Chapter 7:
William gritted his teeth. He had seen Julia Ogden entering the main carriage in a fiery green dress with black lace. She was really beautiful. He met her gaze and quickly looked away, trying to focus on his discussion with Walid Champagne and Inspector Brackenreid. In reality, he was not "stuck" in this debate. He could leave whenever he wanted. But after barely five minutes in the room, he had seen the Savard couple enter it and, honestly, he did not want to have anything to do with them. He was already nervous enough to have his compartment in the same car as theirs. So, he had tried to stay with the two men who were discussing the career of the founder of the Night Train Station.
Then he began to notice that he could not help but slightly avert his gaze at the blonde-haired young woman in a bun. He imagined that her loose hair must be incredibly long and shiny.
The evening passed rather slowly, and he had noticed a tall, blond man with a perfectly trimmed mustache chatting with Miss Ogden. He had felt his heart skip a little in his chest, for literally no reason in his opinion. He looked back at Brackenreid and Champagne in frustration. In fact, he felt really bad about what had happened instead. He had not helped her with her watch, which was obviously very important to her, and he was sorry.
William looked up at her again and felt his body tense when he saw the man posted behind her, his hands on her shoulders, almost whispering in her ear as she blushed. He looked away, suddenly feeling in a bad mood.
"So? Detective, right?"
The young man turned to the sultry, feminine voice he heard behind him. He saw a young red-haired woman with a very slender waist, in a dress that perfectly matched her curves, looking at him fervently.
"Oh! My dear Colleen! Come closer, come closer!" Walid Champagne held out his hand towards the young woman with enthusiasm.
She smiled at him and walked over to him. They kissed each other quickly on the cheek and she turned to William and Brackenreid.
"I present to you Colleen Forbes, one of my dearest clients. I don't think I took one of my trains without her also being present." he joked.
The young woman smiled at William and the detective felt a nudge in her ribs. He turned to his superior who gave him a wink. Murdoch stopped himself from rolling his eyes. When it came to a woman, Brackenreid tried to fit it in. But most of the time, he quickly became disillusioned since William did not seem interested in anyone.
The young woman then approached William and took him lightly, but firmly, by the arm and dragged him a little further from the two men. They chatted for a while about William's work, who easily saw that she was pretending to be interested. In reality, it was he who interested her, not her work and William found her very beautiful and attractive, but he felt nothing in particular.
He listened to her talk about her travels on the Night Train Station trains when he himself was here for the first time in his life. She was very rich, that was undeniable, and she sure liked to brag about it.
After a while, the young woman dragged him to a bench and she continued to talk to him, almost sticking to him. The young man felt slightly uncomfortable, but he told himself that, after all, he had to enjoy it. If Julia Ogden was enjoying the company of this blond-haired man she had just met, why should not he be allowed to do the same?
When, after midnight, the welcome party finally ended, each passenger quietly returned to their compartment. Walid Champagne personally greeted each customer and William saw Miss Ogden's "friend" in the distance kissing her hand, which made her laugh.
He turned to Mrs. Forbes and also gave her a hand kiss, when she seemed to want to continue the evening with him.
"I wish you a good night, Mrs. Forbes."
"Oh, William, please, call me Colleen." she smiled seductively.
"Well…Colleen then."
He gave her a last smile and headed for the exit of the car as the Brackenreid parents had already greeted him and returned to their compartment. He walked with downcast eyes towards the exit and bumped into Julia Ogden, whom he recognized directly by her floral scent. They looked at each other quickly, embarrassed, and went their separate ways, without a word.
William continued his way and began to pick up the pace when he realized that the Savard were still in the main car when he himself had left. He did not want to meet them at all. He walked, lost in his thoughts, quite disoriented by this little evening and especially by his feelings in front of Julia Ogden. They did not know each other, but she caught his attention easily. Besides, they looked like they were already cold.
The young detective bumped into someone again and huffed in exasperation.
"Geez…" he looked up to meet those of a man he had seen furtively earlier that day.
"Excuse me sir…"
"You are welcome."
William watched as the man practically ran out of the hallway, he was in. He recognized the gentleman as Zachary Lauzon, one of the conductors of that train. What was he doing here at this hour? If Pierre Barton was driving the train, Zachary had nothing to do at the back of the train… Weren't the employees' compartments just before the driver's one? William shook his head. "Stop thinking!" he chided himself inwardly.
He finally reached his compartment and he felt immense happiness when he opened the door and locked it behind him for the night.
Note: Slightly hectic evening and William begins to realize that his reactions to Julia are not really trivial. Thanks to everyone who continues to read my story. Feel free to message me :)
And thanks to Joyfully-Fascinating who wrote me a very nice review. Hope you will like the sequel :)