Chapter 717: Did I Say That?

[Chapter 717: Did I Say That?]

Before they knew it, they had been talking for over an hour when the door to the study was gently tapped. Ewa Pacula peeked in.

"Eric, Vicky asked me to see if you're keeping guests for lunch," she said.

Eric knew as soon as he heard Virginia's name that she had sent Ewa to rush them along. Glancing at the clock, which was nearing eleven, he realized that since Virginia didn't want both women to stay for lunch, he shouldn't insist. He told Ewa, "No need, we've finished discussing everything. Cindy and Linda can head back to New York just in time."

"Oh, then I'll let Vicky know," Ewa said with a sly wink, sticking her head back out, and the door quietly closed behind her.

"In that case, you all can leave now. I'll treat you to lunch another time," Eric said after Ewa left, rising to his feet.

Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista understood exactly what just transpired. If the tables were turned, they felt they would have done the same thing, but they certainly felt a bit disgruntled.

...

After saying their goodbyes to Eric, Cindy and Linda got into their cars and left the seaside estate.

They drove along the serene roads for a few minutes until they reached downtown East Hampton. Linda noticed as Cindy parked her car in front of a restaurant, and she followed suit.

The two women walked into the restaurant with their bags. With lunchtime approaching, the dining area was already bustling with guests. Their striking presence caught the attention of many, and while most guests merely discreetly stole glances, a few even called out friendly greetings. Two casually dressed girls eagerly approached them, with one asking, "Linda, Cindy, can we get your autographs?"

"Of course," Cindy said, feeling lifted by the attention. She gladly took the paper and pen from the girl, signed quickly, and handed them to Linda Evangelista.

As they signed, the girls chattered excitedly, "We didn't expect you guys to be here! Jill even said we might not run into any celebrities. Oh, we're here on vacation, and the white beaches of East Hampton are so beautiful! It's a pity it's a bit cold right now; we can't really swim."

Upon hearing the girl's opening remark, Linda paused, quickly finishing her autograph. She returned the paper and pen, losing a bit of interest in continuing the conversation with her eager fans.

After a few brief exchanges, the two women were guided to their seats by a waiter. Cindy took the menu from the server and grimaced at the prices, which were even higher than those at Manhattan's finest restaurants. In a bit of a defiant mood, she ordered several of the most expensive items.

When the waiter left, Cindy complained, "What does he mean we just happen to be able to rush back to New York? Doesn't he realize it takes two hours to drive from East Hampton to Manhattan? By the time we get back, we'll be starving!"

Hearing Cindy's mix of envy and frustration, Linda felt less upset. She rummaged through her purse, pulled out the documents Eric had given them, and casually replied, "Why didn't you just point that out to him? Then he would have felt awkward about rushing us out."

"I couldn't care less," Cindy scoffed softly, adding randomly, "She's acting all high and mighty just because she had a child. Does she really think she's the boss?"

Linda flipped through the documents without looking up, saying, "We need to come up with a proposal in two weeks, prepare in May, and that barely leaves us three months for production. Plus, we have to make time for the fall fashion week, and then it's immediately the Victoria's Secret Show. I'm genuinely worried about whether I'm going to lose my mind from everything on my plate."

Seeing that lunch would still take a while, Cindy dug into her bag for the documents. "No one is forcing you. If you say you don't want to do this anymore, those bitches will definitely come at you shouting. Just make sure you don't regret it in the future. Look at what Naomi Campbell has been doing lately; you can tell she's regretting turning down the Victoria's Secret Show from last year."

Linda recalled the rumors circulating about Naomi Campbell trying to leverage connections to oust Tyra Banks from the Victoria's Secret campaign. She shook her head, disdainfully saying, "I think she's completely missed the point. The Victoria's Secret Angels brand was built by Williams, and he's a major shareholder at LTD. Without his approval, no one will just swap out Victoria's Secret representatives."

"Do you think she doesn't get that? She simply hasn't had the chance to connect with Williams, and even if she did, it might not help. Plus, she's way too greedy. There are six themes for the Victoria's Secret Show but only five models. If it were me, I'd aim to snag an opening slot for one of the themes to maintain my standing in the industry."

Linda envied Cindy's sharp business acumen. Hearing this, she said, "If you've given it so much thought, why didn't you give her a heads-up?"

"What would I get from alerting her? Friendship? Ha," Cindy dismissed, laughing derisively as she glanced toward the kitchen before turning her focus back to the documents.

Linda flipped through a few more pages of the files before looking up suddenly. "Cindy, I have a great idea! Hear me out."

"Oh, let's hear it. If it's good, I'll use it without hesitation," Cindy replied absently as she thought about which guests she could invite in the future. She felt that Linda's intelligence probably wouldn't land a great idea.

Unfazed by Cindy's lack of enthusiasm, Linda excitedly proposed, "You know our shows will air concurrently. My show needs models, and yours definitely needs designers. Why don't we do a crossover episode? It would be a huge draw!"

"Wow, that's not a bad idea," Cindy acknowledged, but then shook her head, saying, "I don't want to cross over. What if your show flops and pulls me down with it?"

Linda retorted, "Hey, I'm talking about something serious here! And why can't it be the other way around -- what if you drag me down?"

Cindy tilted her chin slightly and replied, "Because that's just not going to happen."

"You're so full of yourself."

"You're wrong; this is confidence."

"Forget it. I'm not going to argue with you," Linda conceded but then couldn't help but ask, "So, if we did a 10% split, how much would we make?"

