Marcus jogged up to the stage, grinning ear to ear. "That was incredible, Jude! We're definitely putting that one on the next album; it's a hit for sure."
Jude nodded distractedly, smoothing down the skirt of her dress and searching the room. Her eyes were distant, still lost in the lyric and feeling of her song.
A finger tapped on Marcus' shoulder and he turned around to find the source, only to come face to face with Tommy.
"I need to talk to Jude," he said gruffly, cutting Marcus off when he opened his mouth to speak. "I don't want you to say a damn word; you've been keeping her from me all night, and I'm done sitting back and letting you take her without a fight! If I want to speak with her alone I will, and if you decide to get in my way I'll stop talking and start using other methods of communication." He flexed his fists for emphasis, blue eyes glittering in anger.
Marcus blinked. He turned to Jude, the corners of his lips twitching up briefly, and then turned back to face Tommy. "Sure thing, Quincy."
Tommy stared at him, the malice in his eyes quickly flickering into confusion. "Um...ok then. Jude?" He offered his arm to her.
Jude looked between the two of them in an attempt to figure out what had just transpired. Was Tommy seriously about to fight someone for me? "Marcus?" she stuttered, blinking in confusion. He winked at her, and suddenly she understood what the entire plan had been all along; Tommy was definitely one to get jealous, so it figured that he'd jump to attention once he felt threatened. Jude grinned.
"Let's go, Tommy."
.o.o.o.o.o.
The air outside was electric, a pre-storm breeze rustling the leaves on the trees and sharpening the night. Jude and Tommy were both lost in the thoughts swirling in their minds, ignorant of both the cold and the coming storm brewing in the clouds. They walked around to the side of the restaurant, looking for any little privacy that they could get.
Jude took a seat on a stone bench, crossing her legs and waiting for Tommy to sit beside her. He looked as if he was going to, but then hesitated and instead began to pace in front of her.
"You're going to make me throw up if you keep that up, Quincy," Jude quipped, arching a brow. She shivered a little, not from the cold but from the memory of the looks that they'd exchanged during her performance earlier. At first she'd thought it to be backed with the same feelings as her own; longing, heat, love. Maybe I'm wrong again...maybe it was something else in his eyes.
Tommy walked back and forth, trying not to grind his teeth in frustration. He had her now, all to himself...but what now? He knew what he had to do, but words failed him. The sentences refused to conjure themselves in the confused fog wrapping itself in and out of his mind, and every time he opened his mouth he couldn't muster up the courage to speak.
She was starting to feel a little uneasy; Tommy hadn't said a single word yet, but his expression grew angrier and angrier by the second. She feared that maybe the plan had pushed him a little too far, and now it was all about to come crashing down in a fiery blaze.
"Jude..." There! He said something! "...this is wrong. This is all wrong."
She stared at him in shock, her heart crashing down to the floor. This was what he brought her outside for? Raindrops began to sprinkle from the sky, littering the cement with wet spots. Jude was overcome with a sense of deja vu suddenly, and tears welled up in her eyes as she recalled her sixteenth birthday.
Tommy kept on pacing, unaware of the effect his words had on Jude. "I've tried so hard to stop myself, but every time I'm around you...I can't think, Jude! I'm 23 years old, for christ's sake; I shouldn't be feeling the way I do around you. It's inappropriate, not just because of the age but because I used to be your producer!"
The rain was falling full force now, coating their skin and running in rivulets down Jude's bare shoulders. Jude's tears began to spill out of her disbelieving eyes, mixing with the rain water and trailing down her cheeks. She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off.
"The only thing I could think of whenever I was around you is how everyone else would react; how your parents would kill me, how Georgia would fire me, how the media would go into a frenzy about how I got involved with my underaged artist," he spat, continuing to pace in front of her. The words were coming freely now; he could finally feel the weight being lifted from his shoulders as he finally began to say what he was feeling.
She stood up, balling her fists and clenching her teeth to fight the sobs rising in her throat. She was done listening to this; if Tommy didn't want her, then she'd be damned if she'd continue wanting him. Jude turned on her heels and moved to get back to the club as fast as her shaking legs would let her, but Tommy's hand shot out and gripped her elbow firmly, spinning her back around to face him.
He looked her dead in the eyes, the glacier blue of his own eyes turned almost black with an emotion that Jude couldn't identify.
"Jude Harrison, I don't give a damn about what your family, G-Major, or the entire world thinks. I don't care about how inappropriate it is, or how many years we are apart. I don't care...because I'm in love with you," he said softly, almost sighing as the words he'd been looking for finally fell from his lips.
The silence was deafening between them; Jude stood speechless, unable to do anything more than search Tommy's eyes for the truth. He gripped both of her arms, forcing her to look at his face. His hands shook with fear; fear of whether or not she'd tell him that he was too late, that she'd found someone else, that he'd thrown his heart on the line only to have it thrown back in his face. The control that he'd kept as a top priority was now all hers, and he waited with bated breath to see what she'd do with it.
Jude finally found the power to speak, her voice barely a whisper above the sound of the thunder and pouring rain. "What did you say?"
"I. Love. You," Tommy repeated, reaching up to brush a tendril of soaked hair from her eyes. His fingers trembled slightly, and that's when she grabbed the front of his shirt and brought his lips crashing down on hers. She poured everything she'd been holding back for the past year into the kiss, and he met her passion with a fierceness that made her legs weak.
They finally pulled apart with a gasp, and Jude looked into Tommy's eyes to find nothing but truth reflected back.
"I love you too," she sobbed, holding on to him like he was a life preserver.
"What about Marcus?" he whispered, brushing a thumb across her cheek.
Jude smiled through her tears, pulling him in for another searing kiss.
"Trust me...you have nothing to worry about."
.o.o.o.o.o.
EJ, Georgia, Sadie, and Marcus sat at an empty table together, sipping the champagne and watching the other guests dance and mingle as the night continued on without the guest of honor.
"Ladies," Marcus began with a grin, raising his champagne flute. "I'd like to toast to a job well done. The Plan was a complete and total success!" Sadie smiled, raising her glass, and EJ grinned as well.
"To Tommy and Jude...finally!" Georgia replied, clinking glasses and laughing.
