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 – 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 – 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.