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Chapter 99: Earthquake
🕑 Added 2025-05-12 12:36:15 +0000 UTCA few days later, already in the second week of May, the recording session with Jennifer Lopez was officially behind us—and it had been a huge success.
She was even nicer than I expected. Not that I had thought too much about it; I wasn't exactly a fan—I only knew two or three of her songs—but she surprised me.
Cher and Regina completely froze the moment they saw her. Laura tried hard to stay cool, forcing a polite smile and nodding, but it was obvious she was starstruck too. Honestly, I think only Freddie and I remained genuinely chill about the whole thing. We both didn’t think too much about it.
---
Now, I was sitting in Pepper's office, a cup of coffee in my hand. She was leaning over her desk, reviewing some contracts.
"So... Paranormal Activity passed $250 million worldwide?" I asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes," Pepper confirmed, looking up with a satisfied smile. "We surpassed The Blair Witch Project, which had $248.6 million worldwide. We can probably add another $40 million, but I don't know if we'll pass $300 million."
"So our profit is like $100 million now..." I said, thinking aloud.
"Pretty much," she nodded.
I grinned. "I’ll give $2 million to Carly, Sam, and Freddie each."
Pepper nodded. "About the others?"
"I couldn't care less" I said casually.
Pepper nodded again.
I'm totally a hypocrite when it comes to money. I would favor my friends without hesitation, but there’s no reason to do the same for people I don't even know. The success of the movie isn't because of the actors—any other good ones could've done the job.
Pepper, on the other hand, is way better when it comes to this. She wouldn’t pay a single penny more than what’s written in the contract, no matter who it was.
At the same time, she always tried to structure win-win contracts, never squeezing the other side unfairly.
She even proposed (by my idea) that the actors could swap all their fixed salary for a tiny portion of the gross revenue. Not a single one took the offer.
"By the way," Pepper said, reaching across her desk. She grabbed three magazine/newspaper covers and tossed them in front of me.
"Your ‘little’ project is becoming a tsunami," she said.
Rolling Stone. New York Times. Los Angeles Times.
Each one had Marshmello's helmeted face splashed across the front.
I leaned forward and read the covers:
Rolling Stone: Tsunami Marshmello – The singer that is revolutionizing Electronic Music
New York Times: Marshmello changing the NYC nights. How the singer took (almost) all the nightclubs
Los Angeles Times: J.Lo + Marshmello = #1 Billboard. 'On the Floor' topped every single chart
Pepper leaned back in her chair, tapping her pen against her notepad thoughtfully.
"We can soon release an album," she said. "And what about tours and shows?"
"Nah, I'm too lazy to do it now," I replied coolly, leaning back. "Going around and singing in a bunch of places... I have other plans."
Pepper raised her eyebrows and gave me a long, curious look.
Without saying anything, I pulled a stack of papers from my bag and handed it to her.
Pepper took the stack and read the title on the cover page aloud: "Tomorrowland Project."
As she started reading, her eyes widened with surprise.
"Why do a show when I can create an entire event?" I said, with a wide grin.
"Let's cause an entire earthquake, Pepper," I added playfully.
And, as if on cue—like a cliché straight out of a sitcom-comedy —the ground beneath us gave a sudden jolt.
"You have got to be kidding me," Pepper muttered as everything in the office started to rattle.
---
"Yes, Mom, I'm okay," I said into my phone a little while later.
"So, only a pipe broke and soaked the living room?" I repeated, trying not to laugh.
"Okay, I’ll go to Uncle Charlie’s house. Need to make some other calls. Bye, Mom," I said, hanging up.
After that, I sent a few quick messages to everyone else, checking in.
Fortunately, everyone was okay. Carly, Sam, Freddie, Laura, Cher, and Regina all replied with similar versions of "all good" and "just a scare."
Only Spencer had a bit of bad luck—apparently a few of his sculptures and paintings had been knocked over and shattered during the quake.
Dad said he was okay too; Malibu was not that affected.
I turned back to Pepper, who was busy organizing some fallen folders.
"I'm heading out," I said.
Pepper gave me a nod, still flipping through the papers. "Stay safe, Jake."
"You too," I said with a grin, waving as I walked out the door.
---
When I arrived at Uncle Charlie's house, a tall blonde woman was standing at the front door, speaking to Charlie in a language I didn’t recognize. She laughed softly, touching his arm lightly before giving him a quick wave goodbye.
"Swell," Uncle Charlie said to her with a big grin.
Then he turned to me, still smiling. "Hi, Jake."
"Are you sure you know what she said?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Charlie chuckled and motioned for me to come inside. Alan was there too, sitting on the couch.
"Hey, Alan and Jake," Charlie said, still grinning. "You know how to say 'Please go faster' in Polish?"
He paused dramatically, then said, "Zejdź z moich włosów."(Get off my hair)
"Funny language, isn't it?" Charlie added.
"Yeah, hilarious," Alan muttered dryly.
"The earthquake hit Sherman Oaks a lot harder than Malibu," Alan said.
"What earthquake?" Charlie asked, looking genuinely confused.
"What earthquake?" Alan repeated incredulously.
"About an hour ago..." I added, just as astonished.
"You didn't feel the house shaking?" Alan asked.
Uncle Charlie had a realization and said, "Ohhh."
"Unbelievable," Alan continued, shaking his head. "You actually thought that was you?"
"No," Charlie said with a smirk. "I thought it was her... you know, because of me."
Charlie leaned back with a satisfied grin. "The good news is, unless they report it on Polish TV... I still get the credit."
