Herophine: All Good Things

Chapter 19

Hero's POV:

"Hello?"

Muffled music and laughter echoed through the speaker pressed up to my ear as I answered the phone. I could hear people talking as well in the background but couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Hero! Can you hear me?!" Josephine's voice rang through, like she was in the middle of a large crowd.

As soon as I had answered, I slid down from my barstool and walked back out into the hotel lobby to have some privacy, leaving Vivian perched where she sat. The call had interrupted the awkward conversation between us.. thank god.

"Jo? Where are you?" I pressed the phone tighter to my ear.

"I'm with Kath!" Okay? Pretty sure that had been the plan. I had been with Jo long enough at this point to know when the tipsy line had been crossed. And by all means, she had reached it.

"Baby," I chuckled, "where are you guys?"

"A bar! Shit! Excuse me!" She began talking to someone else.

The information stunned me to be honest. Especially with how much Jo liked to lay low. When she told me she was going to dinner with her sister, I figured it would be your run of the mill outing and then straight home. I wasn't say I was exactly jealous by any means, but surprised for sure.

"Are you having fun?" I asked.

"Yeah! Have you ever had an Irish car bomb?!" She yelled. "I've had three!" Jesus.. Jo was somewhat of a lightweight, merely indulging in red wine and the occasional beer. Liquor had proved before as something close to an enemy in her past, leading me to believe she'd regret that in the morning.

Before I could answer her, she rattled off a new set of questions. "Where are you? Are you back at the hotel? In your room?"

I glanced over my shoulder towards where Vivian sat at the bar, scrolling through her phone with her long legs crossed under her as I listened to Jo. I wasn't checking her out. No. Just making sure she hadn't decided to follow me out here or something.

"Yeah, baby. I'm here."

A roar of laughter and yelling erupted from the other line, making it almost impossible to hear her. I could imagine the perfect imprint of my phone on my cheek from how hard I was having to strain to hear her voice over the raucous.

"Oh, God. Kath! No! Not another one!" She wined from the other line. Clearly preoccupied. Leaving me standing in the brightly lit hotel lobby like an idiot, not saying anything. I wasn't mad that she was out. She seemed to be having a hell of a time. I was annoyed at all the chaos going on when all I wanted was an escape from the shit show I had currently been thrown in since the meeting here earlier. Drunk Jo would not be that tonight, unfortunately.

"Jo.." no answer on her end. "Jo?"

"What?! Sorry I can't hear you!"

"Just call me when you get home, okay?"

"Wha-? Okay! Bye!" And then she hung up.

Jesus Christ. Those two better be careful. Jo was not one to completely let loose out of the blue like this. The amount of times I had overheard her explaining the very real possibility of date rape drugs and creeps at bars to her wild friends back home made me feel uneasy that she was being so careless. Especially when I was so far away.

I made my way back to my seat after a moment, all the while sliding my phone back in my pocket. Vivian was still nose deep in her own phone but glanced up as I reached for the last bit of drink in my glass without sitting back down.

"Everything okay?" She asked politely. Too politely. The fact that I was right next to her and Josephine was out living it up in LA was starting to get to me honestly. All I had wanted to do was have a drink before bed. Relax my mind a little. And here I was, more wound up than before.

I didn't respond. Dick move. I know. Instead, I threw back the remainder of the bourbon and slammed my glass maybe a little harder than intended on the counter. The noise caught the attention of the bartender who was only a few feet away and I motioned at him to bring me my check. Understanding, he turned for the small kiosk on the far end of the bar and started punching in numbers here and there.

"Hero.."

"It's fine. I'm fine. Just please.." I cut her off with a slight raise of my hand while taking out my wallet. I had shoved my hotel key card in front of my credit card when I left the hotel earlier, that way I wouldn't misplace it, leading me to withdraw it and set it on the counter before pulling out my card. The bartender scurried over with a small piece of paper in hand and before he could set it down in front of me, I offered him payment without looking at the amount.

I was tired, overwhelmed, fucking sulking almost. And in need of sleep before tomorrow's test shoot. I could have easily stayed down here for another hour or so, but the company wasn't all that great.

Vivian didn't try to say anything else. My little blow up obviously enough for her to pipe down. Instead, she sipped on her wine slowly, most definitely room temp by now, and avoided looking in my direction at all. Good. I hated how it seemed to always have to come to this; her not taking the hint until I basically spit in her face and told her to fuck off. I hated being so hateful or acting in such a way. Something about her though, made that side come out of me.

While I was scribbling my signature on the small receipt like paper, for $47 might I add, my phone buzzed once again in my pocket, this time alerting of a text. After placing my credit card back in its faithful spot and shoving my wallet back in my jeans, I pulled it out to a notification from Instagram.

'Josephine Langford posted on her story for the first time in a while'

Interesting. It didn't take a genius to notice she hardly ever entertained her socials at all, and I was itching to see what it was the world would as well. Instantly, I clicked on the notification and it took me to her page. She had posted a video, the room dim with only multicolor neon light illuminating it. Despite the picture quality of her phone, the movement was blurry and all I could make out was a pool table off to one side and strangers standing around in makeshift places. Some people were dancing, others taking shots. Clearly this place was a hole in the wall hotspot.

After the video, popped up a picture of Jo, obviously taken by someone else. She had a pool stick in one hand and a mixed drink in another. And Jesus did she look good.

Her light blonde hair was curled in loose waves, draped over her shoulders and chest. Her makeup a little heavier than normal, standard for when she was going out. She wore a long sleeve dark grey top that hugged every inch of her upper body, with a bit of a v neck that gave a tasteful sight to her cleavage pressed together tucked into a blood red high waisted skirt, looked to be made of velvet or something similar that hit her a little higher than mid thigh, giving way to her porcelain toned legs. Jo wasn't much for heels, so her pair of trusty old white chuck Taylor's covered her feet.

She looked like the girl next door. So naturally pretty and young. So carefree and fun. My mouth nearly watered at the sight of her, to the point I pressed on the far left side of the screen to keep her story from progressing any further. As soon as it did, I was cursing the damn thing.

The same person who had probably taken the picture of her now took a video. I watched as Jo circled the pool table, like she was looking for the perfect spot to shoot from. Suddenly, she leaned down to get a better look at the balls laid out on the table when a guy came up close beside her and leaned down closely, as if he were whispering something in her ear as he pointed across the table. What the fuck?

As soon as she lined up to take the shot, the video cut off and ended abruptly.