a/n: I'm pretty sure the hit count is bugging / I was almost at my 1000th hit and then it just stopped. But I got four new reviews (Thanks, everyone:D) so I know people are reading. I really love the reviews and I'd love to know what everyone thinks.
This chapter is basically a transition to the real good stuff. So it's not too long or too interesting.
Though her sleep had been deep and extended, Jude woke up early that morning inanticipation. She wasn't hungry so she took an extra hour to shower again, pick out the best of her new outfits, and primp up.
"Why am I doing this? He's not even coming until the party." Jude slumped into a rather plush armchair and stared at the clock. She would wait another ten minutes before leaving to G Major.
What if he's there waiting? What if he came early and the party is just for publicity and I'm not ready. What will I say? Jude stood up and began pacing.
"Why is Tommy coming back such a big deal?" She croaked, nearly screaming. Truthfully she missed him, wanted him, and knew that after all the time he was gone a few butterflies still fluttered every time his name was mentioned.
It was impossible to get over him. He was hot, chiseled, sensitive, sweet, caring, and one of Jude's best friends. Sometimes at his worst he was rude, reluctant, and just plain pathetic. But Jude couldn't deny that the good things about Tommy far outweighed the bad.
She got up and locked up her apartment with purse in hand. It took about twenty minutes for Jude to drive to G Major and she arrived just before her required ten-o-clock start. The lobby, with the exception of a few bustling interns, was generally empty. Jude slowly made her way to Studio A and found it surprisingly empty. She sat in the head producer's chair and picked up the headphones, assuming that Kwest had left Sweet Surrender in from working on it last night.
"'Cause he's frozen
Under an ocean of-"
Jude jumped out of the chair in surprise and the cord of the headphones popped out of the soundboard easily as she fell to the floor.
"What are you doing?"
Jude looked up and saw Kwest looking at her under very furrowed eyebrows.
"I just thought it was… uhm… my new song and so…" She didn't know why Frozen was in there and why it surprised her so much, but she just shrugged and stood up.
Kwest seemed to buy it. Hetook the headphones that were hanging from Jude's neck and plugged them back into the soundboard.
"You want to hear your song so far?" He asked her, and without waiting for an answer he exchanged the current disc in the recorder with the disc that held Sweet Surrender.
Jude sat down in her proper chair and listened to the song. It sounded great, just like she had hoped for. It brought her back to her first album, and she bit her lip in slight disappointment.
"What?" Kwest obviously saw the look on Jude's face and became concerned. He worked long hours on the song last night just so they didn't have to worry about it the day of party.
"It's just," Jude sighed and shook her head, "I feel like I'm diving back into my immature album. My first one."
Kwest chuckled and Jude shot him a disdainful look. "Jude, your first album went double platinum after you picked up publicity. It appealed to people your age, and everybody has lapses of their past. It sounds amazing."
Jude grinned, suddenly wondering why she had so quickly turned down the idea of actually being with Kwest. He really wasn't like her past crushes, but then again he really wasn't like any other person she knew at all.
"Can we run through some different mixes though?" She asked, letting her smile fade off of her face.
Kwest nodded in agreement and they spent about two hours deciding on the final mix. Jude took a break for lunch around noon and found herself taking a coffee run for almost the entire G Major staff. By the time Jude fulfilled the correct orders and handed them out to everybody, earning about 5 bucks extra from the gas money given to her, it was almost two.
"Jude!" She had just sunk into a comfortable chair in the lobby when her name was screeched from across the room. Jude turned around and saw E.J. approaching her with that hungry look like she always had when Jude went through an extensive makeover.
"Come on, I'm driving you to the salon to get a makeover!" Her voice rang with excitement.
Jude reluctantly let E.J. drag her out to the sparkling red convertible with a license plate that read, what else but, "EJ."
"Where are we going?" Jude asked as she buckled herself into the passenger's seat and ran her fingers through her hair.
E.J. smiled devilishly and Jude knew she was in for a real painful pampering. "Only one of the hottest celebrity spots in Toronto. Unnamed because it is that exclusive."
Jude rolled her eyes and spaced out the entire ride there. E.J. pulled into an underground garage about forty-five minutes after they left G Major and parked near a stairway. Jude sluggishly followed E.J. up the stairs and through a doorway that looked old and worn. She wondered if this place was even better than Great Clips. That is, until she walked into it.
The walls and tiles were all white. About ten different stations, each room sized, were laid out before her. There were mirrors surrounding each and the most eloquent seats she had ever seen. There were only two people who were being pampered when Jude arrived, but she knew that they had to be famous.
"Wow." She muttered. E.J. glowed.
Two hairdressers in matching white outfits suddenly whisked Jude and E.J. to separate stations. It wasn't until then that Jude realized she wasn't the only one being treated to a day here.
Three hours later Jude could barely recognized herself. She had changed into her little black dress and now gazing at herself, she felt like she could knock an entire boy band out in one glance. One member shouldn't be too hard to handle. She thought with a smirk.
Her hair was in big barrel rolls that fell just at her shoulders and her blonde hair had been slightly lightened for fresher look. The makeup was subtle except for a smoky eye look. Jude had been waxed, tweezed, massaged, and lotioned up to look and feel extraordinary tonight.
Jude got up to walk around and found E.J. waiting for her in a cozy little corner, probably set up for agents and such.
"You look amazing!" Jude complemented her publicist. She couldn't help but befriend the workers at G Major. E.J.'s dress was a little less revealing than Jude's and the color was a pale gold. Her hair was pinned up and her makeup was light and dainty.
"Oh my gosh," E.J. nearly knocked over the lamp that overcastted her as she jumped up from her seat, "Every guy at the party will be bowing at your feet, especially Tommy!"
Jude flushed and shook her head. Why is E.J. talking about Tommy? She asked herself. And though she would never admit it, she knew the answer too.
"Well, we better get going or we're going to be even more than fashionably late." They both looked at the clock hanging on the wall; it read a bout six fifteen. "Let's go."
E.J. promptly led Jude back to her car and they were off to the studio in a flash.
When they arrived Judebecame even moresurprised yet. She had never seen so many reporters and paparazzi at a G Major event. It was almost like a red carpet walk.
It took a while for Jude to register all the limos parked around the area. "What's going on?" She asked E.J.
E.J. chuckled and Jude blushed slightly at her innocence to the situation. "You didn't pay attention to that meeting, did you?" Jude shook her head. "Well, Darius invited a bunch of major celebrities and had me inform nearly every tabloid, magazine, and newspaper in five-hundred miles. Including some American corporations."
Jude gawked at this. She really hadn't anticipated all this pressure. If she did one thing wrong the news would be spread everywhere.
"We don't have a grand entrance, so let's get going." E.J. opened the car door and began walking toward the building. Jude followed suite and soon found thousands of flashes capturing her catwalk to the party.
This was going to be a long night.