Chapter 9 - 4th of July party

The day of the Brady Corp. party had come. Even though it wasn't the first party Julia had organized, far from it, she couldn't help but feel nervous. She knew very well what, or rather who, was the reason for her anxiety. Jack Deschanel.

Even though he seemed to have liked whatever she planned for the party, and would not interfere with Julia's and her team's decisions, he was still around and watching. She couldn't help but feel that he was waiting for her to make a mistake.

"You don't care what that chauvinistic CEO asshole thinks," she told herself looking at her reflection in the mirror that afternoon. The event was a casual one so she put on skinny jeans and a white cashmere sweater.

The party was starting at eight, but Julia, Lizzy and Josh had to be there hours earlier to make sure everything was ready and going per their plan.

When she arrived at the venue, The Ritz, Lizzie and Josh were already running around.

"You don't care what that chauvinistic CEO asshole thinks," she whispered to herself one last time.

"Julia, thank god!" Josh exclaimed, panicked. "They seem not to be able to start the fire under the barbecue!"

"Tell them to put some scrunched newspapers under the charcoal, Josh." Julia answered calmly.

"Got it!" Josh turned around and moved towards the hotel patio where the barbecue area was arranged.

"And Josh?"

"Yes, Julia?"

"This needs time. Give it twenty to thirty minutes to come to the right temperature."

"Got it!" Josh repeated and was gone.

Julia chuckled, remembering another barbeque in Seattle. During one of the first weddings she'd organized, the father of the groom had insisted on showing everyone how to properly light up the grill. The guy used too much of the lighting gel and ended up with a burnt bow tie.

The chuckle froze on her lips when she remembered that during Nicholas' sister wedding they also had a barbeque. Nicholas was against it, but his sister, the bride, would not hear no for an answer. A chill ran down Julia's spine at the memory and she winced.

"You OK, Julia?" Lizzie showed up out of nowhere.

Julia looked up at her surprised. Pulled out of her unpleasant thoughts she needed a moment to remember where she was.

"Julia?" Lizzie shot her a worried look.

"All good, Liz!" Julia answered too cheerfully, but hoped Lizzie would not notice. "So, everything ready?"

"Well... The main room is ready, the charades room is ready, the concert room is ready and the band should arrive within the next two hours. You've heard about the barbecue from Josh already..."

"What else is not working, Liz?" Julia asked, happy to be able to focus her thoughts on something else.

"The movie room... I mean the room is ready, it's just the guy who was supposed to operate the movies seems to have some issues with his laptop." Lizzy sighed.

"Anything else?"

"The photo booth has not arrived yet. And it was supposed to be here two hours ago."

"OK," Julia took a deep breath. "It's not so bad..."

"Not bad?!" Lizzie started to look panicked.

"Relax, Lizzie, with a party as huge as this one, we really could have so much more going wrong right now." Julia patted the stressed girl on the back. "You go to the movie guy, see how serious the laptop issue is. If he can't fix it within the next 30 minutes, get Jerry from IT to come down here. I will take care of the photo booth."

"On it!" Lizzie ran off, but stopped before disappearing in the main room. "Oh, and Julia?"

Julia looked up from her phone where she was already searching for the number of the guy that was supposed to deliver the photo booth.

"Yeah?"

"You look really pretty." And she was gone.

"You look really pretty, Julia," Ginny Starr said as they were standing in front of the church. Her wedding was supposed to start in a few seconds. "Doesn't she look pretty, Nicholas?" Ginny turned to her brother who was supposed to lead her to the altar.

"She looks stunning," Nicholas said and ran his hand along Julia's back.

Julia flinched at yet another memory of Seattle. What's going on with me, why are all these memories coming back today?

She forced herself to take a couple of deep breaths and dialed the number of the photo booth guy.

Around eight Brady Corp.'s employees, customers and other guests started arriving. She could see everyone was determined to have a good time. So as long as they would get food and drinks, she knew they would be happy.

"Where can one get a decent drink around here?" she heard someone ask behind her. She turned to answer, but froze seeing Jack approach her.

He wore blue jeans and a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up. She tried not to think how sexy that made him look.

