I’m in Hollywood

After sitting down on her seat, Elisabeth looked around the nearly empty hall and complained, “Why did you choose this movie? We have to wait another 15 minutes until it starts.”

Eric ate some popcorn and said, “You were the one that suddenly wanted to see a movie.
Also, it's better to wait a few minutes than going halfway through the show since this movie is quite good.”

Hearing Eric's high evaluation, she asked, “Have you seen it?”

Eric shrugged in response.

Elisabeth glared at him and said, “Have you seen it or not? It's a simple question.”

Eric ignored Elisabeth; he couldn't say that he had seen this movie in this life.
Speaking of it, after it was released, Eric had also told Nicole to watch this movie and try to understand Meg Ryan's style of acting since she had originally been the lead in Sleepless in Seattle.

While waiting for the movie to begin, Eric suddenly realized something very interesting.
The screenwriter of When Harry Met Sally was Nora Ephron.
Although this female writer and director had been integral to the success of many movies, she never really became famous.
When it comes to her movies, the fans usually only remember the male and female leads.

Of course, this wasn't a very interesting fact.
What Eric found truly interesting was that, at least within all the movies of Nora Ephron he had seen, the female lead had a common trait – sweetness.

Meg Ryan became known as “America's Sweetheart” after she starred in When Harry Met Sally.
The same was true for many other actresses.
Besides Meg Ryan, Nicole Kidman began to be considered a sweet woman after she starred in Bewitched.
Similarly, the plain-looking Lisa Kudrow became sweet in Lucky Numbers.
Even Meryl Streep became sweeter in Ephron's early work, Heartburn.

It was likely that, deep down, Nora Ephron herself had a sweet personality even though she usually acted quite curt towards others.
Therefore, she gave similar attributes to the many different characters she wrote, but in completely different styles.

While Eric was thinking that, the lights in the hall turned off.
After the silent subtitles, the distinct scene of this film appeared on the screen.
An old white-haired couple gave an interview while reminiscing about how they came together so many years ago.
Although the old couple on the screen are actors, the story they told was a true account which the screenwriter Nora Ephron had obtained after she interviewed a real couple.

As Eric kept his eyes on the screen, Elisabeth, sitting beside him, patted his shoulder and asked, “Eric, what's going on? I thought this was a rom-com?”

“Don't worry.
Keep watching.”

Soon, the scene changed and arrived outside the campus of the University of Chicago where the young college graduates, Harry Burns and Sally Albright, meet for the first time.
They carpool to New York and discuss their personal outlooks on life which leads to arguments.
Neither of them could convince the other, so after reaching New York, they both went their separate ways.

Five years later, they meet again, but, this time, Sally has a boyfriend.
Harry is also about to get married.
Perhaps, they both felt that their lives were on the right track.
Both of them have matured and have a feeling that maybe they can be friends.

Five years later, Harry is divorced while Sally is single.
By a twist of fate, the two people who came to New York together met again and thought that they could become true friends.

As they get along, they become friends who share everything with each other.
They even try to set up their respective best friends with each other, in an attempt to set up all of them.
They succeed.
At least, halfway.
Their best friends end up falling in love with each other, and soon decide to get married.
The stubborn Harry and Sally continue to remain single, and feel that since they are friends, they should not go further, lest they destroy their friendship.

Unfortunately, in a moment of weakness, they go further.
In short, they sleep together.
After they wake up in the morning, they begin to panic and begin to avoid each other.
Finally, on a lonely New Year's Eve, the two finally confess their feelings to each other, and kiss.

The scene cuts back to the interviews with an old couple, but, this time, it's not a white-haired old couple; it is Harry and Sally.
The two still continue to challenge each other and argue on almost everything, but one thing has changed; they're married.
Twelve years and three months after they first met, Harry and Sally became husband and wife.

The lights slowly turned on in the hall.
The crowds of men and women who watched the movie seemed to have become newly-weds as they stuck to each other and whispered sweet words of love.
In fact, many men and women were still sitting in their seats, making out.

Elisabeth held the bucket of popcorn which was almost full.
After lightly colliding with the nearby people, she finally caught up to Eric and hesitantly said, “Umm… this movie was very good.”

“Yeah, the director took some great shots, especially the scene where Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan were walking through Central Park.
The maple leaves in the scene were like life; right before they fade away, a new leaf blooms anew.
Oh, there were also the eyes.
I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but you could always see that the two were looking at each other clearly as if their eyes were the windows of their soul.
Through these shots, you can convey a lot of emotions to the audience which simply can't be conveyed through words.
Maybe I can use it in my own movies in the future…”

As they walked out of the theater, Eric continued giving his analysis of the movie.
Suddenly, Elisabeth felt an inexplicable surge of anger.
She threw the large bucket of popcorn into the trash can which made a loud bang, attracting the attention of the people nearby.

Eric flinched and stopped as he watched Elisabeth stomp her feet and walked towards the car.
He smiled wryly as he shook his head and followed her.

After the two sat in the car, Eric asked, “Are you still going to Julia's?”

“Yeah,” Elisabeth nodded before she continued, “Julia's place is still far.
Should we go to your house first? After dropping you off, I can drive to Julia's.
You most likely have more than one car, so you can just drive to work in a different one tomorrow.”

Eric found that this was the most convenient solution, so he nodded and drove back home.

**********

The drive to Eric's mansion took more than 20 minutes, but Elisabeth, who is never quiet, didn't speak a word the whole time.

Eric stopped the car and untied his seat belt before he turned to Elisabeth and said, “So, see you tomorrow?”

Elisabeth quietly stared at Eric with glazed eyes without saying a word.

The car became completely silent for a few seconds before Eric turned the key and turned off the engine and all the lights.

In the dark, he reached out and held Elisabeth's chin between his fingers as he closed the distance between the two.

-TO BE CONTINUED-