"You can hardly figure out what he is like. Tender, overbearing, meticulous, flirtatious, self-abandoned, unfaithful, arbitrary, cynical, talented and mischievous...All in all, he has a great many sides. As time goes by, you will find that he can hardly make you feel confident no matter what you do. When Pretty Woman was put on show, I felt that I had made it and become a Hollywood star. I had really made it, had not I? Elizabeth ..." Julia squinted her eyes and showed a lack of confidence. She kept muttering to Elizabeth by her side, her eyes showing a bit of confusion and adoration that were hard to conceal. The complex feelings she was harboring could even be told by Elizabeth, a girl who was not so familiar with Julia."Of course, Julia, you did make it," Elizabeth answered. Sensing Julia"s drunkenness, Elizabeth knew that the girl must be stopped from drinking more. Then she quickly grabbed the gla.s.s from Julia and beckoned the server to bring a gla.s.s of juice instead.
Eric had just revealed Elizabeth"s ident.i.ty and this could negatively influence her relations with Julia. Fortunately, her sincere apology comforted Julia and the influence soon disappeared. However, Eric"s words left Julia quite unhappy. The girl kept on drinking wine and got drunk in the end. Maybe it was due to her drunkenness that she was gradually opening up to Elizabeth and began to share the stories between her and Eric.
Julia dizzily took the gla.s.s from Elizabeth and gulped down the juice, having no idea that the wine had already been replaced. Then she continued to mutter in a half-drunk state:"I...I thought I had made it. Then I was invited to play in a large number of films and all of them promised the remuneration of millions of dollars. I had never thought about this before. But...That hateful jerk turned them down without even consulting me first. I was in a rage and came to reason with him, only to find myself scolded harshly. He did not stop until I burst out crying. Hum, I was always trying to show more confidence in front of him, but a single word or a simple look of him would totally belittle my achievements. Now he has even made it hard for me to get a boyfriend. When I am trying to develop a romantic relationship with a boy, Eric"s image will appear before me and the good impression of the boy will be ruined. "
Julia took another gulp of juice, her eyes half open. Suddenly she mocked herself by laughing aloud:"But...But he has just said this has nothing to do with Julia. Nothing! Nothing! What a jerk, haha..."
Julia kept on muttering, showing a tendency to act out of control.
"Let"s forget about it, Julia. You are drunk now and I had better drive you home." Elizabeth sensed the tendency and tried to persuade her tenderly. If someone was drunk, the best way to help them was to humor and coax their will.
"Yes, go home. I want to go home. I don"t want to see that jerk anymore," Julia stood up suddenly, only to find herself falling down the sofa with dizziness. Elizabeth rushed to hold her. Not until Julia regained her consciousness did Elizabeth help her stand up slowly.
Alan found Eric who was talking with Herbert Ross and whispered by Eric"s ear. Eric looked at the gate of the banquet hall and excused himself before going in that direction. Soon he saw Julia and Elizabeth there.
"What"s the matter, Julia? Why have you drunk so much?" Eric felt dissatisfied. He looked at the girl supported by Elizabeth and then looked around, as if looking for somebody. After a while, he asked Julia in disappointment:"Where is Alison?"
Alison was no other than the pet.i.te a.s.sistant of Julia. The girl had a freckled face and always kept Julia company.
"Leave...Leave me alone! I can drink as I please." Julia saw Eric appearing before her and shook her arm violently. Her voice was getting much higher:"You are trying to lesson me again! Who gives you the right?"
"Quite! Do you want to appear in tomorrow"s news saying that you hit the bottle?" Eric glared at Julia and looked around. A lot of guests noticed what was happening here. Eric hurriedly beckoned Elizabeth to help Julia out of the hall. Not until they reached the empty hallway did Eric feel at ease.
"Where is Alison? Will she send you home?" Eric asked once again.
Julia lowered her head and curled her lips unhappily. Maybe it was due to Eric"s shout and glare that she had regained some of her consciousness. She answered: "Alison is on leave. She stayed with me in a southern town for several months and was a little...a little unaccustomed to the climate there. So she fell ill."
