Kate smoked heavily while browsing the menu.
She had a serious addiction; it had only been twenty minutes since Leon walked in, and she was already on her second cigarette.
Female chain smoker!
Leon labeled her almost immediately.
He rested his chin on his interlaced fingers, looking like he had lost all hope in life during the long wait.
High-end restaurants like this only offered 5-8 set menu choices anyway, not to mention how pitifully few British dishes there were.
Even if they tried to be fancy, it would still come down to the old trio: pudding, pie, and fish and chips.
About ten minutes later, Kate finally finished ordering.
"Do you guys want something to drink?" She set the menu aside.
"Whiskey," Robbie and Leon answered almost simultaneously.
"You little drunkard..." Leon tutted helplessly.
Girls who loved strong liquor like whiskey weren't common even before the 60s, and now they were almost extinct.
Seeing their tacit understanding, Kate smiled warmly. "Great, nothing beats whiskey!"
She waved over the waiter and chose an expensive bottle of Macallan 30 Year Sherry Oak.
Twenty minutes later, the appetizers were served.
Leon had zero expectations for British food to begin with, but he was completely dumbfounded when he saw the pile of bloody, vomit-like meat balls.
"Are you sure this isn't dumpling filling? or some kind of pie filling?"
"Haven't you seen this before?" Robbie rolled her eyes at him.
Kate waved her hand and explained with a smile, "This restaurant is famous for its Steak Tartare..."
Leon was no stranger to the name Steak Tartare. Put simply, it was high-end cuisine made of high-end beef drizzled with high-end olive oil.
As for the taste, everyone's experience varied; just remembering "high-end" was enough.
"But the problem is... isn't this a French dish?" Leon played with his knife and fork, not knowing how to start.
"No! You're wrong!" Kate covered her mouth and laughed. "They added delicious British meat jelly here!"
"Alright..."
Given the extreme scarcity of British cuisine, Leon didn't say much more.
Anyway, staying hungry was the right move.
While the two women chatted enthusiastically, he kept playing with his wine glass.
Kate started talking about her debut experience, offering career guidance to Robbie.
Her acting career started at the peak.
She worked with famous directors all the way.
At 19, her first movie was Heavenly Creatures by great director Peter Jackson, where she played the female lead.
Then she acted in Sense and Sensibility directed by Ang Lee with Emma Thompson, becoming famous because of it.
Her first Oscar nomination signaled the official start of her trophy harvesting journey.
Then came Titanic in 1997, which swept 11 Oscars.
She was only 22 that year.
Speaking of this, Kate lowered her head and lit another cigarette. "I've been in very bad shape lately. I'm sure I have depression."
Robbie immediately showed a concerned expression. "How could that be, Miss Kate..."
"Haven't you noticed my skin has gotten worse too?" Kate took a puff and continued. "Endocrine disorders have made my figure a bit out of shape... I can't even fit into last year's dress."
Just as she was enjoying venting her emotional garbage, a discordant sound came from the side.
Leon couldn't hold back his laughter. "Fxxk, are you kidding?"
This woman possessed almost everything all women dreamed of.
Depression?
Probably just being pretentious.
"Sorry, what did you say?" Kate thought she heard wrong.
"Nothing." Leon coughed twice. "I mean your figure being out of shape is simply a joke. Haven't you noticed the waiters stealing glances at you when they walk by?"
"Leon!!" Robbie almost exploded at his loose mouth.
Leon spread his hands, indicating he was telling the truth.
Although time inevitably left marks on Kate, it also brought her curvaceous body to its optimal ripeness.
Just like wine, the longer it ages, the mellower it gets.
The scene instantly became very awkward, but Kate broke the silence first.
She intentionally puffed out her chest, causing ripples. "It's okay, I like his frankness."
"Really?" Robbie's head was full of question marks.
"Although you've been in the industry for a while, you don't seem to understand the truth of Hollywood yet," Kate said. "The more sanctimonious those guys are, the dirtier and nastier their thoughts are behind the scenes..."
"In this circle for too long, you can't distinguish which sentence you hear is true at all."
Robbie lowered her head in silence; success coming too easily made her prone to trusting others.
Miranda had reminded her of this many times: Never let men get it easily! Never trust any man easily!
But this rule obviously didn't apply to Leon.
