I would like to dedicate this story to tommyjude21. After a conversation that got me thinking about this awesome show, I had a sudden inspiration for this short story. It will only be 3 or 4 chapters. I hope you guys enjoy it. I haven't written much for Instant Star in a long time so I hope I'm not too out of practice :)
Jude walked through the familiar doors. The G-Major logo faded slightly but still visible. She hooked her thumbs in the front pockets of her jeans and looked around the room. It looked exactly the same as it had the last time she had set foot in it five years before. She smiled softly as she thought about how that was likely to change soon.
"Can I help you?"
Jude turned at the sound of the voice and smiled at the young woman with a phone in one hand and a tablet in the other. This must be the new receptionist.
The girl, she couldn't have been much older than seventeen, gasped quietly when she saw Jude's face and she realized who it was that had walked through the door.
"Oh, Miss Harrison." she said and smiled. "What can I do for you today?"
Jude smiled at the girl but before she could open her mouth to respond, she was interrupted. "Dude!"
Jude's smile widened and the young receptionist before her smiled as well.
"Spied." Jude said as she turned in the direction of the voice that had called to her. He ran over and scooped her into a hug, picking her feet off the floor and shaking her side to side slightly, causing her to laugh.
"I've missed you too buddy, now put me down." she said with one last chuckle.
Spied lowered her feet back to the floor and grinned at her. "I can't believe you're really here." he said and spread his arms out. "Can you believe all this?" he asked. "Little Jamie Andrews finally out of Nana's basement."
They both turned and looked around the room as Spied wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Jude placed hers around his waist, letting her head fall to his shoulder.
"It's crazy right?" she asked. "Who would have ever thought all those years ago when Jamie was talking me into doing a cheesy talent search, that we would all end up here?"
Spied nodded. "I know, Jamie with a successful Record Label, me with a solo career and a beautiful wife, and you Miss big time London superstar." He squeezed her shoulders. "We've come a long way Harrison."
Jude nodded, but remained silent. Spied looked at her and raised a brow. "What's wrong? You seem down, but this is a happy time." he said and Jude sighed.
"Big time London superstar..." she trailed off. "I'm not sure how accurate that really is." she said.
Spied frowned. "We all have rough patches Dude, you'll pull it together and be fine."
Jude nodded and sighed again. "Yeah, I know, just feeling homesick I guess." she pasted on a smile. "I'm glad to be home."
…...
Jude parked her car; she had kept her mustang stored all this time, just waiting for her to come home and drive it once more; in front of the house that Sadie now called home.
House might not be quite the right term. That made it sound so much smaller than it really was.
Jude sighed as she shut the car off and stepped out, grabbing her bag from the backseat before walking up the front walk to the place she would be staying for the next two weeks. Just her and her sister...and her old boss.
Jude shook her head just before reaching out to ring the bell, still not able to believe; five years later; that Sadie had really dumped Kwest and ended up with Darius.
Sadie opened the door a moment later. Her eyes widened and her smile faltered slightly. "Jude!" she said. "You're early."
Jude smirked. "Yeah, I got an earlier flight, so I took it. I swung by the studio and then went and got my car." she raised her brows. "You gonna let me in or am I going to be spending the next couple weeks out here?"
Sadie glanced behind her before turning back to Jude. "Yeah, um..." she said. "It's just, he's here."
Jude frowned. "Who?" she asked.
Sadie looked pointedly at her and Jude's eyes widened. "Oh." she said.
Sadie nodded. "Yeah, I didn't expect you here until later or I would have called you. Warned you."
Jude nodded and took a deep breath. "OK, this is OK." she said. "I'm going to be here for a while, it's only a matter of time until we see each other anyway." she said. "Might as well get it out of the way now."
Sadie frowned. "Are you sure?"
Jude nodded. "Not really, but what the hell."
Sadie stepped back and opened the door wider, giving her room to pass.
…...
When Jude left for London, she hadn't come back. Not until now anyway. Everyone, at some point or another, had come to see her. Sadie made it a point to come for a couple of weeks at Christmas time each year and Spied and Karma had come a few different times when their schedules allowed. Jamie had come for the odd weekend here and there and it was great.
It was everything Jude had hoped for. Almost.
Every time someone came to visit, she couldn't help but think of the one person she wanted to see the most, but never came.
As Jude walked around the corner the lead into the living room, she couldn't help but think of the last time she had seen him in person. That day five years ago when she rode away from him and the life they had talked about building together.
Sure she had seen articles online and in the random magazine about him, just as she was sure he had seen them about her. But as he lifted his head and his icy blue eyes locked on hers, it was as if she were seeing him for the first time all over again.
"Jude."
That was all he said, but that one word was enough to bring forth the rush of emotion that she had always gotten every time he said her name.
Jude forced a calm smile onto her face. "Tommy."
…...
"That was so awkward, I think the whole room might be tainted with it now." Jude said later when it was just her and Sadie in the bedroom that Jude would be using during her stay.
Sadie chuckled. "I wouldn't go that far, but yeah, it was pretty bad. I thought he was going to leave a Tom shaped hole in my front door on his way out, he left so fast."
Jude sat down on the bed and bounced a few times before flopping back and throwing an arm over her eyes. "I can't blame the guy, last time he saw me I pretty much ripped his heart out and tossed it back at him."
Sadie sat down beside her and moved her arm, making Jude look at her. "Hey, you did what you felt was right for you. He understood that." she said. "He's had to do the same thing before and knows it's not always easy but some times you have to do what's best for you and not worry about everyone else's feelings."
Jude sat up again and sighed. "Sometimes I feel like maybe I rushed into it, maybe I should have thought about it more, talked to him about it more, before I left everything behind."
Sadie wrapped an arm around Jude's shoulders and pulled her close. She knew how much Jude has struggled since she left. Starting over in a new place is always hard, but doing it in the public eye without any of your friends and family around just makes it that much harder.
Jude leaned into her sister. She's missed this more than she had realized. "Thanks Sades, have I told you lately what a great sister you are?"
Sadie shrugged a shoulder. "Not recently, but that's ok, I already know."
Jude rolled her eyes and chuckled. "OK, so where's Big D? How come he's not here to welcome the prodigal daughter home?"
It was Sadie's turn to chuckle. "He had to work this afternoon, he'll be home later. The move to the larger studio is taking longer than he wanted and it's stressing him out." She grabbed Judes bag and started helping her unpack. "Have you talked to Jamie yet?" she asked.
Jude shook her head as she pulled open a dresser drawer. "Not yet, he wasn't there, I talked to Spied though." she said, placing a stack of t-shirts into the dresser. "He seemed good, happy."
Sadie nodded. "Yeah, he is." she said. "Did he tell you the baby news?"
Jude whipped her head around. "Baby news?" she asked. "What baby news?"
Sadie bit her lip. "Oh, maybe I shouldn't have said anything." she said, scrunching her nose.
Jude placed her hands on her hips. "You have to tell me now." she said. "I won't tell him you told me. Is Karma pregnant?"
Sadie shook her head. "No, not yet, but they've decided to try."
Jude walked over and sat back down, heavily, on the end of the bed. "Wow, a baby." she shook her head. "I can't believe he didn't tell me." she said. "He told me when he switched brands of deodorant, but this he keeps to himself?"
In that moment, Jude felt more clearly than ever before, how disconnected she was from the people that had always meant everything to her.
She had gone to London because she had felt like it was the right choice. But had she stayed all these years because of the same reason, or was she just to scared to admit she had made a mistake
Chapter 2 will be up soon...by the weekend if not sooner.
Thanks for reading
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