"You better stick to the orange juice, mister," Julia answered, not yet sure whether she wanted to make a joke or be rude. "You are a CEO, you have an image to keep up."

"Orange juice, you say..." Jack seemed in a good mood and took Julia's comment as a joke, rather than an opportunity to retort in a mean way. "I'll have one whisky, as long as the party coordinator approves?"

"Jack Deschanel?!"

They both turned at Jack's name being called out in an enthusiastic way. The CEO of Brady Corp., Jason Novak, was coming their way.

"I approve," Julia whispered as Jack started walking towards the CEO.

He turned to her surprised and sent her a wink.

Did he just wink at me? Julia thought in disbelief, feeling a blush creep up to her cheeks. Jesus, Stone, there is something seriously the matter with you today if you're blushing at Jack Deschanel!

***

Jack would never admit it, but he was proud that his company organized such a great party. The variety of entertainment, great food and music made him really enjoy himself.

He made a note to himself to develop that events organizing team, consisting of Julia, Lizzy and Josh, to a full blown entertainment department. He would talk to Zoey about that on Monday.

Speaking of Zoey, she was here with Jess, so he finally got a chance to get to know his sister's partner better.

"So, feeling again at home, here in New York, Jack?" Jess asked.

"I think I do..." Jack answered, but added after a second thought, "Although I do have this feeling as if I was coming back to my childhood house, you know. It's the same; your parents haven't changed anything in your room, yet it feels different."

"So was LA that much home to you, that New York started feeling different?"

"No, not really, I always knew it was temporary and... Hey, why are we talking only about me, Jess?!" Jack exclaimed, laughing. "I wanted to get to know you better, not tell you my life's story."

"We'll have a lot of opportunities to get to know each other, we live in the same building after all."

"Yeah, we do, but I haven't passed you nor Zoey in the hall even once."

When leaving for Los Angeles over a year ago, Jack had sold his condo, so now as he'd come back to New York he was in need of a place to stay. Zoey informed him of the condo above hers that was for sale. Jack had a feeling she had had her eyes on it long before he'd come back to New York and made sure no one had bought it before Jack. He wasn't complaining; the place was spacious, the view was unbelievable and the underground gym was usually empty.

"Yeah, our schedules are for sure different." Jess chuckled. "How about you come for dinner one evening?"

"As long as Zoey is not cooking..." Jack whispered.

"You got it."

"Hey, I heard that!" Zoey popped up her head above Jess's arm. "I must tell you I really improved as a cook." She tried defending her culinary talents, but judging from her partner's look, they were still on the same level they had been when Jack had left for LA.

"How about we search for some culinary inspiration over there?" Jess pointed to a table with fancy looking desserts.

"After you, darling." Zoey answered. She sent Jack a kiss and followed Jess to a stand with different chocolate cakes.

That was another thing Jack really liked about this party; the food was not only tasty, it just looked great.

He scanned the room in search of Julia. He tried observing her the whole evening, which was not always easy, as she seemed to be pulled in every direction. He saw her instructing the waiters, then she was talking to the band, calming down Josh, talking to the waiters again.

Despite all that fuss, she did not seem stressed or tired, but Jack could not help but feel that there was something off about Julia. She for sure looked beautiful in that white sweater, with her long brown hair let loose; there was something almost etheric about her. But at the same time, every now and then, he would find her lost in thought, staring into an object or a person, as if it brought some memories. From the look on her face in those short moments, these did not seem to be good memories.

This time however he located Julia in a far away corner with a glass of champagne in her hand and talking to a guy. Maybe she finally decided to relax. He thought to himself, but then noticed that the man talking to Julia was William Daniels, the creepy legal director. Jack searched Julia's face and noticed that same look on her face like he'd seen that day in the restaurant. She felt uncomfortable.

Jack observed Daniels who seemed to have been convincing Julia to drink the champagne. She shook her head at first, but seemed to have given in at some point as he saw her empty her glass.

"I see you're not taking your eyes off Julia tonight." Zoey came back with her mouth full of chocolate cake.

"Well, she'd done a decent job."

"Decent?!" Zoey exclaimed outraged.

