Michelle Pfeiffer woke up with a hangover, her head dizzy and foggy for a while. Recalling the events of last night, a sense of frustration and defeat surged within her.
She was still in Simon Westeros's villa.
The spacious bedroom, the soft bed, and the warm air inside were free from the biting cold typical of winter in Park City. Unfortunately, this was just a guest room.
She vaguely remembered drinking a bit too much last night and being helped here. The frustrating part was that Westeros hadn't touched her.
Even though... Michelle Pfeiffer had always considered herself one of the best-preserved actresses of her age in Hollywood. Moreover, everyone knew about a certain man's preferences for women, and she had done her best to seduce and please him last night. Yet, it hadn't worked out that way.
"Annoying little man!"
With her mood down, she found it hard to sleep again. The room's warmth left her with no desire to resist getting up in the cold morning.
Michelle quickly sat up in bed, wearing only her underwear. She looked around, then reached into the bed and soon pulled out the black Versace gown she had worn last night. The maid who had helped her to this room had only removed her shoes. The dress had likely been pulled off in her sleep for comfort, but now it was too wrinkled to wear again.
She got out of bed and walked to the window, pulling the curtains open. Bright light immediately poured in.
This was a north-facing bedroom on the second floor of the villa.
It was clearly a beautiful sunny day. Despite the window facing away from the sun, she had a view of Park City, surrounded by mountains at the base. Today was Sunday, and with the film festival in full swing, the streets below bustled with cars and pedestrians.
Standing at the window, Michelle Pfeiffer found herself enjoying the view.
But soon, she realized that none of this had anything to do with her. She was in Park City solely to attend the party at Westeros's villa; she had no film at the Sundance Festival. Even during the early years when Simon Westeros gained fame at Sundance with Run Lola Run, Hollywood stars of some stature wouldn't bother submitting their films to Sundance.
But times had changed.
Even Bruce Willis and his wife had brought a film this year, though it was just for screening and not in the main competition, which focused on promoting new filmmakers. This showed how seriously Hollywood now took the festival.
Yet, she had nothing.
Not only that, but today was also the day of the Golden Globe Awards in Hollywood, and it had nothing to do with her either.
Last year, she had only starred in one film, Dangerous Minds, a collaboration with Disney. The movie told the story of a retired female Marine turned high school teacher who tamed a group of unruly students. It was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. When she first got the script, she thought it was great, and she was the undisputed lead, making it one of her most important projects in recent years.
Unfortunately, the production ran into problems when Disney was acquired by Vivendi.
The French, eager to assert their control and avoid the mistakes Sony made, sent a French producer to oversee Dangerous Minds.
It backfired.
The film's budget ended up reaching $30 million, higher than initially estimated. Tensions arose between the French producer and the strong-willed Bruckheimer, severely impacting the film's production. As a result, when the movie was released in late August after the summer season, its North American box office barely surpassed $14 million.
Because of this conflict, Jerry Bruckheimer parted ways with Vivendi-controlled Disney.
She felt like she was the unluckiest victim.
With the failure of Dangerous Minds and the lack of major hits in recent years, she hadn't landed any roles since the latter half of last year. Not that there weren't scripts being offered, but neither she nor her agent considered them worthwhile. Taking on any of them might only cause her already precarious status to fall even further.
Meanwhile, a wave of younger actresses in Hollywood was fighting for the spotlight. Once she fell out of the limelight, a comeback would require nothing short of a miracle.
Outsiders often see Hollywood as a place where miracles happen. What they don't realize is that behind those rare miracles lie countless others who fail to even make a splash. For many A-listers, it's an achievement just to get the best resources, release a box office hit every few years, and limit losses on other projects.
There was only one Simon Westeros, after all.
After standing at the window for a while, Michelle Pfeiffer pulled herself together and headed to the bathroom. She found a set of new toiletries clearly placed there for her, brushed her teeth, and ended up taking a hot bath.
