Chapter 34 - I have no money

"Hey, baby, do you have an evening dress? We're going to a fancy party. Huh?" Eric frowned slightly: "See what TV producers? Annie, I forgot to tell you, I have a script specifically for you. I know you want to rely on your own strength, but tonight James specifically told me to bring a female companion. If you don't come then how could… No, I was the one who… I see, okay, bye."

Eric sighed as he hung up the phone, ever since Home Alone's success, his relationship with Annie had undergone a subtle change. Although she was still as casual as ever, it felt like she was stepping on needles every time she was with him.

He knew that it was because she had seen some comments about them in the tabloids, which had induced her feelings of low self-esteem. Although Eric had been as soothing as possible to get her not to mind it, the anxiousness of the girl hadn't decreased.

To get out of this turmoil, through her father's advice, she decided to take a few hours every week to continuously participate in TV, movies and plays' auditions.

Annie's goal was very simple; she wanted to become famous fast and shut those newspapers up.

...

In John Aniston's Beverly Hills home, Annie hung up the phone, and also let out a sigh. She wanted to join Eric at the party and longed to star in one of his movies.

But she knew that if she did so now, the public would scorn her for relying on her boyfriend, and she would have to forever live with a label. Maybe some women wouldn't care and be ecstatic instead, but to the strong and independent Aniston, this was unacceptable.

Reading the newspaper, John Aniston saw his daughter in a daze and couldn't resist saying: "Jenny, I'm meeting up with Koster today, how about you come with me? He definitely would not mind."

Aniston shook her head and said: "No, Dad, although Mr. Koster wouldn't mind, I would. It's just too unbecoming for him to give me that role."

"Jenny, Eric is a good boy, he's more mature than the average young man, I think he wouldn't mind all those things."

"But I do mind, Dad." Aniston said: "Look at what the newspapers are saying. My God! I never thought people would view me that way."

"Annie, if you're concerned about this, you'll never be happy," John persuasively said: "Eric has achieved such dazzling results at such a young age, unsurprisingly his life would be under scrutiny, and you as his girlfriend would certainly not escape from this, unless…"

John Aniston hastily shut his mouth. He didn't want to plant any seed in his daughter's heart with his statement, as she might resent him for that in the future. Although his impression of Eric had changed, because of his daughter's strong-hardheadedness, he wasn't optimistic about the couple's future.

...

After Aniston had refused to accompany him, Eric lost interest in the upcoming party. Later in the afternoon, he put on a suit that his father left behind and drove towards the Hilton Hotel, where the party was hosted.

He had just appeared in the hall when the sharp-eyed James Brooks came up to him. However, once he noticed the youth's attire, he frowned slightly. He grabbed Eric's shoulders in a friendly way, and whispered: "Eric, your identity is different now, you should pay attention to the way you dress, you should have at least put on a suit that fits you."

Eric looked at his somewhat large and cheap suit which was the only one his father had possessed. He shrugged helplessly and pulled out his wallet in front of the man as he shook it with a smile: "James, in addition to my car, this is all I have left, a total of… Well, five hundred twenty-one dollars and seventy-five cents. I had to mortgage the house to make Home Alone, and I still haven't repaid it. I have no money to buy new clothes."

Seeing the guy that had created so much hubbub as Hollywood's youngest millionaire acting like a beggar, James' mouth couldn't help but twitch: "Okay Eric, Mr. Diller has been waiting for you, let's go."

The party had already started; the hall was bathed in lights, the band played mellow music, and the waiters were shuttling drinks back and forth. Many huge names from his past that he had only seen on screen were chatting in groups of twos or threes.

Seeing James Brooks leading a kid through the crowd, everyone got curious about the stranger's identity. Although newspapers had published photos of Eric, many people still did not recognize him.

Someone finally uttered his name, and countless eyes turned to stare at him, making the youth feel slightly uncomfortable.

When he had almost reached the end of the hall, Eric finally saw an acquaintance. At the corner of a long table, Penny Marshall was wearing a black dress and chatting with Tom Hanks next to her. She looked up and their eyes met.

Both of them smiled and nodded. Eric couldn't help but glance at Tom Hanks who was at her side. Although he was already 32, his figure was tall and features handsome. The slightly chubby look of his later years was nowhere to be found.

Once they arrived in front of a room, James said: "Eric, go inside, Mr. Diller is waiting for you. I'll excuse myself now."

Eric knocked on the door and opened it when he got a response. A man and woman were sitting on a couch. When she saw Eric come in, the 30-year-old beauty whispered something to the middle-aged man, picked up her handbag and quietly left the room. The fifty-something male was obviously Barry Diller. Eric remembered seeing pictures of the tycoon in his past, his big nose made him quite recognizable.

"Hello, Eric." He stood up and reached out his hand towards Eric.

"Hello, Mr. Diller, nice to meet you."

The two men shook hands and sat down on the couch.

"I reckon a lot of people must feel frustrated every time they see you."

Eric raised an eyebrow, and asked: "Oh? Then how about you, Mr. Diller?"

Barry Diller didn't mind Eric's brusqueness, he laughed: "Of course not, I don't believe in luck or shortcuts. I believe in my own strength and that's what allowed me to climb from the William Morris Agency's bottom rung to where I am now. Maybe I'll envy your achievements, but I am still proud of my career."

"Mr. Diller, do you feel Home Alone's success to be entirely coincidental?"

Barry Diller nodded and said: "I did make a special analysis, and there were many small coincidences that factored in its success. So I'm really curious, Eric, why you dared to make such a gamble with Columbia when you had an 80% chance of failing."

Eric said: "I came from nothing, and if I fail, I'd just have to start over again."

Barry Diller felt that it wasn't the whole truth but didn't delve further and instead opened: "Well, Eric, I'd like to invite you to join 20th Century Fox, what do you think?"

Eric didn't intend to tie himself to a giant. If he agreed to this invitation, he'd probably have to sign a contract for several years.

So he shook his head and said: "Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Diller, but I plan to start an independent film company and keep making low-cost movies for now to train myself."

Diller was directly refused and did not insist anymore. Since Eric had appeared, a few specialized agencies had made a thorough psychological analysis of the fellow based on factors like his life experiences, personality, etc. Barry Diller had also read these reports and knew that the youth was rather decisive unlike his peers and once made up, his mind was almost impossible to change.

As for Eric opening his own film company, Barry Diller didn't care. Many famous directors had done the same to obtain more benefits and the right to stand up for themselves, they'd rather do that than rely on the Big Six.

These people often failed miserably before realizing they couldn't tread this path alone. In Eric's past, even the best among Giants, DreamWorks, had ended up failing. So the difficulty of the road ahead was hard to fathom.

Investing in a movie was like gambling; before it was released, no one knew if it would do well. DreamWorks' main mistake was investing in a lot of shitty projects, which resulted in huge losses and brought about their doom.

However, this risk so far didn't apply to Eric, because he already knew the results. This was a cheat-like ability that would help him rule this world.

Maybe the giants would team up against him to prevent the loss of their monopoly, but Eric wasn't too afraid. As long as his movies succeeded, no one would pass over the profits to make life difficult for him.

It had happened with Tom Cruise in his previous life. Although he and Sumner Redstone had openly fought in the press, a few years later the two were once again sitting at the same table, laughing like old friends.

After a casual talk, the topic soon turned to Home Alone. For now, Eric had only the one chip that caught the Giants' attention, even Jurassic Park had yet to catch their attention.

"Alright Eric, let's get to it. We'd like to buy all of Home Alone's remaining copyrights, and we would also like you to sell the script for your sequel. We'll give you a very reasonable price, how about it?"