Chapter 6 - 006 Competitors

"What are you staring at?" Joseph walked up to Hugo. The valet had already taken the car to the parking lot.Hugo glanced at Joseph, then tilted his chin toward the lobby. "Brad Pitt."Joseph followed Hugo's gaze and let out a soft sigh. "He is your biggest competitor."This remark made Hugo pause, as he seemed to understand the greeting Brad had given him earlier; it was likely the kind of encounter that meant, "Hey, rival, I know who you are."Joseph opened his mouth as if to say something, but stopped himself. After a brief pause, he continued, "He is on the rise right now."Brad Pitt was not yet the heartthrob who would sweep countless young girls off their feet in the 21st century. After a decade of aimless work on television throughout the eighties, he had appeared for only fifteen minutes in the film "thelma & louise," directed by the great Ridley Scott, last year. Yet, he shone brilliantly, quickly transforming from an obscure odd-jobber into a hot new star in Hollywood. In particular, with "thelma & louise" receiving nominations for best director, best picture, best actress, and best original screenplay in the recently announced 49th Golden Globe Awards, it had quickly become a top contender for the 64th Oscar, earning Brad Pitt even more attention.In the script for "a river runs through it," Brad's temperament had a natural fit with Paul, and combined with his rising popularity, the production team was indeed most likely to choose him for the role.The historical facts Hugo knew confirmed this; Brad had landed the role of Paul in "a river runs through it" and used the role to further advance his career.However, the trajectory of history had now shifted slightly. Since Hugo had traveled back here from 2014, could he change history and create a miracle of his own?Hugo knew that in 2014, there was no top star named Hugo Lancaster. If he wanted to carve out a world of his own, he had to rely on his own efforts and change the course of history step by step.Therefore, today might just be the beginning, and he had to firmly take the first step.From the looks of it, Brad regarded him as a competitor, which was because Hugo possessed sufficient strength—after all, Hugo had at least been the lead Actor in a few films.Anything was possible until the audition for "a river runs through it" was over! Hugo let out a long breath, calming his nervous emotions."Go on in. The interview room is in the conference room on the third floor. You go wait in the reception room outside first; I have to take care of something and will be right over." Joseph did not follow Hugo toward the elevator; instead, he stopped in the hotel lobby and signaled for Hugo to continue forward.Hugo also stopped, looking at Joseph with some unease. Having been in Los Angeles for less than twelve hours, Joseph was the only person he knew in this strange world. Moreover, he had never participated in a movie audition before—interviews for supporting roles and walk-ons were completely different procedures from auditions for lead roles. Furthermore, Hugo wasn't sure if his English would fail him when he got nervous, forcing him to rely on Chinese, which would be disastrous. Therefore, Hugo subconsciously felt a sense of dependency.Joseph had never seen Hugo make such an expression before and couldn't help but widen his eyes. "It's not like you've never participated in an audition before. Do you still need me to take you there?"Hugo muttered to himself: I really haven't auditioned before. But on his face, he looked innocently at Joseph, not knowing what answer to give.Joseph hesitated for a moment. The reason he let Hugo go up alone was that he had business to attend to without Hugo. Thinking about that woman made Joseph feel a sense of powerlessness; Hugo's current predicament had everything to do with her.After looking around, Joseph pointed to the three people standing at the elevator entrance. "See those people? Those going to the third floor are all Actors participating in the audition. Only those interviewing for main roles are here today, so there won't be many Actors. You can just follow them up. I've already submitted your resume, so just wait for them to call your name. I'll be there as soon as I can."Hugo also realized that his hesitation was very wrong; this was not an emotion an Actor who had played the lead in multiple films should have. He couldn't help but encourage himself internally, "Got it. You don't need to worry about me; I can do it myself." After saying that, he turned and walked toward the elevator first.Joseph watched Hugo's departing back and couldn't help but shake his head in confusion. Hugo's behavior after fainting last night was like a completely different person compared to before. Of course, he preferred the current Hugo; at least his entire demeanor today was sunny and positive, which was definitely a positive sign. As for the reason for the difference in behavior, Joseph could only attribute it to a sudden enlightenment after struggling on the line between life and death.Soon, Joseph pulled his thoughts back. Thinking about the upcoming meeting with Tracy Jacobs gave him a headache. He had to focus his attention to deal with this woman; otherwise, today's audition for "a river runs through it" might be a wasted trip.Walking through the Four Seasons Hotel with its Italian Renaissance-style lobby, Hugo felt as if his footsteps were patting history on the shoulder. Walking all