Jude woke up the next morning to rain pounding on her window. She groaned as she turned off the alarm clock buzzing next to her. She knew, just from the look of the harsh wind blowing the rain around the street below, that it was going to be one of those days. She hopped into the shower and got dressed, putting on black pants and a turquoise top, trying to look professional. She applied a little makeup and then hastily threw the contents for her day into her navy messenger bag – wallet, cell phone, notebook, pen, recorder, chap stick, keys. She put her black heels on and grabbed her jacket and umbrella, rushing out the door to meet Rob outside.
"Sorry I'm late," she muttered, breezing out the front door and putting her umbrella up to shield her from the rain.
"It's okay," he replied with a smile. "But the line at Starbucks looks really bad, so we might be in trouble."
"Great," she replied miserably. "Now I'll really be late for work."
She felt the rain slap her face as they started to walk down the street. She tilted her umbrella to try to cover herself but it was no use—she was soaking wet by the end of the three block walk. When they entered and saw the huge line that had formed, they both groaned and joined in behind the last person.
"So, I forgot to tell you," he started, shaking the rain off his umbrella, "my parents scheduled a trip to come visit me."
"Really? When's the last time they visited?" she asked, turning to face him.
"When I was a freshman. That seems like ages ago," he replied, appearing thoughtful. "It was move-in day. My mom saw a rat on the subway tracks and hasn't come back since."
Jude chuckled, thinking about how one rodent could prevent his family from seeing him.
"Hey, don't laugh. When's the last time your family has visited you?" he replied, as they inched further up in line.
Jude thought for a moment and then replied, "Well, my dad was here last year, although it was on business. But I still met him for dinner. And my mom…well, she and Don haven't visited me."
"Not at all?" he questioned, slowly taking another step forward in line.
"Nope," she said, shaking her head. "She didn't support my decision to move here in the first place, so visiting me is an act of acceptance, which she would never do."
"So stubbornness runs in your family then?" he asked with a smirk.
"Hey!" she exclaimed, hitting his arm jokingly.
"Anyway," he continued, "my parents want you to come to dinner with us."
"Really?" she asked in surprise. Rob's parents, according to stories she had heard, were very conservative and uptight. She couldn't picture herself getting along with them at all. Rob always said that he liked Jude because she was the polar opposite of his family.
"Yeah, is that okay?" he asked considerately.
"Sure," she agreed with a grin. "I have no idea what to wear, but otherwise, it should be fine."
He laughed lightly at her. "Jude, you've got a few weeks. I'll let you know the details once my mom works everything out."
"Okay, sure," she said, looking at him. "Speaking of dinner, are we still on for tonight?"
"Ohhhh, I can't actually," he responded regrettably.
"Hot date?" she asked with a grin.
"Yeah—me and the librarian."
"Stop—you're making me jealous," she smirked, taking another step forward.
"I have another mid-term tomorrow, so I need to study," he explained. "I'm sorry. Raincheck though?"
"Sure," she agreed, finally seeing the cash register just steps ahead of her. "I probably should do some work myself. I need to write that article by Friday, and since it's my first interview, I want to make it perfect."
"Good old Jude Harrison, master perfectionist," he uttered with a grin. As the words left his mouth, she had a sudden flashback to her studio days and a certain perfectionist who would've easily taken that title…
He saw her reflective gaze and gently nudged her as the cashier called out for her to approach the counter. She quickly shook her head to get rid of the memory, and focused her attention back on the coffee.
As they finished ordering and awaited the arrival of their drinks, she kept glancing down at her watch, the stress mounting.
"How long do you have?" he asked, watching her start to fidget.
"Fifteen minutes," she replied anxiously, tapping her fingers on the counter and watching the woman pour the frothed milk into a cup.
"Skim mocha with—"
"That's mine!" Jude shouted, grabbing her cup from the woman's hands.
Rob retrieved his drink as well and they backed up to let the next customers in. She hurriedly made her way over to the small counter by the door, hastily dumping two packets of sugar into the cup. She quickly fiddled with the lid to get it back on and dashed towards the door.
After making her way through all of the people, Jude finally reached the doorway and frantically swung the door open. Not paying attention, she started to rush out the door but instantly stopped the second she felt a woman bump right into her. Jude gasped as she saw the lid on her coffee cup fall off as hot coffee spilled out all over the woman.
"Ahhh! Hot coffee!" the woman started shrieking. The whole store grew quiet at the sound of the woman's voice as she started throwing her hands up in the air.
Jude looked up at the woman in horror as the lid from her drink rolled on the ground. At least half her cup of coffee was all over the woman's cream colored coat.
"Oh my god, I am so—sorry," Jude said, immediately feeling horrible at the stain that was all over her coat.
"Do you know how much this coat cost me? It's real cashmere!" the woman yelled at Jude, who had retreated back into the store.
Instinctively, Jude turned around and grabbed a handful of napkins from the side counter and handed them to the hysterical woman. "I'm really sorry, it was an accident," Jude said, taking a few more napkins and attempting to clean the coat herself.
"And I could be permanently burnt! Do you know how hot this coffee is?" the woman complained, taking her coat off. As she started removing the coat, she went to hand her umbrella to the man who was with her. But the man wasn't paying attention and accidentally let the umbrella drop to the ground.
Hearing the umbrella hit the floor made Jude look up from cleaning the coat to see the man she was with. He was staring back at her with wide piercing blue eyes and jaw slightly agape. She looked into his eyes and stopped cleaning the woman's coat, her own jaw immediately dropping open.
"Oh my god…" Jude muttered, taking a small step backwards, bumping into Rob. He saw her shocked reaction and quickly looked up to follow her gaze. The man standing before her wore an identical expression.
The woman, who was still trying to clean her coat and muttering obscenities under her breath, looked up between the two, seeing their mirrored looks.
"Do you two know each other or something?" she asked coarsely.
Neither spoke a word, just continued staring at each other.
The woman huffed at their lack of response and gently pushed the man to get him to speak. "Hello? Didn't you hear me?"
"Wh-what?" he asked, snapping back to reality but keeping his eyes focused on Jude.
"I asked if you two know each other or something," the woman repeated. "You know, this girl, who spilled coffee all over my $800 coat…"
He silently nodded, his attention clearly not on the woman's question. Rob looked in confusion at Jude, whose body had frozen in shock from the sight before her. "Jude?" he asked, trying to get her to respond.
The woman became irritated by the lack of communication and abruptly held her hand out in front of Jude. "Hi, I'm Jessica, and you are?"
"I'm…umm…J-Jude," she stammered, swallowing hard to relieve the tension and disorientation that had engulfed her whole system. "Sorry, it's Jude," she repeated, shaking the woman's hand.
"Jude, it's nice to meet you and your coffee," Jessica muttered, continuing to brush her coat to get the coffee out.
"And…this is…R-Rob," Jude managed to get out, her eyes never leaving the man's. "Rob, this is…this is…"
"Tom," the man finished, leaning forward to shake Rob's hand.
"Tommy," Jude muttered quietly, watching them shake hands.
The four of them stood in silence, all looking at each other in mystery, Jude and Tommy's faces both completely stunned by each others' presence.