Jade brought the steaming mug close to her face, relishing the warmth and inhaling the smell: coffee. That first sip would perhaps be the only truly perfect moment of her day. The rich aroma and smooth flavor were her refuge, because she knew as soon as her morning coffee was done, the chaos would begin. That was the same every morning. What was different about today, was that it was her 21st birthday.
On cue, Beck hurtled into the kitchen, making airplane noises. Jade couldn't help smiling when she saw the grin on their two year old son's face. The baby shrieked with laughter as his father, carrying him on his back, flew him around the room, and finally brought him to rest at the table.
Beck grabbed an apple from the counter and slung his messenger bag over his shoulder.
"Morning," he greeted Jade with a kiss so quick that she had no chance to return it. "I gotta go," he lamented, "I have to be on set at eight today. I'll try to call when I get a break."
Jade found herself slightly annoyed, because somewhere in the back of her mind she had anticipated that he would forget her birthday. She couldn't deny that he'd been severely overworked lately, but the fact that he'd forgotten still left a sting. She pulled her face into a smile anyway.
Beck tousled the hair of their bright eyed little boy before heading out the door. "Bye," he called to them, pausing his hurried exit for a moment of sentiment, "I love you guys."
Jade smiled after him; she knew he meant it. Scooping up the baby and balancing on her hip, Jade followed Beck to the door, so they could watch as he pulled out of the driveway.
"Wave bye-bye, Owen." She instructed the toddler, who did as he was told, scrunching his fingers opened and closed in that baby way of waving. They were getting very set into this routine. It didn't seem to bother Beck, but to Jade, things seemed…off. It was like a bad taste in the back of her mouth; some kind of dissatisfaction that she couldn't quite place.
After getting some breakfast for Owen and herself, Jade sat the baby down with a pile of toys, grabbed her laptop and began working on her most recent project. Working from home had sounded like the easiest thing in the world. It had been convenient for the most part, but there were far too many things that Owen could get into these days for Jade to really be able to concentrate on her work. Another point of annoyance was that Jade was not in complete creative control.
Editing her own video footage would have been one thing – that at least she could have enjoyed – but for the moment she'd been hired to work on video clips of some singer who was supposed to be the next big thing. She couldn't honestly care less about the guy, but it was her job. Complaining wasn't going to pay the bills.
Jade looked up from her work to check on Owen, and found him with her cell phone. He handed it over with an impish grin that crinkled around his blue eyes. He knew full well that it wasn't his to play with. Jade tickled him and traded him for a toy phone that Beck had bought him for his birthday. He liked the toy, but for some reason the baby still preferred a real phone.
The notification light on Jade's Pear Phone blinked. She realized that along with several texts of "Happy Birthday" wishes from her friends, her boss, Adam, had just emailed her. The message was brief as usual; he was always very concise and cordial. He wrote that he hoped things were going well, and went on to tell her that he was sending her new footage to work on.
Great, she thought sarcastically. She wasn't even close to being done work her previous project, even though the deadline was approaching quickly. Jade sighed, knowing she'd have to be glued to the computer for the rest of the day, all the while making sure that the little guy wasn't up to any mischief.
Maybe she could call Cat and ask her to watch the baby, she mused. It would allow her extra time in which to work. After all, this was Cat's day off, and "Aunt Cat" – as she liked to be called – never rejected an opportunity to spend time with Owen. Jade sighed, and dialed her quirky red-headed friend's number.
At half past 1:00, Caterina Valentine arrived on Jade's doorstep with a hug and a birthday card. She was still as excitable and sweet as she'd always been, though after college, for the sake of applying for a job, she'd toned down her formerly bright hair. She wore her now dark auburn hued locks in curls that bounced on her shoulders as she greeted Jade and Owen.
"Hey baby boy!" Cat squealed, giving Owen a big smushy kiss on the cheek. He went into her open arms instantly. Jade's mouth twitched into a smile. Cat was going to be a great mom someday.
With Cat and Owen settled at the kitchen table with some Play-Doh, Jade made herself comfortable on the couch with her laptop, she worked steadily for a few hours without distraction, and finally finished the project on which she had fallen so badly behind. She glanced at the clock; from the other room she could hear that Cat had turned on the television for Owen, and they were both quite happy singing along to some kind of children's program. Jade sighed, knowing she might not have another chance for a while to get work done without interruption.
She sent the finished project to Adam, and downloaded the files that he had sent for the next one. While she waited for the videos to load into her editing program, she scrolled through her phone. Along with Birthday wishes she didn't feel like replying to, there was one new message from Beck. He apologized for running out of the house so quickly that morning…but said nothing about her birthday. She scoffed to herself, frustrated.
