Hollywood: The Greatest Showman

Chapter 30: Return

The airport seems to never have a moment of rest. Even in the early hours of the morning, passengers coming and going, heading for connecting flights, continue to stream in. The twenty-four-hour lights shine brightly like an eternal beacon, guiding the way home.

Los Angeles International Airport, as one of the world's most important transportation hubs, is no exception. Thanks to its location near Hollywood, tourists, journalists, celebrities, and businessmen are always bustling in and out.

Upon landing, Renly realised a stir among the crowd. Many passengers rushed in the same direction. Even those not heading that way exchanged the latest news. It was said that Robert Pattinson had just arrived in the City of Angels. This "vampire heartthrob," who gained worldwide fame with "Twilight," was currently hot. Any news related to him was enough to drive countless female fans crazy with excitement.

In comparison, Renly, fresh from filming "The Pacific," seemed unaffected. He was just an ordinary person, walking around the airport without any pressure.

In fact, "The Pacific" had wrapped up back in mid-January 2010. However, Renly didn't follow the majority back to North America. He stayed in Australia, rented a Jeep, and spent over three weeks travelling towards the Gold Coast, making stops along the way. Finally, after traversing much of Australia's territory, he arrived at the sun-kissed, blue-watered Gold Coast.

For Renly, performing was important, but enjoying life was even more crucial. He worked diligently and played even harder. That was his life motto.

During his three-week stay on the Gold Coast, Renly learned to surf with local Australian youths, went diving with a French girl on her gap year, went fishing with a South African guy travelling the world, dug for coral with a beautiful Brazilian girl who was in college, and shared experiences with a young traveller from China. He lived by the rhythm of the sun, occasionally indulging in all-night parties, truly immersing himself in the life of the Gold Coast. He even found a part-time job at a nearby surf shop, becoming a genuine local.

Three weeks, however, felt too short. If he could, Renly would have loved to stay longer on this unpolluted land. But St. Patrick's Day was approaching. New York hosts grand celebrations annually for this Irish holiday, and it would be Renly's first time celebrating it in New York. So, he planned to return to New York before St. Patrick's Day.

With a ticket for a layover in Los Angeles, Renly finally left the dazzling sunlight of the Southern Hemisphere and returned to North America after seven months.

"Oh, there he is, there!" A group of young girls crowded over, and Renly had to step aside to let them through. Then he saw a dozen people rushing past like a swarm of bees, heading towards another direction. Their fervent enthusiasm was enough to make everyone around feel the power of idols.

Was Robert still in the airport, not cleared yet?

Renly wondered—pondering on finding a quiet place to rest for a while. His layover was quite long, with two hours before his flight to New York. He didn't want to watch the frenzied fans chasing Robert around the airport, making it look like a cat and mouse game.

Looking around, Renly found a small supermarket. It was tiny, with only twelve shelves, selling basic food and drinks. Compared to coffee shops and burger joints, it was a secluded corner. There were only three boarding gates nearby, and not many passengers were waiting. It was relatively quiet, with only one service staff behind the counter.

Renly walked to the back of the potato chip shelf and sat down cross-legged beside the alcohol cooler.

This was a habit from his past life. He enjoyed sitting in the corners of supermarkets. Apart from the cashier area, supermarkets always seemed spacious yet quiet. Occasionally, he could hear the chatter of customers and staff, adding a bit of flavour to the peaceful atmosphere.

Compared to libraries occupied by amorous couples or bookstores taken over by pretentious artsy youths, the strong sense of life in supermarkets made him feel at peace. Sometimes he even brought university assignments to finish in supermarkets or quietly prepared for exams there.

He knew it was a peculiar habit, but it was the only one that brought him peace. After being reborn, this habit continued. His brother, Arthur Hall, once said that the supermarket was his secret chamber, hiding all his secrets except those that couldn't be done there.

After sitting down, Renly put on his earphones and started listening to music. He took out Paul Ekman's "Telling Lies" from his backpack and began reading.

Renly wasn't really a book lover. He always found reading a bit tiring, especially after smartphones came into existence, and e-books gradually replaced paperbacks. However, after being reborn, he gradually developed a habit of reading. Paper books were still different from e-books.

