Heavy Heart

Chapter 31

By the time the weekend rolled around I was ready for it. Work had been busy with lots of overtime. Brock, Lisa, Hannah, Zack and myself had all accepted the extra work all week. The weather was getting colder, which meant the live birds couldn't sit outside as long so the killing floor was very busy. After work on Friday we all went out for beers at the bar. Jackie met up with us there, but she was a bit later because the grocery store closed around 7pm. When she walked in, still wearing her name tag, Brock's face lit up. He stood and pulled her into a hug right in front of everyone. She smiled at him and whispered something we couldn't hear.

Lisa couldn't resist and was the first to say, "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Hannah slapped her on the arm and made a 'shh' sound but Lisa was undeterred, "Jackie, I see you are slumming it." Brock glared playfully at her as he pulled Jackie closer to his side and kissed her cheek.

"I guess I'm the good girl who fell for the bad boy. There are a ton of terrible songs about it." Jackie admitted. Lisa let out a loud whistle and ordered us all a round of shots. Zack pulled me closer to him and whispered in my ear, "That's an interesting development."

I smiled and kissed his temple, "I think you guys grew on us. You are very determined." He smirked, "Patience is the key I think." I rolled my eyes but nodded in agreement.

After a few rounds of shots and beers, I realized Lisa was acting a bit louder than usual. Hannah had tried to simmer her down but she was determined to be loud that night. At first I thought she was just blowing off steam from all the overtime we'd done but by the time she was on her seventh beer I figured it had to be something else. I glanced over at Jackie and she gave me a small nod, she recognized something was off as well. I stood up from the table and said, "Do you guys think we should get some food? I mean, we've been here for two hours, we haven't had supper."

Everyone kind of nodded and murmured in agreement. I asked Brock and Zack to go and get us some menus from the bar along with a round of nachos to share. As they left us girls alone, I leaned across the table and put my hand on top of Lisa's, "Are you alright?"

She took a long sip of her beer and narrowed her eyes at me, "Yeah, I'm great. Just great. Why?" Her voice was sharp, as though she was daring me to push her. Lisa had a tough exterior, she was like me. Sometimes she could be hard to crack but I knew there was something going on so I held her hand in place and asked again, "Lisa, what's going on? Tell us." She glared at me and yanked her hand away, "Nothing Layla, Jesus. Don't bring me down, it's Friday night, let's get hammered and have some fun."

I glanced over at Hannah who wasn't looking at any of us. She looked off to the side, letting her long brown hair hide her face. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked back at Lisa, "I know something is off so just out with it. Tell us." Lisa leaned back in her chair and stood up and yanked her hand from my grasp, "Why don't you ask Hannah." She stomped off toward the bar where Brock and Zack were standing waiting for service.

Hannah looked back at us with wide eyes. Jackie and I looked at each other, then back to Hannah. She sighed heavily and shook her head, "I don't want to talk about this here. I'm going home!" With that she stood up and stormed out of the bar in a huff. I sat back in my chair and looked over at Jackie, "What the heck was that?!"

Jackie shrugged, "I don't know. They must have had a fight or something." Brock and Zack came back with menus for all of us, Lisa had stayed at the bar to do some shots with a couple of other guys from work. I turned to look at her, she was getting so drunk way too fast. Something was very wrong, and I had no idea what had happened.

Zack leaned in and whispered in my ear, "What's up with Lisa?" I shook my head and whispered back, "I don't know, but something is really wrong."

Jackie got up and went over to the bar where Lisa was standing. She was surrounded by other co-workers of ours. Brock leaned over to Zack and I and whispered, "So I'm hoping Jackie will come home with me tonight. What do you think?" I frowned and gave him the finger, "Don't even try it, jerk. She's too smart for that."

He looked taken aback by my strong reaction, "Chill Layla. I'm only kind of serious. I know she won't go home with me yet, but I'm hoping one day." I glared at Brock and told him very quietly, "If you hurt her, I will kill you." His eyes went wide and nodded slowly. Zack chuckled, "Don't push her, man. My money's on her." Brock frowned at his friend before sitting back in his chair and sipped his beer.

"Thank you." I whispered to Zack, he squeezed my hand and nodded. I suddenly heard a loud smash and some yelling over by the bar. We spun around in time to see Lisa laying on her back in a pool of beer. She was laughing but Jackie's face held concern. She gestured for us to come over quickly, I rushed over to the scene to discover that Lisa was laying not just in beer, but shattered glass. She was far too drunk to notice but as she sat up there were small pieces of glass cutting into her back through her shirt.

"Oh God, Lisa, you are bleeding!" Jackie shreeked. I helped Lisa stand up, she was so wobbly she almost fell right back down again. Zack took her left arm, I took her right and we half carried her out to my car. Brock grabbed our jackets from the table and brought them out to the parking lot. Lisa started slurring in drunk speech, she seemed to not be very aware of her surroundings. I sighed, "I'll take her to my place. She can't be alone like this." Zack nodded, "I'll go with you, baby."

Brock looked at Jackie hopefully, "Shall we go back in?" Jackie looked between Lisa and Brock before she shook her head, "No, I think I'm going to go home. Take good care of her, guys." Jackie gave everyone a small hug before she walked over to her car. Brock sighed, his frustration was evident. I smirked at him, "Cock blocked by the drunk girl. Hilarious."

Zack laughed out loud as we put Lisa into the back seat of my car on her side, so as not to push the glass further into her back. Brock watched Jackie pull out of the parking lot before turning back to us, "Do you need my help?" I shook my head, "No, thanks though. She just needs to sleep it off." Brock walked to his truck, Zack went to his. I climbed into my car and started to drive to my place. As I turned the heat up for my drunk friend I heard her singing softly to herself a song I couldn't quite make out.

"Don't worry, Lisa. I'm going to clean you up and get you settled in on my couch." I told her. She giggled and whispered, "That's nice." I rolled my eyes and shook my head. What a disaster.