#Andersen Shopper

[misshoneyimhome]

Better In Time I Frederik Andersen

[Prologue] [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4]

Summary: Seven years have passed since you last saw Freddie. Yet, when you unexpectedly run into him at a grocery store in your hometown of Herning, your summer plans take an unexpected turn.

Tropes & warnings: Frederik Andersen x reader, friendship, best friend!Freddie, dad!Freddie

Word count: 2.6K

➼｡ﾟ

July 2023

The memories of that summer in Toronto still lingered, a bittersweet reminder of the connection you once had with Frederik. You had crossed the ocean to visit him, eager to reconnect and see his new life in Canada.

However, as time passed and Frederik’s rapid rise in the NHL took off, you felt a growing distance. Despite your best efforts to stay in touch through messages and occasional calls, Frederik's increasing fame and your career in Copenhagen gradually pulled you apart. Your conversations became less frequent, distant echoes of a once-strong friendship.

It was no secret that you missed Frederik deeply but hesitated to intrude on his newfound success. He was finally achieving the recognition he deserved, and you didn’t want to be a distraction.

And back in Copenhagen, you threw yourself into work and embraced the city's vibrant culture, and Frederik’s presence slowly faded. What had once been regular communication dwindled to sporadic interactions on social media. And amidst the demands of adulthood, your bond was reduced to occasional likes and comments on social media posts.

It had been seven years since you last saw Frederik at Toronto Pearson Airport. But then when you suddenly turned around in the grocery store in Herning on this insignificant day in July, his unmistakable fiery red hair caught your eye. His imposing figure stood out among the other shoppers, and when he then came to look your way, his gentle smile felt like a warm embrace. Despite the time apart, seeing him felt deeply familiar. 

Running into him in the aisles of your local grocery store on a random summer afternoon was the last thing you expected. But there he was, just a few metres away, his gaze fixed on you with a mix of surprise and recognition. You froze, feeling the tension in the air as you locked eyes with your childhood best friend. Time seemed to slow down as you took in the sight of him, memories rushing back - your first kiss, the first touch, the second, and the third…

Your heart skipped a beat as his lips curved into a soft smile, breaking the heavy silence between you. It was a tentative gesture, acknowledging the years that had passed and the distance that had grown. Yet, beneath it all, there was a spark of something familiar, a connection that refused to fade despite the time apart.

With a sharp intake of breath, you found your voice, a subtle quiver betraying the emotions swirling inside you. "Freddie," you whispered, barely audible over the din of the supermarket.

He nodded, his gaze fixed on you as he took a few steps closer, gradually closing the gap between you. "Hi, y/n," he murmured, his voice soft but warm.

The air seemed charged with anticipation as you both stood there, in a moment that felt suspended in time. For a brief second, it was as if the world around you had vanished, leaving just the two of you linked by shared memories and unspoken feelings.

Clearing your throat, you did your best to find your voice. "Hi Freddie, didn't expect to run into you here," you said softly, managing a friendly smile despite the knot of nerves in your stomach. Clinging a bit tighter to your basket handle, you couldn’t shake the slight discomfort that came with this unexpected encounter.

But Freddie simply laughed at your comment, and you felt a wave of relief. Maybe, just maybe, you could get through this meeting without revealing the truth that had been troubling you for years.

"Yeah, it’s the off-season, so I figured I’d spend some time with my folks," he said with a wry grin, his easy-going manner helping to calm your nerves.

And just then, the brief silence was interrupted by the sweet sound of a child’s voice, bringing you both back to reality. "Mum, can we have pancakes for dinner?" The young boy bounded into your arms, his wide smile infectious as he looked up at you with excitement.

Chuckling softly, you affectionately ruffled his strawberry-blonde hair. "Pancakes for dinner, huh? But Grandpa’s firing up the grill, so you can have all the spareribs you want," you teased, returning his smile with one of your own.

"I love spareribs!" he exclaimed with enthusiasm, his excitement clearly spreading to you.

"I know you do, sweetheart," you replied, a warm feeling spreading through your chest as you gently stroked his hair and pulled him in for a hug.

And as your son then turned his gaze towards Frederik, a look of confusion crossed the goaltender’s face, his brow furrowing slightly. "Mum?" he asked softly, his eyes darting between you and the young boy.

You nodded in confirmation, a bittersweet smile tugging at the corners of your lips. "Yeah, a lot has happened over the past few years," you murmured.

But Frederik simply responded with a surprised, yet genuinely happy, "Oh wow… that’s – well… congratulations." His attempt at a smile was tinged with confusion, but he set aside his own feelings to focus on your news.

"Thanks…" you replied softly. 

“Mum, who is this?” your son asked, shifting the focus of the conversation. Taking a moment to steady yourself, you replied timidly, "Oh sweetheart, this is Freddie, one of Mum’s good friends from when I was younger," you said with a fond smile, gesturing towards Frederik. "Freddie, this is my son, Henry."

Frederik's expression softened as he looked down at Henry, a warm feeling spreading through him at the sight of the young boy. "Hi there, Henry," he said with a friendly smile, extending his hand towards the curious child. "Nice to meet you."

Gradually, the tension in the air began to ease, like a knot slowly loosening. Frederik's introduction to Henry added a warm touch to the atmosphere, smoothing out the lingering uncertainty between you.

And as a few more minutes passed, the awkwardness seemed to fade, giving way to a tentative sense of ease. Yet, just as you were about to say goodbye to Frederik and move on with your day, he stopped you with a question that slipped out before he’d even fully formed it.

"How about dinner tonight?" he asked, his words carrying a blend of spontaneity and curiosity. “I mean, what are the chances of running into each other like this…”

The unexpected suggestion caught you off guard, and you scrambled for a response. "Oh, um… sorry Freddie, but we’ve got plans…" you stammered softly, the words coming out in a rush. Though a sense of relief washed over you at the thought of avoiding the situation, a pang of disappointment tugged at your heart.

Frederik’s expression shifted briefly, a shadow of disappointment crossing his face before he gave a resigned nod. "Right… the spareribs, yeah, sorry," he murmured, his voice carrying a hint of letdown.

Another brief silence stretched between you until Henry’s sweet voice cut through it.

"Why don’t you just come and eat with us?" He suggested, his offer simple yet heartfelt. His green eyes sparkled with excitement as he looked up at Frederik, completely unaware of the complexities of the situation. And the unexpected invitation from Henry caught both you and Frederik off guard, momentarily easing the tension between you.

Frederik’s brows knitted in surprise as he glanced between you and your son, a faint smile forming on his lips. "Oh, uh, I wouldn’t want to intrude," he said, his tone hesitant but warmed by the genuine kindness of the offer.

But before you could respond, Henry's eager voice filled the air again. "Please, Freddie! It would be so much fun to have you join us," he pleaded sweetly and politely, his eyes wide with enthusiasm.

You hesitated for a moment, caught between the need to uphold the boundaries you had set and the desire for the familiarity and connection that Frederik’s presence could bring.

And noticing your uncertainty, Frederik gave a tentative smile. "Only if it’s not too much trouble, I’d really like to join you for dinner," he said, his voice soft yet sincere.

So, with a sigh, you gave in, the weight of your secret momentarily forgotten in the face of Henry’s innocent excitement. "Alright then, dinner it is," you said, a small smile forming on your lips as you looked at Frederik.

____

"Why… why did I invite him for dinner?" you muttered rhetorically, frustration edging your voice as you set the table outside, your father by your side at his house.

"Well, technically it was Henry who invited Freddie," your father chuckled, a mischievous glint in his eye as he turned the ribs on the grill.

"It’s not funny, Dad…" you replied, your mind still reeling from the whirlwind of emotions triggered by Frederik's unexpected appearance.

“Oh, come on y/n… you and Freddie have been close friends since you were kids – it’s only natural you’d want to spend some time together now that you’re both here,” your father said, his voice filled with gentle encouragement as he turned to you with a reassuring smile.

But you shook your head, a heavy sigh escaping as you met his gaze with a troubled expression. "You know that’s not what I’m talking about…" you murmured softly.

Despite the understanding look in your father’s eyes, he crossed his arms and sighed. “Maybe this is a sign that you need to tell him…” His words lingered in the air, a gentle but firm nudge towards the truth you had been avoiding for too long.

“I don’t know… isn’t it strange now that so much time has passed?” you asked, your brow furrowing as uncertainty crept into your voice.

“And whose fault is that?” your father raised an eyebrow.

“Well, it’s kind of Tom’s fault since he convinced me I might jeopardise Freddie’s career by telling him. We all know he’d be a stand-up guy, torn between choosing his career and the responsibilities of… an accident…” you explained, your words tumbling out with frustration.

"Hey, don’t call my only grandson an accident… just because the two of you were irresponsible…” your father said playfully, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

“You know what I mean, Dad… besides, this was my choice, not Freddie’s…” you sighed, the weight of your decisions pressing heavily on your shoulders.

“Well, maybe you should just tell him anyway… y/n/n, he deserves to know, and it’s not like you expect anything from him…” your father said, his expression one of gentle encouragement.

But before you could say anything more, Henry’s enthusiastic voice cut through the air as he dashed from the living room to the hallway, eager to greet your guest who rang the doorbell.

“I’ll get it!” Henry called out, his excitement clear as he welcomed Frederik into his grandfather’s home with open arms.

As always, Frederik was the picture of kindness and thoughtfulness. With a wide smile, he handed you a bouquet of your favourite flowers and a six-pack of your father’s preferred summer beers.

"It’s great to see you again, Freddie," your dad greeted him warmly, pulling him into a hearty hug.

It was well-known that your father had always had a special fondness for Frederik. Despite the age gap and the fact that he saw Frederik more as a son figure than a potential romantic interest for you, he had been fully supportive when you confided in him about Henry’s real father.

And as you all settled in for a lovely summer evening meal, the conversation flowed smoothly, filled with laughter and shared memories. Henry, especially, was brimming with excitement, eagerly sharing stories about his Ninjago LEGO collection and his dreams of becoming a pro hockey player, just like his idol.

"So, what position do you play?" Frederik asked with a playful smile, genuinely interested in encouraging Henry’s passion for the sport.

"Right now, we don’t really have positions… I mean, I’m pretty good at scoring goals… but I also really want to be a goalie one day," Henry explained with a sweet smile, his eyes gleaming with determination. “But mum and Grandpa sort of don't want me to be that just yet.”

Frederik chuckled warmly, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Oh, don’t worry, my parents said the same thing to me! How old are you, Henry?"

"I’m six!" Henry declared proudly, holding up six fingers to make his point.

"Well, you’ve got plenty of time before you need to decide on your final position," Frederik reassured him, his tone gentle and encouraging. "And who knows, maybe I can help persuade these two," he added with a wink, nodding towards you and your father.

Henry's eyes sparkled with excitement at the idea. "That would be awesome, Freddie!" he said, his enthusiasm palpable as he bounced in his seat. "Mum! Can I show Freddie my hockey cards?"

Despite the tiny lump in your throat and the growing sense that Frederik was beginning to piece things together, you couldn’t help but chuckle lightly at Henry's excitement. "Of course, sweetheart," you replied with a nod, your heart weighed down by the truth you were about to confront.

Henry quickly leapt from his chair and dashed to his room to fetch his small collection of NHL hockey cards. Meanwhile, Frederik couldn’t help but smile, clearly touched by the sight of the little boy you had raised with such love and care.

"He’s a sweet boy," Frederik commented warmly, turning to you with a gentle smile.

You returned his smile with a nod and a soft look. However, as the conversation shifted to a more serious tone, the smile faded from your lips, replaced by a sense of unease.

"Is there no dad in the picture?" Frederik asked gently, his tone both caring and inquisitive.

Your heart tightened at the question, knowing that the moment had finally arrived to reveal the truth you had been carrying for years. So, with a deep sigh, you gathered your thoughts, struggling to find the right words.

“I think I’ll go and help Henry,” your father said gently, sensing that you needed privacy with your old friend.

And left alone with Frederik, you took a deep breath, bracing yourself for the difficult conversation ahead. “Um… Freddie… I, um…” you started, your words stumbling as you fidgeted with your hands, the weight of the truth heavy upon you.

But before you could continue, Frederik’s puzzled expression stopped you. His brows furrowed in confusion as the pieces began to fall into place. “Wait… he’s six?” he asked, his smile fading as the realisation sank in. 

With a heavy heart, you nodded silently, your voice barely a whisper. “Yes… he was born in May 2017… after… I was in Toronto… visiting you.”

Time seemed to stretch endlessly as Frederik absorbed the weight of your revelation, his expression unreadable as he grappled with the enormity of what you had just shared. You held your breath, your heart racing as you waited anxiously for his response.

Then breaking the heavy silence, Frederik finally spoke, his voice quiet yet filled with emotion. “So, that means…” he trailed off, the unspoken implications hanging in the air.

You met his gaze with a gentle nod, your own emotions swirling as you confirmed his unspoken question. “Yes… Freddie, he’s your son…” you admitted softly.

The moment was a mix of relief and apprehension as you finally revealed the secret you had kept for so long. Yet, Frederik’s reaction was hard to read; his face was a mask of conflicting emotions that left you on edge.

And as you sat across from each other, the reality of your shared past settled between you, the air heavy with unspoken words and unresolved emotions.

Yet, before the tension could stretch any further, Henry's enthusiastic voice cut through the silence, redirecting your attention. “Look, Freddie, look!” he exclaimed, his eyes alight with excitement as he proudly showed off his cherished hockey cards.

