Where The Next Road Goes

Chapter 10: Quebec, The Embassy Suites Hotel

Author's Note: Just the usual shout-out, thanking everyone who reviewed- Adrienne, Airrelle, Rachel, Tanya, Jess, Maria, missscarletbelle, bunnypook, JustDestiny and Katie. I can't tell you how happy it makes me!

Chapter 10: Quebec, The Embassy Suites Hotel

It took until late afternoon to finish filming the bar scene. Finally, after numerous takes, flubbed lines and several technical glitches, the scene wrapped.

Tired, but happy, Tommy and Jude left the stuffy building, breaking away from the rest of the cast.

"That was hard work." Jude sighed, breathing deeply.

"Yeah." Tommy agreed.

"And I thought working for Darius was rough..." he added, as they walked towards the wardrobe trailer, where they had left their clothes and other possessions earlier.

Inside, Tommy reached for his jeans and took his phone from the pocket. Kevin Smith had refused to allow him to have it on the set, in case it rang. The pants he wore in the film were too snug for him to fit anything in the pockets, anyway.

Tommy scrolled through his text messages until he found the one he sought, from Otis. A look of relief appeared on his handsome face.

"Our bus will be here in about an hour." he told Jude.

"Great!" she replied. "I guess you feel better now."

"Some..." Tommy agreed.

"But you know what would make me feel even better..."

"I can't imagine..." Jude replied, her blue eyes twinkling, responding to the sexy gleam in his.

"Getting out of these tight clothes..." Tommy said softly.

"I couldn't agree more..." she murmured seductively, reaching over and undoing his suspenders.

"Remember what you promised me?" he whispered, drawing her close.

"Earlier... oh yeah..."

"I did the movie..." he reminded her.

"You did..." she agreed, locking the door behind them.

Outside, Speed, Wally and Kyle naturally returned to the food service area. Again, Wally and Kyle sat with the two actresses they had breakfast with, while Speed pursued one of the extras.

From their location out on the lot, they saw their bus approaching.

"We're outta here!" Speed commented.

"Yeah..." Wally replied sadly, looking into Manny's doe-like, melting brown eyes. She smiled at him.

"Here." she said, slipping a small piece of paper into his hand.

"Call me when you're back in Toronto."

"Don't worry. I will." Wally promised.

Speed opened his mouth to say something, but shut it immediately when he saw the forlorn look on both their faces.

"Guess little Miss Santos has a thing for dark curly haired guitar players... Love connection..." he thought a bit wistfully. After Jude, he had dated another girl for almost a year, but she had dumped him right after graduation. It hurt, and he was still trying to move on.

"Speaking of..." he asked everyone.

"Where are Romeo-T and Jude-iet?"

"Beats me!" Kyle said, snatching up the last sugar cookie and stuffing it in his mouth.

"Haven't seen em' since we finished shooting..."

"Me neither!" Wally added.

"Well, we better find them now! We need to get going..."

They said their goodbyes and started looking around, without finding the missing couple.

"What next?" Kyle wondered.

"Let's just head over to Wardrobe... We need to get our stuff..."

The SME boys approached the large trailer and Speed tried to open the door.

"Locked..."

He exchanged puzzled glances with Wally and Kyle. Suddenly, a loud crash emanated from inside the trailer, and confirmed their suspicions.

"Dudes..." Speed began uncomfortably. For once, he was at a loss for words.

"What do we do now?" Wally asked, blushing.

"Don't ask me!" Speed shot back nervously, just as Tommy opened the door.

"Hey..." their manager began, as casually as possible, locking eyes with Speed, as they both shared the same thought.

"This is awkward..."

"I don't know why the door was locked..." Tommy said innocently to the band members.

"Yeah..." Speed replied, looking beyond him, at Jude. Her face was as red as her hair.

"We were just... getting dressed..." she mumbled.

"Bad choice of words Harrison..."

"Changed, I mean..." she clarified quickly.

"The bus is here." Wally blurted out, very eager to change the topic.

"We just came to get our clothes..."

"Go on... We really should get going." Jude said, stepping aside, so Wally, Kyle and Speed could grab their stuff.

"We'll just go and say goodbye." Tommy added, grabbing Jude's hand and quickly exiting the trailer.

After doing just that, they rejoined the band and walked over to where their bus had parked.

"Tour bus Betty. With four brand-new tires! And four spares, just in case!" Otis proudly informed them.

"Great!" everyone replied, as they boarded the vehicle.

Tommy checked his watch and sighed.

"It'll be close... But if we drive straight there, without stopping for anything, we'll make it in time for tomorrow night's show."

"No stops!" he ordered.

"Yes, master!" Speed quipped, as Wally and Kyle saluted.

Otis took the wheel and the bus sped away. They drove through the evening and into the night, making good time. The group slept well, but woke the next morning to a surprise.

"Tommy!" Jude said worriedly, shaking his half-awake, half-naked body.

"Yeah..." he muttered drowsily.

"We're not moving..."

"What?" he answered, too tired to understand at first.

