The Highlander's Time

You need to get it together if you want to make all your scheduled appearances this week.”
    “I'm allowed to have fun, Jenny.”
    “Yeah, but you aren't much of a role model if you throw up on everybody. It's time to grow up, princess.”
    “Don't tell me what to do.” Lila leaned forward, dry heaves attacking her system. She spent another few minutes over the trashcan. Pushing the stainless steel container away, she propped her head against the side of her desk. Charlzie immediately removed it to the washroom open to the public. “I could employ twenty of you and fifty of her.”
    “Yeah, but who'd give a shit about you? Come on, Lila, you know working for you is like working for a combination of ‘Cruella De Evil Boss’ and Satan's darkest demon.” It wasn't the first time Jenny had employed guilt or brow beat Lila, and she doubted it was the last. Lila required a daily, if not hourly, reality check.
    Jenny walked into Lila's private bathroom. Flicking on the cold water, she doused a washcloth, wrung it out and turned around on the pointed toe of her stiletto heel. Her shoes were a job requirement. In Lila's world, her assistants dressed as well as she did. The posh office grew quiet as Jenny carried the damp cloth to the full-blown alcoholic.
    Four years ago when she'd started working for Lila, they were both scraping by. Lila had a CD in the can, but was fighting for market share. Jenny epitomized the stereotypical down on her luck girl. They'd been together through the highs and the lows, the mistakes and the triumphs. Jenny felt like they were at a turning point. “Are you ready to go back to rehab?” she asked. Kneeling beside Lila, she brushed wisps of hair away from her boss's beautiful face.
    Shakily, Lila wiped her mouth. “What good does it do me? All that happens is I feel alone and trapped. That's what it’s like, Jenny. They put you in prison.” She paused, her throat working. Tears filled Lila's cerulean blue eyes. “I can't do it by myself. I have to have someone with me. Someone who cares about me.”
    Jenny heaved a sigh. “Lila, I'm not becoming an alcoholic so you have a friend in rehab.” An apology sat on the tip of her tongue. Sitting beside the wayward diva, Jenny put her arm around her shoulders. She rocked her gently to and fro. “You can do this.” Out of her peripheral vision, Jenny watched Charlzie enter the room, shake her head and place the garbage can where it belonged.
    “I'm really a wreck, aren't I? You know what the tabloids said about me this time? They said I was the poster child for teen stars gone wild. How could they say that about me?”
    She wasn't about to feed Lila's depression or low self-esteem. “You know what you have to do.” Staring at the acoustical tile ceiling, Jenny sighed. “Sweetheart, we've been friends for a long time. You can't go on this way. Get clean.”
    “Will you call my dad for me? Tell him I'm ready to try again? I'm not ready to face him yet.” Lila haltingly sniffed back tears. She covered her face with her hands and burst into sobs. “I failed him.” Shaking her head, her hair fell around her shoulders in an attractive effect.
    Considering how Lila's father was part of her problem when it came to drugs and alcohol, Jenny waffled for a moment. The whole, 'I'm calling your father' was but another ploy she used when Lila needed to get clean. Jason Matanucci was the voice of common sense when it came to Lila's career because if she made jack, so did he. “I'll give him a buzz.”
    “Thanks, Jenny.”
    Together, they helped Lila to her feet. Easing her down into her desk chair, Charlzie laid her hands on Lila's shoulders to keep her steady. The freshly cleaned garbage pail sat near the teak credenza and within arms reach.
    Jenny headed for the outer office and the phone ringing off its hook. “How about if I order you some tea from the coffee shop downstairs? It'll help settle your tummy.”
    “That sounds good. Can you book me in a nice rehab center this time? The last one smelled like a hospital.”
    Jenny exchanged a dubious glance with Charlzie. “I'll try my best.” She lifted the receiver and punched the blinking button on the phone. “Lila Matanucci, please hold.” She ran down the line of waiting calls. Connecting the private line, she rang the coffee shop and ordered three large cups of Earl Grey and asked that they be delivered to the office suite, then began handling the calls.
    Within ten minutes the