Hollywood Secret Garden

Chapter 162: The beginning of summer vacation in New York

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The middle-aged man blinked in disbelief for a while, but before he could speak, Angela had already taken off his hat and sunglasses with a smile.

"My God! Chrissy!" Vincent cried out in surprise, stood up and hugged the girl, "It's been a long time since I saw you, you are so old!"

"Yeah, long time no see, not even when I got to Los Angeles." Angela held her hands together and looked dissatisfied.

"You can't blame me, dear." Vincent said a little embarrassedly, and then changed the conversation, "By the way, Chrissy, you come to New York at least once a year, but I don't see you coming to see me."

"Well, this... let me introduce," the girl immediately changed the subject and pulled Frank over, "this is my uncle, Frank Albert. Dear uncle, this is Vincent Maxime, my father and The godfather's good friend."

"Hello, Mr. Maxime." Frank shook hands politely.

"You can call me, Vincent."

"Okay, Vincent, please call me Frank."

After the two of them chatted, they sat down on the sofa in the reception room, and immediately started the conversation between men, such as career, Vincent's cultural publishing company, which has not been very prosperous recently. Over the difficulties, but the position of CEO has been unstable, barely reaching the goal this year, but it is also very dangerous, so he needs to continue to seek Brian's support.

Angela was not interested at all, and couldn't understand anything. The secretary had already returned to her office after serving the drink, so she stood up and sneaked to the door of the godfather's office. She secretly pushed open a gap and wanted to see herself. how the godfather works.

As soon as the door opened a little, a deep voice entered his ears: "The target you promised was $60, Michael, so you should be mentally prepared." Not in a hurry, but with an irresistible force.

"No no no. Brian, listen to me. The original estimate was only a little optimistic. Last quarter, our earnings per share were $1 and 5 cents, and it has increased by 8 cents per share." A voice was slightly excited. said.

The girl secretly looked inside. His godfather sat on a large, high-back chair, with one hand on the armrest, propped up his face, and looked blankly at the middle-aged man who was explaining to him. To be honest, Angela has never seen her godfather shown in this way.

"The original goal was 10 cents," Brian replied coldly.

The man on the opposite side who was already bald sighed, "Brian, do you really want to give me a few cents?"

"My stock is down, Michael. I don't care about yours, but these pennies cost me millions..."

"Give me another season. Brian, if you still think so then, it's not too late to make a decision."

"I've heard that twice. I don't want to hear it anymore. Michael!"

There was silence in the office, only the light breathing of the middle-aged man named Michael.

"No...you can't do this, Brian...without me...there would be no Bigger Sports Equipment Company," he whispered.

"That can't be a reason for you to waste my money." Brian shook his head. "I hope you can voluntarily resign, instead of me forcing you to step down. I have prepared a contract for you. The conditions are fair, but if you don't sign it, the benefits will be reduced and the compensation will fail. Think about it, Michael!"

Just when Angela still wanted to listen, a hand reached out and pressed it on the door. Angela was slightly startled and looked up. I don't know when the secretary had come to the front and put her index finger on her lips. Then shook his head.

The girl smirked, made an apologetic gesture, and left quickly. On the sofa, Vincent and Frank were still talking, completely unaware of what the girl had just done.

Angela was able to sit back obediently without explaining, but she always thought about how her godfather looked completely different from usual, so she couldn't help but worry about Vincent, knowing that although they were friends, their business was business. .

"In fact, if I can publish another best-selling novel, I can solve the current trouble. As long as there is a good story, I will be able to package it well, but if the authors I like are not poached by other companies Well, or just ignore me completely." Vincent said helplessly.

"Well, I don't know much about publishing novels, but why would the author ignore you? Someone should be happy to publish his article as a novel, right?" Frank asked.

"Who knows," Vincent shrugged, "the writers are all eccentric, just like the author who published a special issue for him last month by Marvel magazine, and I asked the editor of the magazine for the first time. I contacted the other party, but he never replied to me."

