Roy never lacked opportunities to participate in good movie shoots, nor did he lack the chance to become famous through films. It was clear to Laila that Ovitz couldn't possibly entice him with those conditions.
So, in the blink of an eye, Laila's anger turned into curiosity. She really wanted to know what kind of conditions could make Roy, someone she was one hundred percent sure would never betray the company, switch jobs.
Unfortunately, whether she tried to coax Ovitz or probe Roy, she couldn't find a reasonable answer.
Roy finally turned his head, gazing at her intently. "Why aren't you angry?"
Laila was somewhat speechless at this question. "Do you want me to get angry and break ties with you?" Her expression suddenly changed, "Are you trying to see me angry before considering switching jobs?"
Seeing Roy's momentary hesitation, she suddenly understood. "You're not really switching jobs just to see me angry, are you?"
Is that so?
Indeed, it was.
Roy had wanted to test her with this excuse. All he needed was for her to say, "Stay," and he would have immediately sent Ovitz to Antarctica. But what had he received? Her composure, her indifference, her "tolerance"!
He couldn't say such a thing, so he just closed his mouth and didn't want to speak anymore.
Laila was in turmoil, realizing that this whole situation might have been because of her. Perhaps what she considered thoughtfulness was actually what drove him away. What was going on here?
If it were someone else responding to her with the same reason, besides a laugh, she would have blacklisted them and cut all contact. But Roy was different. She understood him and knew he would make such a trivial move for such a petty reason.
Yes, it was trivial.
Laila wanted to pinch his ear and ask, "You're this old, and you're still playing such childish games? And you've messed it up, haven't you?"
Roy didn't say anything, but a touch of his back made her understand the truth. It also made her reflect on whether she had truly hurt someone. If she were in his position, seeing her boss, who had always favored her, react to her job change with not anger but a casual approval... she should be furious!
"Sorry," she apologized without hesitation. In her previous life, she had been a filmmaker, and she had no experience dealing with a boss like him. Some of the tactics she had learned from her grandfather were meant to manage subordinates, not him. Perhaps subconsciously, she had never seen him as a subordinate, but as...
As what?
She didn't have time to think about it. She just saw Roy's shocked expression.
She had apologized, and she had actually apologized to him!
He knew she wasn't the type to stubbornly refuse to apologize, even when she knew she was wrong. But she had apologized to him for leaving the company, and that too, several months late?
He couldn't help but reach out and touch her forehead. "Are you running a fever?"
"You're the one with the fever!" Laila exclaimed. This rascal was being too judgmental. "Can't I apologize to you?"
"You don't need to apologize for something that's already in the past," Roy said, sitting up straight. "Regardless, it's already happened."
God knows he regretted leaving her company. But what use was regret? He had already boarded Ovitz's ship and was sailing on the high seas. Even if he wanted to jump off the ship, he couldn't.
It was true, but why did it sound so awkward to her ears? Laila gave him an odd look.
"Let's go together," Roy suddenly said.
"Huh?" Laila didn't react at first.
Roy looked at her. "You asked earlier if I wanted to go with you or go by myself, right?"
Laila remembered the earlier topic. "Your reaction time is too slow, isn't it? Just giving me an answer now?"
"If you hadn't diverted the topic to something else, I could have given you an answer earlier," Roy retorted.
This time, Laila didn't hold back and reached out to twist his ear. "You're so ugly. Who gave you the right to roll your eyes? Don't forget you're a star! A future top Hollywood star! Do you want to see your eye-rolling expression on the front page of newspapers, turned into an internet meme?"
"Fine!" Roy quickly saved his ear from her grasp. Rolling his eyes was a minor thing; there was no need to lecture him about it, right? And... "What's an internet meme?"
Laila suddenly stopped in her tracks. How had she casually mentioned the most powerful weapon of the 21st century? It could be used to expand national borders in the future and defeat enemies!
"Nothing," she denied offhandedly, changing the subject. "I'm going a few days early anyway. If you have time, you can join me to explore some places in the East. The people there are friendly, the scenery is beautiful, and the food is delicious."
Roy raised an eyebrow. "Is it really that good? The news doesn't say so."
Laila clicked her tongue. "If you want to learn about other countries from the news, you'll believe that the best place in the world is the United States, and foreign countries are either in conflict or ignorant. The last time I went to the East, were the things I saw with my own eyes fake?"
Western media's disparagement of the East had never stopped because their leaders were afraid. They were afraid that the sleeping lion across the Atlantic might stand up. For them, a sleeping lion was what they most wanted to see.
So, in the United States, most people's impressions of the East still stopped at the image of people with long braids and coolie hats, portrayed as dirty and backward. On the one hand, it was media smearing, and on the other, it was the lingering impressions left by the Qing Dynasty.
After her rebirth, Laila was well aware of this. But Roy was different. No matter how ignorant he was about history, he still had some "common knowledge," although all of that knowledge had been fabricated to smear the East.
At that moment, she suddenly felt a heavier burden on her shoulders. During this trip with him, no matter what, she had to enlighten this child's thinking, showing him a truly beautiful Eastern country!
"Alright, then. I'll go with you to see the East you praised so much," Roy said. He had no idea how much her thinking had evolved, and seeing her expression, he thought she was reminiscing about the days spent in the East. Seeing her so nostalgic, perhaps it was a nice place?
For him, going to the other side of Earth or even to Mars or other star systems, as long as he could be with her, would be a journey worth remembering.