Chapter 1: Blue-eyed Surprise

Jude woke the next morning to the beeping of her annoying alarm clock. Up until recently, Sadie had been waking her up, but she had finally refused to do so any longer after getting punched in the face by a sleepy Jude. Jude smacked the alarm clock, missing the snooze button yet again and instead knocking the alarm clock of the nightstand. She shrugged nonchalantly. At least it shut, up she thought. Jude was about ready to fall back into a deep, hangover induced sleep, until she heard Sadie's voice from downstairs.

"Jude, I know you're awake, so get your lazy ass dressed and in the kitchen before I leave without you. Do you want to drive the mustang to work?" Jude shuddered at the thought. Her precious mustang had once been a real beauty, but time and laziness on Jude's part had turned the car into a truly disgusting dump.

"Fine! I'll be down in a minute!" She wobbled groggily out of bed and got dressed in a typical new-Jude outfit: a tight-fitting, belly-showing rockband tee, a barely-there gray denim miniskirt, and black leggings. And of course, no Jude outfit could be complete without her signature knee- length boots. She combed her hair through with her fingers, brushed her teeth and threw on some eye liner. Jude was ready and downstairs in 7 minutes flat. Sadie was eating a banana and looking at her in awe.

"I still don't understand how you get ready so fast." she muttered. Jude shrugged and made herself a breakfast of pop tarts, cereal and orange juice. Her sister shook her head and dropped the banana peel in the garbage.

"Do you know how many calories just one pop tart has?"

"Um, don't know, don't care" Jude chomped down half of the pop tart in one bite. Sadie rolled her eyes.

"Just hurry up okay? I'll wait in the car." She left the house smiling at their familiar routine. Jude would eat her huge breakfast slowly,
making Sadie wait just to annoy her, and all the while never gain a pound. Sitting in the car, Sadie realized just how thankful she was that Jude had been able to pick herself up after what had happened with Tommy. Those few weeks when Jude was depressed had been some of the worst in Sadie's life. She wouldn't eat, drink, sleep or make music, which was really saying something considering this was Jude. The Jude who was self proclaimed in love with her guitar. Sadie thanked whatever god listening that Jude had had Patsy to help her through it. Sure, Patsy could be considered a bad influence, but she truly cared about Jude and would never let her do anything that would end up hurting her. And yes, Jude was drinking a little more these days, but she wasn't a drunk and unlike Patsy, she had her limits. Things were going good for both Harrison sisters. Jude had fame and fortune, Sadie had a steady job and the satisfaction that her baby sister was happy. Life was good.

The sisters walked arm in arm into G-Major joking about Sadie's latest boyfriend, who had turned out to be a total nutcase. Then, they seperated, Sadie heading for the reception desk and Jude for Studio B. Jude entered the studio, and greeted Kwest, her producer.

"Mornin' Kwest,"

"Hey superstar. We're working on the vocals for It's My Life today so you won't be needing your guitar." She gave him a thumbs up and went into the recording booth.

"Ready superstar, in 3-2-1," Kwest signaled for her to start singing. Jude effortlessly began belting out the song. Kwest had never worked with another artist like her. You could say a lot of things about Jude, but you couldn't say she wasn't passionate. Jude was never without that bounce in her step and spark in her eye. Kwest chuckled to himself. She was quite the 18 year old.

3 hours later, Jude had finished recording the vocals and Kwest had released her for lunch. She found Speid sitting cross legged on the couch in hospitality and plopped down next to him. He greeted her with a headlock and noogie. "Nice to see you too!" She responded blowing hair out of her face.

"How's the solo album going?". Speid had once been in Jude's backup band but was now releasing his own album. Speid bounced up and down like a kid at Christmas.

"It's goin' good. Never thought I'd be one for singing but I actually really like it." Jude elbowed him in the side.

"You like singing or you like the number of zeros Darius puts on your check."

"Okay, guilty. I like the zeros. Don't pretend like you mind having a few extra bucks in your pocket."

"Amen to that." Jude took her sip of her cola. Suddenly Speid turned to face her completely.

"So, in celebration, what would you say to dinner tonight? Just you and me." She almost choked.

"What? Like a date?"

"Am I that repulsive, Harrison?"

"No, of course not, I just...thought we were done." Speid looked thoughful.

"Well, we're older now. And there's nothing...in the way this time." Jude refused to acknowledge the subtle reference to Tommy. Instead she positioned herself on Speid's lap and whispered in his ear.

"Okay, then. Pick me up at eight." Speid was looking flustered by then, but who could blame him. The poor guy hadn't gotten any action in months and now there was a gorgeous girl in a miniskirt on his lap. Jude took notice.

"Oh come, Speid, it's just me. Little ol' Jude." To prove her point she initiated a tickle fight that had them both back to their old teasing ways.

"So, pick you up at eight." Speid said, breathless from laughing so hard.

In another part of G-Major, Darius was dealing with an ex-empolyee who had come back from his six month vaction. The one and only Tom Quincy sat in Darius' office pleading for his job back.

"Look, D, I told you what happened. You said you understood."

"I do understand, T. But there's no place for you at G-Major anymore. Because for some reason, you're just not that good of a producer unless paired with Jude, and there's no way I'm letting you go back there."

Tommy sighed, knowing Darius was right. Softening his voice he asked, "What happened to her after I...left?"

Darius shook his head. "The girl was a mess. I considered firing her numerous times. But then she changed. Got back on track. Got over it."

Tommy couldn't explain what he was feeling at that moment. Part happiness that he hadn't done any permanent damage, but part sadness that she had really gotten over him. That would make getting back as her producer even harder.

"Please," Tommy said "Can we just...ask Jude if she'll have me back?"

"There's no way, T. You two always end up falling for each other, and that causes heartbreaks and messy breakups."

Tommy was about ready to get down on his knees and beg. He needed to see her again. Needed to make music with her again.

"I really need this, D, please. I can promise you nothing will happen. You can hold me to that." He knew he couldn't keep that promise if Jude would allow a romantic relatiohsip between them to happen again. But he would say whatever he had to day to get Darius to say yes. Darius considered it. Jude and Tommy working together were pure musical magic. They sure did bring the cash rolling in.

"Okay. We'll test this. But you'll start tomorrow, I don't want to catch Jude off guard." Tommy grinned uncontrolably. He'd get to see his girl again. Tomorrow.

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