Charlton honestly did not wish to work with Emily that day. However, Serena had him convinced. She even specifically told him to do his best to help Emily. 

He knew that Serena did not like it, but she also has this sense of competitiveness. She wants to show and prove to everyone that she was better. He shook his head, it's not that he didn't expect it. Even during the time in the orphanage, she has been like that. She's taking pleasure in resoundingly beating Emily.

He sighed. Whatever he does for love. Anyway, he just thought that he's always behind Serena just in case, so he'll just do what she wants him to do now. Besides, he did owe Emily one, at least after this time, they'll be even.

When he arrived at Columbia's, Emily was already there waiting for him. She smiled at him as she walked closer to greet him.

"Charlton, thank you for giving my song a chance. I know you said that you'll be busy and that we can work on this during the school year, but I just had to try." Emily said.

Charlton did not want to be rude. It was already at the tip of his tongue to just say, 'since you knew, why did you approach Edward?', but there was no point to do so as he was also there now. It's not like he could tell her that she should thank Serena. Or maybe he should? He shook his head, better safe than sorry.

"Let's go." Was all he said in return.

--

Emily was very friendly with the band members from last time, so they all greeted her when she arrived. Even joking that she's the new rising star as the Esquire dubbed her. 

Charlton did not want to join them as he just wanted to finish working with Emily as soon as possible.

"Ms. Emily, Edward told me that you already have the sheet music ready. Could you please hand it over so I can look through it?" Charlton asked.

"Oh, yes, of course." Emily replied as she rummaged through her bag. Then, she handed him the sheet music.

Charlton looked at it and he could not help but give it a second look. To be honest, Emily's work was very good. It may not be as futuristic as Serena's but it was… to say the truth, it was brilliant. He felt a bit apprehensive to help her with it, but he knew that even if he doesn't, the one she wrote was already good enough. If she does get poached, Edward might face some real competition later on. 

The song itself was not as good as the one Serena composes, but he would be lying if he were to deny that Emily's vocals were better than Serena's. And that's only one of the things he's worried about. For what was more worrying was the fact that Emily's song would surely be something popular in the balls, for it's beat were very suited for the waltz. 

Charlton sighed, having the itch to face palm. Serena might kill him later for this.

Emily worried with Charlton's sign asked, "Is it bad?" 

Charlton looked at her, 'are you seriously asking that question?', he also knew how confident Emily was in herself. It's not like they haven't worked together before.

He shook his head, "It's really good. Just a few changes and we're good to go. Did you bring extra copies of this?"

"Yes, I have 3 more for the band members." She replied as she took some more copies out.

"Okay, I suggest that for the instrumentals, we use the piano, violin and Cielo. Richmond, Jerome and Willy, you three try the song out."

The three each got a sheet music and tried playing, it sounded great, but could be better.

Charlton nodded, "okay, let me try to polish it, meanwhile, you familiarize yourself to the tune." 

--

After they worked on the instrumental, Emily was very satisfied. She can already imagine people dancing for her song. She was sure that it would be phenomenal. She has Charlton to thank as although her work was passable, with his input, she noticed significant improvement.

"When can we have it recorded?" Emily asked.

"You can come back here again tomorrow morning. Serena will also be recording her song then." Charlton said.

Emily nodded. That's good. She also wants to hear Serena's new song so that she can compare her work with her new one. 

"Alright. Again, thank you very much. I will see you tomorrow!" she said.

Charlton just nodded in response as he walked outside the studio.

--

The next morning, Emily was first to arrive. As usual, she greeted the employees of Columbia's even bringing them some cookies which she said was her treat given the blessing she just received. She's having her song recorded that day.

The employees were all happy for her and wished her luck.

Afterwards, everyone else started arriving and they all went to the studio. 

Since Serena has seniority over Emily, she was asked to have her song recorded first. Serena went inside the recording booth and wore the stand in earphones. The introductory melody for 'crazy for you' began to play, then she began singing.

Edward was again amazed. Serena's songs were truly golden and every time, it always feels new. It's never repetitive at all.

Meanwhile, Emily could truly say that Serena's song was again a genius, but her song was not far behind. She smiled. She was positive this time, that her song stands a chance to defeat Serena's.

--

After Serena sang, she went outside the booth smiling. She was quite satisfied with her performance, and she thinks that her voice sounded better than the usual.

"That was very good Serena. I don't know how you manage to come up with these songs every time!" Edward praised.

Serena knew that she just plagiarized, but it was her gift in this timeline, so she won't start feeling guilty about it. Anyway, she turned to look at Emily. 

She knew that in the novel, Emily was said to be a musical genius just like Charlton, so she wondered what kind of song she can come up with that can defeat Madonna.

Their eyes met, and irritatingly, Emily gave her a confident smirk when she thought that Charlton and Edward were not looking.

Serena raised her eyebrow as if saying, 'show me what you got.'

--

TBC

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