America 1982-Chapter 158 - 58: Before Contact_3

Delia also stood up and said to the other members of the lawyer team, "Continue questioning the others, Sophia, take over for me to listen in."

Afterward, she walked out of the conference room with Tommy. Tommy took out a cigarette, lit it, and asked Delia, "Do you think the opposition will find this answer to be good news?"

"No, you have no secrets left regarding Lotus Corporation, your strategy is already clear to them, so I don’t think they will be fooled by what you just said," Delia replied with a serious expression:

"You’re coming to the guest room with me. I need to properly teach you how to act in front of a monitor."

...

In the city-view suite on the fifth floor of the Four Seasons Hotel, a hotel attendant was tidying up the bed linens while casting occasional glances toward the living room.

The age gap between the man and woman was noticeable, yet, of course, that wasn’t a problem. After all, this was California, a magical place where even a forty-year-old high school teacher could elope to Mexico with a sixteen-year-old student to marry and have children.

What surprised the attendant was not just their age difference but also their attire and demeanor—they both looked like wealthy people. Yet, when she had been called in to clean the room earlier, it felt like she was tidying up a battlefield. A seemingly gentle and warm young man, a lady appearing elegant and poised—clearly, it seemed as if they had waged a ferocious battle, much like the unrestrained breeding of rabbits in Australia.

"Sir, the room is cleaned up," said the vest-clad attendant after changing the beddings and clearing the rubbish. She smiled at Tommy as she came out.

Tommy felt in his pocket and then picked up Delia’s handbag, from which he took out some bills and gave them to the attendant, "Thank you, this is for your tip."

"Thank you," the attendant accepted the generous tip. After mentally labeling Tommy as a gigolo, she thanked him again and turned to push the cart out of the suite.

Tommy went to the bar in the living room, looking at the various bottles of alcohol in the cabinet and saying, "Lady, I just used the change from your wallet to tip the attendant. You can include that expense in the investigation fee and bill it to Actor Corporation."

"Most young people like a bit more tenderness, yet, you’re the opposite," Delia, standing inside the washroom applying lipstick, spoke to Tommy Hawk, "You just can’t wait to get dressed and have them see you as a jerk and want to keep their distance."

Tommy poured two glasses of whiskey and said, "With a girlfriend, I’m generally more tender, because love between a man and a woman requires tenderness, companionship. I’m not like that with other women. To me, the best bedmates are high-class escorts. They don’t know who I am, don’t care who I am—and vice versa. Each time I enter a hotel room, all I know is that a woman with a pretty face and a great body is waiting for me inside. She’ll help me relieve my energy, and afterward, she leaves considerately without me having to coax her with any words, just for four hundred bucks."

"So do you often have these high-class escorts accompany you?" Delia asked, as she put down her lipstick, looked at herself in the mirror, and adjusted her clothes.

"Quite the contrary, that’s just a lovely fantasy of mine. Apart from my girlfriend Renee, who is temporarily away, I only maintain a physical relationship with my business partner Holly, uh... and now one more with you, Ms. Delia Case, as my acting coach—just this once, of course. I guess I’m not going to fall for your act ever again," Tommy said while opening the fridge. He took out a block of ice and started chiseling it with the bartender’s tools.

After fixing her makeup, Delia emerged from the washroom and stood across the bar from Tommy, lighting up a cigarette. "Only middle-aged people tend to enjoy the kind of life you just described. They vent their stress on others and reserve their warmth for loved ones. The young grads I’ve known tend to instinctively show me tenderness, which only impresses themselves while annoying me."

"Sophia said you’ve been divorced for a while now," Tommy said, shaping the ice sphere with a chuckle, "Because of teaching the kids how to act, and your husband found out?"

Delia exhaled a puff of smoke, her tone matter-of-factly, "Not very long, two years. It wasn’t over that though. I had many headhunting calls, lots of law firms hoping I would join them as a senior or managing partner. He thought I should go for it, since the pay was even higher than my current income, and the workload would be much reduced, allowing for early retirement planning. But when I joined Davis Polk, it was to become the next Elizabeth Mig. If it was just about making more money, why would I push myself so hard for so long? So we disagreed, argued, and in the end, I taught him a profound lesson: If you have a lawyer for a wife, it’s best never to argue with her."

"You’re a regular partner now, still a long way to go to become a senior partner or a managing partner," Tommy said as he shook off the ice shavings and placed the sphere in the glass before passing it to Delia, "I’m guessing you probably don’t plan to remarry within the next ten years."

Delia took a sip, "Honestly, it’s pleasant to chat with young people whose minds are as mature as one’s own. It’s just a shame that by the time most ’kids’ truly mature mentally, they’ve often started having physical problems. Okay, shall we talk about your acting skills now?"