[baltictraveluk]

Delicious Cuisines and Homemade Crafts – Ideal Gifts to Buy at Copenhagen Christmas Markets

There is little like a magical Christmas market to celebrate the festive season, with the scents of traditional food, twinkling lights and soaring Christmas trees, accompanied by a dusting of snow in the crisp December air.

Copenhagen Christmas markets are often considered the best in Europe, with multiple markets to choose between, from the famous celebrations in Tivoli Gardens to the Hans Christian Andersen Christmas Market, where little ones can visit Santa Claus to make the day even more memorable.

In this article, the team at the Baltic Travel Company has compiled a guide to the perfect gifts, Christmas decorations and sweet treats to buy at any of the Christmas markets dotted throughout the Danish capital city with some tips and advice for first-time visitors to ensure you make the most of your winter holidays.

Choosing Which Christmas Markets in Copenhagen to Visit

As we’ve indicated, there are many Christmas markets within the city, set against the backdrop of Copenhagen’s canals, cosy atmosphere and the architecture that is synonymous with Danish design.

While the best Christmas market in Copenhagen might be subjective, here are a few of our very favourites to visit during Christmas time:

Nytorv Square Christmas Market is held in the largest square in the city next to the Royal Theatre, Charlottenborg Palace and the Magasin Department Store. The market extends down to Nyhavn, with myriad charming stalls to visit while kayaks sail around the harbour.

Højbro Square Christmas Market in the city centre is a stunning market, bracketed by wooden stalls illuminated by 180,000 sparkling lights, with a range of heritage artisans to watch spin their crafts, such as blown glass and handmade wool.

The HC Andersen Christmas Market is smaller and based on the culture and history of Denmark, with a Christmas carousel that is a gorgeous photo opportunity.

Tivoli Gardens, the renowned theme park and visitor attraction, has a world of festive fantasy with rides, shows, performances and fireworks to offset the stalls and cafes.

Most of the Copenhagen Christmas markets are open for late-night shopping on Thursday and open between November and mid-December, with hotel recommendations available within walking distance from our experienced travel advisers.

Sampling the Delights of Traditional Danish Treats

The food typically served within a Copenhagen Christmas market is itself worth a visit, with an endless array of powdered sugar cookies, warming red wine, sweet apple slices, and other delicious snacks to try in between shopping, ice skating, or watching the floating Santa Lucia Parade.

Visitors can embrace the cosy setting of a local café or Copenhagen Old Town while they watch the traditional Danish Santa Lucia Parade or join in with carol singing and boat rides alongside the Nyhavn Christmas Market on the quayside.

You can purchase konfekt – made from marzipan, chocolate and nougat – as a special gift, buy vanilje kranse, or bow-shaped biscuits, or pick up some delightful snebolde (snowball) treats coated with a coconut topping.

During Christmas time, many shoppers also indulge in a hot dog cooked over smoking coals and a cup of sweet, fragrant mulled wine to keep themselves toasty while they soak up the sights and fragrances of a bustling Copenhagen Christmas market.

Looking for a festive gift that offers an alternative take on Christmas cuisine for a foodie friend back home? Head for one of the stalls selling brun kage or pebernødder (loosely translated as pepper cookies), a quintessentially Danish Christmas treat you won’t find anywhere else in the world.

Unique Gifts and Crafts to Look for in Christmas Markets in Copenhagen

A Copenhagen Christmas market is an amazing place to search for beautiful decorations, gifts and handmade items that will mean the world to the recipient – and you’ll have a wonderful time as you shop!

There are stalls selling everything from crafts and clothing to artwork, clocks, baubles, leather goods, garlands, glassware, wooden ornaments, children’s toys and knitted items that are a testament to the skill and passion of the artisans behind them.

If you’re stuck for inspiration, here are some of the gifts you can buy at almost any Copenhagen Christmas market:

Scandinavian hand-poured scented candles set in elegant glass votives are a must-have present for family members.

Ceramics and jewellery should be carefully packaged to keep them safe on your way home, but a handmade piece of Danish tableware or a gorgeous brooch will be sure to delight.

For kids, our preference has to be the traditional wooden toys, puppets, carousels and even chess sets. They will last generations and are lovingly crafted with exquisite attention to detail.

Nothing beats Danish knitwear for warmth and cosiness, and a pair of snug hand-woven socks, gloves or a scarf will easily banish the December chill at home in the UK.

Alongside these wares, you’ll find a wealth of decorations such as trinkets, ornaments and baubles to hang on your own tree or display over your hearth bringing the holiday spirit to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations.

Copenhagen Christmas Market Shopping FAQs

If this is your first time visiting a Copenhagen Christmas market, we appreciate that a few pointers may prove helpful and ensure you find the best Christmas markets and know the confirmed dates well before you travel.

While every Christmas market has convenient opening hours and will guarantee a wonderful atmosphere, it’s normally fine to pay via card if you aren’t carrying Kroner with you – although some stalls selling smaller items prefer cash, most have card readers.

The biggest Christmas markets in Copenhagen are enchanting but may be overwhelming for infants or those with mobility needs. Tivoli Christmas Market is among the most visited, but we’d suggest a trip in November to avoid the crowds and when the queues for the rides will be shorter.

Finally, city break copenhagen as a city is very walkable, and the public transport system is reliable and low-cost. However, if you’re worried about walking long distances, it’s best to note that most Christmas markets don’t open until around the late morning, and you should pre-book a taxi if you wish to ensure your day is comfortable and well-organised.

If you’d like further information or advice about planning your trip to visit the best Christmas markets in Copenhagen or other Christmas holidays, please get in touch or browse our short holiday break packages online.

Original Source: - https://www.baltictravelcompany.com/blog/index.php/denmark-2/gifts-to-buy-at-copenhagen-christmas-markets/

[spine-buster]

the storm before the calm (f. andersen) | 1

A/N: The prologue has 150+ notes...I can’t believe what a positive response it got!  Thank you so much for your support, comments, DMs, likes, reblogs, and tags!  It means the world!  Enjoy the first chapter :)

She could be at Early Mercy.

It was all Frederik could think about as he tried to celebrate Bee McTavish’s birthday.  She could be here.  She could be one of these people that keep looking at us, that keep brushing up against Auston and I trying to get our attention.  She could be one of their friends.  She could be in the washroom.  She could be coming, on her way now to Early Mercy, and she might walk through the door and I’ll see her.  It could happen.

That wasn’t to say that Fred wasn’t present and in the moment; having fun with his friends and celebrating Bee and her 24th year of life by buying drink after drink at the bar; but in the back of his mind, constantly, for the last three months – almost four – was the thought that in a random location in Toronto, in a random building, in a random place, he would lock eyes with the girl he’d seen in the middle of the night at Shopper’s Drug Mart and finally find out who she is, why she was crying, and why he was so devastatingly transfixed by her.

Fred had tried to find out who she was since then, almost obsessively so.  He was a man mesmerized and he needed to know.  He had tried to get the name of the band that performed at the function by contacting the heads of the charity, the head of public relations, the human resources manager, the man who answered the 1-800 call desk, even the poor accounts payroll manager whose email was listed on the charity’s website, but nobody would divulge the information.  He wasn’t allowed to know.  They weren’t under the discretion to divulge that information publicly (even though it was a public event).  He contacted the photographer who ended up uploading photos of the night onto his professional website (not one photo of her uploaded – what a load of shit), who expressed he couldn’t remember the name.  He tried remembering the members of his table that he had to schmooze with who could have picked up the name – nothing.  He scoured Instagram – the hashtags, the other girls that were there, the profiles, the tagged photos, the socialites he didn’t socialize with just to see if they had a picture with her or mentioned her by name.  He asked Brendan Shanahan if he knew.  He asked Kyle Dubas if he knew.  He asked every Leaf that was there that night if they caught the name, if they spoke to any of the members, if they took a picture, if it was in the background of another picture, if they remembered any minute detail that would give him a lead.  

Nothing.

His chest has been permanently tightened for almost four months now.  He needed to know.  He needed to find her.

“Serena’s here,” Auston’s voice interrupted Fred’s thoughts as he slammed his empty glass – his fourth of the night, at least – onto the bar beside Fred.  

“Who?”

“Serena – Serena!” he emphasized.  Fred’s face was still blank.  “Serena DaCosta, dude,” Auston said.  “Remember…we were hooking up a while back…”

“Oh.  Right.”

Auston looked at his friend skeptically.  “Dude, come on.”

“What?”

Fred could see the gears shifting in Auston’s head pulling him in two different directions.  Fred wanted to stop him.  Usually when this happened to Auston, it pulled him into conspiracy theory territory.  “Bro…you…you’re not hung up on Bee, are you?”

“NO!” Fred screamed, a look of disgust on his face.  “Jesus fucking Christ, Auston, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

“What?!  You can’t blame me for thinking it!” he tried to defend himself.  “Anytime she’s not in sight you look like someone ran over your dog.”

It’s because I’m looking for somebody.  And I can’t do that when the birthday girl is around.  “You’re a fucking lunatic.  And I know that’s the alcohol talking,” Fred shook his head.

“Then why do you look like someone ran over your dog?!” Auston persisted.  “The city’s hottest girls are in this damn club right now practically lining up to hook up with you and you seem to not give a fuck because of…what?  Hmmm?” Auston waited for an answer dramatically, sticking out his head, raising his eyebrows, and pursing his lips slightly.  “You can’t hate me for wondering.”

“Yes, I can.”

“So what’s the reason, then?”

“There’s no reason,” Fred shook his head again, taking a sip from his drink and hoping Auston would just end it.

But of course, that wasn’t the case.  Auston always had to explore the other side of the gears shifting in his brain – the non-conspiracy theory side.  The side that was – unfortunately – usually right.  “Wait a second…” Auston narrowed his eyes.  “Oh…dude.”

“What?”

“You’re not still hung up on that girl, are you?”

The hairs of Fred’s neck stood on end.  “What girl?”

“Oh, fuck off,” Auston said.  “The girl you’ve been obsessed with the last three months.  From the charity event.  That you haven’t been able to find.”

Fred didn’t mean to hesitate – he really didn’t.  But in his simple hesitation and shaking his head and stuttering out a “N – No,” Auston had him, Auston won, and Auston knew he was right.  

“Brooooooo,” Auston threw his head back in disdain for Fred.  “Let.  It.  GO!”

“Fuck off, Auston.”

“Are you honestly going to be hung up on her for the rest of the year?  For the rest of your life?” Auston kept asking.  “It’s already been three months, Fred.  You couldn’t find her.  You can’t find her.  It’s a lost cause.  You can’t let this dictate your life.  You’ve gotta…you’ve gotta move on.  If it was meant to be you would have found her already, and you haven’t.”

“Thanks, Auston,” Fred rolled his eyes.

“I’m serious, man.  Think about it.  You can’t get hung up on this girl when you don’t even know her name.  There’s so many other things you could be spending your time on, so many other girls you can be paying attention to, that can be paying attention to you, but you can’t even see it!”

Before Auston could continue his lecture, the girl Freddie could only presume to be Serena DaCosta appeared behind Auston.  Her long, wavy blonde hair and plump lips spread into a smile enticed Auston automatically.  “Hey,” Auston smirked.

“Heeeeeeyyyyyyy yyyoooouuuuu,” she drawled out flirtingly, giving him an unsolicited and dramatic kiss on the cheek.  “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for a friend’s birthday,” Auston said.

“Anybody I know?” Serena asked.  Fred could see the rest of her group of friends approaching them.  He held his breath.

“No,” he said sharply.  Auston knew better than to mention Bee’s name in front of girls like this, after what happened.  Not that he ever did, though, because Auston was somewhat protective of Bee too and didn’t want these types of girls even knowing about her.  “What are you doing here?”

Serena shrugged her shoulders.  “Just had a feeling that I should be out tonight,” she said, her eyes flashing towards Fred.  “Hey Freddie.”  Fred nodded towards her as he took another sip of his drink.  He didn’t even bother.  When her friends approached them, he clocked out altogether.  Serena got the hint.  “Auston, you remember Jessy and Rachel and Loren?”

“Hey ladies,” Auston winked at them, not remembering them at all.  

“Catch you later,” Fred said quickly into Auston’s ear, attempting to get up from his seat to go and find Bee, Morgan, and Tyler.

Fred saw Auston’s hand come up and hold him down.  “Have you met Loren?”

***

“Are you guys going to take a taxi home?” Bee asked as she clung onto Morgan for dear life.  After dancing the night away at Early Mercy, Fred knew Bee was ready to call it a night.  Auston had tried to convince the manager to keep it open (while Serena hung on his arm, nonetheless), but to no avail.  Special rules couldn’t be made for Auston Matthews.  It was law.  The manager was really sorry.  So everybody decided to call it a night.

“Don’t worry, sweetcheeks,” Tyler fumbled around with Auston’s phone.  “Our Uber’s just down the street.”  He looked towards Auston, another ping coming from his phone.  “That girl just texted you five times in a row.”

“Of course,” Auston rolled his eyes.

“Am I still sleeping over yours?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not cockblocking am I?”

“Far from it.  If you’re over it gives a legitimate reason for her not to follow us home.”

Tyler’s eyes widened.  “I’ll call the cops if I need to.”

“Freddie?” he heard his name called by Bee’s overly sweet voice.  “Freddie how are you getting home?” she asked as she approached him, clinging onto the material of his shirt.  

