A/N: Say hello to your first taste of plot-aliciousness! Tasty and filling, hopefully. I just want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far – it's pretty much the best feeling ever. Anyway, here you go – the third installment of 'Unready, Willing & Able.'
Disclaimer: Instant Star is not mine. I promise.
The next few days were fairly good for Jude. She had been right in assuming she'd be bored as all hell without Tommy, and she admitted to calling him at night just to talk, but other than that, she was doing okay. The Hummer itself was like a paparazzi repellant. Intimidating, that's what it was. Even Jude was intimidated by it, if she had to admit it.
- - - -
It was Wednesday evening after Tommy had left Sunday night. Jude was in her room, trying to come up with the best way to bring up just how pissed she was at Tommy.
Finally she picked up her cell phone and managed to hit her number 3 speed dial, instead of just fumbling around with her phone.
"Hey, Girl," Tommy's soothing voice filtered to her ears. "You usually call at 11. You're a solid half hour late." When Jude didn't respond, Tommy got worried. "Girl? Jude? You there?"
"Two weeks?" She asked weakly.
She knows about the wedding, Tommy concluded. And she knows that I knew before her.
"Did you know Sadie didn't even tell me? Dad did. I mean, then Sadie had to tell me why it was moved up and convince me not to tell anyone."
"Oh, Jude…"
"I'm happy for her, though. I don't want anyone to think I'm not happy for her. It's just…two weeks. Wow. That's soon."
"Yeah," Tommy agreed. "But I can understand, can't you?"
"I guess. I just…nevermind. I don't really want to talk about it anymore. I'm positive I'll be in a better mood tomorrow."
"Anything else wrong, babe?"
"No. Yes. I don't know."
"Gotta give me a little more than that, girl." Jude could hear the smile in his voice.
"I just feel weird lately. Like someone's watching me, you know?"
"Girl, someone is watching you. The paparazzi, all the time."
"You know what I mean," Jude laughed. "My spidey-sense is tingling!"
"Your spidey sense?" Tommy laughed loudly at this and was reminded once again why he loved her so much.
"Yeah, you know…I just feel it in my gut. It's creeping me out."
"You staying out of trouble up there, girl? Not wearing any fur or riling any protestors?"
"I cause one incident and everyone just assumes I'll do it again…" Jude said lightly.
"Yeah well, you're sort of a lightning rod for trouble," Tommy joked.
"You should be happy to know that I am staying out of trouble. No protestors, no PR disasters, no nothing."
"Good," Tommy agreed. "But still a spidey sense?"
"I can't really explain it. But it's creeping me out, a lot."
"Well, keep an extra eye out, okay? Be extra aware of everything that goes on around you. I trust your instincts, girl."
"Thanks, Tommy. And I'll be careful. I bet it's just stress getting to me."
"Even so, take extra precautions," Jude couldn't help but smile at Tommy's concern, and she reveled in the moment before he changed the subject. "So, how's the Hummer treating you?"
"Oh, you know. She's a quick forgive, even after I spilt two liters of cola all over the back seat…"
"What?" Tommy interrupted.
"Kidding! I've been good to her and she's been good to me. I really appreciate you letting me borrow it, Tommy."
"Anything for you, girl."
From there on, the conversation deteriorated into less dire topics. An hour later and Jude was flopped on her bed, head leaning over the foot of it and laughing loudly at Tommy and his antics.
"What about a small one? You look like the 'small' type." He said suggestively.
"Oh do I, Quincy? Good news for you then, huh?" Jude laughed.
"Oh, you wish, Harrison." Tommy defended quickly. "All I'm saying is that you look like the type to enjoy a small dog."
"No way! I'm not Paris Hilton. Those things are barely dogs, they're just…slightly larger rats."
"They're pretty obnoxious, I'll give you that," Tommy agreed.
"Besides, if I were to get a dog, I'd want him to be a big dog."
"Him?"
"Yeah, him. Girls are too stuck up, boys just go with the flow."
"Just how much have you thought about this, girl?"
