Dirty Break (18+)

In Which 'Bitten off More than You can Chew' Comes to Mind

Lydia very much wanted this chance. She had been wanting it for what seemed like forever, and she was determined that she was going to get it.

Wanting was fine - but she was still sitting there staring at the blank screen with open books spread all around her when her friends walked back in. Their drunken chatter was diverting enough that she shut her MacBook and joined them for a slice of the pizza that they had brought back with them.

"You missed out on a good night, Lyds!" Andrea brandished a slice of Margherita pizza like a weapon, "And what for?"

"Ambition? The survival of some of my brain cells?"

Andrea made a face that showed just how little she cared about Lydia's - admittedly bitchy - words, and shoved the remainder of the slice in her mouth. Lydia smiled at her and grabbed another slice for herself. She really shouldn't; Andrea's small frame never seemed to show the multitudes of late-night carbs and numerous cocktails she consumed, but Lydia was nowhere near as lucky. Still, the fortification by way of melted cheese was necessary.

"Whatever makes you feel better, Lyds. Whatever helps you sleep at night - I'll just ride on your coat-tails and follow you up when you're a big shot executive."

Lydia smiled at Andrea and bent to give her a kiss on the forehead before she gathered her things to take them to her room. If Andrea was feeling that way out there was no way she was getting any work done; she waved a goodbye to the gathered masses and then beat a retreat before anybody could try to stop her.

In her room was no better for her inspiration. She'd been so convinced that this chance was months into the future, and that used to having her ideas stolen whilst they were basically still developing that she hadn't put the prep in that she should have - and that was a fuck up on her part. She needed to come up with a new, solid pitch for the prison show - faltering along and producing a flop wasn't an option for her, but her brain just wasn't cooperating. Unable to think of anything else to do, she switched the TV on to the local news channel as she did every night, determined to keep up with anything new that was happening in the world. A man's face and torso took up the picture; straining muscles in a leather jacket and a shaved head that was belied by the fullest set of lips she had ever seen on a man. She reached for the remote and turned it up on autopilot, eyes rapt on the figure still filling the screen.

'...Leon Valentine, purported member of the O'Grady crime family, was taken into custody today, accused of conspiring to smuggle millions of pounds worth of cocaine into the country with the intention to distribute having being found in possession of thousands of pounds worth. We've been unable to reach any of representative of Mr Valentine for comment but we will update this story as it unfolds. '

Fate was a foreign concept to Lydia; she knew the value of making things happen too much to put any stock at all in some outside force. Still - it wasn't bad, as signs went. Opening her MacBook again, she proceeded to google the shit out of Leon Valentine and the O'Grady crime family. Contrary to what Veronica Mars et al might have purported, the internet seemed to be a little bit cagey when it came to infamous crime families and their associates. Lydia had managed to find what could only be termed as fan sites that gushed about various members and a Wikipedia page that was more of the thinly veiled same, but nothing she could use as a source. The idea that there was something she couldn't read up on at the click of a button was alien to her; she'd read up on all sorts of obscure things with the help of academic papers at Uni and here she was struggling to find information about possibly the hottest man ever to live. She needed this proposal to wow and to do that she needs all the help she could get.

"Lyds! I'm hungover - come make me your cure."

For someone claiming to have a hangover, Andrea's voice was unnecessarily loud and shrill - even Lydia winced as she heard it through her bedroom door, and she hadn't had a drop of alcohol. Her own inability to function during a hangover was well documented, and had been enough to ensure that she got the secret recipe for her hangover cure from her dad.

"Lydiaaaaaaaaaa!"

She was almost certain her roommate was just bored and looking for attention now, but she had realised that she could turn it to her advantage. If anyone could give her an idea for something dramatic enough to make people sit up and take notice, Andrea could. She picked up her notebook as she called that she would be out in a moment and searched for her lucky pen. Less than five minutes later, Andrea had a glass of what could only be described as green ooze in front of her and a look of realisation that she would actually have to drink it on her face. Showing willing, she picked the glass up and sniffed it - although Lydia could have told her that was a mistake even before her friend went all chameleon with the liquid in front of her face.

"Andrea," Lydia started just as her friend gripped her nose and started to gulp - in anybody else it would not have been a good time to try to communicate, but this was the best chance she had of Andrea staying quiet for the minute she needed, "Do you know anything about Leon Valentine and the O'Grady crime family?"

Andrea surfaced from the glass, looking even more queasy if it was possible, and blinked what seemed like a hundred times.

"Who now?"

"Leon Valentine? The O'Grady crime family? Are you understanding any of the words coming out of my mouth?"

Andrea let out a burp that sounded as though it could never have been contained in her small frame, and smiled a beatific smile that told Lydia her cure was starting to work already.

"Of course I know about him. There're all the rumours that he's part of the O'Grady's, but he's usually in the news for the beautiful woman he's screwing, or the big-wig he's hanging around with. Shouldn't you know about him?"

Lydia could only assume that that assumption was based on the fact that she had studied criminology, but that had been mainly theory and very rarely ventured into the grounds of play-boy cum possible criminals.

"Probably, but you know I bow to your superior intellect in all matters gossip. What else can you tell me?"

"Is this for your show? If it is, I want a credit for my intelligence. Also, if you're going to pick my brain, at least take me out for bacon first - my stomach thinks my throat's been cut."

Lydia stood without another word; she'd know her roommate for long enough now to know that if Andrea was hungry, she would think about absolutely nothing else until she got some food.

"Come on then," she held out a hand to help her up, only realising then that Andrea was in the smallest crop-top and pair of shorts known to man, "Nice outfit - might be a bit cold out there for it though."

Andrea gave her the finger as she rushed to her bedroom to change, leaving Lydia enough time to grab her coat and make sure that her hair was ok before they left.