….

  Five Days Later.

  March 16th, 2010.

  .

  "Hello there! I am Be. o meet you!"

  Regal gnced up from his notes, momentarily caught off guard by the sheer force of Behusiasm, which seemed to fill the room the moment he walked in.

  "Hello, Ben. I am Regal." He gestured to the chair across the table and offered a polite, if somewhat strained, smile. "Please, take a seat. Here is the se. No rush, take your time."

  Ben's eyes flicked tal, registering a brief surprise at his youthful face before brushing it off.

  Without missing a beat, he fshed a quick grin and dropped into the chair, snatg up the script. His eyes darted across the lines, lips moving faintly as he rehearsed under his breath.

  Regal leaned ba his chair, the dispy with a measured calm.

  For a moment, he sidered Behusiasm.

  It was refreshing, if nothing else, though the ret experiences had taught him to temper his expectations.

  The room art of a small run dower Regal had rented for three days to cast the ag crew for his film, [Following].

  He had meticulously pnned for this, s through scripts, finalizing the audition posters, and spreading the word both online and offline. He had gively six days for the casting notice to gain tra, a timeline carefully banced between urgend reach.

  Now, it was already the sed day of auditions.

  Barely a few minutes passed before Ben straightened, grinned again, and dove headfirst into his audition.

  When he finished, he looked at Regal with an eager expression, eyes bright with anticipation.

  Regal's face remained ral, though his ihoughts painted a more ho picture.

  The performa was... well, it was something.

  ===

  [Name:] Be

  [Traits:] Cheerful, Resilience

  [Ag Grade:] E ?

  ===

  Cheerful and resilient - very admirable traits in this brutal industry, Regal mused, noting the determination in Ben's eyes.

  But ag? That was a different matter altogether.

  Another one who is not 'yet' ready trying to quer the camera.

  Regal thought, fighting the urge to rub his temples.

  The auditions had been running for two days now, and they were starting to feel more like a test of his own endurahan a search for talent.

  The first day held promise.

  Plenty of hopefuls had flocked in, lured by the attractive pay hi in the gig description.

  But by the end of the day, Regal had realized none of them were camera-ready.

  Today? It was shaping up to be even worse.

  Despite a slight upti the number of didates, the quality of performances had taken a nosedive.

  By the time the afternoon sun cast its muted glow across the room, every audition had blurred into a monotonous parade of mediocrity.

  No even the fai impressio alone a spark of hope.

  And now, Ben.

  His initial enthusiasm had been a rare highlight, a momentary respite from the drudgery. But enthusiasm alone could only carry him so far, and his performance quickly unraveled.

  Halfway through the lines, Ben stumbled over his words.

  Aauses iween eae dragging like a poorly delivered pune to a bad joke.

  Regal forced a polite smile, suppressing the sigh g its his throat. "Good work, Ben. We will tact you if there's a role that fits."

  For a brief moment, Ben's grin faltered.

  His expression flickered with a subtle disappoi, a cra his upbeat demeanor that was fleeting but unmistakable.

  He knew. He had failed ...again.

  But just as quickly as it appeared, the moment was gone.

  Ben straightened his back, his voice as buoyant as when he had first walked in. "Thanks! I would really appreciate that!"

  Regal blinked, momentarily taken aback. Resilient, he thought.

  There was something almost admirable about the way Ben shrugged off reje, even from someone as retively insignifit as Regal himself.

  It wasn't forced or defensive.

  It was genuine, an unshakable optimism that wasn't ced with bitterness or preteill, admiration alone didn't ge the reality of the situation.

  "." Regal called out, already moving on.

  .…

  After a few more rounds of auditions that added little more than a growing sense of disappoi, the door opened once again.

  A womaered, her long bck hair fallily to frame her face.

  Well, she got the looks, thought Regal.

  Every detail of her appearance was sharp and precise, as if her entire demeanor had been carefully curated to exude posure.

  "Hello." She said curtly, with a stony expression.

  That was it? Regal blinked. No smile, no overdone pleasantries - just a cold, lifeless greeting.

  "Uh… hello." He replied, the awkwardness lingering for a moment before he shook it off and slid the script across the table toward her. "Here are the lines. Start whenever you are ready."

  She nodded, a silent aowledgment, and reached for the script without another word.

  As she moved toward the nearby chair, Regal assumed she was about to sit and prepare.

  But mid-step, she stopped.

  Turning slightly back toward him, she seemed hesitant, her lips parting as though she had just remembered something.

