Chapter 66: The Flowers Are Too Fragrant
Chapter 66: The Flowers Are Too Fragrant
After the shot of Al Pacino pretending to awkwardly drive the Lamborghini Diablo away from the party ended, the day’s filming plan was complete. The crew’s working hours were also close to eight hours.
As long as they could maintain this pace, Eric believed they could finish the film production completely within four weeks. Therefore, although he himself still had plenty of energy, he did not ask the crew to work overtime.
In Europe and America, overtime was a very serious matter. Asking Europeans to work overtime was basically impossible. Some countries even imposed high overtime taxes specifically to restrict companies from making employees work extra hours. Asking Americans to work overtime not only required satisfactory compensation and compensatory leave plans, but also meant dealing with possible questioning and investigation from labor unions.
The villa set itself was already a party scene. According to Eric’s original idea, after filming ended, the real opening banquet began there.
Amid the melodious and soothing music, Eric turned down several bold approaches from beautiful women and sat on a sofa in one corner, chatting with Jeffrey about the upcoming filming plan. From the corner of his eye, he occasionally glanced toward the dance floor, his gaze pausing briefly on Julia and Al Pacino, who were holding each other.
Julia had already resigned from her job as a waitress at Jeff’s Restaurant. She had also received part of her salary in advance and, following Eric’s instructions, rented an apartment in Beverly Hills and moved in.
Although she did not have any scenes today, Julia still took the initiative to appear on set, helping with things she could manage from time to time. Whenever she had free time, she also rehearsed several lines with Al Pacino.
Eric was quite satisfied with Julia’s attitude. Aside from the female assistant assigned to her by the agency, Julia did not receive any special treatment on set.
In fact, even Al Pacino did not receive any special treatment. He drove his own car when he joined the crew, and after finishing work, he went home to rest. To save the budget, the crew only rented one trailer for the actors’ makeup and wardrobe changes. Of course, this situation would only happen once. Eric believed that when the two of them filmed their next movie, they definitely would not be treated with such “neglect.”
Jeffrey, who was chatting with Eric, quickly followed Eric’s line of sight and found the focus of his gaze.
“What’s wrong, Eric? Don’t tell me you’re jealous?” Jeffrey leaned over slightly, his tone teasing. He knew all about what had happened between Eric and Julia.
Eric calmly shook his head, but since he had been intimate with Julia before, it was impossible for him to feel absolutely no faint jealousy when he saw Julia and Al looking so affectionate on the dance floor.
However, Eric had no intention of claiming Julia as his own. The big-mouthed beauty was not his type. As a senior member of the appearance association, Eric did not think Julia met his standard for beauty.
“I’m just observing how Julia and Al are getting along.” Eric casually found an excuse. “From the looks of it, after a week of adjustment, they’ve already entered their roles. Look, don’t the two of them seem very harmonious?”
Hearing Eric’s words, Jeffrey also looked over. On the dance floor, Julia and Al Pacino whispered to each other from time to time, their eyes meeting with a faintly affectionate air.
“That’s true. Eric, do you think Julia will fall in love with Al after filming this movie?”
“That’s very possible,” Eric replied, thinking of Julia’s passionate and sensitive personality. “But Al definitely won’t accept Julia. His girlfriend is already pregnant.”
Al Pacino was also a playboy, and a rather skillful one. In Eric’s previous life, he had smoothly moved between several women, and several women even bore him children.
If it had been before, Al might have started a romance with Julia. But now, such a thing was unlikely to happen. Al Pacino was at a critical stage of his comeback, and the matter of his girlfriend’s pregnancy was not exactly secret. If rumors of a romance with Julia came out at this time, abandoning his pregnant girlfriend would deal a severe blow to his image.
If Eric alone had been watching unintentionally, Julia might not have noticed. But now that both Eric and Jeffrey were looking over and even commenting nonstop, Julia would have to be pretending if she still failed to notice. Al Pacino also noticed Eric and Jeffrey’s gazes and smiled at them gracefully.
Julia, who was in Al’s arms, felt inexplicably uneasy. Once her mood was disturbed, it became difficult to continue. After saying a few words softly to Al, Julia left the dance floor and walked toward Eric.
On the dance floor, Al Pacino shrugged without minding at all and soon found another beautiful dance partner.
“Julia, why did you stop dancing?” Eric asked curiously when Julia sat beside him.
“I’m just a little tired.” Julia took a glass of champagne and sat down on the sofa. Acting as if nothing had happened, she leaned slightly toward Eric and asked, “What were you talking about just now?”
Jeffrey smiled and answered first, “I was just betting with Eric on whether you’d fall in love with Al after this movie finishes filming.”
“Ah, how could you two do that?” Julia’s tone carried annoyance, but disappointment flashed through her eyes.
Eric quickly cut off Jeffrey’s nonsense. “Julia, don’t listen to Jeffrey’s nonsense. We aren’t that bored. We just saw how you and Al looked while dancing and felt that the upcoming filming should go very smoothly. The two of you have clearly both entered your roles.”
