Simon and Janette left the party after two hours, just after 9:30 PM.
On Sunset Boulevard, Janette, her face flushed, leaned against the slightly open car window, letting the wind blow on her for a while, then looked at Simon beside her and said, "Little boy, are you planning to agree to it?"
Simon nodded and said, "Yeah, Orion's conditions are quite sincere".
"But," Janette tilted her head and said, "They only gave you one week for a test shoot. Aren't you afraid they'll intentionally kick you out?"
Simon naturally had such worries. He wasn't naive and was well aware that Hollywood was full of countless schemes and deceptions. However, if he wanted to start 'Run Lola Run' in the short term, he wouldn't have any other better options. Moreover, at the party just now, Brian De Palma had given Simon another layer of assurance.
"Didn't you just hear? Brian said that if Orion ultimately chooses me as the director, he can be credited as an executive producer for this film".
While Brian De Palma's name wasn't as effective as Spielberg's, and he had been in a slump for the past two years, he was still one of Hollywood's well-known directors. Being credited as an executive producer on a completely new film by a newcomer could still attract a lot of attention to the movie.
Furthermore, Simon had enough confidence in his own abilities. As long as Orion wasn't initially malicious and trying to seize the film, he believed this matter would have a very good outcome.
It was just that, in doing so, the favours he owed would grow larger and larger.
Moreover, with a budget of one million dollars, Orion would naturally not agree to Sandra, a newcomer with no qualifications, playing the lead role, which was also a problem.
Janette, sitting in the passenger seat, noticed Simon's brows gradually furrowing in thought. After a moment of silence, she said, "If you hadn't donated that money, you could definitely make this film without any restrictions now, right?"
Simon heard Janette suddenly bring that up again, turned to look at the woman, and seeing a hint of guilt in her expression, said, "This has nothing to do with you. If I wanted to keep that money, none of you would have been able to take it from me".
Jeannette blinked, a hint of dissatisfaction in her expression, and insisted, "How can it have nothing to do with it? It must have something to do with it".
Simon smiled, said nothing more, and focused on driving.
Janette also turned her head away like a sulking little girl, seemingly showing her displeasure to Simon.
The Ford sedan drove along the winding Sunset Boulevard at the foot of the Santa Monica Mountains. After more than ten minutes, Janette noticed a neon billboard by the roadside and turned her head again, saying, "Hey, if we go any further, we'll pass Pacific Palisades. Are you lost?"
Pacific Palisades is a luxury hillside residential area on the westernmost edge of the Santa Monica Mountains' Los Angeles section. Although it still belongs to the city of Santa Monica, a little further, at the end of Sunset Boulevard, turning onto California State Route 1, is the Malibu area.
This was clearly past the Montana area where Simon lived.
Simon shook his head and said, "No, aren't you staying in Malibu? I'll take you back".
Jeannette pouted, disdainfully saying, "Coward, you're really afraid I'll stay at your place, huh?"
Simon smiled and said, "You've been drinking".
Jeannette was startled, but somewhat unconvinced, she said, "You've been drinking too, haven't you?"
Simon only had one very light cocktail at the beginning of the party, with an alcohol content even lower than beer, but Janette had asked a waiter to mix her a very strong vodka after he finished talking with Mike Medavoy. Simon naturally wasn't at ease with the woman driving back like that.
Seeing Janette still staring at him, Simon shrugged and said, "So, I'm a man. Even if I get caught by the police, I'm the one who goes to jail".
When Janette heard Simon's words, her long eyelashes fluttered a few times, and her whole body seemed to suddenly soften. She leaned against the seat, her eyes shimmering with a watery glint.
Simon felt the woman beside him suddenly go quiet. He turned to look, and immediately shivered as if startled, saying, "Don't look like that, people don't taste good at all".
Jeannette blinked a few more times, then suddenly reached over and mercilessly pinched Simon's waist, angrily saying, "Bastard, you really are a little rascal".
