Jude fidgeted with the seam on her jacket, waiting outside the restaurant next to Rob.
He looked over at her and asked, "Are you nervous?"
Jude glanced at him unsurely and replied, "Not really…"
"You sure about that? If you keep pulling on that piece of thread, your jacket is going to shrivel up."
She moved her hands down to her sides. "Okay, maybe I'm a little nervous…what if this was a bad idea?"
"Why would it be?" he questioned.
"Because…I don't know. What if Jessica still hates me because of the whole coffee incident?"
"Jude, that was weeks ago."
"I know, but she apparently still refers to me as 'The Coffee Girl.'"
"'The Coffee Girl?'" Rob repeated with a chuckle. "It could be worse, you could be 'The Burn Girl.'"
"Very funny," she responded.
"I've never seen you so tense. Just relax," he said soothingly, putting his arm around her. "We're all adults. I'm sure everything will be fine."
"Right," she agreed tentatively.
Just then, they both turned to see Tommy and Jessica arrive, both looking frazzled.
"Hey," Jude greeted them, stepping out of Rob's embrace.
"Sorry we're late," Tommy said. "We had a minor problem with the hot water at our apartment."
"What happened?" Rob asked.
"There was none," Jessica answered quickly. "And Mr. Fix-It wouldn't call the superintendent, so we still don't have any."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Jude offered sympathetically. "Well, maybe dinner will help get your mind off of it."
"Sure," Jessica replied flatly. Jude shot Rob a quick look of hesitation, not liking the beginning of their night, as they entered the restaurant.
-----------------
"So, how did you two meet?" Rob asked, trying to spark conversation.
"At a music event," Jessica answered. "I do Public Relations and one of my clients is a club that was hosting the event. Tommy was managing the band that performed."
"Which band?" Jude asked casually, taking a sip of her apple martini.
"Goldstar," he replied.
"No way," she replied disbelievingly. "I love them!"
"Seriously?" Tommy questioned. "You know who they are?"
"Know who they are? Before their album was released, I went on a frantic search for this bootleg recording of one of their shows. Remember?" she asked Rob, attempting to bring him into the conversation.
"Yeah, I remember," he replied with a grin. "You didn't get it though, did you?"
"Nope," she said disappointedly. "I saw a bunch of their shows around the city, but never got ahold of that CD."
"I have it, I'll give it to you," Tommy offered, happy that someone had actually heard of them.
"Really?" she asked, her eyes lit up.
"Yeah. One of their friends made that CD to send to record companies, which is how we found out about them."
"That is so cool…" she said, smiling at him across the table. She saw Jessica's aggravated expression so she backed off and cleared her throat. "Sorry to interrupt, you were saying?"
Jessica continued, "Well, Tommy was with the band, yelling at them—"
"Not yelling exactly," Tommy interjected, "Instructing."
"Instructing," Jessica repeated with a grin. "Instructing loudly."
They all chuckled as she went on. "Anyway, everyone heard him. So on behalf of the club owners, I went over to tell him to keep his voice down but he somehow managed to smooth talk his way into getting my number."
Jude smirked, knowing this was typical Tommy fashion, but Jessica ignored her and continued. "We went on our first date the next night and that was it. We just knew," she ended, looking at him warmly. Tommy smiled at her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Jude couldn't help but take a big gulp of her martini, hoping the story was over.
"And how did you two meet?" Jessica asked.
Rob started. "Through mutual friends at a party. But we didn't hit it off at first. See, one of Jude's friends had a thing for me but I didn't like her like that. So I tried to politely tell her that I wasn't interested when all of a sudden, her beautiful blonde friend walks in the door and completely distracted me."
"Being Jude?" Jessica asked to clarify.
"Right, that was Jude. She walks into the party and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She had this great, contagious energy about her."
Jude blushed and looked down, feeling Tommy's gaze on her.
"But meanwhile, I'm trying to tell this girl that I don't like her and I completely lose my train of thought and end up saying, 'I don't want to be with you. Just accept it.'"
"Wow, that's harsh," Jessica said.
"I know. I didn't mean it but it just came out. So the girl gets upset and runs into the kitchen and Jude follows her. Ten minutes later, Jude comes marching up to me to say that I'm insensitive and selfish."
"And that you didn't deserve to be with my friend," Jude added.
