Too much
A/N: I own nothing...
"WHAT? How many million? That's fucking ridiculous!" Jordan, who's pacing the kitchen, yells into the phone at Elliot, Residue's lawyer. "That's god damn bullshit and they know it! How the hell did they come up with that number? Hell, I guess we should feel flattered, right?"
Justin, who had been sleeping peacefully in Angela's arms, starts to cry. From where she was sitting in the den, she couldn't see Jordan, but she could hear every word he said, or yelled rather. Justin had an ear infection and had kept her up most of the night. At 3 months old, he had been sleeping longer and longer at night, but with him not feeling well, he had just wanted to be held. Rocking him gently, she tries to calm him down.
Instead of quieting, the baby starts to cry louder. Getting up, Angela starts to walk back and forth across the den, with Justin cradled to her chest. Now fully worked up, Justin is practically wailing.
From the other room, Jordan yells, "Jesus Christ, Angela! I'm on the fucking phone. Could you please get him to shut up?"
Eyes widening in shock, Angela stops in her tracks. She knew Jordan was upset. He hadn't been talking to her very much and he'd been in a rather foul mood lately. All he thought about was the lawsuit. When he was home, he was either on the phone or in the garage. He didn't come to bed until late. He wasn't helping her with the baby and Maddie never saw him.
She stood, rooted to the spot, bouncing Justin up and down on her shoulder, trying to calm him. Nothing seemed to help. The baby continued to cry. Walking into the hallway, Angela heads toward the stairs. As she turns the corner, she runs into an angry Jordan.
"Hold on, Elliot." Jordan puts his hand over the phone. Scowling at Angela, he says, "Do you mind? He's so fucking loud I can barely hear myself think."
"Well, excuse me! I'm sorry that your son isn't feeling well. I'm trying to calm him down." Brushing past him, she heads up the stairs. "If you hadn't been yelling in the first place, he would still be sleeping!"
Shutting herself in the nursery with Justin, she sits in the rocking chair and lets him nurse. He finally calms down to a whimper before he falls back to sleep. Gently laying him in the crib, she tucks the blanket around him and slips out the door.
Still angry at Jordan, she goes in search of him. She finds him in the garage, sitting on the hood of Red screaming into the phone.
"GOD DAMN IT, SHANE. Thirty million fucking dollars! Yeah, and now, we don't have to hurry to finish the god damn album, either." Pushing his hair, now long enough to hang in his eyes, out of his face, he growls in frustration. "It's complete and utter bullshit. Yeah, that's what I told Elliot."
Angela, still unnoticed by Jordan, stands listening to him talk to Shane. Taking the time to study his face, she can see the dark circles under his eyes. She notices how pale and tired he looks. Having always been slim, it was a surprise to notice how his clothes were starting to hang on him.
Angela VO: Why am I just noticing these things? Have I been so wrapped up in the baby that I couldn't see what Jordan is going through? Has he even been eating right?
Trying to recall the last time Jordan actually sat down to eat with her and Maddie, she was drawing a blank. She hadn't cook all that often since Justin was born and Jordan had stopped cooking weeks ago. They usually ate whatever food her dad brought over from the restaurant.
"Pack your shit, we leave for New York in the morning. I don't know, 3 or 4 days. Yeah, Elliot is going to meet us there." Scratching his head, Jordan jumps down from the car and faces the wall. "No, I'm meeting Mark in LA on Friday. He's got meetings set up with 3 other labels. Man, right now I'm more concerned about getting signed to another label than I am getting the album done. Hell, I don't know. I should be back by the end of next week." Sighing loudly, Jordan says to Shane. "No, I haven't told her. Whatever, I gotta go pack. Later."
"Told me what?" Angela asks.
Jordan spins around. "Fuck! Don't sneak up on me like that?" He walks around her and into the house.
Following him, Angela asks again, "Told me what, Jordan?"
Grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, he leans back on the counter, ever present frown on his face. "I'm leaving for New York in the morning. I'll be there for a few days, then I'm flying straight from New York to LA. I don't know how long I'll be out there. Maybe til the end of next week, maybe longer."
Angela just stands there, waiting for him to finish. In the mood he was in, it was better to let him talk and not push.
"What? Why the hell are you standing there staring at me?" Jordan pushes off and heads in to the hall, making his way up the stairs.
Angela, trying to keep her temper in check, takes a deep breath before following him. As she enters the bedroom, he's pulling his suitcase from the closet. He walks over and tosses it on the bed before going to his dresser and pulling out clothes.
"So, you're going to be gone for 2 weeks, maybe more? How long have you known? Did you just find out today?" She walks up and puts her hand on his arm, stopping his movements.
