บท 46: Chapter 46
I put the phone back in my pocket and left the stall to wash my hands.
I think I should be able to stream today after I'm done with the discussion with John.
John and Felix did say it'd be around 2 hours of discussion so I'm going to be late. I hope that by then I'll still be able to do something streamers as today is when there's going to be the most viewers.
I dry my hands with paper and scrunch it up to throw it in the basket.
Today will be a pretty nice day.
I push open the doors and walk towards the same place where we were.
Seeing as how they're hanging out in that corner, I assume they did contact Michael about this.
Either Michael was pressured into making it easy for me to leave the job, or genuinely wanted to see me be successful.
I see the man in question and he smiles at me and tells me that my shift is over and they'll take from now on.
"You played beautifully, as always."
"Thank you."
I beamed back at him.
I go to our rest room and change back into my casual clothes.
Walking out, Michael gives me a thumbs up and I return it to him.
To the side, I see John and Felix discussing something.
I walk over to them.
"Pardon me for the interruption."
Well, with nothing more in the way we can finally start talking.
"No problem," John said.
He continued, "Felix will be joining us for the day. Would that be acceptable?"
"Yes, that'd be fine."
They both smiled.
"By the way, I really like how you play the piano. You're very skilled at such a young age."
Their intentions are very clear, and they're not hiding it either.
"Thank you. I do practice from time to time."
"You know, we've got some guys that also play the piano incredibly well. Maybe you could get some master class experience."
Yup, there we go. Looks like Felix also has a little experience recruiting people, or helping John.
"Ah, I see." It'd be a great option to be with some of the world's greatest pianists but there's not much point since I have a system that levels up my skills constantly.
"Charlie actually composed all of his songs. Maybe you could learn a thing or two from him."
His eyes widened and he looked at me with genuine excitement, instead of the formal cordiality and subtle conversation flow he's been giving me.
"You composed all of them?"
Seeing his excitement, John too smiled and glanced back at me.
"Ah, yes."
"You're that talented? You're 16, right?"
Is he a musician? Actually, his voice sounds a little familiar. I think I've heard his singing booming in the mall speakers before?
"Ah, they're all inspirations. You're a musician as well?"
I accepted his compliment and redirected the conversation back to him.
"Yes. I really like music. You know, I actually just started learning the piano. I'm decent at the guitar, though."
I asked a question that slightly challenged his pride as a celebrity, yet he did not boast at all or show any discomfort at me not knowing him.
"Oh, really? I've always wanted to try playing the guitar. I could give you some tips on the piano."
I think they're genuine.
…
"I wasn't recruited by John before but I can tell you he's a great scout and manager. I'm actually envious of you that he's your recruiter."
They're speaking casually, but every time they speak they have some very implicitly hidden purpose and meaning for their messages.
Right there, he's trying to boost my confidence and feeling of luck by saying he— a successful person is envious of a 16-year-old kid, even when I did literally nothing.
I can detect it, but an otherwise naive 16 years old kid would already be in Cloud Nine and be dancing on their palm.
"Yes, John has been extremely agreeable and comfortable to talk with."
…
It's been a few minutes since we've started talking and now we're beginning to see people crowd the area.
Some paparazzi are even trying to force themselves into our discussion and their aggression is starting to weird me out a little.
"Felix! Is it true you are dating a 13-year-old, and what's her name?"
Goodness, gracious. Is this what they have to deal with?
"Felix! Felix! Felix! What is your next album going to be about?"
"Felix, screw you!"
Chill, god damn. That last comment was totally unnecessary and the paparazzi probably wants to rile up Felix to get a response from him.
Felix completely ignored their words and I saw John slightly shift in his seat.
Yup, they probably expected for there to be rude reporters but they probably wanted to wait a little more so that I could feel just how successful I could get by being with Knife.
John began taking the lead in the conversation and for a few minutes, I forgot about the outside.
He is really good at talking.
He talked to me about the procedures we would be taking, how they'd support me, and the facilities that would be available to me.
Felix chipped in with the occasional story and his experience from when he was a rookie recently recruited.
"I also have a lot of freedom at doing what I enjoy and everyone is just very kind and friendly with each other."
Yeah, I can see that. I have a celebrity talking casually with me. I mean, I'm a guy with an achievement system so I'm not too fazed at talking with him but I've heard of cases of celebrities that had their ego inflated. Especially the young ones and Felix is relatively young yet he's still acting like a normal person.
