Chapter 26

Later that Night

Kavann's

Tommy and Jude entered Kavann's, and walked through the crowd to the G Major staff table which was located in the back of the karaoke bar/club. They were offered congratulations by nearly all the staff as they took their seats by Kwest and his girlfriend, Monica Bynes. Jude muttered to Tommy.

"I didn't know he had a girlfriend…"

"Yeah, they've been on-again off-again for the last few years. Apparently, they're on again." Tommy muttered, and greeted Kwest with a complicated handshake and said to Monica "Good to see you again Monica." He then indicated Jude and introduced "Monica Bynes, Jude Harrison."

Monica and Jude both shook hands and everyone took their seats.

"I saw you on Behind the Mic this week Jude, you were great." Monica said, grinning at the younger woman.

"Thanks." Jude said, studying her. She was of Mexican nationality and her lack of accent was surprising to Jude. She had long waist long black hair that shone in the light. She was sophisticated looking in her black pants and purple tank top and wore just a little bit of black eye liner under her big doe brown eyes. Kwest and Monica made a great couple, they looked good together and she could tell they were both happy.

"Hey Tom, you already missed one really bad Boyz Attack song." Kwest informed Tommy. Tommy groaned.

"It's Karaoke night?" Kwest nodded and Jude brightened.

"Oh come on Tommy! It'll be fun!" Jude said, grinning at him. She glanced over at the stage and saw there was no one up singing at the moment. "We should go up there!"

"Hell no! I have to be drunk to sing karaoke and I have no intentions on drinking tonight." Tommy declared. Jude looked disappointed and watched as someone got up on the stage. Jude couldn't see the title on the large TV from where she sat, but she recongnized the song that was playing…Pick Up The Pieces and apparently, Tommy recognized it to, because he turned to Kwest and stated "Maybe I need to re-think my drinking stance…" Jude elbowed him as the girl began singing, horribly off key. Jude even thought Sadie could sing better than that chick. Tommy cringed and lowered himself in his seat.

"Oh come on Tommy! If we sing, we'll be lessening the chances of hearing people like that ruining perfectly ok songs…" Jude said, trying to convince Tommy to sing with her.

"You can go sing. I'll stay back here and cheer you on." Tommy said, grinning at her. Jude glared at him and looked to Kwest for help.

"Come on Kwest, tell him he needs to sing."

"I'm not getting in the middle of this." Kwest said, turning to Monica and continuing his conversation. Jude glared at him.

"I don't want to sing, because then I'll draw more attention to myself than I already do, and I would much rather spend my evening with you than beating off girls all night." Tommy said honestly, tilting his head to indicate a group of girls about Sadie's age who were eyeing Tommy like he was a piece of meat. Before Jude could say anything else, EJ came over and grabbed Jude's arm, pulling her away from Tommy saying there were some people she wanted her to meet.

"So, Tommy…you and Jude…?" Kwest asked, looking interested. Tommy just smiled and said nothing. "So that means…?"

"Make your own interpretation." He said, getting out of his seat and looked at Kwest and Monica, tilting his head slightly in the direction of the bar. "You guys want anything?" Kwest and Monica shook their heads no and Tommy headed over to get drinks for him and Jude, a coke and a diet, for Jude, with no ice. He paid for the drinks and shoved his way through the crowd and over to where EJ had dragged his girlfriend to a group of record executives that looked vaguely familiar.

"Hey," Tommy greeted Jude, handing her the diet coke he got for her. Jude took it and smiled her thanks before turning back to the conversation. Tommy half paid attention and scoped the crowd which was too busy cheering on the next singer to get on the stage, sipping his coke.

"Tommy?"

"What?" Tommy said, turning his attention back to the conversation at hand.

"We were just saying, you've done some great work on Jude's other albums." An older man said, probably in his late forties.

"Thank you." Tommy said, wrapping his arm around Jude's shoulders. "But, credit goes to Jude too. She's a natural." Jude smiled at the compliment and the men nodded. EJ continued to chat and Tommy bent lower and whispered into Jude's ear "Wanna sneak away now while we can?" Jude shot him a look. "I didn't mean that!"

"Uh-hu." Jude said skeptically. Tommy mock glared at her and held out his hand.

"Would you like to dance, Ms. Harrison?"

"I can't dance, you know that." Jude said, smiling at Tommy.

"Hello? Ex-boybander! I can't dance either!" Jude laughed and took his and. Tommy beamed at her and pulled her towards the dance floor. They danced together for a couple of songs and Kwest and Monica joined them. Jude didn't care that she couldn't dance, she was having too much fun laughing at Kwest and Tommy to care about herself. A few songs later, the group went back to the table, laughing about a guy on the floor who they dubbed 'white shirt' who was dancing rather obnoxiously around the floor. They all sat down again and ordered non-alcoholic drinks from the waitress. Once they got their drinks, Jude took a long drink and turned to Tommy.

"Come on, we have to go sing!"

"I boycott singing for the night." Tommy stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"If you don't go sing with me, I'll go up there and announce to everyone the exact location of where you're sitting and your phone number, address…"

"You wouldn't." Tommy said, smirking at her.

"Oh, I would." Jude said, smiling evilly.

"We sang together earlier! Why are so hung up on singing now?"

"Because! We can go up and sing something we didn't write!" Tommy just stared at her, confused.

"You want to go up there and ruin a perfectly good song?"

"No! I wanna go up there and have fun!" Tommy just stared at her like she was crazy.

"You might as well do it Tom…you know she'll never give up." Kwest stated, laughing at his friend.

"Besides, if you two go and sing, we won't be tortured by the drunks…" Monica said, smiling good-heartedly at the couple.

"If I go up there and sing, Kwest does, with Monica." Tommy said, smirking.

"Oh, Hell no!" Kwest stated, looking at Tommy like he was on drugs for mentioning it.

"Come on guys!" Jude said, looking exasperated. Neither made a move to get up. "Fine, I'll go by myself." Jude said, standing up, and glaring at Tommy. "I will get you up on that stage." Jude said to him and stalked across the room to the karaoke host and put in her song.

Tommy watched her and once the person who was done walked off, Jude grabbed the mic and there was a chorus of cheers from the crowd who recognized their beloved singer and instant star winner. Jude smiled at them and Jude began to sing Stupid Girl by Garbage. Everyone in the bar cheered her on.

"That girl has talent." Monica said, watching the younger woman sing on the stage.

"Yeah she does." Kwest agreed. Tommy shook his head in negativity. Monica and Kwest stared at him, wondering why he didn't think so.

"It's not talent; it's a gift." Tommy said, never taking his eyes off of her. Kwest and Monica smiled knowingly at each other and turned their attention back to Jude. Once Jude finished the song, she was surrounded by fans, all asking for her autograph. She politely declined, and eventually made her way back to the table, a beaming smile on her face.

"That was fun." She said, sitting back in her seat and stared pointedly at Tommy.

"Maybe later." He said and Jude hugged him. Tommy looked less than thrilled, but he couldn't help but smile at her energy.