Chapter 73: Disaster from Nowhere
Chapter 73: Disaster from Nowhere
Although he heard Eric’s praise, Al merely nodded slightly. He himself was still immersed in the emotions from before and had no intention of pulling himself out of them.
That worked out perfectly. Eric did not say more and quickly directed the crew to prepare for the next shot.
After finishing the performance, Edward thanked the listeners. Vivian stepped forward. As a girl who had not even finished high school, she naturally could not hear the complicated emotions hidden within Edward’s piano music. Leaning over the piano, Vivian complimented him, “I didn’t know you could play the piano.”
Edward smiled and gazed at Vivian. “I only play for strangers.”
Vivian froze for a moment but did not dig deeper into the reason. She moved to Edward’s side. “I got a little lonely upstairs by myself.”
Edward blinked rapidly, sniffed lightly, then turned around and dismissed the others. In the end, he did not forget to thank them. He was always so polite, even when giving orders.
Vivian, however, could not help teasing Edward’s behavior. “Do people always listen to what you tell them to do?”
Edward did not answer. He pulled the girl into his arms and tiredly rested his head against her body. It was the first time Vivian had sensed weakness from this man. For a moment, she did not know what to do and could only follow her instincts, stroking Edward’s hair while her finger traced the lines of the man’s jacket.
Edward silently untied the girl’s bathrobe and lifted Vivian onto the piano lid. Vivian obediently allowed the man to kiss and caress her. At that moment, the girl became like a pool of spring water, silently invading Edward’s dried-up emotional world.
The camera slowly pulled back until the scene was completely blocked by the obstacle prepared beforehand.
But Al Pacino and Julia did not stop acting. The two remained entangled together. Cinematographer Nickel Frank looked toward Eric. After receiving a signal from Eric’s eyes, he wisely shut off the camera. All the crew members on set silently looked toward Eric, asking what they should do next.
Eric knew he could not allow things to continue developing. He lightly clapped his hands and raised his voice. “Okay, cut!”
Julia, still lying on the piano lid, was the first to recover from her dazed state after hearing the voice. Shy and flustered, she glanced at Eric, pushed Al away, straightened her disheveled gown, and draped the bathrobe back over herself. Al also came back to his senses. Seeing the strange looks from the crew around him, he could only laugh awkwardly.
To ease the awkward atmosphere, Eric quickly sent the others off to prepare the next scene.
“Sorry, Eric. I lost myself a little just now.”
Eric walked over to Al and smiled. “No, Al, your performance was excellent. That’s the perfect state for an actor.” Then Eric did not forget to praise the girl beside him as well. “Oh, Julia’s performance just now was excellent too.”
Julia, however, did not feel any joy from being praised. Her eyes avoided Eric’s gaze. “I… I’m going to touch up my makeup first.”
After saying that, the girl hurried away.
Al looked puzzled. “What’s wrong with her?”
Eric spread his hands. “Maybe she’s embarrassed. I think it’s strange too. She wasn’t like this during the previous intimate scenes. A woman’s heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea. Who knows?”
During the following filming, Julia clearly made many mistakes she should not have made. However, the most important scene of the day had satisfied Eric in a single take, saving a considerable amount of time. Therefore, Eric was no longer as impatient as before.
At five in the afternoon, the crew wrapped for the day once again. Al smiled as he approached Julia, who was removing her makeup inside the trailer.
“Miss Roberts, are you free tonight? A new French restaurant just opened on Shenaga Avenue. I’d like to invite you to dinner.”
Julia paused slightly in her movements. The makeup artist and assistant were about to tactfully step out for a while, but Julia stopped them and said to Al, “Mr. Pacino, could you wait a moment?”
“Of course. I’ll wait outside.”
Al stepped out of the trailer.
A few minutes later, Julia finished removing her makeup and came out. She nodded at Al, who waved at her, but instead walked first toward Eric, who was discussing something with his assistant Allen Fisman.
…
“For this scene, prepare fifty extras. Make sure the polo team is more professional. We’re almost done filming anyway, and our budget is still very sufficient…”
Eric was speaking when the corner of his eye caught sight of Julia walking toward him. He nodded slightly to the girl before lowering his head again to continue marking notes in the folder while discussing matters with Allen.
“Eric, Al wants to invite me to dinner.” Julia’s voice was low.
Assistant Allen slightly raised an eyebrow. He clearly sensed the probing tone in the girl’s voice. Eric had originally been focused on giving Allen instructions. Hearing Julia’s words, he blurted out without thinking, “Go ahead. Just don’t delay tomorrow’s filming.”
