Feeling someone push her, Demi Moore opened her eyes and saw Simon standing by the bed, fully dressed. She immediately remembered what happened last night.
The curtains in the bedroom were not drawn, but judging by the sky, it was still very early.
Demi Moore sat up, intentionally or unintentionally letting the thin sheet slide off her body. She gave the man beside her a pleasing smile and said, "Morning, Simon".
"Morning", Simon said, placing a square box on the nightstand. "I have to go to work. I've ordered breakfast for you both; it's downstairs. The driver is outside and can take you whenever you're ready".
Demi Moore couldn't help but look at the box with the word 'Gucci' printed on it. "Is this for me?"
"It's for her", Simon gestured to the woman still fast asleep on the other side of the large bed. He reached out and pinched Demi Moore's chin. "Alright, that's it. Bye".
Demi Moore watched Simon leave the bedroom before flopping back onto the bed. She muttered dissatisfiedly, "It's Saturday, what kind of work is he going to? What a hateful man". After saying that, she turned her head to look at the feminine body under the sheets next to her, which was far more exquisite and graceful than her own, and reached out to pat it. "He's gone, no need to pretend to be asleep".
"You lied to me", Rene Russo, her head buried in the pillow, suddenly spoke up. She added with some resentment, "You all lied to me".
Demi Moore reached out, took the packaging box, and opened it. Inside was a classic Gucci Floral series silk scarf. It was a very versatile style, said to have been inspired by an idea from Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco herself, and it has continued to this day.
She picked it up and admired it with a mix of envy and dissatisfaction. She could certainly afford a Gucci scarf, but she was resentful of that guy's favouritism. Hearing Rene Russo's accusation, she immediately retorted, "Who lied to you? You were clearly willing".
Rene Russo was even more dissatisfied and cursed, "Bastard, I thought it was just me. I didn't expect it to be three people together. Oh my god, three people".
Demi Moore tried to fold the scarf, ignoring Rene Russo's foul language. "So what? He still likes you more. It was like that last night, and it's like that now. I didn't even get a gift".
"Is that liking? I even wonder if I committed some Unforgiven mistake and he's punishing me", Rene Russo propped herself up on the bed, feeling weak all over, and had to give up. Noticing Demi Moore was about to put the scarf around her neck, she reached out and snatched it away. "This is mine".
As she spoke, she also snatched the box away.
With the scarf taken away, Demi Moore gave a reluctant look, lifted the sheet, and got out of bed, heading toward the bathroom without wearing anything.
Rene Russo watched Demi Moore's figure heading toward the bathroom and cursed "bitch" under her breath. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling for a while before finally getting up. Looking down, she found many red marks on her body; although not serious, they were very obvious, which made her even more depressed.
Although...
That guy was really strong. Moreover, the experience last night didn't seem that bad. She could feel a strange kind of tenderness in his roughness, even an attachment.
But...
Sleeping with a young man more than ten years younger than her without any preamble was one thing, but the sudden threesome still left her feeling a bit broken.
She gathered the sheet around her body and walked toward the bathroom, pushing the door open.
Demi Moore was soaking comfortably in the luxurious marble bathtub. Seeing her appear at the door, she waved her hand. "Go to another Room; I'm not used to sharing a bathroom with others".
"I'm even less used to it", Rene Russo quipped sarcastically while holding the sheet to her chest. After leaning against the doorway in silence for a moment, she asked, "And then?"
Demi Moore played dumb. "And then what?"
Rene Russo stopped talking and just stared intensely at Demi Moore in the bathtub.
Demi Moore felt a bit guilty under her gaze, worried the woman at the door would rush over and push her down into the bathtub. She had to explain, "There is no 'and then'. There are so many jerks in Hollywood, how should I know what happens next?"
Rene Russo continued to stare at her and said, "Don't think I don't know you're vying for the female lead in 'Ghost'".
"Yeah, but that jerk didn't give me any promises. He probably just wanted to play with women and didn't think one was enough", Demi Moore shrugged, then suddenly said with some schadenfreude, "You're even unluckier; he probably doesn't even know your name".
Rene Russo fell silent immediately.
