Chapter 59: Apology
Chapter 59: Apology
A petite brown-haired white woman in her thirties walked out from the filming set. Her high heels struck the concrete pavement heavily, the crisp clacking sounds reflecting the irritation in her heart at that moment.
The tall and handsome Brad Pitt followed behind her with his head lowered in frustration.
The two got into a car. The woman slammed the door shut with a bang and shot Brad Pitt a disappointed glance.
“All right, Pitt. Tell me what exactly happened. Do you know how much effort I put into securing this role for you? Yet after only two days, you got kicked out of the cast. I just asked Henry, and he hinted that the problem lay with you. The producer personally gave the order.”
Brad Pitt shook his head. “Sherisa, I already worked very hard. The director even praised my acting yesterday. Besides, didn’t we sign a contract with the production crew? This is a breach of contract. We can…”
“Shut up. Do you think you’re Tom Cruise? If you were a top-tier star, then of course they wouldn’t dare breach the contract. But you’re just a no-name little actor.”
Brad Pitt clenched his fists tightly and lowered his head slightly.
He was the same age as Tom Cruise. The two even came from similar backgrounds. Brad Pitt even believed that whether in acting skill or appearance, he was not much worse than Tom Cruise. Yet fate loved playing tricks on people. Tom Cruise was now a blazing superstar, while he remained an unknown nobody.
“Pitt, did you do something that angered the director or producer? Don’t even think about hiding things from me. I’m your agent. If you hide things even from me, then I’ll have to consider giving up on you.”
Brad Pitt looked up worriedly.
He had struggled in Hollywood for several years and deeply understood how important an excellent and well-connected agent was. Since signing with Sherisa Cody less than a year ago, he had already secured several roles. Therefore, Sherisa’s final sentence forced him to take the matter seriously.
His mind spun rapidly as he recalled everything from the past two days.
“It probably… couldn’t be because of that, right?” Brad Pitt said uncertainly.
“What thing? Hurry up and say it. Stop dragging things out.”
Brad Pitt replied, “That Jennifer Aniston. Sherisa, you know her, right? Filming wrapped pretty late yesterday, so I… I offered to take her home. But then her boyfriend caught us. Her boyfriend seemed very unhappy.”
As an outstanding agent, Sherisa Cody was extremely well-informed.
“You mean Eric Williams, the young director of Home Alone?”
Brad Pitt nodded.
Sherisa immediately covered her forehead in frustration.
“Pitt, how am I supposed to describe you? A few months ago, if Tyson hadn’t held back from hitting you, at worst you’d only have suffered a comminuted fracture and spent a few months in the hospital. I didn’t expect you to learn absolutely nothing from that. And now you actually went after Eric Williams’ woman.”
“But didn’t the newspapers say they already broke up? Besides, even though Home Alone had insanely high box office numbers, he’s still just a new Hollywood director. He can’t possibly have that much influence, right?”
Sherisa truly felt helpless toward this man whose handsome face hid a rather slow brain.
She explained, “The Hollywood circle isn’t small, but it’s not exactly large either. The connections inside it are incredibly complicated. Film companies and television networks are all tied together through countless relationships. Eric Williams is an exceptionally talented and absurdly young rising director. Plenty of people want to recruit him. If all he wants is to deal with an unknown actor like you, it might only take a few phone calls. A lot of people would gladly do such a small favor just to earn his goodwill.”
Brad Pitt fell silent for a while before asking, “Then… what do we do now?”
Sherisa pondered for a moment.
“You know Eric Williams’ current address, don’t you? You’d better personally go apologize to him. Be sincere.”
“I didn’t do anything. Why should I apologize to him?” Brad Pitt resisted instinctively.
“Whether you did anything isn’t important. The important thing is that he already believes you offended him.”
“If… if I apologize, can I get that role back?”
Sherisa shook her head.
“Of course not. The production crew already found an excuse to remove you. They definitely won’t slap themselves in the face by taking you back. I only hope that after you apologize, he won’t continue targeting you in the future. If you remain stuck among bottom-tier actors forever, then maybe it won’t matter. But if you want a better future, then this time you have to bow your head. Otherwise, somewhere down the road in your acting career, just one sentence from him could cost you an opportunity that might have changed your career.”
