Chapter 258: Nobody Was a Fool
Chapter 258: Nobody Was a Fool
“…Carl is accidentally killed when falling glass pierces his heart, and his soul is dragged into Hell by grim reapers. After Sam says goodbye to Molly and Oda Mae, his final wish fulfilled, he slowly walks through the gates of Heaven. Mr. Williams, what do you think of this story?”
From the very beginning, Bruce Joel Rubin had noticed that Eric seemed somewhat distracted, so he had only briefly summarized the outline of the story. By this point, he no longer held much hope. Asking that final question was merely waiting for Eric to reject him so he could tactfully leave.
Hearing that Bruce Joel Rubin had finished speaking, Eric quickly pulled his attention back.
“Mr. Rubin, it seems Charles and the others just now weren’t very optimistic about this story either, right?”
Hearing Eric say this, Bruce assumed he was rejecting him just like everyone else. With a disappointed expression, he said, “Then I’m sorry to have disturbed you, Mr. Williams.”
Just as he turned to leave, Eric quickly stopped him. “Mr. Rubin, actually, I think the concept is pretty good.”
Bruce immediately froze in place and turned back around. “Mr. Williams, did I hear that correctly?”
“Of course you did,” Eric said with a smile. “I think your concept is good. However, after listening to your verbal outline just now, I still didn’t find any real highlights. Do you have a complete script?”
“Of course I do, Mr. Williams, I…” Bruce Joel Rubin anxiously rubbed his hands together. He had entered the party by tagging along with a friend, so naturally he had not brought any script with him. But now that he had finally encountered someone interested in his work—and that person was currently the hottest young director in Hollywood—Bruce naturally wanted to seize this opportunity with everything he had. “Mr. Williams, how about I go back and fetch the script right now?”
Eric shook his head. “No need to rush. It’s already very late.”
After speaking, he pulled out a business card and handed it to him. “Tomorrow morning at nine, bring the script to Firefly headquarters and find me there. We can discuss it in detail then.”
Bruce excitedly accepted the business card. “Mr. Williams, I’ll be there on time.”
Eric did not say anything more. He merely nodded, glanced casually at several guests nearby who already looked eager to move, and calmly walked away.
“Eric, what are you thinking about?” Virginia asked softly in the middle of the dance floor, raising her head while leaning against him.
Eric glanced toward Bruce Joel Rubin, who was already being approached repeatedly by people outside the dance floor. “I’ve got my eye on a script. Right now, a lot of people are probably thinking about snatching it too.”
Virginia followed Eric’s gaze. “That man? I saw you talking with him just now. Since you like the script, why not buy it immediately?”
“Right now? Overnight?” Eric said while caressing the woman’s waist. “Nobody here is stupid. If I act too eager, the person holding the script probably won’t be in a hurry to sell anymore. And once other studios join the fight, the final price to secure it will become much higher.”
Virginia tightened her arms around Eric’s waist and rubbed her cheek against his chest. “I didn’t really understand any of that. Looks like I’m the stupid one.”
Taking advantage of no one paying attention, Eric lightly smacked the curve of her backside beneath the evening gown. There was obvious flirtation in his tone as he said, “I like stupid women.”
Virginia protested by lightly punching him once before tilting up her pretty face. Blinking her large eyes, she asked in a soft, sticky voice, “Eric… tonight?”
Eric helplessly shook his head. “Everywhere you go now, there’s a trail of paparazzi following behind you. Do you think I’d dare go over to your place?”
Hearing that, Virginia also looked somewhat helpless.
Ever since The Others premiered, Virginia had not only gained enormous fame, jumping from a third-rate actress straight into the ranks of first-line stars, but her private life had also become the focus of intense tabloid attention. Eric knew those people were not merely targeting Virginia—they were targeting him too.
Whenever he recalled the night he negotiated with Murdoch, when the old man mentioned that a New York Post reporter had secretly followed him for several months, Eric felt uncomfortable.
To be honest, that matter still had not truly been resolved.
Afterward, Eric had not been naïve enough to ask Murdoch for those photographs. Any fool knew the man would never hand over everything without keeping backups. Since that was the case, Eric had not bothered asking.
However, after that incident, Eric became far more cautious.
Although he personally did not care if the media exposed scandals involving him and various actresses, he had to care about Aniston’s feelings.
Because if his affairs with other actresses repeatedly appeared in newspapers, even if the little girl wanted to bury her head in the sand like an ostrich, it would eventually become impossible. In the end, under pressure, breaking up with him would probably become her only option.
Although he could not go to Virginia’s place, going somewhere else was not a problem.
On the large bed in the bedroom, Aniston gasped rapidly with her mouth open like a fish dragged out of water. Accompanied by trembling convulsions, she collapsed limply onto the bed.
