Julian wasn't letting go of his grudge anytime soon. A week had passed and he was still ignoring her. Joy couldn't figure out what she had done—why Jules was so mad at her. Joy loved him... she was in love with him. No matter how much she denied it, Joy was in love with Julian.
She snarled in disgust, watching Julian from across the bar. He was twirling a girl around, dancing awkwardly with a drink in his hand. There were other young women surrounding him, but it was clear he only had eyes for that particular one.
Joy had even done what Jules encouraged; she went out in a short sleeve shirt—an Aerosmith shirt that she wore frequently to bed. She didn't want to admit it, but she had only dressed "normally" to get his attention—to make him comment on her attire—to make him talk to her.
"Hey... what's goin' on; why are you sitting there like that?" Ryan's voice broke through her thoughts.
"Like what?"
"Are you jealous? You've been staring at Jules for the past thirty minutes now. Just go over there and talk to him, shit."
"He hates me. He. Fucking. Hates. Me."
"What makes you think that?" Ryan took a seat next to Joy, causing her to move away. She stood from the bar, leaving her drink behind. She couldn't tell Ryan the truth.
"I'll be back. I gotta pee."
"Don't fall in!" Ryan smirked smugly as Joy made her way to the ladies room.
After alleviating her bladder, she was a little confused to see Ryan had been replaced by an unfamiliar young man. She had mistaken him as Nick for a moment before stepping closer. He was thin with the same colored mousy brown hair—even the same length. It wasn't until he turned to face Joy that she realized it was definitely not Nick. His irises were just as blue, but with facial hair and not-so-kind eyes.
Joy forced a timid smile, reaching across the bar for her drink.
"Hey, have a seat. Don't mind me, I'm just watching the game." The man spoke with a wide smile—it seemed genuine enough. Joy stood conflicted, her eyes trailing back to see Julian with that same girl—her arms wrapped around his neck. She shrugged, sitting next to lanky young man. "I'm David. And you are?"
"Joy." She turned the drink up to her lips, looking up to see that a football game was on the screen mounted on the wall. She had been so consumed by Julian she hadn't even noticed.
"You a packers fan?"
"No, not really. I'm more of an NBA kinda girl. Celtics, Knicks- Boston and New York, you know." Joy was a little annoyed; she didn't really care much for the small talk "Dave" was trying to make.
"Some of The Strokes are here... how crazy's that?" David laughed, glancing to Joy for a moment before looking back the television. "I'm surprised you're not trying to hook up with one of them. Everyone else seems to be."
"I practically live with them, so... they're not as charming as they look, trust me. Especially that one over there. They've all got girlfriends, so that one and that one are kinda barking up the wrong tree." Joy said, pointing to the girls hovering around Nick and Albert. "They're faithful."
Nikolai had recently moved in with his girlfriend; Fab had practically done the same when staying behind in LA with his.
She took another drink, glancing back to see that Julian was no longer there—neither was the girl he had been dancing with.
"So, do you have a boyfriend?" David asked.
Joy released an exasperated sigh. She took a deep breath; her lips forming the word "no."
"Nope, but she's not interested." Julian said, pushing himself between Joy and David before bracing his lower back against the bar top. He folded his arms, dragging his tongue across his bottom lip with narrowed eyes as he looked to Joy in vexation.
She scoffed, shaking her head at him. "Go. Away."
"Go away? You really want me to go away?" Julian leaned down, supporting his hands on his knees as he looked to Joy with hazy eyes. He was swaying slightly—his face inching closer to hers, eyeing her carefully.
"You haven't spoken to me in a week. You see I'm talking to someone and you come over here trying to-"
"Ryan told me to come talk to you, so here I am." Julian seethed; his brow cocked for a moment—declaring with his facial expression that it had not been his idea to do so.
"Leave me alone. Go back to dancing with your groupie." Joy slanted forward, looking around Julian to David. "See, not as charming as he looks."
"You gonna fuck him?" Julian blurted out; his voice low and full of disgust.
Joy scoffed. "How is that any of your business? You gonna fuck the tiny dancer over there?"
