Chapter 251: Excellent
Chapter 251: Excellent
Jeffrey stayed busy until after eight in the evening before finally finishing everything Eric had instructed him to do. However, because he was still worried, he tossed and turned the entire night and slept poorly. Early the next morning, just after daybreak, Jeffrey climbed out of bed with faint dark circles under his eyes. After hastily washing up, he personally went out to buy a large stack of newspapers, then stood beside the newsstand and anxiously began reading them.
Things had indeed unfolded exactly as Eric predicted. In one issue of the Manhattan Morning Post, a photograph of members of that environmental organization sprawled messily across the lawn was published in a very prominent spot. Moreover, the image quality was much worse than the photos Eric had deliberately taken, clearly indicating it had been shot by the reporters the crew chased away yesterday.
What gave Jeffrey an even bigger headache was that the tabloid had also published a photograph of a crew member shoving one of the environmental activists. The paparazzo had captured the shot very skillfully. Although the expressions of the two people could not be seen clearly, it was obvious that one crew member had raised his foot as if trying to kick the environmental activist opposite him, while the protester appeared to be retreating in panic.
“Yesterday, while filming the highly anticipated sequel to Home Alone in Central Park, Manhattan, the production crew encountered obstruction from the well-known environmental organization GEPO…”
After reading only the first sentence, Jeffrey could not help cursing aloud. Yesterday, he had negotiated with that so-called environmental organization for so long without even learning what they were called. Yet this tabloid immediately revealed their identity in the opening sentence. It was obviously prearranged.
Although furious, Jeffrey continued reading:
“…Because the sequel to Home Alone still takes place during Christmas, the production crew reportedly planned to spread a snow-like chemical substance called magnesium sulfate heptahydrate across the vegetation in Central Park, and this substance could allegedly cause severe damage to the park’s plant life. In order to stop the inappropriate actions of the Home Alone 2 crew, members of GEPO engaged in lengthy negotiations with the film’s producers. They even suffered physical aggression from members of the production crew and, left with no alternative, lay down on the grass in protest. Our reporters who went to conduct interviews were also subjected to the barbaric expulsion of the Home Alone 2 crew.
Members of GEPO revealed to us that their forces are weak and isolated. Although the Home Alone 2 crew temporarily halted filming because of their intense protests, the other side clearly does not intend to let the matter rest. Central Park is known as ‘the lungs of Manhattan,’ and the reason Manhattan residents are able to enjoy fresher air than other parts of New York every day is inseparable from the purification effect of Central Park’s vegetation. Therefore, we call upon the citizens of Manhattan to pay close attention to the progress of this matter, and we strongly urge the Manhattan borough government to intervene and stop the reckless environmental destruction being carried out by the Home Alone 2 production crew.”
By the time Jeffrey finished reading the article, his entire body had turned cold.
The final paragraph of the report was practically inciting all Manhattan residents to unite in protesting the crew’s filming in Central Park. And if the Manhattan borough government could not withstand the pressure of public opinion and stepped in, then perhaps Home Alone 2 really would have to wait until New York experienced an actual snowfall before filming could continue. God knew how long that would take. Without snow, the Central Park scenes would look completely out of place beside footage already filmed elsewhere with snowy scenery.
After finishing the article, Jeffrey no longer had the mood to read other newspapers. Instead, he directly searched for the ones he had handled public relations for yesterday.
Fortunately, newspapers such as the New York Daily News, the New York Post, and the New York News had all published fair reports according to Jeffrey’s arrangements yesterday. Since the journalists had all received public relations payments, their wording naturally leaned more toward the production crew.
At the same time, the New York Post also included an interview with a chemistry professor from New York University. Naturally, this had also been arranged by Jeffrey. The professor gave a detailed and objective introduction to magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, the substance used as artificial snow, stating that so long as it was not used excessively, it would not only fail to damage plants, but could even promote growth.
After hurriedly skimming through several newspapers, Jeffrey quickly rushed back to the hotel.
Knock knock knock—
He urgently knocked several times on Eric’s door. After a moment, the door opened slightly, revealing a blonde beauty wearing a bathrobe.
Jeffrey froze for a moment. He did not recognize the woman. Instinctively, he wondered whether Eric, that ridiculous brat, had been unable to handle Nicole leaving the crew and had gone and hired a call girl.
After recognizing Jeffrey, the blonde beauty quickly opened the door wider. “Mr. Hansen, p-please come in. Eric is taking a shower.”
Hearing the blonde call him by name, Jeffrey relaxed somewhat. At least she was not a prostitute, which made the situation easier to accept.
The blonde beauty also quickly noticed Jeffrey’s puzzled look and hurriedly introduced herself. “Mr. Hansen, my name is Leigh Zimmerman. I play a small role in the movie. Though perhaps you didn’t notice me.”
