Planning for Special Training Courses

Once the artists were dismissed from the studio, the movie director approached Alisa to have a slight discussion. Felix Turner, a famous script writer and movie director who had been working in the entertainment industry for more than ten years already and won numerous awards in the hall of fame of Astralis, was poached by Sylvia from the Stardust Entertainment. God knows what kind of methods Sylvia used to lure him into joining their newly formed company. If she was Felix, there was no way she would risk her career to go to a company that had no guarantee that it would rise up to compete along with the bigger companies out there. She just couldn't understand what went into his head that made him transfer here. Still, it didn't matter anymore since he was already here.

"Ms. Hayworth— ahem! I mean, Mr. Heindler, I wanna discuss something with you regarding the artists we have in our company." 

He almost blew her cover by calling her real name, but changed immediately after being given a vicious glare. His spine tingled in fear upon seeing those fearsome eyes that almost gave him a heart attack. Alisa, on the other hand, was surprised that he knew who she was. Sylvia probably gave the staffs with higher position some information about who so they wouldn't make things difficult for her. 

"You also realized how bad their performance is, right?" 

"Yes... At this rate, even if I make a blockbuster-level script that would shake the entire entertainment industry, with those lousy acting skills and poor foundation, it would be hard to win a spot in the awarding this year." 

"Don't worry. I have found a suitable daily routine for them to do in order to strengthen their foundation. Who do you think has the most potential among them?" 

"Err..." He paused for a moment, a little hesitant to voice out his thoughts. Alisa gave him the nod and urged him to continue so he did as he was told." Although everyone acted so terribly, I guess Yang Chen had some potential for a second there. In fact, he's also suitable for the main role in the new action movie I was planning to make. As for the female role, Serena's personality would fit for the female lead, but she's just so clumsy and shy that she kept on ruining her lines earlier." 

"I see that you have also seen the same thing I have observed. You have great eyes, Felix." 

He didn't know whether he should laugh or cry after being complimented by his new boss for being a good observant. Between the two of them, he should have more experience in observing people in the entertainment industry while she was still a newcomer as what have Sylvia said. But if Sylvia Jiang trusted her so much that she was willing to run a company with this young woman and even gave her the position of the chairman instead of Sylvia taking that position for herself, then she was definitely good enough. 

"Thank you for the compliment, chairman." 

"You shouldn't call me that while I'm wearing this disguise. I'm currently Alex right now." She reminded him sternly.

"O-okay, Mr. Alex. So, what should we do for now?"

"Just continue on writing your script. I'll handle the artists on my own." 

After their talk, Felix respectfully bid goodbye and left to continue working on his movie script. Alisa called for the seven artists of the company to come inside her office that was intended for persona, 'Alex Heindler', one by one. There was not much to improve on the other four artists as they were simply lacking in talent. Still, she had to give them proper training regimen in order to improve their skills a little bit. Once it was Serena's turn to be called, she nervously entered Alisa's office with her hands fidgeting. 

"Come take a seat. Are you really that scared of me?"

"I'm sorry! I did terribly during the last demonstration. Please don't remove me from the industry..." She kneeled in front of her and cried loudly.

Alisa was taken aback and hurriedly helped her out. "What are you doing?! Stand up. I didn't say I'm going to fire you." 

"Th-thank you, sir." Her sobs had turned into sniffs and she was a lot calmer now.

"Alright then. Now that you've calmed down, I called you here to give you a special training course. Whether you improve or not depends on your determination. Are you up for the task?" 

"I can handle it!"

"Are you sure? This is definitely no easy task and I can't guarantee you'd like it either." She stared at her seriously, giving her a slight fright.

Serena hesitated and looked concerned, but upon remembering what she had to do and why she agreed to be poached into this new company, she steeled her resolve and answered Alisa. while bowing her head. "I'll definitely do my best. Please give me another chance to prove myself."

"Alright. First things first, strip." 

"Eh?!" Her surprised face froze all of a sudden and she slowly took a step back while covering her chest.

Alisa realized that she misunderstood her and she also had spoken hastily. She forgot that she was disguising herself as a man. Who in the world would want to strip in front of a handsome man after being told to? Serena wasn't the type of promiscuous woman who would throw herself directly towards men. Now that she had said it, Serena would definitely think the special training she had prepared for him was something so vulgar and disgusting. She felt an incoming headache and rubbed her temples in frustration. She had no choice but to reveal herself.

"Wait! You misunderstood me. I'm just going to take a look at your build and take your measurements so I could readjust your daily meals and training routines. Look, I am a woman myself!" 

