"Regarding the contract," Jimmy's tone shifted, becoming more serious, "the company hopes to... discuss the possibility of deeper cooperation with you in the future. Of course, everything is based on the premise of respecting your existing contract."
Landon didn't hesitate for a moment: "Jimmy, please discuss all business and contractual matters directly with my agent, Tracy. She represents me with full authority. Right now, I must focus my energy on finishing the movie and the upcoming promotion."
Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll contact Tracy personally. You focus on the set for now; I'll have my assistant send the specific promotional schedule to Zoe."
Hanging up the phone, Landon looked at himself in the mirror as his original appearance gradually returned, his gaze deep.
2.51 million—it represented boiling prestige and the accompanying, even greater pressure and expectations.
His pace had to be faster and steadier.
On the other side of the set, Jennifer Connelly also knew that the clock counting down to Landon's departure from the set had begun to chime.
Landon only had one week of filming left, after which he would plunge into intensive promotion and then head to another crew.
This meant that their intimate relationship, born from the film, was about to face a long-term separation, and no one knew what the future would hold.
Perhaps stimulated by this impending sense of parting, over the next few nights, Jennifer completely transformed herself into an immersive nighttime director, pouring all her talent and passion into creating a series of extremely private farewell plays performed for an audience of one.
The first night, the theme was the reigniting of the dark fire from 'The Hot Spot'.
She had somehow found a sharp-cut, deep-V black leather vest similar to her character's in the film, paired with the simplest black trousers.
Without excessive makeup, she simply combed all her hair back, revealing a smooth forehead and eyes so calm they were almost indifferent.
When Landon returned to the suite, she was facing away from him, standing before the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the New York night scene, holding a glass of amber-colored liquor. Her posture held the detachment and tension of the woman in the movie who walked the line between law and crime.
Throughout the night, she guided a rhythm filled with dangerous tension.
Her touch carried scrutiny, and her kisses were mixed with hesitation and tentative nibbles, as if evaluating whether the man before her was an ally, prey, or a target that needed to be eliminated.
Using fragments of dialogue and improvisation, she constructed a miniature scenario of betrayal, trust, and high-stakes temptation.
"You said you wouldn't lie to me," she would suddenly grab his wrist at a certain moment, her voice very low and her eyes as sharp as a knife, "but now, I smell the scent of lies."
Landon needed to improvise and play along, elevating this game of desire into a dual contest of mind and body between two masters.
That night, passion was like dancing on a razor's edge, every approach carrying the possibility of a fall, finally reaching a peak in near-exhausted conquest and compromise, with sweat and breath stained with the intense aftertaste of smoke clearing after a battle.
The second night, she sank completely into the dark vortex of 'Requiem for a Dream'.
The scene became minimalist and oppressive.
She changed into a soft old T-shirt and cotton pajama pants, with no makeup, even deliberately letting the dark circles of fatigue show under her eyes.
Only one dim bedside lamp was lit in the room, and the air was filled with an invisible anxiety.
She was no longer playing a clear role, but instead released a state of being swallowed by a massive sense of nothingness and dependency.
Her kisses became greedy and desperate, like a drowning person searching for air;
Her hugs were suffocatingly tight, as if letting go would mean falling into an abyss;
Tears would slide down without warning—not from sadness, but as a physiological release of emotional overload.
She murmured fragmented monologues about falling, losing one's way, and craving a 'cure,' treating Landon as both the cause that pushed her into the abyss and the only possible salvation.
The experience of this night was no longer pleasure, but an emotional roller coaster of shared danger.
Landon needed to use incredible patience and soothing strength to deal with her sudden emotional breakdowns and intense demands, pulling her back from the edge of her self-constructed dark hallucinations into the reality of blending body temperatures time and again.
When it ended, both were exhausted, as if they had jointly experienced a psychological storm, huddling close in absolute silence, sharing an intimacy akin to surviving a disaster.
The third night, she fused her earlier pure image with her later mature charm, creating a complex drama that felt like a crossing of time.
At times, she wore a simple white shirt and jeans with her hair in a ponytail, her eyes as clear as the girl in 'Higher Learning', evoking the initial heart-throbs with shy touches and curious exploration;
At other times, she donned a silk dressing gown, gazing at him with the worldly, deep eyes from 'Mulholland Falls', telling silent stories of the past with slow, ritualistic caresses.
This night was about 'memories' and 'imprints'.
She seemed to be using her body to narrate the corridor of time she had experienced, forcibly yet gently branding Landon's figure into every key'scene'.
Landon was deeply shaken by this surging 'farewell performance' filled with artistic ingenuity and naked emotion.
He clearly felt that this was not just a squandering of desire.
Jennifer was using what she was best at—acting—and also the most authentic way—her body and emotions—to combat the upcoming departure.
Every meticulously designed scene and every extreme emotional investment was her attempt to freeze, preserve, and deeply embed this relationship into the fabric of each other's lives.
She was using this almost ritualistic, intensive bombardment of intimacy to ensure she would not be easily forgotten.
Landon cooperated with his whole heart.
He set aside all distractions and gave himself over to this 'nighttime director,' becoming the most fitting co-star for every one of her scripts.
He traveled through the condensed and intense emotional universes Jennifer constructed with passion and imagination.
He marveled at her creativity and was moved by her unreserved investment, mixed with unease and deep affection, before the parting.
He knew that this final week of'secret rehearsals' would have an indelible impact on his perception of personal emotions.
With the wrap-up imminent, this relationship was like a safe about to be stored in memory, and Jennifer was using all her strength to add the most complex and heaviest lock to that safe.