Chapter 9:

Rosemary walked the long halls of Perkins' house alone. She had agreed to play with the other teenagers and children present at the party organized by the hosts. The children had been hiding and the goal was simply to find them. The teenagers had been assigned this difficult task in a house as large as that of Brenda and Daniel Perkins.

When it was time to search, Rosemary glanced at Emily who gave her a smile before taking a different path from hers.

The 17-year-old girl passed between the cluster of adults who were all standing in the large living room, a glass of alcohol in their hands. She noticed from a distance her father talking with a man with bright red hair, and a slightly outgoing belly. She realized that she could not see her mother anywhere but did not pay much attention to it. She simply continued her way, looking right and left, examining the undersides of the tables, the corners of the rooms she was visiting.

Finally, she arrived in front of what appeared to be Mr. Perkins' office. The door was ajar. She was about to push it when she heard her mother's voice echoing in the room in question. She stopped short and listened. Who could her mother talk to?

"I must admit to you…"

"…. Because you are beautiful…"

Rosemary frowned as she heard her mother giggle. She heard a man's voice even though she could not figure out what the conversation was about. She had the feeling that something was missing from her.

"Rosemary?"

"Hush!" the young woman suddenly snapped at her younger sister Emily.

"What is it…?" Emily whispered, frowning in confusion.

When she heard from her parents that they were going to the party of the Perkins – an influential family with wide contacts in the city of Toronto – she had been so happy. For some time, things had become sad at home. She was 15, she was young, but she could see that all was not well. Her sister Rosemary had withdrawn into herself for a while, although the dialogue had not broken between them.

So, this little evening with all the young people she knew and whom she liked to call her friends, had cheered her up. Until the precise moment when she discovered her sister leaning towards the crack of a door while Emily was simply trying to find the hidden children.

Her sister motioned for her to be quiet, and she watched her gently push open the door to peek inside the room. Emily watched in concern as her sister's face crumbled as her body froze. She jerked back, nearly tripped, then grabbed Emily's arm. She dragged her quickly with her, but Emily had time to turn her head towards the door of Mr. Perkins' large office to see in horror her mother passionately kissing a man with jet black hair.

"I'm so happy with this evening… It's been too long without you." smiled William as he watched the young woman's cheeks turn pink.

"William…" Julia reprimanded without any conviction.

When Julia had known the day before that she was going to have dinner with the Perkins with her family and that the chief of Station 4 would be present, she had known that William would be there too. It seemed that Inspector Brackenreid had a habit of taking his best detective with him everywhere. And Julia tended to think it was because he enjoyed having him around during intelligent conversations with influential people.

For hours on end, she had researched what dress to wear, how to do her hair, how to wear makeup and what jewelry to wear. She knew William did not care about any of this, but she wanted him to look at her with starry eyes and admiration.

She knew what she was doing was wrong. She was cheating on her husband… But she had never been so happy in her life. Never… So how could it be wrong?

When she arrived, accompanied by her daughters and her husband, she immediately looked around the room for William, but she did not spot him. Disappointed, and anxious to imagine that he might not be there, she looked down. Her husband then grabbed her by the hip and pulled her closer to him proudly. He had introduced her to everyone in the room, and after about an hour, when the reception was just getting started and the guests were just starting to drink their punch, Julia slipped away for a moment. She decided to visit the huge Perkins house, lost in thought. William was not present tonight and her mood was felt. She felt such great sadness right now that she barely recognized herself.

She arrived in front of Mr. Perkins' desk and opened it, curiously.

"Curiosity is a bad thing."

Julia jumped and turned quickly to a smiling William, dressed in a black suit that matched his hair perfectly.

Then they both walked into the office, closed the door behind them, pushing it lightly, and hugged each other tightly.

They had talked for a while before Julia confessed to him that she had made herself beautiful for him.

"You don't need all that, because you look gorgeous in any circumstance."

William gently caressed Julia's cheek and then kissed her passionately. He had missed her so much. Not being able to see her as much as he wanted to, was driving him crazy.

"I would like to take you with me…" he whispered to her while continuing to kiss her cheek.

"Take me with you? But where would we go?" asked the young woman slyly, putting her arms around William's neck.

"We would take the first train we found… And we would go as far as possible… Both of us…"

"…in love…" Julia finished with a dreamy sigh. "It sounds wonderful…"

"How are we going to do this?" William asked, tightening his arms around his lover's waist.

"To go away?"

The young detective chuckled.

"No…I'm talking about our relationship…You're married…You have kids…We can barely see each other. Or then in gale at evenings."

"I know… This is not a life." finished the young woman with sadness. "I…I don't know what to do. I feel like stuck. I'm lost."

"You don't know if you love me?" William then asked with a drooping face.

"Nope! Nope! That's not it at all. I love you like crazy. I want everything from you, I want to know everything. You... You are the man of my life." she finished under her breath.

William looked at her with eyes shining with emotion.

"You are the woman of my life." William hastily replied before kissing her passionately again.

A kiss to which Julia responded with such fervor that it took his breath away. Detective Murdoch carried the young woman and sat her down on the desk that sat in the middle of the room. He quickly pulled up the dress of the young woman to be able to interfere as far as possible between her legs. Julia pulled the young man's shirt out of his pants so she could put her hands under it. Her hands slid over his skin with a familiar ease that made the young man shiver from head to toe. She gently kissed his neck, and he closed his eyes, letting the moment take over, his hands sliding gently on his lover's thighs.

"We must stop William… We must… we must go back there or else…"

"Yeah...I'll get carried away too." William whispered to calm his breathing.

William slowly backed away from Julia's embrace and could not help but keep his eyes fixed on her bare thighs before she covered them with her dress with a mischievous gaze.

"We must go back." Julia declared more firmly as she gracefully descended from the office.

"Go ahead, I'll join you…"

"What is…"

"I have to calm down…" William smiled nervously.

Julia blushed in understanding before slipping out of the office while trying to put her hair back in place.

Note: Rosemary and Emily surprised their mother with William… What could happen next?