Chance Encounters of the Canuck Kind

She played with the label on her beer, tearing tiny pieces of paper off the glass with such intent that it appeared as if that were the only reason she had for buying the drink in the first place. With a sigh, she glanced around the room, the music cutting through the swirling mix of smoke and lights. She hated clubs like these.
“Hey, Jools!”
Juliette span round on her barstool and greeted her friend with a weak smile.
“Are you not going to dance?”
“Maybe later, Suze.” Juliette responded, avoiding her friend, Suzanna’s, gaze.
Suzanna went to turn on her heels to re-join the group of friends they’d come out with, but paused momentarily. She placed a hand on Juliette’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

“30 more minutes, and I swear, if you’re still not digging it we can go.”
Juliette smiled at her friend and gave a nod. Then went back to playing with the label on her bottle of Bud. It wasn’t that she hated clubs; in fact, Juliette loved nothing more than going downtown on a Saturday night. But this, this wasn’t her scene – she knew where she didn’t fit in. While Suzanne was the type of girl who could go to a rock show with Juliette, she also wouldn’t look out of place on the cover of Vogue. Jools, on the other hand, was less conventional. She sported a size 10-12 frame, far bigger than Suze’s size 6, and was adorned in tattoos. Her sleeve was her crowning glory in her opinion, a myriad of intricate mandalas and patterns from faraway lands. Normally, Jools wouldn’t give her appearance a second thought, but in clubs like these, where all the women were petite and beautiful, Jools felt more out of place than ever. She came to these clubs because Suzanne’s friends hung out here and Suzanne was kind enough to invite her along. It wasn’t that Juliette didn’t have friends of her own, but she often felt obliged to come out with her housemate whenever she was invited.
Juliette took a long sip of her beer and began to wonder if Suzanne would be mad at her if she left to go down to The Roxy, after all the night was still young. She was stopped mid-thought by someone sliding onto the barstool next to her. She took another drink, finishing off the well nursed bottle of Budwiser.
“Can I get you another?” The stranger next to her asked.
She turned in the direction of the voice and met the gaze of the man offering to buy her next drink. She felt her throat catch a little upon meeting his gaze – his friendly blue eyes staring intently at her.
“Erm… yeah, sure. Thanks.”
The stranger waved at the barman to get his attention:
“Two Buds, please”
The barman placed the cold beer in front of Juliette and she immediately took a drink.
“Thanks” Juliette smiled.
“No problem, you looked like you weren’t having much fun over here, and to be honest, I wasn’t having much fun over there, Alex is maybe having TOO much fun.”
Juliette laughed – probably for the first time that night. She locked eyes again with the mystery man and felt a warmth spread through her stomach. He had the warmest gaze she’d ever seen.
“So,” he began, “seeing as though I bought you a drink, I think you owe me your name.”
“Oh really? You buy me a beer and you want me to divulge my deepest and darkest secrets?” Juliette smirked.
“Only the ones that aren’t going to get you into trouble” He replied quickly with a laugh.
“Juliette, my name is Juliette. But people call me Julie, or Jools. I respond to anything though to be honest.”
“Okay, Jools it is! I’m Jacob by the way.”
“I know who you are.” Said Juliette. “You’re that guy that stops pucks for the town hockey team. Markstrom, right?”
Jacob laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
“Yeah, that’s me. Number 25.”
There was a slight pause – a silence between them that was by no means uncomfortable. Juliette looked at Jacob to see him smiling at her, she felt her face burning hot.
“So what brings you to Downtown Vancouver on a Saturday night?” He asked.
“Oh, erm, my housemate Suze organised a night out with her friends and was nice enough to invite me along. Not gonna lie, this is not my scene at all.” Juliette said half-laughing.
“So if this isn’t your scene, what is?”
Jacob locked eyes with Juliette, waiting for her response. Juliette appeared hesitant – almost as if she was afraid of what he might think of her when she gave her reply.
“Well, I’m mostly into rock music so I go to a lot of the clubs where I can catch a live band. There’s a few alternative clubs downtown so that’s where you’d usually find me. In case you haven’t noticed I stick out like a sore thumb in places like these. “ Juliette appeared sad as she finished.
“What makes you say that?” asked Jacob, tilting his head slightly.
“All the girls in here, they’re really pretty. They’ve got great bodies, thin, you know? I mean, they’re the type of girls that you hockey types probably hook up with all the time. And who can blame you?”
Juliette’s attention moved towards a group of girls that were practically throwing themselves at Bo Horvat and Ben Hutton.
“But you’re really pretty.” Jacob said quietly, almost inaudibly.
Juliette looked at him, slightly stunned. Her mouth parted, as if she was going to speak, but the words wouldn’t escape. She quickly moved her gaze to her beer when his eyes caught hers.
“You’re sweet Jacob, I mean it was great of you to buy me a beer, but you don’t need to say stuff to make me feel better” she said quietly into her drink.
“I’m not just saying these things.” He replied flatly. “I think you’re beautiful, I dig your style, your tattoos. I dig you. You seem really cool and I’d love to get to know you, away from all this. I don’t know what you think us guys like, but I like what I’ve seen so far.”
Juliette looked up from the tattered label that she had been playing with the whole time he was speaking and searched his face for any sign that he was being insincere – any clue that he was just saying these things to get laid. All she could see was warmth and kindness in his eyes. She could feel her face going red again.
“Maybe…” she started, “maybe we could go and get coffee sometime?”
“Absolutely” He smiled.
She grabbed a napkin from the bar and searched frantically for a pen.
“Shit” she mumbled under her breath.
She rummaged around her clutch bag, pulling out a kohl liner and scribbled her number onto the napkin, Markstrom smiling the whole time. She pushed the napkin towards him. He immediately picked it up and put it in the pocket of the jacket he was wearing. Juliette slid off the barstool she was sitting on and picked up her leather jacket.
“Thanks for the drink, Jacob. I’m gonna head home now, I’ve had enough pop music for one night.” Juliette motioned her head towards the door.
“Anytime.” He said warmly. “You sure you’re okay getting home?”
“I’ll be fine. Thanks, though”
Juliette turned away from Markstrom and walked towards the exit. She sent Suzanna a quick message to let her know she was heading out and hailed the first cab she came across as she entered the busy street outside.
She settled back into the cab watching the neon lights pass by. She closed her eyes and felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. It was a message from an unknown number, her heart skipped a beat.
“Just in case u didn’t think I was being srs about getting coffee. Here’s my number. I had fun tonite, let me know u got home safe. Marky x”
Juliette felt her face flush and smiled from ear to ear. She’d had her reservations about coming out tonight, but as she re-read the text for the fifth time, she realised that it wasn’t so bad after all.

Notes

Sincerely hope you all enjoyed the first chapter :D let me know if you want a part 2 x