While they were bickering, the Ford sedan unknowingly arrived outside a mansion near Point Dume Park in Malibu.
Simon stopped the car and looked at Janette, who was still sulking like a little girl in the passenger seat. He paused, then leaned over and gently kissed Jeannette's cheek, saying, "All right, good night. Go home and get some sleep. Also, lend me your car; I'll return it to you tomorrow".
Janette realized that when Simon leaned in, she had actually cooperated by raising her cheek for him to kiss, and she immediately felt that she wasn't putting up enough of a fight. However, hearing Simon's instructions, she still nodded and reluctantly pushed the door open to get out of the car.
Only after watching the black sliding iron gate across the road open and then slowly close did Simon turn the car around and drive back the way he came.
Inside the mansion, Janette felt that her tipsiness might not have worn off, or perhaps it had even intensified.
She turned on all the lights in the living room, then softly collapsed onto the sofa, feeling a bit floaty. So she rolled to the left, then rolled to the right, and then fell onto the carpet.
She rubbed her head; it hurt a little, and she naturally blamed a certain guy for it.
Then she remembered what had happened tonight.
After pondering for a moment, she quickly made up her mind.
Not wanting to get up, she scooted like a lazy cat to the low table beside the sofa, reached out, pulled the phone into her arms, and slowly dialled a string of numbers.
After a few beeps, the call connected.
"Hi, Iceberg, have you missed me lately?"
The quality of the overseas call was very poor, not only with a noticeable delay but also mixed with static.
A moment later, a rather impolite reply came from the other end.
She didn't get angry, just giggled.
"Of course I have something to talk to you about. Who wants to talk to you for no reason? I'm afraid of getting frozen... All right, all right, it's like this: lend me a million, please. Oh, and it's US dollars... I'm not going to ask the old man. Also, tell him that if he dares to send any more random men to set me up on blind dates, I'll publicly marry a woman... Please, if you won't lend it to me, I'll have to sell stocks... Ugh, you cold-blooded woman, you're actually thinking about my stocks? Are we still family? Be careful, I'll disown you... So how much can you lend me... 500,000? How could you only have 500,000... All right, all right, it must be daytime in Melbourne, right? Transfer it to me now; I need it tomorrow... That's it then, goodbye. Oh dear, talking to you for a bit, I'm practically freezing to death".
Simon woke up the next day and prepared breakfast.
There was no dining table in the dining room, so he could only sit at the kitchen bar and eat slowly.
He was a bit troubled about how to tell Sandra Bullock about last night's events. Sandra had also put a lot of effort into this film recently, and they had originally planned to re-visit all the scouted locations today.
Mike Medavoy said he could seriously consider it for a few days, but Simon had no intention of delaying.
It seemed he could only compensate her later if the opportunity arose.
Thinking this, after breakfast, Simon was about to call Sandra Bullock to talk, when the doorbell suddenly rang.
Opening the door, Janette, wearing a different casual outfit today, appeared outside again.
Simon glanced around again and asked, "How did you get here?"
Janette disdainfully held up her limited edition Hermès shoulder bag: "You don't think I only have one car, do you?"
"Alright," Simon let Jeannette in and asked, "So, what's up today?"
Janette didn't say much. She pulled a check from her shoulder bag and handed it to Simon: "Here, you can make 'Run Lola Run' exactly as you want. If it's not enough, I can get more next month."
Simon looked at the check; it was for $680,000. According to the budget made by the production assistant he hired, this amount alone was pretty much enough.
It's just that...
Simon hesitated for a moment before saying, "Jenny, I'm quite confident in this film of mine. However, you also need to know that film is arguably one of the riskiest investments in the world; no one can predict whether a film will succeed".
Jeannette didn't wait for Simon to finish, impatiently rolling her eyes: "So verbose, little boy, do you want it or not?"
"Yes," Simon immediately nodded, but then quickly added, "But if it loses money, don't cry, especially don't cry like you did in the hospital that day".