The Voice

Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Charlotte POV:

Today was the day. Lottie had woken up and called it judgement day but it felt a little bit like it as Grace was a bundle of nerves, in turn causing me to be anxious and barely able to eat anything. We warm up her vocals once again before we go, we get showerd and soon enough we are driving to the studio headquarters. When we arrive my mouth drops to the floor as I come face to face with a twenty story building with the name of the company in big bold gold letters on the top of the building "come on Lottie, it's almost time" Grace grabs my hand and we head up the elevator and just as we exit on the top floor, Angela meets us and we are guided by one of the assistants to an office made of glass.

When we enter, only three people are in the office. Angela guides me with her eyes to the piano in the corner and Grace looks at me with worried eyes but I smile at het reassuringly as I know her voice has developed so much over the past two weeks. Slowly Grace walks to the piano after getting the people in suits and takes her position in front of it closer to the side.  I start playing the introduction of the first tune the lead actress sings in the main scene of the movie and it goes okay,  a little bumpy,  but shes definately improved. The two men and women in suits nod and we exit as they discuss among themselves.

An hour later,  Grace has almost squeezed the life out of my hand as the door opens and Angela has an unreadable look on her face.  Grace walks to the front and the man in the middle starts talking "Grace, your acting audition was flawless,  your photo shoot tested well but this singing audition was below average and singing is a huge part of this movie,  so I apologise but-" I start panicking, oh no Grace is going to be absolutely crushed if she doesn't get this role.  I quickly stand "what if someone were to be her voice?  The public would never know and we can find a way to cover it up well"

The man looks in thought and back to me "and who would be this voice? " I walk to the piano "me" he raises his eyebrows.  I indicate for Grace to come to the piano and she is about to say something about my plan when i give her the don't-question-it look. "We use my voice but it will seem as though Grace is singing herself.  Look, it'll work"

I indicate for Grace to stand infront of the piano "open your mouth as though you are singing, like lip syncing yes, exactly like that" she nods at me unsure but do as I say.

After we finished, the people in suits talk amongst themselves and finally the main guy nods and the room falls silent.  He then smiles "Grace, welcome on board and miss-" "Charlotte" he nods and shakes my hand "Charlotte, we'll have to start recording as soon as possible as the buzz is high for this movie" he steps back and looks at both Grace and I "Well ladies, its going to be a long year, but we need to push for this movie to be out. I'll be in contact about contracts. See you both very soon" with a last nod he exits as all the suits follow and immediately Grace and I scream and hug each other.

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Not even a week later while eating dinner there is a buzz requesting our apartment. "Who is it?" I ask through the speaker "I have contracts for miss Davenport and miss West. I nod although he can't see me "oh-okay I'll buzz you up"
When a knock on the door is heard I open and so typically a man in a suit is on the other side "come in. Would you like some tea or coffee" he shakes his head and takes a seat at the table where Grace is already sitting and immediately starts getting to formalities "So, as you both know the company wants to start production as soon as possible, meaning in two months time. Here are the contracts, if you have any questions ask and I will be back in a week for your contracts. Have a splendid evening further ladies" and with this he exits after handing us both cards with his contact details on.

I barely turn the page to start reading the contract when I see Grace hold a pen and starts signing the contract, I grab the pen from her hands "Grace! Are you crazy? You haven't even read the thing properly..." she grabs the pen back "Lottie, I want this, so I'd be crazy to back out" she signs the contract completely and sets it down on the table heading to the kitchen and coming back with tea a few minutes later only to see me in tears. "Lotts, whats wrong?"

I place the contract down and she hugs me while handing me tissues but then she starts reading the contract and immediately picks up her phone. I look at her shocked as she looks livid "Grace, whats going on?" She doesn't answer "Angie, what the hell is happening? Tell the producers I won't be doing the film any-" I grab the phone from her hand "Angie, don't listen to her!" But Grace is upset "No Lottie! I refuse" I end the call before she does anything drastic.

"Lottie, that contract is bull! I refuse to not let people know it's you singing! And having to quit your job? Thats a bunch of-" she stops as I basically jump on her, hugging her. She looks at me confused "Grace, I knew what I was getting into, it's fine, really... evsn though they won't know it's me my music will still be out there and that's all I've ever wanted and it being through you, my best friend, I know you'll do me proud. Also, maybe quitting my job won't be so bad, it'll give me time to work on my music and with the money from the film, it's enough to pay for that building I've always wanted and I can finally start my own music school" she looks as thougg she is still going to protest but I silence her "no more of this, let's celebrate!" She looks at me skeptically for a second but the she smiles and we get ready to celebrate with a night out.

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A quickie (😉) but I just needed to get that out the way so now the stuff starts... 🙌🎉

Much much LOVE
Xx

-A