"Good. Cause I don't really know how to react to that." She added.
I scoffed and said, "Also. She's not my type. So you don't have to
worry about it."
Ophelia suddenly burst into laughter and said, "So. You just slept on
the same bed because you're drunk, and you felt the need to tell me
everything about it first?"
"I mean. You're my girlfriend. I don't want to hide anything from you.
I also don't want to hide the fact that you have an interview in
Chicago tomorrow."
"I have an interview?" Ophelia was shocked.
"Yeah." I nodded. "You have a lot of movies in theaters right now.
It's time to do a promo tour. And, you might need to go away for a
while."
She immediately asked, "For how long?" "Three weeks at minimum."
She gasped. "How can I go out there alone for so long?! Why don't
you come with me?"
"I really want to follow you, but I have things to handle here. You'll
be going with Buddy Morgan to promote Boys versus World. Then,
you'll have to go with Donnie to promote Fading Colors."
Ophelia kept shrinking as she heard the schedule.
I placed my hand on her shoulder and said, "Don't worry about your
siblings. I'll watch over them just in case your dad can't handle it."
"That's now what I'm worried about." She said begrudgingly.
"Then what are you worried about?" I asked, brushing her hair
behind her ears.
She pinched my hand and said, "This! I'm worried about this, you
little flirt."
"You're afraid I'll sleep with another woman while you're gone?" I
asked.
"Who knows how long I'll be going?" She scoffed. "You have no
self-control."
"Really? Even though we never did it?" She was taken aback and fell into a deep realization.
"That's true. You have at least some self-control there. Also, how
long are you going to keep me standing here holding a plate? My arm
is starting to hurt."
"Alright. Sorry." I chuckled and took the plate from her. Then, we
went inside to talk.
I also kicked out all of the teens living there while they were trying
to start a circle.
Since Ophelia didn't like marijuana, I never smoked it in front of her
before. I wasn't going to start now.
"Now that we're clear about this, I need to ask… what will happen
once I'm gone? What are you planning to do?"
I sighed and said, "Romantically? Or like, career wise?"
"Your personal relationships! So romantically." She said with
desperation.
"I don't know. I'm fine with long distance as long as you don't go
behind my back."
"I would never!" She said hurriedly.
"Then we have nothing to worry about." I shrugged. "Hmm." She leaned on the sofa, crossing her arms together. "Are you
sure?"
"Pretty positive." I replied. "I'm going to be really busy anyway.
Movies, TV shows, music, business, I'm swamped actually. I have no
time for my personal life at all."
She slumped slightly and said, "Then, I guess… we can survive this."
She leaned in and kissed me on the lips. Then, I slid my hands
underneath her shirt and kissed her on the neck while groping her.
"What are you doing?" She asked with disbelief.
"I mean. We don't have much time left. So I'm trying to get what I
can before we have to separate." I said teasingly.
She made a face that told me she loathed me, but her smile kept
curling up.
I unclasped her bra and began folding her gently while we kissed.
Then, I took off her shirt.
She moaned as I suckled on her nipples.
"Hyde. Isn't this too fast?" She asked. "I'm still on my.. time."
"I know. I won't go further than this." I replied and caressed her
face gently. "You're so pretty." She blushed and said, "Alright. My period's almost done anyway, so if
you want to take the risk…"
"I'll lay down some towels." I said excitedly.
There wasn't much foreplay since we both were already desperate to
be with each other.
If she wasn't on her time of the month, we would've done it a week
ago. We undressed on our own and stood facing each other stark
naked in the living room.
Then, she sat down on the couch and opened her legs. I stared at
her pretty pink pussy with some bush on the top and began eating
her out.
"Ahn~" She yelped. "Hyde. That's–"
"I have to make it wet before I can put it in."
I ate her out skillfully, making her squirm on the couch. Some of her
hair began sticking on her face as she started to glisten.
Then, I began stroking my dick on her pussy, wetting it up.
"Put it in." She said, looking ready.
I nodded and just thrusted my hips gently. She bit her lips and
moaned my name. "Oh Steven!"
Her feet curled up and she moaned harder. I thrusted my hips a few times, slowly increasing the speed.
She moaned out loud and said, "Steven! You're so big! I can feel it
spreading me!"
"Where did you learn how to talk dirty like that?" I grinned and
suckled on her nipples.
We did it missionary style for a while without wearing any
protection. Then, I flipped her over and took her from behind.
Grabbing her hair, I pulled gently while pounding her.
*PAP PAP PAP PAP*
"Steven! Oh STEVEN!"
She moaned hard and convulsed slightly, achieving her first orgasm.
I didn't stop there, and we did it in the shower, the bedroom, and
even in the kitchen– right on the kitchen counter while we ate and
drank.
It was midnight, and we finally stopped to get some rest.
"What shall I do now?" Ophelia said suddenly.
"Do what?" I asked, curious. My hand kept wanting to touch her. I
played with her boobs while we cuddled– her laying down on top of
me. "What if I'm addicted to you now? I never had sex like that before."
She teased.
I grinned and said, "Then call me. I'll drop everything and come to
you."
Her eyes widened. "You promise that?"
"Yeah. I promise."
"Cool!" She said excitedly.
…
"Do you really have to go to school today?" Ophelia asked as I took a
shower and changed my clothes.
"What? No. I'm heading over to pick up the money from the farmers'
market yesterday. Do you want to come with me?"
"Sure!" she said happily.
She wore a white one-piece dress and a large hat as we went outside
together.
I drove us to the market.
The Japanese year-round strawberries were a huge hit. We sold
over 70% of the harvest in just one day. "That's around 14,000 dollars." The farmer told me as he gave me
the money.
Then, I gave him around 3000 dollars.
"Wait, this is too much."
"Consider it a bonus." I replied easily. I have too much cash, so I
wanted to unload them a little.
He laughed, then he turned serious. "Also, I'm wondering, where can
I get that breed? I want to start farming them too."
