As Matthew and Helen Herman left the Marvel office building, a black Mercedes-Benz sedan was already waiting by the curb. They got in one after the other, and the car started moving down Fifth Avenue.
"Helen, how much do you think they'll agree to?" Matthew asked, breaking the silence.
"You did very well," Helen replied, raising the partition between them and the driver. Instead of directly answering his question, she added, "You've secured many advantageous conditions for the upcoming negotiations."
Matthew joked, "I was actually trying to make things a bit more complicated for you."
This initial meeting wasn't smooth sailing. Given the series of conditions he proposed, Marvel's executives, being sane, wouldn't agree to everything outright. The investment involved tens of millions of dollars. Subsequently, Matthew would form a team led by Helen Herman to officially start negotiations with Marvel.
He had started with sky-high demands; now it was time for negotiation and compromise.
"There's one thing I need to emphasize, Helen," Matthew advised seriously. "In other areas, we can make appropriate concessions, but you must secure the rights for me to invest in future Marvel superhero films, as many as possible."
Although his personal interest in Marvel's superhero movies had waned significantly after the excessive humor and lack of depth in some of their later films, he knew these movies were cash cows.
Why pass up the opportunity to make money?
Helen Herman remained calm and assured him, "I know what to do." Then she asked, "You plan to invest $40 million. Can you come up with that much?"
Matthew shrugged, "I can scrape together about $20 million, counting the fee I just received for 'I Am Legend.' That should be enough for the first installment."
Helen nodded thoughtfully, "I'll push for phased funding during the negotiations."
"As for the remaining $20 million..." Matthew calculated the timeline for the remaining installments of his 'I Am Legend' fee but realized it might not align with Marvel's needs. "I'll find a way to raise it."
They discussed various negotiation details all the way until the car arrived at the hotel where Matthew was staying.
Since Helen had other business to attend to, Matthew planned to get out of the car and let the driver accompany her.
Just before getting out, he reminded her, "If 'Iron Man' is a big hit, Marvel's stock will likely skyrocket."
Helen Herman nodded lightly, "I understand."
Matthew didn't say more and headed into the hotel. Once in his room, he immediately called his stockbroker and instructed him to purchase as many shares of Marvel as possible in the market.
In truth, buying Marvel stock now might already be a bit late, but he was just a regular person. While he had some foresight about the film industry, his grasp on related investments wasn't as sharp. He didn't have a superhuman memory or instant access to comprehensive databases like Google. His insights were limited.
Regardless, he already had a substantial holding of Apple stock. If he remembered correctly, the launch of the iPhone was just a few years away. Even if future investments failed, he wouldn't struggle to get by.
Confident in his Apple holdings, he had a fallback plan.
Given the recent rise in Apple's performance, buying their stock had become increasingly difficult. The market trends were pointing upwards, even though there was no widespread buzz about the iPhone yet.
Matthew had no plans to sell his Apple stock; he intended to hold onto it for the long term, considering the ongoing devaluation of the dollar.
After hanging up the phone, he pondered for a while and then decided to call David Ellison, planning to ask this wealthy friend for a loan.
During the call, Matthew straightforwardly mentioned he might need to borrow around $10 million. David Ellison, after thinking for a moment, responded with a light-hearted remark about charging bank interest...
Though nothing was finalized, they agreed to discuss it further when they returned to Los Angeles. If David Ellison agreed to the loan, Matthew would naturally pay him interest and potentially include him in future film investment opportunities.
For David Ellison, $10 million might not be a substantial amount.
If borrowing from David wasn't an option, Matthew considered using his Horner Manor as collateral for a bank loan, which could easily secure him $20 million.
Selling his stocks was out of the question.
Matthew knew well that large investments like this, involving tens of millions of dollars, required patience. Rushing could lead to mistakes.
Back in his suite, seated on the sofa, Matthew hoped for a positive outcome in the negotiations. Even if he couldn't secure investment rights for the next twenty films, getting a stake in the next five or six Marvel superhero movies would be very profitable.