She removed the wig and let her long, wavy hair fall down freely down her waist. Serena looked quite shock to learn that their talent manager wasn't a man... but a woman! Or was she really a woman? She wasn't so sure and instead got another weird assumption. 

"Mr. Alex, y-you are a crossdressing man? Are you gay?!" 

"How did you even reach that conclusion?! I'm a geniune woman, okay!" She retorted violently with her usual high-pitch voice, completely dismissing her disguise. 

"Oh... Thank goodness. I thought you're going to force me to sleep with you." She felt relieved. She was already close to tears earlier due to Alisa's shocking order. Now, she felt like she was a fool and laughed lightly.

"Nice to meet you, Serena. I'm Alisa Hayworth, your talent manager, as well as the owner of Moontear Entertainment." Alisa smiled at her gently and stretched out her hand for a handshake. 

"Nice to meet you too, boss! I can't believe that the chairman herself is personally coming down to train me." She said with enthusiasm as she shook her hand happily. 

"However, please don't tell the others that I'm disguising myself. I'm doing undercover work here and you're going to be held responsible if it is leaked out, okay?" 

"Yes, ma'am! I mean, sir! I will keep your secret to my grave." 

It was funny that she even dared to state that she would carry the secret to her grave. If only she knew Alisa wasn't a simple and ordinary woman, but a cold-blooded killer, she would probably carry that secret to her grave after dying from shock. 

She tied up her hair again into a bun and hid it in the wig while her voice was back to a masculine tone.

"Well, then. Go and strip now since I'll be taking your measurements. After that, you're going to proceed with my special training course without skipping anything. Do you understand?" 

"Yes, Mr. Alex!" 

This time, she was more willing to comply after knowing that Alisa was a woman. The process was smooth and they finished faster than expected. Alisa could take her measurements with just one look. Although she had a fine and well-tampered body and it had no problems for now since the female lead wouldn't be needing some hard stunts in the film, her personality was a big problem that could destroy all her hard work. She was going to put her into special acting lessons that would involve the interaction with the opposite sex and crowds to remove her shyness and timid nature. Once it was achieved, she was sure that the girl would be reborn like a phoenix. 

Soon, it was Yang Chen's turn and he was the last one to be examined. As usual, the problematic Gong Xuyun didn't bother to show his face in front of her. Alisa would deal with him personally later on. 

"Come in." She called towards the door.

Yang Chen opened the door and entered. Without wasting time, he commanded her. "Strip."

He froze on the spot. It was like he had heard the most horrifying thing in the world. His expression turned cold instantly and he glared at Alisa fiercely while gritting his teeth and clenching his fists hard. Alisa raised an eyebrow in return. Looks like she was right. There was something off with Yang Chen and it definitely had to do with men. That scumbag Zane probably tried to coerce him into doing something immoral. Alisa was able to dig information about him in just a matter of minutes. The guy was a beast and was quite famous in the industry for taking fancy of young male newcomers in the industry like Yang Chen. He couldn't touch his most treasured possession, Gong Xuyun, due to his status as a rich young master, so he targeted ones with lesser background like Yang Chen. Alisa was infuriated upon learning it. It looked like the poor guy had taken a worse hit. 

"I think you're seeing the wrong things here. I'm not gay and I definitely don't love men. I just wanted to examine your body condition as well as your measurements to find out if you're suited for the upcoming role or not." She scolded him before he could say something.

Yang Chen's expression softened. He thought another beast like Zane had appeared to coerce him into sleeping together. Still, he was reluctant to take off his clothes. Before he did, he wanted to speak to Alisa, but nothing came out from his mouth.

"What is it? Speak. I don't have time all day." 

"Mr. Alex, may I request something before I do it?" 

"What is it?" She stared at him with curiosity.

"I need assurance because I really need money as soon as possible to treat my sick mother. I want the main role so bad and earn money so I could pay the hospital bills. Zane Herrod had been suppressing me for too long and I haven't received much projects in the previous company I was in. I'll do everything you ask me to as long as I can pay my mother's bills." 

"In other words, you want advanced payment?"

"Please!" He lowered his head into a bow as he continued begging for her assistance. 

"Alright. I can arrange that for you. But whether you're suitable for the main role in the movie we're going to produce would depend on your determination. Are you up to the task no matter how hard it is?"

"Yes. I'll endure every hardship as long as it's not indecent!" 

"Good. You better remember your words." Alisa smiled. Looks like she found promising talents to groom. She was so happy and excited deep inside for being able to do things like a normal person. She was looking forward for more things like this in the future and she'll slowly build her own career in the limelight.