Chapter 27 - The Audition Day

On the day of the audition, many actors and models gathered in one room. The wait was intense for everyone, as they all knew Ethan was one of the judges. Being one of the most popular actors in recent years, people were very nervous to perform in front of him, some were excited to finally meet him.

When Aria arrived with her assistant, she caught the attention of the people in the room, she was wearing such a flashy red bodycon dress and red high heels, her hair was black and long. When the people in the room saw her, they were quite critical of her, it was an audition, not a fashion show, why was she wearing such clothes?. RoyalStar statement said they could do a fight scene, how could she do that with that outfit, people thought.

Then one person spoke rather disappointed, "maybe she is sure to be cast, people say she is Ethan's girlfriend", another person added, "yes, since a few days there are rumours that Ethan is dating her, maybe it is true". When Aria heard that, she was happy and more confident thinking, 'see Alex, I am the one that people acknowledge as Ethan's girlfriend!'

She was overjoyed when she heard that people had paired her with Ethan. Actually, Aria did not really want to be in this movie because she could not get the role she wanted and deserved, she did not want to play a small part in a movie where Alex played an important role.

But the people who were doing the audition were: Ethan, Leila, the movie director and the scenarist. Before the audition started, Leila explained how the audition would go. She explained that Ethan was the one who would be giving them the cue. The participants in the room were all excited, especially the actresses and the models. Aria already knew and that's why she was dressed so outrageously, it was her chance to look good in front of him and she did not want to miss it.

The audition went on slowly... One by one, the contestants were called to another room to show their act.

All the models gathered around in another room because they had to do a catwalk and a little scene.

Aria was well known in the modelling industry, so the other girls were intimidated by her, which pleased her greatly.

When she did her catwalk, she was confident with a hint of arrogance. Ethan's eyes were fixed on her as she saw her smiling at him. The other models in the room were excited and started thinking that maybe the rumours were true, that it was the girl in the picture; not knowing that Ethan was looking at her so deeply because he thought she was not fit for the role at all, even not fit to be a model, her catwalk did not have a hint of elegance! She swayed her hips too much, it was not natural at all. He thought, "So that's the woman who people were comparing Alex to... She looked like nothing..."

Not realizing that his stare at her was drawing unwanted attention.

As the contestants waited for the results of the audition, they began to discuss amongst themselves. One of the models was frustrated and still thinking about the audition, "What's the point of auditioning if they are casting the girlfriend or whenever..." After hearing that, the other contestants started discussing among themselves, curious about what happened with the model audition.

The model explained what happened when Aria did her audition and said that Ethan looked at her with loving eyes. Aria was also in the room, sitting like a queen in front of everyone. When she heard that, she was overjoyed, it was exactly what she wanted. After this, people would definitely say that she was Ethan's girlfriend.

Without waiting for the results, she headed straight to the parking lot, she stood near the elevator and waited. She made sure her face was revealed and then put on a mask as she watched the elevator come down, she knew that at events like this paparazzi were everywhere.

When the door of the elevator opened, Ethan was the one who stepped out of the elevator. Aria knew it was him because it was the part of the parking lot reserved for RoyalStar executive and today at Royal Theatre it was only four people from RoyalStars executive who were present. She knew the other three were busy in the theatre, so the one in the elevator was definitely Ethan. 

Just as Ethan came out of the elevator, Aria ran to him and simulated a fall that brought her right up against Ethan's chest. Looking at them from a certain angle, you would think they were hugging.

Since Ethan was not stupid and because he was often in this kind of scheme, he knew what was happening, he smiled and gentlemanly helped her stand up before walking to his car and dusting off his clothes as if something dirty was stuck to them.

In his car, Ethan called his sister and informed her of the situation.

"Do what you have to do with that stupid girl, I never want her next to me again! What woman would wear perfume that strong anyway?"

"She's going to be your sister-in-law, you know, you should like her," Leila teased her brother, you could see a mocking, beaming smile on her face

"Do not make me laugh!" Ethan groaned 

"And how are you going to handle this? The articles will be all over social media soon. Fans are already warring, claiming it's Alex and the other part, it's Aria."

Ethan was aware of the war between the two fandoms, of course. He thought about it for a bit before smiling, "Actually, you should just let it go, I want Alex to take care of it herself... I want to know what kind of idea Fidelia and she have to solve this kind of problem."

"Alright, I'll do that. Since Fidelia is now an employee of RoyalStar, it will be her first test as a manager here in Florelia."

Just a few hours later, people on the internet went crazy because an article put an end to the mystery surrounding Ethan's supposed girlfriend was circulating. The title of the article was "The True Identity of Ethan's Girlfriend," it was posted from a private account. The article contained no text, just pictures of Aria alone without a mask showing her face and sexy clothes, then some pictures of her with Ethan in the parking lot, this time wearing a mask and looking like they were hugging.

Her fans were all excited about the news, you could read some posts in the comment section praising Aria "I know it was our Aria, they look so good together" or "our beauty queen gets her man of choice"... There were also many nasty comments about Alex, Aria fans were bashing and insulting her for trying to get attention by pretending to be with Ethan.

On the other hand, Alex fans were sure it was Alex in the other picture, so they started defending themselves by comparing the two girls in the picture and so on.

First of all, their height was not the same, plus they found some pictures of Aria taken on the same day the rumour started (the day Alex had her first date with Ethan). The girl in the picture had black hair and the one in the picture Aria posted on her Whatlife account that day had blonde hair. Or the fact that the girl in the other picture did not have Aria's style at all. But Aria fans did not pay attention to that, to them, it was her! They even said that she might have worn a wig to disguise herself.

Soon, a war of comments began until one fan made a comment about the ring on Aria's finger being the same as the ring on the woman in the picture. Aria fans then laughed at Alex fans, who used this fact to confirm that it was Alex since she always wears that ring.

After that, Aria's fans started calling her fake and opportunist, some comments even claimed that she copied Aria's ring. Since then, Alex and her fans have been called even more names. The fact that she was new in town did not help, people said that she just wanted to gain some popularity from this scandal.

Ethan fans still were not sure it was Aria. But the ring on Aria's finger was the same as the girl in the picture. Plus, Alex was new in town, some did not even know what company she worked for.. The comments went on like that into the night.