She moved on

Tommy walked through the house, towards the kitchen, trying not to fall. Three days ago he had seen her...and she was ok. She wasn't crying like the last time he had seen her...was he surprised that she was ok? Was he happy for her?. She seemed to be happy...with her son. Their son. Tommy thought about that as he took another beer bottle from the fridge and made his way towards the couch. The curtains were closed and he was ok with that. He didn't need the light. He just needed to convince himself of the fact that Jude was perfectly fine without him. That she had moved on.
He heard the door bell and the sound hit his head like a train. He stood up and managed himself to get to the door. It wasn't easy considering that the excess of alcohol had blurred his vision. He opened the door and saw Kwest at the other side. Kwest's jaw dropped as he saw his old friend in that state.

"Diarius sent me to check you out. He was worried because he didn't see you again after the party...and I'm gonna admit he was right" He looked at Tommy, who was still wearing the same clothes he wore at the party three days ago and was obviously drunk.

Kwest stepped inside and saw the mess his friend had poured in. Tommy walked towards the couch and sat down again.

"Man, you're a mess!" Kwest exclaimed as he picked up the empty bottles on the floor. Tommy didn't turn his head to look at him; he was too immersed in his own thoughts.

"I saw her" he confessed in a whisper, looking sadly at the empty bottle on his hand "I saw them"

"Her? ... Them?" Kwest asked totally puzzled as he walked towards the kitchen to prepare some coffee for his friend

"She's so beautiful" he said to himself "and the boy...he's cute too"

Tommy sighed and looked away from the bottle.

"I saw Jude" he finally said. A crash was heard from the kitchen. it sounded like a cup or plate breaking. Kwest ran out of the kitchen.

"WHAT?" he screamed. Tommy covered his head with his hands and shut his eyes

"Ouch!...headache!" Tommy screamed back.

"Sorry man, but you hit me with that" Kwest said, sitting in front of Tommy and passing him a cup of coffee "How did it happen?"

Tommy stayed silent for a while, trying to form a coherent thought as he took a sip of his coffee.

"It was at Diarius' party. I was talking to Gabrielle...well, after I found out that she was Gabrielle and Danielle...and then I saw her"

"I should've known that" Kwest whispered to himself, but Tommy did hear him and opened his eyes wide.

"What? You knew about Jude working as a producer at D-Major?"

"Well, sorta" he admitted nervously.

"You should've said it to me" he said. He took another sip of his coffee. Everything was getting clearer "I was completely shocked when I saw her and..."

"And...?" Kwest asked, half excited, half scared.

Tommy took a deep breath

"She wasn't alone, man. She had a boy in his arms"

"A boy?" Kwest thought for a moment "a 9 year old, blond, cute boy...and he was crying all the time?"

Tommy nodded opening his eyes wide.

"Ohh...that's Tyler!" he said as he sighed in relief. Tommy didn't notice that.

"Yeah, Tyler Harrison...I know"

Tommy took another deep breath. The alcohol effects were subsiding and he was starting to feel like crap again.

"Well, I think that after ten years...everything is different" Kwest said after an uncomfortable silence. "She's different"

"I know. She's a producer now"

"Not just a producer...she's the best in the business"

"She's my producer...or at least, she was" Tommy said sadly.

"What do you mean?"

"She told me I had to go" Tommy explained with a sad face "actually, I should have left yesterday, because she gave me 48 hours to leave"

"That sounds like a thread"

"It was a thread" Tommy said "I you know what? I don't blame her"

"I don't blame her either" Kwest admitted "it has been ten years, Tommy"

"And she's happy. I saw her smiling" He said, smiling weakly.

"Well, she has some reasons to smile. Actually, two reasons" Kwest took a deep breath "Tommy look, after you left..."

Kwest cleared his throat to say something, but suddenly Tommy stood up and cut him off.

"You know what? I don't care!" Tommy said firmly as he threw the beer bottle across the room

"What?" Kwest half screamed "are you bipolar or something?!"

Tommy smiled at him and then walked towards his room. Kwest followed him

"Well, if she's happy then I'm happy too" Tommy said as he picked some clothes from his closet "it has been ten years Kwest...and she obviously moved on. Maybe we can be friends now"

"Ok, enough alcohol for you, Quincy" Kwest said, shaking his head "you're completely insane!"

"I'm not insane" Tommy said "But I made a decision ten years ago...my career is the most important thing, and I'm gonna fight for it. Who cares if she doesn't want to be my producer? If she's the best, then she will be my producer so I can have the best album"

"Tommy, but what about..."

"My kid?. After ten years, I think I'm prepared to be a father...so I will talk to her. I wanna meet him. Do you think he knows something about me?"

Kwest rolled his eyes and walked out of the room.

"You'll get a big surprise, Tommy!" Kwest screamed as he walked towards the kitchen. But Tommy was too absorbed in his own thoughts

"I will say I'm sorry and everything will be ok between us. After all, we were just kids by then" Tommy said to himself as he looked himself through the mirror.

