Chapter 10: Chapter 10 – Starting Point

 

Jennifer Aniston was absentmindedly waiting for the bus. She wasn’t really disappointed. She had just graduated from her performing arts school last year and had only performed in a few small stage dramas. She had heard about the audition by chance and had sent her resume without really expecting anything.

She was about to hail a cab when she heard someone calling her from behind. She turned around and saw the young man who had looked at her strangely during the audition.

“Hello, you are…?” Jennifer subconsciously asked and realized that she didn’t know his name.

Eric held out his hand and said, “Hello, Miss Aniston, my name is Eric, Eric Williams.”

Jennifer Aniston politely shook his hand and smiled, “Hello, Mr. Williams.”

Eric stared at her smile in a daze and forgot to let go of her hand.

“Mr. Williams, you…” Aniston could feel his warm hand wrapped around hers as she abashedly rebuked him with her gaze.

“Ah, sorry. Just call me Eric, Miss Aniston, do you mind if I call you Annie?”

Eric took his hand back, and awkwardly scratched the back of his head as he cursed in his heart. Granted, he had not been a playboy in his past life, but he was definitely not wet behind the ears. It was definitely his new body’s hormones acting out, definitely!

Jennifer looked at him with a touch of alertness, “Well, Eric, we don’t seem to know each other?”

Eric composed himself, smiled and said, “Don’t we now? All friends start as strangers. Annie, it’s already noon, can I take you out to lunch?”

“It’s too sudden, Eric, we’ve barely spoken a few words,” Jennifer refused.

“Then, let me drop you home,” Eric smoothly followed.

“That… should be okay,” Jennifer was taken aback. She had always been good at rejecting people, but she still agreed to his request without really knowing why. Actually, that was Eric’s plan all along: asking her something she would reject first, then strike it home.

After boarding his car, Eric asked her for her address and started to drive.

Unable to hold back her curiosity, Jennifer inquired, “Eric, you’re a member of the 17 Again staff ?”

“Yeah, I’m the screenwriter. Well, I guess I’m also an actor now,” Eric said casually while manipulating the steering wheel.

“Oh, wow, that’s amazing! You should be around my age, but I have only played some small roles in a few stage dramas.”

Eric smiled, “I was just lucky. Right, you said that you performed in stage dramas?”

“Oh, yeah,” Jennifer began talking endlessly as Eric shifted the conversation to a topic that she liked. She would even giggle when he made some jokes.

How could a 19-year-old girl be Eric’s opponent, whose soul was that of an experienced uncle. Jennifer gradually opened up and began telling him about her life in Los Angeles.

“Although it’s tiring to work at a convenience store eight hours a day, it’s fulfilling. Besides, I perform in stage dramas or give auditions from time to time. I don’t believe that I need to rely on my irresponsible father to be successful.”

Eric knew that in his past life, it was Jennife Aniston’s father who had introduced her to the film industry. It was in 1990, to be precise, which should’ve been two years later if history hadn’t been altered.

As far as he recalled, Jennifer Aniston resented her father for abandoning her mother and she. In the end, was the first one to break the ice and tried everything to mend his relationship with his daughter, adamant on helping his stubborn little girl. By the time he got her the role of Rachel Green in , Jennifer was already 25 years old. It had to be known that, in Hollywood, if a woman still hadn’t made it by the time she reached 30, her odds of success were impossibly low. Jennifer had been very lucky.

Eric tried to cheer her up as he said, “Your audition was very good, you weren’t unnecessarily dramatic unlike those who usually do drama plays. You know, there was a girl at the beginning of the audition, she brought drama to a whole new level.”

Mentioning the audition, Jennifer suddenly went quiet. After a while, she asked softly, “Eric, Maggie’s role had already been decided before I auditioned, right?”

“I have to say, Annie, you’re really sharp.”

“It’s just that you all seemed distracted back then, like you were all simply going with the flow.”

Eric bluntly said, “If nothing surprising happens, the role will most likely go to Drew Barrymore. Her performance as Maggie was exceptional.”

