Chapter 232: Of Course It’s Different
Chapter 232: Of Course It’s Different
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“Alright, stop arguing, both of you,” Elizabeth interrupted after thinking for a moment. “I think maybe we can give it a try.”
The little girl immediately chimed in, “This is a script chosen by the lead actor of a Best Picture nominee from the previous Oscars. There’s no way it could be bad. And if you both agree, I’ll take it to Eric and have him look it over for us.”
Hearing Drew say that, Julia immediately suggested, “Drew, didn’t Eric have you buy a whole bunch of adaptation rights? Why don’t we use one of those instead? Since he picked them himself, they must be much better than this one, right?”
“No way,” the little girl immediately shook her head. “Those rights belong to my Flower Pictures.”
“Doesn’t TG have your share too?” Julia complained unhappily.
Drew replied, “Of course it’s different. Flower Pictures was given to me by Eric.”
Julia froze for a moment. She felt somewhat envious but could not think of any rebuttal.
“Alright, Julia, I think it’s settled then. Our debut film will be The Silence of the Lambs.”
Julia grabbed a cushion and hugged it in her arms, curling into a ball on the sofa as she shook her head.
“Anyway, I’m not playing the female lead.”
Elizabeth and Drew exchanged glances and silently communicated with each other.
Elizabeth immediately said, “Then in that case, let’s vote on it. Anyone in favor of Julia playing the female lead, raise your hand.”
The little girl and Elizabeth immediately raised their right hands in exaggerated fashion.
“You two…”
Julia rolled her eyes speechlessly.
Seeing that Julia still refused to agree, Elizabeth’s eyes turned slightly before she said, “Right. If you still refuse, then Drew and I will just find someone else to persuade you.”
Julia instantly thought of Eric’s hateful face. She jumped up and tossed aside the cushion, saying angrily:
“You two… how can you bully me like this?”
“So that means you agree?” Elizabeth smiled triumphantly.
Julia’s expression crumpled.
“I need to ask my agent first.”
Elizabeth said, “Clarice isn’t a villain or some ugly comic-relief role. I’m sure Mr. Sid will agree. Besides, don’t think we don’t know. Once a Hollywood star reaches your level, agents only have advisory authority. They can’t control your script choices anymore. Saying that is obviously just an excuse. Why bother asking an agent? I think that bastard has much better judgment anyway. We could ask him.”
“Fine, fine. I agree, alright?”
Julia finally surrendered completely.
“Since that’s settled, then tonight I’ll take the script back and ask Eric to look it over for us.”
Just as Drew finished speaking and reached to collect the script, Elizabeth suddenly pressed a hand down on it.
“I’d better do it. I’ll be participating in the filming of Sleepless in Seattle for a while anyway, so I’ll have more opportunities to get him to help advise us.”
“You?”
The little girl looked at Elizabeth suspiciously. She did not know if it was just her imagination, but the woman seemed… guilty.
“I remember you saying Eric refused to help you choose scripts before?”
Elizabeth quickly replied, “But we’ve already decided now, haven’t we? And Julia is definitely investing with her salary. So I don’t think a movie like this would cost that much. Even if it loses money, it won’t matter much. Since that’s the case, I’m only asking him for a few suggestions. I don’t think Eric is stingy to that extent. Besides, if you take it to him, you’d have to come up with another excuse. If you aren’t careful, Eric might discover your involvement in our film company.”
Drew thought about it before nodding.
“That works too. Saves me from having to run back home, only for Eric to nag me again about skipping class.”
Elizabeth secretly let out a sigh of relief.
If the little girl returned home and discovered gasoline all over the villa, along with any traces connected to her, that would be terrible. Elizabeth was not worried about Drew’s reaction if she found out. She simply did not want more people learning about such an embarrassing incident. If it had not been impossible to hide the fact that she had not returned home all night, Elizabeth would never have told Julia what happened either.
After settling the matter, the little girl glanced at the bathrobe Elizabeth was wearing. Suddenly inspired, she stood up and directly pulled off her small T-shirt, revealing her bulging bra as she said:
“In that case, I’m going to take a shower too. Ah, if only I could rent my own apartment already. The school dorms are always uncomfortable. Julia, how about moving into a bigger villa? You can definitely afford it anyway.”
“No. If it’s too big, it’ll feel empty. Besides, you two won’t stay long-term anyway. This is just right.”
Julia immediately shook her head.
The little girl shrugged and said nothing more as she walked toward the bathroom.
Once the bathroom door closed, Julia quietly asked:
“Hey, Liz, you’re really still going to Eric’s place?”
“What else am I supposed to do?”
Elizabeth waved the script in her hand.
“We can’t exactly let Drew go back and discover gasoline all over the villa floor, can we? Besides, the one who should feel guilty is that bastard. Didn’t he want to run away? Then I’ll stick close to him on purpose and make him restless every second.”
