After cuddling for a while, once the rehearsal on the T-stage ended, Sophia released Simon and said, "I really do have things to do. There's a meeting in the office area next door."
Simon nodded. "Go ahead and take care of it. I'll sit here by myself for a bit."
Sophia didn't get up right away. She looked toward the eager models not far away and asked, "Are you still coming to the fashion week opening reception tonight?"
Simon understood perfectly well that what the woman was really asking was whether she should still appear at the villa by Lake Como that evening.
He answered without hesitation, "Of course. Actually, I usually don't get involved with women I'm not familiar with."
As he spoke, he leaned over and gently kissed her cheek.
Sophia had been the one hugging him earlier without much reaction, but now that Simon had taken the initiative to kiss her, she suddenly felt a little embarrassed. Remembering the eyes watching them from not far away, she couldn't help feeling a trace of pride.
Still, just as she was about to leave, Sophia couldn't resist asking, "Really?"
There was an inexplicable hint of coquettish complaint in her voice, like a young girl.
"Of course. I have no desire to have a one-night stand and then have some woman regularly discussing my performance in bed or my size with the media afterward. Maybe even publish a few books about it. That would be incredibly awkward. That's why I prefer older women. They tend to be smarter and know better when to advance and when to retreat."
Sophia said teasingly, "It sounds like you're trying to explain something."
"Yes, I am explaining. I really don't have any particular complex about it."
"But everyone says that explanations are just cover-ups."
Seeing Sophia's confident expression, Simon could only show a helpless look.
"I always feel like you're more like an experienced old man who's been through countless flowers rather than a young hothead." Sophia quickly changed the subject considerately. She raised her hand as if to touch his face but ultimately didn't. Instead she asked, "Are you really only twenty-three years old?"
"Actually I'm already five hundred years old."
"And your name is 'Dracula'?"
"Since you've already learned my secret, tonight I'll have no choice but to silence you."
Sophia rolled her eyes at Simon, finally stood up, and said, "I'm going to get busy. See you tonight."
Simon helped smooth out the slightly curled hem of her lady's suit jacket from when she had been sitting and said, "See you tonight."
The moment Sophia's figure disappeared through the runway hall entrance, the group of beautiful models who had been watching from a distance immediately swarmed over together.
Everyone knew about Sophia and Simon's relationship. If Sophia hadn't left, they would never have dared to do this.
This young super-rich man was far too distant from them, and one phone call from Sophia could cost them their jobs. However, now that Sophia had left, they weren't willing to pass up the opportunity.
"Hi, Simon."
"Can I sit here?"
"My name is Yasmin Ghauri. Um, Simon, you understand French, right?"
"…"
After a flurry of voices, seven or eight models had already surrounded Simon on the tiered seating from all sides. The girls who reacted slower saw that Simon was already completely surrounded and couldn't get a word in, so they didn't try to squeeze closer.
The seat to Simon's left had been taken by the long-legged model Sophia had introduced earlier, Nadja.
Because of the vast amount of information in his memories, Simon knew the girl's full name was Nadja Auermann. She was one of the better-known models of the nineties. However, her overall appearance wasn't outstanding enough. Although she possessed a pair of legs that had earned a Guinness record, she hadn't reached the level of a true supermodel.
To his right was a model who clearly had Asian blood. Her looks carried the aura of Hong Kong actresses from the golden era. Her name was Yasmeen Ghauri.
Simon actually had some memory of this model as well.
Having the memory banks of so many people was one of the greatest benefits.
After securing their positions and introducing themselves, Nadja Auermann sat right next to Simon. She clearly wanted to take his arm but ultimately didn't dare. She simply asked in somewhat clumsy English, "Simon, what have you been busy with lately?"
"I just got back from the Wonder Woman set. After watching your show tomorrow, I'll be heading back to Los Angeles."
At the mention of Wonder Woman, obvious envy appeared in the models' eyes.
After all, the female lead of Wonder Woman had supposedly been nothing more than a third-tier small model before. She had virtually no fame to speak of.
Yet after being chosen by Simon Westeros, the girl named Famke Janssen had soared straight to the heavens almost overnight.
It was said that Simon Westeros had been personally grooming Famke Janssen for the role of Wonder Woman for several years already. Such treatment was enough to drive most struggling young actresses in the industry mad with jealousy.
