A/N: OK all, because chapter 21 is 7 pages all on its own, I'm just posting this chapter this time. I really liked this chapter so I hope you all enjoy it. Please note, I own the lyrics to Imperfect Man. It is my own song that I wrote specifically for this story. So please, don't try and tell me I copied it from another singer or whatever. If it looks familiar, I honestly can't say that I heard a similar song or seen a similar thing in another story. Thank you and enjoy!
Chapter 21
The Next Day
Behind the Mic, backstage
Tommy sat backstage, letting the make-up artist add some eye-liner around his eyes so they did not become washed out when he went on stage. He hated make up. He always went with the bare minimum when he performed and this woman was getting on his nerves. Once she tried getting him to wear lipstick, he leaped out of the chair and ran from the room, determined to hide from the psycho woman until he had to go onstage. As he snuck through the building, he bumped into Jude.
"Hey, didn't think you'd come." He said, his voice sounding nervous.
"Don't back out on my word, unlike some people I know." Tommy winced at the tone she used and hoped she would understand soon enough.
"Sorry about that."
"Yeah, I know. Something came up." She said, bitterly.
"Jude"
"Not now Quincy." She said, sounding hurt. Tommy sighed. "Are you wearing eye-liner?" She inquired.
"Yes, and I would be wearing a lot more than that if I hadn't run from the make up artist." Tommy stated, looking sheepish and glancing behind his shoulder to make sure she didn't try and follow him. Jude bit her lip to keep from laughing. "Don't say anything." Tommy warned. Jude smirked and started laughing, unable to control herself. Tommy just glared at her.
"I think it's cute. Little Tommy Q scared of a little bit of make up." Jude said, forgetting the slip. Tommy glared at her.
"What did I tell you about calling me that?" He demanded, annoyed that she brought up his much hated nick name from back in the day.
"Sorry." Jude said, looking sincere. "So, you nervous?" She asked, trying to be polite.
"Nope." Tommy said, with a shrug. Jude stared at him in disbelief. "Girl, I've been here, done that. Nothing new for me." He said, his voice dismissive.
"So, you're not just a bit nervous about the interview?"
"Not about the interview…" he muttered, thinking about the song he had wrote yesterday in the studio.
"Hu?" Tommy just gave her a smile and offered nothing more. EJ came up to the pair and glanced at Tommy.
"You're on in 10." Tommy just nodded.
"Well, I'll let you go…I'm sure you want to see other people. Good luck." Jude said, walking away, leaving Tommy wondering what or who she was referring to. Before he had a chance to think much more on it, he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Mr. Quincy!" Tommy deadpanned and glanced behind him to see the make-up artist running towards him. Tommy darted away, determined to avoid the woman at all costs.
5 Minutes Later
Tommy stood behind the stage entrance with Georgia and EJ on either side of him.
"Remember what we discussed Tom?" EJ said, glancing up from her clipboard.
"Yes, mums the word on the duet." EJ smiled at him.
"Good. I guess if you remember that, I won't have to look into a castration." She said, cheerfully. Tommy just stared back at her, not sure how to comment on that. "It's not like you haven't divulged information in the past." She said, and patted him on the shoulder. Georgia whispered something to EJ and the younger girl buzzed away, a determined look on her face.
"You'll do fine Tom." Georgia said knowingly.
"I'm not nervous."
"Uh-hu." Georgia said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "you keep saying that to yourself." She said, and winked at him. Tommy just stared at his boss and friend incredously. "I'm worried more about you going up there than Jude." She said, honestly.
"Why?" Tommy asked, not understanding Georgia's worry.
"You've been in the spotlight a lot longer than she has. You've got more baggage and rumors circulating about you than most of America's Hollywood combined. I'm just afraid they're going to bring up something you don't want to talk about."
"I know how to deal with the press." Tommy said, knowing that on some level, Georgia was right.
"You'll do fine." She said, leading him towards the stage.
"It's not the interview that I'm worried about." Tommy said, speaking honestly. Georgia smiled at him.
"The song's great Tom." She said, and added "Probably the best you've ever wrote."
"Thanks Georgia." Tommy said, still feeling nervous about the upcoming performance.
