Chapter 373: Chapter 97: The Long-Awaited Premiere

“The Baccarat Hotel was famous in the ’60s and once made the list of top ten hotels in Los Angeles in some travel magazines, attracting many celebrities. However, after a period of poor management and declining performance, it was acquired by the Hilton Group and rejuvenated, though it never regained its former glory, it still remains a favorite among many,” Adrian explained as he walked alongside two elegantly poised women, Gwyneth and Blanchett holding onto his arm left and right, allowing him to wrap his arms around their waists. They encountered quite a few people along the way.

“You seem to really know your way around here, Ed. You must have come here often, right?” Gwyneth said with a raised eyebrow, her tone especially playful when she looked at Blanchett.

“Yeah, it’s my first time hearing about all this from you,” said Blanchett with a sneer that flickered through her eyes, responding in the same tone.

“I wouldn’t say I come here often, just that I’ve had many memorable encounters here, like when I first invited Spielberg to direct ‘Jurassic Park’,” Adrian replied leisurely, his hands gently comforting on their waists, occasionally sliding down a little.

The two women, already ruled by their emotions, did not care in the slightest, even occasionally responding by pushing up their hips. Right now, their minds were solely focused on how to completely overpower the other. When their eyes met, sparks could almost be seen in the air. The surprise and envious glances from passersby and waitstaff only made them more invested in the competition.

Finally, the three entered the elevator, a VIP-exclusive one, with quaint decorations, unlike the modern feel of the others. It had carpeted flooring and subtle lighting that created a romantic atmosphere.

After pressing the button, the elevator began to rise smoothly. Gwyneth and Blanchett continued to spar verbally, while Adrian listened with a smile, deftly jumping into the conversation to steer it when appropriate. Suddenly, the elevator jolted, as if it was about to drop, and the floor indicator started flashing erratically. Both women let out a scream and took refuge in the man’s arms.

“Don’t worry, nothing will happen,” Adrian reassured them, appearing very calm as he hugged and soothed them.

A few seconds later, the elevator stabilized. Apart from that initial jolt and the momentary flickering of the floor numbers, there wasn’t any serious problem; even the lights hadn’t gone out. However, the elevator stopped moving upwards and was now stuck between floors, and the floor indicator didn’t display anything. It seemed there was definitely a problem.

“God, how could this happen?” Gwyneth said as she came back to her senses, trembling slightly. Though Blanchett seemed calmer, there was still panic in her eyes.

“Let’s stay calm, the hotel’s elevators have safety devices,” Adrian reassured them. Then he approached the panel of floor buttons and pressed the red emergency call button: “Is anyone there?”

“Yes, sir, someone is here,” a voice replied promptly, “May I ask how many are trapped in the elevator?”

“Three people, myself and two ladies. Can we know what the problem is?” Adrian answered right away.

“Sorry, we don’t know yet, our technicians have just gotten there. But please rest assured, it will be fixed very quickly. We sincerely apologize for the shock you’ve suffered,” said the staff member in a respectful tone.

“Alright, please hurry,” Adrian ended the call and then turned to the ladies: “They’re working on the repairs, it should be up and running soon, so we just need to wait a few minutes.”

“Oh, I hate waiting a few minutes, especially in a place like this,” Gwyneth complained.

“Is there a camera here? Perhaps we can protest to them through the camera!” Blanchett scanned the elevator’s ceiling with a look of dissatisfaction.

“There are no cameras in the VIP elevator to protect the guests’ privacy, and besides, not many people use it every day.” Adrian spread his hands and then wrapped his arms around them, “Alright, consider it a minor accident, life is always full of such small mishaps, isn’t it?”

Under his intentional guidance, the two women quickly shook off their uneasy emotions, but they immediately engaged in a verbal skirmish, which was quite amusing. Ten minutes quickly passed; while listening to their conversation was pleasant, staying stuck in the elevator was not so much, so Adrian pressed the emergency call button again, “Hello?”

“Very… very sorry, Mr. Adrian, our technicians are unable to solve the problem, and the elevator is stuck between two floors, so we had to call 911 to have more professional people handle this… you might have to wait a bit longer.” The voice on the other side was full of apologies and tension.

“Damn it! How could this happen!” Blanchett, calmer than Gwyneth, cried out first, visibly annoyed.

“We are truly very sorry,” a bitter laugh seemed to come from the other side, “the manager has been notified, and as compensation, all of tonight’s expenses at the hotel will be covered by us.”

“Alright, alright,” Adrian said helplessly, “All I want to know is when we can get out of here.”

“Approximately… it could be… about thirty minutes, we’re really very sorry.” They replied with a chuckle.

“Oh, thirty minutes, they’re really efficient! No wonder they’re facing bankruptcy due to mismanagement!” Blanchett said indignantly.

“Can you be patient, Kate? At least we are safe for now; consider it an exciting experience.” Adrian comforted her, holding her in his arms, seemingly forgetting Gwyneth was there.

According to the previous situation, Gwyneth should have come forward to squeeze into Adrian’s embrace, but instead, she leaned against the elevator wall without moving, looking at Adrian with a strange gaze. She wasn’t a fool; she heard the “Mr. Adrian” loud and clear during the second call, and just minutes before, Adrian had said there were no cameras here! Thinking of his usual character and preferences, as well as the hint he had given over the phone before the cocktail party, the answer was seemingly obvious.

“The space here is small, but doing certain things can be quite thrilling, right? Since we have to wait that long anyway.” Gwyneth suddenly wrapped her arms around Adrian’s neck from behind and giggled, kissing him on the lips under Adrian’s surprise and Blanchett’s puzzled gaze.

Her kiss was so intense; the mere sound of sucking made Blanchett’s face turn red, not to mention the entangling of tongues with Adrian in mid-air.

“There’s even more passion,” she said teasingly, and with a provocative tilt of her chin, she cast a challenging glance at Blanchett.

———————

“Oh God! Oh God! I actually did such a thing!” Blanchett, having finally recalled everything, clutched her face in shameful outcry.

In the elevator with Gwyneth, the indecent one-upmanship had no bounds, and in the end, Adrian emerged holding her from behind as they entered the room, where the ‘contest’ continued–top to bottom, front to back–so wanton and lewd. Without excessive drinking or smoking marijuana, those images were etched clearly in her mind, unforgettable. Blanchett was on the verge of tears; although she considered herself open-minded, she had a conservative side–just as she would let Adrian take her from behind, but never use her mouth; to be so promiscuous, and so thoroughly at that, was a first for her, and the vulgarity that had come from her own lips seemed to still echo in her ears.

“Okay, Kate, don’t be like this…” Adrian sat up and touched her shoulder, attempting to comfort her, only to have Blanchett suddenly slap away his hand, glaring at him with slightly reddened eyes.

“I don’t want to see you ever again! Ed! To think you would toy with me like this, orchestrating such a play! I never want to see you again!” she yelled angrily, then turned over, crawled up without a care, and started putting on her clothes.

“Wait, Kate.”

“Don’t talk to me, you bastard!”

“I only want to say, you’ve got the wrong underwear–the black see-through ones are Gwyneth’s, yours are the purple lace ones.”

“…”

The room fell silent at once, Gwyneth, who had been quiet, couldn’t help but snicker. Blanchett, her face red-hot, yanked off the underwear and fiercely flung it at Adrian’s forehead. Then, grabbing her clothes, she ran into the bathroom to hurriedly get dressed, and after furiously pressing the elevator button dozens of times, she stepped in without looking back and left.

“Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen her lose her temper like that.” Adrian, hit by the black translucent underwear, just shrugged, unconcerned.

“She seemed very angry, aren’t you going to chase after her?” Gwyneth teased as she removed the underwear from his head and wrapped her arms around him from behind.

“No worries, let her be angry, and besides, there’s another darling right in front of me now.” Adrian said with a smile, turning around to embrace her.

If it had been in the past, after such an outburst from Blanchett, he would have had to chase after her if he wanted to keep her by his side; however, after the previous night’s indulgent menage a trois, he wasn’t in a rush. He already had a deep understanding of Blanchett’s personality, which blended toughness with softness.

So, the money he spent last night was quite worth it, originally only expecting an elevating thrill with Gwyneth, yet Blanchett got involved too. With a bit of manipulation of their jealousy along with the effects of alcohol, it turned into a daring threesome game in the elevator–a simply delightful feeling; I love alcohol.

“Oh, you always know what to say, Ed.” Gwyneth blinked, crossing her arms around his neck.

“I’m serious, Gwyneth, your performance last night was fantastic, utterly captivating.” Adrian complimented, patting her pert bottom gently–a bounty from the previous night’s encounter, just like what he had gained from Blanchett, albeit Gwyneth was far more receptive, probably due to their different considerations.

“Hey, don’t slap there, you made it hurt a lot last night,” Gwyneth pouted.

“Is that so?” Adrian smirked with ill intent, realizing something, Gwyneth tried to struggle free, but he flipped her onto the ground before she could.

“Wait, Ed, damn it, you’re like never satisfied,” Gwyneth exclaimed with annoyance.

“You see, Gwyneth, morning exercise is a very good activity,” Adrian’s hands were already in motion.

“Hell, it’s already morning! And stop, don’t touch there!” Gwyneth was helpless.

“Oh, I can’t do that, you just learned how, you have to solidify it,” Adrian laughed heartily.

“Does Kate do it with you like this often? She seemed to enjoy it quite a bit last night,” Gwyneth suddenly asked between gasps.

“Of course, otherwise why would I have her teach you, just like you’ll teach her — getting ready to go in.”

“Wait–ah!”

With Gwyneth’s cry, morning exercise began in the hotel room.

——————————–

As time went on, “Braveheart,” after its promotional campaign, finally started its sneak peek in a Hollywood cinema before Christmas, following the Oscar nomination rule that only films that have had at least seven consecutive days of official mainstream cinema release are eligible to compete.

Because the previous continuous quarrels had attracted a large audience, the film was nearly sold out every day during those seven days, with everyone eager to get a first glimpse, curious to see what the Miracle Director’s new film was really like. This situation wasn’t much different from the initial reaction to “Howards End,” except “Howards End” was not favored by critics before filming whereas movie fans were curious, and after its release, the critics made a 180-degree turn to praise it, while the fans felt duped. However, after the sneak peek of “Braveheart,” although the critics who paid to watch maintained the same polarized views as before between the UK and US, the fans unanimously praised it.

American movie buffs need no mention–they greatly admired this epic film featuring ancient weaponry, especially the die-hard fans who believed the Miracle Director to be unsurpassable. British movie buffs working in Los Angeles also thought highly of it, even if a few older ones had minor complaints about certain details but still found the film enjoyable.

“I don’t think this will have any impact–it’s just a movie, only those who don’t understand history and can’t think for themselves would think that what’s shown in the film is actual history,” a Brit said in an interview.

So, with increased anticipation, after the turn of the year at the end of ’95, “Braveheart” held its premiere in the first weekend of January ’96. (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, you are welcome to vote for it with a recommendation ticket or a monthly ticket on . Your support is my greatest motivation.)