The doorbell rang. Adriaan quickly walked over and opened the door. Then, before the girl in a shirt, short skirt, and sunglasses could say anything, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her at the door. The girl pushed him a few times, then became obedient and stuck out her tongue to linger with him.
"Oh, Nada, you don't know how much I missed you." After finally letting her go, Adriaan smacked his lips and sighed.
Natalie did not reply. Instead, she walked straight in and put down her bag before turning around and looking at Adriaan under the dim light.
Adriaan chuckled and closed the door. He turned on a few more lights to brighten the living room. Then, he walked over and hugged Natalie's waist. As she exclaimed, he carried her and sat her on the sofa.
As usual, Natalie struggled a little and stopped moving. She let him hug her, but Adriaan's second sentence made her frown. "Where's Kyla?"
"I don't know. Shouldn't she be with you?" She replied in a flat tone without any expression. However, the response she got was a meaningful "hehe" from Adriaan. Although the frown only lasted for a moment, and she immediately recovered, he still noticed it.
However, Adriaan did not intend to harp on it. Instead, he explained, "I did accompany her for a few hours this morning. We even had lunch together. Then, I sent her back to the hotel. I don't know where she will go after that, so I asked if you know where she is in case she comes over. "
"You should've just told her that you've already slept with me. Wouldn't it have been easier then?" Natalie turned her head away and snorted coldly.
Adriaan could not help but laugh. This was a woman. At a time like this, the first thing she thought about was other people's problems. She did not mention that she had admitted to the rumors in front of Kyla and even covered it up later.
Of course, he would not say this in front of her. He just shrugged and pinched her cheek. "I have to consider your and her feelings. Besides, it's good for you to have such a naive girl as your companion."
Natalie opened her mouth as if she wanted to ask something, but she looked hesitant. Adriaan did not say much. He just looked at her with a smile and waited for her to make up her mind.
Finally, the woman in his arms took a deep breath and raised her head to look at him. "You really … didn't sleep with her?"
"No." Adriaan answered straightforwardly. "I admit that I had some intimate actions with Kyla, but I definitely didn't sleep with her. And I'm sure that she's still a virgin."
Hearing that, Natalie's face turned red. Then, she looked incredulous. "… I don't believe it. You're definitely … definitely not that kind of person. I can tell that if you want … I don't believe it!"
"You don't believe that wolves don't eat meat?" Adriaan chuckled. He placed one hand on her thigh and slowly stroked it upwards. Then, he reached the inner part of her thigh. Natalie could not help but clamp her legs together.
"You've been with Kyla for a long time," he continued. "You should know what kind of person she is. She's the exact opposite of you. Kyla is too emotional and can easily become paranoid or even extreme. So, I have to be careful. I have patience. I don't want the same situation to happen again."
Hearing the last sentence, Natalie could not help but tremble slightly. Her legs naturally parted, allowing Adriaan to put his hand inside.
"Okay, let's get down to business. Have you thought about it?" While feeling the touch of his fingers, he changed the topic to the script that he had given her.
"We … Can we not talk like this?" Natalie rubbed her legs and looked away. She seemed to be in a trance.
"I told you before that I think this role is very suitable for you." Adriaan turned a deaf ear to her. Not only did he kiss her cheek from time to time, but he also put his hand into her underwear. "It took me a lot of effort to get the rights to adapt the script. Although I've already gotten the rights to adapt the two biographies of the Cashes, I'm not the only one interested in their story. In addition, the Cashes have very high requirements for actors. After I got in touch with them, I recommended many actors, but they didn't approve of them. The advantage of this is that I basically know what they want."
As he spoke, he grabbed Natalie's hand and placed it between his legs. The girl, who was beginning to pant under the teasing of his fingers, glanced at him, then obediently unzipped his pants and reached inside. It was a good feeling. Although Natalie's hand was not as flexible as Kyla's, it was still a pleasure.
"I made some arrangements to recommend you to them when the time was right, but I didn't expect that June Carter would die on the operating table, and Johnny Cash would soon follow his wife due to complications from diabetes. Although it's sad, it doesn't matter. Instead, it gives me more flexibility to arrange the movie. " After they were completely wet, Adrian turned the girl over. Natalie had just let out a sigh of relief, and before she could react, he lifted her hips and put them inside.
The girl could not help but moan at the sudden feeling. Her face was dyed pink, and she looked a little embarrassed.
"Can we … not talk like this?" She asked, biting her lip.
