Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
Amy widened her eyes “Who are you?”
“The housekeeper of course.” She replied “How do you expect the house to be in such order everyday? Surely, you don’t think Mr. Cheung does his own cleaning?”
“You’re right. I almost forgot we were talking about the superstar.:” she let out a small yawn “What time is it?”
“9am, he told me specifically to wake you up at this time so you would have time to freshen up. Here is a suit he had the store deliver early this morning for you to wear, knowing that you would not be wearing the same outfit.” She handed the dark blue skirt suit to Amy.
She smiled at the thoughtfulness of her boss “Thank you.”
Amy was about to close the door but the housekeeper spoke up “Oh, I almost forgot. He advised me to give you this.” She pulled out a little pink envelope from her pocket and gave it to Amy before leaving.
She noticed it was a letter. She wondered why he couldn’t tell the housekeeper what other instructions he might have. Amy ripped it open and read it:
‘Good Morning Sleeping Beauty,
I hope you won’t be upset to know that I left earlier than you. I figured you might need your rest to be able to deal with today. I have a little surprise for you waiting at the studio. Remember, whatever you do, don’t mess this up! ha ha, I’m just teasing. I’m sure you’ll do a wonderful job, as always. Thank you so much for helping me, I know you will be fair with your choices. One last piece of advice, go with your gut, sometimes your eyes will play tricks on you. Well, I’ll see you later, sweetie.
Love – Your gorgeous boss,
Philip’
Amy couldn’t help but smile at the supportive letter. She wondered what his surprise was, but whatever it was she hoped that it would help her go through the day with enough sanity. She quickly changed and freshened up in the built in bathroom of the room he put her in. He had the driver take her to the studio in the black Lincoln Towncar. She never felt so glamorous. She smiled at the thought of being that special person in his life to be treated like a princess. But the sweet day dreams soon passed when they pulled up at the station. There were at least 100 girls there surrounding the place.
“Miss Chan, do you want me to escort you inside?” the driver asked as he pulled up as far as the guards will let him.
Amy wasn’t sure what to do “Umm…I guess…” she was reluctant with her answer.
The driver jumped out and opened the door for her, suddenly all eyes turned to the important lady in the wealthy car. Amy looked up with a scared expression but she had to hide it with authority because the girls would easily walk all over her if they knew she was more frightened than a kitten next to a dog. The driver walked her over to the guards where they blocked the entrance so the girls couldn’t get in. “Miss Chan, when do you want to start letting them in?” the head guard asked.
She looked around for Johnny but he wasn’t there yet. She cursed under her breath for not remembering to ask him to come early. “I guess, we’ll start now. Do we have the tags ready?” the guard nodded as he pointed to a box lined up with numbers. She turned to the crowd and clapped her hands loudly to get their attention “Please quiet down!” she waited a few seconds for the girls to calm down before continuing “Everyone will get a number so I don’t want to see anyone push anyone else. If you do, I will have one of these nice security guards escort you out. Now, let’s see how well you take orders. Get in a straight line please.” She remembered to be firm yet courteous. Amy smiled when the girls began lining up in an orderly fashion.
“Looks like you got it under control.” she heard Johnny’s voice. Relief was written all over her face “Don’t get so happy yet. I still have to get the karaoke machine ready. Philip told me early this morning so I have to go pick it up now. Can you handle this on your own?”
Amy frowned as she pulled him away from the crowd “Are you crazy? You’re going to leave me alone with over hundreds of anxious girls who want the same job. Who knows, maybe they’ll kill each other….”
Johnny laughed “Don’t over exaggerate. You’re picking that up from Philip aren’t you?” he accused with a finger pointing to her. “I’ll be back in an hour or so. Just lead them into Studio 10A and do the first test.”
She took a deep breath “Okay…I can do this. Be back soon, please!!!” she said desperately holding onto his arm.
“Ow, ow..ow…stop it! You’re hurting me!!” he exclaimed when the blood to his arm stopped flowing. “I think I have to go to the doctor now. Maybe I’ll be back a little later.”
