Chapter 26 Chapter Twenty-Five

Eddie Belegan, the director of the cast of characters on Toby's show, is a man with a wife.But he arranged to use a friend's apartment three afternoons a week: one afternoon for his mistress, and two afternoons for what he called "old talents" and "new talents." Jill Castle is a new talent.Several friends had told Eddie how charming Jill was.Eddie had been eager to give it a try.Now, there's a short film with a character that's just right for her.The role only requires a coquettish appearance, and then exit after saying a few lines. Jill reads it to Eddie, who is satisfied.She's not Katharine Hepburn, and the role doesn't need a big star like that. "Come on," he said.

"Thank you, Eddie." "Here are your lines. The rehearsal starts tomorrow at ten o'clock. Get there on time and learn the lines by heart." "Of course." She waited to see what else to order. "Er - have a cup of coffee with me this afternoon, will you?" Jill nodded. "I have a friend who lives in Argyll Building, Allerton Street, No. 95, thirteenth floor. There is a suite there." "I know the place," Jill said. "Apartment No. 6. Three o'clock." The rehearsal went well.It has a good chance of being a good movie.There are a lot of talents in the film, including a sensational Argentine dance team, a well-known rock and roll song and dance troupe, a magician who can make everything disappear, and a first-rate singer.Now only Toby Temple is missing.Jill asked Eddie Belegan about Toby's absence: "Is he sick?" Eddie sneered, "He's sick like a fox. He's always at dances when the redneck rehearses. He Only showing up on tape on Saturdays and then splitting the spoils."

It was Saturday, and in the morning Toby Temple came and floated like a king.From a corner of the stage Jill saw the grandeur of his arrival.Followed by three attendants: Clifton Lawrence and a pair of old clowns.Jill resented the spectacle.She knew everything about Toby Temple.He was a megalomaniac, rumor has it, that he once boasted that he played with all the beautiful actresses in Hollywood.No one can say "no" to him.Oh yes, Jill knows the great Toby Temple well. The director of the film was a nervous dwarf named Harry Durkin.He introduced Toby to the members of the entire cast.Toby had worked with most people, Hollywood was a small place, and the faces were familiar quickly.But Toby hadn't seen Jill Castle before.That day she wore a pale yellow linen dress, which was elegant and elegant, and she looked very beautiful.

"What are you doing, baby?" "I'm making a short film about astronauts. Mr. Temple." He smiled warmly at her and said, "My friends call me Toby." The whole class got to work.The rehearsals went exceptionally well, and Duggin quickly understood why.Toby is showing off to Jill.He'd had all the girls on the show already, and Jill was his new tease. The short film starring Toby and Jill is the climax of the show.Toby adds two lines and an amusing performance for Jill.When the rehearsal was over, Toby said to her, "Come to my dressing room for a drink?"

"Thank you, I don't drink." Jill smiled and left.She had a date with the director who cast the part, and that was more important than Toby Temple.Temple could only get her on camera once.A director who assigns a role means having a job for a long time. When they screened the tapes of the show that night, the consensus was that it was a huge success and one of Toby's best. "Another big win," Clifton said to Toby. "That astronaut short, guaranteed to be the biggest hit." Toby grinned. "Yeah. I like that little thing in the movie. She's got a taste."

"She's really pretty," said Clifton, knowing that every week a girl came to sleep with Toby.They all have a taste.But things have never changed, just laugh it off. "Agreement with her to come and dine with us, Cliff." It's not a request, it's an order.Years ago, Clifton had let Toby book the date himself.But these days, he has to do what Toby tells him to do. Toby is the king, his king.Those who do not wish to be exiled must live by his gifts. "Of course, Toby," said Clifton, "I'll arrange it." Clifton walked down the hall to the actresses' dressing rooms.He knocked on the door and went in.There were a dozen girls in the room taking off their make-up.They paid no attention to his coming, except to greet him.Jill has removed her make-up and changed into her outing outfit.Clifton walked up to her. "You did a great job," he said.

