guess, and running with it.

    "Thanks babe." Lauren says, now on a lighter mood. Bas sighs in relief.

    "Which film are we gonna see babe?" Bas asks.

    "Miss Sellers! I''ve read the book, and I can''t wait to see the characters!" Lauren says.

    "¡­" Bas almost grunts in disappointment.

    A minute later, they arrive at their favorite theater.

    "¡­ That''s weird¡­" Bas says as him and Lauren walk to the ticket booth.

    "What is?" Lauren asks.

    "Look. Miss Sellers have more ladies lining up. ''Gold, Blood, and The Deer'' have more guys lining up." Bas says.

    "Huh¡­" Lauren nods at the observation, not bothering to get deeper to it.

    Bas also notices that the few men in the queue for Miss Sellers are with their respective partners. "¡­" He cannot help but also notice that the men are eyeing the queue for Gold, Blood, and the Deer.

    ''I guess I''m not the only one.'' Bas chuckles.

    "Two tickets for Miss Sellers, please." Lauren purchases the tickets.

    Bas can only try and keep up an amicable expression as they join the queue for Miss Sellers.

    A few minutes later, outgoing moviegoers start filtering out of the theater that screened Gold, Blood, and the Deer. Bas cannot help but eavesdrop on the conversations.

    "Dude. How was it?"

    "Man. It''s awesome. I feel like I paid too little for the tickets."

    "That good, huh? Alright thanks man."

    "Yeah. Enjoy dude."

    Bas looks at the other guys in the Miss Sellers queue and he notices that they too are eavesdropping at the outgoing moviegoers.

    ''Alright. Screw it¡­'' Bas takes a deep breath and faces Lauren.

    "Babe¡­ You know I love you, right?" Bas starts.

    "I love you too babe." Lauren says.

    "Yeah. But I really wanna see Isaac''s film." Bas says.

    Lauren''s pretty face freezes.

    "You know I don''t like him." Lauren says.

    "Well. Let''s separate the man from his creation, yeah? My friends already saw it and I''m the only one who has not." Bas says.

    "Y-ou don''t like watching movies with me, do you? Do you even like going to movies with me?" Lauren says, expressing offense.

    ''This¡­ is this that move Isaac was talking about in the forum? ¡­ It''s ¡­ I hope not'' Bas thinks to himself.

    "No. No babe. I like going to movies with you.  My friends invited me to see it yesterday, but I didn''t. I''d rather see it with you ." Bas continues.

    "But¡­ I like Miss Sellers¡­" Lauren says, pouting and acting cutely pitiful.

    ''Okay¡­ This is what Isaac was talking about. Offense, acting cute to get what she wants¡­ Okay. I''ll take the bait.'' Bas quickly processes.

    "Okay. Never mind then. I''m sorry. I''ll just go see Gold Blood and the Deer some other time, ALONE." Bas says.

    ''Isaac''s right. Damn it.'' Bas curses inside.

    "Babe.. Wait. Do you really want to see it that badly?" Lauren asks, realizing that this is the first time in forever that Bas expressed what he wants.

    "Yeah. But if you really want to see Miss Sellers together, then I''m fine with it too." Bas says not wanting to start an argument.

    Lauren however, notices the disappointment in Bas''s eyes.

    "O-okay then¡­" With that, the queue moves and Lauren enters the cinema with guilt in her heart.

 Chapter 201 - July Sh*t and a f*ckin baby

    July 14, 2013 ¨C Friday, 10 AM ¨C West Ouigab

    Tayaw is currently in West Ouigab, sitting in his pick-up truck. Tayaw is on his way to Jouny and Ongki''s apartment for an appointment, but being stuck in a red light, his enhanced brain has nothing else to do but look around the part of the city he has not often visited both in his previous and current life.

    *chuckle* Tayaw suddenly chuckles in amus.e.m.e.nt when he sees a group of young men, dressed in well-fitted suits and fancy vintage looking hats, cross the road, with arrogant gaits.

    "HEY! GET OUT OF THE WAY BEFORE I BREAK YOUR LEGS!" Tayaw then hears a driver of one of the cars in front of him yell out to the group of young men.

    The young men then give the driver smiles and chuckles, before raising their middle fingers.

    "OH YOU THINK YOU''RE FUNNY, HUH? FUNNY MAN?!" The driver also returns but his tone is more joking compared to the sarcastic threat.

    *laughter* Tayaw with his enhanced hearing hears pedestrians, drivers, and passengers who are also witnessing the scene, laugh.

    Tayaw cannot help but feel proud, despite the crass behavior he just witnessed.

    The young men are dressed in a way that are definitely adapting the fashion of the 1930s gangsters portrayed in ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer''. The words yelled out by the driver are lines by some of Orsini thugs in the film. Finally, the middle finger by the group of men mirrors a memorable scene in the film.

    GBTD, since its release immediately became a household name both in Teungeb and English-speaking countries.

    In only 5 weeks, the film sold a whopping 55 million TICKETS, with a box office of 475 million USD. After deducting shares, fees, and taxes, Tayaw''s Swiss coffers has an extra 132 million USD. The ticket sales meanwhile, are still not slowing down. Just like ''September Ninth'', ''GBTD'' is not just any movie, but a hang-out. Something that people are willing to spend their time on with their friends and family. It has become some form of a cheap substitute to expensive stadium admissions of sporting events.

    *vroom* Tayaw is pulled out from his daze by the cars in front of him moving after the traffic light turned green.

    A few minutes later, Tayaw is now in the doorstep of his destination.

    *ding* *dong*

    "Tayaw. My man!" Ongki greets Tayaw with a hug before letting him inside their apartment.

    "Ongki. Nice to see you. Nice place." Tayaw says as he looks around the apartment.

    "Yeah. We invited you multiple times but you''re always busy. Hey, what''s with that box?" Ongki asks looking at the 40cmx40cmx40cm gift box in Tayaw''s arms.

    "Oh. Gift for the baby." Tayaw says. "

    You didn''t have to¡­ but thank you. Put it down over there first." Ongki gestures to the doorway.

    "Okay.. Oh?" Tayaw then notices two petite old women in the kitchen as him and Ongki passes them.

    "Oh. The taller one''s my mom, the shorter one''s my mother-in-law. Moms!  Our guest has arrived!" Ongki starts introducing Tayaw to the two ladies.

    "Ah! Tayaw, right? Nice to finally meet you! I''m sorry, I''ll talk to you later, as you can see, we''re quite busy." Ongki''s mother says.

    "Go wait in the living room. Ongki here will grab you a drink." Jouny''s mother says. And with that, they continue cooking.

    "¡­" Tayaw can only smile at the sight, giving him an urge to visit his own grandparents.

    -

    "Hey. I heard from Chala that your new novel is selling like world cup tickets." Ongki says as him and Tayaw arrive at the balcony instead of the living room.

    "Yeah. I''ve satiated the hunger of the fans, for now." Tayaw says as he sits down on one of the comfy chairs by the balcony table.

    The English and Teungebian versions of the first part of ''The Ruler''s Ring'' was released in the last week of June. Since its release, the book sold more than 5,000,000 copies worldwide in only three weeks and just like GBTD''s ticket sales, the book sales are not slowing down either and is still far from reaching saturation especially because the non-english versions of it are have just been released.

    "Hehe. I have to say, I''m a fan as well." Ongki says.

    "Yeah? Huh. I didn''t see you as the reading type." Tayaw jokes referencing Ongki''s bulging arm muscles and slightly bulging belly.

    "Hey man. I didn''t see you as an artist type as well. You look like a football (soccer) player." Ongki says.

    Tayaw can only chuckle at that.

    "Anyways, you''re kinda right. I only read three novels before I read yours." Ongki admits as he opens some sort of a case under the table and pulls out two hardcover books from it, each being an inch thick.

    ''The Halfling'', ''The Ruler''s Ring, The Companionship of the Nine.'' Tayaw immediately recognizes the books. Ongki lays them down to the table as if proving that he read them.

    "What do you think of them?" Tayaw asks out of curiosity.

    "They were pretty hard to read. Half the time, they''re also very dull but thankfully, there were drawings to help me imagine it better." Ongki says.

    Tayaw simply nods, reflecting some of the negative reviews on the internet for ''The Halfling'' and ''The Companionship of the Nine''.

    "If I didn''t have free time, I would not have gotten used to it.  Why''d you have to write them that way?" Ongki asks.

    "hehe. Yeah¡­ Uhh. I overdid it, huh?" Tayaw says as he quickly processes an excuse.

    "How do you mean?" Ongki asks.

    "My first book. The fairy tales? They were very easy to read as they are for children." Tayaw says.

    "True. I''ve been practicing reading them to the baby." Ongki agrees.

    "Yes. But I intended ''The Halfling'' for a.d.u.l.ts, so the more complicated grammar." Tayaw says.

    "I see. Well why didn''t you write the ''The Companionship of the Nine'' to be more digestible than ''The Halfling''?" Ongki asks.

    "Nobody really said a thing about the Halfling, so I decided to write the sequel the same way." Tayaw says.

    "You''re keeping them that way?" Ongki asks.

    "Yeah. But my next series will be easier to read." Tayaw says.

    "That''s great." Ongki nods.

    "By the way, how do you even have the time to read? You have a baby, your seafood shop too." Tayaw changes the subject, not confident in further defending the work as his own.

    "Ah. I hired two new employees on the shop and I have a lot of down time to read¡­ Anyways. I have more questions about the book." Ongki brings the subject back, unknowingly making Tayaw nervous.

    ''Please, not the elf languages. Please not the elf languages'' Tayaw hopes.

    "Okay. Does the questions have something to do about what will happen in the next book?" Tayaw asks, hoping that he guesses right.

    "Y-yeah." Ongki says as he scratches his stubble to hide his embarrassment at being caught.

    "Well. I can''t tell you that." Tayaw internally sighs in relief.

    "Not even a little?" Ongki says.

    "Not even a little." Tayaw says firmly.

    "Ugh. A shame. It''ll take you at least a year again to write the sequel." Ongki says in disappointment.

    "Oh.. The next book will come out in a few months. ''The Ruler''s Ring'' is just a long sequel after all." Tayaw says.

    "Really?... Good. Good." Ongki nods, happy with the news.

    "Anyways. You might be a good author, but I think my wife is still a better screenwriter than you." Ongki says, as payback for not getting any more information.

    "And I agree. That''s why I''m excited when she called me to come over." Tayaw says.

    Ongki can only roll his eyes at Tayaw not starting a banter.

    "Ah-ah. Before that, why don''t you meet my son first? I think Jouny''s done feeding him." Ongki says proudly as he stands up, urging Tayaw to stand up and follow him.

    As they made their way to the nursery, Tayaw is oddly excited to see the little Jouny or little Ongki.

    A moment later.

    "Ah-chuchuchuchuchu¡­" Tayaw''s heart warms at the sight of Jouny playing with her baby in her arms. The color of the crib, walls, and linens even help with the imagery.

    "*baby sounds*" the sounds the baby is making is an obvious sign that he is widely entertained by Jouny making faces and odd sounds.

    "Ohh.. Steve~ Uncle Tayaw is here!" Jouny smiles at Tayaw.

    "ahhhh" The baby looks at the face he is seeing for the first time and smiles. Tayaw too returns an exaggerated smile.

    "¡­" Tayaw does not know how aware the baby is but the little guy staring at him gives Tayaw an odd sense of peace.

    "Looks like he likes you. You wanna hold him?" Jouny offers.

    "Y-yeah¡­ sure." While Tayaw is taken aback, he is glad to take the offer and a moment later, baby Steve is now in his arms.

    "*cooo* *ahhh*" Steve holds up his little arms as if reaching for something.

    Tayaw then stoops his head lower and Steve starts touching Tayaw''s face.

    "You''re good with that¡­" Ongki remarks seeing Steve cooing and ahh-in in Tayaw''s arms.

    "¡­" Tayaw only smiles in return.

    The next moment however, "¡­" Tayaw with his enhanced senses immediately feels Steve''s bottom become warmer and a weird smell starts leaking out.

    "Let''s change the little guy''s diaper?" Tayaw says.

    *snicker* The couple is amused by the situation.

    -

    A few minutes later, Steve with his fresh diapers is back asleep in his crib and the three a.d.u.l.ts leave the nursery to the ling room.

    "Healthy kid¡­" Tayaw says.

    "Yeah. We''re blessed." Jouny says with a motherly smile.

    The three are welcomed in the living room by the two old ladies laying snacks on the table.

    "Tayaw, it''s finally nice to meet you. I wanna thank you personally for making ''September Ninth''." Jouny''s mother says.

    "It''s a great script ma''am. I want to thank her instead for letting me start my career in experimenting with her work." Tayaw says, embarrassing Jouny.

    "Just as humble as she said." Ongki''s mother nods.

    "¡­" It is Tayaw''s turn to be embarrassed.

    "Ah! That''s right. Moms, let me borrow Tayaw. Tayaw, let''s go to my study. You folks can start lunch if we take long." Jouny says.

    "¡­" Ongki and the two old ladies are now anxious and nervous watching Jouny and Tayaw leave for Jouny''s study.

    "Do you think he''ll like it?" Jouny''s mom asks Ongki worriedly.

    "Jouny said that even if Tayaw wouldn''t like it, she can try again." Ongki says appearing relaxed but inside, he is more nervous than the two ladies.

    Meanwhile in the study.

    "You''re really done with your script?" Tayaw asks as he takes the seat Jouny offered.

    "Yeah. I''ve done enough refining, researching, and rewriting. I might ruin it if I play around more." Jouny says as she takes out a stack of papers from her desk drawer before handing them to Tayaw.

    [Tentative Title ¨C Hope and Innocence by Jouny Yalen] Tayaw reads the title.

 Chapter 202 - July Sh*t... Related to a f*ckin baby

    (cont''d)

    [[[ Tentative Title ¨C Hope and Innocence ¨C Jouny Yalen

    (A/N - summary of Jouny''s screenplay)

    Donoy and Nidey are a happily married couple. Donoy, being a genius surgeon, and Nidey, a pediatric nurse who runs an orphanage, the couple has stable finances and can focus comfortably on being happy and raising a family.

    Despite their happiness in marriage, they are filled with worry for their daughter, Pippa.

    Pipa, 6 years old, has a rare heart condition and if she does not receive a heart grafting soon, she might not make it to her next birthday. Adding to the difficulty of treatment for Pipa, her age and  having a rare blood type also makes it difficult to find an appropriate organ.

    All hope however is not lost. Nidey being an orphanage matron, has access to children of Pipa''s age. It also just so happens that Jacob, one of the orphans in her work has the same blood type as Pipa. Nidey brings the orphan up in a conversation to Donoy during a dinner and with that, Donoy immediately knows what Nidey wants to do. Donoy, despite being angry at the evil idea, cannot however help but consider it seeing Pipa''s suffering worsen every day.

    Planning. The couple started planning on how to abduct Jacob, where to put him, and how to prevent the child from resisting or becoming suspicious.

    The day finally arrives when the couple is ready. One night, Nidey lets Donoy inside the orphanage while all the kids and watchers are asleep. Jacob, fed with lies from Nidey he easily believed, goes with the couple without a fuss, and even excited with false promises. The next day, Jacob is doc.u.mented as missing but him being an orphan, the police did not even put real effort looking for him.

    The couple then start preparing and gathering resources for surgery. The preparations consist of the two studying anesthesia, gathering surgical equipment, and blood bags. During that period, they also take turns guarding / watching Jacob.

    After a few days however, with Donoy and Nidey having their share of their time alone with Jacob, they are in a quandary.

    They no longer just see Jacob as a child that will not be missed by anyone, but a joyful child with a promising future. They are even having second thoughts on their plans because Jacob''s innocence and joyfulness brought them some happiness. The couple cannot bring themselves to even hurt a single hair on the child.

    Each day they hesitate however, Pipa''s health also continues to worsen. One day, her heart suddenly stopped.

    Even though the hospital revived Pipa, her consciousness did not return. Without an emergency heart graft, Pipa cannot simply survive for two days or more. This immediately starts a timer for the couple. Donoy and Nidey start prepping the surgical equipment in the safehouse. After preparations are ready, Nidey brings Pipa in the warehouse.

    Donoy and Nidey steel their hearts. Jacob and Pipa are now unconscious from anesthesia, all sorts of fluids hooked on their arteries. Everything is ready for extraction. However, before Donoy can even touch his scalpel on Jacob''s chest, all sorts of memories about Jacob floods his mind. Tears flow out of his eyes out of guilt. No matter how much he tries, he simply cannot cut Jacob.

    Nidey too lets out a breath she did not know she was holding, relieved. The couple enters a dilemma; they look at each other''s eyes for a few minutes silently until they reach a mutual understanding. Donoy embraces Nidey, giving her comfort. Nidey too is comforting Donoy.

    The night soon passes and Pipa left the world peacefully. Jacob on the other hand, wakes up in the bed he has slept on in the past few months, clueless about the events of the previous evening. Neither Nidey or Donoy is in sight and in their place, a trusted foreign nanny.

    Nidey and Donoy meanwhile spends their next few days mourning Pipa. The two suddenly realize that they need Jacob''s light more than ever to cope with darkness their loss has brought upon. This need also leads them to decide to adopt Jacob and finally give the child the promises that they first intended as lies.

    (Author Note: Folks. I know this ''screenplay'' has a lot of plot holes in it, but give me a break, yeah? It''s a story within a story after all.)]]]

    Tayaw can only breathe deep after reading the entirety of the screenplay.

    "¡­" Jouny meanwhile watch Tayaw in anticipation and nervousness.

    "¡­" Tayaw then returns a look of admiration to Jouny.

    "How is it?" Jouny asks.

    "Heavy stuff. But heartwarming as well." Tayaw says. Jouny can only nod.

    "This¡­ I still remember you telling me that you were inspired by childbirth. I see it now¡­" Tayaw says.

    Jouny meanwhile does not bother selling the screenplay more as she remembers Tayaw saying his only concern is how good the story is and not the frills along with it.

    "It''s great damn story, Jouny. I''m f*ckin jealous." Tayaw chuckles.

    "¡­ Well, thank you." Jouny sighs in relief, flattered.

    -

    Ongki and the two old ladies anxiously watch the door of Jouny''s study. It has been fifteen minutes since Tayaw and Jouny entered.

    *Click* *Clack* The door suddenly opens and out walks Jouny and Tayaw smiling similarly. The other three on the other hand have their curiosity increase further .

    "So. Lunch?" Jouny says, seeing that the three are still in the living room.

    "How did it go?" Jouny''s mother asks.

    "We want to enjoy our lunch and thinking about you two, how can we do that?" Ongki''s mother says.

    "Ah. Don''t worry. It was a great read, ma''am. My studio will support Jouny in making her script into a film." Tayaw says.

    "YeS!" Ongki and the two old ladies celebrate by stifling Jouny with hugs.

    The three has seen Jouny''s routine after she gave birth. Aside from taking care of the baby and her own basic needs, all she did was lock herself in her study.

    "Okay. Calm down everyone. We might wake the baby." Jouny finally pries herself from the hugs.

    "Oh! Thank Kabunyan we prepared a sumptuous lunch perfect for the occasion! Come! Come!" Ongki''s mother says and a moment later, the group is now at the dining table lively chatting about mundane things while enjoying their lunch.

    "By the way¡­ Will it sell as well as your gangster film?" Ongki suddenly asks.

    "Honey¡ªCome on." Jouny is dumbfounded at the question.

    "Honestly speaking?..." Tayaw however wants to answer honestly, making the group pause eating.

    "I don''t think so. The American gangsters'' mysterious culture is what made people want to see it. That''s why my film is selling well." Tayaw explains. Ongki nods in understanding.

    "Jouny''s work on the other hand, is a good original. It''s deep, psychological, and perhaps might be hard to watch. The message of the film might fly over viewer''s heads." This deflates the group''s mood.

    "BUT, if directed well, told well? No one can dare to say that it''s not a good film. Jouny will be credited a lot for her story." Tayaw continues. This console the film laymen in the room.

    "Also. Aside from the relatable story, with enough marketing, I think it will sell REALLY well here in Teungeb. We can also use her credits as the writer of ''September Ninth''." Tayaw concludes.

    "OH! And she also has a credit in ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'' too, right? She can use that!" Ongki says.

    "As an ''assistant director''? We might also be able to use that for promotions." Tayaw nods.

    " ''Assistant Director'' my ass. I didn''t even do enough to be an assistant to the director." Jouny rolls her eyes.

    "¡­" The group take a few seconds to process the difference before "*chuckles*" they understood the joke.

    "Anyways. Let''s not count our eggs before the chicken hatches, yeah? Besides, I''ve still got a lot of studying to do." Jouny says. The rest of the group nod in understanding.

    "Anyways. The most important thing for Jouny right now¡­ well aside from being a mother¡­ is to plan on how to shoot the film. The crew who shot my films will also help her make things easier." Tayaw says.

    "Oh. That''s right." Something suddenly crosses Tayaw''s mind and he stands up and retrieves the gift box he bought.

    "¡­" The group watch in curiosity.

    "Oh. The gifts." Ongki says watching the box he saw earlier.

    "Yeah. Nothing much really. These are.." Tayaw opens the box.

    In it are dolls of Snow White and the seven dwarves.

    "Cute!" Jouny says looking at the miniature stuff toys that Tayaw is pulling out from the box.

    "There''s this too. It''ll look great on Steven." Tayaw pulls out two sets of baby wear that is based on the Prince''s clothes and the dwarves'' clothes in the film.

    Ongki takes the baby clothes and studies it before "Nice!..." expressing his appreciation.

    "And these¡­" Tayaw pulls out two DVDs.

    "Here''s an exclusive copy of Snow white. And here¡­ is the songs in the film that I''ve changed into nursery rhymes." Tayaw lays the two DVDs on the table.

    "Oh¡­ that''s sweet. Steven must be tired listening to the same rhymes over and over again." Ongki''s mother says.

    ~

    Pixie Headquarters ¨C 7pm

    "Hello?" Konner answers his phone.

    /Konner. We''re out of stock./ A man reports.

    "What? Wait¡­ Which ones?" Konner asks.

    /Snow white''s dress, the Prince''s tunic, the Queen''s attire, the dwarves'' clothes. They''re all out, boss./ The man reports.

    "Isn''t that 100,000 sets of costumes in total? It''s only been ¡­ twelve days!" Konner asks, pleased but dumbfounded.

    /Yes boss. How many more are we making? Our partner stores are asking when the next stock is coming. / The man asks.

    "Okay. Make 50,000 more, still following the ratio." Konner says.

    /Boss¡­ uhhhh¡­/ The man drawls, hesitating.

    "Go ahead." Konner urges.

    /Can''t we make 100,000 again? Actually. What happened was ¡­ out of the 100K sets, 70K sold in the past week./ The man reports.

    "So¡­ alright. I get it. Make 100K then." Konner approves. With that, his phone call ends with Konner feeling a lot lighter.

    "Hey Konner!" Right after Konner ends the call, Oscar enters his office.

    "I thought you''ve gone home?" Konner asks.

    "I was on my way¡­ whatever. I have good news!" Oscar says excitedly.

    "Me too." Konner smiles.

    "What''s your good news?" Konner asks.

    "The stuffed toys! All of them! We''ve ran out!" Oscar reports.

    "What?!" Konner is stunned.

    "Didn''t we make way more stuffed toys than the costumes?" Konner asks.

    "Quadruple the costumes, yeah. I immediately outsourced the work to two more factories." Oscar says.

    "Nice¡­ Come to think of it, the stuff toys can also be appealing to a.d.u.l.ts who like cute things." Konner nods.

    "EXACTLY. I saw receptionist in the cafeteria yesterday. She has a mini dwarf hanging from her phone. Maybe we should make key-chains too." Oscar says.

    "Hmm. Why not? ¡­ Let''s make bobbleheads too." Konner suggests.

    "Cool. I''ll look for a manufacturer." Oscar loves the idea, the high he is feeling adds to his reckless decides.

    "Hmm. Hey, our costumes sold out too." Konner reports his own good news.

    "Really? Alright. ALRIGHT! The ticket sales, the merchandise, adding the DVD we''ll release¡­" Oscar gets excited.

    "We just might double, even triple what we spent after we start importing." Konner finishes.

    "Yes, everything''s finally looking up. And, oh! I finally talked to Tayaw. Our next project''s gonna be Rapunzel." Oscar reports.

    "Hm. Does the Creative Director know about it?" Konner asks.

    "Yeah. He said it''ll take not even half the time and effort we exerted in ''Snow White''." Oscar says.

    "Great¡­ how about the budget?" Konner asks.

    "It might only take a third of our budget for ''Snow White''." Oscar says.

    "Really¡­? Man, how?" Konner is pleasantly surprised.

    "The 3d models we used for ''Snow White'' are perfectly modifiable for Rapunzel. Unlike the numerous characters in ''Snow White'', we only have five main characters in ''Rapunzel'' so that makes things easier. Our people also had plenty of practice while making Snow White so they''re expected to work faster. Look, you can talk to Sang-min more about the details." Oscar explains. Konner is already imagining the money that is about to roll in from their future films.

    "Oh. By the way. Tayaw already sent us the storyboard for Rapunzel. That''ll help our people visualize better." Oscar further reports.

 Chapter 203 - August Sh*t. Some random sh*t.

    August 1, 2013 ¨C Thursday 10 AM ¨C Vagner Studios

    "That concludes the report for the first month of ''Miss Sellers''." Anthony finishes his words on the podium.

    "¡­" Despite his calm exterior, Anthony is very very nervous looking around the people in the conference room. The people he just addressed are the board members of Vagner Studios and the investors in ''Miss Sellers''.

    "¡­" The board members can only mull over sullenly the poor ticket sales of ''Miss Sellers that Anthony reported.

    "I''ve heard from people that you had something to do with this?" One investor asks in hidden anger.

    "Yes. Even though we lost 20 screens from Centurion, we managed to work something out with our distribution branch. We were able to offset our losses from Centurion by grabbing more screens from smaller theaters and independent ones. I also got last minute product integrations which saved us millions." Anthony reports wanting to neutralize his faults.

    "Everyone." Vagner Studio''s CEO, seeing the unfriendly gazes of the people in the room towards him and Anthony, takes the attention.

    "Let''s just admit it, we were outdone. Anthony here at least did something that made us break even despite his¡­ unconventional methods. We just can''t dictate what the people want to see, and the people wanted to see Isaac''s film more than ours. It''s as simple as that." The CEO defends Anthony.

    ''What the F.U.C.K?! That''s what I said yesterday! You f*ckin dressed me down and now you''re parroting me?! F.U.C.K YOU!'' Anthony curses the CEO with a glare.

    "I know you could have done better, but you''re not wrong either." The chairman of the board speaks up. "What I''m more worried about is the future." This makes everyone in the room perk up.

    The Chairman continues. "At least we broke even. The films of the smaller studios can''t even sell tickets; they are f*cked. And if we don''t get our sh*t together, even though we''re big, we''re f*cked too."

    "What do you mean?" An investor asks on behalf of those who are not in the know. Those who are in the know like the CEO and Anthony on the other hand, have an inkling of what the chairman is talking about.

