The olive bounced off my forehead and landed in my glass of water. I blinked. "I'm under attack," I announced dramatically, rubbing the spot.
Pepper didn't even look up from her plate.
Alan chuckled while Paige, seated beside , laughed openly.
Gramma looked at Paige and repeated the sa thing, "We could do the sa to you, dear."
"Now she's not even letting the small one's slide," Charlie muttered.
Paige's eyes went wide, and she whispered a soft, "Thanks."
"Or we can adopt her as a pet," I joked, earning a stomp on my foot.
"Jake," Mom said, a little reproachful.
"What? Look, she's even trying to bite ," I said, pulling my head back as Paige playfully tried to chomp at . Then I hugged her.
Judith cleared her throat and raised her glass. "Alright, before there's any more bickering, let's raise a toast."
Everyone lifted their glasses.
"To the new year," Paige said, smiling. "To unexpected family. And to yacht bigger than Jake's ego."
"It is not bigger than your head…" I countered
A round of laughter erupted.
---
After midnight, the whole family stepped outside to the deck of the yacht to admire the New Year's fireworks show. The night sky lit up in brilliant colors, reflecting off the ocean around us.
After a while, the yacht returned to land. Mom, Paige, and I headed ho, while Uncle Charlie was far from calling it a night. He dragged Alan along to so event—one where, according to him, they could either et soone special... or at the very least, he could get a date.
---
On January 3rd, I was watching the news with Paige.
On the TV, a street reporter was speaking with a bright smile, "Less than six months in, Marshllo's second album, Joyti II, has been released. And the reaction seems even more explosive this ti around!"
Cut back to the main presenter in the studio, Chales, who continued with a composed tone, "This ti, the album has only one feature—Sia, on the track Cheap Thrills. The rest of the songs including:
Sothing Just Like This, Don't Let Down, A Sky Full of Stars, I'm Good, Ti of Our Lives, Timber, No Money, Hey Brother, Feel So Close, I'm an Albatraoz, Waves, Love Again, Hey Mama, Closer, Perfect Strangers, Levels, and Mama."
The three last songs were used to promote the album, Levels (Avincii), Mama (Jonas Blue) and Perfect Strangers (Jonas Blue). Not that really needed...
"Hey Mama... and Mama, you're too lazy even to na your songs," Paige said.
I kicked her off the couch.
Then the other presenter jumped in, adding, "In the first album, the standard version had a feature from J.Lo. This ti, we really only have Sia here, who beca more famous precisely because of her collaborations on Marshllo's songs.
In the previous album, you could argue that J.Lo helped with sales. But this ti, even if she had participated in a song, very few people would say she made much difference."
Charles spoke again, "And we're talking about one of the most popular people in Hollywood—J.Lo. This just shows how incredibly popular Marshllo has beco."
"We used to say he might be the next Michael Jackson, The Beatles, or Elvis Presley because of the fa," he added. "What do you think, Mike?"
Mike, the co-anchor, responded, "If we look at his entire career, it's still too early to place him on the sa level as those icons. But even those legends didn't have a year as explosive as his. He is bulldozing worldwide—top #1 in Europe and in many other countries across other continents." As he spoke, he held up the cover of Ti magazine showing Marshllo as Ti's Person of the Year 2001.
The other presenter then revealed another cover—this one from Rolling Stone (an older cover). "Personally, I love this one from Rolling Stone: Tsunami Marshllo – The singer that is revolutionizing Electronic Music."
He held up the sa magazine cover again (December edition), but this ti, the word Electronic had been crossed out with a bold red X—suggesting that the revolution was even broader than just the genre.
Charles chid in again, "The Grammy nominations are coming out next week, and the ceremony is set for February. Unless there's so outrageous snub," he paused as the studio chuckled, "Album of the Year and Best New Artist are basically guaranteed wins for Marshllo. Anything other than that would be an embarrassnt for the Grammys—and even more so for the industry itself.
He's also expected to sweep Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Dance Recording."
Next up, a comrcial break. The first round of Arica's Got Talent, first episode, airs this week!
I turned off the TV.
I murmured, "Oh man, Pepper will probably nag to go to the Grammys. Britney definitely will..."
"You are a couch potato," Paige said, staring at deadpan.
I, sprawled out on the couch, gasped in offense. "Go, bite her, Loki," I commanded my Siberian Husky. He gave a weak bark, then went back to sleep on my lap.
"He is just like you..." Paige muttered, stepping closer and patting Loki's head.
After that joke about Paige being our pet, I realized we didn't actually have any real pets at ho. I brought it up to Mom and Paige, and they were thrilled. We decided to visit a pet shop.
We ended up with a Siberian Husky puppy, an older, larger Samoyed, a British Shorthair cat, and—fulfilling a long-forgotten dream of mine—I bought a massive aquarium to be installed at ho. Big enough to swim in, it will house exotic fish and several vibrant coral colonies.
But that will take months to build. So, I settled for a 1,000-gallon tank (roughly 3,785 liters) for now, and had it installed right in my bedroom—after a few structural reinforcents.
I also hired two new staff mbers—one to take care of the aquarium, and another to care for the pets. The latter is trained in security and carries a firearm. She's an extra layer of protection for us as well.
"The world better be prepared for when I'm a billionaire," Paige recited a line from the song I had sung at the party. "That was a statent, wasn't it?" she said, watching how I was spending here and there.
------
Support Link: s[email protected]/c/MHJunior [Up to 35 advance chapters]
Please give a Review and Powerstone if you like the novel
Reviews
All reviews (0)