Splunker’s The Cat Productions

This post is dedicated to Selinara from my WoW guild Rising Fate. Happy birthday! <3

It was originally going to be longer but I split it into 2 chapters so I could make sure I got something posted in time for her birthday. Which means…another update very soon!

Chapter 3

“Mother-FUCKER!” Lucas swore as the back of his head cracked against the underside of his desk.  Muttering more choice curses involving the taboo sexual practices and questionable parentage of some unseen entity in the room and the son of a God he wasn’t sure he believed in, he crawled out of the jungle of wires underneath the desk and briefly considered throwing the obnoxiously loud phone across the room to silence the ringing.  Instead, he answered it.  “Hello,” he said as he massaged the sore spot on his head.

A hesitant voice spoke on the other end of the line.  “Yeah, I’m calling about the ad?  The one about the roommate?”

“Oh!  Wow, that was fast!”  Lucas cleared his throat. “Lucas Edwards.”

“Julian Mercier,” said the voice, which sounded normal enough, much to Lucas’s relief.  He knew the typical caliber of the metropolitan area’s Craigslist following and was pleased that his first replier didn’t give off that impression.  He relaxed a bit and plopped down on the couch.  He tucked a stray strand of blond hair that had escaped his waist-length ponytail behind his ear and prepared to discuss business with Julian Mercier, potential roommate.

After a short awkward silence Julian spoke again.  “Is there anything I need to know that wasn’t in the ad?”

Lucas thought for a minute.  “Not that I can think of.  I put up the ad because my friend that was staying here moved in with his girlfriend.  We lived here together for four years, moving in right after high school graduation.”

“So that makes you, what, 22?”

“23 actually.”

“Oh. We’re the same age then.”

Lucas smiled.  “That’s good to know.  What do you do for a living?”

“I work in IT at Mainstream Office Solutions.  I pretty much single-handedly keep their computers and network in shape.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“Not really.”

This earned a chuckle from Lucas.  “So you think you can swing $600 a month?”

“Shouldn’t be a problem.”

This was working out better than Lucas had hoped. Within thirty minutes of posting his had, he’d not only gotten a response, but from a reasonably sane and promising individual.  He smiled again.  “Do you have any questions for me?”

“Just one,” Julian said quietly.  “This may seem a little out of left field.”

Lucas’s smile faltered.  Here it comes, he thought.  He is a freak after all.  He sighed softly.  “Shoot.”

Julian paused as he gathered up the nerve to drop the earth-shattering bombshell.  “Is it a problem that I’m gay?”

That was not what Lucas had expected to hear.  Lucas couldn’t stifle the laughter which burst forth unexpectedly from his lips.

Julian wasn’t sure why Lucas was laughing, but he assumed his sexuality was indeed a problem.  He stammered as he searched for a polite way to end the call.  “The reason I ask is because it’s why my parents kicked me out.  I thought I’d get it out in the open right off the bat to avoid any nasty surprises later.  I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

“No!” Lucas exclaimed before the phone had traveled too far away from Julian’s ear.  His laughter immediately vanished.  “I don’t have a problem with it.”  He massaged his forehead with his left hand.  “It’s just the way you built up to it.  I was expecting you to ask if the yard was big enough for your pet giraffe or something.”  He chuckled nervously.  Julian was quiet.  Too quiet.  “You still there?” Lucas asked.

“Yeah,” Julian said softly.  “Sorry.  It’s just a touchy subject for me right now.”

“I understand.”  Lucas stood up and began to pace.  It helped him clear his mind and think about Julian’s situation.  “Your parents kicked you out because you came out?”

“That’s it in a nutshell.”

“And you’re calling me, a complete stranger, why?  Surely a friend would be sympathetic and take you in.  Or a family member.”

Julian laughed cynically.  “I’ve never made friends easily, first of all.  I’m not close enough to anyone I know to ask them for this kind of favor.  And family?  My father is Renauld Mercier.  No one in my family goes against him.  He kicks me out, everyone else shuns me.”

Renauld Mercier.  The name sounded familiar, but it took a few seconds for Lucas to make the connection.  “Renauld?  As in Renauld’s, the fancy Euro dining chain?”

“That’s the one,” Julian said with a sigh.

“But that doesn’t make any sense!” Lucas exclaimed doubtfully.  “You should have a fat trust fund or bank account somewhere!”

Another sigh.  “Hardly.  He worked hard to get to where he is, and he expects me to do the same.  I never got a penny from him I didn’t earn.  I even had to pay room and board when I started working.  My savings is all mine, and it’s not much.  The only thing he ever gave me was my car as a graduation present, and he even tried to take that back once he found out I wasn’t going to bother with college.”

Lucas sat down again, speechless.  Julian had been through a lot, and his instinct screamed at him to help him out.  He felt a little awkward about making such an offer so soon, but somehow he knew it was the right thing to do.  “Okay.  Okay.  Here’s what we’ll do since you’re in such a tight spot.”  He gave Julian the address to his house.  “Go ahead and pack up whatever you can bring.  If it doesn’t look like we’ll work out as long-term roommates, which I kind of doubt, then at least you’ll have a place to stay until you can find something else.  Do you know where the place is, or do you need directions?”

“I know how to get there,” Julian replied.

“Good.”  Lucas stood up one last time and walked towards the cordless phone’s base, preparing to end the call.  “So when do you think you can be here?”

Julian laughed sadly.  “Fifteen minutes.  I packed last night and slept in my car.  I’m actually calling from the library right now.”  The phone clicked as Julian hung up.

“Guess I’ll see you in fifteen minutes, then,” Lucas said to the dial tone.