"A fair amount. I really want a puppy. I was saving up, but, you know." Jude finished off quickly.
"Yeah, I know," Tommy said quietly. "So, a big dog? How big are we talking?"
"If I could house train a horse, I would," Jude laughed.
"That big?"
"Yeah! I want a dog that will make me feel safe."
"Like a greyhound?"
"A greyhound? That's your suggestion for an intimidating dog?"
"They're big!"
"They're average," Jude argued. "And besides, they need tons of exercise. I want a dog that will watch TV with me. And just lay under the soundbooth while I record."
"So now this dog is living in G-Major? How do you think that Darius will like that?"
"I think Darius will like anything I do after my album goes platinum," Jude said with a cocky grin.
"Touché." Tommy conceded. "So a big dog, that doesn't need a lot of exercise, that's a boy, and that can be trained to charm Darius. Any other requirements on that list of yours?"
"Hmm," Jude thought hard. "He'd have to be easy-ish to maintain. I'm not sure I could handle Beethoven running around my house."
"This is a dog we're talking about Jude."
"Okay, well…fine. Short-haired then. I don't want furballs following me around. And I want him to be okay with traveling. He'd come on tour with me, obviously."
"Obviously," Tommy smirked.
"Hey, it's either a puppy or a baby. I want something to take care of."
"Are you saying if you didn't get a puppy, you would get a baby?"
Jude laughed at his suggestion.
"No, not at all, actually. But I like to think that maybe if I were to have something – or someone – else to look after, maybe Sadie and my dad would cool it a little."
"Still giving you a hard time I take it?" Tommy easily switched from cocky smartass to best friend in an instant.
"Sadie's pregnant and getting married. Sadie thinks Dad doesn't know about the first part, but he's not as dumb as he looks. He's absolutely loving this. He's so excited for Sadie, and with good reason, too. It's great, but. Ugh, I'm a terrible sister."
"Why? What's the matter?"
"Dad's just so thrilled with everything and all the planning and trying to be Mom all at once, he's sort of…too focused."
"Jude, you have to expect that. His first daughter's getting married. You can't blame the man for being excited."
"Tommy, the rehearsal dinner is on my birthday." Jude confessed.
Silence met her ear. Finally, he spoke.
"But that's the album launch party-"
"I know. I'll talk to Darius tomorrow."
"Talk to Sadie, damn it, not Darius! This was supposed to be about you-"
"And now it's not, Tommy," Jude said softly. "He can move the party back. The album can still be released. I'm trying to do the right thing. This is Sadie's day now. Not mine." Jude heaved a sigh. "I've stolen the spotlight long enough, Tommy. Let's just be happy for her and Kwest, okay? She's pretty bummed she has a winter wedding anyway, she had always dreamed of a spring wedding. I don't blame them for my birthday being the furthest thing from their minds, you know?"
"Well, it's the first thing on my mind, girl."
"That makes two of us," Jude smiled, which quickly turned into a very large, very loud yawn.
"Go to bed, babe. You're exhausted."
"I guess…"
"Call me tomorrow, okay? And keep your eyes open for anything and everything."
"Okay, and I'll be fine. Thanks for talking, Tommy."
"Anytime, girl. Anytime."
With that, the pair hung up, Jude falling into a restless sleep of puppies and wedding bells.
- - -
Jude woke up and was met with the same sense of foreboding that had always been accompanying her lately. She didn't know how to explain it, but she was still wary of it. She decided to take Tommy's advice to heart and be extra careful.
After going through a rather leisurely getting ready routine, she managed to escape her house with only an hour talk with Sadie about the new wedding arrangements and all the planning that Sadie and her dad was doing. Jude was lucky enough to have Sadie put absolutely no trust in her planning abilities. Jude was reassured, once more before she left, that all she had to do was show up to the different venues and participate in the traditional maid of honor duties.
Jude stepped out of her house and leaned against the closed door briefly.
Two and a half more weeks. That's it. Then this can all go back to normal, she repeated in her head.
