[Chapter 293: Stirring the Pot]
Beverly Hills, Hilton Hotel.
Hawke stepped out of his bulletproof rcedes, quickly striding through the hotel entrance while adjusting his suit buttons. The sound of heels clicking on the marble floor echoed as Caroline, her bobbed hair dyed honey gold, approached in a pair of black and red high heels.
Dressed in a red Chanel party dress and clutching a trendy new Hers handbag, her diamond Cartier bracelet sparkled under the hotel lights. Caroline had not only chosen her accessories days in advance for this party, but had also spent most of the day in the styling suite.
Hawke took a quick glance and complinted, "Nice choice, very stylish."
Caroline bead back, "I specially found a studio to design it for ."
As they headed towards the banquet hall, Caroline looped her arm through Hawke's, hesitating for a mont before doing so. Keeping pace with him, she remarked, "These pieces are all rented."
Hawke replied, "It's up to you."
Approaching the banquet hall, they waited a mont until Edward arrived. They then presented their invitations and entered together.
...
The banquet hall was huge, the annual Golden Globe Awards is held here every year. At the entrance, they spotted the hosts of the party, Steven Hilton and Richard Hilton of the Hilton family.
Hawke and Caroline walked over, shook hands, exchanged pleasantries, and discussed an upcoming collaboration, the atmosphere between them quite cordial.
Richard turned to Hawke and said, "Paris ntioned that the candy and fashion brand idea originated from your planning."
Hawke acknowledged with a nod, "I just suggested a few things; Paris really took it from there."
Richard replied, "You helped her get on the right track. Paris's mother asked to extend her thanks while I'm here from New York."
"You're welco," Hawke replied.
...
With the introductions behind them, Caroline accompanied Hawke further into the banquet hall. As they walked, she shared, "The the promotion plan for Discover Hilton has been approved by the Hilton group -- we'll likely sign the contract next week."
Hawke said, "This is your first promotional campaign; make sure you oversee it yourself."
"I will," she said, slipping her arm back through his.
...
From across the hall, Paris Hilton approached with a slightly taller girl beside her. "Hawke, this is my sister Nicky," Paris introduced without hesitation.
Nicky Hilton, perhaps a forr model, had a supermodel-like figure and was more conventionally attractive than Paris. Without any pretense, she reached out and shook Hawke's hand, bluntly saying, "Can you help launch my career?"
Hawke replied earnestly, "I don't know you very well. If I give you random advice, it would only lead to failure and waste your money."
Nicky stepped forward slightly, undeterred, "That's okay; we can get to know each other better."
Paris noticed her sister's boldness and stiffened slightly. Nicky had just co from New York, completely unaware of who she was dealing with.
While Nicky had erged from the Upper East Side debutante scene, she was no match for Hawke's caliber in this industry.
Paris quickly pulled Nicky away, saying, "We won't interrupt you further."
Hawke smiled politely, "Please do as you please."
...
Once they were a safe distance away, Caroline asked, "You seem to have an idea for launching sothing?"
"I do, but it's only feasible for direct mbers of the Hilton family," Hawke said casually. "Nicky Hilton could start a tissue company solely supplying to Hilton hotels..."
Caroline blinked, realizing such ventures were indeed only achievable for imdiate family mbers of the Hiltons.
...
anwhile, Paris dragged Nicky to a quieter area, asking in a hushed tone, "What were you doing? You can't just flirt!"
Nicky replied with a weird expression, "Since I've been in LA, I've been hearing you rave about Hawke. eting him in person, he looks pretty unremarkable; I wanted to see if he had any special talents."
Paris warned her seriously, "Stay away! He's trouble, and his girlfriend is even more intimidating -- she's taken out at least thirty people!"
Nicky raised her eyebrows, surprised, just spotting Britney Spears. "I can at least go see Britney, right?"
Paris shook her head, exasperated. That sister of hers never made things easy.
...
On Hawke's side, he ran into Dwayne Johnson's agent wife, Dany Garcia, who was conversing with a tall, noticeably fat blonde woman.
Upon seeing Hawke, Dany introduced her client, Charlize Theron. Enthusiastically, Charlize approached, "I'm also a Twitter user. For Oscar PR, my team suggested I ramp up my presence on Twitter since so many Academy mbers use it."
