Chance Encounters of the Canuck Kind

Juliette combed through the racks of beautiful dresses in the boutique clothes store she’d found herself in with Giselle Sutter and Holly Donaldson, anxiety clawing at her chest as she continued to search for the perfect dress for the team New Year’s Eve party and with each passing hanger drew blanks. This was the fourth store of this kind they’d been to and so far Juliette hadn’t found anything remotely suitable. She watched wistfully as Holly appeared from the changing room, looking every bit the glamorous hockey WAG as the dress she’d tried on hugged her svelte figure beautifully.
“What do you think girls?” she asked.
“Oh, I LIKE that one” Giselle replied enthusiastically.
“Yeah… looks great, Holly.” Juliette barely managed to hide the envy in her voice as she glanced over her shoulder one last time to admire the brunette in the black cocktail dress, sighing heavily and finally giving up on her quest to find anything that would come close to fitting her in this, and in fact any, store. She dropped herself into one of the plush armchairs and rubbed her forehead. ‘Why did I ever think that was a good idea?’ she thought to herself. ‘Nothing in these stores is ever going to fit me, I should just make my excuses – okay, apologies – and get the hell out of here…’
“Everything okay, Jules?”
Giselle’s soft enquiry pulled Juliette out of her inner monologue.
“Oh, yeah, uh… everything’s fine. Just got a bit of a headache.” Juliette offered a weak smile to support her even weaker answer.
“You just seem to be in your own head, are you sure everything is okay?” Giselle’s eyes looked searchingly into Juliette’s, trying to wordlessly ascertain what was going on.
“Yeah! Everything is okay. Honestly!”
‘Way to go, Julie’ Juliette internally chastised. ‘Nothing says “I’m having a crisis and I’m trying my best to keep it together” like an overly enthusiastic reply. Just get your purse, say you’ve got to go and scram.’
“I, uh, I just don’t feel too good – clammy, y’know? I, uh, think I might have to call it a day and head home. I think I might be coming down with something, I should probably go and try and sleep it off…” Juliette moved to get up. “Thank you for inviting me though, Giselle. I appreciate it.”
“Hey, don’t mention it. You’re our friend, right? It wouldn’t have been right to come without you. I hope you feel better soon.” Giselle’s voice was laced with concern and she watched closely as Juliette headed for the exit.
“Thanks, say bye to Holly for me?”
“Sure thing.”
And with that, Juliette was gone. Giselle immediately reached for her phone and scrolled through her contacts, stopping as soon as she reached ‘MARKY’. She hit the sms button and began to type.
‘Hey, Marky. Just to let you know Juliette is on her way home – she said she didn’t feel too well, headache or something? I can’t help but feel like something else is wrong, though. She wasn’t her usual self and looked like she was struggling with something. Maybe you should talk to her? I wouldn’t normally say anything and I hope you don’t think I’m crossing some sort of line but I’m worried about her. G x’
Just as she was about to hit ‘Send’ Holly emerged from the changing room.
“Juliette trying something on?” she asked.
“She went home” Giselle replied. “Said she had a headache, I can’t help but feel like something was up and she just didn’t want to say anything. I think I should maybe mention it to Jake? Will you just read this for me and check I’m not overstepping any boundaries before I send it?”
Holly read the SMS carefully before handing the phone back to Giselle, saying: “He’d want to know if something was bothering Jules, she might not want to tell us what’s up but she might open up to him. I think it’s okay to send it.”
Giselle pressed ‘send’ and looked back up to Holly.
“I hope we’ve done the right thing.”
***
Jacob’s phone flashed from its resting place on the arm of the couch and he immediately picked it up, expecting it to be a message from Juliette. Seeing Giselle’s name on the screen, however, made him feel uneasy – the feeling only increased as he read the text.
‘Thnx, G. I’m home anyway so I’ll wait for her getting in. Did something happen? I can’t understand what’s going on. She was so excited to go out with u both this morning. I’ll tlk to her when she gets in. Speak soon. Marky.’