Brad Pitt lowered his head silently for a long time before finally saying, “All right. I’ll… go apologize.”
…
“Hey, Jenny, do you have a moment?”
Brad Pitt and Sherisa Cody waited outside the set until after seven o’clock before finally seeing Jennifer Aniston walk out.
“Hello, Mr. Pitt. Ms. Cody.” Seeing Brad Pitt walk toward her, Aniston subconsciously took a step backward.
Although they had only spent two days together, Aniston had indeed developed a slight favorable impression toward Brad Pitt earlier. Brad Pitt was very good at charming women. Unlike Eric, he was not domineering. The two were also both small actors, so there was no gap in status between them. All of that made Aniston feel relaxed. That was why she agreed to let Brad Pitt take her home the previous night.
But Eric’s sudden appearance had directly extinguished the tiny spark Aniston had just begun to feel toward Brad Pitt, then poured a bucket of cold water over it for good measure.
The nearly out-of-control emotions Eric displayed the previous night made Aniston instinctively keep her distance from Brad Pitt.
“Pitt, I’m sorry about you leaving the production crew, but I really have to go now. Eric is waiting for me at home.”
Seeing Aniston’s distant attitude, Brad Pitt viciously cursed inwardly, though he still maintained his charming smile outwardly.
“Annie, it’s like this. Maybe Mr. Williams misunderstood me a little last night, so I wanted to invite you both to dinner and apologize to him in person.”
Aniston’s little head turned quickly. She soon connected the fragmented parts of the phone call she accidentally overheard after showering last night with Brad Pitt getting kicked off the production crew today.
Just as she was considering how to respond, a taxi stopped by the roadside. Eric, dressed in a black trench coat, stepped out and walked toward them.
The moment Eric saw Brad Pitt, his brows immediately furrowed.
At noon, James L. Brooks had specifically called him to say the matter had already been handled. By all logic, shouldn’t Brad Pitt have packed up and gotten lost by now?
Crossing the distance in a few quick steps, Eric moved beside Aniston and asked with concern, “Jenny, what’s going on?”
Aniston looked at her boyfriend with a complicated expression. Before she could speak, Sherisa Cody smiled and extended her hand.
“Hello, Mr. Williams. I’m Pitt’s agent, Sherisa Cody.”
“Hello.” Eric shook hands with her. “Ms. Cody, why are you stopping my girlfriend?”
“It’s like this, Mr. Williams.” Sherisa Cody ignored Eric’s cold tone and maintained her faint smile. “Pitt’s behavior last night was somewhat inappropriate, so we wanted to ask whether we could invite you both to dinner as an expression of apology.”
Eric swept his gaze across Sherisa Cody and Brad Pitt.
Although Brad Pitt forced a smile, the unwillingness in his expression remained obvious. Meanwhile, the petite female agent before him was flawlessly composed.
Eric had absolutely no intention of caring about Brad Pitt’s feelings.
In his previous life, this famous Hollywood playboy’s long list of exposed romantic conquests had made countless men envy and resent him. Even the two actresses who played Rachel’s sisters in Friends had not escaped his clutches.
At this stage, Aniston was still rather innocent regarding relationships. If Eric had not appeared in time, the girl might truly have been sweet-talked away by Pitt. And once that happened, considering Aniston’s stubborn personality, winning her back would not have been easy.
To prevent the two from growing closer, Eric decisively took measures to kick Brad Pitt off the production crew, even at the cost of owing James Brooks a huge favor.
“There’s no need for dinner. I accept Mr. Pitt’s apology. As long as he stops bothering my girlfriend, I won’t pursue this matter further in the future.”
After saying that, Eric wrapped an arm around Aniston and prepared to leave. But after thinking for a moment, he still could not help adding:
“Ms. Sherisa, you’re an exceptionally capable agent. Brad Pitt is fortunate to have an agent like you. If you’re interested, you can come to Los Angeles anytime. I’d always welcome you to join UTA.”
Sherisa Cody had just breathed a sigh of relief after receiving Eric’s promise to let Brad Pitt off. Hearing Eric’s next words, she immediately revealed a pleasantly surprised expression.
“Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Williams. I’ll consider it.”