I smirked and said, "I might be able to procure the crowns for you.
Or seeds… if you want that."
The farmer nodded and said, "I'll do it. Even if I have to take out a
loan for it."
"You don't need to go to the bank. We can do a partnership. I'll front
the money for it, and we split the profit. How about that?"
Ophelia was flabbergasted when she saw me creating a couple deals
with the farmers around the area.
After we were done talking, she finally interjected and whispered to
my ears. "You really are addicted to making money."
"I'm going to make barely anything from the sales. It's just to help
the farmers. Besides, if our town has a specialty product, it will help
a lot with the town name recognition." "Why are you thinking like the town mayor? That's the mayor's job."
Ophelia joked and started laughing.
Some of the farmers around the area heard what we were talking
about. Then, they started murmuring.
"We should go to the office now. Or, do you want to check out the
shooting place for the murder mystery movie first?"
"Let's go to the set first. I really want to take a look at it."
"Great. It's in Sheboygan." I jeered.
She gasped, fully offended. "Really?"
"Nah. Just kidding. It's in Green Bay."
We went to the mansion near the lake that I bought for the movie
shoot.
The construction crew was already there, making some adjustments
to the mansion. They were adding new windows, cleaning up the patio
and courtyard, replacing some of the wiring inside the house, and
making a few other changes.
The main problem with the house was electricity.
It was too isolated to be connected to the local power grid, so the
previous owner had relied on an old generator to power the entire
estate. That was actually one of the main reasons he sold the place.
Running a mansion off a generator was already expensive. With fuel
prices going up, maintaining this place has become ridiculous.
Fortunately, I had a solution.
I hooked up several solar panels and a battery bank to the house and
replaced the old generator with one I bought during my brief access
to the 2075 internet.
A hundred-kilowatt multifuel microturbine generator.
It was ridiculously compact, almost silent, and used a fraction of the
fuel the old generator burned.
More importantly, it automatically worked together with the
batteries and solar panels.
"It needs to be powerful enough to support the rain machine and the
lighting rig."
When we arrived, we found the director and Bruce talking by the
patio. A blonde woman was sitting with them too.
Bruce's eyes lit up as he saw me.
"Oh HEY! HYDE!" He shouted, waving at me from afar.
I walked towards them and asked, "Hey. What's going on?" Ophelia noticed the woman and widened her eyes slightly.
"Hyde! This is Deborah Shelton. The actress I told you about." Bruce
introduced me to the woman excitedly.
She held out her hand without even standing up. "Nice to meet you.
I'm looking forward to working with you on the project."
I just stared at her without taking her hand and said, "The audition's
on Wednesday. Bruce, a word?"
I pulled Bruce away with a head nudge. He followed me to the side of
the mansion.
"Do you want to put her into the movie?" I asked him curtly.
He nodded and said, "Yeah. Although, I don't want to force her way
in. Just give her a proper shot. That's all."
Relieved, I said, "Alright. I'll do that. Now, let's talk about the
promotional tour."
Ophelia talked with the director and the actress while I talked with
Bruce.
After that, we toured the house together. I explained to the
director and the cinematographer what kind of shot I wanted, how
the movie's pacing was going to be, and a lot more. We talked for 5 hours straight till Ophelia and the others couldn't
take it anymore.
I even taught them how to use the new camera equipment and how to
check the audio while recording.
On the drive home, Ophelia muttered, "So that's going to be your
schedule while I'm gone, right?"
"I barely got over the first part of the film. So yeah, that's how it's
going to be." I replied with a smirk.
She grinned, face full of relief and suddenly batted her eyes at me.
"Hey, do you think Shelton is pretty?"
"She's gorgeous, yes. But I'm not going to work closely with her, so
you don't have to worry about anything."
"No, I'm still worried. Why does Bruce seem obsessed with her?
There must be something."
I scoffed and said, "Do you think I'm easy to seduce like Bruce?"
"If a woman throws herself at you, can you still reject her?"
"That's a stupid question. You saw I did that with the maid."
"Ah!" She exclaimed in realization. "Okay! So I have nothing to worry
about then!" I sent Ophelia away to Chicago with the talent agent, a new manager,
a stylist and a bodyguard as part of her team.
"See you later!" She waved at me as she left inside the travel van.
The van would bring her straight to Chicago for her interview, then
to the airport.
"Miss you!" She shouted.
"Me too!" I shouted back.
Her siblings were also sending her off with me.
Nina cried, but still waved her sister off and shouted for her to be
safe. Lily didn't react much and just waved. Adam shouted excitedly
for her to bring snacks back home.
Then, I sent the children back to their house.
"Ah. It's going to be lonely again for the next few weeks." I sighed
as I sat on the couch, turning on the TV.
I watched it for half an hour before going inside to start editing the
film.
Then, I checked the episode countdown and realized it would be
starting in an hour.
"Huh… Damn it. Can't I get a countdown on when I'm supposed to be
in the episode instead of the start?" I grumbled. Suddenly, the system notification chimed in.
[Personal countdown: 1 day 1 hour.]
"Alright!" I smiled in satisfaction and continued editing without even
paying attention to the start of the episode.
Chapter 157: Busy Week.
[General POV]
The next day, Hyde lethargically walked through the hallway at
school. He had stayed up all night working on the film.
"Damn it, Red. He drove to my house to pick me up." Hyde complained
as he walked with his friends. Fez laughed and said, "Oh, Hyde. You missed out on something
hilarious yesterday."
"Really? What is it, Fez?" Hyde asked curiously.
"So get this. At lunchtime… Eric was taking some tater tots from
the lunch lady… and she sneezed right onto his plate."
Hyde chuckled and asked, "So did he eat it?"
"No." Fez replied, shaking his head innocently.
"So nothing happened then." Hyde shrugged in disbelief.
As he put his books into his locker, Jaime, the one responsible for
siccing the cops on Hyde's party, approached him.
