Ketchum, ID

ch 4 - julien

"I can't love you how you want me to," we harmonized as we ended the song.

The crowd was quiet for a second which made me nervous. Then the entire room erupted in cheers and applause. Phoebe, Lucy, and I could not stop smiling as we pulled each other into a hug. After we broke apart, my eyes scanned the room, and I saw Jo enthusiastically talking to a man at the bar. I knew I needed to talk to her before the night was over, and I had a feeling Lucy and Phoebe would want a drink, so I proposed the idea.

"Do you guys want to get a drink?" I asked them, trying to play it nonchalant.

"Of course we do. I can bet $20 I know why you want to go over there," Phoebe said with a smirk.

"I won't lie, I've been waiting for you to come up with an excuse to talk to the cute bartender since Phoebe first pointed her out," Lucy added. "Let's go over there."

As we gathered our things and packed them up, the person who sang with Jo came up to the side of the stage.

"You guys were literally the highlight of the night, which is saying a lot because I know Man Or Muppet is an iconic song," Alex said with a laugh.

"We were amazing? You and the pretty bartender had me singing along to the Muppets, and while that doesn't take much, it was the most fun I've had in a bar in a while," Phoebe said. Hearing everyone call Jo the pretty bartender did start to ignite a spark of jealousy in me, but I'd never met her so I obviously couldn't stake any claim over her.

"Well you guys have to meet my beautiful counterpart. I'm Alex if I didn't make that clear, and Jo is my co-owner of the bar. We are so excited that open mic night has been enough of a success for you three to come and put on as great of a show as you did. Come on, come to the bar with me. Drinks on the house," they said as they walked toward the bar.

As we walked, they talked to us more about the song, and they asked if there was more where that came from. We told them about the other few songs we had in the works, but we weren't sure how great they were.

"Well if they're even half as good as Bite The Hand, you guys have a hit record on your hands," they said as we approached the end of the bar that Jo was not standing at. "You guys absolutely smashed it!"

"Thank you," I heard Phoebe say sheepishly. I looked down to Jo at the other end of the bar and was immediately aware that I was about to meet her. We made eye contact and she immediately blushed again.

"Jo! Baby! Come down here really quick! I have people I need you to meet!" Hearing Alex talk to her like this did start to make me question my chances with her, but then she responded.

"One second, I'm making his drink-" she started before Alex cut her off.

"Nick can wait. He's here 4 nights a week, waiting a few more minutes so I can talk to my girl isn't going to hurt you, is it Nick?" they said, talking about the man I assumed was named Nick that Jo was making a drink for. I couldn't make out what he said to her as I watched him throw his hands up in the air. I watched her make a face at him as if to say she was sorry and she'd be back in a minute. He shrugged her off and she wiped her hands off on the towel that was hanging from her pocket and set it down on the bar. Then she walked down to our end of the bar with the prettiest smile I may have ever seen.

"There she is!" Alex said with the biggest smile as she walked down to us. "My favorite lady!" they said as they wrapped their arm around her shoulders. I felt that sinking feeling of jealousy again, and really felt like they were together and I was intruding. "Meet Phoebe, Lucy, and Julien! This is boygenius and they're the world's next hottest band. You heard it here first."