Probing eyes

Hugo hesitated for a second, feeling unwilling to accept that he had tried his best but still couldn't make a breakthrough. But as he looked at Martin and Bo in front of him, he noticed that their serious expressions from when they had first entered the room had disappeared, replaced by joy evident in their eyes and on their lips. Hugo realized that at least his efforts had been effective.

Although he had not received a definite answer, Hugo knew that he still had hope and would have to wait until the end of the public interview today to find out the result. This was a positive signal. Even if he didn't get the role of Charlie, Hugo felt that it was still worth it because he had gained confidence from today's audition. He knew that by relying on his talent and hard work, he could create a bright future for himself. Even if he failed this time, he was willing to continue working hard. Moreover, he had not failed yet - the expressions on Martin and Bo's faces were proof!

Thinking of this, Hugo was relieved and a smile appeared on his face. Without any hesitation, he turned around and left the conference room. Seeing Ellen, who was standing at the door ready to notify the next interviewee, Hugo nodded slightly and confidently left with his head held high.

"Ellen, we've already made a decision, haven't we?" Martin looked at Hugo's departing figure and could clearly sense Hugo's emotional transition from disappointment to resilience. This positive and optimistic attitude of Hugo made Martin like him even more.

Ellen chuckled softly, "Martin, don't worry, we still have three hundred candidates on the waiting list who haven't been interviewed yet. There's no need to rush." Although she was also very satisfied with Hugo, the public interview today had just begun and there was no need to make a decision so hastily. This is Hollywood, a land that never lacks talent.

Martin naturally knew this, so he didn't say much and instead turned to his colleague Bo on his left, "Hugo seems to be a good seedling, although his acting skills are still not mature enough and there is still a lot of room for growth but his talent is indeed outstanding. What do you think the deal is with "Hudson Hawk"?"

To be precise, Martin was puzzled about Hugo's past three works. One after another, they failed miserably. Even if one were to become decadent, it shouldn't be at such a rapid pace. Especially after seeing Hugo's performance during the audition today, it was even more incomprehensible.

Bo shrugged his shoulders, "The script was a bad choice, as you know, anyone can make mistakes, especially since he is still young." A bad script could very likely ruin an actor. Often, it's not the actor's performance that's the problem, but rather the script and the director that lead to the entire production being a complete disaster. Even if the actor is outstanding, it's hard to turn things around.

Martin sighed, he hadn't seen "Desperate Hours" or "Hudson Hawk", so he didn't know how bad those two movies were. But what he could be sure of was that Hugo, who appeared in front of them today, was indeed exceptional.

In the middle of their conversation, the next interviewee had already come in. Ellen returned to his seat, and the expressions of Martin and Bo became serious again. After Ellen made a brief introduction, he said, "Okay, you have thirty seconds to show us what you have prepared."

Hugo left the conference room and walked with confident steps towards the crowd waiting in the studio. To his surprise, the usually bustling studio was eerily quiet, not because it was completely silent, but because everyone was speaking in hushed tones, even just communicating with their eyes, which created ambient noise akin to murmurs.

Hugo's first reaction was that some important figure had arrived at the scene, but after looking around, he found nothing. Not only that, he noticed that people's gazes seemed to be focusing on him, somewhat ambiguous yet intense.

Hugo was familiar with this kind of gaze. He had experienced it not long ago when he participated in the audition for "A River Runs Through It". However, at that time, most of the gazes were teasing and joking, while today's gaze was more exploratory and curious.

Hugo frowned slightly and looked down at himself. He was wearing a sky-blue shirt, black suit pants, and a navy blue uniform jacket, with nothing unusual, even his zipper was fine. So what did these gazes represent?

As he pondered, Hugo took another step forward. In the crowd, he immediately felt two jealous gazes that were so scorching that it was difficult for him to ignore them. He followed this feeling and looked to his right, quickly spotting the figures of George Wood and William Stone, and realizing that the gazes were coming from the two of them.