"I agree with your view very much, Ms. Kate, so I never tell lies." Leon stared straight at Kate without blushing or a beating heart.
"Cheers to your honesty!"
The two clinked glasses and downed the remaining liquor.
An hour later, the 750ml bottle was about to hit bottom.
Calculating it, everyone had drunk 200ml of strong liquor.
Leon's condition was okay, just tipsy.
The two ladies were already swaying drunk, and the scale of their chat was getting bigger and bigger.
From cosmetic surgery to lingerie styles.
Finally, unsurprisingly, the topic locked onto the eternal theme of women gossiping together all over the world—men.
Kate disregarded decency, talking big about her private life secrets with Sam.
The scale made Leon bury his head in drinking, nodding repeatedly.
He listened without making a sound.
"I tolerated that useless bastard for seven years... he never gave me real satisfaction."
"I was brainwashed by him, you know? He deceived me with topics like art and philosophy every day, forcefully instilling his values in me..."
"He is a complete hypocrite bastard!"
When talking about the scandal that broke out during the filming of Revolutionary Road, Kate was so angry she kept swearing.
Only then did Leon know that the large-scale intimate scene that eventually led to their divorce was actually proposed by Director Sam himself, and he even provided guidance on the side during filming.
His requirement at the time was: "Full of passion! The more real, the better!"
Moreover, Sam even said this in an interview: "Winslet and Leonardo both felt that scene and atmosphere were quite weird..."
"But, a movie is just a movie after all. I am good friends with Winslet and Leonardo. Those scenes just stop at the right point, so the problem in this aspect is not too big."
"My husband was standing behind the camera watching me and Leonardo; it felt almost like cheating!" Kate buried her head smoking. "I felt embarrassed; this almost became the hardest segment to shoot in the entire movie."
Leon ate up the gossip happily, shaking his head repeatedly to mock Sam's stupidity.
At the same time, he knew his chance had come.
He immediately threw out the question: "Heard you have a dispute over child custody?"
"That's right. That bastard has no idea how to be a good father, only soaking in the set day and night." Kate sighed.
Leon revealed the dagger, "I think his fight for custody might not really be for the child's future."
"That shouldn't be. Although he's a bastard, he hasn't reached that level..." Kate muttered softly.
"Fxxk, I think Sam just wants to embarrass you with this."
"What?"
"Exactly, that's what I think." Leon spread his hands. "As long as you are unhappy, his goal is achieved."
One point where women are very different from men is that they easily lose rationality at emotional lows.
Controlled by others' thinking.
"Besties" are the gravediggers of marriage when couples fight.
Recalling every bit since divorcing Sam, Kate actually felt Leon made some sense.
She shook her head, showing a bitter smile. "You are right. You seem to understand Sam better than I do."
"Of course!" Leon knocked on the table, his eyeballs showing a few bloodshot lines under the influence of alcohol. "Robbie is a victim of this! Sam is determined to make trouble for everyone around you!"
"This..." Kate was completely confused, turning to look at Robbie. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Robbie had a big confused look on her face; she hadn't figured out Leon's purpose for saying this.
Just as she was about to speak, she was interrupted by Leon. "She's not very willing to talk about these things; let me say it..."
In the next five minutes, Leon revealed everything about Robbie's scenes being severely compressed in Skyfall.
But he didn't mention a word that this was actually caused by the request of Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Howard Stringer.
Instead, it was Sam Mendes taking revenge on Kate!
At this point, Robbie finally couldn't listen anymore, raising her volume by three degrees and shouting, "Leon!!"
"Shh..." Leon raised the corners of his mouth, making a shushing gesture. "I know it's hard for you to tell Ms. Kate these things; I'll say it for you..."
"You..." Robbie was in a trance for a while. This man in front of her seemed to really be like what the entertainment media described...
An unscrupulous devil.
"Bastard... he has touched my bottom line!" Kate gritted her teeth, blood surging under the influence of alcohol.
Her fair face instantly turned tomato red.
Leon sipped the remaining wine in his glass contentedly.
Just looking at the other party's state, he knew his goal was achieved!
He successfully dumped the pot of the entire event on Kate. Under the influence of guilt, she would definitely trouble Sam!
For a man who had just divorced, his ex-wife's attack was harder to resist than a court summons.