When Jade's eyes came back to her computer screen, she found a pair of familiar brown eyes looking back at her. Her videos had loaded, and there on her screen, smiling at her, was an old friend. She'd never admitted that Tori Vega had in fact been her friend, but despite a few rough patches, it was true. Jade knew she'd been less than warm and fuzzy to the other girl, but that didn't mean she hadn't liked her. They rarely talked nowadays – Jade hadn't even seen the other girl since the day she'd married Beck. Through casual chatting with both Cat and their old friend Andre, she had gleaned that Tori had found success recording with a local label. From the looks of the videos Jade had been sent, things were going quite well.
Working quickly out of curiosity, Jade synced the audio and video files, and let the clip play. A sweet, sad melody came through the computer speakers. Jade let herself be taken in and the room fell away from her for the three minute span of the song. In her memory, Tori's voice had never sounded so lovely. Content-wise the video itself was unremarkable, but Tori kept her captivated, emotions raw and projecting the song from every part of her being.
"What could have been,
What should have been,
What can never be,
I wanted you,
I needed you,
You fell away from me"
After it had ended, Jade sat in silence for a moment, then slowly picked up her phone. She knew she had Tori's number, though she was not entirely sure if it was current. Upon finding the contact she was looking for, chewing on her lip with indecision, Jade called the number.
Jade only had the space of two rings time to prepare herself, and then Tori's voice cheerfully forsook all formal greeting.
"Jade! Tell me you got the videos!" she said enthusiastically.
Momentarily confused by the lack of pretense, Jade stuttered, "Uh, yeah, yeah I'm working on your music video. That's why I called." She explained, her cheeks flushing.
Tori squealed, "Ah! I knew he'd send them to you. I told them if they wanted to get the editing done by the best, they'd have to go to you."
Before Jade could fully voice her thanks, Tori was hurtling full speed ahead into happy news about her career, and gossip about people she knew, and what was coming next. Suddenly she stopped. "But how have you been? How are Beck and the baby?" she asked, realizing that her enthusiasm wasn't allowing Jade to get a word in.
It was like she didn't remember all the times in high school Jade had been hostile to her, made fun of her, or belittled her. It was odd to be sure, but earnest as ever, Tori's sentiments did not seem fake in any way.
"We're all uhh…great." Jade told her, taking the phone away from her ear for a moment to make sure Owen and Cat were still occupied. "Beck's working on a movie downtown, and Owen is busy being two. It's not actually as terrible as they say."
"That's awesome." Tori said sincerely.
It was awesome, or should have been awesome. Jade was having a hard time playing it up today, and she wasn't quite sure why. "It can be," she finally agreed.
"Listen," Tori piped up after a brief silence, "I gotta run, but I just found out my plans for tonight have fallen through. Did you want to meet and catch up or…oh, I almost forgot." she said apologetically.
"What?"
"It's your birthday isn't it? You probably have plans already. Duh, Tori." She chided herself.
"Wow, yeah, it is. I can't believe you remembered." Jade mumbled.
"It was on my Splashface reminders today." Tori brushed it off casually. "So is Beck taking you out? Even though you're a mom, it's your 21st birthday! You have to live it up tonight."
"Actually…" Jade contemplated telling Tori about how her birthday had all but gone unnoticed in their house, but thought better of it. "I don't have any plans tonight. Beck's probably working late again… I'll probably just stay in."
"No!" Tori objected immediately. "You should come out with me. We'll hang out and get dinner and a few drinks in honor of your birthday! But I mean…only if you want to." Tori quickly digressed.
It was tempting. Jade's whole life was always about work and home, and not much else. She'd never imagined things would play out like this. Aside from the rebel image she projected, she was living a very tame life. At just 21, she had already "settled down". She loved Owen more than anything in the world, and she knew she loved Beck too, though right now she wasn't feeling very fond of him. She just needed to get away from it all, if just for a night.
"Okay," she assented, "I'll come out."
"Okay!" Tori exclaimed. "Good! No one should have to stay home on their birthday. I'll pick you up, so you can drink as much as you want and still get home safe."
Jade grinned to herself. It was kind of funny that she could be this excited to hang out with Tori Vega, the girl for whom she'd always claimed to have such disdain. Maybe she was finally growing up, and able to put stupid grudges behind her. After they'd said goodbye and hung up the phone, Jade went to spend some time with her son, and to ask Cat's opinion of a little black dress she'd been saving for just such an occasion.