Chapter Thirty Three
Part I
It seemed almost like she had been doing this forever, the role fitting her like a second skin. She could hardly believe that it had only been a few months since her life had been turned upside down. A record deal-when she hadn't even been looking for one. She couldn't deny she had missed her best friend, her music, because although she had never given it up, she had, she was ashamed to say, lost the belief that she was good enough. Everything had changed now and in this aspect of her life, she had no complaints. Why then couldn't she be content with what she did have? Maybe because her personal life felt more disjointed with everyday that went by.
As her voice faded away, the last notes the only noise in the small room, Jude stretched and grinned at the thumbs up from the other side of the glass. It had been a long day and things were far from finished, but she and her producer both, were satisfied with what they had accomplished today. She was finally getting used to this hectic schedule and was thriving under the pressure to create music, even though she hadn't been sure she could do it in the beginning when she had signed her music contract. She was learning, at least about this part of the music business and it wasn't glamorous, at least what she knew of it so far wasn't-But it was a kick ass rush that she not found anything to equal. It was like finding that perfect pair of jeans, just tight enough, but not so tight you couldn't breathe, that accented your butt perfectly and made your legs look incredibly long, but magnified a thousand times. She didn't believe she would ever find something to trump this complete feeling.
"You coming along for some drinks Jude? It's Rick's birthday," Finn said over the intercom as Jude started to put away her guitar. She was battling with herself about spending some of her advance to upgrade her instrument, but still hadn't decided yet. The idea of a new guitar was like a siren call and she wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to resist. There was the sweetest Fender in the music shop downtown and she had to go in just to look at it every time she had been remotely near the area.
Jude hesitated at replying, thinking about her commitments back home. He was there waiting for her. "I don't know, I'm supposed to be home already," she said with regret. Having a drink and kicking back with her co-workers sounded like a great idea right now. Home wasn't what it once used to be and she felt a bit adrift these days.
"Call your hubby and tell him to meet us," Finn cajoled. "I'm buying."
"Yeah, why not," she accepted with a slow smile. Even if he didn't want to go, she deserved a little downtime.
She sat at a low table with a bunch of people from work, barely knowing most of them, one of only two women with their group. Surprisingly Jude wasn't uncomfortable though, liking their genuine camaraderie, their laughter blocking out her own thoughts. He had not been at home and had not answered his cell phone when she called and hadn't as yet replied to the message she had left. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe he was once again with someone else. To block the suspicion she took a serious swig of her Rum and Coke. She had promised to try and get past what he had done.
She saw someone stop at their table in her periphery as had happened quite a few times tonight. Something caught her attention this time around and she glanced over at the man who stood next to Finn. He was maybe average height, dark hair, carefully messily spiked and she couldn't tell the eye color in the dim bar, except that they were definitely not dark. He was definitely attractive with that sculpted mouth and those chiseled cheek bones-not that she noticed… She was married and she wasn't supposed to notice other men. Then she wondered if that was her husbands' jealousy talking or her own belief; sometimes it was hard to separate one from the other.
"Hey Tommy, there's someone I think you should meet," Finn said even as he gestured towards Jude beside him with his brown glass bottle of beer.
She already had a polite impersonal smile on her lips, that felt suddenly frozen in place when his eyes swung towards her. She knew this man, deep down there was something tapping at her memory. Recognition of the most instinctual kind flooded her, but she knew there was no way she could possibly have met him before.
"Jude Harrison meet Tom Quincy." Jude obliged the common rules of courtesy by raising her hand to shake his, but the moment his fingers curled around hers awareness shot through her in a way that seemed paradoxically suddenly new and yet familiar at the same time. "Jude's my newest artist. Tommy's a producer for G-Major."
She finally remembered to let go of his hand, wondering if he was feeling the same thing she was, but unable to tell anything from his expression and his eyes remained shadowed at the angle he stood with his back towards the nearest light.
"Have I heard of you?" Tommy asked as he took the seat next to Finn, talking across him.
She managed to shake herself out of this weird out of body sensation she had and answered just as snarkily, "is this where I tell you no, but you will?"
Although no smile came to his lips, a light did seem to appear in his penetrating eyes. "I believe that," he said, not insincerely, shaking her defenses.
Something about that look brushed at the back of her mind, but she pushed the feeling away. She had originally pegged him as one of those arrogant, God's gift to women types, but maybe there was more there than she had guessed, even if he was once a boybander. It had taken her a minute or two, but she finally realized he was the same Tom Quincy, AKA Little Tommy Q, from that nineties boy band Boyz Attack. Not that long ago she would have possibly mocked his past career, but the drinks had mellowed her and that strange recognition echoing in her body stopped her. Instead Jude let him get her another drink even as Finn gave her a stern look.
