Unknown - Driven_589066

The young woman’s eyes widened. “My shrink was wrong,” she breathed. “There really are Goddesses still roaming the earth.”

Dylan rolled her eyes, grinning. “Evening, Haley.”

A slow smile lit up Haley’s face. “Dylan Lambert. God, it’s good to see you!”

The two women hugged, then pulled slowly away. “Jesus, Dylan…you look fantastic!”

“You’re not looking so bad yourself, my friend.”

“Maybe not, but…wow! What are you doing here? I mean…this isn’t exactly your type of hangout, you know? And this getup!”

Dylan laughed softly. “I see you and your brother still aren’t talking.”

“Hunter? What does he….” Her dark eyes widened again. “You?! You’re his date for the premier?!? Damn! If I would have known that, I’d have gone to

the damn thing!”

“Yeah.” Dylan looked around. “Can we go someplace a little quieter?”

Haley grinned. “Lead on, baby. I’m allll yours.”

Shaking her head, Dylan led them to a small enclosed patio at the rear of the club. The night was blessedly cool and quiet. “I need to ask you a favor.”

“Oh yeah?” Haley asked, grinning and moving closer to her tall companion. “What kind of favor?”

“Slow down, Romeo,” Dylan said, putting a hand on Haley’s shoulder. “A business favor.”

Haley pouted. “I haven’t seen you in months and you want to talk about business?”

“Yes. I do.”

“Alright,” she replied, sighing. “What do you need.”

“I need you to represent my first pick, Catherine Hodges.”

Haley’s brows knit. “Me? Why?”

“Because you’re the best,” Dylan replied. “And because she needs someone like you.”

“Someone like….? Oh! You mean because she’s gay.”

“Yes. She’s gay. And because of that, she’s going to have one hell of a time getting someone to fairly represent her. We both know it’s true.” Frustrated,

Dylan turned and stared over the stone wall into the darkness beyond. “I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t think it was important.”

Haley, normally a cool, competent, and yes—sometimes slimy—lawyer felt an unexpected burst of compassion for her normally unflappable companion.

Closing the distance between them, she laid a gentle hand on Dylan’s back. “Aww, D, you know I’ll help. I saw her at the press conference. She seems

like a good kid.”

“She is. But she’s also just out of college, and is used to having people accept her for who she is. This is gonna be a big transition for her, and she’s going

to need all the help she can get. I’d like you to be that help, Haley. You represent a number of well-known gay entertainers, and you know your way

around the system.”

“I’ll give her a call tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you.”

Haley smirked. “You’re welcome. Now, what’s in it for me?”

Dylan turned, and leaned down slowly so that a hairsbreadth separated their lips. Haley closed her eyes, her heart thundering in her chest.

“My…eternal…gratitude.”

Haley finally opened her eyes to find Dylan standing several feet away from her.

“You shit!!”

Dylan smirked. “A pleasure doing business with you, Haley.”

“God damn you, Dylan Lambert,” Haley said, laughing. “You should have been a lawyer.”

“Mm. I’ll consider that a compliment.” Dylan put a companionable arm around the smaller woman’s shoulders. “C’mon, let’s get back to the ‘party’.”

Hodge lay sprawled on her hotel bed, watching television and waiting for the phone to ring. Mac had called her on Thursday telling her to expect a phone

call regarding a lawyer either Friday evening or Saturday morning. It was now Saturday evening, and the expected phone call still hadn’t come through.

She raised the remote and pointed it at the television, listlessly flicking through the channels yet again. Nothing caught her interest, and she dropped the

remote back onto the bed, sighing. Hodge was the type of woman who needed activity in her life, and as far as she was concerned, sitting in a hotel room

on a Saturday waiting for the phone to ring ranked at the very bottom of her preferred activities list. Especially when she’d been doing it all day.

Flopping onto her belly, she grabbed the book she’d brought from the hotel’s gift shop and started thumbing through it, not really reading the words.

Moments later, she fell asleep out of sheer boredom.

An hour passed unrealized. Then another. A third was ready to make an appearance when the phone rang, startling Hodge out of a deep slumber. Muzzily,

she felt around for the phone until her hand struck it, almost knocking it off the night stand.

“Hello?”

“Catherine Hodges?”

The slight New York accent sounded familiar, but Hodge’s cobwebby brain couldn’t quite place it. “Yes?”

“Hi, Catherine. My name is Haley Locke.”

Again, something familiar. This time, a name. But still, her mind wouldn’t cooperate. “May I help you?”

The laugh that came over the phone was warm. “Actually, I think I’m supposed to be asking you that question.”

Brows furrowed, Hodge swung to a sitting position on the bed, wondering if she had awakened in the Twilight Zone. “Can we start this over, do you think?

I just woke up and my mind’s not quite in gear here.”

A moment of silence, then a slightly chagrinned voice came back over the line. “I forgot the time difference. I’m so sorry. I can call again tomorrow, if

that would be better for you.”

“No, no, it’s alright, Ms. Locke.” Comprehension dawned. “Haley Locke! The agent!”

Haley laughed again. “That’s me.”

“Oh God! I mean…Mac told me to expect a phone call. I just….”

“Fell asleep.”

Hodge rubbed a hand over her face. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”

“For sleeping? Don’t be. I should have called you earlier anyway. I sometimes forget that not everyone operates on LA time.” Haley shuffled the papers

in her hands to cover an awkward pause. “As you’ve probably guessed by now, the reason for my call is to ask whether you’ve obtained legal

representation for yourself.”

“No,” Hodge replied. “I had a lawyer, but he sort of ditched me at the altar the other day.”

“That’s a lawyer for you,” Haley commented, chuckling.

“Aren’t you a lawyer?”

“Shh. Don’t spread that around. People might talk.”

Hodge found herself laughing, instantly at ease with the wise-cracking woman on the other end of the phone.

“Well, your misfortune is, as they say, my good fortune. If you’re planning on being in Birmingham for a little while longer, I’d like the opportunity to fly

down and discuss the possibility of representing you.”

Hodge’s eyes widened. “That would be…that would be wonderful,” she replied. “I’ve extended my stay until Tuesday morning, if that helps.”

“Perfect. I’ll fly down there and meet with you tomorrow evening. If things work out between us, we can head over to the Badgers’ offices and take a look

over your contract on Monday. Sound good to you?”

“It sounds great!”

“Alright then. See you tomorrow afternoon. We’ll have lunch.”

“See you tomorrow, Ms. Locke. And thank you.”

“It’s Haley, and don’t thank me until you’ve seen what I have to offer. Night.”

Hodge hung up the phone, beaming. “I go from no agent to the best in the business. Whatever angel I’ve got sitting on my shoulder, thanks.”

“Delta flight 274 to Boston now boarding at gate 24. All ticketed passengers should proceed to gate 24 for boarding.”

Hodge stood and slung her carryon over her shoulder, pulling her ticket out from the zippered pouch as she did so. Handing the ticket to the gate agent,