the way to the elevator entrance was truly refreshing.However, because Hugo had been moving at a pace like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, those three people had already taken the elevator upstairs. Hugo had to press the elevator button again. After the elevator came down, he walked in alone. He casually pressed the floor indicator and then looked down at the script in his hand. He didn't know if today's audition would be a prescribed piece, a freestyle performance, or a conversation-style interview. Moreover, would a Hollywood interview be any different?The elevator quickly reached its destination. With a "ding," the elevator doors opened, and Hugo bit his lower lip as he walked out.The elevator doors closed, locking the bright light behind him. Hugo raised his head and looked left and right, only to see the entire empty corridor quietly presented before him. Hugo stood there dumbfounded.Wasn't today supposed to be the audition for "a river runs through it"? Why was the corridor empty? Brad and those three Actors had just come up; it shouldn't be an empty scene.Hugo frowned and thought about it. Joseph had mentioned a reception room outside earlier. Could it be that they had set up a separate reception room today, and all the Actors participating in the audition were waiting inside a room?Hugo knew nothing about the situation in Hollywood and could only clumsily take steps, following his intuition toward the left. But these were all hotel rooms, and there were no signs for conference rooms, let alone signs for auditions, interviews, or reception rooms, which immediately confused Hugo.Just then, the sound of a door opening came from the end of the corridor to his right. Hugo reflexively turned to look and saw the figures of a man and a woman appear within his line of sight.The man was tall and handsome, his soft blonde hair very striking under the creamy yellow lights of the corridor. The woman was wearing a white-collar sheath dress suit, which perfectly outlined her curvaceous figure, with an intellectual and sharp temperament that was still charming. The two were staring deeply at each other; although there was no physical contact, the tacit understanding in their eyes, blended with ambiguous laughter, was particularly striking.That was... Brad Pitt?After Hugo clearly saw the man's face, his first reaction was surprise. He thought that was the reception room where Actors rested before the audition, but then his smile froze.Because the two noticed there was someone else in the corridor, they both looked up and saw Hugo standing on the other side of the corridor. The distance of less than a palm's width between the two didn't change much, but the tacit understanding and smiles between their brows disappeared silently in the hazy light. This scene was as clear an explanation of what "fishy business" meant as could be.Could this be the unspoken rules of Hollywood?Brad and the woman did not stop for long and walked straight toward the elevator in the middle. The woman's face became clearer and clearer. As Hugo looked at her face, an inexplicable sense of familiarity kept invading his mind. Could it be that they had worked together before? This feeling of not being able to remember was really terrible. Hugo even doubted if he would recognize his own body's parents if he met them, or if he would just treat an ex-girlfriend as a stranger, which would be truly embarrassing.Brad's gaze did not avoid Hugo; he just flashed his signature, brilliant smile. At this time, Brad was only twenty-nine years old, in the prime of his youth. His uninhibited and sexy image had captivated the hearts of countless young girls. Hugo could easily see endless self-confidence and a vigorous fighting spirit in Brad's smile.It seemed that Brad really regarded Hugo as his strongest competitor, but why? Hugo's current situation in Hollywood could not be called good; being nominated for the Golden Raspberry Awards three times in two years had plunged Hugo's acting career into a major predicament, while Brad was a rising star. There was no comparison. Or perhaps there was some other entanglement between the two that Hugo hadn't remembered.This damn time travel.At this moment, Hugo finally understood the meaning of the phrase "dreams come true" that Brad had said to him at the entrance earlier. This sentence was a quote from Hugo's acceptance speech at the Golden Raspberry Awards, but it wasn't a provocation or mockery; it was a declaration of war. It seemed Brad intended to compete with Hugo in the audition for "a river runs through it"!This immediately ignited a vigorous fighting spirit in Hugo as well. No matter what happened in the past, and no matter the reason for them becoming rivals, if Hugo wanted to get the role of Paul in "a river runs through it," he had to defeat Brad, so this made it inevitable that the two would become competitors.The woman and Brad walked to the elevator entrance. After the elevator opened, the two did not rush in. The woman stood there and looked at Hugo again. This look was very strange: it seemed to be expecting something and yet rejecting something at the same time. This complex look made Hugo feel completely baffled.After waiting for a while, the woman didn't get a reaction from Hugo, so she followed Brad into the elevator, and the two took the elevator down. Only then did Hugo react a beat late: Wasn't the audition here? Why did they still have to take the elevator?