The Secret Liaison Read Free

not die with Dirk Dublin.  Joshua turned in his chair and stared at a painting of his wife the hung over the fireplace.  The painting was life like.  It was his wife in all of her glorious splendor.  Julia was smiling back at him from the picture almost mockingly in her beautiful cream Vera Wang gown that flowed like a wedding dress.  Joshua remembered the day the famous painter came to their home to create the masterpiece like it was yesterday.  He remembered marveling at his wife’s beauty and feeling like the luckiest man alive to have her in his corner.  Not only was she beautiful but she was a political asset to his family having come from a large Virginian political family.  Joshua stared at the painting and remembered what started the bad blood between the Brent’s and the Dublin’s.
                  The winter of 1980 was a brutal one in the Virginia countryside.  The Brent family was hunkered down trying to ride it out like everyone else.  Joshua was Senator Brent back then and his father Jordan was ‘Speaker of The House’, second in line for Presidential succession.
    Joshua remembered the amount of pressure that he felt being the son of the great Jordan Brent.  He strived extra hard to follow in his father’s footsteps, unlike his brother Barnacle who chose to work in the family business rather than follow his father into politics.  He snuggled with Julia on the fluffy rug and realized he was thankful for all of his blessings.  It wasn’t until he felt something wet hit his arm that he realized that Julia was crying.  His heart instantly ached, he pulled away and asked “why are you crying dear?” nothing hurt him more than to see her sad.  The look on her face was one of pure anguish, she tried to speak but it only made her break down into tears.  Julia leaned into Joshua’s shoulder and cried herself to sleep and he held her all night wondering what could be bothering his wife.
                  The next morning bright and early Joshua reached for his wife and she was not in bed.  He was immediately concerned after her behavior last night.  The sunlight was peeking through the curtains but he could see that the snow was still falling hard.  Shaking his head at the weather he grabbed his robe and put on his slippers.  A mixture of crying and coughing could be heard coming from the direction of his bathroom. Rushing in that direction he found his wife hugging the toilet with her head almost at the bottom of it. He immediately ran water in the sink and wet a towel for her “here you go love. What’s wrong with you? Do you want me to call Dr. Rich?” 
    When Julia came up for air her eyes were blood shot red as if she had never stopped crying from the night before. Her normally tamed blond hair was disheveled and she was shaking her head furiously “no Jo I don’t want a doctor.  I don’t know what I want anymore.”  That last statement was perplexing to Joshua; he knelt next to his wife and wiped her face with the cool rag.  His patience and sweet demeanor seemed to have a negative effect on his wife and she became uncharacteristically abusive screaming “leave. Just leave me alone Jo. Let me think.  Let me breath please!” Joshua had never seen his wife like this and he was scared for her, but he did as she asked and gave her room to breathe. 
                  Joshua tried to get some work done, but politics were the last thing on his mind.  He was worried sick about his wife along with having cabin fever caused by the weather.  He sat in his study behind his vintage oak desk.  This desk had been passed down through generations of Brent men and was one of his most prized possessions.  It made him feel connected to the past and hopeful for the future.  He hoped to one day pass it down to his own son.  Joshua ran his hand across the desk and thought about all of the decisions that were made around the desk not only by his father, but his