For the next three days, she and Henry explored every inch of the Glenvaria Hotel.
From surfing on the sea to diving beneath it, from the hotel's "waterway network" to its "spa," from sky to ground, everything was exciting and romantic. Life seemed so easy and simple, and every day was happy and fulfilling.
But just as Irene was starting to come back later and later each day, and thinking that if this went on, something more intimate would have to happen between them, Shelly Ovitz showed up.
When Shelly saw Irene slowly coming in from outside, he couldn't help praising her. "Hawaii's water really does wonders. Irene's only been here a few days, and she's already positively glowing."
Britney, listening nearby, burst out laughing. "I don't think the sea in Hawaii has quite that miraculous an effect." She shot Irene a playful wink.
They'd actually run into each other outside quite often over the past few days. But whenever they did, they'd both avoided saying hello, each for their own reasons. Britney, of course, had been following them out of curiosity about Irene's date.
Irene ignored Britney's teasing and went straight to asking Shelly why he'd come.
"I'd say you've been enjoying yourselves so much that you forgot I said that night I'd be joining you on vacation in a couple of days."
"Oh? Then why are you only here now?"
"Because you two took off and left me with such a huge mess to deal with. I've only just finished!" If the resentment in Shelly's voice could take shape, it would probably look like a knife, ready to stab Irene and Britney at any moment.
"Oh, then I really must thank my hardworking agent."
"Don't mention it. It's my job. I think you've had enough fun for now, though. Time to get back to work. I have two things to discuss, one for each of you. Very fair."
Shelly Ovitz had clearly switched into business mode, and Irene's relaxed mood turned serious. She led Britney over to sit opposite him.
"First, Britney. Jive has started planning your second album, and they're taking submissions for songs now. If you don't want them to lead you around by the nose, you should go back and plan your music career properly. Also, your interview requests are practically filling up your inbox. Go back, pick some, and get to work."
When Britney heard her second album was on the way, she was so excited she grabbed Edward's hand and shook it vigorously. It seemed as if she had only one goal in mind now: flying back to Los Angeles as soon as possible.
"As for you, Irene, I've more or less completed the task you gave me before I came. The company has been set up, and it's registered in Delaware." As soon as Shelly Ovitz finished speaking, Britney asked, "Irene, why did you suddenly want to register a company?"
Before Irene could answer, Edward Nelson chimed in too. "Boss, does your company need any funding?"
She first smiled at Britney and explained, "Because I want to invest in my own movies." Then she turned to Edward. "I don't need any for now. If I did, how much could you put up?"
Edward seemed to be calculating his assets. He thought for a full minute before answering. "If you need liquid funds right away, I could manage up to twenty million dollars. If it's not urgent, I could probably scrape together another fifty million."
Irene had to admit that stung. She'd thought that thanks to Legally Blonde, she'd earn at least seven figures and already be miles ahead of her peers. But it seemed she still couldn't compete with these rich kids.
"Fine. I'll come to you if I ever need it."
What did CAA think?" Irene then asked, seemingly out of nowhere.
"That's part of why I took two extra days to get here. Our company has finished a thorough evaluation of your new movie. The boss hopes you'll let us package it."
"Mr. Ira Walker got involved?" Irene asked, feigning surprise.
"Yes. We missed the chance to invest in Legally Blonde because of a bad decision, and the boss gave me a real tongue-lashing. Luckily, I signed you and Britney, so I can at least make up for it. The boss told me I had to land this new movie, no matter what."
"So what problems can you solve for me?" Irene raised an eyebrow. Letting CAA package the film wasn't out of the question. In fact, it could save her a lot of time. But CAA didn't do that kind of work for free. Their fee was two to five percent of the total revenue.
"I submitted your request to invest in the movie, and the boss said he could help persuade 20th Century Fox. They haven't fully recouped their investment in Titanic, so they're willing to accept your offer to invest, but only for short-term returns."
"A share of the box office, video sales, and TV rights will be enough for now. I haven't reached my father's standing, so I don't have the clout to negotiate for more."
Irene knew her situation well. A huge hit could certainly make plenty of people aware of her, but many still doubted her abilities. Some tabloids were still claiming that Francis Coppola had actually directed Legally Blonde and that Irene was just a puppet.
So plenty of companies remained skeptical of her.
"What are your terms, then?"
"As for the lead role of Cady Heron... the company hopes Reese Witherspoon can play her again."
After hearing that, Irene began slowly tapping her fingers on the table.
The original lead in Mean Girls had been the famous Hollywood child star Lindsay Lohan. She'd portrayed Cady Heron's transformation from a naive girl, to someone who lost herself, and finally to someone who found herself again almost perfectly. She brought both comedic flair and emotional depth to the role, adding a lot to the film.
The movie had also brought Lindsay huge returns, helping her quickly get past the awkward child-star phase and become one of Hollywood's most popular actresses. She'd won a great deal of public goodwill. If she hadn't gone off the rails later, she could have become a superstar. Britney was a similar case: a silly kid with tremendous potential.
But Lindsay Lohan had only appeared in The Parent Trap, where she played twin sisters, and had no other roles under her belt. She was also far too young to carry this part.
Seeing Irene hesitate, Shelly Ovitz decided to offer her another temptation.
"Maybe you'd be interested in hearing MGM's answer."
"Go on." Irene stopped to consider it, curious about MGM's position. She'd been very happy with their first collaboration, and if all else was equal, she didn't want to switch to 20th Century Fox.
"Their new head of marketing rejected your investment proposal outright. He even said the distribution fee for the new movie would have to be six points higher than it was for Legally Blonde. That means they'd take eighteen percent of the North American box office and eighteen percent of the North American TV and video rights as the distribution fee." Shelly kept a straight face, as if he had no opinion about their response.
"Have they gone mad?" Irene stared at Shelly Ovitz in disbelief, as though trying to determine whether he could possibly be lying.
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