King of Hollywood

Chapter 171: Chapter 171: The Work of a Personal Assistant

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“The documents on the far left are for the film company, followed by the reports from the talent agency, then the record label’s files—there are the most of these—and the fewest on the far right are from various other aspects. The materials sent by Laverne, Roger, and Claude are all in front of you.” In the living room of the villa, Charlize laid out the neatly arranged folders one by one on the coffee table. Although she was no longer in her OL attire, her T-shirt, jacket, and jeans did not diminish her beauty.

“Thank you.” Adrian, who had been flipping through the contents in his hand, nodded his appreciation. It took him a few minutes to finish reading before he started to fiddle with the documents in front of him.

“To be frank, you did well, Charli. For a newcomer, reaching this level is impressive,” Adrian began with a compliment, then tapped the documents in front of him, “However, there are a few small errors.”

Charlize, who was smiling, paused slightly, listening as Adrian continued, “I’ve said before that the updates from the heads of the various companies should be at the front. You remembered Laverne and Roger but forgot the record company’s Garnett and my personal accountant, Regret. Moreover, Claude’s update should be right on top. I must see his first.”

“I’m sorry, Ed.” Charlize didn’t say much else, her smile withdrew as she nodded earnestly. Adrian, however, waved his hand, smiling, “There’s no need for that. Mistakes are inevitable for beginners. You’ve said it yourself—we have to allow newcomers to make mistakes. Just remember for next time. Don’t always look so serious; it’s not flattering.”

“I promise.” Charlize nodded, then her expression lightened again, “To be honest, I never imagined you had… so many companies to manage. I always thought you were just a film company’s boss.”

“I love making movies, but I also love making money,” Adrian raised his hands and after watching Charlize for a few seconds, he continued, “You know, Charli, I want to build my own entertainment empire.”

Charlize raised her eyebrows in surprise, seeming to want to say something but ultimately just shrugged her shoulders.

“I know it might sound a bit ridiculous. I’m not good at managing and running a business, which is why I left the CEO position of AC Media to my buddy Claude,” Adrian chuckled lightly, “But I have two advantages. First, I have sharp intuition—I believe there are not many in this world who can surpass me in this—and second, I think about a lot of things. So, it’s easy for me to find the general direction even in a fog. With talented people around me, it’s not difficult to achieve my goals. It might seem like I’m expanding too quickly and the risk is high, but I believe it will eventually pay off handsomely.”

He said this while looking intently at the beautiful young girl in front of him.

“Alright, Ed, I never said you couldn’t do it,” Charlize said with a playful smile and gestured with her hands, then she looked Adrian up and down with interest, “You know, my intuition tells me that your confidence is genuine. I believe it hasn’t been affected by that incident two years ago, which is really… quite strange.”

“That’s a compliment, right?” Adrian burst into laughter, then turned his head to look to the right into the next room and called out loudly, “Mrs. Galen.”

“What is it, Mr. Adrian?” Mrs. Galen came out, clearly not in a good mood. She had taken a liking to Kate, who had hit it off with her at once, but now she was upset because Kate had left abruptly and it was because of something to do with Adrian’s stubborn charm, so naturally, she wasn’t happy. Of course, there was also disappointment—she had thought that Adrian had truly reformed, but…

“Room 19.” After Adrian made a few hand gestures, Mrs. Galen responded in kind and then turned to walk inside. Displeased as she might be, work must go on—after all, she was the housekeeper.

Adrian understood her sentiments but had no intention of offering any defense.

“You can stay in Room 19, third from the left on the corridor on the second floor,” Adrian said to Charlize, “If there isn’t much work on any given day, you can go home after you finish. Of course, if you find it inconvenient to stay here, I can arrange for a driver to take you.”

“No problem, this is part of my duties, isn’t it?” Charlize said with a slight smile, then she seemed to realize something, her face set seriously as she picked up a document from beside her and spoke in an even tone, “Here is your schedule for the upcoming days.”

“What’s on it?” Adrian, who had taken in her change of demeanor, asked with a smile.

“You have a meeting with Mr. Mandy Gale this afternoon to discuss directing ‘No Reservations’; tomorrow at noon Mr. Claude has a lunch meeting, and you are invited to play tennis at a private club in the afternoon; the day after tomorrow there’s a charity auction, and at the same time, Miss Monica… would like to have dinner with you…” Charlize read from the document, maintaining the same level tone as before.

