Chapter 335: Morning
Chapter 335: Morning
Because of last night’s party, Eric had temporarily adjusted the crew’s schedule, moving the weekly rest day to today. The entire crew had partied wildly all night and had also been busy for so many days in a row, so although it was already fairly late, not many people had gotten out of bed yet.
Carrying breakfast in one hand and a stack of today’s newspapers in the other, Joanna Pakula stood outside Eric’s hotel room door, hesitating over whether she should knock.
Looking at her watch, it was already eight-thirty. Although they had not spent much time together, Joanna Pakula was very familiar with Eric’s daily routine. Under normal circumstances, Eric definitely should have been awake by now.
But that was only under normal circumstances. Last night, that little girl Drew had returned to the room together with Eric. Who knew how crazy the two of them might have gotten.
Thinking of certain scenes, Joanna Pakula’s face flushed slightly red. After all, the gift she had given Eric yesterday had also been a tie.
However, Joanna Pakula did not possess the same ambitions as the other women. After so many years, the woman had already recognized many realities, or perhaps it was more accurate to say she had given up on many things. What she wanted now was simply a comparatively stable life, one no longer filled with uncertainty.
To outsiders, the acting industry always seemed to represent money and fame, but reality was far less glamorous than people imagined.
Taking Hollywood as an example, there were more than a hundred thousand registered members in the actors’ union, while the number of actors drifting around the edges without even qualifying for union membership was countless.
Yet within this enormous group, the ones able to live bright and respectable lives were only those first- and second-tier stars. As long as those people could shoot one film a year, they could live very comfortably.
But beyond that, third-tier actors and below lived much more miserably. Not even mentioning the truly insignificant actors, even third-tier actors could usually only play supporting roles in films. Even in major productions, many supporting actors earned less than one percent of the lead actor’s salary. The lead actor might receive several million dollars, while supporting actors only earned tens of thousands. And that was already considered relatively proper major productions. In independent films, even the lead actors usually earned only tens of thousands of dollars.
Originally, Joanna Pakula had belonged to exactly this level of actors. There were even periods where her career remained stagnant year after year.
“Good morning, Miss Pakula.”
A door in the hallway suddenly opened, and one of the crew’s lighting technicians stepped out. Seeing Joanna Pakula standing outside Eric’s room, he did not think much of it and casually greeted her.
“Ah, good morning, Mr. Lawrence,” Joanna Pakula hurriedly replied.
Afraid the other man might notice her embarrassment, the woman quickly took Eric’s room keycard from her pocket and entered the room directly.
After closing the door behind her, Joanna Pakula finally let out a breath of relief.
The room was quiet. Various packaging boxes were scattered throughout the living room.
Glancing at the tightly shut bedroom door, Joanna Pakula assumed Eric was still asleep. Quietly setting down what she was carrying on the coffee table, she bent over and proactively began tidying up the mess.
She had just stacked together several sheets of wrapping paper when she heard the sound of a door opening from the balcony area. Looking up, she saw Eric standing there shirtless in a pair of athletic shorts, wiping sweat from his forehead with a towel.
“Morning, Joan,” Eric greeted the woman.
“M-Morning, Eric,” Joanna Pakula quickly replied as she stood up.
The woman knew there was a treadmill on the balcony, specially arranged by the hotel on the very day Eric checked in. Judging from the situation, Eric had obviously just finished exercising.
Only…
Glancing toward the bedroom door, the woman felt somewhat surprised. Based on her understanding of Eric, there was no way he and Drew had done nothing after sleeping together last night. She had not expected Eric to still get up early in the morning to work out.
Seeing Joanna Pakula glance toward the bedroom door, Eric quickly guessed what she was thinking and asked with a smile, “What are you thinking about?”
“N-Nothing,” Joanna Pakula shook her head. “Right, breakfast is ready, and I also brought today’s newspapers.”
Rather than heading toward the coffee table where the breakfast was placed, Eric walked straight toward Joanna instead. Wrapping his arms around the woman dressed in professional attire, he said teasingly, “Right now, I want to eat something else.”
The strong masculine scent lingering on him after his workout made Joanna’s mind grow dizzy. As Eric’s hands moved across her body, the woman’s breathing soon became rapid.
“It’s morning right now, and you… you last night…” Joanna softly protested, her hands pressing against Eric’s chest.
Eric did not explain anything about last night. Instead, he directly picked the woman up and carried her toward the bathroom.
Although the bathroom door was shut, the woman’s somewhat uneasy voice could still soon be heard.
“Don’t do this, my clothes… how am I supposed to go outside later?”
“Alright then. Lean against the sink instead. Mm, just like that.”
The woman’s breathing seemed to become even more chaotic.
“Can I first…”
“It feels better with the clothes still on.”
A sigh-like moan sounded out before abruptly cutting off.
“Go ahead and make noise. The girl is sleeping soundly. She won’t hear anything.”
“Eric, I… I think this is not good,” Joanna said intermittently.
Eric did not answer again, instead immersing himself in a certain kind of pleasure.
Inside the bedroom, Drew, who slept very restlessly, suddenly rolled over dramatically, kicking off the blanket covering her body. Feeling the coolness against her chest, the girl unwillingly waved her little hands around twice, as if trying to grab something, but found nothing. So she reluctantly opened her eyes and looked beside her. Eric was no longer there.
Muttering a few complaints, the girl pulled Eric’s pillow into her arms and sniffed it hard like a puppy. Humming a few sounds, she intended to continue sleeping, but vaguely seemed to hear something.
A woman’s voice.
The alert little girl quickly widened her eyes and listened carefully. Although the sound was very faint, she could confirm it definitely was not her imagination.
Jumping out of bed, she casually grabbed one of Eric’s T-shirts and slipped it on. Barefoot, the girl padded out of the bedroom like a cat. The moment she entered the living room, the sounds became even clearer.
After sneaking over to the bathroom door and listening for a moment, Drew identified the woman’s identity.
“What a shameless woman,” the girl muttered resentfully.
She reached out and gripped the doorknob, wanting to open the door. After hesitating for a moment, however, she withdrew her hand instead. Pulling open the loose collar of the oversized T-shirt to glance down at herself, the girl let out a very “world-weary” sigh, then walked over to the sofa and sat cross-legged on it. Opening the breakfast boxes on the coffee table, she decided to eat all the breakfast herself to express her dissatisfaction.