She asked the director for a sample script to be demonstrated by her available of actresses and actors so that she would be able to assess their strengths and weaknesses and assign them roles soon. There were currently six present in front of her and according to Sylvia's data collected, most of the ones here were new rising stars with the exception of two actors. One was a B-rated actor while the other one was supposed to be A-rated—
She noticed something was strange from the list. She counted the number of the artists under her again.
"One, two, three... seven..."
There were a total of seven actors and yet, there were only six present at the moment! She was infuriated that someone dared to skip work on the very first day the company opened. Such audacity!
Seeing their manager displaying a terrifying expression as she accidentally crushed the ceramic cup of coffee without realizing it, they all shivered in fright and took one step back.
"Mr. Alex is so scary..." One of the younger female artists whispered.
"If only he wasn't wearing such a scary look, I would willingly throw myself at him." The older one with a mature beauty but had a flirty nature chimed in.
Alisa stared at them curiously why they were suddenly scared of her until she looked down towards her bleeding hand that had been pierced by the shards of the cup. "Oops! I did it again unconsciously."
Unconsciously?
How strong was she to be able to crush a cup with just a grip of her slender and soft hands that didn't look like it had been through any hardships? But then, men were strong creatures to begin with. There were lots of them who could do the same as what Alex did.
That was where they were wrong, because Alex was not a man but a woman with a strong feminine aura that she could confidently sweep off any man's heart in an instant.
"Say, where is this other artist who had an A rating?" She asked with bulging veins on her forehead while wiping the blood on her hand and disinfecting it with alcohol. She still showed a cold smile that only worsened the artists' fears towards her.
"Do you mean... Gong Xuyun?" The B-rated actor nervously tried to confirm. Alisa remembered that his name was Theo Callahan.
"Yes. Where is he?"
The others looked away at the same time. Alisa frowned heavily at their silence. It seemed that someone was itching for a beating in order to be tamed.
"You. Take me to him." She pointed at the youngest actress and turned to leave. The latter nodded and took her to a rehearsal room that was entirely made for one person only. She was truly angered at the occurrence of such things in her own company. She then felt worried for Sylvia. The company was larger than a usual starting company and she already had a lot on her plate to deal with. She couldn't possibly have known things like this had already happened in Moontear Entertainment. This was an unwritten rule in the entertainment industry where the more fame an actor had, the more benefits he would receive from his agency.
Alisa was determined to abolish this abominable rule and ensure fairness among all her staffs. Therefore, she walked in large strides and kicked the door open. The two people inside were shocked. Gong Xuyun was simply staring at the newcomer.
"M-Mr. Alex, you can't just barge in like that..." Serena Egrett, the youngest actress who led her, tried to stop her but Alisa was uncaring. Instead, she walked inside and stood in front of the sitting actor who was staring at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Are you Gong Xuyun?" Alisa crossed her arms as she asked.
"So what if I am?"
"You've got the nerve to be saying that to me. Why didn't you show up on the audition room for evaluation? Do you really think you're so great just because you're an A-rate actor? Don't think I don't know what sort of method you used in order to become one." Her glare was so sharp that it was like a knife slowly skinning him off. He, a great young master from the Gong family, was being easily shaken by a random young man who barged into his own turf.
"Who do you think you are?! I'm his manager here so you have no right to interfere with what he is doing. Get out of here!" The other person spoke. Alisa eyed him from head to toe, scanning every inch of this rowdy person.
"Who are you?"
Alisa wasn't sure who the other person was. He didn't look like an actor at all so he was probably something like a personal assistant of Gong Xuyun. Surprisingly, he introduced himself proudly while looking down on her.
"You better show respect to the great Zane Herrod. I'm Gong Xuyun's manager and since Ms. Sylvia agreed to my conditions of bringing him here, no one can order the young master except me alone. Who are you to tell him to go to practice? I'll have you kicked out of this place easily if I want to."
She sneered inwardly at his outrageous claims.
Her getting chased away at her own company?
Ridiculous!
She would love to see how he was going to make it happen, but she had other things to do for now. In the mean time, she would let them do as they please for now. This man called Zane didn't seem to be an easier person to deal with too. While Alisa could easily squish him like a bug, she had to remind herself constantly that this wasn't a battlefield and she was dealing with normal people who had nothing to do with killing. As long as they didn't threaten her life, she would only resort to legal means to deal with them. For sure, the guy wasn't as clean as hell.
Therefore, she pretended to grit her teeth in anger to make them think she was a helpless talent manager. "You two are too much! Just be glad I won't have to deal with you for now. I'll have to report this to Ms. Sylvia later for acting against the rules of the company."
"Hah! Go ahead and tell her. Do you think a mere miss who had been casted away by the Jiangs could force us to adhere to your principles? Dream on!" He scoffed in disdain and even dared to spit on the ground in front of Alisa.
A vein bulged on her forehead as she was slowly getting pissed off, but she tried to hold her anger as much as she could or she would really beat this guy to a pulp sooner or later. She turned towards the door and left, while the scared young actress followed her.
Alisa went back huffing in the studio and irritatingly sat on the chair with a little force, causing a loud boom to echo on the entire studio room and scaring both the artists and the crew. Their new talent manager had a terrible temper. But of course, half of it was just merely an act. Even if Alisa was annoyed by how disrespectful Zane was, she wouldn't let him get to her that easily.
"Now, let's start the demonstration. You first, Serena!"
"R-right!" Serena frighteningly answered and moved to the center. The director signaled for her to start but she was too affected by the earlier scene, causing her performance to drop significantly.
Luna felt a headache incoming at how easily she was distracted. It seemed that she had to take drastic measures to reform these lousy actors. She didn't criticize the already crestfallen Serena who disappointingly moved back to the side while another one was to demonstrate next.
The evaluation proceeded for hours before they were finished. A total of three attempts were performed in order to gauge their capabilities accurately. Among the six present artists, Serena performed the worst due to her meek nature. Alisa had sensed that she could do better since her build was actually well maintained and she also saw a faint sense of potential in her. She just had to get out of her shell.
The one who had the most potential was the newcomer named Yang Chen, who could act well, while the rest were just average, including the B-rated actor. However, there was also something strange in his movements. It was like he was... restricted and stiff. He was also avoiding her gaze every time their eyes met.
Alisa took one last look at his document and found out that he was also under that fatass Zane before they had transferred to Moontear Entertainment.
'How amusing!' Luna thought with a cold smile. She didn't have a proof yet, but that plump man with a cunning and arrogant personality definitely had something to do with it. Looks like Sylvia was right in her decision to build an information-gathering network company. She could also use it to her own advantages against shady people that threatened to undermine her company.