"Maybe." He shrugged as a sly grin pulled at the corner of his mouth. "I can't believe you'd rather fuck him than be with me."
"You're a shit. You're a fucking shit that everyone's too scared to stand up against- you're a bully." Joy stood from the bar.
Julian's brows raised as a wide smile filled with disbelief washed over his face. "Oh-ho... really? I'm a bully. Well, that's a new one. Never been called that before."
"You intimate people to get what you want with your meticulous... psychotic behavior. You're a drunk, you're an asshole, you're... I can't even be around you right now." Joy stormed past Julian, making her way toward the other end of the bar.
•••
Julian sat staring at Joy; his eyes in slits as he kept his gaze on the suddenly peculiar drunken mess.
Something wasn't right—Joy knew how to throw down. There was no way she could outdrink Julian, (no one could) but she could drink Nick and Fab under the table, easily. He had just spoken to her thirty minutes prior—no way in hell could Joy be that drunk now.
"Hey, did you talk to Joy?" Ryan slid in the booth next to Julian.
Julian didn't bother looking Ryan's way, instead, keeping his eyes on Joy. He was scared to look away—afraid something bad would happen if he did.
"Everything good now?"
"No." Julian spoke low, chewing on the cuticle of his thumb.
"No? She said you hated her. That's not true... is it?"
That question was enough to pull Jules out the trance Joy had him locked in. He slowly turn his attention to Ryan, removing his finger from his mouth. "Look at me... I fucking love her. I couldn't hate that girl if I tried... Trust me, I've tried." Julian forced a snide grin, wavering his attention back to Joy.
"Love, huh? That's a pretty big word, Jules. Pret-ty big word."
"Yeah, it's big and pretty... you wanna see it?" Julian winked before taking Ryan's face in his hands, forcing Ryan's lips to his own.
"Dude, fuck off!" Ryan yelled, pushing off on Julian's face.
"I think he roofied her. I just talked to her not that long ago and she wasn't that fucked up. You ever see how those date rape drugs work?"
"Why are you asking me? You think I go around dropping roofies in chicks' drinks? Fuck you."
"No, I'm serious. I think that guy slipped something in her drink." Julian had been so concerned for Joy's well-being that he had slowed down on his own drinking to keep tabs on her. She was slumped against the wall—her eyes open, but vacant. He watched as she struggled to keep her head up, her body slipping into a tranquil-like state.
"Well, what are you gonna do about it, Romeo?" Ryan had already pulled out his cell phone, getting ready to alert the authorities. He stood from the booth, fixing to make a beeline to the bar to inform the bartender of the patron.
"I'm gonna kick his fucking ass, that's what I'm gonna do." Julian followed Ryan's lead, climbing out of the booth as he marched toward Joy and the lanky man with a beard.
"Julian!... Don't!" Ryan yelled, shaking his head at his friend. "Get Joy outta here!"
Julian raised his middle finger at Ryan, flipping him off with a shake of the head. He was determined to hurt the potential rapist—the gangly looking man that had no business being around Joy.
"You, what's your name?" Julian asked, kicking the man's shoe before placing his hand on his hip.
"You know my name." Joy slurred—the words coming out in long whisper.
"Craig." The man spoke curtly, brushing off Julian's presence altogether.
"You said your name was David." Joy spoke with the same unusually slurred speech—it was as if her tongue was too heavy to form words.
"Alright, I know what's going on." He bent down. "Joy, baby?..." Julian patted Joy's cheek gently, causing her lengthy gaze to travel to his large doe-eyes. "I need you to get up. I need you to come home with me, okay?"
"She's not leaving with you." The man snapped, taking Joy's hand in his.
Julian's kind eyes went livid when hearing the man speak. He looked to the man sitting next to Joy with a menacing scowl. "Get up. Get up, right now." Julian stood up straight, towering over the man.
"Or what, you gonna hit me?"
Julian chuckled; he was so angry that his rage had somehow transcended into a laugh. "No... I'm gonna fucking kill you." Julian growled, grabbing the man by his throat and pulling him up off the floating leather seat that wrapped around the wall of the bar.