They stepped into D-major. Kwest looked around and sighed in relief.

"What?" Tommy asked, but Kwest didn't say anything. He just said goodbye and walked away from him.

Tommy shrugged his shoulders and looked around. He needed to see her again. He smiled at the secretary and then walked towards Diarius' office, but on the way he saw Diarius talking to a blond girl. He looked again and realized it was Jude. She was almost unrecognizable...her long blond hair was short now and the clothes she was wearing weren't her "style", Tommy thought.

He took a deep breath and walked towards them

T/T: remember Tommy. You have to be strong. You can't tell her you missed her, because she didn't miss you.

"Good morning" Tommy said politely, looking at Jude directly at the eyes. Jude opened her big blue eyes wide and stood there, totally paralyzed. Of course, Diarius didn't notice it.

"Great to see you again, Tommy. What happened to you all these days?" Diarius asked. Tommy looked at Jude and then back at Diarius

"You know...party, girls, as usual" Tommy said to Diarius, smiling confidently.

"well, now it's not time to party...I need a hit and I need it now" Diarius said, smiling at Tommy and tapping his shoulder "you know what I always say, T, your time..."

"Is my money" Tommy completed, still smiling. Jude looked away and pretended to be concentrated reading some papers.

"Oh, D...about my producer" Tommy started. Jude looked at him immediately "I think Jude is great...can't wait to start"

Tommy looked at Jude, smiling evilly. Jude opened her mouth in a "o" shape and was about to say something, but then she decided to shut her mouth and smiled at Diarius

"Great...then, why don't you start now?" Diarius proposed them as they walked towards the studio. Jude went back to her papers and Tommy looked at her thoroughly. She had changed, not just physically. Her eyes weren't the same and her face had a strong expression she didn't have before, he thought. Diarius opened the door for them and they got inside the studio.

"I will leave you alone so you can start working" Diarius said smiling as he closed the door. There was an uncomfortable silence. Then Jude looked up from the papers to the computer.

"Ok, let start to work...have you worked on some lyrics or rhythms?" she asked seriously as she took a seat.

Tommy was totally puzzled. She didn't scream or cried? Ok...she had obviously moved on. Tommy took a deep breath

"Jude, before we start with this, we need to talk" he said walking towards her. Jude cleared her throat.

"Yes, I know that"

"Really?" Tommy said letting a slight sing of hope let out with his words.

"Of course...we have to make clear our objectives. It's important to know what you want for this album and what I can do for that" she said with the same serious tone. Tommy had heard that tone before, but he couldn't figure out where.

"Jude, I'm talking about us" he spotted and waited for a response. Jude moved in her seat and went silent for a moment.

"And I'm talking about us too. Now, get in the booth. We will start with the sound proves"

"But Jude..."

"Get in the booth, Mr. Quincy" she said, this time bitterly, not even looking at him "I've got a meeting in a hour and we need a single before you go back on tour"

Tommy had no choice. He walked in and put the headphones.

"Ok. What do you want me to sing?" he asked bitterly. He was getting tired of Jude's indifference.

"I don't care. This is just a sound prove. Sing whatever you want" she said, looking at the control board and then at the computer

That's when an amazing idea came to Tommy's brain. He smiled and cleared his throat as he took a guitar.

"This is a song I wrote 10 years ago...for a very special person"

Before Jude could react, Tommy started.

Cause she's bittersweet
She knocks me off of my feet
And I can't help myself
I don't want anyone else
She's a mystery
She's too much for me
But I keep comin' back for more
She's just the girl I'm lookin' for

He couldn't help it. he needed to know if she still felt something for him. he looked at her, but she never looked at him.

"It's enough for now, Mr. Quincy" Jude suddenly said, turning off the microphone and looking away from him. She was pretty nervous, he could tell. "Let's take a two hours break, ok?"

Tommy put the guitar down and walked out of the sound booth

"You can't run away Jude...after all these years, you still can't" Tommy said, looking deeply into her eyes. Jude looked away

"I thought you were the one that ran away, am I wrong?" she spotted bitterly, but still keeping a calmed tone.

Tommy didn't know what to say. He stood there for a moment and then stormed out of the studio.

He was totally depressed again, but then he saw a blonde cute girl sitting on the couch, reading something. He smiled mechanically and approached to the girl.

"Gabrielle...or Danielle?" he asked to the girl, who looked up at him with a serious expression.

"Do you want me to hit you to find out?" she responded defiantly. Tommy smiled.

"It won't be necessary...hi Danielle"

She looked at her notebook again. Tommy sat down beside her.

"I need to talk to you about something really important" he said finally, just to get her attention. Danielle looked away from her notebook to him with a quizzical look

"About what?" she asked, really intrigued

"Well..."

