You guys absolutely blow me away! I love you all so much and you have officially become my favorite people in the whole world! I'm trying to think if there are any particular notes about this chapter...It jumps right into Tommy and Jude's date and I haven't really thought past it so I'm not sure of the ramifications the night will have but I think big ones...or small ones lol. I was going to switch back and forth between Kwest and Sadie and Tommy and Jude but I didn't want to once the chapter got going but there's some Kwadie at the end of the chapter. I forewarn you...I'm a crazy person lol.
Oh random note: I am officially in love with John Mayer. I would marry him right now if I could, but he would have to sing to me lol. His new single is currently playing on repeat and I would bust out some lyrics but that would shred away any semblence of sanity I may posses.
Another random note: I have been watching repeats of 8 Simple Rules while I was pretending to finish my summer assingment and I love that show! I forgot how much I loved it and it's the later ones and David Spade is in them and he is the light of my life. They're super funny, I just thought I would let everyone know lol. Alrighty before I jump right into the chapter I have to thank you guys! You are completely amazing and I love all of you!
Tommy4eva ((I love basketball and basketball plus dance offs equal the best thing ever. I tried to make a cyber trophy for you in light of almost winning it but it turned into a mess of commas and ill placed numbers. No one would ever want to recieve it lol. Hot coaches make me think of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Erc, the soccer camp coach, was definitely hot. Not as hot as Tommy, but in a different way. Ah Eric...I can't wait for the next movie lol.))
VilandraofAntar ((Yes, Wild n Out is a masterpiece from the people at MTV. Ok that may be pushing it since Nick Cannon is the most irritating human being that walks the Earth but that short guy with the wild hair, I think his name is Kat, he is the light of my life. He is so funny but I wouldn't marry him because he's ugly. But I have found my new addiction: The World Series of Pop Culture and sit in front of VH1 for an hour and scream out completely wrong answers and swear when I get them wrong. And I love the 70's Volume II has quickly become an addiction and wormed itself into my heart. I love Hal Sparks, he makes my world bright.))
jackjakio ((Yes, mistresse sounds quite dirty after too many episodes of Law and Order: SVU. I love dective Stabler but if I hear him say molest one more time I'll scream. Teehee, I'm glad you like the banter a lot is drawn from conversations I've actually. Heavy talk makes me bored lol. I hope you like the date!))
smileon ((In a mean sense, I feel slightly proud to have woken sleeping children. lol, I'm kidding...kinda. You could have told them a nice bedtime story about two beings that melded together to make Blortia lol. I'm glad you liked it though!))
lileigh760 ((lol, I'm glad to have covered all bases teehee. I am so glad you like it so much!))
romanma32 ((lol, his teeth are scary. After that episode with the danceI had dreams of huge mouths just chasing me with chatering teeth. It was disturbing lol. lol, I'm thinking of Tommy dressed like Loreli right now, it's a little unsettling and I can't shake the image of Kwest dressing like Emily Gilmore. That is so frightening and the weird part is that I can see Kwest assualting Tommy with his eyes and snarky off-handed comments. But I'm glad you liked the back-and-forth with them lol!))
Tanya50801 ((I'm so glad you like it!))
Alexzgirl1 ((Sadie the Barbie...hehe, that's actually really plauisble in my eyes. While I was writing the chapter I was thinking of the dress that Jude wore at the yahct party in NSTB Part 1 but I don't really go into a whole description lol. Ah you have Next in Germany? lol, I can't help but be addicted to that show, it's sickly fascinating. lol, I would Next them all in a minute if I knew Tommy was coming and if he were first I would never even dream of nexting him lol. Tim is shooting a movie? That wil definitely be one that I am running to go see, I will take any kind of Tim I can get lol. I'm still looking for Pure like a crazy person, I really want to see it. I've seen a clip and Tim is most definitely getting hispants stripped off of him, so thatcovers the strippingbases lol. Ahwoohoo, shooting starts...soon-ish lol! I'm soexcited for season 3! But I'm completely with you on the whole timeline thing, I really wantthe season to come sooner than February but I would wait...not patiently but I would wait lol.))
Varley990 ((The Golden Girls theme song is addictive, not it'splayingin my head too! lol, I can just picture Tommy hunched over like the oldest one whose alwaysmaking fun of people. I'm so glad youlove the fic! I hope youlike this chapter too!))
scott4eva ((aw, I'm so glad you like it! I really hope you like this chapter too!))
thatgirlyoucanttrust ((If I were Jude I would stop the whole charade and just chase Tommy down until I found him. I would get drunk and meet ugly boys at bars,unless they told me where to find Tommy...then I would stand them. lol, I'm so glad you like the story!))
tommys21((My parents did not let my see Spice World butthen I ended up watching it lol, I can't remember how. I picked up right where I left off, promise, promise!))
Duddley111 ((lol, I'm soglad you liked it! I always love Tommy and Kwest together in the show too!))
pixietix16 ((Jude isn't very smart and she cried the whole first season too, I mean that endearingly too! I swear!Her consistency is a virtue...I think Liammay have said that once so I retract my statement. lol,Bloodbath tickles my pink because on Keanan and Kelor whatever that show was on Nick,Keanan's boss got a huge dog to protect the store and they named it Bloodbath and I thought it was so funny lol. Darius is like a german shepard crossed with a pit bull and adog with rabies, on a bad day I guess. Sometimes hecan be nice...ish. Portia was german shepard-esqueduring the wholeTommy Sadie break up, I sorta hated her those twoweeks, she was really mean aboutTommy. Fabbity-fab is my new catch phrase and when people ask me what it means, I will just scoff in their face and laugh my way down the street. Ok now I am off track but I cannever seem tohelp myself lol. I hope you like the date!))
