When "The Genius Ripley" was completed in New York, it was already November 10, 1998. Although Theolod has not signed any roles after "The Genius Ripley", this does not mean that he can give himself a long vacation after returning home, and when he finishes filming, it will be the promotion period of the film.

After more than a year of post-production, Theorod's "Soul Shifting City" filmed last year was finally put on the big screen and set for March 13, 1999. In fact, when Theorod went to Italy, the publicity work of "Soul City" was already intensive, but at that time, Theorod did not have time to participate at all.

When he returned home, he was greeted by interviews with several different film magazines, four in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain and Germany. As a tepid sci-fi and cult film that can't say much, "Soul Shifting City" would not have been treated as the December cover of the magazine, and if it weren't for the fact that Theorod and Jennifer Connelly, the heroes and heroines of the movie, were still somewhat famous, I am afraid that the length of those columns would have been shortened.

As soon as he stepped off the plane and heard the news from Natle, who had come to pick him up, Theolod felt his aching head grow even more swollen. Of course, he is not tired of these film promotion work, and close publicity is actually like a daily routine for Theorod.

It's just that......

"Mr. Lechte, I wonder if I will be able to take a little of your time when you leave Mr. Upton's office, I have some personal matters I would like to discuss with you. When Theolod listened to Nattel's report and frowned slightly, Herman, who had been silently doing his duty as a driver, suddenly said without looking back.

Theorod understood his intentions in an instant, and he didn't want anyone, including Natel and Maggie, to know about his condition for the time being, so he could only nod in compromise and lean back in his chair with his chest and eyes closed.

Nattel, who was sitting next to Theorod, closed his mouth, he quietly raised his eyes and glanced in the rearview mirror, just exchanged a look with Herman, the other party shook his head lightly at him, Natel's body suddenly stiffened, and he looked at Theorod quietly, his eyes were full of worry and solemnity.

"What's wrong?" said Theorod, with his eyes closed, suddenly.

“…… Huh?"

"I feel your gaze. Theorod opened his eyes slightly, looking at Nattel, who he hadn't seen for nearly three months, and he thought he seemed to be tanning a little more.

Caught upright, Nattel looked away, shook his head, and said vaguely, "It's nothing." ”

Theorod was a little tired, he didn't continue to ask, continued to close his eyes and recuperate, and the atmosphere in the car suddenly became very silent. Natel noticed that Herman seemed to be looking at him reproachfully, and he immediately glared back coldly.

He just wanted to be the person to whom Theorod was willing to confide in Herman in addition to being a doctor, but he never saw him as someone he could rely on. No, it should be said, he didn't even see anyone, including psychiatrists, as someone he could rely on.

After Theolod rehabs/drugs, the person who relied on him ceased to exist. He became mature, perceptive, sensible, he could understand and tolerate what he did, he understood him, so, every time before, whether it was their Cold War period, or his deliberate alienation and indifference to protect him, every moment that would turn into a quarrel, because of this understanding, finally turned into a wordless and peaceful tacit understanding.

But in other words, it is precisely because of this understanding and wordless tacit understanding that a wall has been built between them, so that he will never confide in him. Sometimes, Natel hoped that Theorod would not be so sensible and forgiving, and he hoped that he would get angry and quarrel with him, so that he might know how much pain he had suppressed in his heart.

Theorrod arrives at Marshall's new office — yes, D.N.A. has been replaced with a larger space as Marshall's career steadily grows — and as soon as he pushes the door open, Marshall suddenly jumps out of the side, holding a Saturn-shaped golden trophy in his hand, presumably to surprise Theorrod.

"Tada, the trophy for Best Actor at the 24th Saturn Awards, is actually in my hand!" Marshall shook the trophy of the Saturn Award in front of Theolod, looking like he wanted to give it but didn't want to give it to him, so he seduced him to grab it, "Guess who beat Pierce Brosnan, Nicolas Cage, John Travolka, Will Smith, and his idol, Al Pacino, to lift this trophy?"

That's right, when countless film critics and media people ridiculed Theolod for failing to win any awards for all his films since he was nominated for an Oscar, the Saturn Award for Best Actor slammed them in the face. As the "Oscar of science fiction, fantasy and horror film and television works", the Saturn Award still feels quite weighty.

And the positioning of this trophy, Theolod carefully compared, probably similar to the Mars Award in his world.

It's just that Theorod, who doesn't even care about the Oscars, will he care too much about a Saturn Award? On the day of the Saturn Awards, Theorrod was sitting on a plane to Italy, and he remembered that he handed over the authority to director Taylor Hackford at that time, but in the end, somehow, it was Al Pacino who ran to the stage.

It is said that his exact words at the time were: "As the nominee, I stood on this stage, and unfortunately the winner was not me, but someone else, but I am very grateful that he could not show up, so I was able to stand here, hold this trophy, and pretend for a short moment." Actually, the person who helped Theo lead was supposed to be Taylor, but I took this opportunity, sorry, Taylor, you ran too slowly. Okay, kidding, at first I thought he was going to ask me, but no, it's so sad, I'm honored that I can give him this trophy, and this kid always likes to see me. ”

"Now look at Theo's acceptance speech, which I snatched from Taylor...... 'Thank you to everyone who supported me'......? Oh my God, this is probably the shortest acceptance speech I've ever seen, maybe that kid never expected to win. But I wish I could still see him at the Oscars, and I heard that he went to Italy not for a vacation but to secretly participate in a good movie. In a word...... I'll say it again, 'Thank you to everyone who supported me', thank you to everyone who supported Theo. ”

This uncomfortable old guy's words seem to have made the United States lively for a while, whether it was the behavior of the same nominee who came to the stage to help the real winner collect it on his behalf, or his remarks about the Oscars in the second half of the year. In the face of so much criticism, the personality gentleman just shrugged his shoulders: "Whocare?"