"You know his rep don't you?" He said without preamble as soon as the other man had walked away, studying his newest and possibly most promising artist. He already had a soft spot for her, which was unusual for a man who had been in the business long enough to see plenty of musicians come and go. There was something about Jude though, a sense of pure love for the music maybe, that had already impressed him. He had never really seen her flirt before though.
"Why? Is there something you want to tell me Finian?" she asked teasingly as she finished the remainder of her glass.
He winced at the use of his full name, regretting that he had ever told her. "He likes women." He tried to be tactful and wondered if subtlety was lost on her.
Finn sighed loudly, rolling his eyes before narrowing them on her. "You know what I mean Harrison. Just watch out okay?"
"I'm married, remember Dad?"
Of course the Devil was already headed back towards them, having skipped the line at the bar and Finn muttered low enough that she didn't hear his reply, 'do you?'
She came awake slowly, too groggy to even attempt to open her eyes yet and so she felt the bare skin of the man beside her on the bed, before she saw him. This of course was not unusual, she was married after all and rarely slept alone, but when she finally did look, the face that stared back at her wasn't quite the one she expected. Jude clamped her hand to her mouth, stifling the hysterical sound that threatened to explode from her throat.
The man beside her stirred. "Baby, are you feeling okay?" he asked in puzzlement as he opened his own eyes to stare at his wife. "You slept a longtime."
She could only nod at first before she finally let her hand fall away and she uttered breathlessly, "you…"
He sat up then, letting the sheets slide off his bare chest, concern wrinkling his brow, until she giggled, her face breaking out into a large grin. A sense of wonderment hit her right in the gut, as she recalled how lucky she was and how happy they were together.
She reached up and pulled him down to her, holding his neck so tightly he almost choked. Then when she finally pulled back she smacked him in the chest.
"Ow, what the hell?" he rubbed the spot she had hit, his other hand going out to hold her wrist loosely. He knew pregnant Jude could be a loose cannon, but he was rarely worried about his own safety.
"That's for not asking for my number."
He blinked, because of course that made no sense, unless she meant when they first got together, but… that didn't seem right either. "Babe…Are you sure you're okay?"
She shook her head and grinned at him. "I'm fine. I just had this weird dream."
"Did we have wild monkey sex and I forgot to call after?"
"What? No!" she laughed. "Do you ever think about anything else?"
"I'm a guy and I'm lying beside a my sexy half dressed wife." He smirked down at her, his eyes roaming her body hungrily.
He still had the power to make her blush, but she met his hot gaze head on anyway, comfortable enough to let him see all of her. She had never thought of herself as particularly sexy, but he made her believe it with that simple glance.
"So what was the dream about then?" he asked indulgently, even as his fingers skimmed the hem of her tank top.
"It was something Jamie said in the hospital. It made me wonder if things would have been different if I didn't meet you after Jamie told me what he did."
Tommy's face grew a little more somber as he studied her face.
"So this dream-I just got the contract at Fearless and we all went out after work and my producer knew you. So we wound up talking and we closed the bar, but-"
"What?"
"You let me walk away," she said more softly as if it actually did bother her.
"Jude it was just a dream."
"I know…It still made me sad though." She felt this strange ache in her gut, as if she had lost something. What if…
"Did I know you were married?"
She shrugged slightly, rolling her shoulders to ease the kinks out. "I think so…" Had she been wearing her old wedding band? She couldn't quite remember.
"Maybe that's why." He couldn't quite believe he was justifying his own actions in Jude's dream, but he was still doing it. His only goal was to make her happy.
"You've gone after married women before," she said it without sounding judgmental, just matter of fact.
"Maybe I already knew you were different," he said, injecting insouciance into his voice to try and lighten her mood.
She snorted and rolled her eyes at him. "That sounds exactly like what dream Tommy would have said."
He let out a silent groan and glanced at the alarm clock, hoping for a reprieve. "Let's talk about it later okay? We need to get moving."
Jude turned her head too, to stare at the time and sighed. "I don't know if I'm ready for this," she admitted.
His hand went out to cup her cheek. "I'll cancel if you don't want to do this."
Their eyes locked and held, she finding strength from his steady gaze. Jude shook her head and kissed his palm. "I'll be okay." She gave him a puzzled look as last night's events came back to her. "How did I get into the apartment?"
"You don't remember at all?"
She shook her head in the negative even as she tried to recall what had happened after she had gotten into the car.
"I pretty much carried you up here. Frank thought you were a lush, until I told him it was the baby thing," he teased, grinning at her frown.
"Who?"
"Our doorman," he reminded her.
"Oh yeah," she said in recognition of the older, almost too dignified man in uniform. Jude glanced down at her attire and then her eyes swung back to his face. "You undressed me too. Did you look?" she asked teasingly.
A slow melting smile graced his very kissable mouth. "Babe I always look." He leered at her rather charmingly, making her laugh, finally diffusing that lingering feeling of wrongness she had woken with.