CJMJM ((Aw, I'm so gald to bring some joy!I think that cancels my bad karma fromkeying a car yesterday...that Imay have done on purpose lol. I say cry all you need,cause afterwards I always feel like a thousand percent better and then I laugh a lot, at like everything. It's a little nutso but I'm more than alittle nutso lol.Really, I am so glad you like the story!))
Judeh05 ((I literally would doanything with Quincy. Ithink I'm bordering on obsession but it's really just his character, I don't know if I would like Tim as much. I mean Ipretty much loved Tommy because he's hot in the first season and now I don't really know why I love him since he's being kindaa jackass...that's not very importantthough so no worries! lol, if there was no Tommy and no Kwest I wouldcry puddles of tears over their demise, seriously.I would marry Kwest and I would do Tommy. Kwest just seems more dependable and more loveable than Tommy, who has a fondness to run away lol. I miss the Viper too! The motorcycle give Tommy like an infinite number of super hot points butI loved theViper. I think the Viper and E.J. need tomake another appearencein season 3. Teehee, I'm gladyou likedTrixie lol!))
Latisha C ((When I think of the worst clowns in the world who drink and rain down the whoop-ass I can'thelp but think of Crusty from teh Simpsons. That show actuallymakes me a little depressed and I don't know why but on the occasions that I have watched it, Crusty has been oneof the worst clowns on Earth. Poor Sadie, she gets such a bad rap, but then I think to how much I hated her in season 1 andI don't feel bad for her like at all. I'm still wondering if Sadieis too self-centered to help Jude out or if she'll actually be a good sister this time.People who stand in front of the mirror for hours make me want to reach out and scratch their hair out and be like 'Not so pretty now!' but I think that would be really mean and pushing it.I think I may have that I woulddo anything with Tommy, but I'm putting restriction on that: I won't physicallyfight with him because there is achance that hewould like kill meand then there's the chance that he hurts himself while fighting me and then Iwould get all the creditfor taking himdown and then the guilt would haunt me...I think that I over-analyze things. I was thinking mommy like the actual word because I don't know that acronymfor it...isit dirty? Ah, you're going to be on TV! I vote that you will be a pillar of sanity amongst a sea of crazy fan girls and then the TV camera will just have to follow you becuase you're so sane. I probably shouldn't insult my fellow fangirls though, once I thought IsawNick Lachey in New York and I may not be his biggest fanbut I almost wentinto shock and thenI followed the car for like five blocksand it turned out it wasn't even him. it was so dissapointing. lol, I'm gladyou liked the chapter!))
Shattered Images ((lol, I'm glad you liked the Jude Dariusfight, I would totally payto see them take eachother down lol.I am also so gladthat you like the story so much! I always love comic relief and think everything being serious and borderline sappy can get weighing andthen I can't read it for too long, so Itry to encorporate a little bit of everything! I know exactly what you mean about the mood swing thing too, I always seem to read Grey's Anatomy fics right before I go out somewhere and the characters are like dying left and right and I'mjust like...wow that is not uplifting at all. I am currently scoweringfor Dead Milkman because with a name like that,how can I not listen to them?))
I really can't even tell you how much I appreciate the feedback, I am currently bowing to you guys and your wonderful words! I hope this chapter doesn't dissapoint and I will seriously try to have the next chapter out sooner than this one lol.
Chapter 12: Sticky Fingers
Tommy shifted awkwardly as he tried to not watch as Sadie and Kwest's tongues reunited as if his had been gone to fight a year long dental virus but feeling more uncomfortable than the time Chaz hit on his mom at a Christmas party four years ago. A deep growl sounded from their cramped huddle making him jump and flash back to when his mom liked eggnog off of Chaz's lips at a different party, six years ago.
Tommy cleared his throat slightly, letting his gaze fly to Kwest and Sadie who continued to carry on their game of intense tonsil hockey. Go Mighty Ducks, go! He coughed again, with a little more vigor and turning to face the couple not far enough away from him.
He watched in horror as Sadie wrapped her legs around Kwest's torso as he fell against the hallway's wall. It was getting to be like Al and Tipper Gore, only worse and more personal. Tom put his hand in front of his lips letting a hacking cough ring out once more and felt his gag reflexes kick in as he heard another distinct growl.
"Can't you guys wait? Not even Marvin Gaye wants it as bad as you do." Sadie pulled away with a need inhale as she glared at Tommy, tempted to throw a 'let's get it on' to Kwest. She refrained as Jude majestically laid her hand against the railing, coming down the stairs, commanding Tommy's riveted attention in a very Cinderella/Prince Charming manner.
She felt her eyes misting, thinking of what a good mentor she had been and priding herself in watching her little project finally spread her wings and fly. Ok, maybe that's stretching it, but damn she looks hot. Sadie reasoned with herself as Jude's foot plopped against the first step. Tommy felt a breath hitch as he felt himself leaning against a closet door to steady himself as he watched Jude with a trained eye. Her hair falling in loose ringlets and draping across her exposed neck and cascading down her back was calling him to run his hands through each blonde lock. His eyes drank in the dress he would have never imagined Jude owning but feeling grateful for small favors in his life. Well actually big, as he felt a little too much blood rush south as she shifted her unsteady feet down the next step, causing the neckline to swing and revealing increasing amounts of skin. His hand fell to the knob of the closet's door as her persistent descent continued.
"Hey babe." Sadie called out lovingly as Tommy felt the need to throw a globe at her head for disturbing his train of thoughts. Just as Jude lifted a shaky hand to wave back her balance slipped as her heel slid across the tip of one of the steps, sending Jude sailing and plummeting down half of the staircase. Tommy felt his own hand slip in surprise, flinging the door open and smacking himself painfully in the face and falling to the floor with a long stride forward. Jude screamed, his ass cracked.