While soaking, she heard a knock at the door. Wrapping herself in a towel, she left the bathroom to find a housemaid.
She couldn't help but laugh at herself for momentarily thinking Westeros might surprise her with a morning visit.
After confirming she was awake, the maid left briefly and returned with a set of brand-new women's clothing. The size was perfect, and the maid took her wrinkled Versace gown away, promising to take care of it.
By the time Michelle Pfeiffer left the guest room on the second floor, she was dressed in a casual outfit: a light gray long wool sweater, white pants, and flat shoes. It was all very comfortable and homely. Noticing that these luxury brand clothes were all brand new, she couldn't help but feel touched.
She even started to feel some warmth toward that certain someone.
This was, after all, a small, remote inland town.
To always have such comfortable, well-fitting, and expensive clothing and shoes ready for female guests spoke to a level of attentiveness that few women could resist.
As she passed through the quiet second-floor hallway, she glanced up the stairs to the third floor but didn't dare go up. She couldn't help but wonder which woman—or women—had been taken upstairs last night. When she reached the first-floor hall, she noticed it looked completely different. The signs of the party from the night before were gone, and everything was spotless, which made her a little envious. Even the air no longer held any trace of last night's festivities.
Even so, two housemaids were still carefully cleaning a sofa in one corner of the hall.
One of them came over when they saw her, greeted her, and asked if she wanted something to eat. Realizing she was quite hungry, Michelle nodded. The maid politely offered some recommendations and guided her to the dining room on the west side of the villa, informing her that breakfast would take about twenty minutes.
At the end of the conversation, Michelle finally thought to ask about Westeros. She was told he had already left for a movie premiere at 10 a.m.
It was now 9:40 a.m.
So, it seemed she was the only one left in the villa… or not.
She quickly felt disappointed.
Instead of heading to the dining room, she wandered toward the eastern hallway. There was a comfortable living room there where she planned to relax and watch some TV.
Upon entering the living room, she noticed there were already people there: four striking supermodels—Cindy Crawford, Daniela Pestova, Eva Herzigova, and someone she didn't recognize right away. After an introduction, she learned her name was Carla Bruni.
The four models were dressed in the same casual style she was, clearly not wearing their outfits from the party. They seemed much more relaxed, laughing and chatting, some sipping coffee, others lounging on the sofa flipping through magazines. The TV was on, playing a soap opera.
They looked as if they were in their own home, completely at ease.
Michelle Pfeiffer couldn't help but feel a bit self-conscious.
She certainly couldn't compete with these women, each seemingly molded by the gods.
After exchanging a few polite words, Michelle quickly and awkwardly excused herself, feeling out of place once again. She wandered further inside, to the bar at the end of the east hallway, where two more housemaids were cleaning. Nearby, two petite girls were playing pool. She recognized them as the girls who had been with Westeros last night. If she didn't know better, she would have thought they were underage.
The girls weren't as aloof as the models and greeted her politely.
Michelle finally remembered their names.
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Love Hewitt.
She couldn't help but wonder—were they the ones who had been with him last night?
But looking at the girls, she realized that didn't seem likely.
After some casual conversation, Michelle moved behind the newly cleaned bar. Even though her hangover hadn't completely faded, she couldn't resist pouring herself a glass of red wine. She cradled the wine glass and took slow sips, pretending to be at ease as she wandered out of the bar.
She found her way into a minimalistic study. There were few books, and it looked more like a lounge than a library.
The study faced south, with large windows letting in the pale but bright winter morning sun, flooding the room. A hanging, oval-shaped chair sat by the windows. She went over and sat in it, the warmth inside, combined with the sunlight outside, made her feel lazy and relaxed.
For a moment, she couldn't help but think how wonderful it would be if she could live like this forever.
But sadly, she was just a guest.
