Chapter 115: Comedy.
[Hyde POV]
I checked the episode before going to sleep. They had included some footage that wasn't there before— me daydreaming about spending quality time with my dad.
Fixing cars together, him comforting me after a nightmare, and the two of us playing catch in the backyard.
"Pft. This is all fake." I snorted and closed the episode.
Apparently, Red had talked to my father and told him to wait until I was ready. Then, I'd reach out to him myself.
[Episode 2 Season 3: Hyde's Father.
Old rating: 7.5
New rating: 8.2
Rating points: 0.7
Fan letter: 3
Spinoff counter: 10/250.
(One random item ticket added to storage)]
I used the random item ticket immediately.
[Jagua Ink Temporary Tattoo. (2 weeks before disappearing). Black Dragon (Left arm) x 1]
"Temporary tattoo? Nice."Unable to sleep, I poured myself several glasses of whiskey and drank alone in my bedroom while jotting down ideas for my movies.
Eventually, I decided to watch some YouTube videos and somehow stumbled onto clips from an anime called Daily Life of High School Boys.
"Why is this being recommended when I'm searching for comedies?"
I had never watched the show before, so I got curious and clicked on a few clips.
A couple of minutes later, I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt.
Then I ended up binge-watching all twelve episodes in a single night.
I started at 2 a.m. and watched it till dawn. Finally, I fell asleep and woke up in the afternoon with a terrible headache.
I groaned as I sat in my spot, watching TV with my friends who were already there. Eric was watching TV, and Kelso just finished a popsicle.
Taking my notebook out, I began reading the notes I made last night and fell into a deep confusion.
Eric scowled at me and said, "Hyde. What were you doing last night? You startled me with your laugh at 4 in the morning."
I grunted as a reply, my head still hurting. "Don't talk to me. I have a hangover."
I paused for a few seconds before asking, "What were you doing up at 4?"
"Just getting a drink." He replied warily.
"No, you wouldn't hear me laughing in the kitchen. You'd have to get down here– You were trying to catch the late-night channel, weren't you?"
Eric's eyes widened. Donna walked into the basement with Jackie.
Kelso laughed and said, "I did that once. But there's nothing on there. Except for some reruns of Happy Days."
"What are you boys talking about?" Donna asked.
"Late-night porn. I think that's only on cable. You'll have to ask your dad to put cable in the basement, Forman." I said cheekily.
"What–" Eric laughed with disbelief and nervousness, "I wasn't trying to find porn at 4 in the morning. That's… I'm just worried because I heard you laughing alone at night."
Jackie's face immediately turned jealous. "You were laughing in your room? Did you bring some sluts into your room last night?"
I grimaced and looked at her with annoyance. "Even if I did bring someone, you can't say anything to me, since I'm not your boyfriend."
"What– I am your girlfriend! For the whole summer!" She said angrily.
"Jackie." Donna called her out pitifully.
"Stop looking at me with those eyes or I'll poke them." She warned Donna immediately.
Kelso laughed and said, "So what if he brought some girls back to his room?" He placed his hand on my shoulder abruptly. "He's a rockstar. Girls want to throw themselves at him."
"Move your sticky, ice-cream-drenched hand away from my shoulder." I warned him and he took his hand off instantly.
"So if it's not some girls, why were you laughing last night?" Donna pressed on.
"Boy, you can't let things go, can you?" I looked at her with annoyance now. Then I turned to Eric and said, "I pity you in your relationship."
"Yeah–" he accepted it and saw Donna's glare, so he changed his words immediately, "No–! I mean she's the most easy-going girl in the world!"
"Hmm." Donna reacted curtly. Eric sighed as he knew he was in trouble now.
"I watched some comedy, trying to think about skits I can use in my movies." I said and slapped the notebook slightly. "But I have no idea what I wrote. I don't know how Hemingway did it."
"I think he paced himself and didn't get drunk." Donna teased and took the notebook from me. She sat next to Eric and they read my notes together.
"Centipede?" Eric read it and looked at me in confusion. "What's a centipede?"
"I honestly have no idea." I replied.
"Literary girl?" Donna was also confused. "Also, stealing skirts? Is this a raunchy comedy?"
"No?" I tried to remember, then it hit me. "Ah. I remember it now. So, three guys are sitting in a room. One of them suddenly says, 'I wonder what it's like to wear a skirt.'"