“You!!” Amy stepped towards him with her knuckles pointing to him threateningly “Hurry back!” he rushed away with a skip in his steps. She turned back to the crowd and knew it was now or never. “Okay, when I pass out a number, give this gentleman your name and he will write it on the tag, then follow that nice looking man over there” she pointed to another guard in green “where he will take you to Studio 10A. Please don’t wander around because you will get kicked out.” She wasn’t sure if the girls were listening to her but she began passing out the tags. Within 30 minutes 145 have been passed out.
Amy paused to glance down the line and it seemed almost endless with the girls lining up around the block. She sighed ‘Its going to be a loooong day.’ She thought to herself. Soon she passed on her job to another guard who happily took over for her. She rushed into Studio 10A and found that there were not enough chairs despite the giant room. The place was so big that she could hear echoes bouncing off the walls from the back of the room. “We’re out of seats, Miss Chan.” One of the volunteer help explained.
She began to rub her forehead, a clear sign of stress for Amy. “Need some help?”
Amy spun around and a sudden smile was brought to her face “Liz!! I’m so glad to see you!!” she hugged the air out of her friend.
Liz choked out in a croaky voice “I see that…can’t….breath…” she patted Amy on the back and she finally let go.
“We’re out of chairs!!” she exclaimed “What are we going to do? There’s not enough chairs…I can’t expect them to sit on the floors…there are at least 200 girls coming in right now as we speak…I-”
Liz covered her mouth, stopping her from going on “Calm down. We can borrow chairs from the studio next door. Just kept the bulls in order and I’ll get the guards to help me.” She patted her on the shoulder “Breath…”
Amy nodded gratefully “Thanks, Liz.”
“Don’t thank me, thank Philip. He asked me to come when we were dancing last night.” She smiled and walked away getting the chairs that they needed.
Amy smiled “So she’s the gift.” She nodded at the clever thought Philip had.
Soon the room was in complete order, there were exactly 325 girls that showed up. It was a big amount for a room that could fit 500 people. In the front was a large table where Johnny, Amy and Liz were seated. The three would be the main judges for the first two rounds. “Is everyone in?” Liz asked when the doors were closed for privacy.
“Yeah, who’s making the announcement?” Amy asked looking at Johnny.
He laughed “You don’t expect me to do it? I don’t work for Philip, this is all voluntary work. I only pity him, not you.”
“You big stinker!” she proclaimed but proceeded with the announcement. “Hello everyone!” she began but not everyone heard her due to the large room and her soft voice.
Johnny looked around and handed her the microphone “This might help.” He whispered and took his seat behind the table.
She smiled at him thankfully “Hello everyone!” her voice boomed loudly “Welcome to this special audition for Philip Cheung. My name is Amy Chan, I am his personal assistant and behind me are two very important people. This is Johnny, the music producer responsible for Philip’s new album. Go ahead, Johnny stand up and give a bow.” She smiled teasingly putting him on the spot. He didn’t expect the announcement because his face was burning read as he reluctantly got up and waved at the applaud given to him. He threw her a dirty look and it only made Amy’s grin grow bigger. “And next to him is Liz, Philip’s lovely ex-assistant. The three of us will be responsible for the judging of the final ten girls. By the end of today, Philip will be coming to judge the 10 girls and he will chose one girl to sing and star in the new music video for his debut song entitled ‘True Love’. Without further announcements, we will start with the first screening. This will be based purely on height and appearance.” Amy waved to one of the volunteers who brought out a live size poster of Philip and placed it in the center of the room. “This is made with Philip’s real height, so all you have to do is stand next to it when we call your number.”
Amy nodded to Johnny to have him start “Number one please!” he spoke loudly. The first girl in the front left got up looking like a nervous wreck as she stood shyly next to the poster. “Thank you.” Johnny said after a few seconds and sent her back to her seat. “Number 2.”
Amy noted a few girls that caught her eye as she jotted down notes using their given numbers. Most of them were too short and a few were even taller than his poster with their heels on. By the end of the first round, more than 100 were sent home. The chairs were removed to save room for the front area where they will need the space later.
The second round was well underway when the karaoke machine was set up for them to use. Amy stood up to make the announcement “The second screening is a tough one since it will be judged purely on how well your voice will match with Philip. When we call your number, come up and chose one of the 5 songs that Philip has sang with another female artist in the past. Pick the one you remember the lyrics to and we will cut out the female vocals, then you will replace it. Since we don’t have all the time in the world, it will only be a few lines before we either ask you to stay or leave. It is going to be fast pace so we hope there will not be any hard feelings. Does anyone have any questions?”