She couldn't even afford to buy or build such a luxury home. Things like private jets and vacation homes were closely tied to a person's wealth. Often, it wasn't about whether one could buy them but whether one could afford to maintain them. Just like this villa—being able to erase all traces
of a party attended by hundreds of people overnight wasn't something just anyone could do.
After spending about ten minutes alone in the study, a maid came to remind her that breakfast was ready. She was led to a small dining room on the west side of the villa.
There, she found two other women already eating.
One of them was Jennifer Connelly, and the other, whom she had seen last night but couldn't name, introduced herself as Heather Graham.
Both of them were easily nine out of ten.
Though their styles differed, both were absolutely flawless in terms of beauty and figure. Michelle subtly glanced at their impressive figures, highlighted by their fitted tops, and then at the love bites on Heather Graham's exposed neck and the Hermes scarf Jennifer Connelly wore to conceal hers. She finally found the answer to the question she had been wondering since she woke up.
It was indeed them.
Both of these women were the kind of goddesses who could drive any man wild.
Noticing Michelle's realization, neither woman seemed embarrassed. In fact, they seemed slightly proud, chatting with her in a friendly and familiar manner. This made Michelle lose her appetite for the exquisite breakfast laid out in front of her.
Still, she didn't flee in embarrassment as she had earlier in the living room.
They were just a couple of young temptresses.
Despite her recent lackluster career, Michelle Pfeiffer, with her substantial experience and Oscar nomination, could easily outshine them. And as beautiful as these two were, in Hollywood, where beauty was abundant, escaping the label of a "pretty face" was the hardest challenge of all.
Then she thought of the man who was absent from the villa.
If he decided to intervene.
Clearly, all problems would cease to be problems.
Many of the women Simon Westeros had helped rise to fame over the years—like Nicole Kidman and Famke Janssen—would probably still be struggling to shed their "pretty face" status without the opportunities he had given them. She knew this from experience, having started her career as a teenager, but only earning an Oscar nomination after turning 30, which finally allowed her to escape the "pretty face" label.
After breakfast, Michelle Pfeiffer firmly decided to stay.
She knew that once she left, it wouldn't be easy to come back. All the other women in the villa clearly had the same idea. Even if Simon didn't return for lunch or dinner, they would persist in staying here.
Fortunately, the maids showed no sign of asking them to leave. Otherwise, it could have been a bit awkward.
The villa was big enough. If it could accommodate a party for hundreds, scattering a few women around wasn't an issue at all.
In Park City.
Having left the mountaintop villa early that morning, Simon Westeros had been busy all day.
Thanks to careful planning, Simon had chosen to attend several film premieres in various parts of the small town.
Looking at the lineup in the festival's program, Simon could sense how "powerful" it was this year. This was evident in the four premieres he attended from morning until night.
Four new films.
At 10 a.m., the first premiere was Bound, directed by a pair of newcomer brothers, Larry and Andy Wachowski.
At 1 p.m., there was a short film screening at another venue.
This short film, titled Ants, was written and directed by a young Brit named Christopher Nolan. It was a 15-minute black-and-white film about a man's tense standoff with an ant in a filthy apartment. The unique cinematography and storytelling were striking.
At 3 p.m., Simon attended the premiere of Swingers, a low-budget film by Highgate Pictures, directed by Doug Liman and written by Jon Favreau.
Finally, at 6 p.m., he attended the premiere of Trainspotting, a British film competing in the main competition, directed by Danny Boyle.
Though only one of the four films was directly funded by Daenerys Entertainment, Simon had secured distribution deals for all of them in advance. Whether the films or their creators, they were now part of Daenerys Entertainment's portfolio.
Two years ago, 1994 was hailed as "the year God watched movies," filled with cinematic brilliance.
And in January of 1996, at this year's Sundance Film Festival, with names like the Wachowski brothers, Christopher Nolan, Doug Liman, Jon Favreau, Danny Boyle, and script trades by newcomers like Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, history would surely look back at this year's festival as one that left a lasting legacy.
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