“I’m grabbing an Uber with Auston and Tyler,” he said, holding her in place so she wouldn’t fall over.  He loved seeing Bee like this, if only because she was so poised and in control of herself 99% of the time.  He loved seeing her let loose. 

“Are you going home?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to be safe?”

Fred giggled at her tone of voice.  “Yes Bee.  I’ll be safe.  I don’t know many people who would jump a six-foot-four, two-hundred-and-forty-pound man.  In an Uber.”

“But you always look so expensive,” she said.  He also loved that Bee had no filter.  “You always dress so nice and wear such expensive things and look put together and I once got told by this lady that people look for people who look rich because --”

“Bee --”

“Because it means they have money and did you know that thieves will actually target people who have sleeve tattoos because it means they have a lot of money if it means they can get all that work done?  So Auston has to be careful too.”

Fred couldn’t help but laugh as he saw, in his peripheral vision, their Uber come up along the curb.  Tyler was waving his arms like one of those flag guys on the tarmacs outside of planes.  “I’ll make sure Auston is safe, Bee.”

“Thank you, you big boy.”

“Alright!  Let’s blow this popsicle stand!” Tyler yelled from the car.  Fred gave one last ‘Happy Birthday’ and kiss on the cheek to Bee before shoving himself into the backseat (why, oh why didn’t they order an SUV?  His legs were going to cramp so bad), pulling an almost-drunk Auston in with him, and ordering Tyler to take the front seat (it should have been him taking the front seat, because, you know, leg room.  Tyler was 5’9”.  He could fit in the trunk.) so they could get on with it.  

Because they had ordered the Uber from Auston’s phone, the driver was bringing them to Auston’s address.  Fred made sure to tell him right from the get-go that he would need to make two stops.  The driver complied easily.  

“Did you like any of them?” Auston asked as he leaned awkwardly into the middle section of the backseat, looking at Fred with beady eyes.

“Like any of who?” Fred asked.  He overheard Tyler making awkward conversation with the Uber driver from the front seat, telling him his name was Inigo Montoya a la Princess Bride.

“Loren thought you were hot.”

“Oh for fuck sakes,” Freddie sighed.  “Auston--”

“Get over her,” Auston said authoritatively.  “She’s not gonna appear out of thin air, Fred.  She’s not just gonna appear in a Starbucks while you’re ordering coffee.  Loren is a real person,” he emphasized.  “With lips, and boobs – nice ones – and--”

“Auston.”

“Will you at least just think about it?” Auston asked.  “I hate seeing you so pissy.  You’re Frederik fucking Andersen dude.  You should be having every God damn girl in this city if you wanted.”

On the one hand, Auston had a point.  Fred hated to admit it, but he did.  Maybe he was too hung up on this.  Maybe he was over-the-top about his search, about his constant thinking about her.  Maybe it wasn’t meant to be, and he was just holding onto a dream that didn’t need holding on to; a dream that needed to stay unfulfilled, undone, incomplete.  Maybe he was trying to force fate – the last thing anybody should do.  

Fred took a deep breath as they felt the car pull up to the curb.  Out the window, Fred could see the façade of Auston’s apartment building.  “I’ll think about it.”

Auston smiled mischievously before winking.  “Atta boy,” he pulled himself up, opening the door to the car.  “Her Instagram is at lorenxoxo.  Thank you kindly, sir,” he directed to the Uber driver, saluting him dramatically.  “Slip into her DMs.”

“Goodnight Auston,” Fred dismissed him.  Fred watched as Tyler and Auston stumbled their way into Auston’s building, getting inside safely.  The car had been quiet from a lack of music, but as he saw Tyler open the door, the opening notes of a guitar riff began to play over the stereo.  

Suddenly, Fred heard the back door opposite his side of the car open, and a body slipped into the backseat beside him, closing the door once they were in.  The first thing he noticed was the abundance of thick, luxurious hair, styled in old Hollywood waves, cascading down the back and side profile, obstructing the view of her face.  Then, he noticed the outfit: a loose, spaghetti strap, silk v-neck top, lazily tucked into tight, seamless black pants, and strappy black heels.  

“Take me to Stewart Street, please,” the woman said to the driver.  Her voice was off, somehow, but Fred couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Ma’am – I – I already have a passenger.  I--”

“Stewart Street, please,” she begged, and Fred could hear in her voice that she was crying.

He looked up.

***

Aleida Casillas was crying.  Again.  She felt like she had been crying for months, that her tear ducts were getting their own workout now for how often she used them.  She cried in bed.  She cried in the shower.  She cried in her car.  She cried in her Ubers.  She cried in restaurants.  She cried in restaurant bathrooms.  She cried at her parents’ house.  She cried at her sister’s house.  She cried in her own house.  She cried on her couch.  She cried underneath a blanket.

She cried alone.  

And right now, she needed to get into the privacy of her own home so she could cry there.  But she’d have to cry in the back of an Uber to get there.

As she walked down King Street, she saw an Uber – she knew, thanks to the sticker on the back windshield – pull up and let out two drunken men who scurried into the glass condo building.  She ran towards the car as fast as her heels could carry her before it could drive away.  She opened the backseat door and slipped in, closing it behind her.  

“Take me to Stewart Street, please,” Aleida said to the driver.  She could hear the cracks in her own voice and hoped to God the driver didn’t make some sort of comment about it.  She didn’t think she’d be able to handle it.  She really didn’t think she could sob any harder at the back of an Uber more so than she had been doing the last few months.  Uber drivers in Toronto probably had her on their radar.

“Ma’am – I – I already have a passenger.  I--”

“Stewart Street, please,” she begged, looking down at her feet, her feet in their strappy heels, so she could wipe away her tears before the driver could know she was crying.  She wasn’t really listening to him.  She didn’t really care about what he was saying, truthfully, the other passenger be damned.  Turn it into an UberPool – whatever needed to happen for her to get home.  She’d even pay for the other passenger’s fare.  They could live all the way out in Scarborough.  Mississauga.  Aurora.  Newmarket.  She didn’t care.

“Holy shit.”

She looked up.

***

Fred was going to pass out.  

Her.

It was her.

He was pretty sure that his mouth was gaping open; that he looked like a complete idiot at the other end of the backseat, but his mind couldn’t process what his eyes were seeing fast enough.  The rich, dark brown hair.  The perfectly tanned and contoured skin as smooth and flawless as glass.  The dominant eyebrows that framed her face.  The perfectly cut cheekbones blushed and highlighted.  The lips, full and bow-shaped, painted with a neutral pink instead of the daring red he’d seen so many moons ago.  

Her eyes with their striking hazel irises, were staring directly into his soul.  Again.

She was here.  

In the car.  

Crying again.

“Fred,” his name escaped her lips quietly, the tears immediately stopping.  She was just as shocked as he was, apparently.  Because, really, what were the chances?  To be going home at the same time, to get into the same time…

“It’s you,” he said, not knowing what he was saying.  His brain was still trying to process everything, and it was doing a shit job.  

“It’s me.”

“Ma’am, you’re going to have to leave the vehic--”

“No no, it’s fine,” Fred said quickly, making eye contact with the driver in the rearview mirror, waving him off.  “Take her to Stewart Street.”

“You sure?”

“Positive,” Fred said without even looking at him.  Soon, he felt the gear shift into drive and the driver pull away from the curb.

The girl had begun to wipe the tears away from her face delicately, trying to mask her condition.  As if Fred didn’t catch it.  He watched her for a few moments as she stared straight ahead as to not make eye contact with him, not knowing what to say at all.  What could he say?  That he’d been obsessed with her?  That he’d badgered his teammates and strangers about her?  But before he could overthink it, his mind decided to say the one thing that was true.  “I’ve been trying to find you.”

She didn’t bother to look at him, still trying to collect her tears, her emotions.  “You have?  Why?”

He had to be honest.  “Your eyes,” he admitted.  It was at that point that she looked at him again, the hazel irises stabbing him.  “Your eyes are so sad.”

They were both hyperaware of the verb he used.  Are.  Because they definitely were sad then, and they were sad now.  For a moment, however quick it was, there was an acknowledgement on her face; it soon turned to anger – brows furrowed and lips pursed, looking away again.  “That’s none of your business.”

Fred acquiesced.  He knew that.  Maybe that was too forward of him.  “What’s your name, then?  I – I need to know your name.”

She shot him a glance.  Against her better judgement, she answered him.  “Aleida.”

“Aleida what?”

“Aleida.”

“How did you know who I was…am,” he corrected himself.  

Aleida gave him another look.  “Everybody knows who you are, Fred.  Goalie extraordinaire of the Maple Leafs.  Girls in this city would line up outside your bedroom if only you’d let them.”

It was Fred’s turn to give her a look.  That wasn’t true at all.  Well, not to him.  He could still go around some places in the city without getting recognized – especially when he was alone.  He mostly just kept to himself.  When he was with Auston it was a different story, since Auston’s reputation preceded him.  “Why don’t I know who you are?”

“Maybe you just weren’t looking hard enough,” she said.

That was a joke.  If she only knew what he had been up to.  If only she knew.  “Why aren’t you answering my questions?”

“Why do keep asking them?”

“Because I want to know who you are,” Fred hit back, more firmly this time.  Didn’t she get that?  Didn’t she get the reason why the first words out of his mouth were ‘Holy shit’ was because of exactly that?

“Ma’am, we’re here.  Stewart Street,” the driver said from the front seat.  “Wasn’t a log drive.”  He put the car in park and unlocked the doors, the sound dramatically filling the air.

She took once last look at Fred as she opened the door.  “My name is Aleida.  That’s all you will need to know more.”

And then she was gone.

***

Frederik found himself riding the elevator up to the 31st floor of the St. Regis Hotel.  The elevator attendant marveled at his size, trying to hide the fact that he was staring.  The other women in the elevator – four of them – stared too, trying not to giggle to each other.  But Fred could see their eyes.  He could see their eyes dart towards him and then to one another, smirks appearing on their faces, stifled little giggles escaping them as the elevator rushed up.  

When the elevator pinged, and the doors opened, Fred found himself at Louix Louis, the luxurious, gilded bar that had Torontonians salivating at the mouth.  It was the most luxurious of the luxurious.  Lavish.  Opulent.  You name it.  It was everything people loved about indulgence.  Everything people loved about exclusivity; about standing in line and not getting in; about calling for reservations and being denied; about watching people, seeing people, wanting to be seen, waiting to be seen.  

“Hey Fred,” the hostess winked immediately as he approached her podium.  “Auston’s been waiting.”

“Thanks,” he responded shyly as she grabbed a menu from beneath her.

“Follow me, sweetie.”

Fred shook his head and chuckled to himself as she turned her back to him, leading him down the bar and to one of the booths in the back where he could already see Auston waiting.  And of course, like the sky is blue, Auston was wearing a beanie.  He was the only person in Toronto who would wear a beanie in Louix Louis.

“’Bout time,” Auston smiled as Fred shuffled into the opposite side of the booth.  

“Shut up.”

“Serena, Jessy, Rachel, and Loren are on their way,” Auston winked.

“You didn’t,” Fred deadpanned, thinking this was just going to be a quiet night.  He should have known better.  He should have known better to accept an invitation by Auston to go to Louix Louis.  

“Oh, I did,” Auston smiled.  “She’s into you, bro.”

“Who?”

“Loren.”

“Who’s Loren?”

“Oh, fuck off, Fred.”

Fred rolled his eyes.  He couldn’t care less.  He decided to one up Auston; to tell him what he wanted to tell him ever since he agreed to go out with him tonight.  “I found her, by the way.”

“Found who?” Auston sipped at his drink.

“The girl.  Aleida.”

Auston almost spit out his drink.  “What?!”

Fred nodded his head.  “She got into the Uber the night of Bee’s birthday once you and Tyler left.”

“You’re fucking telling me--”

“Aaaaaaustttooooooonnn!” a perky, overzealous voice cut their conversation way too short.  From the opposite end of the bar, where Fred was let in, he saw the same group of girls from Bee’s birthday make their way towards them.  Their designer purses hung on chains against their shoulders as their long hair, perfectly blow-dried at some salon in Yorkville, moved with their scurried movements.  At Louix Louis, you wanted to be seen in the same booth as Auston Matthews.  

“Hey heeeeey,” Auston smiled, scooting over to make room while the four girls entered all on his side.  The girl Fred could only assume was Loren eyed him like a hawk, the waitress approaching the table not long after to get everybody’s drink orders.

Auston exchanged formalities with the ladies as Fred stayed silent, but he could tell that Auston was pressed about the news Fred had just revealed.  For all Auston seemed like he didn’t care about things and was generally aloof, he could be a snoopy bitch.  A really snoopy bitch.  And Fred could tell Auston wanted to talk about it so bad.

Fred thought he would wait.

But he didn’t.  

“Hey girls, can you help me with something?” he preempted quickly.  “Actually, it’s more so helping Fred.”

Fred’s eyes widened.  “N – No--”

“What do you girls know about a girl named Al-ay-da?” he stressed her name – improperly – eyeing Fred quickly.

“Oh my God.”

“Oh my God.”

“Oh my GAWD.”

“Aleida Casillas?!”

“Oh my God, are you joking?” Serena piped up over the other three.  “There is no way Aleida Casillas didn’t bite Fred’s head off if she met him.  That girl is a fucking cannibal.”

“What?  Listen, all I wanna know is the details,” Auston held his hands up innocently.

“What is there to say about Aleida Casillas,” Jessy quipped, and Fred felt like she was going to break out into the Regina George monologue from Mean Girls.  “You know who her mom is, right?” she directed at Auston, but looked between him and Fred.

