America 1987

Chapter 88 The Substitute

"Just a guess," Nicole said with a smug smile, "but now it's confirmed."

"Stop joking, tell me quickly, how did you guess it?"

Actually, this isn't too hard to guess. Naomi was only 14 years old when she met Nicole.

Naomi was born in the UK and spent most of her life there before she turned 14.

British society is deeply influenced by traditional class structures and the established church, and its overall attitudes toward sex are more conservative than those in the United States. Moreover, the Thatcher government at the time strongly emphasized traditional family values, and its laws and social norms were very strict.

Based on Nicole's understanding of her best friend's introverted personality, she was 99% certain that the other person was still innocent at that time.

After getting to know the other person, Nicole keenly sensed a subtle competitive spirit lurking beneath the surface during their interactions.

Since it's a competition, there will definitely be competition in all aspects, which is why Nicole speculated that the other party has not had sexual experience so far and probably wants to win against her in this area.

"That's it?" Naomi asked incredulously. "This is the first time you've guessed me based on just that?"

"Yeah, what else could I possibly guess? We don't live together."

"Alright, alright, let's not talk about that," Naomi changed the subject. "Let's get back to my question. What do you think David was thinking at the time?"

"What else can you think? You want to be a savage, but others don't want to be."

Nicole teased her friend across from her, "That tree isn't exactly clean. You've got your back covered in dust, which will probably spoil his mood."

"You know him so well?"

"Alright, stop trying to trick me. You probably already guessed it, so there's no need to hide anything," Nicole said casually. "So, how about it? Does this handsome guy I found for you still catch your eye, Naomi?"

"He is quite handsome," Naomi said, lying down on the bed. "But I'm not that shallow. I need to observe him for a couple more days before I can give you a definite answer."

"Come on, it almost started up in the tree today."

Nicole scoffed, "I'm not that shallow. Sigh, when did you become so proactive?"

"You're the one who took the initiative. I was the one who was passive. Do you understand what passive means? He was the one who let me go out for some fresh air. How did that become me taking the initiative?"

"Okay, passive, passive, you're the one who's passive."

"Sigh, do you think it's possible that he didn't take things further because I was too passive?"

Naomi felt she had discovered a blind spot in the situation. "Were you acting voluntarily or passively, Nicole?"

"Are you crazy, Naomi?" Nicole said, feigning anger. "Why ask me this of all things?"

Well, although there was no direct reply, Naomi already knew the answer from the other party's tone and attitude.

It seemed she was right; the other person did indeed prefer the more proactive one. However, she didn't want to completely follow the other person's wishes, as that would make it too easy to lose herself. Naomi thought to herself.

"Okay, okay, I won't ask anymore," she quickly changed the subject. "Then tell me, why did you introduce him to me? He's too amazing, you can't handle it alone, you need to find a helper?" "No, not at all," Nicole said seriously. "I'm just bored here by myself, I wanted to find someone to keep me company, and after thinking about it, I realized you're the closest person to me, so I asked you to come."

This is a lie, or more accurately, it is part of the truth, not the whole reason.

Nicole's idea was simple—she was looking for a substitute for herself.

Although she wouldn't mind maintaining a romantic relationship with a young and handsome man like David for several years, or even indefinitely, she had to start thinking about her future early.

In the original timeline, Nicole had a very close relationship with her two biological children—her eldest daughter Sandy Ross and her youngest daughter Faith Margaret.

To avoid being disturbed by the media and disrupting their two daughters' normal childhood, she and her husband Keith Urban have long lived a low-key life in Tennessee, USA.

The couple's principle is "not to let work affect family"—when Nicole is filming, Urban stays home to take care of the children; when Urban is on tour, Nicole tries not to take on any roles to ensure that their daughters are always accompanied by their parents.

This shows that, compared to other Hollywood actresses of her time, she was indeed very dedicated to being a mother.

Therefore, she has no intention of having children with her father, so that her future child would bear the name of an illegitimate child.

Illegitimate children are children born to parents who are not married; they are also called children born out of wedlock. This term itself carries a certain negative connotation.

Nicole is quite good at judging people. After spending more than half a year together, she has basically figured out David's character.

This guy probably wants to be the next Howard Hughes in Hollywood—the latter was a legendary figure from Hollywood's Golden Age, America's first billionaire, and supposedly the inspiration for Iron Man.

However, none of these are the most important. In Avengers 1, when someone asked Iron Man what he would be without the armor, he replied, "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."

The key point is the third one—the most widely circulated claim is that he dated 164 Hollywood actresses in his lifetime. If that were all, he wouldn't necessarily be much better than Warren Beatty. More importantly, media reports at the time claimed that he was dating more than 80 women simultaneously, covering almost all of Hollywood's top actresses at the time.

His romantic partners include many legendary actresses known to every household, such as Katharine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Jane Harlow, and Gina Lollobrigida. If the media reports are true, then he is more impressive than any male protagonist in an online novel.

If it weren't for the injury he sustained while filming "Hell's Angels" as a stuntman, which affected his fertility, he would probably have more children than Musk.

That's why Nicole asked Naomi to be her body double, but that doesn't mean the two are just superficial friends.

"Hey, Naomi, was what you told me last time true or false?" "What do you mean, true or false?" Naomi frowned. "Why are you talking to me so ambiguously?" "It was that time we were discussing my role and the topic of marriage."

Nicole was referring to "Harry & Sally," and the two had initially been discussing the film's central theme: whether pure friendship between men and women exists. However, their conversation gradually shifted to marriage.

"Oh, that's what you wanted to ask about."

Naomi said knowingly, "Really, I really am a non-marriage advocate, I'm not lying to you, didn't I tell you, my parents and..." It was after learning this that Nicole had the idea of ​​having her be her stand-in.

According to her own account, her tendency to remain single stemmed primarily from the failure of her parents' marriage.

Although Nicole couldn't fully empathize—after all, her family background was healthy and her parents' relationship was harmonious—her research in psychology allowed her to roughly understand the reasons behind it.

Although attributing everything to one's family of origin is not yet mainstream opinion in this era, Nicole is still able to grasp that the negative experience of parents' failed marriages will pass on the idea that "marriage is bound to break down" to the next generation, thus affecting their views on marriage and relationships.

Therefore, she did not think that what the other person said to her last time was a joke, and that she was just asking again to confirm.