Short fluff-filled chapter dedicated to: KayKay2007, anberzen, buttlow, musical-cynders, melodie568, Tommy4eva, ticia-rockinmysoxoff, jadedxL0VE, Duddley111, Funkyicecube, and Erin McKinley because they are fabulous.
"Um, you are not wearing that dress," Portia stated, flatly. She was leaning against the wall of the dressing room. Her one arm crossed over chest the other trying to conceal a smirk.
"Why can't she?" Kat snapped. "The dress is it."
"Oh my god. Why'd I let you talk me into giving you creative reign over that girl's wardrobe? For the Grammy's?" Portia asked, rhetorically. "Kat that dress is not going to get it. The Grammy's is not the place to be wearing…well not to be wearing things like that."
"It's couture."
"Save it for the runway then honey…" Portia snapped. "That is not Grammy material. She looks like a cross between Bat Girl and Jane Jetson and Cindy Brady. Jude—have I not taught you anything the last couple of years?"
Jude glanced in the mirror at the maroon colored extremely short baby doll type dress. Kat and Portia both looked at her expectantly.
"I like it," Jude replied, earning her a disbelieving glare from Portia.
"Ha!" Kat smiled, gloating.
"But she's right, Kat, it's not very Grammy appropriate."
"Ha!" Portia mocked, rolling her eyes.
"Fine…" Kat snapped. "Don't wear my dress."
"Kat," Jude sighed. "I'm still going to wear one of your dresses. It's tradition here."
"Whatever," Kat responded, waving it off, twirling a pair of scissors around her finger, making Portia and Jude a little nervous. "Go ahead… look around the boutique for something else then."
Jude got out of the get up and into her regular clothes. When she exited the dressing room, Portia already had an armful of gowns for her to try on.
"Let's try this one first," Portia said, gently pushing her back in the stall with a jade satin cocktail dress.
She came out a few minutes later…Portia and Kat were apparently buddies again as they lounged in the front of the boutique with wine coolers, whispering like a couple of conspirators.
She coughed, making them acknowledge her presence. They glanced up at her. "Nah…" they said in unison.
"I like it," Jude responded, defensively, turning to look in a near by mirror.
"Nah, Jude, it's not working for you honey," Portia grimaced.
"Well damn," Jude rolled her eyes.
"It's because you have a flat ass," Kat concluded.
"Damn," Jude reiterated. She had to love their frankness. In the music industry few people ever told her the truth, and she tried to keep the people that did have her best interest at heart in her inner circle.
"It's true," Portia put in, patting her shoulder. She got up and handed her another dress. "Here try this one," Portia suggested.
Jude looked at the halter dress. It was a light gold color made of a shimmering satin material attached to a beaded necklace. She fingered the deep cowl neckline. She smiled to herself; she knew this was the one even though neither Kat nor Portia trusted her fashion sense most of the time. But the color was going to go great with her newly dyed medium dark hair. She stepped into the dressing room, sliding it over her hips, and halfway zipping it up herself.
She walked out of the dressing room barefooted. "Will one of you zip me up please?" she asked, once again interrupting their little conversation. They looked at her for a few seconds open-mouthed, and then they both started talking at the same time.
Kat jumped off the white sofa and rushed over to zip her up.
"Jude, you look gorgeous!" Portia breathed, standing up to join them.
Jude raised her eyebrows at them, wondering if it was just her imagination or were they not just saying how flat assed she was. She looked at herself in one of the numerous full-length mirrors. Not bad she thought.
"Ah," Kat sighed, looking at her in the mirror to. "The House of Katerina does it again."
Jude stared at herself in the mirror, fingering the twisted waist detail that circled the dress. "I do look pretty good uh?'
"Yeah once we do something about these," Kat said, cupping her breast.
"Hey now," Jude exclaimed, brushing her away, giving her a stuned stare.
"Well…" Kat laughed. "They're a little saggy.
Jude gaped at her. She hugged her chest. "They are not."
"Don't worry about it," Portia sighed. "My left one is a little bigger than my right."
"I'm basically flat," Kat confessed. "Can you say water bra?"
Portia and Jude laughed at her frankness.
"I don't care, and Jamie doesn't either," Kat boasted.
"Ugh, mental image," Jude gasped.
Portia began to fan her with her hand. "It is okay Jude, come on think springtime, meadows, weeping willows, deer prancing in a field…"
Jude and Portia busted out laughing.