Kelso interjected, saying, "I wonder about that too at times."
I turned to him slightly before continuing, "So. They decided to grab the skirt from the younger sister's room. Kelso, why don't you go and grab some skirts from Laurie's room? We can recreate this."
"On it!" Kelso rushed up the stairs like a golden retriever to grab the skirts.
Eric turned to me and said, "You're going to get him to wear the skirt, aren't you?"
"Yeah." I smiled slightly.
Jackie laughed and said, "Ooh! I'll take a picture!" She rushed to my room to grab a camera.
"Nice." Donna laughed slightly.
Kelso came back bringing the skirt with him. "I got it!" He laughed gleefully.
Eric and I shared a mischievous glance with each other before Eric said, "So. We're all going to try wearing the skirt, aren't we?"
"I mean… Isn't that kinda fruity?" Kelso laughed nervously.
"I'll take one." I picked up one of the skirts and went to my room.
"Hyde? Seriously?" Kelso was taken aback.
"I'm also going to wear it." Eric said and went into the storage room.
"You too?... Fine! I guess I'll wear it too!" Kelso said and he got into the unfinished shower, covering himself with the curtain.
"Are you done?" I yelled.
"I'm done!" Eric also shouted.
"I'm… I'm done too! But I think I need to go on a diet after this–"
We all went out to the living area together. Kelso saw us still wearing our pants, and he alone was wearing a skirt, with his clean-shaven legs that looked like a girl's.
"You tricked me!" Kelso was frazzled.
Jackie snapped a picture of him instantly. "Smile, Michael!"
"NO! JACKIE, NO!!" He tried to cover up the lens, but Jackie was relentless. So he ran out of the basement and went outside.
All of us burst into laughter.
"You know what, Hyde? This definitely can be in a film. It's really funny." Donna laughed out loud. "Although, I need to hear more about the others."
"You wrote one screenplay, and you think you're a professional writer." I scofed slightly.
She grinned and said, "I got paid for it. That is the definition of a professional, you dumbass."
Forman laughed at the joke exaggeratedly. "Yeah, you dumbass."
Donna ignored him and asked me, "Want me to write the scene?"
"No. I'll do it myself. Instead, I need your help with another script."
Jackie grimaced as she wasn't included in the project and whined, "I want to do it too. Make it a roller disco movie!"
Fez suddenly entered the basement with an angry expression. "Kelso is wearing a skirt! Did you guys have fun without me again?!"
"Yeah." Forman replied mercilessly.
…
I sat in the living room with Forman and Donna to discuss the movies.
Forman helped a lot with the comedy movie scenes and I figured out how to make the entire movie in just a few hours.
"Since it's just some skits, the budget doesn't need to be high. I can make it with just 50 thousand. But the main problem is the actors."
"How about Brad?" Donna asked. "He's a teen."
"That's true." I nodded and said to Eric, "Can you seduce Buddy Morgan to get him to act in the movie?"
"What– Pft– Seduce him? I'm… Alright, maybe I can seduce him, but am I going to do that? No."
Donna snickered and teased Eric, "So are you going to talk with your little boyfriend?"
"What– No!" Eric scofed, laughing nervously.
The phone rang and Eric picked it up. "Uh-huh. Hyde, it's your other girlfriend." He gave me the phone.
"Hello." I picked up the phone and asked, "Who's this?"
"It's Talia. Do you want to come over?" She asked directly.
"Sure." I replied easily.
"Good. Bring a movie with you too." She said and hung up the call.
Forman grinned and asked, "So. Are you going on a date with her?"
"I don't know." I replied, confused. "I'm not sure if she called me to hang out, or just wants me to bring a movie."
It was already 6 in the evening. We talked for hours. Jackie got bored and she went to the mall with her cheerleader friends. Fez and Kelso were hanging out at the Hub.
I wore my leather jacket and jeans, some cologne, even dabbing some of it on my crotch.
Riding my Chevelle to her apartment, I knocked on the door and waited.
Talia opened the door, wearing only a white, almost see-through nightgown. "Come in." She beckoned.
"Um." I was slightly taken aback, yet I entered anyway. "I brought two movies here."
She took the tapes from me and read the titles. "'House on the Straw Hill' and 'Herbie Rides Again'. Hmm… I guess we'll go with House on the Straw Hill. I haven't watched that yet."
