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She felt his hands on hers, his stomach on hers, his breathing on her. She absorbed the feeling of being this close to him. She couldn't help herself as she looked him up and down again. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice screamed to move away, far far away, but she just told it to shut up. And she thought seeing him shirtless did all kinds of things to her inside.
Tommy kept his eyes on hers as he watched her survey him again. Here he was standing in the kitchen with Jude in his arms, practically naked. He could appreciate the comedy in the whole situation. "Um," He began as he cleared his throat. Jude all but swooned when he did that. "Want some tea?" He asked slowly as he disengaged himself from her arms and walked towards the forgotten kettle. She had already seen him, so there was no point in being shy now. He looked back at her expectantly.
"Uh, what?" She asked confused when all of a sudden she realized Tommy wasn't holding her. She spun around and saw him standing casually in front of the counter. In. A. Towel. She looked at him, but quickly turned around. "I, ah..." She looked back again. "Um, I, wow." She continued to gawk at him.
"Well? Yes or no?" He asked calmly. He reached towards the cabinet and took out two cups. "You know what? I think you need it. You seem a little...on edge." He said with a smirk as he opened the box of tea bags he bought before. He poured the steaming water into the two cups and dunked the bags in. He held out a mug for Jude as he took a sip of his own as he surveyed her again. " What's got you so jittery?" He asked innocently, as if he had no idea.
Jude stared at him incredulously, ignoring the cup he had in his hands for her. "You're serious? You're standing here in a towel!" She exclaimed loudly.
Tommy shrugged when Jude didn't take the tea. He placed it down on the counter as his eyes went back to her. He had promised himself that he'd give Jude space. And he would. But he wanted to be sure that when she had a sufficient amount of time to come to terms with everything, that she'd still want him. And this was a way to keep her mind on him. He looked down at his 'attire'. "Oh, am I? I didn't even realize." He said lightly, with a sarcastic tone.
Jude exhaled loudly. "Okay, now that I brought it to your attention, could you please put on some clothes?" She hissed at him. Was he trying to drive her crazy? Because he was succeeding tremendously.
Tommy seem to consider it for a moment. "Oh." He said as if he came to a sudden realization. "Is this," He gestured to himself up and down. "what has got you all bent out of shape?" When she furiously nodded, he smiled. "Okay, I'll change." He said evenly as he went towards her and purposely bumped into her. "Sorry." He murmured as he watch Jude's face turn a light shade of pink at the contact of him. He brushed past her, but turned around when he thought of something. "I'm use to living alone, you know? And this," He looked back at the white towel. "Is usually more than what I have on when I walk around my place." He lied without hesitation as he watched the color drain from Jude's face. "I guess I'll have to change that since you're here and all." He tried not to grin as he took the stairs. He knew he still affected Jude, but it was good for his ego to see her get so flustered over him. 'That'll be it.' He promised himself. 'After that, I'm playing it straight with Jude.' He vowed silently as he took the stairs.
Three Nights Later
Rain danced heavily on the roof as Jude sat in the leather recliner, Indian style, and Tommy sprawled out on the couch, watching a rerun of some old sitcom. Rain danced heavily on the roof. Once and a while they'd here thunder in the distance and Jude would secretly count down to see how close it was. After the whole 'towel incident', their relationship went back to being normal. As normal as it could be for them. They pretended like whatever they had between them wasn't there. Tommy started the lead, so Jude had no other choice but to follow it. They'd grown closer though and developed a routine of sorts, and Jude was happy for that. The last two mornings she'd wake up first, climb the stairs, and open Tommy's door without knocking. She'd come baring a cup of black tea, and would set it on the nearby night stand before she proceeded to jump on his bed and try to rouse him from sleep. When he'd moan and tell her to go away, she'd complain that she was starving and threatened to eat the cereal she picked out if he didn't feed her. He would then mumble and climb out of bed. He'd take the tea gratefully as he grumbled a 'thanks.' They padded down the stairs together as they made their way into the kitchen. He'd fix her something delicious up, and she'd eat every last bite. She would talk about the songs she was planning to write and he'd listen, commenting where he saw fit. She'd clean up, since he cooked and the rest of the day would be spent around the house. They'd work on music for hours, or get out of the house and go for a walk. She loved being here, especially with Tommy, but he seemed to be able to ignore the sexual tension between them. It was like the proverbial elephant in the room, but only she felt it. She was aware of it every time Tommy accidentally brushed against her, or when he talked softly to her. But he acted completely unaffected by it all and it drove her mad. Since they had gotten here, every feeling she once had for him came back with a vengeance. She tried her best to squash it down, but she couldn't stop it.