With the huge success of the Batman series, and this also being a DC Cinematic Universe project, no one doubted that Famke Janssen would easily ascend to Hollywood A-list status once Wonder Woman was released.
Thinking of this, the models' gazes grew even more eager.
The modeling profession, even for the very top tier, wasn't nearly as glamorous as outsiders imagined.
To maintain their fame over a long period, even supermodels like Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista often had to attach themselves to singers or stars and become arm candy. Moreover, in terms of career longevity and personal income, models were far inferior to actresses.
Many actresses had modeling experience before becoming famous, but no one had ever heard of an actress continuing her modeling career after achieving stardom.
In the end, within the fashion and entertainment circle, models were at the very bottom of the pyramid.
As for the man in front of them.
He had probably already stepped outside the pyramid entirely. He was the kind of person who directed the building of pyramids.
The moment Simon finished speaking, Yasmeen on the other side smoothly took over the conversation. She continued in fluent French, "Sounds like you're very busy."
Simon smiled and turned to the model beside him. "Where are you from?"
Yasmeen Ghauri paused for a moment before answering, "I grew up in Canada, so of course I'm Canadian. But, um, my ancestry is from South Asia."
Yasmin Ghauri clearly wanted to gloss over it, but someone immediately undermined her.
Nadja Auermann, unhappy that Yasmin had stolen her earlier chance to speak, added softly, "Pakistan."
The modeling world actually placed great importance on bloodline. Models with noble ancestry were obviously more welcomed. Even if they didn't have any, they would often create a public image of aristocratic temperament through the media.
If a model said she came from "Pakistan," many people's first reaction was often "refugee."
Even if people didn't say it aloud and might even offer a few words of sympathy, what they thought in their hearts was another matter.
Yasmin Ghauri glared at the girl on Simon's other side. If Simon Westeros hadn't been right there, she would have wanted to grab that bitch by the hair and slam her to the ground.
Of course.
She could only think about it.
On the surface she put on a perfectly measured pitiful expression and glanced carefully at Simon.
She had suffered because of her background since childhood. She only hoped the man beside her wouldn't show too much disgust.
Simon had no deep-rooted racial concepts like many Westerners. Upon hearing "Pakistan," he unexpectedly felt a trace of closeness, like meeting a fellow countryman. Knowing what the girl beside him was worried about, he smiled and said, "I really liked your runway style just now. I've always wanted to visit Pakistan too, but I can never find the time."
Under normal conversation flow, this would have been the perfect moment for her to offer to be his tour guide.
Unfortunately, having grown up in Canada and because of her origins, Yasmin Ghauri actually felt some rejection toward that country she had no memories of. Naturally she couldn't say anything like that.
Still, she could feel that Simon was helping her out of the awkward situation and felt a surge of gratitude in her heart.
After finishing his sentence, Simon continued chatting with the models around him about all kinds of topics. The languages shifted constantly English, German, French, Russian, Spanish he used nearly all of them. This left the models amazed and convinced that this young tycoon's success was definitely not without reason.
With the rehearsal just completed, Gucci's work here was essentially finished.
These models weren't as idle as people imagined either.
In reality, aside from the absolute top tier, other models during the busiest fashion week period had to work at least ten hours a day. Castings, fittings, rehearsals, makeup, running between venues, and more. What audiences saw for just a few minutes on the runway actually required hundreds of times more time behind the scenes.
The models who hadn't managed to squeeze over earlier had already left one after another. Since they had succeeded in surrounding Simon, the girls naturally understood what was more important.
If they could gain Simon Westeros's favor, it wouldn't matter even if they lost all their work for this fashion week.
They didn't even need to reach Famke Janssen's current level of landing Wonder Woman. Just reaching Cindy Crawford's level would be enough to make them laugh in their dreams.
It was said that just from her brief cameo in this summer's blockbuster The Dark Knight, Cindy Crawford had earned millions of dollars in sales from the doll figures released in her likeness.
Moreover, that supermodel was not a core actress in the DC Cinematic Universe series and hadn't signed a strict contract with Daenerys and Warner Bros. Therefore, she could take a very large share of the peripheral merchandise sales.
