Chapter 6

When Francesca arrived in Edward's office, he greeted her with a gentle smile.

"Wow, that was fast." Edward said as he looked at his watch.

"I was already on the road." Francesca said with a shrug. "It wasn't too far a way."

"Good, good." Edward said nodding. "Come, meet your team." Edward said as she called her over.

There were two other people in the room, one was a handsome middle aged man and the other was a woman who was probably just a few years older than her.

"Francesca, this is Alvin Lazaro, he will be your manager, and this is Joanna Ong, your stylist." Edward said as Francesca shook hands with her manager and stylist.

"Please take care of me." Francesca said with a sweet smile.

"Wow, so sweet and so pretty. You're gonna be a big hit girl!" Joanna said with a wink.

"Thank you." Francesca said with a blush.

"Alvin here has been in the industry for quite some time and he has managed some of our more high class talents, that's why I thought of assigning you to him." Edward said proudly.

"Well, first of all I need to be certain that you are scandal free." Alvin Lazaro said as he observed Francesca from head to toe. "Rich upbringing?" He asked.

"Ah, yes. Francesca is the youngest sister of a friend of mine." Edward explained as she motioned for them to take a seat. "Don't worry, she comes from a low key reputable family so you won't have any issues there."

"So you would rather that her private life, like her family and background, remain hidden?" Alvin asked as he scratched his chin.

"Yes. It would be best." Edward said with a nod.

"Doable, but she needs to look less high fashion." Alvin commented.

"I can do that." Joanna said with a grin as she scrolled through her tablet. "I'm already working on her new look!

"We need her to be approachable, someone attainable." Alvin continued to say.

"Do you have a style in mind already?" Edward asked Joanna.

Joanna nodded. "I do."

Edward took out his phone and typed something. "Okay. I've transferred some funds to Miss Rocci's account. Take her shopping."

Francesca's phone buzzed as she received a notification for a fund transfer, it wasn't a large amount, but she smiled and thanked Edward.

"Do you have a car?" Joanna asked Francesca.

"Ummm. No, I took a cab." Francesca lied.

"Alright. I'll drive us. This is good, you're taking cabs and you don't have a luxury car." Joanna said as she nodded in approval.

"I'll stay behind with Mr. Vernon. We'll work on her career plan and getting her first auditions." Alvin said as he continued to eye Francesca.

"We'll see you later then." Joanna said with a smile as she pulled Francesca out of the door.

Francesca was surprised to see that Joanna drove a luxury car. She didn't expect a stylist to make so much. She didn't say anything since she was afraid of offending her stylist.

"You like my car?" Joanna asked as they drove out of the parking lot.

"It's nice." Francesca said, complementing her stylist.

"It's the newest model." Joanna boasted. "I come from a rich family, the Ongs. We own a few businesses, but my dad's pride and joy are the Saints Hospital shares we own."

"Oh." Francesca said, not knowing how to react.

"Ah you probably don't know, but Saints Hospital stocks are so hard to buy and when you do find some for sale they are extremely expensive. The Ongs and the Chans go way back, we're old family friends." Joanna said with a shrug.

"Wow." Francesca simply said.

"I'll take you to the nearest Elisia Mall. I'm so happy that our office is so close, I love shopping." Joanna said.

Francesca who didn't know what to answer simply nodded.

"So Francesca, how old are you?" Joanna asked.

"19. You?" Francesca answered.

"Oh, I'm a little bit older, I'm 25." Joanna told her. "So do you have a boyfriend?"

"No." Francesca answered.

"What does your family do?" Joanna asked as she looked at Francesca's clothes.

Francesca had already chosen to wear her cheaper branded clothes and left the more expensive ones, except for a few pieces at the Rocci home.

"Oh, just some businesses here and there, nothing big." Francesca said, she knew it would be a bad idea to let people know that she was from the more powerful Rocci family.

"I thought you might be related to the famous Rocci family that owns several steel mills and are part of the mafia." Joanna said with a laugh. "Then again, if you were related to them you wouldn't need to sign with Ver Industries. I heard they do business with the Abads and well, we all know that the Abad family practically controls this industry."

"Then why do companies like Ver Industries exist?" Francesca asked.

"Well, not everyone can get into Lights Entertainment, and not everyone in Lights Entertainment gets enough resources." Joanna explained. "Here we are!" Joanna said as they parked the car.

Joanna brough Francesca to an area of the mall she had never been to. As a daughter of a rich family she always shopped in the luxury goods area, so common brand stores weren't places she visited.

Joanna wanted to go for a more street style for Francesca, and the clothes she picked out reminded Francesca of her friend, Katerina who seemed to always prefer pants over skits. Francesca explained to Joanna that she wasn't sure it was the right fit.

"Are you a skirt type, or a pants type of girl?" Joanna asked.

"Skirts." Francesca said with a laugh.

"I guess we could go with our second option. I'm honestly not sure if you could have pulled off the first." Joanna said as she switched the image on her tablet and showed Francesca.

All of the clothes in the board she had made were much more demure and flowery compared to the first option.

"Yeah, this looks more like me." Francesca said with a laugh.

Joanna smiled and began to purchase a wardrobe worth of clothes from various shops.

As they finished shopping Francesca's phone rang, it was Edward.

"Hi Mr. Edward." Francesca answered.

"Are you done shopping?" Edward asked her.

"Yes. Joanna and I got everything I need already." she said.

"Great. We booked you an audition for tomorrow." Edward happily announced. "Go home and get some rest. Alvin will pick you up for your audition tomorrow." Edward instructed as he dropped the call.

"Joanna! Joanna! I got an audition." Francesca happily announced to her stylist.

"Great! Let's get you home so I can pick out what you'll wear tomorrow." Joanna said as she unlocked the car.