He typed his reply and responded immediately, the feeling of mild panic bubbling in the pit of his stomach. He had to approach the situation delicately, Juliette was not the most forthcoming when it came to talking about her own feelings and about what was going on in her head. Asking her outright what was going on wasn’t going to work. Time would tell if what he was about to do was against his better judgement, he dialled her number and pressed the call button. To his surprise, she answered after only the third ring.
“Hello?”
“Hey, gorgeous. You okay? Giselle just sent me a message and said you were on your way home, you not feeling well?”
‘Shit.’ Juliette thought. ‘Busted.’
“I just felt a bit headachey, probably just because the a/c was too hot in the stores” she lied.
‘Okay, she’s deflecting’ Jacob thought. ‘No choice but to play along, I guess.’
“That sucks, babe. Where are you now? I’m at my place, Ray is at yours with Suze and I didn’t want to intrude, did you want to come here? I’ll run you a bath and you can take a nap if you want.”
“Oh, I’m actually only 5 minutes away from you, you don’t mind, do you? I’d really rather not walk in on anything at my place that’s going to require me to need 10 years of therapy.”
Jacob let out a small chuckle at that.
“I don’t mind at all, I’ll get the bath running for you, pretty sure there’s still a small stash of your Lush bath bombs here – I’ll even use one of the glittery ones if you want?”
“But you hate being covered in glitter, you won’t get in with me if the water’s all glittery” teased Juliette.
“Juuust this once, I’ll make an exception if it will make you feel better.”
“It would.”
“I’ll see you soon, princess. Do you need me to let you in?”
“Nah, I’ve got my key. Thanks, Jake.”
The call ended and Jacob padded across his apartment towards the master bedroom, grabbing any and all candles he came across. He’d never been a candle person before meeting Juliette, even now as he set the various votives and tealights around the deep sunken bath of his en-suite he was sure that Juliette had bought him all of these and that he hadn’t actually purchased a candle for himself yet. He turned on the faucet and began to light the candles, dimming the lights in his bathroom in the process. While he waited for the bath to fill up enough for him to drop the bath bomb in, he ventured back into his bedroom to pull out a pair of Juliette’s sweatpants and a vest she’d left and laid them out onto the bed next to a pair of her fluffy bedsocks and one of his worn hoodies, the smell of his aftershave still lingering on the cosy fabric. Upon returning to the bath tub he picked up a pinky-purple coloured bath bomb that shimmered in the light and dropped it in the steaming water, releasing its soothing scent. The water fizzed and burst into colour, reminiscent of the last light of day clinging to the sky before night approaches, glimmering with the faintest gold of starlight. Jacob placed two fluffy towels on the warmer as the front door opened. He walked through the bedroom in order to greet a tired looking Juliette, who was in the process of unlacing her boots and shrugging off her winter coat. He crossed the hallway to meet her, taking the heavy coat off her shoulders and pressing a soft kiss to the base of her neck – brow furrowing as Juliette let out a heavy sigh, her shoulders dropping with the effort.
“Hey, älskling” he murmured.
“Hey”
“Your bath is ready if you wanna get in.”
“Yes please” Juliette mumbled in reply, trudging behind Jacob as he led her to the bathroom. “Smells like Twilight”
“If by ‘Twilight’ you mean the pink, gold shimmery one, then yes, it’s Twilight. It smelled like it could be relaxing for you.”
