Oh, this is going to be good, Lois thought.
In her mind, there was nothing better than proving Joey wrong. Especially if she was proving him wrong when it came to women. Even more so when she was proving him wrong about women, and proving herself to be the shit.
Oh, yes. This was going to be very, very good.
Smiling to herself as she scanned the crowd below, Lois did her best to keep her mind focused. The thoughts racing through her head mainly involved the look on Joeys face when she drove away in his car, but that would have to wait. Right now, she had to handle the first job in a series of tasks to reaching that goal.
"Okay, so what are we looking for?" she asked, leaning her body closer to Joey in an attempt to make herself more easily heard.
"Well, you are look for a girl for me, and I am looking for a guy for you. I thought we had discussed these basics already?" he teased, giving her a strange look.
"Screw off, jerkass." she rolled her eyes at him. "I mean, what kind of girl am I looking for?"
"Doesn't matter much." he shrugged. "Whoever you think will help you win. Even though, I don't think you're going to win, but hey."
Shaking her head to herself, Lois scanned her eyes through the dancing women below her.
She needed a list of criteria for this, if it was going to work out in her favor.
Did she want someone below average? Someone who may make this hard for Joey, since he had to pursue this person?
Or did she want someone completely out of his league? Someone who was so perfect, there was no way Joey would ever be able to get his foot far enough in the door to actually get anywhere?
Either option seemed appealing. She would just have to wait and see what happened.
Sighing to herself, Lois straightened from the railing. "Im going to go and get a drink. Ill be back in a minute."
"What? Why? You running away already?" Joey taunted as he straightened himself and leaned his hip against the rail.
Continuing to walk away from him, Lois threw her arm back, extending the middle finger towards Joey as she reached the stairs and headed down. She could hear him laugh as she descended the staircase.
As she weaved her way through the people, she studied them. Their actions, the tiny hints of personality they each exuded as they interacted with each other.
Most people did realize this, but you could tell a lot about a person, within the first few minutes of meeting them. She completely believed in the first impression rule. If someone gave her a bad first impression, she was rarely ever able to break it. But a good first impression held strong for a long time, until the stupid fuck ate her grape jelly.
Reaching the bar, she leaned her body on the counter and called out to the bartender.
"Strawberry daiquiri, Xavier." she yelled, giving the handsome, Spanish man her best smile.
"Lois, bella, how are you?" his sexy accent made her toes curl.
"Fine, you know me. I'm Lois." she tilted her head flirtatiously as she shrugged her shoulders.
Xavier grinned at her as he began to mix her drink.
Turning to face the crowd again, Lois leaned her back against the bar, her elbows resting on the edge.
She couldn't see much. Well, nothing that was going to help her in her mission, anyway. Just a bunch of bobbing heads, blurred by the movements, lights and smoke. Not exactly the perfect place to find Ms. Right, but hey, she wasn't exactly looking for that. Ms Right-Now would do just fine.
"Hey baby, how you doin'?" a male voice sounded to her right, and Lois rolled her eyes.
As she looked over to respond to the horrible attempt at a Joey Tribianni come on, she realized that it was directed at her. It was directed at the girl beside her.
She couldn't see much of the girl. She looked to be around her age, long dark hair that was slightly wavy and reached far down her back. She had a trim figure, and a calm, confident demeanor that Lois could tell. Just the way she leaned her arm on the bar, had a sense of strength in it. This woman wasn't falling for any of this.
"Im fine." she replied politely.
The guy, a thirty-something man with dark hair and a cheap Armani knockoff shirt, grinned at the girl. "You know, baby," he started, "You look just like Jennifer Lopez"
Lois had to cover her mouth to keep herself from laughing out loud. The last thing she needed was to make it obvious that she was listening to this jackass trying to pick up. She pretended to cough, and continued to subtly listen.
"Really?" the girl replied, fained interest in her voice. "Cause I was just thinking you looked like J-Lo's stalker. Wow, thats weird, huh?"
Her obvious uninterest was thick in her voice, but this guy didn't seem to be gettin the hint. Must be all the hair gel gooped in his hair that was blocking the message from getting through to his single, intelligent brain cell. Either that, or the stupid brain cells had tied up the lone little thinker and gagged him.
