Now that Avril was invited to guest in 60 global tour concerts, and given that she's almost as popular as Michael Jackson and Madonna, it's like even a pig could take off with that kind of opportunity!
Obviously, Howard Stringer was trying to use Avril to test Wayne's reaction.
Whether this tactic would work or not, Harvey had already pointed the way for them with *Mean Girls*.
In their view, although Wayne had many women in his life, Avril's position in Wayne's heart was undoubtedly different. Otherwise, why would Wayne sell such a great work like *Mean Girls* to Harvey just to boost Avril's career?
In fact, Howard Stringer wasn't wrong. Avril, the punk princess with a strong personality, indeed held a higher position in Wayne's heart.
Though her looks and figure weren't the most outstanding compared to his other women, Wayne was simply drawn to her.
In terms of importance, Avril's place in Wayne's heart was no less than that of Jessica and Charlize Theron.
Moreover, Howard Stringer also wanted to invite Wayne to this year's Tokyo International Film Festival. At that time, no matter if it's for Best Picture or Best Actor and Actress awards, whatever he wanted, he could get.
He even mentioned that they would have the most beautiful female artists from Japan to entertain Wayne, leaving Wayne with no reason to refuse!
"Sixty shows is too tiring, flying all over the world. I won't even be able to see you when I want to. So, just attend the concerts in California, Florida, and New York," Wayne suggested.
"Alright! I'll listen to you!" Avril, deeply in love, didn't care about fame. Hearing Wayne's gentle words, she immediately agreed.
If Wayne hadn't been coming back soon, she might have booked a flight to Charleston that very night to find him.
After some more sweet talk, Wayne finally ended the call with Avril.
It's worth noting that other women, like Scarlett, Amanda, and Camila, while they liked to cling to him, they were more cautious, knowing their place and not wanting to disturb him too much.
Among all the women in his life, only Avril would insist on long phone conversations with him.
This made him feel like he was back in his youthful high school days, and it felt pretty good.
But soon after, Wayne picked up his phone again and called Howard Stringer.
Since Stringer had shown him so much respect, he couldn't just pretend not to notice. After some casual chit-chat, Wayne made it clear that he was willing to deepen his cooperation with Sony-Columbia, and that he would prioritize working with them if conditions were similar to other studios. On the other end of the line, Howard Stringer was so happy that he stood up and bowed, his face beaming with joy.
"By the way, Mr. Wayne, when will you be available next? We're planning a celebration party for *The Bourne Identity*'s overseas box office success, and you're the star of the show!"
Wayne was stunned for a moment before feeling speechless.
It seemed he was the one who made the most money from *The Bourne Identity*. With North American box office earnings included, he had made about $270 million. Even after deducting promotional expenses and production costs, he still had nearly $200 million. So, if anyone should be throwing a celebration party, it should be him.
However, he hadn't planned on hosting such an event, so if Howard Stringer wanted to do it, Wayne had no objections.
"I'll be back in Los Angeles the day after tomorrow, but since *The Bourne Identity* is still showing, why not wait until its run is over?"
"How about May 8th? Many of our Sony artists are huge fans of yours!"
Wayne felt speechless again.
Sony can't sign actors in Hollywood, so their "artists" were likely just singers and Asian actresses.
Howard Stringer was really testing Wayne's limits.
Luckily, Wayne had strong self-control. After politely agreeing, he quickly hung up the phone before he was tempted to change his mind and agree to host the party earlier.
As for why not tomorrow?
That was because he had to shoot tomorrow and wouldn't wrap until late in the afternoon or evening.
"We argue. You call me an arrogant jerk, and I say you're a pain in the neck. I'm not afraid this will hurt our relationship because, in just two seconds, we'll be back to normal!"
"So what?"
"So, being together won't be easy. It will be tough, and we'll have to face that every day. But I'm willing because I like you! I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day…"
The next afternoon, in the golden sunset by the lake, 'Noah' and 'Allie' completed the most important and iconic declaration of love in the whole movie. With that, the filming of *The Notebook* was officially wrapped.
"Well done, Wayne, your performance was fantastic!" Richard, after checking the footage one last time, sincerely praised him.
Although Wayne hadn't spent much time studying acting, his enhanced brain and learning abilities had significantly improved his performance over time. While he might still be a bit short of an Oscar-worthy performance, he was definitely one of the best among the serious actors.
"Thanks for the compliment, Richard. Now I'll leave the rest to you. I need to go get a haircut; I've had enough of this long hair and beard."
As Wayne spoke, he couldn't help but touch the thick beard on his chin. Since there were so many close-up shots, he had to grow his hair and beard to match the original film, which was quite uncomfortable.
Finally, it was all over.
First, Wayne comfortably shaved his beard and cut his long hair. Then, he took Mia and the other two on an overnight flight back to Los Angeles.
As for the set breakdown and equipment relocation for the crew, Mia's production assistant naturally handled the rest.
Compared to before, Mia had become more skilled in this area.
"Ah—! You're Bourne, no, you're Wayne Anderson, right? Can I take a picture with you?"
"Sorry, you've got the wrong person."
"Uh..."
Seeing Wayne lie with a straight face, the two girls, probably around 18 or 19, were left speechless.
On the other hand, Wayne felt just as speechless about running into fans at the airport at 3 a.m.
