Ain’t No Business
Chapter Nine
*Lie to me.* For an instant this phrase stopped all movement. Even the tears in Jean’s eyes refused to fall. Nothing could be heard expect for the frantic beating of three hearts. That was until a crash could be heard just around the corner at the end of the hall.
The noise snapped up Logan’s head. He side stepped Jean and ignored her pleading outstretched hand. For a horrifying moment, Logan thought that he saw a flash of a tantalizing earthy leg whip quickly away. *Please God, no!* He ran as fast as could and ignored Scott’s bird, and the courses that trailed him.
When he got to the corner he found something that broke his heart. There on the floor was a hand made gift basket, a near exact replica of the one Chuck had gotten. This one just had larger portions of gourmet cookies, now all broken, with massive amount of the signature spicy chocolates all delicately formed into different cars that he remembered telling her about during one of the many conversations on the plane. The force Ororo must have dropped the basket broke nearly everything in it.
He looked down the hallway toward the elevator. He already missed the last ding. The screaming at the end of the other corridor just got louder and louder. Logan had to make a choice. He could either fess up to Scott and or defend Jean, or he could make an attempt to soothe Ororo. The elevator dinged again, and he realized something. They were on the sixteenth floor, and those elevators are really small. Was it possible, did he still have a chance. He inhaled deeply. The chocolate smelled so good. He never believed in the magic of the delicious sweet, but it really seemed to cleanse what was left of his soul. He heard Jean pipe up with the screaming and then he lunged himself down the stairs where he knew Ororo would still be running.
~X~
Jean just stood there when Logan left. She too saw the tall woman, whats-her-face, flee from the hallway. She had known that she was being trailed when she came to the hotel. As always she assumed it was the press. No matter where she was Europe, the States, and Japan, they were always the same. The cat and mouse games she played with everyone always made her feel powerful. She could do no wrong.
Except now.
When she got to the hotel she expected to see some bumbling camera men, but instead she saw the annoying graceful freaggin cook float her way to the stairs and head up. How was she able to stay in this hotel. She made a note to herself to make sure that Bumble Fuck Chuck cut the budget even more.
Jean knew intrigue when she saw it so she followed her. That crazy bitch made her run up so many god damn stairs. When she got to the floor, she had an incredibly horrible feeling. This couldn’t be why James was so distant.
NO.
Then it came back to her. Ever since “the cook” cam into the picture, things started to fall in place. Jean looked up and squinted her. She remembered walking into the dining room to spot James for a quickie before she had to report in to the reading. She saw his animated posture and the smile on his face. She watched his hands softly grace her’s by accident. She winced when they shared a couple of whispered private jokes. She cringed when she saw his denim covered thigh grace her khaki leg and rub it. She saw Ororo blush under the casual attention.
NO. NO. NO.
She didn’t care if it was obvious that nothing was going on between them. The fact of the matter was that something *could* happen.
Jean was so distracted by this, she didn’t notice how her husband had been watching her since the fight. She hadn’t noticed how he picked up on her odd behavior that slipped through her mask. She missed him watching the angle of her eyes as Logan teased another woman. She missed the look of finality on his face as he watched her cross the busy street under the never ending Japanese lights, to the hotel of her long time lover.
Jean finally saw the anguished look in Scott’s face when she called Logan’s name when he bolted down the hall after a woman who had done absolutely nothing wrong except show the fuck up.
She looked at her husband with defeated eyes. There was just nothing left in her. She had been empty for a long time. It really fucking suck to not even be shallow anymore.
Scott looked at his wife with barely containable disdain. Finally. Was he a hypocrite? A better question would be to ask, do two wrongs make a right?
“Jean, I lied. I don’t want lies. I’ve been getting them for how long, now? Hmm? If I remember it’s was about a month after we got back from our honeymoon, TEN FUCKING YEARS AGO.”
“Scott, please.”
“Scott please, what,” he mimicked. “You wondered why I went to a goddamn shrink. Jesus, my marriage went to hell thirty damn days in. Why the fuck did you marry me? It couldn’t have been for money or the prestige.”
“Goddammit SCOTT! I love you.”
“Are you still fucking Warren, too? Why is it my friends? Do you regret settling?”
“Your one to talk, you hypocrite. How long have you been boinking my TWIN, you stupid sac of shit. It’s not like you made an attempt at being sly. Did you even care about me finding out?”
“No.”
The tears that flowed were real. It took the devastation of one of the few stable things in her life to finally make her feel real emotion. How ironic was that? Here she was, one of the worlds greatest silver screen stars famous for showing emotion, and she feels nothing constantly. Except for now. She’d been faking it for so long, she knew that Scott didn’t know it was for real this time.
Scott reached into the satchel he had and took out a small stack of papers that looked as if they’ve been around for a while. He gave them a once-over than handed them to his wife.
Jean refused to take them. She already knew what they were.
Divorce papers.
“Whose fucking brilliant idea was this, my husband, Emma or Maddie.”
“Mine. Relax it’s legit. I think you should check out the heading, and take a real good look at the date, love.”
She snatched the papers from him and looked. Holy fucking shit.
“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!” The date was for July 17th, 2000. “You’ve had these for six years.” He stayed silent looking straight at her.
