Chapter 23

The day had finally arrived, after months and months of work, the end was finally within sight and Jude's second album was officially finished. Tommy and Kwest had pulled an all-nighter to finish the mixing and Jude stayed with them keeping the coffee flowing till finally Kwest announced that production was complete. Jude was proud of her work on this album. It was more mature and her voice was stronger than ever. Tommy was also very proud of her work on this album, her songs were amazing. He knew they would all be instant hits.

T: Congratulations girl, I am so proud of you!

Tommy swept Jude up off her feet in a hug that neither wanted to end so quickly. Tommy put Jude back down on her feet and took a small step back:

J: I can't believe it! My second album is finished!

T: Well believe it.

J: I can't thank you and Kwest enough.

T: Hey you make it easy when we start with near perfection!

Tommy and Jude continued to just smile and stare at each other as Kwest rounded the corner and took in the scene before him. T-Man, you have got it bad. I just hope you know what you are doing and keeps things cool for the next 6 months. Neither of you can afford any bad publicity right now. Kwest had been witnessing moments like this between Jude and Tommy for the last few months and even though he was sure everyone else was clueless, he knew his best friend better than that. There was definitely something brewing and he knew it wouldn't take much more to make the pot boil over.

K: Hey you two, I am outta here!

J: Yeah, I should get home too, although I know I won't be able to sleep a wink. I am just way too excited.

T: Yeah me too, you want me to drop you off?

J: Yeah, thanks Tommy.

T: No problem. I just need to grab my stuff in the studio and I'll be ready to go.

J: Ok, I will meet you out front.

Tommy turned and headed back to the studio where him and Kwest had been working on the album. Kwest turned and followed him into the studio:

K: Hey man.

T: Oh, hey Kwest, what's up?

K: Why don't you tell me. What's the deal with you and Jude?

T: What are you talking about? There's no deal with me and Jude.

K: Um, OK, that's a good speech for G,but come on, it's me,I know you better than you know yourself, remember?

T: Look, I swear nothing is going on. We are just friends . . . really, really good friends.

K: Uh huh.

T: I swear, just friends.

K: Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that and maybe you will believe it one day.

T: Come on Kwest, nothing is going to happen.

K: But you want it to, right?

T: Umm…

K: Tommy, man, I am not blind. I know you are in to that girl.

T: Yeah, well I am not about to do anything about it. Trust me, I know there are exactly 176 days . . .

As Tommy looks at his watch.

T: No make that 175 till she is legal and then things will change. But until then, she is off limits. We are just friends, really, really good friends.

K: Ok, man. I just wanted to make sure you were still thinking clearly.

T: Thanks Kwest. I may need you to remind me of that a few more times in the next 6 months.

K: That's what I am here for.

Tommy waived at Kwest and headed out to meet Jude. The ride to Jude's house was quiet. Tommy was reflecting on his conversation with Kwest and reminding himself that he has got to be more careful. If Kwest is picking up on things between him and Jude, who knows who else might be too. Well at least we are done with the album and there won't be anymore late night recording sessions. She will be caught up in planning the release party with Georgia and EJ and then it will be time to plan her next tour too. We can do this, it's just another 6 months, a very long six months. Then it won't matter anymore and we can see where things will go. Oh come on man, who are you kidding, you know exactly where you want things to go. The only question is, where does Jude want things to go?

Jude was sitting beside Tommy practically bouncing out of her seat. My second album is finished! I can't believe it. Things are finally coming together. The album is done, its time to plan another release party, the tour will be coming up and to top it all off, I can finally take that vacation I have been planning for. I am so going to miss Tommy though, a whole week away without him, I don't know if I can do it. What if I were to invite him to go with me? He deserves a vacation too!

T: Jude! Earth to Jude!

J: What?

T: We're here.

J: Oh, yeah. Well thanks for the ride.

T: Anytime. Hey listen, I meant what I said earlier. The album is great! I am so proud of the work you did on it.

J: Thanks Tommy, I am really happy with it too.

T: Well, I guess I should probably get going. It is going to be morning in just a couple hours.

J: Yeah, I am going to sleep the entire day tomorrow. Georgia said I could take the day off and we can start planning the release party the next day.

T: Well have fun, I have to finalize everything and get your CD out for production.

J: Ok, well…

T: So…

J: Hey Tommy, you know I am taking the week off after the release party and heading up to the mountains for some skiing.

T: Yeah, that was a really great birthday gift from Georgia.

J: Yeah, anyway I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to go with me? I know you have been working so hard and you deserve a vacation too. Plus it will be so lonely without anyone else with me.

T: Why don't you take Kat or someone?

J: Kat's got some class she can't miss and Jamie is going to be busy with Spiderman that week.

T: Oh, well, can I think about it?

J: Oh, yeah no problem. Listen its not a big deal, if you don't want to go I totally understand . . .

T: No its not that, I just don't know if it would look right for us to go away together like that…

J: Well we could make it a working vacation too, we could always start on some new songs for the next album.

T: I don't know, listen let me think about it for a few days and I will let you know.

J: OK. Well thanks for the ride. See you in a couple days.

T: Goodnight Jude.

J: Night, Tommy.

Jude got out of the car and walked up to the door and let herself in. Geez, did I sound as desperate as I think I did? No wonder he was looking for any excuse to get out of going.

Tommy waited till Jude got inside and closed the door, before he pulled away and headed towards home. Oh God, what am I going to do now? Can you imagine a whole week away with Jude, just me and her and the slopes, sitting by the fire at night working on new songs. That is trouble with a capital "T". She looked so upset when I said I didn't know. Maybe we could make it work. It would be a working vacation and I could control myself for one week, couldn't I? It's just two friends going on an innocent vacation together to work. Oh man, Kwest is going to freak when I tell him about this!

Tommy pulled his cell out of his pocket and flipped it open. He pressed the number "1" and up popped Jude's beautiful face. Meanwhile, Jude was slowly making her way up to her room when her cell phone began ringing and as she looked down at the display, there was Tommy's face.

J: Hello?

T: Hey, listen about the vacation.

J: Oh,yeah aboutthat. It was a stupid idea and just . . .

T: I wanna go! We can go over the details later, but definitely count me in.

J: Um . . . OK. Great.

T: Alright, now get some rest and I will talk to you tomorrow.

J: Yeah, OK.

Jude disconnected the call and slumped down onto her bed still a little in shock over their conversation. Did I just hear that right? Tommy is going on vacation with me for a whole week? Jude reached down and pinched her arm. "Ouch", Ok, so I am not dreaming. Jude fell back on to the bed, not even bothering to get undressed, and fell fast asleep with a big silly grin across her face.