Chapter 240: How Am I Supposed to Explain This to Jennie?
Chapter 240: How Am I Supposed to Explain This to Jennie?
Of course, Eric could not possibly tell the woman the truth. Even if he did, she would not believe him. So he could only analyze things based on reality.
“I’ve heard of Griffin Dunne too. Although he has a pretty good network, in the end, he doesn’t actually have the authority to decide casting choices. At most, he can recommend you and get you a few more audition opportunities than an agency might. But I also happened to watch that 007 movie from this summer. Honestly, Miss Lowell, your acting skills aren’t enough to help you seize those opportunities. That’s why I said he can’t help you.”
Kelly LeBrock lowered her head in silence. A trace of struggle flickered across her face, and she even forgot that her leg was still trapped between Eric’s.
After a while, the woman seemed to figure something out. She raised her head and boldly asked, “Then, Mr. Williams, can you help me?”
Without hesitation, Eric shook his head directly.
“I can’t either.”
Kelly LeBrock was the same age as Virginia. However, Virginia had already acted in quite a few films and had even received a Golden Globe nomination, so her acting skills were not a problem. She simply lacked opportunities.
But the Kelly LeBrock before him truly had little acting ability. Aside from glamorous decorative roles like in 007, it would be difficult for her to handle other characters.
If the woman were ten years younger, Eric might still have been willing to spend some effort personally training her. But now? Forget it.
“Then why are you still…”
The woman suddenly seemed to remember her current situation again and struggled once more against the leg trapping hers.
“Mr. Williams, please, let me go, alright?”
The moment Kelly LeBrock finished speaking, she felt the tightly clamped legs opposite her loosen. She immediately pulled her leg back.
Yet after suddenly regaining freedom, the woman, who had moments ago been desperate to escape the room, instead became hesitant.
A wicked smile curved at Eric’s lips as he pushed the glass of milk toward her.
“Finish drinking this. It’ll help you sleep.”
“Oh…”
Kelly LeBrock nodded instinctively, as though under a spell, obediently picking up the cup.
Under Eric’s burning gaze, the woman nervously finished the milk, set down the glass, and said, “I’m going back to my room.”
“Mhm.”
Eric showed no intention of stopping her. Sitting in the chair, he simply nodded toward her.
Kelly LeBrock stood up and walked to the door in several quick steps, but her hand on the doorknob became hesitant. She stood there motionless for several seconds without opening the door.
At some point, Eric had already appeared behind her, coaxing softly, “Or you could stay and have another glass of milk. I still have plenty here.”
“I think… that… there’s no need…”
The woman felt Eric’s warm breath already brushing against her neck as his large hands wrapped around her waist. Her speech became stammering.
Ignoring her refusal, Eric directly lowered his head and kissed the red lips he had been anticipating for a long time.
The woman pushed weakly twice before sinking into the kiss. Sensing the rich milky sweetness lingering between her lips and teeth, Eric decisively slipped out his tongue, pried open her pearly teeth, and invaded further.
After the suffocating kiss, Eric carried Kelly LeBrock to the round table, pushed aside the empty glass, and casually set her down on it.
Softly draped across the table, Kelly LeBrock glanced around uneasily, twisting slightly in resistance.
“Not… here…”
Receiving no response, she only felt the buttons of her trench coat being undone. Then that hateful man leaned close to her ear and chuckled wickedly.
“I’ll feed you more milk later.”
…
Morning sunlight slanted through the wooden window and spilled into one corner of the room.
Eric opened his eyes, glanced at his watch, then relaxed and stretched lazily.
Only then did he realize this was not his own room.
Looking toward the other side of the narrow single bed, although a pillow still rested there, Kelly LeBrock herself was already gone.
Thinking the woman had simply gotten up earlier, Eric paid it no mind. He got dressed, opened the door, and returned to his own room.
While washing up, Elizabeth entered again.
However, the woman looked gloomy today. She neither greeted Eric nor sat down like usual.
Once Eric walked out, Elizabeth directly slapped today’s memo onto the round table.
“Here. Read it yourself.”
“Uh…”
Eric froze briefly, then seemed to realize something. Unbothered, he asked, “So… where’s my breakfast?”
“I saw a few stray cats on the street looking pretty pitiful, so I gave it to them.”
After speaking, the woman arrogantly lifted her chin and stomped away in her little leather boots.
Eric smiled and shook his head. Picking up today’s schedule, he began reading it while planning to go buy breakfast himself later.
The door soon opened again.
The tall Nicole walked in, sat beside Eric, and placed a convenience bag in front of him.
“Here. I thought you might need this today.”
Eric had already caught the faint scent of food. Smiling cheerfully, he said to the woman, “Nicole really treats me the best.”
