Hollywood's Baddest

by Susan Westwood

  He leaned forward a little and met her gaze directly. “You have an opportunity here to show that you are more diverse in your ability than just doing the work that you have been doing since you began here. You are up for a promotion soon, and you are in some pretty tight competition for that promotion. I am not offering you a choice on this case. I am telling you that you will take it. You were specifically requested, and it will be you who defends Mr. Ryan.

  If you win the case, you may very well achieve that promotion that you are working so hard to attain. If you decline to take the case… well… you are welcome to find a position with another law firm. You will take this case, and you will win it, or you will no longer be employed here.”

  His words hit her like a massive stone, crushing her as they landed on her. She was being ordered to take the case. If she didn’t, her only alternative was to lose her job. He had made that much crystal clear to her. Anger burned in her stomach and she swallowed the defiant words that rose up and culminated in her mouth. She could not say that it was ridiculous to give the case to her, and that anyone else could have taken it.

  She could not say that he was an arrogant, irresponsible man who had just been caught breaking the law and probably deserved to not only be put behind bars, but to stay there. She could not say that every other case she was working on at that moment was significantly more important to her.

  He wasn’t going to listen to any of that. All he wanted from her was a yes. All he wanted to know was if she was going to take the case or give up her job at his law firm. Bitterness tangled itself in her and she clenched the back of her jaw for a moment, relaxing it right away so as not to give away her surging emotion to the man before her.

  “Well.” She replied quietly. “It looks as if I will be taking the case.” She tried to rein in the angry thought that he had left her with no choice. There was no way she would ever leave this firm of her own accord. She wanted to be there too much, and she wasn’t about to let something like a drug addict movie star who got himself into trouble, take that away from her.

  Anderson leaned back slightly then and gave her a nod. “Good. I gave Mr. Paul your phone number. He’ll be contacting you soon to meet with you about it.”

  She managed somehow to maintain an air of professionalism, and did not let a single glimpse of her true emotions show through. Instead, she rose up from her chair and gave him a nod. “Thank you, Mr. Nolan.” She was feeling anything but thankful.

  “Good luck with it.” He told her sincerely, and she gave him a nod once more and turned to leave his office.

  Anger coursed through every vein in her body, and the anticipation she had felt on her way up to see him a short while before was completely gone. There was no doubt in her mind that her time and talents could not have been more wasted than they would be on Lucas Ryan; Hollywood’s favorite bad boy, and newest big name drug bust.

  She stalked down the hallway to her office and Bea looked up at her with a smile that faded as fast as morning mist when she saw the expression on Alexis’ face. Alexis didn’t stop to speak to her at all, but instead went straight into her office, closing the door behind her forcefully.

  A lump had formed in her throat and tears began to burn at her eyes as she sat down behind her desk. She buried her face in her hands and tried to breathe in deeply to calm herself. She couldn’t imagine how any part of what she was being forced to do could go well for her, but she knew she was going to have to face the music, because there was no way out of it for her.

  Anderson Nolan had given her no choice at all, and it was infuriating to think that she was being made to defend a man who had no regard for the law, no moral decency, and no grounded connection with the real world. Her time and her work was far more valuable than what he would require. All Lucas Ryan needed was a lawyer who would get him probation and a slap on the wrist. He deserved more than that, but he wouldn’t get more than that.

  Then the whole thing would blow over in a few months, and the only people who would ever bring it back up again would be the fish wrapper newspapers that sensationalized everything that celebrities did. The news rags would go back to his story from time to time, whenever they felt it was necessary, and that would be it.

  She wanted no part of that. She wouldn’t be doing anything useful or good for the city or the state by defending him. She’d be cleaning up a mess he had made, and she didn’t care to do that. She wanted no part of it whatsoever, but she had no choice in the matter. Not if she wished to achieve the promotion she was so set on getting. She was going to have to just force herself to take on his case and get it resolved as well and as fast as she could, and be rid of him with haste, so that she could go back to her real work.

