At a church at the foot of Beverly Hills, in December, Dakota Johnson's baptism ceremony was held here.
What was originally a very private matter became very lively due to the celebrity status of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, as well as the presence of Simon and others. As a long-standing Hollywood family, the Griffith family invited a total of fifty relatives and friends to attend the little one's baptism ceremony, and the media reporters who heard the news were no less numerous than the guests.
It is now the final sprint of the 'Batman Begins' promotion, with huge movie posters appearing in many famous locations in major North American cities, and the cast and crew are rushing around North America without stopping.
Compared to the busyness of others, Simon has not made a public appearance during this period.
Therefore, as soon as Simon and Janette got out of the car outside the church, the surrounding flashlights began to flash madly. Although this was a baptism ceremony, reporters still pressed the shutter while asking Simon some other questions.
Simon had no intention of stealing the limelight; he just showed a polite smile and led Janette into the church without stopping.
After a brief greeting with the guests, Janette also presented a carefully selected gift, and everyone entered the church hall.
Simon had an instinctive aversion to religion deep down, but he patiently sat on the pew watching the baptism process. Janette, beside him, seemed very solemn, occasionally leaning against Simon, her eyes sometimes glancing over to observe his expression.
There was also a baptism party after the ceremony.
The location was arranged at Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith's home in Beverly Hills, not far from the church.
The two got back into their car outside the church and followed the other guests' vehicles to the Johnsons' house.
As the car started, Simon felt Janette lean against him again, somewhat lost in thought, and he smiled, "Do you want children?"
Janette wrapped her arm around Simon, snuggling against him, and said, "The little one is so cute".
"Then, we'll get married after the New Year, before your birthday".
Janette tilted her head and bumped it against Simon's shoulder, a hint of dissatisfaction in her tone, "That's so casual, you didn't even get down on one knee to propose to me".
Simon gently pushed the woman away a bit, reached into his suit pocket, rummaged around a few times, and quickly pulled out a sparkling diamond ring. As Janette's eyes instantly widened, he knelt on one knee on the back seat of the car, held up the ring, and said, "Miss Johnston, will you marry me?"
In the front of the car, the two bodyguards in the driver and passenger seats were already a bit stunned. Neil Bennett, who was driving, instinctively stepped on the brake, then quickly released it when he realized it was inappropriate, and at the same time raised the car's partition.
The car swayed, jolting Janette out of her daze.
The woman's beautiful eyes blinked rapidly a few times. Seeing Simon still waiting, she quickly nodded her head like a pecking chick: "Mhm mhm mhm".
Simon smiled, took the woman's small hand that she was trying to cover her mouth with, and slipped the ring onto her ring finger, saying, "There, from now on, you are my fiancée".
Janette raised her hand, examining the diamond ring on her finger, then turned to look at Simon. After a moment, she pouted and said, "I... I haven't even processed it yet".
Simon again took the woman's small hand, placed it on his chest, and said, "Actually, I'm very nervous too. Feel it".
A rapid thumping heartbeat was felt in her palm.
Janette felt it for a moment, then finally leaned against Simon's shoulder and said, "When did you buy the ring?"
"Sophia hinted at it, didn't she?"
"At a time like this, I definitely have to pretend I don't know anything".
"Alright, well, I had Sophia start looking for it during Fashion Week in September. It took a long time to pick this one out", Simon said, squeezing Janette's small hand with his large one, then asked with a smile, "Is it big enough? It's 99 carats. It was originally a bit bigger, but I specifically had them cut it to 99 carats".
Janette pulled her hand back, examining the heart-shaped diamond ring, which was wider than her finger, and asked, "Why 99 carats?"
Simon said, "In Chinese, the number '99' represents 'forever'".
"Mm..."
Janette hummed like a kitten, nestling softly against Simon.
As the two most prominent guests, Simon and Janette arrived at the Johnsons' home. The striking diamond ring that suddenly appeared on Janette's hand was quickly noticed by those with keen eyes, and the news spread rapidly.
Dakota Johnson's baptism party hadn't even ended yet, and many familiar relatives and friends nearby were already calling.
After the party, Simon and Janette returned to Malibu and had dinner together at a restaurant. During the meal, the woman didn't take off the diamond ring, and its dazzling sparkle quickly attracted a crowd of reporters.
"Mom, he just proposed to me, how could we arrange a wedding so quickly... Hmph, it must be Dad urging, right... I know, I know... He's busy, you know, he always has a ton of things to do, even the proposal was in the car... Yes, right in the car, I almost couldn't help but refuse him, the little rascal, it wasn't formal at all... Christmas? We'll probably go back, but it's not certain, his movie opens on the 22nd, so many things lately... Mhm mhm mhm, that's it, bye, love you".
