King of Hollywood

Chapter 60: Fundraising Dinner (I)

Although Adrian made everything sound so easy, the reality was not quite positive. Emma was slowly getting better, and she would continue to improve, but her attitude toward Adrian remained the same. She would still feel unsafe and anxious once Adrian left her side for more than 30 minutes.

“You’re giving her a very deep impression, and since she experienced a strong stimulation from her parent’s tragedy, on a certain level, you replaced the image of her parents in her heart. It requires a long time for her to get rid of it, and your cooperation is very much needed because Emma is really too young.” This was the conclusion made by Dr. Shaun.

One could imagine how dejected Adrian was. While he settled the post-production work for ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ through the videophone, it was just a makeshift. Even though it was a good opportunity to train the other editors, he was the one who would make the final call.

Many other problems arose as well. According to reliable information, the post-production work for Spielberg’s ‘Captain Hook’ was almost done, so Adrian should be discussing ‘Jurassic Park’ with him soon, especially since ‘Terminator 2’ was having great sales—the sequel that was produced by Cameron 7 years later was still being screened, but it was clear that the box office sales in North America would definitely exceed 200 million dollars, hence the overseas sales were worth looking forward to.

Adrian did not mean to ask Spielberg to prepare for the film right away, but he wanted to let him understand the huge role CG played in creating visual effects, so as to prevent a deviation from the original ‘Jurassic Park’. That being said, he also knew that Spielberg knew the importance of it too.

Other than that, he needed to follow up on the script for ‘Casper the Friendly Ghost’, and he had to put another new film on his agenda. Previously, he told Laverne that he would produce three films, by which two cast members involved would win the Best Actor and the Best Actress awards at the 1993 Oscars, and that he would also be nominated as the best director. Since he mentioned that he would produce three quality-guaranteed films in a year, it would be impossible unless he spent time and effort on them.

Furthermore, Adrian had to settle the matter of the merger between Bosworth Film Company and AC Media, thus he really did not have time to waste in London. However, Emma happened to be overly reliant on him, such that she was somewhat treating him as her private property, which also forced him and Kate to carry out intimate activities discreetly. If he were to fly back to Los Angeles now, only God knew what would happen.

Since that was the case, Adrian could only stay in London, and he blamed it on his butterfly wings that caused such a big scene. On the other hand, Emma’s grandparents were happy with the situation, because they witnessed the change in the little girl, so they did their best to make things convenient for him. Besides, Kate stayed with him too.

Another three weeks went by, and it was until August when the situation was slowly changing for the better. Occasionally, Adrian and Kate would take a stroll outside for almost 2 hours before they returned to the apartment. Even though Emma would always run over to hug him, Madam Marsen who stayed by her side mentioned that nothing happened to her.

It was a heartening discovery, hence they began doing more experiments for the next few days. Basically, Emma would react only when Adrian was away for more than 3 hours, but her reactions were not as strong as the ones before. As such, Adrian began planning for his return trip to Los Angeles, because some things could not be delayed anymore.

The old Watson couple did not disagree, because Adrian was already told in the beginning that he could leave anytime he wanted to. Moreover, he was exceptionally benevolent to have accompanied Emma in London for such a long time. Surprisingly, Dr. Shaun did not object to the idea too. He felt that Emma was recovering well, thus Adrian’s leaving would be beneficial for her.

Nonetheless, what needed to be done had to be done, for example, Adrian had to soothe the little girl to let her know that he was about to leave for a period of time. Everything might be complicated for a child who was not even 2 years old yet, so Emma probably did not understand what he wanted to express, but she could feel something. As such, she bit her lips and clung onto his arms tightly when he was explaining everything to her, and a gentle look could be seen in her eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back to see you very soon, I promise.” Adrian pinched the little girl’s cheeks. “I’ll call you from time to time, and I’ll be happy if I can hear your voice through the phone.”

“Promise?” Little Emma asked with a word that she had just learned.

“Yes, promise.” Adrian nodded seriously, then planted a kiss on her forehead.

On the afternoon of August 8th, Adrian and Kate took a flight from Heathrow International Airport to Los Angeles. While Emma who was there to send them off remained calm throughout, she fixed her gaze on Adrian until he disappeared from the gate.

