Chapter 5: The Governor's Ball
Jubilee turned in front of the mirror. "Are you sure?" she asked worriedly.
"Yes!" Jean said, exasperated. "It looks fine!"
Jubilee turned her head so she could see the back of the dress. "I don't know. Maybe it makes my butt look too fat?"
Jean rolled her eyes. "It does not. Trust me, you look fine. Your boyfriend will think you look fine."
Jubilee reached for the zipper. "Maybe I'd better look around a little more before I decide," she said.
Jean sighed. "We've already been in almost every single dress store in the mall. There's been something wrong with every dress you've tried on so far. If Christian really likes you, Jubilee, he's not going to care what you're wearing."
"Well, he might not, but this is the Governor's Ball we're going to!" Jubilee fretted. "It's the first time I'm going to meet his parents, and I want to make a good first impression."
"They'll love you, Jubilee," Jean said warmly, looking at her. "You're a beautiful girl. And a pretty dress will just be icing on a very good cake."
Jubilee looked over at Jean. "Really? You think so?"
"Yes. I do." Jubilee looked at her reflection in the mirror one more time, then at the pile of dresses, and reached for a long strapless cranberry satin gown with silver rhinestones on it and a slight train. "Okay. I like this one. I hope he likes it too."
"Christian?"
"Yes. He likes everything to match," Jubilee said slightly embarrassed at Chris' foibles. "He asked me to please find something in red, because it would match his vest."
Jean raised an eyebrow, but refrained from comment. "Well, this is red. It should work. Come on, let's go find shoes and purse and scarf."
Logan stumped in the back door carrying his motorcycle helmet and jacket. Hey," he nodded briefly to Scott, and then turned to Jean. "Where's Jubes?"
"She's upstairs." As Logan headed for the stairs, Jean raised her eyebrows. "I wouldn't go up there right now."
"Why?" Logan eyed Jean suspiciously. "She still ain't talkin' ta me?"
Jean smiled gently at him. "Besides that. She's going to the Governor's Ball tonight with Christian; she's getting ready upstairs. You don't want to walk in on her nude; she's already upset enough with you and Remy as it is." And then, unable to restrain her curiosity anymore, Jean looked at him. "If you don't mind my asking, what did you say to her that got her all upset at both of you that night? She hasn't spoken more than two words to you for the last month!"
Logan growled. "None o' yer business, Red," he snapped. He turned, started to walk out of the kitchen, then sighed. "A'right. Rem an' I was waitin' fer her when she came home that night, an' I smelled that new boy all over her. She'd gone an' slept with him. I lost my temper an' tol' her she had a lot ta learn 'bout boys b'fore she starts sleepin' around. She didn' take too kindly ta me tellin' her what she should or shouldn't do."
"As if you've ever been good at doing what other people told you to do." Logan looked up at the sound of that tart comment from the door and his jaw dropped.
"Jubes…" He couldn't say a word. She took his breath away.
The dress hugged her full bust and slim torso before flaring out into a long, full satin skirt that trailed slightly behind her. Crystal beads and silver embroidery accented the top of the dress, and the matching scarf over her shoulders accented the ruby-and diamond necklace she had borrowed from Jean. Small matching earrings winked back at him from her earlobes. He stared, unable to think of a single thing to say. He'd seen her in all sorts of outfits, and on a few occasions completely outfit-less, but he'd never seen her as a grown woman. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the image of the yellow-trenchcoat-wearing smart-ass kid disappeared, to be replaced by this image of her gowned and groomed to perfection. He knew he'd never look at her the same. "Jubilee, you look…great." It sounded a little abrupt, but he couldn't think of any other word.
Jubilee looked at him. "And you look dirty." She glanced at him. His boots were covered in mud; his black jeans were caked with it; the jacket slung carelessly over his shoulder had traces of drying mud on it, and even the cowboy hat pulled down low over his forehead had splatters of mud on it. "You were down at Dotson's Barbecue Pit tonight, weren't you?" She stepped around the puddle of mud on the kitchen floor. "Better clean it up before 'Ro sees it. She spent half the day with Rogue cleaning the floor." Her voice was severe, but she had a slight twinkle down in the corner of her eye, and Logan sighed inwardly to himself. He was forgiven.
"Yeah, well, Jimmy over at the Pit said he ain't seen ya in a while an' he missed ya. He asked me if ya'd come ta Chick Night with me in a couple o' weeks. He 'minded me ya gotta defend yer title as 'Best Looking In A Wet T-Shirt'." He grinned at her.
"You entered a wet t-shirt contest? Jubilee!" Jean exclaimed, and Scott looked shocked.