  She picked up her phone and sent a fast text to her sister, asking Abby to meet her for drinks that evening, and a few minutes later, Abby answered her back, agreeing to it. Alexis sighed and put her phone into the inside pocket of her jacket. She’d had a seamstress sew inside pockets into all of her suit jackets, specifically to carry her phone, so that she would always have it without having to put it in different places, and and hidden from sight. It was perfect for getting around the city safely with it, not losing it, and for keeping it handy in the courtroom, without having it out in the open.

  Alexis did her best to focus on all of her other work that day, but the impending call from Warren Paul finally came, and the black cloud that had been hanging over her all day doused her in disappointing reality.

  “Miss Harper, this is Warren Paul. I represent Lucas Ryan,” he said coolly, as if saying that one line was enough to get him anything he wanted. It annoyed her.

  “Hello Mr. Paul.”

  He waited, hesitating a moment, apparently expecting a much more enthusiastic response to the introduction he’d given her, but when he realized that no such thing was going to be forthcoming, he continued, sounding slightly surprised.

  “I wonder if Anderson Nolan has mentioned that I would be contacting you.” He sounded as if he wasn’t quite certain where to go with his conversation from that point, and he was trying to figure it out.

  “Yes, he did. What is it that I can help you with today?” she asked with a short but professional tone.

  She heard him stammer for a moment. “Well, I guess you’ve heard about the unfortunate incident that happened to Lucas Ryan last night after his Oscar win for Best Actor.”

  The fact that he was touting his client’s most recent success in the face of his most recent, and unquestionably biggest failure, was enough to turn Alexis’ stomach.

  “Yes, I am aware of it. As it seems that I’ll be defending Mr. Ryan, it would be best if he could come in to the office to see me as soon as possible. Has he been released from jail yet?” she asked curiously, picking up her pen to make notes on the yellow legal pad before her.

  Warren sighed. “Yes, he was just released on bail. Listen, I know we need to come in and see you, but he is extremely busy. It’s going to be tricky to find the time to do it. Is this something that we could handle over the phone?”

  Her mouth fell full open and her eyes narrowed into slits. She was being forced to take on the worst case of her career and the man she was going to have to defend couldn’t even find time in his schedule to see her. It was beyond arrogant.

  “Mr. Paul, he needs to come in and see me as soon as possible. I need to get as much relevant information from him as possible so I can defend him properly when we get to court. There is no way this is not going to a trial unless he pleads guilty. In any event, he’s going to have to meet with me so I can go over his defense strategy.

  It seems to me that whatever else he has going on his life right now, and no matter how busy he may be, this case must take precedence, and everything else will fall in line behind it. Now, when is the soonest that he can come in to the office to meet me, please?” she tried her best not to sound too irritated with him. It was astounding to her that a man with priorities so far gone was handling the li
fe and career of someone so influential.

  “Yes… of course. Well, I guess the earliest we could come would probably be around nine or ten tonight.” He said it nonchalantly as if it was no big thing at all.

  Alexis covered her eyes with her free hand. Nine at night. He was going to make her come back to the office and work late just to see him, because he was too busy with his movie star life to come in to see his own attorney in an attempt to defend himself against drug charges, and he couldn’t fit it in until nine at night.

  She sighed and dropped her hand down onto the desk. “Fine. Nine it is. Please ask him to be here right at nine. Does he need the address?” she asked, hoping that he would at the very least have that.

  “Oh, we’ll both be coming in to see you. No, he doesn’t need the address,” he answered lightly. “Nine it is, then. We’ll see you then, Miss Harper.” He answered in a lower tone, and then bid her goodbye and they ended the phone call.

  She was livid that she was going to have to go into the office so late, but she knew that there was likely no way around having to do that.

