Making the second male lead fall in love with me, the villainess

Emily was the 7th person in line for the audition. She waited patiently until it was her turn. When she was called to enter, she saw that there was a man sitting in front of the piano, while Edward, Charlton and 2 other men were sitting behind a table, acting as the panel.

" I thought that the name was familiar earlier, but now I see that it's you Emily! It's been a while. How have you been?" Edward greeted. 

"Good morning, Mr. Easton. Yes, it has been. I'm doing fine. It's nice to have the opportunity to audition here now. I hope you would treat my performance kindly." She replied.

"Of course. Please, go ahead." Edward said.

Charlton gave her a nod in acknowledgement.

For Charlton, he would prefer not to work with Emily as he knew Serena would not like it. However, that was not only for him to decide. He's working for Columbia's and he also knew that Emily's family, although from the nobility, was not that well-off. Thus, she might be needing this opportunity for herself. So, as long as she has the vocal talent, then he would treat her fairly.

Harry's song was for a man to sing, so the song Emily was auditioning for was the duet composed by Roger. 

The pianist, Jerome smiled at Emily as he asked her to take a sit by the piano's side. Then, he guided her with what they will be doing.

"Miss, I will try to teach you the first song first, it's a duet, so please see if you can follow." Jerome explained as he pointed at the sheet music. "I will sing the boy part, and you the girl part."

Emily nodded her head, "Okay."

Jerome started playing the piano then he began singing, "You are sunlight, and I moon, joined by the gods of fortune, midnight and high noon, Sharing the sky, we have been blessed you and I…"

After singing that part Jerome stopped, and said, "Alright? Shall you try?"

"Alright."

Then, Jerome played again, this time Emily sang the same lines he did. There were parts where she made a mistake, and Jerome guided her through it.

The panel were listening intently. And they all knew deep inside already that Emily's voice was perfect. It sounded so angelic.

After her audition, the panel clapped their hands. 

"Emily, that was beautiful. Anyway, later by noon, after everyone's done with the audition, the results would be posted just outside the door of this room. So I suggest that in the meantime, you should wait with the others, so there would be no need to come back and check again." Edward instructed.

Emily smiled and nodded her head, "Thank you."

--

"I think Emily's voice is perfect for the song. I'm already certain that it's her." Roger stated.

"I must agree, but there are still others who came for this audition, so we should listen to them too. Aside from that we still need to get the male singer for the song, both for you and Harry." Edward replied.

Roger gave a side glance at Charlton, hoping that he would sing the male counterpart. Charlton pretended not to notice the look he's giving him.

Anyway, the audition continued, and after the rest of the people who came were done, the panel discussed their final choice for about 20 minutes. The easiest was the girl part as it has already been won by Emily. Meanwhile, the other 2 men you got the parts were, for Harry's song, Dan Quinn, while the one for the duet was won by Claude Michel. Edward wrote the names on a sheet of paper to post it outside. 

--

When Emily went outside, although she's confident, she still felt nervous. She was not the only one auditioning, but based on the reaction of the panel earlier, perhaps she got the part?

Anyway, she waited patiently while the others tried to speak with her.

After an hour and a half, she saw Edward, Charlton, and the others walk out of the room. They smiled at everyone.

"Thank you for coming all the way here to audition. Although not everyone got a part today, you are all welcome to audition again when a new song needing a vocalist is produced. The people who won a part shall come back here tomorrow to sign the contract and start rehearsing for their respective song. Again, thank you and I hope that you all will have a pleasant day ahead." Edward said, then he turned on his back to post the result.

Before anyone can take a peek, he said, "We shall be going ahead." Then he together with the 4 turned to leave.

When the four were gone, everyone started to look at the paper nervously. Before Emily could see her name, the girl who has been friendly with her earlier squealed in glee.

"Emily! You got the part. Although I also came here to audition, I'm very happy for you! Congratulations! You deserve it!" a girl said, she thought that Emily was such a nice and sweet girl so it's alright if she lost to her.

Emily smiled, although she was confident, she still felt good that she won the part fair and square. It was an achievement she could be proud of. 

--

One by one the people started leaving. However, Emily wanted to talk to Charlton. She wanted to ask for a favor regarding her own song.

Missing lunch, she still waited until Charlton finally went down the stairs and out of the building. He was heading to his carriage when Emily stopped him.

"Charlton." She called.

Charlton recognized Emily's voice. Thus, he stopped and turned to face her. "Yes, Miss Emily? Congratulations for winning the part by the way."

"Oh, thank you. I didn't expect that I will."

Charlton nodded, "You did deserve it I should say. Anyway, is there anything you need?"

"Oh yes. I was wondering if you could help me with this song I'm working on. I know you're great with this."

Charlton shook his head, "I would like to, but right now my schedule is quite full."

"Not now, I mean perchance after the song recording! You still do owe me a favor, correct?" she said trying to show a smile.

Charlton knew that he still owes her, but he still needs to get Serena's permission. He has no plans of getting misunderstood by her again. The recording was fine for it's part of his job, but helping her for a song is a personal favor. "We'll see." He replied.

Emily tried not to show her disappointment. Was he backing out of the favor he owes her? "Come on, surely you will have time later. Unless, someone will not like it?" she hinted. 

Charlton worried that she will know that he's still seeing Serena excused, "It's not that. But I have many appointments to keep plus I will be returning to Suffox by August so I'm not sure about my schedule."

"Oh…" Emily said in disappointment. Anyway, since she haven't had lunch, her body was feeling a bit weak, so she staggered.

Charlton on instinct helped steady her. "Please be careful." He said. 

"Thank you. Anyway, I understand. But maybe during the school year? Perhaps you won't be busy by then."

Charlton sighed, she's too persistent. In the end he could only nod his head. He did owe her a favor. He wanted to hit his head with his stupidity for promising her something just for being late once. He could only hope that Serena won't blame him.

Emily's smile widened, then she embraced him. "Thank you! Thank you!" she said. Then she went her way to leave.

--

TBC