567-568

Chapter 567: You Almost Won the Award

"Luca, come down and have some pears!"
Kate called out from downstairs.

"Coming!"

September had arrived, and the big pear tree had yielded over 270 green pears, each about the size of a fist. Crisp, juicy, and flavorful, these pears were far better than anything you could buy at the store.

"How's the new movie coming along?"
Kate asked as she cut the pears into bite-sized pieces and placed them on a plate.

"With Ross around, everything's going smoothly."

Luca speared a piece with a fork and took a bite. "A bit tart!"

"Should I sprinkle some sugar on it?"

"No need. Adding sugar would take away the natural taste."

Luca ate another piece, and this one had just the right balance of sweetness and tartness.

"When are you heading to France?"

"Next week. Ross and Eli have been busy over there for more than half a month, pestering me to come sooner. I can’t laze around any longer," Luca said with a smile.

"You know you're slacking, right? If you don’t want to move around so much, you can stay put. We’re not exactly strapped for cash anymore."

Kate picked up a piece of pear, dipped it in cream, and popped it into his mouth.

Luca chuckled.

The two of them were more than comfortable financially. Besides owning stocks worth three or four billion, they had numerous other assets: a film company, a fashion brand, a design firm, and various properties.

Even more valuable were the copyrights to their novels, including *Twilight*, *Me Before You*, *Fifty Shades of Grey*, and *The Hunger Games* series.

The royalties from these books alone brought in over $20 million annually. With revenue from film adaptations added in, they made at least $60 million a year.

"Sure, we’re not short on money. But would you ever complain about having too much?"

Luca teased as he reached out to wipe a bit of cream from the corner of Kate’s mouth.

"Maybe a little. Back when we didn’t have much, we stayed close all the time. Now that we’re well-off, we’re always running around and hardly see each other. Remember when we were in New York? You were just a small-time model and actor. After work, you’d come home, cook, clean, and even massage my legs. Now I have to take care of you every day!"

Kate laughed lightly and dabbed some cream onto Luca’s face, painting him a little masterpiece.

Luca grabbed her hand and licked the cream off her finger.

"Are you a puppy?"

Kate scolded playfully.

"Yes, I am!"

Luca gently embraced her. "Honestly, I miss those days too. It was just the two of us, with nothing else to worry about. Now, with so much going on—and so many people around—it feels less meaningful. Maybe after this year, we should start our plan to retire to a grand estate."

"Could you really give it all up? You’ve said you want to win an Oscar. And what about the women in Hollywood? A whole new batch of fresh faces has come in. A few of them even caught my eye."

"None of that matters. I told you before—you’re the most important thing to me, and that hasn’t changed."

"I know."

Kate patted his shoulder. "But leaving next year feels too rushed. How about we make a three-year plan? We can gradually step back by 2010."

"Okay, we’ll do it your way. Honestly, I only entered the industry because you encouraged me to become a big star. Now that I am one, with recognition and influence rivaling Leonardo DiCaprio, I think we’ve achieved our goal."

Kate chuckled at the memory. "If I’d known, I wouldn’t have pushed you into showbiz. I should have told you to stay home, do the laundry, cook, and chat with me every day."

"So, I’m just your servant?"

"What else?"

Kate smiled slyly and carried the plate of pears to the sofa.

"Fine, a servant it is."

Luca sat down, lifted her long legs onto his lap, and began to massage them.

"How’s my technique? Still as good as ever?"

"Pretty good," Kate admitted with a raised eyebrow. "You don’t give massages to those other women you date, do you?"

"Of course not! I don’t have the time."

"You’d better not. If you dare, I’ll pull your ears off!"

Kate tugged at his ear playfully. "Feels good. Maybe my fingers were made to grab your ears."

"Enough! I’m someone of status now. Could you stop pulling my ears?"

"Oh? What status?"

"I’m... I’m your little brother!"

"Haha, good boy!"

Kate laughed and let go. "Later, pack up the pears and deliver them to everyone."

"Got it!"

That afternoon, Kate packed the harvested pears into boxes, and Luca drove around the neighborhood delivering them.

