Chance Encounters of the Canuck Kind

The warm colours that had adorned the branches of the trees in Vancouver had become nothing more than a memory of autumn. Stanley Park had transformed from a palette of rich reds and oranges to a glittering landscape, frost clinging to the bare bark. Juliette and Jacob had made a habit out of coming for a walk here and was among their most favourite places to spend time together, Juliette relishing the fact that all but the most resilient of park-goers decided to stay indoors at this time of the year. The ground was dappled by the smattering of snowfall that fell late the night before, the first of winter, and Juliette was in her element. She loved this time of year, especially Christmas, and she was in love with the idea of being able to spend it with Jacob. She sighed audibly in contentment, causing Jacob to glance at her.
“Someone looks happy” he said bemused.
“Did I mention how much I fucking love Christmas?” she replied with a grin “Also, did you read that our chances of getting a white Christmas are up to about 20%?”
“No, I did not”
“Yup, this here…” she said, pointing at the thin veil of snow on the ground “this is just pre-snow.”
“Pre-snow?” Jacob laughed.
“Yeah, you know, the crappy snow before the good shit arrives. The snow you can actually build snowmen out of.”
“You’re insane!”
“You’re a snow Grinch!” she whacked his arm playfully.
“You’re obsessed! If I see you check your weather app one more time…”
“I need to know exactly when the snow is going to arrive, Jacob. This is serious!” she chuckled, noticing his incredulous look.
He placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closer, neither breaking their stride. He enjoyed being able to walk openly with her like this, especially since their relationship was now in the public domain. Juliette had been doing more with the other wives and girlfriends and had just participated in the Empty Stocking Fund which went down a storm. Giselle Sutter had taken Juliette under her wing and the pair had forged a strong friendship, much to Jacob’s relief. He had been taking her to team events and was overjoyed to see how easily she slotted into their group and her confidence was growing each day. The days where she would second guess herself and think that she wasn’t worthy to be his girlfriend were few and far between and she’d become more accepting of her appearance and body which thrilled him immensely. He took her appearance in as they walked side by side, her pale skin looked almost luminescent in the winter sun, the rays catching the wisps of her wavy hair that poked out from under her hat making them glow bright red.
“I can see you staring, Marky” she said coyly.
“Am I not allowed to stare?” He replied.
“Staring is fine” she smiled.
“Did you do something different to your hair?” He asked after a brief pause.
“I put a slightly darker colour on for winter, it’s less Marcia Cross in Desperate Housewives and more Christina Hendricks in Mad Men” she replied, glancing over to meet Jacob’s confused look. “I went a darker shade of auburn.” She clarified.
“I thought so. It suits you” he declared.
“I’m astounded that you even noticed, it’s not even two shades darker! Serious brownie points there Markstrom.”
“I’ve never understood that” he said. “If I guy is in a relationship there’s a strong chance that he spends a large percentage of his time looking at his girlfriend, how can they not notice when they change their hair colour?”
“I’m sure they notice if it was a drastic change, like from blonde to brown. You’re just weirdly perceptive.”
“I don’t view it as being perceptive” he mused. “I just think it’s the sort of thing you should notice.”
Juliette shrugged. She pulled her scarf up towards her nose and tried to stifle the shivers that her body was threatening to erupt into, the temperature had dropped as they approached the lighthouse and Juliette was feeling it. Jacob felt her arm quake slightly as it linked with his.
“Are you cold, babe?”
“No, I’m okay” Juliette lied, she was freezing but was enjoying being outside in the fresh air.
“Come on, let’s get a hot chocolate and something naughty to eat. 6 Degrees isn’t far from here”
“Then can we do some Christmas shopping? It’s like two weeks to go and I’ve done no shopping because I suck.”
“That makes two of us!” Jacob replied. “But sure, we can go downtown and do a bit of shopping.”
“Do you know where I can get a really ugly Christmas sweater from?”
“An ugly Christmas sweater?” Jacob asked confusedly.
“Yeah, you know, the really fucking awful ones with the hideous patterns and the itchy wool? Ralof was an asshole to me the other day. Well, when I say asshole, he was just being an annoying big brother. I want to get him something REALLY special for Christmas.” Juliette smirked.
“Ah yes, nothing says sibling love like a godawful knitted jumper.”
“Ho fucking ho” Juliette chortled.

Notes