Her face was pale, and she had a bruise on her left cheek.
"Hyde. Can we talk?" she asked desperately, lightly holding his
sleeve.
Hyde brushed her hand away without even looking at her and
continued talking to Fez. "Did we have an assignment yesterday?"
"Yeah. We're partnered up. I got Delilah this time." Fez said
awkwardly, his eyes darting toward the girl who was on the brink of
tears.
Hyde laughed and asked Fez, "So who did I get?" "Amy." Fez replied.
"Ah. That's good then."
"Hyde—Steven. Please listen to me. I just need a moment—" Jaime
begged again, but Hyde walked past her without acknowledging her.
Suddenly, a senior boy approached Hyde and stopped him in his
tracks. He was someone from the other school, temporarily studying
at Point Place High School.
"Hey! She's talking to you! You ruined her life, so at the very least
you should have the decency to—"
He grabbed Hyde's shoulder.
Hyde immediately turned and punched the blond guy before he could
finish.
He fell flat on the floor, and the other students turned toward
Hyde.
Jaime was taken aback and shouted, "Reiner!"
Hyde stared coldly down at Reiner and said, "Gross. Who says you
can touch me?"
Reiner saw Hyde's overbearing expression and felt helpless. He
turned around and saw some of his football friends.
His eyes lit up, thinking they would back him up. Instead, his friends quietly turned their gazes away.
Hyde noticed their reaction and smirked.
"Don't you get it yet? The hierarchy you guys desperately wanted to
establish is already set in stone. I should thank you for that. This
wouldn't have been possible without your stupid little game."
Jaime cried and begged, "Please. My cousin will kill me! I'll admit I'm
wrong. Just don't let them get fired."
"Your cousin abused his badge because you asked him to." Hyde
looked at her with contempt. "He shouldn't be a cop."
"I'll do anything." Jaime said desperately.
Hyde barely gave her a second glance.
"Sorry. You don't have any value to me."
Jackie suddenly grabbed Hyde's arm and said to the girl, "You can
transfer out of the school though. Go somewhere I won't see your
faces again."
"You?" Hyde turned toward Jackie in disbelief, his cold demeanor
disappearing instantly.
"Oh god." Jackie burst into laughter. "I meant us. Also, Steven. You
won. Just let them go for now. I still haven't had my fun yet. So let
me handle it." Hyde realized she was defusing the situation. Then he noticed the
uncomfortable look the students had while they saw the situation.
Rejecting Jaime completely had turned the public sympathy back to
her. Now, he was just a bully who went too far in his retaliation
towards a high school prank. "Come on, she was just messing with him."
"She probably didn't know her cousins would actually do all that."
"It was just some stupid high-school feud."
"Yeah, she screwed up, but he's destroying her entire life over it."
Hyde sighed as he heard the little comments and said, "Fine then. I'll
stop antagonizing her. I won't stop her cousin from getting fired
though. He should find another job since being a cop isn't for him."
Mrs. Ling rushed toward the crowd and asked urgently, "What's
going on here? What happened?"
"Nothing. Just a lover's quarrel." Hyde said with a sly grin. Then, he
glared at the two people. "Isn't that right, lovebirds?"
The two people gulped their saliva and nodded profusely.
"Steven Hyde. Follow me." Mrs. Ling said firmly.
Hyde chuckled and said, "Sure."
He entered Mrs. Ling's class before the school bell rang.
"Steven. Be honest with me. Are you trying to get yourself
suspended?" Mrs Ling asked.
"Sure. I could use a holiday." Hyde replied casually. Mrs. Ling scoffed and paused for a while. Then, she said, "I heard
about what happened, with the cops."
"Ah. So? Do you think I'm doing something wrong?"
She shook her head and said, "No. I think it's good that you forced
him to get out of the force. We don't need people like those to be
cops. But Jaime… she's still young."
She added, "I hope you won't hold it against her. I don't think she
expected the situation to go so far–"
Hyde suddenly shushed Mrs. Ling with a finger held to her lips.
"Stop it, Teach. You're breaking my heart. Am I the villain here?"
She widened her eyes in shock.
Then, she realized he must've thought it was unfair for her to ask
him to be the bigger man when he's a teenager himself.
She noticed the hurt behind his eyes even though he hid it behind a
humorous smile.
Mrs. Ling sighed and said, "I'll make her transfer school. So, let's
just stop it right here. The whole incident– let it die here."
Hyde shrugged and said, "If they want to stop, then sure. But if her
cousins keep sniffing around my home, I won't know what I will do." People have been giving Hyde weird looks all day. However, the
master story spinner began to work.
Jackie spread some rumors about how Jaime used her cousins to
blackmail a lot of people and bully them before.
Which wasn't far from the truth, but she exaggerated a lot.
The hostility towards Hyde and people's opinions of him began
recovering.
Hyde didn't expect Jackie to be so good at it.
But he also knew she wasn't doing it for the goodness of her heart.
"So, what do you want?" Hyde asked her directly.
Jackie grinned instantly.
…
While Ophelia was gone, Hyde focused on editing the movie and
setting up the upcoming movie production.
He didn't have much time to spare. His life was either work or
school.
"You'll partner up for the assignment. You need to write a 1000 word
essay on the current state of US- Soviet relations." Hyde was partnered up with Amy and he finished his report on
Thursday.
He was supposed to meet up with his partner and start writing it on
Monday, but he has no time.
Amy was baffled when she received the report from him, in just one
hour after she complained to him about it.
"That's it? I just need to submit this?" She asked.
"Yup." Hyde replied casually. "I can't get together to slowly do the
assignment. So I apologize."
He used ChatGPT to finish the assignment in an instant.
"You're going to check out the shoot, right? Can I come?" Amy asked
cheekily.
"If you are okay with driving. That will help, since I can do my work
inside the car."
She furrowed her eyebrows and then said, "Okay. I'll drive."
