The next few days were like a blur to me. I vaguely remembered working a little on my album as the guys tried to prod me into doing something other than sulk, and it wasn't that I was pouting exactly. I just found it hard to concentrate when everything in me screamed that something was wrong. I was in the studio fiddling with my guitar and writing in my notebook—and then repeating the method all over again until a strange sort of litany was finally beginning to form on the page—when a loud clearing of the throat caused me to look up in expectation before I sighed and then looked down again.
"Tom called me." Kwest said suddenly causing my heart to lurch painfully in my chest.
"And?" I asked quietly as I kept my head down, hoping to hide the hope that I knew shone through my eyes like radar. Kwest sighed.
"He's coming home, Jude, but he's got a lot to deal with right now." Kwest said almost wearily as I finally looked over at him to find him rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
"You do that a lot when you're stressed, don't you?" I asked lightly as I let myself grin at him slowly. It wasn't his fault that he was one of the few people that really knew how Tom and I felt about each other, even though I'm pretty sure everyone else highly suspected that something was going on. He smiled back at me as he took a seat to my right.
"What are you doing there?" He asked magnanimously as I handed over my notebook. He looked at it a moment before whistling.
"That's powerful stuff, Jude." He said with a shake of his head as I chuckled softly.
"I hope so. Powerful stuff usually creates powerful hits." I remarked matter-of-factly as Kwest tapped one of the pages with my pencil.
"Point taken." He said with a wry cock of his brow as I looked over into the empty mixing room with a sigh. I could see myself reflected in the glass, and I was actually pretty saddened by the sight.
"What are two hiding, Kwest?" I asked so suddenly that Kwest seemed to have found himself at a loss for words. He just stuttered a moment instead until I turned to face him—peering into his face with a determination that could tame a mountain lion. Kwest sighed.
"Jude, I can't tell you. But do me a favor will you? Don't discount him…please don't let it get between you two because your friendship is pretty powerful damn stuff, and he needs that right now. I'll just say this for him. This problem of his is not his fault. Fame can do horrible things to a man, and it practically imprisoned him. It even gave him a jailer." Kwest said passionately as I just stared at him both confused and a little afraid. Why did he have to be so ambiguous? I opened my mouth to say something else when Kwest shook his head and walked over to the door.
"Don't, Jude." He said before turning the knob and walking out—leaving me staring at the back of a wooden abyss.
Tom at an undisclosed location…
"Just sign the papers, Justine." Tom said irately as the beautiful, tall woman he was speaking with flew around her home in agitation. She smiled at him wickedly.
"Why the sudden burning desire to take care of it now, Thomas?" Justine remarked hatefully as Tom sighed in despair.
"Just sign the damn papers!" he yelled again as he threw them at her feet watching as they floated down around her like a maddening snowstorm of fury. Justine just sat down prettily.
"It's a girl, isn't it?" She asked while clapping gleefully.
"Oh, how very darling! Tom Quincy finally falls for someone he can never have. Tell me, is she pretty?" Justine asked curiously as Tom threw her a murderous glance.
"Leave her the hell out of it, Justine. This has nothing to do with anything but you and I. Now sign the papers." He repeated through clenched teeth as she picked up the strewn documents gingerly before pretending to peruse them carefully.
"I don't know, Thomas. I need some time to think about it." Justine said prettily as Tom growled in frustration.
"You've had four years, Justine, and you know where to mail them." Tom said forcefully as he shoved his way out of her house out to his car. She followed slowly, lifting one pretty shoulder slyly.
"Leaving so soon?" She asked with a pout as Tommy pulled his car door open before throwing her a pointed glance.
"Once again, you know where to mail them." He said with derision as he backed out of the drive, heading toward the one place he knew he could find peace as she stared mischievously after him.