The next day, Leonardo arrived at the set with a black eye.
Martin, surprised, asked, "Hey, did you sneak out and party all night? You didn’t sleep, did you?"
"Yeah, I didn’t sleep at all. It’s all that old bastard, Jack Nicholson’s fault. No, wait—it’s your fault!" Leonardo snapped.
Martin, confused, asked, "What does this have to do with me? What did Jack Nicholson do?"
"That jerk was screwing around next door and kept me up all night!" Leonardo was furious.
What he didn’t mention was that he didn’t stay awake the whole night. After Nicholson finished, Leonardo finally fell asleep, only to have a nightmare that sent chills down his spine.
In the dream, he was happily playing with beautiful, sexy models on the beach with water guns. Just as he captured one and tackled her to the ground, she suddenly started speaking in Jack Nicholson’s voice: "Call Martin, call Martin, call Martin..."
The dream shifted, and he found himself on a yacht, surrounded by his favorite blonde models with long legs. But as he walked from the yacht’s cockpit to the deck, the models all turned in unison. Their beautiful faces morphed into Nicholson’s old one, and they all shouted, "Call Martin, call Martin, call Martin..."
The dream shifted again, and he was back in his mansion. His current girlfriend, Barbra Lefarley, was busy in the open kitchen. As he approached her to greet her, Barbra suddenly turned around, and her face transformed into Martin’s. She said, "Darling, I heard Nicholson wants you to call me!"
Sweating profusely, Leonardo woke up from the nightmare, swearing he’d never close his eyes again.
"Wait, Nicholson was screwing around with Meryl and you’re blaming me?" Martin asked, still confused.
"That old bastard made sure you could hear him! Damn it, he even told me to call you! I ignored him, but you owe me one," Leonardo replied.
Leonardo paused suddenly, then caught on. "Wait a minute... You said Nicholson was screwing Meryl? Meryl Streep? Looks like the rumors are true. These two must have been at it for over ten years..."
Martin stroked his chin, clearly intrigued by the gossip.
"Yep, I saw Meryl Streep walk into Nicholson’s room. But why the hell did he want to make sure I heard them? What’s his point?" Martin was still puzzled.
"It’s because of your comment, ’Can the old guy still get it?’ You started this, and now you owe me!" Leonardo smirked.
Martin groaned. "Fine, so what do you want as repayment?"
"We’ll swap rooms tonight. You sleep in my room, and I’ll sleep in yours," Leonardo suggested.
"Martin, Drew’s here to visit," a staff member called out.
Martin paused for a moment, then grinned mischievously. "Okay, let’s swap rooms. Tonight, I’m giving that old bastard a lesson!"
Leonardo followed with a devilish chuckle, clearly knowing what Martin had in mind.
"Hey, Meryl, don’t rush off. Let’s continue later tonight," Jack Nicholson called as Meryl Streep was about to leave.
"I have work to do, Jack!" she replied.
"Just one night, please. I heard Leonardo wants to swap rooms with Martin. I need to make him respect us old folks!" Nicholson pleaded.
"You’re the old guy. I’m not old! Can’t you handle it? It’s just shaking the bed," Meryl responded.
"That won’t do. Martin’s a clever guy, and unless he sees you walk into my room, he won’t believe it. Please, Meryl," Jack persisted.
Meryl finally relented. "Fine, just for one night. It won’t take long."
Jack was thrilled. "Before we go into the room, I’ll introduce you to Martin. Our relationship isn’t exactly a secret in Hollywood."
Meryl was intrigued. She’d heard about Martin’s PR skills—he had helped Nicole win two Oscars for Best Actress and Charlize Theron once as well. Clearly, he knew his way around the Academy.
At 9 PM, there was a knock on Martin’s room door.
"Who could it be?" Drew, who was about to take a shower, wondered.
"I’ll get it!" Martin grinned.
Opening the door, there stood Jack Nicholson, the old guy who refused to grow up, and Meryl Streep, standing beside him.
"Hey, little Martin," Jack greeted.
"Martin, let me introduce you to—"
"No need, the famous Meryl Streep, of course I know you. Your performance in The Silence of the Lambs was stunning," Martin replied.
Meryl smiled. Martin’s compliment made her feel good. That was her proudest film, even though she lost the Best Actress Oscar to Jodie Foster. Still, her performance in that movie was widely admired...
Meryl Streep’s acting skills were beyond reproach!
"I’m glad to meet you, Martin. I also really liked your performance in Pirates of the Caribbean. Your dramatic, over-the-top acting was stunning!" Meryl added.
Meryl had a good relationship with Harvey Weinstein and knew he and Martin didn’t get along, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to get along with Martin.
They chatted for a while, making Jack Nicholson feel a little jealous. Especially when Meryl’s eyes would occasionally fall on Martin’s handsome face, Jack couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy!
So what if he was handsome? Back in the day, I was—well, never mind, I wasn’t that handsome!
Old Jack was feeling a little down, but quickly remembered why he was there. "Martin, you should’ve figured out the situation with Meryl and me. So tonight, we—"
Jack made a well-known gesture, "I heard from Leonardo that the walls in the room are thin, so if it gets noisy tonight, don’t mind it."
Jack gave a proud look, causing Meryl to chuckle.
Martin laughed inwardly, but managed to keep his expression calm. He grinned mischievously. "Well, Jack, since you put it that way, you also know Drew’s visiting me tonight. We might get loud too, so don’t mind us!"
Jack’s face immediately changed. "Are you challenging me?"
Martin smirked, adopting an even more arrogant expression than Jack’s. "Well, not really. The strength difference is clear."
"Hmph!" Jack snapped, pulling Meryl Streep away.