America 1982-Chapter 381 - 41: Apologizing in Advance

Tommy spread his hands to Sandra Block as if he had seen a ghost, "How could he possibly be dead? An Army alumnus serving in Germany told me three days ago about his time as an aide-de-camp, accompanying his commander to the Liberty Night Club in Germany to drink with your father and enjoy the songs..."

"So, you should know better than I do whether he’s alright," Sandra Block said with a hint of sarcasm in her gaze as she interrupted Tommy.

Tommy, cut off by her, seemed a bit taken aback, his face showing a hint of surprise, even turning to look at the decorative painting on the studio wall, where a mess of colors and lines were embedded into the wall, beneath which was a line of small text "The Girl Eating Pancakes".

"Can you tell which blotch represents the girl? And where the hell is the pancake?" Tommy stared at the decorative painting for two seconds before turning his head and locking eyes with the black-haired girl of German descent.

Sandra was forthright, "I’m guessing, if my father really passed away, I wouldn’t get the role?"

"Don’t doubt it, you should have confidence in yourself, I guarantee, even if your father were to die, you would definitely get the role," Tommy said with a straight face, very seriously to Sandra Block:

"After all, your maternal grandfather is still helping Americans make rockets at NASA. I always have the utmost respect for scientists, a respect so great it extends to their family members, just like how the Pentagon greatly respects your grandfather. It extends that same respect to your father, Mr. Brock, providing him with contractor business in exchange for convincing his father-in-law to take up American citizenship rather than helping the French with their rocket research."

Sandra Block’s eyes filled with annoyance, like a cat that had been provoked, her gaze sharpening, "Don’t tell me you want me to introduce you to him. Maybe as an actress, I don’t have many opportunities to prove myself, but there are a dozen reasons I could use to turn you down, because I reject disgusting men like you a dozen times a year."

As she spoke, Sandra was ready to stand up and leave, not caring whether she would get the role or not.

"Actually, your acting is quite impressive, at least for now, you’ve displayed the rudeness and arrogance of Americans quite vividly," Tommy said without stopping her as she got up, just sitting calmly in his place, smiling and looking at her:

"Are you sure a media professional like me needs you to make connections so that your father can do business for me? What business? Arrange a batch of custom adult films for the American soldiers at overseas bases? Or to launch a special season of ’Finding Daddy in America’ for the hundreds of thousands of overseas women bearing the children of American soldiers?"

"So, might as well be honest with me, why I’m here," said Sandra, standing her ground and looking down at Tommy, "It can’t be because you have designs on me, can it? Your high school teacher girlfriend is right next to us."

Tommy shrugged, "Even if you were vain, you couldn’t say you’re prettier than her. Let’s put it this way, the reason I’m determined to chase Ottelia until she’s mine is that having her as my girlfriend, rather than marrying an ugly woman, helps me resist a lot of temptations, like reducing the number of times I arrange for high-class escorts for comfort."

"I’ve seen photos of my father’s first love, prettier than my mother, but it didn’t stop her from being the one who ended up married to my father," Sandra said coldly to Tommy.

"Your father was a pauper back then, I’m not," Tommy said, smiling at Sandra Block, "Sit down, don’t think of me as so mercenary, girl. I’m the former president of the SSD at Stanford University, and my interest and concern for your father are based on the fact that we belong to the same fraternity. If I need to work with him, I could just have fraternity alumni introduce me, right? Why would I need to go through you?"

In the distance, Matt Dillon returned from the restroom, and Tommy waved at him. Matt very sensibly took another seat, while Tommy continued to smile back at Sandra Block.

"If I insist on leaving..." Though she said she insisted on leaving, hearing Tommy’s reasoning, Sandra sat back down obediently.

Indeed, as Tommy said, if he needed to contact her father, he could do so through his alumni network; there was no need to go through her specifically.

Seeing her sit back down, Tommy’s smile grew a bit wider. He gestured towards Zoey and said to Sandra, "Zoey is a journalist, you know that, right? She works for me, she will decide..."

"I can decline the role..." Sandra coldly interrupted Tommy, thinking he was again trying to tempt her with the role.

"You won’t refuse," Tommy said with a smile to Sandra, but the next second, his face turned serious, leaned forward, and though his voice was very low, the words he spoke were full of threat, "If you leave now, I’ll have Zoey look into your father’s scandals. I’ve been watching your father for a long time and have a lot of material on him. I could exchange a journalist for your father’s loss of all his contractor business, and if one journalist isn’t enough, I’ll find two. In America, young, passionate journalists eager for overnight fame are no fewer in number than actors."

Sandra was shocked by Tommy’s words, her face turning pale.

But Tommy instantly burst into laughter, pulling back to say with a smile, "You really should see your expression, Sandra, just like mine when I heard your father had died; how does it feel to be startled? Why not turn your head and look at that painting, now tell me the answer, which color block is the girl, and where is the pancake?"