Unlike the Maldives with fresh and warm breeze air, Los Angeles right now has a slightly cold breeze. Not because of winter but because of heavy rain.
Angelina and Kazir returned to Los Angeles and they realized that the weather was dark and rainy. This weather might last a week.
"Did you bring an umbrella?" Kazir asked his assistant, Erica Mendez, who was waiting for her boss at the airport.
"It has been raining since yesterday so I prepared two umbrellas for you." Erica nodded.
There was a space between the entrance of the airport and the road that had no shedding to block the rain.
"That's good to hear."
Kazir passed the umbrella to Angelina but the actress shook her head and grinned mischievously instead.
"I want to share an umbrella with you." She hugged his arm.
The little incident in the Maldives disappeared from their minds since they spent most of their time having fun on the island. No reason to be mad at strangers.
"What about the other umbrella?"
"Give it back to Erica."
Now, Erica already had her own umbrella but she gained another one. The umbrella tax...
Kazir and Angelina shared a small space under the umbrella. They were like a young high school couple. Well, as long as they were happy.
Erica followed suit and used the drive seat. Being an assistant, she also became Kazir's driver.
Looking at the rain and the wet road, Kazir suddenly thought of something.
"Erica, do you know a bodyguard?"
"Bodyguard, sir? A professional bodyguard or someone who just knows how to fight."
"It's better if he's a professional and has experience in protecting people."
"... I will start looking for one, sir." It seemed that Erica had someone in mind.
"It will be even better if he knows how to drive," Kazir smirked... He realized that he was being too cheap right now.
He was already a millionaire and his life was important. It won't be bad to hire a couple of bodyguards to protect him.
"Sir?"
"Congratulations, Erica. You will not be my driver anymore once I found a bodyguard."
"... Will I have a salary deduction?"
Erica's salary last year was over $350,000 and it was the biggest amount she ever had. She loved her job because now she could provide for her twins.
If she stopped driving for Kazir, she might lose a portion of her salary. She would rather keep being a driver if she had to maintain her salary.
"You don't have to worry Erica. You're my trusted assistant and I'll make sure to never do you bad. Your salary will not be affected."
In fact, Kazir was thinking of increasing her salary. Erica knew a lot of the company's secrets and Kazir wanted to make sure that the woman would maintain her loyalty to him and Grey Pictures. A non-disclosure agreement was an important aspect but loyalty could make it better.
While Angelina started dozing off against Kazir's shoulder, Kazir decided to ask Erica about his schedule.
"So what's my schedule for this week?"
"Sir, Sony-Colombia wants to meet you." Erica started listing important meetings that Kazir had to attend.
Kazir nodded.
'It's probably related to 21 Jump Street and the acquisition.'
Sony-Colombia's recent performance was getting better. They acquired a profitable franchise called Spider-Man. This franchise alone made Sony-Colombia relevant for the next decades.
'Spider-Man can be compared to Metro Goldwyn Mayer's 007. I say that James Bond and Peter Parker carried their respective studios.'
"Another meeting is regarding the pre-production of Wanted 2 and..."
"Go on," Kazir muttered. Angelina was already sleeping and Kazir gently laid the woman's head on his lap. The flight was long and the woman got a jetlag.
"Pirates of The Caribbean..."
"Do you have something to say, Erica?"
"Sir, a lot of people in the company are afraid that this project might be disastrous."
Kazir just shrugged. He expected this outcome and he was not surprised that some people would react badly.
'What they didn't is that Pirates Of The Caribbean will become a huge franchise worth billions of dollars.'
In his opinion, it would be too wasteful to let Walt Disney produce this franchise. Besides, Walt Disney didn't care about the cast of Pirates Of The Caribbean anyway.
The fact that Walt Disney easily fired Johnny Depp without listening to his side of the story was very Disney-like.
"Erica, do you trust me?"
"Yes, sir."
"Do you think Pirates Of The Caribbean will flop?"
"Sir, you're not God. Not everything will work according to your plan."
"That's right."
Kazir admitted it. Even now he was afraid that he won't get nominated at the Academy Awards. Golden Globes was one thing, but the Academy Awards was on another level.
Perhaps he really needed that vacation because he was free from the stress for a week... Although he missed the feeling of stress, nervousness, and thrill.
He wanted to make another movie and prove himself to the industry.
"What about the other CCU movie?"
Grey Pictures released two CCU movies yearly. Last year, The Bourne Supremacy and Mr. And Mrs. Smith were released. The performance of both movies was above average. The two were probably part of the top 10 highest-grossing movies of 2002.
"Ah, about that. You see..."
Erica didn't know how to explain it. That certain project was still in the process of casting actors.
Compared to Wanted 2 and Pirates Of The Caribbean, the last project was quite late.
Wanted 2's director would be Director Smith while Pirates Of The Caribbean would have Director Grey as its director.
One of the reasons why the last project was late was that Grey Pictures took a long time to find a director who would film the movie. A lot of aspiring directors inquired but only a few could pass the criteria.
Being a director was not simple, after all. A lot of them suffered from too much stress and they started losing their hair.
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[Author's Note: I actually have no idea what movie should I choose as the new part of the CCU. So I'll ask you guys about your choices instead. As long as the movies are reasonable and can be added to CCU, then I have no problem with it. I will list them and make a poll tomorrow.]
For Example:
Equalizer
The Expendables
Raid
Nobody