Just Starting Out
1.19 - Too Much to Handle
“John!” Lillian called out in a sing song voice as she unlocked the door to the house with the key John had given her. “John, are you home?”
There was no reply.
Lillian let out a loud sigh and walked over to the kitchen, where she placed the coffee she’d brought him on the island. She sat down on a barstool, and pulled out her phone to scroll through her texts.
The most recent one was one from John, then right below that, one from Kayla a few days ago. Lillian had finally convinced her to talk to John about proposing, but now she couldn’t get an answer out of Kayla when it came to what he said. And frankly, she was tired. She wanted the ring- no, she deserved the ring for being an incredible girlfriend over an incredibly long period of time. Plus, she wanted it before he went to go visit Cassandra again, because she made Lillian nervous. And she couldn’t stand much more of that before she ended up snapping.
It didn’t help that John had been promoted so far ahead of her, for whatever reason. She couldn’t even work with him on a single project, like she’d been able to when John first started out there. That was the only reason she’d fallen for him in the first place. Now, the more time that they spent apart, the more worried she got. So, she needed that ring as soon as possible.
Lillian let out another loud sigh, then decided to use the bathroom. When she got there, she found the door locked.
“What the…” she muttered. “John? Kayla? You in there? I don’t like being ignored, you know!”
She rattled the door knob again, just for good measure.
Apparently, that was the tipping point, as the door flew open, and Lillian came face to face with Malcolm Landgraab.
“Okay, what the fuck?” Lillian exclaimed. “What is a Landgraab doing here? I’m calling the police!”
Malcolm reached out, and grabbed Lillian’s wrist. “No, no! Please don’t, call John or Kayla, please.”
Lillian gave him a dirty look, but dialed John’s number anyway. “Hey, John? Could you please explain to me why exactly theres a freaking Landgraab in your house? You’ll be right over? You’d better be! I came over to see you, not a Landgraab.”
Lillian hung up, gave one last snide smile to Malcolm, then quickly exited the bathroom and slammed the door behind her, trapping Malcolm inside.
Lillian stood there, tapping a foot nervously against the floor as she waited for John to come home. She made sure she was blocking the door. She wasn’t letting a Landgraab anywhere else in John’s house.
15 minutes later, John and Kayla rushed through the front door. They placed the groceries they’d purchased on the island, knocking over Lillian’s coffee in the hurry. Then, they ran over to the bathroom.
“It’s about time,” Lillian sighed. “He tried talking to me! Can you believe that? The nerve…”
“Lillian, step away from the bathroom, please. I can explain everything,” John said quietly, walking slowly towards her.
“You can explain it all right here,” Lillian said firmly.
“We can have Kayla block the door,” John suggested.
Kayla nodded.
Lillian rolled her eyes, but stepped away and allowed Kayla to take her place. John then led her over to the living room so they could talk in private. The moment they were out of sight, Kayla moved, and finally let Malcolm out of the bathroom.
“What’s her problem?” he muttered.
“Honestly? I’ve got no idea,” Kayla responded. “But she sure seemed to hate your family name, just not you, so I doubt it’s anything personal.
Malcolm gave a sad little smile. “Ah, of course. Another person who suffered because of Nancy. Who is she anyway? Why was she able to get into the house?”
“She’s John’s girlfriend of quite a while now,” Kayla said simply. “It’s getting pretty serious, both of them are already considering marriage.”
“M-Marriage?”
“Yeah, that’s right. John really needs to step up and propose, but he’s so nervous about, well, everything. He wasn’t always like this, you know. Even doing yoga with him doesn’t seem to help, I just don’t get it.”
Malcolm didn’t have a response to that.
“Please, please, please explain to me why you have a freaking Landgraab in this house,” Lillian spat as soon as they sat down.
“Why don’t you talk to me about why that bothers you so much first? Because to me, this just seems like a pretty massive overreaction.”
“I don’t know why I need to explain my dislike of the Landgraab family, I sure thought that was pretty universal, but sure. Just for you, John, I will. One person, just one person in my neighborhood couldn’t pay their electricity bills one year because of some family disaster. And, to make a long story short, the Landgraabs decided to punish all of us by cutting off power to the whole neighborhood. Their excuse? We all should have chipped in to help her pay her bills. But I know the real reason. That family just wants money. They saw a way to take it from us without anything in return, and they jumped on it. They’re disgusting, John. And the fact that you have one in your house? What is going on?”
John blinked. “Well, that was a lot.”
“You asked for it,” Lillian sighed. “Don’t start complaining now.”
“Okay, well. Malcolm’s here because he has nowhere else to go. He’s having some trouble at home-“
“Trouble at home? Oh sure, John, he has nowhere else to hide in that giant mansion the Landgraabs live in. And not to mention, I’m sure he already has a fortune of his own.”