There were none so she nodded to Liz for her to continue “Number 5, you’re up first.” She tapped the pen on the wooden table in suspense. This would probably be her favorite part since it showed off raw talent. Liz was happy to be involved in such a choice and she took her job seriously. As did the other two as they all picked up on a way to agree or disagree with each other. One nod is good and two nods are bad. By the end of another three hours, they were down to 150 girls exact.
Amy was about to make another short announcement when Johnny stood up suddenly “Congratulations to all of you for making this far. Now, I will play for you part of the song that one of you will get to record with Philip. The original lyrics was written by Philip and it was altered by myself and Miss Chan here. After the first day of recording this song, the three of us including Mr. Cheung decided it would sound better as a duet. Hence this audition your doing now is for that idea. I want to give you all a feel of what you should be prepared for, so I made this demo with Philip’s part recorded. Unfortunately we did not have a sample of a female vocal, but you are all very lucky that Miss Chan knows the lyrics and she has quite a talent for singing.” He gave her an sly wink.
Amy turned to Liz with her hand covering her face “I can’t believe he’s going to do this to me.” She mumbled angrily.
Liz smiled as she patted her friend on her shoulder “There must be a reason why he’s doing this. I trust his ear for voices, just sing it. I really want to hear the song.” She coaxed gently.
“If we all clap loud enough, maybe Amy will do us the pleasure in giving us a short sample of the duet.” He said it on cue as the girls began clapping a few even whistled and yelled for Amy. Johnny turned to Amy with a grin as he leaned down towards her ear “You didn’t think I would let you get away with it did you?”
“You’re gonna get it, Johnny.” Amy shook her head with a sarcastic smile “One day, you don’t know when…but I’m gonna get you back.”
Her threats only made him laugh as he clapped along with the girls putting Amy on the spot. She eventually stood up and yanked the microphone from Johnny’s hand when he pointed it to her teasingly. He popped in the demo cd and the piano tune introduced the song. She let out a long sigh nervous to the bone but had to do it because she couldn’t back out then. Amy closed her eyes to block out the hundred pair of eyes that were staring at her. Philip’s warm voice started the song as he sang three lines. Amy knew her verse was next. She brought the microphone to her lips and sang the words she had long ago memorized. She let herself get lost in the song as the chorus began and she sang in perfect harmony with Philip’s recorded voice.
When she grew more comfortable, Amy opened her eyes slowly and noticed the room was dimmed. She sang the song with much feeling and the last chorus gave her chills from Philip’s creative voice. To her shock, Philip stepped up next to her holding a microphone. He had been singing live with her the whole time. They finished the song on a soft note and they didn’t speak until the piano finished the song. Their eyes met slowly and the questioning gaze she gave him was answered by a smile in his eyes.
She was brought back to reality when the room thundered with applause. The lights were turned on all the way and Philip immediately turned to the girls who all stood up giving him a standing ovation for his performance. He bowed gracefully and smiled at them warmly “So how was the song?” he asked knowing the answer. The girls applauded again making him laugh heartily “That good huh?” he turned to Amy who was motionless “And how about Amy? Let’s give her another applause.” He clapped for her and bowed at her with a grin.
She smiled nervously “Thank you.” She managed to mutter after a few seconds. She returned to her chair where Johnny was grinning at her slyly. “Wipe that smirk off your face.” She growled.
“You sounded wonderful!” Liz gushed in a whisper while Philip was talking.
“Thanks.” Amy said shyly.
“Oh sure, you thank her. I was the one responsible for getting you out there.” Johnny said with sarcasm.
“I know, you don’t have to remind me. I remember….” Amy narrowed her eyes evilly and then a small smile came on her face.
Johnny’s smile dropped “What are you going to do to me?” he was afraid to ask but the wicked smile said it all.
Amy smiled crookedly “And spoil the pleasure of surprising you? Why I wouldn’t think of it.” She turned away slowly and her eyes landed on Philip who was still giving the girls a bit of background on his new album.