Tina shook her head in amusement and Bette’s eyebrows rose. "A job?" Bette repeated. "As in, one of those little ‘favors’ you do for people once in a while?" Bette always pretended not to know how her friend paid the rent and bought gas, but Tina knew and loved to live vicariously through what she called Al’s "projects." It was the strawberry blonde half of Al’s favorite couple that asked for the details. "Who is this project for, what does she want you to do, and to whom?" she questioned eagerly.

"Helena Peabody wants me to shave Shane’s head," Al drew out her words, enjoying the effect they had on her audience.

"No fucking way." Bette’s reaction was payment enough for the effort. Tina’s mouth simply opened and stayed that way until Bette nudged her to close it. "Holy shit," she finally breathed.

Al grinned. "I know. This one is serious."

Tina suddenly became worried and warned, "You’d better be careful, Al. You’ve done an awful lot of jobs on Shane lately and she’s getting wary. If you are caught…the way she feels about her hair…well, just don’t get caught," she cautioned.

Al waved away her friend’s concerns, "It’ll be fine." Then she grew more serious, "But I will need some help…"

Bette’s eyes got wide. "No way, no how, not on your life." The last time they had helped with one of Al’s little "jobs," they spent the night in the drunk tank of a small sheriff’s office in central Nevada. And while she and Tina had figured out a way to pass the time, it had taught Bette to be much less helpful in the future.

Al simply raised one eyebrow as she looked Bette in the eye. She had no intention of asking Bette or Tina to personally help her, but the opportunity to see Bette squirm was much too good to pass up. She finally let her friend off the hook. "Don’t worry, I just need information. To get this done, I need to find somebody who Shane has never met before, somebody who she won’t be able to resist, somebody who hates players, and somebody with no connection to yours truly. Got any ideas?"

Bette and Tina looked at each other and said in sync, "Nick."

Al half-laughed in amusement and crossed her arms. "Do tell," she invited.

Tina explained. "Nick is my new intern. She’s young, she’s hot, she’s new to town, and she was played one too many times in New York. She’s perfect for this."

"And you think she’ll do it?"

"Definitely. It will be her pleasure," Tina declared with a hint of danger in her voice. "I’ll call her right now."

Al stood up and gathered her jacket. "Don’t bother. Give me her address and I’ll drop by. I’d like to check her out in person before letting her in on the job." Tina found the address on her Blackberry and wrote it on a piece of paper for her digital-phobic friend. "Just tell her you’re a friend of mine and she’ll let you in. After all, a friend of the boss…" she trailed off wryly.

Al nodded her thanks and with a small wave to Bette, left the house. Tina watched her ride away with a roar and thought about the new project her friend had gotten herself into. She and Bette had known Al a long time and she had never seen her this reckless before. It was almost as if she had a sort of death wish. Shivering in spite of the warm evening, Tina returned to the safety of her home and tried not to worry.