Chapter 6:
Jubilee was sitting on her bed reading when there came a tap at her door. She looked up. "Remy?"
"Oui, p'tite," Remy grinned roguishly at her. "Was wonderin' if you had any plans for lunch?"
Jubilee took a quick glance at her dresser, where she'd seen the crumpled note when she came in early this morning. Ah. "Why were you in my room last night, Remy?"
Remy blinked. "Wasn' in your room, p'tite," he looked puzzled. "Why you ask?"
Jubilee picked up the crumpled note and showed it to him. "I assume you know that I have no lunch plans because Chris doesn't like 'Alexandra's'. Which is why you came to ask me. And the only way you'd know that was if you'd read the note Chris sent me. And I assume the one who read the note was the same one who crumpled it after they read it. So, Remy, why were you in my room last night?"
"Uh…" Remy wasn't sure how to answer her. Logan was the one who had crumpled up the note. But he and Jubilee had just gotten back on speaking terms with each other; Remy didn't want to ruin the tentative making-up they were doing by telling her who really had crumpled the note.
Jubilee saw the hesitation, the suddenly uncertain look in Remy's eyes. She winced at her own harsh tone. She shouldn't have snapped at him like that. It was just…She felt like she was caught in the middle. Whoever had crumpled the note had obviously not agreed with Chris; she didn't either, but she felt like she had to defend him because she was going out with him. She hated trying to make excuses for people around her. Well, if whoever-it-was hadn't intruded on her room, she wouldn't have had to make excuses. It was none of their business, as Chris had told her last night. She was old enough to do what she wanted to do.
Jubilee sighed. "Never mind, Remy. I'm not really in the mood to go out for lunch anyway," which was a lie, but it would get him off the hook, "I think I'll just go make myself a sandwich." She brushed past him stiffly and left the room, leaving Remy standing there utterly bemused. As soon as she disappeared down the stairwell, Remy knocked on Logan's room door.
"Yeah," came the reply. He opened the door and raised an eyebrow at Logan.
"Why you crumple up Jubilee's note?" he said coolly. "I jus' got yelled at for somet'ing you do. Now Jubes won't speak to me for a mont' eit'er."
Logan looked contrite. "I'm sorry, Remy," he said. "I got mad when I read that note; I didn't even 'member crumplin' up the paper. I don't know what she sees in that selfish, egocentric little…" He trailed off, muttering to himself.
"S'okay, mon ami," Remy said, smiling a little. It wasn't often that the big, bad Wolverine got flustered by someone of the opposite gender, but it was almost worth getting yelled at to see the cagey dancing Logan and Jubilee were doing around each other. When would Logan take his head out of his ass and realize Jubilee was trying to get his attention? "Maybe you take her out tonight an' get dat pretty boy out o' her head?" his eyes twinkled.
Logan perked up. "Maybe I will," he said slowly. "Maybe I will."
Jubilee opened her closet, looked in. Chris had just called and asked her to accompany him to dinner tonight at '21'. She really didn't feel like going out with him tonight; she was still upset that someone had read her personal letter. But maybe if she went out she could get her mind off the tension here at home.
What to wear? She'd never been there, although she had heard Warren talk about taking dates there. Fancy, he'd said. Well, maybe she could pick something and get his opinion.
Red. Chris liked red. Jubilee favored blue because it brought out the color of her eyes; she considered her eyes her best feature, but she had to admit a bright red highlighted her black hair, which she'd grown out long because Logan liked long hair. Chris didn't, and thought it messy because it got so tangled when she was in bed with him. He'd been pressing her delicately over the last couple of days to get it cut, had even taken her by the salon where his mother got her hair done, hoping Jubilee would agree to cut it. He'd been disappointed when she came out with just trimmed ends.
She dug through the dresses hanging at the back of her wardrobe. She did have that nice black cocktail dress that came to just over her knees; but Chris liked red. Oh, there was the turquoise dress that she'd worn to 'Alexandra's' with Remy…but Chris liked red. Frustrated, she closed her closet door and headed out into the hall.
She climbed the stairs into the storage attics, and stood there looking at the boxes stacked and piled against the walls. The large one marked 'dresses' was at the bottom of the stack next to the door. She sighed and started pulling other boxes down.
She bent to pick up the last box before the one she wanted. As she straightened up, something inside the box shifted and sent her off balance. She fell backward, the box on top of her, and howled in pain as it landed on top of her with a crash.
There was the sound of footsteps on the attic stairs, and then the door burst open. Logan took one look at the figure sprawled under what looked like a heavy box and struggling to push it off, crossed the room swiftly, and lifted the box off Jubilee. "Jubes? Ya okay?" He peered worriedly down at her.
Jubilee lay there on her back, groaning. "I think I'll live," she said finally, cracking open one eye and looking at him. "Thanks, Logan."