"Well, that's a shame, maybe another publisher already promised?" Frank asked.

"Unlikely, from what I'm aware of, there are at least four or five publishers who want to contact each other, but no news."

Angela frowned at this time and asked, "Uncle Vincent, what are the supplements from the Marvel magazine you're talking about?"

"Well, there is a very interesting guy named Blizzard. Obviously this should be a pseudonym. He changed the DND system and created a huge world. Although there are only ten stories, the things behind it can be fully excavated. I believe that he must have a complete world design, and I have to say that this guy is a genius!…” While Vincent was still babbling on the ground, Angela had already folded her arms and tilted her head, looking like she was asking for guilt He looked at his uncle.

But Frank didn't react for a while, and it wasn't until the girl coughed dryly that he came back to his senses: "What? What's wrong?"

"Those letters!" Angela looked or glared at her uncle, "You never mentioned those letters, the publisher's letter to me!"

Frank was stunned for a moment before he suddenly realized: "Oh, I remember, an editor did write a letter, but I didn't know it was about publishing."

"Then why don't you give me those letters? I haven't received any letters except the one that the magazine started publishing!" Angela posted it, glaring at Frank.

"Well, wait. I think, maybe it was in a drawer. Or it was taken away by Lawrence, but it must still be in my house." Frank explained, and then changed his words: "It's not my fault. , dear, if you write the address as my villa and use a pseudonym, then there is a high possibility of a problem!"

"But you're asking me if you can guarantee that there will be no problem. Your answer is yes! My dear uncle!"

"Well..." Facing the still angry girl, Frank quickly said again: "Look, isn't this very good, Vincent is now trying to get permission to publish your novel, if you knew it before, maybe he would choose another family."

Angela was stunned, and speaking of it, this is also possible. At this time, Vincent, who was inexplicably heard, finally found a chance to interject: "Hey, Frank. What are you talking about?"

"Vincent, you didn't mean to publish that or something, in the Marvel magazine supplement..."

"The Ten Tales of Azeroth."

"Yes. That's the name." Frank said, pulling the girl in front of him, and said with a smile, "The author is here!"

It took a full minute for Vincent to reflect: "Chrissy?!"

Looking at the surprised look on the other side, Angela shrugged: "You don't think I can't write it, do you? Uncle Vincent?"

"Oh, no. I just think..." Vincent made a few gestures, "I know you're writing a script, but this builds a huge world system!"

"Borrowing some of the settings of DND, the basic world view has been completed. Maybe we will talk about this in detail now." The girl said with a smile.

"Oh... I don't need it for the time being!" Vincent, a businessman, hurriedly shouted, "Let's talk about publishing first, how about leaving it to me? Chris? I promise this will be an excellent book. novel."

"So confident? You're not afraid just in case..."

"Trust my vision, my dear, as long as your novel is handled properly, it will definitely have the strength to be on the bestseller list!" Vincent vowed. "Think about it, the genius girl's first novel. And it's still such a grand worldview."

"Actually, dear Uncle Vincent, this is just the beginning, I have a lot of ideas about Azeroth that I'd love to give you personally, but I don't want it to be published in my name, understand? ?" Angela said, spreading her hands.

"Not published in your name?" Vincent was slightly disappointed, but he quickly recovered. He was interested in the content of the story, "This is no problem, as long as you agree to it."

"Well then, I will let my agent come over as soon as possible. If it works as well as you said, dear Uncle Vincent, I can also introduce a book to you." The girl smiled. said.

"There's another book?" Vincent was stunned, but then put it behind him: "Let's talk about it, I just want to say, it's great that you promised me!"

At this moment, the door of the office was pushed open, and the man named Michael who had been talking with Brian came out. Vincent turned a blind eye.

"Poor Michael." Vincent shook his head, not knowing whether he was sighing for his own luck or the other party's misfortune.

Then the female secretary came over: "Mr. Vincent, you can go in."

