Chapter 69: Can't You Harbor Some Intentions Toward Me?
Chapter 69: Can't You Harbor Some Intentions Toward Me?
Even though everyone else had already left, Eric returned to Firefly's headquarters as usual to process today's footage with the editor. Because he was attending the Golden Globe Awards ceremony tomorrow, Eric didn't take the scissors to today's footage material, but instead merely worked with the editor to carry out the preliminary labeling and sequencing of the dailies.
These two tasks didn't require too much energy, yet it was a very time-consuming process, as the two of them had to watch all the footage material in its entirety.
Inside the dimly lit editing room, Eric checked his watch and said to the editor, "Padraic, let's call it a day here."
"Alright, Director." Editor Padraic McKinley knew Eric was attending the Golden Globes tomorrow, his eyes carrying envy. "Good luck tomorrow, Mr. Williams."
The Golden Globes did not have a professional voting body, so it didn't feature technical awards like Best Editing or Best Cinematography. Therefore, even though Padraic was the editor for Home Alone, he hadn't received an invitation to the Golden Globe gala dinner.
Driving back to his Beverly Hills home, Eric noticed the lights inside the villa were on the moment he stepped through the door. Aside from himself, the only ones with keys to the luxury mansion were Drew and Aniston. Although Aniston had accepted Eric's key, she had never actually come here; she was currently in New York filming the NBC TV series Mary in Action, so she obviously couldn't leave the set. Without a doubt, that little girl Drew had come back again.
Parking the car, Eric pushed open the door and walked into the living room. Hearing the sound, Drew, who was curled up on the sofa already half-asleep, raised her head.
"Hi, Eric," Drew called out listlessly, propping her body up from the sofa. Seeing Eric sit down beside her, the girl wiggled her soft, delicate body a few times like a caterpillar and burrowed into Eric's embrace.
Eric smiled and pinched the girl's chubby baby face. "Alright, what's it about this time? Tomorrow doesn't seem to be the weekend, does it?"
"But tomorrow is the Golden Globes," Drew said, waking up slightly. Pillowing her head on Eric's lap, she looked up at Eric's face and said righteously, "I didn't skip class this time, you know. I received an invitation to the Golden Globe gala dinner too. Tomorrow I'm going to be your date."
Eric didn't care particularly much about the Golden Globes. This award was too subjective, and its prestige wasn't very high.
When the Golden Globe nominations came out a month ago, Eric had merely glanced at them and ignored them thereafter. Compared to the original version of Back to 17 which came up entirely empty-handed at both the Oscars and the Golden Globes, due to Fox's public relations efforts, this version of Back to 17 had secured two Golden Globe nominations: Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Score.
And while Home Alone hadn't undergone any public relations campaigns, it was impossible for the Golden Globes organizing committee to turn a blind eye to its miraculous box office performance. Consequently, the Golden Globe nominations it received were identical to his past life: one for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and one for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
"I remember the Best Supporting Actress nomination for Back to 17 went to Ms. Susan Sarandon, not you, right?" Eric was somewhat puzzled. Drew's performance in Back to 17 was indeed very outstanding, but could he have misremembered?
"You can still attend the awards ceremony even without a nomination," Drew's eyes flickered a few times. Under Eric's gaze, the girl quickly disclosed the truth: "I had Kapoor pull some strings for me. I'm the biggest female star under his wing right now, you know. It's just an invitation card; Kapoor contacted Fox, and the matter was settled very quickly."
Eric said helplessly, "I see. You're just trying every possible means to avoid staying at school."
"Heheh," Drew rubbed against Eric's lap and giggled twice, saying coaxingly, "Eric, are you hungry? The pizza I ordered isn't finished yet; it's in the kitchen."
"I already ate at the company," Eric stood up. "Stop watching TV and go to sleep early. Tomorrow morning we still have to go select a formal gown and suit; attending an awards ceremony always requires dressing a bit more formally."
Drew also stood up and followed behind Eric. "Kapoor has already arranged that for us. Versace agreed to sponsor haute couture attire. I've already selected a few outfits, and they will bring them over tomorrow morning for us to try on."
Eric recalled that Kapoor seemed to have mentioned this matter over a phone call, and he had agreed to it at the time. Currently, Kapoor had already handed over all the contracts of UTA's other actors to the agents under him; he personally was only responsible for these four individuals: Al Pacino, Julia Roberts, Drew, and Eric.
A few days ago, at Eric's suggestion, Kapoor made a special trip to Sweden, intending to sign the duo Roxette. However, Roxette was already signed under EMI Records' European branch. No matter how eloquently Kapoor spoke [1], the two members of Roxette were unwilling to abandon a titan of the record industry like EMI to switch over to an obscure, small talent agency like UTA. However, the other party did gladly sign the licensing agreement for the song It Must Have Been Love.
Originally, he thought that under the circumstances where Drew was at school and Eric, Al, and Julia were filming Pretty Woman together, Kapoor would be quite idle. Yet, from just the few words Drew spoke just now, Eric understood that this former CAA agent wasn't idle at all. Buying out Kapoor's agency was clearly a wise decision.
