Chapter 244: Hollywood Black and White Movies (2)
"Can you imagine? I'm sitting here, surrounded by famous makeup artists and agents, oh..." Selina sits in front of the dressing table, sighing. She squints her eyes as if she's enchanted by the fantasy life.
"I don't need to imagine, they'll be here soon."
"What?" Selina turns around, looking at him in confusion. Then she sees a group of people rushing in from the door of the dressing room, holding clothes hangers with various dresses on them, and jewelry racks with gemstones on them. They swarm around Selina.
Bruce sits on the sofa on one side of the room, squinting his eyes. He holds a cigar in his hand but doesn't put it in his mouth, letting the smoke float.
"Hey, wait, what are you guys doing?" Selina is lifted off her chair before she can react, but soon, the stylists push her into the changing room.
Bruce leans against the sofa, looking up at the dressing room. This is the witness to Hollywood's rise, where countless international actors and celebrities have sat. The mirror reflects their shining faces.
Exquisite dresses glide over the soft carpet, and sparkling gemstones weave into a brilliant galaxy. The wood here still smells of perfume, mixed with the scent of cigars, making people drowsy.
The most prosperous and magnificent era makes anyone immerse themselves unconsciously, chasing after those luxurious, complicated and beautiful dreams.
Bruce slowly opens his eyes and sees Selina walk out of the changing room.
It's the first time he's seen Selina in such a dress, a long fishtail dress covered in delicate diamonds. The overhead lights make her body flow with a sparkling river. This kind of light makes Bruce, who's used to darkness, squint his eyes. Selina touches her earrings and looks at Bruce, "Do I look good?"
Bruce's blue eyes squint and always make people feel uneasy. In the cat's intuition, this feeling is even stronger. Selina clearly feels the aggressiveness in Bruce's eyes, which makes him look less like a playboy and more like a beast.
Bruce stands up, takes her hand, and Selina puts her hand on his waist, saying, "Is this a dream?"
Bruce sees a hint of confusion between her eyebrows, with a bit of childishness, like a little girl who can't figure out a simple question.
The life in the slums makes people lose all their innocence. The days of struggling for food and clothing are etched on her eyebrows, and the strength and wildness that supported her in those difficult days, after being washed away by this bit of childishness, show a sense of fragility that makes Bruce's heart beat fiercely, which hasn't happened in many years.
When Selina looks up, her eyes are brighter than the gemstones on her body. She says, "Have you seen that movie?"
"Which one?"
"...I forgot." Selina turns her head and says, "But there's always one. I remember, the male and female leads are dancing on stage, and the female lead is wearing the same dress as me. She's very beautiful..."
"So are you."
"Will you dance with me?" Selina asks.
Bruce holds her waist and says, "That question should be asked by me, Miss Selina. Can you dance with me?"
The floating light casts a dim shadow, like a dream that will never wake up. The dust under the light starts to dance, like a band playing a dance in the microscopic world. The light falls, and nothing here has changed, but the day has dawned.
"Look at this! This is so cool!" Peter picks up a lasso and says excitedly, "I guess this must be a prop from a western movie! When I went to the west last time... Oh, Gwen, come and see, what's in there? It looks like a dressing room?"
Peter pulls Gwen over, pointing to a room inside. They are curious and leaning in to take a look. The guide sees their expression and introduces them, "Oh, this is the exhibition hall that restores the dressing room from the original set. Most of the exhibits here were moved from there."
"Restore? What happened to that dressing room?"
"What do you think?" Gwen suddenly asked, and Peter turned to look at her, a bit confused. "What do you mean?"
"How is this exhibition?"
"It's great, I mean... well, it's a bit different, but it's really good. I never knew film history could be so interesting."
"I thought you wouldn't like it." Gwen put one hand behind her back and said, "After all, you seem to prefer industrial products."
"Don't say things like 'I love you if you love me.' I don't want to hear that." Gwen looked at Peter from above her eyes, and Peter showed a somewhat embarrassed expression. Gwen laughed and said, "You're the least romantic person I've ever met."
Peter scratched his temple. His mouth turned downward and he said, "You must think I'm a very boring person, right? I really can't say nice things. My aunt often says that it's a miracle that I can find a girlfriend in this world."
Gwen suddenly laughed at his words. She chuckled and said, "You really aren't very interesting... but you always manage to make me laugh."
"You know, Peter..." Gwen suddenly looked at Peter seriously and said, "I always feel like there's another you, a you that I don't know, hidden beneath your appearance."
"Maybe I'm just overthinking it, but I have this intuition, Peter. What attracts me to you is the soul beneath your surface, you're different from them, but I can't quite put my finger on what's different..."
Seeing Peter's expression, Gwen asked, "Am I making you feel uncomfortable?"
She shook her head gently, and her hair flew with the movement.
"Don't feel uncomfortable, Peter."
She stepped down the next step before Peter, then looked up at him and said, "Just as you're willing to accompany me on a trip to Hollywood, to fulfill our childhood fantasies, just as you're willing to accept a different me, I can of course accept a different you."
She reached out and lightly touched Peter's face with her finger, saying, "Don't worry, don't doubt, don't feel uncomfortable... Peter, no matter the past, present, or future, you don't have to feel uncomfortable for me."
Peter's mind flashed with the dreams he had dreamed over and over again. His eyes contained the youth's naivety, but also a different kind of perseverance. He looked into Gwen's eyes where there was a sea of tender lovers. He heard Gwen say, "... I like every version of you, the different you."
"You're different from everyone I've ever met..." Selena walked down one step and stood still, looking up at Bruce on the upper step. "It's like there are two completely different souls living in your body."
"Why do you say that?" Bruce looked at Selena, and the two-step height difference made their height difference even greater. Selena's effort to lift her head looked a bit funny, but also cute.
"Can I take it as cat's intuition? I don't even know if the you I see now is the real you, or if there are many versions of you?"
"Which one do you like the most?" Bruce's eyes, in the glow of the sunset, suddenly ignited orange flames in their icy blue, and Selina felt her gaze being melted by the flames until they burned into her heart.
"Of course, I like the rich one." Selina waved her arms and said, "The one who can take me to Los Angeles to play, and can give me such a beautiful dress, and dance with me..."
Selina was sure she saw disappointment in Bruce's eyes, and she suddenly smiled cunningly. Looking back at Bruce, with a bit of pride, she said, "You were sad just now, weren't you?"
"I remember you said that bats don't get sad." Selina reached out a hand to touch Bruce's face, but the height difference made her movements look like those of a believer reaching out to pray to a deity.
"But you can be sad. You are not just a bat, at least not to me...my Mr. Fluffy."