Chapter 303: Why Are You Here
Chapter 303: Why Are You Here
Inside an old-fashioned prison in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, a man and a woman were confronting each other through a glass partition.
“…Then take this test!” The young woman, dressed in a rustic brown striped coat yet possessing an exceptionally delicate appearance, tried hard to persuade him.
“No. But I can make you happy. I’ll give you a great opportunity.”
“What?” the young woman asked in confusion.
The man in prison uniform behind the glass interrupted her, then continued, “A promotion! Listen, Clarice Starling, reflect on yourself and find my former patient, Miss Mofet…”
The young woman struggled to seize control of the conversation. In the end, she could barely squeeze in a sentence or two, but faced with the imposing man on the other side of the glass, her efforts appeared insignificant and were completely suppressed.
“…I believe Miggs won’t act up so quickly, although he is insane,” the man said. Then he suddenly raised his voice and shouted at the young woman, “Now, go!”
The young woman shrank her neck slightly in fright. Amid the crazy yelling of inmates from the other prison rooms, she hurried away in a flustered panic.
“Cut! Very good, absolutely flawless!” Jonathan Demme, who had been wearing headphones behind the monitor and watching Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins competing in acting, shouted excitedly.
At the same time, the surrounding crew members also burst into enthusiastic applause.
“Mr. Hopkins, your performance was truly incredible,” Elizabeth said flatteringly as Anthony Hopkins walked out of the room, while she continued clapping.
“Thank you, Miss Murdoch. Actually, Miss Foster’s performance was excellent as well. Without her cooperation, I don’t think I would have found my rhythm so quickly.”
“Okay. I have to admit, in this scene, I really wasn’t your equal,” Jodie Foster said with a smile while wiping the sweat from her face with a towel handed over by an assistant.
“Okay, you were both amazing, so I think there’s no need to keep complimenting each other anymore.” Drew, standing beside Elizabeth, grinned mischievously before looking toward Jonathan Demme. “Mr. Demme, we’re done filming for today, right?”
“Yes, Miss Barrymore. The scenes here are already finished. Although there’s still more than an hour left, there’s no time to prepare the next set,” Jonathan Demme replied as he walked over. He then instructed his assistant to begin wrapping up.
Drew glanced at her watch before saying to everyone, “Then Julia and I are heading out first. We have a four-thirty flight to Los Angeles.”
“Of course, no problem at all. I’ll have a driver take you to the airport,” Jonathan Demme immediately replied.
This was already the fourth day since The Silence of the Lambs began filming in Pennsylvania. As the first film of TG Pictures, Elizabeth, Drew, and Julia all attached great importance to it. Therefore, they had arrived before filming began, and the three women had already stayed in Pittsburgh for an entire week.
Because the three women were producers of the film, Jonathan Demme had originally worried they would interfere with the filming process. However, after shooting started, that concern quickly disappeared.
First were Elizabeth and Drew. Both women seemed to be following the crew around with the attitude of learning things. Not only did they not create any trouble, they even helped out from time to time. Meanwhile, Julia, the most famous among the three, was the least troublesome of all and practically did not involve herself in anything.
As one of Hollywood’s currently popular actresses, Julia still had her own work to handle. Drew, meanwhile, wanted to stay on set with Elizabeth, but helplessly, the girl was still a minor, so no one dared let her remain with the crew too long. Furthermore, Eric still did not know Drew was a producer of The Silence of the Lambs. After hearing the girl had run over there, he specifically called to remind her not to “play” too wildly and to return to Los Angeles early.
Therefore, Drew and Julia booked tickets together for today and planned to return to Los Angeles, while Elizabeth, as the main producer, would continue following the crew until filming wrapped.
Inside the airport terminal in Pittsburgh, Elizabeth hugged the young girl, then wrapped an arm around Julia. Under Drew’s slightly raised brows, she lightly kissed the corner of Julia’s lips before saying, “Goodbye, Julie. And Drew, have a safe trip.”
“Goodbye,” the two women waved to Elizabeth together before each headed toward the boarding gate with their assistants.
After the Boeing passenger plane entered the stratosphere, Drew unfastened her seatbelt, then glanced at Julia sitting beside her, absentmindedly flipping through a fashion magazine.
“Julia, you and Liz…”
Julia, who had been somewhat distracted, suddenly heard the girl say that. A trace of panic flashed across her face. “W-What do you mean?”
The girl curled her lips. “You two have been staying in the same hotel room these past few days. Don’t forget, I was right next door. I heard quite a few sounds.”
“We were just…” Julia wanted to find an excuse to refute her, but Drew quickly patted Julia reassuringly on the shoulder and giggled. “Relax. I won’t discriminate against you.”
