Chapter 342: Lost
Chapter 342: Lost
After staying at the Basic Instinct set for the entire afternoon and checking on the various aspects of the film’s progress, Eric stayed that night at the hotel where the Basic Instinct crew was lodged. The crew even specially organized a small reception for him.
The next morning, Eric left the Basic Instinct crew and headed to Cisco’s headquarters in San Jose, south of San Francisco Bay, to attend a small executive meeting. Afterward, he hurriedly returned to Los Angeles.
He had been away from Los Angeles for less than two days, yet he had already received no fewer than ten phone calls urging him to return. Most of them involved internal matters at Firefly, which deepened Eric’s resentment toward Robert Shaye.
As Firefly’s CEO, these matters should originally have been handled by Robert Shaye. Firefly’s current affairs were not particularly complicated. As long as someone put in some effort, everything could have been managed in an orderly manner.
However, to Eric’s disappointment, Robert Shaye had devoted more of his energy to Sleeping with the Enemy, the film he was personally producing. Robert Shaye personally handled every distribution matter related to Sleeping with the Enemy. It was probably the only project at Firefly Pictures Eric did not need to worry about. If Eric had not been very satisfied after watching the rough cut, he probably would already have fallen out with Robert Shaye.
In Hollywood, it was perfectly normal for executives at major film companies to solidify their status and fight for greater benefits through successfully operating film projects. Therefore, Robert Shaye placing such importance on Sleeping with the Enemy was not difficult to understand.
However, Robert Shaye’s behavior completely went against Eric’s plans. What Robert Shaye did not know was that if he wholeheartedly devoted himself to managing the company, he would definitely become one of the most powerful people in Hollywood in the future. But Robert Shaye stubbornly wanted to prove himself through producing films and wanted to seize authority that did not belong to him. Eric was becoming less and less tolerant of this behavior.
On the flight back to Los Angeles, Eric sat frowning slightly, thinking about how to solve Firefly’s current situation, when Joanna Pacuła’s soft voice sounded beside him.
“Eric, would you like something to drink?”
Eric turned to look beside him. A blonde flight attendant was smiling at him, standing behind a small cart.
“Just a glass of water.”
The blonde attendant nodded, poured him a glass, and handed it over. Eric reached out to take it, his arm brushing past Joanna’s chest. The woman instinctively shrank backward slightly, as if trying to melt herself into the seat.
After the flight attendant left, Eric sighed helplessly. “Joan, relax a little, okay? I’m not a tiger. I really didn’t do it on purpose last night. I drank a little too much.”
Joanna Pacuła’s cheeks reddened again as she recalled what she had seen the previous night.
It was after the small reception the Basic Instinct crew had organized for Eric’s visit. Feeling somewhat tired, Joanna had left early. Before she left, Eric had directly slipped his room keycard into her hand. The meaning was self-evident. The woman obediently accepted it, returned to Eric’s suite, took a shower, and soon fell asleep.
She did not know how much time had passed before she heard strange noises coming from the living room outside the bedroom. At first, she assumed Eric had returned and did not pay much attention.
After lying there in a daze for quite a while without seeing Eric enter the bedroom, Joanna finally sensed that something was unusual. Barefoot, she cautiously got out of bed, opened the bedroom door slightly, and peeked into the living room. She was so startled she almost cried out.
In the living room, Eric was comfortably leaning back in an armchair facing sideways toward her. His face was flushed red, and from time to time he let out satisfied sighs. Kneeling on the carpet before him were two half-dressed women, one on each side of his legs, pleasuring him with both their hands and mouths. The wet sucking sounds instantly caused Joanna’s face to flush crimson.
Joanna quickly recognized them. The two women were the female leads of Basic Instinct: Diane Lane, who played Catherine, and Jeanne Tripplehorn, who played Beth. Because of her upbringing, Joanna was still rather conservative in these matters, so seeing such a scene so suddenly left her mind blank. She wanted to return to bed and pretend to still be asleep, but her intense curiosity compelled her to continue watching.
More than ten minutes later, Joanna saw Eric suddenly reach out and press Diane Lane’s head firmly between his legs. Only after a long while did he finally release the woman. Then Joanna heard Eric say something to the two women. Though both women protested coquettishly, they still quickly stripped off the few scraps of cloth remaining on their bodies and climbed naked onto the coffee table opposite Eric, kissing each other passionately.
After that… there was no “after that.”
Before Eric could enjoy the sight of the two graceful female bodies entwined together for long, he heard the sound of a woman collapsing weakly in the bedroom.
Fortunately, Eric was not too drunk. He quickly remembered telling Joanna at the reception to wait for him in his bedroom.
After sending the two women away, Eric returned to the bedroom and spent a long while comforting Joanna before finally calming her down.
However, Joanna clearly would not be able to forget what she had seen that night for a very long time.
At this moment, hearing the apology in Eric’s tone, Joanna bit her lower lip before finally asking softly, “Eric, would you ever treat me like that?”
“Of course not. They wanted to please me, and I was only playing around with them. You’re my woman.”
Joanna knew Eric was telling the truth. Such things were extremely common in Hollywood. Over the years, she herself had received similar hints more than once. If she had been willing to abandon her principles and integrate herself into Hollywood’s rules, she would not have spent ten years in America accomplishing nothing.
Still, the woman could not help softly complaining, “So I’m only your woman, not your lover.”
Eric pulled her into his arms. “If I called you my lover, you’d probably think I was being hypocritical instead, wouldn’t you?”
“Don’t you know women are always happy to be deceived?”
“Lying takes too much brainpower. You know I’m busy. I don’t have much time to think about things like that. I’ve already arranged your future for you. If you want, you’ll become a major Hollywood star. You’ll earn millions for every film, win Oscars. If one day you get tired and no longer want to act, you can switch careers whenever you want. We can also have a few children and watch them grow up day by day, then become heartless little ingrates scheming every possible way to steal our fortune.”
When Eric said the last sentence, Joanna could not help laughing out loud.
“So… it seems there’s everything except love and marriage.”
“Love and marriage are very unreliable things, especially in America. Do you know those two women from last night?”
Joanna nodded.
Eric continued, “Diane Lane, who played Catherine, had parents who divorced thirteen days after she was born. Jeanne Tripplehorn, who played Beth, had parents who divorced when she was three.”
“What about you?” Joanna asked instinctively.
Eric thought for a moment before answering flatly, “I don’t even know who my mother is.”
Joanna tightened her arms around Eric’s arm and did not ask anything further.