"Go knock 'em dead." She whispered as Tommy was given his cue by the stage hands to enter the stage.
As Tommy stepped from behind the curtain, there was a chorus of deafening cheers. He couldn't help but flash his trademark smile. He missed this, the fans, the cheers. He made his way to center stage, and John stood up, and they shook hands before taking their seats.
"Wow, now that we're all deaf…" John commented, rubbing his left ear in humor. Tommy laughed and another set of applause that erupted from the crowd. "It's been, what? About 7 years since you've last appeared on our show?" John asked, trying to get a time line started. Tommy looked thoughtful, also trying to figure out how long it had been.
"Honestly? I have no clue, but it sounds about right." Tommy said, with a laugh. John smiled and played a game of catch up before delving into the interview which was fine by him.
"Now, last time we saw you, Boyz Attack just broke up and there were talks of you beginning a solo-album. Whatever happened to that?" John asked, sincerely wondering what had happened to the ex-boy bander turned producer.
"I thought about putting out a solo-album. I even had a couple of songs wrote and ready for recording," Tommy said, purposely leaving out the fact that he had recording said songs and said album was locked in a vault in Darius's office until Jude decided to stick her nose where it didn't belong. "But then I was offered a producing job and I took it originally, thinking it would let the band image die down a little and I could pursue something without the past following me around, but it turned out, I'm a pretty damn good producer and I like being behind the scenes." Tommy said, honestly, choosing his words carefully.
"Now that's the Tom Quincy we all know and love." John said, with a wink to his interviewee. "Now, how did you become involved with Jude Harrison and the Instant Star competition? You didn't even start out at G Major originally."
"No, I wasn't at G Major when I started out. I was at a little no name studio for the first couple of albums I produced. Nothing really came out of the bands so it's not even worth mentioning who they were. Georgia, the manager and owner of G Major, asked me to produce at her studio. I was there about a year when she started talking about doing a singing competition to boost record sales," Tommy explained, trying to think back nearly 4 years earlier. "I can honestly say, I wanted nothing to do with the competition. After Jude won, Georgia came to me and said this girl was it. She needed the best producer there was and she thought we would make a good team. I only accepted to do the first album as a favor to Georgia, and who would have guessed that she was right? We made a great team and are now working on her third album and the infamous duet." Tommy stated, smiling slightly at the early memories of his and Jude's relationship where they were both determined to hate each other.
"So, I take it your fond of your protégé?" John asked, his tone suggestive.
"Don't get me wrong, the girl is a great singer and songwriter; when she was only 15, she had a voice of a seasoned professional; hell, probably even better in some occasions. She's a natural talent, and a good friend. Of course I hold her in high esteem, but don't go and twist my words around either." Tommy said, trying to cover his ass about his and Jude's relationship.
"Funny. Jude said the same thing about being friends yesterday as well." John said, trying to get something else out of Tommy. Tommy knew what he was trying to pull. He wanted Tommy to say something more about their relationship that was controversial and he'd be able to sell the tape to the tape to all the area newscasters and tell the world that Tommy Q was taking advantage of a 16 year old girl. He knew the game, he knew it well. He also knew how to play the game.
"I guess that would be your answer than, hu?" Tommy said, smirking slightly.
"Well Ladies, it looks like you all still have a chance with Tommy Q over here." John said, and the audience let out a chorus of loud cheers. Tommy just looked mildly uncomfortable, remembering the days when he would have laughed and picked a girl out of the audience and that would have been his flavor of the week…or sometimes, even just the next 24 hours.
"So, Tom, we asked Jude yesterday how it was working with you, I guess we should ask the reverse, how it is working with the lovely Jude Harrison." John asked, and Tommy kept himself from strangling the man and the chorus of male cheers that followed from the audience.
"What can I say? Jude's a natural born musician and is as stubborn as a mule. We have our creative differences, but we give a little for the good of the album." Tommy said, not wanting to get into too much detail about his working with Jude. He knew if he said too much, he'd let slip something that could possibly be the headline in the tabloids in the morning.
"Jude called you a perfectionist and you call her a mule." John said, looking amused. "Good to see teamwork that stays realistic." John said, laughing slightly. Tommy shrugged.
