Chapter 91: Ch 91 - The Talent Show
Debbie, Rita, and the rest of the band stood on stage. The song they were going to sing today was "Blue Bird," the theme song from a Japanese anime movie. It was an energetic song, which required them all to sing and dance.
The four judges and the audience were all quietly waiting for their performance to start. Debbie looked particularly beautiful, and everyone had high expectations for this young girl group, The Dream Chasers.
A few purple spotlights focused on the band. Despite having terrible pain in her stomach, Debbie smiled at the audience.
Rita turned around and gave a signal that they were ready to start. The conductor's hand was already raised high, and the musicians were set to play.
Then, suddenly, a few people thought they could hear barking coming from the back of the venue. "Woof, woof—woof, woof, woof—"
Just as the band was about to start, a man's voice rang out from the audience. "Oh, it's 'Blue Bird.' I need to listen properly to this song." In the quiet environment of the auditorium, his voice sounded particularly strident.
People in the audience started to ask each other, "Who is it?"
"How rude," one spectator exclaimed.
Another said, "They're recording the whole show. Now his voice will be on the recording. They'll probably have to start again."
The audience started whispering to each other. Everyone was looking toward the man.
"Wait a moment," the director of the show said as he made a halting gesture toward the band on stage. He walked quickly toward the man.
The man who had called out was in his late twenties. He was dressed casually in a white T-shirt, black shorts, trainers, and a baseball cap that sat at an angle on his head. He was not particularly handsome, but his mannerisms exuded the air of someone wealthy.
He was with a woman who was stylishly dressed. She wore a light blue shirt tucked into her shorts. Her hair was purplish red, and her skin was white and clear. Even though she wore a pair of large sunglasses that covered half of her face, she was very beautiful.
The couple was very confident and did not feel embarrassed that they were drawing attention to themselves in front of so many people. They walked through the audience with their large dog, looking around them with cold eyes, and pushing people out of the way. Occasionally, they yelled at someone rudely.
The director walked over to the couple with a smile. He said, "Mr. Dempsey, you've arrived. Why didn't you tell me in advance that you were coming so that I could have sent someone to pick you up?"
Upon seeing the director's reaction, and hearing him address the youth as "Mr. Dempsey," some of the audience reacted with surprise.
One man said, "So he's Lee Dempsey. I heard that he's going out with that super-model, Angelina Sanders. That beautiful woman next to him must be her."
"Isn't this show sponsored by his restaurant chain, The Dahlia Restaurants?" the man's wife asked.
He confirmed it. "That's right. We all eat in his restaurants, so we all pay his salary. We would all do well to remember that."
By this time, the executive director had approached Lee and his girlfriend.
To everyone's horror, their dog suddenly rushed up to the executive director and bit him on the leg. The director screamed and fell to the ground.
Lee and Angelina pulled their dog back, laughed, and greeted the director. Angelina said "Bad boy, Duke," and even pretended to hit the dog a few times, but in reality, she wasn't cross with him at all. They both knew that Lee was an investor in the show and that the director would want to keep him on his side. They were sure that everyone would see that their dog biting the director had all been a hilarious joke.
In the end, it was the director who apologized to them for overreacting. He was desperate not to offend Lee and Angelina. He simply told one of his staff to drive him to the hospital for rabies vaccination and asked the assistant director to take over from him.
The four judges stood up and shook hands with Lee, exchanging greetings. Although they were all famous musicians, they still looked up to him. After all, they did rely on Lee to earn money.
One of the judges even offered him his seat.
Lee told him, "You're too kind, but I grew up listening to your songs. I could never take your seat in the presence of so many of your fans. I'm happy just to sit next to you. After all, you're the best in the world at what you do.
"The band coming on stage now is pretty good. Are they still singing 'Blue Bird' next? I'm a fan of their song, 'Fire Shadow.' I feel very lucky to be here." Lee chatted with the four judges for a while before finding a seat with Angelina.
People around them were commenting on what they saw. One lady said, "That's the real boss, Lee Dempsey."
Her friend replied, "It must be so good to be that rich. Did you see that? His dog bit the director, and he didn't even complain. Even the judges are sucking up to him, and they're all celebrities. Why can't we have that kind of life?"
"Stop dreaming; the show is about to begin."
With a smile, the assistant director introduced Debbie's band. He said quietly to them, "Dream Chasers, you are particularly lucky because you chose to sing one of Mr. Dempsey's favorite songs. All you have to do is perform to the best of your abilities." Then he looked at the conductor and said, "Get ready, start—"
Debbie, who was standing in the middle of the stage, could feel that she was starting to bleed.