“No, I obviously don’t.”

“It’s Dr. Casillas – she’s, like, the best plastic surgeon in the city.  The country.”

“Girls who go to her say she does the best work,” Loren contributed.  Fred so desperately wanted to ask if she had gotten anything done for her to say something like that, but he of course decided against it.  “It all looks so natural.”

“And her dad – he’s like, the best cardiologist in the country,” Serena added.  “I’m not exaggerating.  My cousin in med school once watched him perform a quadruple bypass and a ten hour ventricular restoration.  He’s even done heart surgery on a former Prime Minister or whatever.  He’s been honoured for his work all over the world.  It’s insane.”

“Not to mention the family is loaded.  She’s got everything anybody could ever want.  I mean, Aleida thinks she owns the city,” Jessy said.

“Well…she kinda does,” Rachel said something besides oh my God.  “She’s got all the money in the world, she knows everybody worth knowing, but like, she’s friends with them too, and people want her to wear their clothes or whatever, or come to their bars, or attend their charity events.  I mean, it’s mainly because of who her parents are, but still.  She sings, sometimes, I think, but I think mostly she just shows up places--”

“--she’s a model--”

“—she’s a model, and she’s pretty, and people are, like, scared of her, because I heard one time she, like, ruined the career of some up-and-coming influencer – or was it a designer? – but she ruined his career cause that person, like, didn’t dress one of her friends for an event or something and she went ballistic.”

“She’s a cannibal, like I said,” Serena said assertively.  “She’s a huge bitch.  Why would you want to know anything about her?”

Fred was shocked, to say the least.  The person he’d met – if you could even call it that – in the Shopper’s Drug Mart that night, and the person he’d seen in the backseat of the Uber could not have been the same person.  There was no way.  There was no way that crying girl was a ‘cannibal’.  There was no way.  The family stuff could be true, sure – who was he to question that – but the other stuff?  Ruining a career?  Impossible.  It wasn’t that Fred thought they were lying.  But maybe…maybe they had the wrong girl.  How many girls could be named Aleida?  Maybe they were…embellishing.

“Yeah.  Why would you want to know anything about her?” Loren asked, eyeing Fred like a hawk again.

Fred tried not to make it seem like he was physically uncomfortable every time she looked at him, but he was getting physically uncomfortable.  “She just performed at an event we went to,” Fred explained briefly.  

“I wouldn’t even think of like, doing anything,” Serena took charge again.  “She’ll rip your head off.”

Well Fred knew where she stood.

“Enough about Aleida,” Auston held his hands up again, looking past everybody at the waitress that was bringing their drinks to the table.  “What are we up to tonight?” he smirked.

Fred clocked out.  He didn’t care about anything that was being done or said around him – he didn’t care what those girls were saying at all.  He didn’t care.  He didn’t care.  He didn’t care.  

Casillas.

Her last name was Casillas.

He got up abruptly, asking a passing waiter where the washrooms were.  Auston was too entranced by the girls to care, so Fred had no qualms leaving.  As he made his way towards the washrooms, he pulled his phone out of his pocket.  He typed out her name into the Google search bar .  ‘Aleda Casiyas’

‘Do you mean Aleida Casillas?’

Well fine then.  

There she was on his phone screen.  It wasn’t like she had a Wikipedia page or anything, but perhaps even more important, especially in this city, was that she had her own tag on the Toronto Life website.  The Narcity tag was there too, but that wasn’t as important.  He clicked on the Toronto Life link.  

Aleida Casillas, wearing vintage Jean Paul Gaultier, at Soho House, Toronto.

What Aleida Casillas wore to the premier of Guillermo Del Toro’s new film.

Aleida Casillas is the face for emerging Toronto fashion designer Guinevere Jones.

“I’d be careful if I were you,” he heard an all-too-familiar voice behind him.  “Loren’s barely turned 18.”

Fred spun around dramatically.  

There she was behind him.  

He almost couldn’t believe his eyes.  Almost.  But if she could sneak into the backseat of his Uber, she could appear at Louix Louis.  She could appear anywhere.  And of course, she looked flawless.  Makeup flawless, hair flawless, all of it.  If she really was a model, he could see why.  “What are you doing here?” Fred asked.

“Who isn’t at Louix Louis on a Friday night?” she countered.  

Fred’s head whipped back and forth between the direction of the booth and Aleida standing in front of him.  He was willing to ditch this entire scene.  “Are you ready to talk?”

“About what?”

“Why you were crying in a Shopper’s Drug Mart at two in the morning four months ago,” Fred deadpanned.  “And why you were crying before you stole an Uber?”

Aleida’s face dropped.  Whatever confidence she had in her power and persuasion over Fred left her and was replaced with something else – that something else, Fred didn’t know yet.  But it wasn’t confidence, and it wasn’t self-assurance, and it sure wasn’t was the cheekiness she’d displayed in any and all interaction she’d had with him (however brief) up until this point.  “You don’t want to get into it,” she said, her voice soft.  And for the first time, emotional.

“I do.”

She looked at him.  “Fred.”

“Can we get out of here?”

Aleida took a deep breath.  She tugged on the hem of his shirt as she started walking away.  

He followed her.

She made an abrupt stop at the booth.  When Auston saw her, he didn’t think anything of it, but when he saw Fred behind her, his eyes went wide.  All the girls stopped talking and looked like a ghost had just appeared in front of them. 

“Ohmigod Aleida, hi,” Serena said first.  

Aleida smiled at her, but it wasn’t politely.  She focused her attention back to Auston.  “I’m taking Fred.”  She didn’t give him an option.

“Th-that’s cool,” he couldn’t say anything else to her.  

Aleida looked back at the girls, specifically Serena.  “I’m sorry, who are you?”

Serena’s jaw almost dropped from embarrassment.  It was clear to Fred that despite calling her a cannibal a mere ten minutes ago, Serena would butter herself up if it meant Aleida would eat her.  “It’s…it’s me!  Serena Da Costa.”

Aleida’s eyes flashed.  “Oh!  Right!  From my mom’s clinic!” she exclaimed, her surprise feigned and her polite tone just as fake.  She pointed at Serena.  “You came in with…” she went through the girls with her pointed finger, stopping on Loren.  “You!  How was your eighteenth birthday in June?  Looks like your parents allowed you to get the boobs you wanted.”

Loren looked absolutely mortified.  “I--”

“And your new lips,” Aleida focused on Serena again.  “Isn’t my mom just so great?”

Now Serena looked absolutely mortified.  But it was Auston who looked ready to crawl into a hole and die since she mentioned the eighteenth birthday party.  “Uh--”

“Anyways, see you guys later.  I’m sure one of you will want a nose job soon,” she winked at the group before walking off.

***

“So why were you crying?”

Fred was on Aleida’s couch now, after having followed her home by foot, walking for half an hour.  Half an hour along King Street West, illuminated lights and flashing storefronts lighting the way.  Eager clubbers spilling onto the streets tried to do their part to distract Fred or block him from following, but he was like a man possessed.  His eyes were like a hawk’s on her.  There was no way he was losing her again in a crowd full of people on King Street.

They passed the Shopper’s Drug Mart.  

It was when they happened upon a row of expansive, luxurious, modern townhomes, coincidentally just a few blocks from his building that Fred began to realize that maybe the things those girls were saying were right, or at least partly true.  But the other thing he realized made him want to scream.  He had searched for her for months and she was practically just a few steps away from him?  He understood the universe worked in mysterious ways, but this was just plain cruel.  That she had been so close to him, physically, and he had no idea.  It tore him up.  

They’d gone inside.  She took off her heels.  She’d opened a bottle of wine and poured it into two glasses before standing at opposites ends of her expansive kitchen island, staring at each other, waiting for the other to speak.  It was Fred who obviously broke first.  It was Fred who couldn’t wait any longer; who wanted to get to the bottom of why her eyes were – are – so sad that night, and in the Uber, and tonight.  Because behind her façade, he could see her sadness.  Behind the snarky comments she made towards those girls with Auston, Aleida Casillas was profoundly sad.  

She took a deep breath.  “My uh…my old piano instructor – from when I was a kid – she passed away earlier that day,” Aleida revealed, her voice low.

“Were you close?”

“I think I loved her more than I loved my parents when I was a kid.”

Fred was shocked to hear such a statement come out of her mouth.  Considering that he just learned who her parents were, it was…different for him to hear such a thing.  “Why?”

She shrugged her shoulders.  “She listened,” she said simply.  “No-one ever listens.  No-one ever…no-one ever listens.  To me.  But she did.  She listened.  More than anyone.  And she saw me."

“She saw you?”

“She saw me for who I was and not what she wanted me to be,” Aleida continued.  “She was the best.”

There was a moment of silence between them.  Fred was unsure of what to say.  He knew he wanted her to open up to him, but he wasn’t expecting…this.  Truthfully, he was expecting something completely different.  A breakup with a boyfriend, or at least a fight.  A disagreement with a friend.  A lost job opportunity or a firing.  But not a death of a childhood piano teacher.  “I just couldn’t get over your eyes – the sadness in your eyes.  And it’s still there.”

“Listen.  I don’t know what those girls told you about me tonight.  And I didn’t mean to make you scared that night when I called you Fred and knew who you were.  I just…you made it obvious that you didn’t see me in there.  Nobody did.  And that was a stark reminder to me of her being gone.  Anyway…there…there’s a lot going on right now, and nobody cares.”

He could tell she knew she was rambling; that she stopped herself from revealing too much.  He persisted.  “Nobody cares?”

“Nobody fucking cares,” she stressed before taking a long sip of wine.

“Well, can you tell me a bit about yourself?” he asked.  Her eyes flashed at him, her brows furrowing.  “So I can get to know you?  So I can care?”

“I’m sure those girls told you enough about me,” she commented.  “Whatever people say I am, I am.  Isn’t that how all this works?”

“No, and you know that,” he said.  “You apparently know all this information about me and about those girls with Auston, but why don’t I know anything about you?  Just be honest.”

“Well what’d those girls say about me?”

He paused before taking a deep breath.  “Cannibal.”

“Cannibal?”

“Serena said you were a cannibal.  Your parents – doctors.  Your family – loaded.  All the money in the world.  That you’re a model.  A bitch.  That you ruined someone’s career because they wouldn’t dress your friend for an event,” he listed off.

Aleida’s eyes narrowed at the last bit.  Her tone was as assertive as the click of her heels on the sidewalk on the way here.  “That designer attempted to sexually assault one of my best friends, so you’re damn right I ruined his career.  And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

So she was misunderstood.  Or at least her life was.  Fred still didn’t know.  “But what’s the truth?”

“Isn’t there a bit of truth in everything?” she asked rhetorically.  

“You tell me.”

Aleida couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.  “Everything they told you about me is true.  Doctor parents.  Loaded.  All the money in the world.  A bitch.  A cannibal.”

“Yet you cry about your piano teacher dying,” he commented.  Her eyes shot daggers at him at his comment.  For a second, he was sure he was going to die right then and there.  “You’re hiding behind this tough exterior and I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude but I think you care more than anyone.”

“Don’t you ever use that against me ever again,” she snapped back at him.  “I do fucking care, okay?  Everybody fucking cares, and if they say they don’t they’re liars.  That’s why Serena was practically salivating at the mouth when she saw me and couldn’t handle it when I pretended not to know who she was.  She’ll call me a cannibal but if I’m the shark she’s that fish that attaches itself and sucks the bacteria off my body.”  Her tone was so scathing, Fred had never heard anything like it.  She paused.  “You want to know the truth?  Here’s your truth.  I’m Cuban-Canadian.  My dad is one of the best cardiologists in the entire world and my mother is the best plastic surgeon in the country.  I’ve got an older sister named Alejandra who’s a plastic surgeon too.  I grew up in Rosedale.  I went to private school.  I received the best education.  I have millions and millions of dollars at my disposal whenever I want it and get to spend it however I want it.  People ask me to model their clothes, to go to their events, to say nice things about them.  They want me to sing and play piano and give this air that their event is high-end and exclusive and luxurious just because I’m there – because my presence apparently means something to a lot of people in the city.  And every single one of those people – my dad, mom, sister, her husband, everybody who wants something from me – they look at me, all the time, but they don’t see me.  And for once in my life…for once in my life, I just want to be seen.”

Fred listened.  It was all he could do as she went into her speech.  There were no words of comfort that could be said to her, no grand gestures that could be done to make her feel better.  He barely knew her – really.  He barely knew her.  He only felt a connection to her; to her and her sad eyes, to her tears, to the image of her cathartic crying at two in the morning in a drugstore neither of them had any business of being in at that hour.  

So instead, he stared at her.  He nodded his head in understanding.  Because he did understand, to some extent – how people in their lives look but they never really see.  It was something that bound them together.  In the vast city of Toronto, from the bright lights of King Street West to the luxurious décor of Louix Louis, to the couch they found themselves sitting on sipping on an expensive wine, it connected them.

He took a deep breath.  “So you play piano then?  And you sing?” he asked.  Aleida nodded her head.  He couldn’t read her emotion as she took another sip of wine.  “Can I hear or see you play sometime?”

“No.”

Fred nodded.  It would take a while for her to open up more.  To show him more of herself, to let her guard and her attitude down.  For her to allow him to see her.

But he’d be there for it.