What surprised him even more was that after he had just turned down the two fans asking for autographs and photos, he bumped into a woman at the VIP gate. She was dressed in a revealing, sexy outfit, wearing dark brown sunglasses that covered half her face, accompanied by an assistant and two bodyguards.
With a group like that, anyone would naturally take a second look.
The woman also noticed Wayne, who was surrounded by three beautiful women, and immediately stopped in her tracks, delightedly taking off her sunglasses.
"Ah! Mr. Wayne! I didn't expect to see you here. I'm—"
"Miss Madonna, I think there's no man in America who wouldn't recognize you, right?"
Wayne raised an eyebrow slightly and then smiled politely.
Indeed, the stunning blonde with fair skin in front of him was none other than Madonna Ciccone, whose fame in the Western music scene was nearly equal to Michael Jackson's.
He hadn't expected that a simple flight would lead to bumping into someone as iconic as Madonna.
"Thank you for the compliment. Just a couple of days ago, I watched *The Bourne Identity* with my friends. Your performance in it was so cool!"
Madonna seemed excited, almost like a fan meeting her idol.
Unfortunately, while she was a singer and not an actress, even a woman blessed with natural acting ability couldn't hide her flaws from Wayne's trained eye.
What made it more awkward was that Madonna was already 43 years old, and despite looking well-maintained—perhaps like she was in her late thirties—her attempts at youthful shyness gave Wayne goosebumps.
At the same time, Wayne was surprised by Madonna's enthusiasm. Despite the intersection between the music and film worlds, someone of Madonna's status shouldn't be acting like this.
Unable to figure out her intentions, Wayne cautiously exchanged a few polite words, swapped business cards, and then used the excuse of needing to collect his luggage to make a quick exit.
Little did he know, as Madonna watched him leave, her eyes showed clear disappointment.
Contrary to Wayne's suspicions, she wasn't trying to gain anything by getting to know him. She simply found him physically attractive.
In fact, having spent most of her time in New York, she hadn't even known about Wayne until she watched *The Bourne Identity* with her friends a few days ago.
From that moment, she became extremely interested in this rising star, who she found even more attractive than Leonardo DiCaprio and whose physique outshined any man she'd ever known.
It's worth noting that even someone as busy as Madonna had seen *The Bourne Identity*, which spoke volumes about the film's success.
Wayne quickly realized this as well.
Having spent the last few days sleeping only three or four hours per night to meet deadlines, Wayne finally had a good rest, waking up at 10 a.m. from the soft comfort of his bed.
After freshening up and having breakfast, he took Hannah to the set of *Hotel for Dogs*, intending to check in on the filming progress.
Within just half an hour of arriving on set, Wayne's team started receiving a flood of party invitations. People like Harvey and Leo, who had Wayne's number and considered themselves close to him, even called directly.
"Hey, Wayne, have you wrapped up filming for *The Notebook*?"
"Yeah, we just finished yesterday."
"That's great!"
Both Harvey and Leo were inviting Wayne to parties, but unlike others, Wayne couldn't refuse these two.
There was no way to say no to Harvey's parties, as they always brought surprises and benefits for Wayne.
Moreover, Harvey was throwing this party under the guise of a premiere for *Mean Girls*, and as the male lead, Wayne had to attend.
As for Leo...
"What the heck?! Is he already throwing supermodel parties at this point?!"
Supermodels!
Though their faces didn't match his taste, their bodies were definitely top-tier!
More importantly, Wayne didn't have any connections in the supermodel world, so Leo's party was quite appealing to him.
"Haha, Leonardo, there's no way I'm missing your party~"
After hanging up the phone, Wayne couldn't help but marvel.
Previously, due to his focus on filming and a week-long trip to Kyoto, he'd only been aware of *The Bourne Identity*'s success through the numbers. It was like playing a game where you see your level increase but don't really feel it.
Now, with so many people calling him and hearing their excitement firsthand, Wayne finally grasped how much *The Bourne Identity* had blown up and how deeply it had impacted his career.
Currently, *The Bourne Identity* hadn't yet finished its theatrical run, but its global box office was nearing $500 million, surpassing *The Matrix*'s $460 million and *Mission: Impossible*'s $457 million.
Considering *The Bourne Identity* was also part of a franchise, Wayne's star power was now comparable to Tom Cruise after *Mission: Impossible* or Keanu Reeves after *The Matrix*.
While he wasn't the hottest male star in Hollywood just yet, if you were to name the top ten, Wayne would undoubtedly be on that list.
But this newfound success also meant his schedule was getting tighter.
Harvey's party was unavoidable, especially since it included a premiere and would take up an entire afternoon and evening.
Leo's party, on the other hand... well, Leo seemed to enjoy hosting yacht parties in broad daylight, and that would eat up most of the day.
So...
"Hey, Catherine, I'm back. Do you have time today? Great, see you at Monica's later~"
After leaving the set of *Hotel for Dogs*, Wayne morphed into a master of time management, making calls to Catherine Zeta-Jones and Rachel Weisz.
After spending the afternoon thoroughly defeating them both until they begged for mercy, he took Avril to dinner.
Then, early the next morning, while Avril was busy rehearsing and recording, Wayne visited Anne and invited Naomi Watts, Keri Russell, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Eva Green—who had just finished filming *Resident Evil 1 & 2*—for a wild, one-on-five showdown.
(End of chapter)