Birth of an actor

"I wanted to say hello in advance, but when I was getting ready for the plane, I realized that my phone had just died." The heir of the Roderick family standing at the door of the Bradley farmhouse had a completely incompatible with this place. Dressed up, he looked radiant and shiny, as if he had just returned from some fashion week, with a dazzling smile on his face: "I hope my uninvited presence won't disturb your dinner."

"Of course not, little Mr. Roderick—"

"Please call me Lance."

"Okay, Lance, come in and warm up, for the weather in Kansas, you wear too little." Arthur Bradley's gaze stayed on all his children intentionally, and said Making everyone aware of it: "You're not the only uninvited guest tonight, but you're definitely one of my favorites, I promise you."

The expressions of everyone at the table except William twisted for a moment, and then returned to normal immediately.

After Arthur Bradley invited Lance in, William could no longer hold back and gave his friend a hug.

"I really didn't expect you to appear suddenly." William said to his friend's back collar. The chill in Lance's hair and clothes made him shiver uncontrollably, and realized that in order to get to Kansas, Lance had to How long will it take to freeze in the cold air, knowing that you won't get much warmer in a helicopter.

"Surprise or shock?"

"Of course it's a surprise, my friend." William whispered something secretly to Lance before letting go of his friend: "Your appearance saved my Christmas, otherwise I would never be able to stay here until tomorrow."

A faint blush appeared on Lance's face: "It's amazing that I can play the role of the savior in your life."

"Come here, boys, and stop whispering in the living room."

"Kansas is the holy land of barbecue, and chefs in New York and Los Angeles who cut meat as thin as tea coasters will not know how to cook real barbecue!" Adding an extra stool next to William's seat at the table, Arthur Boo Radley waited for the two of them to sit down, and cut a large piece of delicious roast turkey on everyone's plate: "Marinated in a unique sauce! The whole Kansas, no, the whole of the United States will not be repeated. Great taste!"

"Arthur is right. His roast turkey, which has been marinated in a unique sauce and roasted under an open fire until it emits oil, is definitely a delicacy worth waiting for a year." William did what he arranged for himself tonight One of the tasks is to praise the grandfather's cooking skills.

In conservative Kansas, married men seldom cook, and widowers often hang out in bars and Chinese restaurants to live a messy life. Arthur Bradley is one of them. , before William’s grandmother died, he was happy to help her cook, and when there were more children in the family, he was even more proud of being able to cook a table of feasts that satisfied the whole family during festivals.

Even William, after tasting all the delicacies in the world, still couldn't forget the roast turkey in Kansas, and only after eating it again did he realize how much he missed it.

Lance carefully cut off a piece of turkey with burnt and crispy skin, put it in his mouth while it was still steaming, swallowed it all in his stomach after chewing, and exclaimed sincerely: "It's delicious, Arthur, I have never eaten such a delicious roast turkey, please teach Will the recipe of the sauce—"

"You want me to make it for you? No way." William interrupted quickly.

Lance let out a heavy sigh, and Arthur Bradley couldn't help but cut him another thick piece of turkey, and it was the best part of that turkey, and he immediately showed Arthur gave a grateful smile.

The affirmation of his cooking skills made Arthur Bradley return a sincere smile to Lance, and when he saw several sons and daughters eager to strike up a conversation with the heir of the Roderick family, he looked at them coldly glance.

But even with Arthur Roderick's warning, Widson Bradley, William's uncle in estate sales, hung up on him while he was in the kitchen to see if the apple pie was ready. With an affectionate smile, he cleared his throat: "Well, father, his cooking skills are really good, right, Mr. Roderick?" He looked eagerly at the person he was talking to, wanting to address him directly by name The permission, the voice is full of flattery and greed that cannot be concealed.

But Wedson Bradley got nothing. "Yes, Arthur has amazing cooking skills." Lance replied politely, with the polite but overly polite alienation in his tone when the upper class played the card of being close to the people.Then when he turned his head to look at William, his tone suddenly became affectionate: "As for a certain person, if he doesn't practice his cooking skills, he will regress."