“It’s perfect” Juliette whispered, wrapping her arms around Jacob’s waist and nuzzling her face into his chest. He placed a hand on the back of her head and threaded his fingers through her auburn locks, massaging her scalp gently. Her body felt so limp and defeated against his own lean frame and he used his free hand to hold her against him by the small of her back, as if preventing her from buckling under the weight of whatever was bothering her. He tugged softly at the bottom of her blouse, a gentle reminder for her to get undressed for their bath; she obliged and began to work at the buttons, fingers still stiff from the cold Vancouver winter. Jacob delicately moved her hands away from the button she was currently struggling with and began to undo them on her behalf, eyes locked onto hers in a tender gaze. He very carefully removed the fabric from her body and ran his large warm hands down her arms and back up and across to her back to unhook her bra for her. Juliette unbuttoned her jeans and shimmied out of them, her underwear coming off with them. She stood completely naked before Jacob whose eyes were still fixed to her own, his soft stare unmoving; he offered her his hand which she took dutifully and he led her towards the bathtub, motioning for her to get in, never once letting go of her hand until she had completely lowered herself into the glistening water. He grabbed the remote for the speakers and pressed play, allowing soft acoustic folk music to drift through the room, volume not loud enough to be obtrusive, just soft enough to keep a wall of silence from forming. Juliette sank down into the water and allowed the heat to work through her body, inhaling the scent of lavender and ylang ylang with closed eyes. She laid there silently, but becoming increasingly aware of her own body. Her imperfect body. The body not small enough to fit into those beautiful dresses in those high end stores. The body not good enough to fit in with the rest of the Canucks’ wives and girlfriends. The body that sticks out like a sore thumb. She winced slightly, the feeling of shame rising in her cheeks and wishing that there’d been some bubble bath in the water so she could hide herself away under the bubbles, hide the rolls of fat on her stomach and the stretch marks on her inner thighs. Instead she lay there in the clear, purple water completely exposed. She could hear Jacob moving towards her and squeezed her eyes shut even tighter, tears burning behind the closed lids, ashamed that he had to look at her. She only opened them when he kneeled down at the side of the bath and placed his hand on top of her head, gently stroking her forehead with his thumb.
“How’re you feeling?” he asked her quietly.
“Tired” she replied, her response not 100% a lie.
Jacob allowed a few seconds to pass before breaking the brief silence:
“How are you really feeling?”
Before Juliette could reply her cut her off.
“Giselle text me, said you weren’t yourself and you looked as if something was bothering you. Don’t try to tell me everything is okay, Julie; I know you better than that and you know it.”
Juliette blinked slowly and swallowed hard, she knew this wasn’t a skirmish she was going to win. She couldn’t bluff her way out of this one.
“Take your time, älskling” he coaxed.
“I don’t know what to say” Juliette managed to croak out. “It all sounds so stupid in my head.”
“It’s not stupid, babe.”
More silence passed between them before Julie finally spoke again.
“I… I don’t think I can go to the New Year party with you” she mumbled.
“What? Why?”
“I… I just… I just can’t, okay?”
“Whoa, where is this coming from? You were so excited to go before. What’s changed?” the confusion evident in Jacob’s voice. “What happened today, babe?”
“Nothing” Juliette replied.
“Well something must have happened. You’ve done a complete 180 from this morning. Is money the issue? I told you this morning, you can take my card and buy whatever you want…”
“You’re missing the point, Jacob. Nothing happened today. Nothing happened today because I couldn’t find anything to wear because every dress I looked at didn’t come in my size. So I don’t want to go to this stupid party, okay?”
Jacob sat stunned, watching his girlfriend as she shifted uncomfortably in the tub, trying her best to hide her body away; trying and, in her eyes, failing.
“Is that what’s bothering you? You couldn’t find a dress?”
He noticed the spark of anger flash in Juliette’s eyes and steeled himself for her response. ‘Wrong response, Markstrom. WRONG RESPONSE.’ He thought.
“You think that this is just about not being able to find a fucking dress?” she spat.
“Well I don’t know, I don’t understand…”
“You’re right. You don’t understand at all” her tone was barbed and her look scathing. “You’re not listening to me!”
“I am listening!” Jacob was becoming exasperated.
“You’re not! You seem to think the problem is because I couldn’t find a dress!”
“Wait that’s not the problem? I thought you said you couldn’t find-“
“I couldn’t!”
“I’m confused…” Jacob shook his head and searched Juliette’s face, willing her to make eye contact with him. “Stop speaking in riddles and tell me straight.”
