Chance Encounters of the Canuck Kind

Juliette entered the softly lit room, two beers in hand and a takeout menu under her arm. She sat next to Jacob, tucking her legs under her and passed him the drink.
“Good flight?” She asked.
“Not too bad, knowing I was seeing you tonight made it bearable” He said looking at her with soft eyes, making Juliette’s face glow hot. She still blushed every time he said something sweet to her, almost like she felt as if she wasn’t worthy of his affection.
“Do you want to watch TV? Or a movie? I could put some music on, but I don’t think it’ll be much to your taste.” She asked, quickly diverting his attention away from her.
“How about some music? You could educate me.” He laughed.
With a smile, Juliette reached for her iPod off the coffee table and placed it onto the dock on the bookshelf next to her.
“How about some of the classics, Crowded House?” she asked.
“Crowded House?”
“You can’t be serious, Marky?” she giggled, looking at him incredulously. “You must know ‘Don’t dream it’s over’? Where have you been?”
Jacob shrugged with a laugh.
“Oh Marky… Marky, Marky, you are beyond hope!”
“Well, I never had you to educate me on these matters until now!” He protested, playfully prodding her in her arm. “You need to broaden my musical horizons!”
“I’m going to take you on a journey. A musical journey.” And with that, Juliette pressed play. She closed her eyes, taking in the opening riffs to the song, humming along to the words and singing along to the chorus.
“Ohhhhhhhh!” Jacob exclaimed, “I lied. I DO know this song!”
“I knew you hadn’t been living under a rock all this time!” Juliette laughed. She continued to sing along softly, Jacob watching her the entire time.
“You have a beautiful voice, Julie. Do you sing often?”
“Mostly in the shower, I’m not much of a performer – not really good enough for that.” She said.
“You should perform, you’re better than you give yourself credit for.” Jacob urged, looking into Juliette’s eyes.
Juliette wasn’t sure how much longer she could cope under his gaze, she was melting and was sure she’d be putty in his hands before long.
“I’m going to be honest with you Jools.” Jacob began, “I’ve never really been one for relationships, sure I’ve dated here and there, but I’ve never found anyone that I felt I had a deep connection with.”
Juliette stiffened in her seat; where was he going with this?
“I don’t know what made me come over to talk to you that night in the bar. You’re different to all the other girls…” he trailed off.
“I’m not tall, thin and tan like the girls that usually throw themselves at you, you mean.” She said, almost defensively.
“No! I don’t mean it like that.” He said quickly, picking up on Juliette’s remark. “God, I’m making a complete mess of this… What I’m trying to say is…” He went quiet, unsure of what to say. “I saw you, that night at the bar, I saw you and I thought ‘Marky, you need to talk to that woman over there.’ I don’t know why I thought it, but I did. And it wasn’t just because I thought you were hot, this wasn’t just a physical attraction thing, I could sense there would be chemistry there. Even before I came over to talk to you, I knew you’d be awesome.”
Juliette sat quietly, processing his words. “I’ve seen pictures of you with girls, from before. I’m not your type Jacob.”
“What is my type, Juliette?” he asked.
“I don’t know” she said hesitantly. “But I’ve never seen you with someone like me.”
“You mean with tattoos?”
“With my body” Juliette replied quietly.
Jacob looked at her stunned. “You say that like it should be a problem.”
“Well, isn’t it?”
“Fuck no.” He said firmly. “It never even crossed my mind. You are fucking gorgeous, Juliette. You have a beautiful heart, and a beautiful mind. You think I wouldn’t want to give you the time of day because you’ve got meat on your bones? I don’t know what kind of guys you’ve dated before that would make you feel that way, but I’m not one of them.”
Juliette could feel her eyes welling up. “So, what is this? That we have right now? Are we just casually dating? Because I don’t want to open myself up to you to have you walk out of my life when someone better comes along.”
Jacob looked deep into her grey eyes, now glistening with tears and tinged with fear. He knew exactly what she was thinking. She was afraid she was a stop gap. A passing fling until someone better came along. Someone prettier. Someone thinner. He knew he had to tell her he was serious about her, that he wanted her to be his and for him to be hers. No, he didn’t want to tell her, he wanted to show her. He leaned in, placing his hand on the back of her neck, his fingers entwined with her hair, and kissed her firmly. He pulled away from her lips, hovering close to her face, and looked into her eyes, trying to gauge her reaction. Juliette knew at once that Jacob was genuine, everything he said to her, he meant. Every word. She gave in to every desire and kissed him back fiercely, imbued with confidence from his words. Markstrom gripped Juliette’s hair and slipped his tongue into her mouth, running his free hand down her back. Clouded with lust, he pulled her onto him and peppered her neck with kisses, nibbling on the soft skin. Juliette was filled with desire, she wanted him, all of him.
“How’s about we take that shower now?” she whispered, her voice dripping with seduction.
Jacob lifted Juliette off him, he very much liked where this was going. Getting to their feet, Juliette took Jacob’s hand and led him out of the lounge towards the bathroom, the half-drunk beers left on the coffee table.

Notes