"Goodnight," Eric gave Drew a light kiss on the forehead, returned to his bedroom, casually shut the door, and walked into the bathroom.
After taking a shower, Eric got into bed, picked up a magazine on the nightstand to read for a while, and turned off the light to go to sleep once his hair dried.
An unknown amount of time passed before the bedroom door made a faint clicking sound. A slender silhouette slipped inside noiselessly, fumbled her way to the large bed, lifted the blanket, and crawled into Eric's embrace.
Click—
The bedside lamp was turned on.
Eric rubbed his forehead in annoyance; he had forgotten to lock the door from the inside again.
Feeling the naked, delicate body pressed close against his own, Eric—who hadn't been intimate with a woman for several weeks—felt a flame surge straight upward. For a split second, Eric almost abandoned the bottom line in his heart.
"Whoa, what are you doing? Stop it! Can't I just go back by myself?" Following Eric's movements, the girl was quickly wrapped inside a bedsheet, leaving only her small head exposed.
Eric picked up the wrapped little goblin and walked toward her bedroom.
"Eric, can't you harbor some intentions toward me? You're always so good to me, yet you never do anything. It makes me feel so uneasy," the girl muttered continuously, letting Eric carry her since she was wrapped too tightly to move.
Eric placed Drew onto her bed and said seriously, "Alright, you're not allowed to do this anymore."
"That's not fair! You've done it with Aniston, and you've done it with that Julia Roberts. Why is it that you're just completely indifferent to me? It's not fair!" Drew finally managed to struggle one hand out from the bedsheet, tugging at Eric to protest.
"Because they are both adults, and you are not," Eric explained. "You don't want me to be sentenced to a hundred years, do you?"
"But..." Drew countered, "as long as neither of us says anything, won't nobody know?"
Eric tucked Drew in, pulled the bedsheet out to fold it neatly, and said with a solemn expression, "Girl, you have to understand that everyone must have their own bottom line, and this is mine. You're so cute, how could I not be attracted? But even if we are to do that kind of thing, it will at least have to wait until you reach the legal age."
"But in some European countries, my age is already acceptable, you know?"
"This is California, not Europe."
Clutching the blanket with her small hands, Drew asked with bright eyes, "Eric, after you finish filming this movie, shall we go travel to Europe?"
The fire that had just been stoked inside Eric still hadn't cooled down. Hearing Drew's words, he subconsciously swallowed his saliva.
"No. It can only happen once you turn eighteen."
"Wow, eighteen. I'll be old by then! I was flipping through a book at school recently, and it said that a long, long time ago, humans died after living an average of twenty years. Is fourteen okay?"
Black lines emerged directly on Eric's forehead. Could this kind of thing even be bargained over? Just as he was about to stand up and return to his room, ignoring the girl's wild words, he was tightly hauled back by Drew's arm. Brought along by his movement, the girl's completely naked body was exposed directly from beneath the blanket. Flaunting a pair of little rabbits with red eyes [2], she pestered him, "Alright, fifteen. Is fifteen okay?"
Eric caught a glimpse of the little goblin's milk-white skin, and by some strange twist of fate, the words slipped out: "Still no. At least sixteen."
"Deal!" The girl swiftly let go of Eric's arm and slipped back into the blanket, staring at Eric with an innocent expression. "No backing out, okay?"
Uh, hooked by her scheme again. But why was there a tiny bit of anticipation in his heart?
The next morning at nine o'clock, Versace staff arrived at Eric's house with haute couture formal wear for Eric and Drew to choose from.
The Golden Globes was considered a major event after all. Kapoor arrived at almost the exact same time to brief Eric on some points of attention for the Golden Globes. He would also accompany Eric and Drew to the Golden Globes venue today; however, Kapoor did not have admission credentials. He only needed to escort his clients into the Beverly Hilton hotel's awards hall to complete his job.
This wasn't an inconsequential task. Many celebrities would have their agents present under these circumstances; in the event of an unexpected situation, the agent could handle it immediately to prevent the situation from escalating.
While Drew was trying on her gown, Eric took the opportunity to carefully inquire with Kapoor about the specific sponsorship details with Versace. As it turned out, these haute couture garments weren't given away for free, but were instead loaned out; they had to be returned after being worn. Of course, if one liked them, they could also spend money to purchase them, and Versace would give customers of Eric's caliber a very appropriate discount.
Eric felt it was necessary to equip himself with such an outfit. In any case, as a man, he didn't need to wear a different suit to every awards ceremony; one suit could be worn repeatedly. However, the moment he opened his mouth to ask about the approximate price, Eric temporarily banished the thought. He was practically at the point of needing a loan just to pay his taxes.
A single haute couture outfit cost one hundred thousand dollars. While this was bearable for the current Eric, it still felt somewhat surreal. In his past life, his most expensive suit had been bought for him by his wife at her insistence, and even the price of over five thousand Renminbi had made his heart ache intensely.
Having selected the formal wear in the morning, Kapoor contacted makeup artists to apply their makeup in the afternoon. By the time they finished managing all of this, it was already nearly four o'clock in the afternoon. Only then did the group set out for the venue of this year's Golden Globes, the Beverly Hilton.