[underthewingsofthblackeagle]

Norway attac - various reports

             A man wielding a bow and arrow killed five people and wounded two others near a grocery store in the southeastern Norwegian town of Kongsberg on Wednesday, authorities said. The two people wounded, which included an off-duty police officer, were being treated at a hospital. A police spokesperson told reporters the suspect has been taken into custody. The attack reportedly happened over a "large area" in the center of the town. Police were alerted at around 6:30 p.m. local time and arrested the suspect about 20 minutes later. The motive behind the attack is still unclear. 

             NORWEGIAN cops have charged a bow and arrow attacker who last night ruthlessly slaughtered four women and one man in a deadly terror attack. Muslim covert Espen Brathen, 37, unleashed a 35 minute killing spree in the town of Kongsberg as cops desperately hunted him down following reports he was randomly spraying arrows at shoppers. The horrific attack unfolded in the small town of Kongsberg, home to about 25,000 people 50 miles west of Oslo after about 6.30pm local time. As well as the five killed, two were wounded. Brathen, a Danish national who lives in the Kongsberg area, has been held in custody after he admitted to being the killer. He was believed to have been acting alone in the terror attack. Today Norway’s domestic security agency, known by its acronym PST, said the incident appeared to have been an act of terrorism. It said in a statement: "The investigation will clarify in more detail what the incidents were motivated by." Police said the Danish man suspected of the attack is a Muslim convert who was previously flagged as having been radicalised.

             Police are treating a bow and arrow attack in Norway that left five people dead as an act of terrorism. A 37 year old is being held after a man went on the rampage in the town of Kongsberg. Espen Andersen Braathen is a Danish citizen who is said to have converted to Islam. Sophie Raworth presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Mark Lowen. 

             Five people have been killed and two more injured in Norway after a man used a bow and arrow to attack them. Police first received word of an incident in the town of Kongsberg, south-west of the capital Oslo, at 18:13 local time (16:13 GMT). A Danish man aged 37 has been arrested on suspicion of carrying out the attack. Police believe he acted alone, and will investigate whether it was an act of terrorism, a spokesman said. Prime Minister Erna Solberg said reports of the incident had been "horrifying". 

             The man suspected of killing five people with a bow and arrows in Norway has been handed over to medical experts who will assess his mental health. A court is to decide on Friday how long Espen Andersen Brathen, a 37-year-old Danish citizen and Muslim convert, can be kept in custody. Investigators say he has confessed to Wednesday's deadly attack in Kongsberg, a town 68km (43 miles) west of the capital Oslo. The attack killed four women and a man.

[ivarsrideordie]

The Sleepover

Must be 18+ to read. No if, ands or buts.

Pairing: Alex Høgh Andersen x Reader

Warnings: Fluff, maybe angst, kissing, idk it’s pretty tame for me.

Title: The Sleep Over

Words: 2,724

Masterlist

This will also be posted to my  AO3  account in the future.

I wrote this for @honestsycrets for Christmas.  It’s a little late and I’m really sorry about that.  Also, thank you for the moodboard.  

If you would like to be tagged, comment or message me.  I’ll be happy to add you.

The sweet smell of sugar cookies baking in your oven fill your small apartment that sits atop a small insurance agency on a busy downtown Copenhagen street.  You crack one of your windows open, allowing your place to cool off a bit from all the baking.  The streets bustle with shoppers going from store to store gathering their last few Christmas gifts.  Felix, your black-tabby, jump up on the open windowsill and watch the little squirrel-sized people scurry through the street.  Distant horns honk every so often along with the sound of bicycle bells and angry shouts here and there.  

“Felix! Don’t jump out now.”  You scold him just as he decides to curl up on his window blanket.

Felix just looks at you, then starts to clean himself.

“Gross. So rude, Felix.” You say with a disgusted face.

You start making your last batch of cookies, this time, chocolate chip. Alex was coming to visit tonight so you had to make his favorite or he would never let you live it down.  your stomach flip-flops at the thought of Alex.  He is one of the funniest, kindest, happiest, handsome people you had ever met.  

‘Wait, did you just think handsome?’  You thought to yourself.

Sure, Alex is very handsome.  He has been a good friend for several years.

*Flashback*

You remember the day you met him.  You were with your friend, Josie hanging out in the park.  Alex and his friends were playing Frisbee.  Alex was showing off his skills and his friend threw it too hard.  Next thing you knew, Alex was falling headfirst into your picnic, knocking over the wine and stepping on the plates of fruits and cheese.  He did an acrobatic roll, landing on his back in the grass just past our blanket.  

You remember yelling at him, calling him a fucking dumb fuck and throwing some grapes at him.  Alex was beet red with embarrassment but laughed so hard when a grape smacked him on the tip of his nose.  You could have sworn he was looking at Josie the whole time he was playing Frisbee with his friends, but when he sat up from the fall, he was looking at you. He offered to pay for our wine and food and to get the blanket cleaned.  With your good nature, and even though you were pissed, you declined his offer.  But Josie snatched up his offer. She was the one who brought everything after all.  You guess you shouldn’t have declined for her.  

Josie decided she was no longer angry when his friends came over and started flirting with her.  She loved the attention.  She always got it, which is what surprised you. Alex was talking to you instead of her.  That never happened.  Ever.  

Alex asked for your number since she was busy, said he would call for me to come to get the blanket after it was cleaned and left with the blanket in hand.  A few days later, you got a text from him asking where we could meet.  At first, you were confused, not knowing who this stranger was.  All you could think was ‘Stranger danger!’  After a few texts of confusion later and he reminded you of your encounter in the park.

You remembered the way his light blue eyes searched your face, studied your features.  You guess you were doing the same.  You could still remember the little scar on his chin, how he had a smudge of dirt on his cheek, the way his voice was so soft and soothing.  You had decided to meet him on the pier closest to your place.  

You gazed out at the rippling water as you patiently waited for him.  your eyes closed at the touch of the canals slight breeze.  The time came and went.  You thought You had been stood up.  You weren’t too upset.  You mean, he probably had other plans and forgot all about you. You tried to hold back tears, but even in protest, they fell down your cheeks.  Just as You were about to turn back to walk back to your place, You saw him in the distance, running towards you with a big bag in hand.  He nodded in recognition and smiled brightly.  Your face instantaneously lit up with a huge grin.  He showed up. He actually showed up! Quickly, you wiped your tears from your eyes as he reached you.

“I am so sorry.  There was a line at the dry cleaners.  I thought I’d never get out of there.”  He said.

“It’s alright.  I was enjoying the nice breeze we have today.”  You lied.

“I don’t think I ever got your name.  My name is Alex.”  He said, holding his hand out to shake it.

You looked at his hand and grinned.  “Really?  We are going to shake?” You snickered.  “My name is Y/N.”

You took his hand, shaking it.  His palms were warm and calloused like he worked somewhere where he did heavy labor.  His thumb lightly caressed the top of your hand, his eyes locked on yours. You felt a warmth run through your body.

“Y/N? What a pretty name.”  Alex said with a smile.

He had to be joking right?  It is such a plain name.

“Thank you.  So is Alex.”  You joked.

He laughed.  His laugh was contagious.  It made your face light up and your heart sing.  His smile was as bright as the sun.  You know he’s not perfect, but how can he be so perfect?

“So, where is your friend?”  He asked.

Your heart sank into your stomach.  He did want to see her.  You knew it was too good to be true.

“I’m not sure what she’s doing today.  D-do you want me to call her or give you her number?”  You frowned.

It must have looked like you had the wind blown out of your sails by the way his face fell too.  You were trying so hard to hold back any kind of emotion.

‘I just need to numb myself for another 10 minutes, if that long.  This will all be over soon.’  You thought.  

“I just want to give her this.”  He said, holding up the blanket.

“Yeah. I got it.”  You said shortly.  “I’ll call her for you.”  You looked for her number in your contacts and pressed send.

“No! Please.  You can take it.”  He hurriedly said.  “I wanted to see you.  Please?”

You heard Josie pick up.  your end was silent.  Josie started asking if you were okay, if you needed help or if he hurt you.  You just replied that you were fine, you had her blanket and would see her tomorrow.  She hung up the phone after she sang her goodbyes to you.

“Please?” Alex begged.  

It was adorable.  You were trying so hard not to be mad.  

“I didn’t mean to upset you.”  He said, taking your hand in his. “So, Y/N? Would you like to go get some coffee or something?”

You blinked away tears, one trickled down your cheek.  Alex frowned when he saw this.  He placed his palm against your cheek, wiping it away with his thumb.  

“Sure. I’d like that.”  You said with a smile.

Alex gave a soft smile.  He held out his hand for you to take.  He walked with you, hand in hand to the nearest coffee shop.  The line was winding halfway down the block.  

You sighed.  “I don’t do this, ever, but since it’s such a long wait, do you want to go have coffee at my place?”  As soon as you asked, looked to your feet in embarrassment.  You couldn’t believe you just asked that.

“Sure! If you are okay with that, I mean.”  Alex said with excitement.

“It seems to be getting colder.”  You shivered.  

He took off his coat and placed it around your shoulders.  “Better?” He asked.

“Much.” You smiled warmly.

His coat was so toasty.  It smelled like him, the sweet smell of his cologne mixed with a tiny bit of his manly musk.  You breathed in deeply.  

Once you were back at your apartment, You made coffee and offered snacks.  You got to know each other and talked well until the sunset.  You wanted to kiss him.  You wanted him to kiss me.  You were afraid to make a move.  You didn’t want to ruin any kind of friendship you would ever have.  Alex kept reaching out, touching your hands, hair, cheek, shoulder, anything he could.  He looked at you in a way you had never been looked at before.  You were mesmerized by his stare, his eyes.  God, his eyes.  

Finally, Alex said he had to go.  He had work the next day.  He promised he would call or text or both.  You gave him back his jacket, never expecting to hear from him again.  Early that next morning, your phone buzzed with a text message.  You smiled.  

*Flashback ends*

The buzzer on the door rings and snaps you out of your thoughts.  The chocolate chip cookies are in the oven and baking.  

“Y/N, let me in!”  Alex hollers from behind the door.  “I’m freezing my fucking balls off out here!”

You giggle-snorted into the door monitor and pushed the button to unlock the door.  You heard Alex’s big clunky footsteps climbing up to your apartment. The alarm in your oven notified you that this batch of cookies was done.  You were removing the gooey chocolate chip cookies from the baking sheet onto wax paper when Alex walked into the kitchen.

“Ah! There you are!”  Alex said with a big bright smile.  “Did you know it is snowing?”

“No! Is it?”  You ran over to the window.  “Would you look at that?!” You grinned.

“I hear it’s going to get worse. I mean, I might have to crash here tonight if it gets too bad.” Alex winked.

“Well, you know where your bed is and where the blankets are if you do.” You smirked and pointed to the couch.

“Ah, man!  Come on!”  He whined.  “Can’t you sleep on the couch for once?”

“Nope! My house, my bed.”  You giggled.  “Besides, Felix will keep you company.”

The fat lazy cat lifted his head briefly when he heard his name being called.  

“Yeah. He seems to be the only pussy I have gotten in a while.”  Alex cackled.  

You shook your head as you tried to hide a smile.  

“So, why haven’t you got yourself some?”  You asked before you could stop yourself.

“Uh...” His eyes grew wide.  “Well, I guess I haven’t found the one.  Or maybe I have and I could be waiting for her to figure it out.  Either way, I can wait. Besides, if I really need it, that’s what this is for.”  He smirked and made the jerk-off motion with his fist.

“Oh, lord!”  You burst out laughing.  

His words made your mind race.  ‘Waiting for her to figure it out,’ kept racing through your thoughts. ‘What if he means me?’ Your heart fluttered.

“Are you making any more cookies?”  Alex mumbled through a mouthful of cookie.

“I hadn’t planned on it!  But I guess I better make more.”  You huffed.  Alex had already eaten half of the chocolate chip cookies. “What did you do?  Make a sandwich out of those?”  

“You know how much I love your fresh baked cookies.”  A big chocolaty smile spread across his face.  “I think it’s time you teach me how you make these.”

“Oh? You want to help instead of watch this time?”  You raised an eyebrow.

“Sure! Why not?”  He grinned.  “So what do we start with?”  He looked into the flour jar.

“Get three eggs from the refrigerator.  And the butter.”  You said as you reached for another clean bowl.  “Oh and the milk!”  You ran around the kitchen gathering the ingredients you needed, all the while humming to yourself.  

Alex had placed the eggs, milk, and butter on the counter and took a seat on the stool at the end of the island.  He watched you dance around the kitchen, picking up bowls, spatulas, spoons and measuring cups.  You brushed a stray strand of hair out of your face but it fell back in its awkward place.  Alex stood from the stool and helped you unload your arms from the miscellaneous baking items.

“Thank you!”  You said.  

Alex didn’t answer.  You glanced at him and noticed he was staring at you. This was a look you had never seen on his face before.  Alex reached out and tucked the stray hairs behind your ear.  His thumb slid over your bottom lip as he pulled his hand away from your face.  

“So, where do we start?”  Alex asked, pretending as nothing happened.  

You licked your bottom lip hoping to get some sort of taste of him. “Uhm, you want to put a few cups of flour in this bowl.”  You handed him the measuring cup.

Your tongue danced around your lips, licking still for more.  You watched Alex count out the cups of flour.  Your eyes trailed up his arms. His big strong biceps flexed.

“Now what?”  Alex smirked.  

His voice broke your trance.  You looked at his face to see him grinning. He chuckled under his breath when he saw your cheeks grow red with embarrassment.  You wondered just how long he was watching you watch him.

You cleared your throat.  “Put the eggs in.”  You dryly swallowed.