Theorod learned about it when he returned to New York.

Seeing that Theolod didn't react to the trophy for a long time, Marshall was a little helpless: "Why am I not surprised at all by your coldness? Okay, your second trophy, take it well, and make a companion for your Golden Globe trophy." ”

Marshall tossed the Saturn Trophy to Theorod, who took it casually and put it on the bookshelf next to him: "Any new script?"

"What?" Marshall, who was pouring coffee for Theorod, didn't seem to hear what Theorod said.

"New script, aren't you looking for me for the new script?"

"Hell, no!" Marshall gestured helplessly, but he held two coffee cups in one hand, "My dear Theo, am I just a fascist who is constantly exploiting you and squeezing you out in your eyes? You love your job more than I am who needs to run a company, you can't give yourself a vacation? And I can't just miss you too much to find you? I haven't seen you in a long time, my big star." ”

"......" Theolod just stared at him and didn't speak.

"Well, I'll give you this trophy by the way. Also, I'm going to hold a Christmas dinner from this year, this year is the first year, you, as my first star after Nirvana, must attend, remember to give me a free night on December 10th. ”

"No problem. If you don't have anything else to do, I'll have to go back and see Maggie. He and Jude agreed on December 19, five days in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, and then returned on the 23rd, and Marshall's dinner did not conflict with this time. Theolod said, waving his hand, picking up the Saturn trophy and leaving his office.

“…… Hey, the coffee hasn't been drunk yet, this anxious boy ......" Marshall muttered helplessly as he looked at the closed door and poured one of the cups back.

Marshall thought that Theorod was in a hurry to go home to visit the old man, but he didn't know that Theorod was simply ...... at the moment I haven't had the heart to see him yet. Every time he finished filming, he had to go to Herman's house to sit down and have a comprehensive examination.

Herman even went so far as to ask Theorod for his script this time - whenever Theorod was free, his assistant would consciously jot down the temporary changes he made to the script so that the next few shots could be taken, which was a habit that Natl had developed, and he seemed to have told Bennett as well.

After reading Theorod's version of the script, Herman said a lot of academic terms very strictly. To put it simply, he thinks that Theolod's current condition is not optimistic, and even frequently appears to self-destruct, he must, must, must rest for a while, find himself, and come back regularly for re-examinations, when he thinks it is safer for him to re-make the film, he can go to shoot, otherwise there is no way. If necessary, he can go and get a dog.

This time, Theorod did not object. His agent didn't find him a new script, which means he's on a break until at least next January, except for normal publicity. With his own self-control, Theolod thought that he would be able to return himself to what Herman considered a "safe period", even if he didn't......

Can he stop it?

As the days passed, Theolod began to prepare things for Christmas with Maggie. Given that he would be away from home for five days on Christmas Eve, he had to prepare everything in advance for Christmas gifts for everyone else.

Over the course of the year, Theorod made many friends, and he personally chose a gift for each of them. Some of them, such as Edward Norton, also received a gift of his own zuò – "Edward Norton's Kiss" cookies.

However, Theorod had some difficulty preparing the flavor, what should the "Edward Norton Kiss" taste like?Theorod thought of his sweet and glutinous smile......

Vanilla, cheese, chocolate milk?

So he started asking other people's opinions.

"Nat, what do you think 'Edward Norton's kiss' should smell like?" Theolod was wearing Maggie's pink-purple apron, worried about the flour, he had been busy for a while, and there was still a small piece of white flour on his cheeks and nose.

Nattel happened to be free today to help Theorod and Maggie decorate the room and the Christmas tree, and when Theorod was baking cookies, he came over to help.

Then, he heard the question coldly.

Natel looked at Theolod with his chin propped up in thought, and raised his eyebrows.

"No, I don't know what 'Edward Norton's Kiss' tastes like, but if you change the question, I probably know. ”

"Huh?"

Theorod turned his head to look at him in confusion.

In the next second, he only felt that his eyes were dark, and a soft warm thing was pressed against his lips. The thing was moving so fast that before Theolod could react, it quickly retreated.

"Hmm......" Nattel licked his lips with a ruffian smile, "The taste of Theolod Recht' should be sweet, well, let me think about it...... If I had to taste it more carefully, I think I would be able to analyze exactly what it tastes like. ”

Theolod had no idea that Natl would do this suddenly, his lips slightly open, staring at him in amazement, like the first day he knew the person in front of him.

It was only when his mind finally reacted for a moment that he suddenly realized that at this time, Natl was very close to him.

"I said, you still have a realkiss for me, but just now," Natel looked deeply into Theolod's eyes, as if he was trying his best to restrain his hands, for fear that touching the other party at this time would lead to uncontrollable consequences, he clenched his fists and took a deep breath, "It wasn't a realKISS...... just now"