She got in the Hummer, started it up – with no issues, thank goodness – and pulled out of the driveway. Not halfway down the street, she let out a blood-curdling scream. Glancing in her rearview mirror, there was someone sitting in her backseat.
She pulled over to the side of the street, probably managing the worst parking jobs she'd ever done before, and turned around.
"What are you doing?" She asked frantically.
The man looked like a reporter, dressed in fitted black jeans and a tight black shirt with a windbreaker covering him. It was mid October, she was unsure of how he wasn't freezing to death. He had a camera slung around his neck and a pad of paper in his hand, pencil poised above it.
"What are you doing?" She repeated, much louder, panic creeping into her voice.
"Why, Ms. Harrison, I don't think that's any way to treat a fan."
"You're not a fan, you're a reporter; there's a difference. Now what the hell are you doing in my truck?" Jude's voice was strained as she put all her effort into remaining calm and not scared, as her mind urged for her to be.
"Now we all know that this isn't your truck, is it, Jude?" Jude's breath caught in her throat.
"Get out. Get out right now and I won't call the police."
"I resent the fact that you're now distinguishing between reporters and fans. I can't be both, Judey? Why not?"
"Don't call me that," Jude gritted out.
"You're not being very charitable to the public, Jude. This isn't going to look very good in an expose."
"You're invading my personal space. My privacy. You need to get out. Now." Jude's voice shook towards the end belying the fact that she was completely terrified to her soul. Jude turned to face the steering wheel, blinking back the scared tears. She hit the 'unlock' button on the door and waited for him to leave. She gripped the wheel tightly and waited.
Instead of the satisfying noise of a car door opening and closing, she heard something different. The man leaned forward, his breath hot on her ear.
"I will get to know you, Jude. One way or another. I will get to know you."
Suddenly, the breath was gone from her ear, a backseat door was opening and closing, and Jude was alone in the truck.
She calmly pulled back onto the road and drove cautiously to the parking lot of G-Major. She turned the truck off and sat in silence for a few minutes.
Then, out of seemingly nowhere, she started to shake with suppressed sobs and her body trembled with fear. Her mind was reeling and she had no idea what had just happened. She was at a loss for words to explain what she had just experienced.
Hurriedly, she pulled out her cell phone and hit her speed dial for 3.
"Hey, you've reached Tom Quincy, leave me a message and I'll get back to you when I can…"
Jude snapped her phone shut and closed her eyes tightly. She could deal with this. She had to deal with this. She couldn't rely on Tommy all the time to make things right. She just had to go into work and deal.
She pulled herself together and made her way out of her car and started to walk up to the steps of G-Major, when her phone started to vibrate within her hand. She answered it instantly.
"Hello?"
"Hey, sweetheart."
"Hi, Dad." Jude's shoulders dipped slightly when she realized it wasn't Tommy on the other end of the line.
"Just calling to let you know I'm not going to be able to make it home tonight. I'm heading up to Wasaga Beach off of Nottawasaga Bay to look at a couple of venues for the wedding."
The wedding, of course.
"Is Sadie with you?"
"Yeah, her and Kwest are going to be coming with me, too."
"Oh, okay…" Jude was unsure of what to say. It just seemed like everything was happening so fast with the wedding. It was hard to believe it was going to happen in just a few weeks.
"…Really beautiful, and Sadie was thinking the reception could be on the beach…"
"Sorry, what, Dad?" Jude had managed to drift off and hadn't been listening to her father.
"I just called to tell you that we're not going to be home tonight, that's all. You'll have the house to yourself, give you a nice chance to relax."
Wow, that is exactly what I do not need right now, Jude thought miserably. Being alone is about the least appealing thing in the world to me right now.
"You okay, sweetie?"
"Yeah," Jude reassured. "I'm fine. Just tired is all. Thanks for the call, really."
"Alright, if you say so, sweetheart. We'll be home sometime tomorrow, okay?"
"Yeah, sounds good." Jude reassured.
"Okay, see you later."
"Bye Dad," Jude said softly as she disconnected.
Some day this was turning out to be.