Chance Encounters of the Canuck Kind

It was a Saturday morning in late November; Juliette awoke to find Jacob had already left to catch his flight to Buffalo, he would be gone for 6 days and she was getting more emotional than she’d like to admit at the thought.
“Shit” she said to herself. She’d hoped he would have woken her as he was leaving, if only so that she could give him one last kiss goodbye, despite the fact they’d spent the night before wrapped up in each other’s love. She reached for her phone.
‘Hey, not sure if you’ve already boarded your flight. Couldn’t remember what time you said it was. I thought you were going to wake me? :( xxx’
Juliette hit ‘send’ and dropped her phone into the empty space where Jacob had been only hours before. She closed her eyes and rolled over, inhaling deeply. His scent was all around her, the soft linger of his cologne on the pillow. She grabbed the pillow and, placing it to her chest, gripped it tightly. She allowed herself to get lost in the traces of him that surrounded her and drifted in and out of sleep for what seemed like hours but were in reality mere minutes. She was roused by the sudden shouting of Suzanna:
“WHAT THE FUCKING SHIT IS THIS? JESUS! JULES?! JULES?! HAVE YOU SEEN THIS SHIT?”
Juliette sat bolt upright, quickly blinking away the remnants of sleep that clung to her eyes.
“JULIETTE?!”
Julie leapt out of bed and snatched her robe from behind her door, putting it on whilst running down the stairs.
“Jesus, Suze. What the fuck is going on? What’s happened?”
She looked at her friend confused who was sat crossed legged on the couch, staring intently at the laptop.
“Did you know about this?” Suze asked, her voice tremored with anger.
“About what? What’s going on?” Juliette sat next to her friend who began to motion towards the screen – it appeared to be some kind of forum.
“Has anyone seen Markstrom’s new girlfriend? What is he thinking? She’s clearly a pity fuck who is now hanging on just so she can say she has a boyfriend in the NHL” Suzanna read. “What the fuck is this Julie? Did you know about any of this?”
Juliette was stunned, the colour quickly draining from her face.
“I… I… No… I… Uh, had no idea…” she faltered. Tears were burning her eyes, threatening to spill out in a torrent. She took the laptop from Suzanna and began to read for herself:
*Probably some skank he picked up in a bar*
*Have you seen the size of her? Better hope she pays for her own food if they go out for dinner*
*You’d think someone as hot as Marky could find a better looking girl*
*She must have a REALLY good personality, either that or gives good head*
Juliette couldn’t take any more. She pushed the laptop away from her and hurried into the kitchen, wanting to put as much distance between her and those vile words. She gripped the counter as she tried to steady her breathing, she was shaking with rage and humiliation. Suzanna hustled after her friend and embraced Juliette as she broke down in tears.
“Shhh… hey, sweetheart… don’t cry sweetie… shhhh”
Juliette sobbed even harder, gripping tightly onto Suzanna.
“Did you know about any of this, hon? That people were saying these things about you?” Suzanna asked.
Jules managed to squeeze out a “no” in between sobs. She couldn’t believe it. ‘How can people think that about me when they don’t even know me?’ she thought. ‘What have I ever done to them to deserve this?’
Almost as if Suzanna read her friend’s mind she said “Don’t give it a second thought, sweetie. Okay? They don’t know you. They don’t know shit. They’re jealous, okay? Jealous that it’s not them holding hands with him or out walking in the park together. They’re sad and pathetic. You’re better than that, you’re better than them. Rise above, sweetie. Don’t cry…” She stroked Juliette’s hair until her friend’s sobs subsided and placed her hands to Juliette’s face, wiping away her tears.
“You’re beautiful and strong. Don’t let anyone ever tell you differently. You’re the baddest bitch in town and you fucking own it, okay? Markstrom is fucking lucky to have you.”
Juliette smiled feebly at Suzanna, her face shining with tears: “You’re the best friend a gal could ask for, Suze. You know that?”
“I do” she replied with a wink. “You might have Mr Goalie, but just remember who your real OG is.”
Suzanna gave Juliette a reassuring hug and set about pouring the coffee that had not long finished percolating. With coffee in hand, the pair returned to the lounge and sat on opposite couches so that they were facing each other.