“Eggs? Gotcha!”  Alex said, grabbing the eggs and cracking them into the bowl.  

You were still playing with your bottom lip wondering what his skin tasted like, what his lips tasted like.  You were staring into space when you heard him.  

“How am I doing?”  A low growl next to your ear brought you out of your thoughts.  

Alex stood next to you, his face close to yours.  His lips so close to your ear you could hear him breathing.  You could feel the warmth of his breath on your cheek.  

“Looking good, Alex.”  You smiled nervously.  ‘Why am I nervous?  It’s just Alex!’

“Yes, you are.”  Alex whispered even closer to your ear.  

“What?” You squeaked.  

“You heard me.”  Alex said softly.  “You look beautiful today.”

“I-I...” You stammered just as Alex’s lips touched yours.  

You melted into the kiss.  Was this really happening?  Were you dreaming? His tongue licked at your bottom lip.  You were the first to break the passionate kiss.

“Alex,” You moaned.  “What are you doing?”

“Fuck, I love hearing you moan my name.”  He groaned.

“I thought we were just friends?”  You whispered.  

“We have always been more than friends.”  He said, placing soft little kisses down your neck.

You leaned your head back into his shoulder allowing his lips to glide down your skin.  His strong arms wrapped around your waist.  

“Why today, Alex?”  You whimpered as his nimble fingers trailed down to the top of your jeans.

“Why not?”  He nuzzled his nose under your ear, his warm breath sending chills down your spine.  “I’ve always wanted to be with you.  And I know you want to be with me.”

“I do, I have.”  You confessed.  

“So, I decided today would be the day.  If you kissed me back, I knew I was right.  If you didn’t, I would know I am in the friend zone and try to move on.”  He said and started peppering kisses down your neck again.

A moan escaped your lips.  Fuck, he felt good.  You had never felt this before with any other man.  His lips were like little electric sparks caressing your skin.  He had snuck his hand under your shirt.  His fingers were like fire. You giggled a little when he hit your ticklish spot.  He silently snickered.  

“Sorry.” He laughed.

“It is okay.”  You said.  You raised a hand, turning his face towards yours.  Your plump lips brushed against his.

“Should we finish the cookies?”  He said between small kisses.

“Fuck the cookies!  I’m going to bed.”  You smirked.

“Oh.” Alex frowned.

“Are you coming with me?”  You licked your lips.

Alex’s eyes sparkled in delight.  “Fuck, yes I am!”  He exclaimed.  

You couldn’t believe it.  He was finally yours.  You had been waiting for this moment for so long.  You took his hand in yours as you led him to your bedroom.  

@honestsycrets​  @lisinfleur  @therealcalicali​  @missrobyn81​  @dangerousvikings​  @ivarswickedqueen​  @bang-kim-bap​  @michaeliskindahot​  @heathen-whore​  @vikingsbifrost​  @hvitserksgirl​  @mblaqgi​  @ivarsshieldmadien​  @captstefanbrandt​  @funmadnessandbadassvikings  @titty-teetee​  @ethereallysimple​  @ivars-snowflake​  @babydoll7478  @inthenameofodin​  @ivarsheathen​  @microsmacrosandneedles  @trailerthoughtstexas​  @ivars-heathen  @cbouvier23​  @tierneygonzalez​  @dmv49​  @ivaraddict​  @akamaiden​  @readsalot73​  @moondustmemories​ @jxylynn-eliz​ @tayachristopher​ @ivarlcthbrok @slut4hazeleyes​  @cynthianokamaria​  @jadelynlace​  @xinyourdreamsx​  @car-karaoke​  @wallabieswisher​  @poisonedjoinery  @zarousa​  @winchesterwife27​  @rekdreams-fandom   @flokidottir-imagines​  @writingbyjade​   @ainatirb-j​  @tgrrose​   @inforapound​

[einkaufstrolley-vergleich]

Die beliebtesten Einkaufstrolleys Q4/2017 ➤ TOP 3 Einkaufstrolleys

Die beliebtesten Einkaufstrolleys Q4/2017 Auch das 4. Quartal des Jahres 2017 ist Geschichte, aber was waren die beliebtesten Einkaufstrolleys Q4/2017? Wir haben für Sie die TOP 3 Einkaufstrolleys, Einkaufsroller und Shopper zusammengestellt. (more…)

[daagencyde]

veloplace.com - der Online-Shop für Fahrrad- und Velozubehör in der Schweiz - da Agency

★ From da Agency Tech Blog ★

veloplace.com - der Online-Shop für Fahrrad- und Velozubehör in der Schweiz

Projektbeschreibung SEO Shop Optimierung einer Multichannel E-Commerce Plattform VELOPLACE auf Basis von Shopware 5 mit angeschlossenem Händlerportal mit Anbindung mehrerer Grossisten und Lieferanten. Einer unserer Mitarbeiter wurde ursprünglich als Freelancer im Bereich Frontend Entwicklung in P...

Read more: http://www.da-agency.de/referenzprojekt/veloplace-com-fahrradteile-bike-components-velozubehoer-schweiz/

[justxalphaxtails]

Open to: F | M | NB

Muse: Ivar Ragnarsson

Faceclaim: Alex Hogh Andersen

Universe Info: HERE

Ivar stood in the bedding aisle, always a popular place, and stared at the displayed items. So many soft things. Some warm. Some large. Some seemed oddly small like they were meant for cubs. Were they? No that seemed wrong in this aisle. Honestly he wasn’t completely sure. The compulsion had started six months ago and grown worse every day since. The desire to form a nest, find an omega and begin to court them. He ignored it at first. Then it became increasingly difficult to sleep. He had tried exercise, meaningless sex, drugs, and an impossible amount of alcohol. 

None of it worked. The Alpha was building a nest. However, he had no idea how to do it. Not a sweet clue what would appeal to an omega. Sighing he reached into a stack of blanket to pull out something that seemed rather fuzzy, unintentionally causing the entire stack to fall on another shopper. “Oh shit. I’m sorry.” he apologized as he reached over to try to relieve the other of the burden of numerous soft and fuzzy blankets that had just tumbled all over them.

[democracyin-news]

Car drives into a crowd in Berlin, at least one dead and a dozen injured

Car drives into a crowd in Berlin, at least one dead and a dozen injured

A vehicle drove into a crowd of people in western Berlin, injuring at least 30 people on Wednesday June 8. Odd Andersen | Afp | Getty Images A car drove into a crowd of people in western Berlin on Wednesday, killing one person and smashing through a shop window, police said, in a district of the German capital popular with tourists and shoppers. More than a dozen people were injured, a police…

[spine-buster]

the storm before the calm (f. andersen) | prologue

A/N:  Here.  We.  Go.  Canon questions welcome (even though this is just the prologue).

Frederik Andersen was tired.  He was tired, and it was nearly two o’clock in the morning, and he was walking down King Street West to get home.  Except then he remembered: he remembered he couldn’t go home yet, because he needed to pick up toilet paper, and he couldn’t go home without toilet paper.

Or aftershave.

Or toothpaste.

He could never just go home like he wanted to – there always had to be something.  Something that obstructed him from doing what he wanted to do, from getting himself to the comfort of his own home, from being the traditional homebody that he was.  Something always thwarted his plans.  Something always came up.

He sighed.  

He took out his phone and opened Google Maps to make sure he hadn’t walked past the 24-hour Shopper’s Drug Mart yet.  He knew it was a five-minute walk from his condo, but in the dark of night he knew it would be hard to see.  It also didn’t help that it was obscured within an old building, the typically large, LED-signage not present like with others.  Noticing that it was only the next block over, he hurried his pace, walking through the scores of girls in too-short dresses drunkenly tipping over on their stiletto heels grabbing onto one another for support and the boys desperate for their phone numbers following them out of the bars and clubs that lined the street with their phones in their hands and hope in their eyes.  

Because it was two o’clock in the morning, the Shoppers Drug Mart was empty.  There was one lady standing at a till, with all the self-checkouts still open.  He wasn’t even sure if the pharmacist was present, looking towards the back to see if his suspicions were correct.  It was quiet – so quiet he could practically hear the ringing of the lights above him.  The only interruptions were giggles from girls outside or cars revving their engines.  

Okay, toilet paper.

He grabbed a small basket, putting in a quick 6-roll package inside, knowing that it would probably last him until his next road trip, when – inevitably – he’d come home late at night and realize he was out of toilet paper and would have to run back to the same Shopper’s Drug Mart to get some so he could sleep peacefully.  

Toothpaste.

He walked a few aisles over and was greeted with the wall of toothpaste.  He grabbed an old favourite and chucked it into his basket.

Aftershave.

The previous aisle back.  He realized his usual was locked up in a cabinet, and he wasn’t in the mood to go ask the one lady working the till to get the key and unlock it just for him.  He had enough to last him.  He made the decision to come back tomorrow.  Or, technically, later today.  When there was light outside.

Was there anything else?

Deodorant.  He needed deodorant.  

He walked the few aisles over to where he knew the deodorant was, and as soon as he turned the corner, he saw a figure.  It was a person – that much he knew – in a stylish trench coat.  A woman – mounds of hair twisted and tied with a scrunchie in a messy bun atop her head, the wisps of hair she didn’t happen to catch cascading down her back in perfectly manicured waves.  Her back was to him.  She was standing right in front of his deodorant.  

He approached her slowly, making sure not to startle her – he was 6’3”, he knew he could startle people based on his size alone.  But the closer he got to her, he realized she wouldn’t move.  The closer he got to her, he realized she was either ignoring him or legitimately didn’t hear him.

The closer he got to her, he realized she was crying.

He heard it at first: soft sniffles, even softer whimpers, her body shaking slightly from her trying to keep it together and not descending into a full-on sob in the middle of the store.  He still couldn’t see her face – only her hands and her hair still – but it was still awkward.  He didn’t know what to do.  It’s not like he had ever encountered a crying girl in the middle of a Shopper’s Drug Mart at two o’clock in the morning before.  There was no precedent for this.  Fifteen seconds ago he thought he was the only customer in the store.

“Um…excuse me?” Fred asked in as gentle of a voice he could muster.

The poor girl jumped in shock.  She turned her head towards him quickly, like a flash, not long enough in the slightest to get a good look at her.  “Oh my God…” she mumbled.

“Are you okay?” Fred asked as she began wiping her face with her hand.  It was then, and only then, when she turned her head slightly to look at him, that he got a good look at her.

He knew that she was taken aback by his soft intrusion, but to say that her features took him aback was an understatement.  In less than a second, he was completely and utterly transfixed.  Rich, dark brown hair.  Perfectly tanned and contoured skin as smooth and flawless as glass.  Dominant eyebrows that framed her face.  Perfectly cut cheekbones blushed and highlighted.  Lips – God, her lips – full and bow-shaped, pained with a daring red.  

Her eyes full of tears, with striking hazel irises, were staring directly into his soul.

She was, quite possibly, the most strikingly beautiful woman he’d ever seen, and would ever see, in his life.

“I’m fine, Fred,” she said, in a voice equally as soft as his.  He noticed her shuffle away from him nervously, refusing to stay too close.  “I’m – I’m sorry – I –”

Fred’s brows furrowed at the mention of his name.  He had never seen this girl before in his life.  And he’d know if he’d seen her before.  How did she know who he was?  He knew he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs but…well…this wasn’t a girl who looked like she was into hockey.  He knew he should never judge a book by its cover and all that, but still.  “How do you know who I am?”

A certain look flashed across her face – a look he couldn’t read.  It could have been disgust.  It could have been sorrow.  It could have been surprise.  It could have been anything, really, and the fact that he didn’t know made him upset.  “I just performed at the function you came from.”

He was taken aback by her answer.  He had just left a charity gala – a busy one at that, with hundreds of people in attendance – and he’d heard the music being performed there…well, there was the music during the cocktail hour, and the performers during dinner, and the live band when the dancing started, and…she was there?  Which one was she?  He…he would have noticed her.  He would have listened.  If he saw somebody like her approaching the stage or at a piano he’d notice, God damn it he’d notice, but he didn’t remember…

“I’m sorry I’m in the way,” her voice interrupted his internal battle as she moved away.  Her heels clicked on the ground below them and each step further away from him was like nails on a chalkboard to Fred.  She turned the corner.  

“Wait – wait – who – are you sure – why are you crying?” he asked.  He wanted to move but his feet were cement, stuck to the floor like heavy columns.  He couldn’t even formulate the right words.  He sounded like an idiot.  The only thing that kept flashing in his mind – not the rows upon rows of different brands of deodorant – the only thing he could see in front of him were her eyes.  Her striking hazel eyes.

Bright but full of darkness.

Full of life but full of sorrow.

So vivacious but so unhappy.

After a few moments, Fred was able to get his footing again, his own shoes clacking against the floor as he rushed over to the end of the aisle to catch her in the next.

Except she wasn’t there.

He turned around, going to the next aisle.

The next aisle.  The next.  The next.

Not there.  Not there.  Not there.

He looked towards the window.  There were more people on the sidewalks now, since bars had their last call and everybody had to filter out.  He dropped his basket and ran outside, towering over everyone passing him.  He looked to his left to see if he could find her trench coat and heels walking through the crowds.  He looked to his right to see if he could find her messy bun and scrunchie.