Jeffrey nodded. He opened his mouth several times, but in the end merely pointed toward the girl’s collar.
The blonde lowered her head for a glance and immediately let out a soft cry. Her neck and upper chest were covered with red kiss marks, which appeared especially conspicuous against her pale skin.
Leigh Zimmerman hurriedly tightened her collar, not knowing what to say, when the bathroom door conveniently opened. Eric, wearing a white bathrobe and drying his hair with a towel, walked out.
Seeing Jeffrey sitting on the sofa, Eric froze briefly before smiling in greeting. “Hi, Jeffrey. You’re… up early.”
“Yes, indeed… rather early,” Jeffrey replied meaningfully as he glanced at the awkward blonde standing nearby.
Eric smiled without the slightest concern. Walking over, he wrapped an arm around the girl’s waist and lightly kissed her cheek before saying to Jeffrey, “You two have met already, right?”
The two nodded somewhat awkwardly. Seeing that Eric and Jeffrey seemed to have business to discuss, Leigh Zimmerman tactfully said, “Eric, may I use the bathroom?”
Although the girl was still clutching her collar, Eric had already noticed the faint red marks on her neck. With a mischievous grin, he smacked her pert backside before saying, “Of course. Go ahead.”
Leigh Zimmerman glared at Eric in mock annoyance, though a trace of flirtatious charm flickered at the corner of her eyes, completely unlike the fierce image she had displayed while beating up the two dumb burglars during filming.
Just like Donald Trump’s cameo role as a man giving directions in the Plaza Hotel, the fashionable blonde who encountered the dumb burglars twice in Eric’s memories—first slapping Marv across the face and later beating up both burglars together—had also been cast locally in New York.
The crew had contacted the famous Elite Model Management agency. Although it was only a small role, this was still the Home Alone series. Even if the primary audience consisted of children, there were also countless adults accompanying their kids to the theater.
Therefore, to those models, this role was not only an excellent opportunity to increase their fame, but more importantly, perhaps after appearing in this film, they might successfully break into the big screen industry. Everyone knew that even an ordinary first-line Hollywood celebrity earned far more annually than most supermodels, let alone a top-tier superstar.
As a result, fierce competition erupted over the role. The assistant director responsible for casting looked at the candidate list of forty-six models sent over by the agency, and several models had even personally sought him out. He immediately felt the matter was difficult to handle.
Although he held casting authority and was quite tempted by the hints from certain lesser-known models, he absolutely could not afford to offend already famous supermodels. Nor did he dare select an unknown model while such famous supermodels were competing for the role. So, very cleverly, he pushed the problem onto Eric.
Eric glanced through the list once and found no women he recognized, so he began browsing through the thick portfolio that had accompanied it with great interest. Among countless glamorous photographs, he quickly selected Leigh Zimmerman.
Although Leigh Zimmerman was neither the most famous nor the most beautiful among the models, by sheer coincidence, she happened to be the original actress from Eric’s previous life.
Originally, Eric had chosen Leigh Zimmerman purely out of his own mischievous desire to recreate the “original work.” He had no other intentions.
However, during filming yesterday, Eric suddenly found himself very attracted to the sight of the girl on camera wearing all black along with black leather gloves. He thought the way she swung her fists at the two dumb burglars looked unbelievably cool.
After a few teasing remarks and suggestive hints, Leigh Zimmerman immediately attached herself to him without hesitation.
Last night, while fooling around with the girl on the large bed, Eric had even deliberately brought over the pair of black leather gloves and made her wear them. Watching the naked, fair-skinned beauty beneath him wearing nothing except those leather gloves as she obediently catered to him…
The feeling was simply excellent.
The bathroom door clicked shut, and only then did Jeffrey point toward the bathroom and ask, “Eric, what exactly is going on here?”
“You read the script, didn’t you? She’s the girl who teaches the dumb burglars a lesson twice.”
Jeffrey recalled the character for a moment and nodded. He opened his mouth, intending to advise Eric to restrain himself a little. After all, he not only had a girlfriend now, but also two regular lovers. Because of Nicole’s little schemes, Jeffrey had also categorized Nicole as one of Eric’s lovers. The other was naturally Virginia.
However, Jeffrey quickly dismissed the thought.
Eric was not like him. He was at the age of youthful vigor. As long as he did not become addicted to women and neglect important matters, being a little promiscuous was not a big issue. Besides, given Eric’s current status, even if he wanted to restrain himself, all kinds of women would still throw themselves at him.
“Forget it. Look at these first. I’ve already read them,” Jeffrey said as he pushed a stack of newspapers toward Eric. “The pile on top contains the newspapers I contacted yesterday. The ones below are from the people targeting us.”
Eric first pulled out the lower stack and rapidly flipped through them.