Last night, when she saw the young man come in and Demi Moore didn't leave, she was stunned. Then came a night of frenzy. Until he just left, she hadn't even spoken more than a few words to him the entire night.
Her expression flickered for a moment before Rene Russo turned away in silence.
Demi Moore leaned back against the edge of the bathtub again and began to calculate. Although she said that just now, she didn't plan to let it go. As a married woman, she had taken a big risk last night. Even if she couldn't get the lead in 'Ghost', she would still fight for other opportunities from that young man.
After soaking comfortably in the luxurious bathtub for an hour, Demi Moore put on the dress from last night and left the second-floor bedroom.
Rene Russo was already sitting in the dining Room.
Demi Moore picked a few items of food from the platter in the centre of the table and sat down on the other side. Noticing the scarf around the woman's neck, she teased, "You really like his gift, huh? You put it on so quickly".
Rene Russo just glanced at her and lowered her head to continue eating her breakfast.
She had just finished showering in another bathroom and got dressed. Standing in front of the vanity, she wanted to touch up her makeup when she realized why that hateful young man had given her a scarf.
It looked like there were strawberries planted all over her neck.
Moreover, after reluctantly tying the scarf, she actually felt some inexplicable goodwill toward him, and then she severely condemned herself.
No backbone at all!
Now, thinking that he might really not even know her name... sigh.
Just treat it as a dream.
After all...
He is so dazzling in Hollywood.
And she is older than him by, well, fourteen years. Does she dare to expect anything?
At this moment, listening to Demi Moore's words and facing the woman who brought her into this situation, she had no mood for pleasantries at all... After leaving Palisades, Simon spent the morning with Amy at the Malibu Daenerys Studios construction site.
After several months of planning and preparation, the overall design scheme for the studio had been completely finalized. The land in the valley had also finished being levelled, and the road leading into the studio had been widened. The project will start construction in mid-May. Both the main building and the later renovation phases have a six-month construction period, and it is expected that they can officially move in by June next year.
At noon, he had lunch with Angela Ahrendts, the president of Gucci's American branch, who had specifically come from New York.
Simon had a lot of information about Angela Ahrendts in his memory, which was why he had taken a special interest in her among the pile of resumes provided by Sophia Fessey.
In the original timeline, Angela Ahrendts had served as the CEO of the famous British luxury brand Burberry. Because she led this century-old classic luxury brand back to its peak, Ahrendts caught the attention of Apple and successfully joined the world's most valuable electronics company as the Senior Vice President of Retail. She was even rumoured to be Tim Cook's successor.
The current Angela Ahrendts is only 28 years old. However, in the few months she has been in office, her performance has been very satisfactory to both Simon and Sophia. Sophia now intends to adopt some of Ahrendts' business philosophies to reform Gucci stores in Europe and Asia and privately hinted to Simon that in two or three years, Ahrendts might be put in charge of the entire Gucci operation independently.
Santa Monica.
In a seafood restaurant on Venice Beach, Angela Ahrendts spent the entire lunch explaining her various ideas regarding customer experience, financial management, and marketing plans to Simon.
Simon just listened carefully, occasionally asking about his doubts.
As the business map of the Westeros System expanded rapidly, Simon now only needed a general understanding of business operation concepts to stay informed; he didn't need to master the minute details of the operations, nor did he have the time or energy for it.
Lunch lasted until two o'clock in the afternoon.
Near the end, Angela Ahrendts brought up another matter: "Simon, regarding the 'Gucci Night' event at the Cannes Film Festival, Sophia still hopes you can go to France personally".
After the Academy Awards Ceremony in March, 'Gucci Night', co-hosted by Gucci and Daenerys Entertainment, was a huge success. Sophia immediately decided to replicate this marketing event at the Cannes Film Festival in May. This year's Cannes Film Festival opens on May 11th, and the 'Gucci Night' there is scheduled for May 20th, the second Saturday of the festival.
Simon had heard Sophia mention this when he was in Melbourne. He didn't pay much attention at the time, only saying he would have to see his schedule then.
Hearing Angela mention it again, Simon asked, "Do I really have to go?"