    "The rumors about the sequel for that gangster film, I''ve confirmed it''s true." The chairman reports to everyone.

    *murmur* *murmur* The people look at him skeptically.

    "A handful of the people who have a history with the Coniglio Family already saw it. There are even rumors that there''s still a sequel after the sequel because the first sequel did not wrap up the story." The chairman erases the skepticism.

    *MURMUR* *MURMUR* The room descends to subdued panic.

    "So it''s not just ''Miss Sellers'' we should be concerned with, but the sequels ''Yard Blues'' and ''Love Campus'' too." The chairman says as he looks at the CEO and Anthony.

    "And if Isaac is not the forgiving type, and he found out what you did, Anthony, what do you think he''ll do?" The chairman concludes with a rhetorical question. Anthony''s face crumples at this.

    "That''s right. He''ll do what we''ve been doing. Release his sequels alongside our films''." The chairman says to make the others understand.

    "¡­ Why don''t we uh¡­ sue him?" A young board member suddenly proposes, saving Anthony.

    "What?!" The others are dumbfounded.

    "On what grounds?" The CEO asks.

    "Let''s just get some random guys, have them claim that ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'' is their work and that Isaac stole the idea from them. Rinse and repeat." The board member says.

    "Intimidation suits? Are you f.u.c.kin stupid?" The chairman yells.

    "What? We do it all the time against journalists." The board member says.

    "You''re not talking about libel or defamation, but copyright infringement! We''re gonna get sued back for fraud if a judge doesn''t slap us with it first." The CEO shoots down the suggestion.

    "What''s more stupid is that you''re not just suing Isaac. You''re offending Coniglio family too. Hell, I wouldn''t even be surprised if someone in this room is connected to them and the Coniglio will find out about your stupidity before you even leave the building." The chairman says.

    The board member swallows his spit but recovers his guts immediately.

    "Then what the hell are we supposed to do? Wait it out? Wait until Isaac does not have a film on theaters?" The board member counters.

    "¡­" The CEO and the chairman are stunned by the unintended suggestion.

    "Huh¡­ Aside from making films that can match Isaac''s film, which right now is hard to do? ¡­ Waiting it out¡­ might just be the best thing we can do." The CEO says.

    "Usually, we make others not want to compete with us but this time, that might just be the right move." The chairman shakes his head.

    "Really? That will just end up with more losses." The board member grumbles.

    "We might save ourselves from losses¡­" Anthony butts in.

    "Ah! Excuse me. May I talk to you for a moment?" The CEO however immediately grabs Anthony''s arm with a warning glare.

    Anthony ignores the warning and returns a look of defiance while brushing the CEO''s hand aside. ''F*ck you. You approved of my plans. You also tried something, so you''re going down with me if this don''t work out.'' Anthony thinks as he takes the center of the podium again.

    The CEO can only give up and retreat to the side of the room as to not get caught in what he thinks an incoming crossfire.

    "?" The attention of the room goes back to Anthony, their curiosity intensified from the interaction they just witnessed.

    "Without Isaac''s film, ''Miss Sellers'' could have been the best-selling film this year. To be quite honest? ''Miss Sellers'' is just as good as September Ninth. It might even be better than September Ninth considering the details we put in it.

    "That means that we''ve done great in applying Isaac''s style and enough people liked it. If we can re-write ''Love Campus'' and ''Yard Blues'' into a better story, while making their quality the same with ''Miss Sellers'', we will catch up with Isaac. We make money while we learn." Anthony concludes.

    "How confident are you?" The chairman asks.

    "50%, tops that we can compete, 75% chance that we can break even every film until we catch up. But I''m 100% confident that our people are competent. They are learning on the job every day. Let''s look for new talents too. There are many young and obscure indie film makers competing right now in different film festivals, and they have adapted Isaac''s style well. Even though we can''t compete with Isaac for now, we''ll do well enough to survive." Anthony says. Anthony''s confidence somehow calms the room down.

    "Another thing. Last year, there was a total of 100 million or so ticket sales in America and 40 million of those are by ''September Ninth'' in only four months. The first seven months of this year, we saw 62 million tickets sold and of those, 35 million tickets are sold by ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'' in only six weeks." The board members are shocked at this report.

    "We¡­ can''t keep Isaac do this to us¡­" An investor chimes in.

    "We can''t. However, we have a take away from this. In the previous years, before Isaac''s debut, the highest we''ve seen in ticket sales in the country is around 90 million and that was in 2007, 10% less than last year.

    "Looking at Isaac''s ''September Ninth'', he earned way more in ticket sales than DVD sales. That isn''t normal in the industry. It''s either 50% tickets, or 50% DVDs/Blu Rays. This means that Isaac actually  made movie viewers go to the theaters instead of them just waiting to buy or rent DVDs or Blu Rays." Anthony concludes.

    "So you''re saying, Isaac is changing how films are seen..." A random board member says.

    "Yes. Without ''September Ninth'', and ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'', we never would have known that the American film market is bigger than we thought. If we can offer the market quality, stand-out films like Isaac''s, then we have the potential to capitalize in the biggest film market we''ve seen in history." Anthony explains.

    *MURMUR* *MURMUR* All sorts of exclaims and discussions fills the room.

    "¡­" Watching the people he cannot get through to previously now listen to him, Anthony is feeling proud inside but maintains his calm. He then looks at the CEO and the CEO simply looks away.

    ''Not only incompetent, a f*ckin coward too.'' Anthony feels smug looking at the CEO looking small.

    "How do we do that?" The chairman asks after the round of discussion.

    "¡­ I have a suggestion, a summary really of the opinions of our creative teams¡­ And you won''t like it." Anthony begins with hesitation.

    "We should stop making films of the romance or sports genre." Anthony says.

    *MURMUR* *MURMUR* The room immediately react negatively and they share the same sentiment; "Those are our money-makers¡­"

    "Everyone¡­ I get your knee-jerk reactions but here''s the thing. Isaac proved that people are hungry for something new. He made films that we thought are against the market but he ended up setting a new trend. I hate to admit it but, it''s a start of a new era for the industry." Anthony drops.

    "Then what are we supposed to make films about?" A random board member asks.

    "It''s best if you get the details from our creative teams themselves, but I can say something. I''ve seen various films that ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'' competed against in Sorrento and I think we can grab some ideas from them.

    "First of all, we can stop making sports films. I can say with confidence that ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'' gobbled up the slice of the sports genre. Hell, I think ''September Ninth'' even made sports films boring last year, making the sports films flop. Tell me, everyone. If you go to a theater that shows ''September Ninth'' and ''Hard Ice'', which one would you have seen?" Anthony asks.

    "... September Ninth..." is the split decision winner.

    "Exactly. September Ninth was more exciting to watch than ''Hard Ice''. That''s why ''Hard Ice'' flopped despite being nominated and winning awards. I myself would rather watch a real hockey match or behind the scenes footage of real athletes than watch ''Hard Ice''." Anthony says.

    "Now, would you folks rather watch ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'' or ''Yard Blues''?" Anthony asks again.

    "..." Tayaw''s film again is the winner.

    "Right. And it''s for the same reason. While we can''t make a gangster film like Isaac''s, we can borrow some ideas. We can make films that talk about searching for family." Anthony suggests, receiving nods of approval.

    "When it comes to romance films on the other hand, we can still make them." Aiden says. This gets a more positive response.

    "But we can''t make them the way we used to. I''ve seen some of this year''s best films in festivals. I''ve noticed that they still have flavors of romance in them but just like ''September Ninth'', they are more about the growth of the characters as people, not just fighting for deserving it. Don''t worry though. Our people right now are splitting their hairs to make that happen." Anthony reports.

    Seeing the approval in the room, Anthony is now more confident. However, he does not want to appear dictatorial to his superiors.

    "If you''re all not ready to give up on romance and sports, maybe we should make films that are not fairy tales but actually talk about the reality of love and athletes'' lives. Those are just suggestions, but any topic really that is unique and will be interesting to people, we should make films about those." Anthony concludes.

    That makes the room enter a lively discussion. Anthony can finally smile, having gotten through the skulls of the board members.

 Chapter 204 - Filler and a Prank

    7 AM ¨C West Ouigab

    "So¡­ that''s it? How about a film producer?" Jouny is dumbfounded looking at the short list of people that Tayaw just e-mailed her.

    /I''ve hired a retired film producer recommended by Yarag, but he won''t have creative decisions. He will only handle conflicts among the cast and crew should they arise. You still report to me what you''ll shoot every day./ Tayaw says through video chat.

    "Okay. But how about the general management? What do you call those folks who do that again?" Jouny asks.

    /Line producers. Yes. I''ve just outsourced a number of them from Black Deer Pictures. They will handle the general stuff like schedules and budget./ Tayaw says.

    "Okay. That''s all I''m worried about. I don''t even know how you made films without producers¡­" Jouny shakes her head.

    /Well? I was using my own money so I didn''t need a producer. You also saw how skilled I am at multi-tasking./ Tayaw explains.

    "Hmm. True¡­" Jouny cannot say anything further, being a witness to Tayaw''s feats herself.

    /So¡­ are you really sure of hiring Nielg and Iliene again?/ Tayaw asks.

    "Not entirely. But if there are actors who can express the struggle of Donoy and Nidey, then they''re it." Jouny says. Tayaw nods at this.

    /There''ll be no scheduling conflicts?/ Tayaw asks.

    "None. They just happened to conclude their shoot in their own TV shows, so they''re free. I''ve already sent them the script." Jouny says.

    /Alright. Cool ¡­ tell me, if Uranto isn''t busy, would you have hired him instead of Nielg?/ Tayaw asks.

    "¡­" Jouny feels that the question is a test from Tayaw, but she is confident in her decision that she is also offended by the question.

    "Ugh. No. Just like how Uranto suited Steven in September Ninth, Nielg looks just like the Donoy in my head." Jouny says.

    Tayaw simply smiles at this.

    /If you say so¡­ Alright. I have all the stuff I think you need, but if you need more, just tell me./ Tayaw says.

    "Thank you, Tayaw. I''ll show you what I''ve learned." Jouny says.

    /And I''m excited to see it¡­/ Tayaw nods. /Oh. Wait a minute¡­/ Tayaw suddenly realizes something.

    "?" Jouny looks at him curiously.

    /Good luck casting the actors for Pipa and Jacob by the way. I don''t even know where to start looking for good child actors./ Tayaw says.

    "¡­" Jouny is reminded of her worry, her face making Tayaw chuckle.

    /Hehehe. Alright. Good talk. I still have something to do./ Tayaw says before *bloop* ending the call.

    ~

    4pm ¨C New York

    [[["/No! No¡­/" Jessica suddenly says as she abruptly stands up at the plaintiff table.

    *murmur* the gallery, the lawyers, and the defense are surprised at the sudden action.

    "/This¡­ This mess has been all my own fault. I''m sorry./" Jessica''s energy returns back down and she looks down on the floor, looking like she is carrying a huge guilt on her shoulders.

    "/I was bringing to Ronny to somewhere that I shouldn''t have. I brought him to that cave thinking: he must be feeling the same?/" Jessica looks at the defendant''s table.

    "What are you doing?!" Eileen, Jessica''s friend who is seated right behind her, asks in panic.

    "Don''t!" Jessica yells at Eileen.

    *murmur* *murmur* the gallery descends into noisy chatter at the unexpected situation.

    " *Deep Breath* / I''ve bared all! Tenderness, affection, personal intercourse. I admit, it was entitlement on my part to expect what I wanted.../" Jessica then looks at Ronny and Ronny looks at her eyes..

    "/None of this was your fault, Ronny. I''m sorry./" Jessica confesses, her voice breaking.

    *MURMUR* *CLAMOR* Everyone in the courtroom descends into loud discussions.

    "ORDER!" *slam* *slam* *slam*]]]

    "CUT!" Everyone in the ''court room'' hears Xiao Song announce, signaling the end of their final scene.

    "Nice job everyone!" Gary addresses the extras, the actors, and the crew in the ''courtroom''.

    *APPLAUSE* *APPLAUSE* The main actors give each other a hug.

    The actors who played lawyers of the opposite sides give each other hand shakes.

    The crew high-five each other.

    The extras watch in detachment, feeling out of place.

    "EVERYONE! The extras. Thank you for your working with us. We prepared something for you all at the Kraft service outside. The main and supporting actors, and crew too. Please, stay. Your jobs aren''t over." Xiao Song announces.

    The extras leaving the room, only the main and supporting actors and the crew remain.

    "I thought that was our last scene¡­" Nathan asks, on behalf of the cast and crew that remained.

    "It was. And congratulations again for a job well done. Change out your costumes, go take a shower, whatever. Let''s meet later at Yuta''s in Woodhaven for dinner and drinks." Xiao Song says.

    *APPLAUSE* *APPLAUSE* The cast and crew celebrate at this.

    "Will Isaac be there?" Nathan asks.

    "I don''t know. All we know is that he reserved the whole place for us." Helena says.

    "We''ve not seen him throughout filming. Is his comic books really enough as contribution for his directing credit?" Damien says.

    "¡­" Gary, Xiao Song, and Helena, had they not spent time with Damien would have misinterpreted Damien''s question as defaming. Xiao Song however, is still annoyed at how Damien asked his question.

    "He''s in charge of composing music for the sound track. He''s also editing the film, he finalizes everything. Happy?" Xiao Song says.

    "¡­" Damien can only nod at the response, realizing that there is still post-production.

    With that. The filming of ''Australia'' finally wraps up.

    ~

    7 PM ¨C Yuta''s Grill, Woodhaven New York.

    "Man. Are you sure you don''t want to work for us?" The head cook of the restaurant says as he watches Tayaw finish grilling another plate of pork and beef perfectly.

    The line cooks on the other hand, watch Tayaw work in both anxiety and awe while also trying their hardest to keep up.

    "Grilling meat ain''t anything special. What do you need me for?" Tayaw replies as he puts garnish on the plates.

    "Yes. Grilling isn''t that impressive, we can do it too... but doing the job of three cooks at once is." The head cook says.

    "Nah. I''d rather open my own restaurant." Tayaw says.

    "Heh. If you do. You better not have stolen our recipe." The head cook says.

    "Hehe." Tayaw can only chuckle at that.

    "Hey. You already reserved the restaurant. Why are you working the kitchen too? We can handle everything by ourselves considering there''s less diners than usual." The line cook whose station was taken over by Tayaw, asks.

    "It''s a part of why I paid extra. I want to experience this." Tayaw answers.

    "Heh. Rich, havin'' - nothin'' ¨C better ¨C to ¨C do, bored mo''f.u.c.ker." The line cook scoffs.

    "That''s right. I''m f*ckin bored." Tayaw says as he picks up a tray and lies five plates of dishes on it.

    "You''re bringing it out?" The head cook asks.

    "Yeah. And. Oh. I''m done cooking. I have to entertain my guests." Tayaw says.

    With that, the other line cooks who have only been watching, excitedly take over Tayaw''s spot, not wanting to be outshined by their guest.

    -

    Meanwhile, at the dining area of the restaurant, the table where the directors, Helena, and the main cast are, is noisy with chatter, patiently drinking beverages while waiting for their next plates of food.

    "Yeah. She told him she was with her friends. She also promised to call¡­ And --- " Helena who was telling a story, suddenly stops, looking dumbfounded.

    "¡­" The other people in the table then look at where Helena is looking.

    Except for Xiao Song, Gary, and Claire, the rest of the people at the table are confused at Helena''s reaction.

    "What ¡­ the f.u.c.k?" Helena finally says as Tayaw, dressed in chef clothes approach their table, carrying the dishes, about to serve them.

    "PUHAHA!!! What the hell are you doing, man?" Xiao Song after recovering from the unexpected sight, bursts out in laughter.

    "Good evening, ladies and gents. Here is our famous grilled pork and beef platter." Tayaw ignores Xiao Song''s question and greets the people at the table instead, in his most hospitable voice.

    "AHAHAHA!" Tayaw''s words make Gary, Helena, Xiao Song, and Claire beyond amused.

    Nathan, Damien, and Jo, are still confused at the scene.

    "How was the food? I hope it was to your liking?" Tayaw asks, making the people he already met giggle more.

    "It was great. It was great! You cooked them?" Helena asks, going along with the bit.

    "In fact, I have. I especially cooked with care the food that went to this table." Tayaw says.

    "?" Gary stares in skepticism.

    "You can ask the other cooks." Tayaw shrugs as he takes the only empty seat between Nathan and Claire.

    "True. You smell like grease. But why is your uniform so clean then?" Claire asks.

    "Ah. All the mess is on my apron. I left it in the kitchen." Tayaw explains before turning to Nathan.

    "Hey Mr. Barnes. Big fan." Tayaw says as he offers his hand to Nathan. *snicker* *Snicker*.

    "Nice to meet you¡­" Nathan is confused but politely shakes Tayaw''s hand.

    "Damien f*ckin Buchanan. The Academy award winner. I can''t believe you''re in our restaurant." Tayaw addresses Damien next, his excessive compliment embarrassing Damien.

    "Nice to meet you too, the food is great¡­" Damien says. *Puhup* *Snicker* *Giggle*

    "I''m  glad you liked it. Oh... And the beautiful Jo Singer. You look even more beautiful in person, Miss Singer." Tayaw greets Jo.  *Snicker* *giggle* *scoff*

    "Hey there. It''s a pleasure that we have such a handsome young man as our chef." Jo says. *Snicker* *giggle* *scoff*

    "Oh¡­ Thank you, Miss Singer." Tayaw says as he elegantly holds his chest.  *Snicker* *giggle*

    "Anyways. I personally know Helena here and I was beyond elated when I heard ''Australia'' is being adapted to film." Tayaw says, making Helena roll her eyes but still kept to herself to watch Tayaw''s act.

    "So let me guess¡­ Hn.. Mr. Buchanan, you play Ronnie, right? You look just like Ronnie in my head." Tayaw asks. Damien is pleased at this.

    "Ms. Messick, I already know you''re playing Jessica¡­ That means Mr. Barnes will play Jimmy, Ronnie''s best friend." Tayaw says.

    "That''s right¡­ impressive." Nathan says.

    "And finally, you Ms. Singer, I guess you''re playing Eileen? Jessica''s manipulative friend?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yes." Jo nods.

    "Huh... I can''t see it. Ms. Singer, you look really ¡­ dainty to be Eileen." Tayaw says.

    "Well, I''m an actress. I can assume another identity." Jo says.

    "Fascinating¡­" Tayaw eyes Jo, finding the resemblance between her and Jenna, with Jo being a bit taller and her hair curlier.

    Jo however gets shy at Tayaw''s stare.

    "I''m sorry. Was I staring? You''re just too beautiful to not look at." Tayaw says, embarrassing Jo further.  *boo* *Pff* Xiao Song, Helena, and Claire jeer at the comment.

    "I''m sorry, but something weird is going on right now." Damien saves Jo by pointing out the obvious. He did not forget the look of recognition that The Messicks, Xiao Song, and Helena gave Tayaw earlier.

    "Right. What was so funny?" Nathan asks, bothered by the giggles.

    "Alright. Drop it now. It''s over." Gary, while amused, foresees that the act is about to end. *Groan* Helena, Xiao Song, and Claire express their disappointment.

    "Oh¡­ How rude of me. I didn''t introduce myself yet. I''m your film editor, soundtrack composer, and an investor too. Isaac Yawat. Pleased to finally meet you three." Tayaw finally says.

    "¡­" It takes a second for Damien, Jo, and Nathan to process Tayaw''s words before their eyes widen in realization and recognition.

    "Hmm.. ehem.. HAHAHAHA!" Damien then bursts out in laughter after replaying what just happened up this point. Jo and Nathan soon follow.

    "Ah. Man. That... was a fresh way to introduce yourself." Damien shakes his head.

    "Puhup... I''m gonna borrow that." Nathan is still giggling.

    "Oh my god! You should be an actor! You really nailed acting like one." Jo says.

    "Maybe I''ll work as a chef on the side instead. The head chef of this place really wants to hire me. Anyways. Please. Enjoy your food while it''s hot. I really did cook them." Tayaw says.

    "OOhh.." The rest of the group are impressed.

    "Yes. Let''s eat while we talk. I know you three have a lot of questions for Isaac here." Gary says.

 Chapter 205 - Two Minutes

    August 5, 2013 ¨C Thursday 11 AM ¨C Santa Barbara, California

    Tayaw is currently sitting on one of the comfy chairs in the terrace of Gary''s mansion, quietly fiddling his laptop on his lap. Gary meanwhile, who is sitting on his own chair near Tayaw, is busy sipping coffee and reading a novel.

    The two''s peaceful time is aided by the sound of the waves coming from the ocean below and the squawks of seagulls flying above.

    The peaceful scenery does not last long however.

    "*Ughhhh* Holy f*ck! I''m bored." Tayaw suddenly says as stretches his body.

    "Then take a break. You''ve been editing for three straight days now. Ida said she never saw you sleep." Gary suggests.

    "Oh. I''m already done editing." Tayaw says.

    "WHAT?!" Gary, out of surprise, almost spills his drink on the book he is reading.

    "I said I''m done. Around 5 this morning, I think?" Tayaw says.

    "That''s not the point! How could you have finished that already?" Gary asks.

    "I''m a master of editing, baby." Tayaw says braggingly.

    "¡­" Gary gives him a dirty look at the ridiculous reply.

    "I''m kidding. Well. You shot the scenes pretty well and there''s not much change from my storyboard. Also, I already have a lot of songs I''ve already prepared. They actually suit the scenes like I imagined." Tayaw explains.

    "..?!.. You''re done with the soundtra--.. You know what?.. Ugh. Tell me honestly, Isaac. Are you using?" Gary asks.

    "Using? Using what?" Tayaw asks, confused.

    "Drugs. Stimulants. Coke. Things that you use to prevent sleep." Gary frankly asks.

    "¡­ Hahahah!" Tayaw is dumbfounded before bursting out in laughter.

    "Gary, you witnessed the 70s and 80s. Do I look like a cokehead to you? I must be the healthiest drug user out there. Unless Ida found something in my room." Tayaw chuckles.

    "¡­" Gary looks at Tayaw to see any signs of deception, but finding none, "Alright then." Gary can only nod in acceptance.

    "Instead, do you have something that can help me sleep instead? Some green stuff? I can''t bring my supply to the airport. I''m still puzzled why America hasn''t legalized yet." Tayaw jokes.

    "I don''t have any." Gary chuckles.

    "Let me see what you finished." Gary brushes off his curiosity, choosing not to dwell on a matter he figured he cannot understand.

    "Wait a sec. I''ll check one more time¡­ By the way, I can''t believe Nathan, f*ckin Barnes did better than I expected." Tayaw says.

    "Heh. Yeah. I heard from his manager that he studied ''September Ninth'' very closely." Gary says.

    "¡­" Tayaw is speechless that the person he sh*t posted the previous year on social media learned from his film.

    "Alright. It''s ready. Just press the space bar." Tayaw finally hands over his laptop.

    ||| "ALL RISE ¡­ The court is now in session. Judge McBride presiding."

    "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Calling case number S2943 - unlawful s*xual intercourse, Jessica Feigin versus Ronny Heart. Are both sides ready?"

    "Ready for the plaintiff, your honor."

    "Ready for the defense, your honor." |||

    While Gary watches Tayaw''s edit, Tayaw is left with nothing to do, so to pass the time, he takes out his phone and opens Stoppify.

    [ "19"

    Isaac Yawat

    A Night in Sorrento 568,741

    Nothing But Clear Skies 549,843

    Sinking, drowning 398, 491

    Your Reflection 349,848

    Walking on Air  249,865

    Living In Your Shadow 197,478

    Future Madness  186,452

    Happy Times 93,446

    In Your World  76,513 ]

    Tayaw is pleased looking at the streams of the songs of his newest album, ''19'' which he released in the first week of July. While his songs are not instant hits compared to his country songs, ''19'' is still doing better than ''18''.

    He is however conflicted. He knows that ''19'' only gathered attention due to his popularity not as a musician but as a film maker.

    Tayaw shrugs his conflicted feelings and replaces them with pride. As long as people loved his songs, it is all that matters to him. The songs of ''19'' after all, are based on some of the most memorable feelings he has had in the past two years.

    ''Walking on Air'' is inspired by the high he received while performing in Nashville.

    ''Future Madness'' is about the fear brought upon by the consequences his actions made to change the lives of the people he knows.

    ''In Your World'' is a song he dedicates to Gonzalo after he got a good glimpse on Gonzalo''s life.

    ''Nothing But Clear Skies'' is a song about the freedom he feels warranted by his wealth and newfound creativity.

    ''Living In Your Shadow'' is the song he based on the inferiority he felt in his previous life when he compared himself to his brothers.

    ''Happy Times'' is about his family''s happiness.

    Finally, ''A Night In Sorrento'' is inspired by walking the streets of Sorrento and the Red Carpet in the film festival with Juliana. The actual subject of the song however, is about his imagined wish that his ideal woman, and not Juliana, is the one he spent time with in the romantic Italy.

    ''I''ve released my album, my films are done, the books are in reserve. Releasing them all at once feels like a waste. Their value will decrease too, like that of currency inflation ¡­ What the hell do I do next then?'' Tayaw is lost.

    ''While I want to start making ''The Halfling'', there''s no rush. I''m rather tired making films and writing songs. How about I tour too?

    ''Nah. Maybe when I release my second country album¡­

    ''Instead¡­ I want to try something new¡­ Wait¡­ Something new!~¡­''

    A sudden wave of temptation dawns upon him.

    He then focuses his mind on the corner of his vision which his ''View Points'' is displayed; the thing he did his best in avoiding for almost 20 months. The thing he ignored even whenever he went inside the -white void- to either use Earl Thompson''s guitar or Dolan Nungo''s fountain pen.

    His effort of avoiding looking at it is rewarded by his heart shaking in shock at what he sees. ''View Points ¨C 915,897,643''

    "A-almost a billion¡­" Tayaw softly exclaims.

    "What?" Gary beside him, is distracted by Tayaw''s uttering.

    "Nothing. I was just thinking to myself." Tayaw says. Gary''s attention goes back to the movie.

    ''How did this happen? ...'' Tayaw''s brain starts running, looking for an explanation.

    ''The last time, I''ve spent 100 Million View Points from the fairytales on Peter McKinsey''s ''artist record'' so it reset in November 2011.

    ''From there, I released ''The Halfling'' which sold almost 62 million copies to date after 20 months. It''s safe to assume I''ve got at least 120 million View Points from that if the people who bought copies lent or gave away their copy after reading. There parents telling their kids the story of it must also earned me some points.

    ''Then September Ninth. It sold more than 100 million tickets worldwide. But considering there are a lot of people who saw it in theaters more than once, then it''s safe to assume there should only be 50-60 million View Points from theaters.

    ''BUT, the Blu-Ray of it though¡­ it sold 22 million copies. If there are new multiple viewers of those copies, I can estimate I got at least 50 million View Points from the Blu-Ray.