Jill glanced at him uninterestedly in the mirror. "Thanks." In the past she would have been both horrified and excited by Clifton Lawrence coming so condescendingly.Because he can knock on the door of all the big men for her.But, as everyone knows by now, he was nothing more than an errand for Toby Temple. "I have good news for you. Mr. Temple wants you to dine with him." Jill scratched her head lightly with the tips of her fingers and said, "Tell him I'm tired. I'm going to bed." She went out. Dinner that day was a disaster.Toby, Clifton Lawrence, and director Dookin sat in a single room at the front of the Parkway.Duggin offered to invite two actresses, but Toby flatly declined.

The host at the table said: "Look, what can you order? Can you, Mr. Temple?" Toby pointed at Clifton and said, "Okay, give the idiot a fried tongue." Clifton laughed along with the rest of the table, pretending that Toby was just joking with him. But Toby is still losing his temper.Turning to Clifton, he said, "I told you to do such a simple thing as asking a girl to dinner, and you couldn't do it. Why did you scare her away?" "She's tired," pleaded Clifton, "and she said—" "Never heard of a bitch too tired to have dinner with me. You must have said some shit to get her off There." Toby raised his voice.The guest in the single room next door turned his head and looked this way.Toby gave them a boyish smile and said, "This is a farewell party, friends." He pointed to Clifton and said, "Because he sent his head to the zoo."

The people at the table over there burst into laughter.Clifton forced a grin, but his fists were clenched under the table. "Do you know how dumb he is?" Toby said to the guests sitting next to him. "Now, there is no one who doesn't know his jokes." Everyone laughed harder.Clifton wanted to get up and leave, but he didn't dare.It was also awkward for Du Jin to sit there. He was usually too smart, but now he couldn't say anything.Toby had now attracted the attention of several nearby single-room guests.And his voice became louder, and after yelling, he smiled kindly at them: "Clifton Lawrence should be a big fool here today. When he was born, his parents took care of him." There was a quarrel. As soon as he landed, his mother refused to recognize him."

Thankfully, the night was finally over.But the next day the scandal of Clifton Lawrence should be known all over town. Clifton Lawrence lay in bed that night without closing his eyes.He asked himself why Toby humiliated him so publicly.The answer is simple: money.He was getting $250,000 a year from Toby Temple.Clifton lived profligately and generously.Not a single penny was left.His other clients are gone, and he needs Toby.This is where the problem lies.Toby is also very clear about this.It was a cruel game to lure Clifton to the bait.Clifton must try to get out before it's too late. However, he knew that it was too late now.

