Stella was reminded of Weston again.
The thought made her palms a little sweaty. She needed to get some fresh air, but she couldnât possibly leave Ruby here alone.
About half an hour later, it was finally Rubyâs turn. The assistant hurried over to get Ruby and brought her to the stage.
Stella stood under the stage, watching Ruby nervously stepping under the spotlight. There were quite a number of people around her. It must have really been a large set. No one was paying any attention to them since they arrived. This only changed when Ruby got up on stage.
Stella had presumed that with Mr. Smithâs wealth, Ruby would be treated like a princess in this place.
But apparently she was mistaken. Though he might be rich, Mr. Smith was nearly a nobody in the entertainment industry, since there were many more who were a thousand times richer and more powerful than him here.
Perhaps only people with Weston Fordâs stature could enjoy special treatment wherever he went.
Ruby was a young girl, so naturally her role was a certain characterâs daughter. She didnât have many lines, but apart from the lines needing to showcase the liveliness of the character, it was also a period drama, so the lines were quite difficult to learn. For such a young girl, Ruby would have to memorize her lines really well for her to be able to perform naturally.
When they were backstage earlier, Ruby had gone through her lines with Stella once. Yet although all was going well at first, she probably got stage fright and fumbled her lines the longer she went on. She even forgot huge chunks of her lines, which gravely affected her whole performance. âStop! Stop!
Stop!â yelled the director, frowning with frustration. âWhere did this child come from? She doesnât suit the character of a noble girl at all! A noble girl should be flamboyant and haughty! Not a shy stuttering girl like that!â Ruby stood there like a doll after getting yelled at by the director. At a loss, she turned to Stella. The director was still fuming with anger. He took off his earphones and tossed them violently on his desk. âThis whole thing is pointless!â he shouted.
Everyone else looked at each other nervously now that the director had lost his temper. Stella was stunned too. Sheâd never been in such a situation before. But more importantly, she was worried about Ruby.
Tears were welling up in Rubyâs eyes.
âDonât worry,â the assistant whispered in Stellaâs ear. âRubyâs performance wasnât that bad. With some improvements, sheâll do just fine. The director is mad at someone elseâ¦â
Sure enough, Stella would soon hear something which proved that the assistant was not lying.
âHow many demands exactly does Guinevere Cohen have, anyway?â she heard the director complain when he returned after taking a short break. âAt this point Iâm not sure whoâs the director â is it her or me?!â âForget it,â the assistant director persuaded him in a whisper, âThe investors insisted on having her, so thereâs nothing we can do!â Besides, Guinevere Cohen was a bona fide superstar, so she had a certain power to make demands.
But what really got on the directorâs nerves was that not only did Guinevere make demands about her own role, she even demanded him to replace an actress that heâd already chosen!
Guinevere was the movieâs main lead, naturally the role was tailor-made for her. But there were other female characters in supporting roles too, but Guinevere decided that she didnât like one of the actresses, so she demanded that he get someone else instead. The director had no choice but to do as she bid. He definitely wasnât pleased about it, though.
Stella said nothing as she listened to the assistantâs explanation. But then her phone suddenly rang.
She glanced over at Ruby who was still standing on stage, then quietly slipped out of the set and found a quiet corner to take the call.
âHello?â
âWhen will you be back?â asked the man on the other end of the line in a calm, deep voice.â Iâm already home.â