章 920: Chapter 922: Very On-Point
[Chapter 922: Very On-Point]
For several days, the weather on Long Island had been gloomy, with intermittent drizzles. Upon returning to East Hampton, whether due to the family atmosphere or the dreary weather, Eric found himself feeling rather lazy.
Last night, he had read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to three little ones deep into the night. Afterward, he got into bed and rekindled some affection with two women. By the time he fell asleep, it was already past two in the morning. He was groggily awakened by Joanna once, but he had no intention of getting up for breakfast and planned to linger in bed a while longer.
He vaguely heard the sound of a car engine and voices in the front yard. Rolling over, he hoped to sleep a bit longer when the bedroom door was suddenly pushed open.
Half-awake, he glanced over, expecting it to be Joanna, but instead, he heard the sound of boots hitting the floor.
Joanna didn't wear high heels around the house, let alone those hard-soled leather boots. A different scent wafted through, and he sensed a woman squatting by his bed, seemingly searching for something. Eric reached over and grabbed a magazine beside his pillow, tossing it at her.
Ewa Pacula didn't realize Eric was awake; initially, she was in a playful mood, picking up a foundation brush from the vanity, intending to tickle Eric. Startled by the magazine hit, she exclaimed, "Eric, why did you hit me?"
Not holding back, Eric smacked Ewa playfully on the head again, reprimanding her, "What kind of crazy girl barges into her brother-in-law's bedroom so early? Get out!"
"Woo, that's so mean! You're only a year older than me, yet you talk like an old man. And it's ten-thirty now, so it's definitely not early," Ewa retorted, snatching the magazine from Eric's hand and tossing it aside. However, she showed no signs of leaving, perching halfway on the bed's edge with a teasing tone, "Eric, did you really ban the Victoria's Secret Angels from dating Leonardo DiCaprio?"
Eric felt exasperated with his carefree sister-in-law. He was only wearing shorts under the covers, making it inconvenient to throw off the sheets and get up. He replied dismissively, "Well, since you've heard about it, it must be true."
Ewa chuckled wickedly and quipped, "Do you know what they're calling you privately now?"
"No, and I don't want to know."
Ewa originally intended to tease Eric and gauge his interest, but seeing his complete disinterest, she divulged, "They're calling you 'Jealous-Daddy' -- the protective dad who's jealous because his daughter can't date boys, haha!"
"Very on-point. If my daughter were a lesbian, what would she even know about dating?" Eric nodded in satisfaction and tossed the pillow at her again, insisting, "Now, get out."
"Well, I'll tell my sister you want Elia to be a lesbian," Ewa retaliated by grabbing the pillow and hitting Eric a few times before standing up. "And by the way, I came over with Emily and the others; they're all downstairs waiting for you, so hurry up!"
While saying this, Ewa's eyes twinkled with mischief as she suddenly tugged the blanket from Eric, yanking it hard.
However, instead of pulling the blanket off, she ended up being pulled onto the bed by Eric, who had been on guard. In no time, she felt a sharp smack on her backside.
The room echoed with a loud clap. Ewa jumped up from the bed, rubbing her rear while glaring at Eric, about to protest when he cut her off, "If you don't leave, I'll have to tell everyone you tried to assault me."
"Ugh, as if it's you..."
Blushing, Ewa spit out disdainfully and stomped out of the room in her high boots, making a loud racket on the wooden floor.
...
After dressing and washing up, Eric headed downstairs, where Chris and Emily were chatting with Joanna and the others in the living room.
Emily Brighton had only two months left until her due date, but she still hadn't stepped away from managing LTD Group and showed no intention of taking maternity leave.
Exchanging pleasantries, Emily eagerly started discussing this year's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show preparations with Eric.
This year marked the fourth iteration of the show. After years of development, it had become the Super Bowl of the fashion world. Following the debut's astonishing viewership of 46 million, although the ratings began to decline thereafter, the second and third shows still pulled in over 30 million viewers.
Thanks to the fashion show's success, LTD Group had maintained an annual growth rate of over 20% across all business sectors in recent years.
While such numbers might not be remarkable in emerging IT industries, a 20% annual growth rate was a true miracle in the traditional fashion sector.
On the other hand, the market share of Victoria's Secret had climbed from an initial 10% to 33% as of the second quarter of this year. The overall annual revenue of LTD Group had nearly doubled in three years, soaring from around $3 billion after its acquisitions to nearly $6 billion now. Recently, LTD Group's market value even reached as high as $10.6 billion -- about three times the value post-acquisition.
"Based on your initial suggestion, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show needs several talking points each year for publicity. Next year will be Cindy, Linda, and Christy's final show. We've planned for the millennium dream BRA for the year after, but that's going to be a tough sell. This year, we're focusing the promotion on a few guest performers. Celine Dion, the Backstreet Boys, and Elton John have all accepted our invitations and have begun selecting songs," Emily explained how the preparations were coming along, looking up at Eric. "I heard you're forming a girl group in the UK; will they be ready to perform in November?"
Eric shook his head. "Even if they're ready, they can't perform yet. I want them to develop in Europe first. And about Celine Dion -- do you think she fits the Victoria's Secret stage?"
"Of course," Emily nodded confidently, responding without hesitation. "Using My Heart Will Go On, we've already designed a shipwreck theme. It might not look great live, but with post-production editing, it should turn out beautifully on TV."
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show primarily targeted millions of television viewers, with film scores adapted for visual shots, but aligning visual elements with music, akin to a music video, wouldn't be overly difficult to achieve. After pondering for a moment, Eric agreed that it was feasible to blend My Heart Will Go On into the fashion show's visual presentation using long shots and slow-motion elements.
