The next day, Ellie had to go travel to Makati City for the charity event Lea had mentioned the night before. It's an early afternoon to evening fundraiser that will be held in the Refinery in Rockwell. 

As per the text message of her coach, this event was organized by Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group. A theater company she is mostly affiliated with. With the heavy floods that wiped out most coffee farms in Batangas, Bobbi Garcia; the artistic director of the said company, who is also a coffee aficionado, decided to come up with a way to raise up funds and help the coffee farmers that was greatly affected by the calamity. 

In line with the industry of the cause they're supporting, the fund raiser charity event will be taking place in the Refinery that has been exclusively booked by Atlantis the whole day. 

The setup will be like a cabaret style concert that will be attended by invited guests and will be recorded and to be shown live on Facebook. The staff had procured a small stage and placed it inside the shop where a keyboard and two stools were arranged for the performer and for the accompanist. With this, they could get donations from the viewers and people who will be attending physically on the event. 

Being a close friend of Bobbi's and a VIP talent of Atlantis, Lea Salonga had been invited to perform on this fund raiser. And since they are lacking singers due to each Atlantis talents' personal schedule, the director requested the Broadway star to invite her The Voice talents to perform if possible. 

Ellie came at the venue around 10:30 in the morning, since her coach advised her to come around at 11:00 am, she then stayed at the milk tea shop beside it to kill time. About ten minutes later, Lea sent her a message asking where she was. They then meet up in front of Refinery's facade as her celebrity coach properly introduced her to some of the people there. 

"Bobbi! We're here na." Lea greets the bearded director with a hug and a peck on his cheeks.

"Nice! And this must be El." He extends his hand to shake it with Ellie's.

"Hello. Good morning." Smiled the young woman. This is actually the first time they'd be meeting personally but Ellie has already known this man due to following Lea's theater works as a fan. 

"I've heard so much about you!" Bobbi teases the young girl as he gives him a mischievous smile.

Ellie felt a little puzzled on Bobbi's remark. She doesn't remember doing anything that could give this man an impression of her.

"Oh.. Well, I hope it's not all bad news." El grinned in response.

"Oh god. Haha. Lea, I love this girl." Bobbi finds Ellie as a cool person to hang out with. He could feel her confidence brimming yet staying humble as she is. He could also tell that this girl has a sense of humor despite looking as a serious one. 

"Hahaha. Don't worry El. They just saw your video singing with Jed before." With that, Ellie was relieved knowing that it was only a performance this director was talking about, not some rumors she could not be aware of.

"You should've watched her performances on TV as well. She is sooo good!" Lea proudly says, boasting El as her front runner for the show.

"But of course I do! How can I not when you're always reminding me of it." The two friends just laughed. They continued to mingle with each other as new guests have arrived. 

______________________

As the invited guests started to appear, the fund raising event has been called to start. 

There were only about 15 performers present and Ellie and Lea are set to be ones at the last. So while waiting for her turn, El took the time to stroll around the place tasting some of the coffee variants the shop has to offer.

Since Lea is having conversations with her own circle of friends, Ellie then went outside to get some fresh air. She happened to see a familiar man stationed in the table outside that serves as the concierge for the charity.
She approached the area to greet him.

"Sir Gerard?"

"Oh. Hi Ellie!" said the man who greeted back. It was Lea's younger brother. El had already met him twice before; the first one being on the voice rehearsal and the second time was on the party hosted by her coach.

Bobbi had requested the musical director to serve as the person responsible for handling all the pledges and donations from in house guests.  Just like El, he's one of the last performers for today as he's gonna be the man behind the keyboard during their turns.

"So why are you here? Are you not enjoying the vibes inside?" Asked the big man.

"Oh no! The place is actually cool. I'm just here outside to make a donation for the cause."

Indeed, the reason they're all here is to gather funds for the affected coffee farmers, he expected that all the big shot names on the guest list will pledge right then and there. So Gerard was a little shocked upon hearing Ellie; she's already going to perform to help on the charity and yet, she's still willing to pledge some funds.

"Such a nice young lady. Talented and kind. There's only a few like that." He thought to himself.

Gerard then prepared all the paperwork that El needs to sign. She had filled out her name, her contact details and the amount she's going to be donating. She stopped writing on the part where it got to payment methods. There were three options available, using a check, cash or a credit card.

Ellie looked around at Gerard's station and noticed there is a card swipe machine available.

"Hey Sir Gerard.."

"Stop with the Sir. Just call me Gerard." Smiled the musical director.

"O-Okay. I don't actually have enough cash with me, can I do it with a debit card instead?"

Gerard again was shocked with this young woman standing in front of her. He thought she was only going to pledge and have her donations ready after few days or so, just like how others do it, but then Ellie wanted to process it right now. He gave the machine to El as he enter in his laptop all the details Ellie wrote in the form. It was an amount of 300,000 PHP.

He tried to hide his facial reactions upon seeing this but Gerard was so happy with the number he saw. It was so far, the highest amount given by a single individual for that afternoon. Lea would be truly proud that her talent doesn't just have the looks, but a big heart that helps others as well.

As they wrap up the transaction, another familiar figure approached them.

"Hi Gerard. And oh, isn't this Ellie?"