Chapter 4: First Date

                Logan paused in the act of pulling on his jacket. Maybe Jubilee would like to go up to Pop's Bar and Grill with him? It had been a little while since they'd gone there, and she usually liked it there. And, although he wouldn't have admitted it, he did owe her an apology for some of the things he'd said. He wasn't sorry for telling her she had no right to be sleeping with Gumbo, of all people; but he hadn't had a right to basically tell her she wasn't old enough to sleep with anyone. He knew all too well that Jubilee was mentally more mature than other girls her age; and he knew that she wasn't a virgin. If the nasty business with Bastion hadn't happened, the carefully-edited letters she'd sent him from college would have brought home the point rather forcefully. Concerned, he'd even slipped a box of his own condoms into her suitcase before she left after one visit. She hadn't said anything about them on the phone, but later she'd sent him a postcard with two words on it. 'Silly Logan!' and a lipstick-colored kiss print next to it. He appreciated the sentiment, if not the lipstick.

                He strolled down the hall to Jubilee's room, knocked gently on the closed door. "Jubes?"

                The sound of music stopped abruptly from inside the room, and a second later Jubilee opened the door. Whatever Logan had been planning to say flew completely out of his head.

                She was wearing a pair of hip-hugging, second-skin-tight jeans that plastered itself all over her legs and showed a lot of smooth tanned skin across her belly. Over top of that was a bright, cherry-red babydoll t-shirt that was just thin enough to show a hint of a bra underneath and a neckline so low he could see a generous amount of cleavage. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and closed it again, a thousand thoughts racing through his mind and not being able to voice a single one of them.

                Jubilee grinned at him and stepped backward, issuing a tacit invitation into her room. "What do you think?" she giggled, turning around in front of him. He had to bite back a growl as he saw the way the jeans molded to her backside and showed the delicate curve of her lower cheeks.

                Logan wondered what to say. As a man, he approved of that outfit entirely, from the cleavage on top to the cleavage on the bottom. As someone looking out for the welfare of a younger female, though…he suppressed a growl. "What's the occasion?"

                "I met this guy at the mall yesterday," Jubilee giggled, sitting down on the end of her bed. "He took me out to lunch at the Kiss Café, and tonight we're going to catch the new vamp flick and then go to dinner."

                "This is…fer a date with another guy?"

                "His name is Christian Daniels."

                Logan bit back another growl. "The fancy-pants rich boy I heard 'bout on TV?" he asked her.

                Jubilee laughed. "Yes, probably. What did you hear?"

                "You ain't goin'."

                Jubilee went from amused to angry all at once. "Why?"

                "I don't want ya goin' out with no fancy pants rich boy who's gonna mistreat ya," he spluttered.

                "What do you mean, 'mistreat'?" Jubilee's blue eyes narrowed.

                "Somebody was talkin' on TV 'bout little rich boys like him that think all ya girls are there for is sex," Logan continued. "I ain't 'bout ta let no one mistreat my girl."

                Jubilee got up. "Christian isn't like that."

                Logan folded his arms. "Jubes, all boys're like that. 'Specially 'round girls dressed like ya are now. Ya ain't goin'."

                "I am too going." Jubilee turned to the mirror and picked up her lipstick.

                "Not like that! Jubes, ya don't know what goes through boys' heads when they see a girl dressed like ya are!"

                Jubilee snorted. "I do know what goes on in boy's heads. Pretty much the same thing that went through your mind when I opened the room door!" She slammed her lipstick down on the dresser top. "Logan, if you're not going to be nice, get out of my room."

                Logan snarled. "Fine! I got better things ta do than nursemaid a silly little girl!"

                Jubilee reached for her stereo, turned it on. The loud music almost, but not quite, drowned out the sound of her own voice as Logan backed away from the noise. "And I got better things to do than listen to a silly old man who can't see what's in front of his face!"

