Aria
"You haven't been waiting too long, have you?" I tried to steal a glance at Caleb, who was driving the car beside me.
"If you think an hour isn't long, then it isn't." Caleb glanced at me briefly, his voice sounding annoyed.
"I tried to be as quick as possible." I just smiled slightly. "Where are we going today? You haven't told me yet," I continued, asking about their destination for the day.
Instead of answering my question, Caleb stretched his arm toward the back seat to grab a file, then threw it at me.
I stared at the file in confusion, but decided to open it.
"Today there's a casting call for a small role in a play. I thought you could use some help with the audition," Caleb explained when I opened the file.
"Oh my god? I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how to get back. And you gave it to me! Thank you." My eyes lit up when I saw that the file contained an audition script.
I immediately turned to Caleb and, without thinking twice, I grabbed his hand, which was resting on his thigh.
Caleb's body tensed when I grabbed his hand, but I didn't think too much about it because I was too happy. All I did was hold his hand and look at him with sparkling eyes.
"Erm..." Caleb glanced at me, then looked at my hand on his thigh.
I tilted my head in confusion, but followed his gaze and found that my hand was holding his. "Ah!" I quickly pulled my hand away and smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry, I was too excited." Still smiling broadly, I rubbed the back of my neck gently. "But how did you get this?" I said, holding up the file.
Caleb cleared his throat softly, then shrugged indifferently. "It wasn't difficult for me to get it. I happen to know the director," Caleb replied, glancing at me briefly.
I realized that he was now holding the steering wheel with both hands.
"I figured as much. For a young master of the Reed family, it wouldn't be difficult to get it," I replied, nodding my head in agreement. "Of course, I won't waste your help," I continued, still in a cheerful mood.
Even though I had already gotten the script from the audition, I still needed to study it. Caleb's help would be useless if I couldn't perform well.
I was so absorbed in the script that I didn't realize we had already arrived at the audition venue. Caleb had to shake my shoulder to wake me up.
"Why?" I tilted my head toward Caleb, looking at him questioningly.
"We're here."
Either I misheard him or I was still dazed, but for some reason, Caleb's voice sounded much softer to my ears at that moment.
"Ah, I see." I blinked a few times, then hurriedly tidied myself up before finally getting out of the car.
I entered the building of one of the largest broadcasting companies in the city, The CWN Buildings.
"Go to the 3rd floor and give this to the audition staff there. I have to go take care of something," Caleb said, handing me a piece of paper.
"Okay. See you later!" I waved at him, then walked away to go up to the 3rd floor.
The elevator I took was very crowded, almost full. Today's audition attracted a lot of attention, which made me nervous.
"Did you know? I heard that a famous former actress will also be auditioning today."
"I heard that too! Today's audition will be very tough."
"Tsk! There's a reason she quit. I'm sure she's not that great."
Two things surprised me. One, the fact that I was going to audition had spread widely, and two, I heard familiar voices among the gossipers.
"Rhea? No way, how could she be here?" I muttered softly, still not believing that Rhea would come to this audition.
Considering that Rhea was one of the rising actresses, it was impossible that she would be willing to audition for a supporting role in a drama like this.
Before I had a chance to see the gossipers, the elevator door dinged and opened. Fortunately, it was the third floor, so I got off.
At first, I was confused about where to go, but fortunately, the audition venue was quite large and there was a standee indicating that it was an audition for the drama.
As Caleb had said earlier, I approached one of the staff members outside the audition venue. I handed the paper Caleb had given me to the staff member.
"Hello, I'm here for the audition." I greeted the staff member with a friendly smile.
At first, the staff member was confused when I greeted him while handing him a piece of paper. But after reading the paper, he immediately understood and smiled at me.
"I'll call you when it's your turn," replied the staff member kindly, and gave me an ID badge.
I accepted the ID badge and hung it around my neck. As I turned around and was about to sit down on the waiting chair provided there, I accidentally made eye contact with Rhea. It turned out that the voice I heard in the elevator was indeed Rhea's.
"Aria? Why are you here?" Rhea looked unhappy when she saw me, but she still kept her voice friendly.
"I didn't expect to see you here, Rhea. Of course, I'm here to audition just like you," I replied with a friendly smile on my red lips.
"What?" Rhea looked disbelieving, her face even seemed to be mocking me. "A woman like you? Wanting to audition for a famous drama? Come on, Aria, please know your place," Rhea continued with a soft chuckle.
Rhea's other friends agreed with her, even looking me up and down with condescending glances.
I was very used to receiving such condescending glances. But what hurt me was the fact that Rhea treated me like this, even though I had always considered her my best friend.
I knew that she was cheating on me with Arden behind my back, but she had always been nice to me. I didn't expect her to change like this after I left Arden.
"We'll see. Don't blame me if I'm the one who gets chosen instead of you." I just shrugged indifferently and was about to sit down.
However, Rhea didn't seem to accept my words and quickly got up from her seat and approached me.
Rhea pushed me against the wall behind me, making me groan softly. I realized that Rhea was approaching me with a sharp gaze.
"A new kid like you better know your place, Aria. Criticizing a senior like me won't end well for a newcomer like you," she hissed unhappily.
Although surprised, I just smiled brightly in response to her aggressive behavior. I brought my face closer to hers and whispered softly right next to her ear.
"I know you're cheating with Arden behind my back. What do you think the media will do if they find out about this?" I tilted my head slightly to glance at Rhea's face, seeing her expression begin to pale after hearing my words.
"Aria! You damn bitch!" Rhea angrily raised her hand and swung it quickly towards my face.
Because I was so close to Rhea, I didn't have time to dodge. I could only close my eyes and resign myself to the slap.
However, a long time passed, and I didn't feel any pain. When I opened my eyes, Caleb was standing there, holding Rhea's hand that was about to slap me.