They came in through a small waiting room adjacent to the conference room Leslie Conrad, a publicist Tommy had asked to set this up, had booked for the morning. There was a rush of noise and flashes from the reporters that had been waiting avidly for them to show up as the men and women stood from their folding chairs to get pictures and shoot questions at the couple.
Tommy was casual, in jeans and a royal blue button down shirt that brought out his light eyes. It was Jude's appearance however, that generated the most interest due to the baby rumors. She had on black leggings and a long button down striped grey tunic top that neither concealed nor highlighted her tummy, which already had some of the reporters speculating. Tommy pulled the chair out for Jude behind the raised table that was allocated for them and sat down himself, both of them ignoring the uproar their presence had caused. Tommy clipped the small mike onto Jude's collar before clipping on his own.
Leslie stepped onto the raised platform to start the introduction, every person in the room having already been briefed by her on what questions would not be tolerated, by penalty of expulsion from the meeting.
Jude pointed randomly at a woman in the middle of the audience.
"Jude are the pregnancy rumors true?"
Jude glanced at Tommy quickly before turning her attention back to the woman. She nodded and said, "I won't deny it." She tried to sound lighthearted, but it felt like the words were strained.
"Is it Tommy's baby or is it your husband Jamie's?"
She had to hide a flinch at Jamie's name uttered by this stranger who probably had no idea what he even looked like. This time her answer was not quite as quick, even though it was an easy question to reply to. "I'm lucky to share this with Tommy. My ex has nothing to do with my life right now."
Leslie was quick to choose another reporter, giving Jude a chance to breathe. Tommy leaned close and kissed her temple. "We're okay," he whispered against her ear.
She nodded and laced her fingers with his.
It started off fairly easily after that, Tommy doing most of the talking, until Jude grew more comfortable in the presence of so many interested people. Yes, they had gotten together months before. Yes, it was true Jude had been married at the time. No, Darius Mills had not sent Tommy to seduce Jude into joining G-Major. That question had been uncomfortable close to the truth, but they simply soldiered on.
Underneath the table they held hands, Jude squeezing when she felt anxious and Tommy doing the same to reassure. Surprisingly enough Jude did not feel like she was under attack, like a bug under a microscope maybe, but although some of the questions so far had been probing, the general feel of the room indicated they had a favorable attitude towards the couple.
"Jude how is your album coming along?"
This was the question they had been waiting for.
"The album's on a semi-permanent hiatus," Jude said lightly. Yes, it was her future music career she was speaking of, but she had found that the man beside her had given her something more important. "But I really believe things will work out." A secretive smile played across her face.
"There's already been positive buzz generated for your music Jude. Your song is still hot in the charts. Why stop now?" An overweight, slightly balding man asked.
"It wasn't our choice," Tommy added, insinuating, but adding nothing concrete to get himself in more trouble with Darius. He knew first hand that the paparazzi were good at reading between the lines.
"Jude, Tommy what are your plans?"
It was deliberate and effective when Jude reached her left hand across her body to Tommy's left hand and they raised them above the table to show the reporters. The flashed were immediately blinding as Jude propped her hand on Tommy's arm, letting them get shots of her rings, especially the all important diamond.
"Since we have some time off, we're gonna enjoy the honeymoon," Tommy said charmingly, getting more than one heart flutter from the straight females in the room. What was it that was so sexy about a bad boy settled down?
There were immediate questions as to which designer the jewelry had come from and then questions on where the wedding had taken place. Their marriage had become the topic of the hour, no one having guessed that Tommy Q, the ultimate playboy would have settled down so suddenly.
She let out a huge sigh and rested her head back against the seat. "That was-an experience. Is it always so claustrophobic?"
"You'll get used to it," he said not unsympathetically. All that energy directed at you, could be overwhelming. He was proud of how well she had handled herself though.
"Not if I can't finish my music." No one would even remember her name, except as maybe Tommy's wife, if she couldn't straighten things out with Darius.
"Don't worry. They're gonna wanna hear anything you have out that they can get their hands on."
She nodded and sighed again, thinking about the repercussions that were sure to follow this press conference. Tomorrow it would make the tabloids and tonight it would be on an entertainment talk show.
"What's wrong? Are you still obsessing over that dream?"
She shrugged uneasily before giving him a discomfited smile. "I feel kind of guilty not telling Dani last night, about us getting married." Jude rolled her eyes when he was about to interrupt. "I know-she was trying to cause trouble, but…God Quincy she's been in love with you forever. Now she's going to find out through the press."
It floored him that she could ignore the fact that Dani had tried to set her up with another man, just to prove to Tommy that Jude wasn't worth his devotion. "There's only one woman I care about being in love with me forever," he said glibly, getting a snort of disbelief from her.
"Do your fans know how cheesy you are?" She yelped in helpless laughter when his fingers went to tickle her sides.