Hello, all...don't you love long weekends? I hope everyone's enjoying the relaxation as much as I am, catching up on my sleep and my story writing. I wrote a few really good chapters, which are coming soon. All I can say is: Tommy, Jude, and their first night alone since their month apart...it's good, I promise.
But we have to deal with Georgia first, which is a pretty important part of the story. So here's the beginning of it...please don't kill me for the ending. You'll want to, but I couldn't resist it...sorry in advance! Anyway, hope you like the rest of the chapter and as always, enjoy!
Jude's week of relaxation went by quickly as she counted down the seconds until she was allowed to step foot outside the house. She wasn't looking forward to getting back to her normal routine but Dr. Brown had given her strict instructions to only go to school and the studio part-time until she was fully recovered. Her mom had mapped out a highly technical schedule with all of her commitments so she wouldn't get overwhelmed, although Jude was tempted to ignore everything on the schedule apart from the studio. But she compromised by going to school for a few hours in the morning and then the studio for a few hours in the afternoon.
As she entered through the front door of the studio on her first day back, she felt renewed and refreshed. She was greeted by smiles and hugs from everyone she saw—from janitors to musicians, everyone seemed genuinely concerned about her well-being.
"Jude!" she heard, about to enter Studio B. She stopped dead in her tracks, knowing whose voice was behind her.
"Georgia," she said, turning around and being pulled into a hug.
"It's good to see you back," Georgia said, mid-embrace.
"It's good to be back," Jude replied hesitantly. Still in the embrace, Jude's rush of excitement from being in the studio suddenly turned into concern and anxiety, knowing that Tommy was going to talk to Georgia within the next few hours.
"How do you feel?" Georgia asked, stepping back to examine her appearance.
"Better, thanks," Jude said quietly, not meeting Georgia's gaze but looking around the room. Georgia eyed her suspiciously but chalked it up to her physical state.
"Okay, well, it's good to have you back. Better get a move on," she instructed, watching Jude smile timidly and enter Studio B.
Opening the door and stepping foot inside the studio, she leaned against the door with her eyes closed and sighed loudly, having narrowly escaped further questions from Georgia. Slowly opening her eyes, she met the stares of Kwest and Tommy who were seated in front of the soundboard.
"Stressed already?" Kwest asked, getting up from his chair.
"No, no. Just...happy to be back…" she said nervously.
"Well, welcome back then," Kwest said, leaning in to give her a hug. "It's good to see you, Jude."
"You too," she returned.
Tommy stood up too, eyeing her with a grin. She released Kwest and walked over to him.
"Quincy."
"Harrison," he said, hugging her too. "You look great."
"Thanks," she replied. "The forced relaxation thing is good for your complexion apparently."
"And you're eating?" he asked, pulling away to get a better look at her.
"Yes, dad," she said sarcastically with an eye roll. "Don't worry, my mom has me on a tight regimen. She's become the queen of the nutritionists."
"Good," he said. They stared into each others' eyes for a few moments before Kwest spoke up.
"Just kiss her already, man," he said, walking back to his chair in front of the sound board. "Nobody's around. Except me, and I've seen it all before."
Tommy smiled and gave her a quick kiss, touching his lips to hers. "Happy?" he asked Kwest.
"Oh, yes," Kwest replied sarcastically. "You know, with you two back on, I'm going to end up being the sick one. Or at a minimum, nauseous all the time."
"Oh stop," Jude said, separating from Tommy and putting her stuff on the ground. "Besides, it may not last for too long…"
"What are you talking about?" Kwest asked.
Jude looked at Tommy hesitantly, each of them thinking the same thing.
"We're telling Georgia," Tommy answered.
"About you two?" Kwest replied as they nodded. "Why?"
"Because we have to," Tommy said softly, looking over at Jude.
"When are you doing it?" Kwest asked inquisitively.
"Today," Tommy replied.
"We want to get it over with," Jude added.
"Wow…" Kwest said, looking at the two of them in surprise. "You're serious?"
"Yup," they said simultaneously.
"Well, it's been nice knowing you both," he responded with a smirk.
"Thanks for your confidence," Tommy muttered.
"Jude? Jude!" Kwest called, taking his headphones off. "Will you please stop spinning? You're giving me motion sickness."
"Sorry," she replied weakly, stopping the chair and standing up quickly. She grabbed onto the chair as she felt the room start to spin.
"You okay?" Kwest asked, watching her stumble.
"Yeah, just great," she spat, resuming her balance and starting to pace the room.
It was two and a half hours later. After writing together for an hour or so, she and Tommy had sat down to review their strategy and then before she knew it, he had taken off to face Georgia. Curiosity getting the best of her, she had stalked quietly near Georgia's office, but didn't hear a single sound emerge from behind the door. Now, 45 minutes later, he was still in there and her impatience had grown into full exasperation.
"Maybe we shouldn't have done this," she mumbled, continuing to walk around the room. "What?" Kwest asked, removing his headphones again.
"This was a bad idea," she muttered, ignoring his question. "Why did we do this? How stupid could we be?"
"Jude? You're talking to yourself again."
"Kwest, what were we thinking? Why did I do this? I didn't want to tell Georgia."
"Then why did you?"
"Because…because it sounded like a good idea at the time…and well, Tommy really wanted to do it…"
"That's why you did this? Because Tommy wanted to?"
"No! I wanted to do it too, he just wanted to more. I don't know…"
"Well, I hate to say this," he said lightly, standing up to face her, "but it's too late to back out now."
"I know," she said helplessly. "What if it goes badly? What if they're sitting in there now discussing our exit strategy?"
"Jude, just chill out. They've been in there for over 45 minutes now. If she wanted to fire him, he would've left that office awhile ago."
She sighed and looked at him quizzically. "I guess that's probably true…"
"He'll be out soon—just relax. Aren't you supposed to be taking it easy anyway? Go sit down. Do some homework. Or write a song."
"Hmmm…write…I can try…" she said, collapsing on the couch. She grabbed her journal and pen from the side table and started scribbling in her book.
Ten minutes later, the door opened. Kwest took off his headphones and look up, as Jude threw down her journal and jumped off the couch and onto her feet. A frazzled Tommy stood in the doorway.
Jude flew up to him, grabbing his arms and pulling him into the room. She hastily closed the door behind him and stood in front of him, looking at his weary expression.
"Well?" she asked frantically. He looked down at her, his eyes clouded over in thought.
He silently walked past her, taking a seat on the couch. He rubbed his eyes briefly, mulling over everything that had transpired in the past hour.
"You're killing me here…" Jude muttered, following his movements and sitting down on the couch beside him. "Did she flip out? Are we in trouble? Do we still have jobs?"
The suspense in the room was thick as both Kwest and Jude waited uneasily for any sort of reaction from Tommy. He took a deep breath and turned to look at her.
"Well…"