"Me neither." I told her. "Also, why are you speaking in a sultry manner?"
She whispered seductively, "Isn't this what guys want? I saw it in a movie."
The nightgown made my blood rush to the center of my body.
"You look incredibly beautiful. Although, you can just speak normally. It's hard for me to catch what you're saying."
She immediately changed back into her normal voice. "Alright. So I thought about our last date."
"How you got sick and blew me of?" I teased.
"Yes." She agreed instantly, which caught me off guard. She added, "I thought of some ways to go on a date while watching the movie. We can play a game."
"What kind of game?" I was intrigued.
She gave me a handmade bingo board with a huge grin on her face.
"Playing Bingo?"
"More accurately, movie bingo. We predict what's going to happen in the movie. If it happens, we cross out a slot."
"Yeah. I get it." I nodded with enthusiasm. "Sounds fun. What's the prize?"
"The winner can get anything they want from the loser." Talia said with a grin. "And they have to do it."
"Even–"
"Sexual… things included." She interjected before I could say it.
I grinned and said, "Now this sounds even more fun."
We wrote our own slots for the movie. There were 25 slots. While I was filling them out, I asked her, "What happens if it's a tie, or no one gets bingo?"
"Then we both win. And if no one gets bingo, the one with the highest number of crossed-off boxes wins."
"Nice. I love having clear rules before playing a game."
We watched the movie together. In the first minute of the movie, I already got one slot filled.
"weird/creepy scene." I muttered and crossed off my list.
She also grinned and said, "I wrote nudity within the first 5 minutes. And breast implants."
"Is it an implant?" I narrowed my eyes to try and see it on the screen.
"There are no implant scars though?"
"Trust me. That's an implant." She said confidently.
"Alright then." I smirked and continued the game with her.
Talia sat close to me, the smell of her perfume tickling my nose.
She smiled in excitement as she crossed off her list again.
"Old creepy lady."
"Masturbation."
"Sexual assault."
I raised an eyebrow and said, "Suddenly I feel like it's really inappropriate for us to cross off our list like that."
BANG
A gunshot sound from the TV caught my attention.
I grinned and said, "Oh. I got another one. Rapist got killed."
"Damn it. I had it and I erased it." Talia grumbled.
Halfway into the movie, Talia suddenly said, "I need one more to win."
"Damn it. I need at least 2. Come on, car crash! Oh hey. I got 'old lady gets killed'."
I crossed out my boxes, but it didn't help.
Talia only needed 'Bathroom murder' and she was golden.
We watched the movie competitively from that point on.
"Oh damn it. I didn't write 'groping'." Talia whined as she saw the scene.
She touched my leg slightly, leaning into me. I grabbed her waist and pulled her in closer.
"Come on! Just one more murder!" I said to the TV.
Megan suddenly came out of her room with her hair all frazzled up, and her tank top strap slipped down her shoulder, causing her shirt to be pulled down.
"Can you guys keep it down? I'm trying to sleep over here."
"It's 7:30." I looked at her with disbelief. "What were you doing sleeping so early?"
"Some of us actually had to work hard during the day." Megan grumbled and went back inside.
Talia muttered suddenly, "Did she not realise she wasn't wearing bottoms?"
"I don't think so." I shook my head slightly and grabbed Talia's pen before she crossed out something. "She's not in the movie. Don't cross out 'full frontal bush' here."
Talia finally won the game as the main character got into a car crash while the killer was having lesbian sex with a prostitute.
"I won!" She stood up and celebrated with a dorky dance.
"Not so fast! I have a lesbian scene and a car crash too! So I also got Bingo!"
Talia sulked with disbelief. "No way you got Bingo without watching the movie first. I watched it before, and even I–"
She froze as she realized she had blurted out her secret.
I grinned and said, "Oh. So you were cheating from the start."
"No–" Her tone got slightly shaky. Then she sighed in defeat.
I burst into laughter and said, "I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want."
She smiled and said, "I saw you sing on Sunday. When I got home, I began shaving my entire body and waited for you."
"Okay then." I grinned and pulled her on top of me.
She giggled and said, "It's my first time. Be gentle."
I kissed her on the lips and she stuck her tongue down my throat. She ruffled my hair and unbuttoned my shirt, and I groped her over her shirt.