And Vincent looked at Angela and then at the female secretary, and suddenly laughed: "Okay, I think today's appointment can be cancelled." When Brian raised his head from the desk, he was obviously stunned.

"What's wrong? Do you think I'm a monster?" Frank sat down in front of him with a smile.

"No, I remember there should be someone else before this, or he... gone?" Brian asked, then pressed the phone: "Marcy, please bring two cups of coffee, thank you."

"You are right, Vincent has left, he has a new goal." Frank solved the doubts in his heart.

"Oh? In that case... wait, you know Vincent. Frank?"

"I didn't know each other at first, but Chris is here. It's impossible not to know each other." Frank said with a smile.

"Chris? You said Chris is here too?" Brian stood up in surprise and was about to go out.

"Hey, don't get excited, Chris came here with me, but has left now, with Vincent," Frank said hurriedly.

"Leave? With Vincent? Hey, Frank. What the hell is going on?" Brian was already confused.

"Simply put, after I got off the plane, I came directly to you, and Chris also came along, saying that I wanted to see your office, and then I met Vincent when we got here, and we After chatting with him a few words, I found that the author of a novel he was trying to publish was Chrissy, so at Vincent's request, Chrissy verbally agreed to hand over her novel to him for operation. So Vincent found that he didn't need to ask for your support for the time being, so he was ready to leave, and Chris said that he had been here before. So he left with Vincent without disturbing the conversation between you and me, and that's it."

"Sounds... complicated," Brian said, frowning as he took Marcy's coffee.

"It's actually quite simple—thank you, Marcy." Frank took the coffee too.

"My goddaughter has already arrived at my door, but instead of coming in to see me, she turned around and left. Is there anything more tragic than this?" Brian exclaimed exaggeratedly.

"Actually—" Frank said after watching Marcy leave: "I heard Chris mutter something like the godfather at work is scary when she was leaving, didn't she come to you before? office?"

After listening to this, Brian was a little stunned before sighing: "Actually, I never brought her here... I'm always tough and ruthless at work... Forget it. No Say this."

He shook his head and put the coffee cup on the table. Quickly walked to the front of the file cabinet, opened it and took a closer look before taking out a heavy folder.

"There are about 20 people who are suitable at the moment. They are all girls from New York and its vicinity. They are selected according to the criteria you provide. Their information is here. You can look and choose. As a person who has come here, you know. , I don't understand that." Brian pushed the folder in front of Frank.

"Okay, but are you sure you don't tell Jedi?" Frank opened the folder and started rummaging.

"Let's talk to him when we're sure." Brian shrugged, and then said again, "I did this for Chris, and I don't need his approval. If he dares to disagree..."

He smiled and didn't go on, but he obviously had absolute certainty. Frank didn't ask any further, but carefully flipped through the documents in his hand. He read and thought about it. After about an hour, he chose 5 and handed them to Brian.

Brian didn't look at which ones were selected, but stared at Frank for a while before smiling bitterly: "You don't want me to take over their custody."

Frank spread his hands: "In fact, these five girls have their own advantages and disadvantages, and it's hard for me to say which one is better. After all, Chris is a little older now."

Finally, he knocked on the table and took out one of the five documents: "If you really want to choose, this is it."

Brian took it and took a closer look. The girl in the photo looked very handsome, but her brows were always gloomy: "Born in Brooklyn in 1982... My father was a lawyer. When he was attacking the yen in 1990, he made a mistake. Judging the situation, it turned out to be worthless, and finally committed suicide by jumping off the building... My mother is an actress and singer, and ran away with someone a month ago... My brother is gay... Now I don't know where to go at a Catholic college... "

"If it's accurate, it's a good fit regardless of personality and appearance, and to be honest her lips look like Julie's - the only problem is that she's a Catholic, but I'm taking her to England, of course, there are Catholic districts in England, but you know , our family is Christian, although I personally don't care about it, but..." Frank spread his hands and did not finish.