At Tom Hanks’ house, Tom was playing golf on the lawn and invited Luca to join him for a match. Luca declined, chatted briefly about movies, and continued his deliveries.

He reserved some pears for Lima, Aniston, Britney, and a few kids—little George and Katherine, who now had baby teeth and could eat pears.

He also called Charlize Theron, Rachel, Scarlett, Ambrosio, Eva, and others, offering to deliver pears if they couldn’t come by.

While most of them insisted he deliver them personally, Luca wasn’t falling for it. Knowing it would cost him more than just time, he chose to send the pears by courier instead.

On **September 12**, the Venice Film Festival concluded. As expected, Li An and *Lust, Caution* were the big winners, taking home the Golden Lion for Best Film and the Best Technical Contribution award.

Brad Pitt won Best Actor for *The Assassination of Jesse James*, while Cate Blanchett won Best Actress for *I’m Not There*.

*Atonement* received only the symbolic Film and Literature Forum Award.

After reading the news, Luca called Li An and director Joe Wright to congratulate them.

"Luca, you know, if you’d stayed in Venice, you might have won Best Actor," Li An teased over the phone.

"Really? With Tony Leung, Christian Bale, Tommy Lee Jones, and Brad Pitt in the running, there’s no way it would’ve gone to me."

"I’m serious! Since I won the Golden Lion, Tony couldn’t compete for Best Actor. Among the remaining contenders, the performances were pretty even. Pitt only won because the others had left early. The organizers had no choice but to give it to the biggest name still there."

Luca shook his head. If the award went to whoever stayed, that seemed pretty careless. But Li An had a way of joking seriously, so he wasn’t sure what to believe.

"Doesn’t matter. I’ll try my luck next time."

"Alright. Best of luck to you."

After hanging up, Luca wondered if Li An’s story was true. If it was...

*Sigh*, that guy always finds a way to be annoying.

No pears for him this year!

The phone rang again.

"Luca, don’t forget about tomorrow’s shoot," Natalie Portman reminded him.

"Don’t worry, I won’t!"

*(Chapter Ends)*

**Chapter 568: Want to Come Up for a Bit?**

“Boss, the set is over here.”
“This place is really out of the way.”

In the morning, Luca followed Annie to the set of *I Love You, New York*. He had previously promised Natalie Portman that he would play the male lead in the short film. Even though he had been very busy lately, he still found time to honor his commitment.

The set was located in a dance studio in Queens, New York.

The venue was somewhat run-down, but the chaotic graffiti on the walls, the pulsating music, and the dancers moving tirelessly to the rhythm brought the place alive.

When Luca arrived, more than a dozen crew members were bustling around. Natalie Portman, wearing a baseball cap and a gray hoodie, was standing by the camera, discussing shots with the cinematographer. She was also shouting at the lighting crew to dim the lights and create shadow effects.

“Mr. Kelly is here!” someone called out.

“Luca, how does this location look for filming?” Natalie asked with a smile.

Luca glanced around and nodded. “Not bad. When do we start? I need some time to warm up.”

“No problem. I still have some prep work to do before shooting. Is an hour enough for your warm-up?”

“Plenty.”

Luca removed his hat and jacket, then took a bag from Annie and handed it to Natalie. “Some pears from my garden. I brought a few for you to try.”

“Oh, thank you… but are you sure about this?” Natalie blinked, her expression a mix of surprise and hesitation as she took a cautious step back.

Luca froze for a moment and opened the bag to show her. “They’re just pears, nothing else. What’s the problem?”

“Well…” Natalie hesitated. “I heard from Scarlett that you give pears to your… women every year.”

“‘Women’? I give them to friends, colleagues, and anyone I know—not just women. I was actually planning to mail them to you, but since I was coming here for the shoot, I brought them along instead.”

“Is that so?”

“Exactly. If you don’t want them, forget it.”

“Of course I want them! Your pears are famous in the industry. I heard they’re delicious.”

Smiling, Natalie took the bag and muttered, “I thought you were hinting at something. Too bad you weren’t.”