                Logan slammed Jubilee's room door and stomped off down the hall, running into Remy at the top of the stairs. "Outta my way, gumbo," Logan snapped angrily, brushing Remy aside and stomping down the stairs. Remy looked at Logan's retreating back, then at Jubilee's room door, from which loud music issued. He raised an eyebrow and went to that door, knocking on it loud enough to be heard over the sound of the stereo.

                The music stopped, and the doorknob flew back from his hand as he reached for it. "What!?" Jubilee snapped angrily as she looked out…then softened her tone slightly when she saw Remy. "Sorry, Remy. Thought you were Logan."

                Remy didn't say a word. He was too busy staring at Jubilee's outfit. "Jubes…" He swallowed a suddenly-dry mouth and tried again. "Jubes. Can Remy make a suggestion?"

                She cocked her head. "Go ahead."

                "Maybe…maybe you pick anot'er shirt?"

                "What's wrong with the one I have on?"

                Remy sighed. "As a man, I 'prove o' de shirt…"

                Jubilee grinned delightedly. "There you go. I figured it'd be all right…"

                "But as someone who cares 'bout you, I t'ink you better wear somet'ing else. Dat shirt scream 'easy woman' to me. Even t'ough I know you not an 'easy woman', someone who don' know you as well might t'ink you are from de way dat shirt look."

                Jubilee turned and looked in the mirror. "It's that bad?"

                Remy nodded emphatically. "It's dat bad, chere."

                Jubilee started to dig around in her dresser, muttering something about Logan not being clear about his objection, and Remy hid a smile behind his hand. Logan probably hadn't phrased his disapproval diplomatically. He made a mental note to talk to Logan.

                She came up with a blue shirt the same color as her eyes that was a little looser on top than the red shirt had been, but still showed off her trim figure and tiny waist. Remy approved of the shirt. It was pretty, stylish, made her look attractive and showed she was available without making her look like a cheap streetwalker. He escorted her downstairs.

                At promptly seven o'clock the doorbell chimed, and Jubilee opened the door. Remy stared at the guy on the other side of the door. Tall, blond, hazel eyes, chiseled features, and a bunch of roses…but even as Jubilee was gushing over the roses Remy wanted to grind his teeth. It wasn't jealousy; it was something else. He slipped an empathic tendril out toward the other man, and was blocked by a mental shield. That made him even more suspicious. Not many people were so defensive, unless they had something to hide. What was this boy hiding? And then Remy narrowed his eyes as the boy looked directly at him, smiled a distinctly unpleasant smile, and nodded slightly.

                Jean was walking by in the hallway, and smiled at the boy as Jubilee handed her the roses. "Jean, could you find a vase for these and take them up to my room? I'd do it myself but if I do we'll be late for the movie."

                "Of course," Jean said, She smiled at the boy, obviously feeling none of the apprehension that Remy was feeling, and went off toward the kitchen with the flowers as Jubilee headed out the door with her date. He opened her door for her, then got in himself and they drove off.

                Remy stepped out the front door, closed it, then leaned back against it and lit a cigarette. After a long drag on it, he said aloud, "So you don' like him eit'er, non, Logan?"

                There was a rustling from behind the juniper bushes beside the front door, and Logan stepped out. "No, I don't," he said grimly. "And I don't know why. He seems nice 'nuff, an' Jean sure didn't notice nothin', but I don't trust that guy." He looked at Remy. "How 'bout  you?"

                Remy shook his head. "Tried to probe him, get a feel for his mind. He shielded. Completely. An' he knew I was probin', too, an' he smiled at me. Wasn' a nice smile, eit'er."

                Logan walked off, muttering.

                Jubilee breezed in the back door to the mansion, humming to herself. The kitchen was dark, but her eyes picked out the glow of a cigarette and the much larger glow of a cigar close to it. She sighed and flipped the switch.

                Logan and Remy were both sitting at the kitchen table smoking. Jubilee wrinkled her nose, her earlier irritation with Logan returning. "You know Charles doesn't like you guys smoking in the mansion," she snapped.

                Logan took the stogie out of his mouth and said, "Siddown, Jubes. We need ta talk."

