The Girl He Had To Marry- An Arranged Marriage Story

Chapter Thirteen: The Cafe

Penelope didn't make the audition.

She felt okay, a little disappointed, but okay. The casting director thought she performed very well, and there would be nothing to change for her audition. There were just people better than her and better suited for the role.

She will survive; it wasn't the end of the world. She had another audition set up for Saturday, which was today. This time Danny couldn't make the audition because he had other business to get too. She didn't expect him to take her to every audition.

This audition required her to dance, so she brought a change of clothes and dance shoes in her bag.

Penny, while waiting to hear back from the first place, went shopping with Ms. Birdie for new clothes for the winter season. She got some professional clothes, some cozy sweaters, and even a few fun dresses. Now that she was in New York, she was free. She could go to a club or two if she wanted to. It was finding someone to go with that would be the problem. She has never really had the chance to drink. She is not even sure if she wants to since her father was clearly an alcoholic.

She wore one of her new professional outfits today to her audition. It was starting to get fairly cold in New York. Fall was ending early. So, she wore a nice white sweater dress. This allowed her to get changed quickly into dancing clothes.

She did arrive to the building a half hour early, but she didn't mind waiting. She plugged a pair of headphones into her phone and just tried to relax, taking her deep breaths in and out.

A half hour later exactly, she was called into the audition room to complete the first half of her audition. This went exactly like the last time, both her monologue and her vocals. She thought she did very well, but fate wasn't in her hands. It was in the casting directors.

The casting director told her to change and that in a little bit they are going to call the group in for the dancing part of the audition.

Penny hurried to the bathroom with her bag in hand. There she came across so many girls, stretching and talking. She saw woman with one leg resting flat against the wall. A split on the wall. She saw others catching while putting on their makeup.

Once Penny walked in, all of these women's eyes were on her. She was the new one, the odd one out.

Fresh meat.

She tried to ignore all the stares and just hurried into a stall to get changed into her pair of leggings and a loose t-shirt. Some of the girls in the bathroom wore clothes similar to her. Others wore booty shorts and a sports bra. Others were decked-out in tights and leotards. It was obvious that people came in what they were comfortable with.

Penny wasn't comfortable in many types of clothing, at least nothing like what these girls are wearing.

The talking and chatting resumed once she hid in the stall. Not many of the girls care too much about the new girl. They were all once like her, naive and hopeful. They honestly wished they could be like her. Others saw her as a potential threat. They didn't know who she was. Some group of friends whispered amongst themselves over the mystery girls. Other friends just talked about how nervous they were.

Penny talked to no one.

She quickly got dressed, put her hair into a high pony, and walked out of the bathroom with her bag. It was around lunch time at this point and Penny was getting hungry. However, she still had to dance which was going to take time. She didn't even pack herself a snack.

A little while later, she and a big group of men and women were called into a different room, a much bigger one.

She put her bag down at the edge of the room, close to other people's and walked out to the center of the room. Many men and women fought for a place in the front, so that the choreographer and camera filming them could be scene. Penny just fought for a place to see. She wasn't in the back, but not in the front. She stood in the middle where there was room for her to dance.