Chapter 69: A Deal

[Chapter 69: Can't You Have Some Intentions Towards Me?]

After everyone else had left, Eric went on his usual; he returned to the headquarters of Firefly Films to work with the editor on the footage from that day. With the Golden Globe Awards the following day, Eric didn't cut any of the footage but instead marked and sorted the clips with the editor.

These tasks didn't require much energy, but they were terribly time-consuming, as the two of them had to watch all the footage in its entirety. In the dimly lit editing room, Eric glanced at his watch and said to the editor, "Patrick, let's call it a day."

"Sure thing, Director." The editor, Patrick McKinley, who knew Eric had the Golden Globes to attend the next day, looked at him with envy and said, "Good luck tomorrow, Mr. Williams."

The Golden Globes didn't have a professional voting body and didn't award technical categories like Best Editing or Best Cinematography. So even though Patrick edited Home Alone, he hadn't received an invitation to the Golden Globe dinner.

...

After driving back to his home in Beverly Hills, Eric noticed the lights were on as soon as he entered the house. Besides him, the only ones with a key were Drew and Aniston. Although Aniston had accepted Eric's key, she had never been here, as she was busy shooting the NBC series Tattingers in New York and wouldn't be able to leave the set. There was no doubt that Drew had returned again.

After parking, Eric pushed open the door to the living room, and Drew, all curled up on the sofa and half-asleep, raised her head when she heard the noise.

"Hey, Eric," Drew called out drowsily and sat up on the sofa to see Eric sitting beside her. Like a little caterpillar, she wiggled her soft body and nestled into Eric's arms.

Eric smiled and pinched her chubby cheeks, saying, "Alright, what was it this time? Tomorrow isn't a weekend, is it?"

"But tomorrow is the Golden Globe Awards!" Drew perked up a bit, resting her head on Eric's thigh and looking up at him with a defiant expression. "I'm not skipping school this time! I got an invitation to the Golden Globe dinner, and I'm going to be your date tomorrow."

Eric didn't particularly care about the Golden Globes. The awards were overly subjective and didn't hold much weight. A month prior, when the nominations for the Golden Globes were announced, Eric had taken a glance and moved on. Compared to the original version of 17 Again, which had left empty-handed at both the Oscars and the Golden Globes, this version, benefitting from Fox's public relations, received nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Score.

As for Home Alone, although no public relations efforts had gone into it, the Golden Globe committee couldn't have ignored its astounding box office success. Therefore, it had received the same nominations as before: Best Motion Picture in the Musical or Comedy category and Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.

"I remember the Best Supporting Actress nomination for 17 Again went to Susan Sarandon, not you, right?" Eric said, somewhat confused. Drew's performance in 17 Again had certainly been outstanding; maybe he was mistaken.

"Non-nominated people can still attend the award ceremony," Drew's eyes darted as, under Eric's gaze, she finally confessed, "I had Kepler pull some strings for me. I'm his hottest client right now; it was just an invitation, that's all. Kepler contacted Fox, and it was all sorted out quickly."

Eric sighed, "I get it. You're doing everything you can to avoid being in school."

"Hey, hey." Drew rubbed against Eric's thigh and grinned, "Eric, are you hungry? I still have some pizza in the kitchen that I haven't finished."

"I ate at the office." Eric stood up. "Don't keep watching TV; you need to get some rest. We have to pick out a tuxedo tomorrow morning; we should dress up a bit for the awards."

Drew also stood up and followed Eric. "Kepler already set that up for us. Versace is sponsoring our custom tuxedos! I've picked out a few, and they're sending them over for us to try on tomorrow morning."

Eric recalled that Kepler had mentioned this over the phone, and he had agreed then. By now, Kepler had transferred all other actor contracts over to his agents, only handling Al Pacino, Julia Roberts, Drew, and Eric himself.

Some days ago, at Eric's suggestion, Kepler had taken a trip to Sweden to try and sign Roxette, but they were already signed under EMI's European branch. Despite Kepler's charm, the two members of Roxette weren't willing to give up EMI, a gigantic label, for the rather unknown UTA. However, they did agree to sign a licensing agreement for their song It Must Have Been Love.

Eric had thought that with Drew in school and both himself and Al and Julia filming Pretty Woman, Kepler would have a leisurely time. Yet from just a few words from Drew, he realized this former CAA superstar agent had unwittingly handled a lot of work, practically taking on the roles of both agent and manager. This realization made Eric very satisfied; it was obviously a wise decision to buy out Kepler's management company despite pressure from CAA.