He put the box down and held out a hand to her, offering to help her up. She took it gratefully, using it to pull herself up, and lifted the front hem of her shirt a few inches. The red mark across her middle was fading, but Jubilee could feel the bruised muscles underneath. "That's going to leave a mark," she grumbled.
Logan ran a finger over the mark. 'Yeah, but it shouldn't bother ya if ya take it easy an' don't put pressure on it," he said. "What are ya doin' up here luggin' 'round heavy boxes for?"
"I was trying to get to that one," Jubilee indicated the box marked 'dresses'. "Trying to find something to wear tonight."
Logan raised an eyebrow. "All them clothes ya got in yer room an' ya don't got nothin' ta wear?" he threw up his hands in mock confusion, but his eyes were twinkling. "I'll never understan' ya girls."
Jubilee threw a playful punch at him that landed on his upper arm. "Oh, shut up and help me with this box. Chris likes red, and I don't have any red dresses. And I thought I saw one of Jean's old dresses up here that should work out. Help me with this, will you?" Logan almost turned and left at the mention of Christian's name, but he never could refuse Jubilee when she asked him for something. He dragged the box out for her, then sat down on the floor and slit the packing tape with a claw for Jubilee.
She started lifting out dresses. "Oh, look, here's the bridesmaid dress 'Ro wore to Jean and Scott's wedding." She started giggling. "You're lucky you missed it; the dresses were awful. Rogue swore Jean did that deliberately so that she'd be the prettiest woman that day."
Logan eyes the dress Jubilee was holding. Yes, it was pretty tasteless, for Jean anyway. He couldn't imagine seeing Ororo wearing that shade of yellow voluntarily. "It's kinda ugly," he agreed as Jubilee set aside that one and picked up another one. "Hey, that one's nice," he said. "Wear that one." All the dust was getting to his nose.
Jubilee held it up. "It's Rogue's old one, the green one she wore for her first New Year's party here at the mansion. It's pretty. I've always liked it." She stood up, holding it against her body. "You think it's too off the shoulder for a dinner?" she asked.
Logan stared at the dress, thinking about what it would look like on Jubilee. "Nah," he said finally. He could imagine touching the warm skin of her bare shoulder just above the fabric. "Should be okay for a dinner."
Jubilee put it down reluctantly. "But it's not red. Chris wants me to wear red."
Logan narrowed his eyes. "Ya oughtta wear what ya wanna wear, not what somebody else wants ya ta wear." As Jubilee leaned over the box again, he caught a swinging, blunt-cut lock of heavy black hair. "Is he why ya got yer hair cut?" He'd noticed the missing two inches trimmed off the end of her hair.
"It was just a trim," Jubilee said, blushing and looking down inside the box. She looked embarrassed. "Chris wanted me to get it cut real short, like I used to wear it when I was thirteen."
Logan captured her hand in his. "Jubes, look at me. Don't do stuff 'cause ya wanna make somebody else happy, do stuff 'cause it makes you happy. Do ya like yer hair the way it is?"
Jubilee nodded slowly. "And you like it long too," she said.
"Never mind 'bout me. If ya like it long, keep it long, if ya like it short, cut it short. Do what you want." He reached out and brushed her cheek gently. "If Christian can't accept ya the way ya are, can't accept yer likes and dislikes and faults, then he ain't worth botherin' with. If he don't accept ya the way ya are, then he don't love ya, an' ya shouldn't be wastin' yer time with him."
"I guess," Jubilee still sounded uncertain. "Logan? Do you love me?"
Logan froze. Jubilee saw his expression, and misread it. "I mean, I know you do, you show it all the time, letting me hang with you when I was younger and stuff like that, but…you've never said it…" She broke off, blushing furiously, and dug into the box again.
Logan recovered from his surprise and captured her wrist in his hand as she came up out of the box holding the red dress she had been looking for. "Jubes. I didn't realize I ain't never told ya I loved ya…but I do. I love yer spunk, yer sass, yer stubbornness, yer will, everythin' bout ya. I wouldn't change a single damn thing. We might not have worked out, but I'll always be here for ya."
Jubilee leaned across the box and kissed him gently on the lips before snuggling her cheek against his. He stroked the back of her head, feeling her soft hair against his fingertips. God, he loved that hair. He'd hate to see it go. But it was her choice. "I love you too, Logan," she said softly, tenderly, and he felt his heart pound. She'd never used that tone on him before. She stayed there for a moment, her cheek pressed to his, then picked up the red dress and bounced out of the attic.
He slowly gathered up the scattered dresses, rubbing his cheek where she'd kissed him. He paused as he started to put the green dress back in the box, again imagining what she'd look like with it on, then tucked it under his arm and took it with him when he left the attic.
Jubilee breathed a big sigh of relief as they stepped out of the restaurant. "Now that we've gone to your restaurant, let me take you to mine," she said to Chris.
