AN: This is a collection of drabbles/short ficlets for Jeanuary 2021. Compiling them in one place. Each "chapter" is titled with the daily prompt. Just taking the characters out to play, everything and everyone belongs to the keepers and creators of the show. Rated K+.
Jeanuary 6: The Other Man
"Where's…Mrs. Beazley?" He asked, glancing questioningly over his shoulder.
"She's uhm…" Lucien shifted his eyes curiously, past the neck of the whiskey bottle, towards the other man "…moving to Adelaide."
"That's a pity." Patrick regarded Lucien carefully before he looked down to the glass in his hand, "I quite liked her."
'Me too,' Lucien thought dejectedly, yet remained silent. He refused to engage in any further conversation about the woman who had resolved to walk out of his life.
Hours later Lucien returned to his study, sliding the etchings on the severed coin between his thumb and index finger. The faint scent of the other man's grotesque cologne lingered in the air, pulling him from his distracted contemplation and reminding him of Patrick's concern for Jean. The knot in his brow tightened, lately, he found himself questioning everything. 'Why did Patrick give a damn?'
It was no secret that Jean knew Patrick Tyneman, but now as Lucien sat behind his desk, tentatively watching the door for her return, he wondered just how well she knew the other man? Lucien replayed Patrick's words as he considered their overt familiarity with one another, the way Patrick greeted her by clutching her wrists and kissing her cheek. How Jean remained silent, never siding, when he, himself burst into a drunken tirade about the other man.
The other man had an adulterous reputation, and Jean was a young widow with needs of her own, 'but could she,' he wondered. 'Surely,' Lucien grimaced as he thought to himself, 'she would never…'
A moment passed and Lucien shook his head. He dropped the half-coin onto his desk and reached for his bottle. He needed to solve this case and that meant swallowing all of his thoughts about Jean. He took a long drink, savouring the burn and longing for the blissful distraction of intoxication.
With a heavy sigh, Lucien resolved to ask Jean about her relationship with the other man…one day…. If he ever got the chance.