A man relenting the driving position to a girl was a truly refreshing
change of pace for Amy. Usually they joked about how bad of a
driver a woman was.
Although, she almost hit something three times on the way to the
set, so she couldn't even defend herself against that claim. Hyde flipped his papers and scratched the lines with a ball point pen
before writing a new one.
Deborah Shelton did manage to grab the lead role in the movie– the
wife who's accused of the murder since she found the body first.
When Amy got there, she was mesmerized when she saw Deborah
wearing a floral style, one piece bathing suit. The exposed skin
teased the line of censorship on TV, and Hyde barely managed to get
the okay from the ABC executive for it.
Hyde also used modern makeup on Deborah, which turned her image
into a seductive, smoldering vixen.
Deborah walked towards Hyde, not covering up her body with a towel
despite just getting out of the shower and said to him, "Thank you
for making the water warm. Last time I had a pool scene, the water
was ice cold."
"Right…" Hyde replied with disinterest and said, "You asked the
director if you can get more of the makeup?"
Deborah's eyes glittered. "Can I get some?"
"If you want to buy it, sure." Hyde replied easily.
Amy looked at him with disbelief, while Deborah chortled slightly.
"Of course, I'm going to pay for it."
"Then, I'll put in an order for you. Do you have any questions you want to ask me about the role?"
"Yes. I do. She's trapped in an unhappy and abusive marriage. So
people are suspecting her to do it first. Why didn't she fight against
the accusation harder–"
Malcolm McDowell, a veteran actor, approached Hyde and shook
hands with him.
"Hi. Hello Mr Hyde. I really enjoyed the movie Fading Colors."
"Uh, Thank you."
Deborah was startled as Malcolm just cut into the conversation. But
she didn't speak up since she wasn't more popular than him.
As she prepared to walk away, Hyde suddenly said, "We can discuss
the movie later. I'm going to meet every single actor here anyway.
This is Deborah's turn."
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry." Malcolm said, frazzled. "It's not my
intention to do that."
He turned to Deborah and apologized to her.
"That's… fine." She smiled, batting her eyes slightly.
Amy saw the change in her gaze and glanced at Hyde. After he
finished talking with Deborah, Amy finally asked him, "Don't you have
a girlfriend?" "Huh? I do. Why?" Hyde asked, confused.
"Then why are you flirting with other women?"
"I– What?" Hyde was baffled by the accusation.
…
Friday.
The episode was recorded for an entire week. Hyde realized the
theme of the episode was the Cold War and UFOs.
Eric and Donna were holding out on sex with each other, which was
the Cold War allegory.
He followed Kelso on his adventure to find the UFO, since the topic
was quite popular in the 70s.
It was also a storyline based on the movie– Close Encounter of the
Third Kind– which was popular in this era and started a UFO craze.
Because Hyde only needed to appear on one night while Eric and
Donna were having a war on their own, he could relax from the
episode and focus on his other projects.
But as soon as the episode ended, he realized the next episode would
start on Friday– the very next day.
He sighed in frustration. The episode started when they were all at the Hub.
Eric was telling stories about how he became the employee of the
month at Price Mart– still wearing his PriceMart smock.
Hyde secretly wondered how Laurie was able to throw the job at
Eric in the last episode.
She wanted to quit at the start of the episode. But Red wouldn't let
her.
Then she started scheming. She told Red about her dream of
becoming a cosmetologist and opening up her own beauty parlor.
She begged him, flashing her puppy eyes at him. Red melted and
threw the smock to Eric, who got the job suddenly.
'It might be the system's attempt to bring things back to normal.
Eric was the one who was supposed to get the job at PriceMart.'
They were all at the Hub, sitting on one side of the table instead of
circular like normal people.
"So, not only are they gonna hang my picture in the front of the
store… but I also get to represent our entire district in the national
Price Mart Olympics." Eric joked with a smirking expression.
Hyde and Kelso dropped their heads down, already sick of his
bragging. "That's nice." Fez nodded. Then he asked, "Do you think I would
choke to death
if I swallowed my straw?"
"No, it's got a breathing hole." Kelso replied.
Fez took out his straw from his cup and tried to swallow it. Kelso,
Hyde, and Eric immediately stopped him.
"Fez, no!"
Fez grimaced and glared at Eric slightly. Eric didn't get the hint and
almost tried to speak about Price Mart again, but then Fez saw
someone walking towards the jukebox.
"Oh, my God. There she is." He whimpered.
"Who's that?" Hyde asked.
"The new girl, Caroline. She transferred here from Sacred Heart.
Or heaven. I'm not sure which." Fez said, looking enthralled.
"We have gym together. She barely sweats. Someday, I will make
her my bride."
Hyde said casually, "Yep, no one likes a sweaty bride."
"Yeah, I hear you." Kelso joined in.
"So true." Eric backed them up too. The trio had already adapted to Fez's weirdness. They decided to
join in when they thought he would be embarrassed by it.
"Hey. Why don't you go talk to her, man?" Hyde nudged him to talk
to the girl.
The blonde, petite woman wearing a long skirt and long sleeve blouse.
Fez began daydreaming. Like it was just him and Caroline in the
restaurant, with spotlights hanging on top of them.
He approached her in a suave manner and said, "You're the most
beautiful
woman I have ever seen."
She turned, her eyes glued on his lips.
"Thank you. Your cocoa-brown skin makes me hot."
"I know I am irresistible. Would you like to dance?"
Fez stopped daydreaming and returned back to reality.
Hyde asked him again, "Hey. Why don't you go talk to her, man?"
"Oh, I don't know, Hyde. I can't." Fez whimpered. "I don't
understand this. Usually I am… I am suave. I am silky. But this girl
makes me… Um…I have to go to the bathroom." Hyde and Kelso shuddered.
Eric said casually, "Anyway, getting back to Price Mart…"
"Shut up!" Kelso yelled at him.
Donna burst through the front door and approached the guys.
"Oh, my God. You guys are never gonna believe this."
