I'm in Hollywood

Chapter 208: Back to L.A.

"Thank you," Eric replied to the pretty blonde flight attendant who handed him a glass of cocktail at the small bar.

He was currently on the private jet of the Murdoch family. Eric had not expected that Murdoch would be so eager as to send a private jet to Venice to pick him up. Still, it would be rude of him to decline the jet that was essentially delivered to his doorstep. Moreover, compared to his first-class seat, a fully equipped private jet would certainly be much more comfortable.

After attending the opening ceremony of the Venice Film Festival last night and attending the premiere of The Others in the morning, Eric handed over the rest to Jonathan Demme and others, and boarded the huge Boeing private jet back to Los Angeles. Since Friends achieved such amazing results, it would be a lie if he said that he wasn’t in a hurry to return to Los Angeles.

In addition to his assistant, Alan, and a Vice President of Fox TV who came to receive him, Julia and Elisabeth were also on the plane. The two women were sitting on the couch near him, secretly whispering something. Alan and the Fox V.P. were sitting in the other lounge to give Eric some "privacy."

"What are you talking about so happily, Julia?" Eric turned towards the two women and asked.

Julia looked up and was about to reply when Elisabeth glared at him and yelled, "What's it to you!"

Since learning about the ratings miracle of Friends Elisabeth's attitude towards Eric had gotten even worse, possibly due to being annoyed by his success.

"If you’re talking about me, then it is my business," Eric replied with a smile before he stood up, walked towards the couch and sat down beside Julia.

Julia saw Eric sitting down beside her and wanted to say something but she stopped herself, however, Elisabeth protested, "Hey, who asked you to sit here?"

"Liz, I'm a guest. How can you be so rude?"

"Since you’re a guest, you should be more conscious of your position," Elisabeth replied in a confrontational manner.

"You are so inhospitable, Liz, it seems that when I return to Los Angeles, I’ll have to speak to Mr. Murdoch about you. Maybe he should enroll you in a ladies etiquette training class or something," Eric replied. Wittingly or unwittingly, he used the tone of an elder, which made Elisabeth, who was already annoyed, very angry.

She stared at him for a while, but couldn't find a harsher comeback, so she suddenly stood up and said, "I'm going to rest. Enjoy yourself, Mr. Guest!"

After she finished speaking, she walked to her bedroom under the clatter of her high heels.

Soon, silence prevailed as the two flight attendants had also quietly left, leaving Eric and Julia alone in the cabin.

Julia glanced at Eric, who was sitting next to her comfortably and leaning back to rest. She straightened her waist, but continued to quietly sit beside Eric and began to unconsciously enjoy the calm atmosphere.

The past few days in Venice had been the longest time she spent with Eric when she was not working. She found that compared to his irritable and controlling self when he was at work, Eric was very casual most of the time in private. Even when Elisabeth deliberately confronted him, Eric never lost his temper. Through their time together, Eric's image in her heart had greatly changed. At least, she no longer believed that he was the Devil.

Even after some time passed, Eric didn’t speak to her. Finally, she secretly turned her face and looked at the man next to her. Due to running around over the past days, in addition to not being able to rest well because of jet lag, Eric's youthful face looked tired with a stubble growing on his chin.

However, this made him look a lot more mature which made Julia’s heart beat uncontrollably, and she even had the urge to reach out and touch it.

However, in the end, she couldn’t gather the courage to do so and the urge in her heart soon died down with a regretful sigh. Still, she reached out and took the empty wine glass from Eric’s hand and put it aside, and began to think about the miraculous ratings of Friends, including the things Elisabeth told her about the broadcasting industry.

She had known from the start that Eric was brilliant since every film he made was a blockbuster hit. Even his first TV show easily created a ratings miracle. But she didn't have any specific measurement of how brilliant he was. It was only after the slightly more well-informed Elisabeth explained it to her that Julia began to understand the height of Eric's current position.

Eric, who had fallen asleep next to her, seemed to find his sleeping position uncomfortable so he unconsciously moved down such that his head was just resting on Julia’s lap. Moreover, his arm subconsciously hugged her slender waist.