Eric gave a sigh and said to his a.s.sistant behind:"Alan, could you please drive Julia home?"
Alan was about to answer when Elizabeth interrupted:"Let me do this. Alan is after all a man and it is not convenient. Julia has drunk too much and she surely needs someone to take care of her."
"You..." Eric looked at Elizabeth in confusion and then glanced at Julia.
"I want...I want Elizabeth to take me home. Not him...You hateful men, hateful men!" Julia seemed to lose her consciousness once again. She held Elizabeth"s arm tightly and leaned on the girl.
Eric shrugged in embarra.s.sment. Looking at Julia, he had no choice but to agree:"I am sorry to trouble you. Elizabeth, do you know where Julia"s apartment is?"
"I know, I know! It is at No. 11070, Wilsey Avenue, Beverly Hills," Julia raised her hand subconsciously, like a pupil who was trying to answer the teacher"s question. Her tone seemed like that of a little and ignorant child.
Eric shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Elizabeth:"Fine, you get the address now. Let me send you upstairs."
As the lift was getting down slowly, Eric kept on glancing the two girls by his side and felt strange. Although he was not familiar with Elizabeth yet, he could tell that she was like a tomboy. Maybe she was a lesbian? If it was true, then what would happen to Julia tonight?
The pictures were getting dirtier and Eric even unconsciously gave a playful smile.
Luckily, Elizabeth was carefully helping Julia all the time and did not notice Eric"s strange expression. If she knew what Eric was thinking about, she might kick him on the leg.
"My car is over there. Hey, could you help me please? You are not like a gentleman at all," Elizabeth said angrily to Eric and pointed at a red sports car at the corner of the parking lot after they walked out of the lift. She could feel that Julia was about to fall.
"Well, I am sorry. I think you can do it by yourself," Eric moved forward with a smile and grabbed the other arm of Julia. The two helped Julia by the car. Then Elizabeth left Julia leaning on Eric"s body and took out the key to open the door.
After opening the back door of the car, Elizabeth turned around and beckoned Eric to help Julia in, only to find the girl grabbing the man"s arm tightly. She kept on muttering:"Eric, um...I dreamed of you again. Will you scold me once again? Eric, you are so hateful! Could not you be tender to me? Kiss me, please..."
Sensing the dullness in Elizabeth"s eyes, Eric was also quite helpless and tried to explain to her:"This...You see...She is drunk."
Elizabeth soon realized what was going on and silently took Julia away from Eric before putting her on the back seat and closing the door with a bang. Then Elizabeth also got in the car and was about to start the engine. Finally, she could not help but lean out of the window and say to Eric who was bidding farewell:"Mr. Williams, Julia is totally right. You are such a jerk!"
After the car left, Eric saw the middle finger stuck out of the window and shook his head with a wry smile.
Julia opened her eyes dizzily and felt that a big stone had been stuffed in her brain. She raised her hand and knocked gently on her temples and looked around.
Fortunately, she was in her own bedroom.
Deep inside, she felt both lucky and depressed. Last night, she drank too much and dreamed of that guy once again, saying something inappropriate. Luckily, it was in a dream. Or else, how embarra.s.sed she would be!
Julia heard someone opening the door and immediately covered her body with a blanket, looking at the door with her eyes wide open.
Elizabeth was only dressed in a loose men"s shirt and appeared by the door. She saw that Julia had already woken up and then smiled:"Hi, Julia. You have finally woken up. Otherwise, I will have to disturb your good sleep."
"You..." Julia gradually remembered what happened last night. Thinking of the girl"s ident.i.ty, she forced a smile and said:"Elizabeth, good morning. Did you send me back?"
"Yes. You drank too much last night and threw up several times, dirtying your and my clothes. So I had no choice but to change my clothes with a shirt in your wardrobe. Will that offend you? " Elizabeth pulled the shirt on her body and asked.
"Of course not. I should thank you instead," Julia soon realized that the shirt on Elizabeth was the one she hid long long ago. It belonged to Eric but Julia did not give it back. Elizabeth did not realize that the shirt was for men and Julia would by no means tell her about it.