King of Hollywood

Chapter 193: Chapter 193 New York, New York

April 6, 1993, Adrian, having nearly settled his affairs in Los Angeles, boarded a plane to New York to select the lead actress for his long-planned new project. However, Charlize Theron, his personal assistant who was inseparable from him during work, did not accompany him. The reason Adrian gave was that she had some personal matters to attend to and would join him in New York in a few days.

Of course, the real reason was, well, certain physiological issues. That night, under the influence of marijuana, Charlize wanted to vent her own stress, and her wildness was exceptional. Adrian, even though he wanted to use some techniques to ease her pain, found it difficult, especially since he had also taken a couple of hits himself; eventually, he simply started riding on that youthful body.

No more marijuana after this, was Adrian’s first thought upon waking up. The old Adrian had smoked quite a bit, but the current Adrian had never done so; thus, although the stuff excited him, the intermixed feelings in his head of having smoked and having not made him feel rather schizophrenically disorientated.

Charli might have some mild… um, preferences. That was his second thought. Of course, Adrian couldn’t be sure, but he knew about her father. When Charlize was 15, her abusive father, drunk, tried to harm her and her mother, but her terrified mother shot him dead through a wooden door with a shotgun. Although the court ruled it as self-defense and did not trouble her mother, the incident was a heavy blow to her. From the mere mention by Adrian, it was evident from Charlize’s reaction, like a startled hedgehog bristling its spines.

So, from a psychological standpoint, it could have been a trigger, combined with the constant pressure of life and smoking marijuana, that led to such abrupt behavior. However, Adrian quickly dismissed the thought, whether it mattered or not, as what was crucial was that he had already breached the gap. Over the next few days, though both tacitly avoided discussing what happened that night and the following morning, Adrian was very aware of the subtle tension between them.

Okay, let’s stop there, the topic has drifted. In any case, because of what happened that night, Charlize didn’t get out of bed for an entire day, and she was also immobile for the following days. With everything ready in New York waiting for Adrian, he just let Charlize continue to rest until she was able to move without issues before coming to New York.

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“Thank you very much, Miss Rosa. That will be all.” After exchanging glances with a few people beside him, Adrian nodded to the 14-year-old girl standing in front of the camera.

The girl seemed to sense something, her expression darkening slightly, but she stayed silent, politely bowed, and then left the room.

Adrian shrugged his shoulders; the girl was decent in looks and acting but unfortunately not the type he was looking for. However, this New York casting session had indeed brought him a few surprises, like the last girl of today.

“Let the next one in,” Adrian said in his usual tone, glancing at the time, “I need to get to the airport.”

The assistant quickly called the girl waiting outside; at first glance, she wasn’t very pretty, her dark, nearly black hair was permed into a frizzy mess, giving her a chaotic look, and her face was slightly elongated. However, those deep blue eyes were very captivating, and her lips had a constant, unintentional curl that held a unique charm.

Unfortunately, although only 15, her height of almost 5 feet 6 inches was much taller than her peers and did not fit the character’s requirements in the script, so there was a 90% chance she would be turned down.

“You may begin, Miss Liv Tyler.” Adrian gestured with his hand inviting the girl to the center with a very calm expression, no different from how he treated the other auditioning girls.

The girl named Liv Tyler nodded, closed her eyes to take a deep breath, and then stood in front of the camera.

“Lyon, if I win, you have to let me follow you for life!” Liv showed an excited demeanor, her lips trembling slightly as she looked at the camera as if it were the male lead.

“And if you lose?” prompted the assistant behind the camera, reading from the script.

“You go shopping on your own, just like before,” Liv’s tone turned determined, her piercing blue eyes widening a bit.

“You are bound to lose, Matilda,” continued the assistant, not looking up from the script.

Sitting in the chair and observing all this, Adrian stroked his chin; he knew that if this girl straightened her hair and put on a little makeup, she would definitely amaze many. He remembered many praising the beautiful appearance of this elf princess, as many felt she carried an air of innocence when she smiled, but when it came to acting, well, it wasn’t that great.

“Thank you, Miss Liv, your performance was quite good,” Adrian said, lightly clapping after Liv finished the lines, but without much enthusiasm.

Liv said nothing, bowed slightly, and then left the room.

