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by bettycoooper

by bettycoooper

By the next evening, us girls had returned home.

I rejoined my sister and Mary in her car. Roger and I had a pretty passionate goodbye, much to the dismay of John and Deborah particularly. I gave my sister daggers, inferring that I knew what happened and she'd be getting lectures later on. The band had a meeting the next day, and I was planning on a girls night with Debs and Tasha, a sort of reunion. I briefly mentioned it to Mary, who turned it down politely. She wanted some time to unwind.

I completely understood her. The last few months had been draining, emotionally and physically. It's not that i'm complaining; Roger is the best thing to happen to me. But I needed some time to myself, away from the drinking, getting high, partying. I knew that a healthy relationship could only be proven if the couple have their time apart. It's a fact.

Debs, Tash and I sat around a small table in the crowded pub I worked at, and we had discussed having a few drinks just to celebrate girls night. However, the few drinks, as per usual, turned into too many. We had been taking back shot after shot after shot. I had lost count after my seventh. I don't know what had gotten into me, really; I'd told myself that I wasn't going to get blackout. Hell, I'd told myself I wasn't going to drink! Potentially a combination of the adrenaline of seeing Roger performing, along with the prospect of him getting really famous and going on tour and meeting beautiful European girls and forgetting about me.

"Jules? Where the fuck is your head, girl?" Deborah said, flicking my temple lightly. I snapped out of my thought quickly, knocking back another Sambuca before I could overthink anymore.

"Shit, sorry girls. I zoned out there. Think the drinks gone to my head." I laughed, rubbing my forehead for affect. Despite this, I eagerly grabbed the triple gin and tonic from the barman (Charlie's) hand when he brought it to the table. He chuckled,

"Bloody hell, Julia. You're on it tonight." He remarked, half with concern and half as a joke. I decided to respond to the joke.

"It's my night off, Charlie! I need to let my hair down." I winked, actually hearing how much I was slurring and honestly? Not caring one ounce. My wink was definitely more of a blink, and as I bought my glass to my lips to take a sip, I spilt half of it down my exposed chest.

Charlie didn't respond, just shook his head whilst smiling, turned away to walk to the bar and went back to work.

"You know something, Julia? I don't think i've ever seen you as happy as you are with Roger." Tasha grinned, tipping her glass to the air.

"Honestly? You mean that?" I smiled. Hearing that from a close friend meant a lot; hearing it from Mary and the boys was nice, but Tasha really knew me. It was extremely reassuring.

"Honestly, babe. Aren't I right, Deb?" Tasha probed. This was interesting. Deborah hadn't really said much about Roger and I, not since the beginning. My gaze shifted to Deborah, who was taking a long gulp from her drink whilst looking at me. The wait from the time she took to pull the glass from her lips, swallow, place the glass down, and speak seemed like an eternity. She took a deep breath.

"You know what? You are right. Jules, I had my doubts. I thought he was gonna toss you aside like just another groupie," I stiffened, "but I was wrong. He's good for you. He loves you, and that's hard to find in this world, i'll tell you that for free. He's a keeper, and I really mean it, from the bottom of my heart, I am so happy for you."

I actually was slightly speechless. I didn't expect this, not atall. I nearly felt tears form, but I swallowed them back and sighed instead.

"Thank you." I said quietly, not really knowing what else to say. She gave me a look, as if to say 'It's ok' and squeezed my leg.

The alcohol had started to really hit now, and we decided to order another round of shots before potentially playing a game of pool or darts. Before we could play a round of never have I ever between the three of us, the jukebox began playing Brown Eyed Girl. I automatically shot up and stared into space. I couldn't bare to look over to the jukebox, to see who put it on. Deborah initially looked confused, then put two and two together. She didn't know the details, but she knew enough of my experience with this song.

My first 'love' Jack, when I was just fourteen and him four years older, would play me this song, telling me I was his 'brown eyed girl', looking back it was extremely cliche, but at the time, it was special. Simultaneously, the man ruined my life. He controlled every aspect of it; who I saw, spoke to. An incident where I refused to sleep with him resulted with me getting a slap round the face. His apology? Serenading me the song. He used the fact that I was young and naive to his advantage, and once he finally got what he wanted, he left. I haven't seen him since.

In the grand scheme of things, the song playing wasn't that deep. It wasn't like the song haunted me. I hadn't really thought about it until this moment. It just seemed strange to me. I finally found the courage to look, and it was like I had been winded, punched in the gut. How the fuck could God play me this way?!

"No way, Julia? Is that you?!" The familiar voice exclaimed.