Chapter 22: Back

                                    

                                          
"5
4
3
2
1
Happy New Year!"
Four glasses of champagne and one of sparkling water clicked at the same time. The five individuals gathered in a warm embrace. The unpacked boxes surrounding the television created the perfect frame, between present and future. Two mothers sharing a daughter, and a father laughing with his new son. Inside the boxes, there were hard-covers and second-hand books; principles of Law and introduction to Forensic Science; passports with missing stamps from Switzerland; vases of all shapes and sizes; a stereo with the ever-growing vinyl collection; a Cuban and a Mexican flag; and of course, the papers that named both Julieta Márquez and Rafael Barba as the owners of their little piece of heaven in New York.
It was a beautiful, classic two-story house, with a back and front garden and a garage. It used to belong to a retired lawyer, so it was equipped with a neat office with a roof-to-floor window that led to the garden. It had a guest room on the first floor for whenever their parents visited and a second one upstairs. A balcony decorated the principal room, where early in the morning, the two lovebirds would drink coffee before work and tea before bed. In other words, it was perfect.
A family had rented her apartment, and, although the pay was not much (Julie did not want to burden people with the expenses involved in renting) it was enough to add to her compensation from the OCME and Rafael's salary and the money from his apartment to purchase it. They needed to do a few things; it was an old house after all, but they would have to wait until "Joe came back from California".
They were still moving and settling in when he received the call. 
'Are you sure you don't want to eat anything before you go? I finally found the pan. Can I fix some eggs for you, an omelet?'
'Thank you preciosa, but I'm actually having breakfast with the people I'm supposed to meet.'
'Old colleagues?'
'Something like that, I'll see you later. Te amo (I love you).'
'I love you too.'
______________________________________________________________________________________
For a place where death reigned, the OCME that day seemed more alive than ever. A feeling of excitement increased exponentially as the arrival time approached. Standing on top of the entrance staircase, Julie stared at the building with mixed emotions. 
'No seas tonta, no va a ser como la última vez. (Don't be stupid, it won't be like the last time).' She muttered to herself.
'Welcome back kiddo.' Warner was waiting for her and some of her colleagues, students and friends. Everybody was excited to have her back and was asking her multiple questions about her whereabouts.
'Before the mandatory welcome cake, I need to go over some things if that's ok with you.'
'Of course, your office?'
'My new office. I left my old one to you.'
They entered the elevator, where more people greeted Julie and expressed their happiness on her return. Any feelings of doubt or distraught left Julie immediately, and suddenly she felt at home again. Despite everything that happened in the past, she loved working there. She actually felt like she was making a difference for all the victims, alive and dead, and she was more ready than ever to go back to the morgue and her lab, and start her investigations. 
Her father would always say that you have to fall before going back up, stronger than ever, and Julie was feeling like that. She was in her game, and she was winning this time.