He got into this situation because he trusted Toby too much and spoiled him too much.He did love Toby.He'd seen Toby destroy other people: the women he'd been in love with, the comedians who tried to compete with Toby, the critics who put Toby down, but that was someone else.Clifton never believed that Toby would turn on him.He was too close to Toby, and Clifton had done too much for him. Facing the boundless future, he didn't even dare to think about it. As a rule, Toby would have had his eye on a girl like Jill Castle at most.But Toby never had the habit of hitting a wall.Jill's refusal was an irritant to him.He is not reconciled.He invited her to dinner again.When she declined, Toby shrugged.He thought she was playing some kind of trick.He decided to forget about her.The problem was that Jill couldn't fool Toby if it was a real trick.Toby knows women all too well.No, he found that Jill really didn't want to answer him, and the thought made him very angry, and besides, he couldn't forget her. Toby said casually to Eddie Belegan to put Jill Castle on another show.this is a good idea.Eddie called her.She told him she was playing a small part in a western.Eddie reports the situation to Toby.Toby was furious. "Tell her to cancel everything she's doing," he snarled, "and we'll give her more money, for Christ's sake, it's the number one show going on right now. What the hell is going on with that dazed little bitch? " Eddie called Jill again and told her Toby's opinion: "He really wants you back on the show, Jill. I think you can do it?" "Sorry," Jill said, "I'm playing Universal. I can't get away." She couldn't get away either.An ordinary actress dared to resign from the shooting scene. In Hollywood, everyone knew what it would mean.Besides, Toby Tandle meant nothing to her other than a day's work.The next night, the big shot himself called.His voice on the phone was warm and moving. "Jill, I'm your little old colleague, Toby." "Hello, Mr. Temple." "Hey, come on! What are you calling 'sir'?" No answer. "Do you like baseball?" Toby asked. "I've got a box—" "no, I do not like it." He laughed. "I was testing you. Listen, come and have dinner with me on Saturday night, okay? That's the chef I stole from the Maxime in Paris. He—" "I'm sorry, I have an appointment. Mr. Temple." There was not even a hint of interest in her voice. Toby felt himself gripping the phone more tightly: "When are you free?" "I'm a hardworking girl. I don't go out much. But thanks for having me." The phone hung up.The slut hung up on her - a little character hung up on Toby Temple!There was not a single woman Toby met who would have slept with him for a year instead of living for a year.However, this little idiot turned him down!He was so angry that he took it out on everyone around him.He doesn't care about anything: the script is terrible.The director is an idiot.The music sucks.The actors are all idiots.He called Eddie Belegan, the casting director, into the dressing room. "What do you know about Jill Castle?" asked Toby. "Nothing," Eddie replied quickly.He is no fool.Like everyone on the show, he knows exactly what's going on.Regardless of the future outcome, he didn't want to involve himself in it. "Did she sleep with anyone?" "No, sir," Eddie said firmly, "if she's sleeping with somebody, I'll hear about it." "I want you to look it up," Toby ordered, "to see if she has a boyfriend, where she goes, and what she does? I think you know what I mean." "Do it, sir," Eddie said earnestly. At three o'clock the next morning, Eddie was awakened by the phone ringing next to his bed. "What did you find?" a voice asked. Eddie sat up in bed and forced his sleepy eyes open. "Who the hell?" He suddenly knew who was calling. "I checked," Eddie said quickly. "She has a clean bill of health." "I'm not asking you for some bear health certificate of hers," Toby scolded. "Has she fucked anyone?" "Nothing, sir. Not with anyone. I asked my friends all over town. They like Jill. They use her because she's a good actress." people believe.If Toby Temple knew that Jill had slept with Eddie--and Jill had chosen him over Toby Temple! —Eddie was never going to be in this city.He has aligned himself with his directorial friends who cast roles because they are in the same situation as he is.Besides, no one wanted to fight Toby Temple, so they conspired to keep their mouths shut. "She never fucks with people." Toby's voice softened. "I see. I think she's just one of those weird little things." "I think that's what she is," Eddie said, relieved. "Hey, I hope I didn't wake you up." "No, no, very well, Mr. Temple." But Eddie lay for a long time, unable to sleep.He worried about what would happen to him if one day the truth came out. You know this is Toby Temple's city. Toby and Clifton Lawrence have lunch at Hilltop Country Club. The "Hilltop" club was established because few of the exclusive clubs in Los Angeles allowed Jews to enter.This rule was so strictly enforced that when her ten-year-old daughter Malinda entered a club swimming pool with a non-Jew, Malinda was turned away.When Gruzzi heard about it, he called the club's manager and said, "Listen, my daughter is only half Jewish. Can you let her in the pool from the waist down?" As a result of such incidents, wealthy Jews, people who love golf, tennis, cards, and playing tricks on anti-Semites, get