                Jubilee sat down in the chair. "Okay. I'm sitting. So talk."

                Remy looked at Logan. Logan looked at Remy. Neither one knew how to tell her what they wanted to say. Finally Logan cleared his throat. "Jubilee, we both saw the new boy come to pick you up, and neither one of us thinks he's right for you. I don't think you should go out with him anymore." Then he took a deep sniff of the air, and his eyes narrowed. "Why's his smell all over ya, Jubes?"

                "Why does it matter?" Jubilee said angrily.

                Logan half-stood from his seat and cursed. "Ya slept with him!"

                Jubilee folded her arms. "Yeah? And? So what? I'm old enough to sleep with whoever I want to."

                Logan's chair crashed to the kitchen floor. "Don't give me that, Jubilee! Ya might be physically old enough ta pick whoever ya want ta sleep with but ya got a lot ta learn 'bout boys 'fore ya do!"

                Jubilee's chair also crashed to the floor. "And I bet you're the one that's going to teach me, huh? The big bad Wolverine who's lived so long and yet can't keep a relationship together? The one who chases a woman he'll never have in his dreams while a girl who wants him gets ignored? You're going to teach me? What a laugh!"

                Logan was almost purple in his anger. "Why you spoiled little…" He spluttered, but Jubilee was gone, running down the hall and racing for the stairs, her eyes streaming tears. After a moment, Logan grabbed his bike's keys from the hook by the back door and ran out into the night. Remy listened as the sound of his Harley faded off down the drive. Then he sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Dis is a mess," he said to no one in particular.

                Jubilee flung herself down on her bed and cried stormily into her pillow. It's not fair, she screamed inside her mind. I can do what I want, I'm old enough! Jean didn't say anything; she would have if something were wrong! What is wrong with him! But she knew she'd said some hurtful things to him, too, and she was sorry for them, but she insisted to herself that she wasn't going to apologize until he apologized first.

                With that resolution fixed in her mind she drifted off to sleep.

                Christian drove home, smiling to himself. That tall man with the auburn hair, who had been standing in the hall when Jubilee had opened the door was a mental talent of some sort. He'd felt the other man reaching out to feel Chris's mind, probing. He'd put up shields hurriedly to block the man, something he'd become adept at doing since his father had married his stepmother. The new governor's wife was a telepath; and Chris was sure if she knew what was going on his mind she would have Chris's father talk to him. Or she might get a shrink for him.

                Chris didn't think he needed a shrink. He wasn't sick, after all. He just liked everything around him to conform exactly to the way he wanted it to. He liked having everything around him follow his instructions, his expectations. He wasn't an obsessive, controlling freak, like his last girlfriend had said he was. And anyway, the girl had become addicted to the very first hit of drugs he'd given her, and was now selling herself for her drugs, so who cared what a crackhead girl thought of the way he wanted things?

                Things were going very well with this new girl, Jubilation Lee. The mansion she lived in was impressive; and she dressed with taste, style and elegance. He didn't care about her money; but living with rich people, fancy people like the ones that surely lived in that mansion, would have taught her social graces and nice manners. And she was amenable to his suggestions, which she'd proved by going with him to 'Kiss', and this evening to the Rose Restaurant. She was perfect for him; she would make the perfect wife. Oh, she still had a couple of regrettable faults, like stubbornness (she'd insisted on paying for her own ticket) and selfishness (she had insisted that he take her home after they'd made love in his city apartment, instead of letting him sleep) but he was sure that with a little training, she'd make a wonderful wife indeed. And she was so pretty, and so exotic, with her long dark hair and those odd blue eyes…he would be the envy of everyone in his social circle for having such a beautiful, well-behaved wife.

                Yes, Jubilation Lee was perfect. Now all he had to do was take the wedge he'd started to drive between his new wife and her 'family' at the mansion, and drive it in deeper. Then she'd move out of there, and move in with him. And then he could marry her, and begin to train her to be a proper wife to him.

                Yes, Jubilation Lee was perfect.