"Wait, no. Me first." Eric interjected.
"Okay, go." She grinned and let him speak first.
"Okay. I, Eric Forman… your boyfriend, am Price Mart's newest
employee of the month."
"Eric, that's great. Are you done?" Donna asked quickly.
Eric was taken aback and he chuckled awkwardly, "Well, yeah. Top
that, cupcake."
"Okay. I just won," Donna took out two pieces of paper from her
pocket, "Two tickets to the Led Zeppelin concert."
"Oh my god! How?!" Kelso asked.
"I was caller number seven, and I won, and we're goin' to Zeppelin on
Tuesday night." "All right!" Kelso screamed in excitement and stood up. Donna looked
at him awkwardly.
"She said two tickets, not four, ya moron. We're not goin'." Hyde
said disdainfully and pulled Kelso back to his seat.
"Oh, my God, no. Did you say Tuesday night? I... I can't go Tuesday
night. It's inventory night. It's mandatory." Eric said with a
conflicted expression.
Donna still carried the high with her. "Skip it, Eric. You love
Zeppelin! Call in sick! Tell them your grandma died!" She snapped her
fingers and added, "Burn down the store!"
"Nice." Hyde laughed.
"You're right. You know what? I'm going." Eric declared as he stood
up. But he soon sat back down, looking deflated. "Ahh. I can't go."
"Then who am I gonna take?" Donna asked.
Kelso and Hyde stood up simultaneously. But Kelso was closer to her.
"No, Donna…"
"You shut your filthy mouth!" Hyde pushed Kelso away.
"Donna, seriously…" Kelso pointed at himself.
"I'm practically his brother!" Hyde argued immediately. "I've been his friend way longer!" Kelso argued back.
Eric stood up and said loudly, "Hey, you know what? I am going."
"Ah, crap." Hyde exclaimed and they both sat back down.
"Still friends?" Kelso asked him.
"Till death." Hyde replied.
"Ah. I can't go." Eric sat back down. Hyde and Kelso immediately
jumped to the opportunity.
"I'm in!" Kelso shouted.
"Shut up!"
"Get killed!"
While the two were arguing, Donna peeked at Eric and asked
seriously, " Uh... Eric, are you sure you can't come?"
"Yeah, I can't. You know. Everyone has to work. No exceptions. Plus,
Red and I? We're both kinda supervising."
"Mmm. Corporate America claims another victim." Hyde teased him.
"Shut up. You basically have three jobs." Eric snapped back. Donna said warmly, "Eric, it's okay. I knew you weren't gonna go.
You're a really responsible guy. I love and hate that about you."
Donna turned to the guys and said, "Well, since, uh since Mr. Smock
here is being all logical, I guess I'll have to take one of you losers."
Jackie came in at an opportune moment. "Take a loser where?" She
asked.
"Zeppelin."
"Zeppelin? Oh, my God. That's a band, right?" Jackie asked
excitedly.
Kelso pushed Jackie away and stood in front of Donna.
"Donna. In the ninth grade, I did an oral report on "Stairway to
Heaven," and I got a B-plus. You gotta take me."
Hyde pushed Kelso away and said, "Donna, in the ninth grade, I
wasn't a dork and I didn't write a report on "Stairway to Heaven."
And you gotta take me."
Jackie pushed Hyde away and said, "God! She doesn't wanna take
either one of
you, 'cause she's taking me. Donna, M-E, me!"
Donna looked disturbed.
Eric stood up suddenly and said, "Okay, you know what? I'm going." "Really?" Donna widened her eyes in anticipation.
"Ah… I can't." Eric deflated into his seat again.
Hyde smacked the back of Eric's head as he annoyed him.
Chapter 158: Air Travel.
[General POV]
Friday night.
Suzy Simpson noticed several cars in Hyde's driveway as she came to
spy on him.
She still wanted to figure out what he's using the fertilizer for. Wearing a zipped up black leather jacket and black leather pants,
she covered her face with a ski-mask and used the shadow to get
closer to Hyde's front window.
Suzy heard some rummaging inside the house and peeked through
the gap in the curtain.
"Please! You don't have to do this." Kelso begged, kneeling on the
ground. His white shirt was bloodied up, and he was crying
desperately.
The living room was lit up with only candle flames. Black candles with
a pentagram drawn on it.
On the floor, a huge bloody pentagram was drawn with chicken blood,
and Jackie Burkhart was tied up in the middle of it, writhing around
as she cried.
Her mouth was stuffed to prevent her from speaking.
Hyde looked deranged, wearing a black tank top and a crazed
expression.
"Why should I stop?" He cackled madly. "I'm going to get everything
I ever wanted."
He held his knife up in the air, and brought it down forcefully,
stabbing Jackie in the abdomen.
Jackie tensed her body and slowly let go. "BABE!" Kelso yelled.
Suzy almost kicked the front door open before she realized it was
unlocked.
"FREEZE! STEVEN HYDE YOU'RE UNDER ARREST—" She held a gun
at Hyde.
Suzy froze as she saw a few more figures she couldn't see before,
hidden by her angle.
Fez was holding a boom mike on top of the trio. Eric was holding a
camera. Donna was holding a stack of scripts.
"HEY! SIMPSON!" Donna shouted at her. "You ruined my scene!"
Simpson was baffled as Donna approached her. She lowered her gun
and said, "You're shooting a film?"
"Can you put the gun down first?" Eric said, both of his arms raised
in the air.
Simpson blushed in embarrassment and coughed awkwardly.
Jackie sat up and said, "Great. I'm going to get stabbed again."
Hyde played with the fake knife, pushing the blade inside the hilt.
"I'm happy to go again."
She threw some of the fake blood at him. "Hey! Don't do that. I'll have to get everything cleaned up!" Hyde
said angrily.
Then, he turned to Simpson.
"Why are you secretly trying to leave now? Why are you even here?"
Hyde asked her skeptically.
