darker_london | Jude's Afternoon

The excitement of history could barely be contained. Usually Jude liked history. It was, in fact, one of her favourite subjects. She wasn’t sure whether it was the subject matter- pre-industrial Europe- or her state of mind that was making her completely uninterested. More than that: frustrated. She wanted to get outside and do something other than sitting around in the cooped up classroom. She let her mind drift off from her textbook. To the mess she’d made in the kitchen last night, to the movie she’d watched with Deirdre and Pierre, to her plans for the weekend.

“Judith!”

Jude looked up and blinked. From the tone of Miss Venatici’s voice she could tell she’d been trying to get her attention for a while. Quite a few of the other students were looking at her and she ignored them. “Yes?”

“There’s someone in the office to see you.” The teacher waved a small piece of paper that obviously said this on it and Jude stood up, wondering who it would be. She also hoped that it wasn’t going to be bad news.

No one paid her much notice as she walked down the halls to the office. Maybe it was Slink? No, why would she be asking for Jude? Maybe it was-

Her father. He was sitting in one of the seats outside the school office and noticed her almost as quickly as she noticed him. But, unlike Jude, he didn’t visibly stiffen. Unlike Jude, he probably couldn’t suddenly hear his heart thundering in his ears. She couldn’t move any further toward him. Just couldn’t. He must have seen this, because he stood and closed the distance between them. Still she didn’t shift. Too scared now to even turn tail and run back to her classroom. She could see the ladies in the office talking and laughing nearby and tried to let that calm her. He couldn’t do anything to her here. Not in the middle of her own school. He must know that.

“We need to have words, Judith.”

She swallowed but couldn’t find her words. Why did the corridor they were in seem to be shrinking?

His voice was all business and he flicked his gaze toward the office and then back to his daughter. “This won’t take long. Just let us speak in private.”

And before she could even decide on an answer he was ushering her toward an empty classroom and closing the door after them. As soon as it was shut he started speaking, voice calm and rational. “Judith, I have been very reasonable up until now but-”

“I’m not coming home,” she told him, moving so there was a table between them. Now that she’d found her voice she was going to use it. “Is that what you came to tell me? ‘come home’? Because if it is you can just stop talking right now, because it’s not going to happen.”

“Judith-”

“No,” she said, crossing her arms protectivly. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to be back in history. She wanted to be anywhere that wasn't this classroom with this man.

There was a long pause and then her father sighed. “Where are you living now?”

Jude didn’t miss a beat. “With a friend. That’s all you need to know.”

There was a very long pause this time and Jude could see his mind working. What he said next had been expected: “Have you told anyone-”

“About what you did to me?” She cut in, eyebrows raised. She saw the discomfort rise in him and she would have smirked if she felt she had it in her. Instead she just crossed her arms tighter and shook her head. “No, daddy, your secret is safe with me.”

He let out his breath and looked relieved. Bastard. Well, it was now or never for her next words. She’d been thinking about this next part for a while now and had it clear in her head. “I have conditions for my silence,” she told him, trying not to get angry. He wouldn’t respond to anger. Just stick to the script. “Firstly, you will continue to pay for my schooling here at Regents. If I choose to go onto further education after I graduate you will also pay for that.” She spoke her next words before he could argue as he looked like he was about to. “Secondly, you will not cancel my credit cards. They remain free for my use however I please. Thirdly, you will not attempt to contact me in any way or interfere with my life. I am not your daughter anymore.”

“That’s all blackmail,” he told her in an undertone.

She smiled uncomfortably. “Yes. Yes, it is. And in return you get to keep your good name. I will tell no one of what you’re really like. I will say I moved out of your home for nothing other than ‘growing up.’ Not a soul will know and you get to keep everything you’ve spent your life working for. Because you know that if I speak a word to the proper authorities you will lose everything.” Her expression turned hard. “Call it hush money. Do we have a deal?”

Another long pause and Jude heard people coming out of classrooms. Neither of them moved or reacted to anything outside their classroom though, and kept watching each other. She was waiting. She could wait all day if she had to. But she didn’t have to, because after a few moment his body weakened with his resolve and he nodded. “Fine,” he spat, obviously not liking the deal but liking it better than the alternative. “We have a deal.”

Jude knew she was standing tall with her chin raised and looking him straight in the eyes. She knew she looked strong. Formidable. Grown up. But she didn’t feel any of those things. It was the greatest acting job she’d ever done and she walked past him and out of that classroom knowing that, at least in some way, she’d won.