"In that case, you'd better find a good cinematographer."
"Still Nicole; I've already talked with her," Emily said, jokingly adding, "You, the big director, are making fewer movies now. You wouldn't want your go-to cinematographer to be idle."
Eric was a bit surprised, laughing, "I was actually considering asking her to help me shoot a music video. But, if that's the case, let her focus on the Victoria's Secret show. I can find another cinematographer."
"Ha! Even if you're reluctant, there's no way you can take her from me," Emily said, glancing towards the kitchen where Virginia and the others were preparing lunch. Ignoring Chris, she continued, "Originally, I heard Helena and Leonardo were dating. I wanted to take the opportunity to stir up some news, so what did he do to annoy you?"
Eric shrugged and chuckled, "You must already know, Jealous-Daddy, and that's just how it is."
Chris, clearly out of the loop, asked with confusion, "What are you two talking about?"
Emily shot her husband a glare. "Don't dig into this, or you might get led astray by Eric. I warn you, I'm about to have a baby."
Chris looked innocent, but he had gotten used to Emily's unreasonable mood swings during pregnancy. He shrugged and said, "Fine, I won't ask. You two can continue chatting."
Emily didn't bring it up again, pausing before continuing, "Also, Eric, this year I plan to replace ten Angels all at once and introduce some new faces to keep things fresh."
In the past few years, the models participating in the show had constantly shifted, but that was usually just a few Angels who couldn't participate for various reasons. The thought of even a partial overhaul like that felt significant.
Eric quickly realized why Emily had called him recently to discuss this year's Victoria's Secret show.
While he didn't involve himself in the management of LTD Group, he cared immensely about the fashion show he had helped create. Emily understood this, so any substantial changes to the Angel lineup definitely required Eric's approval.
The fashion show had only been held three times, and Eric didn't believe audiences would lose interest so quickly; people preferred familiar faces. Whether in movies, television, or fashion shows, this held true. Replacing some beloved Angels could even backfire.
"Emily, you should know, overhauling this many people is as risky as changing leads in a film or TV series."
"I know," Emily replied with a hint of resignation on her face. "But I feel we have no choice. Eric, the first three shows saw the highest attention for Victoria's Secret ever, significantly boosting the models' fame and, consequently, their worth. Even without considering the five contracted spokespersons, the remaining models have an average appearance fee exceeding $100,000. That sums up to almost $4 million. Remember the initial compensation you gave them? It was $5,000 -- twenty times less. Furthermore, the salary isn't even the primary issue; as their fame grew, so did their demands. This has made coordinating resources increasingly difficult. Those pretty girls behave like well-behaved daughters around you, but once they're famous, they become considerably more demanding."
Eric heard a hint of quiet resentment in Emily's tone, which didn't come as a surprise. He had seen Cindy ordering the crew around during filming of America's Next Top Model, completely different from her mild demeanor around him. He could only imagine there were other Angels with more outrageous attitudes. Outside of Eric, it wasn't easy for anyone to manage that coterie of beauties.
After considering for a while, Eric still declined Emily's request and said, "Let's not create such a stir; let's only replace five this time. If you think it's necessary, you can replace five more next year."
Emily appeared a bit reluctant but nodded, "Okay, then."
However, Eric noticed a subtle difference in Emily's expression and suddenly asked with a smirk, "You're not just trying to use me as an excuse to rein in the others, were you? You didn't actually intend to swap this many people from the start, did you?"
The Victoria's Secret Angels comprised around forty Angels, which seemed like a lot, but thanks to years of high exposure, each of those beauties had gathered a substantial fan base capable of influencing more people around them, which only deepened the brand recognition of Victoria's Secret.
As a savvy businesswoman, Emily clearly understood the potential implications of a mass overhaul of the Angels much better than Eric did. If he objected to shaking things up, she certainly wouldn't want to do it either.
By proposing such drastic changes, she likely just wanted to obtain a proverbial "royal decree" from Eric to control some of the more troublesome models. If Eric gave her the green light, then anyone who misbehaved might find themselves facing exclusion from Firefly Group.
Emily paused for a moment, then nodded, "I genuinely want to change some of them. If you agree, that's fantastic; if you don't, I'd hope you could still give them a warning to tone it down. But..." With a teasing glance at Eric, Emily added, "I think you'd probably miss them; they are like daughters after all, especially a bunch of stunning daughters."
Chris had been quietly listening. Just as he brought a cup of coffee to his lips, hearing Emily's words and recalling "Jealous-Daddy", everything clicked for him. He suddenly understood something and sputtered, nearly choking on his coffee as he coughed repeatedly.
"What's your problem?" Emily shot a displeased glance at her husband and shifted her body away from him. Eric reached for some tissue from the coffee table and handed it to Chris.
While Chris wiped the coffee stains from his shirt, he sheepishly shook his head, though he couldn't hide a grin, saying, "Sorry, my bad. I need to use the restroom."
Virginia happened to walk out of the kitchen just then, glancing at the scene with curiosity. "What happened?"
"Nothing; Chris just choked on his coffee," Eric explained, then asked, "Is lunch ready?"
"Yeah, let's head to the dining room," Virginia said, coming over to kindly assist Emily.
Emily supported Virginia's arm as she stood up, then turned back to Eric, "While we're at New York Fashion Week, we'll be interviewing a few new Angels. When are you coming to Manhattan? You can help us review some of the themes we've designed."
"I'll head over tomorrow, but I need to stop by White Plains first. Blue Sky Studios is up there; I'm set to watch a new 3D animation script presentation they scheduled with me. The day after tomorrow, I have a high-level meeting with ABC, so I won't have time until then."
*****
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