..O..o..O..
GOD DAMN IT! I don't know why, but I'm getting some really good imagery of Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes right now. Like it's smacking me in the face.
DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!
Or whatever pronouncement he made against the apes. Jesus, I think I just cracked my ass in half. And just a word to the wise, it hurts like a bitch. I actually don't know if bitches hurt, but I'm going with the expression here and I let MTV make all decisions for me. What can I say, I like to follow. Because I want to surgically have a pair of balls…sewed on me and then staple them to my thigh just like Johnny Knoxville. He's so dreamy. Ew. Uh-oh. I knew I should dribble my time with thoughts of the Mr.-Jessica-Simpson-to-be I think a full-scale war is breaking out. But I'm Swiss baby. I'm neutral.
"Make love. Not war." I called out as I pulled myself up by the railing and latching to it as I finished my way down.
"I wouldn't give Tommy any ideas." Kwest nudged me with a whisper as I merely smirked back.
"Now what kind of bachelor's best friend are you?"
"One whose friends with the girl too. Besides, he's not really a bachelor anymore."
"Is he single?"
"Only on a technicality."
"Mhmm." I mumbled as Kwest shoved his fingers between his lips and let out a piercing whistle.
"Hey! I wanna do that too!" I whined as I mimicked him but just spat all over myself. I think I knew I don't know how to do that, but that information seemed to have escaped me two nanoseconds ago.
Whatever.
I walked between Tommy and Sadie, whipping my spit against the side of my dress that wasn't facing Sadie.
"Is my point completely mute here?" I called out over the bickering.
"Mute?" Sadie asked me with light disgust. I just shrugged in face her mean scowl before she scoffed at me.
"It's moot."
"Is not."
"Does that even matter? This entire argument has no basis. Jude just said she was fine. Tom, stop blaming Sadie."
"Well of course you would defend her. She was shoving her tongue so far down your throat that it was coming out your eye socket."
IMAGERY!
"It's not even about that man, and you know it. Sadie didn't mean to make her fall."
"YEAH!"
"Let me solve the problem. Tommy and I will go before Sadie stabs his heart. Can we agree on that?"
"Hey thanks Jude. You really helped us on that one." Sadie called sarcastically, throwing her arm and thumb in the air in a very oh-golly-gee manner that made me sick.
"I'm here to please people." I told her with a sweetly feigned smile. I watched Tommy's head shoot up as he threw a smile at Kwest. He gaze flicked over Sadie as he walked towards me and I could see her throwing him a look.
"Calm yourself Sticky Fingers."
"Hey, Sadie, guess what."
"What?" She responded sarcastically, a hand grasping her hip in annoyance.
"That was your dad on the first. Him and his twelve inches of man-meat."
EW! "Hello, disgusting. My dad too, Tom." I shouted back before Sadie could say anything back. I had a feeling it would have come out vulgar and maybe even incriminating. With his hand on the small of my back, he led us to the door and smoothly grabbing my coat of the hook as I jiggled the knob.
"Should I be monopolizing on that people pleasing, Harrison?"
"Depends on how you do business. Treat me right, you could make a profit."
Oh shit it's freezing out here. If I were a polar bear I would probably have to kill myself. I wonder how the reindeer can handle this like all year round? If Santa rode bareback I would have to march up there in the name of Animal Rights. Seriously.
"Oh, really now. When would the benefits of these profits arise?" He asked, feet crunching in the snow as he walked into the grass while I stayed on the driveway. I have a better chance of slipping but I hate the sound of crunching snow it makes my toes curl.
"Tonight, if you wanted." I whispered in his ear before leaning away from his grasp to open my door. I felt his hand hover against me again as he stooped with me, swinging the door open like a gentleman.
"Your word is binding. I intend to cash in." He said with a deep smirk before shutting the door at my gape.
Chivalry is dead.
He spun the car into the ignition as the Viper purred underneath us, winning a smile across his features. This is creepy. I reached out immediately to blast my seat warmer at like the maximum, there's something awesome about having a warm butt. Just me? Yeah, I didn't think so…
He moved around in his seat, spinning his whole body so that he could see between the two seats and out the back to pull out.
"No one else is in the driveway, I don't think you run the risk of hitting no one. Unless," I started a gasping whisper "You. See. Dead. People." I finished before I tittered with laughter at my own joke. Hey, I thought it was funny.
"If I hit Sadie's car though…" Tommy countered as the car sleeked past it easily as he pulled out.
"Then I think you would have a few nice chats about Boyz Attack! and it's ramifications on your childhood with Malcolm." I finished. He looked over, smiling at me before slapping his hand against the dashboard a few times.
"What do you say with ride the bab-ay all the way ta Vegas?" He tempted me with his best Elvis impression.
"Do I need to bring out the Jesse Katsopolis speech again? I don't mind."
"Can I take a rain check?"
"That is officially in my books. You will be receiving the brunt of it one day. And how about we ride this bab-ay all the way to the nearest movie theater?" I suggested hopefully.
"Wondering if you can find Liam something in Prada?"
"Do you even know that the movie has basically an all women cast? Besides Stanley Tucci. Who btw-lights my fire. I love him." Tommy grunted next to me, cutting someone off as he merged off the streets and onto the freeway. I am starting to fear for my life.
"Are you on something? Stanley Tucci is like thirty years older than me." He muttered a small oh before visibly relaxing. What is he gonna do when I tell him that T-Bone is taking me to the damn ball? I really want that Ball to take human form right now. I want to knock it senseless. I'm feeling like I should channel the Rocky I know I have in me. I broke Jamie's toe once. I had a ladder, but whatever.
"Besides, I wanna go see the Pirates of the Caribbean. Johnny Depp the pirate really lights my fire."
"Are you joking?" He asked as he looked over sharply.