"Goodnight," Eric said, kissing Drew on the forehead, before heading back to his bedroom, casually shutting the door behind him as he entered the bathroom.

After showering, Eric got into bed and picked up a magazine from the nightstand, reading for a while until his hair dried. He then turned off the light and fell asleep.

...

He didn't know how much time had passed when the bedroom door clicked softly, and a delicate figure silently slipped inside, making her way to the bed and crawling under the covers beside Eric.

Click--

The bed lamp flipped on.

Eric rubbed his forehead in frustration; he had forgotten to lock the door again.

Feeling the bare skin snuggling against him and having not been intimate with a woman in weeks, flames ignited within Eric. For a moment, he nearly lost sight of his resolve.

"Hey, what's going on? Don't! I can go back myself, you know?" As Eric shifted, Drew quickly became enveloped in a sheet, leaving only her little head peeking out.

Eric scooped up the wrapped-up girl and headed towards her bedroom.

"Eric, can't you have a little interest in me? You've always treated me so well and yet you don't do anything, which makes me so anxious," Drew protested, trapped in Eric's arms but still vocalizing her concerns.

Eric laid Drew on her bed and firmly said, "Enough of that. No more of this."

"That's not fair! You've been with Aniston, and you've been with Julia Roberts, so why do you remain indifferent towards me? It's not fair!" Drew finally freed one hand from the sheets and protested while tugging at Eric.

"Because they're both adults, and you're not," Eric explained. "You wouldn't want me to be sentenced to prison, right?"

"But..." Drew pushed back, "If neither of us says anything, no one will know, right?"

Eric covered Drew with the blanket, neatly folding up the sheet. He looked sternly at her and said, "Sweetheart, you need to understand that everyone has their limits, and this is mine. You're so cute that I can't help but feel attracted to you. But even if it were to happen, it'd have to wait until you're of legal age."

"But in some European countries, I'm already old enough!"

"Well, this is California, not Europe."

Drew, holding onto the sheet with her small hands and bright eyes, asked, "Eric, after you finish this film, can we go travel in Europe?"

Eric felt the tension still simmering within him. Hearing Drew's words, he instinctively swallowed.

"No, you have to wait until you're 18."

"Wow, 18? By then, I'll be old! I found a book at school that said a long time ago, humans would die by 20. How about 14?"

Eric felt a bead of sweat form on his forehead. How was this girl bargaining? Just as he was about to get up and return to his room, ignoring her wild chatter, Drew clung tightly to his arm. With Drew completely uncovered, her bare skin was laid bare, her little bunny ears blushing red and playfully entangling him. "Okay, how about 15? Will 15 work?"

Eric's eyes darted to her creamy skin, and he found himself saying, "That won't work, at least 16."

"Deal!" The girl quickly released his arm and dived under the covers, her innocent expression locking onto Eric's. "No take-backs!"

Oh boy, he fell for it, but somehow he felt a flicker of anticipation.

...

The next morning at 9 a.m., the staff from Versace arrived at Eric's house with the custom tuxedos for him and Drew to choose from.

The Golden Globes was indeed a big deal, and Kepler arrived almost simultaneously to explain some important points regarding the awards. He would accompany Eric and Drew to the Golden Globes that day but didn't have the credentials to enter; his job was just to drop off his employer at the Hilton Hotel's awards hall, and that would count as completing his duties.

This wasn't an insignificant task. A lot of stars had their agents present in similar situations. If something unexpected happened, the agent could deal with it promptly to prevent the situation from escalating.

While Drew was trying on her gowns, Eric took the chance to ask Kepler about the specifics of the sponsorship from Versace. It turned out that these high-end custom tuxedos weren't free but on loan -- they needed to be returned after wearing. Of course, if they liked them, they could also buy them at a decent discount that Versace offered to clients like Eric.

Eric deemed it necessary to invest in such a suit; after all, being a man, he didn't have to wear a different tuxedo for every award ceremony, and he could reuse one suit. However, after asking about the general price range, he quickly dismissed that idea; he was nearly at the point of needing a loan just to pay taxes.

One high-end tuxedo cost $100,000, which was still a little surreal for Eric at that point. The most he'd ever spent on a suit before was a little over $800, which his wife had insisted on, leaving him feeling quite the pinch.

After selecting their outfits in the morning, Kepler arranged for makeup artists to get both of them ready in the afternoon. With everything wrapped up, it was already nearly 4 p.m. when the group made their way to the Hilton Hotel, the venue for this year's Golden Globe Awards.

*****

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