Imagining Eric becoming uneasy whenever he faced Elizabeth, Julia could not help but “praise” her:
“Liz, you’re really vicious.”
The woman shamelessly flicked her short bangs.
“Of course!”
Although she said that confidently, it was not until the following afternoon that Elizabeth finally dragged herself back to Firefly’s offices.
Everyone at Firefly already knew the woman was Eric’s new assistant and that her relationship with him was unusual. So Elizabeth made her way unimpeded to Eric’s office door.
After hesitating for a moment, the woman raised her hand to knock, then changed her mind. She gently turned the doorknob and quietly slipped inside instead.
“Jeffrey, I’ve already looked over all the set photos. The indoor scenes are fine, but Jonah’s room is missing an egg-shaped space chair… Just tell the prop designer the name directly… Alright, I’ll sketch a draft and fax it over later. The interior’s fine, but I think the exterior of the cabin feels a bit empty. Just having one set of chairs under the porch makes it feel lonely. Put a few large flower pots there too. Preferably wooden ones. Need—”
As Eric spoke, he suddenly sensed movement from the corner of his eye. He instinctively looked up.
The moment he saw who had entered, his hand trembled and the receiver dropped straight to the floor with several clattering sounds.
Elizabeth, who had originally been feeling somewhat nervous, saw Eric so shocked that he dropped the phone. Instead of becoming tense, she suddenly relaxed.
Pulling over a chair, the woman elegantly sat down across from him.
Seeing Eric subconsciously darting his eyes around as if searching for an escape route, she smugly asked:
“What’s wrong? Are you planning to escape out the window behind you this time? Even though this building isn’t that tall, falling from here would still leave you shattered with multiple fractures, wouldn’t it?”
Eric forced a smile and bent down to pick up the receiver.
“…Jeffrey, it’s nothing. I accidentally dropped the phone… Mm, it’s like this. I suddenly have some urgent matters to deal with. Can I call you back later? …Alright then, that’s it for now.”
After hanging up, Eric did not know what to say for a moment.
Regarding what happened the night before last, Eric had originally assumed it was just an ordinary one-night stand. He never expected the woman to immediately start talking about marriage afterward. Just thinking about it felt terrifying.
Although he had already experienced everything there was to experience in his previous life, in this life he was not even twenty yet. How could he possibly lock himself into the prison of marriage this early?
Don’t be fooled by how bold and uninhibited Westerners looked in films and television. If one paid careful attention, it became obvious that in mainstream film and television works, the men and women constantly embracing each other were almost always unmarried.
In other words, while Western society was very open regarding premarital relationships, once people got married, both public opinion and social standards became extremely strict about marital fidelity.
If he remained single, then even if he maintained relationships with a whole group of women, at worst he would receive some teasing remarks. Nobody could really do anything to him.
But if he got married and still dared behave like that afterward, then he would face endless condemnation from public opinion.
As someone determined to become a playboy, Eric naturally had no intention of opposing the entire social mainstream. That would be utterly foolish. Which was why he currently had absolutely no thoughts of marriage. That was also why he had directly fled the next morning. Even though it was admittedly excessive, he truly had no idea how to deal with a woman who had already trapped herself in a dead-end mindset.
“Why did you stop talking?”
Seeing Eric’s guilty expression, Elizabeth immediately became even more arrogant.
“What am I supposed to say?”
Eric laughed awkwardly.
“I can’t exactly thank you for not burning down my villa yesterday, can I?”
Elizabeth snorted hatefully.
“Hmph. I just couldn’t find a lighter. You got lucky.”
“Uh…”
Even though she had cornered Eric completely, Elizabeth had no intention of pressing the matter endlessly. After all, she herself did not want to keep dwelling on the topic either.
“What were you doing just now?”
Sensing the woman intentionally changing the subject, Eric immediately replied:
“Nothing much. I was discussing the set arrangements for Sleepless in Seattle with Jeffrey. I’ve been too busy lately, so I had to leave those matters to him. He’s currently in Seattle handling the final preparations.”
“Oh.”
The woman nodded.
“So… are you still going to continue being my assistant?” Eric cautiously asked.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Elizabeth’s tone instantly rose.
“And you bastard, don’t even think about getting that kind of thing again.”
“Of course.”
Eric immediately nodded.
Faced with a woman who woke up after one night together and demanded marriage, Eric would rather never touch her again for the rest of his life.
“I came today because there’s something else I need your help with.”
As she spoke, the woman lowered her head and pulled the script for The Silence of the Lambs out of her bag.
“Here. Give me some advice. I’ve already decided to produce this movie next year, so you don’t need to evaluate its box office prospects. And if it loses money, you won’t be responsible. I just want some guidance.”
Eric took the script. He was just about to tell her he would look at it when he had time, but after casually glancing at the title on the cover, his eyes widened slightly.