Hawke asked, "Are you aiming for Best Actress?"
"Absolutely." The PR campaigns for awards had to be high-profile. Charlize wanted Hawke to circulate so positive buzz about her, adding, "Earlier this year, I worked on a movie called Monster, and to get into character, I gained nearly fifty pounds -- an enormous commitnt, and I'm still working on getting back to my original weight."
Dany seed to want to poach the CAA client, saying, "I can see that it's very different from your original image."
Stirring the pot, she said, "But the resources CAA has invested in you don't match your contributions -- they're focused on Sean Penn's Best Actor campaign instead."
Hawke and Caroline preferred not to comnt on that topic.
Charlize picked up on Dany's intentions and tactfully declined, "My team has formulated a targeted PR strategy for ."
Hawke recalled vaguely so past mories. He rembered during Charlize Theron's crucial PR monts, Roger Ebert publicly urged that if Monster didn't win, it would be one of the biggest embarrassnts in Oscar history.
In Hollywood's climate, it was hard to tell if anything beyond money would convince the renowned critic.
Hawke recalled a ti when Stephen Hawking had jokingly claid that even in infinite parallel universes, landing a date with Charlize Theron was impossible.
Everyone knew how she was perceived.
After realizing she couldn't make a move with Charlize, Dany withdrew for the mont.
She hugged Caroline, saying, "It's been ages! You look exactly the sa -- so young and beautiful."
Those words resonated with Caroline, who returned the complint, "You too."
Hawke asked, "Where's Dwayne?"
Dany replied, "He's in New York preparing for a role and might be there for a couple of weeks."
...
After a brief chat, Edward approached quietly, signaling to Hawke.
Hawke gestured to Caroline to continue their discussion, then took a drink and veered away.
Edward surveyed their surroundings, noticing they were unnoticed before whispering, "Boss, the target is over there."
Hawke discreetly settled at a nearby table, finally looking in the direction Edward indicated.
Less than twenty ters away, Manninger Jenkins was deep in conversation with another middle-aged man.
Edward identified the man, saying he had previously photographed him as a freelance journalist: "That's Jamie Spears, Britney's father and also her manager."
He pointed out Manninger's nearby, bearded companion, "That's Britney's agent, Larry Rudolph; he was instruntal in her rise to fa."
Hawke nodded slightly, keeping his observations to himself.
Manninger and Jamie seed engaged in a lively discussion, apparently reaching so consensus.
But following Hawke's recollections, he rembered Jamie Spears as an extrely controlling father who had nearly derailed Britney's entire career.
A couple of years ago, the dia touted Britney as a potential successor to Madonna as the next pop diva, but those ntions had since disappeared.
Hawke had read a news report in his previous life that in the 2020s, Britney was bullied in public by NBA draft players, and she couldn't even get back at them.
In this era, it was hard to imagine.
Taking a sip of his drink, Hawke noticed Jamie calling Britney over, engaging her in casual conversation while Manninger snapped pictures.
He realized Manninger was acting like a devoted fan.
Once the photo op concluded, Britney attempted to depart, but Manninger countered her efforts for more conversation.
Hawke mused, "Is Britney single now?"
Edward thought for a mont, replying, "Earlier this year, she broke up with Justin Timberlake and has mostly been hanging out with Paris since. I haven't heard anything about a new boyfriend. But there's a crazy admirer nad Jason Alexander; he's an old acquaintance of hers. The tabloids reported that he's infatuated with her."
Hawke filed that information away, uncertain of how it might co into play.
...
A little while later, Britney made a call, and soon after, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan arrived, pulling her away from Manninger's not-so-subtle attentions.
Manninger resud his discussion with Jamie Spears.
Edward feigned passing by, overhearing snippets, returning to tell Hawke, "That guy wants to invite Britney's dad to a party he's hosting."
Hawke instructed, "Later, notify Campos to dig into Jamie Spears and Manninger. Let's keep tabs on them."
Edward made a note.
Hawke continued to survey the situation for a while, saw no further developnts, and left the lounge, joining Caroline to engage in necessary business networking.
After the party, Caroline left the hotel and watched Hawke get into the rcedes and leave. She wanted to take off her high heels and smash the rear window of the departing rcedes.
*****
/Sayonara816.
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