She would defiantly give him that much. Scott Summers was fearless.
Then it dawned on her. Nate Summers, her own nephew, was six years old. He just turned six in fact. She went to his birthday...with her husband. Jean lost it. She pulled back to slap that stone cold look off his face.
He caught her wrist, both of them.
He pulled her inches from his face, and the iron grip on her hands tightened, not painfully. But Jean could still feel the pain in another place. Why was it now that she had to feel? Karma is more of a bitch than she ever was.
“Just so you know. The first night I was with Maddie was when I found out that you and Logan built up a FOUR YEAR tab at a fucking motel.”
“Scott I want to figure this out. Please.”
“Do you want to ‘figure it out’ because Logan is no longer interested?”
“How did you...?”
“Jean, why the hell do you think I’m stupid. I’ve known for about two weeks that Logan was into Ororo. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that she reminds him of Mariko.”
Jean rolled her eyes. First it was the ex wife, then the mistake of Itsu, then the dead wife, now the freaggin cook. Or it was either the shrink or her own bloody twin. She knew that the bitchiness was going to catch up to her, but damn. This was ridiculous. She leaned against the wall and sank to the ground.
When it rained it poured.
Scott looked at the defeated form of his wife. This didn’t feel nearly as good as it was supposed too. He remembered why he married her. They were both after the same thing in life, not each other, but they shared the same ideas. Where did that go?
He slid down next to her.
“Jean,” she didn’t bother looking up. Scott put his hand on her knee. “I really missed you. I have for years. Why did you go away?” With that, he got up and left for the bungalow.
Jean stayed where she was and watched his retreating back. She saw him step over the broken gift basket.
What the hell has she done?
~X~
Logan ran down flight after flight. It was like being in a hamster wheel. He saw a flash of her green and what sundress.
“Ororo, wait!” She ran faster. He saw quick movement that looked like her hand went to the side of her face. Dammit. He saw her reach the exit and throw the doors open. He jumped over the railing for the last two flights. He landed properly, but it still hurt like hell. This one better be worth it. *Wasn’t she?* If he had the time and know“how, he would have kicked his brain in it’s ass. Was that even possible. *No, jackass!*
He blasted threw the doors and saw her at the corner trying to hail a cab. He bustled against the traffic of people who came towards him. Logan never minded the intense amount of human beings that took up space in every city on the planet, but if he could he would stab each and every one of them that stood between himself and Ororo.
“ORORO!” This time she stopped waving her arm and turned around. He finally was able to nearly trip into her, but stopped just short. He could imagine how he looked. Sweaty, exhausted, tired, emotionally drained, and unbearable taken by the grace before him. He bent over at the waist with his palms on his thighs out of breath. Then he looked up.
Her hair had come out of its braided bun and had tendrils floating in the wind. Her eyes now dry almost shone, and she had a shy smile on her face. Ororo also managed to look like she just stepped of a runway instead of running down a rotten building. What did this woman do for a work out?
“Didn’t you hear me callin’ ya?”
“I’m sorry, Logan, I should have called first. You’re a busy man.” She rolled her eyes and gave a rueful laugh. “I just thought it would be a nice surprise. You know, the basket. Surprise!” Ororo could have smacked herself. Did that foot taste good? Damn good. Yummy.
“Darlin’, it was over. I don’t know what else I can say.”
“I know.” She tucked a devilish piece of hair in behind her ear, only to have it be blown back out.
He reached to take the same piece of hair to place it behind her ear again. As he did so he grazed the side of her cheek. His other hand palmed her neck and held her in place.
Ororo tried to back away but was held in place by strong hands holding her, as well as her own legs.
“Look, I know you probably hate me right now.”
“Logan, I don’t hate you. I can’t because obviously I don’t know you.”
She, once again, felt his lips on her forehead. Why was her body leaning into his embrace?
“Come with me. I have some overhead night panoramic shots that need to get done. How about it? Have you ever seen Japan from a birds eye point of view?”
“No. I was on foot when I came through here.”
Logan remember a brief mention of her time here. He wanted to know more. Any story, any emotion, he would put up with, as long as she talked to his sophomoric ass. “Come with me. I’ll get dinner. I think you’ve been through enough.”
“That’s not the best idea. We’re both in a rotten place.”
“The best way to not be in a bad place is to try and go to a good one. I would rather not do it alone.”
She sighed.
He rejoiced.
“You’ll love the view.”
~Lot 616, on Xavier Productions~
“Sabur, this is illegal. Wasn’t this what Martha Stewart was sent away for?”
“Cassandra, you worry to much. Stewart got jailed for leaving a paper trail and getting caught because of lousy advice. This isn’t insider trading. It’s more like maneuvering a few things around so that I own them. Think of it like financial feung shei. Those bumbling fools won’t know what hit them. This place will be X.I.N.O. in no time.”
“X.I.N.O?”
“Xavier in name only.”
Author's Note: Just for the sake of plot and my small blunder lets say that Madelyne is married to Alex, Scott's bro. I'm to tired to fix it another way. Besides I've been meaning to throw him in the mix. Oops.
[Reviews - 42]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story |
Has been viewed 1179 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story | - Text Size +
You must login () to review.
