Disclaimer: I do not own Instant Star or the Characters from the show.
(Note: As always I appreciate the reviews. I hope everyone had a very happy start to the new year!)
Chapter 7: Mondays
The buzzing of her phone awoke Jude the next morning. She had just received a text message. It was so early she couldn't imagine who would be texting her at 8:00am. Her first thought was to ignore it and go back to sleep but for some reason she grabbed her phone to see who it was. She flipped open her phone and to her surprise the text was from Tommy.
Darius apparently wanted to see both Jude and Tommy this morning. Tommy's text asked for Jude to meet him in Darius's office at 9:00am. Jude, not being a morning person, really wanted to go back to sleep but instead she got up and sent Tommy a text telling him that she would be there. Now all she had to do was get ready and be downtown in an hour. No problem.
Jude stood in front of her closet, looking to see what she had to wear. She wanted to look good since she was going to get to see Tommy this morning. A day that starts out with seeing Tommy is a good day. Jude picked out a pair of faded skinny jeans, a white shirt, and a black jacket. Her new black boots would look great with the outfit. Now that she had her clothes picked out, it was on to hair and makeup.
Jude took a quick shower and washed her hair. She jumped out of the shower quickly, dried off, and starting to blow dry her hair. After it was dry, she used a curling iron to add a little bit of volume. Okay, time for makeup. Jude figured just a little blush, lip gloss, and mascara would do. Jude glanced at the clock on the wall and decided that she needed to hurry. Jude applied her blush and lip gloss quickly, but when she picked up the mascara, she poked herself in the eye with it. Her eye immediately turned read and began to burn. It was starting to water and her vision even was starting to get blurry.
Jude ran downstairs to see if Sadie had left for work yet. Jude heard Sadie making noise in the kitchen, "Hey Sadie, can you give me ride to G Major this morning?" Sadie thought it was little odd but she said okay. Jude was holding her hand over her eye, it was hurting really badly now.
Jude asked Sadie, "Does this look bad to you?" Sadie had her back turned to Jude, now she was turning around to face her, "Huh, does what……….Oh my God! What did you do to your eye?"
Jude was somewhat stunned at Sadie's reaction, "So, it really looks at bad as it feels." Sadie nodded her head, "What happened?" Jude was slightly embarrassed, "Well, I was trying to get ready in a hurry because I needed to get to G Major to meet Tommy and I accidentally poked myself in the eye with my mascara."
Sadie took a deep breath, "Jude, you know that you can't keep mascara forever. You should have thrown that tube away ages ago. I am going to call in to work and tell them that I won't be in for awhile. We've got to get you to a doctor."
Jude knew that there was no use in arguing with Sadie. She was going to have to go to the doctor and now she wouldn't get to see Tommy today. Jude was so disheartened, for a day that had started out with promise, it sure had turned itself around for the worst. But that's how Mondays are, you just never know what they are going to bring.
Darius was sitting in his office talking to Tommy when his phone rang. At first Darius sounded a little upset, "What do you mean that Sadie can't come in to work this morning?" Then his voice began to soften, "Oh Jude, well is she going to be okay?…….Yeah, just let me know when you hear something." Darius hung up the phone and just shook his head.
Tommy had heard what Darius was saying and he was getting really concerned. He wondered what was going on with Jude, "Is everything alright?" Darius gave Tommy a questioning look before answering him, "I really can't say. Sadie called in and said she couldn't come to work because something happened to Jude and she had to take her to the doctor. That's all I know at this point."
The thought of something happening to Jude made Tommy feel sick. He wanted to know is she was okay, in fact he needed to know that she was okay. Darius told Tommy that he would let him know as soon as he had any news. Tommy just hoped that it would be sooner rather than later.