Inside the villa on the west side of Point Dume.
Janette, who was snuggled next to Simon, hung up the phone, then leaned back and lay on the man's lap.
Simon pulled out the documents Janette had been using as a pillow, casually placed them over the woman's fair neck, and stroked it gently, saying, "Going to Australia for Christmas shouldn't be a problem, but it's summer there now, so it won't feel like Christmas at all".
Janette gently twisted her neck, took the man's hand and tucked it into her neckline, smiling, "How about I ask Mom and Dad to come to North America?"
Simon shivered and said, "Let's not".
"Hehe, coward".
"It just feels a bit strange, and besides, we should be the ones going over there".
"Mhm".
Having responded, Janette became quiet again. She looked up at the man for a moment, then reached up and touched Simon's chin, which was completely clean-shaven, saying, "Little rascal, are you really going to marry me?"
Simon's gaze was still on the document in his hand, but he nodded without hesitation, saying, "Really".
"Then", Janette's eyes flickered, "before we get married, do you want to sign a prenuptial agreement?"
Simon nodded: "Yes, but a simple one. If you want to leave me, you get nothing. If I want you to leave, I'll pay you 10 billion dollars".
Janette paused, then shrewdly asked, "How much money will you have in the future?"
"I hope to have 1 trillion".
"Yen?"
"Dollars".
Janette pulled Simon's hand out of her collar and pushed it away, pouting unhappily, "You really are a little rascal. You have 1 trillion yourself, but you want to send me away with only 10 billion".
Simon made a pained expression and said, "Alright, another 10 billion".
Janette cupped Simon's hand and brought it to her mouth, biting it gently. Her eyes sparkled as she looked up and said, "Little rascal, I don't want your money".
"Hmm?"
Janette's small hand reached over, pressing against Simon's chest. After feeling the man's heartbeat, she softly said, "If one day you want to send me away, I'll take your heart with me".
Simon's gaze finally moved away from the document. He looked at the woman on his lap for a moment, and in an equally soft voice, said, "You don't have to be so cruel, do you?"
"Will you send me away?"
"No, actually I'm very lazy. Once I marry a woman, I never think about changing to another".
Janette curved her lips, withdrew the hand that was on the man's chest, then grabbed his arm and placed it on her own chest, softly saying, "Little rascal, how about we go make our own little rascal right now?"
Simon paused, then said, "That, it's best after we're married. Otherwise, your dad will definitely be very angry".
"No, he won't", Janette shook her head, noticing Simon's expression, and said, "If you don't like children, then we won't have them, as long as we're together".
"It's not what you think", Simon raised his hand and stroked the woman's smooth cheek, saying, "It's just that for this matter, at least we need to have some premarital checkups".
Janette looked at him, puzzled.
Simon's thoughts raced, and he quickly said, "You know about my experience in Watsonville Psychiatric Hospital. I'm worried it might be hereditary to our little one. So we need to make some preparations beforehand".
Janette's eyes were still bright, but her voice was silly and muffled: "Okay".
As they were talking, the phone rang again.
Janette had no intention of answering the phone. Her habit of not liking to answer calls hadn't changed to this day. Just now, Simon had answered first to confirm it was the woman's mother, and only after chatting for a few minutes did he hand the phone to her.
Reaching over to pick up the cordless phone and pressing the answer button, Simon said, "Hello?"
There was a clear hesitation on the other end of the line, and finally a voice spoke.
Simon was also stunned for a moment, then quickly composed himself and said, "You're looking for Janette, right? She's here".
Saying that, he handed the receiver directly to the woman's ear and said, "Your aunt".
Janette then held the phone, twisting her body to find a more comfortable position, and said, "Hi, Iceberg, did Mom tell you already... Yes, hmph hmph hmph, now the old man will nag you even more... No, it's only a little past eight in the evening here, I've been on the phone constantly. And you, it should be afternoon over there, what are you busy with... Anyway, he said he'd go back, it depends on the situation..."
Although she didn't like answering the phone, Janette was very good at talking for a long time.
After chatting with Veronica for more than twenty minutes, the woman finally hung up the phone, and then, smiling, she winked at Simon and said, "Auntie asked me to say hello to you".
Simon playfully tapped the woman's small nose and said, "Go take a shower. I'll be up after I finish these things".
The next day was Sunday, and the most talked-about topic in major North American media was undoubtedly the 99-carat heart-shaped diamond ring on the hand of Westeros' girlfriend, Janette Johnston.
