Lucas stared out the window. The heavy rain fell, causing chaos for the fools walking outside his apartment. He drank from a tall glass, half filled with vodka. Life was good.

The ringing of the phone shattered his gaze. Lucas walked over to the phone and hit the speaker. “Hello?”

“Lucas, it’s John. You have to turn on the news.”

“What’s going on?”

“Just turn the tv on,” was John’s reply before hanging up.

Lucas walks into the den and turns the television on. The anchor, Nicole McDonald, was finishing up the lead to a story: “…Lucas Witherspoon. Here now is reporter Martin Lange with the story.”

The scene changed to a warehouse in the port district of town. A balding man is with the reporter. “I can’t believe he would have done this,” he tells the reporter before a voice over narration begins.

“That’s the consensus regarding Lucas Witherspoon, wealthy philanthropist and community leader. But with several accusations floating around, doubts have crept into the mind of the community.”

A helicopter view of the million dollar apartment Lucas lives in takes the screen.

“A pillar to the community, Lucas Witherspoon has been accused of raping three college girls who interned at his ‘Feed the Homeless’ charity. They remain unnamed, but the allegations are there.”

A picture of Lucas is on the screen now. He throws his now empty glass to the wall, shattering it.

“According to the women, he invited them each on a cruise to tour the islands. The three of them each decided it would be fun, but the party ended when the brute force began.”

As the reporter kept reading, Lucas called his lawyer. “It’s me. And yes, I see it.”

“Completely impossible,” he said, pacing the room. “I can guarantee you I never once did that.”

The maid came into the room, seeing the glass shattered along the floor, and starts to clean it up. “Not now,” Lucas interrupted. “I’ll call you back in here Elle when I need you to do that.”

As she scurried off, he focused his attention on his phone call. “How do I know? I’m terrified of boats, Jim. The last thing I would ever do is a cruise… EVER!”

After calling Elle back in to clean the room, he stares outside once again, trying to find the calm he once embraced.