Suddenly, she stopped me and said, "On second thought, I'm not ready yet."
She stood up abruptly and ran to her bedroom, fully embarrassed.
"Oh, she's a tease." I groaned frustratedly and tried to stand up, but sat back down and slowly counted down from 100 to turn off what she had turned on.
…
After the unfortunate incident occurred, I went back home and stumbled into another misfortune.
"The Empire of the Ants director wants to meet with me?" I asked Donna with slight surprise.
Donna was writing the new script with Eric's help and wasn't focused on me.
"Yeah. She said he's mad. So he's coming over tomorrow to yell at you."
"Who's 'she'?" I asked.
"Patty the showrunner." Donna replied. "She's also coming by to meet you. She said she finally found the person you want."
I thought about it and shrugged it of.
Eric looked at me with concern and asked, "Hyde. Are you going to be okay?"
"It's fine. It's not like I haven't been yelled at before."
"And if he tries to beat Hyde up, he's going to make the worst mistake of his life." Donna said teasingly.
I chuckled and said, "Work slave. Work. I want to see the full script tomorrow."
"That's not going to happen, you son of a bitch. I have to write a lot of stuf!" Donna argued.
"This is what being a professional is like, Donna." I laughed maniacally and went to my room.
I chatted with my editor about the movie and he gave me some terrifying ant attack footage.
{Hyde: This is awesome! Thanks.}
{Editor: That's going to be 200 bucks.}
{Hyde: I'll give you 500.}
200 bucks in 2025 was 20 dollars in my money. He actually did a lot of good work for the movie, so I decided to pay him more.
The AI close-up of the monster was really realistic, even the part where it killed someone.
And he fixed up the ant on the ship scene, which brought the movie quality higher.
While chatting with him, the scoring company that's producing the music score for my movie contacted me.
{It's done.}
I sent him the money, which was only 1500 dollars– extremely cheap compared to the professional scoring companies in 1977, and finished up the first cut of my romantic movie.
"The movie shall be called 'Fading Colors'... well, it's a title in the works."
After editing the opening scene of the movie, which was the guy asking out the girl at school, I edited the credit scene and finalized the movie at 7 in the morning.
It turned into another all-nighter for me.
At 10 in the morning, Mrs. Forman called me up urgently.
"Steven. There are a few people waiting for you at your ofice. I think you should go there now!"
I woke up with a groan and stretched my arms up high. "Okay, Mrs. Forman." I told her lazily and walked groggily to take a shower.
Taking all of the new films with me, which filled a giant suitcase, I went to the ofice to meet with Patty, Bruce, and the angry movie director.
Chapter 116: Angry Director.
[Hyde POV]
Bruce's Ferrari was parked in front of my ofice building. I walked in there lazily and went up the stairs.
"Hyde. Help." Forman held the suitcase filled with the film prints, struggling to bring it up the stairs.
I looked at him with disbelief and grabbed the suitcase myself. It was pretty light since there were only films inside.
"You paper boy." I snorted at him, which made him embarrassed.
As soon as I walked into my ofice, I saw Max's worried face.
"Steven." He walked toward me immediately. "They've been waiting for almost an hour."
"How angry is he?" I asked calmly.
Max grimaced slightly. "Very."
Inside the ofice, Bruce was sitting comfortably on the couch with a cigar in his hand while Patty flipped through some papers. Jonathan sipped on some cofee.
He had taken to the French-press cofee in my ofice and was really enjoying it. Max made great cofee, so I understand his reaction.
Next to them sat an older man with tired eyes, messy hair, and a deeply annoyed expression. The director– Bert I. Gordon.
He looked exactly like someone who hadn't slept properly in three days.
He had a clean-shaven face, short hair, and he was quite obese.
The moment he saw me, he stood up abruptly.
"You." He pointed at me accusingly. "You recut my damn movie?"
I stared at him for a few seconds.
Then I slowly looked at Patty and asked, "Hey. How was your trip here?"
"It's alright. This place needs an airport. I hate the drive over here."
"That's impossible. Unless the one next to you pays for it." I said, jutting my chin at Bruce.
Bruce was taken aback and said, "Here I am, not even lighting my cigar since you don't want anyone to smoke here, but you want to pull hundreds of millions of dollars from me to build an airport?"
"I mean, it's a business opportunity. So think about it."