"Nope. I love him."
"The man where's eye liner. Buckets of eye liner."
"That's sexy you idiot."
"Didn't you already see that with Kat?"
"No." I lied easily.
"Liar." Damn it! Thwarted again!
"Am not."
"Then there is someone who looks suspiciously like you who came into the studio screaming about a jar of dirt and Captain Jack Sparrow almost hooking up with Elizabeth on the Black Pearl before she duped him like a bitch and made him go down with the boat."
"Oh, that must have been Mason. He came into my house and rifled through my clothes and makeup and then…uh, bleached his hair."
"Mason drags?"
"Only when he goes to see Orlando Bloom. He wants to fool him into thinking that he's that chick from Blue Crush."
"Jude," He started with feigned warning in his tone as I just conceded, knowing he wouldn't let it go since I said I would do Johnny Depp. His jealousy is so ill placed and irrational and…stupid.
"You can never see it too many times. Don't you wanna go see it?" I huffed out.
"You already told me how it ends."
"Yeah, but my Davey Jones was a little off. You'd be lying if you didn't want to go see it for yourself."
"I don't wanna go see it for myself."
"Liar."
"Am not!"
"Tantrum throwing liar. Those are the worst kind."
"I thought bad liars are the worst."
"I have a theory about them. Wanna hear it?"
"Do I have a choice in the matter?"
"Well if you insist. The bad liars out there, actually really want to be caught. They aren't comfortable with the idea of lying or whatever they're lying about and their subconscious foils it for them. So really bad liars are just uneasy liars. They need practice or they need to lie about something they're comfortable with."
"You transcend the ages."
"Why do you think I made out with Bruno that one time?"
"WHAT?" He nearly screamed, down shifting like a mad man. Wait…do mad men down shift or do they just build Frankenstein? Whatever.
"Easy Bonaduce. I was kidding." His shoulders slumped again as his death grip relaxed from around the wheel, one slumping to his side. He looked over at me with a sneaking smile that made me fear for humanity as a whole.
"Have you eaten yet?"
"Oh yes. Sadie and I had eleven bowls of Coco Puffs, attempting to recreate that magic that was once Coco Bums."
"You're joking right."
"Me? I never kid. Serious. All the time."
"Yes, that is your reputation."
"Liam is my mentor."
"Wanna be just like him when you grow up?"
"Sexual prowess and all." I retorted as I pushed my thumb into the radio dial.
"Can it ever be just silence?"
"You really want silence?"
"Why don't we talk?"
"Well what if we're all talked out when we get there? And by the way, where are we going?"
"Where's the fun in ruining a surprise?"
"It's not a surprise. You told me at the studio and I just forgot."
"Good to know that you still listen to me."
"I never listened to you to begin with."
"So the chord and lyric changes were just inspiration from within."
"No it was Jamie's idea. He's my musical Gandalf."
"Ooh, right." Tommy said with a long and exaggerated nod before grinning over at me.
"Fine. Let's talk."
I said with a puffing sigh, tapping my nails against the window and silently counting in my head how long I could go on before he cracked.
Ten
Nine
Eight
Seven
Si-
"Jude, stop it! You'll compromise the quality of the glass!" He exclaimed. Longer than I thought. Good for him.
"Why do you care? You're not selling the Viper. Are you?" I demanded suddenly, clutching the dashboard with one hand and squeezing the arm rest with the other until my knuckles were white. He looked over at me and chuckled in my panic stricken face. What a prick. "This is no laughing matter."
"I know, you're right. But I gotta get you something good for next year."
"What next year?" He looked over at me, his expression complete with the nearly incredulous lip pout.
Oh, that next year.
"But I just turned seventeen."
"Do you realize how the rides to the studio and your daily intake of coffee run me dry. I'm living on a thread."
"Yea ok, Mr. VP. And if you're so poor then stop chauffeuring my ass around." His eyes had glanced back at the road so I turned my head to watch his entire profile shrug.
"I like to." I felt a grin break out on my face as I let myself slump back in the buttery leather. With my head plastered against the seat, I rolled it slightly to look at him again, my grin still lingering.
"Then can I call you Hoke?"
"Only if I can call you Miss Daisy."
"I can work with that." Silence fell again, cloaking us in amiable warmth as I played with the zipper on my coat and reveling in the familiar comfort of the Viper. I swear I fell in love with this car. But not like Tommy. The dude would kill a person for this damn car. It's his baby. Wow, that passes the realms of incest and bestiality and crosses over uncharted territory. I lolled my head to look at him again, wondering what I could say.
"Hey Tom." He looked over at me with a smile.
"Yea?"
"Can I ask you a question?" I posed, giving myself time to think, I watched him open his mouth again a smirk already forming.
"Don't say you already did because then I will hit you." His smirk fell as his teeth clamped together.
"Go ahead." He said with amused sarcasm.
"If you could take one moment back, which would you pick?" I asked, feeling the seriousness and weight of my question smack me in the face and then crawl down and bite me in the ass. What is the matter with me?
Oh wait, I know. I am the biggest mood killer in the world. I should be tried before a jury of my peers and thrown to jail. No plea-bargain, I killed it and I am going to pay for it. I frickin' invented the term 'party pooper' I suck so much. I just shit all over the party and who wants to clean their own shit? I sure as hell don't. Ok I'm done being disgusting…for the minute. He looked at me again, seriousness clouding his eyes as I felt the car slow beneath us.
Someone is thinking… "Jude, I have made so many mistakes with you that I can't ever count."
"Oh, I have." I told him with a wry nod of my head.
"Really? Why thank you." He told me graciously with a wide smile.
"You don't have to answer." I told him finally as he exhaled loudly.
Moby Dick anyone? Oh, dirty…
..O..o..O..
