Ariana's eyes darted to the room number, half expecting she had stumbled into the wrong venue. But Remy's familiar voice reassured her.

With an unexpected squeal, Remy shouted, "Surprise!"

Just like that, the room's tension evaporated.

Ariana was left tongue-tied. At first, she had been convinced she had taken a wrong turn. Yet, that distinctive voice of Remy's said otherwise.

Remy got up, greeting Ariana and her crew with gusto. "Check this out," he said, his arms sweeping towards his guests. "These four? ALL former students of mine. Lucky for us, they were free today, so I thought, why not bring them?"

Each of them was a looker, which caught Ariana's attention. Remy might have his quirks and be, well, a bit of a mess in games, but he knew his stuff. He had jumped into his career headfirst, and now he was an instructor at a renowned performing arts school in Eleymond.

And he had contacts everywhere in the entertainment world.

They had been on the hunt for someone to play an undercover female cop in a nightclub scene. Ariana's plan was to host individual auditions. But Remy, being Remy, thought differently. "Show us what you've got," he announced.

Without skipping a beat, the four flocked to Ariana and the director.

They were all smiles and energy, serving coffee and even offering leg massages. The room was filled with a lively buzz.

Ariana was nearly overwhelmed by the swarm of eager women. It felt like she was some queen being fawned over by her courtiers.

Trying to handle the fervor, she eventually had to put her foot down, though the affectionate bombardment seemed unending.

It took Mitchel stepping in, gently pulling her away from the adoring crowd, for the excitement to simmer down.

“She's still healing," Mitchel reminded them, causing the ladies to finally dial back their zeal.

Remy, with his usual pep, strolled over. “What'd you think? Your movie's about a lady cop in a club, right? Thought we'd give you a sneak preview."

Ariana blew out a breath, realizing she had only shared a simple sketch of the plot and characters. She hadn't quite braced for Remy's spur-of-the-moment display.

One of the women, Ripley, laughed. “Our teacher's always a bit... unique. Just roll with it. I hope we didn't aggravate your injury."

Ariana smiled. "I'm good."

Ripley's eyes drifted to Mitchel. "We knew you and the director would be here, but who's this?"

"That's Dr. Mitchel Chadwick. A friend of mine," Ariana replied, giving him a proper introduction.