Patty pinched the bridge of her nose tiredly. "Steven." She sighed. "Gordon is going to punch you."
The director looked even more ofended now.
"You think this is funny?" He snapped. "Kid, you don't take another man's picture and butcher it behind his back."
"First of all, I didn't touch your original. That's still intact."
"Oh." He exclaimed flatly, his anger dissipated greatly.
I placed the suitcase on the table with a heavy THUD.
"Second of all, I didn't change the tone, the storyline, or the music. I focused on the sound and the footage. So instead of being mad now, why don't we go to the theater to watch it first? If you hate it, then we can just do your original movie."
The director seemed quite hesitant.
I smiled at him and said, "Look. I know your work. I enjoy The Amazing Colossal Man. So I'm not here to disrespect you."
"Let's see if you truly mean that."
"Let's all go to the theater then." Bruce led the way.
I whispered to Max before I left, "Call Ophelia, Julia, and Donnie. If they are around, ask them to come to the theater."
"Got it, boss." Max replied with relief.
We all went to the theater together. I emptied out one of the halls there; luckily there were only 20 people with tickets, so I gave them a refund and a free ticket for their next screening, and they were fine with it.
Patty brought the actor with her. It was a young Pierce Brosnan, who came straight from England.
I didn't talk to him yet except for just greeting him. I didn't want to seem desperate, or I'd need to pay him more later on.
Patty even signed him to a movie at Warner Brothers first before I could sign him for my next movie.
But her movie was scheduled to shoot next year, so I have plenty of time to use the man in my project.
A few minutes later, the projector lit up. The room darkened slightly. The movie started.
At first, the director crossed his arms defensively.
"I'll show your movie first, without the new footage. Only the sound and the pacing edit here."
Gordon nodded and the movie played. It was a cheap exploitation project, so the movie wasn't really that great.
But Gordon had to admit that the sound and pacing of the movie worked better.
While I was watching the movie with Eric, who was complaining the whole time, Ophelia approached me and sat next to me.
"Hey. What's going on?" She asked.
"I have the film ready. After this is done, I'll show it for the first time here." I told her.
Ophelia nodded and ate popcorn while she watched the ant movie.
"Wait. It's ready? Why didn't you call Donna?" Eric asked me abruptly.
"She already watched it."
"She'd want to see it again. I'll go call her."
There was a payphone in front of the theater I placed there to get more revenue, so Eric could just call Donna on the phone.
While we were watching, more and more seats in the theater were getting filled. Donnie and his girlfriend Serena, Julie Samberg, Tifany– Ophelia's friend, and the production crew came to the screening.
After the first movie was done, I stood up and walked to the director. "So, how is it?"
"It's better." He admitted it with annoyance.
"Good. Now, the new version, with more Ant monster." I smirked slightly.
"Fine." He sighed.
If he were a true Californian, I might be ruder toward him. But this guy was born in Wisconsin. He grew up in Kenosha. So the Midwest politeness never truly left him.
Kelso laughed dumbly as he watched the movie. "Pft. Ants. Why don't they just stomp on them?"
The opening of the movie was already diferent. Thousands of ants devouring insects, lizards, and even scorpions curated the eeriness at the start of the film.
The rest of the movie was similar. But when the boat scene came, the crowd flinched when they saw the footage of the ants marching on the dock, recorded in great detail from the underside angle of the ants.
"This… is a little creepy." Fez muttered.
Fighting the ants on the boat still looked dumb. But the whole scene was better now.
Then, the best part of the movie came. When they were trapped inside an abandoned building.
A slow-moving, highly detailed ant came out from the shadow. The clicking sound full of menace caused the crowd to whimper slightly.
Ants were terrifying when they were filmed in close-up mode. This ant had a person's arm in its mouth.
The suspenseful music and the slow march of the ant made some people gasp slightly.
I looked around full of surprise and saw that people were afraid of the scene.
"Really? This is just… normal for me?"
I was truly confused by it.
Then I remembered, the quality of content in the 70s was diferent from what I had experienced in the 2000s.
In other words, I was already numb from the thousands of content slammed in my face. These people were still new to this.
Even Patty was astonished by it. Still, the quality of the film was too low, so that whole scene– the AI scene, was the highlight of it.
The ending of the movie wasn't changed. It was still similar, which was a letdown for the people who watched the first movie.