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“Drew Barrymore, the cute girl from ? She should only be twelve or thirteen years old currently, isn’t Maggie a senior in high school?”

Eric asked, surprised, “Annie, did you not see Drew in the waiting room? Although she’s only thirteen years old, she looks… really mature.”

Jennifer bitterly smiled, “No, to make it on time for the audition I swapped shifts with one of my co-workers and worked until twelve, so I arrived a little late.”

“I see. Right, there’s something else, well it’s nothing really, but I don’t know if I should say it…”

Jennifer looked at him curiously, “What is it ?”

“Just after you left… the others noticed that I had taken a liking to you.”

Aniston’s lips suddenly drew a curve as she asked, “So… what then?”

“James, the producer, said to me that the world was big, and that if one missed out on a girl, they might never get another chance, so he encouraged me to go after you. He also said that if I did, he would give you a small role so as to provide us with more opportunities to interact with each other.”

Eric thought quietly in his heart, I’m sorry for selling you out James bro, winning the heart of a girl is not an easy thing.

“Ah, that, I… I… I-” Jennifer was flustered by Eric’s sudden confession, but she also felt a little sweet.

Seeing her panic, Eric hurriedly added, “Hey, you don’t have to feel burdened. Annie, we’ve become friends, and friends help each other, it’s normal. The role I mentioned is just a small role really, it’s one of Maggie’s three friends, there are only a few scenes. But if you accept it, you’ll have greater chances at scoring other auditions since I believe that my movie will be a hit at the box office.”

“Thank you, Eric, I really don’t know what to say.”

They drove for another ten minutes when Jennifer pointed to an intersection and said, “Eric, parking there will be enough.”

The car stopped in a narrow alley as the two of them went silent. Jennifer didn’t want to get off, and Eric was certainly not stupid enough to let her slip away. They sat quietly for a while until the atmosphere got slightly ambiguous.

Finally, after gathering her courage, Jennifer said, “I’ll invite you to lunch instead Eric, there’s a small restaurant in front, I often eat there.”

Eric breathed a sigh of relief and replied, “What are you saying, how could I let you treat me ? Of course I’m paying, let’s go, show me the way.”

***

In the end, Jennifer accepted the role, and during the period of preparations for the film, the two of them talked almost every day through the phone. She’d tell him about someone who was caught stealing in the convenience store she worked at, about what she wore, it was to the point she’d even tell him how many times she sneezed a day.

Eric didn’t say a word about his own life problems, and kept comforting the young woman who was alone and away from home. In spite of Jennifer having quite a few friends, she didn’t have anyone to confide in, so Eric had unknowingly become the spiritual pillar she relied on. Eric knew that if he asked her out, she would definitely agree.

But he didn’t rush it, he didn’t want his relationship with her to make things awkward on the set.

During this period of time, another project was also being completed: The Jurassic Park novel. Half a month after signing the contract with Michael Klaus, he finally put his hand on a freshly printed book. The cover was adorned with a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex pushing cars off the road. He got the idea from the Jurassic Park movie, and Michael Klaus thought it was great, he liked how the prehistoric era was clashing with the modern one.

Eric specifically asked for another copy and gave it to Jennifer. His caring and gentlemanly behavior was quite lethal to a girl like her who had always lacked a father figure.

After reading Jurassic Park, Jennifer was awed speechless by Eric’s talent. He could write and he could act. In her heart, Eric had received the label of genius and her eyes seemed to contain an additional glow of worship when she looked at him.

***

While preparations for 17 Again were still underway, Eric helped select a few other cast members. In the end, the role of Mike’s son didn’t go to Brad Pitt, but they didn’t choose Blake Quinn, either. The one who landed the part was a slightly stronger looking eighteen-year-old boy.

Now that he had met Jennifer, Eric didn’t mind at all. After all, Brad Pitt and she were married once during his previous life.

Eric pettily thought about how when he became a director, he wouldn’t let him star alongside Angelina Jolie, either.

August 16th 1988, after Eric’s rebirth, the filming of his first movie officially began.

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