King of Hollywood

Chapter 203: Chapter 203: Important Scenes

“Is life always this painful, or is it just when you’re a child?” After taking the handkerchief that was passed to her and wiping the fresh blood from her nose, the little girl looked steadily at the tall figure and asked.

After a few seconds of silence, Lyon replied softly, “It always is.”

Then, after glancing at her again, he left a “Keep it” and turned to head to his room. The little girl looked down at the handkerchief in her hands, seemingly letting out a smile, then followed up with, “Hey, I’m going to the grocery store to get some stuff, do you need me to bring back milk for you? One bottle or two? Two, right?”

Lyon stopped in his tracks, turned to look at Matilda for a few seconds, and finally nodded, instead of presuming as he had before. Matilda smiled happily and walked down the stairs with a slightly brighter step. The distance between the two had closed a bit more, and what followed naturally fell into place.

After this scene was completed, the crew started bustling around again to make adjustments, everyone with a serious expression on their face because Adrian had emphasized that the next shot was extremely important. Although there were some newcomers in the group, most had worked with him on at least three movies, and some had even been with him from beginning to end on six films, so they knew very well that once Adrian stressed the importance of a shot, he would immediately become very demanding. If they didn’t want to be scolded harshly, they better do their jobs well.

“Gina, come here!” Standing by the door frame after observing Natalie below, Adrian then turned and called out with a stern voice.

“What’s the matter, sir?” A woman in her thirties quickly approached with a composed manner.

Without beating around the bush, Adrian held up the light meter to the side of the little girl’s face, “See that?”

The light bulb on the light meter emitted an orange-yellow glow.

“You mean the light is a bit dim?” Gina asked uncertainly.

“At first, Nata should be backlit, and with this being a narrow hallway, the light needs to have a dim yellow hue. But when the door opens, a bright white light should shine on her face, the sort of everyday light. At this time, Matilda’s complexion should look pale, but now it just looks ghastly,” Adrian said, pointing at the girl’s cheek. His tone, although still stern, carried little blame.

“Understood, I’ll take care of it right away.” Gina nodded immediately and took Natalie away to redo her makeup.

Adrian went back to attending to other matters. Soon, everything was ready, and the most important scene of the entire movie was about to be filmed, with Adrian once again personally operating the camera.

The young girl reached out to ring the doorbell, her body trembling as she tried to steady herself despite the silent sobs. The sight of her father’s corpse as she passed through the front door, the words “you killed a four-year-old child” ringing in her ears, and the man still watching her from the doorway, made her understand that any wrong expression could mean she would be next. Her only hope now was that the man she had spoken with earlier would open the door.

“Please, open up,” she whispered tearfully, and then rang the bell again.

“I beg you, I beg you,” she whispered over and over, ringing the bell repeatedly, her shoulders trembling slightly, terrified tears swirling in her eyes, ready to fall at any moment.

Finally, as if just an instant had passed, or perhaps several lifetimes, the door in front of her opened, bathing her teary face in white light as if shining down from Heaven itself.

“Cut!” Adrian’s voice rang out, much deeper than usual. He took a deep breath, spent a few seconds to collect his emotions, and then waved his hand, “We’ve got it.”

A series of relieved sighs sounded around; they had already shot this scene nearly a dozen or so times.

“Are you okay, Nata?” After rubbing his face to bring his own emotions back to normal, Adrian approached Natalie, who was under her mother’s care, sipping water in small sips.

“No problem, I’m fine,” Natalie said, her face tired but still offering Adrian a smile.

Adrian was silent for a few seconds, then looked over at her mother, Shelly, and let out a small sigh, “I owe you an apology.”

“Why?” Natalie asked, surprised.

“You already did an excellent performance on the seventh take, but I still continued… nearly 16 times,” Adrian said, raising his hands and shrugging. “Your performance surprised me, Nata. You’re the most talented girl I’ve ever seen, and I really want to see how far you can grow.”

Natalie blinked, her lips gradually curving into a smile, the surprise on her face turning to joy, “It’s okay… I just… just want to do better… Such praise is truly moving… Mom, did you hear that?!”

She looked excitedly at her mother, her words becoming slightly incoherent.

“Your performance was indeed good, dear,” Shelly said, smiling as she stroked her daughter’s head. However, when she looked up at Adrian, the smile disappeared, “Ed, I think it would be better to minimize such situations, or you could divide it into two takes if really needed.”

“Mom, dividing it into two takes would make it harder to build up the emotion,” Natalie interjected before Adrian had a chance to speak.

