After a few months in Hollywood, she had the opportunity to sign a three-year contract with MGM that was worth $50,000 if all the options were picked up. However, she was dismayed by some of the seamier aspects of Hollywood, including the studio's request that she pose for cheesecake photos and the constant gambling among the extras. She also found the long waits between shots unsatisfying as a thespian, and read Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky novels on the set to pass the time. Romney finally convinced her to go ahead with marriage and return to Washington, where he worked for Alcoa as a lobbyist, earning $125 a month.