Juliette blinked away the tears forming in her eyes and sighed.
“I can’t find a nice dress to wear because… because I’m too fat for nice dresses.”
Jacob frowned.
“We went to 4 dress stores today” Juliette continued. “Not one of them carried anything bigger than a size 6.”
“Well that’s fucking stupid” Jacob blurted. “What sort of fucking clothes store doesn’t stock all sizes?”
“More than you would think” Juliette glanced down at her stomach and used her hands to cover the flesh. “Do you know how humiliating it felt for me to watch Holly and Giselle pull beautiful dresses off the rack and then go and try them on without a care in the world while I had to sit there and watch because there was nothing big enough for me to even try on?”
“Oh, Jules” Jacob’s voice was gentle as his fingers traced the skin of her upper back.
“I’m not good enough for you…” Juliette murmured.
“Don’t talk that kind of bullshit” Markstrom replied. “That’s not true. You know how I feel about you.”
“You should be with someone-“
“No.” Jacob cut her off pointedly. “No. I should be with you. No one else. You don’t get to decide whether or not you’re good enough for me. No one gets to decide that except for me. Jag är kär i dig.”
Juliette moved so that she was kneeling in the bath tub and eye level with Jacob, connecting her gaze with his.
“As long as you’re absolutely sure?” she asked.
“Kyss mig” he replied, bringing his hands up to cup Juliette’s face.
She leaned into him and pressed her lips softly against his, eyes fluttering closed. He held her there for a few seconds, before pulling away and lifting his shirt above his head.
“Do you mind having some company in there?” he asked as he unbuckled his belt and slid his jeans down.
“Not at all.” Juliette moved forward to make space for Jacob behind her. “The water is still warm.”
He lowered himself into the tub behind Juliette, sliding his legs either side of her and pulling her back towards him so her back was flush with his chest. Resting his chin on her shoulder he placed his hands on top of hers which were laid on her stomach, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.
“Would you feel better if just you and I went shopping?” Jacob asked.
“You hate coming clothes shopping with me.” Juliette replied.
“I don’t hate it.”
Juliette giggled at his response and looked over her shoulder at him.
“It’s just that there are other things I would rather spend my time doing” he joked. “Buuuut, I would come dress shopping with you if you would feel more comfortable having me there.”
“I really would” Juliette responded quietly. “Things are just… different with you. I don’t know, I can’t explain it.”
“Tomorrow sound good? We can go once I’ve been training and then grab a late lunch afterwards.”
“Sure.”
“We’ll find something for you, babe” Jacob said as he pressed a kiss to Juliette’s temple. “We’ll get you a dress and you’ll look absolutely banging.”
“Nobody says the word ‘banging’ anymore.” Juliette teased.
“Yeah, well I’m bringing it back, okay?”
Jacob began tickling at Juliette’s sides, causing her to explode into a fit of giggles.
“NO! PLEASE! DON’T START THAT! I’M SORRY! I’M SORRYYYYY!”
“Are you sure? Or are you just saying that so I stop tickling you?”
“JACOB! PLEASE! I REALLY AM SORRY, AH! NO!”
Jacob relented and ceased his onslaught, cradling Juliette’s body as her giggling subsided. He noticed her skin prickle with tiny bumps and rubbed his hands over her arms.
“You’re freezing, älskling! Come on, time to get you out of here and into something comfy.”
He moved out from behind her and got out of the bath tub first, grabbing a towel off the rail and wrapping it around his waist. He grabbed Juliette’s hands and helped her to her feet before taking the remaining towel off the heated rail and wrapping it around her shoulders, bundling her up.
“Come on, burrito..” He offered her his hand again and steadied her as she stepped out of the tub. “I’ve got some comfy clothes ready for you on the bed. We can go and chill on the couch and I’ll let you lay on me and stroke your hair until you fall asleep if you want?”
“Deadpool just got released on Netflix?” Juliette offered.
“It’s a date. Meet me on the couch in 10 minutes, I’ll go make the popcorn.”
***

Notes