Chris made a face. "Not to Alexandra's, thank you," he said stiffly. "I really didn't like it there. I don't know what you see in such a low-class place."
"Oh, no, not Alexandra's," Jubilee said cheerfully. "I want to take you where we can get some real food."
"Real food…what we had in there was 'real food'," Chris said to her. "What do you call real food?"
Jubilee grinned. "I'll show you," she said.
Maynard's Bar and Grill was crowded, but not unduly so. Chris stood stiffly in his jacket and tie as Jubilee stripped off her dress jacket and cheerfully led him through the crowd toward an empty table in the back. They were halfway there when she spotted a familiar cowboy hat at a nearby table. "Logan!" She detoured around a large table to stop at his booth. "Hey! Thought you'd be playin' pool with Remy!" She leaned over to give him a kiss.
Chris bit his lip. He wasn't happy with this turn of events. Not happy at all. Apparently Jubilee had made up with her friend. He would have to do something to separate them again, something drastic, to make them angry enough at each other that Jubilee would move in with him. He already had the apartment ready, with a closet full of clothing he'd picked for her. He tugged sharply on her arm. "Jubilee," he said.
Jubilee blushed, embarrassed. 'Oh, I'm sorry," she stammered. "This is my friend Logan, Chris. Logan, this is Christian Daniels." She looked anxious.
Logan held his hand out. Jubilee could tell from the way his stance had shifted that he didn't like Chris, but she also knew that he wouldn't voice his objection to the boy here in a crowd. "Pleased to meet you,' he said stiffly. Chris ignored the hand.
"Jubilee, can we go?" he said instead. 'I'm not impressed with your place here. I want to go."
"Maynard's has the best babyback ribs and buffalo wings you can get!" Jubilee protested. "I've been wanting some all night!"
"Then you should have ordered ribs back at '21'," Chris said, taking her arm. "Come on, we're going home." Jubilee followed him out, with a last apologetic look back at Logan.
She sat down in the front passenger seat and folded her arms as Chris got into the drivers' side. "You were a little rude in there," she said coolly as Chris got in. "Logan offered you his hand, and you didn't take it."
"I didn't want to," Chris said. "Come on, sweetheart, I don't like arguing. I'm sorry. Just…he didn't wipe his hands, and I didn't want to get all that barbecue sauce all over my hands and shirt." He leaned over and kissed her. "Come on. Let's head back to my place." Jubilee settled back in her seat reluctantly and watched the buildings zip past the window as Chris made his best time getting back to his parents' house. "Aren't we going to your apartment?" she asked finally.
"Naw, I'm having some painting done in it, and I don't want to smell paint all night," he said. "Mother and Dad are skiing in Colorado, so we have the place to ourselves. I wanted to show you the new Jacuzzi they just got. I'm going to get one for the apartment if you like it."
They got out of his Mercedes and Chris gave the keys to the butler. "Park it in the garage for me, would you, Jones?" he said. "And have Mae draw a bath in the Jacuzzi upstairs."
"Very good, Master Chris," the man said stiffly. Chris led Jubilee up the stairs without a backward glance, and Jubilee blinked as she followed him. What would it be like living in a place where people would park your car for you and run your bath? She was flattered by the idea, but at the same time uncomfortable. Oh well, she thought, I guess Chris was brought up like that. I certainly couldn't do that.
She had to admit, however, when she got upstairs to Chris's bathroom and saw the deep tub with mounds of bubbles in it, and a maid adding more foamy liquid to it, that it was romantic. The maid left two glasses and a bottle of whiskey beside the tub before she left, closing the servant's entrance behind her. Chris stripped, leaving his clothes in an untidy pile beside the tub, and stepped in Jubilee followed suit.
They had a nice long, leisurely bath in lavender scented water, Chris occasionally tossing back a shot of whiskey as they relaxed. As a result, when they climbed out of the now-tepid water, he was definitely inebriated. Jubilee had had a couple too, so after she toweled off, she lay on his bed for a moment to clear her head before asking him to take her home.
"Stay," Chris said slowly, leisurely, as he ran a hand down her leg. "You're old enough to stay out all night on your own. It's nobody's business if you don't want to return. I bet your friend Logan spends a night away occasionally."
"Yeah," Jubilee relaxed on the bed lazily. "More than occasionally. He always tells someone if he's not coming, though."
"If you call they're going to know, and they'll get curious. Why not surprise them?" Jubilee thought for a moment, then nodded. The whiskey was spreading a warm glow through her, and the fact that others at the mansion might be worried never crossed her mind. "I guess you're right," she sighed.
"I know I'm right," Chris sprawled out on the bed next to her, and started kissing her. She groaned as he stroked her body, wringing soft moans of pleasure from her lips as he played with her, and every thought fled her mind.