"Ha. Ha. Ha," Kat mocked, rolling her eyes.
"A split would be good," Portia suggested.
"Yeah you're right," Kat agreed. "How far mid thigh?"
"Yeah that would be good." Portia nodded.
Jude stood there quietly, like a doll as they decided on what alterations needed to be made to the dress. After they got finished conversing, she hurried and got dressed quickly.
She came out once again interrupting Kat and Portia's little conspiracy.
"Okay. Tell me," she sighed, flopping on the sofa.
"What?" They asked in unison.
"Whatever you're planning or talking about or whatever…just go ahead and tell me please."
"I think you're a little paranoid," Kat laughed, nervously. "Come spell this new Liz Claiborne perfume." She said, obviously changing the subject.
Jude looked at her suspiciously. She knew she was lying.
God I hate secrets. She thought as she sprayed the perfume.
It smelled like wildflowers and the ocean. Her memories quickly flashed back to a time when she and Tommy needed to meet some deadlines and they both were out of creative ideas. So they jumped in his viper and headed for the shore for a couple of days.
"I'd love to live here," Jude grinned, jumping down from the boardwalk and plopping down in the sand. "I think I am."
"Go ahead then," Tommy replied, encouragingly, sitting in the sand next to her.
"I am!" Jude confirmed. "I'm going to build a huge house too."
"Sure…you should…" Tommy responded, laughing at her enthusiasm.
"I am," Jude nodded. "Yup. I can see it now, me and my husband are going to have 7 kids-"
"You two are going to be kind of busy," Tommy snickered, sifting the sand through his fingers
"Yeah," she whispered, thinking. She finally caught on to what he was insinuating. "You're perverted…"
"What?" he asked, innocently.
She gently shoved him. "I'm only having 3 maybe 4, but we're going to adopt."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"What if your husband doesn't want to have kids…"
"He'll want to have kids…"
"How do you know?"
"Because I'd ask him before we got married," she said. "Marriage doesn't have to be as hard as people make it, you know…"
"How would you know?" he asked, patronizingly.
"I just know!" she laughed, throwing her head back, her hair looking hazardous in the sea breeze. "How many kids do you want?"
"Seven." He smiled, pulling her hat down over her eyes.
"Jude, Jude. Jude!" Portia and Kat were calling her.
"Sorry," she said, trying to push the memory to the back of her mind. "Yeah?"
"You okay honey," Portia asked, looking at her anxiously.
Jude waved her off. "I'm fine. I'm going to get started back home though, before it gets any later."
"Okay," Kat and Portia said in unison.
Kat walked over and unlocked the door for her. "Call me when you get home girl?" she said hugging her.
"Me too," Portia called. "And see you in the morning at 9 sharp."
Jude sighed and rolled her eyes. "So basically you'll be seeing me in 8 hours?" she summarized.
"Give or take a few minutes," Portia shrugged, grinning wickedly.
"Bye guys," Jude laughed, walking towards her car that was parked on the curb.
Kat shut the door and leaned against it. "We should tell her…"
"It's probably a false alarm though. We shouldn't give her false hope," Portia sighed, flopping back onto the sofa.
"But this is big. Huge. Gigantic!"
"I get your point," Portia responded, rolling her eyes. "But he's just gaining some of his reactivity back…it's not that big of a deal. Is it?"
"Uh yeah. That means he's in a light coma. If he's gaining most of his reactivity back that means that he's responding to certain stimuli like light or hearing. And that is a big thing when you're in a coma. It means he's getting certain reflexes back," Kat said, as she wound up her measuring tape. She glanced up at Portia who was looking at her curiously. "What?"
"How do you know all of this?"
"I listen to Jamie sometimes," she shrugged.
"So he's in a light coma now?"
"Yes. He could wake up any day or in a few months or another year," Kat said.
"See that's why we shouldn't get her hopes up…" Portia exclaimed.
"I see your point." Kat nodded.
"Thank you." Portia smiled.
"But we should still tell her. She'd want to know. She should know. Do you not think she'll be a pissed if everyone knows but her?"
"You've got a point too," Portia shrugged.
"Thank you," Kat smirked.
"You can tell her then," Portia said, making a dash for the door. "See you in the morning."
"Hey!" Kat exclaimed, but Portia was already out the door. "Heifer…" she grumbled.