Chapter 3

Jude stood at her closet, mentally panicking. What do I wear? She wondered, pulling shirts, skirts, pants, and other clothing items out of her closet and tossing them onto the floor.

"Jude?"

Jude spun around and faced her sister.

"Arg! I don't know what to wear!" Jude said dramatically and backed away from the closet and collapsed dramatically onto her bed. Sadie looked at the clothes piled on the floor and back at Jude, a quizzical expression on her face.

"Since when do you care? You're only doing a gig tonight. You've done a million of them and never wondered what to wear before." Sadie pointed out. Jude bolted upright on her bed and stared at her sister.

"It's not just a gig. Tommy called last week; he wants to meet me before I go onstage."

"Wow."

"Yeah, and I have nothing to wear!" Sadie looked at her huge pile of clothes tossed around the room and the one's still left in her sisters' closet and sighed. "You have to help me Sadie!" Jude said, dashing back to her closet which was now only a quarter of the way full.

"Jude, Jude, Stop! Stop! Stop!" Sadie said, and Jude spun around to look at her sister, horrified. "This calls for some major shopping." She said, matter-of-factly. Jude looked at her closet and the clothes on her floor and to her sister.

"You think?" Sadie nodded knowingly.

"Let's go!" Jude said, stomping out of her room.

"Uh, Jude?"

"What!"

"You might want to change." Sadie pointed out. Jude glanced down at her attire, and almost shrieked. She was still wearing her bathrobe and was going to go out in public! She quickly dashed back to her room, throwing on the first pair of jeans and t-shirt she found and ran out of the house, Sadie walking calmly at her heels.

Tommy sat on the airplane in his comfortable first class seat. He had a pair of headphones on his head and was listening to a new track that his boss wanted him to try out called The Spillmens. He couldn't figure out what he did not like about the track, but the more he listened to it, the more he disliked it and the more he wanted to cast it aside and never think about it again. He sighed and switched the CD player off and slid the headphones down off his head and let them hang around his neck carelessly.

I have to take a break. He thought, closing his eyes and relaxing further into the chair.

"Oh! My! Word!" Someone screeched. A female someone. Tommy mistakenly opened his eyes, expecting to see someone in need of medical assistance and saw a pen and a napkin being shoved into his face. Tommy flinched away and looked over his shoulder and the 30 something year old blonde before him, practically hitting her head on the ceiling as she bounced up and down excitedly. "You're Tommy Q!" She screamed out.

Tommy resisted the urge to say, 'yes, I know that' but quickly bit his tongue. "No ma'am, I can assure you, I am not Tommy Quincy." He lied, sounding very collected.

"Oh, don't kid me! I know who you are!" She said, and turned around, motioning to one of her friends. "Susan! Isn't this little Tommy Q all growed up!" She demanded. Tommy again, had to squish the urge to correct the woman's grammar, but decided against it. He sighed.

The woman continued to shove the pen and napkin in his face. "You have to autograph this for me." She said.

"I don't have to do anything, Ma'am." Tommy answered, mentally slapping himself once he said so. Bad publicity, good going Tommy. He yelled at himself.

"Oh, but you must!" Tommy sighed and grabbed the pen and napkin and scribbled his name on it and handed it back, hoping she would leave him alone. He could only be so hopeful because as he handed her the napkin, she slid herself in his lap.

"Uh, miss?" Tommy said, trying not to touch her and move himself as far away as possible.

"Susan! Get the camera!" She wrapped her arms around Tommy's neck and tried to kiss him, but Tommy kept moving his head out of the way.

The blondes' friend, a sensible looking Brunette, came over with a camera, and looked apologetically at Tommy.

"Look, lady, I signed your napkin, now I would appreciate it if you would get off my lap." Tommy said, hoping he wouldn't have to dump her on the ground, or throw her into the aisle. He didn't want to injure the woman, but a man has to do what a man has to do.

"OH, one picture! Pretty please with sugar on top!" she asked, her lips pouty. Tommy was disgusted. This woman was older than he was, and she was acting like a love sick teenager.

"Snap that picture, and I will have my lawyers on your ass." Tommy snapped at the brunette. "Look lady, no picture, now leave me alone." He said.

"But, but" the woman began to get teary eyed. Oh god, please don't cry! Tommy thought, panicking slightly. The brunette took her friends hand and pulled her off of Tommy's lap.

