Chapter 475: Connections

The Boeing 767 took off from Honolulu International Airport at 8 AM. Including flight time and time zone differences, it arrived in Los Angeles by Monday afternoon, just after 3 PM.

There were less than two hours left until the Oscars red carpet event at 5 PM.

On the runway, Joan Severance, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, and Nicole Kidman took turns hugging Simon at the cabin door, then walked down the gangway.

Nicole Kidman was the last to leave. Recalling the crazy weekend that had just passed, she glanced at the other women already down the stairs. Summoning her courage, she said to Simon, "Simon, I, um, I hope this is the last time. In the future... this is just too reckless."

"Sure," Simon replied with a smile. "Actually, if you'd said you didn't want to before, I wouldn't have forced you."

Nicole was taken aback.

Reflecting on the past two days, indeed, this man had never forced them. It was either they, or she herself, who willingly went along, with no resistance at all.

Seeing Nicole dazed, Simon gestured outside the cabin door, reminding her, "The red carpet event is starting soon. You don't have much time."

Nodding instinctively, she was about to walk out when she suddenly asked, "You're really not attending the Oscars? And the Gucci party afterward?"

Simon shook his head, not offering any explanation.

Feeling inexplicably disappointed, she stepped forward and hugged Simon again before heading outside.

Two cars were already waiting by the runway. One was a motorhome for Nicole, where her personal assistant and stylist were waiting to help her get ready quickly. As soon as she got in the car, Pat Kingsley called, detailing the important aspects of the awards ceremony.

Joan Severance, Cindy Crawford, and Linda Evangelista did not have invitations to the ceremony.

However, they needed to prepare for the Gucci party after the Oscars.

The three women took a stretch Rolls-Royce from the airport. Linda Evangelista looked back at the disappearing Boeing 767 and then at the motorhome following not far behind them. Feeling both envious and dissatisfied, she couldn't help but complain to the other two women, "Why don't we have a motorhome, and why do I have to share a car with you two?"

Cindy Crawford selected a bottle of red wine from the car's wine cabinet and glanced at Linda. "Because you're not as high-profile."

Linda Evangelista, like a cat whose tail was stepped on, immediately retorted, "Neither are you!"

Cindy calmly turned the corkscrew in her hand. "I'm not the one complaining."

At that moment, the motorhome sped up and overtook the Rolls-Royce.

Watching the motorhome pass by, Linda couldn't help but say, "I don't know what Simon sees in her. She's practically flat-chested and always looks so reluctant even though she's willing."

Joan Severance sipped the red wine Cindy handed her and said, "A lot of men like women like that."

"In that case," Linda glanced at Cindy, "Cindy, you were way too forward. Seems like it backfired."

Cindy lazily leaned back in the leather seat with her wine glass. "I actually did it to provoke you, and it worked very well."

Linda was about to pour herself some wine when she was taken aback by Cindy's words. Realizing the truth, she glared at Cindy and blurted out, "Bitch!"

Cindy wasn't angry but warned with a sidelong glance, "Call me that again, and I'll slap you."

Linda, feeling competitive, opened her mouth but noticed Cindy's narrowed eyes. She didn't dare to provoke her further, pouring herself a glass of wine and finding a comfortable position in the leather seat.

After a moment of silence, Linda couldn't help but say, "But that guy is really something." Recalling something, she added, "And he's really strong."

Cindy responded, "And your mouth is really big."

Linda immediately retorted, "Yours is too!"

Cindy said, "I meant, if you blab about the weekend to anyone, be careful, you might get silenced."

Realizing she misunderstood Cindy, Linda still wouldn't admit it, stubbornly saying, "I'm not stupid."

Joan Severance watched the two bicker, holding her wine glass with one hand and lightly tracing her fingertips over her handbag with the other.

Inside the bag was a card with Simon's private email address.

He had said that if she needed anything in the future, she could contact him via email.

Email, a novel concept for her.

Joan Severance had barely touched a computer before.

However, Simon said he checked his email daily. Thus, having his email address was clearly more valuable than a phone number. After all, phone calls took time, and he wouldn't have much time to deal with women. Frequent calls would only backfire.

Occasional emails probably wouldn't have that problem.

At 34, Joan Severance wasn't much older than the 27-year-old Linda Evangelista and 26-year-old Cindy Crawford.

She just started earlier, making her seem like a different generation.

The modeling industry was very fast-paced. If you didn't make it by 20, your prospects were dim.

With more experience, Joan understood the significance of Simon Westeros giving her his email address.

It was a promise.

If managed well, this connection could bring unexpected benefits.

In this light, the past weekend wasn't a waste.

And, despite the four-woman scenario being a bit crazy, it wasn't all that bad.

This year's Oscars were held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in the Los Angeles Music Center.

At 5 PM Pacific Time, the red carpet ceremony officially began.

This Oscars focused on five Best Picture nominees: "The Piano," "The Prince of Tides," "JFK," "Thelma & Louise," and "The Fisher King," along with technical awards for blockbusters like "Batman: The Dark Knight," "Terminator 2," and "The Flash."

The red carpet event lasted an hour, with many of the hottest stars appearing.

