Chapter 70: Can You Spit?
Chapter 70: Can You Spit?
Kapoor had timed things very precisely. They arrived at the Hilton Hotel at 4:20 p.m. There were still twenty minutes before the guests entered the venue, and the Golden Globe Awards ceremony would begin at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
The guest waiting area was already packed with people, chatting in small groups. Eric casually swept his gaze around and saw Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Sigourney Weaver, and other major stars who had been unreachable figures to him in his previous life.
As the most prominent young man in Hollywood over the past six months, there were few people present who did not know Eric. Whether or not they had met him before, once their eyes met, the other party would friendly nod in greeting.
After walking through the crowd, he soon arrived at the waiting area for the Home Alone crew. Perhaps because of deliberate arrangements by the organizers, the Home Alone and Back to 17 crews were placed right next to each other.
Eric thought for a moment, then first walked over to the Back to 17 crew and greeted Penny Marshall, Susan Sarandon, and the others. Drew knew Eric would have some socializing to do next, so she very consciously let go of him and stayed with the Back to 17 crew.
Compared with the other crews, the Home Alone crew seemed somewhat deserted. Jeffrey was in New York, and the two actors who played the bumbling thieves both had film contracts and were away shooting. Since neither had been nominated, they had not rushed back to Los Angeles.
Incidentally, Matthew Perry had been signed first by WMA. Although Matthew was young, he was far more experienced in dealing with people than the Runkel couple. During Christmas, when Eric held a banquet at home, Matthew specially rushed back from out of town to attend and even personally told Eric that he was willing to play Marv again. His salary could be discussed.
By comparison, the Runkel couple’s behavior had truly disappointed Eric.
“Hi, Charlison, Mary. Good afternoon.” Turning to the Home Alone crew, Eric still smiled and shook hands with the Runkel couple. The couple looked radiant at the moment. Previously, the media had focused all their attention on their son. This was the first time the couple had stepped into the spotlight.
“Hello, Eric.” The couple smiled and shook hands with Eric one after the other, though the emotions in their eyes were somewhat complicated. During this period, quite a few people had said things to them, making their impression of Eric even worse.
Eric did not care. He was just about to crouch down and greet Stuart Runkel, who stood beside his parents and looked happily at him, when a voice abruptly cut in.
“Mr. Williams, we meet again.”
Only then did Eric notice the middle-aged man who had been standing beside the Runkel couple. It was Horner Willey, the CAA agent he had met once before. Because of CAA’s agent system, the reason Horner Willey appeared here was obviously that he was one of Little Stu’s agents. Still, Eric frowned slightly. Their previous meeting had ended on bad terms. For Horner Willey to deliberately come over on an occasion like this, his purpose went without saying. He was clearly here to demonstrate power.
Eric coldly glanced at Horner Willey’s extended hand and said expressionlessly, “Hello, Mr. Willey. I’m also very happy to see you.”
Although Eric said this, there was not the slightest trace of happiness in his tone. Horner Willey was very satisfied with Eric’s reaction. He smiled as he withdrew his hand, showing no embarrassment at all.
For today’s matter, there was no need for a top agent like him to personally handle it. However, he had still come in person. Eric’s refusal last time had been equivalent to directly sweeping away his face. The reason he appeared here was to make this young man recognize reality again. Stuart Runkel was already a CAA client.
Eric had no choice but to lower his head.
However, Horner Willey mistook Eric’s simple displeasure for guilt. Seeing Eric bend down and pick up Stuart Runkel, he stepped forward and said, “Mr. Williams, Stuart is now my client. If there is anything, you need to speak to me. Trying to get close to a child won’t have any effect.”
Eric looked Horner Willey up and down, taking in his meticulously styled hair and neat clothes, then gave a mocking smile. He leaned close to Stuart’s ear and whispered, “Stu, you hate him too, right? Can you spit?”
Stuart Runkel’s bright, cunning eyes turned slightly. He looked around, then quickly turned toward Horner Willey.
Ptooey.
“Ah!”