    ''Then my country songs with 14 songs. And if multiplying those to let''s say¡­ a quarter of rural America''s population which is around¡­ 15 million that enjoyed at least one of my songs, then I''ve got .. let''s say.. 45 million View Points.

    ''Then ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer''. So far, it sold 40 million tickets, and if there are repeat viewings, then I get around 15-20 million View Points.

    ''Then Snow White. There''s 2 million ticket sales so far. If there''s repeat viewers, especially kids, then 1 million View Points.

    ''In total, then that''s around¡­ 300,000,000 View Points¡­ Where''s did the remaining 600,000,000 View Points come from? They couldn''t have come from my songs and the ones I''ve sold, right?...''

    Tayaw cannot wrap his head around it.

    ''¡­ Wait¡­'' A light bulb spark in Tayaw''s mind.

    ''STRAWBERRY FRONT!'' Tayaw realizes.

    ''The songs I gave them are also popular! Not only them, there are also the people who bought worse songs than the one I gave Strawberry Front!''

    The next moment however, he still finds something lacking.

    ''That''s not really all, right? If I multiply the 6 songs I gave them to a considerable percentage of rural America''s population, that''s still only around 100,000,000 at most. The songs I sold to the record labels, while they''re doing fine, they''re not that popular¡­ So¡­ where then is did the 500 million View Points come from?'' Tayaw thinks again.

    *MUSIC* Tayaw is distracted by a familiar instrumental music coming from his laptop. Tayaw then looks at Gary swaying with the soundtrack he put in the film and another realization dawns upon him.

    ''THE SOUNDTRACK!'' Tayaw eyes widen.

    ''I''ve got original songs in ''September Ninth'', ''Snow White'', and ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer''! If the viewers of those films ALSO enjoyed the songs in it and it stuck with them, then wouldn''t that count?'' Tayaw''s confusion is finally clearing up.

    ''Holy sh*t! The white void is f*ckin generous!'' Tayaw slaps the arm of his chair.

    "What''s the hell''s wrong with you?" Gary is distracted again by Tayaw''s actions.

    "Sorry. I just thought of something." Tayaw apologizes.

    "How many things are you thinking about in just a couple of seconds?" Gary pauses the film.

    "Just a connection of thoughts. GO ahead, I won''t disturb you anymore." Tayaw says.

    "Uhuh¡­" With that, Gary resumes watching while Tayaw resumes thinking.

    ''Should I do it?...'' Tayaw is finding it harder and harder to resist the urge to play the giant roulette.

    ''Whatever. I''ve already shamelessly released the novels anyway. But... I''ve not released the films either. I''ve not used Peter McKinsey''s songs too. What''s the use of the points the void keep giving me if I don''t use it?''

    Tayaw gives up and the next moment, he finds himself once again in the white void after a long while. He then accesses the giant roulette immediately and takes a deep breath as he stands before the silver, gold, and diamond platforms.

    "Diamond Platform¡­ 100 million.. Nah that makes my wait for the billion longer.

    Gold Platform¡­ 10 million. I might get something I won''t be able to use immediately, who knows.

    Silver platform¡­ 1 million. Yeah¡­ I probably spent waaayyy more than 1 Million View Points in practicing guitar and drawing storyboards. This might be replenished in a day or less.

    "Alright. Silver it is." Tayaw finally decides.

    He picks up the shot-put sized roulette ball and throws it to the wheel. Tayaw then watches the familiar proceedings from the deduction of his View Points, to the spinning of the roulette, until a white tile rises up from the table.

    ''Random Skill Set x 1''

    ''Random Equipment'' texts appear on the tile.

    "hmm.. No pieces this time...." Tayaw is excited for the skills and the equipment.

    *WHOOSH* the white tile then smashes to Tayaw''s head.

    Tayaw waits for the headache, but it never comes, to his relief. Random images then start appearing in Tayaw''s mind and he can only close his eyes and wait until the skill is imbedded in his brain.

    A moment later, Tayaw opens his eyes and he is back in the real world with an excited grin appearing on his face. "Games. F*ckin video games¡­"

 Chapter 206 - Quad Blocks

    "Games. F*ckin video games¡­" Tayaw utters in excitement.

    The ''Random skill set'' he received is the basics of 2d game development and programming. The ''Random Equipment'' on the other hand, he had not seen yet as he was kicked out of the white void.

    "Alright. That''s it. I''m going to the theater and you stay here and think out loud as much as you can." Gary is distracted for the third time and finally loses his patience.

    "Okay. That''s the last time. Really. And, you''re not even three minutes into the movie anyway." Tayaw says while eyeing his laptop, itching to apply what he received from the giant roulette.

    "I was just getting immersed." Gary says.

    "Alright. Give me my computer first." Tayaw gestures to Gary.

    "What are you doing?" Gary is getting annoyed at Tayaw''s unpredictability.

    "Let me burn this thing on a Blu-Ray, then you can watch it on your theater." Tayaw says.

    "¡­ Oh. That''s better." Gary calms down at the alternative and hands the laptop back.

    ~

    After dealing with Gary, Tayaw is back in the ~white void~.

    He is currently sitting on the floor fiddling with the equipment he did not expect to see; an arcade machine. It is not the average arcade machine however.

    The only thing Tayaw can touch is a half a chopping board''s size controller, all white in color, without wires connected to it. Instead of an arcade monitor for the games'' display, a display is floating in front of Tayaw like that of a hologram.

    *beep* *beep* *beep**boomp* *Bomp* *grrm.* *Durrrrururu!* All sorts of classic video game sounds are also ringing around the white void.

    A few minutes later, with his score reaching the millions, and Tayaw can no longer keep up with the speed, *DDududunnnn* *Game Over*.

    "Ahhhhh. PHHEWW.." Tayaw sighs in disappointment.

    "Quad Blocks¡­ how could a simple f*ckin game be so much fun?" Tayaw stretches, fighting to urge to play again for the nth time.

    "There are 5 games in here, are they just as addictive?" Tayaw ponders while absentmindedly scrolling through the game menu until *clack* he presses a random selection.

    "''Wonderful Nerio Brothers''¡­" Tayaw then moves on to the other games on the arcade machine.

    ~

    Having had enough of the games, Tayaw is back in the bedroom Gary lent him.

    "Holy sh*t¡­ How did anyone in my world NOT think of those? Not even one¡­" Tayaw is still feeling the fun of the five games he just played.

    "This is just amazing¡­ Alright¡­ But they''re a waste if I''m the only one playing them." Tayaw rubs his palms together but finds a problem.

    "Which one should I start reproducing?... Quad Blocks! That seems to be the simplest one!." Tayaw decides shortly before busying himself with his laptop.

    A few minutes later, he is finished buying and downloading the software he figures he can use. Tayaw however does not know where to start even though he received the skills to make a simple 2d game from the giant roulette.

    After a few seconds more of pondering on how to translate the arcade game to a computer video game, Tayaw takes a sigh and decides to just wing it.

    "F*ck it. I''ll just learn as I go." Tayaw says as he starts designing the polygons of the game.

    <SampleScene>

    <T Tetracube>

    <Square>

    <Square(1)>

    <Square(2)>

    <Square(3)>

    <addcomponent

    ...

    ....

    After designing them, Tayaw gets to working the controls immediately.

    >{visual Studio}

    1.using system. collections

    2. Using system. Collections. Generic ;

    3. Using. UnifyEngine;

    5. Public class Tetracubek : MonoBehavior - /

    / start is called before the first¡­ ¡­

    ¡­ ifinpult.getkeydown(keycode.leftArrow)

    {transform.position +=

    ¡­

    ¡­

    ¡­

    (Look guys. Just like how I don''t know sh*t about writing, making music and making films, I also know nothing about programming. So give me a break.)

    ~

    In just 5 minutes, with his enhanced brain, physical prowess aiding his programming skills, he is finally done with the first draft of the ''Quad Blocks''.

    "Alright¡­ Test drive¡­" Tayaw nervously runs the program and starts playing it.

    "Oh.. oops¡­" Tayaw finds a problem with the T block as it goes outside the playing area.

    "Let''s fix that." That is not the only problem that Tayaw found in the movements of the blocks and so he continues to fix the kinks.

    After refining the details for another 5 minutes, Tayaw runs the game once again.

    He then realizes that he is still far from done.

    "The scoring and leveling¡­ This must have been a serious video game when it came out, but now, this can only be considered a casual game to pass time.

    "So... unlike the original where it takes a long time to speed up¡­ I think it''s better if I lessen the required score to speed the game up....

    "No... that''s bad. Maybe I should add multipliers instead. COMBOS! That''s it! Just like those boxing games! The more successive hits, the more points.

    "Maybe I''ll make another play mode where it''s the time that increases the speed. Hmm. That''s a good idea." Tayaw resumes working.

    Another 10 minutes passed and he runs the game again.

    "That''s more like it¡­ But what''s the point of scoring if I can''t list it or compare it to others. Hmm.. I''ll put in offline high score¡­ the internet high score later." Tayaw shrugs before finding what else is lacking.

    "Oh. The sounds. Hmmm. But the original sounds are dated and cheesy. Very calculator-y. Maybe there are some I can use in the engine package." Tayaw starts scouring through the stock sounds of the game engine until he finds some sound files that he deems appropriate.

    "hmm. I have to make them sound satisfying¡­ Muted string pluck for laying the blocks. As for eliminating lines, maybe I can stifle the sound of ''marbles dropping on hardwood'' sounding like¡­ crunch! That''s it! A soft crunch when eliminating the lines!...

    "Wait. No. Crunch seems too loud. How about¡­ a shuffling of cards? That''s it! A crisper sound of shuffling cards! Satisfying! Now¡­ when the game''s over¡­ maybe an electrified crescendo. It really has to rub the player of their loss.

    "And the background music¡­ Why don''t I make it immersive too. Hmm. A melody maybe that doesn''t have an obvious conclusion¡­ Ah. Atmospheric¡­ ambient¡­ and peaceful¡­ I have plenty of originals like those.

    "Wait...! The game speeds up! I''m such an idiot. I should design the music to be more intense as the game goes on!" Tayaw starts designing MIDI sounds with his audio software which he is more familiar with than the game engines.

    A few minutes later. *stack* *stack* *stack* *crrrrrrggghhh* Tayaw is satisfied with the sounds he integrated.

    "Cool¡­ It''s finally a real game¡­ But if it goes online, I should make an ad-space too. I mean, that''s what other games are doing. If they can do it, why shouldn''t I?" Tayaw gets another idea.

    A few minutes later. He is finally done putting an ad space; A white square under the ''Start'' button, covering the other menu buttons under it. It can only be closed by clicking the small X button on the corner of the ad space.

    "That''s more like it¡­ Just like those Facebook and mobile games I played." Tayaw is satisfied.

    "¡­But I still can''t play it with others though." Tayaw is still not fully satisfied, however.

    "Hmm. Let''s make a two player version and THEN test it with the LAN here." Tayaw decides and he resumes his work.

    ~

    A few minutes later, Tayaw is in now Gary''s study, seated in front of Gary''s home computer.

    "T.t.t. done!" Tayaw is getting excited just by installing the game in the computer.

    "Oh¡­ It''s you. I thought you were sleeping." Ida who has been doing all sorts of chores around the house finds Tayaw all excited by himself in front of the computer.

    "Ida! I''m bored~ Aren''t you bored?" Tayaw asks.

    "¡­" The woman in her 40s, is confused and an inappropriate thought even crosses her mind before she brushes it aside.

    "I just made a video game and I want to see others play it. Xiao Song and Helena went home, Gary is busy, there''s you left." Tayaw says.

    "I see¡­ But, a video game? I''m not good at video games except for online poker or billiard games." Ida says.

    "That''s fine! Here. Sit, sit. I''ll set it up for you." Tayaw says as he loads up the single player version of the game.

    Ida having done with housekeeping, and finding nothing else to do, complies in curiosity.

    "Okay¡­ Bricks?" Ida is dumbfounded looking at the preview animation of the game in the background of the game menu. A few seconds of watching it however, she immediately gets the goal of the game.

    "So, stacking and clearing them?" Ida says, getting interested from the oddly satisfying animation which suits her borderline obsessive-compulsive disorder.

    "Exactly. Please. Click the start button first." Tayaw instructs and Ida follows. Soon, the game starts. Its speed slow enough for Tayaw to give instructions.

    "Okay. The goal of this game is score as high as you can. The speed of those things falling will increase the higher you score."

    "Okay. You use the left and right arrow keys to move the bricks left and right....

    "Use the up button to spin it clockwise, and down arrow key to speed up the fall....

    "...If you can''t wait for the piece to fall, just press space bar to drop them..

    "Oh. You can spin the piece counter clockwise using the z key...

    "If you want to reserve that piece, press the letter c to hold it."

    "Alright. I think you''ve got it?" Tayaw asks. "yeah." Ida says, getting comfortable with the controls.

    "Okay. Let''s restart? I know you''re bothered by how your stack looks." Tayaw instructs and Ida gladly does so.

    Soon, *stack* *stack* *stack* *crrrrggghhh* Ida is now absorbed in the game, pressing the keys on the keyboard skillfully.

    A minute or two later, the game''s speed increases and so does Ida''s hands. She can no longer keep up however and a piece hits the play area''s ceiling.

    *CRASH* *Game Over*. "Ughhh.." Ida sighs in disappointment.

    "3700. Not bad for a first try." Tayaw politely says, finding Ida''s score too low.

    "Why don''t you try ¨C" Tayaw is about to urge Ida to play again but Ida already started a new game..  "again¡­ You''ll find it easier this time." He completes his sentence as  he watches Ida''s game play again to see if there is something else, he can fix.

    He is also secretly hoping that Ida''s obsession with cleanliness and organization, which he has noticed having the same habit as hers, will help in getting her focused in a game of cleaning or clearing stuff.

    ~

    A long while later, *Game Over* Ida already forgot how many times she played, having lost herself in the game.

    Tayaw on the other hand, had not seen any bugs and is already satisfied 15 minutes into Ida playing it. While Ida played, he has continued his work at Gary''s desk and leather chair and already finished making the game playable to android and iPhone devices.

    "¡­ I guess that''s all I can do by myself. If I want this to go online, I need the servers¡­ But for now.. ADS." Tayaw mumbles.

    His plan for now is to release ''Quad Blocks'' as a single player game that will display the ads for ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer'', ''Snow White'', ''Australia'', the Blu-Ray for ''September Ninth'', and ''The Ruler''s Ring''.

    He hopes that this will, in addition to the View Points the game itself might gain, boost the View Points that his other stuff will earn and make his wait for 1 billion View Points shorter.

    "Oh dear¡­" Ida, who was pulled out from her game after vaguely hearing Tayaw''s voice, exclaims.

    "Good lord. It''s been almost two hours! ..." Ida says, realizing that she has also lost her awareness with the time.

    "I have to say, you have very strong focus." Tayaw teases.

    "Why didn''t you tell me I''ve been playing that long? I have you and Gary''s snacks to prepare!" Ida says, hiding her embarrassment.

    "If you were watching my film, I wouldn''t distract you from it either." Tayaw shrugs, further annoying Ida.

    "Alright. I think I hear your boss coming over." Tayaw says and just like prophecy, Gary walks in the room.

    "What are you two doing here?" Gary asks.

    "Oh! oH! Ida was slacking off! She''s been playing a video game for two hours now!" Tayaw ''tells on'' Ida.

    "Y-.. wh-.. Ugh." Ida, caught off-guard by Tayaw''s accusation, can only look at Gary and Tayaw in panic.

    "¡­" Gary looks at his computer and he sees that there is indeed strange program displayed. Gary processing the situation gives Ida enough time to recover.

    "He made me play it! For two hours!" Ida throws back her own accusation.

    "HAHAHAHA! You should have seen your face, Ida!" Tayaw bursts out laughing, not wanting to throw the ball back.

    "Okay. What''s really going on here?" Gary asks.

    "Ida''s right. She had nothing better to do anyways, so I asked her to play a game I just made. I promised her a hundred bucks." Tayaw says, surprising Ida with an unexpected reward.

    "You made a video game? You know what? Don''t even tell me." Gary gives up.

    "Anyways. The film¡­" Gary prefaces, but cannot finish his sentence. "So¡­ how was the edit?" Tayaw urges Gary, worried that Gary did not like it.

    "It was great! Oh my goodness. I can''t believe it''s my work. Well, Xiao Song''s and yours too. But I could never have imagined making something like it." Gary says, his eyes shining in pride.

 Chapter 207 - A bad chapter. Sorry. I am totally off today.

    August 9, 2013 ¨C Friday 5PM ¨C Iron Stone, East Ouigab

    *YAAWNN* The members of the Percussive Corrections filter one by one to the house, all tired after having a long day.

    "OH! I miss you baby!" Bay-an does a jogging start to the living room before diving body first to the comfortable couch.

    "¡­" The band watch in amus.e.m.e.nt at Bay-an''s new habit, still finding it funny after witnessing it every day for five straight days, every time they come back to the house after work. The rest of the members also take their own spots on the couch, except for Jenna. "I''m gonna go change first."

    It has been a week since the school break started for Northwestern University and other Teungebian higher education institutions. The band, just like the February break, did not go home to their respective hometowns after successfully getting hired again by the company they interned for previously. Unlike last time however, they are not assigned back to Biongo but instead are given office duties in Ouigab.

    Jenna after changing to her house clothes goes back to join the boys in the living room.

    "¡­" She however notices that the boys are still in their office clothes, their attention on their own electronic devices.

    "Guys¡­" Jenna calls out.

    "''Sup?" Bay-an asks absentmindedly.

    "You guys aren''t gonna change?" Jenna asks.

    "Give us a minute." Ike says.

    Jenna stays silent and the sounds from the guys'' phones are getting louder to her ears.

    *stack* *stack* *Crrrrrggghh*.

    "Guys¡­" Jenna calls out again after a minute.

    "One more round, and I''m done." Inson says.

    "*SIGH*" Jenna does an exaggerated sigh to express her frustration, hoping it will get the boys'' attentions. The boys however are either used to Jenna''s habit, or they just do not care.

    Another minute later, none of the boys have left their spots, with still no signs of doing so.

    "GUYS! PRACTICE! WEDDING TOMORROW!" Jenna finally loses it, startling the guys.

    "Alright. Sorry. Sorry." Ike is the first one to react and immediately turns off the screen of his phone. The rest of the guys also follow.

    "Guys. ''Quad Blocks'' is fun, but does it really deserve this much attention?" Jenna asks.

    "Eugh. I don''t know what''s with this game¡­" Bay-an shrugs.

    "Me, I''m just irked by Tayaw''s tweet. ''Hey punks! Try beating my score.'' What''s up with that?" Ramil says.

    "It''s not even addressed to specifically to you but to his fans. It''s just a bait to play the game." Hoon says.

    "If you think it''s a bait, why are you playing the game too, Hoon?" Jenna asks.

    "Like you said. It''s fun." Hoon shamelessly admits.

    "Still. Jenna''s right. I should go easy playing this game. When I stare at an empty wall, I''m seeing quad blocks. It''s not a good sign." Inson says.

    "¡­" The rest of the guys look at each other.

    "¡­ You guys too?" Inson asks, surprised.

    "I see it in the ceiling before I sleep." Ike admits.

    "That''s nothing. I dream of it." Hoon says.

    "Ugh. Whoever made that game is evil. Even my mentor is playing it at work!" Jenna says.

    "Tell that to Tayaw." Ramil shrugs.

    "Tayaw? Why?" Jenna asks in confusion.

    "I don''t know if he bought the rights of it from someone, or programmed it himself, but he''s the only one listed in the credits of the game." Inson says.

    "He can code too?!" Jenna is dumbfounded.

    "I wouldn''t call it coding. It''s basic and easy to make. He just thought of a fun idea and ran with it." Bay-an says, having some knowledge with the game engine that Tayaw used.

    "The important question though¡­ How much is he going to make from this again? The guy just can''t stop making money." Ike chuckles.

    "True. It already has 3 plus million downloads in the play store. It''s ridiculous. He''s only advertising the stuff he has his hands in. What if he also opens the ad space to other people? Good lord. I wish I can come up with an addictive game too¡­" Bay-an says in slight jealousy.

    "Dude. The guy''s rich. He''s famous¡­ I can''t believe he still talks to us." Ramil says.

    "hAHa! Dude... I know, right? It''s so weird when he calls. Hey¡­ Maybe he''s so rich he actually forgot that this is his house. He hasn''t visited in a while¡­" Hoon says.

    *Ring* *Ring* Jenna''s phone interrupts the band''s chat.

    "Unknown caller." Jenna notes, her hesitance in answering it showing on her face.

    "Another prank call from a fan?" Bay-an asks.

    "I just changed my number though¡­ But it''s an unknown number." Jenna says.

    "Alright put it on speaker. Let''s blast the joker." Ramil says. Jenna nods at this.

    "Hello? Who is this?" Jenna answers.

    /Hello Jenna. It''s Jouny. We met last year in Clambu City. Do you remember?/ Jouny greets.

    "Oh! Oh! Of course!" Jenna and the guys are surprised by the unexpected caller.

    /Okay. Are the boys with you?/ Jouny asks.

    "Hello Mrs. Yalen! We''re gathered here!" Ike says.

    /Okay. Guys. I''m making a film and I''m on a time crunch to catch the Clambu Film Festival. I was thinking of casting you guys for some minor roles. / Jouny asks.

    "¡­" The group is stunned.

    /Okay./ Jouny misinterprets the group''s speechlessness with hesitation.

    /I talked to Chala and he said you guys are probably working the summer in an office? Don''t worry, I can have our filming schedule accommodate for you guys to finish your parts in just a weekend or two./ Jouny says.

    ~~~~~

    10 AM ¨C Montecito, Santa Barbara, California

    [[[*Montage start*

    *Jessica goes to prison*

    *Jessica writing letter*

    *Jessica''s voice over*

    "Dear Ronnie. If you''re reading this, then I''m thankful. I was never a good person. I never committed a crime, but the things I''ve done? I''m more than deserving of that label. All along, I knew. So, I had to get away.

    Then I met you, someone who do not know who I was and the things I''ve done. For a terrible stranger, you risked your life.

    What we had in Australia is something special. Was it a passing attraction? Or was it real? All I know is that you brought out the good in me.

    What I did to you in return is an unspeakable crime, and I''m sorry. To me, my prison sentence is not even enough to pay for what I did to you and to the other people I have wronged.

    For those I will spend the rest of my life earning my worth to be forgiven. One day I hope you forgive me and by then, I have become even a fraction of the person you are.

    Jessica."

    *Montage Start*

    *Ronnie Voice over*

    *Ronnie celebrates with friends after the trial*

    *Ronnie with a psychiatrist*

    *Ronnie writing at his dining table*

    /Jessica.

    Jimmy said I should not write back, but after months of healing, I finally felt like I can, and should. I do not know if I can ever forgive you. You betrayed me and along with it, you also took a part of my sanity.

    With time, I know I will eventually heal fully and learn from this lesson. But for now, I still feel angry at what you put me through. However, I feel hopeful that you are sincere in your intentions of becoming a better person. While you are in that journey, I will also start mine towards learning to forget looking at the world through rose-colored glasses.

    I know that we will never see each other again, but if we somehow do, I hope we''ve both changed as people, for the better.

    Best wishes, Ronnie."

    *Ronnie with a smile, begins a pilgrimage journey in Europe to continue his healing*

    *Fade to black*

    *Acoustic Music intro*

    *Credits Roll*

    *A New Beginning by Isaac starts playing* (based on ''Brand New Day'' by Joshua Radin)

    "I fell asleep beside you, on a bed of tall grass.

    When I woke up, I can see clearly now.

    It''s a new beginning,

    the sun is shining,

    it''s bright morning,

    for the first timein a long time,

    I know~~, I''ll be okay~ ]]]

    *APPLAUSE* *APPLAUSE* *CHEERS*

    Gary''s home theater room erupts in celebration as the 30 people, made of the main cast and crew of ''Australia'' finished watching the final cut of the film.

    "Congratulations Gary."

    "Congratulations Xiao Song."

    "Congratulations, Helena."

    "Congratulations¡­" All sorts of congratulations rain upon the brain children of the film.

    "Thank you. Thank you all. We couldn''t have done this without you all. Thank you." Gary says, sharing his compliments.

    "SPEECH! SPEECH!" The room start chanting, urging Gary and Xiao Song for a speech.

    "No. That was my speech. I''m reserving my real one for Toronto!" Gary says.

    *APPLAUSE* *APPLAUSE* The room loves Gary''s positivity.

    "Oh! Let''s not forget Isaac. Let''s give him a hand! I don''t how we can make the film so beautiful without him." Xiao Song passes the attention to Tayaw.

    *APPLAUSE* *APPLAUSE* The cast and the crew oblige gladly.

    "No. It was all you guys. All I did was sit in front of my computer. You did all the work." Tayaw says.

    "Dude. We''re all professionals here, so we''re not idiots. Man. How did you even think of starting the film in the court room? Those are the last scenes we shot! You made use of the events in Australia as the characters'' memories!" Xiao Song''s geek side comes out, forcing Tayaw back in everyone''s attention.

    "It was just a trick. I intended to it use for Gold, Blood, and the Deer, but I decided not to.." Tayaw says.

    "¡­" The room is silenced by the mention of ''Gold, Blood, and the Deer''.

    Tayaw, seeing this, feels like he said something wrong so he continues his words.

    "I just played around with it for ''Australia'' but Gary here liked it better than my first final cut. In fact. I only managed to do it because of the color contrast of the Australian scenes and the court room scenes. It would have not looked as good if it wasn''t for that." Tayaw says.

    "Ah.. that''s Xiao Song''s style." Gary says.

    "AH! I changed the color scheme as the mood of the film turned¡­ I didn''t think you can use it like that!" Xiao Song is enlightened as a feeling of pride pours over him.

    "PUHHAHA! Trick or an innovation, It made our film even better! You two managed to come up with a great storytelling tool." Gary says proudly, hiding a hint of jealousy with his loud cackle.

    "Man. The song at the end, that was your own song, Isaac?" Damien asks.

    "Yeah. How was it?" Tayaw asks.

    "It was¡­ it was great. It tied all the emotions I had for Ronnie." Damien says, moved, relating most with the character.

    "Then I''m glad¡­ Anyways. Great job, everyone. If you guys don''t even receive a nomination from this, I''ll sh*t on Toronto Film Festival." Tayaw says, with that he manages to remove the attention away from him and brings back the excitement in the room.

 Chapter 208 - A Dinner With Payew

    6PM ¨C Pasadena, California

    "Thanks. I''ll get another serving please, it was delicious." Tayaw says to the waiter.

    "¡­ Sure thing, sir." The waiter can only comply.

    Tayaw is currently at a random restaurant in Pasadena, just finishing his nth plate of food. He is still uncomfortable showing strangers how much he can eat so he left the party at Gary''s house after talking with some people. The difference with the strangers at Gary''s house and the stranger like the waiter is, the waiter does not know who Tayaw is.

    *ring* *ring*

    "Xiao Song. What''s up?" Tayaw picks up his phone as soon as it rang.

    /Isaac. Where are you?/ Xiao Song asks.

    "Pasadena." Tayaw says.

