[Chapter 878: What Bad Thing Happened]
Eric actually didn't care at all about Batman & Robin. Ever since Warner Bros. had released the official trailer three months ago, he knew the film was bound to take the same old path.
The short one-and-a-half-minute trailer, featuring the new Batman George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, failed to impress Eric. Some of the dialogue felt completely out of sync with the scenes, and the movie's visuals made it seem like he was watching a poorly done, colorful stage play.
What Eric was really focused on was Finding Nemo. It was the film he cared about most for this summer season, and he anticipated it even more than his own directorial effort, Casino Royale.
Today marked the movie's release day. In the morning, various media outlets gave it rave reviews, saying it was on par with The Lion King 2. This reassured Eric that this version of Finding Nemo would surely perform well at the box office, though whether it could reach the once-glorious heights of nearly $1 billion in global box office receipts would depend on its upcoming detailed performance.
...
After saying goodbye to Amy Pascal, Eric returned to the Trousseau estate with Drew. As soon as they stepped inside, the girl dragged him to take a bath together. Snuggled up in the luxurious bathtub with her soft little body, things inevitably heated up. After their playful entanglement, it was already approaching ten o'clock at night.
Unlike two weeks ago, when the atmosphere was relaxed following the release of Con Air, Eric tonight still hoped to see the first-day box office numbers for Finding Nemo before he could sleep, so he wasn't rushing to rest.
After changing into a casual t-shirt and pants, he grabbed a document and took a seat on the balcony outside the second-floor living room. His gaze could sweep unobstructedly through the transparent tempered glass railing towards the distant view, with the lights of Los Angeles twinkling like stars spread beneath him, magnificent and beautiful.
In this atmosphere, it was hard to focus on the documents. Eric lazily leaned back in the lounge chair and squinted his eyes. After a while, the girl, freshly scented from her bath, floated over, dressed in a thin tank top and tiny shorts, playfully squeezing into Eric's arms.
With a light "thud," the blue folder he had casually placed on himself fell to the floor.
"What's this?"
Drew, her small frame slipping past Eric, curiously picked up the fallen folder. Just glancing at the cover, she recognized it was the proposal for a reality show about Hollywood girls. Although she didn't understand why Eric would seek an unrelated stranger to produce this reality show, the girl didn't doubt Eric's judgment, having flipped through it just the other day.
As she tossed the folder onto the nearby table, she was about to snuggle back into Eric's arms when she suddenly remembered, saying, "Oh right, Eric, that photo shoot we did is ready!" She stood up to call someone but then realized the twins had already been sent off to rest. So, she jumped up, her bare feet pattering across the balcony, and quickly returned with two thick photo books in her hands.
"Here, this one is mine, and this one is Kate's and the others; it's so cool! Kate told me the other day that she wants to get those photos published in a magazine."
Eric sat up slightly, flipped through her photo book, and asked, "You don't want to get yours published in a magazine too?"
"Not at all, I'm only showing it to you," she replied, then laughingly suggested, "Tomorrow's the weekend, so how about I invite them to come over and hang out?"
"You go enjoy yourself; I won't join you in that craziness," Eric shook his head and pointed to the folder recently tossed on the table. "This matter has been dragging for a week, and I just happen to have time to meet with them tomorrow."
"Oh, I'll join too! Let's invite them over tomorrow, after all, it's a MGM thing," she chirped.
Eric nodded, saying, "Sure."
"But we can also invite them for a party tomorrow night!"
Hearing her sweetly persuasive tone, Eric chuckled, "You just love piling them around me, huh?"
She rubbed against Eric, saying, "Well, you like it, don't you? I know what happened in New York!"
"That was purely coincidence; I don't have the energy to deal with a bunch of wild girls," Eric explained. However, saying that reminded him of another matter, and he fixed his gaze on her, asking, "I haven't asked you yet. At the premiere party for Con Air, Helena looked at you like a mouse saw a cat. What bad thing did you do?"
"Nothing! I was just being good," the girl replied sweetly. Seeing the disbelief on Eric's face, she opened up slightly, explaining, "I just happened to overhear a clueless young model bragging about you throwing a party in New York, and it almost made it onto the gossip magazines, so I sent her packing back to Puerto Rico."
Eric instinctively thought about what Puerto Rico might be -- some corner of the world -- and obviously found no answer. He pressed on, "That's it?"
The girl nuzzled against Eric and replied vaguely, "She was sentenced to four weeks for illegal possession of restricted items and then deported. But she was already involved with that stuff, so it's not too unfair."
Eric sighed and didn't push any further.
With a criminal record like that, it was clear the girl who got sent back to Puerto Rico wouldn't easily apply for a foreign passport, meaning her career was effectively over.
Eric pinched the girl's cheek lightly and softly said, "Don't go overboard next time. You know those pointless rumors don't really affect me."
"Okay," she nodded sweetly, her eyes bright and sincere. Eric could only helplessly pinch her cheek again.
Seeing Eric gloss over the issue, the girl relaxed, playfully exploring Eric's body with her little hands. "Eric, I rented a Boeing private jet! It's bigger than the Bombardier and Gulfstream. It can fly all the way to London from the West Coast. We can fly there for the premiere of Casino Royale."
A few days ago, Drew had taken a trip to London due to the release of Casino Royale. Since Firefly and MGM's private jets didn't have transatlantic flying capabilities, the girl had rarely 'saved' this time by taking a commercial flight. However, according to her, she felt miserable after the round trip. Upon returning to Los Angeles, she was out of sorts for several days.
"I just happened to hear Larry Ellison mention it, so I remembered," Eric thought for a moment and said, "Didn't you want to buy a Boeing 777? Let's contact Boeing and place an order soon."
Having initially suggested it out of excitement and got turned down, the girl hadn't brought it up again, but now hearing Eric mention it, she became excited and asked, "Can we buy one now?"
"Yes," Eric nodded, then suddenly laughed, "Not just a plane; you can buy anything you want. If you've earned so much money, why not spend it? What's the point of living otherwise?"
"Ha ha, then I'll get someone to contact Boeing right away!"
She said this and jumped up to grab Eric's laptop, opening his email to send a message to his assistant's office.
*****
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