**
While this was happening in Chicago, Alex was having lunch in a private room with Joe, Suzan, and their friends. They were all enjoying themselves.
"Alex, why didn't you bring Debbie along?" Joe and the others knew that Alex and Debbie were together now, although they had no idea that they lived together in Green Island Garden. They thought that they must be renting a cheap room somewhere.
"Oh, she went to Chicago a few days ago. Tonight, she's taking part in The Sky's The Limit talent competition." Alex couldn't help but wonder if Debbie had already finished her performance, or if she was just nervously waiting for it to begin.
"Why didn't you tell us earlier? And why didn't you go and watch her perform?" Joe couldn't believe that Alex hadn't gone to support Debbie. He didn't know that Alex had intended to go and surprise her, but had cancelled to celebrate his friends' engagement.
Alex replied, "It's all right, we talked about it. She said there was no need for me to go. She said it was more important for me to come out and celebrate with you." Alex smiled and said, "Come on, I'm here now so let's enjoy ourselves. Let's drink a toast to Joe and Suzan."
Joe laughed and raised his glass. "Drink," he ordered his friends.
**
On the stage of The Sky's The Limit, the five girls were jumping around and singing their hearts out, but with every movement, the pain in Debbie's abdomen intensified. All she wanted to do was to stop the show, cover her stomach, and burst into tears.
But she knew that opportunities like this were once in a lifetime. The group had worked so hard to get their place in the contest.
If it had only affected her, Debbie might have backed out, but as the whole group would lose out if she left, she was determined to continue no matter how bad the pain became.
At last, their performance was coming to the end. The climax of the song was a solo verse for Debbie to sing alone, while the rest of the girls danced.
A spotlight appeared above Debbie's head as she sang,
"Flapping their wings, they flew high in the sky.
I said I wouldn't come back
The goal is the
Pale white clouds
I know I can. Enough to find
Swing as much as you can. Take off."
Debbie tried to give the best performance she could, but singing required her to breathe deeply, and this made her feel as if her appendix was being squeezed in a vice. All her attention was focused on resisting the pain, and she was barely able to control her voice.
Several times, her voice quavered. Even the most tone-deaf members of the audience could tell that Debbie's singing was poor.
Lee sat down, frowning.
Debbie reached a crescendo in the song, which required her to take a particularly deep breath. As she breathed in, the pain in her stomach intensified, and her lungs felt like they were being constricted by a python, the pain increasing bit by bit.
But she was determined not to give up.
With a pale face, she smiled and continued to perform. She was starting to feel very hot.
**
Unaware of Debbie's plight in Chicago, Alex was enjoying himself, drinking with Joe and their friends. He happily picked up a cigarette and joined Ben and the others in cheering and heckling as Joe and Suzan kissed.
**
Performing the dance moves, Debbie twisted her waist to the music. Every move she made was a torment to her. It felt as if someone was stabbing her with needles.
"Blue Bird" was finally coming to an end. Debbie's vision had become unfocused, and her mind was becoming muddled. She was on the verge of collapse, but she still needed to perform the last few lines of her solo.
The other four members of the group were dancing around Debbie on stage. Rita saw Debbie's body trembling slightly and gave her a worried look, while Melissa looked on with a sneer. She still hadn't forgiven her for becoming the lead singer.
Debbie continued to sing, "Flapping my wings and flying high, I said I will not come back—
Looking for—It was pure white—The clouds—"
Debbie's singing became intermittent, and her breathing was raspy. She was even moaning slightly. Debbie had done her best to control her voice throughout the performance, but now she couldn't control it at all.
One of the judges commented, "What is this terrible singing?"
"We don't even need to give them a score. This segment will definitely be cut out," said another.
"I can sing better than that," the first judge agreed.
The audience, on the other hand, felt that something must be wrong. They were discussing it among themselves, but they had no idea how much pain Debbie was in.
Lee stared angrily at her.
Angelina said to him, "Darling, she totally ruined your favorite song. I'm so sorry."
Lee didn't say anything, but he sighed heavily.
"Duke, don't you think so?" Angelina looked at the dog who was lying on a seat beside her.
"Woof, woof, woof, woof." Duke barked a few times. Sensing that a few people near them were losing their patience with him, Duke started growling at them uneasily. When the people backed away, he relaxed.
Angelina rubbed his big head and soothed him. "Good boy, my little Dukey."
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