The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood! Chapter 55

At New York's Kennedy Airport, Matthew collected his modest luggage from the baggage claim, pulled out his phone, and switched it on. Once he stepped out of the terminal, he hailed a taxi and told the driver to take him to a hotel in Brooklyn.

It was a relatively inexpensive hotel Matthew had booked in advance from Los Angeles. Although he was in town for the music video premiere and the record company was responsible for his accommodations, they were only covering the night before the event.

Since Matthew had arrived early, he had to take care of his own room and board.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Matthew checked in at the front desk and went up to the second floor to find his room. It was a standard single, costing only fifty-nine dollars a night, with outdated amenities and a constant stream of various noises drifting in from the street-facing window.

You couldn't expect too much from a cheap room, and all in all, it was a slight improvement over Matthew's apartment.

Matthew put away his bags and sat down in the armchair by the window. He checked the time on his phone—it was just half past twelve at night.

"At the event?" he typed into a short message and sent it to Britney.

Britney was presumably busy, as it took ten minutes or so before a reply came: "Taking off my makeup."

Then he received another one: "I miss you, Matthew."

"I want to see you." Britney seemed to be in low spirits. "Are you not coming until tomorrow?"

Matthew ignored her question and asked instead, "Are you done with today's event?"

"Well, it'll probably be another half hour before I can leave."

After a moment's thought, Matthew sent another message: "I sent you a gift. It will be delivered to your room by six o'clock, so don't forget to sign for it."

"What kind of gift?"

"It's a secret."

After a few more intimate exchanges, Matthew put his phone away. He sat in his room reading a newspaper he'd bought at LAX, and when he saw it was getting late, he went to the bathroom mirror to tidy himself up before heading out to hail another taxi.

"To the Waldorf Astoria."

He gave the address to the driver, who turned the car toward Manhattan, but they hadn't gone far before hitting heavy traffic.

Traffic jams were a common affliction in New York.

...

Back in her suite at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Britney saw it was still too early for bed. She decided to take a shower first, as she had worked up a sweat from the strenuous singing and dancing at Times Square.

After showering and changing into looser clothing, she sat down on the sofa, barefoot, and picked up her phone to check the screen; the last message from Matthew had been two hours ago.

And what gift had he sent? Britney tilted her chin in thought. For a while now, Matthew had been sending flowers, cards, drinks, snacks, and more in her name.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Britney jumped up, rushed over, and quickly pulled it open, only to find her agent standing there, not a delivery person.

"Why is it you?" Her mood instantly deflated.

"It's almost six o'clock," the agent said. "Are you coming to dinner with the team?"

Britney shook her head. "I'm not hungry."

With that, she abruptly slammed the door to her room shut.

The agent raised an eyebrow. Britney had been in high spirits on the car ride back, so why the sudden change in mood?

"Probably just mood swings again. Teenagers are so difficult," the agent thought, mentally scoffing before turning to leave.

Inside the suite, Britney lay on the sofa, bored, watching the hands of the wall clock slowly inch forward. It was almost six.

She picked up her phone and dialed Matthew's number. It rang once before the call was immediately disconnected.

"He hung up on me?" Britney dropped her phone, got to her bare feet, and began pacing back and forth across the carpet.

She ran a hand through her blonde hair, looking like she couldn't bear to wait another second.

Knock, knock, knock!

There was another knock at the door. Too impatient to even put on shoes, Britney ran barefoot to the door and pulled it open.

Then she froze.

Matthew looked down at Britney and asked, "Like the gift?"

"Matthew!" Britney exclaimed and leaped onto him. "What are you doing here?"

"You said you missed me," Matthew said, holding Britney tight. "So I came."

He gently reminded her, "Are you going to let me in?"

Britney only tightened her arms around Matthew's neck, hopping up to wrap her legs around his waist. "I want you to carry me."

Matthew carried Britney into the room, remembering to kick the door shut behind him. It slammed closed, and the two lovers fell into a passionate kiss.

They hadn't seen each other in far too long, and at their hormonal age, desire soon took over. With Britney still in his arms, Matthew walked into the bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes scattered on the floor.

