I'm in Hollywood-Chapter 201: Prank

After dinner, John Landis had originally wanted to chat with Eric over coffee. However, seeing the two women sitting nearby, he took the initiative to say goodbye very "understandingly" and winked at Eric as she left. John Landis’s actions left Eric dumbfounded. He realized that the former had misunderstood, but there was no easy way for him to explain his relationship with the women so he just let it be.

After John Landis left, Eric called the waiter and paid the bill. After paying the bill, he turned to look at Julia and Elisabeth who were sitting not far away. Since they were sitting near the entrance, he would have to walk by them while leaving. There was no way they wouldn’t recognize him.

Recalling Julia’s gibberish that night when she was drunk, Eric felt a little helpless. He found it impossible to understand Julia’s condition. Did she have real affection for him or had she simply surrendered to him, psychologically, due to Stockholm syndrome.

Still, one thing was certain: she obviously wanted to get rid of the emotions she felt towards him. Eric does not lack women. Although he would do everything possible to keep the women he likes with him, Julia was not exactly his type, so he doesn't wish to get entangled with her.

After the waiter brought his change and receipt, Eric paid him a tip before standing up and walking directly to Julia's table.

Since he couldn't avoid them, he decided to at least say hello.

As Eric walked towards them, Elisabeth was the first to spot him. She was momentarily stunned, but quickly held up her coffee mug to cover the surprised expression on her face. As a result, Julia, who didn't notice the strange expression on Elisabeth's face, continued to whisper quietly, but excitedly.

Although Julia was three years older than him, she had always been a little cautious around him, and rarely spoke so much. So, Eric was curious what she was talking about.

With a silencing gesture to Elisabeth, Eric slowly creeped behind Julia.

"...The producer told me, ‘Julia, we will shoot in the studio the whole time. If there’s an outdoor scene, you can use a stand-in. You can finish the filming comfortably, and if you’re not satisfied with the script, you can make changes right then and there.’ I was so excited when I heard that. They came to Louisiana where I was shooting Steel Magnolias in person to show their sincerity, and even offered me a paycheck of $5 million. I had never been treated so well by a producer, so I asked them to send me the script, but I couldn’t stand my character’s name. Can you imagine, Liz, they actually named my character Vivian?! My god! It was so obvious that they were trying to follow the trend of Pretty Woman. I suggested that the producer change the name first, but he said that the plot can be changed according to my demands, but the character’s name couldn’t be changed. In fact, ‘he’ also told me a lot of such benefits. I remember some things ‘he’ once told me about following the trend..."

Listening to Julia’s non-stop talking, Eric, who was standing behind her, smiled, slightly. 

Elisabeth, who was sitting across from Julia, heard a few of her words as her eyes narrowed and she asked, “Julia, who is the 'he' you are talking about?”

Julia seemed to have gotten thirsty after speaking so much so she took a sip of her juice. After a few sips, she replied, "Oh, you know, although that guy is a total bastard, but many things he said are quite reasonable."

"Oh..." Elisabeth raised her chin and secretly glanced at Eric who was standing behind Julia with his hands in his trouser pockets, "So, you are completely over that guy?"

"Of course," Julia waved her delicate hand without hesitation, and slightly raised her voice as she said, "I pulled that bastard's image out of my head and crumpled it up before I stuffed it down the toilet and flushed it away."

Pssshh-

Elisabeth couldn't help it anymore as burst out in laughter with her shoulders moving up and down as she began laughing hysterically.

The people sitting nearby couldn't help but look over when they heard the hysterical laughter. Of course, some people noticed Eric standing behind Julia.

If Julia had still been unable to realize what was going on, she would certainly need mental help. Eric easily noticed that her waist was involuntarily straightened up a bit and she seemingly wanted to turn her head, but her neck was stuck as if it had gotten rusty.

"It makes me sad to hear you say that," Eric jokingly said as he stepped forward and sat down in the chair between the two women.

