In case you missed it,  part 1

Short Story: Lucian

Part 3

Short Story: Lucian 3

What in heavens name is going on, thought Lucian as he looked up from his desk.

There standing in front of Gracie was a rather excited young man furiously tapping his fingers on his thigh.

“Come on Gracie! Hurry up!” He groused, “I’m getting bored.”

Unperturbed, Gracie smiled and said, “OK CJ,  just a minute. I’m going as fast as I can.”  She resumed her work.

Lucian got up and approached the front desk.

“Hello, may I help you,”  he offered the scowling young man.

Before CJ could respond Gracie interjected cheerfully, “Oh Mr. Lucian this is my new boyfriend CJ.  CJ this is my boss Mr. Lucian Belanger.”

Smiling widely, Lucian responded in his normal gentle fashion, “Very pleased to meet you CJ.”

“Hey, old-timer!”  The rude lad popped off, “I am here to pick up Gracie but she is dawdling away.”

Lucian was a bit taken back, but for Gracie’s sake, he would be patient with the young fella.

He attempted to explain that today was their deadline and they were trying to get the paper out on time.

“Sometimes that takes a little extra time and effort.  Often we have to work past 5 o’clock to get it wrapped up.”

Then with a wink, Lucian chuckled, “It is the newspaper business you know!”

CJ did not appear to understand.

All this delay was making him quite frustrated.

“My father, Liam Bonneville,” CJ paused for effect.  “you may have heard of him.”

Lucien feigned a perplexed look as he gently shook his head no.

He was fibbing of course.  Almost everyone knew Del Sol’s most famous musician.

He just did not want the lad to have the upper hand!

Exasperated CJ continued, ” My father says time is money and he never wastes either.”

“Well, your father is a wise man,” acknowledged Lucian.

“Wise and rich,” retorted CJ.  “My father is very famous and my mother too. That makes me and my time very important.”

Needless to say, Lucian was not impressed.

“Well son,” he said patiently waving toward the reception chairs, “you are just going to have to wait.  Or you can always go do something else until Gracie is done.”

With that Lucian returned to his desk, while the disgruntled CJ grabbed a magazine and sauntered towards a chair.

About 30 minutes later Lucian heard the bell on the front door and looked up to see Gracie and CJ exiting the building.

Gracie waved and called back to Tate and Lucian, “I’ll see you two tonight at bowling.”

She quickly added, “I hope it’s OK,  I’ve invited CJ.”

Lucian smiled weakly and gave a faint nod of approval.

Tate rolled his eyes at Lucian as they walked out the door.

With a shake of his head and a chuckle, he said, “Oh to be so young and know everything there is to know in the world already.”

Both he and Lucian guffawed at that.

The staff of the Newcrest Valley News was a family that enjoyed getting together for activities outside of the office.

Being an excellent bowler, their weekly bowling night was a favorite of Lucian.

Full of friendly competition and lots of laughter.

To say this night was going to be different would be a huge understatement.

CJ seemed to be on his most obnoxious behavior.

Throwing tantrums when he did poorly …

and doing the loser-goser dance when he made a good shot.

He took particular delight in taking pokes at Lucian.

He made sure everyone in the place knew how rich and famous his family was … how important he was going to be in the future .. how handsome AND talented he was (after all his mother could not have been wrong could she) and how he did practically everything better than everyone else.

They were a welcoming warm group but by the end of the evening, CJ had managed to wear his welcome quite thin.

The summer would prove to be a LONG one.

Despite his many shortcomings, CJ was not going anywhere anytime soon.

No one could see what Gracie saw in him.

Especially not Lucian who was a constant target for CJ’s self-absorbed rants.

<< Previous Short Story: Lucian

This is my entry into Monthly SimLit Short Story Challenge: February 2020 Theme & January 2020 Submissions (Winner’s Update)

CJ. my chosen antagonist is the creation of Flawsome Sims and his story can be found here

CJ Bonnaview (A Sims 4 Short Story) #MSSSC