Chapter 191: Thump Thump
Chapter 191: Thump Thump
Eric vaguely remembered that in his previous life, after Jennifer Connelly reached adulthood, she kept running into setbacks everywhere. Eventually, she steeled herself and gave a bold performance in a thriller, attracting Hollywood’s attention once again. Only after paying that price did she successfully transition from a pure and innocent girl into a sexy bombshell and land the female lead role in Disney’s The Rocketeer. But immediately afterward, that movie bombed, and Jennifer Connelly did not receive a single film offer for the next five years. By the time she appeared on screen again, she already gave people the feeling that everything had changed.
“Eric?” Brooke Shields saw Eric zoning out and lightly slapped his arm in dissatisfaction. To actually lose focus in front of a beauty like her, this man really was… infuriating.
“Oh, sorry,” Eric pulled himself out of his wandering thoughts and apologized before asking uncertainly, “The The Rocketeer you mentioned just now… is it that sci-fi story set in 1930s Los Angeles?”
Brooke Shields’ red lips parted in surprise. Seeing her reaction, Eric completely confirmed it.
“Eric, how do you know that? This… this should still be confidential, right?”
“Because if I guessed correctly, the movie is adapted from Dave Stevens’ graphic novel of the same name. I just happened to have read it,” Eric shrugged. He had watched the movie, of course, but had never even glanced at Stevens’ original comic. Naturally, he could not tell the truth in front of the woman.
“Then… Eric, do you think this story would work as a movie?” Brooke Shields was not lacking in intelligence. She quickly asked a rather important question.
“I don’t know. The novel itself is pretty good. The key depends on how Disney adapts it,” Eric immediately shook his head.
He had no intention of warning her not to take the role either. Perhaps the contract with Disney had already been signed by the time she appeared here, so saying anything would not make much difference.
Besides, the movie had been pushed ahead by an entire year. That meant the plot definitely would not be exactly the same as in his previous life. Sometimes even a single day’s difference could alter a screenwriter’s ideas, let alone an entire year. Maybe this version of The Rocketeer in this timeline would inexplicably become a huge hit. If he rashly warned her away from the project and the new version turned out to be a blockbuster, he would basically be ruining her future. At that point, he would probably have to compensate by personally giving her roles. So why bother interfering? Watching from the sidelines was much easier.
Swirling the red wine in his glass, Eric drifted off into random thoughts again. Thinking about The Rocketeer naturally led him to Jennifer Connelly. He wondered where she was now. He had already forgotten the taste of the girl’s red lips. He did not know when he would get to taste them again.
“Looks like I shouldn’t keep bothering you. Eric, you keep spacing out,” Brooke Shields said unhappily as she stood up and shot him a resentful look before gracefully turning away.
Eric stared at the curves wrapped beneath the woman’s silver fishtail gown and suddenly felt that Brooke Shields’ figure was especially suitable for dressing up as a mermaid. Strip off all her clothes, put a mermaid tail on her, toss her into a swimming pool…
Thump thump…
His thoughts had turned evil again.
Eric shook his head, tossing the messy thoughts out of his mind. He decided that later he would head over to Aniston’s place and properly torment the little girl instead.
…
Thump thump.
Inside the dimly lit bedroom, the large bed swayed gently. Two naked bodies were tangled together. The girl pinned beneath the man let out soft whimpers and cries from time to time. Occasionally she protested, but those protests only brought fiercer attacks, and her complaints soon turned into half-real, half-fake sobbing moans.
No one knew how long the battle lasted before it gradually quieted down.
“You’re awful. You did it inside again. You bastard, you never think about me at all. If I get pregnant, I’ll bite you to death,” Jennifer Aniston complained after washing up. She drifted softly out of the bathroom and flopped onto Eric, punching his shoulder.
“If you get pregnant, then just give birth. What’s the big deal?” Eric wrapped an arm around the girl’s waist, pulled off the bathrobe draped over her body, lifted her soft figure onto himself, and held her close, enjoying the feeling of their bodies pressed together.
Aniston leaned against his chest. “But I’m only twenty. I don’t want to be tied down by a child so early and end up unable to do anything.”
“I’m only nineteen and I’m not scared. What are you afraid of at twenty?” Eric laughed and smacked the girl lightly on the butt.
“Anyway, I just don’t want children this early. At least not until I’m thirty. And…” Her voice suddenly carried strong unease as she raised her head and stared directly into Eric’s eyes. “And if I got pregnant, would you marry me immediately?”
Eric’s heart suddenly pounded several times. After a moment of hesitation, just as he was about to grit his teeth and answer, the girl lightly pinched his waist. “Look at how scared you got. Your heart was practically about to jump out. I knew it…”
Eric’s large hand slid across the girl’s smooth back as he said softly, “Jennie, I’ll always treat you well.”
