Chapter Forty

Back at the mansion, Jude and Tommy had been separated pretty quickly. Mike pushed Tommy off to some last minute business meeting, leaving Jude off to do her own thing, not that she was complaining. She needed the time alone to figure out what she was going to do about Jeff and the money.

Padding up the stairs, Jude made her way down the carpeted hallway to her room. Before she could reach her door, however, she first noticed Sadie's. It was open; her sister's room was never open. Walking into the rarely open space, Jude leaned against the door frame, watching her sister move frantically around the pink version of Jude's room.

Sadie was making quick runs from her closet to the bed, back and forth. One of her many suitcases was open on her bed, the contents of clothes and other beauty products being shoved into its depths. Her feet stomped angrily on the floor and Jude wondered how Sadie could stand walking that fast and that hard in stilettos. It was a miracle how her feet didn't have bruises…or a broken ankle. Jude shook her head trying to suppress a bout of laughter while stepping further into the room.

Sadie was focusing hard on channeling her anger out on the suitcase. Squeezing the lid down tight, it took her many tries to zip up the stuffed bag. Groaning in agitation she finally got it closed. It wasn't until she turned around that she saw Jude staring at her, a weird expression fixed on her face.

"What do you want?" Sadie asked maliciously, her voice sounding annoyed as if she was saying 'what now?' Jude walked closer to her, eyeing her room suspiciously.

Her other three bags were filled and sitting by the door, the closet was cleaned out, and Jude was sure that if she checked the bathroom, it would be cleared of all cosmetics. Everything that was Sadie's was packed away and ready to be shipped off somewhere.

"Where are you going?"

"Home. Where else?" Sadie huffed sarcastically, turning her back on Jude to carry the other suitcase by the door. Jude's brows furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean, 'home'? You haven't been eliminated yet. The elimination is tomorrow," Jude stated warily, knowing something was wrong here. Terribly wrong. And it had one name stamped over it. Jeff.

"Oh no Jude I believe you are mistaken. The elimination isn't tomorrow. The finale is. And guess who gets the boot tonight!" Sadie pointed to her herself, anger radiating off of her body. Jude could almost see the smoke coming from her ears. "I mean at least Jeff could have had the decency to consult Tommy before telling me to go home. But no, he had to make the choice for him, said that the 'people' would like to see Rachel in the finale, not me. I don't know why he loves torturing people. Especially Tommy, but that's the part I don't get. Why wouldn't he just tell you to leave if he wanted to torture him…" Sadie continued to vent off some of her steam, not noticing how Jude seemed to freeze in place.

The finale was tomorrow. Not next week, not the week after, but tomorrow. Why the hell was it tomorrow! Jude's mind was going a mile a minute. The heat in the room seemed ten degrees warmer as her palms started to sweat with nerves. What was she going to do? Wait…maybe I heard her wrong…

"I'm sorry, did you say the finale was tomorrow?" Jude interrupted nervously, panic winding its way and constricting around the chords of her voice. Sadie stopped and glared at her with annoyance.

"Hello, weren't you even listening? Hey, are you okay," she said reaching out to touch Jude's arm. Upon contact Jude jumped, having already been engrossed in her own thoughts. Sadie temporarily forgot about her anger, confused by her sister's behavior.

"I'm screwed. I'm screwed!" Jude muttered to herself as she began pacing the room, feeling a rant of her own coming on. "I swear he's doing this to torture me. He hates me!"Sadie scrunched her brow, staring at her like she had grown a third head.

"Who hates you?"

"Jeff! Evil, conniving demon producer, Jeff! Ahhh!" Jude yelled frustrated, wanting something, anything to throw or hit.

"Okay, Jude you're scaring me what the hell's going on?" Sadie asked nervously. Jude shook her head frustratingly, heaving out a long sigh. Nerves were gone as anger seemed to have graciously taken its place. Maybe Sadie could help her.

Jude's eyes jetted around the room, searching for Jeff's little friend, his other eye. Soon she found it pinned into one of the corners of the room, the little black device beckoning her to let out her frustrations. Smiling evilly she grabbed the chair from Sadie's desk, bringing to sit by the corner by her bed. Standing on it she came face to face with the video camera.

