NOVEL NEXT Chapter 413: Trapped
After a memorable night and a beautiful morning together, Henry dropped Sarah off at Annabelle's house an hour before the scheduled audition time.
"I'll see you on the audition stage," Henry said and pressed his lips on Sarah's forehead, reluctant to let go of her.
"I can't wait to show them all you've taught me." Sarah stood on her tippy toes and kissed him tenderly on the lips.
"I thought you guys spent the night together. Wasn't it enough?" Annabelle rolled her eyes playfully, wishing Michael were there to give her a caressing kiss.
"No." Both Henry and Sarah chorused together and burst out laughing.
"I have to run along now, baby," Henry said, pulling away from Sarah.
"Wait..." Sarah caught him by the wrist pulling him back.
"Remember.... No interference whatsoever. I don't want anyone to know that I'm your girlfriend, otherwise they will think I won the role by favour and not hard work." Sarah murmured, adjusting his jacket.
"Okay.... But I won't tolerate anyone bullying my sweetheart." Henry stressed.
"Don't worry about the bullies. I'm a big girl and I can handle myself."
"Ugh!" Henry pouted then his face turned serious as he remembered an incident from yesterday. "Also, tell that dread guy to keep his hands off my woman, or he might lose all ten fingers."
Both Sarah and Annabelle erupted in laughter.
"This is serious baby. He is lucky I am not Blaze. Otherwise, he would have been literally set on fire yesterday."
"Thank goodness, you're not my cousin's husband." Sarah wiped a drop of tears from her eyes as she continued to giggle.
"But seriously..."
"Don't worry baby." Sarah gave him a goodbye kiss on the lips. "I cautioned him yesterday and he won't be hugging me."
"Good... I love you desperately." Henry blew kisses to her as he walked over to his car.
"And I love you hopelessly." Sarah caught his kisses in the air and brought them to her chest.
Inside Annabelle's room, Sarah went through a feverish rehearsal, keeping her mind focused on her game plan.
She refused to entertain Annabelle's gossip about the previous night's encounter at Henry's penthouse. Rather, she made Annabelle her judge, perfecting all her lines and mirroring the right emotion until it was thirty minutes before deadline.
Feeling confident in herself, they both waved goodbye to Annabelle's family and left for the studio.
By the time they arrived at the studio, all the newbies had already assembled and were patiently waiting for the casting director to join them.
This time around, Annabelle found a way to sneak into the auditioning room while pretending to help Sarah practice her line.
The air in the room was thick with anticipation as the costume designer arrived and handed everyone their respective attire.
Within minutes, everyone changed into their respective costume, their heart drumming with every passing second.
Sarah was the only one who had yet to change into her costume, as the dress given to her was too big.
"Give me a minute, Miss Hunt, I'll be back with your costume." The costume designer smiled sweetly and left.
"Sarah, is that the so-called Deborah in the Ivory costume?" Annabelle whispered to her bestie and she nodded before returning her attention to her script.
Looking completely dazzling in her elite celebrity costume attire, Deborah's confidence was as sharp as a blade dazzling anyone who cared to look in her direction. However, beneath her polished composure, agitation simmered at the sight of Sarah.
She had seen Henry's eyes on Sarah yesterday and he was beaming at her like he had already made his choice.
But Deborah wasn't about to let some untrained bumpkin steal the spotlight from her. She would fight to the death even if it meant playing dirty.
Ten minutes later, the costume designer returned with a bunch of new attire for Sarah.
"I'm sorry for the stress I'm about to put you through. We didn't get to take your measurements yesterday because the information came too late and before we could reach you, you had already left. But I believe one of these costumes should fit."
"It's fine. Thank you." Sarah collected the costumes and immediately left to get changed, leaving Annabelle behind to keep a lookout for her in case Magdalene showed up in her absence.
While Annabelle wasn't looking, Deborah slipped away in the direction of the changing room, a wicked plan already hatching in her mind.
She quietly made her way to the changing room, where Sarah was currently fitting her dress and locked the door from the outside with a padlock.
'That should do the trick.' Deborah smiled wickedly to herself as she quietly returned to the audition room.
After a few minutes of trying different costumes on, Sarah found the perfect one that fit properly. She quickly arranged her hair and retouched her makeup.
Staring at her beautiful but humble reflection in the mirror, she said to herself. "You've got this, Sarah." She exhaled and hurried over to the door. But when she tried to open the door, she realised that it was locked.
"What?!" Her heart skipped a beat. She turned the knob again and tried to force the door open, but it didn't budge.
"You have got to be kidding me." Sarah wrestled with the doorknob, knocking repeatedly, while wondering if this was a sick joke.
Unfortunately for her, there was no one close to the changing room as everyone was assembled in the auditioning room where the main event of the morning was set to begin.
"No...." She slipped her hand into her handbag to retrieve her phone, only to realise that it wasn't there.
Then it dawned on her that she had mistakenly slipped her phone into Annabelle's bag while she was talking to the costume designer.
"Oh...god... This can be happening today." She rushed back to the door and started knocking aggressively while yelling at the top of her voice. "Somebody help me. I'm trapped. Please, open the door."
Panic gripped her heart as horrifying images she had buried long ago resurfaced and the thought of someone kidnapping her again crossed her mind.
"Somebody!" She screamed louder, straining her voice while sweating profusely. "Anybody! Help me!"