The girl stood frozen in place for several seconds, staring blankly at Eric. Seeing that the man still showed no particular reaction, Julia suddenly became very angry. The anger instantly made her reckless. She stepped forward twice and, under Allen’s astonished gaze, lifted her foot and viciously kicked Eric in the shin.
Eric let out a miserable scream and collapsed on the spot.
Allen, who had witnessed everything, was so shocked he forgot to help the fallen Eric up. The corners of his mouth twitched while the muscles in his own calves instantly tensed.
Those were high heels. That had to hurt like hell!
Had this woman gone crazy?
Hearing Eric’s scream, everyone still remaining on the set quickly gathered around. Julia regretted the kick immediately after doing it, but since she had already done such a thing, the girl developed a “screw it” mentality. She pursed her lips and turned to leave.
Julia’s assistant Allison Green worriedly looked at Eric, who had already been helped up by others, but still followed behind Julia step by step.
Allison drove the silent Julia back to her apartment.
After entering the apartment, Julia sat blankly on the living room sofa. Allison thoughtfully poured her a glass of water and placed it before her.
“Julia, we’re not going to get fired, right?”
Thinking of the man’s domineering and overbearing personality, Julia did not dare say for certain what the result would be. Holding the glass, she said softly, “Sorry, Allison. I might drag you down with me.”
“It’s okay. Worst case, I’ll just find another job.” Allison was rather easygoing. Even if she changed jobs, she would still only be an assistant, so she did not feel too anxious about gains and losses. “But why did you kick Mr. Williams?”
Julia panicked slightly and drank some water without answering.
Allison tested the waters. “Don’t tell me he stopped you from dating Mr. Al, so you kicked him?”
Julia still said nothing. Allison took her silence as tacit agreement and indignantly condemned Eric.
“That’s too much! You only slept together once or twice. You’re not his personal possession. How can he restrict your freedom to date?”
Julia scratched her hair. “Allison, stop talking, okay? Can… can you let me be quiet for a while?”
“Oh. Then maybe I should leave first. Call me if anything happens. Julia, cheer up. You’re not some unknown actress anymore. Even if you leave that bastard, you can still get movie roles.”
“Allison…”
“All right, all right, I’ll stop talking. I’m leaving.”
…
The location was still the film set.
Eric sat in a reclining chair with people gathered all around him. His pant leg was rolled up, and he kept sucking in cold breaths as the private doctor pressed on the injury.
“Mr. Williams, the bone isn’t injured. Just apply some medicine to promote blood circulation and reduce bruising. But moving around definitely won’t be convenient for the next few days.”
“Thank you for making the trip, Dr. Grant.”
“You’re welcome. Just call me if anything happens.”
Dr. Grant left behind a bottle of medicinal liquid, picked up his medical case, and departed.
“All right, everyone, go home. I’ll be fine after resting a bit.”
The crew members gathered around gradually dispersed. In the end, only Allen Fisman and Al Pacino remained.
Al felt that what had happened just now was definitely related to him, so he decided to stay and explain things clearly.
Originally, he had thought Eric and Julia did not have that intimate a relationship. Combined with the emotional resonance he had developed with Julia while getting into character today, the flirtatious older man had developed the urge to pursue another romantic conquest. He had not expected things to end like this.
“Allen, I didn’t do anything unforgivable just now, did I?”
Allen looked at the bruising on his boss’s shin and quickly shook his head.
“Then what the hell was that about?”
Allen had only started following Eric after the crew was assembled, so he only vaguely understood the situation between Eric and Julia.
“Director, I’m not sure either. Miss Roberts just asked you a question, you answered casually, and then she…”
Eric rubbed his temples in frustration. “What did she ask me just now? I was looking at the shooting schedule and didn’t hear it clearly.”
Allen glanced at Al Pacino, unsure whether he should say it in front of him.
Eric followed Allen’s gaze and then remembered that Julia’s earlier words seemed to mention Al.
“Eric, I’m really sorry. I intended to invite Miss Roberts to dinner just now. I didn’t expect it would cause conflict between you two.” Al calmly explained what had happened. “I thought the relationship between you two wasn’t… wasn’t that close, so I… was too presumptuous.”
“Oh, I remember now.” Eric suddenly realized. “Julia really did ask me that question just now. Allen, how exactly did I answer?”
Allen glanced at both Al and Eric before honestly replying, “You told Miss Roberts: ‘Go ahead. Just don’t delay tomorrow’s filming.’”
“Nothing else?”
Allen nodded firmly. “Nothing else.”
The three men simultaneously looked at Eric’s shin with strange expressions.
Eric let out a bitter laugh. “Disaster from nowhere.”