“Boyz Attack and Beyond –IS Fan Fic”
Chapter 22: This I Promise You
I knocked on the door, slightly nervous about the night ahead. Had it been any other night, last night or months ago, I would be perfectly calm –ready to spend the night hardly keeping my hands off of my companion and bringing her home just as the sun rose. Yes that would have been any other night, but tonight was different. There would be more self control, more consideration, more propriety –to put in into words.
I rapped at the door to find Jude rushing to open it just as my hand was about to make contact with the door for a second time, her father standing near the stairs in the foyer while glaring at me over her shoulder. She started to walk through the portal, when I stepped inside –the look on her face betraying her surprise, though mortification would probably be a better word for it.
“Good evening Mr. Harrison,” I said as I made my way over to his spot near the stairs. I shook his hand, and he shook mine though wearing an expression of confusion almost as obvious as Jude’s crimson cheeks.
“Evening Tommy,” he replied civilly though not genuinely. He was audibly taken aback by my sudden transformation into the appearance of a gentleman, or at least a person with any manners. I admit I was behaving extremely out of character, but I made a resolution to be a better person and I intended on keeping it.
Jude pulled me aside and whispered to me hastily. “What’s going on?” Her breathe was hot against my ear and I forced myself to keep my composure. Deep breaths. Do not jump the daughter in front of the father; repeat no jumping of the daughter while in presence of the father.
“I’ll explain everything in the car,” I said when I could finally speak without my voice breaking. She didn’t look satisfied with my answer. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad.” Before she could say another word I walked over to Stuart and briefly relayed our plans for the night: dinner, possibly a movie, and I would have her home at a decent hour. He still appeared a bit skeptical but he thanked me for my promise of bringing her home early and bade us to enjoy ourselves. I caught a glimpse of a stunned grin on his face as Jude and I finally headed out the door.
“What was the back there?” Jude demanded as soon as we reached my Porsche. This girl has very little patience. “I mean I’m not mad,” she clarified, “in fact I’m completely the opposite. Dumbfounded mostly, but pleasantly so, if that makes any sense.” She paused to see if I had any reply. I remained silent to allow her to further explain herself. “I was just socked a little. You usually just walk up to the door and leave as soon as I walk through it without so much as a wave back to whoever might be inside. Even with Sadie you avoided any contact with my dad unless you were forced to sit through family dinner with us.” I put my hand on her shoulder to break the seemingly endless flow of words coming from her, not because I was annoyed –I wasn’t- but because I felt I had let her wonder long enough.
“Jude, slow down for a minute.” She stopped midsentence, looking at me expectantly. “I just thought that I should do things the right way for once.” She didn’t seem to catch my meaning. “What I mean, Jude, is that I really want to do things right in our relationship. I don’t want to be sneaking around behind everyone’s backs anymore. And since you kind of outed us to the world already, I thought I might as well start acting like a proper boyfriend ought to.”
“Proper boyfriend?” she questioned with a slight laugh. I suppose that’s only to be expected. Tommy Q. never did quite make for proper boyfriend material.
“Yes proper boyfriend. I want to do things right, like I said. That means no more pissing off your dad by bringing you home at three am when he didn’t even realize you were out with me, no more sneaking around, and no more front page tabloid scandals.”
“I guess that makes sense, but why did you decide this all of a sudden. You never tried being a proper boyfriend with Sadie.”
“Don’t ever compare our relationship with what I had with Sadie. They don’t compare, you know that. I was a different person with her. Well to put it more accurately I was the same guy I always was with her; I’m a different person with you –a better person. Jude, I don’t want to be with anyone else than you, ever. And I’m going to prove to you, to everyone, that I’m serious about us. I don’t want to mess things up like I have in the past, not this time.”
She remained silent. I assumed she understood my motives, so I started the car and drove off in the direction of the restaurant I had made reservations for 2 at. Part of me wary that some paparazzi, or perhaps an entire hoard, would spot us before we even reached our table, but another part of me welcomed them. It would give me an opportunity to show the world that Tommy Q., Boyz Attack bad boy was officially dead. I smiled inwardly at the realization that I had finally shed that old skin.
We got into the restaurant without incident. Aside from the young, brunette waitress instantly recognizing both of us, no one inside acknowledged our presence –most likely a gesture of respect rather than total ignorance of who we were. Jude’s face did adorn a radio billboard just down the block after all. Jude was tugging at the hem of her shirt as we walked to our table. It almost seemed as if she was trying to hide the fact that she was wearing jeans by pulling her shirt over them. Her shirt was obviously too short to serve that purpose. I enjoyed the fact that not a single soul approached us while we waited for our meal. I’ve always liked upper class places for that sole fact. They have the perfect atmosphere for a private meal –or at least a better atmosphere than that of the bars and clubs which just so happened to serve food with their liquor that I used to frequent not too long ago. The waitress was overeager in her service. I thought to myself that she might be a new hire. She checked back at our table nearly every five minutes to see if we needed refills on drinks she had just brought us and were still more than half full. Though she seemed more focused on me than on Jude. I tried my best to ignore her and Jude seemed barely able to stay composed.
The waitress brought us our meals and walked off. It seemed she had gotten the hint that Jude and I were a couple when I leaned over and kissed her lightly, as if she hadn’t already known from the papers and TV shows that were still parading us around their headlines. She sulked off and Jude became immediately more comfortable.
“I feel a bit underdressed,” she finally remarked with a nervous smile playing about her lips. Her full, plump . . . pause, rewind. No dirty thoughts tonight. I am not that guy anymore, though when I see her bit her bottom lip I begin to wish I was.
“You look amazing tonight. You always do.” A more pleased smile now spread itself across her mouth. I struggled to keep my thoughts in check. There would be no out of breath tumbling in my bed tonight. I had to have her home at a decent hour. I resorted to feeble attempts at wit. “Besides, you always look better with be by your side.” I included a playful smirk with my remark, a lame distraction from the x rated fantasies bubbling up in the back of my mind.
“Try as hard as you want Quincy, you’re still the same guy who primps his hair in the mirror for two hours before even thinking about taking a step outside.” Two hours my ass.
“My hair only takes me fifteen minutes thank you very much,” I replied snidely. It was not a lie. I spent years perfecting my hair routine; I’ve got it down to exactly fifteen minutes now. So I am rather vain, but you can’t expect me to change one hundred percent, and I hardly think my hair routine requires changing. This is more of an inner change as it is.
