“…… There is no industry where the competition is as fierce as the entertainment industry, because what you get or what you may get is far more than what you pay. Especially young people, once they suddenly become popular because of a certain movie, they will earn money that ordinary families may not be able to earn in their lifetime. Like Macaulay? Culkin, he was only 14 years old in 1994, and his salary had reached 8 million! Celebrities are like this, and so are agents, if you can't get what you want for your client, then you will lose him, and without clients, you will have no meaning, so if you don't want to be eliminated, you have to give up a lot of things. After talking about himself intermittently for most of the day, Frederick smiled bitterly, "This is the reality, when you are valuable, they will try their best to flatter you, you can do whatever you want, but when you are not valuable, they are not willing to look at you more." ”

"It's been a long time since I've been here for a drink." He then sighed under his breath.

"You have to have something to hold onto," Sean, who had been listening quietly to what he had to say, "I know what you're trying to say, Fred, yes, I admit it, to survive here—not just here, to survive and live better in this Shijie, you have to change something." I don't object to this, even a very small number of geniuses don't dare to say that they can completely change shijie and let shijie cooperate with themselves, not to mention us ordinary people, but! ”

Jumping out of the hood of his car, Sean came to Frederick with a beer bottle and looked with him at the city below that had begun to light up in the sunset: "There must always be something to insist on - yes, you give up a lot of things, you change yourself again and again to adapt to this shijie, you can live well, even better, but ......"

He pointed down the hill: "How many people are like you in this city?" As sleek and angular-free as you are? Is there any difference between you and them, between them and you? What are you doing that is yours, something that is truly and completely Frederick's, unique? ”

Scenes from past and present lives keep coming to mind.

"I wouldn't mind changing and adapting if I really needed to."

He's changed so much in comparison.

"I can keep my posture to a minimum, and I can flatter others."

skin color, physical appearance, and even character.

"As long as that's a must."

But some things can't be changed.

"But there are always things that are worth sticking to, and there are always some bottom lines that I need to stick to."

I'm not interested in "who I am", I just know that there are some things that can't be lost.

"If even those have changed, then I am not me anymore."

Sean took a deep breath and drank the remaining beer from the bottle: "In the beginning, I just wanted to solve the problems of life, I didn't really want to be an actor or even a star, but now, I want to continue." It's just one failure, I've got plenty of time, I've had many more failures, and it's not time to throw in the towel. It's like a game, maybe there's a lot of time, but once you give up, then it's over. ”

Frederick turned his head to look at him for a long time: "I hate people like you the most, Sean, smart, Jihua, not ambiguous at all when serious, but stubbornness will not change anything, but-"

He suddenly laughed: "It's not bad to try, I'm just 30 years old this year, for American tradition, 30 is a new beginning, no matter how many stupid things you have done before, as long as you correct them after the age of 30, you can still achieve something." I don't think I've done anything stupid before this, but I think I can try. ”

The agent likewise tilted his head and poured the rest of the beer down his throat, then straightened his clothes and held out his hand to Sean: "Okay, meet again, Frederick?" Rogers, the agent at Endeavour Elite Brokerage, is honored to serve you. ”

Sean blinked, slightly stunned, he didn't understand how the rhythm changed as he spoke. The other party's serious appearance is a bit like acting in a movie, and it is like the plot in some animations, which makes people want to laugh.

But he still grabbed his hand and shook it after all: "Sean? Don, a rookie actor, is happy to be represented by you. ”

Then, he burst out laughing, which immediately infected Frederick, and the agent squirted out. The two of them laughed like this, laughing more and more, like two fools, but they were unusually happy, and the humiliation they suffered today completely faded.

"By the way, you just said that at the beginning, being an actor was just to solve life problems, which means that when you save enough money, you plan to quit, right?"

"I think since we've just reacquainted, let's let these things pass."

"No, no, no, I have to know what you're thinking, if what you said in the first place was a lie."

"Come on, Fred, do you want to dwell on this pointless, I look like a liar?"

"Yes, very much like that."

After the two of them laughed and teased each other a few words, Sean's pager vibrate, he picked it up and looked at it, and then frowned slightly.

"Hey, Fred, can I borrow your phone?" Sean asked.

"Of course." Frederick didn't think much of it, took out his phone from the car and threw it to him.

Sean smiled, then stepped aside, picked up the phone and dialed, "Hmm...... Naomi? How...... Wait...... Wait, don't ...... What did you say? Don't do anything stupid...... Listen, stay where you are, I'll come right over...... I'm right on the Santa Monica Mountains, not far from Mulholland Drive, just a few minutes...... Listen, promise me, wait for me over there, don't go away! ”

He said and dropped the phone back to Frederick, "I'm sorry, Fred, I have something to go down the mountain." ”

"Naomi? Sounds like a girl's name," Frederick raised an eyebrow, "your girlfriend?" ”

"Just a normal friend." Sean shook his head in denial.

"Come on, don't think I don't know, Sarah at the front desk? Rivitt, and several other female staff, I don't know how many times I've mentioned you. Frederick teased, "You're good at women, aren't you?" ”

Then he didn't give him a chance to have a seizure: "Need help?" ”

"Xiexie, no, as long as you drive slowly and don't violate the rules, there will be no police interrogation." Sean rolled his eyes, then reversed onto the road, only to open the window and give Frederick a middle finger when he was about to descend the mountain.