We finally pulled into a parking lot outside an eclectic building, a nautical theme smacking me in the face as Tommy led us inside. I wrapped my coat tighter to my body, trying to dispel the wind when I felt his arm drop around my whole frame as he huddled me against his body. We trudged together as he held the door for me and I shivered until I thought the frostbite would go away.
Ew, what if my foot turned black like Mr. Deeds? That would so weird, but Adam Sandler is funny so it didn't seem like frostbite is so awful, but this one guy climbed Mt Everest and his nose fell off from frostbite. What was that movie Adam was just in…damn it, I just saw that after Kat and I snuck in once Pirates of the Caribbean was over…Oh yeah! Click. That was a little more depressing than funny but I am going to marry Ben all grown up, he was really hot.
A waiter greeted us with a brown-nosing smile as he greeted Tom. I looked around the intimate surrounds, small round tables for two scattered across the room, elegant chairs pushed in to face each other at both sides.
"Ah, bon soir, Monsieur Quincy. ¿Common ça va, ce soir?" The man asked him in French. The glint of sliver wear played off every corner while the low hanging chandeliers provided more light. It had grown dark outside, the moon casting a faint shadow on the tables that were situated by the windows. I silently hoped that we could sit at one of them.
"Ca va très bien. Je voudrais la table a coté de la glass, s'il te plait." I heard Tommy say, pointing over to a tucked corner of the room that seemed undisturbed from the rest.
"Bien sûr, venez avec mio." He instructed as we followed him a table by the window, overlooking a small pond that I didn't know was there. They built their own pond? How cool!
"Did you just sell me into slavery?" I asked him lightly.
"I may have." He quipped back.
"As long as I'm informed." I said as I grasped a menu.
"I can't read this."
"Don't worry, I can order for you."
"Should I be reassured?"
"I think I'm hurt, Jude."
"You just admitted into selling me off. You didn't even look for the highest bidder. You couldda made some serious cash tonight." He smiled at me over the candle, making my heart pound.
"I could use that cash and take you dancing."
Is the man stupid?
Oh wait…no, he's been watching Why Can't I Be You and everyone wants to go dancing. I looked over at him seriously, silently cursing the Gods of MTV.
"Did you do Jell-O shots before you came to pick me up?"
"No."
"Then why would you ever think that I would ever agree to dancing?"
"Can't you dance?" He asked as the same waiter came over with a bottle of wine. They two conversed lightly in French as Tommy checked the year before accepting the wine.
I looked at the guy's nametag and I almost bust out laughing. Pierre was in meticulous cursive. Do they make this stuff up? Well maybe Pierre is actually French.
"Du vin, mademoiselle?" He asked me genially but I just gaped over at Tommy.
"Non merci." He answered, "Elle peut pas encore boire." He continued with the small wave of his hand. I gave Pierre a toothy smile as set the bottle on the table before leaving us alone again.
"How long have you been my producer?" I asked him with a quirk of my brow.
"At least two years."
"So you were there for the Shay era?" He merely grumbled in response and titled the bottom of us glass towards the ceiling, his lips gripping the rim of the glass tightly. Pace yourself Tommy-Boy, I intend to make this one hell of a night.
"I'll take the incoherency as affirmative. With that established, do you remember the video?"
"Booty girls and all." He said with a tight smile as he raised his glass to me, as if to say let-us-enjoy-a-glass-together and he should really get a punch in mouth for that since I am acutely underage, and drained part of the bottle into his glass. He is so not driving tonight.
"Well, in case your STDs had been affecting your mental health that week, I think everyone will remember the dance lessons with Shay and Troy and ever present Darius."
"Oh yeah." He said, his mouth slung open in realization. "You thought he was going to molest you." Tommy said.
Loudly.
With a chuckle.
Too loudly.
A loud chuckle.
So loudly that I think I will set up a play date with his teeth and my clenched, angry, flying fist. The Flying Fists of Fury and back bitches! With a vengeance! I can hear Natalie Portman shaking in her boots, her bald-ass head trembling with fear. Ok that's mean; I sorta like her after that Clive Owen movie…Closer or whatever. "You are not allowed to bring that up after the sexual harassment suit you pulled against Nathan."
Who wants a 411?
Well I don't care if you don't I'm giving one. Nathan was Darius' secretary, flamboyant would be the understatement of the year but I'll go with it, flamboyant and proud. He came to work one day in a pair of assless chaps that left all the things I have never wanted to see out in the open, with no part for the imagination to fathom.
Actually, mine was working on overdrive to cover up the mental trauma. And every time, an image of Fat Man Scoop would invade my precious brain space. The fact that I have never actually seen Fat Man Scoop has no bearing on my point. But I digress, so what else is new…Assica's boobs?…no not yet, back to Nathan and Nathan's donkey. His junk. His apple bottom if you will. And really it was an apple bottom as far as Nelly goes; I think he would go gay for Nathan and his plush booty.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?
So at lunch, Nathan brought the studio a batch of his homemade cookies and came into Studio B, where Tommy and Kwest had been at the soundboard, bickering over who was more like James Bond and I was sitting on the couch, wondering if I could go back to red, and offered the platter to us. With his derrière to Kwest and Tommy, he bent over to display the platter for me. Thanking him graciously, I asked if he had ever seen how a soundboard works.
"Oh no!" He squealed and made his way to Tommy and Kwest, setting the platter on the cushion next to me.
"What does this do?" He asked in wonder, fiddling with a knob that made Tommy jump out of his skin. I think it was just because the knob was too close to where he was sitting but whatever.
"Why don't you learn about the soundboard from far away? Like by Jude." Tommy suggested, leaving no room for arguments.