Nicole crossed her legs, placed both hands on her knees, and looked at Eric with amused interest.
“So, how exactly am I supposed to explain this to Jennie?”
“Explain what?”
Eric continued eating while reading through the schedule and memo.
Nicole raised an eyebrow.
“What do you think?”
Eric quickly put on an expression of sudden realization.
“Wow, who knew you had such a bad habit of eavesdropping? What exactly did you hear last night?”
The woman’s face reddened slightly, but she still answered, “Nothing much. Just something about drinking milk. Oh, and in the middle of the night, there was also a huge rat running around the hallway.”
“That’s nothing serious. Just tell Jennie the truth. Plenty of people have the habit of drinking milk before bed.”
Eric looked utterly unconcerned.
Nicole had only been teasing Eric anyway. She did not dare actually use something like this to pressure him. Hearing his response, she could only laugh along.
“Oh right, did you see Miss Kelly LeBrock?”
While eating breakfast, Eric suddenly looked up and asked.
Nicole seemed to remember something amusing and laughed.
“I did. But she probably didn’t want to stay behind and get teased, so she hurried off early this morning. Honestly, what exactly did you promise her this time? You two were pretty wild last night.”
Eric shrugged.
“Nothing at all. It was mutual consent. Just an ordinary ONS.”
Nicole laughed in surprise before saying, “If that’s the case, then I think that poor woman was completely dazzled by you.”
Eric glared at her while chewing his food and replied unclearly, “That’s slander. Be careful or I’ll sue you for defamation.”
…
At Jonah’s little girlfriend’s house.
Jessica sat silently on a small stool with a pile of alarm clocks behind her.
The little girl’s mother quickly walked up to her.
“Jessica, you have to tell us where he is. Jonah’s father is going crazy with worry.”
The little girl rolled her eyes and ignored her.
Immediately afterward, the girl’s father strode over with his hands on his hips, putting on a stern fatherly expression.
“Jessica, I’m your father. Tell us where he is.”
Jessica hesitated briefly, then seemed to decide the time had come. In her usual speaking style, she uttered two letters.
“NY.”
“What’s that?” Sam immediately asked.
“‘No way.’ Means impossible,” Jessica’s father answered.
“That’s NW,” Sam said helplessly.
All three adults turned to look at the little girl together.
“New York. He went to New York,” the little girl continued.
“What?!”
“How did he get there?!”
All three adults looked shocked.
“United Flight 597,” Jessica continued, reporting the flight number.
Sam hurriedly asked, “What time did it leave?”
“Seven-thirty,” Jessica’s father blurted out.
The three of them simultaneously looked toward the pile of alarm clocks behind the girl as the seven-thirty chime rang right on cue.
“Cut, good. Alice, your performance was fantastic.”
Eric happily called out while speaking to the girl who had risen from the little stool.
Everyone around them burst into excited applause, not because the little girl’s performance had been exceptionally outstanding, but because this was the crew’s final shot in Seattle.
The time was the morning of September 24th, the eighth day since filming began.
The Seattle schedule had originally been planned for ten days, but because of Eric’s special directing methods, Victor Morris, who played Jonah, had improved rapidly, saving the crew two and a half shooting days.
Ordinarily, two and a half days might not seem significant. But for a production spending hundreds of thousands of dollars per day, two and a half days meant saving over a million dollars from the budget.
Checking the time and seeing it was not even ten o’clock yet, Eric raised his megaphone and announced to everyone around him, “One day off. Everyone can go enjoy Seattle, but don’t miss tomorrow morning’s flight. Anyone who misses it can buy their own ticket to New York.”
“Hahaha…”
Amid the laughter, aside from the essential personnel staying behind to pack up the set, many people immediately began gathering their things to leave.
Beside the road, Eric carefully gave instructions to several crew members responsible for escorting the filmed negatives back to Los Angeles for initial processing and editing. Only after watching them depart in the van did he finally feel at ease enough to return to the little inn.
Back in his room, Eric removed his director’s vest and changed into a black trench coat. Thinking about the weather outside, he grabbed an umbrella before heading out again.
“Hey, where are you going?”
Seeing Eric dressed as though he were heading out, Elizabeth curiously stopped him to ask.
The woman’s temper came quickly and disappeared just as quickly. After one or two days, she had already stopped dwelling on Eric and Kelly LeBrock’s incident, and her relationship with Eric had returned to normal. At least on the surface.
Instead of answering, Eric asked back, “Do you need something?”
Elizabeth walked two steps closer.
“No. That’s why I’m asking where you’re going. Can I come too?”
“If you want.”
Eric nodded.
“Then wait for me. I’m changing clothes.”
Without hesitation, Elizabeth answered immediately before turning and hurrying back into her room.