"Jules- what the- stop! Stop it, right now!" Ryan yelled, maneuvering his body between the two men. He pushed off on Julian's chest, pointing to the cell phone in his hand—he was speaking with the police. "Get Joy outta here... Now!" Ryan spoke through clenched teeth. "Fuckin' dipshit." Ryan mumbled under his breath before putting the phone back to his ear.
"Come on baby, let's go." Julian cooed, coaxing her to stand up. He was confused when seeing her look to him like an idiot as he tried draping her arm across the back of his shoulders. "Joy... you gotta listen to me, okay. You can do this, just put her arms around me."
"Why are you being nice to me?" Joy mumbled.
"No! You stay right there!" Julian snapped at the strange man standing before Ryan—he was trying to leave.
Ryan pushed the lanky young man with his forearm, flashing him a look of seriousness—he did not want to get in a fight with Julian.
Ryan had seen Julian angry a time or two; he had seen him in a few bar fights. Jules had lost once, but it was because of how intoxicated he had been. Looking at Julian now, he seemed dead sober compared to all those other times. There wasn't a doubt in Ryan's mind that Julian would win this fight—which was something Ryan wanted to avoid at all costs. He could see the headlines now: "Strokes Lead Singer, Arrested In Bar Brawl."
"Listen to him." Ryan encouraged, trying to listen to the operator on the other end of the call. "Yeah... she hasn't been like this long, no. Okay." Ryan spoke through the line, snapping his fingers at Julian to get his attention. "They said it'll take full effect in about two hours... it's gonna last anywhere from eight to twelve hours."
"So it's the same running time as acid... that what you're saying?" Julian spat.
"They said she'll probably be aware of what's going on, but she'll be in a paralyzed state... she won't remember tomorrow. They wanna get her to a hospital. Run some tests."
"That ain't happening." Jules spoke kneeling down; his hands on his knees, crouching before Joy.
Ryan scoffed. "Why not?"
"She's not gonna wanna do that. Jus- keep him here until the cops show up." Without warning, Julian grabbed the man by his jacket, searching through his pockets.
He tried resisting at first until Ryan shot him that same glance—pleading with the stranger to cooperate. He huffed, looking out into the crowd with raised arms as Julian frisked him roughly; yanking and pulling at his clothes.
Julian pulled out a transparent bag filled with small white tablets. He waved the baggie in front of the guy's face with furrowed brows and pursed lips.
"Is this what you do; find a girl minding her own business and drop drugs in her drink? You get off on that shit?" Julian growled, pushing off on the man's chest again—this time, causing him to stumble back.
"Hey, Hey!" Ryan yelled, putting his arm in front of Julian to block any more of his throws or pushes. "Stop it!"
"Take this. Show this to the cops; tell them he had those on him." Julian snapped, handing the baggie of drugs off to Ryan.
The commotion had caused everyone in the bar to avert their attention to the chaos—Nick and Albert making their way over when realizing that Julian was involved in the ordeal.
"Joy... come on. Put your arms around me." Julian's voice grew calm when speaking to Joy.
She groaned, doing as told. "Where are we going?"
"We're just going for a little walk." Julian snaked his arm around Joy's waist—her arms still draped around his neck.
"I don't wanna walk." Joy murmured with a whine, burying her face in Julian's neck.
"Baby, you gotta walk with me- we're not going far. We're gonna take a cab." Julian started out of the bar with Joy clinging to his side.
"Hey, what's going on?" Nick asked, looking to Ryan and Julian for an explanation. When seeing Ryan on the phone, Nick looked to Julian for answers.
"That bastard slipped something in Joy's drink. Cops should be here soon. I'm gonna take Joy home- they said it's gonna last eight to twelve hours." Julian spoke impatiently—his voice filled with annoyance. "So, you guys mind staying with Ryan; make sure that piece of shit doesn't leave- he's already tried to run once."
Nick nodded, looking at Albert to see he was nodding in agreement as well.