Chapter 315: Meet Again #
After pondering for a moment, Eric spoke, “Since your father asked you to play the role of Mary Corleone, I a.s.sume you’ve already auditioned for it, right?”
“Of course,” Sofia Coppola nodded.
“Then how did your father evaluate your audition?” Eric asked, persuasively.
Upon hearing the question, the young girl clearly became nervous. “Dad said I… I did okay.”
Sofia’s hesitation allowed Eric to continue the conversation without pressure, “Growing up on the set of the Coppola family, you’ve seen countless actors perform. You must be aware of your own acting ability, right?”
“I think if I rehea.r.s.e more during filming, I can definitely meet the requirements. Besides, Dad also said that even if I don’t do well, it’s okay. After all, it’s my first time,” Sofia said, remembering her father’s encouragement. She lifted her head confidently to look directly at Eric.
Eric sighed with emotion and said, “From here, you can see how much your father loves you. The G.o.dfather series means something to him, and you know it better than I do. It’s the glory of Francis Coppola as a director. I believe that for any other actor in The G.o.dfather III, your father would never say ‘it’s okay even if the performance is bad.’ Only for you is he so lenient. So, you should think more about your father. The G.o.dfather III is the final chapter of The G.o.dfather series, and I’m sure no one in the Coppola family would want it to have flaws because of an actor’s performance, right?”
Sophia Coppola lowered her head in silence upon hearing Eric’s words. Eric gently patted the girl’s back and continued, “As a daughter of the Coppola family in Hollywood, you have much more opportunities than others. If you are really interested in acting, I think it’s best to start from small roles and gradually hone your acting skills, just like your cousin.”
After a while, Sophia Coppola looked up, and Eric could tell from her expression that she had made a decision. He smiled slightly at the girl. However, Sophia Coppola didn’t seem too grateful. She hugged Eric’s waist and scratched him behind his back in dissatisfaction, saying, “Eric, everyone says you’re a playboy. As a playboy, shouldn’t you be more charming and attentive to women? Your reaction is just not right.”
Eric was caught off guard by the sudden change of topic. He didn’t know how to respond. Seeing Eric’s silence, Sofia’s face darkened, and she said with some self-doubt,“Okay, okay, I know I’m not that pretty, but you don’t have to look like that, do you?”
Eric quickly shook his head and said, “No, Sophia, you’re very pretty. If you don’t believe me, you can ask your father.”
“How could my dad say that I’m not pretty,” the girl rolled her eyes at him. However, she didn’t pursue the matter any further.
As the music ended, the crowd on the dance floor began to leave, and Eric took Sophia Coppola’s hand and walked outside.
“Eric, I’ve decided to follow your advice and start from small roles,” the girl took a gla.s.s of red wine from the long table and gestured to Eric, “I hope we can cooperate in the future.”
“Sure,” Eric said with an unchanged smile as he clinked gla.s.ses with the young girl, but in his mind, he added, “unless you decide not to become an actress.”
“Well, have fun. I’m going to talk to my dad about this now,” the girl said, and then turned and left.
After the girl left, Eric looked around but couldn’t find Famke Janssen. He thought she must have gone outside the villa.
In addition, he was also worried about another matter, so Eric decisively walked outside to check.
He quickly made his way through the guests who came up to greet him and soon arrived at the garden.
……
“No, no, Mr. Brant, I… I…” The girl shook her head twice, feeling dizzy and swaying to one side. Tony Brandt quickly supported her and let Jennifer Connelly lean on him. He greedily groped at the girl’s soft waist, but if there weren’t other guests nearby, he would have grabbed her without hesitation.
Although some people saw Tony Brandt getting the girl drunk, such things happened frequently at Hollywood parties, and Jennifer Connelly didn’t resist much from beginning to end. Guests who saw this naturally regarded it as consensual behavior.
“Miss Connelly, Miss Connelly?” Tony Brandt gently called Jennifer Connelly’s name twice. The girl looked at him with blurred eyes and seemed to realize her current situation. She instinctively pushed the middle-aged man away, but had no strength. This made Tony Brandt completely relieved.
He raised his voice loud enough for the surrounding guests to hear: “Miss Connelly, let me take you back.” Of course, the girl couldn’t answer, and some male guests who heard Tony Brandt’s words just blinked ambiguously at their companions, while some female guests frowned slightly but didn’t intervene.