Angela Ahrendts nodded and said, "If you don't show up, many of the guests we hope to invite might not attend".
Simon considered his work schedule.
Because the post-production period for 'Batman' was very flexible and many tasks didn't require constant supervision, he was now basically spending half his time on 'Batman' post-production and half on company management. Although busy, it wasn't to the point where he couldn't leave at all.
The smooth operation of Daenerys Entertainment over the past few months also proved that the company was on the right track and didn't need him to watch it at all times.
So he nodded in agreement.
Seeing that it was about time, Simon called the waiter for the bill and asked Angela Ahrendts, "Do you have any plans for the afternoon?"
Angela Ahrendts was stunned for a moment and shook her head.
Simon noticed the hesitation in Angela's eyes and realized she had misunderstood something. He explained, "Daenerys Entertainment has established a data analysis company to support Blockbuster's operations. I'm going over there this afternoon to take a look. Some of the concepts proposed by the head of this company have many overlaps with what you just explained. Perhaps you two can exchange ideas".
Hearing Simon's explanation, Angela Ahrendts felt a bit embarrassed about her fleeting thought and nodded. "Nancy, we know each other".
Daenerys Analysis is located near Santa Monica beach. The two left Venice Beach and arrived at their destination less than two kilometres to the north.
Looking at yet another Daenerys Entertainment subsidiary housed in a small three-story building, Simon looked forward more and more to the early completion of Daenerys Studios.
Nancy Brill was already waiting for him. Seeing Angela Ahrendts appear, she looked clearly happy and pulled her aside for a round of whispering, almost instantly forgetting about Simon, the boss's existence.
Angela Ahrendts wasn't as socially inexperienced as Nancy. After chatting with her for a few words, she said, "Simon said he wanted to see the results of your work here together".
"Let's go upstairs", Nancy nodded upon hearing Angela's reminder and then said to Simon, "I happened to discover some things recently and was just thinking of discussing them with you".
The three of them went upstairs together.
The second floor was the office area for the data analysts. The surroundings were somewhat cluttered, with various charts hanging on the walls. Some employees still working couldn't help but look over curiously when they saw Simon, the big boss, appear. Simon wasn't too cold either; he greeted everyone warmly before starting to listen to Nancy's explanation.
"Blockbuster's data management system won't finish upgrading until September. However, based on previously accumulated data, the analysis company has already begun collaborating with Blockbuster and has provided many suggestions in areas such as logistics, warehousing, and management", Nancy said, taking a file from a cabinet by the wall and handing it to Simon. "For example, this, this is also what I wanted to tell you."
Simon flipped through the file and found it was an analysis report on the types of video rentals and sales at Blockbuster stores, detailing the rental and sales data for various types of films.
Flipping through the document in his hand, Simon asked, "Actually, the ideas aren't the most important part. The key is, since you're making these suggestions, how do you ensure Blockbuster can execute them without compromise?"
Nancy said, "I'm personally keeping an eye on it now, so of course they won't".
Simon looked up. "You're personally keeping an eye on it?"
"Yes", Nancy nodded. "Besides being a member of the Board of Directors, I am now also a Senior Operations Consultant for Blockbuster".
Simon was puzzled. "How come I didn't know?"
Nancy was even more puzzled. "Do you need to know?"
"Alright", Simon was speechless. Remembering Nancy's last attempt to pressure Blockbuster's management, he reminded her helplessly amidst Angela Ahrendts' soft chuckle, "Whenever you want to kick Wayne Huizenga out and become the chairman yourself, remember to give me a heads-up".
Nancy said seriously, "According to Blockbuster's current rate of expansion, by the end of next year, when the scale of Blockbuster stores exceeds 1,000, Huizenga's ability will be somewhat insufficient".
Simon gave up. "I was just joking".
Nancy remained serious. "I wasn't".
Simon looked 'guiltily' at the small woman who was still a bit shorter than him despite wearing sky-high heels and asked carefully, "Um, Nancy, do you have any plans to kick Simon Westeros out too?"
Nancy shook her head. "No, you are the 100% controlling shareholder of Daenerys Entertainment. Doing that would only result in me being kicked out".
Simon breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good".