"Go eat your turkey." William gagged Lance's mouth with a piece of roasted turkey, then nodded helplessly and agreed, "When you wake up tomorrow morning, there will be cupcakes waiting for you, I promise."

……

"This Christmas, we were supposed to be on vacation in Florence, strolling along the banks of the Arno River, enjoying a glass of Fernet Blancabite liqueur and the most authentic pizza in the cafe." Lance Roderick sat Said beside the bed, by the way, inspecting the few furniture decorations in this small bedroom, focusing on the group photo of the Bradley family hanging on the wall, in that photo William was photographed extremely stupidly "But Kansas isn't bad, and you're not kidding me, Will, the roast turkey and pumpkin pie are really good."

"Hmm." William replied perfunctorily through the door.

"You've been in the bathroom for an hour, Will, and this shower is probably too long."

William put on the long-sleeved T-shirt, stuffed the finished ointment into the cabinet under the sink, opened the door and went out: "How can I remember that when I was a child, someone liked to play with little yellow ducks in the bath instead of the bathtub? Why don’t you come out after staying in the house for two hours?”

"It's as if you didn't have a soft spot for little yellow ducks when you were a child." Seeing William wrapping himself so tightly, Lance shook off the disappointment that appeared in his heart: "It's been a long time since we've been squeezed together on the same bed You've slept in, and this bed is so small, you haven't gotten into any bad habits of talking in your sleep or farting in recent years, have you?"

"You have to suffer."

"Is it there or not?"

"How do I know." William shrugged: "No one told me this."

"So." Lance asked slowly, "You don't have a regular bed partner."

"No." After a pause, William added: "Not a single one."

"Oh."

Just an "oh" disappointed William a little, but Lance's performance was very calm, and William could only pretend that there was no deep meaning hidden in what he just said.

But when William turned around, there was a voice behind him: "For such a long time, no reporter wants to expose your true emotional state?"

"Barbara blocks most of the tabloid reporters, she's really the best publicist in Hollywood, and the rest of the entertainment reporters, the hard ones, think I'm a playboy at heart and just keep it well hidden from the public That’s all. In fact, I just have a good relationship with the actresses I have worked with. In the eyes of some reporters, this has become a topic that can be played ambiguously. They didn’t report it, just because they never got real evidence—— — which is actually kind of funny, isn't it, I'm a mystery to them, and they're never going to find out the truth."

"Poor media."

"It's a bit pitiful, but when I ordered a takeaway in the early morning and was always caught by flashing lights when I went out to get the takeaway, I didn't think they were pitiful at all."

The clock downstairs struck twelve, William yawned big, and shrank back under the quilt: "Merry Christmas, Lance."

"Merry Christmas, Will." Lance felt the vibration from the other side of the bed, and a burst of cold air that got into the quilt following William's movements, and finally said a little unbearably: "Are you going to sleep in these? T-shirt and trousers?"

"Who told me to wear the only set of pajamas I have on you?" William pointed out in a sleepy voice, "I bought that specially for my overnight stay in Kansas. Take your young master's habits, we still have slept on the rug."

Lance could only compromise, and his drowsiness was gradually rising, but before he fell asleep, he suddenly heard William calling his name.

"Lance? Asleep?"

"Not yet. What's the matter?"

Back-to-backs made it easier for William to say what was on his mind: "I want to say thank you."

"for?"

"For what you said at dinner."

This evening, the arrival of Lance did not dampen the interest of William's uncles, aunts and aunts. On the contrary, it made them more excited, with the same attitude as they treated William-don't care what they are talking about, only care about what they can get in the end What——maybe with [-] points of enthusiasm, launched an offensive against the heir of the Roderick family.