"The bus. It stopped."

"No way!" Tommy said, sitting up.

"Way"

Tommy jumped out of bed and grabbed his shirt. Leaving the bedroom door open, he went to investigate their situation.

"Otis!" he called out.

Their driver turned to face him, knowing immediately from the look on his face what Tommy wanted.

"Traffic!" he muttered helplessly, throwing up his hands.

Tommy looked out the window and saw nothing but a long line of cars, stretching on for miles, seemingly endlessly.

"We've got a show tonight!" he moaned loudly, waking up Speed.

"Dude" Speed called out, yawning lazily.

"What's the hassle?"

"Look out! See for yourself!" Tommy snapped at him.

"Oh" Speed shrugged, glimpsing outside, then added.

"Whatever..."

"Whatever!" Tommy repeated, but angrily.

"We've got a show to do tonight! We could miss it! This is serious!"

"Dude, chill! There's nothing you can do about it! Why get your panties in a bunch! These things work themselves out!"

"Dude! What is wrong with you!" Tommy yelled, fed up with Speed's carelessness.

"Nothing bothers you. Nothing matters to you! You wouldn't know responsibility if it bit you in the ass!"

"Oh, please! I can be just as responsible as you! And handle it a whole lot better!"

"Really?" Tommy snorted.

"Ok. Let's try it!" he smiled.

"Huh?" Speed said, confused.

"You're in charge today!" Tommy announced.

Speed stared at him incredulously.

"You're the manager. Take care of what we need for tonight!" Tommy clarified.

"No problem! Piece of cake!" Speed boasted, turning over and going back to sleep.

Tired also, Tommy headed back to bed. When she saw him, Jude sat up and asked.

"Did you really just put Speed in charge?"

"Yeah..." he mumbled drowsily, lying down besides her.

"Do you really think that's such a good idea?"

But Tommy had already fallen asleep.

"It's only for one day... even he can't screw things up that badly... What could really go wrong?" Jude tried to convince herself, but failed. After all, she knew Speed better than Tommy did.

Curling up against him, all she could do was go back to sleep.

Unfortunately, the heavy traffic did not let up that day. When the group finally arrived in Quebec, it was almost showtime. Jude, Speed, Wally and Kyle actually prepared for the concert on the bus. They finally reached the arena just moments before they were scheduled to take the stage.

Despite their rush and the craziness, their performance was as wonderful as ever. They came offstage, flushed and excited.

"Great job!" Tommy told all of them, but especially Jude.

"Naturally! Thanks to my stellar management!" Speed bragged.

"Dude..." Tommy began sarcastically.

"You didn't do anything!"

"We were here. The equipment was here. What was there to do?" Speed remarked.

Tommy just shook his head at the clueless musician.

"You really don't get it, do you?"

"Yeah, I do!" Speed smirked.

"Your job's really easy! Much easier than you make it look!"

With difficulty, Tommy restrained his urge to hit Speed's gloating face. He knew it wouldn't help, anyway. There was no getting through to him.

"Whatever, dude!" he replied instead, mimicking the guitarist's exact tone of voice and making Jude smile.

"Let's just get over to the hotel." Speed said, using Tommy's "managerial" voice.

The group got on the bus, and drove over to the Embassy Suites hotel.

"Looks great!" Jude remarked, surveying the elegant lobby. It appeared by far the nicest place they had stayed in so far during the tour.

"Very classy." Wally commented.

"Think there's a hot tub?" Kyle asked hopefully.

"Only the best for us!" Speed proclaimed, stepping up to the concierge desk.

"Good evening!" the young, pretty brunette behind the counter chirped at them.

"Good evening!" Speed replied, flashing his most charming smile.

"We're Jude Harrison and the Speiderman Mind Explosion."

"Yes" the woman said, easily recognizing them.

"We have a reservation for four rooms..."

The clerk's manicured hands tapped away at her computer. Seconds later, her face fell, when she saw what was on the screen.

"Mr. Speiderman?" she began, apologetically.

"I'm afraid... there's .. a problem... Your reservation has been cancelled..."

"What!" Speed exploded.

"You all were scheduled to arrive this afternoon. When you didn't, and no one called, we automatically cancelled the reservation. Hotel policy."

"But surely... you have other rooms available for us?" Speed pleaded desperately.

"I'm afraid not. Not until tomorrow. There's a big convention booked here..."

"Nice work, manager dude!" Tommy snorted disgustedly, voicing the anger everyone felt.

"How could you not call! You've seen me do it, a million times!"

"Guess it's back to the bus!" Jude complained, as the group started to walk away.

"Wait!" the woman called.

"We do have one room available... It's not our best... But you'll all be able to sleep there."

Tommy, Jude, Speed, Wally and Kyle looked at each other, considering this.

"All of us? In one room?"

"It's a suite, after all... It's just for one night... It's still gotta be better than the bus..."

"We'll take it!" Speed told her.

She passed him a key, and said.

"Suite 606"

Speed took the key. Dragging their bags, they all headed towards the elevators.