Although Mr. Smith couldn’t make it back home in time to take Ruby to the audition, he’d made all the
necessary preparations beforehand. All Ruby needed was an adult to accompany her there, since she
was still a child.
The driver was already waiting downstairs, so once Ruby and Stella got into the car, they headed
straight to the movie set.
Stella had never been to a place like this. From afar she could see countless different equipment all set
up in a wide area. There was a stage in the center of it all where the lights were focused on. Someone
was on that stage holding a walkie-talkie and giving out commands to the large crew.
Ruby, on the other hand, seemed to be familiar with the place. It was obviously not her first time on a
film set.
“Miss Steele,” the girl said when they arrived, “I think you should contact the director’s assistant.
Everytime I’m here, Daddy would take me straight to him.”
Stella nodded and followed the procedure that the nanny instructed her earlier. She was already
informed that everything could be handed over to this assistant once they got there.
When the director’s assistant saw that Ruby was with Stella, he hesitated then asked, “Isn’t Mr. Smith
coming today?”
“No,”Stella replied, “He’s a little busy today.”
The man was indeed the director’s assistant as Ruby mentioned. He was clad in a pair of light gray
overalls. He had been scrambling everywhere all day as the director had been assigning a thousand
tasks to him. He looked at Stella up and down with inquisitive eyes.
“May I ask if you are Mr. Smith’s…”
To him, Ruby was no longer a newcomer. Although she might be very young, she had always been
involved in the entertainment industry since she was little and had in fact been in two commercials. So
even if she wasn’t exactly a child star, she was still quite experienced.
Ruby’s father, Mr. Smith, did not have a very good reputation in this circle, though. He was a local rich
man who liked to spoil his daughter. Ruby’s talents weren’t exactly spectacular, but she made it this far
because her father spared no expense on her.
Mr. Smith was just like many other rich middle-aged men. No matter how messy his own private life
was, he would always make sure that none of it would ever affect his daughter. Ruby was his only
daughter, after all. Because Mr. Smith lived such a wild life in his younger years, he’d lost his fertility
and couldn’t have any other children after Ruby, so naturally she was the absolute apple of his eye.
He’d never let any of his mistresses see his daughter, much less be with her.
…and yet here was this woman, accompanying Ruby Smith to the audition alone. Who could she be?
Stella knew at a glance that the director’s assistant was misunderstanding who she was so she
quickly made an explanation. “I’m Ruby’s private tutor,” she told him. “I was teaching her today and was
told that Mr. Smith was too busy to take her here, so I stood in for him.”
The director’s assistant warmed up a little when he heard this, but he was still a little skeptical
“You two come with me,” he said. “You’ll go backstage to get Ruby’s makeup done. Then you’ll wait
there until you get called…” “Have you practiced your lines?” he asked. “Yup!” Ruby nodded. Stella was
now relieved. It really seemed that she didn’t have to do anything else apart from accompanying Ruby.
She was starting to feel at ease there. Once the assistant was gone, Ruby sat down and pulled out a
small notebook from her backpack. Stella looked at her with fascination, curious to see what she was
going to do next. It turned out that she was practicing her lines.
“Miss Steele!” cried Ruby, handing Stella a copy of her lines. “This is going to be my first audition! I’ve
been in commercials before, but I’ve never been in a movie yet!” “Oh.” Stella nodded and asked, “So is
this a movie set?” “Yeah!” Ruby nodded frantically. “Don’t you know that director? He’s really cool and
famous! There are loads of superstars in the movies he made!”
“Oh!” Ruby exclaimed after a pause. “Do you know Guinevere Cohen, Miss Steele?” Stella froze
momentarily, but she quickly regained her composure. Because Ruby was very young, she did not
notice anything wrong and just went on talking excitedly. “When I grow up, I want to be a famous
actress just like Guinevere Cohen!” Stella pursed her lips and rubbed her temples but said nothing.
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