I’m in Hollywood

Eric firmed his tone, “Annie, I’m not breaking up with you, can’t you just tell me your address so that I can come see you in New York for Christmas ?”

“Don’t even think about it.” Aniston replied. She couldn’t help but think: Even Drew Barrymore was able to find out where I am, but you can’t ? “Besides, don’t you… don’t you have a new girlfriend ? The one that was photographed coming out of your house.”

“You mean Julia ? She has good potential, I’m going to open an agency and I want to sign her.”

Annie shot a disapproving glance at the tabloid still spread on the table not far: “Do agencies have their talents sleep with their boss right away nowadays ? That shirt… I’ve also worn that shirt, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d !”

Eric hesitated for a few seconds, before whispering: “I’m sorry, Annie, will you forgive me ? It won’t happen again.”

Hearing his feeble tone, Annie’s voice softened some: “Eric, I think the distance between us has just grown too big for us to get along. Every time I’ll see you, I’ll be hit by a sense of insecurity.”

“Annie, I just bought a villa in Beverly hills…..”

“I’m not talking about physical distance, Eric. Maybe it’s just my imagination but I feel like you’re as ethereal as a dimension traveler, and it makes me restless. Sometimes I can’t help but worry that you’ll just up and disappear.”

The two of them stayed silent for a while.

“Eric, the reason I’m calling you today is to tell you that, this morning, I received an anonymous letter, the author said that he wanted to tell me things about you. The address of the meeting was in Central Park, it was a public place so I felt there was no danger and went. The stranger asked about our relationship, then he asked me…. asked me about what had happened that morning. I stayed quiet, but I don’t know if it was to test me or if that fellow really saw something, he said that he was willing to appear in court and testify against you and Drew on my behalf. He said that you would have to give me a lot of money if I succeeded. I refused.”

Eric listened quietly to Aniston’s story. Once she finished, Eric nodded and asked in understanding: “Annie, thank you for telling me this, now I’m pretty sure; you still love me, don’t you ?”

“You…..” Annie’s heart skipped a beat for a second, and then she started talking louder: “Do you even understand what kind of situation you’re in right now ?! Someone is trying to send you to jail, Eric ! I made some research and something similar happened to Roman Polanski, they found conclusive evidence of his relationship with the girl and he was sentenced to imprisonment. He had to flee the United States, Eric !”

“I know Annie, don’t worry, I will deal with this matter.”

Hanging up the phone, Eric sat on the sofa and quietly pondered for a while. Although Home Alone had pressured a lot of movies at the box office, it wouldn’t warrant this type of behavior. Granted, many people couldn’t stand him, but the most they would do would be to discredit him for a few days through the media.

Moreover, the Fox had made a fierce counter-attack, and after the discovery of other poss
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ibilities in the affair, things had quickly died down.

Someone who hated him so much so as to wish him imprisonment, Eric could only think of one person: Blount Cohen. 

Because of the gambling agreement’s mess, Blount Cohen, who saw himself as lofty and above all, was forced to publicly apologize to a kid who could be his grandson. To him, it was certainly shameful, and if you coupled it with his small-minded personality, then he was the most likely suspect.

However, G.o.d knows how fickle humans were, it was also possible that someone else had somehow developed a dislike towards him and had thought of this plan to harm him; he couldn’t rule out the possibility.

Although he didn’t think too much of it, Eric still gave Edward Lewis a phone call, and half an hour later, the lawyer was at his house.

Eric recounted what Aniston had told him. The two discussed for a long time, and Edward Lewis, who was doing the recording, unavoidably had to inquire about the affair in detail.

After a while, the lawyer closed his notepad and solemnly asked: “Eric, I want to check with you one last time, are you sure you didn’t have that kind of relationship with Ms. Barrymore that day ? I need to know everything, because if you don’t tell me the truth…. the opponents are likely to sweep us by surprise.”

Eric carefully thought back for a moment to the situation at that time, and said with certainty: “I’m absolutely sure, although we woke up in bed together, the sheets were clean, there was absolutely no trace at all, and even Drew admitted that nothing happened when I confronted her about it.”

“Then there’s no problem. Eric, rest a.s.sured, I’ll go back immediately to deal with this, you have nothing to worry about. Although the fact that the public opinion is still slightly against you remains, without evidence, even if someone were to falsely accuse you, their likelihood of success would be near nil.”

Eric eventually calmed down and bid farewell to Edward Lewis when he suddenly remembered that, since the incident a few days ago, although Drew hadn’t visited him, she had called a few times. However, for these past two days, he hadn’t heard a single peep out of her.

After giving several continuous call to her home to no  avail, Eric started feeling anxious. He wasn’t worried about Drew teaming up with people to frame him, but it was hard to say the same about her greedy mother.

Los Angeles, on the second floor of an apartment in Culver City, Drew was locked in her bedroom, watching the television and listening to the incessant ringing of the phone in the living room. Although he had never taken the initiative to contact her before, she was somehow sure that the one calling was Eric.

These days, Ildiko Jaid, who usually couldn’t care less about her, had suddenly become a good and responsible mother. Using the excuse of the mediatic storm to ground Drew, even phone calls weren’t allowed.

The teenager had obviously argued against it, so the two of them quarrel and came to blows. In the end, Drew with her small arms and legs couldn’t hold a candle to Ildiko Jaid and was locked in her room.

Moreover, Drew knew that her mother was plotting something with someone as she had overheard her whispering on the phone for a long time last night. No matter when, even when she was sweet talking her lovers, Ildiko Jaid had never bothered to lower her voice before.

“That woman is definitely up to no good….”

Drew turned off the TV and paced back-and-forth in her room as she muttered to herself. She looked at the time and realized her mother would be home soon; she felt she couldn’t wait anymore. She went to her closet and tied a few bed sheets together until it reached a length of 34m, before tying one end to the legs of her bed. Then, she opened her window and carefully climbed down the rope.

When she was about to land, one of the knots got loose and Drew fell when she was a meter above ground. She groaned a bit at the abrupt pain but didn’t have time to care about her bruised knee.

She hobbled out of the yard, hailed a cab and made her way towards Eric’s.