Hollywood: The Greatest Showman

Chapter 90: Surprise Party

When he returned to the Pioneer Village, it was almost eight o'clock, the beginning of the peak hours for the bar.

Upon seeing Renly, Janice Black only had time to greet him before urging him to help. "Today has been absolutely crazy busy. We're swamped with work. We just received a shipment in the warehouse, and there's barely enough time to check it. Hurry to the kitchen, we need more than just two hands there."

Renly had intended to tell Janice that he had landed the role in "Buried," but upon hearing her words, he immediately rolled up his sleeves, ready to dive into work, and entered the interior of the bar.

Sure enough, the entire bar was packed, even the bar counter had no empty seats left. At least five tables of customers were waiting outside, no time for small talk. Renly walked to the bar counter and shouted, "Neil, do you need help here?"

Neil Thompson, busy pouring beer, didn't even look up, simply shouting back, "Kitchen, go help in the kitchen."

Renly made an "OK" gesture and quickly headed towards the kitchen. Upon pushing open the kitchen's large door, he saw a three-tiered cake that captured everyone's attention. His eyes widened in surprise, "Wow, is there a special event today?"

Stanley Charlson stood next to the cake, "Hey, buddy, you're back." Stanley greeted him and explained, "Tonight, someone is proposing here, and they asked us to prepare. We're waiting for the signal."

"So, are all these customers tonight friends and family of that person?" Renly's mind immediately jumped to this conclusion, because today was just an ordinary Tuesday, yet the bar was bustling.

"No, most of the customers are here for tonight's performance," Stanley shook his head, "A British folk band is performing tonight, Passenger, remember?"

"I do." Renly's eyes lit up. Passenger was a typical British band with a loyal following in the UK. They had gained fame with their song "Let Her Go." "But didn't they cancel their US tour because one of the band members left?"

Passenger had only two members.

Stanley shrugged, neither confirming nor denying. Renly suddenly realized that the bar was incredibly busy, and he was here to help. These idle conversations could wait. He turned to see the bustling kitchen. "Which order is ready? I can start serving."

"Come over here, Renly." Stanley gestured towards the handle of the cake trolley. "You'll handle this. Everything else is being taken care of." Stanley made space, and Renly took over. "Once you've lit all the candles, wait for my signal. We'll turn off all the lights in the bar, and then you slowly bring it out. The band on stage has already been informed; they'll play the requested songs."

"Wow, this guy is really going all out." Renly exclaimed, but he didn't slack in his actions. He picked up a special lighter and started lighting the candles.

It was a three-tiered sky-blue cake, not clichéd with slogans like "Marry Me" or "I Love You," but ingeniously designed with different themes on each layer. The bottom layer looked like a garden, with strawberries and pineapples planted, the middle layer resembled a house, with chocolate wafers forming a model house, and the top layer was a small statue of a man surfing, with candles bearing the numbers "9" and "7."

Even as an observer, Renly couldn't help but be curious. The design of this cake was ingenious, surely containing memories only understood between two people. This proposal, it seemed difficult to fail. Renly genuinely felt happy for the protagonist who was about to propose.

After lighting the candles, Renly carefully maneuvered the cake cart towards the exit, making way for other servers to serve. After a while, Stanley's figure appeared at the door, and he shouted in a low voice to Renly, "Start bringing it out now. Pause at the entrance, I'll turn off the lights. After they're off, bring it out."

Renly nodded in agreement and then shouted to his kitchen colleagues, "Everyone needs to pay attention. After we go home tonight, everyone's going to suffer, so it's best to think about how to deal with it in advance." Most of the people in the kitchen were men, and if their significant others heard such a romantic proposal, they wouldn't let them off easily.

Laughter erupted from the kitchen staff.

After waiting at the door for a moment, the lights outside were extinguished. Renly then pushed the cake cart out, and the entire darkened bar focused on the candles on the cake. The bar was unusually quiet, which puzzled Renly—shouldn't the other customers in the bar be curious and excited, making noise? But now, they were strangely quiet, as if they all knew about this surprise.

However, this thought only lingered in Renly's mind for a moment before being dispelled by the music from the stage, the classic confession song "I'll Never Break Your Heart" by the Backstreet Boys. The happiness and sweetness almost melted him.

Renly slowly pushed the cake cart forward, searching through the crowd for the protagonist of today's event. It was then that he remembered he had forgotten to ask Stanley where he should place the cake cart.

Suddenly, the spotlight from behind the stage illuminated the cake cart. Renly realized that the climax was coming, so he took a step back, leaving the stage to the two protagonists.

Just then, the music from the band abruptly stopped, replaced by a light, cheerful guitar melody. The familiar tune made Renly pause, his eyes searching around, trying to find someone who knew what was happening.

"I was Cleopatra, I was young and an actress, When you knelt by my mattress and asked for my hand..." The melody that played was none other than Renly's own song "Cleopatra," a tragic song full of regrets and sadness, completely unsuitable for a proposal scene.

Before Renly could find someone who knew, the lights in the bar came on, a bit dazzling. Renly instinctively squinted, and through his narrowed eyes, he saw a sea of people, all standing up, applauding vigorously. Following everyone's gaze, Renly turned to the stage and, in that moment of realization, warm mist blurred his vision.

Stanley, Neil, Janice... and all the bar staff, everyone was on the stage. Neil stood in the center, holding a microphone, singing loudly, "But I was late for this, late for that, Late for the love of my life, And when I die alone, when I die alone, Die I'll be on time, I"

The melody was cut off abruptly, and Neil shouted into the microphone, "Three, two, one!"

Then, everyone in the bar shouted in unison, "Congratulations, Renly!" Bang, bang, bang, everyone raised the confetti poppers in their hands, pulling them one by one. Colorful ribbons and bright fireworks fell from the sky, accompanied by cheers, shouts, and screams, filling the entire Pioneer Village.

A wave of joyous happiness surged in Renly's chest, overwhelming him with emotion.

There was a push from behind, and when he turned around, it was the kitchen staff who had come out without him realizing. They pushed Renly onto the stage. Neil welcomed him, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome our true hero tonight, Renly Hall!"

"Roar!" Everyone pounded the tables, the powerful momentum sweeping through, even rivaling that of watching a football game at the bar.

Looking at the faces in front of him, Renly couldn't help but smile and shake his head. "Why do I feel like I'm being proposed to? If that's the case, well, I accept." Such an answer elicited laughter from everyone, and the cheering continued.

Finally, there was one more question.

After the laughter subsided, Renly looked at Neil. "How did you guys know that I got the role? Did you call the Actors' Guild?"

To his surprise, everyone froze, and the buzz stopped. Finally, Neil was the first to react, "You got the role? Wow, congratulations! Looks like it's double celebration today!"