    /Pasa-¡­ wait. When did you leave?" Xiao Song asks.

    "Heh. When you were drunkenly talking to Jo. You seem sober now?" Tayaw asks.

    /Yeah. I slept it off. Why''d you leave so early?/ Xiao Song asks.

    "I left because there''s someone who offended me." Tayaw says, still dumbfounded at what he encountered during the party.

    /WHAT? Who was it? What did they do?/ Xiao Song asks in panic.

    "Nah. I''m just joking. I left early because I''m not a day drinker unlike you f.u.c.kers." Tayaw says.

    /Heh. I get it. You''re legally not allowed to drink here in America./ Xiao Song chuckles.

    "I was gonna drink if I''m not gonna hang out with my brother tonight. And speak of the devil, he''s here." Tayaw says as he sees Payew enter the restaurant''s entrance.

    /Alright. I was gonna ask you something, but it''s not that important. I''ll just text you./ Xiao Song says.

    "Alright then. Bye." Tayaw drops the call.

    "Oh. You''re early." Payew finally finds Tayaw''s table.

    "And it''s quite¡­ odd that you''ve started eating without me." Payew notes the empty plates that the waiter is clearing in front of Tayaw.

    "Yeah. I''m starving, the lunch earlier wasn''t enough to fill me." Tayaw says.

    "True. You can eat a whole cow." Payew says.

    "Why don''t you order first" Tayaw offers.

    "Hi. Can I get an appetizer first? Thanks man." Payew orders his food to the waiter.

    "Well. You look like you''re in a good mood?" Tayaw asks, noticing the faint smile in Payew''s face.

    "Yeah. I caught the eye of some executives. I don''t know. But they gave me some responsibilities today." Payew says.

    "Oh? You''ve only been working there for¡­ two or so weeks, right?" This gets Tayaw''s curiosity.

    "Yeah. Well. I overheard that Snow White is making a killing in the theaters for Pixie. Their stuff too is selling hot. They were undermanned so, they gave me something to do." Payew says.

    Tayaw is happy hearing this; a part of it has to do with his investment starting to grow, and a part of it proud for Payew.

    "That''s great. Handling it well?" Tayaw asks. "Yeah. The details might bore you but the gist is, they seem satisfied with what I''ve finished today." Payew nods.

    "Cool¡­ But if they don''t reward you properly for your work, don''t go overboard with doing things you''re not supposed to be responsible for." Tayaw says.

    "Oh.. Okay." Payew nods.

    "Anyways. Did mom and dad tell you anything about when they''ll visit?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah. I was gonna call you about that. They wanted to visit me here in California, maybe go around LA. But I told them not to." Payew says.

    "WHY?" Tayaw did not like what he heard and gives Payew a look.

    "Come on. Don''t look at me like that. I''m the one who''s gonna visit them." Payew says.

    "?" Tayaw gives a confused look.

    "Snow White has sold 2 million tickets dude, but the company is expecting it to slow down next month, and they''ll take it off theaters. So their next step is to release it to Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. Not only that, they''ll sell the merchandise of the film there too." Payew reports.

    While Tayaw is glad to hear the news, "What does that have anything to do with you not letting mom and dad visit?" Tayaw asks.

    "Oh. Teungeb is included too. I''m a part of the team to will go set up the supply line in there. While I''m there, I''ll go visit them. Hopefully, the timing''s right for Agew''s birthday too." Payew explains.

    "I see. When do you leave?" Tayaw asks.

    "Tomorrow morning. By the time we arrive there, it''s Monday, with the time difference and all. I don''t know if I get to do something important, but hey, it''s still better than being stuck in the office." Payew says.

    "Oh¡­ Nice¡­" Tayaw can only say, pleased with Payew''s plans.

    "Are you going with Jeremy?" Tayaw asks, referring to his shareholder representative who Payew is supposed to be working for.

    "Nope¡­ I''m working under Gregory now, the head of sales. There''s nothing much to do with Jeremy anyways. So when this opportunity presented, I submitted a request for transfer. I also told them I have experience selling the merch of Percussive Corrections online, maybe that had something to do with them approving it." Payew says.

    "¡­" While Tayaw is impressed of Payew''s assertiveness, he is skeptical and suspects that Payew having relations with him has contributed to Payew''s freedom.

    "Well. That''s good. Work hard and when you get ideas, just share it with this Gregory. I don''t know if it''s me being paranoid of my ideas for songs and film being stolen, but I''m just saying, you should be just as careful." Tayaw says.

    "Yeah¡­ I''ve heard some things like that happened in the past in Pixie." Payew nods.

    "Talking about Jeremy¡­ I kinda don''t like him." Payew says, suddenly.

    "Why?" Tayaw asks.

    "I know you''re friends with him. He''s nice to me. He even offered that I move stay with him until my contract is over¡­ It''s just." Payew shakes his head.

    "What?" Tayaw asks, worried that he has made a mistake hiring the wrong person.

    "He''s a bit of a pervert. Like, not a predatory, s.e.x.u.a.l harassment pervert, but a perv. The man even offered to pay ¡­ for an escort¡­ for me¡­" Payew says in embarrassment.

    "¡­" Tayaw is surprised at this and at the same time, relieved.

    "Was he serious?" Tayaw asks.

    "I don''t know. If he only asked me one time, I would see it as a joke. But he asked two more times. ''Dude. This is LA'' he says." Payew says.

    "How dare he do that. If it''s a legal p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e like the ones at home, it''s okay. But escorts don''t have that health clearance card to practice!" Tayaw jokes but internally, ''That f*ckin guy and I need to have a talk¡­'' .

    "¡­ ARE YOU F.U.C.KIN'' SERIOUS?" Payew is dumbfounded. "You''re mad about that?!"

    "What? Hahaha. Okay. I''m kidding. But you''re right. He shouldn''t be talking about that with a minor like you." Tayaw says.

    "¡­ What? If he was offering booze, I will drink it! But we''re talking about an escort! An escort!" Payew says rather loudly.

    Tayaw looks around if other people are listening but realizes that him and his brother is speaking Teungebian.

    "Pff. Dude. That''s what some rich people, men, AND women, do to get some¡­ action. They have no time to go to a bar and hook-up, man. Besides, you''re not clueless either.

    "You know how horny the kids are at Okuba High, dude. Most of them are not looking for their future spouses, but for s.e.x. If kids do that, how much more predisposed a.d.u.l.ts are to that?" Tayaw decides to mess with Payew more.

    "¡­" Payew ponders over the matter.

    "It makes sense." Payew nods in easy understanding, to Tayaw''s surprise.

    "If you react like that to escorts, then you should see this." Tayaw pulls out his wallet and takes out a business card from it before handing it to Payew.

    "¡­ ''Partizzle tonight. Call me.'' ¡­" Payew reads.

    "What does this mean?" Payew asks in confusion.

    "An ORGY." Tayaw explains simply.

    "Ughhhh¡­" Payew groans in repulsion.

    "I''d rather take an escort over a s.e.x party." Tayaw says to add more impact.

    "¡­ Ohhh.. f.u.c.k, dude. I can''t believe you¡­" Payew gives Tayaw a weird look.

    "What? Show business is full of s.e.x.u.a.l abberants and dirty practices. I was even tempted once by this beautiful actress who offered herself for a role in my next film¡­" Tayaw says.

    Payew''s image of Tayaw is collapsing by the moment.

    Seeing Payew''s face, Tayaw decides to stop.

    "Alright. I''m just messing with you. In fact, I haven''t got some since¡­ Okay. I''m still a v.i.r.g.i.n. You know how busy I am, I don''t have the time." Tayaw says as he grabs the business card from Payew''s hand.

    "Then why are you keeping that?!" Payew asks in disbelief.

    "You wanna keep it? You call the guy?" Tayaw says as he hands Payew the card once again.

    "No! Throw it away!" Payew reels from the card.

    "Hahahahaha! I''m keeping it because it''s a funny conversation piece. Besides, this was given to me last May, so it''s probably done." Tayaw puts the card back in his wallet.

    "Anyways. I''m not entirely messing with you." Tayaw says.

    "What do you mean?" Payew asks.

    "What Jeremy did is pretty harmless. But, someday when you''re juuuust a bit successful enough to be useful to people, or hold juuust enough power, all sorts of things will be offered to you in exchange for favors. I myself, received many of these odd offers for favors even though I just got famous."  Tayaw says.

    "So, what you said about that actress was true?" Payew asks.

    "Yeah. In fact, that happened just this morning at a director''s house. But I''m guessing it''s her agency that urged her to do so." Tayaw says.

    "Good lord¡­" Payew shakes his head.

    "Yeah. But what if these are traps? What if I accepted that actress'' offer? That will bite me in the ass in the future. What if Jeremy was not my friend and you accepted his offer? He might use that against you." Tayaw says, giving Payew goosebumps.

    "Anyways, those are just extreme examples of a way for someone to drag you down or ruin your own reputation. There are plenty more and less harmful ones, but harmful nonetheless. You should look out in the future." Tayaw says.

    "I-I will." Payew says, overwhelmed.

    "And¡­ Another thing I''ve learned¡­" Tayaw switches the matter.

    "¡­" Payew waits in interest.

    "The world is tough and competitive. People will do ANYTHING to survive and get ahead. That actress earlier? Who knows? Maybe she wasn''t urged by anyone, but is just doing what she can to rise above others.

    "Other film studios tried to smear my name and my film so people won''t see my film and instead see theirs. But do you know what''s weird?" Tayaw asks.

    "¡­" Payew shakes his head.

    "If I was in their place, I might do the same." Tayaw says.

    "¡­" Payew''s eyes widen.

    "But why?" Payew asks.

    "Do you remember what I told you when we were in New York?" Tayaw asks.

    "You said many things." Payew says.

    "If my novel didn''t work out, if my films were rejected, if my music isn''t popular, I''m left with nothing. With the limited talent I have, I''ll get killed by my more talented rivals. What do you suppose I do? Roll over and die? I''ll do anything to prevent that from happening." Tayaw concludes.

    "¡­" Payew can only stare at Tayaw, with Tayaw''s image in his mind changing by the moment, this time, for real.

    "I might not step on the heads of my inferiors, and prevent myself from wronging innocent people, but I''ll surely drag down my superiors to my level." Tayaw adds.

    "*INHALE*¡­ *EXHALE*¡­ But you won''t, right? I mean, with how great the shit you''ve made, you don''t have to, right?" Payew asks.

    "You''re right. I don''t have to. And I don''t see myself having to." Tayaw smiles, making Payew sigh in relief.

    "But there are many people out there who shares my¡­ philosophy. Many of them might even do worse things that the things I''m willing to do. Watch out for them. And if you do sniff them out, don''t tell them you know and use that knowledge to your advantage." Tayaw says.

    "Yeah¡­" Payew can only say.

    "Oh¡­ I forgot. You''re just an intern. HAHAHA! What am I saying?" Tayaw suddenly realizes.

    "Heh¡­ haha. Y-yeah¡­" Payew chuckles but Tayaw''s words stuck in his head.

    "By the way. You know that song of mine I had you write lyrics to?" Tayaw changes the subject, seeing he has overwhelmed Payew.

    "What?..." Payew is distracted from his thoughts.

    "Oh.. yeah. That¡­ ''New Beginning'', right?" He then remembers.

    "Yeah. I put it in the movie I''m consulting on. The makers of the film loved it."

    "Really?"

    "Yeah." Tayaw says as he pulls out his phone, opens his media player app and shows Payew the end of ''Australia''¡­

    A minute seconds later.

    "Huh¡­ it''s perfect for the film. Even though I don''t exactly know what happened." Payew comments.

    "Yeah. Great job." Tayaw says.

    "Psh. It''s your music that''s perfect for it. I''m uncomfortable listening to the lyrics. EUGH." Payew shudders.

    "Why? It goes well with the music." Tayaw says.

    "I don''t know. It feels weird." Payew says.

    "Whatever you say. They like it. I like it." Tayaw shrugs.

    "¡­Did they really like it?" Payew asks again, actually feeling proud.

 Chapter 209 - Snail Records

    (cont''d)

    *bzzt* *bzzt*.

    "Damn it. Of all the times. I just talked on the phone before you got here." Tayaw is annoyed by his phone suddenly buzzing.

    "Take it. I have to go to the bathroom anyway." Payew says and leaves the table, allowing Tayaw privacy.

    Tayaw then picks up his phone and sees that it is a Facebook video call from John of Strawberry Front. Tayaw then covers the camera of his phone before answering it, a habit he has developed due to John''s often alcohol-infused calls.

    "Hey John. What''s up." Tayaw greets.

    /Hey Isaac. Can you talk for a few minutes? / John asks.

    "Uhhh. It depends. I''m on a dinner with my brother." Tayaw says, noticing that John seems sober.

    /Oh. Looks like one apology isn''t enough ¡­ First sorry is for this ¡­/ John says before

    /Hey Isaac!/ Another man gets in the frame, in front of John.

    "Hello¡­ Who are you¡­ ?" Tayaw asks, his direct question making John and the man with him understand that they have a limited time with Tayaw.

    / I''m Cody Mills. The CEO of Snail Records. I''m sorry, we caught you at a bad time. It''s just hard to get ahold of you. / Cody starts.

    The two men''s apologetic faces somehow soothe Tayaw''s annoyance.

    "Mr. Mills. What can I do for you?" Tayaw asks.

    /Isaac. How would you like to join Snail Records?/ Cody gets to the point immediately.

    ~

    The next day, 12 NN ¨C Snail Records, Nashville Tennessee.

    *tap* *tap* *tap*

    Tayaw taps his foot impatiently as he waits at the parking lot in front of the building where Snail Records is.

    Suddenly, *sniff* *sniff* "Finally." Tayaw sighs to himself as he catches a whiff of John''s preferred cigarette brand and flavor. .

    He then walks with confident steps, changing his posture, until he traced the smell to the back of the building.

    "Hey John. Let''s get in the building. Don''t look back. Don''t look around." Tayaw does not even greet John before ordering him.

    John cannot even process recognizing the casually dressed Tayaw, or his surprise at seeing Tayaw at this moment, because of the unusually serious expression on Tayaw''s face. John then puts out his freshly lit cigar and leads Tayaw to the backdoor.

    "So¡­ What was that about?" John asks as they step in the elevator.

    "¡­" Tayaw only stares at John for a moment before sighing.

    "Nothing. Let''s go see Cody." He says.

    "Why didn''t you call me? Or just talk to the receptionist? They would have let you in." John asks.

    "¡­" Tayaw only answers with silence. "¡­" John is anxious, fearing that he might have offended Tayaw somehow.

    A minute later.

    "Okay. That''s Cody''s office. I''ll wait here." John says, bringing Tayaw near the entrance to Cody''s office.

    "It''s okay. You join Rez and the rest. Aren''t you guys busy in the studio?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah. Okay. If you''re done here. Just give me a call. I''m sure the band love to see you." John says.

    The next moment.

    "Good morning Mr. Mills." Tayaw is now in Cody''s office. Despite his polite greeting, his tone is cold.

    "Mr¡­ Isaac. Good morning." Cody, after recognizing Tayaw, his eyes widen in surprise.

    "Yes. Now, Mr. Mills, I would never have entered the building had I not already been in the vicinity, or if my friends here aren''t around today¡­" Tayaw says, allowing Cody to process.

    "I don''t understand, Isaa-"

    "Mr. Mills, I think music executives cannot be music fans, so I don''t think you''re my fan. We''re also not close enough either. So please, call me Mr. Yawat." Tayaw says.

    "Alright Mr. Yawat. What''s going on?" Cody asks, starting to feel offended.

    "I rather had fun dodging eyes in the parking lot. What I''ve noticed however, are their eyes are not watching this building''s doors. No. Their eyes are in each car that arrives. Ain''t that strange?" Tayaw says.

    Cody''s face twitches at this.

    "Mr. Yawat. My label has some of the rising stars in Nashville. It''s obvious that there is always a journalist or two watching us." Cody says.

    "Are you saying I''m a vain celebrity?" Tayaw asks.

    "What? That-"

    "Here''s the thing, Mr. Mills. There isn''t just one or two journalists or photographers in the parking lot. And, Oh¡­  I''ve overheard two people talking about me; they are expecting me here today. I know we didn''t write it in paper, but I thought we had a mutual understanding that no one should know of my visit here until I actually sign anything with you." Tayaw says.

    "¡­" Cody is coming up with something to say.

    Tayaw however will not let him.

    "I should have been in the plane by now, and I should have just not showed up here in your office, but I cannot leave Nashville with my peace of mind without telling you this: I don''t like being used, Mr. Mills. And now I''m less likely to hear you out after this. Now that I''ve said it. I bid you a good day." Tayaw says and he turns around to the direction of the door.

    As he is about to walk out, "Isaac. Wait." Cody stops him.

    Tayaw smiles victoriously for a moment before restoring his stony expression. After calming his face down, he turns back around to Cody''s direction.

    "hhuuuu¡­ Please, close the door." Cody sighs deeply.

    After Tayaw closes the door, "Please take a seat." Cody offers, which Tayaw obliges to.

    "Alright. There''s no point in lying to you¡­ You got me. I called those reporters over." he finally admits.

    "But the thing is, Mr. Yawat, I''m desperate." He adds.

    This gets Tayaw''s interest immediately.

    "Desperate enough to try to use me." Tayaw says.

    "Yes. And I apologize for that¡­"

    "Uhuh¡­" Seeing that Tayaw is no longer as ''angry'' as before, Cody decides to open up.

    "You see, while my label is lucky to have signed Strawberry Front, and some young promising talents, we are very young, only three years old, and poor compared to the other companies, not to mention the major labels. Also, our artists are either inactive or are in the process of making their music and we have no choice but to lay low.

    "The label also does not have much shares in the royalties of Strawberry front so even if their songs are selling, the label isn''t earning much. We also do not have a large library, so our passive income is pitiful. We need as much publicity as we can to stay relevant in this industry." Cody further admits.

    "Does that mean that there''s no offer here for me then? You just want me to be here and start a rumor?" Tayaw asks.

    "No... No. Of course not. It''s just, I was already prepared to be rejected." Cody says.

    "Oh?" Tayaw becomes curious, his face telling Cody to speak more.

    "You are the probably the most famous indie country artist out there. Like, REAL indie, an artist without a label. In fact, major labels will probably sign a deal with you that is better than the best I can offer." Cody says.

    "Hm¡­ I''d rather own 100% and sell 10,000 than sell 1,000,000 and own 10% of it." Tayaw scoffs.

    "That''s exactly why I''m not confident winning you over.  With your popularity outside music, and how the way people listen to music is changing, you do NOT need a label. So, I thought, even if you''ve rejected me today, the publicity of your visit alone is enough to help my label." Cody explains.

    "I see¡­ so¡­ what now?" Tayaw asks.

    "You''ve listened to me for this long already. Are you willing to hear what I can offer?" Cody asks.

    "Sure." Tayaw nods, already glad that his act has already produced too much.

    "I actually find it unfortunate that your songs, most of them I love, are not played over the radio. If you sign with us, we can have your songs play in many radio stations. While we can''t play them as often in major radio stations, I can have them played at smaller, more artist friendly radio stations." Cody says.

    "¡­" Tayaw tries his best to control his facial expression.

    "Not impressive? I expected as much." Cody nods.

    "Here''s another thing I feel bad about. Your songs deserve awards, but you can''t win them here in Nashville no matter how good your songs are." Cody says, and he sees Tayaw perk up.

    "Our label, even though we''re new, are members of both the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music. Two associations that give out CMA and ACM awards. I know you''re not American, so do you know these awards?" Cody asks.

    "In fact, I do." Tayaw nods.

    "And you also know how big of a deal they are. If you sign with us, we''ll immediately submit your songs for consideration." Cody says.

    "Like you said, major labels are willing to sign me. And they sure are members of those organizations too." Tayaw counters.

    "okay. Like you said, you''d rather own 100% and sell less than own 10% and sell millions, right? So I''m not even gonna touch that. What I''m offering you is not a contract, but our services, just for your needs." Cody says.

    "Please, explain."

    "Okay. Don''t you think it''s time for you to have a tour? 14 songs from your country album and¡­ what? 8 more English songs from your albums ''18'' and ''19''. All of them are good! And enough to fill a 90-minute performance, and that does not include intermissions. Let us arrange a tour for you.

    "We can work for you at a CHEAP fixed price, none of that percentage bullshit. We can also submit your songs for awards for free. After all, we''re submitting the songs of Strawberry Front anyway. Submitting yours along costs us nothing." Cody says, which satisfies Tayaw.

    ''Now. I feel guilty. Poor guy. He seems the one of the better, more honest people in the business'' Tayaw thinks to himself.

    Tayaw is actually not offended by Cody''s scheme for publicity. At worst, he was merely entertained by it. He however did not expect that his act would make Cody reveal all of his cards.

    "Hmmm. How are your other artists doing, by the way? Aside from Strawberry Front?" Tayaw asks, switching topics.

    "¡­" Cody is caught off-guard by the question and he becomes defensive.

    "Well¡­ While they are very, very good singers, they are not good songwriters. Therefore, they actually only make a small percentage of their album sales. But at least they not hungry from what they''re earning. Many people though are willing to see them live, so they are living comfortably off of what they are earning from live shows." Cody says, honestly, while trying to make a good impression to Tayaw.

    This honesty is rewarded by a nod of approval from Tayaw.

    "You know¡­ You know I wrote some songs in Strawberry Front''s album, right?" Tayaw asks again.

    "Oh¡­ yeah. Everybody industry knows." Cody nods.

    "Hmm. Why don''t I sell songs to you for your artists too?" Tayaw offers, to Cody''s surprise.

    "Well¡­ I don''t think I can afford them." Cody sighs.

    "Well, I can just give you the exclusive recording and performing license for them. FOR FREE." Tayaw says.

    "¡­ HUH?" Cody is dumbfounded at the offer.

    "But of course, I still get cuts and royalties." Tayaw adds.

    "That much is obvious, but why for free? And exclusive licenses at that?" Cody asks.

    "You need publicity, I need them too. I''m buying marketing with my songs." Tayaw says.

    "What do you mean?"

    "In exchange for the licenses, your artists promote my songs, my movies, and my future works." Tayaw says.

    "That¡­ let me think for a minute¡­" Cody ponders, unsure why Tayaw is offering such a good deal.

    "Look. Aside from the songs I wrote for Strawberry Front, the songs I''ve sold to others are not doing as great. Maybe because they''re pop songs? I don''t know. But I''m more confident writing for folk and country artists. You told me earlier that your artists are either in hiatus or are on the process of making their music. Why not ¨C "

    "Screw it¡­ I don''t know why you''re being generous, but I don''t care. Let''s do what you want." Cody finally decides.

    "Good." Tayaw smiles.

    "Good." Cody sighs. The two enter a comfortable silence.

    "By the way¡­ do you really think I can win awards?" Tayaw suddenly asks.

 Chapter 210 - Happy Birthday Agew

    August 27, 2013 ¨C Tuesday, 5pm ¨C Okuba

    "Where are these two?" Liboo sighs in frustration after another failed call attempt to Tayaw and Payew.

    "Are you sure Tayaw said we wait here?" Kilat asks, referring to the wide and dark grass clearing they are in.

    "Yes. The lot between the neighborhood and the town, like Tayaw said." Liboo clarifies.

    "A weird place to have us wait... but okay..." Kilat says.

    "Well, this is where Tayaw often spent his time when he''s here in Okuba." Agew says.

    "Really? What does he do here? There''s nothing." Kilat asks, curious.

    "I don''t know really. Probably writing songs in his head. He sits on that boulder over there all afternoon. He plays ugly chords until they become beautiful. He hums too. " Agew says.

    "Come to think of it. It''s really quiet here and the boring green flat is somewhat peaceful. Perfect for thinking." Liboo nods.

    "But how come there are no bugs?" Kilat asks.

    "He-" Before Agew can explain,*dudududududududududu* The three''s attention is taken by a strange sound.

    "What is that?" Liboo asks as he looks around.

    "There it is!" Agew points at an incoming helicopter in the sky, obviously heading their way.

    "Good lord." Kilat can only shake her head, already having an idea who is in the helicopter.

    "Yeah¡­ Somehow I can see Tayaw doing this." Liboo chuckles.

    With that, the three watch the helicopter land while partially covering their eyes from all the blades of grass and dust flying their way.

    ¡­

    "HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHEEEEERRRR! GET THE HELL IN HERE!" Soon the three is greeted by Tayaw and Payew, running to them.

    ~

    30 minutes later ¨C Nasiri Hill, Nabla

    "Phew¡­" Agew hurriedly unfastens his seatbelt after the helicopter landed.

    "Shit. That was scary." Agew sighs in relief.

    "Hahaha. You rode a plane three times without a problem. How come you''re so afraid riding a helicopter?" Tayaw asks.

    "He was scared during the flight we took to and from America two years ago." Kilat explains, she too sighing in relief that they have finally landed.

    "Huh¡­ I didn''t know¡­ Well. I''m sorry." Tayaw says.

    "Hehe. What would Agew rather do? Not hop in the chopper?" Payew chuckles, still amused by Agew''s pale face.

    "It''s fine! That was fun though. I can''t believe how short the trip was. It takes three hours of driving from home to Ouigab." Agew says, color returning to his face.

    "It''s the winding highway that makes the drive long." Liboo says.

    The helicopter blade soon stops spinning and "Folks, you can now take off your seatbelts and leave the aircraft." The pilot commands and the family oblige.

    After stepping on land again, "Where are we by the way? I saw that the city is right ahead, below this hill." Liboo asks as he looks around the glass clearing, they landed in.

    There is nothing else in sight except for a huge log cabin, a water tank, Tayaw''s pick-up truck, Payew''s Jeep, and a cargo truck only a few tens of meters away.

    "Oh. We''re at Nasiri Hill. It''s my private retreat. I do all my thinking here when I''m in Teungeb." Tayaw explains.

    "Ahh.. I wish I can live at somewhere this isolated too¡­" Liboo inhales the air.

    "What was that, honey?" Kilat asks.

    "I said it would be nice to retire with you, with just the two of us, in an isolated place like this." Liboo says.

    "Alright. Let''s go over there. Before it gets dark." Tayaw says, saving Liboo.

    ~

    "Cozy~" Kilat says as they enter the living room of the cabin.

    "Wait¡­ Do we know these people?" Liboo softly asks Payew as he sees three people already in the cabin.

    "No, dad. They''re from the catering service that Tayaw hired." Payew explains.

    "I see... Good lord. A helicopter ride, a private dinner service¡­" Liboo sighs at the wasteful spending of Tayaw.

    "Dad. Come on. It''s Agew''s birthday!" Tayaw has been listening all along.

    "Yeah, yeah. It''s a nice gesture. By the way, why not invite the pilot in?" Liboo asks.

    "Yeah. It''s rather¡­ weird. He''s sitting out in the helicopter while we stuff ourselves here." Kilat says.

    "¡­" Tayaw is somewhat annoyed at how nice his parents are.

    "Don''t worry. I invited him earlier, but he said he would feel like he is intruding. Some cooks will bring him food later." Tayaw says. This removes Kilat and Liboo''s discomfort.