"Hello, Jeff," Jude stated smugly, a wild grin spreading across her face before she snatched it and threw it to the ground. Turing to a horrified Sadie, Jude spoke evenly, "Close and lock the door."

For a second she stayed frozen in place, but then quickly snapped the door shut and locked it upon request. Relief and fear flooded through her, and yet she didn't have a clue why. Her sister was acting as if she was from the loony farm and had just smashed some very expensive equipment, and was apparently continuing to smash it in some more with her foot…

"Jude, seriously what the hell is going on?" Sadie asked more desperately, trying to hide the twinge of unease. Jude turned to face her, her expression surprisingly calm, almost…happy.

"There's a lot of shit that's happened Sadie. I have no clue what to do about it. But what I do know," she took a deep breath before smiling, "is that, that…felt really good." Jude pointed to the smashed up camera on the floor.

XxX

Tommy sat down in the chair, the cool metal sending a chill down his spine. If he was honest, the vibe he was receiving from Jeff added a few more chills of its own. The table of board members sat expressionless around him, Jeff sitting at the head of the table. There was no talking, joking, no noise at all, Tommy noticed. From the looks of it, Jeff had more influence on the show than Tommy ever could've imagined. Everyone was focused entirely on him as he stood in his expensive black suit, speaking to everyone with a fake smile plastered permanently on his stone hard face.

What no one saw was the dark figure looming outside of the room, ear pressed to the cold wood, listening.

"I'm afraid that there's been a change in plans. According to our contract for The Bachelor, we only have room for one more two hour episode. This meaning that instead of doing elimination, regular episode, then finale…we have to skip straight to the finale," Jeff spoke seriously with authority. The other producers and crewman exchanged curious glances, clearly surprised by this change of events.

"I know this is a big inconvenience, considering that we still have three contestants left, but I've already taken the liberty of talking to Ms. Harrison, and she will be leaving the mansion tonight."

Tommy went rigid in his seat, knowing Jeff didn't say the first name for the sole purpose of torturing him. Jeff glanced around the board table quickly, trying to gage reactions. Tommy thought for sure he saw his mouth tug upward after seeing his reaction. A long minute passed before he continued.

"Oh, Sadie Harrison that is. Sorry," Jeff apologized without sincerity. Tommy let out a breath of relief that he hadn't realized he was holding in. "So that means we're going to have to hurry to get our set ready for the big night. I think it's entirely possible to have everything done and ready by tomorrow, so that's what we're going to shoot for." He turned his attention toward Tommy. "This is all okay with you, Tom? I don't want you to feel rushed into making a decision," he explained smugly, Tommy feeling almost as if he was being mocked. He glared at Jeff emotionless, wary of what to think at this point.

"It's fine, the sooner the better," Tommy replied evenly. For the first time he was actually being honest with Jeff. The sooner the finale, the sooner he could have Jude and be done with Jeff for good.

Or so he thought.

Jeff looked statically pleased, the wrinkles around his eyes more defined, as if in laughter of a joke he wasn't sharing. Tommy felt as if he had missed an inside joke, sending another wave of unease through his system.

"Well, then all is settled. I'm sending Jude and Rachel away tonight after this meeting to an overnight spa. A little rest, relaxation, and bonding before meeting 'Lil Tommy Q for one last time, on the show that is. One of them will probably be seeing a lot more of Tom Quincy after tomorrow night," he finished suggestively, the table of producers smirked and chuckled softly at the comment. It took all Tommy could not to roll his eyes at them.

He only wished he could see Jude one more time before the final episode. Even though there was no doubt in his mind of who to choose, he had a strange feeling she was keeping something from him. Jeff's actions only enhanced the notion.

Outside of the board room, the dark figure stepped away quietly and padded up the stairs toward the bedrooms. Rapping softly on one of the doors, the figure was pulled in quickly by two pairs of arms.

"We have a problem," Haley spoke seriously to the two blonde women before her, the air suddenly growing thick with panic.

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