“But that’s not all I want,” the girl murmured while rubbing her cheek gently against his chest. “I want you to treat only me well.”
“…”
“I know that’s impossible. But when I want to leave you, you won’t let me.” The little girl’s tone quickly became resentful again. “How can there be someone as awful as you in this world?”
Eric laughed as he cupped the girl’s soft buttocks and lifted her slightly higher before leaning forward to suck gently on her tender lips for a moment. Then, in the tone of an old man imparting wisdom, he said, “Little girl, remember this: all men in the world are bastards. Since they’re all the same, why struggle so much over who you’re with?”
“Heh, that actually sounds pretty reasonable,” Aniston rolled her eyes dramatically. “You’re brainwashing me with your weird worldview again. You’re like some evil heretic.”
“Heretics are the ones who live freely. The gods they believe in are usually just imaginary deities, but really they’re manifestations of the desires hidden deep inside themselves…”
“Ahh, stop, stop listening! You’re trying to brainwash me again…” The little girl shook her head and covered Eric’s mouth with her hand, refusing to let him continue.
Eric chuckled as he grabbed the fair little hand and played with it, pressing it together with his own to compare their sizes. A year of constant work had already formed a faint layer of calluses on his palm.
“Alright, I’ll stop.”
Although the little girl did not raise her head, her fingers mischievously scratched twice against his palm. “Eric, are you going to Venice in September?”
“Yeah. This year’s film festival opens on September 4th. I’ll probably stay there for a few days, but I won’t be attending the awards ceremony in mid-September.”
“September 4th…” Aniston suddenly lifted her head. Originally she only wanted to complain a little about Eric going off to linger around Venice with Virginia again, but hearing the date made her suddenly spring upright and straddle Eric’s waist. “Friends premieres on September 3rd! Doesn’t that mean you won’t even get to watch the first broadcast of the show?”
“It doesn’t really matter whether I watch it or not. I made the show myself, so what plot point wouldn’t I know?” Eric asked in confusion.
Aniston sounded a little emotional. “Of course it matters. This is the first television show we’ve ever worked on together. I originally wanted you to watch the premiere with me.”
“How about… I watch season two with you instead?”
The little girl punched Eric in disappointment and turned her head away. “Who knows if your stupid TV show will even get a second season, hmph!”
“Alright, alright. Tomorrow I’ll call Venice and tell them to postpone the opening ceremony by two days. I need to stay with my girlfriend and watch my TV show’s premiere, so the entire festival can just wait.”
Aniston froze for a second before bursting into laughter. “You bastard, do you think you’re God?” But after laughing, the little girl also understood there was no way to have both things at once. What Eric needed to do was obviously more important. “Fine, I forgive you. But remember to bring me a gift when you come back.”
“No problem. How about a fully handcrafted gondola?”
“Hehe, smart mouth. If you buy one, where are we supposed to row it? I want a mask.”
Eric recalled that in his previous life, he had indeed seen masks brought back from Venice by friends. He had no idea what material they were made from. They were painted with all kinds of patterns and decorated with feathers, looking both luxurious and eerie at the same time—or at least that was how he felt.
“What kind do you want?” Eric asked while recalling details of Venetian masks from memory.
“You choose yourself. Let’s see if you can guess my taste,” the little girl replied playfully with a grin.
“Okay,” Eric nodded and patted the girl’s thigh. “Baby, look behind you.”
The little girl glanced backward in confusion and immediately spat, “Pah, why is it standing up again?”
“When a warm, wet little flower keeps rubbing against my waist, how could it not?” Eric replied with a wicked grin.
“Ah!” The little girl shrieked and immediately jumped off him. Both of them looked down toward Eric’s waist. Neither paid attention to his abdominal muscles. Instead, their eyes were simultaneously drawn to the faint wet mark there.
“Th-that… I just took a shower. That’s water. Right, that’s definitely water!” the little girl stammered defensively.
Eric nodded solemnly. Seeing his exaggeratedly serious expression, Aniston flew into embarrassed rage and pounced on him, opening her small white teeth and biting directly into his shoulder.
Pain shot through him, and Eric immediately cooperated with an exaggerated scream, sounding utterly wronged. “Agh! Stop biting! Water, water, it’s water! Oh God, when did I ever say it wasn’t water?!”
…
“Why are you here?” Early the next morning, Eric arrived at the company in a refreshed mood after leaving the little girl’s apartment. The moment he entered his office, he saw Drew Barrymore sitting in his chair, absentmindedly fiddling with the computer in front of her.