together and start their own clubs.It only accepts Jews. The "Hilltop" Club is set in a beautiful park just a few miles from the center of Beverly Hills.As a result it served the best cold meals and the most exciting gossip in Hollywood, and it soon came out on top.Non-Jews clamored for permission to enter.In a gesture of tolerance, the board of directors granted a handful of non-Jews permission to join the club. Whenever Toby arrives in Dali, he always appears as a comic figure.Under normal circumstances, when Hollywood smart people get together, they like to joke with each other, make witty remarks, answer fluently, and the atmosphere is very enthusiastic.But today Toby has a lot on his mind.He led Clifton to a table in the corner. "I need your advice, Cliff." The little agent looked up at him in surprise.Toby hadn't asked him for an idea for a long time. "Of course, brother." "That's the girl," Toby began, and Clifton came up to him at once.Half the city knows the story by now.This is the biggest tidbit in Hollywood.One columnist even described it as "seeking trouble for nothing".Toby reads the article and asks, "I want to know who is this jerk? 'Love King has a crush on an ordinary girl in town who turns him down.' Could the bet really make it so?" Did you lose?" "Jill Castle," said Toby, "remember her? The chick in the show?" "Ah, yes, a very charming girl. Any questions?" "I'd be damned if I knew," Toby admits. "It's like she has a problem with me. Every time I go out with her, she says no. It makes me feel like I'm from Iowa. Come here like a charlatan." Clifton probed, "Why can't you stop asking her out?" "I don't know, man. I can't. Let's say behind closed doors, I never thought of a bitch like that in my life. Makes me want nothing else." He seemed With an absent-minded smile, he said: "I tell you, it's just a baffling thing. You're old at it, Cliff. What should I do?" For a moment Clifton felt desperate to tell Toby the truth.But he couldn't tell Toby, "The girl of his dreams has slept with every assistant director who could give her a day's work." As long as he wanted Toby to be his client, he couldn't. "I've got an idea," suggested Clifton. "She's serious about acting, isn't she?" "Yes, she seems quite ambitious." "Good. Then, give her an invitation she has to accept." "what do you mean?" "You're having a party at home." "I just told you she won't—" "Let me finish. Studio executives, producers, directors—everyone who might be of any use to her, please. If she really wants to be an actress, she'll desperately want to see them." Toby called her. "Hello, Jill." "Which one?" she asked. Everyone in the country could recognize his voice, and she asked which one! "Toby, Toby Temple." "Oh." This is a tone with a little meaning. "Listen, Jill! Next Wednesday night, I'm having a little party at home, and I—" He heard that she was beginning to refuse, and hurried on—"I'm going to have Sam Winters —Pan Pacific executives, and all the other film and television executives, producers, and directors. I thought it would be good for you to meet them. Are you free?" There was a very brief hesitation.Then Jill Castle said, "Wednesday night. Well, I'm free. Thank you, Toby." However, he did not expect that it was indeed the two of them. On the balcony, the band was playing, and uniformed waiters shuttled around and passed various snacks and champagne inside. Jill was forty-five minutes late.When she came, Toby hurried to the door to welcome her.She was wearing a plain white silk dress, and her jet-black hair was gently draped over her shoulders.What a bewitching beauty.Toby watched her intently.Jill knows her own beauty.She had washed and styled her hair with great care and for a long time and with various cosmetics. "There are a lot of people here. I want you to meet them." Toby took Jill's hand and led her through the front hall and into the formal reception room. Jill paused at the entrance, eyeing the guests.She knew almost all the people in the room.She's seen their faces on the covers and screens of Time, Lifestyle, Newsweek, Paris Match, and Today.This is real Hollywood.These talents are truly the masters of the film and television industry.Jill had thought a thousand times about moments like these, being with these people, sitting down and talking to them.Now all this has become a reality.However, for Jill, how difficult it is to realize what happened in reality. Toby handed her a glass of champagne.He took her arm and led her to the man surrounded by a crowd. "Sam, I want you to meet Jill." Sam turned his head. "Hello, Jill Castle," he said cheerfully. "Gill, this is Sam Winters, general manager of Pan Pacific Films." "Have heard of Mr. Winters for a long time," Jill said. "Jill's an actress. Sam, she's a brilliant actress. You can use her to add some sparkle to your company." "I'll keep that in mind," said Sam respectfully. Toby took Jill's hand and shook it firmly. "Come on baby," he said, "I want everybody to meet you." That night Jill met with three studio executives, five or six key producers, three directors, several writers, several newspaper and television columnists, and a dozen stars.At the banquet, Jill sat on Toby's right.She listened to all kinds of words and tasted the feeling of being in this circle for the first time. “The problem with these historical films is