Tony Brandt had just carried Jennifer Connelly on his shoulders and was about to take a shortcut out when a cold voice sounded, “Sir, where are you taking her?” Tony Brandt’s body stiffened. He cursed to himself for being meddled with, but had to temporarily place the girl on a nearby chair, turn around, and see Eric Williams standing between him and the girl, one hand in his pocket and the other holding a gla.s.s of red wine, scanning between him and the girl without expression.
“It’s Mr. Williams. Nice to meet you. I’m Tony Brandt, also a director,” Tony Brandt recognized Eric Williams and quickly calmed down, reaching out to shake hands with him. Eric Williams just looked at the hand reaching towards him, then glanced at Jennifer Connelly without expression and asked, “Where are you taking her?”
Tony Brandt awkwardly withdrew his hand and looked at the girl behind him. If he let go now, maybe nothing would happen. Unfortunately, during the process of getting Jennifer Connelly drunk, Tony Brandt also inevitably drank some alcohol. At this point, he was already seven parts drunk. Thinking of the girl’s stunning beauty, his l.u.s.t completely occupied his brain. He said, “Mr. Williams, are you talking about Jenny? She’s my girlfriend, she accidentally got drunk and I’m planning to take her home.”
Eric felt uncomfortable in his heart and looked at the drunken girl. He couldn’t help but say, “She’s drunk, so of course you can say whatever you want. But I absolutely don’t believe she’s your girlfriend.”
Tony Brandt was stunned for a moment, then felt silly and shrugged, “Mr. Williams, Jenny came with me…”
“Shut up, don’t call her Jenny!” Eric suddenly raised his voice as if he had been stimulated.
Tony Brandt trembled with fear, and his drunkenness had cleared up quite a bit. But at this moment, because of Eric’s just now words, the guests around them also curiously gathered around. Some more discerning ones recognized Eric’s ident.i.ty and saw that he and Tony Brandt seemed to be about to start a conflict. After thinking about it, they decided not to stay and watch the excitement. They turned around and left the garden in a hurry.
Seeing the crowd gathering, Tony Brandt found it difficult to back down. He quickly raised his voice, “Mr. Williams, you are so rude. Miss Connolly came with me, she is not my girlfriend. Are you still her boyfriend? So many people here can testify that Miss Connolly and I are together. What else do you want?”
Click!
With a soft sound, the goblet broke into two pieces as it hit the ground. The crisp sound of the gla.s.s and stone road collision startled the people around. Eric stared at the wound on his hand cut by the gla.s.s, and murmured softly, “You can’t take her away. At least wait until she wakes up. If she admits to being your girlfriend, then… I apologize.”
Tony Brandt, thinking that Eric was guilty, raised his voice even louder, “Mr. Williams, you have no right to do this. Jen… Miss Connelly is drunk and uncomfortable and needs to rest.” Tony glared at Eric, turned around, and was about to help the girl who was slumped in the chair again, when the crowd parted, and a group of 78 people walked in with a look of anxiety.
“Eric, what happened to your hand?” Famke Janssen, who came with Francis Coppola, saw Eric’s bleeding right hand at a glance, and approached him with concern. She grabbed Eric’s hand and lifted it up to inspect it, and then quickly pressed on the still-bleeding wound. Meanwhile, Sofia Coppola, who had also come over, untied the silk scarf that matched her dress from around her neck and, together with Famke Janssen, helped Eric bandage his wound.
Seeing that Eric was not seriously injured, Francis Coppola asked, “What’s going on, Corey?” Corey, one of the guests, happened to see Tony Brandt pouring alcohol into the girl’s mouth and, seeing Francis Coppola’s daughter and another tall girl carefully helping Eric with his wound, quickly understood the situation. He exaggeratedly recounted how Tony Brandt had drugged and manipulated the girl.
As soon as Francis Coppola appeared, Tony Brandt had a sense of foreboding. His previous aggressive stance vanished, and he sobered up completely. Before he could come up with a way to remedy the situation, Jennifer Connelly, who had been slumped in the chair, weakly spoke up, “Water, I want… water.” Although her voice was low, it attracted the attention of many people. When Sofia Coppola recognized Jennifer Connelly’s beautiful face, the gossip-loving girl, who was
When Sophia Coppola saw Jennifer Connelly’s beautiful face, she, like a typical teenage girl, was interested in gossip. After recognizing Jennifer Connelly, she remembered the scattered news in the newspaper a while ago and said to Eric with a hint of jealousy, “Wow, Eric, your other girlfriend.”
The girl’s careless words caused Famke Janssen to hesitate in his actions, and Tony Brandt, who heard the words, almost collapsed to the ground.