  "Thank you." She said softly, her voice oddly stilted and unsure, like a child fumbling with newly learned manners.

  Ah, so she is nervous, Regal assumed.

  His gaze dropped to the script trembling slightly in her grasp. Her fingers were quivering, just enough to catch his attention.

  A faint smile tugged at the er of his lips.

  "No problem. Would you like some coffee?" He asked.

  Obviously, the offer wasn't just because she was attractive, though she certainly was. Regal prided himself on being a det person, and if a little caffeine could help ease someone's nerves, why not offer?

  Her eyes stayed on him for a beat, before she finally gave a small nod. "Please. I would like that."

  "Perfect. You tinue, and I will get it sorted." Regal said, reag for the small bell on his desk.

  As he rang it, he couldn't help but wonder if this time, the day might finally take a turn for the better.

  The sound had barely faded before the door opened, and in walked a middle aged woman in a sharply tailored suit, clipboard tucked ly under her arm.

  Her stride was brisk, her demeanor professional, exuding the air of someone who had long mastered the art of efficy.

  Regal gnced up, smiling inwardly.

  Ah, the perks of hiring help.

  The sheer monotony of these auditions would have driven him up the wall if he had to hahem alone.

  So beforehand, reizing his limits, he had enlisted someoh experience, someone who could take care of the logistical side while he simply focused on auditions.

  Her name was Samantha Cross, a reendation from Maggie, Gwendolyn's go-to person for all things anizational.

  ...and, no, don't ask why it just so happeo be another woman.

  Pure ce, Regal assured himself.

  Still, there was a small, additional voice that whispered.

  Who hires a guy for this kind of work? Isn't that just on se was a bias, sure, but he was self-aware enough to admit it.

  "Yes, Mr. Regal?" Samantha asked, her polite, professional smile perfectly in pce.

  "Ms. Samantha. A coffee, please." Regal gestured with a slight tilt of his head toward the woman now seated and preparing for her audition.

  Samantha's eyes followed, taking in the se.

  The woman was hunched slightly over the script, her focus entirely on the lines before her. Her fiapped nervously against the paper, betraying her unease.

  "And make it... strong." Regal added, his voice quieter, as though not to disturb the woman's tration.

  I see… Samantha's sharp mind already filled in the bnks immediately.

  The coffee wasn't fal.

  Her gaze flickered back to the woman - the young woman was undeniably pretty.

  Pretty women, Samantha knew, often received these small courtesies, acts that, while harmless and unspoken, weren't strictly professional protocol, either.

  Still, she said nothing. Her thoughts, ly partmentalized, stayed where they belonged, private.

  With a nod, she turned on her heel aed the room.

  Moments ter, Samantha returned with a steaming cup of coffee in a tray.

  Fortunately, she had brewed a fresh batch earlier, anticipating such requests. Regal had made simir ohe day before, again not for himself, but for the partits.

  And no, not all of them had been women - it was a small, telliail that had earned him a point or two in her book.

  Professionalism, after all, was a rare odity in enviros like these, where egos and ulterior motives often ran rampant.

  Still, even if that weren't the case, Samantha reminded herself, it wasn't her pce to judge.

  This was her sed day w alongside Regal. So, the job wasn't perma, just a short-term gig to help mahe calling part outside the audition room.

  A small favor from a 'friend' who had vouched for her, really.

  But even in that short span, she had observed enough to form a general impression.

  Regal was young, handsome, and clearly juggling the challenges of a demanding enviro filled with potential distras.

  Whatever his iions were, they weren't her .

  She approached the table and pced the cup carefully beside the auditioning woman, who barely aowledged it.

  She received a polite nod of thanks fral, and with the same quiet efficy, she exited the room, leaving it steeped in silence more.

  The woman remained focused, her eyes locked on the script as she reached for the coffee. She sipped it absently, never once shifting her gaze from the page.

  Her focus was endable, her firag the edge of the sheet of se paper.

  ….

  Finally, after three more minutes, she rose, setting the paper ly bato the table.

  "I will start now." then she announced.

  Regal gave a small nod of approval, and instantly his casual demeanor shifted - the fairality in his expression hardened into something sharper and critical, ready to judge.

  …yet, it immediately uled her.

  Her fingers curled into a fist, knuckles whitening as her posure momentarily cracked.

  The coffee?

  The polite tone?

  She had misread them entirely.

  She had assumed it was more of the same pandering she had seen too often before.