"Well, do you want me to tell you the news without Jude?" asked Darius. Tommy had almost forgotten the reason he was there, "Yeah, sure. What's going on?" Darius's expression turned smug, "You know that I've got a source at Billboard Magazine." Tommy nodded. "Well, it just so happens that G Major has the next number one hit on the charts and it's you and Jude. Your duet is set to debut at number one this week."
This was such great news and Tommy so wanted to be able to share this moment with Jude. But he couldn't and it was practically killing him. He didn't know where she was and right now she was all he could think about.
In the meantime, Sadie had taken Jude to an eye doctor. The doctor told Jude that she had the makings of an eye infection. He prescribed her some eye drops and told her that she would have to wear an eye patch for the next few days. He put a few antibiotic drops in her eye and gave her a pill to take on the way home. The doctor said that Jude needed to sleep for a few hours to let the eye drops start to work and let the swelling go down.
On the way home, Sadie called Darius to let him know about Jude. Tommy was walking by Darius's door when he heard him mention that Sadie and Jude were on their way home. Tommy couldn't take it anymore, he rushed out the door and got into his car, he was going to check on Jude for himself.
Sadie stopped and got Jude some food to take with her medicine. She didn't want Jude to get sick to her stomach on top of everything else. When Sadie pulled into the driveway, she could tell that Jude was already starting to get sleepy. She helped her into the house and made sure that Jude made it to the couch.
Jude started to feel the medicine take its effect, she decided to go ahead and lie down. Sadie was going upstairs to get Jude a blanket when she heard the doorbell ring. Sadie opened the door and was surprised to see Tommy standing there, "Hey Tommy, what are you doing here?"
He didn't really know what to say, "I heard about Jude and I wanted to see that she was okay." Sadie could tell that this man obviously had some strong feelings for her sister, "Did you now? That was really nice of you to come all the way across town." Tommy was starting to feel uneasy, "So, what happened? Where's Jude?"
Sadie gave Tommy a sneaky smile, "Well, Jude has an eye infection. She has to wear a patch for a few days. The doctor told her to come home and get some sleep to allow the swelling to go down. She's probably asleep but you can go in and check on her."
Tommy stepped inside the Harrison home and thanked Sadie for letting him come in. She motioned him in the direction of the living room and went upstairs. Tommy walked towards a sleeping Jude, even with an eye patch, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. As she laid there, he knelt down beside of her and whispered into her ear, "Please, don't ever scare me like that again." Then he kissed her on the forehead and sat down in a chair across from the couch to watch her for a moment as she slept.
When Sadie came back downstairs, she stopped for a second to see what Tommy was doing. He was just sitting there, staring at Jude. He had such a look of love on his face, Sadie couldn't help but be amazed. Tommy Quincy was sitting in her house admiring her sister while she was sleeping. It almost didn't seem real. Sadie wondered if Jude even had a clue about how apparently intense Tommy's feelings were.
Sadie walked into the living room and laid a blanket over Jude's body. She smiled at Tommy and asked him to come into the kitchen with her. Tommy followed Sadie down the hallway and they both stopped at the kitchen counter. After a deep breath, Sadie asked, "Can I trust you Tommy?"
Tommy was taken back by the question, "Of course, Sadie. I would never do anything to hurt Jude. I really care about her. I……" Sadie began to laugh, "Whoa, hold on a minute. All I wanted to know was if I could trust you to stay here with Jude for a little while, so I could go do a few things at work. She'll probably be asleep for a few more hours. I won't be gone long."
"I can do that," Tommy answered, thinking he was off the hook. Maybe she didn't read to much into what he had said before. Sadie grabbed her purse and started to walk out the door. She turned to Tommy and commented, "But it's nice to know that you care. Bye Tommy." Tommy knew that Sadie had read between the lines, "See ya later, Sadie."
After Sadie left, Tommy headed back down the hallway to the living room. Tommy came around to the front of the couch and sat down in the floor in front of Jude. They were finally alone again, but this time she was sound asleep. Tommy didn't mind though, he just so happy that is wasn't something more serious. He had these scenarios going around in his head, it really scared him to think of anything bad happening to her.
