Serena did not dally. After freshening up a little, she went straight to the music room and arrived 20 minutes earlier than the meeting time. She was surprised that there were already people present in the room. Mostly, faces she have only seen through the profile given by Geoffrey. She smiled at them to be friendly, and they smiled back.

She also saw Grace there and she quickly approached her.

"teacher Grace, I'm glad you agreed to join us." She began.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss the opportunity. To tell you honestly, I am thankful you thought of inviting me. In fact, since then, I have been looking forward to this day."

Serena smiled, she loved how honest Grace is. She's very professional in class as she is the teacher, but outside of that, they are friends. She's very supportive and even pushes her to do better.

"Thank you. I hope that I won't disappoint you with the music we came up with."

"As if!" Grace said as she laughed.

Serena grinned. Well, she was indeed 101% positive that it would not be a disappointment.

After a while, Via arrived and joined them.

--

Geoffrey and Leonard arrived not long after, seeing Serena already there, they moved to approach her.

Serena seeing the two, excused herself from Grace and Via. It was 5 minutes to 3 and they would soon need to commence the rehearsal. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Charlton entering the room. Even though she was reluctant, she knew that they must work together.

Geoffrey instructed everyone to fill in the seats in front. Then he began speaking.

"Good afternoon. First, I want to thank all of you for accommodating our invite by participating in this cause. Before we start, I wish to introduce Ms. Serena Maxwell who is taking lead for this project. She is the one who came up with this idea and have single handedly penned the lyrics of the song."

Everyone gave an applause as Geoffrey turned to look at her.

Serena took that as her cue, so she went up the stage.

"Thank you. I too want to extend my appreciation to all of you joining us today. As you may already know, this project is aimed to help the orphans by appealing to human compassion through a song. Today, we will be providing a vocal guide to all of you, and then, we shall assign who would be singing which parts of the song depending on your voice quality and vocal aptitude." Serena explained. She pulled out a stack of paper from her bag, then she continued.

"Here with me are copies of the lyrics. It has already been divided in parts but has not yet been assigned. Now, before I get this distributed to you, I wish to express how important it is not to let this material out of your hands. Please do not make copies nor let anyone else read it before the release of the song. The confidentiality is a must due to certain number of reasons, which I think you all have a vague understanding of. So, can I trust all of you regarding my request?" she asked.

Everyone either voiced or nodded in agreement. Seeing them do so, Serena, asked Leonard to distribute the copies.

"Please read through the lyrics first and try to digest the words. Afterwards, we can start with the vocal guide." Then she looked at Geoffrey, Leonard, and Charlton.

Understanding what she meant, they all took position on the stage. The four of them ready to sing the lines of the song. Seeing that everyone was done with reading, Serena looked at the 3 professionals recommended by Felix to play the piano, cello, and violin accordingly.

"Since I believe that everyone's done with reading, we will start singing the song. Please listen carefully." Serena said, then she began singing the first line.

"there comes a time, when we heed a certain call…"

"When the world must come together as one…"

"There are people dying… oh, and it's time to lend a hand"

"to life, the greatest gift of all…"

After the song has ended, there was a moment of silence in the room. The impact of the song left everyone speechless. It was Grace who clapped first and there were some tears in her eyes.

"That was…" Grace began but she can't find the words to describe it. She shook her head and took a deep breath, "When the time comes, I know I would be proud to tell the next generation that I have been part of this project. Serena, really, thank you for the opportunity. And I believe not only me, but everyone in this room must be sharing the same sentiment."

Serena smiled. She was a little nervous honestly. Again, the song may be very popular in her time when people are more open to different ideas. However, as said by Edward, the song might not be well received specially by the nobility. But hearing Grace's words gave her more confidence and looking at everyone, she saw that most have glazed eyes, and were smiling at her. She knew then that the song will truly become a success.

After that, they divided themselves into 2 groups. Serena paired up with Leonard and 8 people were assigned for them to guide. On the other hand, Geoffrey paired with Charlton with 9 people to guide. It took over an hour.

--

When everyone has learned to sing the song, Serena took the task of matching the solo line with the right voice. As it was only her and Charlton who was familiar with how the studio worked, Charlton took the task of choreographing according to her arrangements.

Their eyes met and Serena quickly turned to face the other direction. It felt awkward for her. However, she knew that she could not act that way at that moment. So, she turned to look at him again. She noticed that he was still staring. He didn't look that great, it seems like he lost some weight and there were dark circles under his eyes.

She did not understand why he looked that way when it was his choice to break up with her. She shook her head. Why was she assuming too much? Perhaps he was just stressed for the other project he was leading. Anyway, she needed to focus on what was needed to be done. After compartmentalizing her emotions, she gave him a nod to signify that they can start working.

The two of them focused on their work and did not let their personal drama affect anyone. Perhaps it was out of habit, but they still made a great team professionally.

It was a grueling task, but everyone was dedicated and very much willing to make it work. Seeing everyone busy, Geoffrey and Leonard took it upon themselves to provide dinner to everyone.

Dinner was served in boxes. No one was picky and ate what was served. During that time, everyone got to know each other. Geoffrey also encouraged them to attend the event led by Charlton, to which they all agreed.

Afterwards, they continued with their work. It was 11 in the evening when they finished. As Serena saw that they were good as prepared, she didn't see it necessary for another session. They will just go straight to the studio after the event, then do a recording marathon.

--

TBC