I'm in Hollywood

Chapter 231: “You have to marry me!”

Eric leaned on his bed as he watched the nude Elisabeth flee into the bathroom. He was going to freshen up and do his morning exercise when Elisabeth, now wearing a bathrobe, returned from the bathroom.

Elisabeth gripped the collar of her bathrobe as a hint of nervousness appeared between her eyes, but she stared straight at Eric before she said, "Eric, I've thought about it. Although I haven't known you for a long time, I think you are a good man."

Upon hearing her words, Eric suddenly had a premonition, but before he could say anything, Elisabeth continued, "We went to bed last night, but I am not a casual woman, so, so..."

After hesitating for a few seconds, she finally said with all her might, "So, you have to marry me!"

After she finished these words, she slightly panted as if she had used up all the power in her body, but her eyes still stared at Eric, waiting for his answer.

Eric stiffened for a few seconds before he slowly said, "What… the… fuck!"

**********

In Julia's apartment, Elisabeth sat on the couch and narrated her story.

Julia, who was sitting beside her, listened with relish when Elisabeth suddenly stopped after she said that she had asked Eric to marry her.

Julia quickly looked up and asked, "Well, what happened after that? Finish the story!"

Elisabeth shook her head and said, "Then… he ran away."

Julia subconsciously asked, "What?"

Elisabeth made a running gesture with her hands and said, "Eric put on his clothes, opened the door and ran away. By the time I realized what had happened, he was nowhere to be found. I even checked the whole mansion."

Then, the two women looked at each other for a few seconds. Elisabeth bit her lip and didn't seem to know what to say. Suddenly, Julia burst out in laughter as she slapped the couch.

"Hahaha, Eric is such a jerk! Hahaha, he ran away! Hahaha..."

Elisabeth picked up a pillow and threw it at Julia as she yelled, "Hey, don't laugh!"

However, Elisabeth's embarrassment only seemed to exacerbate Julia's laughter. Finally, Elisabeth said in a gloomy tone, "If you laugh again, I won't talk to you ever again!"

Julia quickly stifled her laughter and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. Suddenly, she seemed to recall something as she glared and asked, "So, you lied to me when you called me this morning and said that you had already left Eric's place?"

"I... I didn't know what to tell you, but this... why do you care about the details?!"

Julia looked at Elizabeth, who was getting annoyed, and quickly said, "Okay, okay, I won't ask, but what happened afterwards?"

"What do you mean afterwards?"

"Didn't you think about destroying that asshole's expensive things, such as electronics and watches?"

Julia felt that since a rich and pampered girl like Elisabeth had been humiliated like this by Eric, she would've definitely given in to impulse and done something.

"How could I be so naive?!" retorted Elisabeth, but faced with Julia's questioning face, she finally lowered her head and admitted, "I mean, I was really angry at first. If he didn't want to marry me, he should've just told me clearly on the spot. Why did he run away without saying a word? For a moment, I had thought of burning his mansion."

Julia covered her mouth in surprise and asked, "Isn't that a bit too much?"

Elisabeth ignored Julia's reaction and continued, "I found a barrel of gasoline in the garage, but I couldn't find anything to ignite it. By then, I had calmed down, so I decided to come here."

Although Elisabeth did not burn Eric's house in the end, Julia, who heard this, looked surprised. To be honest, she felt a lot of resentment towards Eric. At one point, she had also had some thoughts about getting revenge on him, but even her most ruthless thoughts had never reached the point of burning down his house.

Elisabeth failed to notice Julia's reaction. She lowered her head and asked, "So, what should I do now?"

Julia thought for a moment and replied, "Currently, we have a very great opportunity. If you ask him for a script, he definitely won't refuse."

Elisabeth glared and yelled, "What kind of person do you think I am?!"

Julia also knew that a prideful person like Elisabeth would never agree to this, so she shrugged and said, "In that case, what's done is done."

"But, I don't know how to face that bastard."

"Stop being his assistant, and you won't have to see him everyday. Instead, you should focus on T.G."

The two women were about to discuss further when Drew, wearing a pink backpack, entered the apartment and saw the two of them sitting on the couch.

She greeted, "Good morning; hey, Liz, what are you doing in a bathrobe?"

"I just took a shower."

"Oh," Drew just nodded. She had obviously only asked randomly. If she had looked carefully, she would have realized that the bathrobe came from Eric's house since she was the one who had purchased the household products for Eric's house.

After sitting down on the couch, Drew opened the backpack and pulled out a script and handed it to Julia and Elisabeth as she asked, "What do you think about this script?"

Julia took the script and looked at its title before she asked, "'Silence of the Lamb'; what is this?"

"It seems to be a novel's adaptation," remarked Elisabeth as she looked at the script in Julia's hand. Then, the two of them began to read it together since there was only one copy.

While they read the script, Drew poured herself a glass of juice and commented, "This script is based on Thomas Harris' novel of the same name. The film adaptation rights were originally bought by Oscar-winner Gene Hackman who was the lead in last year's Best Picture nominee Mississippi Burning.

He planned to direct the film, but the poor guy had been experiencing serious manic episodes since he finished Mississippi Burning. His doctor advised him not to get involved with such an intense violent thriller, so he decided to sell the script.

I had been purchasing scripts for Eric when I came across it. I felt that the story was very exciting and the script wasn't too expensive, so I bought it."

Julia looked up and said, "Drew, the lead in this script is a woman; you're not thinking..."

"Julia, didn't you want to have a breakthrough in your career? The role of Clarice in this script would definitely allow you to significantly hone your acting skills."

Julia quickly shook her head. She felt that the role of Shelby in Steel Magnolias was already enough to hone her acting skills.

She rejected, "No, I've only read a part of this script, but it already feels so creepy. If I play this part, I might develop some... mental illness."

Thinking of this, Julia shuddered as she thought about the odd emotions she felt for Eric.

Elisabeth, who had briefly browsed through the script, also said, "Drew, I don't think this script is a good idea. It's a thriller which will definitely be rated R. After its release, it will definitely cause controversy which will have a significant impact on the image of our company. After all, T.G. Films is run by three girls."

"On the contrary, Liz," retorted Drew, "T.G. is a company run by three girls, so I think we should try some films with exciting and unexpected themes, so that people don't come to believe that we only make tame films since we're women."

Upon hearing this, Elisabeth looked at Julia, but she, once again, shook her head and flatly rejected, "I won't play this role! In fact, my agent will never agree since my image is centered around rom-coms."

"I heard that the screenwriter who wrote this script expressed his hope that Jodie Foster could play the role of Clarice. Julia, are you saying that you're inferior to Jodie Foster?"

Julia sneered and said with a smug tone, "Although she has won an Oscar, but since she began her career, the box office of all her movies combined can't equal the box office of my Pretty Woman."

"But, as an actor, don't you want to win an Oscar?"

"I don't," replied Julia flatly. She had only been famous for less than a year, so she hadn't yet realized the influence of the Oscar.

Although Drew was a lot younger than Julia, she had been in Hollywood for a much longer time. Upon hearing Julia's words, she revealed a surprised expression and said, "If Eric heard what you just said, he would definitely regret letting you star in Pretty Woman. He would be so disappointed in you."

"Why should I care if that bastard is disappointed?" murmured Julia.

Drew sneered and asked, "Well then, can you say the words you just said in front of Eric?"

Julia instinctively turned her head away as if she had decided to ignore any future remarks from Drew. 

-TO BE CONTINUED-