"You totally aced it!" Camilla squealed, flinging herself onto Emmaline's couch.
The two of them had practically collapsed on the floor of Emmaline's house once they made it through the door.
Emmaline dragged herself up into a seated position, leaning against the couch because she was too tired to pull herself up there.
"I feel like I nailed it," Emmaline said cautiously, afraid to jinx it by speaking too soon.
But she had felt good in the audition and based on the panel's reaction, it hadn't gone too badly either.
It was just that after being sabotaged so many times, she was afraid to hope.
"I know my daughter definitely nailed it," A musical voice came from the doorway of one of the rooms.
"Mom!" Emmaline sprang up to hug a stunning older woman.
Side by side, they looked like sisters with the same long, silky black hair and the creamy skin with siren-like features.
The only difference was that Emmaline had grey eyes while her mother, Seraphina Spelt, had deep blue eyes.
Her looks had once captivated entire nations until she had left the industry.
"How are you feeling?" Emmaline glanced over her mother and noted that she was both strong enough to move around on her own today, and feeling good enough that she had some colour in her cheeks.
"I feel wonderful, darling," Sera smiled at Emmaline, "And I'll feel even better knowing you're out there chasing your dreams."
"My biggest dream is for you to get better," Emmaline tugged on Sera's hair cheekily and her mother laughed.
"Don't worry about me," Sera held Emmaline's face carefully in both hands and looked her in the eye, "Don't ever let anyone stop you from doing what you love, you hear me?"
Old anger at her father welled up in Emmaline, knowing that her mother just wanted to make sure she never followed in her footsteps.
"I'll never stop, mom," She leaned into her mother's touch, memorizing her mother's smile and the sparkle in her eyes.
On bad days, her mother was pale and almost lifeless.
She wanted to save up all the good days and keep them with her forever.
Her mother only kissed her on the forehead and retired to her room.
"I can't believe Ashton Wright sent you to the audition," Camilla murmured later on, when they were in Emmaline's room.
"Me neither," Emmaline stared at the ceiling, remembering the look in Ashton's eyes as he told her he would get her to the audition.
"Maybe he's not as bad as we thought," Camilla flopped onto her stomach and smiled cheerily.
Emmaline mirrored her best friend's smile but shook her head, "I wouldn't hold out too much hope given my experience with these rich kid types. They're only nice to you when you're useful or interesting to them."
"Oh, Em," Camilla's wide hazel eyes were full of sympathy and fondness, "They can't all be bad. I know why you want to be careful but you can't be so skeptical of everyone!"
"I'll believe it when I see it," Emmaline rebutted stubbornly, "Anyway, you won't believe the size of his house…"
When Camilla had fallen asleep, Emmaline fiddled with her phone and biting her lip, decided to send the text to Ashton.
Em: 'Thank you again. For today, I mean! I wouldn't have made it to the audition if it weren't for you.'
She stared at the screen but the message only indicated that it had been received, not read.
The next morning found all three ladies huddled in front of the computer.
Producer Penhas was known for his quick decision making and sometimes the results for the casting were out as fast as the same day.
Since the auditions had been so late the night before, the results were only going to be out at eight the next morning.
At seven fifty nine, Emmaline hit the refresh button so many times that it was a miracle the laptop didn't crash.
As the page loaded, Emmaline glanced at her phone. The message to Ashton still showed that it was received but unread.
It didn't matter, especially not when the page finally loaded and she read the results.
In unison, all three women screamed.
Emmaline was engulfed in a hug by her mother and Camilla, the three of them yelling and bouncing up and down.
"YOU MADE IT!" Camilla had the widest grin on her face, "I knew you would. I knew you'd smash it."
Sera had tears in her eyes, "My baby, all grown up and ready to take over showbiz."
"I couldn't have done it without you both," Emmaline wanted to say that she wasn't choked up at all, but this was the first audition in a long while that hadn't been sabotaged.
It felt like rain hitting the earth after a drought.
It felt like things were finally starting to go right.
"You mean, you couldn't have done it without a certain Mr Wright," Camilla had a cheeky look on her face as she whispered in Emmaline's ear.
Camilla was saved from getting smacked when Emmaline's phone began buzzing.
"Speak of the devil," Camilla and Emmaline both stared at the caller display.
Ashton Wright was calling at eight in the morning.
Rushing into her room with her phone, Emmaline took a deep breath and sank into character.
I am Emmett Spelt, I am a dude, she told herself.
"Hey, what's up?" She picked up the call, lowering her voice as much as she could.
"Em, it was no problem at all," Ashton's voice was husky this early in the morning and Emmaline tried very hard not to notice this fact, "How did it go? Did you get it?"
Emmaline's brain stalled.
How did Ashton know that she had gotten the results already?
The bigger problem was, she couldn't tell him she had gotten the role.
Not when he would be expecting her to be a man auditioning for a male role rather than a woman getting a female role!
"Uh," Cold panic sliced through her joy as she sought for a way to best answer, "They didn't offer me a role."
There was a pause that was so pregnant that Emmaline nearly let the phone slip through her sweaty hands.
She was an actor, she lied as a profession! Why did this make her so anxious?
"I'm so sorry, Em," Ashton's sincere tone made Emmaline feel even guiltier, "It's their loss."
"There will be other chances," Emmaline assured him.
On the line, Ashton made a disgruntled sound, "It doesn't make sense, how can they see you act and not want to cast you?"
Somehow, Ashton's belief in her felt almost as good as getting the role.
It filled her with a warm glow and a small smile crossed her lips.
Until Ashton declared, "I'm going to give someone there a call and ask if there was a mistake."
Emmaline's blood froze in her veins.
"Wait, ther-" But he had already hung up on her.
Oh my god. He's going to find out the truth about everything when he calls, Emmaline thought with horror.
When she tried calling Ashton again, the line was busy.