"Oooh, ok!" He chirped and plopped his bare ass next to mine. And on top of his cookies, which tasted like fingernails but I wasn't going to say anything in fear of getting a whipping or a…paddling. Screaming in shock he shot up, and trying to wipe the chocolate his cheeks but spinning miserably like a dog chasing his tail. He ran in blind shock to Tommy, imploring his to help.
"Get it off! Get it off!"
"He made me wipe his ass!" Tommy called.
"To be fair, you were wiping the air around his ass because he couldn't force your hand any further."
"What really happened to him?" Tommy asked genuinely.
"Are you really asking that?" He looked around, as if he was trying to see if I was talking to someone else. I do not know any one else the restaurant, asshole.
"Darius takes sexual harassment suits seriously. He got fired." Tommy gaped back at me as if it were news to him. "What did you think?"
"That he and Mason ran off."
"Mason hasn't left."
"That was a minor detail I overlooked." He told me before a woman came over to a small stage at the South end of the dining room, adjusting the microphone to her lips.
"Good evening everyone." She cooed softly, her voice flowing with the quiet ambience of the whole place, while a band set up around her. "This one goes out to all the star crossed lovers I see out there." She said with a lazy wink before the band gently crooned out a melody, her voice not yet meeting our ears.
Can anyone really see stars crossing? Because I would really love to be able to see that. Seriously, if I had three wishing, one would be to see star crossing paths. If they do that. I don't think they do. I have to ask Jamie.
As I pondered this I felt him watching me, a mischievous glint etched in his eyes and a coy smile playing on his lips.
"Dance with me, please?" He already asked me that.
"I can't there's a pistol in my pants. Lean back. Lean back."
I felt myself ruining the song that twinkled in my ears as I polluted the air with Fat Joe lyrics.
"I could frisk you." He suggested with a wiggly-giggly eyebrow. Except not, I'm just giggly and weird. I should not be enjoying this as much as I am.
"I could also challenge you to a Pants off Dance Off."
"I'd be down."
"I will be leaving if you ever say that again."
"Is that threat?"
"Make what you want of it."
"Ok…I'd be down."
"Where's my coat."
"You're not clothing yourself anymore."
"Are you hearing yourself?"
"My hearing drifts. In and out."
"Getting that old?"
"Come on the dance floor ain't getting any younger."
"I would say the same thing about you,"
"What's stopping you?"
"Well…nothing. You're not getting any younger Tom. I would stay out of the sun if I were you, those wrinkles give away that 24 year old jade that you've been trying to hide with every skin product Sephora has."
"What can I say? They play S Club 7 while I shop. I always had a thing for…"
"Paul?"
"Ha-ha-ha. No." He laughed a sarcastically dry laugh as his eyes rolled back in his head; I think he was physically trying to see which one he wanted to have sex with.
"Bradley?"
"What's with the gay jabs? I'm full hetero."
"If you mean hetero by metro, bordering homo with the amounts of hair gel that weigh down your head, then… I agree." He leaned across the table that seemed to be shrinking before my eyes, Mindfreak anyone, skipping his hand through the candle's dying flame before he looked at me with a small smile. I think I am going to pass out and get a concussion.
"Dance with me Jude."
"I have a better idea." I returned putting on the smile that Sadie taught me with I was twelve, God I hope it's sexier without the braces, and letting my hand drape across his. He merely raised his eyebrows in response as I let my nails delicately trace small circles around the back of his hand.
"Why don't we get out of here?"
"Mhmm." He muttered enthusiastically as I felt his lean in ever farther.
"Hop in the car. We can head south."
"Where?" He asked in a strangled whisper, scooting his chair into the table in attempts to make himself closer.
"We could go to the falls."
"Romantic." He agreed.
"And then, I could push you in." I finished loudly as I let my nail dig into his hand. He recoiled in surprise, quickly rubbing his hand in pain.
"God Jude." He groaned.
"What?" I asked innocently, batting my eyelashes to the ceiling as I played with my straw absently. I suddenly felt his hand come over mine, digging the straw into my hand uncomfortably.
"You're driving me crazy." He ground out. I have a feeling he didn't mean like in a Melissa-Joan-Hart/Adrian-Grenier-Nineties-Chick-Flick kind of way but I batted my eyelashes like I was Britney Spears in her virginal-Hit-Me-Baby era. What a simple time where it was sexy to slut up Catholic School girl uniforms and snap bubble gum in nuns' faces. Now I have to wear a slutty dress and heels that make Rue Paul feel sorry for me.
"Oops. Sorry, didn't mean to." I said in the same sickly sweet voice, flashing a smile at him.
"You have no idea." He said in a husked over whisper, making me gulp loudly. He scooted out of his chair and walked over to me, holding an arm out for me.
It seemed as though the song had waited for Tommy and Jude to start as the soft voice finally flowed to their ears.
I know what I said
was heat of the moment
but there's a little truth in between the words we've spoken
Tommy lavishly draped his crooked arm out for Jude to take, feeling the light pressure of her hand on his forearm before he led them to the small dance floor. He looked down at her, the smile that grazed her lips made one reflect in his own eyes as he pulled her closer. He felt their breaths rise and fall together as her feet shuffled clumsily, awaiting his lead. He looked down at her, leaning his lips closely to her hear before unexpectedly spinning her away from his body in an unhurried twirl.
It's a little late now to fix the heart that's broken
Please don't ask me where I'm going
Cause I don't know,
no I don't know anymore
The hemline of her dress billowed slightly around her legs, revealing ribbons of her skin to his eyes in the dimly lit building. He felt suddenly cold as she spun farther away so he pulled her back, thumping her roughly against his chest. "You can dance." He protested in her ear watching with satisfaction as she shivered when he pulled his hot breath from her skin before leaning down again. "You just need a strong lead." He finished before gripping the small of her back and guiding her into a languid dip, her head thrown back, her hair dangling uncaringly, her neck exposed to his hungry lips as she made her way back up.