Jubilee turned pink, then broke into a grin. "Yeah, the winner got one free drink each night they came in for the entire year. Wow, I haven't gone there in a while. Think they'll let me catch up on those free drinks?" She grinned.
Logan wrinkled his nose at her. "Naw. Ya lost'em, ya lost 'em. However, I seen the gal they're bettin' on as the current favorite, an' she ain't got nothin' on ya."
Jubilee grinned wider. "Now I know I have ta go. If only to see this girl." She sobered. "But not tonight. Christian's taking me to the Governor's Ball tonight to meet his parents. I don't know how long we'll have to stay, so don't wait up for me, okay?" She leaned over and hugged Jean, then gave Logan a quick peck on the cheek as she ran to the front door to answer the doorbell. Seconds later the door closed and the mansion was quiet again.
Scott stared disapprovingly at Logan. "I'm not sure this Christian is an entirely bad thing. At least he'll keep her out of the redneck bars. Honestly, Logan, Jubilee in a wet T-shirt contest? At a bar? What were you thinking?"
Logan coughed behind his hand, trying to hide an embarrassed smile. "Eh, well, we wasn' really thinking. Jubes had her first taste o' tequila, an' it went ta her head. She got up there and…did her thing…and walked off with a year's worth of free first drinks."
Scott shook his head disapprovingly. "Jubilee shouldn't be participating in stupid bar stunts like that," he said, taking a sip of his tea.
Logan bristled. "So she got some rough edges, Scott. So what? Ya expectin' her ta grow up pure as the driven snow like Red? Jubes grew up on the streets, an' she's got a lotta dirt in her soul. She ain't never gonna be satisfied with this fancy life this guy Chris's offerin' her. Jubes'd rather eat pizza and visit a bar once in a while than sit in fancy restaurants an' eat fancy food an' go to country clubs every single day."
"But how do you know that, Logan?" Jean countered. "That might have been true of the girl we once knew, but she's been somewhat different since she came back from college. One of her college friends introduced her to the finer things in life, and she admitted to me that she misses it. Jubilee's too young to know what she really wants yet, Logan. She still has a lot of life left to sample before she decides on any one particular lifestyle."
Logan shook his head. "She ain't like that," he insisted, though he sounded a little uncertain. "She still likes a good barfight."
Jean sighed. "You can think what you like, Logan, but Jubilee is different. And when you get around to seeing that she's all grown up, maybe you'll see that the rough life isn't what she wants." Logan stood there staring at Jean for a moment more before turning on his heel and going up the back stairs to his room.
He shucked his dirty clothes, tossing them in his hamper, and then checked his drawers for the new shirt and boxers he'd bought the day before. He couldn't find them. He was about to head downstairs toward the laundry room to see if they'd gotten left in the dryer by mistake when he saw the note taped to the side of the hamper, half-hidden by the dirty clothes he'd just tossed on top of it. It was in Jubilee's handwriting, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he read it.
"Logan: I took the liberty of washing some of your stuff with mine earlier. In case you're looking for any of your dark clothes, they'll be folded on my bed waiting for you to pick them up. And Logan? I'm sorry I called you an old man, and got on you about Jean. Old flames don't die easy." The note was signed simply, "Jubes."
Logan smiled as he fingered the note. Jubilee didn't apologize often; she wasn't good at it, and in her younger days she tried to avoid doing it at all. It was a sign of her maturity that she had told him she was sorry first.
He wandered into her room. His clothes sat neatly-folded on the end of her neatly-made bed. Her clothes were tucked away into the dresser drawers and hung in her closet. This was also a change from her sloppy teenager days, when clothes would be strewn all around her room and all over every empty piece of furniture. Her room was neat, everything was in its place. Even the old cowboy hat he'd given her a long time ago was in place on the dresser table.
The only thing out of place was the letter on the dresser top. It was addressed to her, written in a masculine hand, and Logan was positive that he shouldn't look, but curiosity got the better of him.
The first page was an invitation to the Governor's Ball, and it was done on expensive heavy paper with fancy gold embossing and scented with a few dried rose petals. The page under it, however was a lot more personal.
Dear Jubilation, it began.
I love you. I've never said this to anyone before, and even now I can't bring myself to say it to you. That's why I'm writing it. I know things have been a little strained at your place for a few weeks; you haven't been your usual cheerful self. I wanted to ask you if you might reconsider moving into my apartment with me, since things are so difficult. I know what you said before, but there are two bedrooms, if you're worried about decorum, though I doubt that's an issue with the way we were carrying on last night. Your 'family' at the mansion obviously can't see you for the beautiful, sexy young woman you've become, so why not move in with me? Maybe once you're out on your own, they'll see different.