"Last year's Victoria's Secret Show cost about $20 million to produce. I'm not expecting too much; as long as the show's profit is not less than a tenth of the Victoria's Secret Show, I'll be satisfied."

Linda recalled the profit figures from the Victoria's Secret Show and remarked, "Well, you'd only end up with about $3 million; that's pretty low for five months of work."

Cindy chuckled but didn't feel the need to explain anything further to Linda.

The media loved to boast about how much these top models earned every year, but the actual figures often differed dramatically from the reports.

Take Cindy herself, for instance; some media outlets exaggerated her earnings last year to $25 million, but that just wasn't accurate.

While it was true that she grossed about $25 million, that figure was like a company's revenue -- it represented earnings, not profit. Of that $25 million, $10 million was from her Victoria's Secret endorsement. The remaining $15 million primarily came from new advertising contracts gained through the influence of the Victoria's Secret Show. Those contracts required very little from her; mostly, she just needed to show up at events and film some ads, so their rates were far lower than Victoria's Secret's, but the average contract lasted about three years. With those contracts in hand, she'd have to avoid taking on many more endorsements in the coming years.

To break it down, her Victoria's Secret contract lasted five years, averaging $2 million per year, while her other contracts had an average length of three years at $5 million annually. Combined, that brought her earnings to $7 million per year.

But even that wasn't the end. At her income level, she had to pay a 35% personal income tax, plus her agency took a 10% cut. In the end, she was left with just about $3.85 million, which was her actual annual income.

Moreover, the modeling industry was known for its rapid turnover, and even for someone like her, a supermodel, her income would certainly decline as she got older and new talents emerged. That's why Cindy cared much more about job security than Linda, who was far less sensitive to money. She distinctly remembered Eric saying that as long as this reality show performed well, it could sustain production for dozens of seasons.

Dozens of seasons -- Cindy didn't dare wish for that. However, if it could run for ten years, she'd be able to save a substantial nest egg before hitting forty, allowing her a dignified retirement.

As her thoughts wandered toward the future, Cindy inexplicably recalled the sprawling estate on the East Hampton coastline that she had spotted earlier in the day, along with a few fleeting figures nearby. Remembering the guy whose wealth Forbes reported at $46.5 billion, she realized that even if she maintained her current income of over $3 million a year, she would never come close to even one percent of his net worth, which left her feeling a sense of helplessness as she stared up at the stars. She murmured, "Sigh, maybe it'd be better to just have a kid."

Sitting across from her, Linda Evangelista caught that last remark and suddenly looked up, "Cindy, what did you say?"

Cindy wore a puzzled expression. "Did I say something?"

Linda nodded with certainty, "You did, and this is the second time."

A brief flicker of panic crossed Cindy's eyes, but she quickly regained her composure, lowering her gaze back to the documents and lazily countered, "What did I say?"

"You know what you said."

"Oh, I forgot."

Linda then playfully threatened, "Watch out, or I might tell him what you were thinking."

Cindy shrugged nonchalantly. "Go ahead; who's to say whether that thought was yours or mine?"

Linda widened her eyes in shock, instinctively raising her voice, "My... thought? How dare you pin that on me!"

Cindy gestured around them, asking, "Shush! Do you want these people to laugh at us?"

Noticing that other patrons were already glancing their way, Linda lowered her voice. "Anyway, I heard what I heard."

"Fine, whatever," Cindy shrugged, not worrying much about it. She felt that this idea was like a contagious virus, and she was sure Linda had caught it; otherwise, she wouldn't have fixated on that little detail just now, seemingly intent on proving something.

...

The purchasing power of women far exceeded that of men; this was a consensus everyone shared. Thus, Lifetime Television possessed this potential consumer base since advertisers would definitely prefer targeting female audiences.

The US cable television market had been brewing for over a decade and was on the brink of explosion. This intense phase of industry upheaval often provided the best opportunity for oligopolistic enterprises to emerge.

While no singular female network had dominated the landscape in this timeline, no one doubted that cable television held that potential. If they could seize the opportunity and launch a network comparable in scale to ESPN, it wasn't out of the question.

The fundamental factor for a television network's success was still its outstanding programming. Though they already had America's Next Top Model and Project Runway, a network could not rely solely on reality shows to maintain viewership. Television series were indispensable. Eric had a considerable advantage here; while considering the two reality shows, he had already thought of a drama perfect for Lifetime Television.

However, Lifetime's annual budget was only $100 million. Although Eric held high expectations for it, he couldn't push things too quickly. Over-investment could lead to losses, which would not only be demoralizing but could also hinder future development plans.

Of the $100 million budget, $40 million was already allocated to the two reality shows. Additionally, the network needed to order a range of television programs to fill various time slots, along with setting aside enough for marketing expenses. Therefore, the remaining $60 million is simply not enough to squeeze out the budget for producing a TV series.

Of course, if America's Next Top Model and Project Runway performed well during the fall season, Lifetime Television's budget would significantly increase.

After Easter, Eric temporarily reduced his focus on the Firefly Group, channeling most of his energy into negotiating the Firefly investment in Sprint.

On another front, the collaboration talks between Firefly and Hasbro concerning toy merchandise were progressing smoothly. Both sides showed a strong desire to cooperate. By the end of April, a detailed proposal had been prepared. After Jeffrey Katzenberg represented Firefly Group to sign the partnership agreement with Hasbro, he didn't rush to leave New York. Instead, he relied on Lifetime Television's next phase of development planning to lobby various cable networks, hoping to secure more subscribers for Lifetime before the fall season.

*****

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