Chapter 86: Chapter 86: Feigning Retreat to Capture the Enemy
The melodious sound of a violin resonated through the restaurant, as guests conversed quietly, maintaining their composure. The candles burning in oval glass vases made the dimly lit restaurant seem all the more tranquil.
She gently cut a piece of the tender veal and forked it into her mouth to slowly chew, her rosy lips rhythmically opening and closing, exuding a tantalizing charm in the faintly lit restaurant.
Soon, a hint of surprise flickered in her brown eyes, “It’s surprising how excellent this veal is. I didn’t expect to find such an authentic taste of home here.”
“Fletcher Restaurant imports its Italian ingredients daily from Italy, so reservations have to be made in advance. Although some freshness is inevitably lost, you wouldn’t notice the difference given the chef’s meticulous cooking,” Adrian said with a slight smile, lifting his spoon to sip the fresh soup.
“Indeed, tasting such flavors makes me reminisce about my university days in Perugia.” Monica closed her eyes slightly and tilted her head back, then swallowed the food as her fair neck moved continually.
“Sorry, I got a bit carried away,” she quickly regained her composure, pursing her lips as she smiled lightly.
“That’s alright. I understand how it feels to be in a foreign environment for a long time.” Adrian raised his glass, “Why not talk about your hometown? I remember the file mentioned a town in Italy named Castello. It must be very beautiful, otherwise, how could it produce such a beautiful woman like yourself?”
“You really have a way with words,” Monica covered her mouth as she chuckled, her eyes curving up, visibly enjoying the compliment.
After all, she was still a woman. Sipping his red wine, Adrian watched an intriguing look pass through Monica’s eyes. Although he couldn’t be sure whether her earlier reminiscing was part of an act, her happiness from his compliment seemed genuine.
Of course, Monica was deserving of such praise. Not to mention, she was specifically dressed in a purple one-shoulder gown that evening. Although her smooth shoulders and delicate collarbones were exposed, her chest was tightly covered, which only served to ignite one’s desire to uncover more. True to her model excellence, she knew exactly how to best showcase her elegance.
“Go on, I haven’t visited any Italian cities other than Venice,” Adrian continued.
“Okay, let me think where to start…” Monica tilted her head as she recalled carefully, then slowly narrated as she ate.
Dinner ended in such a pleasant atmosphere. As they left the restaurant, the two strolled down the relatively quiet streets enjoying the night views. With the cool temperatures of late January in Los Angeles, Adrian had graciously offered Monica his coat before stepping out.
“Los Angeles is a beautiful city, especially at night. The view is absolutely mesmerizing when you’re looking down from a high place,” they walked side by side down the street, without much physical intimacy.
“That’s true. Without so many tall buildings, the view feels much broader when you look down from a high place—by the way, why doesn’t Los Angeles have many tall buildings like other cities?” Monica asked curiously.
“It’s because Los Angeles sits on the Ring of Fire, known for frequent earthquakes, so it doesn’t have as many high-rise buildings as other cities,” Adrian shrugged.
They arrived at the parked car on the street where he gallantly opened the door for Monica, “I’ll take you home.”
“Thank you.” Monica gave him a glance and settled into the passenger seat.
In the midst of light-hearted jokes, the car quickly reached Monica’s home in the West Forest District and stopped. Adrian was the first to get out of the car and came around to open the door for her.
“Thank you, Ed, you truly are a gentleman,” Monica said with a smile as she stepped out.
“Attending to a lady is what I ought to do,” Adrian replied, escorting her to the doorstep.
“What a pleasant evening,” Monica said, watching Adrian fiddle with the keys in his hand, “I really enjoyed your company.”
“Me too, well, good night then,” Adrian said, about to turn around and leave.
“Aren’t you coming in for a while?” Monica called out to him, her lips curving into a slight smile, “I don’t have many friends in Los Angeles, and I spend a lot of time alone.”
Adrian looked deeply at her, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingertips inadvertently grazing her lovely face.
“You are very tempting, Monica,” he said softly with a smile, then shook his head, “Never mind, rest early, have sweet dreams.”
Monica stood stunned, watching Adrian head back to his car, completely puzzled by his actions—wasn’t he…
After a few steps, Adrian suddenly turned back, “Oh, and please come to the office next Monday, and don’t be late.”
“Um… okay,” Monica replied mechanically, unsure how to react to Adrian’s behavior—it was so sudden, especially when things seemed unspoken, yet now shifted ?
After Adrian got into the car and waved at her, he started the engine and drove away, and Monica watched until the car disappeared before she finally opened the door and entered the house. She poured herself a glass of water and settled on the sofa, still unable to shake off the evening’s events. But a few minutes later, she shrugged her shoulders, pushing tonight’s happenings to the back of her mind—after all, it seemed she had secured the role.
However, Adrian had undeniably left a profound impression on her tonight.
On February 2nd, Adrian’s new movie ‘Pulp Fiction’ commenced shooting at a motel on the outskirts of Los Angeles. For the media, Hollywood sees countless movie starts or wraps every day, and a fledgling director’s new project didn’t necessarily warrant much attention, though his previous three works were quite impressive. Nevertheless, the response from executives at different movie studios was rather consistent—they remarked, “That workaholic has started again!”
The moniker stemmed not unrelatedly to Adrian’s filmmaking plans. Skipping the previous two films, ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ had just wrapped production when he began preparing ‘Scent of a Woman.’ While the third movie was still being promoted, he dashed off to make his fourth, and having barely completed the fourth, he immediately started on his fifth.
Considering the scripts he influenced (though not written by him anymore), founding a new media company with friends (no secret, a bit of intelligence gathering could reveal that), and his investments in various films, this guy hardly took a break. Where did he get all this energy and passion?
“We don’t know, we can’t read him; we only know he has a sharp eye, and so far, he hasn’t had a failure, so it’s essential to maintain strong ties,” Branet from Universal Studios answered Elaine, the general manager, reflecting a common sentiment among top movie executives.
(“Just back from watching ‘Thor’—one, arguably the worst opening ever; two, overly bloated plot, don’t hope for much of a story, just watch for the effects; three, 3D not worth the ticket price, 2D could be viewed as a painting. Lastly, seeking recommendations~”)