The air was a bit quiet, and the three strangers were completely frozen, their minds going blank, unable to respond effectively.
—Anson's birthday is in November, so biologically speaking, he still has three months until he becomes an adult. This is a fact. Lucas wasn't making things up.
The issue is, when Anson appeared in "Friends," although young, he played Elizabeth's brother, meaning mid-twenties. To the audience, Paul was a man—a fully grown, undeniably attractive man, evoking all kinds of imaginative thoughts.
But now?
*Boom.*
A roaring sound echoed in their minds, freezing the scene.
The curve of Lucas's lips lifted slightly, "Cheese."
*Click.*
Then, Lucas pressed the shutter, capturing the moment forever.
The middle-aged woman and her companion quickly left, and the young woman also hurriedly departed, as if they were criminals, sneaking away with guilt and anxiety, fearing someone might catch them. What kind of experience is this?
The way things unfolded was something Anson hadn't anticipated.
Looking at Lucas, Anson gave a helpless smile, "Lucas, are you protecting minors?"
Lucas shrugged lightly, his expression unchanged, "I'm preventing them from committing a crime."
Seeing Anson's speechless expression, Lucas's lips twitched slightly, but he managed to suppress his smile and glanced around the hotel lobby.
"Are you done with work for the day? It should be free time now, right?"
Despite the unexpected ending, Anson was in a good mood. Someone had finally recognized him, which was a step forward.
Anson's expression brightened, "What, are you planning to treat me to a feast?"
Lucas smiled without answering.
Anson's eyes lit up slightly, "Really?"
Lucas had already stood up, "Since you've finally left the culinary wasteland of Los Angeles, you should experience some of San Francisco's delights."
"Hah, that's the funniest joke I've heard all year. San Francisco has no right to mock Los Angeles, okay? The two cities are on par."
"Very fair. So, what's the best food in Los Angeles? In-N-Out?"
"Haha, are you jealous that Los Angeles has it while San Francisco doesn't?"
"No, I'm preparing to show you a crab, oyster, and shrimp seafood feast. And note, not the kind that Fisherman's Wharf uses to scam tourists, but genuine Bay Area seafood, all freshly caught."
"…"
"Hey, Anson, why are you swallowing?"
"…Tonight, I'm going to eat up your week's salary."
"Then you might need to work very, very hard. Extremely."
Seafood!
Anson's favorite.
If the price of enjoying a freshly caught seafood feast was simply admitting that "Los Angeles is a culinary wasteland," he could do so with absolutely no guilt and enjoy the meal for free.
Moreover, paired with wine from Napa Valley, everything was perfect.
That evening, Lucas treated Anson to a grand feast, making a hefty payment, and then sent Anson back to the hotel. Without staying, he returned to Silicon Valley—
The tech stock bubble had a huge impact on Silicon Valley, and venture capital firms were caught in the storm. No one could remain entirely unaffected.
However, Lucas also believed that everything in the world has two sides. A crisis might hide opportunities, and a desperate situation might contain a chance.
Anson's ideas served as a trigger, sparking thoughts in Lucas. He needed to gather information, analyze it, and then make decisions.
If Lucas can seize the opportunity, perhaps the time for him to establish his own venture could arrive sooner than expected. In the midst of this storm, a true warrior doesn't fear or retreat; instead, they prepare to take bold action.
Meanwhile, Anson stayed in San Francisco, continuing with the filming of *The Princess Diaries*.
The small incident from the other day was well-received within the *Princess Diaries* crew, but the daily shooting schedule continued as usual. They still had much work to complete before Julie Andrews arrived on set.
However, a small surprise arose: Anson, the owner of the mobile food truck, did not show up at the filming location.
Of course, Anson's absence didn't impact the crew's shooting schedule, as Michael's next appearance—according to the shooting plan—was a week away, during which Anson had no scenes to film.
In other words, it wasn't necessary for him to be on set.
What was strange, though, was that previously, even when Michael didn't have scenes, Anson would still come to the set to watch the filming. Even just observing how the crew operated was a learning experience for him. He had built close relationships with the lighting crew, camera crew, and sound team, often chatting with them.
In Anson's own words:
"Film is a whole. An actor needs more than just to act; they need to learn how to face the camera, capture the light, become part of the frame, perform with their co-stars, and interact with the script and character."
Acting is merely the final presentation, but before reaching that step, there are a series of tasks to complete. Therefore, he wanted to understand how actors and each scene were viewed by other departments in the crew.
There were things Anson understood well, and others he didn't, but he was willing to learn and open his mind to new experiences.
Even behind the scenes, Anson was always present in his own way.
However, during this period, Anson was absent.
At first, the crew teased Anson, wondering if he was shy and avoiding the spotlight due to the mobile food truck incident, not wanting to face all the attention.
But Anson always responded with a mysterious smile or deflected the conversation.
Later, word got out in the crew that Anson had rented a professional band practice room out of his own pocket and was practicing there.
The news spread quickly—
Gary had added a scene for Michael. Strictly speaking, it wasn't so much an addition as a slight adjustment to an existing scene, giving Anson the opportunity to perform a song with a band.
This wasn't part of the original plan.
But Gary was serious about it, and so was Anson.
Although Gary emphasized that there was no need to be too strict with a high school garage band—after all, even a chaotic performance would be understandable, and the band being out of sync wouldn't matter since the scene was about the band practicing.
Being a bit offbeat would completely fit the vibe of high school students.
However, Anson disagreed.
With Gary's permission, Anson handpicked three members from the background actors and supporting cast playing high school students to form a temporary band. Then, the four of them began secretly practicing.
In reality…
Everything happened so quickly—within five days. Anyone familiar with bands would know that five days isn't enough time, especially for a makeshift amateur high school band.
No wonder Gary repeatedly stressed that it wasn't necessary to worry too much.
In fact, after mentioning it, Gary didn't pay any further attention to it, quickly putting it out of his mind as he focused entirely on the real shooting schedule.
Perhaps, only Anson and his temporary band members were full of enthusiasm.