It used to feel like heaven
used to feel like May
She smiled devilishly from below him, making his lean into her once more. "Maybe you're right." She considered as she swayed herself with the music. She left him wordless. He didn't know what to make of the enigma that had become Jude Harrison.
I used to hear those violins playing our strings, like a symphony.
Now they've gone away
Day one, he thought he had pegged her to a mold. She had quickly discarded his first judgment with her final willingness to learn and to let her music grow.
Nobody wants to face the truth
but you wont believe what love can do
Jude and Shay, he had pegged Shay, he thought he had solved Jude. That time neither had surprised him, but Jude abandoned the ways that Shay had taught her as a more jaded exterior emerged
Till it happens to you. Till it happens to you.
Jude and Jamie. They confused the hell out of him and he felt bad for the little nerd when she finally crushed him. He could still remember his pathetic face as he sat on his porch that afternoon. In a daze, in shock, all things Tommy had become familiar with since he met Jude.
Went to the old flat
guess I was trying to turn the clock back
how come that nothing feels the same now, when I'm with you
Jude during the studio debacle. He had known she would rough it out. Her resolve slipped, but he hadn't been the one to piece it back together. She had someone else for her while he had been trying to forget all the feelings that resurfaced that night outside her studio space. But it was true; he would always knock the door down. She had roughed it out and Tommy was still facing doors to get to her.
We used to stay up all night in the kitchen,
when our love was new.
Oh love, I'm a fool to believe in you
The triangle the Kwest dubbed: Jodie. She had tired to salvage the nightmare that had become Sommy and then shoved him into a hot tub. His mind had spun around that one until she finally sat him down and explained it. His jeans still didn't fit the same after the chlorine though.
Cause I don't know.
No I don't know,
anymore
Jude and Spied. Tommy had almost lost hope, thinking that Jude had finally found someone that could replace him. He had lost Sadie but he couldn't bring himself to really get in between Juderman. He was sorta afraid of what SME would do to his car and he didn't want to ruin anything else for Jude. She had amazed him when they broke it off, keeping a friendship intact.It used to feel like heaven.
It used to feel like may
I used to hear those violins playing our strings, like a symphony
She was always amazing him, throwing him for loops each time he thought had cleared a hurtle
Now they've gone away,
nobody wants to know the truth
until their hearts broken
He watched me closely as we swayed lightly to the beat, his eyes narrowing and widening every few moments. I thought he was trying to take off my dress with the will of his mind. Then I thought he was trying to relieve himself. Then I just stopped thinking about it and stared back at him. My view was quite nice. He finally opened his mouth, his gaze still unwavering. The song played to a soft close as I listened to the lyrics, letting them wash over me.
Till it happens to you. Till it happens to you. Till it happens to you.
"You are a dying breed my dear." He sounds like the butler from Clue. And God I hate that game with a passion, I always feel like bashing Sadie's head in with a candlestick in the study every time she wins and does her victory dance. It's worse than the Izzie Stomp.
"What does that mean? I'd like to class myself under the whole not-monkey breed."
"That's a species."
"Hmm…do I believe the middle school drop out? Can anything you say really be taken seriously?" I quipped as he merely shrugged good-naturedly.
"I think that's a decision you have to make Ms. Harrison."
"Sway me. Impress me, Mr. Quincy."
"Sometimes I wonder if you, think about…what you're saying. About what you're doing. I wonder if you know what kind of effect you have on me."
"Give me a hint." I whispered as I leaned in, watching as I stole the breath that had been tickling past his lips. With his voice a rasp whisper he leaned in closer, hovering not even a centimeter from my lips.
"I think you must," he started his eyes hooded as he crept closer to me with shallow breaths barely heaving his chest, "have some idea." He finished, swaying me away from him as I spun with his twirling arm to the steady prattle of the conversations around us that mixed with the soft drum of the music that flowed from the mellowing hum of the band.
Is it bad that I can't breathe? Is it bad that he has such a hold on me and my necessary functions? I don't think it's good. In any way. I puffed out a tensed breath, hoping to expel a weight from my body but feeling it resurge.
"You are a pain in my ass Quincy." I told him after he had pulled me back into a close embrace. I watched his lips move without hearing anything the came from them, I was too damn busy trying to remember what they felt like against mine. His eyes narrowed again as one his hands found their way under my chin.
"Not kissing you every moment when I could have." He said with hints of regret lacing his tone and a marked sadness carved in his eyes. I looked at him questioningly for a moment, but then instantly an understanding flowed between us.
"Wanna know my biggest mistake?" I asked him.
Dating Shay.
Lying about a boyfriend.
Over-reacting about the breakup that didn't have to be.
I ruined it for him and for myself.
I watched a knowing smile replenish itself on his features as his fingers made their way up to my lips. "Keep it your secret." He told me gently. Um, okay.
Except, N-ok.
I kinda have a feeling that he already knows that I lied. I don't know who told him or if the bastard deduced it on his own, but I'm pretty sure he knows. I'm like 85 percent sure. So I know that he knows. But he can't know, that I know, the he knows that I lied because then I would feel stupid. And yes, I am going to over look that I pulled a very pathetic Friends/Jackie Burkhart moment with the know-train. It was shameful but Quincy makes all situations exceptions. That's the rule so leave me alone.
..O..o..O..
The dinner had passed by with flowing conversation, searing looks and yucky tasting salad. What was I thinking when I let him order that nastiness? Blech. It could be his fault, but really it's my own. I refused to eat the soup he wanted to order, but I think he was secretly getting snails.
