[-26-]

                                    

                                          

It had been weeks since she'd first let it happen—since Julian had left a memory she could actually remember. Keeping her eyes on him from across the bar, she regretted every second of it. 
                          
Julian sat in a worn leather sofa next to the jukebox between two young women. He seemed indifferent, as if his new entourage was anything but welcomed. He'd casually move his arm across the brunette's shoulders, but when her hand found his thigh or chest, he'd slink his arm away. 
                          
She wasn't sure why it irked her to see him sitting between the two girls—he was just doing what she insisted—keeping Ryan in the dark about their late nights alone together. 
                          
But does he have to do that shit right in front of me?
                          
A pair of sunglasses rested in his hairline with a cigarette between his lips. His eyes squinted from the smoke billowing up from his mouth—his ankle setting on his bouncing knee. He was doing another interview. 
                          
Well, he was supposed to be doing another interview. This was the third day, and Jules was still just as adamant about not answering anything as of day one. 
                          
Julian gave short answers, his surroundings seeming to distract him from answering very straightforward questions. She watched as Julian chugged three quarters of his beer in one gulp. He slammed the beer down on the table and strode away in the middle of a sentence, making his way to an arcade game. 
                          
Joy buried her face in her hand with embarrassment as she heard Julian yell, "Anyone want to play Golden Tee?" 
                          
For a solid four minutes, Joy stared at a drunken Jules, watching him sway. 
                          
He made his way back to the table, plopping down in front of the journalists with a frown. She listened closely, wondering what excuse he was going to have about his abrupt departure. "Never play Golden Tee when you're drunk."
                          
Joy pried her eyes away from the train wreck, feeling her shoulders shake with laughter. Julian always had the ability to surprise her. Even after knowing him for as long as she had, his forwardness always seemed to astonish her. 
                          
When she looked back at Julian, she was a little surprised to see him sitting in the journalists' lap; his lips kissing the interviewers neck repeatedly. Then... he kissed him—right on the lips. She couldn't help but to laugh at the looming discomfort on the man's face. 
                          
She turned away from the drunken mess, shaking her head disapprovingly at Julian's behavior. It was comical; but mostly, it was troublesome to watch. She worried about him, probably more than anyone else. She cared about Julian, and to watch him waste away every night was sounding off all her alarms—urging her to step in and rescue him from himself. 
                          
"I'm gonna need you." Ryan's voice pulled her attention away from her drink. 
                          
"What?" She scanned the bar over her shoulder, looking for Julian—he wasn't there. Realizing his absence, she stood from the stool. 
                          
"Jules left... on wheels." Ryan smirked. 
                          
"On wheels?" 
                          
"Yeah, you know that abandoned wheelchair setting out front? He took off on it." Ryan shook his head, motioning the bartender for another drink. "I don't know how much more I can take of his shit. It's one thing to manage the band, it's something else entirely to manage Julian. C'mon, Joy... fucking do your job. You're supposed to have a handle on him." Ryan joked, clearly unamused. 
                          
"He doesn't listen to me- he doesn't listen to anybody."
                          
"That's bullshit; he fucking listens to you. You're about the only one he will listen to. So tell him to get his head out of his fucking ass and act professional. One more day, he still has one more day to finish the interview. Jus- please... talk some sense into him. He's driving me up the wall."
                          
"Where'd he go?" 
                          
"I don't know, probably back home."  Ryan turned his drink up to his lips with a mumble, speaking into the rim of his beer.
                          
Joy rolled her eyes, making her way out of the bar. She already regretted their undisclosed affair, she was beginning to regret their friendship as well. Each day that passed, the more Julian seemed like a lost cause.