I walked to the director again, and he stood up to approach me this time.
"How did you do it? How much money did you spend on the clips?" He asked, fully concerned.
"Around 50 thousand." I replied casually.
"Why?" He asked, flabbergasted.
"It's actually simple. I'm one of the partners in the distribution company. If the movie makes money, so will our company."
"Ah." He accepted the explanation instantly. Suddenly, he turned to the crowd and asked out loud, "Which one of you thinks the first movie is the better version?"
Only Fez raised his hand.
"Fez?" I turned to him in confusion.
"The second one is too scary!" He whined childishly.
The director asked again, "Is the second movie the better version?"
Everyone raised their hands.
The director was satisfied. "Okay. We'll write up a contract. I will get you a credit in the ending–"
"Oh no. I don't need all of that." I was taken aback.
"No. You need it." He said seriously. "Editing bi-credit. And also a name on the VFX list."
I wanted to reject it, but he insisted.
Patty walked towards me and asked, "Is the screening over now?"
"Not quite. I finished my movie last night. So I'm going to screen it for the people who worked on it today. You actually came at a perfect time to intrude."
She scofed and said, "You'd better make something good. I've been talking you up in Hollywood. I can't let you make some trashy film now."
I smirked and said, "I actually don't have a clue whether it's good or not. So tell me later on. Gordon, why don't you join us too?"
"Really? Okay. I want to see your work too." He said with a smile, all of his anger already gone.
My movie, 'Fading Colors', started to play on the big screen.
When I returned to my seat, I saw that Eric had moved out of the way, and Jackie was in his seat. Jackie patted my seat and beckoned me to sit there.
"Damn it." I cursed slightly, gave up, and sat next to her. She hugged my arm tightly and ofered me her popcorn.
"At least I get some food out of this."
The lights dimmed. The projector flickered alive for the third time. Then the opening scene appeared.
Warm summer sunlight. A quiet small-town street. We pulled into the school, where a boy and girl were standing underneath a tree.
Inside the school hallway, numerous students were watching them, even Julie's character there, looking at them with jealousy.
Through exposition, the audience knew that Noah– the boy, had asked out Allie at least once a month since the start of freshman year, and now they were graduating.
I studied the audience reaction instead of watching the film. The nightmare of editing it made me very well versed in what was going to happen anyway.
Jackie was absorbed in the movie. The girls mostly were glued to the screen. Maybe it was because Noah was hot, or because the movie was shot beautifully.
I learned a few techniques by watching Emmanuel Lubezki cinematography, especially the moving shot and using natural lighting in a scene.
The soundtrack fit the movie well. It gave me the vibe of Indila's song, "Dernière Danse".
The Notebook rip-off continued. Lying down on the street, talking about being free and maturing, summer fun with biking, playing in the lake, eating ice cream.
The audience was truly enjoying Noah and Allie's relationship.
But then, something happened. Allie's family didn't want her to hang out with Noah. They wanted her to study accounting or become a secretary when she wanted to pursue art.
The family even told Noah to stay away from her. What did they do instead? They had sex inside Allie's old family home.
Allie painted while Noah made furniture. They began living together after she ran away from home.
It was 1970, so there was a disco scene too.
{ 'I got into Beaux-Arts.' Allie looked at Noah nervously.
He smiled and said teasingly, 'Is that one of the snob schools? Where is it? New York?'
'It's in Paris.' She replied, which stunned him.
'So. Are you going away?' he asked after pausing for a while. 'You should go. It's your dream to go to college there–'
Allie grabbed Noah's hand and asked seriously, 'Why don't we go there together?'}
The audience realized that the couple was planning to uproot their entire life together and move to a different country.
Allie packed all of her bags and waited for Noah at the bus stop.
She waited from the morning till late at night.
However, Noah never came.
"What the hell?" Fez exclaimed, dissatisfied.
Jackie also grumbled and said, "Steven! Why are you breaking up the perfect couple?"
"It's not me. It's Donna. She wrote it." I threw the blame away.
Jackie let go of my hand and leaned in to Donna to give her a piece of her mind.
In Paris, Allie slowly moved out of her depression and began enjoying the city. She studied art and met new people.
But Noah was still at the back of her mind. Seven years passed, and it was 1977. Allie suddenly got a letter from Wisconsin.
