Chapter 40: The Heroine in His Heart
Chapter 40: The Heroine in His Heart
After nodding, Eric turned to Jeff. “Jeff, here’s the thing. I’m holding a party at my house tonight, and I’d like to hire a chef… and a waitress to help out, so I thought of your place.”
Sending chefs and waitstaff out for private parties was very profitable business for the restaurant. Jeff immediately agreed. “No problem. Let Vanessa and Cindy go.”
“The chef can be Vanessa, no problem. As for the waitress, let this young lady go instead. Miss Julia, would that be alright?”
Julia Roberts hesitated and glanced at Jeff before nodding.
With that settled, Eric casually chatted with Jeff while writing out the menu needed for the evening. Since he had once worked as a waiter in the restaurant himself, he could effortlessly list off dish after dish without needing anyone’s help.
After finishing the menu, Jeff looked it over, then stood up and said to the still-frozen Julia Roberts beside him, “Julia, come help me for a moment. Eric, wait a second, we’ll be right back.”
Eric nodded.
Once they reached the kitchen, Julia Roberts noticed Jeff handing the order slip to one of the chefs instead of asking for her help. Curious, she asked, “Mr. Jeff, what do you need me to do?”
Jeff sized Julia Roberts up from head to toe. Other than her somewhat large mouth and good figure, there did not seem to be anything particularly special about her, which only made him more curious.
“Julia, don’t tell me you really don’t know who that Mr. Eric is?”
Julia looked confused. “Mr. Jeff, I’m sure I’ve never met him before. I only came to Los Angeles a few months ago.”
Jeff could not be bothered to beat around the bush. “You know about Home Alone, right? He’s the young director who made Home Alone.”
Julia’s eyes widened instantly. At the same time, she remembered that the photos of the Home Alone director she had seen in newspapers recently really did resemble that young man. “You mean… that… that one?”
At this point, if anyone in North America had never heard of Home Alone and the young director who created that miracle, then they either had just returned from Mars or traveled across dimensions.
“Yeah, him. While we were chatting earlier, I casually mentioned that you were also an actress. At first, Eric only intended to hire a chef. Then later he added a waitress too, and specifically asked for you.”
After struggling for nearly a year without receiving any acting jobs, Julia Roberts covered her mouth, visibly emotional at Jeff’s words. Over the past year, she had attended countless auditions, all ending in failure. No one understood better than her how precious an opportunity was.
“So,” Jeff patted the woman on the shoulder, “make good use of it, girl. I heard Eric will soon start filming his new movie. Maybe you can land a role in it.”
“Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Jeff.”
Jeff smiled and waved his hand dismissively. In truth, he had a bit of selfish motivation too. After Eric became famous, tabloids dug up the fact that he had once worked at Jeff’s restaurant, making the place quite famous in the area and boosting business considerably. If another well-known actor emerged from the restaurant, business would definitely improve even more.
…
“Mr. Eric, may I ride with you?”
Eric had just taken out his keys and started the car. He assumed Julia Roberts would ride in the van with the chef, but instead she appeared beside him.
“No problem, Miss Julia. Please.”
Eric casually glanced at the woman fastening her seatbelt in the passenger seat. Julia had already changed out of the waitress uniform from the restaurant and even reapplied light makeup. She wore a dark red jacket on top and pale jeans below, the tight fabric perfectly outlining her long legs. At only twenty-one years old, although Julia Roberts was not especially stunning in appearance, her entire body radiated an invincible youthful energy.
“So you know who I am now?” Eric casually asked while gripping the steering wheel.
Julia, who had been wondering how to start a conversation, instinctively nodded. “Mm, Mr. Jeff told me.”
“No wonder.” Eric chuckled softly.
Julia asked curiously, “Mr. Eric, no wonder what?”
“Miss Julia, I hired you for ten dollars an hour. But your outfit doesn’t really look like you’re going to work as a waitress. It looks more like you’re attending the party.”
“Ah…” Julia glanced at her clothes. After hearing Jeff’s words, she had subconsciously wanted to leave a good impression on the director, so she hurriedly changed outfits. “S-Sorry, Mr. Eric. I… I can go change back.”
Eric smiled and shook his head. “No need. This looks fine too. I heard you have a movie coming out in October?”
Still nervous, Julia Roberts quickly replied, “Yes, it’s called Mystic Pizza. It’s about the love stories between three girls working at a pizza shop and their boyfriends. The box office has already passed ten million dollars.”
As soon as Julia mentioned the box office performance of Mystic Pizza, a trace of pride had just appeared in her tone before she immediately thought of the achievements of the young man beside her. Her expression instantly fell again.
For a low-budget movie like Mystic Pizza, a box office of over ten million dollars was already considered a decent profit. But compared to Home Alone, another low-budget movie that was still dominating theaters, it was not even worthy of carrying its shoes.
“Ten million dollars is already pretty good,” Eric said. He had never seen the movie and was not particularly interested in it. He only vaguely remembered that it was also Matt Damon’s film debut. “Jeff said you haven’t gotten any roles for a whole year. After this movie, people will definitely start noticing you.”
At the mention of that, Julia became somewhat resentful. After Mystic Pizza achieved decent box office results, the agent who had previously ignored her suddenly saw potential in her and came crawling back, enthusiastically offering to arrange auditions for her. Julia immediately fired the agent who had failed to secure her even a single role over the past year.
“Mr. Eric, I heard… I heard you’re preparing to film your next movie?”
“Right now, there’s only an idea. Cast undecided, script pending.”
Eric nodded and made a small joke, while inwardly marveling at the coincidence. He had just been planning to film Pretty Woman, and now the original female lead from his previous life had appeared before him.
Use her, or not use her—that was the question.
In truth, the actress Eric wanted most for the female lead was Sophie Marceau. As far as Eric knew, aside from Sophie Marceau, he could not think of a second actress capable of perfectly blending innocence and sensuality into one person.
But right now, that French rose had not yet broken free from Europe’s art-film circles, nor had she gained much fame in North America. Whether she would accept his invitation was something Eric could only find out after trying.
As for why he had additionally hired Julia as a waitress, Eric was already considering how to recruit Julia Roberts under his wing. After all, in his previous life, she had become the first actress in Hollywood to enter the twenty-million-dollar salary club—the undisputed queen of Hollywood. Her abilities needed no questioning.
Thinking of this, Eric asked, “Julia, do you currently have an agency?”
Julia’s heart leapt with joy at the question and she quickly answered, “No. I fired my agent not long ago. For now, I handle my own affairs.”
“That works perfectly,” Eric said. “Then Julia, how about joining my agency?”
After learning from Barry Diller that Stuart Rankel had signed with CAA, Eric had already begun considering starting his own talent agency. He did not want the stars he made famous through his future movies to all end up benefiting other people, only to later turn around and negotiate terms against him.
Julia had originally assumed Eric intended to invite her to audition for a movie role. If that had been the case, she would have agreed without hesitation.
But she had not expected him to invite her to join his agency instead. That made Julia cautious. She did not want to waste another year—or even longer—by joining the wrong agency.
“Mr. Eric, I don’t have plans like that for now. My previous agency failed to get me any work for an entire year. I had no choice but to work in a restaurant just to survive.”
Eric replied, “Don’t worry about that, Julia. I can guarantee at least two movie roles for you within the next year. We can write it directly into the contract.”
It seemed that Steel Magnolias, the movie that earned Julia an Oscar nomination in his previous life, was one of Columbia’s productions scheduled for next year. Although Eric’s relationship with Brant Cohen had become strained because of the gambling contract issue, recommending a single actress would not be difficult. Columbia was hardly a monolith. In the end, it all came down to exchanging benefits, and chips were the one thing Eric never lacked.
Julia Roberts hesitated for a moment before asking, “Can I think about it, Mr. Eric?”
“Of course.” Eric answered casually, then after thinking for a moment, added, “Actually, I want to invite the French actress Sophie Marceau to star as the female lead in my next movie. If she refuses, you’ll still have a chance.”
Julia’s hands tightened on her knees, her lips pressed firmly together, clearly struggling internally. Since both her parents and brother were in the entertainment industry, Julia understood very well what it meant to become the female lead in Eric’s next film. The boy from Home Alone was currently at the height of fame.
But precisely because her parents were insiders, she also knew this industry was full of lies and deception. Eric’s words just now could not even be considered a promise at all—at best, they were bait.
If she impulsively agreed to join Eric’s agency, only for him to completely forget those words afterward, she would have nobody to blame but herself.