Back home, Eric's door was still besieged by a sea of reporters. He didn't go out again but decided to call his lawyers in so that they could help him look at the compensation agreement instead. Although he had seen through Columbia's trap, he didn't dare let his guard down.
Once done, Eric finally remembered the call Aniston, and dialed her number several times in a row to no avail. At this time, Annie should still be at home, so Eric started to feel concerned and was about to dial again when the phone suddenly rang.
"Williams' residence ?" Eric picked up.
"Eric, it's me." Jennifer Aniston's voice sounded on the other line.
Eric happily said: "Annie, are you okay ? I've been calling your apartment, but no one answered."
"I moved in with my dad, Eric. Don't you know ? The paparazzi have found out about our relationship and started tracking me everywhere, even pretending to be couriers and knocking on my apartment door, I was terrified." Annie's voice held a tinge of fear.
Eric concernedly asked: "Annie, are you alright ? Wait, then when I called you yesterday before taking the plane, were things also like that ?"
"I'm fine, Eric.
It started this morning, I don't know how the paparazzi found out, anyway in the morning newspaper they said...." Aniston's voices felt down, Eric realized it was certainly not anything good, he could only comfort: "Okay Annie, it's good that you're alright, you should stay at your father's for some time, and don't go to the convenience store anymore."
Aniston unhappily complained: "Eric, it won't always be like this, right ? How am I supposed to live then ?"
Eric said: "Of course not, it will die down over time, right now my house is also completely surrounded. Give me your dad's address, I'll come visit you when I have some free time."
Aniston dictated while Eric noted down, then he comforted her briefly before hanging up.
...
In a villa in Beverly Hills, Aniston unhappily hung up the phone. She glanced at the pile of newspapers scattered on the ground, picked up a pillow and started hammering the sofa mercilessly.
In those articles, Eric and her relationship had turned into a modern version of Prince Charming and Cinderella, emphasizing on Eric's good points while disparaging her.
Almost all the newspapers were giving the couple's future a death sentence, while some even compared her to Drew, stating that she would be more suitable to be Eric's girlfriend.
Seeing this, Aniston couldn't help but become anxious as her self-esteem hit rock bottom. Compared to her outstanding boyfriend, she was just plain ordinary.
His deduction was spot on; Columbia was caught in the public's opinion whirlpool.
After Eric's statement, many reporters had rethought their headlines completely, this news was just too hot. That evening, the young man's speech condemning Columbia appeared in all the newspapers.
A variety of speculations started to pop up everywhere, some had even started fanning the flames in order to further expand their sales.
Eric's words had been transcribed verbatim, and after brainstorming for a time, reporters had quickly made up their assumptions.
Some newspapers weren't sure how Michael Eisner's was linked to his statement. Before speaking, Eric had declared that he and Eisner got along well and that he would be very happy to work with him in the future.
This allowed some others to speculate that Disney's CEO might have played a hand in exposing Columbia's 'poor means'.
Michael Eisner had been hesitant about telling his old friend how Eric had foiled their plans, but when he saw the newspaper, he quickly called Blount Cohen to explain what had happened, to no avail as the latter clearly didn't believe him.
Eisner could only bitterly smile, he was also aware of Blount Cohen's suspicious character, it seemed like their friendship was done for. However, he didn't feel resentful towards Eric, what he felt was closer to appreciation.
A bunch of reporters had also found out that Home Alone's screens had only reached 1500 this week, which was even less than 17 Again who was number two at the box office and whose number of screens had already reached 1600.
This discovery made them all rave about Columbia, blatantly questioning the company's integrity.
The other studios who had close relations with the media, and had already been jealous of Columbia for pocketing Home Alone, had a field day. They condemned them with full force, some tabloids had even called on fans to boycott them, inciting them to stop watching movies produced by the giant.
As soon as those articles appeared in the newspapers, Columbia's public hotline directly exploded.
The people's sense of justice wouldn't let them off the hook, some of the female staff responsible for answering the phone were in tears after having been insulted for hours, and two of them submitted their resignation letters the next day.
After Blount Cohen had smashed everything he could in his office, he immediately set up a meeting with the public relations department to discuss coping strategies.
In the evening, the television station under Columbia's control issued a statement.
They said that the number of screens for Home Alone had already been dealt with as they had signed a compensation agreement instead, at the same time suggesting that Eric's claim about Columbia plotting against him were ridiculous, that he was just dissatisfied by the number of screens they had added and so this was his way to retaliate.
However, since Eric hadn't responded, the media and the general public didn't believe any of it.