no strings attached - j.b

complete mess

"Hey, have any of you seen Phoebe?" Joe asked Trey and Alisa, his wife, anxiously.

A few minutes after Fiona had been kicked out of the party, Phoebe had gotten up and told Sam and Joe that she was going to make the rounds and talk to some people.

Joe and Sam hadn't thought anything more of it until at some point they too had decided to mingle a bit and Joe, without giving it much thought, had looked around for Phoebe, whom he couldn't find among all the people.

He had let Sam know that he would just look for her for a minute, but he hadn't found her in the kitchen or anywhere where the party was taking place. Suddenly he felt quite uncomfortable and the worry increased more and more, while he had asked some of his colleagues if they had seen Phoebe.

"Oh, yeah. She stormed up the stairs a few minutes ago. Is everything okay with her? After the altercation with the other girl earlier?" Alisa asked, concerned. "That's what I'm trying to find out right now. Thanks" Joe gave her a thankful look before running up the stairs.

Joe had been at Ja'Marr's many times and knew his house pretty well, after all it wasn't too different from his own. But he found the small upstairs hallway completely dark and everything seemed quiet, or so he thought.

"please, Kim, pick up" he heard a frantic whisper before a faint glow of light fell through the slit of the ajar door to the guest room. Joe recognized the voice immediately. "Phoebe?" he asked softly, running to the door, which he pushed open carefully.

"Phoebe?" he asked again when he spotted the figure at the window, illuminated by nothing but the light from her cell phone screen. "Oh hey" she quickly stroked her cheeks before crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Joe took a few steps toward her. "I...I had to make a call to someone. Nothing interesting, just a quick call" she raised her phone in the air before brushing her face with her sleeve again.

"Phoebe, have you been...crying?" Joe asked, startled, reaching out to touch Phoebe's arm as Phoebe shook her head vigorously. "No, of course not. Why would I cry?" her voice broke away more and more as she lowered her head and sighed loudly in exasperation.

"I'm sorry. Everything's okay. Don't worry about it. I'll be right back down, okay?" she lifted her head again and tried to smile at Joe, but even in the little light shining through the window, Joe could see the tears rolling down her cheek.

"Phoebe..." Joe gently stroked her arm, but Phoebe knocked his arm away. "It's really all right, Joe. Would you please leave me alone?" she asked him, her voice trembling, but Joe shook his head.

"Please, Joe, I...." her voice broke away again. "I don't want you to see me like this" she lowered her head again and slapped her hands in front of her face as she sobbed quietly. "Phoebe, hey" he pulled her into his arms, but Phoebe tried to push him away.

"Joe, please, leave me alone" she pounded against his chest as she sobbed, but Joe wrapped his arms around her body until she was crying loudly, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing against him.

"She's right after all, Joe. She's right. I'm an incompetent being defined only by her family's achievements. What have I accomplished in life. What am I anyway. A failure" she sobbed as she rested her forehead on Joe's shoulder.

"Phoebe, stop, that's not true" Joe stroked her hair "Everything Fiona said is not true" he assured her.

"No? I think it is. You said yourself that I'm nothing without my family names. I'm a Brown, that's my personality. Not Phoebe, Phoebe is nothing. Not even my own mother finds anything in Phoebe. And Fiona is right, except for Sam, I had to spread my legs every time for a boy to even notice me. I bore them and eventually even my looks don't bring them enough to keep me. I've never felt so ugly" she whispered the last part while Joe shook his head.

"No, I'm not going to listen to you lie to yourself any longer" he broke away from Phoebe and pulled her with him into the bathroom, where he flicked on the light and put Phoebe in front of the mirror. "Look at you, Phoebe. You are the most beautiful, smartest and funniest person I have ever met"

Phoebe eyed herself in the mirror. Smudged make up, disheveled hair, red eyes, puffy face. No sign of beauty. "I look like a mess" she whispered softly as new tears gathered in her eyes.

"The prettiest mess I've ever seen. Even when you doubt yourself, you look stunning, Phoebe" Joe turned her around and lifted her onto the bathroom commode as he tore open the cabinets. He found some toner, fortunately Ja'Marr was pretty special about his facial routine, and dribbled some onto the cotton pads that lay next to it.

Carefully, he ran it over Phoebe's cheek to wipe away the traces of her mascara. "Phoebe, you don't have to hide when you doubt yourself. You don't have to play the strong, reckless woman when someone you more or less call a friend says something like that to your face. Sam and I, we're here for just those moments for you, as true friends, Phoebe" he clarified as Phoebe bit her lower lip to stop the tears.

"I just finished with one side, now if you mess this up again we'll probably have to buy Ja'Marr a new toner" warningly Joe raised his finger but grinned as Phoebe laughed. "I'm trying my best" she whispered.

"And Phoebe, what you say about yourself is not true. Every time we're together, I see Phoebe, not a Brown. I see you, the sometimes bitchy, pretty mouthy Phoebe, who likes to have one too many, works very hard, yet drops everything when her friends call...or her dad" Joe pushed her face up by her chin as he continued to clean up the mess on her face.

"You know...I'm comfortable with you, that's why Phoebe, the real me, comes out there. I know how much you...how much you hate my rich girl side, but it's just a part of me. Even if it's gotten the upper hand by now" Phoebe mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Joe asked with interest as he took a new cotton pad and turned Phoebe's face to see where he had missed marks.

"Well, during my high school years I was surrounded by rich kids, I couldn't really stand out with my rich side, that's when Phoebe had the upper hand and I stood out from the rest by doing good. In college, well, all of a sudden everyone was good but not many were rich, that's when the rich girl side developed and now...people expect a certain attitude from me just because I'm rich and spoiled and I...embody it too. Except when I'm with people where I can really be myself because...they just don't expect that from me or...even hate it" with her head down she pointed at Joe.

"You should show more people Phoebe, even if they expect a rich spoiled girl. Phoebe is a very likable person and I'm sure a lot of people would see that if you showed it to them, Phoebe" Joe pushed her face up towards him by her chin.

"Don't listen so much to what others say. Neither to Fiona, nor me when I didn't know you like I do now, Phoebe. You're wonderful just as you are. You've accomplished enough now as Phoebe, not as a Brown. I mean, maybe your grandpa's money got you into college, but the grades, the hard work, it was all you" he put his hand to her cheek.

Smiling, Phoebe rested against it. "Thanks. For the pep talk and for cleaning this up" she grinned. "Yeah, uh, you might want to recheck that yourself" Joe nervously ran his hand over the back of his neck as Phoebe jumped off the dresser and turned to the mirror.

"You did a pretty good job" she noted before rubbing a few small spots away and turning back to Joe. "Ready to go back down?" he held out his hand to her, which Phoebe took with a smile as she nodded. "I guess so" she mumbled.

"There you are" Sam exhaled in relief as the two walked hand in hand down the stairs. "What were you doing up there?" he asked skeptically as the two stood in front of him. "Don't worry, not what you think. I...had some self-doubt and Joe was there to talk to me" she explained.

"But are you ok again?" Sam asked, concerned. Phoebe nodded before wrapping her arms around the side of Joe's upper body, smiling. "Everything's fine" she assured as she smiled up at Joe who had his arm around her shoulder.

WHO-DEY🧡🧡