"Um. Don't get me wrong. I'm just passing by. And saw something like
a fire. So I tried to help." Suzy lied skillfully.
Hyde nodded and said, "Then, I should thank you."
Jackie looked at Simpson with skeptical eyes and whispered to
Donna, "Ten bucks said she's here to seduce him."
Donna nodded in agreement with Jackie.
"Do we need to go again?" Hyde said with disbelief. "I want to get
some rest."
"We still haven't learned how to use the blood prop." Eric muttered.
"You're the only one who knows that."
Donna was trying to produce a horror film all on her own. She gave
Hyde the script, which centered around a girl taking revenge on her
boyfriend– makes sense since she wrote it while Eric and her were
fighting. She was using her own money to do it, but she also borrowed some
equipment from Hyde.
Hyde sat on the couch wrapped in plastic to rest before they reset
the scene.
Suzy asked, still feeling awkward, "Why are you acting as the villain
here?"
"Because he has that deranged vibes." Jackie interjected.
"You died in the first five minutes of the movie because no one can
stand you." Hyde quipped, which offended Jackie.
Suzy Simpson felt her face getting hotter when she noticed Hyde
kept laughing as he caught her eyes.
'He didn't suspect me at all? Should I be glad about this? Or
concerned?' Suzy thought secretly.
"Hey. You have a lot of free time, don't you?" Hyde asked her
suddenly.
"Um. I– I guess." Suzy replied awkwardly.
"Well, if you want a job, I know something that pays really well."
Suzy perked up a bit. She thought he would suggest something like
selling pot, or other heavy drugs, or even her body. Maybe she would
finally catch a glimpse of his true business. "It's pretty simple." Hyde said, taking out a large suitcase. "Just
deliver this to Kenosha tomorrow."
Suzy asked nervously, "What's in the case?"
"Just some stuff." Hyde said casually.
"Can I see it?"
"Sure?"
Suzy almost couldn't hide her smile as she opened the suitcase. She
gasped as it was truly a jackpot of crime related things.
There were a few bags of cocaine. Some weapons. And a lot of cash.
"You– You want me to transport this?" Suzy asked nervously. "Aren't
you afraid of me running away with these things?"
"Huh? What do you want to use the movie prop for?" Eric asked
suddenly.
Suzy almost staggered over. "M-Movie prop?" She asked with a
shaky voice.
"Yeah. It's for the new movie. It's about gangsters in Chicago." Hyde
explained. "It's a fake gun. It made noise and lit up a bit, but it
didn't use bullets. The cash is copied. And the cocaine is sugar." Suzy laughed awkwardly and said, "How much are you paying?"
"Fifty bucks. I'll pay for your gas." Hyde said with a teasing grin.
Suzy thought about it and said, "Deal."
'I need the money anyway. It's hard to learn the way of the street
without a solid income.'
Translation; She was broke since she's unemployed.
Hyde already suspected her. He thought she was sniffing around to
catch him doing something bad.
And he enjoyed messing around with her because her reaction was
hilarious.
…
[Hyde POV]
'I finally remember who Suzy was. She's the cop Kelso would study
with while he's at the police academy. Also… Kelso will become a cop?'
Inside the Forman's basement. We hung out as usual, then Fez
suddenly came in through the side door.
"Guys. I need some help. How do I speak to Caroline?" He said,
looking dejected.
"Well Fez. You came to the right master. We can definitely help you." Eric said gleefully and stood by his side.
I looked at him slowly from my usual spot. Kelso stood behind my
chair, eating a popsicle stick.
Donna and Jackie were sitting at the three seater couch.
Jackie scoffed and said sarcastically, "You?"
Eric was taken aback. "Well, being that I'm the only one here with a
girlfriend, I could teach Fez one or two moves."
Kelso snarked, "Please. You had 12 years to make a move. In the end,
Donna did it first."
Donna giggled and said, "That's true. Eric, you have no moves."
Jackie groaned and walked to Fez, pushing Eric away. "Fez, don't
listen to Eric."
"I haven't said anything yet." Eric was in disbelief.
"The key is confidence… good hair, and a nice car. OH! Money will be
nice too." Jackie muttered, fully convinced by her answer.
"What about a good heart?" Donna asked.
"Pff. Good heart can't take you shopping." Jackie muttered.
Kelso added, "If you want to get a fish out of the ocean, who would
you listen to? The fish, or the fishman?" "Fishman?" Everyone looked at him, holding back laughter.
Kelso didn't realize it and said, "Yeah. Only a fishman can teach
other fishman how to fish."
I had to cover up my mouth to prevent myself from laughing.
"So where does this fishman live? Atlantis?" Fez asked, trying to
tease Kelso.
"No. Fez. I'm the fishman." Kelso said with disbelief. "Are you stupid
or something."
"No wonder you are always looking fishy." I said to Kelso.
Donna's shoulder moved up and down as she struggled to keep it
contained. Eric grinned and added, "Kelso, as a fishman, what do you
think is the best bait to get some fish?"
"I don't know much about fishing. I don't really like fish."
"Oh, so there's discrimination between the sea species too?" I
added.
"I'm sure some of the flounders were looking sketchily at the sea
urchin, wondering why they were in their all flounders
neighborhood." Donna added.
I couldn't help it but snickered. Kelso looked at me in confusion.
"Why are you laughing? What's so funny?"
"I'm sorry. I just imagined the sea-urchin." I coughed, putting back
my serious face. "Continue Fishman."
"Gladly. Okay Fez. So, there's a few ways for you to talk to girls.
Like this one time, I just went up to her and said, "..Hey girl. You
have a nice body."
"Boo!" Donna and Jackie quickly booed him.
"What? That WORKS!"
"For whores maybe." Fez muttered. "I need some help to create an
actual conversation with her."
Fez pushed Kelso away and said, "Hyde! Help me!"
I sighed and said, "You're asking me to pass down the ancient
knowledge of picking up girls? Are you prepared to receive the
teaching with all of your heart?"