Eric followed and pressed himself against the girl’s smooth back, brushing aside a mess of blonde hair before kissing her cheek. The still-hard thing below lightly nudged a few times before slipping once more into the slick, warm passage.
“Mmph… stop already, I’m dying,” Aniston protested weakly as she lifted her round, pert hips upward, seemingly trying to push Eric out. Instead, it only made him feel even better.
“Come on, let me give you mouth-to-mouth resuscitation,” Eric said with a grin before kissing the girl’s lips. His tongue forcefully invaded, tangling with the small fragrant tongue hiding inside.
She whimpered and struggled weakly a few times. After Eric had played enough and finally released her, Aniston glared resentfully at the man pressing down on top of her.
After lingering intimately together for a while, the little girl finally rasped softly, “Eric, can you let me go take a shower? If it leaks out, it’ll dirty the bedsheets.”
Eric revealed a wicked grin, kissed her cheek, then leaned close to her ear and whispered, “It’s fine. Let me rest a bit first. I’ll plug it up again soon.”
The moment she heard those words, the little girl immediately struggled violently beneath him while shouting, “No more, no more! If we keep going, I’ll really die!”
Unfortunately, she did not realize her writhing only stimulated Eric’s desire further. The thing that had just calmed down quickly rose magnificently again.
Eric slightly lifted himself, swiftly flipped over the Aniston trying to escape, hooked up her long legs and pressed them against her chest, then pinned himself down on her once again.
Bathed in the pale light of dawn, Eric woke up punctually, feeling completely refreshed. After pulling the blanket back over the little girl, whose sleeping posture was terrible, Eric threw on some clothes and walked into the bathroom.
As soon as he opened the bedroom door and stepped into the living room, he heard faint sounds coming from the kitchen.
“Morning,” Nicole, who was making breakfast, turned around and greeted him.
“Morning,” Eric replied with a nod. Smelling the aroma of food in the air, he asked, “Is there a portion for me?”
Nicole rolled her eyes at him. “What do you think?”
“Then obviously there is,” Eric said as he walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her slim waist, and peered into the small soup pot in front of her.
Nicole froze briefly from Eric’s sudden movement, but quickly relaxed. Feeling the aggressive hardness pressing against her backside, she said helplessly, “You went at it so hard last night, and you’re still not satisfied?”
“Did you sneak over and listen?” Eric asked as he blew lightly against the woman’s sensitive earlobe.
Nicole’s cheeks instantly reddened. “Why would I need to sneak around? You two were so loud. If the villa’s soundproofing weren’t decent, the neighbors probably would’ve called the police.”
“And what about you?” Eric asked wickedly while one hand slipped beneath the woman’s clothing.
“Eric, you’re such a bastard. Aren’t you afraid Jennie will notice?” Nicole twisted her body lightly, though it was impossible to tell whether she was resisting or responding.
“She probably won’t get up for quite a while,” Eric said. He withdrew his damp fingers from beneath her clothes and raised them toward the woman’s lips.
Nicole shot him several helpless glances, but still obediently parted her lips and sucked the finger into her mouth.
After a while, Eric withdrew his finger and lightly smacked the woman’s backside. “Alright, I’m going to wake Jennie up. Hurry up and finish breakfast.”
“Bastard,” Nicole cursed resentfully after Eric suddenly released her. Her legs nearly gave out beneath her, and she hastily braced herself against the kitchen counter while glaring angrily at Eric’s retreating figure.
After breakfast, Eric left the apartment Aniston and Nicole shared. Before he even entered the office building, Bruce Joel Rubin, who had been waiting outside, hurried over.
“Mr. Rubin, didn’t we agree on nine o’clock?” Eric said while glancing at his watch.
Bruce quickly explained, “Well, Mr. Williams, I was afraid there might be traffic, so I came early.”
“Oh, then let’s talk upstairs in the office,” Eric replied before leading Bruce into Firefly’s office building.
This was the office building Robert Shaye had recommended several months earlier. It now officially belonged to Firefly, and both the original New Line staff and Firefly employees had already moved in at the beginning of the month.
Eric had once considered moving UTA into the building as well, but after suggesting it, not only Jeffrey and Robert opposed the idea—even Kapoor disagreed. Only after they explained things did Eric understand it was for the sake of avoiding conflicts of interest.
After all, a production company could not simultaneously own a talent agency. Eric had previously only been skating along the edge of the rules. If he blatantly moved UTA and Firefly into the same office building, it would only bring him trouble.
After entering the office and sitting down, Eric had someone bring two cups of coffee before saying to Bruce Joel Rubin, “So then, Mr. Rubin, did you bring the script?”
“Of course.” Bruce took the script out of his bag and handed it over.
Eric said nothing further. He simply opened the script and lowered his head to begin reading.