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Guest Character Profiles > Lydia Hardy Cassandra Magrath

Glamorous and confident Lydia Hardy appeared at the Lassiters Hotel Piano Bar one afternoon, looking for Byron Stone. Bar manager Taye Obasi explained that Byron didn't work there, but quietly got in touch with him, as they were housemates, and explained that there was someone who wanted to see him. When Byron turned up, he recognised Lydia as one of his former clients from when he was an escort a few years earlier, surprised that she knew his real name and that he had once worked at the hotel. He spoke to her and she refused to reveal how she'd tracked him down, but was disappointed as he made it clear that he was no longer escorting.

However, Taye was facing money problems, owing $10,000 to Fallon Morell, as well as the bond and rent after moving in with Byron and Max at 32 Ramsay Street. When Byron told him more about the escorting, including how much Lydia used to pay him, he decided to take a risk and told her that he too was an escort. He explained that he wasn't on any of the websites, instead handing her a beermat with his number written on it, surprised when she later got in touch and sent him her address. When Taye turned up, it wasn't long before she was ordering him to take off his shirt and, having spent the night together, Taye was happy as Lydia handed him an envelope of cash. Pleased that he'd been able to start paying off his debts, Taye was alarmed when Lydia then showed up at the Piano Bar again later that morning, making herself comfortable at one of the tables before opening. As she continued to flirt with him, and even chat with hotel manager Krista Sinclair, Taye made it clear to her that he needed to keep his bar work separate from his escorting work. Before she left, Lydia apologised and said that she wouldn't do it again, but as she walked out, she was spotted by a suspicious Byron.

After a couple of months, Taye began to realise that his secret life wasn't worth the problems it was creating for him. He cut ties with all of his regular clients, leaving Lydia until last. She was very upset to learn about his plans, telling him that he had become the highlight of her week and a good distraction from her stressful professional life. Taye, however, insisted that he had made his mind up, but was in for a shock when he went to sister Remi's house the next day, where he ended up being invited to lunch with Remi and her wife, Cara. As he walked in, he found out that they were dining with Cara'a boss, her instructor as she trained to become a police officer - Lydia. As Lydia enjoyed making Taye squirm over lunch, she later met up with him and told him that, if he didn't agree to continue seeing her, there would be consequences. Taye soon found out what those consequences were, as he walked in on Lydia telling Cara that the date of her exam had been brought forward. Having had no time to prepare for it, Cara was convinced that she was going to fail and, seeing his sister-in-law's distress, Taye backed down and told Lydia that their arrangement was back on. Lydia then informed Cara that she'd managed to pull a few strings and her original exam date had been reinstated.

As Taye prepared for one of his regular poker games with sister Remi, Lydia summoned him and he was forced to cancel the game, lying to Remi that he'd been called into work at the piano bar. Remi quickly found out that he hadn't and later, when she and Cara bumped into him, he claimed that he'd been with a friend and had felt bad about letting down Remi. When he then dropped a bundle of cash on the ground, Cara became suspicious and later decided to look in his car to try and find out what was going on. When she found Lydia's police ID lanyard inside, she confronted Taye and they were soon joined by Remi, at which point Taye admitted everything about his escort work and how Lydia had been blackmailing. Having found out the full story, Remi and Cara were supportive and decided that they needed to speak to Lydia about what she'd been doing. She denied everything, claiming that Taye was lying to cover up other crimes, and suggesting that he was dealing drugs from the piano bar and, as she'd used a burner phone for her dealings with escorts, there was no proof of what she'd been up to. When Cara insisted that she still needed to report what she knew, Lydia threateningly said that lying to the police could carry a charge of a year in prison.

Not about to be intimidated, Cara went ahead and reported what she knew, with Lydia later tracking her down and explaining that she'd spoken to her seniors and had been reassigned, adding that Jasper Crawford would be taking over as Cara's mentor. Cara quickly realised that the police weren't taking the allegations seriously and, knowing that Jasper and Lydia were good friends, she feared that this was also going to affect her chances of becoming a police officer. Taye then decided to ask Byron if he could help, as he had also been one of Lydia's escorts and he agreed, offering to go and speak to her too. Byron then met with Lydia and attempted to talk some sense into her, saying that things had gone too far. She said that she didn't want to lose her job, but Byron asked her to think about what she was doing to Cara, as she'd done nothing wrong and it was very unfair. Byron then reported back to Cara, Remi and Taye that, although he couldn't make any guarantees, he thought he'd managed to talk Lydia around and that hopefully there would be no repercussions for Cara at the police academy.

Episodes Featured
9233, 9234, 9260, 9261, 9266

Biography by Steve

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