    "Everything''s ready sir. You can just ring the bell here and we''ll bring the food in." The employees are finally done setting the table.

    "Thank you." Tayaw says, and with that, the family is left alone in the cabin.

    "Alright. Let''s eat. I''m starving." Agew is the first one to go the dining table.

    "Yeah. You need to eat more. Something I should have done when I was your age. I would have been as tall as Tayaw." Liboo says.

    ~

    "So. Yeah. That''s what I''ve been doing at work." Payew reports all his achievements in his short time at Pixie.

    "We''re proud of you son." Liboo says.

    "Yes. And you still haven''t started college. Keep it up." Kilat says.

    The two are moved that Payew is starting to turn from a kid into a man.

    "Like I''ve been telling him. If he really becomes a highly skilled business manager, I just might hand him the reigns of my film studio in the future." Tayaw says.

    "Heh. They say you shouldn''t do business with family, but if the family can do the job, why not, right?" Liboo says.

    "How about you Tayaw? What have you been doing? You haven''t come and seen us since January." Kilat says.

    "Marketing. I had to sell the movie. I''ve also been busy making music, and consulting in more projects. The details will bore you, but it''s fun for me." Tayaw says.

    "I see..." Kilat nods in understanding. "Will you be here next month for your birthday?" She further asks.

    "Probably not." Tayaw says, disappointing his parents.

    "I''ve just signed a deal with a record label in Nashville. I''m gonna start preparing for a tour, finally." Tayaw says.

    "Really?" "That''s good!" His family is happy to hear it.

    "But¡­ An American label, meaning you''ll only tour in America, right?" Liboo asks.

    "Yeah. My Teungebian songs aren''t doing well." Tayaw says.

    "Well, people still love your songs. How long will the tour last?" Kilat asks.

    "It''ll last from the second week of September to.. before Christmas. So only three months. Aside from that, I will produce songs for some artists. There are songs I made that just doesn''t suit me." Tayaw says.

    "*Sigh* And I thought that artists like you have a lot of down time." Liboo is overwhelmed listening to Tayaw''s schedule.

    "It''s not work if I''m having fun." Tayaw says.

    "Ain''t that the truth. Your dad recently goes to work early and comes home late, but he doesn''t complain." Kilat says to indirectly express her concern to Liboo.

    "Sorry, hun. But after we''re done flipping the backlog, selling them is easier." Liboo chuckles, not apologetic at all.

    "Aih¡­ Anyways. Tayaw and Payew, you two are not the only ones who are doing well." Kilat says.

    "?" Tayaw and Payew get curious at that.

    "Agew here¡­ just started making porcelains for a hotel." Kilat clarifies proudly.

    "Really? Already?" "Wow¡­ Damn." Tayaw and Payew look at Agew in amazement.

    Liboo and Kilat look at this scene in pride and amus.e.m.e.nt.

    "It''s not really a big hotel. You know that hotel for tourists in Jebung? Near dad''s workshop. That''s the hotel." Agew shrugs.

    This does not reduce his achievement to Payew and Agew however.

    "It''s still a hotel¡­" Tayaw pulls out his phone and looks the hotel up.

    "Here¡­ dude. 4.8 stars? 739 reviews? That''s not just an average hotel that hosts locals, but foreign tourists. That means this hotel is the most famous in Jebung. They must really like your work huh." Tayaw says.

    "If you say so¡­" Agew shrugs coolly.

    "Smooth asshole¡­" Payew says in English.

    "Language¡­" Kilat warns.

    "Sorry. That''s the lingo at work." Payew shrugs.

    "Hehe. By the way. Agew, you said you didn''t want a gift from me and your mom. But I feel bad not giving you anything." Liboo switches topic.

    "Oh¡­ well. I consider that furnace you had built for me at home an advance gift." Agew says.

    "You really don''t want anything else?" Kilat asks, wanting to chip in.

    "A car, maybe?" Agew asks.

    "NO." "Not yet." Kilat and Liboo immediately express their refusal in quick succession.

    "Then nothing." Agew chuckles.

    "Is there anything I can get you?" Tayaw offers this time.

    "No¡­" Agew begins until an idea pops up in his head. "Ah. There is something. But you already gave me a helicopter ride and food." Agew says.

    "¡­" The family gets curious.

    "Well? Just tell me. Maybe I can afford it." Tayaw jokes. *chuckles* His parents and Payew have an idea how rich Tayaw is.

    "Are there some outdated cameras you have or something? I wanna try filming stuff." Agew finally says.

    "Like movies?" Payew asks.

    "uhhh. Yeah. Maybe." Agew says in uncertainty.

    "Maybe?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah¡­ I don''t know. Once school starts, I''ll try to talk to my friends at school into shooting something cool. If they won''t like the idea, then that''s too bad. I''ll just play football with them, AGAIN. Play volleyball, AGAIN." Agew shrugs while casually complaining.

    "Hmmmmm¡­" Tayaw almost breaks out in a grin of excitement at Agew''s interest before a small disappointment tug at him immediately.

    "Ah.. that''s a shame¡­" Tayaw mutters.

    "What''s a shame?" Kilat asks.

    "You know Jouny? The screenwriter of ''September Ninth''? She''s making a film right now, but it would have been better had she started earlier. Agew could have been there to watch how to shoot something." Tayaw says.

    "You really want to leave both your dad and I alone in Okuba alone, don''t you?" Kilat says in annoyance.

    "That''s... nah. Come on mom. It would have just taken Agew some weeks or something. It''s not like he''s gonna be there the entire production" Tayaw shrugs.

    "Well. Three weeks or three days, Agew is busy finishing his work with the hotel." Kilat harrumphs.

    "Mom¡­ Unlike these two. I have everything I need at home." Agew, in a rare impulse, consoles Kilat.

    "Ohh~.. Yeah. Unlike these two, I still have a son that loves me." Kilat says to Agew sweetly.

    Tayaw and Payew roll their eyes at this.

    "Anyways. Okay. I''ll give you a camera." Tayaw says, getting back to the subject of Agew''s gift.

    "Pfff. I hear a BUT coming." Payew scoffs.

    ."Not a ''but'', but an ''AND'', buddy... Agew, I''ll give you a camera AND sound equipment, AND lighting equipment. But-"

    "''But'' Hehe." Payew smugly cuts in.

    "Okay you got me. BUT I''ll only give you cheap ones." Tayaw says.

    "That''s fine too. It''s not like I''m making something for the theaters." Agew accepts.

    "Also, I''m making it an upgradeable gift." Tayaw says.

    "Upgradable?" Agew and the rest is interested, never having heard of an upgradeable gift.

    "How are you doing at school?" Tayaw switches the subject, however.

    "Passable." Agew explains shortly.

    "Mom, dad, you''re fine with his grades?" Tayaw asks.

    "Meh. As long as he doesn''t repeat grades, I''m fine." Liboo shrugs.

    "As long as he doesn''t fail his subjects¡­" Kilat too is fine with Agew''s grades.

    "Okay. I''ll do an experiment." Tayaw stands up and heads to his cabin''s study before quickly returning, this time with two thick binders in hand.

    "Take these home and read them, then shoot whatever. If I''m satisfied with whatever you shoot, I''ll give you better equipment." Tayaw says.

    "*huppp*" Agew takes the heavy binders, opens them, and immediately starts reading.

    "Huh¡­" Excitement is seen growing in Agew''s eyes as he reads every page.

    "Comic books?" Liboo asks, wanting to read them too.

    "Kind of. But they''re more of a plan, a blueprint, of how I shot the scenes in my films and why I decided to shoot them that way." Tayaw says.

    "It''s basically¡­ a culmination of your knowledge in film making?" Kilat says, understanding the importance of the storyboard immediately.

    "Well. Not a culmination exactly, but just some of what I know. Jouny said it''s like a textbook for film makers, only more fun to read." Tayaw says.

    Before he can continue to explain, he notices something.

    "Hey. Agew. Read that later at home." He reprimands Agew.

    Agew was about to flip to another page, when he realizes it would be rude to keep on reading.

    "Oh.. Sorry about that. Anyways. Thanks Tayaw. This is even better than the equipment you''re gonna give me." Agew says, almost moved by the gift.

    "That''s good." Tayaw is satisfied with Agew''s assessment.

 Chapter 211 - A Small Change In The Void

    August 30, 2013 ¨C 5 AM Local, Saturday ¨C New York, 30,000 feet in the air.

    /Ladies and gentlemen, we have been cleared to land at Jude F. Kelley International Airport. Please make sure that your seatbelt is securely fastened.

    The flight attendants are currently passing around the cabin to make a final compliance check and pick up any remaining utensils. We start our descent any moment now. Thank you./

    "Hey¡­ How do these people have such high scores in this game?" A random passenger says to his friend beside him as he turns off his phone to prepare for landing.

    *tap**Ta-tap**Tap* "I don''t know. Some people say it''s possible and the secret is in the combos, not the long line clear. That''s what guys who got close to Isaac''s score claim." The passenger''s friend says as he finishes a round of Quad Blocks.

    "Come to think of it. It does multiply." The passenger nods.

    Tayaw and Payew who are seated behind the two, are listening to the two''s conversation. First class cabin, after all, has better sound resonance than the crowded business class or economic class seats.

    Tayaw is feeling giddy that his game is more popular than he thought, while Payew is seriously eavesdropping. In only twenty-five days since Tayaw posted Quad Blocks, it has gained over 15,000,000 downloads combined in both the Apple Store and Google Play, its popularity started from Tayaw''s fans that spread to some Americans, to Teungebians.

    While there have been copycats of the game, the solid foundation of Quad Blocks and Isaac''s name behind it, the game cannot be matched by the copycats.

    "Hey. Is it really your score?" Payew asks.

    "Yeah." Tayaw nods.

    "Bull. There''s not f*ckin way. You had whoever made the game for you, put it in there, right?" Payew asks.

    "Psh. It really is my score and people will eventually beat it. Give me your phone."  Tayaw says, and Payew readily hands his phone over.

    "Alright. Let''s do countdown mode¡­ So¡­ the thing is, I make use of combos." Tayaw begins as he quickly lay the bricks down.

    "Holy sh*t¡­ you''re fast!" Payew is dumbfounded at Tayaw''s dropping down three pieces a second.

    "But¡­ why leave out four empty columns except for those three cells at the bottom?" Payew asks, noticing the unique set-up.

    "It''s for this¡­" Tayaw says as he starts dropping pieces, clearing lines, one row by one row.

    *Combo x2* *Combo x3* ¡­ *Combo x 10* *Combo x11*.

    Tayaw''s score quickly climbs up.

    "Whoah..." Payew''s mind is boggled at what he is seeing.

    *0:12* *0:11* *0:09* 10 seconds left in the game, Tayaw is interrupted by another announcement by a stewardess.

    /Ladies and gentlemen, as we start out descent, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are upright. Make sure your seat belt¡­/

    "Alright." Tayaw turns off the phone''s screen.

    "The score!-" Payew is worried about the score being reset but is forced to forget about it as he feels the plane is starting to descend.

    ~

    "Phew¡­ The street is crowded with students. Now I feel it. I''m really going to university here." Payew says as he and Tayaw step inside his New York apartment.

    "Here." Tayaw suddenly hands him a card.

    "What''s this for?" Payew asks.

    "Do you still remember the time you, Agew, and I went to Ouigab two years ago? When we opened a college fund for you and Agew?" Tayaw asks.

    "Yeah? This is the card for mine?" Payew asks.

    "Yes. Have fun, but don''t empty it." Tayaw says.

    "Haha. I don''t even know what to buy. You already got my textbooks for me too." Payew says.

    "¡­" Tayaw only stares at Payew in return.

    "What''s up with you?" Payew is weirded out by the stare.

    "Nothing. Time. It just passes by so fast." Tayaw says.

    "It does, huh?" Payew politely says despite feeling the contrary.

    "Alright. I''ll go leave now. If you need help with something, or an emergency arises, call Phil and the other number I gave you. Only call the second number if you REALLY need it, okay?" Tayaw says.

    "Okay. I got it. You told me many times already, I memorized both numbers." Payew assures Tayaw.

    "Good." Tayaw nods.

    "Good luck with your tour too. I''ll check it out if ever you pass through New York." Payew says.

    "Yeah. I''ll call when I''m in town and give you tickets for you and any friend you make. You on the other hand, don''t forget to always update mom and dad with what you''re up to, ''kay?" Tayaw says.

    "Yeah. I sure will. I don''t wanna get the same earful mom gave you." Payew says and with that the brothers give each other a bear hug before parting.

    ~~~

    An hour later ¨C Jericho, Long Island.

    *slam* *slam* Tayaw rushes to his bedroom.

    He lied to Payew about going to Nashville immediately and instead heads to the nearest place he can lock himself in alone; his Jericho mansion.

    As for the reason, he is to prepare for something just in case. After finally feeling ready, he lies down on his bed, and he waits. The next moment, he is dragged away from the real world into the ~white void~.

    ''View Points ¨C 1,000,000,000'' He is greeted by the long line of golden, shimmering, digits.

    "Finally." Tayaw smiles in satisfaction and he simply stares at the number he has patiently been anticipating for almost two years.

    Suddenly, "WHAT THE F.U.C.K?!" Tayaw can only helplessly scream as ''999,999,999'' ''973,654,654'' ''819,866,296'' the view points start unloading to who knows where.

    The number soon reaches zero and the void starts *whom* *whom* *whom* pulsating.

    "¡­" Tayaw can only watch his surroundings, especially the pen and the guitar, hoping they will not disappear or damaged.

    Soon, the void returns again to its previous boring state, the treasures in it still intact.

    Before Tayaw can wonder where his points went, the ''ARTS RECORD'' start pulsating like how it did in the first time he saw it. Tayaw accesses it and unlike his expectation of seeing the giant roulette, his jaw drops and his heart is startled at what, and who he is seeing.

    Within the vast whiteness of where the giant roulette used to be, is now what looks like a giant music record store with towering white shelves spreading into the distance. Each towering shelf contain what looks like vinyl records (with covers).

    Right in front of him, right at the center of the ''store'', surrounded by all the shelves, is what looks to be a check-out counter. What scared Tayaw however is that the counter is manned by a very beautiful racially ambiguous woman who seems to be the cashier.

    "Hi~ Welcome to Arts Records! I''m Kim! How can I help you today?" Kim introduces herself and the ''store''.

    "Hi¡­" Tayaw can only stare at Kim, dumbfounded at the situation.

    "Yes?" Kim, not at all weirded out by Tayaw''s stare, asks with an accommodating smile.

    "Uhh¡­ how did you get in here?" Tayaw asks.

    "¡­" The woman however is still smiling at him as if not hearing his question.

    "Uhm¡­ where''s the giant roulette?" Tayaw asks again and his question is ignored once again.

    "Kim?" Worried that something is wrong, Tayaw calls out Kim''s name.

    "Yes. What can I do for you?" Kim responds, to Tayaw''s relief.

    He then decides to ask a different type of question.

    "uhh.. what do you sell?" Tayaw asks.

    "All sorts of things! I am glad to tell you that in our store, we have thousands upon thousands of good movies and TV shows, thousands of novels, millions of songs, comic books, games, anything you can entertain yourself with! Not only that, we also sell skills and abilities! As long as you can afford them, we are glad to do business." Kim introduces the ''Store'' with a proud smile.

    ''So that''s where my billion points went¡­'' Tayaw nods.

    "¡­ Uhhh.. I had a billion points, now I don''t, so I can''t buy anything. Do you know where they went?" Tayaw tests Kim, but just like his question about the roulette, it was ignored again by the woman.

    "¡­ Uhh.. Kim?" Tayaw checks with Kim again.

    "Yes, sir?" Kim replies, frustrating Tayaw.

    "I can''t buy anything right now as I don''t have any points." Tayaw tries again.

    "Well, that''s okay. You can just come back again." Kim says.

    ''Huh¡­ Is Kim an AI robot, or something?'' A funny thought crosses Tayaw''s mind.

    "Where are you from, Kim?" Tayaw asks.

    "¡­" Kim ignores the question again.

    ''Ah¡­ Must be some illusion by whoever gave me this ability. They make Kim ignore questions that are irrelevant to the ''Store'' '' Tayaw can only shrug off his questions.

    "Okay. I''m Tayaw, by the way. I''ll frequent this place in the future." Tayaw introduces himself.

    "Wait! Tayaw?" Kim asks, scaring Tayaw.

    "Yes? You know me?" Tayaw asks.

    "No¡­ but. There is something for you here." Kim stoops down behind the counter and pulls something out.

    "Here it is! Oh! Looks like one of our best products! It''s already been paid for you to pick up!" Kim says as she raises a vinyl record for Tayaw to see.

    ''Post Congenital Perfect Creative Imagery'' ''to be picked up by Tayaw'' Tayaw reads the words printed and written on the record''s cover.

    "Oh! Yes. I''m here to pick that up." Tayaw says, guessing that the record is a side bonus of the point exchange upgrade.

    "Well why didn''t you say so? Here you are." Kim hands the record over.

    "Thank you. Hey, can I look around this place?" Tayaw asks.

    "Well¡­ uh. This place is huge and you''d need LADDERS! Just ask me what you need, and I''ll give you some suggestions. You don''t have to go looking for stuff yourself." Kim says.

    Tayaw processes this information and he immediately decides to test Kim again.

    "Do you sell¡­ Perfect pitch?" Tayaw asks.

    "Perfect Pitch! Ah! We only had one copy! But it was bought by someone. It sold for 10,000,000 points; I think?" Kim says.

    ''Alright. Whoever or whatever gave me the void has a weird of humor'' Tayaw scoffs.

    "That''s too bad¡­ How about Peter McKinsey''s artist record?" Tayaw asks again just for his amus.e.m.e.nt.

    "Oh. Sorry. We don''t have that anymore. But even if we have it on hand, It''s expensive." Kim says.

    "How much?" Tayaw asks.

    "It sold for 100,000,000 so maybe that''s the price we''ll sell it for to you once we get a copy again." Kim replies.

    "¡­" Tayaw can only stare at Kim again to see if she is messing with him. Ultimately he feels like Kim is innocent.

    "I bet you''re also out of stock for your ''Basic Film Making Skills'', right?" Tayaw asks once again.

    "How did you know?" Kim''s eyes widen. "Did someone send you?" Kim asks.

    "PUHHAAHAHA!" Tayaw loses it her words.

    "What''s so funny?" Kim asks.

    "Nothing, Kim. Nothing. Well, you say you have everything, but you don''t have the stuff I''m looking for." Tayaw decides to mess with Kim to see how much she really knows.

    "We had what you were looking for. You just got here later than the buyers." Kim says, almost offended.

    "¡­" Tayaw is taken aback by the good comeback.

    "Okay. You''re right. How about ''Advance Film Making Skills''?" Tayaw asks.

    "That we have! It''s 10 million points!" Kim immediately cites the price proudly.

    Tayaw nods at this.

    ''The billion points is worth it. The randomness of point exchange has reduced significantly. And an AI to make things easier'' Tayaw thinks to himself.

    "Hey Kim. How do I use this record?" Tayaw asks once again.

    "¡­" He is ignored again. Tayaw can only give up.

    "Alright. Can I look around still? I might find something that I might like." Tayaw asks, knowing that Kim will answer this time.

    "Sure! Go ahead." Kim says.

 Chapter 212 - Post â€“ Congenital Perfect Creative Imagery

    (cont''d)

    Getting Kim''s permission to look around, Tayaw goes to the nearest shelf near him and grabs a record. He however notices that the record cover is b.a.r.e, not even a word written on it. Tayaw looks at the others and they too do not have anything written in them. ''Probably just a representation of the View Point exchange. Just like the roulette.'' Tayaw realizes.

    As he looks around more however, a strange feeling dawn upon him.

    The towering shelves around him, spreading to the distance like buildings, along with remembering the numbers Kim spouted to him earlier, is giving him an overwhelming sense of being very small.

    That feeling of insignificance however is fueling a budding sense of responsibility.

    "The only bridge between these great works and my world is me. What happens when I die eventually? Will these disappear along with me?" Tayaw cannot help but feel the pressure.

    "But I can''t possible recreate these all by myself¡­" Tayaw starts hyperventilating at the task at hand, his limbs starting to tingle, his head starting to feel light.

    A few moments later.

    "Nah... Nah, nah, nah. There''s no way. Whoever sent me back in time and rewarded me with this, has the power I can barely comprehend. They had the power to make me a slave to reproduce these things, but they didn''t. Of course, they could also have a back-up plan in case I did something stupid that killed me¡­" Tayaw recovers with the help of his own rationalization.

    "Still¡­ F*ck my guilt. F*ck my pride. In case this white void really dies with me someday, I''ll have to recreate the ones I want and can¡­  The movies for starters. Film makers in my world are learning quick like Jouny, Xiao Song, and Gary are. Actors are getting better day by day. It''ll take more time for the world to catch up with the films I''ve released, but when it''s all ready, I''ll flood the market¡­

    "Maybe there will come a time when the films made in my world can finally match the ones in here. By then, I won''t have to reproduce anymore films." Tayaw takes a deep breath, feeling better by his planning.

    "Alright. I''ve seen enough." As Tayaw wills it, he is transported outside the ''Arts Records Shop''.

    "What about you?" Tayaw talks to the record he received from Kim, wondering how to use it.

    "F*ck it." Tayaw simply shakes the record cover vertically and he catches what looks like a white vinyl record that slid out from under it. As soon as the entirety of the disc is out from its cover, Tayaw had no time to examine it as it starts dissipating in his hand into white smoke.

    The white smoke then condenses back into a shape of a string and it stabs Tayaw in the head. *sss* Tayaw takes a deep breath, startled and scared by the proceedings. The next moment, a headache came and Tayaw holds his head to endure it.

    "Phew¡­ Thank goodness, it wasn''t that bad." Tayaw sighs in relief as the final strand of smoke enters his head.

    "But¡­ what the f.u.c.k is Post ¨C Congenital Perfect Creative Imagery?" Tayaw is dumbfounded, finding nothing has changed.

    "Come to think of it¡­ If I received the perfect pitch without my knowledge, or even if I was born with it, maybe it''ll take me a while to years to realize I have it¡­" Tayaw tries his hard to think further of the ability he just acquired.

    "Imagery, Imagery¡­ the only thing I can think of is Guided Imagery by those Psychologist wannabes¡­ Hmmm.. Maybe it''s like that?" Tayaw guesses as he switches his vision from the direction of where Earl''s Guitar and Dolan''s Pen is, to an empty portion of the void.

    "Let''s imagine¡­" Tayaw closes his eyes.

    "Gonzalo¡­" Tayaw then opens his eyes and is almost shocked at what he is seeing.

    Right in front of him, is a transparent featureless shadow of Gonzalo Coniglio, sitting on a high-tech wheelchair, just like how Gonzalo was the last time Tayaw saw him conscious.

    "Silhouette¡­ Gonzalo''s eyes¡­ nose¡­ lips¡­ hair¡­" The more Tayaw tries to remember what Gonzalo looked like, Gonzalo''s silhouette gains each feature that Tayaw is thinking of.

    "That''s not right¡­" Tayaw notices that the Gonzalo in front of him has wrong features.

    "No. Eyes were like this¡­ nose like this¡­" Tayaw tweaks Gonzalo''s image more, with his enhanced brain and memory making it easy for him to do so.

    "Finally. His gummy smile." Tayaw is finally done, and a clear Gonzalo is in front of him, wearing his grandfatherly gummy smile.

    "Hello. Gonzalo." Tayaw greets his own imagination.

    "Ciao, bambino." His imagination of Gonzalo replies, weirding Tayaw out.

    "¡­ NO." Tayaw says and the image of Gonzalo simply disappears as if it was never there.

    "Holy f*ck¡­ Eerie¡­ and Dangerous." Tayaw sighs in relief.

    "Post ¨C Congenital Perfect Creative Imagery my b.u.t.t. Why not just name it ''Perfect Imagination''?" Tayaw criticizes the name of the ability to shrug off how eerie it was.

    "Thankfully, I need focus to do it. Or else, my stray thoughts will blend into my perception of the real world. Wouldn''t that be a shit show¡­" Tayaw chuckles. And with that, he is kicked out of the white void.

    ~~

    2 PM ¨C Snail Records, Nashville TN

    "Hey¡­ did Isaac really sign with us?" Bart asks the young woman, Angela, standing beside him in front of the receptionist table at Snail Records'' lobby.

    "Yeah. Cody said so himself." Angela says, her gaze switching between the direction of the main entrance and the corridor leading to the back entrance of the building, obviously watching out for Tayaw.\.

    "I don''t get why Cody had to call us in though? We didn''t hear from him for a month and we got this news. Does he want us to welcome the guy like a king?" Bart says, rolling his eyes.

    "Heh. Ain''t that true. I don''t see why Isaac has anything to do with us. I should be at Percy Priest right now, fishin''." Angela says.

    "Why did he have to sign with us, though?" Bart sighs in frustration.

    "What do you mean? We get a share by his popularity at least." Angela says.

    "Yeah. But now the label''s attention and marketing will all be focused on him, instead of us. We''ve been here from the start." Bart says in barely suppressed indignation.

    "¡­ True¡­ well... It''s not like you have anything going on right now, right? I don''t. By the time Cody has songs for me, Isaac''s probably back to making films again." Angela shrugs.

    "That-.. well, whatever. He''s already famous. He doesn''t need a label." Bart says.

    "¡­ That''s true. I can''t believe Cody pulled him in. Not to mention, he''s one of the best I''ve seen." Angela says.

    "Still, if he gets more special treatment than Strawberry Front has, I''m gonna quit." Bart says.

    "Psh¡­ are you serious? Will other labels even treat you as well as Cody is doing?" Angela scoffs, shutting Bart up.

    Suddenly, something catches Bart at the corner of his eyes. He spots a tall, handsome man enter through the main door.

    Bart would have simply glanced over the man had he not noticed something strange. The man is wearing sports casual outfit; too thick for the hot and humid August weather of Nashville. He also notices the man''s fair, but non-Caucasian skin; belonging to an ethnicity that is rarely seen in a Nashville record label.

    "¡­ Isaac¡­" Bart utters in realization.

    Having watched the man''s performances online more times that he wants to admit, it did not take much for pieces to click in Bart''s head that the man who just arrived is Tayaw.

    "What?" Angela hears what Bart just muttered and she perks up.

    Before she can find Tayaw, Tayaw is already in front of the two.

    "Hi! Bart, right? And, Angela! Nice to meet you two. I''ve seen both your pictures in this place." Tayaw greets them and offers his hand for a handshake.

    "Nice to meet you too!" "Hey man." Angela and Bart can only subconsciously greet Tayaw.

    "¡­" The two however soon cannot say anything further; star struck that the man they consider as the best artist of their generation is in front of them.

    "Let''s go talk to Cody first, he must be waiting for us. Then let''s get to know each other." Tayaw says, pulling the two out of their daze.

    ~~~

    "Isaac! You''re back!" Cody welcomes Tayaw to the label''s studio.

    "Cody. You look happy." Tayaw notes.