Although Francis Coppola knew that Eric was very fickle, he was not as concerned about tabloid news as his daughter. When he learned about what had happened from Corbett, he didn’t know how to handle it for a moment. After all, although Tony Brandt had used some underhanded means, if Jennifer Connelly didn’t agree, she wouldn’t have been easily drugged. Therefore, Coppola originally thought that Eric had fallen for Tony Brandt’s girlfriend and impulsively played the hero.
At this moment, upon hearing his daughter’s words, Francis Coppola immediately believed it to be true and sternly interrogated Tony Brandt, “Tony, how could you do such a thing?”
“Mr. Coppola, this is a misunderstanding. Miss Connelly just accidentally got drunk, and I was just about to take her home,” replied Tony Brandt.
Hearing Tony Brandt still trying to argue in this situation, Francis Coppola’s tone became even more severe, “With so many people here, do you still want to lie?”
“No, I didn’t. I…” Tony Brandt quickly waved his hand, then looked at Eric, “Mr. Williams, this is really a misunderstanding. If I had known earlier…”
Eric sighed. Ignoring Tony Brandt, he stepped forward and lifted the heavily drunk girl up, then said to Francis Coppola, “Sorry, Mr. Coppola, I’ve caused you trouble.”
“It’s nothing,” replied Coppola, then turned to his daughter, “Sophia, take Eric and find a room for this young lady to rest. There should be sober soup in the kitchen.”
“Eric, follow me,” the girl immediately led Eric out of the crowd.
After a few steps, Eric suddenly remembered something and turned back to the tall girl, “f.a.n.n.y, come too.”
f.a.n.n.y Jensen, who thought she was about to be awkwardly left behind, breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly crossed the crowd to catch up. The guests who saw this couldn’t help but show envy on their faces. He’s really a playboy, holding one girl in his arms and not letting go of another.
After Eric’s figure disappeared, Francis Coppola turned to Tony Brandt and said, “Tony, go, and don’t come back. You made a mistake.”
“No, Mr. Coppola, it really was a misunderstanding. I didn’t…” Seeing that Coppola was also about to leave, Tony Brandt suddenly dared not argue any longer and desperately held Coppola’s arm, pleading, “I’m sorry, Mr. Coppola, I was wrong, I was really wrong. I will go apologize to Mr. Williams and Miss Connelly. Mr. Coppola, give me another chance.”
Coppola shook his arm in disgust, but couldn’t shake off Tony Brandt. He said, “Tony, let’s go and find another leading lady to finish your movie. If you keep bothering me, I’ll call Cliff.” When Coppola said he was going to call his movie investor, Tony Brandt immediately let go of his hand and Coppola left without looking back.
The guests who were originally just watching the excitement took pity on the disoriented middle-aged man. When this matter spread out today that he not only offended Hollywood’s rising star, Eric Williams, but was also kicked out by Francis Coppola himself. Tony Brandt would have no chance of making it in Hollywood in the future. After all, anyone who wants to work with him again would inevitably think of what Coppola or Eric Williams would think. Hollywood has plenty of people, and not many would be willing to take this risk.
……
“Eric, put her on the bed. I’ve already sent the maid to fetch the hangover soup,” Sofia Coppola led Eric all the way to the second floor of the villa, opened a room, and let Eric in.
“Thank you, Sofia,” Eric put Connie on the big bed, looked around, and only then realized, “Is this your room?”
Sofia hurriedly stuffed several pieces of close-fitting clothes into the closet, blushing as she explained, “Yes.”
Feeling the girl’s embarra.s.sment, Eric didn’t look around anymore and sat down by the bed, looking at the pretty face on the bed. They hadn’t seen each other for a year, and the girl’s face was a little thinner, but it was more beautiful and charming.
A middle-aged maid dragged a tray to the door. After glancing into the room, Famke Janssen, who was standing at the door, took the tray and said, “Let me do it.”
The maid nodded and handed the tray to the tall girl before leaving.
“Eric,” Famke Janssen handed him the hangover soup.
Eric took the bowl and looked up at the girl, saying, “Sorry, Famke.”
Famke Janssen forced a smile and said, “It’s okay.”
……
In her semi-conscious state, Jennifer Connelly felt herself being placed on a soft bed. She vaguely recalled some of the events before getting drunk and felt that something was not right. She tried to struggle to get up, but couldn’t muster any strength. Soon, she felt someone helping her up and heard a familiar voice. She tried to open her eyes and looked at the girl, who soon gave a slightly self-deprecating smile."