And Lance is worthy of being Lance. He is not like William who tried to avoid the topic because he had a little scruples. Lance's approach is very direct. He will directly respond with sarcasm to any question that makes him feel uncomfortable. But those who hold their own will only make people feel unhappy. Arthur Bradley tolerated Lance as if he tolerated William, and the relationship between Arthur and his children was limited to not having Christmas It was just to keep them out. Later, when Widson Bradley said not euphemistically: "The meaning of the existence of relatives is to help each other, are you right, Will? When a family goes hand in hand, The surname of Bradley will become stronger." At that time, Lance rushed to ridicule in front of William: "It's hard to imagine that I heard this, I think independence, self-struggle is the most respected spirit in the United States today. " Arthur Bradley laughed loudly at that time, and clapped and nodded and shouted "That's right!", and William, although all he gave his friend was a smile at that time, the warmth in his chest was It has continued until now.

"Those are not worth mentioning, Will, I know you will do it for me if necessary." Lance remembered one more thing: "Remember what you still owe me, and you promised I will decorate the Christmas tree together before Christmas, the tree in the mansion will be covered with decorations, and each decoration must have a story or something meaningful behind it."

"... yes, I did, but it's a twelve-foot tree, and where am I going to get all those meaningful ornaments?"

"But you promised."

"Next year." William finally made a promise. The grievance in Lance's tone made him reluctant to compromise, although he knew very well that this bastard was acting: "You have the final say, Lance, you have the final say."

"What about Italian Christmas vacation?"

"This can be put to the next year."

"Agreed." Lance finally felt sleepy, muttered contentedly, turned over, and quickly fell asleep.

Accompanied by the sound of the other party's even breathing, William quickly fell asleep.

……

Obviously, the last position of William and Lance before falling asleep last night was back to back, and the distance between them was so wide that a "Wall of Jericho" could be erected, but when they woke up in the morning, they were cuddling face to face, Like two babies curled up to keep each other warm.

William woke up first. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Lance's terrifyingly long pale golden eyelashes, and the other party's even breathing kept brushing his cheeks, making him tickle. At first he was After being frightened, he managed to maintain his composure without making any movement noises, and then unconsciously became dazed, until the pale golden eyelashes began to tremble slightly, as if they were about to open, he closed his eyes immediately, and He adjusted his breathing so that it was long and steady, pretending that he had not woken up from a deep sleep.

William could feel that Lance was also taken aback, because the upper body of the other party almost bounced on the mattress, but after William continued to pretend to be asleep without any reaction to this, Lance The next movement was much quieter, almost to the point of being silent.

For some reason, Lance didn't get up immediately, but lay quietly on the bed for at least 10 minutes. If he couldn't feel the weight on the other side of the bed, William would almost have thought that the other side had disappeared.

Finally, Lance finally got up and walked into the bathroom to wash, and kept the sound of washing carefully to a minimum. William continued to lie on the bed until the sound of water in the bathroom became smaller and smaller and was about to disappear. He stretched himself under the quilt, and at the same time made the very reluctant sound of getting up that he usually makes.

Lance came out of the bathroom wiping his wet hair with a towel, went to the window and opened all the curtains, turned around and looked at William with a smile on his lips: "Get up, slob."

The bright sunlight poured into the room, casting a halo around Lance's body. William was a little too fascinated by the sight, and didn't even notice a wet towel flying towards him immediately.

"Hey!" William threw the wet towel off his face, shivered, and strongly protested to Lance, "This way of waking someone up is too ungentle!"

Lance shrugged: "I'll be less gentle next time if you make me a rude guest who can't make breakfast because of you."

"There is no such thing as breakfast time here in Arthur. The refrigerator is always full, and there is delicious food to eat no matter what time you wake up." Even so, William got up from the bed quickly and walked to the bathroom.

"I seem to have forgotten something..." Lance thought thoughtfully, and suddenly remembered: "Will, where's my cupcake?"

William slammed the bathroom door shut.

"jerk!"

In the bathroom came William's out-of-tune singing along with the sound of the shower: "I didn't hear anything~ohohohoh~ I didn't hear anything~"

"If there's anything you like on the breakfast table, I'll eat it all. Don't thank me."

"Do not!!!"