“He doesn’t actually,” John said, a strange anger starting to fill him. “Believe me, I’m not found of the family either, but when it comes to helping someone in need, you can’t just turn them down.”
Lillian laughed. “The fact that you can call a member of the Landgraab family in need is absurd.”
“Well guess what, Lillian? He is. You’re going to need to learn how to judge someone personally, not based on their family name, because he’s going to be staying here for a while.”
Lillian let out an outraged gasp, and stood up abruptly. “I can’t believe this, John! I thought you’d take your girlfriend’s feeling into account before some asshole son of a rich family!”
“Lillian-“
“No, I’m leaving. I’ll text you in a week, and you’d better not come ‘round till then. I need a lot of time to think about this- this stupidity!”
Lillian stormed out of the room slamming the living room door behind her. John sighed, and sank deeper into the couch. The last thing he’d expected was for Malcolm moving in to be such a major issue with Lillian. Figured. It was just like Malcolm to fuck up his life even more. Honestly, he was irritated with himself. He shouldn’t have even stuck up for Malcolm. But what he saw of Nancy and Geoffrey during that brief time he was in that house… something about that made him want to stick up for Malcolm, at least in this regard.
In Oasis Springs, Nancy walked through the city, absolutely disgusted by the filth that surrounded her. But, the way she saw it, this was her last chance to get Mitch on her side. He was leaving later today, and in the little they’d talked at her Gala for Gold, he’d made it clear that he wanted to go into town. So, for now, she has to roam the dusty streets and hope she caught a sight of him.
The words he’d spoken yesterday still burned, of course. But her potential profits came before that.
After an hour of ruining her favorite pair of shoes and being gawked at by the common folk, she finally spotted him. But he was with some of the last people she wanted to see. All the same, she rapidly walked down to the riverside to see him.
“…worked with us in the past, so, you can trust us! Have any of the Goth family ever gone back on our word?” Bella was saying.
“Yes, and your daughter, Cassandra, is quite the wonderful secretary… you make the most compelling argument yet, Bella and Mortimer!” Mitch said.
“Mitch!” Nancy called out as she ran as elegantly as she could towards the group.
Mitch definitely said something under his breath as he caught sight of her, but Nancy missed it thanks to the loud sound of her heels against the cement.
She slowed down when she caught up to them, and she panted, completely out of breath.
“Nancy,” Bella said with the fake smile that Nancy hated so much. “It’s so great to see you again! Are you here to send Mitch off as well?”
“I’m here- for the same reasons- that you are, Bella!” Nancy panted. “We both want the same thing, right?”
Mortimer gave her a look. “You should spend more time exercising than scamming your customers. That run should not have exhausted you.”
“You two would be nobody if your ancestors hadn’t been so important to the founding of Willow Creek! Don’t speak to me as if I’m on your level, my wealth is entirely self made.”
Mitch cut in, stopping the argument. “Now, now everyone! There’s no need to fight.”
Bella, Mortimer, and Nancy all shut up.
Mitch continued speaking. “Nancy, you were correct when you assumed that you and the Goths wanted similar things. Bella proposed that they fund some new endeavor of mine and allow them to continue to discreetly approve and monitor infrastructure in Willow Creek, and Nancy wants me to partner with her company to boost her sales, and I will get a cut of the profits.”
Nancy and Bella both glared at each other. Neither one of them wanted the other to have anything to do with Mitch’s administration.
“Well, Mitch, as you know, I’ve been incredibly loyal to your administration for years now…” Bella smiled. “I can’t say exactly how, because she’s here, but don’t you think that’s reason enough for you to take my deal?”
“And I’m sure you know that the Goth family has mountains of wealth that aren’t going to run out anytime soon,” Mortimer added.
“My wealth is going to continue to grow,” Nancy cut in. “I run the biggest electricity company in the world, and it shows no signs of being anything but that for years to come. And the profit it brings in would only continue to increase with your patronage, Mitch. There’s one clear answer here.”
Mitch gave both parties a strained smile. He then quickly glanced at his watch. “Ah, would you look at the time? If I don’t hurry, I’m going to miss my flight!”
He started backing away. “I’ll get back to both of you, I promise! Goodbye!”
Mitch quickly walked off, leaving Nancy and the Goths glaring at each other.
“We’ve known Mitch for years, dear,” Bella sighed. “You don’t get to cut in and try to steal him from us!”
“If you’re such good friends, why do you have to waste time campaigning to him now?” Nancy shot back.
“That’s none of your concern,” Bella said with a strained smile.
Mortimer held out his arm. “Let’s go, dear.”
“Please.”
The two walked off, leaving Nancy standing there, frustrated. She’d spent the last three days chasing after Mitch, and was left with nothing but him promising to get back to her and a missing son and husband. She knew she should be concerned… but she wasn’t going to let herself be. She’d recover. And, at the end of the day, she still had her company. That was all that mattered.