"Telling Lies" was a book on psychology, used as an important textbook for criminal investigations in American universities. It wasn't as boring as he had imagined. On the contrary, Renly found it engrossing. It opened a new door for him, isolating the hustle and bustle of the airport from the world. Even the passage of time became less noticeable.

Jennifer Lawrence, nearly bumped into a trash can in her haste, barely managed to avoid a trash-covered embarrassment with a quick dodge at the last moment. But even so, she still bumped into the wall nearby, and her back was slightly sore.

Watching the crazy fans leave, Jennifer sighed inaudibly. She could understand the mindset of these young girls. If she saw her idol, she probably wouldn't act much differently, likely screaming, jumping, and spinning around. But to chase idols around the entire airport, disrupting public order, was truly annoying.

"What's so charming about that pale square face?" Jennifer couldn't comprehend. She liked Robert De Niro, admired Meryl Streep, because their performances always left a deep impression. But Robert Pattinson?

Shaking her head to dispel the doubts, Jennifer continued walking forward. Finally, she spotted the supermarket not far away. She felt parched, and if she didn't find a convenience store soon, she might rush to the restroom and drink tap water directly from the faucet.

The supermarket turned out to be smaller than she had imagined, but at least she could buy water, which was enough for her. Jennifer passed through the shelves and headed straight for the direction of the freezer, only to see a young man sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of it. He wore a simple light blue shirt paired with dark blue jeans. A khaki work jacket lay beside his backpack. The sleeves of his shirt were casually rolled up to his elbows, giving off an easygoing, carefree vibe.

At this moment, the young man was reading a book on his knees, which made Jennifer nod inwardly. She guessed he was French or British, certainly not American.

However, before she could continue forward, Jennifer's footsteps involuntarily paused. The young man was sitting right in front of the freezer door, blocking it. This could be troublesome.

After some consideration, Jennifer walked up to the young man's side and carefully observed him. Indeed, the track of the freezer door was completely blocked. It was impossible to pass by him. This made Jennifer silently criticise—With such a large airport, one could sit anywhere, yet this guy chose to sit in the supermarket, blocking the freezer door. Wasn't this a lack of common courtesy?

Gathering her thoughts, Jennifer coughed softly twice, attempting to draw the young man's attention. But there was no response from him, not even a movement. She coughed again, louder this time, "Sorry, you're blocking the freezer door. Could you please move aside? I need to get a bottle of mineral water." Despite some inner complaints, she remained polite.

However, the young man remained indifferent, not only refusing her request but also showing no intention of responding. This made Jennifer furrow her brows—this was simply too impolite! The good impression she had of him just now plummeted. Even if he was reading a book, what did it matter? His manners were still appalling.

"Excuse me, sir," Jennifer raised her voice again, speaking solemnly, "you're blocking the freezer door." Though her words remained polite, they became more concise. Clearly, her patience was wearing thin.

Seeing the young man still focused on his reading, completely ignoring her presence, not even lifting his head, Jennifer's eyes widened. First, she encountered those brainless fangirls, and now she encountered a ruffian sitting in the supermarket. Anger surged within her, and Jennifer placed her hands on her hips, her expression turning stern, "Sir! How can you be so discourteous, sitting directly in front of the freezer door, blatantly ignoring the needs of other customers? This not only shows a lack of manners but can even be described as downright arrogant behaviour! You must realise that this is entirely wrong! You are reading a book right now, I can guess that you're not some uncivilised savage, so..."

Jennifer found herself talking to a wall; the young man continued to ignore her presence, not even lifting his head. This made Jennifer realise she was wasting her breath. Even her previous attempts to draw his attention had been in vain. Frustration bubbled up inside her, and Jennifer couldn't help but cough out her last remaining patience, "At the very least, you should give enough respect to lift your head when I'm speaking! Sir! I said, sir!"

The situation seemed to be getting out of control.

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A/N: Yo, I am back. My next exams are after 10 days so I thought of uploading a couple of Chapters. From now on I will limit daily uploads to 2 chps/day so that I can stockpile emergency Chapters. But 2 chps/day is a very slow upload speed considering the fact that this novel has 2500 chps, as such I will start upload goals wherein if this novel reaches a certain rank I will upload more Chapters as bonus. So, if this novel reaches 100th rank on Monthly ranking(as of writing this Chapter it is on 135th rank) I will upload 10 more Chapters.