"Be careful, sis, or you'll choke on that brownie," Jack said with a smirk.

"You know very well, brother, that she's done a splendid job..." Zoey kept talking, but Jack stopped listening the moment he noticed Julia and Daniels were gone.

He started looking around, getting a bad feeling. Neither Daniels nor Julia passed him on their way out and the only other way out of the room was through the staff door close to where they had just been standing. Julia would not have left with Daniels voluntarily. Of that he was sure.

"Are you even listening to me, Jack?" Zoey asked with a chuckle.

"Gotta go..." he whispered and moved to the small door.

It led to a narrow corridor that was empty. Jack stood there for a moment considering whether not to go back to the main room and search for Julia there, but then he heard the elevator ding. He started walking in that direction.

"I... I want to go h...home," he heard a tired woman's voice.

"Let me take you home." That unmistakably was Daniels.

Jack turned a corner to see the elevator doors closing. He dashed towards it and blocked it with his arm at the last moment. The door opened revealing Daniels with his arm around Julia. She seemed... very sleepy. She couldn't keep her head straight.

"Where do you think you're taking her, Daniels?"

"Jack!" the man said, annoyance clear in his voice. "Julia wanted to go home and I offered to call her a cab from my room."

Julia looked up at him, clearly confused.

"Step away from her, you bastard, or I swear to god..." Jack had to control his temper. It was now clear to him that Daniels must have somehow drugged Julia.

"Jack, why so angry... I'm sure we can come to an understanding."

"I will not repeat what I've just said." Jack's tone could freeze an ocean. Daniels must have finally understood that he lost that one. He stepped away from Julia and quickly left the elevator.

Julia swayed on her feet, trying to find her balance.

"Jack, I don't feel too good..." she said, trying to rest her hand against the elevator wall, but she misjudged the distance and started falling down.

Jack caught her and walked them both out of the elevator.

"I shouldn't... have d... drank that cha...champagne," Julia said, her speech getting slurred.

That's it! Jack thought. That asshole must have put something in her champagne.

Jack pulled out his phone.

"Tom, I need the car at the back of the hotel. Right now." He hung off, not waiting for Tom's answer. He knew his friend would know what to do.

"Come, Julia, let me take you home," he turned to Julia, who looked like she was sleeping on her two feet by now.

She just nodded unconsciously.

Realizing that they would get nowhere at this speed, Jack placed one of his hands behind Julia's knees, the other behind her back and lifted her bridal style. Julia's head immediately fell on his chest. She was out.

Jack started walking quickly to the car. He didn't know what Daniels gave her. What if it was some kind of a poison?

"Jeez, man, what did you do to her!?" Tom exclaimed seeing him. At first he was amused, but noticing the look on Jack's face he grew serious.

"Open the car door, Tom."

"What happened?"

"I think someone drugged her."

Jack placed Julia gently on the back seat and squeezed in next to her.

"Where to?" Tom asked once the car was on the move.

"Let's go home."

"Are you sure? Shouldn't we take her to a hospital."

Jack looked at Tom and suddenly a thought hit him.

"A doctor, right!"

He pulled out his phone again and called Zoey.

Jack was pacing the guest bedroom furiously.

Zoey and Jess had arrived at his condo shortly after him. Jess had already brought her doctor's case and had started examining Julia immediately.

"Yeah, it looks like some kind of date rape drug to me..." she concluded.

"I'm going to kill that son of a..." Jack combed his fingers through his hair.

"I don't want to think what would have happened, if you didn't stop them in that elevator," Zoey whispered, kneeling next to the bed Julia was lying on. She gently brushed a strand of hair from her friend's face. "You've been through so much already, Jules..." she whispered, but Jack could still hear the words.

"I've taken a blood sample," Jess continued, "So we will know tomorrow what drug that was exactly. Anyway, I think we should report it."

Jack nodded and pulled out his phone.

"No!" Zoey stood up and walked over to him. "No, you will not report it. That's up to Julia. Once she wakes up she will make that decision."

"Come on, Zoey!" Jack looked at his sister surprised.

"Trust me on this one, Jack."

"Fine, but it's up to me to call the CEO of Brady Corp. and tell him to fire that bastard."