"I do, master." He replied.
We watched a lot of kungfu movies, so it really affected us.
"Alright then. I'll show you. Donna, stay there, sit properly and be a
girl." I said to Donna. "Why not me?!" Jackie protested.
"We need to start Fez with a normal level first, then we'll do the hell
level."
"Oh… Wait." Jackie was confused. Fez pulled her away and said,
"Move!"
She gasped, fully offended and stood up next to Eric.
"So, assuming you're going to approach her at the library, or at the
restaurant." I said, putting on a character.
"Library. I'm reading some books." Donna said, picking a magazine
next to her.
"Pride and Prejudice?" I asked.
"Sure." Donna nodded.
Eric looked at her with disbelief and said, "You're really into this,
aren't you?"
"Not a lot of guys come to pick me up. So yeah, I'm curious." Donna
muttered.
"Because you're a giant." Jackie said, which made Donna glare at her.
"Okay. Start!" Kelso said curiously. I took off my glasses, slicked my hair back, and lowered my voice
one octave deeper. I also wanted to try if something I saw in a tv
series would work in real life.
"What are you reading?" I asked, standing next to Donna.
"Pride and Prejudice." She replied, looking intrigued.
I sat next to her and said, "So you're familiar with two sins. How
about a third?"
Everyone gasped slightly. Donna became slightly coquettish and
glanced at me with a blush on her cheek.
I slid my arm around her and opened up my cigarette box.
She said with a girly voice, "I don't think we're allowed to smoke in
here."
"Then, you picked the wrong outfit. Didn't you?" I said, leaning in
closer.
She inhaled sharply. I held her chin, leaned in closer to her and she
closed her eyes.
Before we could kiss, Eric snapped at her, "DONNA! What are you
doing?!"
"What– Oh my god!" Donna immediately pushed me away. She went to
Eric, trying to explain to him it meant nothing. I grinned and said to Fez, "So what do you think?"
"Awesome!" Fez gave me a thumbs up.
Jackie scoffed and said, "Anyone can do that. And you need a very
specific book too to make it work. Fez can't use that."
"Hyde. Do something else." Kelso said, excited. "Also, I need to write
this down."
"Me too!" Fez said and added, "Let me copy yours later."
"No. I want to use it for the blonde who worked at the movie
theater." Kelso said, pulling his notes away from Fez.
"Ay." Fez exclaimed with disappointment.
"Hyde. Come on. Teach us one more." Fez begged.
I sighed and said, "Fine."
Jackie stepped up and sat next to me. "You're doing me this time!"
"The hell difficulty." Eric gasped.
I grimaced and said, "Well, Fez. It's not an opening, but it is a line
you can use to seal the deal."
"I will take it!" Fez said excitedly. "Alright. So, it's about astronomy. Imagine sitting on top of the car,
looking at the stars."
Jackie grinned and shook her body excitedly, "Oh god. It's been a
while since I went on an actual date."
"Shh Jackie! Focus!" Kelso snapped at her.
I held her hand softly and called her name. "Jackie."
"Yes!?" She replied, also becoming coquettish.
"Two of the brightest stars in the night sky are Altair and Vega. And
it is said they were deeply in love but forever separated by the
celestial river of the Milky Way…"
"Aww." Donna and Jackie exclaimed simultaneously.
"That's so sad." Jackie glared at Donna before continuing.
I nodded and said, "Yes. It's really sad. But…"
"There's an Indian legend. Once a year, on the seventh day of the
seventh month, Vega cries so hard that all the magpies in the world
fly up and create a bridge with their wings…"
I leaned in and whispered slightly, "so the two lovers can be
together for a single– night– of passion."
Jackie gasped, and instantly melted into my arm. She leaned in to kiss me, but I stopped her and said to Fez, "So how is it?"
"That's two-for-two. Hyde. You're a god!" Eric said with awe.
"Kelso is blessed with the looks, but the actual godly tongue is with
Hyde." Fez said excitedly.
"Ugh." I groaned. "Don't talk about my tongue."
"Thank god he didn't use that on you." Eric muttered, but saw his
girlfriend was still fawning over Hyde, still blushing and waved at him
secretly while she thought he wasn't looking.
"Donna!" Eric said with disbelief and nervousness.
Donna snapped back to reality and said, "Oh god. Those lines are
really potent. I kept losing my mind."
I nodded and said, "Wait till you hear about my story of me
backpacking through eastern europe."
"Really?" Donna's eyes lit up again and almost went to Hyde.
Eric covered her ears and pulled her back, "No! Stop! Hyde~!"
He ran away with her immediately.
I laughed, and as I turned around, I saw Jackie– still looking at me
with twinkling eyes.
"Should we go out on a date again? Try it the second time?" "No. I have a girlfriend. In fact, I need to go back home to call her."
I said, standing up and walking away.
"Ugh! Men are all the same!" Jackie crossed her arms and sulked.
"They used us and then threw us aside!"
I paused, looked at her with confusion before leaving silently.
…
Back at my house.
I waited for the call, and it came at around 10.
"Hey." I said quickly.
"Steven?" Ophelia was on the other line, her tone excited. "I have
checked into the suite. You really got me a big place!"
I got her a suite in the Sherry-Netherland hotel in New York. She
had around 5 interviews there, and needed a play to stay till Monday
before she flew to California.
"You're enjoying yourself?" I asked, feeling satisfied as she seemed
to like the hotel.
"Yes! I am. Although… It is getting pretty lonely. I really miss you,
and my family."
"Is it really tough?" I asked. "Kinda. I can't settle down at a new place since I know I have to go
on to the next one. People are very intrusive about my life. They
even talked about my relationship with you."
I already taught her how to navigate everything and told Jonathan
to contact me if an interview went wrong, but so far he told me she
was doing an excellent job.
"You're doing great. I'm really proud of you." I said sincerely.
She went silent for a bit.
