HALL OF NEW BEGINNINGS

"And…. cut!", a baldheaded man cloaked with a gray denim jacket and blue sporty pants, spoke out aloud into the loudhailer he held close to his mouth as soon as he was satisfied with looking at the performance of the performer on the high platform in front of him which apparently served as the theatre stage for those auditioning on his planned show while sitting down on one of the audience seats at the front row near the stage. He was sure that the auditioner had impressively thrilled him in a sort of way that actually fit his interest and felt assured that he had found just the right person for his show although he knew the identity of the auditionee greatly outmatched the other auditioners who performed prior to the time of the gorgeous lady fairly renowned for her fame, to perform for him.

An impressive smile of acceptance appeared on his lips as he got up from the seat to meet the lady who had entertained him for half an hour with her brilliant melodious voice while stringing her acoustic guitar to accompany every sound she produced with her clean vocals. Then he passed the loudspeaker to man who got up along with him.

"Take this." He said to the man who froze up instantly and forcefully pressed the megaphone against the chest of the man before walking into the beginning of the aisle which narrowly ended at the main exit of the building.

Two of his assistant collaborators of the deliberately planned show, followed behind him as he walked to climb up the stage from the left flank of the platform raised forty meters high above the seats meant for the audience. As expected by the two men climbing the stage behind him, he kept looking at his wristwatch wondering if he had more time to watch the next auditioner.

"Steve, I think it's time for us to call it a day."

He said as soon as he had ascended the platform while Steve and his colleague strolled behind him hoping to catch up with his long strides.

"But we barely even started an hour ago." Steve retorted in a bit of Suprise.

"Well, I don't care if it's just three performers have auditioned so far and the bottom line is..." He halted abruptly when he knew he was almost approaching the lady who came to auditioned for the show and faced his collaborators, "That she's the last we have auditioned for the day. We can make a restart tomorrow to completely wrap up this audition."

"I still feel we shouldn't end the audition just yet."

"It can't be helped. Believe it or not, I have somewhere I need to be right now and as director of this show, I don't want you guys auditioning any applicants without me." He said prodding the broad chests of his two collaborators. Steve's countenance dropped and became horridly pale with disappointment as soon as he heard the director state his audacious demands but he didn't utter any further word of complaint nor did he protested against the Director's arbitrary way of ordering them around.

"If that's what you want, we're okay with it but we really need you to turn up here tomorrow noon to supervise the audition."

"I'll make it here tomorrow, I promise."

"Sounds great."

Steve's teammate was the one who answered, and the three guys broke from their conversation to approach the auditionee, who was oblivious to their approach to meet her. She had quickly crouched down to returned her stringed musical instrument back in its case as soon as her auditioning session ended and was too engrossed in getting her elegant red guitar tucked inside the black guitar case which lay open on the stage beside her heels as well as the microphone stand, that she obliviously didn't realize the director and his three escorts were walking up to her on stage. She had thought the three spectators to her single performance audition was heading for backstage behind the huge curtain which separated the main stage from the obscured area, without informing her if her audition was successful or not, and had made the decision to pack up and depart the enormous theater where their team operators were taking care of the necessary tasks of setting up the show they want to stream live on television and to welcome visitors by weekend.

Her back was already facing the three men by the time they got to where she was, locking her elegant red guitar inside the guitar case. The director gave her a sharp tap on the shoulder to catch her attention as soon as he got to where she is, and she instantly turned to face the three men. She stared at the men for a short while, feeling compelled to talk to them first, but she didn't decide to say anything until she jolted out of her daze.

"Oh, I apologize for that." She said quickly and stood up.

"It's fine. You said your name was Gabriella, right?" the director suddenly questioned.

"Yes… that's right." She anxiously replied.

"Great, I want to have a word with you regarding your performance today if that's okay with you."

"I guess it's fine even though three makes a crowd." She said peering at the two other men who quickly understood what she meant. The air suddenly became tensed for Gabriella with the three men standing extremely close to her but she had dealt with such situations before and she knew how to make herself feel comfortable with the men who knew her identity which seemed awkward though she wasn't too sure if the man standing in between the two other nerdy looking guys knew everything there is to know about her.

"Oh, please, don't mind us." Steve replied unanimously and adjusted his glasses.

"Yes, please ignore them. They really won't bother you too much if you give me your attention because it's going to be between us." The director replied.

"Okay…. I'm listening." Gabriella said, preparing herself for the worst. It was her fifth audition ever since her contract with her previous main music producer expired four years ago and she was desperate to further her musical career outside her responsibilities at home which she was unwilling to let confine her to her ceremonial duties to her father and the city.

"It was an exclusively brilliant performance you did right in front of us unlike the two others before you came to wow us with your vocals." The director said, grinning broadly but she wasn't too amused by his enticing smiles.

"I appreciate the compliment, but I'm sure you don't want to discuss that with me,"

"You're right. That's not what I want to say." The director replied feeling nervous.

"Then cut to the chase." Gabriella said and folded her hands across her chest. She knew she was taking a bold risk getting the director to be straightforward with his intentions but she had met music producers with enticing smiles after an audition only to be disappointed by them in the end and she wasn't going to let him ride her down with a polite rejection.

"I, huh…", the director stuttered but he soon found confidence to continue speaking, "It's nothing personal but I wanted to know if you are married or not." He said dropping the bombshell which greatly surprised the two nerdy listeners behind him but Gabriella wasn't surprised at his demeanor since she had experienced a similar situation like this before and she had always told them the same response.

"Yes, I am married." She politely answered and showed him the fancy wedding ring she wore on the ring finger. Contrary to the director's reaction, the two other men seemed unfazed by her revelation as though they already knew she was already wedded to someone else of which they did saw in the papers and the television news three years ago.

"You are?" the director asked in a bit of shock and barely tried hiding his disappointment.

"That's the truth…. I thought everyone already knew about it." Gabriella replied in a bit of shock as well.

"Of course, we knew you were married, right Max?" Steve cut in, preventing the director from speaking in his own defense.

"Yep." Max retorted unwilling fix his gaze at Gabriella.

"I don't get it. If you knew, then why bother ask about it?" She asked and placed her hand akimbo. It became clear that she was a bit mad that they were questioning her personal life and she was sure the director had other intentions aside from the audition she just did a while ago.

"Don't take it the wrong way, but it's evident that we would like to learn more about the people we have selected to participate in the show this weekend and that includes their personal affairs."

The director explained and felt relieved that his logical explanation had diffused the unhealthy tension he felt a moment ago.

"Alright, I get your point but does that mean that—."

"That you have been selected to perform on the show and to sign a two-year contract with us." The director said, finding his composure to smile once again like he did before.

Gabriella felt ecstatic and grinned a little.

"I'm grateful for this opportunity and I'm sorry if I was a bit protective earlier."

 "There's no need to apologize. I clearly understand your disposition."

"I'd love to hear about the requirements for the show but I really have to leave now." Gabriella said, bending down to get her guitar case.

"We'll be in touch." The director said and Gabriella walked away taking her guitar case along with her. As she went down the stage before exiting from the theatre hall, she could overhear the director reprimanding Steve and Max for not telling him about her marital status but she was too engrossed in her own happiness of having received successful news about her audition that she could barely pay attention to the three men she left behind on the stage.