boxer to hollywood

As the hot summer approached, the cicadas in Los Angeles began their loud chorus. Catherine drove along Hollywood Boulevard, the sound of cicadas in the greenery on both sides of the road coming in waves. Perhaps due to the worsening greenhouse effect on Earth, causing the cicada pupae to emerge earlier, this year's cicada calls were noisier than last year's.

Driving to an intersection, she waited for a bit and saw Selena coming out of a nearby cold drink shop with two pomegranate juices. Selena wore a white baseball cap and Prada heart-shaped sunglasses, hiding her round little face under the brim of the hat, a straw in her mouth, humming as she walked over.

"Catherine, here you go!"

Selena got in the car and handed the other cup of juice to Catherine.

"How did Link and Taylor's talk go?"

Catherine took it, placed it in the cup holder, and restarted the car.

After getting in, Selena took off her slippers, sat cross-legged barefoot in the passenger seat, and blew the warm air from the air conditioner on her face.

"Catherine, I bet you can't guess how Link opened the door."

"How did he open it?"

"Link is so cunning. He told Taylor that he had inspiration and wanted to write a song, so he needed to borrow the piano. Taylor opened the door after hearing that."

"He tricked her into opening it? Won't Taylor be even angrier?"

Catherine asked curiously.

Selena shook her head, took a sip of the cold juice through the straw, and said, "I thought the same at first and even advised him not to do it, but he insisted, and I couldn't stop him. Heehee, Catherine, guess what happened in the end?"

"Hurry up and tell me, don't keep me in suspense."

Catherine urged.

"That guy Link is amazing. I originally thought he was lying about writing a song to trick Taylor into opening the door, but when he sat down at the piano, he actually wrote a song, a very, very good song, a song specifically for a scumbag to apologize after cheating."

Can we both say the words and forget this?

Yeah, is it too late now to say sorry?

'Cause I'm missing more than just your body

Selena hummed a few lines in Link's singing style.

"Link just wrote this?"

Catherine asked in surprise after listening to it once.

"Yes, the full version is even better. Isn't he amazing?"

"It does sound good. Link wrote a song to apologize, did Taylor forgive him?"

Catherine asked.

Selena shrugged her small shoulders and sighed, "No, Taylor said she doesn't accept apologies. Cheating is cheating, it's something that already happened, apologies are meaningless, and forgiveness isn't necessary. Taylor also said she has a mental cleanliness, if she didn't know Link was messing around outside, she wouldn't say anything, but now she knows, and she can't treat Link the same way as before."

"They broke up?"

Catherine asked in surprise.

"No, Taylor said she needs time to adjust. If she can adjust her emotions and not care about this matter, she might accept Link again. If she can't adjust..."

Selena spread her hands, "Taylor didn't finish her sentence, she just dragged her packed suitcase and left. Link and I couldn't stop her."

"Don't worry, they'll work it out."

"You think they'll get back together?"

Selena turned around and asked, "I think Taylor is great, beautiful and talented, a perfect match for Link. Other women don't deserve him. Now that things have turned out like this, it's all Link's fault. He's too fickle, doesn't know how to cherish, he deserves it!" Selena scolded in a soft voice.

"That's normal! Link became a billionaire and a world-renowned celebrity in his early twenties. It's very normal for him to not be fully focused on relationships, to be half-hearted and greedy. Many men who are not as successful as him behave even worse." 

"Regarding the video incident, Link didn't do anything wrong. He just didn't push Emma Watson away in time. It's not a big deal. If Taylor calms down and acts like nothing happened, forgives Link's mistake, Link will slowly change his mind in the future and focus on being a good man at home," Catherine said slowly.

Selena looked at her in surprise, her small mouth agape, "How can you say that? This is clearly Link's fault, how can you blame Taylor?"

Catherine smiled slightly, "If you love a man deeply, you should learn to accept all of him, including his flaws. Because everyone is human, no one is perfect, and all perfect partners are an illusion.

People like Link are already the best among men, you could say they're rare in the world. If you throw away the whole cake because of one bad cherry, what kind of person would do that? A picky person, a woman who thinks she can find a better, more delicious cake."

Selena held her round face in her hands and thought for a while before understanding Catherine's words. Catherine was still defending her scumbag son, trying to shift the blame onto innocent Taylor.

"Heehee, Catherine, you're so generous. If you found out George was cheating, would you forgive him?"

Selena asked playfully, her crescent moon eyes twinkling.

"Of course not. How can George compare to Link? He's already a cake that's 1/6th bad. If he dares to cheat again, it's like 1/3rd bad, which is basically toxic junk food. Of course, I wouldn't accept that."

"Double standards!"

Selena rolled her eyes.

Catherine reached out and poked her forehead, "I'm telling you this not because I want you to learn to accept a scumbag, but because I hope you can be more mature in relationships. If you're independent and strong enough, you can choose a better partner and have higher expectations for your partner, like Taylor, pursuing perfection.

If you're not strong enough, you need to learn to accept your partner's shortcomings. If you're neither strong nor accepting, you'll end up with nothing."

Selena propped her chin in her hand and thought for a moment, then nodded, seeming to understand Catherine's words. Her big eyes darted around, and she remembered something else.

"Catherine, the book says that in Italy, cousins can get married, is that true?"

Screech!

Catherine suddenly slammed on the brakes.

Selena was caught off guard and her forehead bumped against the dashboard with a yelp.

"What did you say?"

Catherine looked at her in confusion.

Selena covered her forehead, her round face flushed, and said, "Miley and the others said it. It was just a joke, I wouldn't like a scumbag like Link."

Catherine smiled slightly, looked at her forehead, and said, "If you were ordinary people, it wouldn't be a big deal, but you're both celebrities, so it's definitely not okay."

"I know, I know. I was just asking, don't say anymore."

Selena covered her burning cheeks, embarrassed and wanting to hide under the seat.

"If you dare to ask the question, don't be shy. Get out of the car!"

Arriving at the 21st Century Fox film production center, Catherine took the blushing Selena upstairs to attend the script discussion meeting for the new movie "Ramona and Beezus".

(End of Chapter)