George held his chin up, squinting his eyes slightly, staring at Hugo with his almost burning eyes. This look was different from the previous provocation; it was more of jealousy, anger, and... unwillingness. George bit his lower lip hard, and his bloodless lips seemed to be able to break at any moment. His white teeth were tinged with a faint red color. You could clearly see the turmoil in his heart, not to mention the bulging veins on his neck and forehead that made people suspect that he could become a human bomb and explode on the spot at any time.

Hugo didn't understand George's emotions like this. If it was sarcasm or envy, it could be attributed to the aftermath of the Raspberry Award, but what about this unfounded anger and unwillingness?

William standing beside them clearly didn't look good either. The contradiction of disdain and unwillingness clashed in his pupils, and the feelings of unease and hesitation could be written on his face. But this obviously didn't help Hugo understand the situation. He still couldn't figure out what had happened.

However, it could be confirmed that George and William did not come forward to bother Hugo again. Although Hugo was not worried about their provocation at all, it was still unpleasant to be bothered like this repeatedly, like an annoying green fly that couldn't be swatted away. Hugo thought this situation was fine. Even if he had probably been thoroughly insulted in their eyes, he didn't care, so he didn't investigate further into their intentions. His gaze paused briefly on the two of them before shifting away, beginning to look for Joseph's location.

Clearly, Joseph had been paying attention to the situation in the conference room from the beginning, always watching the progress of the interviews. So when Hugo came out, Joseph immediately walked over to him with a smile on his face, attracting Hugo's attention.

"How was the audition process? Is everything still going smoothly?" Joseph asked eagerly, three steps away from Hugo, but before Hugo could answer, he looked around and continued, "Let's talk outside. There are too many people here."

Hugo followed Joseph's gaze and scanned the surroundings. Everyone looked away nervously and then pricked up their ears to listen to their conversation. This made Hugo smirk involuntarily. Presumably, everyone wanted to know the progress of his audition so that they could prepare themselves accordingly. Unfortunately, Joseph dashed their hopes directly, and Hugo could even see the disappointment on many faces.

The two of them left the studio and walked towards the parking lot. Before Joseph could say anything, Hugo asked, "Joseph, what happened earlier? Why did everyone remain silent and look at me curiously? Did something unexpected happen outside while I was auditioning?"

A small smile curved Joseph's lips and his eyes sparkled with mirth. Hugo noticed that Joseph seldom laughed, and even when he did, it was only a faint smile. It was apparent that he was not someone who expressed himself easily. However, at this moment, Joseph's eyes betrayed his excitement. "That's only natural," he said, and even had to take a deep breath to adjust his speaking rhythm. "Do you know? You stayed inside for a full fifteen minutes, and everyone outside waiting to audition was stunned. They were all guessing whether you had already secured the role of Charlie, and their auditions had ended before they even started."

"Fifteen minutes?" Hugo raised his eyebrows in surprise, "I really didn't realize it. I guess when you're nervous, you don't pay attention to the passage of time and space." Hugo thought he had only been inside for five minutes at most, which was one of the reasons why he regained his confidence. Now it seemed that the situation was much better than he had imagined. No wonder the faces of the wood and stone guys were so ugly, and they didn't come forward to challenge him again, which made Hugo smile.

"So, tell me, how was your audition? Did everything go smoothly? Did you get the part?" Joseph tried to remain calm, but the slightly rushed tone of his voice betrayed his anticipation.

Hugo shrugged, "I did my best. They asked me to wait for their decision." This immediately dampened Joseph's excitement, as it wasn't good news. But Hugo continued, "But I saw that the interviewers were still quite satisfied with me. They said my performance was excellent and we had some deep discussions. I think that should be a positive sign."

Joseph didn't speak, he slowed down his pace, lowered his head, and thought carefully before nodding. "Yes, this is a good start." Joseph had also figured it out by now. The public interview had just begun, and the production crew must have hoped to complete the interview before making a decision. Judging from the current situation, Hugo had not only stayed inside for fifteen minutes - longer than all the previous interviewees combined - but the interview process also went smoothly according to his account. Therefore, this was a positive signal.

"Phew, then what we need to do is go back and wait for the news." Joseph breathed a sigh of relief, but his tense voice could still be heard. Before the interview results were out, anything could happen, and the waiting process was precisely the most agonizing.