After the concert, Lilly kept the autograph signing going for as long as she could. Not only was it good fan relations, but while Miley was signing, she couldn't drink or pop anything. How did we come to this? Lilly asked herself. More important, how do we get OUT? Delaying things by a few minutes whenever possible isn't the answer, but WHAT?

Actually, she was fairly certain she knew why Miley was spiraling toward self destruction. She just did not know what to do about it.

After the signing, Lilly told her, "Someone wants to meet you. He got here too late to see you before the concert. Ah, there he is."

"Oh my, you're Larry Hinton!" Miley said.

"Thank you for recognizing me," he replied. "May I say that you are even more beautiful in person than you are on stage?"

"Flatterer. How would I not recognize such a hot young star?"

"Now just who is flattering who? I'm just starting out," he said.

"I wouldn't call two hit albums 'just starting out'," she replied, thinking that she had meant a different sort of "hot".

"Well, maybe not, but you had more than that by the time you were 22."

"I got an early start," she said.

"I've heard that," he replied. "Anyway, can I take you to dinner now that your concert is over? I know a wonderful place, great food and atmosphere. Do you like French?"

"Wow," she almost tittered. "You want to take me to dinner? How could I turn that down? YES!"

Lilly shook her head in wonderment. She remembered her friend acting like that, but not since high school. Now, with a man (boy, really) more than 20 years younger than her? She had to admit that Larry Hinton was the hottest thing going though, and not just in terms of his music.

She hoped that her friend and client would not get drunk and publicly humiliate herself. Then she wondered if she wanted that more as a friend, or as a manager? She knew. Her duties as a manager were important, but not THAT important.

At dinner, Larry asked her "What do you think of my singing, Hannah? Have you listened to it? Should I call you Hannah?"

She answered, "Why not call me Miley or Miles? Hannah Montana is just my stage name, you know. And I really like your albums, I have both of them."

"Is it true that for a long time you hid the fact that Hannah was just a stage name?"

"Oh yes," she answered. "I just wanted to be an ordinary kid in school, and amazingly enough I hid that until I was out of high school."