I can't even look at snails since Scruffy found one after it rained and crunched it in his mouth. And then pawed another one to death against the side of the garage. I think I'm going to vomit right now. I looked out the window, as the lanterns that lit the freeway illuminated the ground as we flashed past them.
The soft lyrics rang true in my ears the whole ride home as I stole glances at Tommy every few moments. I didn't want to believe in all the things I felt around him. All the things I felt about him. All the ways he made me laugh and all the ways he made me cry. But when I'm with him, there isn't even a use in denying any of it. It's too strong, like something takes over my body and my senses and my thoughts.
That's basically why I don't trust myself when he's around. Or when I'm thinking of him. I'm all haywire and bat shit crazy. And I can't help but think, maybe he did say all those things because he was afraid, not because he doesn't care about me or because he doesn't want to be with me. Maybe he really does want to be with me. I kinda…love him still.
"Tommy," I said into the warm silence. I DIDN'T MEAN TELL HIM THOUGH! I saw him look over at me, smiling down as one of his elbows fell from against the window as the hand took over the steering wheel while the other made its way down to grasp mine in his.
"I, um…" Ok, I so can't do this. What do they always say in movies and it makes everyone in the whole theater groan at the stupidity…oh yeah! "I had a really nice time." I finished hurriedly as his grip seemed to slack from around my hand. I looked up, his features schooled into a vacant and hollow smile. Not what I was expecting either.
We pulled into my driveway, the silence completely maintained the whole time after my controlled impulse, as he killed the engine and scampered out to open my door for me.
"Why thank you, Mr. Quincy."
"Very welcome, Miss Harrison." He said with less humor in his voice than normal. I stopped at my doorstep looking to him expectantly. I watched as a light snow redusted over our footsteps in the driveway, the black asphault shining against the undriven snow. A few sleigh bells jingled into the otherwise silent night as my neighbors took their dog outside. I could feel Tommy watching me, probably debating his move just as I was.Ok I am so expecting a goodnight kiss and if I don't get one, I will be infinitely pissed.
"Quincy, if you don't kiss me, you can wave goodbye to that second date right now." I told him as he stepped in closer to me with a chuckle. I looked up to see him staring back at me with a heated expression.
"I can't say no to that."
"Only a fool would." I retorted as his lips crashed onto mine, taking them with an unbridled passion. Woaw, dude. I dragged my arms to his waist, tugging firmly, telling him that I wanted him closer. He obliged as my arms circled around his back, feeling the soft silk of his shirt billow in and out at my roaming trail until I found the back of his collar.
I snaked my hands across to the front, yanking and the tie and then stripping it away, neither of us caring as if fell to the ground. He groaned lightly into my lips, the vibration tickling me and stringing a giggle from my lips as I pulled at the buttons. I broke away, trying to find them in the dark and merely fumbling and pinching his skin. I gave up and threw my hands back around his neck, pressing his lips to mine again and I felt him guide me backwards.
His hands gripped my hips and he pushed me towards the siding of the house. I let him lead me but stumbled as I fell into a planter. Damn mom and her home gardening. Doesn't she know that it's completely pointless now in the working mother era? Oh wait…she works too. Well damn her and her super-mom complex. The hard marble fell off the porch as Tommy slid back over to me and a dog barked viciously in the distance.
Mood officially killed.
I awkwardly crossed my arms over my chest, a mean feat in this damn coat, as I searched for a string of words that made sense. "I should uh, probably go in. I think Kwest is waiting too." I mumbled to the ground and pointing vaguely in the direction of my door.
"Right." He agreed as I dug my hands into my pockets for the key, that I jangled into the lock. It spun against the key as I creaked the door open cautiously at the screams emitting from inside. I felt Tommy pull up against me, we watched in horror as the back of the couch fell the to ground, revealing a very natural Sadie and Kwest. Kwadie naked, anyone? …Yeah, I didn't think so.
"This is disturbing." I said finally.
"I can't look away." Tommy said, voicing my next statement.
"How does she bend like that?"
"When does he go the gym?"
"Yeah, his ass is quite…sculpted."
"It could break bricks!" Ok that's pushing it.
"This is hookage that poor couch will never forget. I have to burn that thing." I turned away from the door, blinking to get the sight of Kwest's naked ass out of my head as I slumped against a wall near the still open door. I saw Tommy's hand pop into my line of vision as he held it out for me.
"Come on."
"Where?"
"Don't you want that ice cream?" Um, yes.
"Do you think they'll be finished once we come back."
"If they're not, you can just come back to my place." I eyed him suspiciously.
"And I will sleep in the lobby. I can catch up with the door man…" I watched him search for the man's name, "…Zoltar?"
"That's the name of the genie from Big you idiot. His name is Jackson." I giggled out as I grasped his hand and heaved myself off the wall as he led me back to the car.
"I was close."
"In a if-my-life-depended-on-it-I-would-die kind of right."
"Well, duh."
"Duh?"
"Hey I'm cool. I'm down with your lingo."
"You sound like Philip Banks."
"And that's…" He asked.
"Did you even watch The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air?"
"Oh him!"
"Yeah, him."
"What about Will Smith? He light your fire much."
"Like you wouldn't believe." I professed as I threw my head against the seat dramatically. I fanned myself and debated panting before he finally laughed along with me. Expect Will is kinda hot. But I won't tell him that.
Footnote: Lyrics, aren't mine. They're Corrine Bailey Rae's to the song Till it Happens to You. I love love love her and I totally recommend her album to everyone, it's not really pop-y but it has pop-y beats that give me the overwhelming need to snap my fingers. lol, I'm kidding...sorta. I'm not really sure if the lyrics really flow or if it was the best song to choose, so if you guys have any opinions, please leave them! I love to hear what you guys think and I'm basically addicted to the feedback. Ok, I swear this is all but who doesn't want to review now? ;o) I have no shame lol.