For most models, their entire careers might not even earn them one million dollars. Their income could actually be lower than that of ordinary office workers, and at least salaried workers had stable pay.
In short, the young man beside them only needed to lift a finger to move them from the very bottom of the pyramid straight to the very top.
After a week of continuous busyness, Simon rarely had the chance to relax. Surrounded by a group of beautiful women, he had no shortage of patience.
The conversation circled through fashion, music, movies, and more. Suddenly Nadja Auermann said, "Speaking of which, Simon, I'm actually a fan of yours. Run Lola Run, Pulp Fiction, and those scripts you wrote. I've seen all of them. So, could you give me an autograph?"
Yasmeen Ghauri seized the chance to "counterattack." She switched to fluent English and said, "Nadja, your English is so bad. Can you even understand them?"
"Heh."
Laughter immediately broke out around them.
Nadja Auermann had just switched to German while talking to Simon. Now she had to reply in clumsy English again, "What's wrong with watching the dubbed version?"
"Are you sure Simon's movies even have dubbed versions?"
"How could Simon's movies not have dubbed versions?"
Simon listened to the two little cats swiping at each other for a moment before smiling and intervening at the right time. "Alright, alright. An autograph, right? Um, can someone lend me a pen?"
The models all reached for their bags, producing various eyebrow pencils and lipsticks.
Simon picked up an eyebrow pencil, waved it, and deliberately looked Nadja Auermann up and down with a smile. "Where should I sign?"
"On my face."
Yasmeen Ghauri said immediately.
She had also noticed that Simon seemed to enjoy their bickering.
Nadja Auermann's biggest insecurity was that her face wasn't beautiful enough. She shot back, "Sign it on your chest. It's so flat anyway. There's nothing there."
"How do you know there's nothing there?"
Yasmin Ghauri wasn't intimidated at all. She even deliberately pressed closer to Simon to prove she definitely had something.
Simon continued smiling and smoothed things over. "Let's sign it in my favorite spot. Nadja has very beautiful legs."
"Simon, my legs are beautiful too."
"Yeah, mine are just as nice."
Because it was only a rehearsal, the girls were dressed quite casually. Nadja Auermann wore a cropped T-shirt on top and tight jeans below, perfectly displaying her figure.
Hearing Simon say he liked her long legs, the girl proactively shifted her posture and brought her long legs closer to him.
But a problem quickly arose.
Simon waved the eyebrow pencil a few times and said, "These are jeans, not legs."
"Nadja, Simon means you should take your pants off quickly."
"Um, it's not very ladylike to eavesdrop on other people's thoughts like that."
"Heh."
Another wave of laughter followed.
If Simon Westeros asked, Nadja Auermann wouldn't mind taking off her jeans. Because of her profession, she had no issue showing her body. However, while it might be fine in private, taking her pants off in front of a group of watching models would be foolishly humiliating herself.
Still, Westeros clearly wanted to sign directly on her leg.
After hesitating for a moment, she could only look at Simon, ready to let him decide.
If he told her to take them off, she would.
Of course Simon wouldn't do that. After thinking for a second he said, "Would you mind turning these jeans into hot pants?"
Nadja Auermann nodded without hesitation. "Sure."
This was Gucci's Milan headquarters. Scissors and tools were easy to find. There was no shortage of tailors either.
After giving the order, a staff member quickly brought scissors and cut Nadja Auermann's jeans into hot pants on the spot. A pair of fair, long legs was revealed. Even the other girls present, who already had excellent figures, couldn't help feeling extremely envious.
Nadja Auermann was even bolder. She directly placed both long legs across Simon's lap, leaned her body back, and supported herself with both hands, letting the man do as he pleased.
Simon thought for a moment, then began carefully drawing on the girl's fair, long leg.
A moment later, two somewhat playful, comic-style Korean characters appeared on Nadja Auermann's thigh.
"Wow, so pretty."
"Simon, are these Korean characters? What do they mean?"
Simon was also quite satisfied with his work. After examining it for a moment and carefully adding a few more strokes, he finally wrote the stylized letters 'S.W' beneath the two characters. Only then did he explain to the curious models around him, "Two characters. One means 'leg,' and the other means 'spirit' or 'elf.'"
Combined, of course, they meant leg spirit.