Before Tommy could say anything he felt a pair of little arms wrapped around his neck. He turned around and saw Gabrielle, smiling at him as usual. Tommy looked into her eyes and felt that warmth in his heart again. He shook his head to get rid of the feeling, but it was unsuccessful.

"Hi Tommy! ...where were you? We haven't seen you around these days"

Tommy thought about the party. The twins knew all the people there, and they obviously knew Jude and Tyler. He smiled.

"Why don't we go for ice cream and I tell you what happened?" Tommy proposed her. Then he looked at Danielle "of course, both of you"

Gabrielle jumped up and down

"Yay! ...Ice cream, I love ice cream!"

"Gabrielle...I don't think it's a good idea" Danielle spotted, giving her sister a meaningful look.

"C'mon Danny, you love ice cream more that you can possibly tell. It will be fun"

"But mom said..."

"Who cares?!...she doesn't even know him"

"But she said we couldn't talk to him..." Danielle mumbled, moving her head towards Tommy, who opened his eyes wide.

"Hold up...your mom said that?" Tommy interrupted them "why?"

Both girls shrugged her shoulders at the same time. There was an uncomfortable silence

"Ok, you win. Let's go" Danielle said finally, looking at Tommy's shocked expression and then at Gabrielle. "What she doesn't know won't hurt her, am I right?"

"That's what I always say, sister!"

Tommy took their hands and walked out of D-major. He felt that warmth again, but he realized it was a good feeling, so he didn't do anything to get rid of it.

They didn't have to go very far from D-major to find an ice-cream parlor

"We're here. Now go to choose the flavors" Tommy said smiling as the girls ran to the shop window.

"Ok...I want chocolate, and orange, and apple and...and..." Gabrielle half screamed excitedly as she looked at the different ice-creams, opening her eyes wide.

Tommy joined them.

"I think I will want chocolate and pineapple, as usual" Danielle said, trying not to get as excited as her sister. She was the older one and had to keep it cool.

"Do you like chocolate and pineapple together?" Tommy asked her, totally shocked.

"Yes. What? do you have something to say against that?!" Danielle spotted defiantly.

Tommy smiled at her and stroked her hair

"No. actually, I'm surprised because I thought I was the only one that liked those flavors together"

Danielle opened her mouth and looked at him in disbelief as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Ok...suddenly I don't like ice cream anymore" she said seriously.

Tommy laughed as he ordered the ice-creams. The girls walked out with the cones on their hands (three scoops in Gabrielle's, two scoops in Danielle's) as he paid for them.

"Your daughters are really nice, Mr." the cashier said as she received the cash. Tommy opened his mouth to deny it, but the woman added something "and they really look a lot like you"

Tommy was speechless. He looked back at the girls and realized that they were familiar to him...very familiar. He walked out of the store and met the girls. This was his chance to ask them about Jude...and the most important thing, about his son.

"Well, you will think I'm a psycho when I ask you this, but..." he started as they walked back to D-major.

"Don't worry Quincy, I already have that image of you" Danielle said, but this time she smiled. Tommy looked at her...that smile was familiar to him. Very familiar.

"That's...good to know" Tommy said, trying to focus on his question again. He took a deep breath "can you tell me something about Tyler?"

"Tyler?" both girls half screamed at the same time.

"I know it sounds weird...the guy is a complete strange for me and for you too, but..."

"What?" Danielle exclaimed "Tyler is not a strange. We're family"

Tommy looked at her, totally puzzled.

"I know it will sound a little weird, but Tyler...he's our uncle" Gabrielle confessed. Tommy couldn't believe it.

"What?"

"Our mom's little brother. Half brother to be exact" Danielle corrected her sister "I know...it's ridiculous. he's just two months older than us and we have to call him "uncle" when our grandparents are around"

Before Tommy could put all the pieces together they got to D major. It was full or reporters and photographers everywhere. Tommy tried to figure out what was going on and walked in, looking around. Suddenly he saw Jude...she was surrounded by the reporters, smiling widely. Then he saw she wasn't alone. Beside her was a familiar blonde guy, holding her hand. Tommy was trying to remember where he had seen this guy when he realized that the twins were running towards them.

"Dad!" Gabrielle screamed as she jumped into his arms. The guy embraced her tightly.

The photographers went crazy taking pictures of the girls.

Then Danielle took Jude's hand and she took her in her arms. That's when it hit him. Danielle and Jude were very similar. The guy cleared his throat as he stroked Danielle's hair with his free hand

"These are the girls I was talking about" the guy said loudly, smiling at the girls and then at Jude "let me introduce you to my whole world...Gabrielle and Danielle. Our daughters" he exclaimed, smiling warmly at Jude.

"Mom, could you put me on the floor again? I'm not a baby" Danielle asked to Jude, who smiled warmly at her and put her down. All the people laughed at Danielle's words, except for Tommy. He was pale, shocked and speechless.