"Would you like to personally experience some of the facilities right now?" John asked me with his enthusiastic smile.
"The HQ here at Weath is one of the cooler ones of all the HQ's I've seen."
"Yeah, that'd be pretty nice."
John reached into his pocket and I saw the outline of his fingers tap something.
"By the way, what's the name of that last song you played? I really liked it."
"Oh, it's called Bunny. It's actually not too hard and you can learn it on the piano, if you'd like." It's actually called Fukashigi No Carte.
[Author Note:
Fukashigi no Carte is from an anime called Seishun Buta Yarou. Heard it's pretty good but sad at the end. Didn't know about it until I accidentally clicked on a recommended piano cover a few days ago and it sounded pretty good.]
His eyes sparkled. Yeah, this guy definitely loves his music.
"That'd be great."
From the door, two big burly men in black suits walked in and stared at us.
John nodded at them and he motioned for us to follow him.
They opened the door for us and walked to our sides.
They kept the multitudes at bay and Felix passed by while answering a few questions of the crowd.
He signed some autographs and we went on our way to the big SUV.
We got in without much struggle due to the bodyguards presence.
Cool.
…
"So where's the main Head Quarters?" I asked with interest.
"Oh it's in Regalia."
Regalia is basically one of the nexuses for this world's United States.
Note, it's not the United States of America, but just the United States.
It's one of the richer and advanced cities in the world and also where many company headquarters are also located so I'm not too surprised.
"The coolest one is at Petra, though."
Felix explained happily while John just smirked from the front seat.
Petra and Regalia are the two of the top ten states so I'm not too surprised.
Their academies, Petra First, and Regalia First are always head to head with each other whether it be sports, math competitions, spelling bees, and scientific results.
As I explained before, Weath First is also pretty high-ranked but those two are the powerhouses always at the top.
If I grind up my skills, I'd probably be able to lead my school to #1 in everything.
Actually, I think I'm going to do that. That'd sound extremely fun.
That would also mean better funding and resources which would in turn give Charlotte, my friends, and I better education. It'd be a win.
My inner school pride and competitive side came out while having these thoughts.
"Ah, I've never been to Petra before. How is it?"
Our discussion started to transform into a more conversational thing between friends which proved just how effective they were and I already felt pretty comfortable talking to them.
"You haven't? It's got some pretty fun stuff. It's hot as heck though. Actually, I have a concert coming up soon there."
Dang this guy is pretty successful if he's having a concert up in the big states. Sometimes, it sucks being uncultured and unknowledgable about these things.
I'm slowly learning, but Pangaea Charlie could've saved me some time.
...
After a few minutes of the smooth ride and conversation, I find we've stopped in front of a well-guarded gate covering a sized building.
One of the bodyguards that was also the driver showed a card and we were granted immediate access.
Dang, this technology is pretty cool. Systems like these were very common on Earth but this gate just looks so futuristic and luxurious.
I marvel at the gates inside my thoughts and Felix and John too are quiet.
I sit back down on the car seat. Well, this might be it. It'll be a big step for me if this goes well.
"The first time I saw an HQ I freaked out. You're already doing better than me in that aspect," he said a little monotonously.
"I'm actually pretty impressed. I just don't show it."
"Do you like peanut butter?"
"What's with the random question? Yeah, you?"
"You should try peanut butter on an apple. It tastes good."
"Yeah? That sounds amazing," I said a little jokingly sarcastically.
"What are your favorite drinks?"
"Water," he gave me a thumbs up and a cheesy smile.
…
[Author Note:
I'm beginning to slightly struggle at school. I'm going to be putting the novel to the side temporarily until I can get my shit together. Apologies for the strong language.
I'm starting to get into the more important latter part of the school where every single point of grade will count.
I'll write when I can.
I've seen cases where authors will entirely drop the novel after getting distracted with real life issues and there must be a reason for that so I can't promise I'll be able to go back to the daily releases, but I'll at least try to upload a few chapters a week. If I can keep it up daily, that's cool, if not then apologies.
Man, I hate learning mathematics through zoom.
Chapter might have been a little boring but I wanted to show the good and bad side of being a celebrity and also build a little foreshadowing to how the Knife Agency will run.
Tried a little world-building with the introduction of new places in the world. There'll be more explanations and info on the world, later on.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed.]
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