Jude groaned, trying to block out her sister's very annoying voice. Sadie was following Jude around her house while she was picking up the loose trash that happened to be floating everywhere. She threw a couple empty Coke cans into the garbage bag in her hand.
"Please Jude? I really like this guy and it would be nice for you to meet him." Jude turned towards her sister who had been begging her to meet her boyfriend of a month.
"Sadie, as much as I would love to meet the guy that's been monopolizing all your time, I really don't feel like being a third wheel." Sadie frowned, placing a perfectly manicured hand on her hip.
"What if I promise not to go all 'couple' on you? Then will you go?" Jude thought about it for a second.
"Uh, no." She turned to go back down the hallway. Sadie followed her, upset.
"Why not?" Jude tied the bag into a knot and threw it in the corner with the rest of the stuff that needed to go out for the trash man to pick up.
"How many more times do I need to tell you?" Sadie softened up.
"Jude, its okay to be hurt after what happened. But that was almost 5 years ago. You need to move on." Jude turned away to stare out the window.
"What like Mom moved on when Dad left?" She said bitterly. It killed Jude how her beautifully smart sister could always manage to hold on to a guy until she was ready to move on, but Jude herself couldn't.
"What can I say, Mom didn't handle the situation well." Jude cupped her head in her hand.
"I just don't want to go down that road." Sadie placed a loving hand on her sister's forearm.
"You're not. I just want you to meet my boyfriend. I really think that he might be, you know, the one." Jude turned around and smiled.
"When you put it that way, I guess I want to meet him." Sadie clapped her hands.
"Yes! Thank you! Now if I could only get you to let me make you over." Sadie eyed Jude's untamed red hair. Jude glared at her.
"Forget about it."
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Late at night, Kwest was sitting in Tom's penthouse, enjoying a beer. Tom was not looking good. His 5 o'clock shadow was starting to show, and his neatly pressed shirt had been untucked and was wrinkled and had the slight odor of vodka on it.
"I can't believe this." Kwest looked at his friend of 10 years. He felt for him, but he didn't feel like listening to the story for the seventh hundred time.
"Man, get yourself up and take a damn shower!" Tom glared at him.
"I don't want to do anything but sit here and get shitfaced." Tom reached for the bottle of beer, but Kwest pulled it away.
"Well, you're already there, pretty much, bud. Come on, man. You're better than this! You promised no more getting completely trashed." Tom looked away.
"Kwest, the love of my life just told me she was in love with another guy. Could you maybe back off the lectures for the next five months." Kwest shook his head.
"Why, so you can get a complex? Get your ass up and take a shower. You promised to go out with me tonight." Tom shook his head furtively.
"I don't want to spend QT with you and your girlfriend." Kwest sighed.
"There will be beer." Tom looked up at him.
"Just give me a minute, okay?"