When Julia heard Eric’s voice, her face began to change colors quickly. When he sat down beside her, she fell into shock as her eyes remained stuck on his face for a few seconds. Suddenly, she shrank her neck and bent her waist as if he was about to curl up inside her chair to hide herself, and he explained quietly, "E... Eric, I... I didn’t... that... mean, I..."

Eric realized that Julia was really embarrassed, so he smiled and was about to make a joke when she suddenly stood up and said, "I... Gone."

After speaking, she ran out of the restaurant in panic.

Eric watched Julia's back disappear and began wondering if he really was so scary?

He patted Elisabeth who still had her face on the table and said, "Hey, Liz, don't laugh so much or you will start having stomach cramps."

Finally, Elisabeth raised her head, her face flushed, her shallow dimples still present on her cheeks, and glanced around before asking, "Hey, where's Julia?"

Eric replied, "You played a prank on her, so she’s angry."

Elisabeth glared at Eric and asked, unwilling, "What? You can blame me. You hinted to me to keep quiet."

"Julia probably thinks you pushed her into a trap."

Elisabeth turned her head and looked at the door, but she couldn't find Julia, so she had no choice but to say, “Alright, I’ll apologize to her later. But, I still blame you. I only said a few words to make her not notice you, but she ran away because you suddenly showed yourself and scared her."

‘There is no talking logic with this woman,’ Eric thought helplessly, and had to change the subject, "Aren't you still in college? It's September now, shouldn’t it be starting?"

"I have completed all my mandatory courses. The final year mainly revolves around the graduation thesis and actual practice," Elisabeth briefly explained, and then said, "I said before, my graduation thesis is based upon analyzing your films. How about it, Mr. Director, can you provide me with some ‘confidential’ information?"

Eric ignored her words, but asked, "You should have gotten a lot of information from Julia over the past few days, right?"

Elisabeth stared at him and asked, "I'm really curious. What happened between you two? Julia hates you so much. If her words are true, I want to kill you, but I feel like they’re not true at all."

"Maybe she is telling the truth," Eric replied with a smile.

"That’s impossible," Elisabeth shook her head decisively.

Eric was puzzled and asked, "Hey, Liz, do you want to study me or my movies?"

"Both," Elisabeth didn’t hide her intentions and replied, "Everything about you is interesting."

"I should warn you not to be too interested..."

Before Eric could complete his words, Elisabeth, who was like a cat whose tail was stepped on, interrupted him, "Shut up, you rascal!"

"Okay, okay," Eric said helplessly, "I've said hello so I'll be leaving now. Remember to take Julia back to Los Angeles soon. Kapoor has been so worried about her that his hair might turn gray."

Elisabeth rolled her eyes at Eric, "Nonsense, don't think I don't know, Julia's agent is bald"

"I’m just making an analogy," Eric stood up and answered, "Anyways, just remember it."

Elisabeth saw that Eric was about to leave, so she quickly grabbed his shirt and hurriedly said, "Hey, hey, what are you going in such a hurry? Since you ran into me here, just sit down and tell me about your movies."

Eric looked at the girl clinging to his clothes tightly, so he sat down again and said, "Liz, let me give you some advice. Actually, what you have to do is reverse analysis of the known results. This method is very simple. Exaggerate a lot, just like what the newspapers and media do, mention a lot of advantages of the movie, so that you can get a lot of praise for your thesis."

Hearing Eric's casual words, Elisabeth rolled her eyes in dissatisfaction and said, "Hey, am I such a superficial person?"

Eric raised his eyebrows and gave her a look as if to say “isn't that obvious?”

"I... I’m warning you, if you don't help, I will abduct Julia and take her to an Australian ranch. You won’t be able to find her even if you want to make a movie with her."

Eric couldn't bear to hear her childish words and replied with a smile, "Do whatever you want, as long as Julia is fine with it."

Eric didn't want to be pestered by Elisabeth any longer, so he stood up and walked outside the restaurant. She waved her hand and called the waiter to pay the bill and ran after him.