King of Hollywood

Chapter 75: Chapter 75 The End of 1991

“Trust me, it’s just like with ordinary people, there are just a few more circuits you wouldn’t want to open and look at, Kate,” Adrian joked. “Anyway, I hope you can give me your analytical insights by the end of this year — that should be enough time, right? Then, I’ll provide the temperament and personality needed for the female lead, and you analyze them again. If I’m not satisfied, you’ll have to keep analyzing.”

“Why?” Kate immediately frowned, seemingly reluctant.

“Just do as I tell you,” Adrian gently tapped her cheek. “Consider it a test I’m giving you. I’m sure you can’t fail such a simple assignment, right, Kate?”

Even though she knew he was using reverse psychology, Kate still puffed up her chest angrily. “Alright, it’s settled then!”

Sarah watched the playful banter between the two from the side, remaining silent, with only her teeth gently grazing her lips.

“Okay, looks like you’ll need to keep filming, so I’ll head back now,” Kate said at that point.

“No way, since you are here, how can you leave first?” Adrian waved his hands. “Wait for another ten minutes for me to finish on time today, then we’ll find a place to have dinner.”

He then shifted his gaze to Sarah. “How about you join us, Sarah? I can call your mother.”

“Better not,” Sarah smiled and refused Adrian’s invitation. “I wouldn’t want to intrude on your private time. I just came to say thanks, and since I’ve done that, I should be heading back.”

“How about this, wait with Kate until I finish the remaining work, then I’ll take you home, okay?” Adrian didn’t insist and instead suggested another plan. “That way, your mother won’t worry.”

As expected, Sarah hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement, which is known as retreating in order to advance.

Although the tango section was troublesome, it was a minor part of the entire film, and Adrian was very familiar with the storyboards, so after shooting repeatedly for two and a half days, it was finally completed. Pacino also left the crew after finishing his part. About a week later, the remaining scattered scenes were essentially finished, and “Scent of a Woman” was finally completed before Thanksgiving.

With major film studios vying for release dates toward the year’s end, “The Shawshank Redemption” increasingly showed weakness. By the fourth Thursday of November, it had only about 900 theaters showing it, but it had already grossed over 75 million US Dollars in North America. This is why Universal hoped to earn a bit more by Thanksgiving.

However, Adrian didn’t care about these matters. Since “The Shawshank Redemption” had already covered its costs, how much more it earned was irrelevant. Once “Jurassic Park” was released, not making a significant profit was unlikely. Furthermore, the Disney-handled “Casper” was also a promising movie. Although the girl was replaced with Sarah, this family-friendly type of film is easy to profit from as long as the director and producer know what they’re doing.

So, after Thanksgiving, Adrian and Kate, feeling unburdened, returned to London, visited Mrs. Judy and also went to Emma’s home. The little girl’s aunt, who is now her guardian, was one of the few people in the Watson’s family who made a good impression on Adrian.

Even though Adrian had been away from London for several months, when he appeared at the door of the apartment and hadn’t even entered, Emma screamed and wobbled her way out, diving into his arms and refusing to let go.

“I knew it, nothing has changed at all,” Adrian sighed while holding the little girl. Indeed, although they hadn’t seen each other for months, they had been talking almost every day over the phone. In the beginning, the little girl would only sleep after hearing his voice, so Emma’s burst of enthusiasm was perfectly normal.

However, what followed was quite interesting. Emma, though she was fond of being in Adrian’s arms and slept with him every night, would deliberately turn her face away whenever Adrian tried to talk to her. If Adrian dared to ignore her in the same manner, Emma would immediately switch to a look of melancholy and indignation. Then Adrian had no choice but to surrender, as children do have their privileges.

It was only much later that they finally understood why from the little girl herself.

“You promised! But it’s been so long!” Emma exclaimed with her fingers, believing that Adrian’s four-month absence was a broken promise. This taught us never to expect a two- or three-year-old child to reason with you.

Thanksgiving had only a four-day break, and naturally, after it ended, Adrian and Kate had to return to Los Angeles. Emma, although very unwilling, had to accept reality and once again sadly saw them off at Heathrow Airport.

“Don’t be sad, little one,” Adrian comforted as he held the little girl in his arms, “Do you know about Christmas and New Year’s?”

After Emma nodded, he continued with a smile, “By then I’ll come back to London to see you. Calculate carefully, there are just a few more days until Christmas and New Year’s, right?”

The wide-eyed girl nodded somewhat understandingly and asked like she did months before, “Promise?”

“Promise,” Adrian nodded seriously.

“This time, you must do it!” Emma said sternly, trying her best to appear serious—even though she might not know what seriousness meant—her plump cheeks nevertheless looking wholly unconvincing.

“Alright, I’ll definitely do it,” Adrian smiled as he pinched her cheek and kissed her forehead, then handed the little one over to her aunt.

“Thank you for taking care of Emma, Ms. Rodlin,” he said to the little girl’s aunt.

“We should be the ones thanking you, Ed,” Rodlin sighed, “If it weren’t for you, who knows what Emma would have become.”

“It’s what I should do,” Adrian said as he checked the time, then he and Kate said their goodbyes, “Farewell, Ms. Rodlin. Please give my regards to Mr. Russell.”

After waving to Emma, the two of them headed toward the entrance, and Emma kept watching them until they were far away.

This Thanksgiving turned out quite well, except for one thing—the private detective still had no news about Rowling. In fact, they found a few people with the same name, but after looking at the information, Adrian did not think any were the Rowling he was searching for. He recalled that Rowling should be in Portugal now. Maybe Disan could check it out; after all, there’s no rush, and they can take their time looking. Besides, once this matter is settled, maybe he can find a way to visit China…

(Daily duties include asking for recommendations, and hoping to liven up the review section a bit.)@@novelbin@@