As Tommy was thinking about how much he had already fallen for Jude, he took his hand and began to caress her face and push back the strands of hair that had fallen on her cheek. It was amazing for him to be this close to someone and have such strong feelings for them. At this moment, it had actually started to scare Tommy, his emotions were going of control and there was no way he could stop them. It wasn't that he wanted to stop, it was just the thought of opening his heart completely to someone made him feel uneasy. This wasn't a place that he had ever been before, and he wasn't quite sure how to handle it.
Jude began to stir in her sleep, she actually opened the eye without the patch for a moment. She squinted as she looked at Tommy's face and then with a groggy voice, she spoke, "Tommy, come here." Tommy said, "Huh?" Jude sat up and motioned Tommy to sit on the couch with her. Tommy got up from the floor and took a seat beside of Jude.
He felt so sorry for her, she looked so tired. Jude scooted as close as she could to Tommy and put her head on his shoulder. Then she mumbled, "I love you." Tommy was in disbelief, did he just hear what he thought he heard. He looked down at Jude and she was sound asleep again.
Those words kept echoing through Tommy's head. He had heard Jude say that she loved him. Maybe it was just her sleep talking but it meant the world to Tommy. He slowly and carefully lifted up his arm and put it back down around Jude's shoulder. He then leaned back on the couch and pulled her closer to him. Tommy knew in that instance that there was no feeling in the world like holding the woman you love.
It wasn't long until Tommy had drifted off to sleep himself. He felt so at home and comfortable holding Jude that he just let sleep overtake him. The two were sleeping so peacefully. It was truly a sight to behold. Jude had her hand on Tommy's chest and his arm was fixed protectively around her.
Tommy awoke to the sound of jingling keys and a door being opened. It took him a moment but he was finally to opens his eyes to see Sadie standing in front of him with a stern expression on her face. He could tell that she wasn't very happy with the position she found him and her little sister in.
Trying not to wake Jude, Tommy very gently got up and laid Jude back down on the couch. To his surprise, she didn't move a muscle. She was still out cold, that was some sleeping medication. He gave Jude one last loving look before he headed down the hallway to face Sadie.
"Tommy, what were you two doing?" asked Sadie. "Sleeping," replied Tommy. Sadie was in no mood for Tommy's sarcasm, "Seriously, why were you on the couch with Jude?" Tommy's thoughts rolled back as he tried to explain, "Well, she woke up and asked me to sit with her. I sat down on the couch and she fell back asleep on my shoulder almost immediately. Then I guess I just fell asleep, too."
Sadie gave Tommy a suspicious look, "And that's all?" Tommy shook his head yes, he didn't feel the need to share what else Jude said. Those words were all his own. He wanted to keep them close to his heart with the hope that he would get to hear them spoken from Jude's lips again.
"You know that I am just trying to look out for Jude. It's been tough since our mom left and dad is always away on business. We are pretty much all we've got." Sadie wanted Tommy to know that she wasn't really mad at him. Tommy got the message, "I completely understand and as I told you before, I would never do anything to hurt Jude." With a smile, Sadie said, "I am going to hold you to that." Tommy told her that he would expect nothing less.
Tommy figured that is was probably time for him to go. He knew that Jude was alright and he really needed to get back to the studio. He left in such a rush that he didn't even tell anyone where he was going. He could just imagine how mad Darius was going to be when he walked through the doors of the studio.
Sadie thanked Tommy for staying with Jude while she was gone. She told him that she would tell Jude to call him when she woke up. As Tommy was walking toward the front door, he suddenly turned and went back toward Jude. Why was it so hard to leave her? He knew exactly why, he knelt down beside her one more time, put his lips close to her ear, and breathed the words, "I love you, too." Tommy was reluctant but now he was finally able to walk out the front door and head back to G Major.
