Chapter 804: How About You Punish Me?

[Chapter 804]

Outside the hotel room where Eric lived, Peter Rich knocked on the door. After receiving a response, he pushed the door open and said to Christina Aguilera, who was following behind him, "Miss Aguilera, go on in. Mr. Williams is waiting for you."

Christina instinctively glanced back at her assistant, Miliya Antin. Peter noticed her look and added, "Oh, this is..."

"Miliya Antin," Miliya quickly introduced herself.

Peter nodded and said, "Miss Antin, you can head back to the hotel for now."

"Oh, of course," Miliya said, feeling a bit disappointed that she couldn't join Christina to meet Eric. She turned to leave reluctantly as Christina stepped inside.

Christina assumed Eric was the only person in the room, but once she walked in, she discovered Eric was chatting with another middle-aged man near a piano by the balcony.

Cameron first noticed Christina entering. Seeing the petite girl with a sweet appearance, he instinctively asked, "Eric, is this little one the singer you were looking for?"

Although Christina knew about the Terminator series and heard the buzz surrounding Titanic in the media over the past six months, she didn't recognize Cameron. However, she quickly gathered that he must be a close friend of Eric, given his wrinkled shirt and messy hair as he leaned against the piano.

Despite Cameron's somewhat doubtful tone, Christina smiled back, and when Eric turned to her, she said, "Eric, you wanted to see me."

Eric, who was sitting next to the piano, didn't seem inclined to stand up. He just nodded and said, "Yeah, come over."

Christina obediently walked to the other side of Eric, casting a curious glance around. On the piano and in front of Eric, there were several sheets of paper, presumably sheet music. Both Cameron and Eric were holding pencils, and the pages were filled with annotations.

Noticing Christina's eyes darting around, landing on Cameron, Eric smiled and introduced them, "This is Christina Aguilera. Oh, and here's James Cameron; you've definitely heard of him."

"Of course," Christina nodded. Though she had instinctively moved to the other side of Eric, she reached her little hand out and said, "Hello, Director Cameron. I really like your movies."

"Oh, really?" Cameron shook her tiny hand and joked, "You don't look old enough to watch my films."

Before Titanic, all of Cameron's films, except for the less successful The Abyss, were rated R, requiring those under 17 to be accompanied by an adult. He didn't believe that this girl, who seemed barely over five feet tall, had seen his movies, or if she had, she likely didn't enjoy them.

As they spoke, Cameron's focus shifted back to Eric. Since Eric had called her over, he realized this must be the singer he was talking about.

For the past few days, Eric had spent his evenings composing the music and lyrics for My Heart Will Go On. Today, they had essentially finished the work, and although both he and Cameron could hum the tune, two grown men were unlikely to capture the essence of My Heart Will Go On. Therefore, Cameron suggested finding a female singer to try it out, and Eric immediately thought of Christina, who had just joined the team a few days prior.

In this timeline, Christina was already recognized for squeezing into the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" list at such a young age. From the moment she started her musical journey, she emulated legendary singers like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. While she might not have the ethereal voice of Celine Dion, her vocal skills were more than capable, arguably surpassing Celine, who had a more limited musical style.

Eric organized the scores in front of him and explained, "Jim, we're just looking for a girl to try out the song's effect. I can assure you, Christina is definitely the best singer in our entire crew."

"Well, I hope so," Cameron said, not taking it too seriously since it was just a trial.

Eric smiled and asked Christina, "Do you know the theme song from The Bodyguard that Whitney Houston performed four years ago?"

"Is it I Will Always Love You?" Christina asked.

Eric nodded and waved to Cameron, grinning, "Show Jim a couple of lines."

Though the singing style of I Will Always Love You differed from My Heart Will Go On, both songs belonged to the ballad genre. Moreover, the difficulty level of I Will Always Love You was even higher than that of My Heart Will Go On, and Cameron, being a music lover himself, would undoubtedly recognize this.

Having performed frequently since she was eight, Christina felt no stage fright. Taking a couple of steps back to gather her emotions, she began to sing:

If I should stayI would only be in your waySo I'll go, but I knowI'll think of you every step of the wayAnd I will always love youI will always love youYouMy darling, you, mm-mm

...

Cameron initially appeared amused, enjoying the show. But as the powerful tones, nearly identical to Whitney Houston's, erupted from the petite girl's mouth, he quickly shifted his expression from indifference to astonishment, studying Christina with newfound respect, as if trying to understand the immense power emanating from such a small frame.

With a long list of tasks ahead, Eric soon lost patience waiting for Christina to finish the song. As Cameron's expression began to transform, Eric cheerfully interrupted her, saying, "Alright, that's enough for now."

Christina paused, hurriedly quieting her voice, worried she had sung poorly. Blinking her eyes, she stood there, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

This time, Cameron began to come to Christina's defense, saying, "Hey, Eric, why don't you let Christina finish? That's pretty rude."

Eric ignored this guy's sudden shift in tone and turned to Christina, saying, "It's alright, you sounded great. We just have a bit of a time crunch. Come on, let's take a look at these scores and sing for us later."

Realizing there was no issue on her part, Christina relaxed and politely smiled back at Cameron, walking over to take the scores from Eric's hand.

"This is a theme song I just wrote for a movie. Jim wanted to hear how it sounded, so I asked you to come over," Eric explained as he saw Christina studying the scores beside him. He turned to Cameron, who was leaning against the piano, and said, "Hey, buddy, could you bring a chair over for our little singer?"