that if one fails, it can bring down the whole studio. Fox is already in a precarious position, depending on how Cleopatra does.” "...Have you seen Wally Young's new movie? It's exciting!" "Really? I'd rather see him with Brackett. Brackett is really first-rate." "Walley is also very talented." "...I gave Pike a mystery film last week. He was fascinated. He said he would give me a definite answer within a day or two." "I accepted the invitation that day and met the Hindu patriarch, Krishi Pramananada. Well, my dear, I actually met him and attended his ordination ceremony." "... If the budget of a film is two million, then after you sign the contract, inflation will also inflate, plus all kinds of expenses of the damn union, this film will be at least three hundred Ten thousand or four million." Millions, Jill thought excitedly.Three million or four million.She thought of the endless, trivial gossip at Schwabe's.Those who were unwilling to die, those who survived.They consoled each other by spending all day in the inn greedily collecting every bit of "intelligence" from the studio.Well, tonight's guests are the real survivors.They are the masters of Hollywood.However, these people have all shut her down.They refused to give her the chance to try her hand.Anyone here could have helped her change her way of life before, but no one would spend five minutes for Jill Castle.She stared at a producer who had just made a big hit with a big musical, and who had turned Jill Castle off. At the other end of the table, a well-known comedy director was chatting cheerfully with the lead actor in his new film.The director also refused to meet Jill. Sam Winters was talking to the manager of another movie studio.Jill had wired Winters to ask him to come and see her in a TV show.He didn't take it seriously at all. These people, they all have to pay the price for their contempt and insult to her.And everyone else in the city who was mean to her.Right now, she has no place in these people's hearts, but she will, oh yes.Someday she will. The meals are beautifully presented.But Jill's heart is not at all in it.She didn't pay attention to what she ate at all.After dinner, Toby stood up and said, "Hey! Let's hurry up or they should start showing the movie. They won't wait for us." He took Jill by the hand and led her to a large screening room. room. The projection room is full of large and small sofas, which can accommodate sixty people.Everyone can sit on the sofa and watch movies comfortably.At the entrance, there is a cabinet with an open door on one side, which is filled with all kinds of candy, tobacco and alcohol; on the other side is a popcorn machine. Toby sat next to Jill.She knew that Toby hadn't watched the movie from the beginning to the end, and his eyes had been fixed on her.Then the show was over, the lights were turned on, coffee and cake were brought in.After half an hour, the guests began to leave, most of them going to the film studio. Toby stood at the door to see Sam Winters off.Jill put on her coat and came over. "Where are you going?" asked Toby. "I'll take you home." "I have my own car," Jill said charmingly. "Thank you for such a lovely evening, Toby." She went away. Toby watched her gallop away, and couldn't believe it.He had a series of exciting plans for the rest of the night.He was going to take Jill upstairs to the bedroom, and—he even picked out the tapes he was going to play.Any woman here would jump on my bed in gratitude tonight, Toby thought.They are all stars, not just small characters who don't say anything.Jill Castle is so muddy.He couldn't figure out why she rejected him.As far as Toby was concerned, it should have been over.He's had enough of soft nails. He should stop talking to Jill. But, God knows, Toby called Jill again at nine o'clock the next morning.This time he didn't even expect that he only got a recorded message on the phone: "Hello, this is Jill Castle. Sorry, I am not at home right now. If you leave your name and phone number, I will call back when I get back. Please You waited for the phone to ring. Thank you." There was a high-pitched signal tone. Toby stood clutching the phone, then hung up.He didn't leave a message.It would be hell if he spoke to a machine again.After a while, he redialed the call.It was the same set of recorded messages, but this time Toby spoke to the "machine" after listening.He said, "Yeah, you've got one of the most beautiful voice-overs in all of Hollywood. But I think you should wrap it up. I don't usually give a shit to girls who eat and go. But, what about you?" , I decided to make an exception. What are you going to do for dinner tonight—" The phone cut off.He talks too long, the damn tape is over.He froze, not knowing what to do?He felt like a fool.He had to redial again, which really pissed him off.When he called for the third time, he said, "Before that Mr. Machine interrupts me, I just want to ask, where are you going to have dinner tonight? Wait for your call." He left the number , put down the phone. The whole day Toby was like an ant on a hot pan.There was no return call from her.It's seven o'clock.To hell with you, he thought!This is your last luck, baby.real.the last time.He took out his personal phone book and started scrolling through it.But no one interested him.

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