She wasn’t there.  She wasn’t anywhere.  It was like she had disappeared into thin air, never to be heard of or seen again.  Was she a figment of his imagination?  Was she just a hallucination?  Something that his mind conjured up at two in the morning after a charity gala?  It was impossible.  This wasn’t Hamlet.  He wasn’t Hamlet.  No ghost was going to appear to him, speak to him, call him his name and know he went to a function that night.  No overtired or overactive imagination would do that – the least not his.

“Sir?  Sir are you going to pay for your items or should I re-shelve them?” the poor cashier called out to him from inside the store, lifting his basket in his arms.  “Should I ring you up?”

He took one more look to his right.  One more look to his left.  Nothing.  Should he ask the cashier?  That might make him sound like a stalker.  The last thing he needed was this cashier calling the cops on him because he wanted to follow a female stranger out of the store.

“Sir?”

He sighed.  He took in a big gulp of the crisp night air to make sure he was still…alive.  Cognizant.  Conscious.  He thought about the encounter: brief but life-changing.  At least for him.  He thought about her trench coat, her heels, her lips, her tears, her voice, her eyes; everything imprinted in his mind so they were unforgettable.  

He resolved: he’d scour every face in Toronto, he’d look into every pair of eyes until he found hers again.  

“I’m coming,” he finally called out, walking in through the out door.

[einkaufstrolley-vergleich]

Weihnachtsgeschenk ➤ Einkaufstrolley Teil 2

In unserer Artikelreihe "Weihnachtsgeschenk ➤ Einkaufstrolley Teil 2" geben wir Ihnen wieder Tipps & stellen drei interessante Trolleys zum Einkaufen vor.

Weihnachtsgeschenk ➤ Einkaufstrolley Teil 2

Nachdem wir Ihnen in unserem ersten Artikel dieser Serie "Weihnachtsgeschenk ➤ Einkaufstrolley Teil 1", drei sehr interessante Einkaufstrolley, Einkaufsrollern und Trolleys zum Einkaufen vorgestellt haben, folgen im Teil 2 weitere interessante Produkte die sich hervorragend auch als Weihnachtsgeschenk eignen. Diesmal mit von der Partie ist einer unserer Einkaufstrolley Klassiker, der Andersen Einkaufstrolley Alu Star Hydro, sowie der Andersen Royal Shopper Treppensteiger mit der Tasche Moro und der ROLSER Einkaufsroller Plegamatic Original MF.  

Der Klassiker "Andersen Einkaufstrolley Alu Star Hydro"

Beginnen wollen wir mit einen unserer Klassiker. Dem Andersen Einkaufstrolley Alu Star Hydro. Die Firma Andersen fertigt seit 1958, Einkaufstrolleys "Made in Germany". Dabei wird stets der Blick auf Funktionalität und Design gerichtet. Die so produzierten Einkaufstrolleys zeichnen sich durch eine sehr gute Qualität, extrem Haltbarkeit und langlebig aus. Die meisten Einkaufstrolleys der Marke Andersen lassen sich zudem Kombinieren. So können diverse Einkaufstaschen an die unterschiedlichsten Trolleygestelle befestigt werden. Somit steht den Kunden eine fast unerschöpfliche Vielfalt zur Auswahl. In einem unserer vielen Praxistests haben wir uns den Klassiker "Einkaufstrolley Alu Star Hydro" ganz genau angesehen. Sein eloxiertes Aluminiumgestell ist zusammenklappbar und wiegt nur 1,6 kg. was das Handling sehr positiv beeinflusst.  Der Einkaufstrolley Alu Star Hydro ist mit zwei Leichtlaufrädern (Durchmesser ca. 20 cm) und einer Vollgummibeschichtung ausgestattet, die mit nur einem Handgriff abgenommen werden können. Die Achse ist aus Stahl und für die Tragkraft von 40 Kg ausreichend dimensioniert.

Die wasserabweisende Einkaufstasche Hydro (35 cm x 67 cm x 24 cm) hat ein Fassungsvermögen von ca. 56 Liter und macht einen sehr wertigen Eindruck. Zwei Außentaschen mit Reißverschlüssen und seitliche Netztaschen bieten genügend Platz für die kleineren Einkäufe. Im Innenfach unterteilt sich die Einkaufstasche noch einmal in ein Hauptfach und zwei weitere kleinere Fächer. Zum einen, dass bereits erwähnte Thermofach und zum anderen ein Fach für z.B. Wertsachen das mit einem Reißverschluss ausgestattet ist. Die Einkaufstasche wird zudem noch von Metallstreben verstärkt was zusätzlichen Halt verleiht. In unseren ausführlichen Praxistest erzielte der Einkaufstrolley Alu Star Hydro, hervorragende 8,4 von 10 Punkten. Sucht man einen stabilen, robusten und langlebigen Einkaufstrolley, dann bietet sich der Einkaufstrolley Alu Star Hydro der Firma Andersen an. Allerdings kostet Qualität auch seinen Preis. Wir können diesen tollen Einkaufstrolley wirklich empfehlen. Und unter dem Weihnachtsbaum macht er bestimmt eine gute Figur.

Andersen Royal Shopper Treppensteiger mit Tasche Moro

Kommen wir nun zu einem weitere Einkaufstrolley aus dem Hause Andersen. Zum Royal Shopper Treppensteiger mit Tasche Moro. Auch bei diesem Einkaufstrolley steht die Funktionalität ganz klar im Focus. Wie der Name es bereits verrät, handelt es sich hier um einen Einkaufstrolley mit Treppensteigerfunktion. In unserer Sektion "Know How & Ratgeber, haben wir für Sie einen sehr interessanten Artikel verfasst, der Ihnen alle Details der Treppensteigerfunktion erläutert. Zum Artikel "Einkaufstrolleys mit Treppensteigerfunktion". Wie auch zuvor bei dem Einkaufstrolley Alu Star Hydro, haben wir es hier mit einem Einkaufstrolley der Marke Andersen zu tun, der vor allem mit seiner hervorragende Verarbeitung und seiner Funktionalität punkten kann. Die Einkaufstasche Moro hat ein Fassungsvermögen von ca. 49 Litern bei einem Eigengewicht von nur 0,9 kg. Des Weiteren besitzt die Einkaufstasche Moro ein Thermofach, ist wasserabweisend und aus strapazierfähigem Material gefertigt. Das Trolleygestell "Royal Treppensteiger" ist komplett aus Aluminium gefertigt und wiegt ca. 2,6 kg. Die max. Tragkraft beträgt laut Hersteller max. 50 kg. Des Weiteren verfügt der "Royal Shopper Treppensteiger mit Tasche Moro" über einen abklappbaren Griff und Fuß sowie über einen ausklappbaren Bügel. Leicht laufende Räder mit einem Raddurchmesser von 3 x 13 cm und einer Spurbreite von 49 cm verleiht dem Einkaufstrolley die nötige Stabilität aber auch Handlichkeit. In unserem Praxistest konnte der Andersen Royal Shopper Treppensteiger mit Tasche Moro, sehr gute 8 von 10 Punkten einfahren. Und auch hier sind wir davon überzeugt, dass dieser Trolley ein wunderbares Weihnachtsgeschenk ist.

ROLSER PLEGAMATIC Original MF – Einkaufsroller

Ein weiterer Einkaufsroller macht mit seinem außergewöhnlichen Klappmechanismus auf sich aufmerksam.  Der ROLSER PLEGAMATIC Original MF ist ein vollwertiger Einkaufsroller / Einkaufstrolley mit einem Volumen von 43 Litern. Das Besondere an ihm, er lässt sich kinderleicht zusammenklappen und hat dann nur noch die Größe einer Handtasche. Das Fassungsvolumen des ROLSER PLEGAMATIC Original MF beträgt ca. 43 Liter, die Tragkraft gibt der Hersteller mit ca. 40 kg an. Somit handelt es sich bei diesem Produkt um einen wirklich vollwertigen Einkaufsroller der im Handumdrehen auf die Größe einer Handtasche geschrumpft werden kann. Die wasserfeste und aus Polyester gefertigte Einkaufstasche besitzt einen großen Taschenüberwurf der durch einen Klettverschluss, verschlossen werden kann. Bauart bedingt fallen die Trolleyräder etwas kleiner aus (Durchmesser 11,5 cm), sind jedoch im "normalen" Alltagseinsatz absolut in Ordnung. Des Weiteren lässt sich die Einkaufstasche leider nicht vom Trolleygestell trennen. Dies liegt ebenfalls an dem patentierten Klappmechanismus. Man glaubt es kaum ... und daher muss man den ROLSER PLEGAMATIC Original MF einfach erleben. Der patentierte Klappmechanismus ist so genial und einfach, dass wir Ihnen die Handhabung, in einem kleinen Video Tutorial präsentieren möchten. In unserem Praxistest erreichte der ROLSER PLEGAMATIC Original MF Einkaufsroller sehr gute 8,4 von 10 Punkten. Wir sind davon überzeugt, dass dieser Einkaufstrolley das Zeug hat ein echter Knaller zu werden. Und gerade weil er so besonders ist, eignet er sich auch perfekt als Weihnachtsgeschenk.

Weihnachtsgeschenk ➤ Einkaufstrolley Es ist nicht einfach das passende Geschenk zu finden. Wir hoffen jedoch, dass Sie wieder einige schöne Anregungen finden konnten.  Falls nicht, dürfen wir Ihnen jetzt schon unseren Teil 3 zur Artikelreihe "Weihnachtsgeschenk ➤ Einkaufstrolley" ans Herz legen. Ihr Einkaufstrolley-Vergleich Team Newsletter

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[opticien2-0]

Ikea set to invest £1bn in becoming more convenient and accessible to shoppers in London and the wider UK

Staff in Ikea's first UK small format store, in London's Hammersmith. Image courtesy of Ikea

Ikea today says it will invest £1bn in London over the next three years as part of its long-term aim of becoming more convenient and accessible for its customers – both online and in-store. 

The investment, announced as Ikea opens its first small format store within a new Ingka Centres shopping mall in Hammersmith, West London, today, will focus on developing new and existing ways to shop and to socialise. They include city centre stores, such as that opening today, and new fulfilment and delivery capabilities. 

  Peter Jelkeby, country retail manager and chief sustainability officer at IKEA UK & Ireland, says: “Everything we do starts with our customers. Over the next three years, we will continue to transform as we respond to their needs and dreams, today and tomorrow. As one of the most innovative and exciting markets in the world for retail and ecommerce, we will step up our omnichannel investments in London with a simple goal: to become more customer centric, so that people can shop with us for a better, more sustainable life at home, whenever, wherever and however they choose.”

  The new Hammersmith Ikea store (pictured) is its first cashless store in the UK, with only self-serve checkouts available to buy the 1,800 products available to buy to take away, and a further 4,000 able to be ordered for delivery.

  The store, which also features in-store planning services for kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms, is designed to be easily navigated by busy commuters - with three entrances and exits. It is situated within the new Livat Hammersmith, redeveloped by Ingka Centres - the store arm of Ikea Group - which bought the former Kings Mall in 2019. 

  Cindy Andersen, managing director of Ingka Centres, says: “Today’s official opening of Livat Hammersmith is an exciting step on our journey in shaping next-generation meeting places that go far beyond shopping. We know that our visitors and the wider community want more spaces in which to meet, shop, live and work, which are fun, human and enable more sustainable living. 

  “Livat Hammersmith will offer just that. This new vibrant offer, designed to reflect modern inner city lifestyles with more regular visits and fewer journeys by car, provides a place where everyone feels welcome and is encouraged to come more often to explore amazing experiences while supporting the local community and the planet.”

  Rethinking stores – and collection

Ikea will open its Oxford Street flagship store in Autumn 2023, and says that stores will continue to be an important part of its business model - both as places to browse and as fulfilment centres for multichannel services including click and collect and click and deliver. Collect Near You lockers will also open for shoppers to collect furniture items, costing £10 for customers who live within a 45km radius of a locker, or free for orders over £200. 

  A new Dartford Customer Distribution Centre will open in December, increasing Ikea’s online distribution capacity by 20%, and enabling 24 hour deliveries. The centre will also mean, says Ikea, that 60% of deliveries into London will be zero emission from day one. That will count towards Ikea UK’s goal of 100% zero emission home deliveries by 2025. 

  Jelkeby says: “Whilst London is the initial focus of our city-centre approach, our vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. All of our efforts centre on creating happy customers, and we will learn from our London approach, whilst continuing to develop plans for other city centre locations as well as the wider UK and Ireland, to bring our offer even closer.”

  Ikea is a Top250 retailer in RXUK Top500 research. 

[nickgerlich]

Welcome To Snapazon

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any better for Amazon, along comes their collaborative project with Snapchat enabling shoppers to literally point and buy. The crazy thing is, this was all envisioned back at the turn of the century in a white paper by Accenture, the evolution of Arthur Andersen Consulting in the post-Enron era.

It’s all rather simple. Suppose you are with a friend, and you think, “Hmmm...I really like that blouse you’re wearing.” All you have to do is aim the app’s camera vision at that blouse, and Amazon will take over, performing a visual search. Once it finds it, you can then tap to buy.

Well, wham, bam, thank you, ma’am. That was easy peasy.

Of course, it also works with old-school bar codes, but what fun is that? You can’t always find one of those, especially if someone is wearing what you covet.

Here’s the crazy and creepy part, though. You could just as easily train that lens on a complete stranger across the room, or walking through the park. They would be none the wiser, assuming you don’t make an utter fool of yourself pointing your phone. With discretion, this could be used to effectively copy what others are doing without them knowing it.