“No, no, no, Nata, I agree with your mother’s words,” Adrian spoke up for Shelly instead, “After all, splitting the filming into two sessions isn’t a big deal, at least not after getting such good shots like before.”

“If that’s the case, once we stop the first time, don’t expect to film a second time,” Natalie immediately retorted with raised eyebrows.

Adrian was slightly taken aback, and after his eyes swept between Natalie and Shelly a couple of times, he burst into laughter, and they both shrugged their shoulders and joined in the laughter.

Truly indescribable charm, Adrian sighed in his heart. The reason he had taken that shot over ten times was certainly not just because “I want to see how far you can grow.” During filming, Natalie had a softness and resilience in front of the camera that was inexplicable, which made people want to embrace her for comfort and sympathy. Especially when seen through the camera, this feeling was even stronger, and combined with the emotions stirred up by previous auditions, even Adrian, with his self-control, couldn’t help feeling a bit impulsive.

“Ed? Ed?!” Natalie’s voice seemed to come from the sky, pulling Adrian back to reality.

“What is it?” he asked, then revealed an enlightened expression, “Oh, sorry, I got distracted.”

Natalie didn’t speak, only giving him a slightly weird look.

“Did I do something inappropriate?” Seeing her like this, Adrian jokingly asked.

“What happened?” Shelly, who had just gone to get water, followed up with her question.

“Nothing much, just found… Ed’s distracted look quite amusing,” Natalie stuck out her tongue, reverting to her previous whimsical elf-like demeanor, seemingly sweeping away the fatigue in her eyes.

“Get some good rest, there are still some final shots that I need to work on,” Adrian smiled, then turned and left.

I want her! This was the second time he had said this to himself.

Although Adrian was in New York filming “The Professional,” that didn’t mean he wasn’t paying attention to other things, both work-related and personal.

“Is that so? I’m delighted you like it, I can’t wait to see your performance on the big screen. It might not be as stunning as in ‘Pulp Fiction,’ but it will definitely be an unexpected portrayal,” Adrian said into his phone while pacing slowly around the room, occasionally stopping to look at the night view outside through the glass window.

Thanks to Nokia for finally launching a smaller model that can be held in the palm of a hand; although in Adrian’s eyes, this phone still couldn’t escape the judgement of being rudimentary, he still switched to it immediately after release, and also got one for the people around him – at least it was much better than a brick.

“Of course, I will definitely visit the set, don’t worry. How about this, when will you be in New York? I’ll come to the airport to pick you up then. Oh, don’t worry, just be careful,” Adrian chuckled softly, his tone thick with concern, and coupled with the affectionate manner while on the phone, at a glance, he really looked like a good lover.

That’s when the doorbell rang. Adrian glanced at the front door and then at the other bedroom.

“Someone’s here, darling, I think I have to hang up,” he said while walking towards the door, “Who is it? Oh, sweetheart, I don’t have x-ray vision or foreknowledge…”

At the moment he opened the door, he suddenly froze in place. Standing outside was a tall woman with black hair, wearing sunglasses, dressed in a brown trench coat that reached nearly to the knees, holding a similar Nokia phone to her ear.

“Now, do you know?” the woman said with a light laugh.

Adrian looked at the phone in his hand and then at the woman in front of him, shrugged, and moved aside.

“You just told me the ‘No Reservations’ crew will arrive in New York in a few days,” Adrian complained jokingly after the woman stepped inside.

“I just wanted to surprise you, Ed,” the woman took off her sunglasses, revealing her stunningly beautiful face, with sensuous red lips slightly parted – who else could it be but Monica Bellucci?

“Although the crew won’t be coming to New York for exterior shots for another few days, that doesn’t mean I can’t come early,” Monica leaned against the back of the couch and looked at Adrian with a playful smirk, “It feels like we haven’t seen each other for weeks.”

“Oh, about not being able to fly back to Los Angeles last weekend, I owe you an apology,” Adrian chuckled, “By the way, did you come straight here after getting off the plane?”

“I stopped by the hotel room I booked to get ready before coming here,” Monica’s gaze turned seductive.

“So you mean there’s more surprises?” Adrian, stroking his chin, asked with a grin.

Monica didn’t say another word, just stared at Adrian, unhurriedly untied her coat’s belt, and then, with a swoosh, slipped it off. Beneath the coat, the mature and sexy body, unhidden by anything, was now completely exposed before him. (To be continued. For more, please visit . More chapters are available, support the author, support genuine reading!)