"Ah, it's okay, I can manage," Christina, who had already started humming softly, quickly replied. She didn't want such a big director like Cameron getting a chair for her.

Before she could even make a move, Cameron had already handed over a chair from behind him, saying, "Here you go, little one -- oh no, Christina, here you go."

It was a heavy wooden chair with a high backrest. While Cameron had no trouble lifting it, it was a bit of a struggle for Christina to receive it. Eric quickly stood up, helping her position the chair behind her.

Once Christina sat down and began carefully reading the sheet music, Eric knew they would have to wait a while. Taking the opportunity, he walked over to the fridge and poured two glasses of whiskey and one of juice. He returned and handed them to Cameron and Christina while holding one for himself. He casually chatted with Cameron, saying, "I was thinking that for the opening arrangement, we should consider using the Scottish bagpipe. That instrument has appeared several times in the story and aligns beautifully with the female vocals at the end of the film."

"Scottish bagpipe," Cameron pondered for a moment, then said, "Oh, I remember. Did James really say we had one here?"

"I'm not sure if you can buy one in Venice, but if you want to hear how it sounds, I can have my assistant look for one tomorrow," Eric replied.

Cameron nodded, then noticed Christina still diligently reading the score line by line. He said, "Eric, this is taking too long. Why don't you sing it to her? I bet Christina will learn it after hearing it a couple of times."

Eric glanced at Christina, who nodded, and then took the score. "Alright, I'll sing it once; listen and see what you think."

Christina's musical talent truly shone. With just a soft rendition from Eric, she could follow along with the lyrics. Eric directed her on some pronunciation techniques, and with a few practice runs, accompanied by Eric's piano playing, they were soon treated to a rendition of My Heart Will Go On from an actual professional singer.

Christina deliberately kept her voice subdued, refraining from showcasing the more fierce, almost masculine edge she generally displayed. Thus, her rendition of My Heart Will Go On carried a distinct Celine Dion-like charm, which left both Eric and Cameron thoroughly satisfied.

As Christina finished her third round, Cameron clapped his hands excitedly and said, "That was great! Absolutely fantastic! Eric, I've made my decision. We're using this song as Titanic's closing theme. I believe I should have it done before the Venice Film Festival because this song is a perfect match for the film. I don't want to wait another moment; I'll fly back to Los Angeles tomorrow to have James arrange it. We need to wrap this up before the festival opens."

Such a song was indeed labor-intensive, and after Christina finished, she took small sips of her juice, still surprised that this song would actually be the theme for Titanic. Despite many doubting the project's success, considering it a potential flop like Waterworld, it was still a $215 million blockbuster. If she could perform the theme song for such a film, then...

With these thoughts, Christina subtly set her cup down and looked at Eric with her wide, innocent eyes twinkling in anticipation.

"With twenty days left until the opening ceremony, I think it's feasible if we push a bit," Eric remarked, also nodding. Initially, Cameron had planned to take his time producing the song, but now caught in Eric's enthusiasm, he didn't oppose the idea of making Titanic's premiere even more spectacular at the Venice Film Festival. Eric noticed Christina's expectant expression and chuckled, reaching out to pinch her cheek playfully. "Don't think about it too much. This song isn't for you -- you can't go down the path of sentimental ballads. Firefly Records is preparing a single for you by the end of the year, so just focus on the route the company has set for you."

Christina shrank back a little but showed no resistance to Eric's slightly affectionate gesture, smiling as she replied, "Okay, I understand, Eric."

Cameron, however, noticed the subtle interaction between them. He shifted his gaze to his watch and realized, without noticing, that it was already a quarter past nine.

"Alright, Eric, I'll head back to prepare for my flight to Los Angeles tomorrow," Cameron said as he finished his whiskey. He straightened up and waved to Christina, "Good night."

"Good night, Mr. Cameron," Christina politely answered.

Eric got up to walk Cameron to the door.

Seeing that Christina hadn't followed them, Cameron pulled Eric outside and quietly asked, "Hey, Eric, I'm not trying to meddle in your personal affairs, but..." pointing back inside, he lowered his voice further, "How old is she?"

Eric shrugged, helplessly saying, "Sixteen."

"Really?" Cameron said, somewhat incredulous, given Christina's petite stature, which was quite short, only about 5 feet tall.

"Absolutely," Eric affirmed, nodding. "And by the way, Jim, I haven't touched her. All in all, I consider myself quite a respectable person."

Cameron understood that Eric had no reason to lie about such matters, shrugged, and suddenly made a pinching gesture in the air, joking, "You really haven't touched her?"

Eric laughed, playfully punching Cameron on the shoulder and said, "Alright, go book your flight. Get back to Los Angeles and get to work."

"Hey, you," Cameron replied, not annoyed, and they shared a few more casual exchanges before he left.

...

Eric returned to his suite and found Christina still sitting in that chair, diligently studying the score, looking just like an innocent girl.

Walking up to the piano, Eric casually played some keys and said, "Come on, Christina, let's head back. You're staying at the hotel across the street, right?"

Initially engrossed in her act, Christina looked up with rosy cheeks and bravely said, "Eric, can I stay a little longer?"

"Hmm, how old are you?" Eric asked absentmindedly.

"Sixteen," Christina replied with twinkling eyes and a giggle, mimicking Eric's tone from earlier.

Eric smiled and reached out to gently pinch her cheek, saying, "It's not a good habit to eavesdrop on others' conversations."

This time, Christina boldly grasped Eric's hand and pressed it to her chest, batting her eyelashes and gazing up at him with an even deeper blush, "Then, Eric, how about you punish me?"

*****

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