Horner Willey screamed. He glared fiercely at Eric and Stuart, then looked in disbelief at the spit on his suit. He quickly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, but stared at his chest in horror, unable to bring himself to wipe it.
Charlison Runkel hurriedly went forward to curry favor and wipe it for him. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Mr. Willey.”
Mary Runkel looked at Eric unhappily, but she did not dare lose her temper at him, so she could only say to Stuart, “Stu, quickly apologize to Uncle Willey.”
Held in Eric’s arms, Stuart seemed to have found support. Ignoring his mother’s voice, he pouted and turned his head aside.
“All right, Stu. Want to meet some big stars? I’ll take you to meet Mr. Tom Hanks.”
Eric no longer wanted to bother with the three people behind him. Carrying Stuart, he walked toward the Big crew.
Stuart said with a little pride in his tone, “Eric, I’m a big star now too.”
“What does it feel like to be a big star?” Eric asked with a smile.
Stuart’s little face fell, and he shook his head. “It’s not good at all. I thought that after I made a lot of money, Dad and Mom would get along again. But they fight even more than before, and Dad even found another woman.”
Eric stopped and looked at the precocious seven-year-old boy in his arms. “Stu, how do you know all this? Don’t your parents avoid you when they do these things?”
Stuart shook his head. “If it weren’t for me, they would have divorced long ago. The only reason they’re still together now is because neither of them is confident they can get custody of me.”
“Stu, do you understand what those terms you just said mean?” Eric asked hesitantly.
“You know what they mean after hearing them a few times. Eric, my dad took me to get my IQ tested a while ago.” At this point, Stu leaned close to Eric’s ear and whispered, “One hundred seventy-seven. Dad was really excited and originally wanted to tell reporters, but Horner Willey said it had to be kept secret, and that we couldn’t create any topic during this period. So Dad didn’t reveal it.”
While Eric sighed inwardly that he was carrying a little monster, he also sneered again at Horner Willey’s tricks. The other party was doing this simply because he did not want to create any topic that would boost the box office of Home Alone, which was still showing. However, with Home Alone’s current fame, this kind of small decorative topic was unnecessary.
When they reached the Big crew, Eric put Little Stu down and hugged Tom Hanks.
Tom glanced at Horner Willey, who had already hurriedly left by car not far away, and said with schadenfreude in his voice, “Eric, that move of yours just now was really ruthless. Horner Willey has severe mysophobia. One mouthful of spit from the little guy can make him suffer for a week.”
A wicked smile hung on Eric’s face. He had guessed this from Horner Willey’s clothing and behavior, which was why he had Stuart do that. Although it was somewhat vulgar, it felt very satisfying. Horner Willey would definitely be restless for the next few days. In more serious cases, it was not impossible that it would leave a psychological shadow.
“Tom, you know Horner Willey?”
Tom Hanks nodded. “Of course, Eric. I’m also a CAA client. When CAA was still small, Horner Willey had a very good reputation in the industry. It’s just that as CAA grew stronger and stronger, he…”
Tom stopped there and shook his head.
Eric understood. “I almost forgot about that. Tom, my relationship with CAA isn’t very good right now. If I invite you to act in my next film, you won’t refuse, right?”
Tom Hanks smiled. “Of course not, as long as the script is good enough.”
Eric naturally understood that for a star at Tom’s level, the agency had little control over him. His words just now were mostly a joke.
The two chatted for a while. Stuart innocently held Eric’s hand, took a small notebook out of his pocket, and went around greeting the movie stars he remembered and asking for autographs.
Although quite a few people had seen the little guy spit earlier, none of them minded. At least, no one showed it on the surface. In terms of star status, although Stuart was the youngest, he completely crushed eighty percent of the celebrities present. Therefore, everyone smilingly signed their names in Stuart’s little notebook.
A few actresses overflowing with maternal affection even picked up the boy and kissed him hard, leaving several bright red lipstick marks on Little Stu’s face.
After leading Stuart around for a while, the staff reminded the guests that it was time to enter. Eric returned the boy to the Runkel couple, found Drew, and waited for the staff to remind them to enter the awards hall.