"Aw, now that wasn't nice." he smiled, taking a step closer. "You must be getting grumpy cause its so hot in here." Pulling at the neck of his shirt, he pretending to be sudden warm. "It is awfully warm in here," smirking at her, he lowered his voice, and leaned his head towards hers. "Do you mind if I take my pants off?"
Oh, this is too much! Lois thought to herself, again, her eyes rolling.
"Sure," the woman replied. "I haven't had a good laugh in a while."
That seemed to do the trick, and the guy took a few steps back. Raising his hands in front of him, he nodded. "Okay, I get the hint." Giving her one last appreciative look, the man disappeared in the crowd.
The girl turned to face the bar again, sighing to herself.
Lois finally got a good look at her.
Her confidence was there, just as Lois had suspected. This girl didn't exude arrogance, however. She was just comfortable with who she was, and didn't take any crap. How did Lois know this just from looking at her? Because to Lois, it was like looking in a mirror.
This girl, with her dark, deep eyes and smooth complexion, was exactly the same as her. She didn't know how she could tell, really, but she knew it. She was nice if you were nice to her, but if you tested her boundaries, you would be blocked at every attempt.
The girls giggle broke Lois from her thoughts.
"Some guys, huh?" she said, her voice smooth and sweet.
Lois realized she was the one being spoken to this time, and smiled. "Yeah. You kinda have to feel bad for guys like that. I mean, they actually think that those lines are going to work? You have to pity someone with that little brain function."
The girl laughed. "I know. At least he didn't ask if I had a keg attached to my butt."
The girl must have noticed Lois' confused expression, because she giggled and explained herself. "A little while ago, a guy asked me if I had a keg attached to my butt. When I asked why, he said because he wanted to tap that ass." Using her fingers to quote the 'tap that ass' the girl rolled her eyes.
Lois had to laugh. Oh Lord, what kind of men hung out here? Lucky for her, she usually came with Joey or Justin and spent most of her time with them, not having to interact with this type of guy. For the first time ever, she was thankful for going somewhere with Justin.
"Heres your drink, bella." Xavier returned, placing Lois' drink in front of her with a wink of his dark eyes.
Winking back at him, Lois turned back to the girl.
She shook her head, smiled, and turned to Lois. "Oh well, you never know." she said. "Maybe there is one good one out there. Probably not at this club, but hey, a girl can wish, right?"
Lois smiled, nodding in agreeance. "They hide somewhere. Unfortunately, they forget to leave a map, and end up forgetting their way back. So its up to us to find the stupid shits."
The girl laughed again, before turning and retreating into the crowd. A few steps away, she looked over her shoulder at Lois. "Good luck, girl. Hope you find that map."
Grinning, Lois nodded. "You too, hon."
As she watched the woman merge into the crowd, Lois smiled wider.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she whispered to herself. "We have a winner."
Joey sat back on the couch in a small corner of the club.
He had gotten tired of waiting for Lois to come back, and had decided to come down to the pool room in the lowest level of the club.
There usually weren't too many people down here, which is what Joey liked about it. Most people wanted to be up on the main floor, dancing and trying to pick up.
Leaning his arms across the back of the couch, Joey watched as a guy played pool at a far table.
He was by himself, but Joey could tell it wasn't because no one wanted to be around him. He had this air of confidence about him, and as far as Joey could tell, he was there because he wanted to be.
He was tall, muscular without being overly burly. His light brown hair was unstyled, his slightly preppy attire a nice change from the overly done club goers upstairs. He had a laidback appeal, giving off the vibe that you could relax around him.
Leaning across the table, he lined up a shot, and smiled when the strategy paid off.
Just then, a girl bounced down the stairs. Her overly tight shirt leaving nothing to the imagination, with her skirt ending high on her thighs. Her long, blonde hair was curly, flowing far down her back. Her eyes were heavily made up, her lips dark with a deep shade.
Joey assumed she was a very pretty girl, if she didn't try so hard. She had a sweet, girl next door look, masked by the attempts at looking older and more mature. They only made her look like a little girl you had gotten in to mommys makeup, and her baby sisters clothes.
"Brian!" the girl exclaimed excitedly, as she bounced, overly much so, towards pool playing guy.
Joey grinned to himself when he noticed the man tense slightly, and curse under his breath. "Hey Simone." he greeted politely.