“Alright, lunch meeting, I wonder what Claude has planned to talk about this time,” Adrian sighed, glancing at Charlize who seemed hesitant to speak, “Is there something you want to say?”

“Nothing at all.” Charlize flatly denied.

“That’s not a good habit, Charli,” Adrian raised an eyebrow, “I hope you’ll be more forthcoming. Speak up if there’s a problem; clear communication is the only way to avoid misunderstandings. You know, there’s a lot I need your help with.”

“Even personal matters?” Charlize finally couldn’t hold back.

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“Well, that depends on the situation,” Adrian shrugged. “If I can answer, I definitely will. If I think something isn’t appropriate to answer, I’ll tell you directly that it isn’t.”

Charlize was slightly taken aback, but then she remembered some rumors she had heard and fell silent, looking at Adrian without saying another word.

Adrian smiled knowingly and then stood up. “Alright, let’s go meet Mandy Gale now.”

“Now? We had agreed on 3 PM,” Charlize reminded him.

“No worries, I know where he lives. We can just go directly there,” Adrian said as he walked out, with Charlize reluctantly following behind him.

It took them about half an hour to drive to Long Beach, where Mandy Gale lived in a sea view apartment. He was an Italian-American in his early thirties who had been directing for almost seven years. He had three or four box-office hits to his name, and without the lack of a major signature work, he might have already been an A-list director.

After pressing the doorbell three times consecutively, an annoyed female voice finally came through from inside, “Leave it outside, we’ll come out and get it!”

Adrian exchanged a glance with Charlize, then shook his head with a smile and started knocking on the door instead. “I’m here to see Mandy; we have an appointment this afternoon.”

“To see Mandy?” The door finally opened, revealing a brunette girl wearing only a bra, frowning as she sized up the two of them. “He didn’t mention having any appointment this afternoon.”

Despite her words, she stepped aside. Once inside the living room, Adrian was slightly surprised by the sight: groups of men and women were wrapped around each other, making out unabashedly on the couch and in corners as if oblivious to the new arrivals.

“Ed?” A voice came from the side, and turning his head, Adrian saw a man with a small mustache, shirtless, walking out while zipping up his pants. Following him was a young woman in just a bra and panties, who glanced at Adrian before heading to the restroom, a white trace still visible on the corner of her mouth.

Adrian recognized the woman—Elizabeth Mitchell, a decent television actress who had also been in a few movies. He didn’t expect to find her mingling with Mandy. Still, this was normal for Hollywood, wasn’t it? Meeting up, going out for a meal, then back to bed, and parting ways the next day without seeing each other again—who cared about what the rumors said behind the scenes?

“I happened to have some time, so I came a bit early,” Adrian explained, scanning the living room before continuing, “How about we go find a bar or coffee shop to talk?”

“No problem, there’s Avery Bar two streets over; their gin is quite good,” Mandy said immediately. Then, noticing Charlize beside Adrian, his eyes lit up, “And who is this beautiful and lovely lady?”

“My personal assistant, Charlize Theron; Charli, this is Mandy Gale,” Adrian introduced them. After the two shook hands, he half-warned, “Don’t get any ideas, Mandy.”

“Alright, alright, let’s go,” Mandy said nonchalantly, throwing on a few clothes, ready to leave. However, Elizabeth was storming out of the bathroom, visibly angry.

“What the hell is this, Mandy?!” she demanded hands on hips, still only dressed in her underwear, showing off a not-too-shabby figure.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Mandy opened his hands in confusion.

“I told you, don’t fucking mess with my stuff! What is all that in the bathroom?!” she screamed.

“The hell would I know what’s going on, I’m heading out,” Mandy dismissed with a wave of his hand.

“Go fuck yourself!” Elizabeth immediately flipped him the bird and stomped back into the room.

“Bitch,” Mandy muttered indifferently, then signaled for Adrian and Charlize to leave.

At that moment, the word was just a habit, not truly meant to insult, so even Elizabeth, who had just come in, didn’t react. Adrian merely shrugged, and although Charlize frowned, she showed no other expression.

After leaving the sea view apartment, they drove their separate cars to Avery Bar two streets over. After a couple of drinks and some small talk, they began discussing business. A minor incident occurred in the middle of it: Charlize, being underage at 21, was stopped by the bouncer outside. If it had been a busy evening, she might have been able to sneak in, but unfortunately, it was still the afternoon. Only after Adrian vouched for her, promising she wouldn’t drink, was she allowed into the bar. (To be continued. To find out what happens next, please log in at . The story has more chapters; support the author; support genuine reading!)