"She's right; I'm not denying the fact that I make her stay up all night working on a song because it's not perfect. You can't have a song that is half perfection. It's either nailed or it's not. There's no in-between. If you let it go for too long, then the habit builds and then all the songs are mediocre instead of the great hits that they could be." Tommy said, his voice passionate.
"Good to see you care about your work."
"I've never said I didn't." Tommy said, truthfully.
"Now, Yesterday, Jude said she couldn't delve any information about the duet…now tell us Tom, what is this song about?" Tommy let out a laugh.
"Sorry, can't say anything until tomorrow. My PR manager threatened me backstage earlier today about not saying a word." Tommy said, his voice light with humor.
"That's never stopped you in the past."
"Believe me man, no one messes with EJ." Tommy said, a slight deadpan on his face. "Seriously, it's still not perfected yet, so it would be against my perfectionist ways to divulge any information." Tommy joked, smiling at the groans that came from the audience.
"We can't even get a title?" John asked, looking intrigued.
"I think I could supply that…" Tommy said, pausing for dramatic effect. "The song's called Two Worlds Collide and I will not say anymore about the matter."
"Now, Jude had said yesterday that the song could be considered a love song…"
"No comment." Tommy said, a secretive smile on his face. John gave him a mock glare.
"Well folks, looks like you'll have to tune in tomorrow to hear more about this duet." John said and Tommy laughed. "Now, Tom, how did it feel when the tabloids doubted your vocal ability?"
"Honestly? I had no clue that's what's being said. Anyone at G Major can tell you that I don't pay attention to the tabloid rumors any more. And as a comment to it? Well, I guess I can say I don't blame them. I haven't really sang since Boyz Attack broke apart, unless you count a charity tele-thon a couple years back, and who can really judge off of that? There's always going to be people who don't like you and that's fine. It doesn't bother me; I'm doing the song because I was asked, not to prove anything."
"And you're singing for the closing of today's show?"
"My PR manager wants me to prove something." Tommy said, smiling. John laughed.
"Now, it's been said that you wrote a new song yesterday to perform on today's show?"
"That would be right." Tommy said, still in disbelief himself.
"Talk about cutting it close." John commented, waiting for Tommy to say more about it.
"It felt right at the time. I don't really want to say much about it now…or else it would give away my opening to the song."
"Fair enough." John said, glancing at the notes for any further questions. "Oh, yes…Speaking of Boyz Attack…it's been rumored the band's put the past behind them, so to speak."
"Uh, yeah, you could possibly say that." There was a chorus of cheers from the audience. "Don't be expecting a tour or a greatest hits album or something. We put aside our differences to do the tele-thon I mentioned previously with the help of Jude. We've stayed in contact since but as I said before, don't get excited about a reunion tour or something. It was a one-time only gig." Tommy said, effectively squashing any fan's hope of Boyz Attack getting back together.
"Dully noted. Now, we're going to take a couple questions from the audience and call it a day." John said, looking out to the audience and seeing nearly the whole crowd having their hands raised.
A camera man with a mic picked one of the women in the back. They had her stand and Tommy could barely make her out, but he could tell she was excited to be asking him a question on world-wide tv.
"Mr. Quincy, are you currently seeing anyone?" She asked, sounding like a schoolgirl.
"Currently? No. I hope that will be changing shortly; if I play my cards right." Tommy said, and the woman looked disappointed as well as the whole first row he could make out clear as day. Tommy tried hard not to laugh.
There was a pause between questions as the men with the mic made their way to audience members.
"Mr. Quincy, is there a chance of a solo-album in the near future?" She asked, sounding apprehensive.
"Had you asked me that a couple of years ago, I would have said there was a strong possibility, but now…I don't know. I don't really want it like I did in the past. I wouldn't completely cast aside the idea if it was ever presented to me, but I don't think I would jump at it either. I really like producing and I don't want to give it up any time soon." Tommy answered, not really answering the question he knew, but he wasn't really sure of the answer himself. Part of him knew he still wanted a solo career, but as the time was quickly passing, he found himself wanting it less and he knew eventually the thought would never cross his mind except when brought up.
"OK, We have time for one more question…" John said as another woman stood up with the mic held up to her mouth.