    "¡­" Bart and Angela can only exchange glances at each other after being ignored by their own CEO.

    "Of course, I am! Let me tell you. So far, we''ve booked 57 shows! That''s enough for twelve weeks!" Cody gladly reports.

    "Nice¡­" Tayaw, despite having an idea at how many people listened to his songs, is still surprised that many venues want him.

    "¡­" Bart and Angela immediately realize that Tayaw is planning a concert tour.

    "Kid. Why not extend your tour until January? Or February?" Cody asks.

    "Nah. Maybe when I release my next album, I''ll tour longer." Tayaw says.

    "That''s a shame¡­ There are more who are interested after the venues we booked bragged to them. If you want them all, you can tour for a whole year straight." Cody says.

    "¡­" Bart and Angela can only hide their jealousy at the number of shows Tayaw is going to have and could have.

    "How about the backing band''s practice? Are they going well?" Tayaw asks.

    "Heh. You have very strict standards but they''re good. They were rather happy that you''re doing southern rock and folk rock instead of just country." Cody says.

    "Yeah. I find it a waste of their skills for them just to play boring stuff." Tayaw nods.

    Bart cannot listen any further.

    "Cody¡­ Why are we here? I''m not sure if we''re even allowed to listen to your business with Isaac." Bart says.

    "Right¡­ Let''s go, Bart." Angela too is feeling disrespected.

    As the two young singers turn around to leave the room, "WAIT. Wait." Cody realizes how ins.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e he was. Fortunately his words are enough to stop Bart and Angela from leaving.

    "*sigh* I''m sorry guys. Isaac. It''s better if it comes from you." Cody says.

    "Bart¡­ Angela¡­ I heard you two need new songs. How would you like to listen to the songs I have written for you two?" Tayaw gets to the point immediately.

    "¡­" Bart and Angela are speechless at the offer. "S-sure..." Angela manages to get a word out.

    "Well¡­ that too. But I was talking about the two of joining the line-up for his tour. That''s the priority for now." Cody adds.

    "¡­" Bart and Angela were speechless earlier, now they start hyperventilating.

 Chapter 213 - Time Passes.

    October 14, 2013 ¨C 6:30 AM, Monday ¨C Okuba High School

    / "Here are the nominees. Oliver Sutton ''Behind the Veil''; Micah Owen, ''The Goalkeeper''; Nicolas Bonsch, ''Wie Die Mutter, So Die Tochter''; Mariano Guerrero ''Amas Es Perdonar''; Damien Buchanan, ''Australia¡­"

    "The 2013 Toronto Film Festival Best Actor Award goes to¡­ *Drum Roll* DAMIEN BUCHANAN, ''AUSTRALIA'' *APPLAUSE* *CHEERS*

    "Thank you. Everyone. It''s an honor. First, I want to thank Gary Messick, Jun Xiao Song, Helena Paddington, and Isaac Yawat for the opportunity to try something new¡­" *applause*

    ~~

    "Here are the nominees. Carlos Macias ''Seamless Touch''. Axel Tausche''Wie Die Mutter, So Die Tochter''. Luke Irwin ''The Goalkeeper''. Fabian Groth ''Behind the Veil''. Jun Xiao Song ''Australia'' ¡­

    "The 2013 Toronto Film Festival Best Director goes to¡­ *Drum Roll* JUN XIAO SONG! AUSTRALIA! Congratulations!" *APPLAUSE* *CHEERS*

    "Thank you. Thank you. First of all. I want to thank Helena Paddington, the original author of the book. *applause*. I did not direct this film alone. It was a joint project by me and Gary Messick, with Isaac as our¡­ guide. *murmur in the audience*.

    "It was a learning experience and with this, I am confident that not only I, but also Gary will make better and better films in the future¡­ ¡­ This award not only goes to me but to Gary and Isaac. *APPALUSE*

    ~~

    "Here are the nominees. ''Behind the Veil'' *applause* ''The Goalkeeper'' *applause* ''Wie Die Mutter, So Die Tochter'' *applause* ''Amas Es Perdonar'' *applause* ''Australia'' *applause* ¡­

    "And the 2013 Toronto Film Festival Best Picture goes to¡­ *drum roll*¡­ ''AUSTRALIA''! CONGRATULATIONS! Please come up on stage and receive your award." *APPLAUSE* *CHEER*

    "On behalf of the cast and crew of ''Australia'', I Gary Messick, thank you Toronto Film Festival for recognizing our work. I want to thank Helena Paddington for writing a great story that we cannot help but make into a film.

    "The cast and crew also deserve as much recognition as I have. Folks, you have humbled me by your discipline, professionalism and talent. We never would have made it out alive in ''Australia'' if it weren''t for your teamwork. Congratulations¡­ *APPLAUSE*

    "Lastly, I want to thank Isaac. Boy, you have taught an old dog like me, new tricks. I know I already told you this, but, hadn''t you come along, I never would have thought to have my hand in a movie like this before I retire. Thank you for showing me that there is something more about film while I can still make them." *APPLAUSE* *CHEERS*

    =========

    /"Here are the nominees.

    Amba Jarra ''The Underdog''.

    Einu Cooban ''A Ball of Straw''.

    Reed Yondo ''Forgive Her''.

    Kyman Guillunian ''Remembering our Night''.

    Nielg Dilla ''Hope In Innocence''¡­

    The 2013 Clambu Film Festival Best Actor goes to¡­

    *Drum roll* NIELG DILLA! ''Hope In Innocence''! Congratulations."

    *APPLAUSE*

    ~this is the first CFFA nomination and win for Nielg Dilla~

    "Thank you. Everyone. I feel weird, standing here. Am I dreaming? *chuckles in the audience*

    "Anyways. I don''t feel that I deserve this award, but still, to my idols Amba, Einu, Reed, and Kyman; let me have this just this once. Y''all are better actors than me anyway, so you have plenty of chances in the future. *Chuckles in the audience*.

    "On a serious note, I thank my parents. Your son is finally a good actor! I won a trophy for it! *chuckles in the audience* ¡­

    "I thank Jouny for giving me this role and trusting me with it¡­ I thank Yodar and Memmah, the kids in the film. I don''t know if I''d have played a convincing father without you kids¡­

    "I thank Uranto Virenza for helping me become a better actor while preparing for this role.

    "Ah. I also thank Dr. Hietgo for allowing me to watch you work, teaching me how to act like a convincing doctor and surgeon.

    "I also want to thank Isaac Yawat for opening the door for me and showing me that I have potential outside of my comedy troupe.

    "Finally. I thank my comedy troupe and our show ''Mad Concert''. The things I''ve learned with you helps me a lot. Thank you all."

    *APPLAUSE* *CHEERS*

    ~~~

    "Here are the nominees... (hard to come up with random weird names).

    "The 2013 Clambu Film Festival Award for Best Director goes to¡­ JOUNY YALEN! HOPE IN INNOCENCE! *applause* *applause*

    ~This is the second CFFA nomination and win for Jouny Yalen~

    "Thank you! Good evening. I still can''t believe it. *applause* *woos*

    "I would have been satisfied winning Best Screenwriter, after all, that''s my main job. *APPLAUSE*

    "Thank you judges, all for recognizing the depth and story that I wanted to convey.

    "First of all, I want to thank my husband, my mother, and my mother-in-law for supporting me in this, for taking care of my newborn son while I selfishly went gallivanting to make a film. *APPLAUSE* *LAUGHTER*

    "I also want to thank my son, Steve, for being the inspiration for this film. I know it''s going to be odd once you understand what this film is about when you grow up, but you have a weird mom. *APPLAUSE* *LAUGHTER*.

    "Moving on. I want to thank my friends Uranto, Nielg, and Iliene. It would have been awful working if it wasn''t for you, dear friends¡­

    "Finally, to Isaac Yawat, thank you, not only because you funded my film. *chuckles* Thank you for making my script your first film. *applause*. I''m thankful the most however, for teaching me everything I know about film making, for letting me bother you and getting in your way while shooting your films. Thank you for taking a risk for me. That''s all. Thank you once again."

    ~~~

    "Here are the nominees.

    ''The Underdog''

    ''A Ball of Straw''

    ''Forgive Her''

    ''Remembering our Night''

    ''Hope In Innocence''¡­

    "The 2013 Clambu Film Festival Best Picture Award goes to¡­ ''HOPE IN INNOCENCE''! CONTRATULATIONS! *APPLAUSE* *CHEERS*"

    -------------------

    *CLACK*

    "That can''t be right¡­ Is he really Tayaw? I saw him on TV and YouTube too, you know? How can it be him? And now, you''re telling me these big showbiz people are shouting him out? Really?" Eletta pauses the video playing on Fenaz''s laptop, and asks in skepticism at the ridiculous claim.

    "Yes! I''ve been researching him up since the summer break!" Fenaz says.

    "Didn''t you have anything better to do?" Eletta scoffs at the man.

    "It was hot and humid. I''d rather stay inside." Fenaz says.

    "You''ve stayed ins-.. whatever. What makes you think it''s really Tayaw, then?" Eletta asks, realizing Fenaz, a bachelor, had plenty of time to investigate.

    "Look. Kilat said Tayaw went to Northwestern University, right?" Fenaz asks.

    "She did? I did not know that." Eletta says.

    "That''s what she told me¡­  Anyways. I traced back the first performance of Tayaw I can find. It''s this here¡­" Fenaz opens a clip of the first busking of Percussive Corrections at Monna Park.

    "This. Look at these comments. ''Northwestern Uni guys serenading NIT folks.'' Then look at the vocalist. That''s Isaac, right?" Fenaz says.

    "Sure." Eletta nods.

    "Isaac Yawat is his stage name now, but during this time his name was just ''Yawat''. Don''t  you see it? He simply reversed ''Tayaw''!" Fenaz says.

    "Okay. That''s reasonable. But he looks nothing like the Tayaw we know!" Eletta argues.

    "I know! That''s why it took me a long time to connect the dots! I wasn''t sure of it until I dug deeper over the weekend ... Look, we haven''t seen him since he graduated. That''s more than three years ago.

    "What if he got taller? Lost a lot weight? Lost all his baby fat since then? Look closer. If only he removes his shades, then you can definitely see!" Fenaz argues back.

    "¡­" Eletta is getting convinced.

    "Here''s a colossal evidence." Fenaz minimizes his browser and clicks on a folder. In the folder are files and Fenaz opens one of them.

    "This¡­ is the photo taken two years ago in Nashville by Kilat with her family. Look¡­ Find Tayaw." Fenaz says.

    "¡­" Eletta immediately recognizes Tayaw, only a better ¨C looking, skinnier, and fairer-skinned than the Tayaw she last saw.

    "That¡­" She also finds the resemblance between the Tayaw in the photo and the current Isaac that Fenaz showed her.

    "And here¡­ *clack*" Fenaz opens another file with the same photo, only he edited a cartoonish pair of shades on Tayaw''s eyes.

    "¡­" Eletta''s eyes widen. "No way¡­" She says, Fenaz''s theory starting to solidify in her mind.

    "Right? We have an internationally famous singer and film maker as our alumnus." Fenaz sighs in satisfaction, seeing Eletta convinced.

    "Then... Why has Kilat not talked to us about this? If I was her, I wouldn''t keep my mouth shut..." Eletta asks.

    "Talked about what?" The two are startled by Kilat, who they did not realize have just arrived in the faculty office.

    "Uhhh.. Good morning Mrs. Dagem! You''re early!" Fenaz asks, finding the first thing he can say.

    "Coming from someone who came in earlier?" Kilat lays her things on her desk.

    "Mr. - ... Wait. Fenaz, why are you addressing me like that? We''re all teachers here." Kilat asks the man, remembering how he addressed her.

    "And what are you two looking at over there?" Kilat adds as she noticed earlier the two teachers almost sticking their heads together behind the laptop screen.

    "Noth-.." Fenaz is about to deny, but Eletta slaps his arm.

    "Kilat¡­ Is Tayaw Isaac Yawat?" Eletta asks without filter.

    "¡­" Kilat''s face freeze at this while trying to hide her surprise.

    "¡­" The two teachers, experts at spotting bullshit of students, immediately notice the strange expression on Kilat''s face. Kilat, also not expecting such question, had no time to prepare a poker face, much more a convincing lie.

    "Is Tayaw what?" Kilat denies after recovering.

    The denial is too late however.

    "Oh my god¡­ HE IS ISAAC!" Fenaz exclaims, finally confirming that what he found in his ''investigation'' is all true.

    "¡­ Whoahh¡­" Eletta too figures out just basing on Kilat''s face alone.

    "SHHH!! SHHH!! SHHH!!" Kilat shushes the two in panic.

    "Guys¡­ Please... We need to talk." Kilat can only prepare herself to convince the two to not spread the information around.

 Chapter 214 - Tour and White Void Again

    October 18, 2013 ¨C 11 pm, Friday ¨C Manhattan Center, New York, NY

    "That was us. Good night!" Tayaw strums his string one last time for the night.

    *APPLAUSE* *APPLAUSE* The packed 2,200 capacity Hammerstein Ballroom erupts into cheers and applause as Tayaw leave the stage with his slick black electric guitar.

    *CL.A.P~* *CL.A.P~* *CL.A.P~* The crowd however start clapping rhythmically, in unison, hoping that Tayaw will come back to the stage for a second Encore.

    The band members, already familiar with the scene, urge one of their members to do something.

    "Hello. Sorry everyone. Isaac has already played for almost two hours. Let''s let him rest. We also love to play more, but we''re exhausted." A member of the backing band addresses the crowd.

    "Even if we can play more, we''re already thirty minutes over-time." She says.

    *BOOO* *GROANS* The crowd express their dissatisfaction but they understand nonetheless.

    -Backstage-

    "Great show."

    "I''m glad you loved it. Thank you for coming."

    Like every show, the tour organizers have chosen tens of front row crowd members to bring backstage to have a meet and greet with Tayaw. The organizers are having the show attendees line-up in a queue while Tayaw goes to each of them for a handshake or a simple exchange of compliments.

    "Oh. Here are my CDs. Makes the tickets worth it."

    "Oh! Thanks man! I can''t find these anywhere!"

    "That''s because I don''t sell them."

    There is also a staff member following Tayaw carrying a sack containing the CD copies of Tayaw''s country album ''On The Road'', and his latest album ''19''. Each fan that Tayaw is done talking to, receives CDs.

    "Hey Isaac. Can you sign my shirt too?"

    "Hey Isaac. Can you sign my cap?"

    "Hey Isaac. Can you sign my guitar?"

    These fans are pretty much amicable and are satisfied with a few handshakes and small favors but on rare occasions, there are very passionate fans.

    "*sniff* *Sniff* Isaac! I love you!" A young female fan in tears cannot stop herself from throwing herself to Tayaw for a hug once it''s her turn to talk to Tayaw.

    "Miss. You can''t do that." A few guards around following Tayaw are about to pry the young lady from Tayaw when Tayaw gestured them not to.

    "Okay.. Okay.. Nice to meet you¡­ But please, let go, or else I''ll get mobbed. You wouldn''t want that, would you?" Tayaw whispers to the lady.

    "Okay~." The young lady, despite not understanding entirely what Tayaw said, lets go, hypnotized by Tayaw''s whisper.

    "Hey. Did you enjoy the show."

    "Oh. Very much! Why don''t you uh¡­ call me later?"

    "Uhhh.. okay¡­" Tayaw can handle the passionate fans like the young lady, well.

    The people he is still uncomfortable dealing with however, are the ones who offer their ''company'' by slipping slips of paper containing their phone numbers, in his pocket. He experienced it often in his previous life from the lady fans of Percussive Corrections but compared to then, his fame now attracts more. The best thing he can think of is to just give the ladies a vague reply.

    A few fans later.

    "¡­" Tayaw is speechless as he recognizes his next ''fan''.

    "HEY~ ISAAC!" Payew who was incidentally chosen by the organizers, exaggeratedly greets Tayaw as he gives a bear hug.

    This startles the guards behind Tayaw and they get ready for action before Tayaw''s reaction confuses them.

    "LET GO MAN! WHAT THE F.U.C.K!? AHAHAHAHAHA" Tayaw laughs uncontrollably as Payew tickles him during the hug.

    The other fans also look on confused not understanding the Teungebian spoken by both young men.

    "Okay¡­ Shit. Nice show by the way. And the place is packed! I knew you have hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, but I didn''t actually think they''d show up!" Payew finally lets go as he expresses his surprise.

    "Yeah. At first, I thought they''re just numbers, but I didn''t think they''d actually convert easy to ticket sales. Every show, but one is sold out. It''s incredible." Tayaw says, giving Payew a fist bump.

    The two''s familiarity with each other calms the guards down.

    It has been 48 days since Tayaw started his tour of America. 48 days, 8 states, 16 major cities, 32 sold out shows, and 38,000 tickets sold.

    "Alright. I''ll come visit you tomorrow. I still have two more shows in town." Tayaw cuts down their interaction as he has plenty of time to spend with Payew.

    "That''s great." Payew nods and with that Tayaw moves to the next fan.

    "Thank you for coming. Here''s your CDs." The staff offers Payew.

    "No thank you. I already have them." Payew refuses the CDs, which confuses the other fans.

    ~

    After the meet and greet, Tayaw heads back to his camper van outside at the parking lot with the security guards.

    Unlike Bart, Angela, the backing band, and the other staff sharing three tour buses, Tayaw decided to hire a smaller trailer van just for himself. He received many strange gazes from that, but once they found out that everything comes out of Tayaw''s pockets, they become thankful.

    "So¡­ How many this time?" Bart who has been waiting for Tayaw by the camper van, asks.

    "Lost count." Tayaw smugly says.

    "That many, huh?" Bart scoffs, not surprised at all.

    "Yeah¡­ I bet you got some too, huh." Tayaw says.

    "Three." Bart says.

    "Not gonna call one of them?" Tayaw asks.

    "Nah. I''m a good Christian boy with a loving Christian girlfriend. How about you? What''s your excuse for not calling back at least one? You have a van of your own. *wink* *wink*" Bart asks.

    "Tired. Got better things to do. Rest." Tayaw explains shortly.

    "So.. what do you really need?" Tayaw asks, knowing that Bart will simply not approach him unless it is important, or if Bart invites him for a drink.

    "I just finished writing a song this morning. I''d like to hear your thoughts on it." Bart says, excited.

    "Not worried I''ll steal it?" Tayaw says as he opens the van''s door.

    "You''re the last guy to steal songs. Come on." Bart shrugs.

    "Alright. Come on in. Let''s talk while we drive to the lot." Tayaw invites Bart in the van.

    ~

    "Thanks Isaac. I''ll try using what you suggested." Bart finally bids his goodbye after an hour of talking with Tayaw about his song.

    "Alright. Here. Go find a hotel or something. We''ll be here two more days anyway." Tayaw gives Bart a few hundred-dollar bills.

    "¡­" Bart is dumbfounded and stares at Tayaw not knowing what to say.

    "Oh cool it. You deserve it. You''re doing a great job opening. I also gave a bonus to Angela. She must be in a massage spa right now. You too should relax. I know that your bus is comfy, but six weeks in it is not healthy." Tayaw says.

    "Well. Thank you then." Bart says, gratefully before leaving the van to return to his bus.

    "¡­"

    Tayaw finally alone, he opens his laptop to work on something.

    Before Tayaw can open Unity Engine, he realizes something.

    "Oh¡­ I was done this morning."

    Ever since the tour started, Tayaw has not only been busy arranging his songs and practicing with his backing band, he also began reproducing the first five video games he received from the void.

    The final game he finished recreating, being the most difficult one, is ''Super Nerio Brothers'' and already created versions of it for existing handheld game consoles.

    "So¡­ what now?" Tayaw is lost at what to do.

    "Well. I''ll release them once the tour''s over¡­ Meanwhile¡­ Having fun isn''t a bad idea." Tayaw decides and he enters the white void.

    Upon entering, he immediately picks up the arcade controller to play a game.

    "¡­ Hmmm. Auto Theft Grand III sounds fun." After the hologram display boots up,

    Tayaw chooses the game. *sssks* The white arcade controller transforms into a white computer keyboard and mouse.

    Since the exchange system in the void changed from the giant roulette to the giant record store, his view points once again start re-filling at an average of 3 million a day. Tayaw figures that a majority of it comes from the views of ''Gold, Blood, and The Deer'' and his songs which includes the one from his albums and the ones in the soundtracks of the other films he worked on. The rest of the View Points he guesses, perhaps come from ''The Ruler''s Ring, Companionship of the Nine'' and the rest of the stuff he released.

    When the second week of October came, his View Points climbed up to a hundred million again so he decided to buy more stuff from Kim at the ''record store''.

    This includes more modern games like the Auto Theft Grand series and some fighting games for a few million View Points. He passed on sports games as there are plenty of it in his world.

    The white void also made the original arcade machine that only allowed him to play basic 2d games like Quad Blocks and The Super Nerio Brothers, into something that transforms into more powerful game consoles and computers, as if allowing Tayaw to play the more modern games that he bought.

    A few minutes of playing later, "¡­ Too bad I can''t take this thing outside¡­" Tayaw sighs regretfully as he turns off the arcade machine.

    "While I make two to three million View Points a day, it''s still a waste spending them on playing."

    Tayaw feels a bit indignant that the void charges more View Points per minute of playing the arcade machine than what it charges Tayaw for practicing guitar from Earl Thompson''s guitar, or practicing drawing and writing from Dolan Nungo''s fountain pen.

    "What now¡­ I''ve passed time here but not on the outside world." Tayaw thinks to himself how to pass time while he waits for the void to kick him out instead of him leaving with his will.

    "Wait¡­ Let''s see that¡­" An idea pops up in Tayaw''s head and he immediately leaves the white void.

    Returning to the real world, Tayaw immediately looks up on the internet what it takes to make or even own what he is thinking about.

    A few minutes later¡­

    "Nah. Too difficult. Requires a LOT of experts to make¡­ I wonder if they will even sell it to me. Can I even afford it?" Tayaw shakes his head.

    "Unless¡­" Another idea pops up in his mind.

    "I mean¡­ It''s possible, right? The stuff the void gave me is all about arts and entertainment. It even gave me superhuman abilities¡­ Alright¡­ Maybe Kim has it." Tayaw enters the void once again and heads immediately to the ''Record Shop''.

    "Hey Kim. How are you today?" Tayaw asks as he enters the ''Record Shop''.

    "Boring. Our store has many things, but only you can afford them." Kim says.

    "¡­" Tayaw already figured out long ago that the white void made Kim think she is working at an actual store.

    "Anyways¡­ Do you sell game engines?" Tayaw asks.

    "Game engines?" Kim ponders for a second.

    "YES! We do!" Kim says proudly.

    "You do? How much?" Tayaw asks excitedly.

    "We have a couple actually. They range from 100,000 points to 100,000,000 Points!" Kim says.

    "WHAT?!" Tayaw is almost floored.

    "Well. You can buy the cheapest one." Kim says.

    "Why so expensive... Peter McKinsey''s artist record is 100,000,000¡­" Tayaw ponders.

    "I dunno." Kim overhears him and simply shrugs.

    "Alright. Is there something that I can buy for 40,000,000 Points?" Tayaw asks for the price basing on the amount he can comfortably part with.

    "Yes¡­ But do you have Advanced 3d Game Development skills? If you don''t, I can''t sell it." Kim says.

    "I don''t. How much is that?" Tayaw asks, understanding that he needs the skills to use the game engine.

    "10,000,000 Points." Kim says. Tayaw''s eyes widen at the price.

    "Okay. I''ll buy the game engine knowledge plus the advanced 3d game development skills." Tayaw clenches his teeth.

    "But I can''t sell Advanced 3d Game Development skills without Intermediate 3d Game Development Skills, Foundations of 3d Game Development skills, and Intermediate 2d Game Development Skills." Kim spouts a mouthful.

    Tayaw has become numb at this, allowing himself to find a possible reason.

    ''I knew it. No wonder the best game engines require a LOT of experts to make. And maybe the white void won''t let me make a game engine without knowing how to make games with it.'' Tayaw sighs in acceptance.

    "Alright. How much are those in total?" Tayaw asks.

    "62,500,000 points." Kim quickly totals.

    "*sigh* I''ll take them. You cut me in half today, Kim." Tayaw says in defeat.

    "It''s my p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e." Kim smiles with her usual customer service smile.

    Kim then raises her hand and opens it palm up. Tayaw has witnessed the gesture before and so he waits in anticipation.

    Soon, ball of light appears on Kim''s palm before shortly disappearing, revealing a stack of records.

 Chapter 215 - Starting Something New

    (cont''d)

    "So¡­ that''s how it is¡­" Tayaw utters to himself as he returns to the real world.

    He had just absorbed everything he bought from Kim.

    "The game engine is already expensive but it didn''t give me actual knowledge. Just the code to copy down." Tayaw chuckles mirthlessly.

    "What a waste. I should have just f.u.c.kin studied. With my enhanced brain, in no time, I could have made my own engine. Linear Algebra isn''t that hard math wise and I have some of the geometry knowledge required for it. ... " Tayaw starts day dreaming, confident in his abilities.

    "I''m pretty sure I can learn a programming language easily. I''m confident in my physics too¡­ It won''t take me a lot of time to develop a math and physics engine¡­. Oh¡­ wait." Tayaw''s confidence disappears the next moment however as he realizes something.

    "I''m clueless with algorithms and artificial intelligence¡­ Okay. I was wrong. 40 million points is worth it. It''s easier than learning shit from scratch." Tayaw''s mood rises once again before quickly falling back down.

    "F*ck. Typing millions of lines of codes is gonna be a pain in the a.s.s. Especially if I don''t understand what I''m typing." Tayaw sighs.

    "But hey. I get to pass time easily with this¡­" Tayaw shrugs.

    "But¡­ I don''t want to pass a lot of time either¡­" Tayaw''s shoulders stiffen.

    "Instead¡­ Why not get one of the staff to drive this van for extra pay¡­ while I sit my a.s.s and type?" Tayaw is satisfied by his brilliant idea.

    ~

    A few hours later.

    *tatatatatatatatatataptaptap*

    *tatatatatatatap-ta-tap-tap*

    Tayaw has been typing code for a few hours now and is interrupted by a ray of sunlight hitting a window of his van.

    "Damn¡­ How long was I typing? UHHHHH..." Tayaw stretches his body as he checks the time.

    "Shit¡­ 8AM¡­ Well let''s see¡­ seven hours¡­ and I''ve only typed out around 200,000 lines ¡­ so not even 1%. Damn." Tayaw sighs.

    "Whatever. I''ll finish eventually. But for now, Payew must be waiting for me." Tayaw immediately closes his laptop and starts stripping off his clothes to take a shower.

    *ring**ring* Right after he removes his u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r, his phone rings.

    "Come on¡­" Tayaw is dumbfounded at the timing.

    "Hello Cody. What''s up? I know you can call me anytime between 8am and 8pm, but come on man, it''s Saturday." Tayaw says.

    /Oh¡­ Sorry. But, your type treats the weekends as their work days./ Cody says.

    "True. So, what''s up? You must have been waiting for the clock to strike 8 before calling, right?" Tayaw asks.