The girl reached up and pulled Brian down for a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. He returned the hug, but pulled back quickly.
"What are you doing down here, silly? The party is up there." the girl said, her voice irritatingly high and perky.
"Just wanted a little peace." he said, the message in his comment ringing clear to Joey. But obviously, Simone wasn't that bright.
"Aw, com'on. You need to have a little fun. Lets go." With that, the girl reached out and took Brians hand. She tried to pulled him towards the stairs leading up to the main level, but he gently retrieved his hand.
"No, its alright. I think I'm just going to hang out here for a while." he said, his voice still polite and tolerant.
The girl huffed, her hands finding their way to her hips. "Dont be such a party pooper, Bri." she pouted.
Brian shrugged as she rubbed chalk on the end of the pool cue before reaching out to line up another shot. "Maybe another time, Simone."
Watching him for a moment in the hopes that he would reconsider, Simone huffed again before heading towards the stairs and disappearing.
Joey had to smile. For some reason, that girl made him think of Lois. Certainly not appearance wise. Lord knows Lois would be knocking her for her outfit if she had seen that, but her abruptness and determination was the same. Simone wanted, and didn't want to be denied. That was all Lois.
"Hey," Brians voice broke Joey from his thoughts. Turning to face him, Joey raised his chin.
"You wanna play?" Brian asked, tilting his head towards the pooltable.
Joey wasn't much of a pool player, but the invitation was appealing to him. "Sure."
Standing from the couch, Joey crossed the distance between the two, and picked a cue from the wall. Walking to up Brian, he extended his hand. "Hey, I'm Joey Fatone."
Taking the hand, the man smiled. "Brian Wilson."
Brian walked around to the far end of the table, wracking up the balls. "You wanna break?"
"Naw, its okay. You go for it. Ill be honest right now, I'm not too good at this game" Joey offered, leaning his back against the wall to wait.
Brian smiled. "Aw, nothing to it. Just for fun."
There was silence for a moment before Brian spoke up. "Quite the girl, huh?"
"What?"
"Simone," Brian smiled. "Shes quite a piece of work."
Joey couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, she seemed,"
"Abrasive?" Brian finished Joeys sentence.
Joey had to laugh. "Yeah, a little."
Brian laughed as well. "Aw, shes a nice girl. She just tired too hard, ya know. Just ends up ticking people off."
Joey nodded. He understood that all too well.
He had had more run ins with fans like Simone than he could count. He automatically assumed them all to be nice girls, but when they came off like they were all that, with their skimpy clothes and attitudes, their intentions rang through clearly.
"Just a little much for me, I guess." Brian said, his lips sticking out as he nodded with his own comment. "I don't really like pushy. I guess I'm a little too laid back, but I hate it when girls are loud, and overly blunt. There is a lot to be said about subtly, ya know?"
Joey couldn't agree more. "Yeah, I know what you mean."
Coming to the front of the table, Brian leaned across and lined up the first shot. Breaking the game, he smiled when the corner thunked with the sound of the first ball of the game.
Stepping up to the table, Joey leaned over. "So, Brian," he said, as he took an unsuccessful shot. "What do you do?"
"Oh, Im a self-professed nerd." Brian laughed. "E-Com stuff."
"Like what?" Joey asked, straightening from the table.
Brian smiled. "Basically, I set up computer systems for large companies. I set up their databases, and give them a crash course in how to use them."
"Think you could teach me how to use my computer?" Joey smirked. "I spilled Pepsi on it a while ago, and now the buttons stick."
Brian laughed.
Joey watched as Brian crossed the table to take his next shot.
He studied him. He was confident, without being arrogant. He wasn't one for flashy, overdone things, and appeared really relaxed and laid back.
He seemed like the complete opposite of Lois.
She enjoyed fast paced, adventurous, excitement. She was always dragging Joey and the guys out on some crazy adventure. Constantly dragging Justin around.
"Hey man," Brian said, bringing Joeys attention to him. "Your shot."
Nodding, Joey approached the table, and leaned over. Reaching out, he took his shot, and smiled when the ball went in the desired pocket.
"Hey you got it!" Brian smiled, surprise in his voice.
Joey grinned. "Yeah," he said. "I think I do."
