Chapter Forty-One Part One

"I can't believe this is happening! It's like he knows what I'm going to do before I even know myself!" Jude ranted after hearing Haley's account of the board meeting.

"That's exactly what's happening," Sadie spoke evenly. After being filled in, Sadie had joined forces with Jude and Haley. Her anger at Jeff for kicking her off the show had subsided, becoming the 'voice of reason' once again as panic-stricken Jude paced the room.

"How much time do we have Haley?" Jude asked hurriedly, trying to chart out all of the possible ways to fix her mistake. She should've told him sooner. Damn me and my procrastination…

"Not much longer. Jeff said he would be coming up to tell you and Rachel right after the board meeting, which," Haley glanced at her watch, "should be over by now."

"Great…just great," Jude sighed. "I'm dead." Sadie jumped up from her chair to console her sister.

"Not yet, we can still figure out something. Isn't there any way we can get Tommy alone to talk to him?" Sadie turned to ask a nervous Haley.

"Maybe, but… I don't think it would be wise for Jude to risk talking to him now. Jeff's going to have all sorts of cameras on him, if not follow him around himself--"

"Wait, you don't think it's wise? Just because you don't think it's wise doesn't mean we can't do it!" Sadie started to yell frantically. "You know, how do we know you're not just trying to help your sister to win? Huh?!" Sadie continued rapidly, getting into Haley's face. Jude had to drag her away before she got any worse. Sadie glared at her sister but didn't try to pursue Haley any further.

"Calm down! Fighting is not an option right now! Haley would never do that to me, Sadie. Not to mention that up until I came on the show, every guest that was still here was thinking they would have a shot at dating Tommy too," Jude mediated, trying to defend Haley's intentions.

"What did you just say?" Sadie questioned.

"When we first came here Jeff pulled all of the contestant's guests off for a special meeting," Jude backtracked, "he said that when there were only ten contestants left, that the guest that they brought would join the competition, however the prize to us would've been the one million dollars."

"However, after seeing Quincy and me behind the scenes, all of that changed. I didn't know it was going to be just me until the day of, I swear" Jude confessed. Sadie looked between Jude and Haley nodding her head in understanding before resting her gaze on Jude.

"It's okay, Jude I don't care anymore. It's not like either of us could've done anything, so what's in the past is in the past," Sadie smiled softly. Jude returned the gesture, glad to finally have everything out in the open.

"I'm sorry to break your sisterly moment you guys, but we need to figure out a plan here," Haley interjected. Jude immediately focused back on the problem at hand, determination becoming priority number one.

"Okay, so talking to Tommy is most likely a very bad idea," Jude sighed, "but he has to know, and no offense to you guys but I have to be the one to explain things. He at least deserves that much."

"You could just write him a note and slip it to him on your way out," Haley suggested.

"A note? I'm sorry but we're not in elementary school," Sadie scoffed. Jude stared out thought for a minute, weighing different options in her mind.

Surely there was a better option than confessing everything in a letter. Face to face would be much more efficient, but the risk isn't something to be taken lightly. If any of the women were caught telling Tommy, Jeff would no doubt continue to press some absurd charge, or use it as blackmail for something greater. Maybe the note was a better way to go…

Striding toward the desk, Jude whipped open the drawer, pulling out a piece of paper and pen. Haley and Sadie stared at Jude in the process while she started scribbling frantically across the page.

"Are you serious?" Sadie spoke. Jude spoke without stopping the pen strokes.

"If any one of us gets caught spilling the beans to Tom, Jeff wouldn't hesitate to punish us. Not to mention what Haley said before, we don't know if he has a bug on him. Knowing Jeff he most likely does…"

"Yeah but paper leaves a trail too you know."

Jude paused her motions slightly before continuing to fill up the page. With every word she wrote, guilt began to eat away at her. Emotions that never had the chance to surface revealed themselves, and Jude could feel her resolve slowly fade away. Flashbacks had embedded themselves in her memory, and Jude couldn't shake them away.

Images of him and how hurt and angry he would be entered her brain as well, her vision becoming blurred with the coming of fresh tears. One by one they fell, and Jude realized that her relationship with Tom was no longer existent. She would never again be able to hold him in her arms and say she loved him, would no longer be able to hold his hand as they walked down the street. Two by two her tears now fled, a drop landing on the letter she held before her. Leaning back in her chair she wiped at her eyes and read over the letter.

Tears streamed fiercely down her face as she folded the letter into fourths before sticking it into her pocket. It was over. After all worrying and fights and love…it was over. Jude wished more than anything that she could've spent more time with him instead of pushing him away from her. Now there was no time left. God, Jude get a grip he isn't dying. That thought suddenly had her crying even harder, knowing deep down that this was probably worse than dying, because she was the one at fault.

Sadie and Haley watched in silence as Jude went to grab her suitcase, beginning to pack it with necessities she would need for a night at a spa. Neither of them dared to say a word, feeling the tension knotted around her so tight that it could be cut with a knife.

Jude faced them when she was done packing, suitcase in tow. After hugging both of them tightly she took a step back, not knowing what to say. The moment was stopped short when a tight knock sounded at the door.

All three of them snapped their heads to the door, knowing that the time was here. Jude looked back to Sadie pleadingly, who in turn nodded to the door, encouraging her to go on. And with the weight of the letter in her pocket tying her down, Jude picked up her suitcase and opened the door, not quite sure if she was prepared for the journey she was about to take.