“Uh…” Julia parted her lips, then, seeing the girl’s utterly serious expression, could not help asking, “Don’t you think it’s strange?”
Hearing Julia ask that, Drew immediately revealed a strange expression. “You two already… did that. And you still think it’s strange?”
Julia honestly nodded.
“If it feels strange, then why are you still with Liz like that?” Drew asked curiously.
“I don’t know. I just feel that, well, being with Liz is actually pretty nice. Liz thinks it’s nice too, and then things just became like this.”
For a moment, the girl did not quite understand what Julia was trying to express. However, she could sense that Julia had not completely changed her sexual orientation yet. For some unknown reason, she had only temporarily become a fake pair of phoenixes with Elizabeth.
How could that do? It had to be corrected.
Preferably to the point where seeing a certain someone… no, seeing men at all would make her sick.
Thinking this, Drew’s eyes darted around before she said, “Julia, this is just your fixed way of thinking from childhood causing trouble. There are countless homosexuals in Hollywood, so you really don’t need to feel any psychological burden. I actually think you and Liz suit each other pretty well. Liz is also very considerate toward you, isn’t she?”
Hearing Drew say the word “homosexual” so bluntly, Julia’s gaze still flickered nervously several times. How could she possibly understand the girl’s little schemes? Thinking the young girl genuinely cared about her, she pondered Drew’s words for a while, found them rather reasonable, and finally relaxed, nodding slightly.
Perhaps feeling that the fire she had lit still was not big enough, the girl continued fanning the flames. “Julia, maybe you don’t know this, but Jodie Foster is also homosexual.”
This time, Julia was genuinely shocked. Turning toward the girl, she asked in disbelief, “T-That can’t be true, can it?”
Drew nodded firmly. “It’s absolutely true. Jodie is just relatively low-key about it. But lots of people know she’s homosexual. Supposedly, it was because of the incident back then where Hinckley tried to assassinate the president for her sake. That made her completely disappointed in men, so she changed her sexual orientation.”
Julia softly murmured an acknowledgment and said nothing more, lowering her gaze back onto the magazine before her.
Several hours later, the plane landed at Los Angeles International Airport. Because of the time difference, it was still evening in Los Angeles.
Drew and Julia’s groups separately boarded two cars. After dropping off their assistants downtown, the girl directly instructed the driver to head toward the Malibu Point Manor.
“Hey, Ron, it’s me. Open the gate already,” Drew shouted directly toward the security inside the gate after arriving at the estate entrance.
Hearing Drew’s voice, the guard quickly opened the gate and came over. “Miss Barrymore, you’re back?”
“Mhm. Is Eric home?”
“Yes. Mr. Williams has stayed home these past two days,” the guard named Ron replied. Looking at the suitcase Drew was pulling, Ron eagerly asked, “Miss Barrymore, do you want me to carry your luggage?”
“No need. Oh right, why are you the only one here? Where’s the other guy?” Drew suspiciously glanced toward the empty security booth behind Ron and warned, “Don’t tell me the other one isn’t here.”
“No, no, no, Miss Barrymore. George went to the restroom. He’ll be back immediately,” Ron hurriedly explained on behalf of his coworker, then pointed into the distance. “Look, he’s coming back.”
Following Ron’s gaze and seeing the other security guard, the girl finally nodded and said nothing further. Pulling her small suitcase, she headed toward the villa on her own. Along the way, the servants maintaining the estate greeted her one after another.
Because Eric was too lazy to manage these trivial matters, most of the staff here had been selected by Drew herself. Therefore, even though the girl no longer lived here during this period, upon returning, everyone still treated her like the mistress of the house. This attitude made the girl extremely satisfied.
Walking into the villa’s living room, the girl looked around before calling out, “Eric, I’m back.”
A moment later, Nicole Kidman walked out of the kitchen with her hair tied up behind her head and a small apron around her waist, dressed completely like a housewife.
“Hi, Drew,” Nicole greeted as she stepped forward to take the girl’s luggage.
Only then did Drew react. Looking Nicole up and down, the girl instantly felt hostility rise in her heart.
“Why are you here?”
After all, Nicole had lived with Drew for several months before. How could she fail to hear the hostility in the girl’s tone? However, the woman showed no displeasure. Brushing aside a loose strand of hair near her temple, she casually replied, “I just happened to have nothing going on lately, so I came over to stay a few days.”
“Hmph. You’re here because of the female lead role in Ghost, aren’t you? You’re certainly dedicated.”
“There’s no helping it. I’m not like certain spoiled people whose every request gets fulfilled. I can only fight for it myself.”
The girl snorted again, though her face carried a trace of smugness. “Since Eric didn’t proactively ask you, that means you’re not the female lead he wants at all.”