I called, "Lia?"
"No. I'm just… It's nice to hear that." She said giddily. "Hey…"
"What is it?" I asked after catching her reluctance in her tone.
"You said that… if I miss you, and want you here… You will come,
right?"
"Absolutely."
"So. Can you come tomorrow?" She asked nervously.
I laughed and said, "I'll be there before you wake up."
"Really?!" She was astonished. "I'm just trying to see if you would–
You really don't have to!" "I want to. I miss you too. A lot." I said calmly.
She squealed on the other line and said, "So I'll just need to go to
sleep, and when I wake up, you'll be next to me?"
"I hope so."
"Then, I will wait for you to come!"
After finishing the call, I drove to the Formans and dropped off a
note saying I would be going to New York.
I did some preparation, like picking up a new car from the garage and
putting it in my inventory in order to have some transport in the city.
I made sure to bring some protections too, since New York in the
70s was basically the Purge movie.
When I had access to 2075 internet, I received a lot of complaints
from Patty about how there wasn't a private hangar in this town.
So Bruce, being the wasteful billionaire that he was, made one. Of
course, he got Ross's permission first.
It's located 10 miles out of the town. At a place where it used to be
a farm.
I kept thinking about it, and finally made an impulse buy. Something
that I kept in the inventory, with no chance to use it till now.
Now, there's several plane hangers and a runway there. But, there weren't any planes inside yet.
I drove my BMW bike to the hangar and finally took out something I
bought from 2075's internet.
VR headset lets me handle the documents and signatures while
meeting with the seller in the VR world.
Even in 2025 people could buy the jet online, but most of the
finalizing deal would have to be handled in person.
And the jet would only ship to a hangar, not a person's house.
I took out the plane from my inventory and saw it for the first time.
A sleek black private jet appeared in front of me.
It wasn't particularly large. Maybe enough for eight people
comfortably. Its body was smooth and narrow, almost completely
seamless, with a sharp nose and two engines molded into the rear of
the fuselage.
The weirdest part was the wings.
They were swept tightly backward while the plane was flying at high
speed, but they weren't fixed in place. The entire structure could
change shape depending on how the plane was flying.
When landing, the wings spread outward and widened. Several
overlapping sections along the back separated and angled downward
almost like the feathers of a bird spreading its wings before
touching the ground. It created an enormous amount of drag while increasing the amount
of lift the wings could generate at low speed.
And it could also land automatically on the water.
I whistled and got into the jet for the first time.
"The manual said it has built-in navigation in case of bad weather.
So, let's see if I can use this to get to New York. If it doesn't work,
then I'd have to drive 9 hours to get there in my car."
As the plane started, a noise I could only imagine used in a sci-fi
show sounded.
The lights turned on in the plane. The AI navigator booted up and
greeted me. It has a circular emoji face.
"Greetings. Mister Steven Hyde. Please place your hand on the
scanner for biometric scanning."
I did it, and the controls finally unlocked.
"Can you bring me to New York?" I asked the AI.
"Location determined. GPS signal lost. Please insert the current
location coordinates."
I already accepted that, so I tweaked the coordinates manually
first. It has that function just in case the plane was stranded
somewhere with no technology. That's also why I picked this one despite the steep price tag.
"Battery capacity at 99%. Please sit back and enjoy your time before
the plane lands."
I sat on the passenger seat and let the plane fly on its own while I
took a nap.
I slept through almost the entire flight, which was quite short with
a 0.8 mach top speed by the jet.
"Attention, Mister Steven Hyde." The AI blared suddenly.
I woke up and ran to the driver's seat.
"Arrival in ten minutes. Please wake up and secure yourself for
landing." The AI winked at me.
"We are approaching the designated landing area. The selected
surface is unpaved. A rough landing is expected. Please return to
your seat and fasten your safety restraints."
"Alright. Do it."
I didn't land in New York, but on a dirt path 20 miles outside the
city. Since it would raise a lot of questions from the tower if I
landed in an airport. They might need to check the plane's serial
number too, which I couldn't provide.
"Basicallly I used the path a drug dealer would use." I mumbled. The AI had found an old strip of flattened dirt surrounded by
abandoned farmland. According to the map, there hadn't been a
building anywhere near it for miles.
"Beginning final approach."
I looked outside as the wings started changing.
The narrow wings slowly spread outward. Their rear sections
separated and angled downward one after another, almost like a bird
spreading its feathers before landing.
I could actually feel the plane slowing down.
A lot. It was quite intense. The jet has different landing options. If
I had access to a runaway, it would be a much smoother landing.
The ground was getting closer.
"Brace for contact."
THUMP!
The entire plane shook, but it wasn't damaged. It stopped very
quickly after that. I had to sit inside the plane until the whiplash
finally ended.
"Landing completed successfully. No aircraft damage detected."
"Right…" I unbuckled myself and stepped outside. Then, I took out my bike
first from the inventory and drove to a nearby road.
Finally, I changed it into a car. A revamped Mustang I have in the
garage.
"Now that I think about it, having inventory alone is a really huge
advantage. I can keep my transport there and change it quite easily
if I have to."
It was only 3 in the morning when I landed near the city. If I drove
on my own, it would take around 15 hours.
Commercial flight was only 2 and a half hours, but I have to wait till
the morning to get one.
I was moving through the rural area when I saw a group of suspicious
people with guns watching over a warehouse.
"Am I really in the drug lord territory?" I said with disbelief.
They didn't try to stop me. I made my way to the city quite
peacefully.
…
[General POV]
The next morning, Ophelia slowly woke up from her sleep. She
couldn't doze off last night since the anticipation of her boyfriend
coming to see her was keeping her up. She only took a short nap instead of the full 8 hours too. She slept
at 3, and woke up at 6.
"Morning." Hyde greeted her gently as she opened her eyes and saw
him lying down next to her.
Her smile widened and she rushed to hug him.
"STEVEN!!!"