  Her day seemed to both drag by and fly by simultaneously, bringing her ever nearer to the meeting she wished with everything in her wasn’t going to happen at all. The only saving grace was that there would be a break between when she was officially off of work that day and her appointment that night at nine, and in that small window of time, she would be able to go have drinks with her sister and vent a little bit about the circumstances she had found herself in.

  Five o’clock finally rolled around and she drove to the little bar on the beach where she and Abby had agreed to meet. Abby had beat her there and was waiting for her at a table that sat in the sand under an umbrella, facing the sea.

  Alexis sank down into the sea adjacent to her sister and sighed, closing her eyes for a long moment before she turned her gaze toward Abby.

  “Long day?” Abby asked sympathetically.

  “You could say that. Yes,” Alexis answered dryly. “Before I get into anything, though, I have to thank you for something I didn’t think I’d be thanking you for at all.”

  Abby looked at her in surprise. “Yeah? What’s that?” she asked curiously.

  Alexis rolled her eyes, looking away a moment, and then turned her gaze toward her sister and gave her as much of a half-smile as she could manage to muster.

  “I need to thank you for calling me this morning to let me know what happened with Lucas Ryan.” She admitted with the barest hint of a sour note in her tone.

  Abby was surprised and smiled back at her sister. “….you’re thanking me? What are you thanking me for?”

  “For letting me in on the biggest news scoop of the day. Normally it wouldn’t have been on the top of my list, but when I got to work this morning, it turned out to be pretty important, and I would have looked like a fool if I hadn’t already known it. So, I owe you one. Thank you for telling me about what happened to him.” Alexis frowned slightly and lifted her glass of wine to her lips to sip it.

  Abby’s mouth turned in a half-frown and a half-smile of confusion. “Well sure! Glad to help. Um… how did it come up at work? Was everyone talking about it?” she asked interestedly. “Because everyone, everywhere else, is talking about it!” she giggled in excitement and eyed her sister.

  Alexis groaned. “I’m sure they are.” She sighed. “No… it wasn’t office gossip. It was much worse.”

  “Worse?” Abby lowered a brow and frowned fully. “What do you mean worse?”

  Sighing in resignation, Alexis looked at her sister and in a low voice, she told her what she wished wasn’t truth.

  “His manager contacted the firm this morning because he needs legal representation now, of course, and Anderson Nolan talked to him about who should defend Lucas, and they both decided that it ought to be me. I got called into Nolan’s office, and he pretty much forced me to take the case.

  It was, as he put it, either I take the case and I win it and possibly get the promotion that I’m after, or I don’t take the case and I find myself a job at another firm.” She tipped her wine glass back and took a long drink from it, and then swallowed and looked back at her sister, who was staring at her, agape.

  “You’re looking at Lucas Ryan’s new attorney.” There was a heavy note in her voice.

  Abby’s face lit up brighter than the strip in Las Vegas, and she squealed, clapping her hands together as if she had just heard the most exciting news she’d ever heard in her whole life. “Oh my god! You’re kidding! You’re…. are you kidding? Are you teasing me with this? Because… if you are, I just want you to know that that’s truly cruel. Don’t you dare lie to me! Are you serious?” she rushed through every word and tumbled over the next as she tried to comprehend something so surreal.

  Alexis nodded slowly and pressed her lips together. “Yes. Unfortunately, I am serious. I wish it was different. I wish they had gotten someone else. Anyone else. I don’t want this case, Abby. I don’t want anything to do with it for about a thousand reasons. He’s too high profile, there will be a mass of media involved, I have so many other really important cases on my desk just waiting for me right now…. Ugh. There are so many reasons why I don’t want it, and I told Anderson that I don’t want it, and that was when he put me in the crunch and forced me to take it.”

  She furrowed her brow thoughtfully. “It’s so strange that he’d make me do it. He knows how busy I am right now, he knows how many other cases I’m working on. He could have had anyone do it, but they decided that it had to be me, and so now I’m stuck with it.”

