Chapter 211: High School Gay Teacher

[Chapter 211: High School Gay Teacher]

It was just past nine in the evening when Link lay on the bed discussing food shows with Brooke Shields. Suddenly, her mother, Teri Shields, came home.

Link decided to abandon his plans to spend the night and quickly dressed before making his way back home, greeting Teri as he left.

...

Not long after arriving home, he heard a knock on the door. It was none other than Oscar-winning actress Jodie Foster, his neighbor.

"What took you so long to get back?" Jodie asked, wearing a cotton t-shirt and munching on a green apple as she eyed him up and down.

"I was out for dinner," Link replied.

"Hmph, don't lie; I saw you with Brooke at the building next door. She invited you over, clearly wanting to spend the night. Why didn't you stay?" Jodie said, walking in with her hands in her pockets.

"She invited me for dinner, and she's a pretty good cook. I even shot some video of her cooking; you want to see?" Link gestured toward the camcorder on the table.

Jodie glanced at him, turned on the camcorder, and watched for a few minutes. It was indeed footage of Brooke cooking, and she looked good doing it, but Link's filming skills were impressively high. Jodie couldn't help but smirk as she watched Brooke's culinary expertise, which put her own cooking skills to shame.

Link handed her a glass of juice while taking back the camcorder. The first half of the video was about cooking, but the latter half featured other activities. From the kitchen to the living room, Brooke had more allure than the dishes she prepared -- those long legs could sustain an entire year's appetite.

"Knowing how you are, a man who can't resist temptation -- why didn't you make a move on Brooke? Oh, I get it, too much drama in your personal life? Not up to the task? I heard men struggle with the problem of limited stamina against an ever-growing desire. Is that you?" Jodie blinked playfully, with an expression that said she knew him too well.

"I'm in great shape. Now, what do you want?" Link responded, leaning back on the sofa.

"Relax; just keep at it every day, and you'll get better. You'll be all right!" Jodie teased with a wicked grin.

Link leaned back, studying her neck, chest, and legs. Although her figure was somewhat average and a bit on the slender side, her face had an undeniable appeal, and her charisma was remarkable. He considered whether to invite her for a midnight snack.

Sensing a hint of danger from his gaze, Jodie quickly subdued her teasing smile and shifted the topic to her plan for the film Hachiko. She asked if he had secured the rights.

Link replied that negotiations were underway, and since no other companies had noticed the story yet, securing the rights wasn't particularly difficult. He suggested she write the American version of Hachiko.

Jodie nodded in agreement but fretted over her scriptwriting skills and asked for his guidance. Link agreed, chuckling, "You come to me for help and still dare to mock me?"

"I'm just stating facts, aren't I?" Jodie said as she noticed a stack of scripts on the table, picking one up to flip through. "What are these?"

"Scripts that the company received," Link replied.

"Mind if I take a look?" she asked.

"Go ahead!" Link said as he also grabbed a script.

...

They both lounged on the sofa, each holding a script. Two steaming cups of coffee sat on the table, and dozens of scripts were piled in the center.

They exchanged scripts silently, reading one after another until it was past eleven. Jodie yawned, set her script down, and stood up to leave.

Link prepared to see her out.

Jodie suddenly cracked a wicked smile and said, "No need to get up. You're not feeling well; better rest."

"I told you, I'm perfectly fine," he insisted.

"Hmph, you men are all just talk."

Before she could finish, Link pushed her back against the wall. No matter how much she struggled and kicked, he held her firmly. He leaned down and kissed her ear and lips, leaving Jodie blushing bright red.

"Sweetheart, how about my strength?" Link whispered in her ear with a chuckle.

Jodie bit her lip, glaring fiercely at him.

"Stamina is a man's basic dignity. Don't provoke me like that. If I wanted to overpower you, not even ten of you would stand a chance," Link said with a laugh before releasing her.

Jodie hurriedly ran towards the door, shooting him a vexed glare before stomping out.

---

The next day was the 66th Academy Awards, and Link received an invitation to attend, though he had no nominations. He declined the invitation and settled in at home after work to watch the televised event.

The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, were established by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1929. It was the oldest and most prestigious film award in the United States and one of the most influential in the world.

With high standards and significant recognition, winning an Oscar was quite challenging. The little golden statuette became the envy of filmmakers everywhere.

Link would be lying if he said he didn't covet it, but the media had labeled him as a "bad film director," making it difficult to gain the recognition he sought from Oscar judges in the near future.

This year, Guess Pictures garnered only two nominations: Best Foreign Language Film for The Wedding Banquet and Best Visual Effects for Final Destination.

After three hours of the ceremony, the Best Foreign Language Film award went to the Spanish film The Lover, while Best Visual Effects went to Jurassic Park.

Other awards were quite similar to those at the Golden Globes, with Schindler's List emerging as the big winner, snagging seven out of its twelve nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Cinematography.

Tom Hanks won Best Actor for Philadelphia, and Holly Hunter snagged Best Actress for The Piano, among others.

Yet Link didn't walk away empty-handed. During the Best Actor award segment, Tom Hanks took the stage for his acceptance speech. He thanked his high school drama teacher, Rawley Farnsworth, mentioning how his performance in Philadelphia was greatly inspired and supported by him.

This reminded Link of a comedy called In & Out. It told the story of a high school teacher who was outed as gay on the eve of his wedding, leading to a series of humorous events during the Academy Awards. It performed well at the box office and even received an Oscar nomination.

...

"What are you laughing at? Is there something wrong with Hanks' speech?" Jodie, who didn't attend the Oscars either, had come over again after work to check out some scripts while watching the Academy Awards.

"Not at all; I had a brilliant idea for a movie," Link said.

"What's the idea?"

"A story about a teacher suddenly being outed as gay."

Link jumped right into it, grabbing a pen and notepad from the table and sketching out a framework in twenty minutes. In just over three hours, he created a first draft of the script.

Jodie stayed put, sitting across from him, watching him write. When she noticed his coffee cup was empty, she offered to refill it.

...

Once Link set down his pen, Jodie immediately leaned in, grabbing his script and flipping through it with wide eyes.

"Are you even human?"

"What do you mean?"

"You just listened to Tom Hanks' acceptance speech and immediately wrote a script?"

"Doesn't it make me seem impressive?" Link teased while rubbing his wrist.

"Not in the slightest! Not impressive at all." Jodie shot him a disapproving look, clearly irritated.

She, too, had dabbled in screenwriting but often took a long time to produce something satisfactory. Meanwhile, Link had this knack for quickly generating a high-quality script. It felt really unfair to her.

"Are you going to direct this film?" she asked.

"It's a comedy; I'm not looking to direct one just yet," Link replied.

Jodie nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly said with sincerity, "I have to admit you're quite the guy. You're better than most of the men I know. If you took relationships more seriously and weren't so fickle-minded, you'd be a perfect man."

"Thanks! It's getting late; do you want to stay the night?" Link asked.

Jodie rolled her eyes at him, feeling frustrated. Just moments before, she had thought he was impressive, but one fastball had turned him back into a mess.

"No thanks. I told you I'm not interested in men -- you included," she said as she slipped on her slippers. She pointed at a script on the table. "I think the story in this script is pretty decent; you should check it out."

After seeing Jodie off, Link returned to the sofa to continue reading scripts, including the one she had recommended.

Once he finished reading, he was surprised to find a story that felt all too familiar.

*****

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