“Too bad?” Luca raised an eyebrow.

“Never mind. Thanks for the pears,” Natalie replied with a grin. “Luca, please start getting ready. We only have one day to shoot this.”

“OK!”

Luca put on a T-shirt and sweatpants, then headed to the dance studio to warm up and practice dance moves.

The short film they were shooting that day was related to dance. It told the story of a man in his thirties who went to pick up his daughter from a community dance class.

At a Latin dance practice room, he heard a familiar song and saw people dancing gracefully to the music. In that moment, he was transported back to his youth. He had been a professional dancer, training since childhood, competing countless times, and even performing on Broadway and at Lincoln Center.

However, a car accident ended his dreams just as he was about to shine.

Afterward, he left the dance world, got married, had a daughter, and settled into family life.

As he reminisced, he began dancing outside the studio, moving to the music just as he had on stage years ago. Though his body was no longer as agile, his heart was still ablaze with passion.

It wasn’t until he heard someone call “Dad” that he stopped, returning to his role as a father and leaving the dance center with his daughter.

A simple short film, it was a story about dreams.

At 9:30 a.m., the crew began shooting. The most challenging part of the film was the dance sequences.

The male lead was portrayed as a Latin dance expert whose leg injury had left him out of practice for years. The performance required showing skilled yet slightly rusty movements, conveying a stark contrast between the exuberance of the dance and the limitations of the body.

This was difficult to execute well. Luca worked closely with the dance coach and Natalie, breaking down complex moves into smaller segments for filming.

The scenes at the dance center weren’t completed until the afternoon.

Due to a strict 24-hour shoot schedule, the crew had a quick meal before heading to a Broadway stage to film the flashback sequences.

These scenes featured fast-paced dancing. Luca performed some parts himself, while a stunt double handled others, including the car accident. The entire five-minute short film wasn’t finished until after 3 a.m. the next day.

The shoot involved five location changes and was a chaotic race against time.

“Filmmaking is supposed to be a meticulous process. What’s the point of rushing like this?” Luca asked Natalie on the ride back.

“Isn’t competition fun? Same city, same amount of time, same theme, and a five-minute film—whoever makes the best one wins. I love competition,” Natalie said, brushing her hair aside and setting down her director’s notes with a smile.

“You’re a newcomer. Competing against veteran directors puts you at a clear disadvantage.”

This competition included renowned directors like Jiang Wen from China, Mira Nair from India, Shunji Iwai from Japan, Fatih Akin from Germany, popular U.S. indie director Zach Braff, and Venice Golden Lion winner Andrei Zvyagintsev. Compared to them, Natalie was undeniably a rookie.

“I know. That’s why I recruited you. None of the other teams have a bigger star than you,” Natalie teased.

Luca shook his head. “Don’t count on me too much. My reputation isn’t exactly stellar.”

“That’s fine!”

“Miss Portman, we’ve arrived at the Kingston Hotel,” Annie interjected.

“Thank you!”

As the car stopped, Natalie stood up.

“Luca, want to come up for a coffee?”

“Coffee?” Luca looked at her in surprise. He couldn’t believe she didn’t know what such an invitation meant, especially at this hour.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I just want to talk about the film. Nothing else,” Natalie said, her cheeks flushing slightly. She immediately regretted asking.

“Forget it. If there’s nothing else, I’ll pass. If there *were* something else, I might reconsider,” Luca joked.

“Hmph!” Natalie glared at him, grabbed her assistant, and got out of the car.

“Natalie, don’t be mad. I was just kidding,” Luca called out, not wanting to be accused of harassment.

Natalie paused, then smirked slyly. “Luca, if there *were* something else, would you dare come up?”

Luca glanced at her and remembered her pepper spray. “Forget it. It’s almost dawn. Not enough time. How about next time?”

“Ugh, you scoundrel!” Natalie flipped him off and walked away without looking back.

Luca chuckled softly. “Let’s go, Annie.”

“Alright!”

The car roared off into the night, speeding toward 76th Street on Third Avenue.

*(End of Chapter)*