Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Nina, the Second Female Lead’s Audition Room Is Next Door

“I’m here to audition for the second male lead. What about you? You’re here for the second female lead, right?” Luke Lowell nodded, resting his chin on his hand as he mused, “You know, it’s kind of fate. In the movie, you’ll be fighting for the male lead, and I’ll be fighting for the female lead. It’s just that your role is pretty risky. Times have changed. A character written like that a few years ago would probably get flamed to hell and back today.”

Luke Lowell analyzed the situation and silently lit a candle in his heart for Naomi Kenway.

“I’m here for the third female lead.”

“The third female lead? Hugh Chandler?!” Luke Lowell glanced around before sitting right next to Naomi Kenway and whispering, “I remember that role isn’t open to buy-ins from investors, right? Did my cousin manage to lock down this part for you?”

Naomi Kenway shot him a speechless glance. Luke Lowell couldn’t help but scoot back. He knew this was the precursor to one of her fits. Remembering the way Naomi used to fly off the handle, he shot up as if his butt was on fire. “I—I didn’t mean anything by it. Don’t get mad.”

“I’m at an audition. What do you think I’m here to do?” Naomi Kenway retorted, then took out her phone to review the key points she’d noted down in her memo app.

The expected explosion of anger never came. Naomi Kenway’s calm and composed demeanor stunned Luke Lowell. He swallowed hard, forcing back the question, ’Did you go to a Buddhist temple to purify your soul or something?’

“Jude, we need to go upstairs and get ready,” his assistant reminded him.

Luke Lowell nodded. He couldn’t bear to see Naomi Kenway squeezed into the noisy crowd; she was his relative, after all. “Are you coming upstairs with me or not? All the producers and directors are up there. It’s way better than this. The first floor here is so shabby. Just two dinky air conditioners for hundreds of people. Why did the production team pick such a dump!”

“I’m staying right here. And I suggest you stay far away from me. If someone gets a photo of you talking to someone with a stinking reputation like me, watch out. You’ll get blasted in comment threads hundreds of pages long.” Naomi Kenway was so annoyed by this chatterbox that she couldn’t focus on her script at all, so she deliberately tried to scare him off.

But Luke Lowell didn’t fall for it at all, putting on a smug look. “This young master isn’t afraid of that stuff. My reputation is so good, maybe you can even use me to clean up your own image, Naomi Kenway!”

“Jude, we really have to go upstairs now.”

Luke Lowell was interrupted, but he didn’t get angry. “Well, if you don’t want to enjoy the good life, I’ll be on my way.”

With that, he left with his grand entourage of assistants, once again successfully capturing the attention of everyone present.

As they walked up the stairs, a senior assistant advised him, “Naomi Kenway’s reputation isn’t great. Given your special status, it would be best not to associate with her.”

Luke Lowell was unconcerned. “She’s my relative. We see each other during the holidays. If I pretend not to know her now, how awkward will it be when we see each other later?”

“A relative?”

Remembering that Naomi Kenway and Ethan Shaw were seen by the public as being in a secret marriage, Luke Lowell, despite being a chatterbox, knew not to reveal other people’s private matters. “Didn’t you say Director Warren was looking for me? Let’s go see him.”

Christina Lynch’s status was undeniable. Renee Jennings had used her connection to get to the comfortable second floor. She rested one hand on the staircase railing.

A flash of a silver figure brushed past her, and Renee Jennings cast a complicated glance in that direction.

Christina Lynch came out looking for Renee Jennings and ran right into Luke Lowell.

“Long time no see, Young Master Lowell.”

Luke Lowell stopped. The other person had called him Young Master Lowell, so she was probably from an elite circle. He sized up Christina Lynch for a moment, then said uncertainly, “Liam?”

Christina Lynch nodded repeatedly. “It’s been a long time. I last saw you at Elder Chandler’s banquet. I don’t know if you remember?”

Luke Lowell said, “Oh. I remember. I’m busy heading to my audition, let’s talk next time.”

The two of them nodded to each other and then went their separate ways.

Christina Lynch walked over to Renee Jennings’s side. “Why are you standing here? Didn’t I tell you to wait in the private room?”

Renee Jennings turned around. “Who was that person who just greeted you?”

“Luke Lowell, from the Lowell Family.” Christina Lynch frowned. “Why are you suddenly asking about him?”

Renee Jennings shook her head, looking distracted. ’How is Naomi Kenway connected to the Lowell Family? I can’t believe her reputation is so foul, but her connections are actually this good.’

Renee Jennings glanced downstairs at the dense crowd, packed tightly together. A few words came to her mind: noisy, crowded, stuffy.

This time, she had only reached this comfortable area by riding on Christina Lynch’s coattails. ’Next time, I’ll get to the second floor again through my own efforts, not by depending on anyone else!’

Ambition flashed in Renee Jennings’s eyes. As she turned, she snuggled up and took Christina Lynch’s arm like a delicate, dependent bird. “I know you care about me. Let’s go back to the private room, then.”

Naomi Kenway was sitting in a rather secluded spot. Perhaps because of her terrible reputation, all the other actors around her were keeping their distance.

Occasionally, a few minor celebrities looking to network would come over to greet her, asking if she was there to audition for the second female lead. Almost everyone assumed she had bribed the director and producer for the role.

Naomi Kenway couldn’t be bothered to argue with them and just had her assistant ask them to leave.

A message notification chimed.

[Ruby Preston: I just saw you downstairs. I won’t come meet you, in case it causes you trouble. Prepare well and don’t be nervous.]

[Naomi Kenway: Okay, thank you, Hazel Preston.]

Wave after wave of people went in for their auditions. Naomi Kenway’s number was near the front, and soon a staff member holding a folder called for her.

Following the staff member’s instructions, Naomi Kenway went to a designated room on the second floor. The space was huge. Since people were auditioning in batches, the room was filled with other actors also trying out for the role of Hugh Chandler.

Ruby Preston was in charge of casting for this role. She sat at a table with several other judges. Noticing Naomi Kenway, she gave a slight nod and a smile as a greeting.

“Nina?” Renee Jennings’s surprised voice rang out. She squeezed through from another corner to Naomi Kenway’s side and offered a well-intentioned reminder, “This is Room 216, the audition room for Hugh Chandler. Nina, you must be in the wrong place, right? The audition room for the second female lead, Gina Hawkins, is next door in 217.”

“Who told you I was here to audition for the second female lead?”

Renee Jennings covered her mouth. “You can’t really be here to audition for the third female lead, can you?” She leaned in closer. “It’s probably not easy to get the third female lead role just by paying for it. Nina, it would be a safer bet for you to audition for the second female lead.”

“Why do you have so much time to meddle in other people’s business? Or are you just that confident you’ve already got this role in the bag?”

The other actors auditioning nearby heard this and all turned to look at Renee Jennings.

“You—you can’t just say things like that! With so many senior actors here, of course I have no absolute certainty of getting the part,” Renee Jennings said, waving her hands dismissively.

“Since you can’t get it, then you should go audition for the second female lead. You just said yourself that the Gina Hawkins role is much less difficult, didn’t you?” Naomi Kenway said with a placid smile.

“I… I still want to give it a shot. Whether I succeed or not, I can’t just give up right from the start.”

“Since you understand that principle, then stop meddling in other people’s business,” Naomi Kenway said slowly.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep