Toronto was William Murdoch's favorite place.
When he thought on it, he found he was unable to pinpoint and exact reason why. Perhaps it was because he had grown up in the city, and was used to the ever-present hum of the traffic and the light chatter that floated through the air. Perhaps it was the sheer architecture that drew him to the city, as he was endlessly fascinated with design and invention. He had once imagined himself to be an architect, just like his childhood idol James Pendrick, but said dreams had been crushed early on in his life. The appearance and familiarity of Toronto, however, was not the only thing he loved about it.
The streets of Toronto bustled with people; the variety alone was enough to dazzle a passerby. Tall and short, thin and fat, light and dark. Different expressions danced across different faces- the pale woman with the arched eyebrows and the stormy gray eyes wore a contrite expression, the tanned man with graying hair a smug one. Some walked quickly, impatiently, while some took a slow, ambling pace. Several were quiet and thoughtful, while others talked endlessly and were endlessly immersed in the goings-on around them.
When William was younger, he had always raced to the candy shop tucked in the corner of the street behind where his run-down apartment lay. He had bought the cheapest candy possible with the meager allowance his father occasionally doled out when he was in a good mood, and then sat on the stone steps eating and observing. William had liked to think he could tell things about people just by watching them, and would often pretend he was a detective, attempting to find out who had committed a ghastly murder. He'd never talked to anybody, being quite the introverted child, but he had been quite content just to watch, reveling in the deliciousness of the sweet stuff he ate.
Sometimes he had brought Susannah with him, but she was fidgety and wished to move around and talk. Exploring the city streets, though, she had enjoyed-, which was fortunate, because after the death of their mother, they were often left on their own. Harry Murdoch much preferred late nights in the pub, drinking until he was unable to form coherent sentences, to looking after two young children, so William had taken on the role of father at a young age. He was ever wary of his father, of course, but he knew there was help for him and his sister if things were to grow too bad. William shuddered to think of what it would have been like a century ago, when things were a great deal harder.
Yes, there were bad memories on these streets he knew like the back of his hand- the time he had gotten lost in the swell of people, all of who cared not one bit for a young boy like him, the time he and Susannah had been cornered by a man with ill intentions, the oil-streaked corner street where his mother had been struck by a car- but the good memories trumped them. It was final, absolute. Toronto was William's city.
William had no idea why he reflected on this as he walked slowly to lunch. The day, thus far, had been mind numbing, not that this was any sort of revelation to him. He had known the job did not present anything of interest to him when he had spotted the advertisement, a cream colored piece of stationery stapled firmly on the side of a mailbox, but he had insisted upon taking it. Money was desperately low for him, and not only did he pay for his needs, he continued to help pay Susannah's way through university. William simply couldn't bear to break her dreams of becoming a teacher, and this coupled with the fact he believed she would make a very good one, was enough for him to burn through his bank account for his younger sister. She'd protested, but it was no good- when William was determined, he could be impossibly stubborn.
As William entered the little Tim Hortons only a few steps away from the tall building where he worked, his phone buzzed loudly, vibrating against his leg. With an apologetic look at the people waiting to enter the doors behind him, he stepped to the side to let them wander by. Crammed now into a tiny corner of beige wall, he suppressed a wince at the edge of the wall dug into the small of his back and sliding his phone out of his pocket, he typed in his code {1901} with steady and sure fingers.
Will! Are you on lunch yet? Tangible enthusiasm almost oozed out of the short text.
Yes, George, I am always on lunch at this time. Just like I told you last week. William's reply was patient; after six months of sharing a living space with his keen, eager-to-please roommate, he had learned patience was the most effective way of getting through to him. Besides this, George may have been irritating at times, but he was pure of heart and steadfastly loyal. It was refreshing to have a reliable friend in times like these, when companions turned against you in the blink of an eye.
Oh. Nevertheless, Will, I have spent all morning beginning to write my novel. I wanted to run my ideas by you, if you're not too busy.
William smirked a little. The one involving Martians?
Actually, they weren't Martians. They were from the moon. Moonartians! Anyway, I've scrapped that idea. I came to the conclusion that it was farfetched. I wanted to write about something that was more realistic.
William raised an eyebrow, finding himself unable to combine the words 'George' and 'realistic' in his reply. Eventually, after some hesitation, he settled with What will your next novel involve, then, George?
Dinosaurs. In Toronto. Reining fiery death and destruction down upon innocents. In the midst of terror, there is hope: one daring man named Georgio can stop them using only his wits and his brains. Great, right?
You're definitely playing the realistic angle for all it's worth, George.
William snorted in amusement, and after waiting a few moments for a reply that never arrived; he assumed George was once again lost in his wild imagination. He rejoined the line, which had shortened considerably. The server looked up at him, a smile spreading across her face as she observed him.
She couldn't have been more than twenty, and had dark hair pulled into a messy bun. The girl tapped her little bronze nametag, settled proudly in the collar of her shirt. "My name is Penny, and welcome to Tim Hortons! What can I get you, sir?"
Her enthusiasm proved to William that she was new to the job; she reminded him of George, in a way. "Hi. Can I get a c-"
"-coffee?" she interrupted, bouncing on her heels and half-turning to shout the order to her colleagues.
William shook his head quickly. "No. I'm not fond of coffee. Terribly bitter, in my opinion. I'm confused as to how it caught on, especially as we have tea."
Penny eyed him oddly. "Okay, then, sir. Um, what would you like to order, then?"
"A cream cheese bagel, please," William said politely, undeterred by her blunder.
"Coming up," Penny muttered, barely audible, and slipped away to serve another customer.
William watched the young woman curiously for a moment, and then retreated to the other end of the counter. It was there he spotted a flyer. Interested, he pulled it towards him, flipping it around in order to perceive the large picture and the sweeping font beneath it. Upon seeing it, his breath caught and his heart sped up.
Julia Ogden, accomplished, talented, and beautiful actress, graced the cover of the flyer.
Upon reading further, William realized it was an advertisement for her latest movie, of which a trailer had recently surfaced. William wasn't much of a film person- he much preferred books- but he had seen almost all of Julia's films. In the beginning, it was simply because George had dragged him along, but he had slowly become enraptured by the starlet. It was clear acting was her passion; she put much into it and was able to convincingly portray any character thrown at her. William would say he admired her as a person as well, but there was no saying if she was the Julia Ogden the world knew her as, or if that was just another character.
"Sir?"
Confused, "Huh? Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you." Hurriedly, he took the food he had ordered and paid. "Keep the change," he added, distracted, as she moved to give him a dollar back.
She offered him a quick smile, her eyes brightening. "Thank you. Have a nice day!"
William exited the little store, almost walking into a rather plump woman in his haste to make it out into the sunshine. After apologizing profusely, he began to absent-mindedly wander the streets, eating his lunch. He was aware he hadn't much time; their manager had only granted them a short half-hour lunch break, and he had wasted the majority of it on discussing novels and dinosaurs with his inventive roommate.
He turned down a side street; paying absolutely no attention to where he was putting his feet- he was on autopilot. In all honesty, William was feeling dreadfully sorry for himself. Generally, he was not one for any sort of self-pity. He saw no point at all in wallowing over ones' problems, but he found himself unable to drag his thoughts away from Susannah, his drunken father (whom he hadn't spoken to in years) and the miserable existence in which he resided currently. He had thought, all those years ago, that he would live a happy and contented life, one in which his father was supportive, money was plenty, Susannah was flourishing… but, clearly, God had other plans for William. He just wished that God's plans were clearer, more defined, and easier to understand. William had no idea where his life was going, or why it had gone so terribly wrong early on.
When he was small, he would curl himself into a corner, usually after his father had struck him, and wonder what he had done to anger his God. Surely God was angry with him for some reason; why else would his mother and the father he had once known be dead? Those days, spent huddled up in a crook of wall, apologizing quietly and asking for his parents back, were still awful memories for him, after all these years. He had just been a child, raising ice to his swollen jaw, tears splashing down his cheeks.
That was a large part of the reason he so badly wanted children and a family. He needed to prove he was better than his father; he needed to make sure that his son would never suffer what he did. But, of course, having a family any time soon seemed unlikely. How would he be able to help support them as well as Susannah, with his current job? What woman in her right mind would ever fall in love with him? Granted, due to William's handsome looks, women tended to be interested in him- but upon actually getting to know him, they always shied away. He was certainly no expert in the romantic department, shy and awkward. William would often find himself tongue-tied and bright red when the opposite gender spoke to him, finding females to be mystifying creatures that were utterly impossible to understand. Besides this, he hadn't yet found someone of whom he was interested in.
The last date he had gone on was with a most dreadfully boring woman named Enid Jones. He had been forced to sit through two hours of her talking animatedly about her favorite brands of designer clothes and the shades of nail polish that best went with her hair. Then, finally, when she had given him the chance to speak, he had quickly discovered she shared no common interests. Watching her pick apart her salad without eating even half of it had been immensely painful, and of course she had expected him to pay for it. Needless to say, the evening had been a catastrophe, and a very dull one at that. William had made sure to 'accidentally' drop the number she had given him into a puddle on the way home. No, William would only court and eventually marry somebody he could relate to. Somebody who could make him laugh and keep the conversation interesting, somebody who was kind-hearted and unselfish, and somebody with a brilliant mind… he wanted to find somebody he would, without a doubt, wish to spend the rest of his life with.
He laughed, shortly, at his high expectations. Love didn't work like it did in the films, like it had in Julia Ogden's latest movie.
His ringtone, emanating rather loudly from his pocket, snapped him from his rather morose thoughts. For the first time since arriving, he looked at his surroundings- he was now on a wide, dead-end street bordered with large houses. The houses were tall, vivid, well-kept, and bright green lawns rolled out from the paved driveways. Clearly, this was a wealthy neighborhood. William wasn't exactly sure how far he had wandered, and his face paled as he checked the time on his still ringing phone. He had precisely four minutes to get back to work, or else he would be late. His supervisor didn't take kindly to tardy people, and William knew he needed this job, despite his distaste towards it. William prepared himself for a sprint, and then flinched as the phone rang shrilly once more. The caller was clearly insistent upon reaching William, even though he didn't recognize the number. It was a strange sort of number, quite different from the ones William so often saw. It seemed to be a long-distance number.
He clicked connect and held the phone to his ear as his strides lengthened and time ticked on. Before he could say a curious hello, he was suddenly interrupted by an extremely angry voice.
"Ruby Ogden! How dare you?" the voice, clearly female, demanded. There was a pause; William was far too surprised to speak. The voice continued, even more incensed by the silence. "I can't believe you did that! You're worse than Thomas! What on Earth were you thinking? What would mother say? Fame has gotten to your head! I just had to sit on live television and defend you, whilst attempting to preserve my own dignity. I sounded like an idiot! You better have a good explanation for this-"
"Excuse me?" William broke in timidly, having halted.
There was another silence, and the voice returned, still very angry. "And just who are you? Ruby's latest boyfriend, I expect? I'll bet she's hiding behind you, giving you that innocent look and making out that she's the victim! I feel obliged to warn you that you are not the first and certainly not the last in a long line of male interests for my darling little sister, no matter how rich you happen to be. In fact, the reason I'm calling is because she has been discovered canoodling with a married man! I do hope it wasn't you!" The woman barely took a breath between her livid accusations, and William found himself gaping in sheer astonishment. Was this woman completely insane?
"I- I…" he stammered, "I'm not sure… I think you have the wrong number."
"The wrong number? Did she tell you to use that excuse? Well, tell her this: I am going over to her house to have a few-"
It's very unlikely to be a few, William thought,
"Words with her. If she's not there, or does not answer, I will kick down her door and wait very patiently for her to return. Much obliged!" she snapped icily, and as William tried to formulate a response, he was greeted with the low beeping noise that signaled the other party had hung up.
Frozen in place as the moments trickled by, he slowly lowered the phone. Who had that been? What in the world had they been talking about? They had referred to Ruby Ogden, the younger sister of Julia Ogden, as their little sister. As far as William knew, there were only two Ogden sisters. Could it be possible…
"Of course not," he told himself, speaking his thoughts aloud. "The likelihood of Julia Ogden calling me, even by mistake, is minimal." He checked his phone again for the time before stowing it away and cursed something he didn't do often. William began dashing through the streets once more, confused, miffed, and very, very, late.