Chapter 11

Alvin decided to show Francesca where his office was first. It was on the floor right below Edward's, it was an enclosed room with a lounge where his artists could stay and rest if needed whenever they visited the office.

"You won't usually have to come here." Alvin explained as he showed her around. "Maybe once a month, depends on the need. We usually just meet with the artists at their homes or at the venues. But it's nice to have a place you can stay in whenever you're here." Alvin said with a warm smile.

"It looks nice." Francesca complimented.

"Good, now the two of you go get lost so I can get to work." Alvin said as he drove them out of his office.

"I'm so excited to work with you Francesca." Karen said as they walked out of the office.

"Thank you, I don't really know anyone in the industry." Francesca had never had the chance to interact with other talents when she would audition in the past. She would often arrive right before the audition and leave immediately after.

"I'm guessing the world you grew up in is different from ours." Karen said with a laugh.

"Yeah, we have a family business, and my parents don't exactly know that I'm acting." Francesca confessed.

"That's so cool. So you're like a rebel." Karen said.

"Yeah, something like that." Francesca nodded as they boarded the empty elevator. "It was my elder brother that helped me get signed here."

"You're lucky to have such a kind brother." Karen praised.

Francesca smiled in reply. Andres was not exactly kind, he was nice to Francesca because they were siblings, but to the outside world Andres was feared and considered dangerous. Matteo was the face of their family business. He dealt with all of the external affairs and made sure that that part of their business made money. Andres on the other hand was much more dangerous and secretive.

Officially he worked as a Vice President in their family business, but in reality it was Andres that ran and controlled their interests in the mafia.

He was feared by almost all in the underworld and his favor was desired by many. Very few families were more powerful than them in the underworld, from what Francesca understood, it was only to the King of the Underworld that her brothers and father bowed down to.

Back when they were children Andres had been the most skilled in terms of fighting and he was the best shot among them. Even among the Rocci family's men very few were at par with her second eldest brother.

"So this is of course the lobby." Karen said as they stepped out of the elevator into the ground floor. "Most of our external visitors only see this level."

They walked behind the receptionist desk and smiled at the two young women that were busy talking calls.

"Both of them want to be artists in the future." Karen whispered. "That's why they're working here. They are hoping to get recruited in the future. They are extra nice to all the managers and the more popular artists. If you aren't popular they can be quite a pain."

Francesca laughed at Karen's comment as they continued walking.

"Here we have the function hall. Most of the press conferences are held here." Karen explained as they entered an empty hall with a wooden floor and a stage at the front. "According to the older employees in the past when there were bigger conferences, the company would book a function hall in a hotel, but it's been a while since we had such a large artist so this hall is enough."

"Was the change because of Lights Entertainment?" Francesca asked as she recalled Alvin's story.

"Yes." Karen said with a nod. "By the time I arrived, Lights Entertainment was already in full swing, but from the stories of the other employees, members of the media used to camp outside the building just to catch a glimpse of some singer or actor. Of course everything changed when Lights dominated the industry. Anyway, come on I'll show you something interesting." Karen said as she led Francesca behind the stage.

They went through two heavy doors and were greeted by another elevator.

"This is the CEO and VPs exclusive elevator, but it's also the only elevator that will take you down to the practice rooms." Karen explained as she pressed the down button.

The elevator arrived and they went down three stories. "The first two are dressing rooms, we'll go to them later, I think you will enjoy this one more." Karen said with a smile.

When the elevator doors opened Francesca was surprised to see so many people, it seemed that a lot of artists were rehearsing at the time.

"This is where everyone comes to rehearse. The singers and dancers get priority use, since they need the facilities, but if you're a big enough talent you get your own exclusive rehearsal space." Karen explained as they walked across the hall.

"Hey Karen!" Another young woman waved to them.

"Ching!" Karen said as she waved back.

"Who is this Karen?" Ching asked.

"Oh, this is Francesca. Alvin's new artist." Karen said, introducing Francesca. "Ching is another assistant, she's a personal assistant to the K2D idol group. They're one of the larger artists in the company so they get their own rehearsal space." Karen explained.

"Nice to meet you." Francesca said with a sweet smile.

"I really hope you are as talented as you are pretty." Ching suddenly said.

"Oh. I hope so too." Francesca replied with an awkward laugh.

"Don't mind Ching, she says what's on her mind. That can be both a blessing and a curse." Karen said with a laugh. "There have been so many artists that are pretty but couldn't act or sing. So I guess we are all hoping that you aren't one of them, you're nice." Karen said with a grin.

"Ching!" Francesca heard a male voice call out from inside the rehearsal studio.

"Well, the boys need me. Let's catch up later." Ching said as she ran to enter the studio. "Oh, nice meeting you Francesca, I hope to see you more in the future." Ching said as she disappeared into the room.

"Well, that's for the rehearsal studios. Down there is the recording studio, it's mostly the singers that use that area." Karen explained as they took a peak into one of the studios that were empty.

"Wow, it looks so nice." Francesca exclaimed. "Too bad I'll never use it." She said with a laugh.

"Why not?" Karen asked. Usually artists chose singing as a second talent.

"Well, I can't sing. So I chose dancing as my second talent." Francesca said with a laugh.

"At least you won't insist on singing even if you can't." Karen said with a shrug as they walked back to the elevator.