“So you really didn’t know about any of this?” Suzanna asked.
“I honestly had no clue” Juliette replied quietly. “I didn’t even know forums like that existed.”
“Are you going to tell Jacob?”
“I don’t know…” Julie fell silent.
“I think he’d want to know.”
“He told me not to look…” Julie said suddenly.
“Huh?”
“Jacob told me not to look on the internet at stuff like that. It’s why I made all my social media private so that I wouldn’t get bombarded with shit. I’ve made a conscious effort to stay off it to be honest, I was afraid of what I might find. It was out of sight out of mind.”
“Great” Suzanna groaned. “And here’s me just waving it in your face. God, I must seem really fucking insensitive right now. Please know I didn’t do it to make you feel shitty… that’s the last thing I wanted. I wasn’t even looking for it. I was just browsing and fell down the internet rabbit hole. You know how it is. Then I found that crap and I just got so mad. I was mad that these fucking strangers were saying horrible things about you and I wondered if you even knew about it all. I couldn’t bear it.”
“I know you weren’t being a dick, Suze. You know I’d never think that.”
“I just couldn’t stand it. How could people say shit like that. They don’t even know you.”
The pair fell silent, the sound of the rain pattering on the window cutting through the quiet.
“I think you should tell Jacob.” Suzanna said almost inaudibly.
Juliette paused.
“Later” she replied. “He’s got enough on his mind at the moment. He thinks Coach is going to give him the nod for Buffalo tonight, he doesn’t need this shit.”
“Just promise me you’ll talk to him.” Suzanna pleaded.
“Yeah” Julie said quietly. “Yeah, I will.”
***
Jacob disembarked the plane behind the Sedins, who were chattering between themselves in Swedish. Normally he’d join in their conversation but his mind was elsewhere. Road trips were always tough, but they were even tougher now that he and Juliette had decided to take their relationship to the next level. They’d spent nearly every available moment they had together and Jacob found himself waking up in her bed instead of his own more often than not. He switched on his phone at the first available opportunity and waited, hoping to see her name flash up on the screen. He wasn’t disappointed. He decided calling her would be easier than exchanging messages and hoped she wouldn’t be busy given the time difference. He knew she tried to fit as much in as she could on her days off but was pleasantly surprised when she answered.
“Hey!” he said jovially, happy to be hearing her voice again.
“Hi.”
Her reply worried him. Something was off.
“How’s it going?” he enquired.
“Fine. Things are okay here, still raining. How’s Buffalo?”
“Buffalo-ey” he’d hope to make her laugh with his remark. It was the sort of response that would elicit a giggle from her. There was nothing.
“Are you sure everything is okay, babe?” His voice was filled with concern.
“Yeah” Juliette replied, not even convincing herself.
“Håll inte hemligheter från mig, okej?” (Don’t keep secrets from me, okay?)
“Det kan vänta” (It can wait) she chose to reply in his native tongue. “I hope you get the start tonight, Suze and I will be watching”
“I’ll call you as soon as I’m back at the hotel.”
“If you win, I expect you to be out celebrating with the guys. We can always talk tomorrow if you’re free” she said.
Jacob knew that something was very off with her. He wanted to go to her and hold her until she felt better, he felt himself becoming frustrated at his inability to change the situation.
“Have a good evening with Suze” he said helplessly, unsure of what else to say to her.
“I will. Hope you have a good game.” She didn’t sound cold by any means, and he was in no doubt that her off-ish tone wasn’t an indication of ill feeling towards him, but he knew that something was bothering her and that she needed him.
“Jag älskar dig, Julie” he said softly.
“I love you too, Jacob.”
And with that, she was gone.
“Knull” he said under his breath. He threw his gear into the luggage hold on the team bus and climbed aboard. Settling himself at the back of the bus, he put his earphones in, a clear signal to his teammates that he didn’t wish to be disturbed and turned on his iPod. He scrolled down to the playlist *Shit Marky Needs to Listen To* (made lovingly by Juliette) and pressed play.
‘Starry starry night, paint your palette blue and grey. Look out on a summer’s day with eyes that know the darkness in my soul’.
***

Notes