"Right. So I apologized and told her that I didn't mean what I had said. I must've looked really pathetic because she accepted my apology and we ended up hanging out the rest of the night."
Jude smiled, remembering the scene. "You did have that whole pathetic thing going on, but I liked it."
"How sweet," Jessica muttered, as they turned back to see her yawn and Tommy guzzle the rest of his drink.
--------------------
An hour later, they had sat through numerous periods of silence, the awkwardness apparent to all of them.
"So what are you in school for?" Tommy asked Rob.
"Business," he replied.
"And what do you plan to do once you graduate?" Jessica asked.
"Real estate. Or financial planning. Or marketing. I'm not really sure," Rob said, turning a light shade of red at their expressions. "I'm keeping my options open."
"I see," Jessica remarked disdainfully.
Jude glanced across the table at Tommy, who shot her a concerned look.
"Did you always know you wanted to go into PR?" Jude asked Jessica.
"Of course. I knew I wanted to go into PR when I was seven."
"When you were seven?" Rob repeated with a chuckle. Jessica looked at him indignantly as he attempted to justify his reaction. "It's just…I didn't even know what PR was when I was seven."
"Well, I was extremely well-educated," Jessica replied, taking a bite of her salad.
Rob narrowed his eyes at Jessica and said, "I was well-educated too."
"Oh, I'm sure you were," Jessica said, "It's just different, I suppose."
Jude felt the need to step in, sensing tension mounting. "So, Jessica, Tommy tells me you're from the Upper East Side. Do you see your family much?"
"Of course, they're six subway stops away," she replied, taking a sip of her wine.
"How is it different?" Rob suddenly asked.
"What?" Jessica asked in confusion.
"How is it different? You said that being well-educated was different for you than it was for me? How so?"
Jude turned towards him with a pleading expression, begging him not to push. But Jessica sighed and replied, "I just meant that when your parents have the means, they can open your eyes to all kinds of career paths early in life."
"Have the means? As in, money?" Rob asked.
"Well, yes, that's part of it. And connections. My father knows everyone in PR, so I interned at one of the largest agencies when I was fifteen."
"And you're assuming that my parents don't have those same means?" Rob asked sharply.
"Well, I just meant—"
Jude cleared her throat to end their dispute, and quietly said to Tommy,
"Can I talk to you for a second outside?
He nodded silently and followed Jude out the door, leaving a distressed Rob alone with Jessica.
Once outside, Jude turned towards him, both of them sighing deeply.
"This dinner is starting to plummet really fast," she said.
"I know," he agreed.
"I really thought it would work, I'm sorry about all of this…"
"It's okay," he said. He waited a few seconds and then said, "I'm sorry about Jessica. She had a bad day at work today and came home in this mood. She's not normally like this."
"Yeah, well, Rob found out that he got a C on one of his mid-terms today, so he's been tense too," Jude added. "Looks like maybe we're not all meant to be friends."
"Definitely not," Tommy agreed.
"So, I say we call it even and end this before it gets worse. What do you think?"
"It's a deal," Tommy said.
They headed back in to find Rob and Jessica in a full argument.
"Are you seriously suggesting that the tax laws in this country are fair?"
"It's not that they're fair," Rob said, "It's that there have to be some limitations on what middle class citizens are taxed."
"And you think that the upper class should be responsible for everyone else?" she exclaimed.
"Okay, this sounds like a good time to pay our bill and take off," Tommy said, throwing money onto the table.
"I don't understand why you made me come here with The Coffee Girl and her ignorant boyfriend," Jessica mumbled, putting her coat on.
"Hey!" Jude cried.
"Can we please just go?" Tommy pleaded.
"Fine," Jessica huffed, putting her coat on.
"Rob, it was nice meeting you. Jude, I'll talk to you tomorrow," Tommy said.
Jessica strode off without another word, brushing irritably by Tommy on her way out. He rolled his eyes as she left, while Jude and Rob slowly stood up. Tommy started to walk out, briefly stopping to whisper to Jude, "If I don't make it back to my apartment alive, you can have my CD collection."
She chuckled lightly and felt him squeeze her hand as he left. She shivered at the chills that ran up her spine at his touch. Taking a deep breath, she turned back towards Rob who was watching her intently.
"What?" she asked him. He shook his head and silently threw money on the table with Tommy's, then walked out.