Capítulo 342: Chapter 342: The Second Westeros
After lunch, Simon rushed to Santa Monica to start his afternoon work. When Simon left, Catherine joined Janet in the villa's upstairs living room.
The maid named Claire brought them juice. After thanking her softly, Catherine, once the maid had left, leaned back on the sofa and glanced at Janet, who was perusing a thick folder. "How can you be comfortable with such girls around the house?"
Janet, idly stretching, took the juice from Catherine and sipped through the straw before replying, "What's wrong with that?"
Knowing Janet was playing dumb, Catherine asked directly, "Aren't you afraid Simon might do something?"
"I actually hope something happens," Janet said, glancing down at the documents on her lap with a flicker of defeat in her eyes. "Alison and the others are young, pretty, and obedient—perfect, really. Unfortunately, to him, they're just ABCD."
Catherine thought she might have misheard. "Hm?"
Janet shook off her mood, made a silly face at Catherine, and shrugged, "It's nothing."
"You two…" Catherine paused, probing, "Is there a problem?"
"Of course not," Janet shook her head. "You see, he comes back to have lunch with me, we spend more time together than before. This is the kind of marriage I wanted. Besides, I'm now the second Westeros in the world, Janet Westeros. Jealous?"
Catherine didn't reply, just continued to watch Janet.
During lunch, Catherine could clearly feel the natural intimacy between Simon and Janet, now thoroughly woven into their married life. Though not married herself, Catherine understood this was a very healthy relationship state, far better than many couples who quickly grow cold or even separate after an intensely affectionate start.
However, Catherine still sensed something off, both from Simon and Janet.
The nature of these oddities seemed different between them, but Catherine couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.
After a brief standoff, Janet's shoulders slumped. She set aside her juice and the folder, sat cross-legged on the sofa, and voiced her troubles, "Kate, do you think it's a problem that he... likes older women?"
Catherine blinked, her cheeks coloring as she thought of herself. "You're older than him too."
"I'm not talking about you," Janet waved her index finger aimlessly in the air, continuing, "I mean, how can I get Simon to like young and beautiful girls?"
Catherine studied Janet for a moment, then leaned back against the sofa, taking a sip of her juice before saying, "I suddenly think you should figure these things out yourself, don't ask me."
Janet puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction, "You asked first."
As they were talking, Alison returned and softly said to Janet, "Mrs. Westeros, the people from Harland Firm have arrived."
Janet nodded, pulling Catherine up, "They're handling the renovation of the next villa. Kate, come help me with some ideas."
In Santa Monica, at the headquarters of Daenerys Entertainment.
Starting at two o'clock, Simon spent three hours personally overseeing the final auditions for several important supporting roles in "Batman: The Dark Knight."
Most of the main characters for the "Batman" series had already been chosen. Before this, casting for core supporting characters in the sequel was also largely settled, with only minor roles left.
Due to the success of the first film, even these minor roles, some with only two or three minutes of screen time, were highly sought after.
Simon didn't intend to follow the original timeline's approach of turning the '90s "Batman" sequels into a star-studded mishmash. As the series progressed, reliance on stars increased, culminating in roles for Arnold Schwarzenegger among others, leading to noticeably disjointed storytelling.
Unsurprisingly, each sequel performed worse than the last at the box office.
Simon's core casting philosophy was to choose only the right actors.
While he didn't dismiss some nepotism, if someone tried to cast an unsuitable actor or create a role out of thin air for certain individuals, it definitely wouldn't pass Simon's approval.
By five o'clock, the auditions concluded, and after a brief meeting with the team, Simon returned to his office.
It was just past five, far from quitting time for Simon.
Jennifer, his assistant, entered with a stack of documents as Simon reviewed a development plan from the Igritte Company in San Francisco.
Igritte had completed all necessary preparations for building the World Wide Web: a tested graphical browser, a robust HTTP and HTML setup, server software, and website design tools.
In hardware, with collaborative efforts from SUN, Cisco, and AOL, everything from server workstations to custom modems and routers was ready.
Meanwhile, the Internet, which had evolved from the decades-old ARPANET, had formally split off with the creation of new root
servers and a domain registry system, fully opening up the Internet for commercial use by the U.S. government.
Everything was in place for a massive rollout of the global internet. Only a catalyst was missing.
From 1990 to 1993, commercial internet service providers like AOL emerged, growing alongside other fee-based networks. However, due to costs and lack of content, broader internet expansion was limited until 1993 when the Web's technologies were fully refined and opened to the public for free, leading to the internet's rapid growth.