  Abby was still riding high on her excitement, and gushing as she spoke. “Oh my gosh, it’s so exciting! I’m going to tell everyone I know that my big sister is his legal counsel. It’s incredible!”

  Then her eyes grew wider and she leaned close to her sister. “Oh! Do you think there would be any way that I could get to meet him? Can I do that? Or is that like… a breach of something?”

  Sighing, Alexis shrugged. “I don’t know if you can or not. I would guess not. I talked to his manager today and I almost thought that I wasn’t even going to meet with him; apparently he’s much too busy to meet with his attorney in person; he’s got far too many other more important things to do since he was bailed out of jail this morning, and meeting with his attorney was not a priority on his list.

  Luckily, the two of them were able to squeeze me in at nine o’clock tonight, so… I’ll have to go back to the office and meet them when I should be getting ready for bed.” She glared off into the view of the horizon as she thought about it.

  Abby smiled and shrugged. “Well, it’s not too bad, I mean, at least you get to meet him!”

  Alexis turned to look at her almost impatiently. “He’s just a big shot who got caught using drugs! I don’t want to meet him or defend him; the man should probably be behind bars anyway!”

  Her sister sighed dreamily and emptied the last of her cosmopolitan. “Still though… that’s pretty cool.”

  “I’ll try to look at it that way while I’m meeting him practically in the middle of the night tonight.” Alexis grumbled. She sighed then and looked at her sister sympathetically. “I’m sorry, I know you’re excited and it seems like a really amazing thing to you, and maybe it would be amazing to a lot of other people… it’s just… I have other things; other cases that I could be working on. Things that are really important that need my attention! I’ve got one right now that is an environmental disaster and I am working so hard to nail the corporation responsible for polluting the main water source for a whole town… now that is an important case! That’s one that I wish I was working on night and day! That’s one that deserves media and hype and attention… that’s one that everyone should be talking about and be concerned with…. But is it? No. Not even a little bit.

  "What does everyone get into a frenzy about? An actor on drugs who got caught. Like that’s news… I feel like a good chunk of the whole entertainment industry in Los Angeles i
s on one drug or another, and it’s just a matter of time before they get caught or hurt or die from it. The only reason why this one is such news is because he’s such a big name actor. It’s ridiculous. It will be a media circus, and that’s just not my speed. That’s nothing at all that I want to be a part of.” She frowned and stared down at her nearly empty glass of wine.

  Abby looked at her with a meaningful smile and gave her sister a nudge with her elbow. “Just because I know you don’t keep up on these kinds of things, I’ll show you just what a big media circus this thing with him already is.”

  “What do you mean?” Alexis asked, tipping her head and looking as Abby held out her smartphone for Alexis to see.

  “Well, social media has been blowing up about it all day. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone is talking about it, and practically nothing else. Look…” she showed a few brightly lit screens to Alexis.

  “There are two hashtags going around now, and everyone is either on one team or the other,” Abby said as her finger moved over the screen.

  “Team?” Alexis asked in confusion.

  Abby pointed at the hashtags. “Yeah… #GuiltyLucas and #InnocentLucas. Everyone is taking sides, and it has gone viral. It’s all over the world. There are people in countries I’ve never even heard of who are declaring their position on it. It’s like the whole world just split right down the middle. See these articles? They’re everywhere. America’s favorite bad boy gets caught, Hollywood hunk gone bad, Lucas Ryan; framed or guilty, Oscar winner loses big, Lucas Ryan; highs and lows ….I could go on. There’s no end to them.”

  “I’m sure there isn’t.” Alexis said in a low voice. “I’m sorry to see all that. I knew my hands were going to be full with him, but that… wow. I think it’s going to be worse than I ever imagined. She sighed and finished her wine. “Great. Just what I wanted to do with my legal career.”

  “It all started this morning when he was released on bail; he went straight to social media and declared himself innocent, and it caught fire. Within hours it was all over the place, and the battle lines were drawn!” Abby smiled at her sister.