Her friend told her that Noah had bought her old house from her family.
And he was going to move into it once he married Julie.
The audience audibly gasped at the revelation.
Once she got back to Wisconsin, Allie went searching for Noah. She found him at a café, but her determination wavered.
"Aw~" Jackie exclaimed. "She definitely still loves him!"
Allie recollected her thoughts and slapped her cheek slightly. She walked up to him, but Noah saw her, and just walked away.
The audience was fuming at the reunion-gone-awry scene.
Allie followed Noah outside. And he avoided her the second time. Then, she got too angry and grabbed his arm.
{'LOOK AT ME!' Allie shouted.
Noah's dead eyes turned confused. 'Allie?' He called slowly.
'You bastard!' Allie began beating on him, which made the audience chuckle.}
"This has commercial value after all." Patty rubbed her chin slightly. "I should buy this."
Bruce sneered at her and said, "You're too late. I already hold the distribution rights."
"Damn it." Patty cursed slightly.
The movie continued. Allie intruded in Noah's life, and the muted color on the screen became vibrant once more.
But people were still hating on Noah, since he didn't explain himself to her.
Finally, the scene where Noah fell down the hole he dug for the septic arrived. Allie stood on the edge of the hole, reaching out for him. The wind breeze made her hair and skirt flutter slightly.
Ophelia nodded in amazement and gave me a thumbs up. How could she not? She looked incredibly gorgeous there.
While Noah was still in the hole, his story started.
From the moment he wanted to go with Allie to Paris. He had already gone to the bus stop and seen her waiting there. He wanted to go to her, but his legs froze.
He took out a letter and the audience could see it.
"Oh my god! He was drafted!" Fez exclaimed loudly. The entire audience gasped in realization.
The war scene, where Noah and his best friend went together. But in the next frame, his friend lies bleeding in his arms.
Jackie snifled slightly as she saw it.
Noah returned home with his dead eyes, and he couldn't see the colors around him anymore.
He returned in 1975, which meant he had spent five full years in the war.
The audience was sympathizing with Noah greatly. The Vietnam wound was still raw. Worse, when they saw Noah imagining Allie and his best friend.
The doctor checked up on him, asking him if he still hallucinated those people. But Noah kept quiet even though he could still see Allie next to the doctor.
He lay down on the bed, depressed, until Julie came and helped him get better. She pulled him out of his room. She put the hammer in his hand so that he could sweat the bad memories away.
Noah owed Julie greatly, as she was the only person who was with him when he was at his lowest.
Then, the meeting scene came.
People realized now why Noah ignored Allie in their first meeting. He thought he was hallucinating her again.
The scenes continued till the grave allegory scene. As Allie helped Noah get out of the hole, the world seemed vibrant again.
But then, Noah sees Julie, standing behind Allie, with tears in her eyes.
{He slapped Allie's hand away, and told her quietly, 'Don't come here again.'}
The theater became silent. Not shocked silence. Heartbroken silence.
Allie stared at him with trembling eyes while Noah walked toward Julie slowly.
Julie looked relieved. But not happy. Almost guilty.
Allie stood there alone while Noah disappeared into the house. Tears slowly pooled in her eyes.
Around me, the female audience began snifling softly.
Tifany wiped her face angrily. "No! Pick Allie!" She protested emotionally.
"Angie helped him get better!" Another girl argued immediately. "He should pick her!"
"Yeah but he LOVES Allie!"
"She stayed with him!"
"Noah's confused!"
The entire audience started quietly debating amongst themselves emotionally.
Even Jackie looked torn now.
"I hate this." She muttered while hugging my arm tighter. "This is awful."
"Good awful or bad awful?" I whispered.
She glared at me sulkily. Then, she pinched me.
"Ouch."
The movie continued. Julie's side of the story finally appeared.
The audience saw young Julie watching Noah and Allie together in school. She sat quietly nearby while pretending not to care. Helping Noah after football practice, watching him stare at Allie constantly.
The soundtrack became softer now. Melancholy.
The theater understood immediately. Julie loved him first too.
She just lost the game.
Then came the post-war scenes again. Julie dragging Noah out of bed. Julie forced him to eat. Julie sat beside him quietly while he stared blankly at the wall.
Julie placed a hammer in his hand while tears filled her eyes.
