Page 54 of The Spotlight Effect

“I know you hate them, but can you take them for me?” she says.

“Yeah, Emerson Hayden invited me over for dinner, I agreed to go.”

“Then have fun at Emerson’s tonight, please be back by eleven. Be careful,” my mom says and kisses my head.

“I will.” I give my mom a quick hug before she leaves, and I finish changing into my clothes. Tomorrow, I go to Golden Star and listen to the composition the music team came up with for my song and try to record some vocals. Then we have location shoots for the TV showReidledge.

I gather my bags and go to open the dressing room seeing Emerson and Grayson standing outside the door. “I was just about to knock, perfect timing.” Emerson pulls me to her and locks her arm with mine, then closes my dressing room door behind me.

“I heard you’re coming to dinner,” Grayson says.

“Yep, dinner night at the Haydens!” Emerson chimes excitedly.

“Thank you for inviting me, I do have to be back by eleven though,” I tell them.

“Then you will be back,” Grayson says as we begin to walk toward the exit.

As we walk outside, I notice Grayson walking to a car than I have rode in. So far, I’ve been in a black Mazda, but now it’s a black Audi. “You’re using a different car?” I turn to Grayson.

“Yeah, got bored of the last, though I’d switch up for a moment,” Grayson says.

“I forgot you have like five cars,” I say to myself.

“I forget sometimes too,” Grayson says, apparently hearing me.

“What’s your dream car?” Emerson asks me as we walk toward a white Range Rover.

“A purple jeep or Jaguar F-type convertible. Definitely the Jaguar,” I answer. “How many cars do you have?”

“Two. This one and my Tesla. You?” Emerson answers.

“One, which is a pain in my ass because I end up driving my sister around everywhere,” I say.

“Who do you want to ride with?” Emerson asks.

“I’ll ride with you,” I answer.

“Wonderful! See you at the house, Gray,” Emerson says, waving to him.

“By the way, you can call me Emmy or Emery. We’re friends. There’s no need to be formal,” Emerson says before getting into the car.

Emerson lives in the hills of Los Angeles; her house looks over the city, with iron gates at the front, and a private lake in the back.

She parks her car in front of the house and a butler opens each of our doors for us. “Thanks, Conner,” she says to the man as she hands him her car keys.

“No problem, Miss Hayden and-” He starts before turning to me, not knowing my name.

“Kirby,” I fill in for him.

“Of course, Miss Kirby.” Conner bows and gets in the car, I’m guessing to go park it somewhere.

“It takes a while to get used to,” Emerson says to me, noticing the weird look on my face.

Grayson pulls up behind us, but Conner doesn’t take his car; he leaves it parked among the other cars already here. Grayson catches up to us and opens the front door for us after Emerson punches in the pin code.

Emerson’s home has a homey feel but is also very luxurious. Brown, cream, and white are everywhere with gold accents. The floors are marble and lights hand from dark wood banisters. The foray leads to a curved staircase then to the right is a big open kitchen with glass doors that cover a whole wall then to the right is a big living room with leather couches and a TV that fits thewhole wall. Behind the stairs is a waterfall that goes down to rocks and the water gives off such a peaceful sound.

“Your house is lovely,” I say.

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