"We all know that the Oscars like biographies, and the Cashes are famous and influential people who passed away not long ago. Many people miss them, so as long as the movie maintains its standard, it will undoubtedly be a big hit." Adrian didn't seem to hear anything. He stood up with her in his arms and walked out step by step.
"Ai … Eide …" Every time he teased her, Natalie's heart fluttered. She subconsciously squeezed his waist with her legs, but she could not say a complete sentence.
Adriaan went straight to the balcony, then sat on the rocking chair under the bright night lights of the high-rise buildings in Manhattan, and began to rock up and down.
"In addition, you should be familiar with the actor who plays Cash, Joaquin Phoenix. You worked together in 'Good Will Hunting'." He grabbed her waist and enjoyed rocking. "So, the only problem left is my direction and your performance. I believe that no one can't do the former, so the main problem is the latter …"
"Wait … Eide … Wait …" Although the rocking chair continued to tease her, it was not as intense as when Adriaan carried her away. Natalie could finally speak. "I want to know … I want to know … Are you … planning to release the movie this year? I remember … I heard … you seem to … "
"Of course not, my dear." Adriaan laughed, his lower body moving up mischievously. "That's exactly what I want to say. Although I'm sure I can finish shooting all the scenes this year, it's impossible to release the movie at the end of the year. All the songs in the movie must be sung by you, so you need at least one to two months to practice your voice and singing. I don't expect you to sing as well as Joan, but you need to be at least 80% good. By then, I'll select the songs you need for the shooting, and you can listen to them and imitate them repeatedly. So does Joaquin. "
Following the rhythm of the rocking chair, he smiled and massaged her waist, taking in her expression of enjoyment and resistance. "In this way, we'll have to wait until September at least. Even if I can finish shooting in two months, it's impossible to finish the post-production in a short period of time. So, this movie is prepared for next year. Do you understand?"
Natalie's breathing became heavier, and there was a flash of excitement in her eyes. She didn't know whether it was because of his teasing or Adriaan's explanation.
"But …" She bit her lip. "Don't you think … I'm too young?"
"It's good that you're young. The more you can perform beyond your age, the more people won't doubt you. That's why I arranged for you to star in Julie and Julia. Nada, you have to believe in yourself." Adriaan pinched Natalie's chin. "I know what you really want to say, but since I've arranged it this way, there must be no problem. So, as long as you can perform better than usual — can you?"
"I —" Natalie gasped for air. At this point, she could think of nothing else. She had been suppressing her desire all this time, so she only had one answer. "I can!"
Then, the rocking chair shook up and down even more violently.
The matter was settled. The reason why it took so much time was that Adriaan wanted to stimulate Natalie's potential. Go Forth With Courage was not difficult. As long as you played it a few times in your head, analyzed it every time, and then captured the style of the fifties and sixties during filming, it would not be a problem. Adriaan had countless experiences in this area, so it was not a problem.
So the key was still the actors. Not to mention Joaquin, he had already proved his excellence in his previous life, but it was not easy for Natalie. She had the acting skills, but it was not easy to get the best of June Carter's characteristics. She was indeed a little young. That was why he had arranged for her to play the role of Julie Powell in Julie and Julia. Apart from the initial plan, one of the reasons was to hone her acting skills and act like an adult woman.
Although the director of Julie and Julia, Nora Avlon, had praised her acting skills, it had not been released yet, after all. It was hard to predict how the critics and the audience would react. That was why Natalie was worried. That was why Adriaan had to pressure her and tempt her. It would be a big problem if she couldn't invest in the game when the time came. After all, age wasn't a problem at all. Adrian had been planning this since a long time ago. He even had a few cards in his hand that he hadn't played yet. However, if she failed because she wasn't strong enough, it would be … hilarious.
But he believed that she would not let him down, especially when he had already said everything and given her a vague hope. But … Adriaan was just waiting for her to make a decision. The reason why he hadn't completely eaten Kyla, who was almost fully cooked, was because he was preparing it for Natalie. This had been decided after the night she gave in.
As for Kyla, Adriaan was not worried at all. Even if they maintained their current relationship, he could at least control her for another three or four years. That was enough.
After returning from New York, he supervised the post-production of Life as a Rose and started preparing for the new movie. He had already given the script to Joaquin, who liked it very much. But as for which movie to make first, Adriaan had not decided yet, even though he had sent the script back to Rui Fan and asked the screenwriter to rewrite it. This did not conflict with the pre-production. After all, Joaquin and Natalie had to spend a long time just to practice singing.