Two or three minutes later, Sean arrived at Mulholland Drive, a 21-mile two-lane road built in 1924 along the Pacific coast that connects Highway 101 to Route 1 Carrillo National Park.

It took another five or six minutes for Sean to find Naomi's parking lot, and as soon as he entered, he saw her red, slightly worn Dodge.

Knock knock, reached out and knocked on the window a few times, waved his hand again, and the door opened. Then, Sean saw the pair of tearful eyes, thinking of the crying voice on the phone before, there is no doubt that she had just cried before.

"What's going on?" Sean, who was the co-pilot, asked.

"I didn't ...... It's nothing......" Naomi wiped her mouth with her hand, barely squeezing out a smile, "It was just ...... Didn't control the ...... It's okay now......"

"Who made it difficult? Or did the audition go wrong? Sean continued.

Despite Naomi's best efforts, he could see that her current situation was terrible, and although she was very confident before, there were times when no one could support it.

"I didn't ...... It's okay, I'm just ...... xiexie you come over but I really ...... It's just a ......" Naomi was a little incoherent and waved her hands to try to persuade her, but before she could finish speaking, tears suddenly rolled down her eyes.

Although she covered her mouth for the first time, she let out a low sob, and her whole body arched up, crawling on the steering wheel and trembling slightly. This petite woman no longer has the strong appearance she used to have, curled up in her seat, looking so pitiful.

Almost immediately, Sean reached out and put his arm around Naomi's shoulder, took her into his arms, and gently stroked her back and whispered comfort. Naomi didn't resist, but leaned into his arms as much as she could, sobbing quietly, as if she could feel safe there.

Although she didn't finish what she said just now, Sean basically guessed the reason, and she was happy to tell him two days ago that there was a role that had been auditioned for Zuihou, and the probability of getting it was very high. Looking at her now, something must have happened temporarily, thinking back to what happened to her today, a wry smile appeared from the corner of Sean's mouth.

Rao is like this, he still continued to comfort softly: "Okay, it's okay, it's not a big deal, it's not worth it like this." ”

The warm body in his arms didn't react, and Naomi, who was buried in it, just hugged him tighter, and the low sobs didn't stop. Sean couldn't help but sigh, although he understood her pain at the moment, he didn't really understand, after all, Naomi had been working hard for ten years.

Therefore, if you want to calm her down, you have to change the method.

It was completely dark outside, and even though there were no lights on in the room, I could still see inside through the light coming in through the window.

There were a few empty beer bottles lying on the floor, several pieces of the open pizza box on the coffee table were still untouched, and some paper bags were scattered everywhere, so that it felt a little messy.

Polk crawled on the ground behind the couch and wagged his tail in boredom, glancing at the bed from time to time, and it was somewhat incomprehensible that the master and mistress of the weishenme, whose limited wisdom thought so, were not playing with him to-day.

It's a pity, even though it is very unhappy and unhappy, it can only crawl here honestly and listen to the movement on the bed.

"Did he really say that? Did he really say that?! Naomi asked in a surprised tone, just like the two of them who were crying in the car before.

But just look at the beer bottle she hooked between her fingers, her face flushed in the light outside the window, to know what was going on.

"Yes, that's what he said, with a sneer and triumphant, as if I was completely finished and could never turn over." Sean, who was also carrying a beer bottle, shrugged.

The two sat side by side on the bed with their legs bent against the wall, their heads leaning against their heads while drinking and chatting about various topics, and then they talked about Sean's experience today.

"Oh, don't pay attention to him, this kind of person is the inferior, they are all guys who will only borrow the power of others to be arrogant, they are nothing without the powerful, you don't need to care." Naomi said loudly, and raised her arm to slap it around, looking a little excited under the influence of alcohol, "You're smart and talented, you're going to have a role sooner or later, I'm sure of that." ”

"I believe it too, Naomi?" Sean turned his head to look at her, "I also believe that you, who are both beautiful and talented, will definitely become famous." ”

Naomi fell silent suddenly, she looked up at the ceiling, and after a long time she sighed, "I don't know, Sean, I don't know. ”

She closed her eyes, frowned slightly, and seemed reluctant to recall: "Many people told me that there should be no problem with that role, but after the audition yesterday...... One of the producers told me...... I'm so beautiful......"

Speaking of this, Naomi laughed out loud, with a little mockery and more helplessness: "Nobody cares about my acting skills, no one cares about my efforts, in their eyes, I'm just a ...... Vase. ”

She wrapped her arms around her legs and didn't say any more, but Sean knew that the pause might be hiding something.

"No, Naomi, it won't. Although we haven't been together for long, I know that you will be very good, you will be very good, as long as ...... Hold on to it. He shook her hand, "I know, I'm just an extra, and my words may not be convincing, but I'll change my mind, and I'll want to keep going, because you're holding on, so ...... I want to see you still leading me. Don't give up, even if it's for me, okay? ”

Naomi turned her head with surprise, confusion, and ...... Moved, the room immediately fell silent, all that could be heard was the sound of a heartbeat, an indescribable atmosphere spread, and the two lonely people reached a strange resonance at this moment.