Kira heard her name from down the hall before she even heard the door. She'd been in the bathroom washing her hands, just taking a slow second for herself in the quiet—the kind of quiet she'd learned to grab whenever she could, because it never lasted long in a house full of women who were always either celebrating a win or recovering from a loss. She dried her hands and stepped out just as Emma came bursting through the front door. Her bag was sliding off her shoulder, her face was flushed, and her eyes were glowing with a look that definitely wasn't there when she left that morning.
"I'm right here," Kira said, watching her friend closely. "What's going on? You okay?"
Emma stopped in the middle of the living room, pressed both hands to her chest, and forced herself to take a deep breath. She'd clearly been running, or something close to it—her hair was coming loose, and she had that breathless, electric energy of someone who'd sprinted the last block because walking just wasn't fast enough.
"I got a part. A big one," she said. The words were simple, like she was still trying to convince herself they were real. "A big part, Kira. Today."
Kira felt a rush of warmth—total, genuine happiness for her. She smiled. "Emma, that's amazing. Tell me everything." She sat on the edge of the couch and leaned forward, elbows on her knees, giving Emma her full attention.
Emma sat across from her, but she was too hyped up to actually sit back; she just perched on the arm of the corner chair. She pushed her hair out of her face. "Okay, so Superstar never called me back after I did that tape," she started. A flash of frustration crossed her face—a reminder that even this win started with a lot of waiting. "Not a word. I waited two weeks. Nothing."
Kira nodded. She remembered. She'd watched Emma obsessively check her phone for days, then try to act like she wasn't checking it, then check it again.
"So this morning, I decided I was done waiting." Emma's chin lifted. "I went down to the Brassica Agency building. Mr. Jonas's building."
Kira's eyebrows shot up. "You went to Brassica? To see Mr. Jonas? Emma, he's like the biggest producer in the city right now."
"I know," Emma said. Her tone was steady, like she'd known exactly how crazy it was and did it anyway. That was Emma for you. "I knew I wasn't going to get an appointment. So I just waited outside."
Kira just stared at her. "You waited outside the building?"
"I waited," Emma confirmed. "And when his car pulled up and he stepped out... I stopped him."
The room went dead silent. Outside, the usual city noise kept going—a car driving by, music from an upstairs window—but inside, Kira felt that weird stillness that happens right at the climax of a story.
"You stopped Ledger Jonas," she said slowly. "On the sidewalk. In front of his own office."
"I did." Emma exhaled. "I wasn't the only one, either. There were at least four other people waiting for the exact same reason. All of us who couldn't get past the front desk or get a callback." She straightened up. "So when he got out of the car, I walked right up to him and asked: 'How can you call yourself a producer if you never actually see any new talent?'"
Kira's jaw actually dropped. She sat back against the cushion, totally stunned. It wasn't easy to shock Kira—she'd been through enough to stay pretty unfazed—but this did it. "Emma," she breathed.