Zoey just nodded slightly and turned back to Julia.

"What about Julia?" Jack asked. "Shouldn't we take her to a hospital?"

"I don't believe it's needed, Jack," Jess answered. "She's not showing other symptoms such as slow breathing or slow heartbeat. She just needs to sleep this one through, but someone should watch her during the night..."

"Will you stay with her, Zoey?" Jack turned to his sister.

"Hell no!" she exclaimed. "I will not face her fury in the morning once she realizes that she's been sleeping in your bed. You will have to deal with that, big brother."

"It will be fine, Jack," Jess tried comforting him, seeing that he did not like the perspective of staying alone with Julia. "Just check her pulse every couple of hours and call me if something starts worrying you."

"Are you serious?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Zoey said with a cheeky smile.

"You could change her into something more comfortable, Zoey," Jess suggested. "All night in those tight jeans will not make her feel any better in the morning."

"Why don't you do at least that, sister dear, and I will call Brady Corp.'s CEO in the meantime and have him take care of Daniels..."

Jack left the room without even waiting for Zoey's reaction.

He assumed that Jason Novak would still be at the party, but even if he wasn't and maybe was already asleep, Jack considered the situation a valid enough reason to wake the guy.

Jason picked up after the third ring.

"Jack! Where have you gone to? We missed you at the party?"

"Jason, sorry to interrupt your good time, but something happened..."

"I'm already on my way home, Jack. What is it? What happened?" Novak dropped the joyful tone.

"Your legal director, William Daniels, drugged and, I assume, was planning to rape Julia Stiles, my event coordinator," Jack said in a dry tone. He tried to keep emotions at bay and hoped they were not audible in his voice.

Jason kept quiet.

"Are you there, Novak?!"

"Oh, god... is she alright?"

"Well, I don't know. She's passed out and is still unconscious. A doctor has examined her though and she's under observation." Jack skipped to mention that the observation was happening in his guest bedroom; that would sound strange at the least.

He realized that Jason did not seem really surprised by the information. Then he remembered something.

"Why was Daniels even coordinating this party, Jason? Why would you appoint the legal director to such a task."

"We have an internal investigation going on against him..."

"On what charges?" Jack asked, but did not get an answer. "On what charges, damn it!?"

"Sexual harassment..."

"Jeez, Jason. You fire that guy or I swear I will cut any connections between our companies!"

"Have you called the police?" Novak asked.

"Not yet. That's up to Julia."

"Jack, I'm really sorry about what happened..."

"Have a good night, Jason." Jack finished the conversation before completely losing it. They allowed a pervert to walk around their office and work with my employees!

Before going back to Zoey and Jess, he called Tom.

"Sorry man, no sleeping yet."

"How's Julia?" Tom asked in a sleepy voice.

"I think she'll be fine, but we'll see once she wakes up. Tom, I need you to secure the camera footage from today's party, especially from that corridor..."

"And you need it now?"

"I just called Jason Novak. I'm not sure what he'll do... I just want to make sure that the footage is secured in case Julia decides to report what happened."

"Fine," Tom said and Jack could hear that he was on the move. "I couldn't sleep anyway."

After hanging up Jack did not go back to the guest room right away. Instead he walked over to the window, deep in thought. For the last couple of hours a thought started bugging him somewhere at the back of this head. Why do I care? I mean, obviously I'm concerned about the whole situation, Julia is after all my sister's best friend and is working for my company... But why do I feel pain at just the thought of Julia getting hurt? Why do I feel the need to protect her? He pondered. It's probably because she is important to Zoey. Trying to convince himself of that, he went back to Jess and Zoey.

His sister had managed to change Julia into a T-shirt that looked suspiciously familiar. Jack refrained from a comment that Julia would feel even more uncomfortable in the morning after noticing that she not only spent the night in his apartment, but also slept in his t-shirt.

After Jess did another quick check up on Julia, Zoey tucked her friend in.

"Goodnight, Jack," she moved to stand on her tiptoes and gave her brother a kiss on the chick. "Thank you for having been there for Julia today," she whispered.

"Call me if you need anything," Jess added and the two of them were gone.