Luck & Intuition

JOE STOOD OUTSIDE of the restaurant with his hands in his pockets as he waited on the sidewalk in West Hollywood outside of the Mondrian Hotel. He walked in a two foot radius back and forth several times, rubbing the back of his neck. He breathed out deeply and looked up.

“Oh my gosh, Joe! This place looks fantastic! Thank you so much for calling me. I thought you wouldn’t.”

Joe laughed and smiled lightly, “Well you thought wrong, Arianna. I’m glad I called you too.”
“Oh, you can call me Ari.” Arianna smiled back at Joe, gazing up to see the height of the building. “Should you head inside?”

“Of course, yeah.” Joe held open the glass door as Ari walked inside the building. She seemed to be amazed by the whole atmosphere of the place. Her green eyes light up with excitement as we walked into the nice bar area.

The Skybar is an open air, ivy-covered pavilion perched above a pool and Outdoor Living Room. It was too crowded but there were enough people in there to consider it to be packed. Joe found an open seat and allowed Arianna to take a seat first then he followed by taking the free stop beside her.

“This is really fantastic, Joe. Thank you, again.” Ari smiled and touched his thigh. His gazed went down to study the position of her hand. He smirked slightly and nodded.

The conversation began with the basics about how they were and how their day was, you know all that jazz. Arianna was the main one to ask the questions; after all she was on a date with a celebrity. Joe answered honestly, just like he always did whether or not it was an interview.

Then the role switched only for a few seconds as Joe’s one single question began a whole life story of Arianna.

“I have three sisters, two older and one younger. We’re all a year apart which is pretty cool to me.” Ari placed her lips onto the rim of her glass and gulped down the remaining liquid of the martini she had been drinking.

Well if this doesn’t work out, I could always just bang her sisters. They are probably all just as pretty as she is, or more.

“Oh, so you have a big family like me? Except I have two younger brothers and one older.” Joe said, running his finger along the edge of his empty glass. “Would you like another drink?”

“That’d be nice, thanks.”

Joe picked up their glasses and made his way through the groups of people standing around and chatting. He smiled to himself that things were going well with Arianna; he did feel a great connection. She was a great girl, very bubbly as well.

“An apple martini and a Tom Collins, please.” Joe ordered. The bartender repeated the order and set out to make the drinks. Joe turned and leaned his back against the counter and folded his arms lightly across his chest.

Down a few seats at the bar, obnoxiously loud laughter boomed throughout the entire room. Joe’s head snapped in the direction of the sound wanting to see who the drunk fuck that was laughing so loud. He hated people like that; it was not classy at all especially in a place like this that is barely nightclub.

Joe squinted his eyes to see in the distance, wearing his glasses and not putting in his contacts might have been a good idea tonight. He laughed to himself and shook his head. Of course it was a girl that was fucked out of her mind. Unless that girl being--

“Autumn?!”

She was clinging to the male she was with, falling over him and laughing uncontrollably. He was smirking greedily knowing what events would occur after their time here was over. But Joe knew she was smarter than this, she was playing him. She was acting wasted and not actually participating in being drunk.

He continued to watch he moves, how she would tousle his hair and feel his arms and probably even compliment him about how strong he is. Joe flexed his own muscle and glared at the male.

I am way more fit then he ever could be.

That is until the male actually flexed his muscles and it was muscle upon muscle upon muscle. Joe had been defeated in that area.

Fucking Jersey Shore punk.

But that was only the tip of the ice berg for Joe and this whole movie scene. Seriously, things were always bound to get worse for one of the characters. Right?

“Hey, buddy. Your drinks.” The bartender tapped Joe on the shoulder and pointed to the drinks. “You okay there, mate? You look like you want to punch someone out.”

Joe laughed. “Oh, no. I’m fine. Thanks for the drinks. Put it under Joe Jonas.” The bartender nodded and proceeded to fix drinks for customers.

Joe walked back over to the table and set down the drinks. “Sorry it took so long, the bartender was swamped with orders. He apologies.”

“Well that’s okay! I’ve got all night.” Ari giggled and flicked her hair behind her shoulders and took a sip of her drink.

She’s got all night. So she says.

[&&]

The night wound down and the drinks became watery and tasteless. The crowd of people had dropped to nearly half as they left to explore the rest of the Los Angeles nightlife. Arianna laughed as Joe told one of his tour stories about falling off stage or getting sweaty bras thrown at him.

Ari glanced at her watch and groaned. “I have to work in the morning, I completely forgot.” She stood up and grabbed her oversized purse.

“Thanks alright.” Joe smiled and left some cash on the table as he escorted her towards the doors. The cool breeze touched against Joe’s arms and he shivered slightly.

“I had a great time tonight, Joe, thank you.” Arianna smiled sweetly and hailed for a taxi. She opened the door and got inside, rolling down the window and blowing a kiss as the driver drove off down the road.

Joe smiled slightly and shoved his hands into his pockets. The laughing from earlier became apparent within earshot. The doors opened and Autumn stepped out with the Jersey Shore manwhore. She was wobbling as she walked which struck to Joe as odd. Her arm was wrapped around the manwhore’s shoulder. Autumn tilted her head up and planted her lips directly on to his.

