Hi. I'm back after an exhausting and stressful week...and on top of it all, it really hit me today that we have to wait for so long to watch new IS episodes! That made me sad--I always look forward to IS at the end of a long week, but this week, no such luck. Grr..oh well, thank goodness for fanfics!
Anyway, your reviews on the last chapter were great! Some of you were happy that Tommy wants to tell Georgia and others were skeptical...I totally understand both. When I originally thought of the idea, I didn't know how I felt about it either, but there's some explanation in this next post to explain why it might be a good idea. Definitely let me know what you think after you read it. I'd love to hear if you're convinced or not.
Also, I'm heading away for the weekend but am fortunately "working from home" (AKA sitting in front of the TV with my laptop) on Monday, so you can expect the next post then, assuming all goes according to plan. So here goes...let me know what you think and ENJOY!
"I think we should tell Geogia," Tommy said quietly, holding her hands tightly in his own.
"What? Why?" Jude questioned, a mix of confusion and alarm in her voice.
"Because I think it'll make it easier for us in the long run," he explained.
She pulled her hands back from his and sat up straighter, her heart starting to pound at the thought of telling Georgia about their relationship.
He saw her face overwhelm in anxiety and felt her hands slip away. "Jude, I've thought a lot about this. Just hear me out before you say no."
"I can't wait to hear this, Quincy. You've got to be totally crazy if you think I'm going to agree to it."
"Just listen," he instructed calmly, trying to avoid upsetting her. "I'm not going to do anything unless we both agree to it, so if you hear my rationale and still don't want to do it, then we won't."
"Okay, I'm listening," she agreed sternly.
He took a deep breath before beginning. "We've gone for the past four months lying to everyone. And I'm not saying that it wasn't worth it—it was—but it hasn't been easy. And to think that suddenly all of our problems are going to disappear once you turn eighteen next month is unrealistic. The studio especially is going to have a major problem with it—you know that. They're not going to want us working together knowing that we're together."
"Right, so how is telling Georgia now going to help that? Wouldn't that make it worse?" she asked.
"Maybe, but maybe not. The thing is that Georgia already suspects something. Last week, she pulled me into her office and directly asked me if you and I are more than producer and artist."
"Really? What did you say?"
"I denied it. I said that we're friends and that's it. But you should've seen her, Jude—she didn't believe a word I said. And the worst part was that the whole time I was in her office, I kept thinking about how much she's done for me and how horrible I felt about lying to her."
"Both of us," Jude agreed, thinking about Georgia's presence in her own life. "She's done amazing things for me too."
"I know. She's been a huge part of both our lives. I mean, she's the reason we met in the first place, right? So why not give her the respect she deserves and just be honest with her?"
"But Tommy," Jude interrupted, "have you seriously considered what would happen if we told her? What makes you think that she wouldn't fire us on the spot?"
"She might. But I think it could be worse for us later on. What if she walks in on us like Kwest did? Then what?"
Jude sat further back on the bed, considering his words. "That would be terrible," she muttered.
"I know. And it could've been her that night, not Kwest. We would've been stuck not only explaining everything but also telling her that we had been lying to her all along."
"I don't understand, though. Why not just wait and tell her next month when I'm eighteen?" Jude asked.
"Because then we're treating her like she's just another person we didn't trust enough to talk to in the first place. And all of that respect and loyalty that we should've had for her didn't mean anything." He watched her look down at her hands contemplatively. "Jude, unless you want to keep this a secret forever, we're going to need to tell people eventually. Why not start at the top and get it over with? If Georgia is okay with it, then maybe everyone else will be too."
"But what if she runs to tell my parents?"
"Georgia wouldn't do that. You know she'd never betray our trust like that."
"I don't know…even if she doesn't kick us out of the studio, she could still separate us. I don't want to work with another producer."
"I know—I don't want that either—but we're going to run that risk when we tell people next month anyway."
"Why can't we just keep it quiet? We've been doing okay so far," Jude said hesitantly, knowing that wasn't entirely true.
"Jude, I really don't think it's a good idea to keep it hidden any longer than we need to. This secret of ours has already caused enough strain over the past few months, but after the last 24 hours and seeing you collapse, I can't bring myself to add more stress to your life than I already do."
She grinned at his comment. "You'll always stress me out, Quincy."
"Thanks," he said with a smile. "I know it's a huge risk. But something tells me that it's the right thing to do. I don't think Georgia will freak out if we're honest and show her that we value her as part of our lives."
"And Darius? Are we supposed to tell him too?"
"I don't know…I was hoping we'd only have to tell Georgia, but I guess it's up to her. If she wants us to tell him, then we'll have to."
"But he would definitely want to tell my parents, and then we would both be dead," she muttered, rubbing her forehead in apprehension.
"Jude," he said, placing his hand gently on her leg, "you don't have to make up your mind now. I'm not doing anything until you say it's alright. I just want you to take some time and consider it. Okay?"
"Consider it…okay…I guess I can do that…" she said hesitantly, already thinking it over. She was quiet for a few moments reworking his rationale in her mind. "Do you really think it's going to be easier in the long run if we tell her now?"
"I think it will," he answered truthfully. "That's not to say that it'll be easy either way. It probably won't. But knowing that Georgia is aware of the situation and supports us might make it better for everyone."
"That's probably true," Jude conceded. "I don't know, Tommy. I'll think about it."
"Thank you," he said, leaning in and kissing her lightly on her forehead.
He sighed and sat back in his chair, grabbing his bagel from the table and biting into it. She looked at him for a few moments, before asking, "You're crazy, you know that?"
"Onjly avout jyou," he said with a smile, bagel hanging out of his mouth. She smiled widely, ripped off a piece of her own bagel and threw it at him. She giggled as it hit him and he looked up at her with a shocked expression. He pulled off a piece of his bagel and pegged it back at her. She tried to shift to avoid it hitting her, but it bounced right off her shoulder and onto the bed. Laughing and throwing pieces of their bagels at each other, they didn't hear the door open.
"Sorry to interrupt, you two, but it's time to get going," Victoria announced, entering the room with Sadie, who was holding a bag.
"Aww, too bad. It was just starting to get fun," Jude said with a smile, throwing a final piece of her bagel at Tommy.
Sadie walked over closer to Jude and handed her the bag. "Here are your clothes. You might want to change before we go out there."
"Okay," Jude said, looking into the bag.
"EJ has tried to get most of the press out of the area, but there are still a few stalking behind the bushes. Just as a heads up," Sadie said.
"Great," Jude mumbled sarcastically. "And do they all know that I've been declared psychotic?"
"You're not psychotic, honey, just a little off," Victoria said soothingly.
"Just change so we can get out of here," Sadie ordered impatiently.
"Okay, okay," she said, pulling her shirt and jeans out of the bag. She suddenly stopped as everyone looked over at Tommy, who was still seated next to her grinning.
"What?" he asked innocently.
"This would be your cue to leave," Jude said, holding up her clothes.
"Just when it starts to get good…" he muttered, standing up. "I'll be outside. I'll make sure EJ has the place ready to go."
"Thanks," Jude said quietly, watching him leave with a smile on her face.
"Come on," Sadie said, hitting her sister's leg to pull her out of her post-Tommy daze.
"Sorry," Jude said, quietly starting to change.