July 20: Lohan was taking tango lessons with dancer Gloria Orteo for her role in Dare to Love Me. Photo by: Eric Charbonneau / WireImage |
Another friend describes her as a lonely young woman who craves companionship so desperately that "she refuses to sleep alone. She'll make
her friends stay the night." Lohan relied increasingly on nightlife denizens like British party boy Calum Best, DJ Samantha Ronson and young female
assistants, who serve as hired sorority sisters. A day after ending her program at Promises, she made it clear that she wasn't giving up such friendships, or
taking herself off the club scene; she headed to Pure nightclub in Las Vegas with a new pal, socialite Dori Cooperman; assistant Jenni Muro; and lawyer Mike
Heller. (He had negotiated a lucrative deal for her to celebrate her 21st birthday at Pure, but the party was canceled when she went to rehab.)
Lohan danced and sipped water and Red Bull until 4:30 a.m. "There was no alcohol," says a source. Still, upon returning to L.A., Lohan made a quick reentry
into the nightlife scene, showing up over the week leading up to her arrest at favorite haunts including Les Deux, where she hung with Ronson; Malibu's
Polaroid Beach House; and LAX. "No one cared about Lindsay," the source who was at her birthday party angrily notes. "It was 'How soon should we get her in
there to get press?' True friends don't do that."
Lohan also began removing her electronic anklet on occasion, but ironically she was wearing it on the night of her DUI arrest. Dining with pals on the
afternoon of July 23 at Coupa Cafe in Beverly Hills, Lohan "seemed really relaxed," says server Justin Carrasco.