She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she wanted to be honest. Jude didn't think she'd be able to fall for Tommy again so fast after Chris, but she did and she fell harder this time around. But she felt like she was getting nothing from him besides friendliness. Oh, how she loathed that word when it came to Tommy Quincy. She didn't want to be his friend, the thought of it made her skin crawl. She wanted more and she didn't care what anyone thought. Except Tommy. And she didn't have the slightest idea what was going on through his head. She had thought he'd want her, especially since her and Chris were through. 'Chris'. She mused silently. That was such a gray area in her mind. She'd hurt him really bad, and she hated herself for it, but the note had changed things. It was hard to mourn somebody, if they sent you black roses. The note had helped her forget about Chris. 'And Tommy helped too' She added truthfully. It was hard to think about another man when she had Tommy Quincy at her beck and call, so to speak. She had been willing to bet her career that once he had gotten her alone, he'd laying it thick on her. But since the first night, he'd been a perfect gentleman, not trying anything on her like he had been before, and it was driving her crazy.
What really frustrated her though was every time she thought they'd have moment, that he'd kiss her or something he'd pull back. He'd stop it before it got there. She hated it, but she wasn't willing to put her pride on the line and ask him what was going on in his mind.
When Jude heard the faint roll of thunder, she jumped a little. Tommy turned from the TV and asked, "You okay?" He leaned his head back over the arm of the sofa and glanced at her. She gave a weak nod as he shook his head back at her and he switched channels. Jude closed her eyes, absorbing the sound of the rain. It was soothing now, but she knew it had the power to change at any second. She heard the dull clicks of the remote and the voices that came and went as he changed stations. She heard channel after channel and didn't comment until she heard one particular voice, causing her eyes to open quickly. "Keep that on." She said evenly.
Tommy looked at her and sighed. "Come on, Jude. We'll watch something else." He spoke softly, hoping to convince her.
"No. We'll watch this." She said forcefully as she looked at the television. It was projected the image of Christopher Line on a night time talk show. It was one that was filmed in the states, so Jude figured he must have went back to LA to film.
The obnoxious late night host wasted no time, she concluded. After a few words about Chris's movie he was currently filming he moved right into what everyone wanted to know. "So what happened between you and certain rock star redhead?" The man asked. Jude stiffened when she was brought into the conversation.
Tommy could see a change in Chris when Jude was mentioned. His eyes became hard, but the smile on his face never left. "Ah, you know how it goes." Chris replied cryptically.
The host gave him a dubious look. "No, we don't. So what happened between you two? You guys were looking pretty cozy for a while." The man wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as the crowd laughed little.
Chris shifted slightly in his chair. "Well, we were pretty, uh, cozy if you know what I mean." He laughed. "Jude was always good for something like that, Bob." He said, calling the host by his first name
Jude's mouth fell wide open. 'Oh My God. Did he just say what I think he just said?' She thought in shock. Tommy's head whipped around to look at Jude to see if it was true. She just sat there stone face, with her chin hanging down. He couldn't tell if it was from shock that Chris was lying or telling the truth so publicly.
Bob smiled insinuatingly. "Oh, I can only imagine what's she like, man. I can only imagine." He repeated slyly.
Jude felt sick as she watched it. Were they really discussing this on national television? It was like watching a car crash for her. She should look away but she couldn't, this was her life.
"Ha ha. Well, that was about the only thing she was worth for. Other than that..." He trailed off and let the viewers fill in the blank. The two men shared a grinned.
Tommy felt the anger bubble in his throat. "I'm going to kill him." He murmured out loud as he made a fist. He wouldn't get away with saying things about Jude like that, not if he had anything to say about it. Jude ignored him as she continued to stare at Chris, engulfed in what was happening.
"You know I ran into her sister a couple weeks back," Chris began,
knowing he was on a roll.
"Sadie?" She whispered to Tommy. "She didn't tell
me she ran into him in the States."
"Oh a sister thing? You dog, you." Bob gave a wolfish grin as the audience gave a 'woot'.
"Ha ha. No, no it wasn't like that. But man not because of lack of trying on her part. Let just say trampiness runs in the family." He commented calmly as Bob bursted out in laughter.
Tommy couldn't take it any longer and furiously hit the 'off' button on the remote. He got up swiftly and paced a little, as he ran his hand through his hair. He looked down at Jude who was just sitting there, staring at the black screen. "Jude..." He began with a sigh.
Hearing his voice she met his gaze and got up. "Uh, I need your cell phone I have to call Sadie." She said hastily to him, trying to quell her anger and pain. It stung to hear him bash her like that, but he crossed a line when he brought her sister into it. Still num
Tommy could sense the rage in her and wasn't sure who it was directed to. "Listen, Jude. You don't know if what Chris said is true. He could just be lying about Sadie. Sadie would never do something like that to you."
