Chapter 530: Connected by Fate

[Chapter 530: Connected by Fate]

"Come on, what did you say about me? You weren't gossiping behind my back, were you?" Rachel strolled into the apartment, sat down by the shoe rack in the foyer, and casually asked while changing her knee-high boots.

Caroline wore flats and didn't change like Rachel; instead, she went right to the living room sofa and sat down. Hearing Rachel's comment, her cheeks slightly flushed as she thought revealing her friend's tattoo was hardly gossip. "Of course not! I just told him you did an awesome job in that play and even won an award at the Edinburgh Arts Festival. He finds you quite interesting and said he might introduce you if there's a chance."

Rachel slipped on some slippers and walked over, smiling as she asked, "So when do you plan to introduce us? He's a Hollywood mogul! If I could meet him, I wouldn't have to be running around auditioning for tiny roles all day."

"Ah, well, I think Mr. Williams is just being polite. If I really brought you to meet him, it would be, um, too forward," Caroline said cautiously, glancing at Rachel, stammering a bit.

Seeing the timid look on Caroline's face, Rachel leaned in and playfully pecked her cheek. "Alright, I was just joking! I'm not that naive. Hollywood isn't our playground. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of Eric Williams. A while back, an agent from ICM came to the UK for casting roles in a Firefly film. My agent barely got my info to them, and it was all for nothing. They just said I was the wrong age, didn't even let me audition. It's infuriating! I heard the selection criteria are set by Eric Williams himself."

Caroline listened to Rachel's frustration, unable to refrain from saying, "Well... that shouldn't reflect on Mr. Williams. He's a really charming guy."

"You're just too naive," Rachel replied, shaking her head.

Caroline pouted her lips. "I'm not! I can tell what's real and what's fake."

"Okay, I believe you," Rachel said, noticing Caroline's wide eyes, looking at her as if challenging her belief. She surrendered quickly.

Caroline observed Rachel's dismissive attitude but chose not to push further; clearly, this wasn't the first time they'd had a conversation like this. "So, Rachel, how did that audition go today?"

"Landed it right on the spot," Rachel said excitedly. "It's a role in Inspector Morse, probably two episodes' worth of work. Once I finish, my rent for the next two months is sorted!"

Caroline was thrilled for her friend but then remembered her situation, feeling a bit sheepish. "Rachel, I'll help cover part of your rent."

"Don't even mention it. You should keep that money for your living expenses in the future! I'm not worried about it, plus you won't be living here long; school starts and you'll be off to Cambridge. Stay strong and don't give in to your dad," Rachel waved her hand dismissively before standing up. "I'm going to brew some coffee. When it gets dark, let's go out to celebrate my new role."

Caroline responded with an "mm-hmm," watching Rachel head into the kitchen and feeling a bit in awe. "I'm really envious of you. You're always so independent. If it weren't for my dad forcing me to give up school to marry that rude, pretentious guy from the Edwards family, I probably wouldn't have had the courage to flee home."

Rachel heard Caroline's words and laughed, "What's there to envy? At least when you get married, your dad will cover the wedding expenses. I can't count on mine for anything, so I have to save up myself!"

"I'm not sure, either. I don't know what I'll do if I go against my dad now. I heard from Aunt Lisa that my aunt cut ties with our family because she wouldn't follow Grandpa's plans."

Rachel walked out of the kitchen holding a pot of coffee. "You have an aunt? I've never heard you mention her before."

"I'm not a chatterbox!" Caroline quickly retorted, realizing this wasn't going anywhere and added, "I do have an aunt, but I've never met her. I know about her from what Aunt Lisa secretively told me. Apparently, the year I was born, my aunt fell for a very talented playwright while watching a play in the West End, but he was from a poor background. Grandpa didn't approve and quickly arranged another suitor for her. My aunt caused quite the scene at home and eventually moved to Greece, never to return for twenty years."

Rachel couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Caroline, are you sure that's true and not something your Aunt Lisa made up after watching too many romantic plays?"

"Aunt Lisa is just our housemaid; she wouldn't have the time for such nonsense," Caroline insisted.

"Then it was probably inspired by too many daytime soap operas," Rachel teased again, laughing.

Caroline appeared a bit swayed by the fairytale tale, though she refused to admit it and turned her head defiantly. "I'm not talking to you anymore."

Rachel laughed again and reached out to tousle the girl's hair.

As they were playfully bantering, the phone rang in the living room. Rachel set the coffee down and went to answer it. After a few words, she looked surprised and cupped the receiver to tell Caroline sitting on the sofa, "Caroline, it's your dad calling."

Caroline shrank back. "How does he know I'm here?"

Rachel couldn't help but shake her head, finding Caroline's innocence amusing. Although her family wasn't exactly prominent in the UK, they were certainly not on par with any fallen nobility. Caroline had run away from home, so her parents couldn't possibly ignore it. The day Caroline moved in, her mom called Rachel asking her to look after her daughter.

Seeing Caroline's anxious expression, Rachel suggested, "Why don't I tell your dad you're not here?"

Caroline hesitated, knowing that since her dad knew she was there, there was no escaping. Reluctantly, she approached and took the receiver from Rachel's hands.

"Hello, Dad, it's me..."

As Rachel handed the receiver to Caroline, she sensed it might be awkward for her friend and made her way to the bedroom. However, even though Caroline usually spoke softly, Rachel vaguely heard the girl's excited voice.

After about five minutes, Rachel heard silence outside and stepped out of the bedroom, noticing Caroline pouting on the sofa. She asked, "Did your dad want you to come home?"

"No," Caroline sat up and said, "He said he won't force me to drop out anymore, but he, he wants me to invite Mr. Williams over for dinner. That's just... too sudden! How can I say that? If he declines, I'll be mortified!"

Rachel could easily piece together the situation, seeing how Caroline was fidgeting with her legs. The moment Caroline showed up in front of Eric Williams, the British press, always quick to investigate, laid out her background. The darling of the Wilson family was personally showing someone around. Under different circumstances, even if it wasn't a family embarrassment, the Wilsons would have deemed it a very undignified action.

However, days went by, and the Wilsons didn't make a move. They didn't respond to media claims of Caroline and Eric being a good match either, clearly pleased with the situation. If Eric were merely a moderately well-known Hollywood director, the Wilsons would have acted high and mighty, but a young tycoon with multi-billion dollar assets was enough to change their tune.

Seeing her friend looking down with a troubled expression, Rachel asked, "So what are you going to do?"

"I... I don't know," Caroline shook her head.

Rachel, familiar with her friend, recognized that deep down, Caroline wanted to invite Eric Williams over. She encouraged her, "Just tell him straightforwardly tomorrow; it's an invitation from your dad. If he declines, it's on your dad, nothing for you to feel embarrassed about."

"Really?" Caroline looked up at Rachel, hopeful.

Rachel nodded firmly without hesitation. "Of course."

"Then tomorrow, I'll just say my dad wants to invite him," Caroline's face turned pink. "Rachel, help me think of how to say it so it doesn't come off as too abrupt..."

...

Since London is situated at a higher latitude, June days are very long. Eric returned to the hotel around seven in the evening, but the sky wasn't showing any signs of darkening.

After an early dinner, Eric went back to his room to handle all the accumulated emails from the day.

The second weekend box office numbers for Jurassic Park had come in. Despite the first week's explosive box office and great reviews, most institutions still predicted a drop of over 40% for the second week. Even at Firefly, many thought along similar lines, with some suggesting Eric prepare to cut back on Jurassic Park's theater count.

However, when the actual figures were released, many predictions were proven wrong again.

Jurassic Park experienced only a 37% drop in box office compared to its first week, earning over $42 million, a far less drop than the average 50% predicted by most box office analysts. Many Hollywood releases tend to see a significant drop in their second week after a huge opening, with later weeks showing box office figures stabilizing according to the film's quality and reviews.

Since Jurassic Park avoided a significant drop in its second week, its box office wouldn't likely decrease dramatically in the subsequent weeks. Firefly's internal statistics department had already estimated North American earnings for Jurassic Park to reach $500 million, surpassing the first Star Wars film by $40 million.

Originally, when Eric boasted about a billion dollars globally, he estimated Jurassic Park's North American earnings to be around $400 million. Although now the film's North American performance had exceeded even his own expectations, he couldn't be sure if it could reach $500 million.

This uncertainty arose because, when Eric devised Jurassic Park's North American marketing strategy, he had used an aggressive promotional strategy combined with extensive screenings, which was a more advanced version compared to the saturated release approach that Hollywood only adopted years later. This strategy significantly shortened the film's lifecycle. A conventional blockbuster typically retained over 80% of its box office within four weeks. Based on Jurassic Park's current trends, Eric was confident it could gross $300 million in North America over four weeks, but he had no idea what the box office trajectory would look like after that.

After reviewing the related emails for Jurassic Park, Eric began checking other messages and quickly found the information he wanted regarding Arnold Schwarzenegger's Last Action Hero.

As expected, the film's quality was lacking, and with the box office competition from Jurassic Park, this $80 million action flick produced by Carolco Pictures only garnered about $16 million over its opening weekend, even less than Jurassic Park's opening day revenue. In the original timeline, both Stallone and Schwarzenegger flopped with these two blockbusters released back to back. These two iconic Hollywood action stars, both born in the 1940s, found their fame in their thirties and after more than a decade of success, both fell being mired in the same summer release fiasco. While Schwarzenegger would later earn over $20 million from several sequels in the Terminator franchise, his other films never ventured into high-priced territory again. Stallone's popular franchises, Rambo and Rocky, ended due to a gradual decline in box office revenue, leaving him without a surefire hit. In the original timeline, Stallone managed to produce decent films over the next decade, but it often required years of struggle to complete projects, like The Expendables.

*****

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