Simon didn't want this matter to become a hot topic, so he instructed his PR team to decline all related interview invitations. He also took Janette to San Francisco for the weekend to play, and incidentally picked out a luxury mansion in the Woodside area, west of Palo Alto.
Entering the 90s, he would certainly be going to San Francisco frequently in the future.
Simon's current wealth was still somewhat insufficient to support the construction of the Westeros Tower in Manhattan, but it could satisfy his desire to acquire his own properties in more cities.
Due to work, they still had to return to Los Angeles on Monday.
The date was Monday, December 11th, 1989.
Last Friday, December 8th, Daenerys Entertainment's last self-distributed film of the year, 'Driving Miss Daisy', opened. Its screen count was even more conservative than 'My Left Foot', with only 32 screens. This film would fully pursue a word-of-mouth and awards strategy.
Prior to this, in the week from December 1st to December 7th, among several films related to Daenerys Entertainment, 'Scream 2', which opened during the Halloween season, entered its sixth week, earning another $6.47 million in single-week box office, bringing its cumulative box office to $93.06 million. Although the box office momentum of this teen horror film had significantly slowed, it was steadily approaching the $100 million mark.
After two weeks of the Thanksgiving holiday, entering the off-season in early December, 'Look Who's Taking' saw a 33% drop in its third-week box office, earning another $21.71 million.
However, in just three weeks, 'Look Who's Talking' total North American box office quickly reached $84.32 million.
Judging from the box office performance of the past weekend, this unexpectedly popular alternative family comedy could break $100 million in box office this week.
Breaking $100 million in four weeks, and with the hottest Christmas season still to come in the next few weeks, the conservative estimate for Look Who's Talking's total North American box office is over $150 million, possibly even exceeding $170 million. Neither Daenerys nor Warner Bros. expected this alternative heartwarming family comedy to achieve such excellent box office results.
Because the number of screens was not increased to capitalize on the momentum, 'The House Of Gucci's second-week box office inevitably fell by 17%, earning another $7.92 million, bringing its cumulative box office to $17.47 million over two weeks.
Compared to the box office, due to continuous and unreserved investment in promotion and distribution, Gucci's North American sales in the first week of December broke the $10 million mark. This was the first time the Gucci brand's single-week sales had exceeded $10 million since it entered the North American market.
To maximize the influence of 'The House Of Gucci', Highgate Pictures was already in urgent discussions with Gucci headquarters regarding the European distribution of this documentary.
Daenerys Entertainment Headquarters.
Inside the office, Simon was reviewing several box office reports from the previous two weeks when his female assistant pushed open the door and entered.
Although Jennifer appeared as if nothing had happened, Simon could naturally still detect the obvious feelings of loss and unease in his female assistant today. Therefore, before she could speak, Simon took out a small box and handed it to her, saying, "Here, a gift for you".
Although he had reminded her that night in Athens a few days ago, seeing the news of his proposal to Janette still inevitably brought a sense of loss.
Seeing the small box in front of her, Jennifer hesitated for a moment before reaching out to take it and opening it curiously.
Inside was a diamond ring.
A diamond ring almost identical to the one on Janette's hand.
"It's the same as Janette's, both 99 carats. It's for you. Also, keep this a secret. If Janette finds out, I might have to sleep on the floor tonight".
Jennifer stood stunned for a moment, then instinctively shook her head, wanting to return it to him, but her mind seemed to be disobedient, still holding the box in her hand. She managed to say, "I... it's too expensive, I can't take it".
In yesterday's newspapers, most articles estimated the value of the diamond ring on Janette's hand to be over $10 million.
This one, now, must certainly be the same.
How could she accept something so expensive!
"Put it away, don't let outsiders see it", Simon merely smiled, then changed the subject, "What did you come in for?"
Seeing his relaxed demeanour, she quickly made up her mind.
She had given him everything, so of course, she couldn't have nothing. Anyway, money was no longer an issue for him.
Worst case, if he ever wanted it back.
She would return it to him.
Thinking this, she held the box in her hand and the female assistant said, "Bill Gates' assistant just called. Gates will be in San Francisco tomorrow and would like to invite you to lunch".
Simon asked, puzzled, "Do you know why?"
Jennifer said, "I think it's probably about Westeros Company recently increasing its stake in Microsoft".
Simon thought for a moment, then suddenly showed a playful smile, and said, "Alright, tell him I'm too busy, and have him come to Los Angeles. Also, send my Boeing 767 to San Francisco tomorrow to pick him up".
Knowing that he generally wouldn't lend his private jet to others, Jennifer was initially a bit puzzled, but looking at the smile on the man's lips, she quickly understood something. She nodded and turned to leave the office.