From the point of view of any spectator in the park, it would have been obvious the drama that ensued between the two. You didn't have to be within earshot to notice the tense bodies and threatened body language. Jude shook her head slowly and walked away, Tommy looked defeated and as he retreated back to the bench he had left Cora, his posture gave way to his broken spirit.
But with the park was full of sunshine and high spirits and no one noticed the skirmish between the two adults. The shining sun seemed to mock Tommy as he made his way back. His mind was swarming with questions, what she was doing here, how she was doing, why she disappeared from the spotlight like that, why she was so angry at him, if she could ever forgive him for what he did. But it seemed like the fates had other cruel plans, to throw her into his life, his new life for a split second before ripping her out of his reach forever.
Finally back at the bench, he sat down next to his daughter. She was a smart girl for her young age of five. Her inquisitive eyes noted her father's changed demeanor and she feigned a yawn. "Daddy, I'm getting sleepy." Tommy, looking down at her with a half hearted smile cocked his head to the side. "We practically just got here."
"I know…but…" She paused to think "You were right, it was early and now I'm sleepy." She fidgeted on the bench just like any young child would as they lied.
Not completely believing her he acquiesced to her request. "Alright, let's get you back home then." Relieved for the opportunity to go back to his dark room, draw the drapes closed and break down again, he collected the shattered kite and threw it carelessly in the garbage can as he and Cora left the park hand in hand.
Physically shaking her encounter off, Jude made her way back to the small café she should have never left. Jordan the weapons engineer would have been better than the hell she threw herself into. She freaked out. She wanted nothing more than to cry, and have him hold her and go back to the way things had been before he left after her 17th birthday but he ruined that. And the questions, was that girl Cora his daughter? He never actually said it, but she made the blind assumption…who was the mother? And why was he absent for the first part of the girl's life? Blindly crossing the street the squeal of tires and someone laying on a horn snapped her out of daze. Jumping, her eyes widened in sheer terror as the SUV stopped a few feet short of where she was. Like a deer in headlights she darted away back to the table Sadie and Kwest were sharing.
Swallowing harshly, she looked around "Where did Jordan go?" Jude asked feigning interest. Sadie looked apologetically at Kwest and rubbed his back then glanced back at Jude. "He chewed out Kwest because he never told him that you were a musician, and he should have known better that you two would have nothing in common…so he politely excused himself to his drab cubicle in a taupe colored office to play with numbers and simulated weapons."
Jude let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God, I can't deal with anymore….crap today." Kwest smiled apologetically but looked confused. "What crap, it was just a bad lunch, the day is hardly over…..you look a little frantic, you okay?"
"Umm…yeah, I'm fine." Jude reactively smoothed her hair and looked across to the park in time to see a man who looked remarkably like Tommy drive by in an SUV. She blinked a few time and shook her head. Tommy in a "safe" car. Hah. Returning her attention to Sadie and Kwest, they both looked perplexed and knew she was hiding something.
"Really guys, while I was at the park, there was a girl who hurt herself and her idiot father…or whatever wasn't around when it happened and we got into a fight over it. He should have been watching her- that, that…uuggh." She faked a smile and shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly "See, nothing serious. So…are we done here?"
Kwest, oblivious to Jude's lies now nodded and left money on the table to cover the bill. The trio got up and left to go back to the car. Sadie watched Jude out of the corner of her eye; she didn't completely buy her story. She wouldn't get so worked up over some random kid and guy. It didn't all add up, but Sadie didn't know what to make of the rest of story.
The car ride back to the hotel was quiet as the car radio played manufactured song after manufactured song. Jude looked out the window preoccupied and lost in her own thoughts, torn between wanting to run all over the city and find Tommy and trying to push him and the little girl out of her head.
With Cora tucked safely into bed she quickly drifted off to sleep. 'Maybe she was tired all along." Tom leaned in and kissed her forehead. Standing up he sighed and made his way to the living room where he threw himself on the nearest couch.
Observing his surroundings, the room didn't look like it belonged to the once famed boy band member. It was fairly conservative and most definitely child proofed. Shaking his head, he quietly laughed to himself. He had no one to blame but himself for this, not that he minded, but at 27, it wasn't exactly the life he had imagined himself. He missed the life of a producer. The late nights in the studio, socializing and promoting his artists, making music. The closest he had to that now was being on a silent member on a board of executives with a record label in Miami. He missed the hands on aspect of his former career. Most of all, he missed making music with her. The electricity in the studio was obvious to anyone who knew them and their work. People had known better than to get between Tommy Quincy and Jude Harrison while they worked. The chemistry they had at work was undeniable and before he left had been heading in a new direction. One that scared him and excited him all the same.
"Don't kill yourself with thought, Mr. Quincy."
"Ha. Too late Sandra." She came around the couch and plopped down on the opposite end. "So…why so somber? And back so soon….I thought you and Cora were going to the park?"
"We went, we saw, we conquered….okay so not so much. I got distracted for a second, and lost sight of her. Next thing I knew she had fallen and was sitting on the ground and a girl next to her. I felt like an ass, Sandra. Can't even take care of my own damn daughter."
"Tom, come on. You know you're the best thing in her life. Don't beat yourself up over one little mistake- but there was a girl? Was she cute? Did you get her number?" Sandra curled her legs under her, poised like a typical girl to gossip.
"You never quit, huh?" Tommy laughed.
"Not until you're hitched. So, details, details. Time to share."
"Yeah, she was cute. But she wouldn't have given me her number if I begged…" His voice trailed off and he started to pull back into his reclusive shell. His eyes downcast and sober.
"Ugh, Tom you didn't tell her she was 'boobiful' did you? Because the last time you did that you were smacked. And really, it serves you right to stare at a girls chest like-"
"No Sandra, that's not it." She stopped short, and looked at him curiously. He had been pretty quiet about women in his life now, none of them ever lasted more than a casual date or two. "What was it then?" Finally looking up, his lips curled into a small, sad smile. "The girl, it was her."