Once Adrian returned to Los Angeles, everything that deviated from its path went back on track. His film company successfully went under AC Media but it was still rather independent, and Laverne naturally became the CEO. He contacted Spielberg for a short while to get his response, then instructed Laverne to make a schedule for the preparation needed, and clearly, the production would start by the end of the year.

As for the script of ‘Casper the Friendly Ghost’, honestly, a few screenwriters who had just joined the film company were quite capable, but they did not comprehend the things set by Adrian in the outline, so he needed them to amend a few things. Since he was back, he could simply supervise them.

There were also two important things that needed to be taken care of, which were the post-production work of ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, and his new film. Nevertheless, he needed to attend to something else first.

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“… In conclusion, thank you for attending. I believe that my partner and I will bring an exciting change to America, and you’ll see a different nation in the future. Alright, I shall stop here, lest I take up too much of your time to fill your cheques,” A square-faced, brown-haired middle-aged man at the center of the grand hall’s stage spoke eloquently. He was both high in spirit and humorous, so the ladies and gentlemen who were present applauded for him while they laughed.

“What do you think?” Adrian asked Claude softly when he looked at the man on the stage.

“Not bad, he has his own style in giving a speech, but it’s very normal. If he isn’t eloquent, how can he run for president?” Claude shrugged, then mentioned as he rubbed his chin, “I heard that his personal life isn’t that great though. When he was the governor of Arkansas, he had affairs with a few women behind his wife’s back.”

“How is it possible to elect someone who’s capable and moral at the same time?” Adrian waved his hand indifferently.

“Yes, but it’s easy to let someone hold something against him. You know, the easiest way to attack a political figure is to tackle one’s personal life. Even the most innocent person will be troubled if someone were to make a fuss out of anything, especially since he really did something like that,” Claude expressed as he looked at the man who was walking down the stage.

“If Clinton can’t even resolve tackles like that, it’s best that he disperses his campaign team as soon as possible.” Adrian later looked at Claude interestingly. “Why? Do you not think highly of him?”

“No, the election has just begun, and he doesn’t have any clear advantage, so let’s see how he’ll campaign himself next.” Claude then clapped for Clinton’s partner along with everyone else.

“So what do you think about the information highway’s concept now?” Adrian changed the topic.

“It’s still just a concept. They didn’t explain it in detail, so it doesn’t mean anything for now,” Claude replied, but he quickly added, “But regarding what we discussed that night, I inquired about it from the related people. Indeed, they said that they can’t be sure that it’ll be realized, but they can’t say that it won’t too. You’re such a genius, Eddy.”

“Thanks for your praise. Let’s wait and see, Claw.” Adrian shrugged.

Another round of applause was heard, which marked that the two people on stage were completely done with their speeches. Subsequently, music filled the hall, and the guests began moving around freely. This was a fundraising dinner held by the Democrats for the general election, and the presidential candidate was Clinton, which was expected. Claude purposely got two invitations from his dad, then invited Adrian to come along. Obviously, they were there to observe Clinton, as well as his partner, Gore.

“What a boring dinner.” Claude pulled his tie as he looked at the ladies and gentlemen dancing on the dancefloor. “It’s such a dumb idea to not bring a partner along.”

Although he participated in many drinking parties as such, he was still a young man, so it was normal for him to be in low spirits.

“You just didn’t want to bring one.” Adrian mocked him.

“I can’t find a suitable one.” Claude then remembered something, so he asked, “Speaking of which, why didn’t you bring your girlfriend?”

“Kate isn’t fit to attend an event like this, she’s too young,” Adrian explained.

“Too young?” Claude chuckled and did not continue. When he looked around them again, he suggested, “Alright, it looks like we have no business here anymore, so let’s just fill in a cheque with 6 digits then go home—or would you like to speak to Clinton?”

“I have no opinion… Wait!” All of a sudden, Adrian noticed a person standing far away.

The person was a white man in his thirties who was slightly bald near his forehead with only a little hair left on his head but had sideburns and a mustache. He was conversing with a few people at that moment, and his eyes sparkled behind a pair of long oval glasses.

“Why? Are you interested in him?” By looking in the same direction, Claude noticed the man too.

“Yes, he has what we want,” Adrian responded with a nod.

“He doesn’t have a good reputation, or he wouldn’t have been kicked out of the company that he built,” Claude reminded him.

“It’s okay, as long as we can benefit from him.” Adrian stood up. “I’ll go meet him.”

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