Nicole Kidman arrived around 5:40 PM. The audience clearly remembered her performance in "Pulp Fiction," and her role as April O'Neil in the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series had boosted her popularity.

As soon as Nicole appeared, the stands erupted in cheers.

After meticulous preparation for over half a month and a frantic last-minute touch-up, it all came down to the next few hours.

Hearing the cheers, Nicole quickly adjusted her mindset, smiling and waving to the crowd, which led to even more enthusiastic responses. Noticing Pat Kingsley's signal from the red carpet's edge, she calmly walked forward.

Cheers, applause, spotlights, the focus of attention...

This was what she wanted.

For a moment, she thought of a certain someone.

While everyone else was desperate to join this event, afraid of being forgotten, losing popularity, or being overtaken by others, he was nonchalantly flying to New York during Hollywood's most important moment.

She walked the red carpet without realizing it.

After an interview with ABC reporters and brief greetings with familiar faces in the waiting area, it was almost time, and everyone began to enter the theater.

Nicole Kidman was presenting "The Prince of Tides," one of the five Best Picture nominees. As part of the arrangements by WMA and Daenerys Entertainment, she had a relatively prominent seat in the sixth row, next to the "The Piano" team, making her easily visible to the cameras.

At 6 PM, the ceremony began on time.

After successfully hosting two consecutive Oscars with great audience feedback, Billy Crystal was the host again.

This comedian had a great year.

Following "When Harry Met Sally," his movie "City Slickers" had a $27 million budget and grossed $123 million in North America, making it his second consecutive billion-dollar film.

With two blockbuster hits, Crystal had become WMA's most popular comedy star.

The opening monologue included the usual jokes.

Over the past year, Warren Beatty, whom Woody Allen envied, finally got married, and Hollywood celebrated.

This was a "big event."

It rivaled the industry's shift from the Big Seven to the Big Eight, back to the Big Seven, and possibly down to the Big Six.

Batman saved Gotham City again.

The Flash appeared in Central City.

Surprisingly, Los Angeles seemed to lack famous superheroes, making it very dangerous.

Looking at the big screen, Hollywood seemed very unstable.

A madman assassinated the president ("JFK"), a woman became mute ("The Piano"), a beggar couldn't escape the trauma of a bombing ("The Fisher King"), a poor man needed therapy ("The Prince of Tides"), and two desperate women went on a wild road trip ("Thelma & Louise").

And for the Oscars, this year was groundbreaking, with three women directors simultaneously nominated for Best Director.

In the theater.

Listening to Billy Crystal's jokes, many film industry people couldn't help but feel nostalgic.

Over nearly a century, Hollywood had indeed undergone significant changes in recent years.

Just this Oscars, with three women directors nominated, was unprecedented and surprised many.

Since the Golden Globes, the media had been discussing this a lot.

Especially after none of the three films won at the Golden Globes despite being nominated for Best Picture, the media criticized the Golden Globes for gender discrimination.

With this backdrop, many realized that the 64th Oscars had a high chance of crowning Hollywood's first female Best Director.

Behind all these changes, the influence of a certain young man was evident.

After Billy Crystal's opening, Academy President Karl Malden gave a speech, specifically mentioning the three women directors' nominations.

Then, the awards began.

The first award was Best Supporting Actor,

 presented by last year's Best Actress winner for "Ghost," Whoopi Goldberg. The award went to veteran actor Jack Palance for "City Slickers."

Nicole Kidman would present "The Prince of Tides" in about an hour.

As the awards were announced, she had an idea: to tally how many awards were connected to Daenerys Entertainment.

First, Whoopi Goldberg, "Ghost," obviously. +1.

Second, Kathleen Turner, introducing "The Piano." +2.

Third, Rebecca De Mornay and Christopher Lloyd presenting Best Makeup, won by "Batman: The Dark Knight." Rebecca De Mornay starred in Daenerys and Disney's "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle." +3.

Fourth, Joe Pesci, last year's Best Supporting Actor for "Goodfellas," presented Best Supporting Actress to Kate Nelligan for "The Prince of Tides." +4.

Fifth, newlyweds Warren Beatty and Annette Bening presented Best Art Direction to "The Prince of Tides." No connection.

Sixth, "Batman" series stars Adam Baldwin and Valeria Golino presented Best Film Editing to "JFK." +5.

Seventh, "Wayne's World" stars Mike Myers and Dana Carvey presented Best Short Film. +6.

Eighth, Nicole Kidman introduced "The Prince of Tides." +7.

Ninth, Tom Hanks presented Best Visual Effects to "The Flash." +8.

Tenth, "Thelma & Louise" stars Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon presented Best Foreign Language Film to "Raise the Red Lantern." +9.

By the tenth count, seeing the Eastern director on stage thanking Simon Westeros, Nicole suddenly lost interest in counting.

Although none of Daenerys Entertainment's nominations won an award, Nicole felt a certain sense of being surrounded.

She vaguely recalled rumors that the Highgate Films team helped with the Oscar campaign for "The Prince of Tides." So, even the "unrelated" fifth entry wasn't entirely unrelated.

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