"I'm very sorry, Robbie..." Kate held Robbie's hand. "This is all my fault."
"No, this really has nothing to do with you!" Robbie was so anxious she almost cried.
Through Leon, she fully knew the truth of the matter.
Director Sam might have a little personal emotion against her, but the scene cuts were entirely Stringer's order.
"Relax, I will talk to that bastard!"
"I will never allow him to hurt me in such a despicable way! Nor allow him to hurt my friend!"
As soon as the words fell, Kate grabbed the glass and downed a large mouthful of wine.
Seeing that the matter was ninety percent successful, Leon didn't want to waste time here anymore.
He looked down at his watch, grabbed Robbie's wrist under the excuse of being drunk, and was about to leave.
"Leon~"
Just as he walked to the restaurant entrance, he was stopped by Kate.
"What is it, Ms. Kate?"
"Thank you for telling me this." Kate's eyes were dazed with drunkenness, cheeks flushed. "Congratulations, Robbie, on finding a reliable man."
"Thanks for your compliment." Without waiting for Robbie to respond, Leon grabbed her and turned to walk out of the restaurant.
On the way back, Robbie changed her usual drunken silly state.
She remained silent throughout, not even glancing at Leon once.
After returning to the luxury apartment in Beverly Hills.
Leon acted as if nothing had happened, opening his laptop to communicate with Bonnie about the acquisition of Vibe magazine.
After many meetings and discussions, he decided to register a media company first.
For more efficient management, acquire Vibe magazine in the name of the media company.
The registration process was currently completed...
Only the most important step remained—applying for a Federal Tax ID (EIN).
Without this thing, it would be illegal operation, and he couldn't even open a company bank account, let alone acquire another enterprise.
The cycle for applying for an EIN could be long or short, mainly depending on the approval efficiency of the New York tax bureau.
All he could do right now was wait.
"We need to talk."
Just as Leon was busy working, Robbie's figure appeared behind him.
Leon knew what she was going to say without her opening her mouth.
"I'm busy right now..."
"No!" Robbie shouted. "We must talk!"
Leon could only helplessly close the computer. "Then speak."
"Why did you tell Kate that? That was completely a deception!"
"Fxxk, can you lower your voice?" Leon frowned. "It's just a white lie... this is good for everyone."
"You can get the role you want, and Kate can also walk out of the shadow of the last relationship faster."
"It's a win-win."
Robbie was shocked speechless by these words; many times words came to her lips and were swallowed back.
Finally, she stammered, "No matter how you quibble, deception is deception!"
Seeing her angry to the point of burning with rage, Leon shook his head with an indifferent look.
He had to teach this stupid girl a lesson.
"Listen, this is all for you..." Leon said. "Sometimes you have to sell something to get what you want!"
"Don't you know how many women in this circle get on-screen opportunities by selling their bodies? But I just created a white lie."
Seeing Leon shamelessly comparing himself to a "great philanthropist" in this situation, Robbie's eyes lost their usual luster.
Her eyes were hollow, as if she had lost her soul. "I seem to not know you anymore..."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, you weren't like this before... I know you very well..."
Leon raised the corners of his mouth, not shying away from her questioning at all. "Then maybe you don't know me well enough..."
"I have always been like this."
He fully understood what kind of fit this woman's brain was throwing.
If just using a friend could get the desired role in a 007 movie, then ninety-nine percent of people in Hollywood would do it.
But Leon felt Robbie seemed to have forgotten a bit that half of the achievements she gained today were due to his creation.
Not the stupid chicken soup of "hard work pays off"!
Robbie stood frozen in place for a full minute before her soul finally returned.
She shook her head hard, took three deep breaths. "I don't know what to say, maybe I still need a drink."
While speaking, she already walked toward the wine cabinet.
"Put the wine down..." Leon frowned, reminding her three times in a row before finally exploding.
"I told you to put that damn bottle down!" He grabbed Robbie's wrist firmly.
"Let go of me, you bastard!" Robbie struggled hard, showing signs of hysteria.
Leon's hand gripped tighter, lowering his head to press his face against Robbie's, lowering his voice:
"Do you want to be a fool manipulated by others and lost in the crowd?"
"Don't be fxxking childish, this is damn Hollywood..."
"If you can't prove you are a hunter, then you can only become prey!"