    /Wrong it''s 7 here¡­ Anways. I''ve received a few calls for private gigs./ Cody says.

    "Private gigs? What does those have to do with you?" Tayaw asks.

    /Nothing. But, come on. At least pay me for the trouble of receiving these calls. You know, I can''t refuse too or I might offend some people./ Cody says.

    "¡­" Tayaw is feeling guilty.

    ''Come to think of it. Chala too would complain from reading the e-mails if he''s not earning millions from my books.'' Tayaw realizes.

    "Okay. I''ll go buy a phone right now. I''ll send you the number later, then you give them the number. I''ll deal with them." Tayaw says.

    /*Sigh*/ Cody is audibly disappointed. Tayaw chuckles at the reaction.

    "Hey. Bart and Angela are starting to gain fans outside Nashville and it''s not even 50 days in the tour. By the time we''re done, they''ll be receiving private gigs themselves. Then you earn from that." Tayaw says.

    /Hey. I didn''t say anything. Besides, Strawberry Front''s private gigs have been keeping us afloat./ Cody becomes defensive.

    "Whatever man. I''ve got somewhere to go. Bye~!"

    ~

    1PM - Washington Square Park

    "Alright. It was nice seeing you again." Tayaw says.

    "Yeah. It''s hard to make friends with people here. Thank you for hanging out with me even though your busy." Payew says.

    The two spent the entire morning having breakfast, having a walk around Washington Square Park chatting about various things, and having lunch at a fancy restaurant.

    "How about other Teungebian students?" Tayaw asks.

    "Nah. The entitled f.u.c.ks. They''re sons of rich families from home. Did you know that one of them is the son of Lokning Artras?" Payew says.

    "That billionaire from Kangpan?" Tayaw is surprised.

    "Yeah. Guy''s son is an arrogant asshole. I don''t like him. He even gave another student a car just to become his friend." Payew says.

    "Well? Why don''t you give someone a car too? Make some friends? I''ve got enough money." Tayaw jokes.

    "heh¡­ f*ck that." Payew catches on immediately.

    "Instead. Why not give me that vintage car you used last time? It''s probably rotting in your Jericho mansion anyway. Why not let me use it?" Payew says.

    "Okay.  Get a license first. Then I lend it to you. But if that gets even one scratch, I''m whoopin your a.s.s." Tayaw says. This gets Payew excited.

    "My Jeep still looks good as new when I left it at home. I''m good at taking care of cars." Payew says.

    "Good."

    ~

    5PM ¨C Cognito Technologies Headquarters, Queens New York

    "Mr. Dagem. Welcome."

    "Mr. Dagem. It''s been a long long while. You should have given us a heads up."

    Gabriel Schulz and Fred Keaton, respectively, greet Tayaw by the entrance of the house.

    "Hello! How have you two been?" Tayaw greets the two top personnel of Cognito.

    Gabriel Schulz, being the CEO that Tayaw hired, and Fred Keaton, the owner of the remaining 49% of the company.

    "So¡­ what happened since the last time?" Tayaw asks.

    "Good news, generally¡­ Let''s talk while as we walk¡­" Gabriel leads the way.

    Cognito has finally released their artificial intelligence and software programs to smartphone and camera manufacturers. Their accurate face detection and scenery detection especially impressed the people in Samsung. Cognito''s photography software made Samsung''s latest cameras in their smart phones better than the cameras of iPhones, in some aspects.

    "They dared to BUY our software for themselves even." Fred says.

    "So what happened?" Tayaw asks.

    Cognito pulled out from negotiation with Samsung and expressed their intentions of going to Apple. The Samsung people, not wanting iPhone to get ahead even further, decided instead to offer Cognito an exclusive contract and royalties per phone that uses the software.

    "So, from then on, we managed to earn $30 million dollars." Gabriel reports.

    "Nice¡­" Tayaw is impressed.

    "Yeah. Also, we started a partnership with GoPro and Sony. Our AI is probably one of the best if not THE best motion detect software out there. We''ve also earned some big bucks from the exclusive licensing." Fred reports.

    "So that''s why you haven''t approached me for further funding." Tayaw says.

    "Yeah¡­ oh. Fred. How about that thing you just started working on since the start of the year?" Gabriel avoids talking about money, for Tayaw''s sake.

    "Oh.. that! Yeah! We''re well on our way on making the AI for facial recognition." Fred reports.

    "Let me guess. For security purposes? You use the front camera of the phone to unlock it." Tayaw says.

    "¡­" Gabriel is stunned at Tayaw''s correct guess, but Fred is not.

    "You''re right." Fred smiles proudly.

    "You guys are ahead, huh. People are only starting to figure it out, and here you guys are, already working the software." Tayaw says.

    "We are. Once a phone comes out with a good camera that can handle the software, we''re the first to offer the feature." Fred nods.

    "¡­" Tayaw is now feeling proud and weird, witnessing the beginning of one of the leading high-tech companies in his previous life.

    "Okay. Where''s Steven, by the way?" Tayaw asks, finally getting to his business.

    "In his cubicle, bored out of his mind despite doing what is required of him. He was rather bummed when your personal project was done." Fred chuckles.

    "Yeah? Haha." Tayaw can only chuckle.

    After all, since the filming for Gold, Blood, and The Deer concluded six months ago, the domes are sitting in the warehouses collecting dust. The contract of Steven and the game developers he hired to design the backdrop of the film also ended long ago after they finished their jobs.

    "Well. I''ll have to borrow him again." Tayaw says.

    "Yeah? ¡­ Well, he''s probably better off working on games instead of software¡­" Fred says.

    "?" Tayaw is stunned at this. "Then why are you keeping him?" Tayaw asks.

    "Hmm. He''s doing mindless grunt work; basic ones, as it''s all he knows, but he great at it and rarely makes mistakes. Saves us money." Fred clarifies.

    "Okay. Well it''s good that I have a need for him again." Tayaw says.

    "Alright. I''ll call him for you." Fred says.

    ~

    "Hey Steve. How''s it goin?" Tayaw greets Steven outside the house.

    "Good¡­" Steven is stunned seeing an unexpected face.

    "Let''s take a walk. It looks like your legs need more blood circulation." Tayaw says before leading the way.

    Steven can only follow along.

    "So¡­ Are you and the folks who worked our virtual sets still in contact?" Tayaw asks.

    "Not really. But I still have their contact information." Steven says.

    "Good. I have another project." Tayaw says.

    "Another movie?" Steven asks, excited.

    "Nah. A game." Tayaw reveals.

    "A game?..." Steven contrary to Tayaw''s expectations, is not looking that happy.

    "It won''t be like your game Quad Blocks, right?" Steven asks.

    "What''s wrong with Quad Blocks?" Tayaw asks.

    "Did you make the game yourself? Or bought it?" Steven asks.

    "I made it." Tayaw says.

    "Hah. So you can make games too.. anyways. I could have made that game myself in a day or two if I had your idea. So, if you want me to make a game like that, that''s only a couple of days of work. I''d rather stay in the office." Steven says.

    "Psh. I already made games more complicated than that. I just haven''t released them. This is a bigger project. It''s closer to what you did for me last year." Tayaw says, exciting Steven.

    "What do you want me to do? Do I lead the team again?" Steven asks.

    "Nah. I lead this time. Or maybe I hire a real development leader." Tayaw says, to Steven''s disappointment.

    "Anyways. Contact more game devs and you''re all going to start graphics library for me." Tayaw says.

    "Okay. Do the graphics need to be as realistic as the ones in your film?" Steven asks.

    "Nah. But quantity is needed this time. I can''t do them by myself." Tayaw says.

    "Alright. This needs a lot of work then." Steven nods.

    "Anyways. It''s only a heads up. Once I''m done with my tour, I''ll come see you again this December. I hope at least 20 people are working by then." Tayaw says.

    "Okay. Leave it up to me. But¡­ can I start making graphics now?" Steven asks wanting to drop his boring work immediately.

    "Sure¡­ I''ll send you sketches of the things I need." Tayaw says.

    "Cool¡­ Cool." Steven is happy to leave the office again.

 Chapter 216 - Country Music Nominations

    October 26, 2013 ¨C Saturday, 10 AM - Snail Records, Nashville TN

    "So¡­ they refused, huh? Both of them?" Tayaw says, still feeling devastated at the news he just received.

    "Yeah¡­ I''m sorry Isaac." Cody says.

    Tayaw, after he received a call earlier in the morning from Cody bearing bad news, he immediately took the first flight from Bismark, North Dakota to Nashville.

    "What exactly did they say?" Tayaw asks.

    "It''s best if you see the letters."

    / Mr. Yawat. We regret to inform you that your submissions do not meet the¡­/

    / Mr. Yawat. We regret to reject your application for the following awards¡­. Your songs and songwriting do not have enough¡­/

    Tayaw after only a few seconds, finishes reading the letters.

    "Heh¡­ f*ckin really? I''m not saying I am entitled to win awards, but I know I''m good enough to at least compete..." Tayaw says in barely suppressed anger.

    "I know. It didn''t even make the voting process. I''m sorry. If you were on a major label, this would not have happened." Cody says.

    "No. Not your fault. I mean, Strawberry Front made it in both. What I''m calling bullshit on is that their reason. Really? Is it because I''m not an American? Or they think that I''m not a Christian basing on my nationality?" Tayaw says.

    "What? I don''t remember reading that..." Cody says in surprise.

    "Here''s what CMA said, right?

    ''While you have critically acclaimed songs adapting the genre, we cannot see enough cultural and religious inspirations of what we consider Country Music should express.''

    "Maybe because you''re from around here, Cody, that you don''t see it and might have just glossed it over as some meaningless excuse. But as an outsider, it''s speaks differently to me." Tayaw says.

    "Are you saying it''s discrimination?" Cody cannot believe it.

    "They didn''t write it, but that''s what I''m surmising." Tayaw says.

    "¡­" Cody is speechless before "sigh" taking a deep breath.

    "No¡­ I don''t think that''s the case. That''s just an excuse they used. Nashville, CMA, and ACM is much more progressive than you think." Cody says.

    "If it''s not discrimination, then what is it? Is it because I don''t sing about beer, tractors, and pick-up trucks?" Tayaw says, frustrated.

    "Heh¡­ that''s funny. But no. Those songs do get nominated but they never win." Cody says.

    "Then I should have sang about God? Are they using my religion against me? Can''t they see how many ungodly country songs are out there?" Tayaw asks.

    "Not that either. Country singers often get in trouble from religious groups, so you can avoid singing about our God as much as you like¡­" Cody says.

    "Then what''s CMA''s reason? At least ACM said ''Your music and songwriting does not present impact and innovation to country music.'', which sounds valid. But that''s bullshit too.

    "Even though I based my music on outlaw country, blues, and bluegrass, they still sound way modern compared to old songs.

    "It''s these recent country songs instead that is destroying country. Except for a few innovators, the most are making country music sound like inferior and outdated version of pop." Tayaw rants.

    "Okay¡­" Cody finally arranges his thoughts. "Here''s my take. Like I said, I think those are just excuses. In fact, I don''t even think ACM and CMA are entirely at fault here." Cody says.

    "How do you figure? I''ve heard that there is plenty of politics and bribing going around these awards." Tayaw asks.

    "There are, but in the end of the day, it''s just gaining small advantages. In general, these organizations are mostly objective. The thing here is that your application for awards didn''t even make it to the voting process. The problem lies in the selection committees of ACM and CMA; they choose which applications make it to consideration of the organization members." Cody says.

    "So¡­ Some, or a few people actually just want to prevent me from even competing by bribing the selection committee?" Tayaw nods in realization.

    "It happened before when the major labels had monopoly." Cody says.

    "BUT¡­ why? If it''s not discrimination, why don''t they let me in?" Tayaw asks.

    "They''re scared¡­" Cody says.

    "What?" Tayaw is stunned.

    "They''re scared. Look. After your performance at the Grand Country Opera last ¡­"

    "April."

    "Right, April. Since April, you are exposed to more country music fans around the country. You''re no longer just in the awareness of country indie fans, or the younger fans who got to know you through the internet. People from all ages now know you." Cody explains.

    ''Was that why I got to a billion View Points so fast?'' Tayaw considers his miscalculation.

    "Wait¡­" Tayaw then realizes something.

    "When is the announcement for the nominations?" Tayaw asks.

    "Tonight." Cody says bitterly, knowing what Tayaw is thinking.

    "When''s the award ceremony?" Tayaw asks again.

    "Two weeks later. CMAs on the Saturday and ACMs on the Sunday." Cody says.

    "F*ckin hell. By sending the letters late, they even made sure to not even give me time to re-apply . What the f*ck." Tayaw is feeling very wronged, for the first time in a long time.

    "Yeah¡­ Again. I''m sorry. Had you signed in a major label, this wouldn''t have happened." Cody says, guiltily.

    "That might be the case, but this still isn''t right. It''s not your fault. I mean, Strawberry Front wasn''t rejected right?" Tayaw asks.

    "No." Cody says.

    "It''s me specifically they''re targeting, then." Tayaw sighs deeply, calming down.

    "Come to think of it¡­ Am I that good an artist? That they''re scared?" Tayaw chuckles.

    "Might be." Cody is relieved that Tayaw is not venting to him.

    "F*ck¡­ Hey¡­" Tayaw suddenly thinks of something.

    "What?" Cody asks, anxious at the face that Tayaw is making.

    "Kick me out of Snail Records." Tayaw says.

    "WHAT?!" Cody is shocked.

    "You heard me clearly." Tayaw says.

    "Damn... What are you planning to do?" Cody asks, figuring out that Tayaw cannot simply suggest such a thing without a reason.

    "I''m gonna do something crazy. I''m gonna stir the pot." Tayaw says.

    "Wait¡­ No. No no no no no... It might affect my label. It might affect Strawberry Front!" Cody does not even want to hear Tayaw''s plan.

    "Look, once the nominations are announced tonight, they can''t take off Strawberry Front unless they do something criminal or racist, right? Didn''t you also say that it''s not the ACMs and CMAs fault?" Tayaw says.

    "Yes¡­ and yes¡­" Cody says with a wince.

    "And Strawberry Front does not have a bad history right? I''m betting you also checked the history of their social media before signing them?" Tayaw asks.

    "They''re clean." Cody nods.

    "Then they''ll be fine." Tayaw says.

    "I''m not sure about this. What exactly are you gonna do?" Cody asks.

    "I''m gonna post these letters on my social media." Tayaw reveals.

    "WHAT?!" Cody is scared just thinking about the consequences.

    "You''ll implicate us! Whoever did this to you, they might turn to us! The ACM and CMA might kick us out of their organizations!" Cody says.

    "That''s why I''m telling you to announce that kicked me out of the label. Announce it tomorrow." Tayaw says.

    "No. It''s too risky." Cody refuses.

    "I can''t just take it lying down, Cody. Just announce it, but don''t actually kick me out. I still have songs for your artists." Tayaw says.

    Cody is starting to feel annoyed and frustrated at Tayaw.

    "I might as well just kick you out for real. It''s in our contract that if you do something that''ll f.u.c.k the label, you''re out. The breach of contract fees you''ll give me might be barely enough to repair the damage you''re going to do." Cody cannot think of anything else to stop Tayaw.

    "Sure¡­ Go ahead. I''m not doing anything illegal. I''m pretty sure the bylaws of CMA or ACM don''t forbid posting nomination letters, or else I wouldn''t have seen some country singers post theirs in their social media." Tayaw says, basing on what he has seen in his previous life.

    "Those are nomination letters. The rejection letters though¡­ no one shares them. There might be a rule against it." Cody shakes his head.

    "That''s because it''s an embarrassing thing to do for artists and their labels, not because it''s in the rules. I bet your a.s.s that." Tayaw says, bullshitting.

    Cody is cornered and gives up reasoning with Tayaw.

    "I can''t stop you from doing this, huh?" Cody says.

    "No." Tayaw shrugs.

    "Fine... FINE! I''ll f.u.c.kin push you under the bus! But if that''s not enough, and we are still implicated, I''m going to kick you out for real and sue you for damages." Cody finally decides.

    "Good decision, Cody... But I hope this won''t end up to a bad enough result that we resort to lawsuits. Suing me is going to be very expensive. I can spend three Snail Records worth of money just for lawyers." Tayaw says casually, but this threat sends chills up Cody''s spine.

    "I knew it. I f.u.c.kin'' knew it. The deal was too good to be true. Are you sure you''re not the devil in ''The Devil''s Suit and Tie''?" Cody says.

    "I''m not that bad." Tayaw smirks at the reference.

    ~

    11 PM - Bismarck, North Dakota

    Tayaw is now back in North Dakota, lounging in his camper van, having just finished his show in the city. Instead of typing down codes for the game engine, he is busy scrolling through social media.

    |~CountryMusicAssociation ¡Ì ~ Congratulations to all the nominees! To all the country fans, please tune in to NBC on November 9, 7PM Pacific Time and join us in our celebration.|

    |~AcademyOfCountryMusic ¡Ì ~ Congratulations to all the ACM award nominees! Please join us on November 10, 7PM Pacific time at the ABC network.

    "Celebration huh... Hehehehhh. Not so fast." Tayaw giggles as he starts typing.

    | ~isaacyawat ¡Ì ~ ''Mr. Isaac Yawat, We regret to inform you that your application for the following awards is denied for the voting process. Your submissions do not meet our requirements. While you have critically acclaimed songs adapting the genre, we cannot see enough cultural and religious inspirations of what we expect Country Music should express¡­ Signed, [Name Redacted]

    Head of Selection Committee,

    Country Music Association|

    | ~isaacyawat ¡Ì ~ @CountryMusicAssociation Thank you for making me realize my flaws. I hope that next time, I can write songs that reflect the values of Country music fans. |

    | ~isaacyawat ¡Ì ~ '' Mr. Isaac Yawat, We regret to reject your application for the following awards. From what we have seen from your submitted body of work, we have concluded that they do not present enough impact and innovation that our organization expect from the candidates of the awards you have applied for¡­.

    Signed, [Name Redacted]

    Head of Selection Committee

    Academy of Country Music |

    |~isaacyawat ¡Ì ~ @AcademyOfCountryMusic Thank you for giving me this lesson. I will work hard, study more, and produce more to make novel songs. |

    |~snailrecords ¡Ì ~ The Snail Records music label does not reflect the opinions of its artists. We will immediately call for an internal investigation on how to deal with the current situation and hope to reach a satisfying conclusion to all parties involved. Thank you very much.|

    |~tldGrimmauld ¡Ì ~ @AcademyOfCountryMusic @CountryMusicAssociation You finally had a chance to nominate a deserving winner and you''ve wasted it! As a country fan, I am disappointed.|

    |~tldGrimmauld ¡Ì ~ @isaacyawat Buddy. Don''t let these jokers let you down. It''s the country fans that you should please and not these mobsters of the music business. I''m enjoying listening to ''19'', and it''s probably better than most of these songs nominated. Keep doing you, buddy.|

    "AND SO IT BEGINS¡­" Tayaw theatrically declares to his empty hotel room with a shit eating grin on his face.

 Chapter 217 - Two Mens Abuse of Power

    The next day. Nashville.

    "UGHxxx. Damn hangovers¡­ I guess 50 is too old for heavy drinking." Dylan wakes up on his bed with a huge headache.

    The previous night, he was treated to some drink by some music executives.

    *ring* *ring* His phone rings but his ringtone exacerbating his headache, he rejects the call.

    Before he can shut off the screen, he notices something that makes his stomach drop.

    "19 missed phone calls? What the¡­" Dylan then calls back the most recent number that tried to call him.

    /*brr* *Brr* DYLAN! YOU FINALLY PICKED UP!/ His call is soon answered.

    "Ed! The hell''s going on?" Dylan asks.

    /I don''t know exactly what happened, but I know this had something to do with you. I knew you''d mess something up. I knew you were dirty. What were the other members of the selection board thinking when they elected you board president?/ Ed starts ranting, his words hitting Dylan''s conscience.

    "What the hell''s going on ED!?" Fear starts pulling Dylan''s heart.

    /I''ve said enough. I bet other people are waiting to talk to you too. You''re in trouble now, Dylan./ Ed does not explain and drops the call.

    After the call, Dylan immediately opens his text messages seeing that there are 56 unread ones.

    "Oh¡­ SH*T" Dylan panics, seeing that most of them suggest to check social media.

    |~tldgrimmauld ¡Ì~ @CMAs I thought you were different. Is Country Music as phony as the Golden Globes now? Really?|

    |~tldgrimmauld ¡Ì~ @CMA ''We cannot see enough cultural and religious inspirations that Country Music should express''? Really? So what if Isaac isn''t Christian? There are a lot country songs that sing about UNGODLY songs like pre-marital s*x and infidelity. You folks are hypocrites. |

    |~TomKlein ¡Ì~ @CMAs While country music is an American genre, it crosses the borders and should not be exclusive to American artists. You are disappointing the genre''s Teungebian fans. Country music is bigger than your organization.| (Tom Klein from Chapter 87)

    |~nicknacks~ @isaacyawat You made country good for the first time in years. You deserve awards man. @CMA you folks are a mess. |

    |[email protected] I didn''t know you were racist? That''s not what America''s about! |

    |[email protected] oh you''re so pure¡­ @CMA He''s a foreigner but he deserves some awards!|

    |~rhubarbboy~ @CMA this is why people don''t care about your awards.|

    |~changsean~ @CMA I''m not a country fan, but I was gonna watch if Isaac''s nominated. Good job.|

    "WHY WOULD HE POST THE LETTER?!" Dylan screams in frustration, his headache worsening almost making him faint.

    *ring* *ring* *Bzzt* *Bzzt* Dylan''s phone continues to ring from calls and text messages received, but ''You''re in trouble now'' with Ed''s words replay in his mind, he has no courage to answer his phone.

    ~

    Academy of Country Music Office

    "Where the hell is Mike!?" The Academy Of Country Music President, Molly, yells at the members of ACM''s awards selection committee she gathered in the conference room.

    "He''s not answering his calls." A committee member says.

    "He''s the committee president! He should be here!... That doesn''t matter. What the hell''s going on?" Molly asks.

    "We don''t know, Molly. But what I know for sure is that Isaac should have passed the selection process." The second committee member says.

    "Even if Isaac''s application passed through me, I would have passed him too." The third committee member says.

    "I don''t know what happened, Molly. All the applications we passed go to Mike for final decision. Mike knows more about this." The first committee member says.

    "Jesus Christ¡­ Have some people look for Mike, please." Molly sighs.

    "And what exactly is Isaac telling his fans? I just heard he started this." Molly says.

    "It''s better if you read these." A committee member hands her his phone.

    |~tldgrimmauld ¡Ì~ @ACM ''we have concluded that they do not present enough impact and innovation that our organization expect from the candidates¡­'' Are you serious? You call some of your nominees innovative? They''re just carelessly blending pop and country! I''ve always thought your organization represents the best of country music, but I guess I was wrong.|

    |~nicknacks~ @ACM You tasteless f*cks.|

    |~UrMomOnline~ @ACM I bet you like songs about God, beer, and pick-up trucks.|

    |@ACM How does ''Crazy Ex'' even compare to Isaac''s ''I Won''t Let Them''? ARE YOU DEAF?!|

    |~philjanemusicology ¡Ì[email protected] I was disappointed as well. I''m sorry this happened. @ACM @CMA as a member of our organizations, I demand you fix this.|

    |~CharlieHunt ¡Ì~ @ACM I interviewed many of the members of your Academy while researching on Isaac''s episode on show Music Lab. They all said good things about Isaac. What''s going on here?|

    (Charlie Hunt and Phil Jane ¨C Refer to chapter 87 and 88)

    |~DrDonaldDoctor~ Two organizations f*ckin with Isaac! Something''s wrong here! @ACM @CMA are you ganging up on Isaac?|

    "Oh dear lord¡­ Our reputation¡­" Molly gets dizzy reading the tweets.

    "Molly. Don''t worry. Some of the more popular members are already fixing the misunderstanding on their own." The board member scrolls down to other tweets.

    |~lauraburrows ¡Ì~ @isaacyawat I''m sorry this happened to you. I''m one of the members of the voting committee and I too was disappointed when I didn''t see your name on the lists! There has to be a misunderstanding somewhere. |

    |~jeffgodfrey ¡Ì~ I don''t know if you''ll win anyways, but I would have voted for you had you been on the lists. I hope the Academy fixes this.|

    "Who''s he signed with? Call them! Let''s start sorting this thing out." Molly orders after calming down.

    A committee member quickly follows the order and pulls out his phone, quickly connecting a call.

    "Hello? Yeah. Mr. Mills? Snail Records? Yes¡­ Yes.. WHAT?!" The committee member''s exclamation takes the room''s attention.

    "Alright¡­ have a good day." A minute later, the committee member ends the call.

    "What happened?" Molly asks, the other committee members are curious too.

    "Snail Records and their CEO ended their contract with Isaac. They said that Isaac''s actions on social media would have burned their label''s bridges with us and the CMA." The board member reports.

    "WHAT?!" Molly and the selection committee is shocked.

    "Did they announce it yet?" Molly asks.

    "I¡­ didn''t ask." The board member says. "Call them back! QUICKLY! Suggest to them to cancel what they did! If this comes out, we''re gonna look bad!" Molly says.

    "Okay.. Okay." The board member calls Cody again.

    Meanwhile, "You all¡­" Molly turns her attention to the not so busy members.

    "Find Mike. Or I''ll start firing people!" Molly says.

    ~

    Bismarck, Minnesota ¨C 9AM

    *SLAM* *SLAM* *SLAM*

    "ISAAC! OPEN UP!"

    "Are you in there?" Tayaw is disturbed from his work by Bart and Angela making a ruckus outside the van.

    *Click* *Clack* "Good morning, you two~" Tayaw greets them with a smile.

    "Isaac! Are you crazy?"

    "What have you done?" Bart and Angela hounds him immediately.

    "What?" Tayaw asks.

    "Why did you post those?" Bart asks.

    "Oh?... Well. I''m just thanking them that I now know what to do to be nominated." Tayaw says, playing innocent.

    "¡­" Bart and Angela are speechless and do not believe Tayaw''s reason at all.

    "You''re burning bridges! That''s what you did!" Bart says.

    "Not only that! Your fans are starting to drag other artists!" Angela says.

    "¡­" Tayaw is stunned at Angela''s words.

    ''Are my fans that protective?'' Tayaw thinks before rushing to log-in to his social media accounts.

    |~notjared~ @CMAs ''My Tractor is S.e.xy'' is nominated over ''Invisible Man''? Are you serious?|

    |~changsean~ @ACM How the hell did Rich Schiff get nominated for ''Best Male Vocalist''? You can give Isaac a phone book to sing, and he''ll still sing better! Are you really professionals?|

    |~ibeatasthma~ @CMA how did Laura Burrows performance get nominated by not Isaac at the Opera? Laura''s Opera performance was all flare, no substance. Isaac''s is simple, but powerful!|

    "Holy¡­ shit¡­" Tayaw cannot believe that his fans are dragging other artists down.