Julia, who had been in thought, was startled by Eric's sudden action. She had thought he was awake but when she looked down, she found that he was sleeping comfortably on her lap.

She softly chuckled and finally managed to gather up her courage as she stretched out her fingers and gently touched his handsome, angular face.

The blond flight attendant who had been bartending for Eric not long ago appeared in the cabin again, seemingly to ask the guests if they needed anything. However, when she saw the intimacy between the man and woman on the couch, her eyes opened wide. She naturally knew Julia and Eric’s identities, and was even aware of the gossip in Hollywood, but seeing the young and famous director sleeping on the lap of Julia Roberts, a top Hollywood actress, the blond flight attendant still found it a little weird.

Seeing the surprised look on the flight attendant’s face, Julia's face turned red, but she reached out and made a gesture at her to keep quiet. This gesture awakened the surprised flight attendant who quickly showed Julia a professional smile and planned to return.

Julia stopped her and made a few gestures at her. The blond flight attendant nodded and quickly brought a blanket and gently put it on Eric.

After she left, Julia finally relaxed and looked down at Eric's sleeping face in a daze.

***

Because Venice is nine hours ahead, when the jet arrived in Los Angeles, after more than ten hours of flight, the local time was less than eight o'clock in the evening of the same day.

Many people had learned that Eric would arrive in Los Angeles, so a large wave of people were waiting outside the airport. Fortunately, he came back on a private jet, and the itinerary was secret. If he had taken a normal plane as originally planned, he would definitely be blocked by a large wave of reporters while exiting the airport.

Just as Eric’s group exited the airport, a few groups of people surrounded them. These people didn’t know each other but they understood the others’ purpose immediately, so they quickly rushed towards Eric.

"Mr. Williams, I am Mr. Murdoch's assistant..."

"Mr. Williams, Mr. Eisner asked me to wait for you here..."

"Eric, we met when we were recording "Sofia Talk Show." I’m the head of CBS's Los Angeles branch..."

Eric smiled and shook hands with the groups of people who were rushing to introduce themselves. After everyone was done, he finally said, "I’m so sorry, but I just got back to Los Angeles and I'm very tired. Can we talk tomorrow?”

Naturally, it was impossible for these people to leave simply because of Eric’s words. They continued to insist even when Eric told them to leave but they didn’t dare to annoy him.

Eric had expected such a situation, but even he didn’t expect that there would be so many people who would come to the airport to intercept him.

He hurried into a car specially sent by Jeffrey. After Alan ensured that all the luggage was put in the car, Eric bid farewell to everyone outside the window, especially to Julia and Elisabeth standing outside the crowd.

Seeing Eric's car leaving in the distance, the people that had wanted to intercept him walked to their car in disappointment and planned to leave.

Of course Elisabeth didn’t mind when the others left, but seeing that the assistant sent by her father also planned to leave, the tiny flame in her heart ignited, and she yelled, "Hey, Vincent, am I invisible?!!"

The assistant named Vincent had been focused on Eric and did not notice Elisabeth who came out afterwards. He hurried over and apologized, "Oh, sorry, Miss Murdoch, I didn’t notice you. I also failed to receive Mr. Williams. I don’t know how to explain this to Mr. Murdoch."

Elisabeth took Julia towards the Bentley and said angrily, "I don't care how you explain! First take us to Beverly Hills!"

"But," Vincent followed and hesitantly replied, "Miss Murdoch, I have to report to Mr. Murdoch as soon as possible. He is still waiting at the Century City headquarters for me."

"It's so late! Would you have us girls take a taxi back home?! What if we run into a bad man?!" Elisabeth yelled and put their luggage next to Vincent before she took Julia inside the Bentley and slammed the door.

Vincent wryly smiled and spoke to the Fox TV V.P. who was neglected by Elisabeth. The two put the two bags into the trunk before he sat next to the driver and told him to drive. At the same time, he picked up his phone and dialed a number.