"I believe in the authenticity of the document, as for Catholics..." He put down the document and laughed. "That's not a problem, is it?"

"It's really not a problem." After thinking for a few seconds. Frank nodded in agreement.

"Goodbye, Mr. Tuckers." Natalie waved to the theater manager, got on her bike and started pedaling home, the last rehearsal of the summer.

Since starring in "Killer Lyon", she has only taken over two films so far, both of which are supporting roles, and only ended the filming of "Growing" some time ago.

For Natalie, stage play is her favorite, even though she is the heroine in her first movie. Although it is just an ordinary role, although it is only a community theater, she is still very happy to perform hard, and maybe she will perform on Broadway in the future.

In fact, this point is not unrelated to Luc Besson. The French always like to show some naked women in movies to express romance, although they had a miscarriage due to parental opposition during the filming. But it left some shadows for Natalie, and she disliked Luc Besson very much.

However, it sounds strange. It stands to reason that she should also resist Angela, but in fact Natalie didn't think about it at all. As for the reason... Maybe it was because of the painting that Angela gave her? Or because Angela came to see her for the newspaper scandal

Natalie didn't know, she just knew that just thinking about the scene when they woke up hugging each other that morning would make her blush, and she always felt that the relationship between the two of them was not normal. Not like normal friends anyway.

Soon, she returned to her doorstep, jumped off her bicycle and crossed the fence, and said hello to the gardener working on the lawn: "Good afternoon, Mr. Jean."

"Good afternoon, Natalie." The middle-aged man replied with a laugh, while reminding: "By the way, you have a guest at your house."

"A visitor?" Natalie parked her bicycle, walked to the door a few steps, and opened the door with the key: "Mom and Dad, I'll go back..."

I got stuck in the middle of the sentence. On the sofa facing the door, sat a beautiful girl, chatting with her mother.

"Ann... Angie?!" Natalie looked at the girl in surprise.

"Hi, Nat, it's nice to see you." Angela waved to her with a smile.

"Come back? Angie has been waiting for you for half an hour." The mother came over and took the bag from her hand.

"Hello, Angie...Aren't you in Los Angeles?" Natalie hadn't recovered from her surprise.

"I'm here to accompany my grandpa. He's not feeling well recently, so I stopped by to see you." Angela explained.

"Really, God bless him with health." Natalie said, looking at her mother, and then said, "Why don't we go upstairs."

"Okay." Angela nodded and stood up, then walked upstairs with her.

"Nat, you can put something on later." Mom's voice came from below.

"Understood, Mom." Natalie replied with a no-brainer.

Came to Natalie's bedroom, closed the door, the two did not speak, and looked at each other for a while before speaking in unison.

"I miss you, Angie!"

"I miss you, Nat!"

The coincidence made both girls stunned for a moment, and then giggled together, and then Angela took out a square box from her clothes pocket and handed it to her: "Nat, I have a present for you."

"This is?" Natalie took the box and looked at each other with a wink.

"You know me, I never gave you anything, so I want to make it up." Angela said with a smile, "Open it and see."

Natalie opened the box and exclaimed in a low voice. It was a beautiful crystal bracelet. It consisted of 14 crystals of the same size, and each sparkling crystal had a micro-engraved pattern.

"This... This is too precious, this is not what I should have." Natalie shook her head, wanting to return the thing to Angela. But the other party shook her head, and she grabbed her hand and pressed her fingertips: "Listen to me, Nat, I bought this at a charity auction, and all the expenses were donated to Charity, so you can take it with confidence."

She smiled: "This is my little intention, please don't reject me, okay? You can do whatever you want, wear it, collect it or donate it, except return it to me."

Feeling the warmth in the other party's hands, and looking at her smile like a spring breeze caressing her face, Natalie suddenly felt that her heart began to warm up, and she finally nodded: "Okay, then I'll accept it."

Then, her face cooled, Angela gently kissed her cheek.