And I went to the little restaurant you told me about, 'Alexandra's?' The one you said your friend Remy took you too? Well, it's a little lower class than I'm used to, and the food left a lot to be desired, but if you really like it I suppose I could let you go there once in a while. So if you want to lunch there tomorrow I can probably meet you outside when you're done. But I insist that we go to '21' for dinner. I'll finalize our plans and tell you where we're going tonight. Looking forward to seeing you. Love, Chris.
Logan put the letter down slowly. He was trying to get Jubilee to move in with him? Things must be serious. That disturbed him.
What disturbed him more was the tone of the letter. He would let Jubilee go to her favorite restaurant once in a while? The arrogance of that line made Logan grind his teeth. Christian Daniels sounded like an irritating little bastard. The boy was so wrapped up in what he liked or didn't like that he was going to let Jubilee have lunch alone? If Gumbo took Jubilee there it was almost certainly a couples place, and she would feel awkward eating alone. And Logan knew Jubilee hated feeling out-of-place. So she would change her lunch plans just because the rich brat didn't like the restaurant she liked.
The boy was selfish, plain and simple. Egocentric and controlling. Logan figured Jubilee must not have seen that yet, or she would have run the other way as fast as she could. She would never have put up with it. He clenched his hand around the paper, crumpling it in his fist, and dropped it back onto her dresser as he collected his clothes off the end of the bed and left her room.
He dumped his clothes off in his room and sat on the end of the bed, brooding. Gumbo wasn't that selfish. He consulted the lady's preference before his own. He'd never try to control Jubilee like that. And, now that he thought about it, that morning Gumbo's scent had been on her but not on her; there was a difference. Logan would be willing to bet that he'd jumped to the wrong conclusion…
He slid off the bed and went down the hall to Remy's room. The Cajun was putting the clothes Rogue had washed for him in his own dresser, and since privacy wasn't needed, his room door was open. Logan still tapped on the edge of the doorframe before he walked in. "Hey, Cajun, ya got any plans fer tomorrow?"
Remy squinted up at him. "As a matter of fact, I do," he said carefully. "Why?"
Logan growled, "Cancel 'em. At least fer lunch. Jubes wants ta go ta Alexandra's fer lunch tomorrow, but her fancy-pants boyfriend don't like the place. He says the food sucks an' the service is lousy. An' ya know how Jubes is; she'll put aside all o' her plans if he don't like 'em."
Remy closed the dresser and stood carefully. "You don' like it when Jubilee an' I hang toget'er, mon ami," he said warily. "Not usually. What change your min' dis time?"
"You don't try to control her like this guy does," Logan growled. "An' now that I think of it, that mornin' when I saw ya in her room…yer scent wasn't on her like it woulda been if ya actually slept wit' her. Am I right?"
"You right," Remy said, sitting down on his bed and leaning back against the headboard lazily. "Not'ing happen. Jubes have little too much vodka. I took her up to her room. Remy have too much t'drink too, so I stay wit' her cause I couldn' get to my room neit'er. But you an' Boy Scout back dere," he jerked his thumb back in the direction of Scott and Jean's room, "Were doin' such a good job of gettin' her started up Remy figure I'd let you learn 'bout her new stubborn streak on your own."
Logan narrowed his eyes. 'She's always had a stubborn streak."
Remy grinned. "Not like dis. Didn' she kick you out o' her room a few minutes later?" he grinned. "Jubes don' like bein' tol' she's wrong. She hate even more to admit she wrong. Notice she didn' tell you she sorry yet."
"She did," Logan said. "In her own way."
Remy raised an eyebrow, but when Logan didn't volunteer any further information, he nodded. "But it take her nearly a mont' to say sorry. She got a temper. Dis fancy-pants boyfrien' not goin' to last long wit' her, 'less he got a temper to match. Don' worry 'bout it, Logan." Then he smiled again. "An while we at it, how 'bout you take her to Alexandra's 'stead of me?"
Logan's eyes widened. "I ain't comf'trble in places like that, ya know that," he growled.
Remy leaned forward. "Look, Logan. You love de girl. She love you. You always take her where you want to go. You don' give her a chance to show you what she like. If you see her in some of de places she go to sometimes, you be able to see how much she grown. Why don' you give her a chance?"
Logan considered. "Maybe I will," he said.
He returned to his room still thinking about what Remy had said, and picked up the note Jubilee had written. He fingered it for a moment, a tender little smile tugging at his lips, before he put the note carefully in a small box under his bed, the box where he kept all his mementos. He slid the box back under the bed before hunting through his drawers for his good pants.