It's essential to distinguish between the Internet and the World Wide Web. The Internet, a concept from the 1960s and '70s, encompasses all networks using TCP/IP protocols. The Web, a technological application built using WWW, HTTP, and HTML technologies, is merely a part of the Internet, which also includes instant messaging, email, VoIP, online gaming, and file-sharing.
Other technologies like instant messaging predated the Web. For instance, Bloomberg terminals used in Wall Street since 1981 featured instant messaging technology long before the Web's advent.
Similarly, online gaming began early. AOL's precursor focused on rudimentary online gaming and even tried pioneering online music sharing with Warner Records, a concept too advanced at the time.
Due to early internet's scant content, AOL had to offer basic network services along with its gaming, as users wouldn't know what to do online otherwise.
Simon hoped AOL would focus on being an ISP in the coming years, with Igritte providing internet content and companies like SUN and Cisco supplying hardware. However, the need for ISPs to offer substantial content to retain customers made this ideal division of labor challenging.
Considering these issues, Simon decided to discuss future plans with teams from several companies soon. He wanted to maintain the Westeros conglomerate's advantage in the internet sector without it being eroded by unclear business strategies.
Resolved, Simon looked up as Jennifer organized his desk.
As her subtle fragrance wafted over, Simon smiled and beckoned her, "Come here."
Jennifer rolled her eyes, "No."
"It's serious, come over, we need to talk."
Suspicious, Jennifer hesitated, but walked around the desk to him, only to be pulled into his embrace.
Sitting stiffly against him, she softly complained, "You lied."
Simon buried his face against her, breathing in her scent until she relaxed into his arms, then asked, "How's everything been?"
"What do you mean?"
"When Janet and I weren't here?"
Jennifer propped herself against his chest, feigning nonchalance, "Fine. My uncle even wants to set me up with a boyfriend."
Simon growled, "Looks like I need to consider a new personal lawyer."
"You're so domineering."
He quickly gave in, "Okay, I won't change."
She smiled, touched his cheek gently, then sat up, "I have work to do."
Letting her go, Simon watched her return to her side of the desk, "I'm planning a trip to San Francisco soon to talk about the Web with the Igritte team and others. Arrange it."
"Okay."
"And," Simon continued, watching her, "you'll come with me. We can have some time to ourselves."
This time, she didn't respond immediately.
After handing him the documents she'd brought, she finally looked up softly, "You know, I miss how it felt when we were in the cabin in Park City."
"Park City?"
"Yes, the first and second years we met, we went to the Sundance Film Festival. You, me, and Janet, all of us huddled by the fireplace, snowstorm outside, it felt like we were the only people in the world."
Simon remembered that was from their second trip to Park City.
The first year they met, Jennifer had brought her best friend, Lisa Collins.
Recalling these memories, Simon thought for a moment, "It's still quite cold in Finland. I bought some land near Aesborg after acquiring Nokia and built an estate there, which should be ready now. Maybe we could go there, just the two of us?"
"No," she shook her head, looking down, "You and Janet just got back together…"
"Then let's wait a few months, maybe until July or August. It's winter in Tasmania, and you know I own a lot of land there. It snows heavily in Tasmania during winter."
This time, she nodded, her cheeks flushed.
After a pause, she added, "Maybe we could bring Janet along?"
Simon replied, "Just us two. They have cabins there too, we can pick a snowy day to go."
Jennifer hummed softly, unconsciously rearranging items on Simon's desk before realizing, "I'll leave you to work. These are last week's box office data and some resumes for potential Flash actors."
"There's nothing urgent; you can leave early. I'll be heading out soon too."
"Alright."
With a soft response, Jennifer left the office
.
Simon knew she wouldn't actually leave early but didn't press further. Watching her exit his office, he then turned to the documents before him.
The Easter box office season was starting this Friday.
In March, Daenerys Entertainment had released only one film, Peter Jackson's "Crazy Fat Variety Show," which had a limited release in New Zealand and Australia due to its explicit content leading to an NC-17 rating in North America.
Considering the potential impact on Jackson's career, Simon had instructed the distribution team at New World Pictures to skip theatrical release and go straight to video.
Besides this film, Daenerys Entertainment's late last year and Valentine's Day releases, including "Pretty Woman," continued to be a focal point in cinemas.
___________________
(Support with power stones, comments or reviews)
If you guys enjoy this story, In support me on Patreon and get access to +200 advance Chapters
Read Ahead
Patreon.com/INNIT
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder