Through his conversation with John, Eric learned of Annie's difficulties, and realized he had also underestimated how strong she was.

Thinking about it again, it was indeed true. The past Aniston had been the one to take the initiative to divorce after finding out about Pitt's unfaithful ways, and compared to those women who would do anything to even get one more penny out of it, she hadn't even requested for an alimony.

Eric decided to let her breathe and put this matter aside for a while.

He drove home with this mindset, but started to get a headache when he thought about how he would have to explain the situation with Drew in the future.

He didn't intend to give up on Annie, this was his first woman since his rebirth, he was quite possessive, he'd definitely get that stubborn girl back.

He returned home to find an already dressed up and ill at ease Drew, sitting on the living room sofa. Eric scratched his head: now then, how exactly was he supposed to deal with this little goblin ?

He certainly couldn't just let this pa.s.s, otherwise the la.s.s would probably never learn the lesson.

He calmly sat down on the other sofa, and picked up a newspaper to read.

Drew saw Eric come back sullen, and in silence, it was as if she didn't exist and like nothing had happened. This only added to her anxiousness.

Although she had always wanted to s.n.a.t.c.h Eric from Aniston, she had never intended it to be because of this kind of misunderstanding. She was a smart girl, she obviously knew that this method would not only, not get her Eric, it would also make him hate her.

And now, with the events from this morning, even if it was unintentional, she was still the primary culprit. Seeing Eric's expression, she knew they must've broken up.

In order to melt the ice, Drew got up and ran to the kitchen. Bringing back Aniston's breakfast over, she put it in front of Eric in a small plate and intently stared at him.

"Eric, just now Mr. Hunt from the Fox called to discuss about a contract."

"Uh uh." He hummed two syllables as acknowledgment.

"Eric….." Drew lightly cried, as she moved a small step towards him.

Teaaaar –

Eric forcefully turned the newspaper page, frightening Drew who had intended to sit down besides him as she quickly moved away.

After a while, seeing he hadn't had another reaction, Drew slowly moved over. She threw herself in front of him, and her face brushed past his knee as she started sobbing. She was really scared that he would loathe or ignore her, if he really did, what was the meaning of living anymore ?

"Eric, I'm sorry…. Sob, I'm so sorry,…. I didn't mean to….. I'll help you explain to Aniston….."

Feeling the pet.i.te body trembling near his feet, Eric sighed. He had intended to give the girl a lesson, but seeing her like this, his heart softened.

He was about to speak, when he saw Drew turn around and bend over the coffee table, her back facing him: "Eric just…. Just hit me okay ? Just please don't hate me."

Eric put aside his newspaper. In this position, the water green dress was tightly wrapping her, and it emphasized her well-developed body, her natural slender waist, and her beautiful heart-shaped perky b.u.t.t. Her pair of jade colored little feet exuded a certain allure.

Eric's breath got a little rougher, and Drew who was antic.i.p.ating her punishment turned around. Once she noticed that the man's eyes were glued to her b.u.t.t, she subconsciously s.h.i.+fted to a more enticing position.

Slaaaaap –

Eric could finally not hold back and mercilessly slapped down.

You d.a.m.n goblin, this young master has been meaning to teach you a lesson for a while !

...

The punishment over, he looked funnily at the la.s.s who was rubbing her b.u.t.tocks before sending her away while he himself left for the Fox's headquarters.

Although Barry Diller and him had a preliminary arrangement, it still took several hours to get down all the details, and it wasn't until three in the afternoon that the two sides signed an agreement. Eric left the Fox with the contract and a 25 million dollars check in hands.

"Jeffrey, help me contact Nicole Frank tonight, I want to throw a party at home to celebrate... Of course, everyone who partic.i.p.ated in the Home Alone project is invited.... Alright, I'll leave it to you then."

Hanging up the phone, Eric went to a grocer to buy some necessary things, and after some thought, he drove to Jeff's as he planned to hire him as a caterer.

He had just pushed open the door of the lively Italian restaurant, that the sharp-sighted huge figure of his old friend came hugging him in high spirits: "Hey, Eric, long time no see ! Haha, you really stole the show this time eh ? I've seen your two movies, they're really good."

Eric smiled and the two of them made their way to an empty table.

"Julia, two cups of coffee." Jeff shouted to a waitress once he was seated.

"Right away, sir." A female voice uttered from behind the counter.

Julia ? Eric was curious, he had worked in this restaurant for a few months, but he didn't know any staff member by that name, he reckoned that she was probably hired to fill the gap he had left.

He turned around to take a look, and a tall girl with a head full of brown hair had her back facing them, apparently busy with the coffee machine.

Jeff noticed Eric's gaze, he smiled and said: "Julia is new, she came after you left. She's also an actress, I heard one of the movies she played in came out in October."

Eric turned back, and asked: "An actress' revenue shouldn't be too shabby, does she still need to waiter ?"

Jeff replied: "There's hundreds of thousands of men and women dreaming of stardom in L.A, do you think anyone can be as lucky as you who made it so big in your first attempt ? I heard she shot the movie I told you about awhile ago, she hasn't been cast in almost a year, so she's temporarily working here in order to make ends meet."

Eric shrugged indifferently, there were countless of movies being produced each year in Hollywood, for a release to only drag for a year could be considered lucky.

Many movies never made the cut, some weren't even able to be released on tape and would forever be piled in a shady place somewhere, acc.u.mulating dust.

This was something similar to his past's TV series in China, the mainland produced thousands of drama each year, but the audience was only familiar with a dozen of them. Some dramas didn't even make it past the pilot episode.

In his past life, if Eric had met one of those tyc.o.o.ns who produced those sure-hit TV shows, he would probably have even tried shameless methods to befriend him, like outright grabbing his thighs and shouting 'Brother !'.

"Here you go sir…. and this gentleman, your coffee."

Eric was casually chatting with Jeff when the waitress named Julia came over with their cups.

"Thank you." When Eric was about to take his cup, he casually looked at the girl, and this glimpse shook him so much that the newly brewed hot coffee spilled all over the table, while some even sprinkled on him.

Inhaling a deep breath, Eric hurriedly drew a few napkins to wipe the back of his hand that had now turned red.

"I'm sorry…. I'm really sorry !" Seeing Eric's skin change colors, the girl was fl.u.s.tered and kept apologizing.

Jeff harshly glared at her, before turning to his guest: "Eric, let's hurry and put cold water on it."

Eric nodded, got up and walked towards the kitchen, and when the staff noticed him, they enthusiastically scrambled to help, while as the waitress responsible for the incident, Julia stood helplessly behind the crowd. The relations.h.i.+p between the boy and the owner Jeff looked good, she was really worried about what would happen to her now.

"Okay everyone, I'm alright, you better get back to work or Jeff will take it up on me."

Jeff pretended to be angry and said: "What am I, a monster ?!"

The crowd laughed before quickly dispersing.

Eric returned to the table outside along with Jeff, only to find a girl standing near them, her face full of anguish.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Williams, I really didn't mean it." The girl had heard her colleagues talk and knew of Eric's name.

"It's okay, I really don't mind. You're….." At this time, he could only feign ignorance.

"My name is Julia, Julia Roberts."