"Come on Sarah; just leave the poor guy alone."

"But he doesn't want to be in a picture with me…"

"Honey, it's ok. You got your autograph, come on now…" The woman said, and the blonde in his lap, hugged him tighter. Tommy looked at the brunette, Susan, and looked at her, pleading with his eyes. Great, Tommy Q, begging another woman to get another woman off of me, what has the world come to? He wondered. Susan grabbed her friend and yanked hard, the grip Sarah had was surprisingly tighter and she practically choked Tommy as her friend pulled her off of him. Finally Sarah's hands broke free and Tommy stood up, not allowing that woman a chance at getting back in his lap. Susan dragged her friend away, with an apology to Tommy.

He shuddered once the girls were gone and he sat back down in his seat, feeling disgusted. Mental note: Next time I travel; drive myself, hire a driver, or use a private jet.

Jude jumped out of her sisters' car and ran into the house, shopping bag in hand. She slammed her door shut and quickly changed clothes. She got a new pair of black pants and a corset style shirt that was red with fishnet sleeves. She glanced in the mirror to see the full effect of the outfit and smiled to herself. She played a bit with her hair but ended up leaving the red locks down. She glanced at her clock and gasped at the time.

She dashed out of her room, grabbing her car keys and purse. She shouted a goodbye to her sister and drove off in her 2005 silver Honda Civic and drove out to meet Tommy.

Tommy and Jude had set up to meet at a 24-hour club located on 5th and Main Street. The place was usually busy, even during the middle of the afternoon, but the owner let Jude have a private room in the back when she came in. She parked out back and walked into the club, saying hello to some of the staff before asking the bartender if he had seen Tommy come in yet.

"Yeah, he got her about 5 minutes ago. He's waiting in the usual place."

"Thanks Mac." Jude said and ordered a Coke. He quickly poured her drink and she took it from him and headed to the back to meet Tommy. She began to feel slightly anxious as she got closer. Would he still like her? What did he want to tell her? Would they even still be friends? Would it be awkward?

She stopped short of the table and watched him a moment. She felt her breathe catch as she watched him. She felt all the emotions she had felt since she was 15 when she was with him. Admiration, love, friendship, and companionship. He still looked the same to her. Same old Tommy, just slightly older. He was looking at a file and still had not noticed her. She took a deep breathe and crossed over to him, sitting casually across from him.

"Hey." She greeted. He looked up, his green eyes studying her a moment.

"Hey." He said, closing his files and placing them aside. Probably songs he's working on. Jude thought, slightly bitterly.

He didn't hear her come up; he hadn't noticed her and it surprised him. He always seemed to notice her. Tommy had been engrossed with the songs he had gotten from Georgia earlier that day when Jude had shown up. His plane had landed early and he convinced Georgia at G Major to allow him to look over Jude's songs that she had completed with Marc. He had to admit, he liked the lyrics, but the melodies…they just didn't fit. His eyes couldn't help but study Jude. She looked good.

When he had left, she was still on the brink of womanhood and still had some of that naïve teenager-look to her, but it was gone now. She was all grown up and she was as beautiful as ever.

"How've you been Jude?" Tommy asked. Jude shrugged.

"Things are going. Been busy with the new album. Yourself?" She asked.

"No complaints." She nodded.

"So, what couldn't you tell me over the phone?" She asked. Tommy sighed.

"I'm going to be straight with you. About 3-4 weeks ago, Georgia set up a meeting with me in L.A. She said she had things to discuss with me."

"What did she want? She never mentioned anything? Is G Major ok?"

"Yeah, it's nothing like that." Tommy said, and paused. "She expressed a few concerns about some of the singers at G Major and she asked me if I wanted my old job back. She said G Major was suffering without me and she needed me back."

"That's great Tommy." Jude said, feeling happy he was going to come back to Toronto. Wait, I sense a but. "Who are you going to be producing?"

"Jude, it would mean me coming back to produce your album." He said, looking into her eyes. Jude was silent. "I told Georgia I couldn't do anything unless you wanted me to come back. I don't want to impose."

Jude didn't say anything. She just stared in Tommy's eyes. Tommy wanted to say something more but he didn't want to push her response. He needed her to think things over.