35 - Conference

By the time Jia finished her gripping story of the wild redhead woman and the adventures at the burger joint (Lydia's eyes had nearly bugged out of her head at the mention of such an undignified dinner experience), they were both standing in the hallway one door down from the conference room Atlas, Daniel, and Dolly were in. Soundproofed and solid, there was no way to tell if the talks were winding down yet, but that was fine with Jia: she liked talking to Lydia like this.

"And then we came here," she concluded, artfully omitting any mention of her working a night shift and leaving Dolly on her own until the morning. "It was a wild day yesterday. And after all that, she's leaving again this Sunday?"

The blond nodded. "That's how it is most times. Mr. Grayson's clientele are all high-demand, so they lose a great deal of money the longer they remain not working under contract. Ms. Munson's a special case since all her contracts require redrafting, but