{'Come on.' She whispered softly. 'Please…'}
Jackie started crying openly now. Even Kelso stopped pretending not to care and bawled his heart out.
The audience completely understood Julie now. That made everything worse emotionally.
The audience was emotionally devastated here.
Then came the confrontation scene. Julie stopped Allie near the bus station while rain poured heavily around them.
Allie looked exhausted emotionally. Julie looked destroyed.
For a few seconds, neither woman spoke. Then Julie finally broke.
{"I was there for him!" She cried desperately.}
Her voice cracked violently.
{"I picked him up when nobody else would! I stayed with him when he stopped talking! I stayed when he couldn't sleep! I stayed when he forgot how to LIVE!"}
The theater became dead silent.
Julie tried wiping her tears away furiously with her sleeves.
{"But he only wants you!"}
Tifany burst into tears immediately.
Julie kept crying harder now.
{"He still waits for you! Even after everything, he still waits for you!"}
Allie's expression collapsed completely.
She finally understood everything.
Julie stepped backward slowly while crying.
{"And I know…" Her voice broke again. "You were waiting for him too…"}
Rain poured harder now.
Julie pointed down the road desperately.
{"So GO!"}
The soundtrack swelled emotionally.
{"BE WITH HIM!"}
At that exact moment, half the theater broke emotionally. People cried openly now.
Jackie covered her face with both hands. Fez snifled loudly. Donna, the one who wrote it, also cried.
Even Bruce quietly rubbed his eyes while pretending nothing happened.
The movie immediately cut to Allie running through the rain. She abandoned her suitcase completely.
The audience physically leaned forward in their seats. The music grew louder.
Desperate. Hopeful.
Allie finally reached Noah's unfinished house.
She stepped inside slowly.
Then stopped completely. The painting.
Her old painting from seven years ago.
The audience froze. Allie looked around the house in disbelief.
The windows. The staircase. The walls. The colors. The shape.
Everything. Noah built the entire house from her painting.
Her lips trembled violently. The theater exploded emotionally.
Women cried everywhere now. Someone behind us literally sobbed.
Jackie grabbed my arm so hard it hurt. "Oh my god…" She whispered tearfully.
Allie finally realized Noah never forgot her.
Not once. Not during the war. Not during the hallucinations. Not during Julie. Not during the seven years apart.
The house itself was proof. And that realization destroyed the audience emotionally.
The movie cut again.
Allie running desperately through town.
The same tree appeared. The one from the beginning of the movie.
Noah stood underneath it silently while rain soaked through his clothes.
The audience became completely still.
Allie slowed down.
Noah slowly looked toward her.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
The soundtrack almost disappeared entirely.
Only rain remained.
Allie finally whispered shakily, 'I waited for you.' She punched his chest slightly.
Noah's eyes filled slightly with tears.
'Tell me. Tell me what you really want.' She cried as she begged him.
'I want to be with you.' He replied.
That line shattered the theater completely.
Then Allie kissed him. People were applauding at the reunion of the two lovers.
And after almost two hours of longing, trauma, separation, guilt, and emotional pain, the entire theater finally released everything at once.
I planned for this cathartic moment, but I didn't expect the reaction to be so huge.
The movie ended with a wedding scene where Noah's dead friend was clapping at him as he kissed the bride.
The crowd applauded as the movie ended.
I nodded in satisfaction and thought secretly, 'Maybe this can get around 5 million at the box office. Hopefully.'
Chapter 117: Next project.
[Hyde POV]
After the movie ended, Julie and Donnie grabbed my arm and pulled me to the front of the theater. Ophelia grabbed Donna's arm.
The crowd applauded greatly as we all stood together at the front.
Whistles and cheering could be heard also.
"Speech! Speech! Speech!"
The crew were chanting for me to speak.
Taken aback, I walked forward one step and asked, "Did you enjoy the movie?"
"YES/ DEFINITELY!"
I smiled in satisfaction and asked, "Any questions?"
A lot of people raised their hands up. "ME! STEVEN! PICK ME!" Jackie shouted desperately.
I sighed and said, "Alright. Jackie."
She stood up and asked, "What happened to Angie after Allie and Noah got married?"
I turned to Donna and asked, "You want to take this?"
"She found love too, with a good man." Donna said loudly.
Tifany also raised her hand. I pointed at her and she stood up slowly.