Julia gave a quiet “oh,” took a sip of champagne, and asked, “Eric, do you… want to dance?”
Eric lifted his sleeve and looked at his watch, then refused. “No. I’m leaving soon.”
“Why not stay and have fun for a while longer? It definitely won’t be this relaxed for the next period of time,” Jeffrey urged him to stay.
Eric stood up and smiled. “The television drama Jenny is acting in premieres today. She specially called from New York to remind me not to forget to watch it. It’s almost time.”
Hearing Eric’s reason, Jeffrey could not help teasing him a few more times, but he also stood up. Some sharp-eyed people noticed that Eric might be leaving and gathered over as well.
At the villa entrance, Eric said to Jeffrey and the others who had come out to see him off, “Go back inside. Jeffrey, don’t let them play too late. Be careful not to delay tomorrow’s filming.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on them.”
Eric waved and walked toward the parking lot. Among the crowd, Julia hesitated for a moment, then followed him.
“Julia, is something wrong?” Eric had just opened the car door when he saw Julia walking over.
“Eric, I haven’t had time to buy a car yet. Can you give me a ride?”
Eric smiled. “Of course.”
The car drove smoothly along the road. Eric casually found a topic. “Julia, how do you feel about Al?”
Julia lowered her head slightly, glanced at Eric, and thought about her wording. “Mr. Al Pacino is very graceful, and he’s very good at conversation. He makes people unconsciously develop a favorable impression of him. However, I don’t really feel anything romantic toward him. Mr. Pacino is more than twenty years older than me.”
Eric smiled. “Al would definitely be very sad to hear your evaluation. You don’t like older men, but Al likes young and beautiful girls.”
“Do you think I’m beautiful?”
Eric nodded without hesitation. “By Western standards, you’re a standard beauty.”
Although Julia felt Eric’s words sounded a little strange, joy still appeared on her face.
After a brief pause, Julia gathered her courage and asked, “Eric, your current girlfriend is that Jennifer Aniston, right?”
“Yes. We met while filming Back to 17.” As Eric spoke, he remembered something and smiled. “Jenny knows you too.”
“That’s impossible, right? I’ve only seen her in the newspapers. It was that time…” Mentioning the absurdity of that night made Julia somewhat embarrassed.
Eric did not take it too seriously. “That was also when she learned about you. Speaking of which…” An image of Aniston throwing a little tantrum back then surfaced in Eric’s mind, and he smiled. “Jenny also wore that shirt. By the way, do you still have it? Can you return it to me later?”
“No problem.” Julia nodded instinctively.
The car stopped in front of Julia’s newly rented apartment. The woman got out, looked at the empty street on both sides, and asked expectantly, “Eric, do you want to come in for coffee first? There are no paparazzi around this time.”
Eric leaned out of the car window and refused. “Forget it. I need to hurry back. I’ll just wait here.”
“All right.” Julia took out her key and opened the door. She looked back once, but Eric still showed no intention of getting out, so she could only enter alone.
When she reached the bedroom, Julia opened the wardrobe and pulled out the white shirt that had already been washed clean. Instinctively, she held it in front of her and smelled it. Then she silently folded it and held it in her arms as she walked to the bedroom door.
Remembering what Eric had just said, the woman’s steps grew more and more hesitant. No longer able to suppress that small thread of jealousy in her heart, she turned back and put the shirt back into the wardrobe. Feeling guilty, she found two of her own garments and covered it. After taking several deep breaths, she walked out of the room.
“Eric, I’m sorry. I forgot where I put that shirt. Can I return it to you after I find it?”
Eric stared at the woman for two seconds and sighed. “All right. If you really can’t find it, then forget it.”
Just as he was about to roll up the window and leave, Eric thought for a moment and leaned out again. “Julia, I can guarantee that after Pretty Woman is released, you’ll become a Hollywood superstar watched by everyone. By then, countless men will treat you as their dream lover, and countless outstanding men will pursue you. So…”
Eric hesitated for a moment, but still did not say it too bluntly. “Act well. Don’t disappoint me.”
Julia bit her lip, blinked rapidly a few times, then forced out a smile. “Don’t worry, Director Williams. I’ll do my very best.”
“Then… see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.” The woman raised her hand and waved, watching as Eric started the car and disappeared all the way at the end of the street.
Looking at Julia’s still figure in the rearview mirror, Eric sighed softly. His index finger tapped lightly on the steering wheel as a few Chinese lines whose melody he had already forgotten slipped from his mouth. “Wandering across the world, elegance still hard to hide. Not for infatuation, only loving flowers. The flowers are too fragrant. Beneath the flowers, romance blooms and dies, flowers are impermanent. Walking away open and unrestrained, not carrying a single…”
He still stopped before the last word. Eric shook his head and laughed self-mockingly. “How could that be possible?”