Time entered July, and the summer movies were released one after another. Pixar's Finding Nemo was one of them. Without a doubt, it continued Pixar's reputation of being popular with young and old alike. Once again, it was a success.
In contrast, DreamWorks Animation Studio's "Sinbad's Legend of the Seven Seas" was released right after. This 2D animation was still very beautiful and received some good reviews. Unfortunately, it failed at the box office.
This once again showed that this was the era of 3D animation, and DreamWorks Animation Studio was in trouble because of this.
It seemed that he could take some time to talk to Carson Berg. After hearing the specific news, a smile appeared on the corner of Adriaan's mouth as he read the newspaper. But when his gaze returned to the newspaper, it immediately became cold.
The problem that had been bothering him before, which movie to make first, was finally resolved, even though the script that he had given to Rui Fan was still incomplete.
"Why do you always refuse to say it to me in person? Am I that scary? "Adriaan sighed as he flipped through the newspaper." It seems that people have forgotten about Penelope. "
Then, he picked up the phone and made a call. "Hey, Martin, it's me … Of course, why else would I call you … Yes, yes, I will make up for your vacation, but now I need you … It's very simple, I want you to investigate a person, an Italian. I believe that he has a lot of illegal activities …"
After giving detailed instructions, Adriaan put down the phone. Then, he remembered that when he dealt with Penelope, she had not yet become his woman, right? But …
"Her judgment is still so unreliable. I thought that under my influence, she would be more open-minded." Adriaan snorted softly.
What should I do next? Send her to the Netherlands to be a prostitute? A few thoughts turned in his head, but he waved his hand and put them behind his head. Back then, the matter with Penelope did not make him angry. Why would he care about this? Not to mention that he was a rational person. After so many years, there was only one instance of him losing control.
Therefore, other than work, most of his energy was spent on accompanying his women and daughter. Oh, and little Emma. It was already summer vacation. If she did not come to Los Angeles, then something big must have happened, like the end of the world or something.
Adriaan felt that he could completely separate her from their ranks. After all, she was already so big, but she was still a headache, even though she was much more restrained now.
"How should I put it? This is a good thing. When the movie is released at the end of next year, the next few movies will be pushed back even further. This way, the audience will not be able to tell the difference between you two in the movie." Leaning against the desk in the study, Adriaan said seriously with his arms crossed. Although little Emma's legs were on the sofa, her elbows were on the armrest, and she was listening carefully with her chin in her hand, her eyes were moving around, and it was obvious that she was not paying attention.
Adriaan could not help but roll his eyes. I'm trying to enlighten you, Miss. You were the one who complained before. Actually, it was not a big deal. Although the post-production of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban had just begun, the producers all said that it was not a problem to release it during the Christmas season.
This slightly surprised Adriaan. Although he told little Emma last summer that if they could start filming as soon as possible, it was possible to release it at the end of this year, he did not care whether it could be released or not. After all, there was still a lot of time left. If possible, it would be no problem to shoot for 15 to 20 years. However, he did not expect Mike Neville to finish filming within the time he expected.
But then again, this wasn't particularly surprising, because the issue of the small actors' salaries was quickly resolved. Naturally, the previous filming would not be canceled due to their rapid growth, and the production time for the third film was relatively more ample. The only problem was the boys' voice changes. This only needed to be re-dubbed in post-production, or someone else to do the dubbing. Therefore, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban would be released at the end of this year, maintaining the frequency of one movie per year.
But from the next movie onwards, he had to be careful. In his previous life, this series had been filmed for almost ten years, so it should not be any less. Otherwise, how could he fully utilize the potential of the entire series? Therefore, taking the opportunity of little Emma complaining that the movie was filmed too quickly, while comforting her, he also organized the situation of the Harry Potter series in his head. Unexpectedly, this guy did not even listen carefully.
Adriaan coughed and was about to speak when he heard a series of footsteps outside, accompanied by the loud laughter of a group of little ones and the screams of animals. Then, a few kittens and puppies sprinted past the door. Then, Lily chased after them with her sisters. It was a complete mess.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Heng could not help but shake his head. These little brats are really … When the situation outside calmed down a little, Zhang Heng was about to speak to the giggling little Emma again, but he had only said one word when another series of footsteps came from outside. Lily and her sisters had chased the kittens and puppies back from the other side of the door.
Adriaan could not help but cover his forehead. He glanced at little Emma, who was secretly laughing, and immediately walked to the door to stop his daughters. "Lily, Deva, Juliet, Mary, and Eleanor, come over here."