  But now, studying his expression, it hit her, Regal wasn't here to sugarcoat anything.

  His quiet focus wasn't encement - it was expectation.

  If she didn't perform, she would be out.

  No sympathy, no excuses.

  The realization was s.

  She wasn't o auditions. In fact, she had even nded a few roles before. But deep down, she knew why she had gotten those offers.

  Her auditions? Subpar.

  She has a stage fright, so despite her preparation, she always couldn't do her best at the audition.

  She had retly e to terms with that, but she was still in the process of overing it.

  And the roles she thought she really nded were not because of her ag. She only uood after a few experiehat those kinds of offers often e with unspoken agreements.

  Opportunities dangled in exge for favors she had no iion of giving.

  And so she refused.

  Time and again.

  Each refusal came with sequences, doors smmed shut, opportunities lost.

  But she had chosen this path.

  If she couldn't earn her pce, she didn't want it.

  That thought sparked something in her.

  A new determination hardened her gaze, sharpeniance.

  Across the roal noticed the shift.

  He noticed the ge instantly. Hadn't she already seemed serious? What has shifted now?

  He kept his thoughts to himself, leaning back to observe.

  And then, she began.

  ….

  She was good-ish.

  Regal would pce her around a [Ag Garde: C].

  Not quite there yet, but she was definitely on the right track.

  She was already in the project, he decided.

  tinuing the search beyond this point would be unnecessary.

  Perfe, after all, was a mirage - there was always someoer, but chasing them would lead nowhere.

  Sometimes, you have to make a choid stick with it.

  Still, something had caught Regal's attention during her audition.

  At the beginning, she was just... okay.

  Her delivery cked the sultry uohe character demanded, and if she had ti that level, she would already be on her way out.

  But as the minutes passed, something shifted. She began to settle in, and by the end, her performance carried a grounded, immersive quality.

  It wasn't her best - He could tell that much.

  Still, the potential was there.

  Maybe she could be a [C+: Grade] talent actually.

  With a flicker of his eyelid, Regal opehe system panel in front of him.

  ===

  [Name:] Violet Grace

  [Traits:] Stoic, Principled, Performanxiety

  [Ag Grade:] B -

  ===

  Regal likes to think of himself as fair, not oo rush to clusions.

  …and he believed he was already being generous.

  He always gave didates the be to prove themselves before relying on his system.

  With her stoic expression, he wasn't expeg anythiraordinary' from the woman before him.

  But it seems he was wrong…

  The evaluatios were right there in front of him: [Ag Grade: B -]

  Regal nearly shot up from his seat in disbelief.

  Ag Grade: B -!? That was the sed highest grade he had seen since Keanu, who was a beast of his own in Regal's book.

  His eyes drifted back to her.

  Stoid principled, huh? He let the words linger in his mind, sidering the first one.

  Stoiess is something that is definitely not the best first impression trait one would love to have in this field.

  Violet Grace.He repeated her name quietly to himself. He would remember that.

  ?!!And then, it hit him.

  He hadn't even asked for an introdu.

  Clearing his throat, Regal stood aended a hand. "Regal. Regal Seraphsail."

  She blinked, her stoic demeanor crag ever so slightly. "What?"

  Regal gave a genuine smile. "I would further like to discuss the tract details before we finalize anything."

  Her eyes widened, her posure faltering further. "I passed?"

  "You did, Miss…?"

  Straightening immediately, she regained her poise. "...Violet Grace. And I am gd to hear it."

  "But before we proceed..." Regal's words hung in the air, stretg just enough to keep her in suspense.

  Violet's lips twitched, a flicker of dry disappoi in her eyes.

  She already seemed to know what was ing, her expression faintly resigned as if brag for a predictable question.

  "That wasn't your best, was it?" Regal finally asked, watg her closely.

  Her rea was subtle but telling, a slight shift in her posture, a spark of surprise quickly repced with fidence. "It's true. I know I do a lot better."

  "Good." Regal said, his tone approving. "I io use your skills to their fullest potential."

  Violet returhe nod, her toeady. "...I am looking forward to it."

  Regal's expression eased, clearly satisfied. "I will tact you ohe auditions for the remaining cast are plete. Please leave your tact details with the assistant outside."

  "I will. Thank you." She replied, a faint smile, almost imperceptible, grag her lips.

  With that, she turned ahe room, her posed aura returning, leaving Regal satisfied for finally moving somewhere with the casting.

  ….

  .

  [To be tinued…]

  ★─────??★??─────★

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