Joe stood there, frozen in place just like a statue. Was he just in a daze? No. He couldn’t be. The male lit up a smoke and took a puff. Autumn retrieved the smoke and proceeded to take a long drag as she waved down a taxi cab. This was all wrong.

“Let’s go back to your place.” Autumn slurred at the male, wrapping herself around him.

“Not tonight, toots.” The male pushed Autumn causing her to stumble backwards. Joe pushed forward and caught Autumn by the arm. The male snickered and shut the door to the cab and drove away.

Autumn looked up and scoffed. “Oh, it’s you.”

“Are you alright?” Joe asked, helping her stand up properly. Autumn removed her heels and placed them on the ground.

“I’m perfectly fine, that is until you got here.” Her words were still slightly slurred and her breath stank of vodka. “I need to go home.”

“Would you like me to take you?”

“Would I like you to take me home? Ha! No, it’s just a few blocks away. I can walk by myself.” She waved him off and started to journey home.

Joe glanced down at the ground and picked up Autumn’s heels, jogging up to her side quietly.

“Fuck off, Jonas.”

He laughed. “You forgot your shoes. By the looks of them, they must have been pretty expensive.” He paused. “I’m going to walk you home, whether you like it or not.”

She sighed, Autumn didn’t have to the energy to fight back at this hour and in her drunken condition. She reached out to grab her shoes from Joe but he insisted on carrying them for her.

“Why...” She blinked. “Why are you being nice to me, Jonas?”

“It’s is hard to believe that even celebrities like me can be nice once in a while, Autry?”

“Only Storm and...” She trailed off and stopped walking in her path.

“Storm and...?” Joe questioned, stopping when Autumn stop. Autumn shoved her bag into Joe’s chest and staggered her way to the alley and started to gag and then eventually vomit.

“Shit, Autumn.” Joe rushed over to her side. He held back her hair. “Just puke, Autumn it’ll back you feel better. Trust me.”

And so she did, multiple times over the course of ten minutes they were in the alley. Autumn breathed out and sat down on the ground, leaning against the cool brick wall of the building and closed her eyes.

“Are you okay?” Joe asked softly, touching her arm. Her eyes opened slowly as she started to nodded a bit then turned into a no. “Here, get on my back, okay? I’ll carry you.”

“No... Joe.” Autumn swallowed and shook her head.

“Don’t be a stubborn ass. Get on my back.” Joe turned around. Autumn stood up and boosting her up on a box and got onto Joe’s back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder.

Joe walked silently through the streets of West Hollywood towards Autumn’s apartment. When he arrived he searched through her bag for her keys. Once he found them, he unlocked the door and walked in quietly not to disturb Storm or Ella Mae. He glanced over his shoulder to see Autumn in a slumber on his shoulder.

Joe walked through the kitchen and into the living room.

“Oh thank God.” Storm sat up on the couch, rubbing her eyes. “Joe?”

“Hey Storm.” He whispered. “Where’s Autumn’s room?”

Storm got up quickly and showed him to Autumn’s room. Joe pushed open the door with his knee and crept across the floor towards the bed. He moved Autumn from his back into his arms and laid her down on the bed. She began to stir as Joe let go of her.

In the spot beside her laid Ella Mae sound asleep with her white bunny clenched to her chest. Joe smiled to himself and took a step back from the bed.

“She was out drinking with some fuck up, wasn’t she?” Storm asked from the doorway.

“Yeah, he looked like some guy from Jersey Shore or something.” Joe and Storm laughed softly. “She’ll be okay in the morning.”
“Most likely. Do you want something to drink?”

“I think I’ve had enough for tonight, Storm.”

“I meant a water, smartass.” Storm laughed and motioned for Joe to follow her to the kitchen. Joe nodded and glanced back at Autumn and Ella; he sighed and closed the door behind him as he exited.

Storm handed Joe a water bottle and sat down on a chair at the kitchen table, pushing the paperwork to the side.

“How’s teaching going?” Joe questioned after taking a swig of the water. “Nick says he always stops by and claims you do a great job.”

“Well I hope so. I love those little kids; they are so full of life.” She smiled. “Oh, let me show you this painting.” Storm shuffled through the pile of art work until she came across the one she looked for.

Joe took the paper from her and began to laugh. “Is this supposed to be Kevin, Nick and I?” He asked, looking at each stick figure. Storm nodded and smiled.

“Katelyn made it. She’s a four year old that is crazy about you three, including Frankie, too.”

“Well, she sure got Nick’s poodle hair correct.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that Nick has poodle hair?! He does not!” Storm huffed and crossed her arms.

“Because he does! Who else has been saying it?”

“Autumn. With her sick humour she calls him a dog behind his back.” Joe couldn’t help but laugh even more. “It’s not fucking funny! It’s rude.”

“Sure, Storm, sure.” Joe smirked and glanced at the clock. “I should go.” he stood up and made his way to the door and stepped out into the hallway.

“Hey Joe,” Storm stopped the door before it fell close. “She’ll come around. Trust me.”