"I've known about LA for a couple days. I just found out about New York a little while ago." Pulling away, he starts shoving clothes in his suitcase. Looking up at her he scowls. "Quit standing there staring at me. Don't you have something to do? A baby to take care of or something?" He walks around her and goes back to the closet.
Not able to hold on to her anger any longer, she lets it go. "Jordan, what the fuck is wrong with you? Why are you being such an asshole to me? Good God!"
"I've just got a lot of shit going on right now, ok? I don't want to talk about it." Jordan turns and goes into the bathroom, pulling stuff from the medicine cabinet.
Sitting on the bed, Angela waits for him to come back. "What do you mean, you don't want to talk about it? All you've done is talk about it. To Shane and Tommy, to Mark, to Elliot, to Brian. Why won't you talk to me about it?" She grabs his hand as he walks by the bed. "You aren't eating right and you aren't sleeping well. You don't talk to me and you yell at me all the time. When you are home, you're on the phone. Maddie doesn't see you much. And when was the last time you even held your son?"
"I'm just stressed out, that's all. This whole lawsuit is getting out of hand. When this is over, everything will be better. I've just got to concentrate on this right now." Using his free hand, he runs his fingers through his hair. "And what the hell do you mean, I don't talk to you? I'm talking to you right now. And I see Maddie every afternoon. I held Justin this morning, while you took a shower. And anyway, weren't you the one who told me you could take care of him? You said I was holding him too much."
Rolling her eyes, she tugs him down beside her. "Jordan, I meant that you don't sit down and tell me what's going on in your head. You're shutting me out. Shouldn't I be the first person you talk to?"
"I don't mean to shut you out. It's just that I don't want you worrying about all this." Biting on his thumb, he turns to look at her. "I was going to tell you I had to leave, but I've been busy. You've been busy, too. Every time I walk into the room, you're either holding Justin or feeding him or changing him. When I get home at night, you're asleep because you've spent all day taking care of him. When am I supposed to talk to you?"
"Well, you can talk to me now. We're both right here and you have my undivided attention." She reaches up and touches his cheek. "Talk to me, Jordan."
Throwing his head back, he sighs. "Babe, it's really messed up. They say we're in breach of contract and now they've named a figure, 30 million. There's no way in hell they're gonna get that from us." Reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear, he moves his eyes up to meet hers. "I've got to go to New York to meet with our lawyer and theirs. And if we don't find a new label, we won't have to worry about finishing the new album. So long story short, if we don't get backing for the album, and we lose the lawsuit, we'll all end up broke. So I have to go to LA, too. I don't know how long I'll be gone, either."
Angela wraps her arms around him and they lay back together on the bed. "It's gonna be ok, Jordan. You'll come out on top of this. Quit worrying so much and let the lawyers do their job. You're gonna make yourself sick, babe." Kissing his head, she tightens her hold on him. After a few minutes, she feels his body relax. Soon, he's asleep.
Slowly pulling away so not to wake him, Angela gets up and moves the suitcase to the floor. Taking his shoes off and then grabbing a blanket from the back of the chair, she covers him. Brushing his hair from his face, she bends down to kiss his cheek.
As she's pulling back, Jordan grabs her hand and pulls her back down to him for a kiss. "I'm sorry, babe. You know I love you, right?"
Smiling, she kisses him again. "Yeah, I know. Get some rest. I'll help you pack later."
Rolling over onto his side, he pulls the blanket tighter around him and goes back to sleep.
Jordan wakes slowly from his nap. Getting up from the bed, he stretches his arms over his head. He can hear Angela and Maddie talking down the hall. Glancing at the clock, he realizes he's been asleep for a few hours. It was almost time for dinner.
After using the bathroom and washing his face, he heads downstairs. Walking into the kitchen, he sees Angela standing in front of the stove, stirring what looked to be spaghetti sauce. Maddie was at the counter, tearing lettuce apart for a salad.
Turning, Angela sees him and smiles. "Hey, sleepyhead. Bout time you got up." She lays the spoon down and walks to him, holding her face up for his kiss.
Maddie smiles at him. "Hey, Dad. Mom said you've got to leave tomorrow. How long are you gonna be gone?"
He walks over and hugs her, kissing her cheek. "I'm not sure. Hopefully, I'll be home by next weekend."
"Dinner's almost ready, why don't you pull up a stool and keep us company." Angela goes to the refrigerator and starts pulling out more vegetables for the salad.
Jordan pulls out the stool closest to Angela and watches his girls fix dinner. When everything's about ready, he gets up to set the table. As Angela is serving dinner, Jordan fixes himself and Maddie a glass of milk, and grabs Angela a bottle of water.
They all sit down to dinner together.
Sorry...I know this is a short chapter, especially after the two longer ones before it. I was feeling a little pissed off today...can't you tell? ;) ~gagirl29