Chapter 253 Night Out II

"After that, I tried other auditions, but the only things I got were minor supporting roles that barely did something in the play." Helena smiled wryly.

"And that has been happening for the past two years. I didn't even tell my parents because they would forbid me from pursuing my dream as an actress if they knew how much I suffered as an actress. Not that I blame them. After all that I have been through, now I know that the entertainment industry is full of bastards who think that can do whatever they want." She said with an angry voice.

"I was almost giving up on my career as an actress when I heard about your audition. When I saw that you weren't attached to the association, I thought that would be my last chance. I'm glad I met you all. It was nice to be admired for my skill and not judged by my skin color." Helena finally said with a smile as she sipped her beer.

"Oh, honey, you are one of the best actresses we have seen!" Arabella said with a comforting voice as she squeezed Helena's hand.

They all looked at Helena with comforting looks.

They could not imagine what this girl had to go through just because of her skin color.

The rage that they were feeling was too much to bear.

"What a bastard!" Buddy exclaimed angrily.

"How can no one go against him?" Kate asked with a furious voice.

"It's the power that he has over the association." Helena shook her head.

The others started talking and badmouthing Helena's attacker while Arthur was silent as he thought about something.

He was beyond furious about this situation.

He knew too well how the people in power can ruin someone's life.

Just like his family did to him, and seeing happening with Helena made him really angry.

He knew that he could not bring justice to Helena because he was expelled from his family and he lost all the contacts and power that he had.

But he knew two girls who had the power to bring justice to his actress.

'I will tell the two of them about this. I know they will not be able to sit calmly when they hear about it.' Arthur said inwardly as he sipped his beer.

"What about you, Ishii? What happened with you?" They asked the shy boy.

Ishii was mostly quiet during the night, but they were already used to that.

Throughout the past week, they already noticed that the boy was too shy.

Except when he was in front of the cameras, but behind the cameras, he was one of the shyest people they ever met.

But that did not mean that Ishii was not having fun.

It was the complete opposite, he actually never had so much fun in his life.

Drinking and eating with the people he had worked in his first dream job was amazingly fun.

"Hmm, okay I will tell." Ishii said with a slightly blushed face.

"Fortunately, I never suffered what Helena-san had to suffer. But unfortunately, I have a condition that made it impossible for me to work as a play-actor." Ishii shook his head.

The others looked at him with curious faces.

"You see since I was younger I had fear of being in places too crowded. And as I grew up, this fear only intensified. But it was mostly controlled as I avoided crowded places, this way I was able to live a happy and quiet life."

"But since young, I had the dream of being an actor. I always practiced acting techniques at home for my grandma and she loved it. So, when I graduated from high school I told her I would try auditioning for some plays. I hadn't had a panic episode from my crowd fear in years, I thought I could perform in front of the crowd with no problems." Ishii shook his head with a wry smile on his face.

"But I could not have been more wrong. On my first audition, I got the lead role. I was so happy. I rehearsed with the other actors and crew for months. I was ready to give my all. But when the debut night arrived and I saw myself in front of hundreds of people looking at me, I froze." Ishii said with a sad voice.

"I could not utter a single word. I tried performing the next night, but when the director noticed my problem, they fired me. And starting from that, my career went downhill. After all, who would want to hire an actor who could not perform in front of a crowd? It's ironic really." He declared with a mocking smile.

Even though the rest of them saw his smile, they could feel his pain for his failure.

They could not even imagine failing in their dream job because of a fear that made it impossible for them to pursue them.

He must have felt like a failure and broken.

"That's why I gave up on being a play-actor. I knew that if I wanted to follow my dreams, I should go to Catadrid. There I could work as a tv or movie actor where I would be away from the crowds. But I live alone with my grandma, it's only the two of us. If I wanted to move to Catadrid I would have to have a ton of money to pay for my grandma's transfer to another city. After all, she has lived her whole life here, and if I wanted to get away from here. I wanted this change of cities to be as comfortable as possible for her. But I did not have money to do that."

"I had almost given up on my dream to work as an actor when I saw the notice for your audition on the association's website. I thought that would be the last chance to make my dream possible. And I still can not believe I made it! This past week has been the best in my life, guys!" Ishii exclaimed with a big smile on his face.

The others also had big smiles on their faces as they heard that.

They were happy that this shy boy was able to pursue his dreams just like they did.

"That's what I am talking about!" Nomura exclaimed with a laugh.

"Come on! Let's do a toast!" Arabella shouted with a smile as she lifted her beer cup.

The others also lifted their beers and smiled.

"To dreams coming true!"

"To defeat our fears!"

"To the journey ahead of us!"

"Cheers!"

CLINK CLINK

The pub was warm and full of laughter as those twelve people had fun that night.

The atmosphere was just right as they shared funny stories and talked about the future.

They could not remember the last time they had so much fun.

The tension they were feeling about the wait for Moonlight's answer little by little went down as the alcohol started losing up their nerves.

Helena and Ishii for the first time told others about the problems they faced in the last years, and they felt like a heavy weight was lifted from their hearts.

They felt light-headed for the first time in years.

They suppressed their sadness and anger for so long, and talking about it made them liberated.

Made them ready for the future.

The future in the job they loved!

Their night out ended with everyone drunk, but at the same time happy.

They went to their homes and fell asleep as soon as they touched their bed with smiles on their faces.

In their drunken stupor, they didn't even remember Moonlight's answer was due tomorrow.

Which made the shock they would receive the next day even bigger.

But what would happen to them?