Chapter 363: I'll be White Again Soon

[Chapter 363: Soon to Be White]

Eric pinched the girl's soft cheek and said, "Hearing that I've gone crazy seems to make you happy, huh?"

"Uh-huh," Drew nodded, grabbing Eric's hand as he reached out. She opened her mouth and nibbled on his fingers for a moment before letting go, watching as Eric turned to retrieve the cordless phone, feeling blissful inside.

Of course, she was happy. Ever since Jeffrey called to inform her, the little girl had remained in an excited state, even ditching her mother, who was still in Hawaii, to fly back to New York on her own. Because Eric had been stubbornly betting heavily on futures, Jeffrey thought the only person who could persuade him was her. This meant she was Eric's closest person, and how could that not make the little girl happy?

As for futures trading and all that, if he wanted to do it, then so be it. If he lost everything, he lost everything; she didn't care. As long as Eric was happy, that was all that mattered. In Drew's eyes, Eric was everything, and nothing else mattered.

Eric returned to the couch with the cordless phone and sat down. Drew snuggled up to him and waved her little arms in front of his face, showing off, "Eric, do you think my skin is tanned beautifully?"

"Not really; I still prefer it to be fair and soft," Eric casually glanced at her and replied.

"Ah! Why didn't you say so earlier? If I'd known, I wouldn't have tanned," she pouted, sitting up and vigorously rubbing her sun-kissed, honey-colored arms as if trying to scrub them back to their original shade.

"Well, actually, it's still pretty nice," Eric said, half-heartedly pushing the girl away.

Drew frowned and sulked, getting up and swaying her little waist as she headed towards the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower."

...

Waving her off, Eric's call connected as he turned his attention to the phone. Though he had been in New York, Los Angeles was still his main base. He checked in daily on matters there, primarily focusing on the release of Ghost and Basic Instinct. For this trip to New York, Eric specially left his assistant, Allen Fisman, in Los Angeles, bringing only a security team with him.

After spending half an hour on the phone, Eric finally hung up. Everything was proceeding normally over at Firefly, but he had to return to Los Angeles tomorrow. He absolutely had to be present for the premiere of Ghost the night after.

Compared to the previous films, The Silence of the Lambs and Basic Instinct, Ghost was not released at an opportune time. Just the week before, Tom Cruise's Days of Thunder had come out, and while its initial performance wasn't great, bringing in just over $20 million during its opening week from a budget over $60 million, Ghost's box office was sure to be affected. The biggest potential rival for Ghost was Die Hard 2, which also opened on July 6.

Die Hard 2 had secured its date after Ghost was already slated to release, prompting Eric to personally contact Barry Diller and Murdoch. Michael Eisner also communicated with Fox, but unfortunately, no compromises were reached, leading to both films being released simultaneously. However, Eric was confident about Ghost, and it seemed that Fox was equally confident about Die Hard 2.

...

After Eric finished his calls and turned on the TV to catch some news, the bathroom door swung open. The little girl emerged, casually wrapped in a big towel, and faced Eric's helpless expression with a justification: "There were no bathrobes in there."

"What about your luggage?" Eric asked.

She pointed to the small bag on the sofa that she had brought with her. "There it is."

Eric glanced at it; the bag contained only her passport and a few small personal items. He sighed and said, "Fine, just wear one of my T-shirts for now. I'll call someone to help buy you some clothes."

"Okay," Drew said, following Eric into the bedroom.

"You're tanned like a little black girl, so stop showing off; hurry up and put this on," Eric tossed a T-shirt at her, jokingly.

"That's racial discrimination; I protest," Drew pouted, putting on the T-shirt. As Eric started to head out of the bedroom, Drew quickly chased after him, insisting, "I'll be white again soon!"

...

The next day, when Jeffrey saw Drew excitedly appear at the New York Stock Exchange with Eric, he sadly confirmed that the little girl had certainly not attempted any persuasion. The old man decided to give up on trying to talk Eric down. With less than a week to go, Eric had already raised $50 million that had gone into the crude oil futures market. It was too late for anything else; he could only pray to God that Eric wouldn't lose too much.

After discussing matters with Chris in the morning, Eric flew back to Los Angeles that afternoon. Drew had just flown for 12 hours from Hawaii to New York the day before, and with the time difference, she didn't come back with him.

...

Eric landed in Los Angeles on the evening of July 4th. The premiere of Ghost took place the following evening. He didn't rush over to Firefly; after getting off the plane at LAX, he called those who needed to be informed before heading straight back to his estate.

Walking into the villa, only a few yellow wall lamps lit the foyer. However, the small living room on its east side was bright with fluorescent lights. Eric dropped off his luggage and walked over to check it out, hearing the sound of the TV playing.

Pushing the door open, he peered inside and saw Jennifer Connelly, with her hair still damp as if she had just showered, lounging on the couch in a simple bathrobe. She looked lazy yet elegant, much like a Persian cat.

Hearing the noise, the young woman turned her head curiously. Upon seeing Eric, she immediately brightened up, jumping from the sofa and rushing over. "Eric, you're back!"

Eric hugged her and asked, "Yeah, what are you watching?"

Jennifer Connelly happily linked her arm with Eric's and sat down beside the sofa. "Oh, nothing special, just killing time. I was actually going to bed soon."

Eric glanced at the TV but couldn't figure out what exactly Connelly was watching. He said, "If you're bored, you could call a few friends over to hang out."

"I don't really have any friends in Los Angeles," Connelly said, looking a bit down. Then she recalled something and got up. "Oh, Eric, they sent a ton of scripts over the past few days."

As she spoke, she walked outside and, after a moment, returned to the living room with a huge stack of scripts, at least thirty centimeters thick. Eric was surprised and helped her set them on the coffee table, noticing that these were complete scripts, with at least four or five dozen in total.

*****

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