8 Chapter 8

"You know her?" Francesca asked as they walked into the audition hall.

"Yeah, she was one of my mentees before she got poached by Lights." Alvin said with a shrug. "Don't think about that now, focus on your audition." He scolded.

Francesca nodded as she looked forward.

"The panel will see you now." A member of the staff said as he led Francesca into another room. Managers were not allowed into the audition area as the director worried that it would affect the actresses' performance.

Francesca took a deep breath as she turned to face the panel of casters for the audition.

"Good afternoon Miss Rocci, before anything let me introduce the people here. This is the casting director, the assistant director, the director, the producer, and the head script writer." The staff member explained.

"Good afternoon, thank you for having me." Francesca said respectfully.

"You have been given an excerpt of the script, please act it out." The director instructed.

The scene was a heavy one, according to the script the character had just received the news that her boyfriend had been killed in a freak accident and was in such despair that she wanted to take her life. The hard part was that there was only one word that she could say.

Francesca stared blankly and fell to the ground, the staff member panicked but the director stopped him.

Francesca suddenly began to sob, at first it was weak and it could barely be heard, she gradually increased the volume of her sobs until she finally began to call out the name. After a while she lifted her head and looked the director in the eyes.

The director could see the pain and suffering just from Francesca's eyes, she made it seem like the pain was truly her pain. From her expression the panel could see that she felt hopeless, like there was no tomorrow, like her entire future had been whipped out by the news.

The director suddenly recalled what was happening and blinked at Francesca, she had pulled them all into a trance.

"That's enough." The director finally said as he gathered himself.

Francesca pulled herself back and smiled. "Thank you for the opportunity." She said respectfully.

"Please wait outside with your manager as we screen the other actresses." The director said as he kept a straight face.

Francesca thanked them again before finally exiting the room.

"So? How did it go?" Alvin asked her as she approached.

"I'm not sure." Francesca said tentatively. "They didn't respond for a while." She said, scratching her head.

Francesca didn't know if she was a bad or a good actress, all of her attempts to join the industry had always been blocked by the family, thus making it difficult to gauge her skill. He acting teacher said she was amazing, but to Francesca that didn't count since she was paid to praise rich young children to encourage them.

The screening panel saw a few more actresses, but none of them were asked to wait like Francesca.

Eventually they had gone through everyone present and it was only Alvin and Francesca left in the waiting area.

"Miss Francesca?" A different staff member approached.

"Yes?" Francesca asked back.

"The director would like to see you with your manager." The man said.

"Alright." Francesca said with a nod as she looked at Alvin who placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright. I'm here." Alvin said as he squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

Francesca smiled and followed the member of the staff into the audition room once again with Alvin in tow.

"I should have known." The casting director said with a laugh.

"Did this girl drag you out of retirement?" The director asked, it seemed he was familiar with Alvin.

"No, not her. The boss convinced me." Alvin said with a chuckle. "You know how Edward Vernon and his father can be, it's quite difficult to refuse when they ask." Alvin said with a shrug.

"Miss Francesca, let me introduce myself first. My name is John De Vera, these guys call me Direc John." John said with a warm smile, it was quite different from the straight face he wore earlier during her audition.

"It's an honor to meet you sir." Francesca said with a smile.

"Such a beautiful face and such amazing acting skills! You really found a diamond with this one Alvin." Direc John said with a laugh.

"Thanks." Alvin grinned, clearly proud of Francesca. "I didn't know she was that good either till today." Alvin confessed.

"Francesca you are an amazing actress." Director John praised. "I really felt all of those emotions, as a matter of fact you had drawn us in so well that I forgot that you were acting."

"Thank you." Francesca said.

"We want to offer you a role." Director John explained. "But not the one you auditioned for. This one is a little bit bigger, with more emotions and more screen time. What do you say?"

Francesca was shocked at the offer, she thought she had done so bad that they wanted to ridicule her after.

"Francesca?" Alvin called out when he realized she hadn't responded.

"Yes. I'll be happy to act in your show." Francesca finally said.

"Great. Alvin, here is the contract." Director John said as he handed her manager a thick envelope. "Send it back as soon as possible."

"Of course I will." Alvin said to the director.

"Welcome to our family Francesca." Director John said as he got up to hug her.

"Thank you." Francesca was almost in tears when the director hugged her.

"You have a bright future ahead of you, I am sure of it." Director John said with a nod.

"As much as I would like to continue our discussion, I need to take Francesca to a shoot for a commercial." Alvin said as he expertly maneuvered them out of the room.

"They're lucky then, soon Francesca's fees will be much more expensive, especially with the role we have prepared." The director said with a smile.

"See you!" Alvin said as they left the audition hall.

Francesca didn't say a thing as they walked from the studio to the car. When they got in it seemed like she was still in a trance, unmoving with a straight face.

"I got a part!" Francesca suddenly said.

"Yes, you got a part better than what you auditioned for." Alvin said as he drove them out of the parking lot. "Be proud of yourself."

"I can't believe it!" Francesca said as she was still stunned by what happened.

"Well, collect yourself Francesca, you still have another audition to attend." Alvin said with a smile.

Francesca nodded and did some breathing exercises that their martial arts teachers had taught them when they were young.

By the time they drove up to her second audition Francesca was already as calm and collected as she was earlier in the day.