    "Right. You have almost a million fans, and TLD Grimmauld has a bit less, but they''re going crazy. I''m pretty sure they don''t even like country music..." Angela gives Tayaw a weird look.

    |@notjared Isaac''s songs are all dramatic and sh*t. They''re not fun to listen to. He takes himself so seriously.|

    |~notjared~ @***** Are you nuts? Have you seen his interviews? He''s a joker. The other singers are the ones who are pretentious. Singing about tractors and dirt roads while riding first class on planes. Who the hell are they foolin''?|

    |@notjared and Isaac isn''t rich? He''s making hundreds of millions in his movies.|

    |~notjared~ ***** At least he''s not pretending to be actually getting his hands dirty unlike the other singers who claim they till the land. What''s your point?|

    |@notjared Well that doesn''t change that his songs are all dramatic.|

    |~notjared~ @***** maybe he just likes singing dramatic songs. The songs he wrote for Strawberry Front sound great, fun and different.|

    |@notjared Okay Isaac deserves nominations but don''t drag my favorite song down man!|

    |@changsean That doesn''t mean Rich can''t sing too! Isaac can sing, but his voice is not my type!| |~changsean~ @***** Well, there you go! If Rich can get nominated, why not Isaac?|

    |@ibeatasthma Laura''s stage performances cheer me up. Isaac''s depresses me. Laura for the win!|

    |~ibeatasthma~ @***** Well watch this *youtube Tayaw guitar solo with Strawberry Front*. Isaac can cheer people up too~|

    |@ibeatasthma So he can play good guitar. But that doesn''t Laura''s stage presence.|

    |~ibeatasthma~ @****** Yeah right. What stage presence? Laura''s flashy performances? What if you remove the costumes, remove the flames, remove the glitters. What''s she left with? At least Isaac can conquer a stage by himself.|

    |@ibeatasthma He''s just not my type, okay!|

    |~ibeatasthma~ @******** Sure. But that don''t mean he isn''t the type of other people.|

    "Okay... while it''s fun to watch drama... Good lord. It started because of me." Tayaw starts typing.

    |~isaacyawat ¡Ì~ Congratulations to all the nominees. Tough competition this year. Good luck to  everyone!|

    |~isaacyawat ¡Ì ~ To the fans, please don''t criticize other artists. They are good artists and they are nominated for good reasons.|

    "Hah! Too late." Bart scoffs, reading Tayaw''s tweets.

    "You should have told your fans earlier." Angela comments.

    "What are you two? My public relations people?" Tayaw says.

    "Anyways. Don''t worry. Cody will announce that he will kick me out of the label. I''m bearing all the consequences myself. You don''t have to worry."  Tayaw adds.

    "¡­" The two''s real concerns are seen through.

    ~~

    A few hours later.

    |~AcademyOfCountryMusic ¡Ì~ ''We deeply apologize with the situation with Mr. Isaac Yawat. Mr. Yawat meets all the criteria for the awards he applied for and we are currently conducting a review and an internal investigation as to why he did not make it to the voting process. Aside from that, we are also looking at the possibility that his application was not the only one we have mishandled. We will post an update soon.''

    Signed, Molly Barber, President, Academy of Country Music''|

    |~CountryMusicAssociation ¡Ì~  We apologize for mishandling the application submitted by Mr. Isaac Yawat. Mr. Yawat is eligible for the awards he applied for. We are currently doing our best to fix this situation including an emergency voting.|

    |~SnailRecordsNashville ¡Ì~ After the internal investigation of the recent events, the label and Isaac decided to part ways on good terms. Please support Isaac in his future works. We also hope that Isaac and the Snail Records will collaborate someday.|

 Chapter 218 - Intro to Alternative Marketing (2)

    The next day ¨C Pierre, South Dakota 11AM

    *tap tatatatap tap tap* "Damn¡­ So you really did make Quad Blocks huh¡­" Bart says watching Tayaw typing code.

    "Huh?" Tayaw asks.

    "That thing you''re making¡­ or programming¡­ whatever you call it. Are you making another game right now?" Bart asks.

    "Oh¡­ It''s n-¡­ Yeah. It''s a game." Tayaw decides not to explain the small misunderstanding.

    "Is that game gonna be like Quad Blocks?" Bart asks.

    "Nah. But I think it''s going to be like a story." Tayaw says.

    "Heh¡­ Look at him, working like he didn''t offend the majority of Nashville''s mainstream music industry just a day ago." Angela smirks at Tayaw.

    "Meh¡­ I''m nervous too. Working relaxes me." Tayaw shrugs.

    "Hmm. Even if you''re gonna get in trouble, you''re already rich being a film director. Not to mention you being a¡­ what do you call someone who makes a game?... whatever, Bart says you''re breaking the bank from your game." Angela says.

    "Hey¡­ If you consider that, then Isaac''s not actually in serious trouble right? So what if the awards ban him? He''ll be fine. Isaac, I can''t believe you sent people''s hate to the two biggest establishments in Country music!" Bart says.

    "You know. You two annoyed me into not checking my social media, can you two not ruin my mood to work too? ¡­ Let me make my game in peace, or else, I''m gonna kick your asses out of here." Tayaw deflects.

    "Whoh.. okay cowboy." Bart shrugs.

    Bart and Angela, who were not in the mood to practice due to Tayaw''s social media activities in the previous night, decided to hang out in Tayaw''s van instead.

    *ring* *ring* *ring* Tayaw''s phone suddenly rings, making Bart and Angela perk up.

    "Oh. It''s Cody." He tells them, looking at the caller ID.

    "¡­" Bart and Angela are not surprised by the call, but they get curious.

    Tayaw puts his phone on speaker to save himself from later questions from the two young singers.

    /Isaac, what''s going on with you?/ Cody''s first words and tone immediately make Bart and Angela anxious.

    "What happened? Bart and Angela had a field day convincing me to stop messing around social media so I don''t know what you''re talking about." Tayaw says, increasing Bart and Angela''s tension.

    /Well. Some people from Association and the Academy are here asking how to get to you. They can''t call the number you had me give them so they sent people who are on their way to South Dakota right now, where you''ll do your show tonight. / Cody says.

    "What else did they say?" Tayaw asks, curious.

    /It''s better if he tells you¡­ *clack* / Cody says before he passes his phone to someone.

    /Hello Isaac. I''m Keith from the Academy of Country Music. I''m friends with Phil Jane and Joel Winger. The guys you talked to in that episode of Music Lab. They''re members of the Academy. / Keith introduces himself and his connection to Tayaw.

    "Ah¡­ Hey Keith. What''s up? I''m sorry about yesterday." Tayaw says.

    /No.. no sorry needed, but you should have called us in private first. Many people lost some sleep as a result of what you did./ Keith says.

    "So, Am I banned or something?" Tayaw asks.

    /We don''t do that, Mr. Yawat./ Keith says in defense.

    "Well¡­ What exactly happened? Not that I''m entitled to a nomination, but objectively speaking, I''m not any worse than any of the rookie nominees." Tayaw starts.

    "Not only that. You mentioned you''re friends with Mr. Jane and Mr. Winger, right? Even though I never met the two gentlemen, I talked to them extensively once, over the internet right after that interview. They were confident that I have a good chance being nominated for Rookie of The Year or Best Newcomer for the CMAs."

    /The thing is, Isaac, you are eligible for the voting. Your applications should have gone through to the voting process¡­/ Keith says in defense.

    "What?... okay. That makes me feel better¡­ so why?" Tayaw acts surprised.

    /Well¡­ I''m in no place to say. All I can tell you is it''s a fault of one employee who is at a position that involves a lot of stress. / Keith says.

    "¡­ So¡­ I''m guessing¡­ it''s probably the lead guy of your selection committee?" Tayaw says.

    /Wel - ¡­/ Keith stutters before going silent for a second or two.

    "¡­" If Tayaw and Cody are in the same room, they would exchange smirks.

    "And somehow, the exact same thing happened in CMA too?" Tayaw asks.

    /Well, I don''t know about them./ Keith readily lies.

    /Anyways, to the matter at hand. Usually, we send official nomination letters to the nominees first. Then the nominees wait after the academy''s official announcement before they share their official letters to social media. That''s the rule./ He changes the subject, but his words come out without enough context.

    "Okay?" Tayaw says, confused.

    /We have to fix our reputation right away, so we''re gonna announce your nomination on social media right now. A photo of the official nomination letter our fellows are supposed to hand to you on your show tonight will be included in that social media post as well./ Keith explains.

    "¡­ So, I''m nominated after all?" Tayaw asks.

    /Oh¡­ Right. Yes, yes. Congratulations Isaac for being a nominee for the Rookie of the Year Award./ Keith says.

    *Phew* A sigh of relief comes out from Tayaw and the two other singers.

    /Oh. And because the academy and the Country Music Association shares many members, CMA is also doing the same thing. So, yeah. I congratulate you in advance too, for your CMA Best Newcomer nomination as well./ Keith adds.

    "That''s great news. Thanks for informing me." Tayaw says.

    /No problem¡­ But¡­ We know that us, giving you, your deserved nomination will barely be enough to deal with the sh*t storm on social media¡­ So, we''ll really appreciate it if you can help us out./

    ~

    Academy of Country Awards Office

    *knock**knock*

    "Molly. I''m back." Keith greets the Academy''s president.

    He just came back from his visit to Snail Records.

    "hm. How did it go?" Molly asks.

    "He is willing to cooperate. We''ll see what he posts." Keith says.

    "Good¡­ Good." Molly sighs.

    "You don''t look happy." Keith notices.

    "Of course, I''m not. This can''t be fixed by just posting some tweets." Molly says.

    "You''re right¡­ But what are we supposed to do?" Keith says.

    "I don''t know. If we fire Mike, people will notice, people will talk. This isn''t the 90s anymore. Things get out easy. And if Mike talks¡­" Molly shakes her head.

    "It''ll be a mess. Yes." Keith nods.

    "¡­ *sigh*¡­ What are your impressions of him? Of Isaac?" Molly asks.

    "We only talked over the phone, but he seems nice. Matured. Confident. Smart. And sharp. I''m not surprised he''s successful for his age." Keith says.

    "Hmm. So did him and his label really part ways?" Molly asks.

    "Yeah. But just like the label announced, they are still in good terms." Keith says.

    "What''s the uh¡­ dynamic between Isaac and his former CEO?" Molly asks.

    "Dynamic?... They treat each other as equals¡­ Maybe? I felt like Isaac was more commanding though." Keith says.

    "Heh. Cunning bastards." Molly chuckles.

    "What?" Keith was not sure if he heard it right.

    "Isaac, or maybe the CEO? But I''m leaning more on Isaac..." Molly mutters.

    "Excuse me?" Keith asks.

    "Nothing... How did you break the news to him?" Molly asks.

    "Ah. I found it strange actually. When I was talking to him about it, it seemed that he was only concerned about the rookie nomination and not the others, so I''m guessing he might not have known or expected his other nominations. \

    "Maybe Mr. Mills didn''t tell him. So, I only told him about being nominated for the rookie award. He was very satisfied just from it." Keith says.

    "¡­ Really? Huh¡­" Molly ponders. "Then that might not be the case then?" She utters in confusion.

    "When he shared the letters from the selection committees to the public. Do you think he did it on purpose? To spite us?" She asks again.

    "That¡­ I kinda think so. But he really did it in a way that¡­ Wait. Was that why you said he was cunning?" Keith says.

    "Yeah¡­" Molly says.

    "But for what reason? It''s like me telling my friends that I failed to get in Laura Brown''s pants." Keith says.

    "I don''t know. If we remove his sincerity¡­ Then maybe he did it out of pettiness? Marketing tactic like he did for his first movie? Whatever the reason is, he is confident in his worth and he knows other people know his worth as well." Molly says.

    Keith nods in understanding.

    "But no matter how confident he was, he''s taking a huge risk by doing this." He says.

    "hmph. What risk?" Molly scoffs.

    "He got in trouble with his label. They released him." Keith says.

    "Was Isaac really released from the label? Did you see him signing something? Papers getting shredded?" Molly says.

    "¡­" Keith goes quiet in realization.

    "An act¡­? But why?" Keith says.

    "Yes. Isaac can handle the consequences. But what about the small independent Snail Records? They needed something to wash their hands of the controversy." Molly says.

    "But we won''t do anything to them but a slap on the wrist. The Association too, will just give them a warning." Keith rubs his chin.

    "Yes. But the people who tried messing with Isaac might do more than just warning." Molly says.

    "Oh¡­ Then¡­ Isaac is untouchable?" Keith scoffs.

    "In our industry? Pretty much. In the end, he is still an outsider who just happened to make good country music on the side. As long as people love his songs, he''ll be fine. Whether or not he survives in the politics of our industry, it makes little difference to him."

    An hour later. Pierre, South Dakota

    |~CountryMusicAssociation ¡Ì~

    ''Dear Mr. Isaac Yawat. Our review has concluded. We apologize again for the events preceding. After a quick vote from our association members, we are pleased to extend our congratulations to you for being nominated for the following awards: Performance of the Year - Grand Country Opera Song of the Year ''Invisible Man'' Album of the Year ''On The Road'' Best Male Vocalist Best New Artist... We¡­|

    |~CountryMusicAssociation ¡Ì~ @isaacyawat We invite you to join us for the celebration. The association wishes you luck in your future career.|

    |~AcademyOfCountryMusic ¡Ì~

    ''Dear Mr. Isaac Yawat. After the Academy''s unprecedented emergency voting process; we are pleased to inform you that you are nominated for the following awards: Song of the Year ''Invisible Man'' Album of the Year ''On The Road'' Best Male Performer Best Newcomer Award. We however regret to inform you that you do not meet the eligibility for ''Artist of the Year'' for the lack of quantity in his activities in Country Music. We¡­ Signed, Molly Barber, President, Academy of Country Music|

    |~AcademyOfCountryMusic ¡Ì~ @isaacyawat Congratulations for your nominations. We welcome you to the Academy of Country Music. Please visit us some time to make it official. Thank you.|

    "Man¡­ you''re a damn beast¡­" Bart cannot believe seeing the nominations listed for Tayaw.

    "¡­ huh¡­ I knew I''m eligible for these but I thought I''ll only be nominated for rookie of the year¡­" Tayaw too can barely believe it.

    "This... I don''t know if this happened before. For a rookie like you¡­ 5 nominations from CMA, 4 from ACM. Aren''t you too greedy? ¡­ I can''t even look at you." Angela says, not even trying to hide her jealousy.

    "Alright¡­ You two. Get out. I can finally sleep." Tayaw says to the two. Angela and Bart, not having seen Tayaw sleep, stand up in understanding.

    "¡­" The two finally leaving the van and Tayaw watching them enter their bus, finally sighs in relief before¡­ ''YEAAAAHHHHHH!'' bursting out in celebration.

 Chapter 219 - (DO NOT UNLOCK YET) Luck

    Please read Author''s Note in the Auxiliary Chapters first. Thank you.

    |~isaacyawat ¡Ì~

    @ACM @CMA First of all, I apologize that my reckless posts have brought about huge misunderstandings. I should have made myself more aware of the goings of the Academy and the Association. Due to that ignorance, it was only a week before the deadline that I submitted my applications.

    I also just heard that your offices were swamped due to the unusually high numbers of submissions this year, so the latter submissions have a risk for mismanagement.

    Please allow me in your screening committee next time when I don''t have anything going on. I''m a beast in clerical work and can handle the job of five interns.

    Finally, I thank you for giving such special treatment to me. It is a dream come true for me to be nominated. Best day ever!|

    |~tldgrimmauld ¡Ì~

    @ACM @CMA You folks finally did the right thing. You have restored my hope for Country Music.|

    |~philjanemusicology ¡Ì~ @ACM @CMA As a long-standing member of both the Academy and the Association, I am proud to say that this is a milestone and a step up of the genre to the international stage|

    |~joelwinger ¡Ì[email protected] @CMA Isaac''s bluegrass and blues influences are the roots of country music. I hope that both the association and academy should not forget that.|

    |[email protected] @CMA On behalf of Teungeb''s Country Music fans, THANK YOU!|

    |~changsean~ @isaacyawat Congratulations my Teungeb brother!|

    |~urMomOnline~ @ACM @CMA Hey folks. Working at a diner don''t pay well. You need extra staff, I need extra money. DM me.|

    |~waterstrider~ @ACM @CMA I''m not a country fan, but I''m gonna see the show anyway. Keep an eye on other nominees if they''re good.|

    |@waterstrider me too|

    |@waterstrider me three|

    |~nastynash~ @ACM @CMA Country is for Americans and your awards should only be given to Americans.|

    |@nastynash what the f.u.c.k is wrong with you?|

    |@nastynash Canadians and Australians won Country awards in the past too. Get over it.|

    |@nastynash who cares if Isaac isn''t American? I''m an American and his music speaks to me better than other country singers who always sing about America|

    |@nastynash people like you is why other countries look down on us.|

    /Isaac! Holy sh*t! Holy sh*t! It''s a miracle!/ Cody calls Tayaw back after a few hours.

    "Hey! You didn''t tell me you have applied for that many awards!" Tayaw says, still giddy from the nominations he received.

    /What? Well who the hell applies for just one award? Everyone applies for all the awards they can!/ Keith says.

    "F.u.c.k¡­ If that''s what all artists do, then I''m starting to think that what happened to me was really a clerical error." Tayaw is speechless.

    /Are you serious? You? Someone did that to you on purpose./

    "Heh. Thank you. But you''re right. It''s a miracle I got these many nominations!" Tayaw says.

    /That''s not the miracle I was talking about! It''s a f*cking miracle that we got out of this unharmed!/ Keith says.

    "Heh¡­ I know, right? I thought I''d be banned by the mainstream organizations after this. But hey. They''re actually that scared for their reputations more than I thought."

    ~

    October 28, 2013 ¨C Monday, 7:00 AM ¨C Okuba

    "Good morning Mrs. Dagem!"

    "Good morning ma''am." Kilat is greeted by two of her home room students by the school''s gate.

    "Good morning! You kids are very early today." Kilat is pleased to see the jokers in her class come in early.

    "Ah¡­ I mean¡­ the homework you''ve given keep us early." One of the students says.

    "¡­ I''m not extending the deadline, Shyuu. You have the internet to use unlike my days. How do you still need more time?" Kilat in over her 18 years as a teacher, has seen almost any type of ways that students ask for deadline extensions.

    "¡­" Shyuu and the other student freeze at Kilat''s question.

    "Hmmm¡­ Should I shorten the deadline next time?..." Kilat asks again with a smile that give Shyuu and the other student goosebumps.

    "Mrs. Dagem. You don''t have to. The deadline is just perfect!" Shyuu says

    "Really?" Kilat''s smile transforms into that of a satisfied one.

    "Yes!"

    "Okay¡­ I''ll see you in class." The two students watch Kilat enter the school gate in relief.

    -

    "Good morning, Kilat!" "How was your weekend?" Fenaz and Eletta greet Kilat as she arrives at the faculty office.

    "What''s with up with you two?" Kilat cannot help but point out the two having their arms across their c.h.e.s.ts.

    Eletta leans forward. "Nah. We just want to congratulate you. Tayaw''s the talk of the town¡­" She says softly to avoid others overhearing.

    "International awards at that¡­" Fenaz leans forward too.

    "Thank you. I''ll extend that to Tayaw." Kilat says.

    "Oh! That''s right¡­ He just sent these." Kilat takes two envelopes from her bag and hands one each to the two.

    "What are these?" Fenaz says as he opens his envelope.

    "¡­Wow¡­" Eletta, who is faster than him, is impressed by the gift.

    "¡­Heh¡­ signed CDs. Tayaw doesn''t sell physical copies of his music, so these are rare. Signed too? Even rarer." Fenaz says.

    "Really? Wow.." Eletta is even more impressed.

    "Yeah. And we got THREE! I wonder how much these would sell online." Fenaz says.

    "¡­" Eletta and Kilat give him a dirty look.

    "Hey¡­ It''s a joke! I''d rather keep these¡­" Fenaz says. The two ladies roll their eyes.

    "These probably are gonna be worth a hundred thousand each in the future." Fenaz mutters.

    "Alright. Give that back." Kilat says, overhearing Fenaz.

    "Hey! I''ll keep it! I''ll frame it, hang it on my living room wall. Brag it to my friends." Fenaz hugs the CDs in defense.

    "¡­" The two ladies are speechless at his shamelessness.

    ~

    9:00 AM ¨C Jebung

    |counting my steps, walking through these cramped and crammed walls

    holding my candle, where are we walking now, where are we going?

    Wherever you lead me, I''ll always be behind ya.|

    (based on ''Home Sweet Home'' by Car, The Garden)

    "ooh.. nice song. Who sang this?" A customer asks, distracted from looking around for a car by the song starting to play on the store''s speakers.

    "It''s Isaac." Liboo says.

    "Really? THAT director ... or singer who''s been on the news lately?" The customer says.

    "Yeah." Liboo says, feeling proud.

    "I didn''t know he makes songs in Teungebian¡­" The customer says.

    "He does¡­" Liboo says.

    "ehhhh. He should make more Teungebian songs. Going to America making songs for foreigners¡­" The customer shakes his head.

    "Hey¡­ He released his first album with 10 Teungebian songs in it. They just didn''t get popular like his English songs. His newest album came out a few months ago. This song is from that." Liboo says.

    "Really¡­ Huh. It''s been a while since I''ve listened to new songs. Might as well start with Isaac." The customer says.

    "Yeah. You do that¡­" a wide grin starting to spread on Liboo''s face.

    "What''s with that face? Are you a fan or something?" The customer is weirded out by a goofy smile coming out of a burly man.

    "Yeah. I''m one of his first fans. Anyways¡­ Have you seen any car you like, sir?" Liboo changes the subject.

    "In fact, I do. That 1974 El Camino¡­ How did you even find that?" The customer asks.

    "It was basically trash when I found it. Took us months to look for good parts and an expert''s help to restore it¡­" Liboo continues his business.

    ~

    Taragea, West Ouigab ¨C Topaz Publishing

    "Hello Tayaw. It''s quite rare for you to call. Oh.. .I''ve heard the typhoon you created in social media there in America." Erik Goomal (Topaz CEO), answers his phone in a pleasant surprise.

    /Heh¡­ It made it there in Teungeb?/ Tayaw asks.

    "Made it to the news, buddy. If I didn''t know that you''re Grimmauld and your shitposting on social media, I would have believed that you really were sincere on that ''I''m Isaac and I thank the academy and association for teaching me a lesson'' bullshit. The balls, kid. The balls."  Erik chuckles.

    /Well. Thank you./ Tayaw chuckles.

    "Why''d you call by the way?" Erik asks.

    / Did the sales for The Ruler''s Ring 1 slow down?/ Tayaw asks.

    "You didn''t check the reports we''ve been e-mailing you?... Nevermind. It was a blast! In just three months, it sold three quarters of what The Halfling sold in a year.

    /But¡­ We''ve noticed this month it''s slowing down quickly. I guess there are limits to how many people are interested in reading it." Erik says.

    /That''s expected then./ Tayaw says.

    "Hey¡­ you know that ''enlarging the pie'' bullshit you told me last year?" Erik says.

    /I remember./ Tayaw says.

    "F.u.c.kin even better. The copycats of ''The Halfling'' were thrashed once ''Ruler''s Ring'' came out. You enlarged the pie AND ate all of it." Erik reports.

    /Huh¡­ I mean¡­ not even one novel is nearly as good?/ Tayaw asks.

    "Nada¡­ tell me, how long did it take you to release the sequel for ''The Halfling''? Almost three years. If anyone wants to release a book that can rival yours, it''s gonna take just as long if not longer. Especially the details you put in it?" Erik says.

    /Well. That''s disappointing. The pie could have been bigger if there are novels that are just as good./ Tayaw says.

    "Greed. Arrogance... Those are thy name." Erik rolls his eyes.

    /Wrong. I just want competition./ Tayaw says.

    "Whatever you say."

    /Do you think I should release the next part of the sequel soon?/ Tayaw asks.

    "That means you''re already done with it?" Erik is pleasantly surprised.

    /Yeah./ Tayaw says.

    "¡­While I''d like to read the next book, business wise, I think we should wait. Once the sales really drop, that''s when you release the next part. Unless you want to meet the demands of your fans right now¡­ your decision." Erik says.

    /My fans¡­/

    ~~~

    |@tldgrimmauld instead of involving yourself with Isaac, write the sequel!|

    |@tldgrimmauld dude. You must be bored. Release the next book now!|

    |@tldgrimmauld Hey! It took you THREE YEARS! Are we gonna wait that long again?|

    |@tldgrimmauld what do you know about country? You know about writing stuff! WRITE SO I CAN READ SOMETHING GOOD AGAIN!|

    ~~~

    "Yeah¡­ rather rabid fans for an author." Erik says.

    /Heh¡­ Thankfully, the iron''s still hot. Let''s gather attention and satisfy their curiosity?/ Tayaw says.

    "Oh?" Erik gets interested.

    /Give me a minute..... done.  Check the social media/

    ~

    |~isaacyawat¡Ì~ @tldgrimmauld! Dude! This is too much for a congratulatory gift! [attachment (photo ¨C manuscript ¨C ''The Ruler''s Ring: Two Evils ¨C TLD Grimmauld'')] I''ll enjoy reading it! THANK YOU!|

    |~tldgrimmauld¡Ì~ @isaacyawat It''s not the final draft, but it tells enough in the next book to answer your questions| |@tldgrimmauld hey! What the f*ck?|

    |@tldgrimmauld That''s not fair!|

    |@isaacyawat Where are you right now? We deserve to find out what happens next!|

    |@isaacyawat Watch that manuscript buddy. I''ll be in your show in Bismarck tonight.|

    |@isaacyawat @tldgrimmauld how much did Isaac pay to get your manuscript? I can offer a higher price!|

    ~

    "So that shit really was a marketing stunt huh?" Erik shakes his head.

    /Yeah. It''s not like it''s the first time I''m doing this./

    "Heh. I have to say, this was better done than what you did for ''September Ninth'' last year." Erik approves.

    /Okay. I''ll send you the manuscript through Chala if you''re ready to print it. Don''t you leak the thing, alright? / Tayaw says.

    "We''d breach your very very special and customized contract if I do that¡­ But nothing in the contract says I can''t read it."

 Chapter -1 - Authors Note - June 12,2021

    ~~~~~Author''s Note~~~~~

    After more than four months of daily releases, I''m almost at an impasse.

    I''m in a slump. A f*ckin writer''s block. I''m sure you''ve all seen the signs of it from all throughout the chapters, especially the ones I''ve released in the past few weeks. Throughout writing this thing, I''ve gotten stuck multiple times and fought it with fillers and running with loose ideas. This time however, it''s really hard to get through it.

    I think it''s time for me to slow down, or even have a full break. I still have plenty of ideas but I just don''t know how to deliver them well. I need more time to outline chapters and learn on how to pace my story better.

    One of my biggest regret in this novel is that I tried to have the MC do many things all at once. I think that contributes to my slump. When I come back, I''ll avoid that and maybe it''ll help me write more quality chapters again.

    I might also need ideas. You guys can send me a note at [email protected]