Chapter 344: They Both Noticed
Chapter 344: They Both Noticed
At around nine in the morning, a sports car arrived outside the gates of Pointed Cape Manor. Kathryn Bigelow took a lingering breath, still shaken, and complained to Cameron, who sat in the driver’s seat, “Jim, if you drive that fast again on the way back, I will never ride in the same car with you again.”
“I thought you’d enjoy that kind of thrill,” Cameron said with a trace of smugness as he looked at his wife’s lingering fright. At the same time, he pressed hard on the horn. Since they had arranged the visit in advance, the manor security quickly opened the gates after seeing that it was the Camerons inside the car.
As the sports car drove into the estate, Kathryn Bigelow continued, “Do you realize how fast you were driving just now? You’re making a joke out of your own safety. I don’t like it. I really don’t.”
“All right, Kate, I apologize,” Cameron shrugged without much sincerity. Looking at the scenery of Pointed Cape Manor outside the window, he said enviously, “Hey, what do you think? Should we build an estate like this one someday?”
Kathryn Bigelow knew her husband was changing the subject again and teased helplessly, “When exactly do you think you’ll earn thirty million dollars?”
Cameron replied confidently, “Maybe with the next film.”
“If you don’t go over budget, it’s possible,” Kathryn Bigelow teased again.
After several hit films such as The Terminator and Aliens, Cameron was already considered a first-tier director. Besides his fixed directing salary, he could also enjoy a share of the film’s profits.
However, because of Cameron’s obsessive pursuit of perfection while making movies, he often ended up sacrificing his own percentage share in exchange for additional budget from the producers.
Aside from The Terminator, which had a fixed investment of just over six million dollars, both Aliens and The Abyss had followed that pattern. The same had happened in Eric’s previous life with Titanic and Avatar, especially Titanic. Cameron had nearly suffered a mental breakdown under the pressure of the constantly rising production costs, yet he still refused to give up his pursuit of perfection, burning the budget all the way past two hundred million dollars.
After getting out of the car, Cameron looked at “Freedom City,” gleaming silver beneath the morning sunlight, and sighed emotionally, “This is perfect for filming. I have to put it into a movie someday.”
Kathryn Bigelow took her handbag from the back seat and casually said, “That would require the little guy’s permission first.”
“He’ll definitely agree,” Cameron said as he unconsciously raised both hands and formed a rectangular frame with his fingers around the mansion, calculating which angle would be best for filming.
“All right, let’s go inside. We have a lot to discuss today,” Kathryn Bigelow tugged firmly at Cameron’s sleeve. Only then did Cameron reluctantly follow his wife toward the villa entrance.
Before they could ring the bell, they heard a woman’s laughter coming from the eastern side.
“Looks like they’re over there,” Cameron said, lifting his chin.
He led his wife around the barrier formed by the tall holly trees and immediately spotted a man and a woman on the tennis court.
Seeing Eric in a white tennis outfit somewhat awkwardly dealing with the sharp-angled attacks from the woman across from him, Kathryn Bigelow revealed a lightly amused smile of schadenfreude.
Cameron, however, was completely drawn to the tall, athletic figure opposite Eric.
The woman wore a black fitted sports tank top and hot pants, revealing a slender, toned waist and long legs. Her dark brown hair was casually tied into a ponytail, and her slightly sharp facial features carried a trace of unruliness and wildness.
Tall.
Athletic.
Wild.
Unrestrained.
Every one of the woman’s features perfectly matched Cameron’s definition of sexy. Even with his wife standing beside him, a trace of fervor inevitably appeared in his gaze.
Noticing the Camerons’ arrival, Eric directly ignored another sharply angled boundary shot from Famke Janssen. As if seeing saviors, he immediately tossed away the tennis racket in his hand and walked toward the pair.
The woman on the court was about to complain in dissatisfaction, but Eric pointed in their direction. Turning her head and seeing the Camerons, the woman set down her racket and followed Eric over.
“Jim, Kate, I thought you’d come around ten,” Eric greeted them.
“If we’d come any later, we might not have been able to witness your miserable state, Eric,” Kathryn Bigelow teased.
Eric laughed awkwardly and introduced them. “This is my girlfriend, Famke Janssen.”
Although she clearly knew Eric had omitted words like “one of,” Famke Janssen was still very pleased. She warmly shook hands with Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow.
At that moment, Eric also noticed the unusual look in Cameron’s eyes as he looked at Famke Janssen. He quickly understood what Cameron was thinking, smiled faintly, then wrapped an arm around the woman’s smooth waist and gently rubbed it a couple times before asking Cameron, “Jim, isn’t Fami perfect for the female lead in your films?”
“Absolutely. If the female lead for Terminator 2 hadn’t already been decided, I definitely would have invited Miss Famke Janssen.”
“That’s really a shame,” Eric replied with a smile.
At the same time, he could not help glancing several times at Kathryn Bigelow. Linda Hamilton, the female lead of Terminator 2, was precisely the fuse that would trigger the divorce of the couple standing before him.
Speaking of which, Kathryn Bigelow was also one of the rare beautiful female directors in Hollywood. Even twenty years later, when she stepped onto the Dolby Theatre stage as the first woman to win the Oscar for Best Director, this iron lady of Hollywood still looked only in her thirties.
But in reality, Kathryn Bigelow was already thirty-nine years old now. The condition of her appearance and figure was enough to drive countless Hollywood actresses, who had ruined themselves with cosmetic injections, mad with jealousy.
The two women quickly noticed their respective men staring at the woman opposite them. Kathryn Bigelow subtly nudged Cameron with the tip of her shoe, while Famke Janssen wrapped an arm around Eric and pinched him at the waist.
“Ah…” Eric winced in pain and instinctively raised his hand as if about to smack the woman’s pert backside, but quickly realized the setting was inappropriate. He could only say, “Then let’s go inside and talk.”
“Yes, right,” Cameron hurriedly agreed.
After returning to the villa, Eric quickly showered and changed clothes before coming back out. He then led the Camerons, who were sitting by the floor-to-ceiling windows drinking coffee, into the study on the basement level.