He briefly entertained the idea of influencing the tone and style of future Marvel movies if he could gain enough sway.
"Shouldn't there be some stakes in these wars? Like Captain America and Black Widow's scandalous WWII exploits, or a love triangle involving Iron Man and Pepper?" He mused. "But more importantly, characters should die!"
Reflecting on Marvel's movies, he found it unrealistic that none of the heroes died in their epic battles. Even in wars with aliens, gods, or formidable villains, no one perished.
Eventually, he chuckled to himself. Given the villains' comically low intelligence in Marvel films, it made sense no one died. After all, even a dance-off could defeat the bad guys.
He muttered, "Maybe I shouldn't overthink this. The idea of a dance-off is still better than Michael Bay sending oil drillers to space to save the world."
Despite his criticisms, he separated business from personal opinions. Investing in Marvel was a clear financial opportunity.
Future success in his investments might give him enough leverage to influence Marvel's filmmaking direction. Internal conflicts without casualties, or 'Ragnarok' needing to be more serious, and limiting excessive humor—these were some of his thoughts.
"Forget it," he shook his head, "Thinking about this too much is just going to give me a headache."
Meanwhile, in a hotel near Flushing Park, Maria Sharapova sat at her laptop. She connected her phone via a data cable and browsed through her phone's photo gallery, selecting a few pictures of Matthew's autographed photos resting on her lap. She copied them to her desktop and then uploaded the clearest one to her blog.
She then added a picture of the U.S. Open Women's Singles Trophy to her blog post.
"September 9, 2006, the two most significant achievements of my life: winning the U.S. Open and finding love."
Sharapova, having spent much of her time in the U.S., was not shy about sharing her personal life, much like many American girls.
After typing the post, she hit 'send,' and the blog update went live.
"I wonder what Matthew's doing right now?" she mused, staring at the computer screen. "Is he thinking about me too?"
Disconnecting her phone, she found Matthew's number in her contacts but hesitated to call. It was only mid-afternoon, and he might be busy with work.
She decided to call him later and invite him to the U.S. Open Champions Dinner the next evening.
Returning to her senses, she noticed that her blog post had already garnered a slew of comments.
"What's this? Is Maria in love?"
"That guy looks familiar. Is he a celebrity?"
"That's Matthew Horner, the famous Hollywood star."
"No way! Is Maria dating Matthew Horner? I need a moment to process this."
"Why would Maria go for Matthew Horner? He's known to be a player!"
"Don't be ridiculous! Matthew's handsome and famous. They make a perfect match."
Most comments, however, came from her fans seeking clarification.
"Maria, are you dating Matthew Horner?"
"Could you confirm this, please? We need to know."
Seeing the growing curiosity, Sharapova wished she had a more intimate photo with Matthew to make things clear.
Ignoring the flood of questions on her blog, she shut down her computer and prepared to head to the men's singles final. Although she hadn't planned to attend, the organizers had called her, extending a sincere invitation to make another appearance at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
It was there, after all, that she first met Matthew.
Earlier that morning, paparazzi had captured Matthew escorting Sharapova out of the hotel. Given the commotion they caused last night, it was inevitable that rumors would spread. By the afternoon, gossip sites were already buzzing with news of their relationship.
Many fans lamented that the newly crowned U.S. Open champion had fallen into the hands of a notorious playboy.
By evening, news of Sharapova's blog update had spread like wildfire. Entertainment reporters swarmed to her blog, not only sharing the photos but also speculating about their budding romance.
Stories about Matthew Horner and Maria Sharapova being madly in love and officially dating soon proliferated.
During the U.S. Open men's singles final, hordes of Matthew's fans flooded Sharapova's blog, crashing the site temporarily.
Unaware of these developments, Matthew stayed in his hotel room, watching the match between Federer and Roddick. Then, he received a call from Ilena Poyer, who filled him in on the gossip swirling around him and Sharapova.
Matthew was taken aback by how seriously Sharapova seemed to be taking their relationship. Did she not know about his infamous reputation?
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