"Of course she wouldn't." She said without a doubt in her mind "I know that, but I need to see if its true, about them running into each other, and if she heard it yet." She explained quickly as she held out her hand which was shaking furiously. She'd never hated somebody so much as she did Chris right now. He had insulted her sister for no other reason than to get to her. That's where she drew the line. Tommy relented and fished the phone out of his pocket. She quickly grabbed it and dialed her sister's cell number by heart. When she heard her voice come through the line she gripped the phone tighter. "Sade?"
"What's up Jude? How's your mini vacay going?" Sadie's voice casually said. Jude knew that Sadie had no idea what Chris had just said. She briefly toyed with the idea of not telling her at all, but she couldn't She'd eventually find out. Besides, Jude wanted to know if Sadie really did run into Chris.
"Ah, fine fine. Um, did you run into Chris in LA or anything?" She blurted out, not beating around the bush.
"What? Why what did he say, Jude?" Sadie asked as slight panic creeped into her voice.
"He was on that late night show, and I don't know he made some remark about you, about running into you." She recalled to her sister. She knew there was something up. Tommy stared at her and tried to pick up the conversation from the one side he heard.
"What he say Jude?" Sadie tried to keep her voice steady.
Jude looked at Tommy. "Something about you hitting on him, it's not important what he exactly said. Just tell me what happened? Did you see him?" She asked, speaking into the phone.
Sadie exhaled loudly. 'So chris didn't tell everything' she silently figured. She had to keep her side of the bargain."I ran into him at club, Jude." She couldn't tell her sister the whole truth, it would ruin everything. " I don't know why he said I hit on him, I didn't. He probably was just trying to get to you, Jude." Sadie explained rationally, partially saying the truth, partially not. "Don't let it effect you." She answered nonchalatantly. She knew the best thing Jude could do right now is forget it and not push the subject.
"Are you serious? You're not bothered by it at all?" She asked, incredulous. Sadie had went from frantic to calm in under 10 seconds, which made no sense to Jude. "He called us tramps, Sadie." She pointed out infuraiated.
"Who cares what he has to say. We know it's not true. He's desperately trying to get publicity, so he'll use any methods. Just forget what he said, no better yet forget he ever exhisted. Okay?" Sadie told Jude hoping she'd take her advice.
"I don't care how mad he is with me, that doesn't give him the right to talk about my family!" She exclaimed as she started to pace a little. She wanted Sadie to be mad too, it didn't make sense that she wasn't.
"Just forget it. All right? Forget about it all and enjoy the rest of the time with Tommy." Sadie soothingly murmured. She'd let them have this, but when they got back she knew she needed to talk to Tommy. Wanting to change the subject she talked again. "I called mom." She said, hoping it distracted Jude.
She sighed. "Was she mad when you told her I went off with Tommy?" She looked at him as she said his name. He was silently standing in the living room with his hands in his pockets.
"Well, she wasn't happy, but I managed to convince her it was for the best. She wants you to call her though, to make sure you're okay."
"All right, I will." She replied, making a mental note to call her in the morning.
"Dad called too." Sadie added.
Jude let the silence hang in the air for a minute. She hadn't spoken to him since he told her he had married Yvette. "What did he want?" She asked coldly.
"Jude, he was worried about you. He didn't like that he had to find out from the press that your broke up with Chris and that you're somewhere alone with Tommy." Sadie felt like she was forever playing the peacemaker between Jude and their father.
"Well I didn't like that he married Yvette behind my back, but he did it anyway. You know what, whatever. You can tell him I'm fine if you want, but I'm not going to call him or anything." Jude bit out, but then took a deep breathe. She hated getting so worked up over her dad. "Let's just drop it. Tell me how the trip is going, and when you're coming back to Toronto." She questioned, as she switched the phone from her left to her right ear. She wanted to know about Sadie, she didn't want to talk about her right now.
"It's great here, and I don't know, I think I may come home early, considering all that's going on..." Sadie trailed off.
"No, no. Don't you dare. Stay in the states and enjoy your vacation." When Sadie was about to cut in that she was concerned about her, Jude silenced her. "Don't worry about me. Tommy is taking good care of me." She glanced at him again and noticed he was still in the same stance. She could tell he needed to talk to her, so she wrapped thing up with Sadie. "Listen I'm gonna go, okay? Call me tomorrow, love ya." When Sadie echoed the same sentiment, Jude shut the phone off and turned towards Tommy. "What?" She questioned, knowing he had something to say about Chris. "Just say it."
Tommy closed his eyes and took the heel of his hand and rubbed it against his forehead in frustation. He opened them and stared at her. " I told you, Jude," He started as he pointed a finger towards her lightly. " I told you if he pulled one more thing, that'd be it." Jude huffed and turned away from him a little. She was about to say something but Tommy shook his head. "No, no. You agreed with me that morning, Jude. You told me I could do what I had to do," Tommy said, his voice low. He was about to add something else, but she cut him off.