Then came a series of indescribable sounds, which only faded much later.

...

Knock, knock, knock!

The knocking at the door sounded again, and Britney's extremely annoyed voice came from within the room. "Seriously? Now?"

She stumbled out of the bedroom in a long nightgown and crossed the living room to the door, asking irritably, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Ms. Spears." Her assistant's meek voice came from the other side. "Your agent sent me to remind you to get to bed early. You have a show early tomorrow morning."

Britney said impatiently, "I got it, you can go."

After sending her assistant away, she turned around to see Matthew, wrapped in a blanket, already sitting on the sofa in the living room.

"Who was that?" Matthew asked, leaning back against the sofa cushions in a state of pure bliss.

Britney walked over and sat on Matthew's lap. "My assistant. She's getting on my last nerve."

Cuddling against him, Britney suddenly asked, "Where's my gift?"

Matthew looked down and kissed her on the cheek. "Am I not a gift?"

Britney said nothing, appearing to be sulking.

"Am I a bad gift?" Matthew kissed her behind the ear. "You don't like it?"

"No, not at all," Britney said deliberately. "Muscles too hard, too strong, palms too rough, and..."

She shot Matthew a playful glare but didn't finish her sentence.

Matthew laughed, held her tighter, and asked, "Can I take that as a compliment?"

Britney leaned against Matthew and mumbled, "Whatever."

She shifted into a more comfortable position and suddenly said, "Matthew, what I said was stupid. Don't take it seriously."

"I know," Matthew tweaked her nose. "Your jokes are clumsy."

Britney seemed worried that Matthew had misunderstood. "Exactly."

Matthew was speechless. He was completely certain that Britney had an unusual way of looking at things: it seemed she had a knack for making simple things complicated, and complicated things simple.

He reached up, grabbing Britney's long blonde hair and letting it slide through his fingers. He knew that, given how she was, it would take a lot of life experience for Britney to truly mature.

Britney propped herself up and hung on Matthew's neck, seeming to enjoy the closeness as she said, "I'm so glad you came."

She took one of Matthew's hands and brought it to her eyes. It was covered in calluses from years of physical labor, but she didn't seem to mind their roughness at all. She placed his hand on her smooth face. "Matthew, do you know how happy I am right now?"

Matthew slowly caressed her cheek. "As happy as I am."

Britney suddenly declared, "I want the whole world to know how happy I am."

"Let's not," Matthew said, understanding her implication as he shook his head. "Let's not make this public for now."

"Why?" Britney looked at Matthew, her expression baffled.

"It won't do you any good to publicize it."

Matthew's career was on the upswing; there was no need to stir up another media frenzy. "It won't bring you anything good, only trouble."

Britney stood up. "But we—"

Matthew also stood, cutting her off. "Let's keep it a secret, okay?"

Britney bit her lip, looked at Matthew, and nodded. "Okay."

Before Matthew could say anything else, she added with a serious face, "But on one condition."

"Name it," Matthew said, feigning helplessness.

"Don't leave, okay?" Britney pleaded. "Stay with me tonight."

How could Matthew refuse such a request?

"Of course, but I have a condition of my own."

Britney quickly asked, "What do you want?"

Matthew rubbed his stomach. "I'm hungry. Treat me to dinner."

Without leaving the suite, they ordered room service and ate together. Afterward, they sat on the balcony, enjoying the nighttime view of Manhattan until five in the morning, when Matthew quietly left Britney's room and slipped out of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

...

For the rest of the day, Britney continued her promotional tour in New York, while Matthew explored Manhattan. It was his first time in the city, so he visited Wall Street, Times Square, and Central Park, and even went up the Empire State Building.

As for the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center that still stood there, Matthew kept his distance. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of world events knew about September 11th.

Before sunset, he returned to his hotel to grab his things and meet up with Helen, who had flown into New York. Together, they went to the Waldorf Astoria, checked into the room prepared by the record company, and attended a small networking gathering to hear the organizers go over the details of the next day's event.

The event itself was straightforward and centered entirely around Britney.

The premiere of the music video was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. the next day in the media center of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.