Hollywood (我就是好莱坞) Part I

CHAPTER 70 - HOW FAR CAN YOUR SPIT FLY ?

Stuart's eyes instantly lit up, he looked right and left, before turning to face Horner Willie.

Ptooh –

"Ah!"

Horner Willie shrieked, before he malevolently glared at both Eric and Stuart. He took out a handkerchief from his suit pocket, but froze in horror at the sight of the loogie on his chest.

Charlie Runkle hastily scrambled to wipe it off the man: "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Mr. Willie."

Mary looked unhappily at Eric but didn't dare get angry at him, she turned to her son and said: "Stuart, hurry and apologize to Uncle Willie."

Stuart, who probably found comfort in now being held by Eric, blatantly ignored his mother by turning his head aside.

"Let's go Stu, I'll introduce you to a huge star, I'm sure you'll like Tom Hanks."

Eric, without caring about anyone else, made his way towards the BIG crew while holding the little guy.

Stuart said with a tinge of pride: "I am a huge star now, Eric."

Eric smiled and asked: "And what is it like ?"

The little guy's expression changed, he shook his head and said: "Not good. I thought that if I earned a lot of money then my parents would be happy, but they fought even more after that, and dad found himself another woman."

Eric froze and looked down at the precocious 7-year-old boy in his arms: "How do you know all this Stu ? And do your parents know that you do ?"

Stewart shook his head: "If they did, they would have already divorced. The only reason they're still together is because they're not confident they can win my custody."

Eric tentatively asked: "Stu, do you know what the words you've used mean ?"

"I had to hear them a few times before I did. Right, Eric, my dad took me to pass a test a while ago," Stu then leaned towards Eric's ear and continued, whispering: "I have an IQ of 177, dad was really excited and wanted to tell the reporters about it, but that Horner Willie said it had to remain confidential and couldn't be disclosed, so dad kept his mouth shut."

Eric sighed, but couldn't stop the sneer that took form at the corner of his mouth once he thought of Horner Willie's cheap trick. The reason the guy hadn't wanted to disclose Stu's IQ was obviously because he was afraid it would boost Home Alone's entries. Foolish thinking, the movie was already on its last rope, that kind of information wouldn't do much anyways.

At the BIG crew area, Eric put Stuart down and gave a greeting hug to Tom Hanks.

Tom glanced with schadenfreude at Horner Willie who was hurrying to leave the place: "That was a seriously ruthless move, Eric. Horner Willie has OCD, he'll probably be having nightmares for the rest of the week."

Eric grinned, he had deduced as much when he had taken notice of the man's appearance, that's why he had had Stuart do that. Although it was somewhat vulgar, it felt damn good. Horner Willie would probably be uncomfortable for days to come, and it was also possible he would be scarred by today's events.

"Tom, you know him ?"

Tom Hanks nodded: "'Course I do, I'm also CAA contracted after all. Many people dislike him. He used to be okay before, but ever since the agency became huge he just...." Tom didn't continue, he simply shook his head.

Eric suddenly said: "I almost forgot about this. Tom, my relationship with the CAA isn't good to say the least, so if I were to invite you for a movie, would you refuse ?"

Tom Hanks smiled and said: "Of course not, as long as the script is good enough, I'm down."

Eric reckoned that there was nothing much the agency could do with a celebrity at Tom's level.

After the two men had chatted for a bit, Stuart pulled Eric by the hand towards some other guests, and took out a small notebook from his pocket, before proceeding to collect autographs.

Although many people had witnessed the little guy spitting on Horner, none of the minded, or if they did, didn't let it show. Stuart might be the youngest here today, but he was also more popular at the moment than 80% of the attendees, so everyone he asked would smile and sign his notebook.

Several actresses had their motherly instinct kick in, and took turns to pick the boy up and shower him with kisses, leaving behind a trail of bright red lipstick.

This continued for a while, until a staff member came up and reminded everyone that they would open soon. Eric brought Stuart back to his parents, went to find Drew, and waited for the venue's doors to open.