The Confrontation
By:Blondenhot and Angel422
Thanks to all of the reviewers! We are asking for 65 reviews. Can we do it? Let me know what you think! Oh and I'm also having a little trouble thinking of a song for the next chapter that will fit in the mood so if you have any songs private message me! LUV!
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Jude...
I stared in awe at the figure advancing towards us-Portia. She looked right through me as if I were nothing more than a figment of her imagination—a fly upon the wall awaiting the retribution of her swatter. She finally stopped in front of Tommy.
"Portia, I—" He started to reply slowly, but when he saw the sudden glisten in her eyes—the way her hands rested on her hips, he stopped.
"Tommy. We'll talk later. For now, I just want to talk to Jude. Alone." She said forcefully as I shuddered visibly. She wanted to talk to me alone. God, this couldn't be good….
"Portia. Come on, be rational. Do you really have to talk to Jude alone?" Tommy asked fiercely, looking frantically between us two women as if he were nothing more than a ball being tossed between two tennis rackets. I cringed as Portia sighed. "This isn't about her, Portia." Tommy began again as Portia laughed—almost sarcastically--definitely bitterly.
"Oh, Tommy. Don't fret. I won't harm your ARTIST or anything. Just wanna talk." She said snidely as I met her gaze with an unflinching expression--willing my resolve to shine through my eyes--piercing her with the steady gaze I now used. There was nothing for me to be afraid of. The only thing that made Tommy and I both flinch was the way she pronounced, or better yet emphasized, the word 'artist.' I nodded at Tommy to let him know that speaking to Portia alone didn't bother me. Why should it? Tommy nodded back. He seemed impressed by my resilience.
"She's all yours for five minutes. But then we have to get back to work." Tommy stated simply as he looked pointedly at Portia--defeat blazing in his eyes. He pushed his chair back almost forcefully before standing in a manner that revealed his irritaion at this female show of egotism. He should consider the fact that he wasn't the only one bothered by it all.
He stopped as he brushed by me on the way out the door. "Good luck." He whispered. And then he was gone leaving me alone with Portia. Leaving me alone with Fate.
I took a deep breath as she turned toward me with an expression filled with burning possessiveness as well as tidbits of kindness and pity. The possessiveness I could understand, the kindness I could live with, but the pity I could definitely do without.
"Jude…I know you have feelings for Tommy. I understand sweetie I really do. But he's my husband now, and you can't be kissing. It's just wrong. If the tables were turned and you were married to Tommy and had his child, you wouldn't want some pretty, young girl kissing him now would you?" She asked me in a pleasant tone. Too pleasant. I felt my body freeze in place almost in the same way that boy's tongue stuck to a pole in that old movie classic 'A Christmas Story.' God,
I loved that movie. I shook my head at the random thought.
"Portia, I don't have feelings for Tommy. I love him. He's my rock, my
inspiration, my everything. He was all that and a bag of chips before you and Amber came back into the picture. And, no offense, but just because you married him, it doesn't change how I feel about him. And it won't for a long time. You can be angry at me. For that I don't blame you. You are his wife, and I am sorry you had to see us kissing." I told her while trying my best to be nice despite the situation we both now found ourselves in. Portia almost laughed as she processed what I said. I knew she had figured out what I happened to leave unsaid.
"But you're not sorry you kissed him are you?" she asked softly--almost with a hint of intimidation. I felt my features soften in a look of sympathy as I stared back at her.
"Not in the least." I finally replied with a smug smile. I hadn't meant for it to be smug. I didn't have the right to feel smug, but I did somehow.
"Goodbye Portia." I said as Tommy strolled cautiously back into the room. Our five minutes were up. She pushed past us in a hurry. Oh Boy.
Tommy's POV:
I watched as Portia scurried past me, trying to escape the complicated yet easy chapters of the story that had become mine and Jude's relationship. I looked at Jude as Portia grumbled when she walked by, and I noted the amused look etched across Jude's features—the same look she had utilized with the boy wanting to get her a drink at the wedding. Why did that look worry me now as Jude stared
after Portia Quincy—yes Quincy? It also made my blood boil.
"Jude…it's not funny." I told her almost pragmatically. She looked at me for the first time almost as if she had just realized that I was now standing in the room again.
"Oh yes. Tommy, it is. I'm surprised that you don't find this as funny as I do. Let's recap shall we?" she said before pausing a second to examine the reaction
on my face.
"I don't—"I began. We couldn't do this now….Not here.
"That's what I thought. You don't want to hear it now or here right? Well that's tough. Just tough." She spat at me roughly--losing control of her temper. Oh that temper! She continued,
" Ok, so first. You kissed me a couple of months ago. Everything was good. You didn't even ask me to forget it ever happened. I was ecstatic! Then we planned a date. Our first date. Me and Tommy Q. ON A DATE. I thought I was gonna die from pure exhilaration. But when I did die, it was from a completely different reason. My happiness was short lived, Tom. You left. I had no answers. All I knew was that you were gone, and I was lost without you. Utterly and pathetically lost. And then, like three months after you left, you call me. Tell
me that you have a little girl. I told you that I loved you. Big mistake, yet so true." She whispered, her resolve breaking. She burst into tears involuntarily.
I wanted to touch her—to make myself feel less like the jerk I knew I was, but she backed away from me. I think my touch would have done her in.
"You see this Tom? This is what you do to me. This is the effect you have on me. How am I supposed to be happy when all I ever think about is you and all I ever do when I think of you is cry? Love isn't about crying. Can you answer that? Can you tell me how I'm supposed be able to live with the fact that I love you even now when you're married to Portia? Tell me Tom! Can you?" Jude cried out sourly.
I stared at her, taken aback by the raw emotion escaping though her tone. It hurt me to see her like this, knowing that I'm the cause. I really am some sort of a monster…I had to get out of there. NOW.
"Jude…go home and get some rest. It's been a long day. I have to get home and talk to Portia." I said on a sigh as Jude sank back into her chair with a bitter laugh. Fresh tears were cascading down her cheeks as I made my way toward the door.
"Yes, of course. Because you run from everything that's not dandy in your life." Jude exclaimed as I stopped suddenly while facing the closed door, my back still to her. I was fighting tears.
"Especially me. I'm like the monster from under the bed and you're the small child that runs away hiding underneath the sheets as if the cotton is some glorified shield. Who does that make the immature one, Tom? I hate you, Quincy. Right now, I wish you were gone—out of my life forever. Maybe I wouldn't cry as much." Jude muttered as I spun around, unable to believe that Jude could be saying this to me. Had I pushed her that far? I fought back my own tears as she stared at the broken expression on my face, and I looked at her for a moment in disgust and unpleasant surprise before wiping any moisture away and turning back
toward the door. Her sudden gasp stopped me again, and I clutched at the knob as she took a deep breath.
"That's it, isn't it? I wonder if you even realize how messed up you are Tommy because I cringe as I watch you treat Portia like nothing more than an old, distant friend. And don't tell me that you married Portia for Amber's sake. No. Oh my God! It was that simple wasn't it? Portia was your excuse. Why didn't I see it until now? You married her to keep you from being tempted by me. Did you seriously have to go to such lengths? What's a better defense mechanism than a wife right. She would always be your ultimate excuse from now on to just tell me
to forget little kisses and shared moments. Well, you want to use her as a shield, Tommy? Because I'll let you do just that." Jude proclaimed insistently as I felt my back stiffen with disbelief before pushing through the door and slamming it behind me for emphasis.
This was one hell of a homecoming.
It was also one hell of a revelation.
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Blondenhot and Angel422