“This girl is just average, but there were several good ones before her.”

“She is too tall, even if her acting were up to par, her appearance does not fit.”

As soon as the girl left, the room filled with discussions among several assistants, the assistant director, and the executive producer. Adrian did not join in but started packing up to head to the airport.

“I’ll leave this to you, Epps,” he said to a middle-aged man in his forties, the assistant director of the new movie, “Also, note down the contact information for that girl just now, the one named Liv Tyler.”

“Are you saying, we’re only keeping her from today’s audition?” The other man asked, stunned.

“No, follow the usual procedure, discuss among yourselves first, then I will make the final selection based on your results,” Adrian shook his head, “As for that girl, I have other plans for her.”

After finishing, he turned and walked out of the room, everyone looking at each other, then simultaneously shrugged their shoulders and started discussing which girls from today’s auditions were suitable.

Exiting the rented office building, Adrian got into a car that was prepared for him and asked the accompanying driver, Glover, to head for Kennedy Airport. Checking the time, everything should be fine and, by the time he arrived at the airport, the plane would probably have already landed.

However, accidents always happen, like the terrible traffic in New York City. Thus, by the time Adrian arrived at Kennedy Airport, it was already half an hour after the plane had landed.

“I thought you weren’t going to show up, Ed.” Having sat in the lounge for about half an hour, the newspaper in her hand almost worn out, Charlize teased upon seeing Adrian.

“Traffic jam, plus I forgot Glover isn’t familiar with the streets of New York,” Adrian explained. “But, since I promised to pick you up, naturally I wouldn’t be late. I keep my promises.”

He smiled, sat down next to her, and wrapped his arm around her waist as he attempted to kiss her.

“But the undeniable fact is that you were late,” Charlize subtly shifted her position to dodge the kiss.

Missing the kiss, Adrian sighed on purpose and refrained from trying again but soon brushed her hair back from her temples, “If we’re going to be picky, let’s discuss why, although you could have come two days ago, you specifically chose to delay until today.”

“I told you I had other matters to handle, and besides, you had also agreed,” Charlize didn’t dodge his flirtatious gesture this time but rolled her eyes at him.

“Really?” Adrian gave a slight smile, but Charlize fell silent.

After a few seconds of silence, Adrian stood up: “Alright, let’s head to our base first and go over work-related matters; without you by my side, many things have gotten a bit messy.”

Charlize also stood up, “Okay, I’ll get that sorted out for you right away.”

On the way back, they discussed work-related matters, just as Adrian had said. Accustomed to Charlize’s organized handling of everything, the past few days without her had indeed been quite chaotic.

“I can’t believe it, couldn’t you find a temporary professional assistant?” Charlize commented while flipping through the files.

“The assistant directors can manage if it’s just temporary. Besides, I originally thought you’d be able to come over immediately,” Adrian retorted convincingly, which made Charlize close her mouth.

With prior lessons learned and Glover’s rather good memory, although they avoided several heavily trafficked streets, it took only about 20 minutes to reach the crew’s base.

As most of the film was being shot in New York, Adrian simply rented several apartments in Brooklyn for everyone to use. To show solidarity with the crew, he stayed there as well. Naturally, it was also an excuse to avoid his overly enthusiastic aunt.

Adrian didn’t hide his trip to New York for the new movie from Aunt Martha; he visited his uncle’s house as soon as he arrived in New York. His uncle was still as irascible as ever and, compared to before, he began to speak more harshly, although Adrian could sense a slight guilt in his tone.

Adrian was puzzled until Aunt Martha revealed during his departure that the uncle was unhappy because Adrian had not thanked him during the Oscar awards ceremony. This left him with mixed feelings, especially considering his speech at the time; it was easy to understand why his uncle could be so petulant.

However, Aunt Martha hoped that during his time in New York, Adrian would stay at their house. Naturally, Adrian couldn’t accept this proposal, so he simply moved to the apartment with the crew.

“Mr. Adrian, please wait a moment.” Just as Adrian and Charlize walked into the apartment building and before they could greet the manager, a voice suddenly rang out.

“May I help you?” Adrian turned around to face an approaching man, about thirty years old, while glancing at the long-haired girl following close behind him.

Finally, we meet! (To be continued. For more chapters, please visit , support the author, support genuine reading!)