"Mr. Quincy, does your family support you in your career path?" She asked. Tommy sighed. Loaded question.
"Um…wow. Loaded question. I guess you can say at first my family supported me; mostly before the band made it big. Um…I guess they were disappointed I never went to college and 'made something of myself, or not getting a real job' but they don't understand that music is a real job and it makes me happier than sitting in an office with a 9-5 behind the desk…I just can't see myself there. I guess they got more supportive after I got out of the spotlight and started producing, but I still get asked at family gatherings when I'm gonna go out and 'get a real job'." Tommy said, shrugging, trying to leave out a lot of the family arguments and baggage that came with it.
"And that is a wrap. We'll take a short break and Tom will perform his new original song." John said, and the curtain closed so the stage crew could move the desk and chairs and set up the mic for his performance. Tommy and John stood up and shook hands again. "Don't be a stranger Tom." He said, and walked off the stage. Tommy sighed and walked back to where Georgia was standing in the wings.
"Nervous?"
"Could say that."
"You'll do fine." Georgia said.
"Thanks." Tommy said, letting out the breath he'd been holding.
"She'll love it you know."
"You think?"
"I know." Georgia said, and left him alone. Tommy sighed and grabbed his guitar which was leaning up against the wall. He had decided against using the house band earlier that day. He was going on acoustic and he was quickly regretting the decision. He walked back onto the stage and got ready. He could feel the pre-performance rush. The one where you stood, facing the curtain and wondering what the lyrics are you're supposed to sing. He had a mic attached to his head so he could walk around if he chose to, but he didn't think he would. He stood at the mic stand, taking deep breathes with his eyes closed, mentally calming himself. He knew once the crowd began cheering and his fingers began playing, he would feel at home once again. He knew it was where he was most a home; on stage, performing before a screaming audience. It was where he belonged; where he always belonged until he blew it all those years ago.
He was gave the signal the curtain was about to be raised and he signaled back that he was ready. The curtain rose and Tommy was standing alone on the stage. He smiled at the audience as they cheered once again.
"As I said earlier, I wrote this song yesterday, so bear with me. I want to dedicate it to a girl who means the world to me, and I'm afraid she probably doesn't even know it. I call this, Imperfect Man, and I'm terrible at expressing how I feel, so I wrote this; I hope she, and everyone, likes it." Tommy took a deep breathe and played some powerful chords. He heard the crowd cheering and he didn't hear it. All there was him and his guitar, the mic, and the girl in the audience who meant the world again.
"Shit has hit the fan again…
it's the same old argument
with the same old reasons…" Tommy sang, and strummed out some more chords, relaxing as he did so.
"I'm sorry I hurt you…" The melody became softer.
"it seems I always do
though I never try.
I never meant to make you cry.
You see girl
I'm an imperfect man;
I drink too much
I drive too fast
I live on the fast track
I'm a failure
A heart breaker
And still worst, I disappoint you
I run from the truth
I lie too easily
I'm afraid of what I feel,
Though I think you already knew that.
And still worst, I'm afraid of you
Afraid of us
But I love you all the same.
You see girl, I'm an imperfect man…
But I'm still perfection in your eyes." The melody became stronger again.
"You make me stronger
you make me better.
Girl, I'm trying for you.
Please be patient my love;
I'm striving for perfection
But I'm too imperfect
Imperfect for you.
I'm a failure at loving you;
At loving you the way you need." Tommy played a few powercords, leaning away from the mic and gradually made it softer again, scanning the crowd for Jude's red hair. Once he spotted her, he stared in her general direction, hoping she'd see she was the motivation behind the lyrics. Behind the mic.
"I'm an imperfect man
next to a perfect you
I'm sorry I hurt you
I didn't mean to make you cry;
I'm imperfect,
I know that's no excuse
For the words I said the other night…
Ooohhh, Girl
I'm an imperfect man."
The crowd exploded into cheers and applause. Tommy smiled and gave a slight bow. He glanced back at Jude but saw her gone. He felt disappointed and waved once at the crowd and walked behind the stage, the stage hands clapping and cheering him on, but none of them mattered; there was only one person he wanted to see.