Just Sing! (Sing 2016 AU)

Chapter 2: SPREADING THE WORD

Well, if Jack was going to host a singing competition, he was going to need a way to get the people's attention first. Back at the theater, Norma was just typing away on her computer before the intercom on her desk buzzed and Jack's voice called.

"Norma!" 

The elderly lady put her finger on the dial.

"Hello?" She answered, feeling her face blow back when the rotating fan blew into it. "Who is this?"

In his office, Jack was pinching the bridge of his nose from stress and annoyance.

"It's me. You're boss." He answered back. "Mr. Frost?"

He looked out the window to his right, revealing that Norma's office was just next door to his and he could see her through that window. Norma peered back at him through the glass.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Frost!"

"There we go! Now I need you to add the following information to our publicity fliers." ordered the white-haired boy.

"Yes, sir." The lady complied.

"The winner of the singing contest will receive a grand prize of....." Jack opened up a container to reveal a few wads of dollars, but not really enough to what he was planning on. And there wasn't that much to begin with.

"$935. Gonna need more than that."

So Jack was gonna have to get creative. He grabbed all of his personal valuables, a radio, a rug, even his watch, and stuffed it all in a large chest to make it seemed like there was a big amount of cash inside.

"There." He stated and shut the chest. "$1,000. You got that?"

"$1,000." Norman repeated, typing it down when she saw a fly floating around her space and landed on the keys. She jabbed her finger at it to squish it, only for it to fly away, not knowing she was hitting the '0' key twice until it said "$100,000". The fly finally flew off, to her relief.

"Print them up on every single sheet of paper we have left and let's spread the word right away, okay?" Jack said on the intercom.

"Oh, yes, sir." She responded and the printer started printing out the fliers with a huge stack of yellow papers. Meanwhile, Jack looked outside his window and gave a deep inhale and exhaled deeply.

"Ah, the winds of change." He said smiling. "Yep, when this show's a hit, I'm gonna get you a fresh coat of paint."

He got into his suit and went to check up on Norma.

"How are we doing on those fliers, Norma?" He asked, seeing her holding a huge stack of newly-printed fliers.

"Yes, sir. We're all good to go here."

Unfortunately, when the fan rotated to her direction, the wind blew all of the sheets out of her hands and out the window, sending them all flying in different directions.

"Norma, no! No, no, no!" Jack screamed and rushed over, but it was already too late.

"Oopsie-daisy." Norman cringed at her little mishap.

"Well, I guess that's one way of spreading the word." Jack shrugged.

The papers scattered everywhere, all over the city, in every street and every nook and cranny, catching everyone's attention. When each person caught one in their hands and read the flier, it brought looks of hope to their faces at the idea of receiving the grand prize money. Marianne and Roland were waiting hand-in-hand at the train station when a flier flew into Roland's hair after a bunch of them arrived along with the train. Marianne captured it in her hands while Roland boarded the train. She smiled cheerfully.

"Hey, Roland! Look at this!" She chirped when the doors closed, separating the two.

"Marianne, babe!" Roland cried, looked out to her as the train rode off, leaving without her. On the other side of town at the repair garage where Nod, his father and the gang inhabited at their hideout, Nod slammed the garage door shut as the police sped by, while a flier flew right in before the door hit the ground. Nod looked at it with curiosity. He grinned widely. This could be his chance, he thought. But then he heard the voices of the gang behind him and he quickly hid the paper in his jacket.

Violet was watering the plants at her house with her headphones on, listening to her tunes and humming to herself. Not a care in the world. But then she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Violet!" She turned to see the cheerful, anxious looks on the grandparents' face when her grandpa showed her a flier. Violet was overjoyed. Or at least at little. She never had any real experience on stage before. Not good ones. She had a bit of stage fright, which could be a problem in the competition. 

A nun was reading a flier, but wasn't interested. So she let the sheet fly to the ground like it was nothing which only flew into Basil's face as he was playing his violin.

"Hey, hey, hey!" He shouted, throwing the paper off his face. "What do you think you're...!?"

But when he fully read the flier, his expression went from furious to excited at seeing the grand prize. Brooke was doing some dishes at her house while talking on the phone.

"Uh-huh. Yeah." 

Suddenly, a flier flew into the window, cutting her off. She read the paper and smiled from ear-to-ear, unknowingly letting the phone she was holding to her ear with her shoulder fall into the water-filled sink. Her childhood dreams of becoming a famous singer where finally coming to fruition.

The next morning, the alarm clock awoke Jack. He silenced it and stretched with a yawn. Jack brushed his teeth and put on his clothes. To tell the truth, you might think he was sleeping in his bedroom, but because he didn't have enough money to buy his own place, he had to sleep in his own office. 

"Let's got to work and and cue the crazy old lady." Jack said, sitting at his desk.

"Good morning, Mr. Frost." Norma entered.

"Indeed it is, Norma." He agreed. "Top of the morning to you."

"I made you some coffee." Norma said as she handed him a mug.

"You did." He asked, seeing that the mug was....empty. "Where is it?"

"Oh. I got a little thirsty on the way up those stairs." explained Norma. "Shall I go open the doors now?"

"The doors?" repeated Jack, confused.

"You've got a lot of people waiting in line to audition, Mr. Frost." Norman explained, pointing to the window.

Jack went over to see for himself. Norma was correct. There was a huge line of anxious people waiting in line to audition for the competition. Some of them wanted the opportunity to be a part of something big like becoming a famous celebrity while others wanted the prize money for personal reasons.