Snapchat needs a shot in the arm, since it lost three million daily users in 2Q 2018. Its stock price has been languishing a bit under $10 a share. The novelty of Snapchat has long worn off, and all of its primary features copied nicely by Facebook and Instagram. Never mind that it also had a terrible revenue model.

As for Amazon, this is platinum on top of gold. They want so terribly to be in every moment of our lives, but sometimes it is just impossible to know what to search for in the first place. Visual search, which has been in development elsewhere this decade, is finally getting a commercial application.

There are limits, though, as you still cannot buy someone else’s coolness. There isn’t even a price on that, although you will be able to buy their clothes. Next time you are out in public and spy a stranger aiming their phone your way, don’t conclude they are just into street photography. They may very well be paying you a high compliment, that your fashion sense is far more forward than theirs.

Now if we could just get Amazon to pay us a referral fee.

Dr “See Me, Shoot Me, Buy Me“ Gerlich

Audio: https://soundcloud.com/nickgerlich/welcome-to-snapazon

[teambrowntrenchcoats]

Thank you to everyone who helped Team Brown (Trench)Coats complete 204 tasks in a week!

One can only play GISH with the help of family, friends, and kind strangers! We are grateful to everyone who joined in on a challenge, helped us locate an obscure item, helped us brainstorm how to find something, joined us in large group endeavours like the “I Will Vote” challenge, and generally took time to help us meet our crazy goal of completing as many challenges as we possibly could (and doing them well)!

When you look through our gallery of photos and images, please remember that it took at least a village to get these done!

We want to thank:

Allana Gerke; Alyson Karper Orr; Amanda Clark; Amy Massiah-Karwandy*; Amy Smith; Andie Giddings; Angela Kongelbak; Ann Hutchinson; Arline Smith; Ashley Semenoff; Bill Allman; Billie Meech; Birgit Zorzi and Elliott; @brassbelles; Brenda Henderson; Cali and Mark Mullins and their pet geese, pigs and Liquid the cat; Brian Fischer; Calcasieu Parish Public Library staff; Carrie Oswalt Gruhn; Carroll Lefebvre; Catherine Smith; C.D. Saint; Claire Fenton; Clara Kongelbak; Cheryl Lewis; Cheryl Noon; Chris Malcolm; Colleen Spier; Contessa Sookeroff; Corinne Bucher; Dan Sutherland; Danica Stene; Daniel Williams*; Dave Andersen; David Luggi; Diane Sowden; Dylan Winchester; Eliot Pearce; Elizabeth Manning; Emily Garland*; Eric Kongelbak; Erika Boelling; Fiona Kelly; Frank Martin; Fraser Valley Bengals; Fraser Valley Regional Library (Tsawwassen); Gina Anton; Global News; Greg Gerke; Gretchen Copenhaver and Nimbus; Gwen Semenoff; Hannah Burnett; Harvey Delaney; Ian Burnett;  In Out Parcel (Point Roberts, WA); Itamar Keren; Jackie and Ron Swallow; Jacqueline Fehr*; Janelle and Kenzie Clegg; Jean-Ann Stene; Jenifer Crawford and her dancing Swedish friends; Jennifer and Chris Casillas; Jenny Ting; Jereme Brooks; Jim and Sandy Shepard; Joan Cotie; Joelle Thiessen; Johann Carillo; Jonathan Der and 4 year old JJ; Julie Daum*; Justice Institute of BC Fire & Safety Department; Kai Winchester; Kalev Fitness Solution;  Karen Moffat; Kari Boyle; Katherine Coddington and Flick; Kathleen O’Neill; Katie Bailey;  Katie Stene; Katy Ellsworth; Kay Gejdos; Kelly Hayton; Kelsey Smith; Kent Highnam; Kiersten Sawchuk; Kris Woofter; Larry and Paula Nelson; Laura Eparvier; Laura, Darin, Christie and Charlie Johnson; Laura Smith*; Lauren Toews; Laurine Dane; Leslie Benham; Linda Dobson; Linda Mallard; Lindsay Wilkins; Lorraine Burnett; Lori Ecker; Lori Van Niekerk*; Marcella Snell; Marian Kito; Marilyn Hartley; Mark East; Mark Meredith*; Marsha Major; Matt Greer; Matt McDonald; Matt Williams*; @melirene13; Melody Hardesty; Michael Rott; Michelle Beda; Miggs Sawchuk; Miranda and Miriam Malcolm; Mitch Snyder; Mona Boucher; Myke Skidmore; Natalie Owens; New Westminster Farmers Market; New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services; Oni Buchanan; Ora Henderson; Osa Sjostrom; Paige Burnett; Paul Mounter; Pauline Rae; Raeleen and James Long; Red’s Grill; Rick Lewis; Robyn Hicks; Roger Holland; Roger Moss; Rosalind East; Rose Da Silva; Sana, Muhammed, and family; Sarah Fisher; Sarah Vander Veen; Scott Stene; Sethric; Shelby Delaney; Shelley Lewis; Shelley Martin; Sherry Elizabeth; Shoppers Drug Mart (Tsawwassen Post); Stephanie “Schroeds” Schroeder; Stephen Smith; Susan Boyd; Susan Copenhaver; Suzanne Pratt; Ted Field; Todd Gates; Tom Martin; Tony Faber; Townline Construction; Travis and Matt at Give and Take Tree Service; Tsawwassen Wellness Centre; Tsawwassen Town Centre Mall; Vanessa Kwai; Vivian Tang Ng; Washington Gish Facebook group; Wendy Lakusta*

*Former members of Team Brown(Trench)Coats that couldn’t play full-time this year due to schedules.

[happydaysandersen]

For Halloween you could be mine.

Halloween prompt 3. 

My last one guys, I do hope you like it. 

@dangerousvikings @dani-si

The high street was busy, with traffic and shoppers. You were excited to have spent the day with Alex. He had asked you to come to the Halloween drinks with his cast friends. You had agreed, enjoying his company, getting to know him the last few months. Remembering how you had bumped into each other on a night out, immediately clicking and having been dating since.  

“Y/N I don’t think I can go to another shop without a coffee stop” he sighed rolling his eyes. Causing you to laugh.

“it was your idea to go shopping the day of Halloween, for a costume” you huffed as he pouted back at you. His blue eyes bright, his lips plump.

“Well I didn’t realise everywhere would have sold out” he shrugged his shoulders before catching up to you.

“I think we have done well, having been shopping for about two hours and having no bags” you added as he smiled.

“Well you still don’t have a costume” he said nudging you with his shoulder as he poked his tongue out at you.

“either put that tongue of yours to good use, or back in your head Andersen” you stated, smiling at your own whit. Laughing after he looked at you wide eyed, causing you both to laugh hysterically. You were so caught up with laughing, you hadn’t noticed he had moved closer to you. As you looked up at him, his brow raised and a smirk framing his lips.

“What are you…” you whispered being cut off by his lips pressed to yours. Your lips kissing his back, his tongue gliding over your lip for entry. Your lips parted letting his in, your tongue meeting his half way. His hand making it to the back of your neck pulling you in closer, you tip toes pointing to give you some height, your hands falling to his waist for support.

He parted biting his bottom lip, his eyes looking at you as you sighed.

“you decided to put it to good use” you said nudging him and falling back on your heels. As he took your hand in his.

“I’m glad you agree” he whispered, pulling you in closer to him as you walked. Eventually finding a coffee spot. Alex knowing your order by heart decided to get the coffees in. You were looking at your phone for costume ideas. When the seat opposite you skidded on the floor boards. You looked up to find his blue eyes looking at you intently.

“Still nothing?” he asked as you shook your head finishing with a pout. “what if I said I have an idea?”.

“Do tell?” you encouraged, raising a brow at him placing your cup to your lips.

“well don’t laugh” he added as you placed the coffee down. Expecting him to say some Victoria secret angel or something involving being half naked. “be mine?” he added raising his brow placing his coffee down.

You couldn’t help but feel like you had misunderstood what he said.

“say that again?” you asked biting your lip nervously.

“for Halloween” he started, taking a breath. “you could be mine?” he asked with a smile when your face softened up at his proposal.

“Just for Halloween?” you asked faking mock hurt. As he let out a small chuckle.

“Well for however long but, I would like to stat with Halloween” he smiled taking your hand in his across the table. “Starting from today?”.

Your bit your lip, gave his hand a small squeeze. “Of course” you whispered as you leaned over the table and gave him a kiss. Your lips framing his perfectly, as he leaned up into your touch.

[spine-buster]

Hockey Masterlist

                                                         *     *     *     *     *

If you want to read the Masterlist in order, upon which the entire canon is built:

Alone, Together

The Storm Before the Calm

The President Wears Prada

The Space Series

Peaceful Easy Feeling

Patience is a Virtue

Structures

Meant Just for You

That Which We Are, We Are

To Sail Beyond the Sunset

Lost in the Memory

                                                         *     *     *     *     *

Brock Boeser

Extraordinary circumstances bring two extraordinary people together.

CONTENT WARNING: parents with disease/sickness (Parkinson’s); swearing; sex; alcohol use; lots of emotions.

Told as a sort of 4+1 series.

AO3 LINK TO PEACEFUL EASY FEELING

Peaceful Easy Feeling Series Playlist                      Grace Face Claim

Grace’s fashion

part one

part two

part three

part four

part five

Check out the Brock and Grace Canon tag for more insight into the characters and their relationship, especially the things you might not get to see in chapters.

Elias Pettersson

AO3 LINK TO THE SPACE SERIES

The Space Series Playlist          Svea Face Claim

Svea’s Fashion

Made of Outer Space     ~14.8k

Brock Boeser invites Elias Pettersson and his childhood best friend, Svea Nilsson, to his place on Prior Lake for the weekend.  Petey is feeling some feelings.  So is Svea.  And in a big group of twenty-somethings at a cottage on a summer weekend, what could go wrong?

Lips Like the Galaxy’s Edge     ~14.3k

Every new relationship has its growing pains, its ups and downs.  But Svea and Elias are back in Sweden, where everything is perfect.  And besides, they were best friends before they started their relationship.  So are the growing pains the same?

The Colour of a Constellation     ~15k

Life comes at you in moments.  Elias and Svea are on solid ground now.  Back in Vancouver after an idyllic time in Sweden, they are faced with personal decisions that will affect their future together – both on separate and different paths professionally, though personally their connection is stronger than ever.  Many things are up in the air, but one thing that Svea and Elias know for sure is that they will always be together.  So how hard could those decisions be?

Catching the Light     ~13k

Eleven years into the future, Elias and Svea embark on their next adventure.  They have tackled everything together in life thus far with the other by their side.  Now, it’s time to add someone new.

Check out the Elias and Svea Canon tag for more insight into the characters and their relationship, especially the things you might not get to see in chapters.

Frederik Andersen

“There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.” --Willa Cather

When Frederik Andersen finds a girl alone and crying in the middle of a Shoppers Drug Mart at 2am, her tear-stained face haunts him.  It’s all he can think about in the weeks following.  Who was she and why was she crying?

AO3 LINK TO THE STORM BEFORE THE CALM

The Storm Before the Calm Playlist          INSPIRATION BOARD FOR ALEIDA

Aleida’s Fashion

prologue

one

two

three

four

five

six

seven

eight

epilogue

drabble: game seven, 2021

Check out the Fred and Aleida Canon tag for more insight into the characters and their relationship, especially the things you might not get to see in chapters.

Jacob Markstrom

Jacob Markstrom is a star.  Always has been.  Wonderful brother.  Doting uncle.  Loving son and middle child.  Successful goaltender for a slew of Swedish, American, and Canadian teams.  Caring friend and thoughtful mentor.  Sees a girl in a Tudor bonnet and graduation robes at the Turf Tavern in Oxford one night, and his structures are built.

Geneviève Monette is a star.  Always has been.  Top of her class.  Wellesley College valedictorian profiled in national publications.  PhD at Oxford University.  Essayist.  Humourist.  Cultural critic.  Satirist.  Public speaker.  The new Franny Lebowitz.  The Joan Didion of the new generation.  Sees a guy in a Swedish football jersey with his buddies at the Turf Tavern in Oxford one night, and her structures begin to fall.

 Structures Playlist                                             Genevieve Face Claim

Prologue

Act 1, Scene 1

Act 1, Scene 2

Act 1, Scene 3

Act 2, Scene 1

Act 2, Scene 2

Act 2, Scene 3

Act 2, Scene 4

Act 3, Scene 1

Act 3, Scene 2

Act 3, Scene 3

Epilogue

Check out the Jacob and Geneviève Canon tag for more insight into the characters and their relationship, especially the things you might not get to see in chapters.

Matthew Tkachuk

                        Give me these years again and I will                         spend them wisely.                         Done with the compass; done, now, with the chart.                         The ferry at the dock, lit                         stern to prow,                         the next life like a footfall in my heart.

                        – excerpt from “The Night Ferry”, a poem by John Burnside

When someone asks you to think of the world, what do you think of?  Your own world – small, insular, personal, intimate?  Or the wider world – complicated, nuanced, complex?  Is it beautiful, or is it dark?  Can you see the beauty, or do you only hold on to the headaches?

She is new to the world.  Quite literally.  And she needs to learn about it.

Does Matthew Tkachuk have the patience to teach her?

CW: this story deals with cults, polygamous cults, escaping cults, strict adherence to religion, gender roles, abuse, miscarriage, and a character with a traumatic past.  Please be warned.

AO3 LINK TO PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

Patience is a Virtue Playlist           Effie’s Face Claim           Effie’s Fashion

Part One: Courage (12,744 words)

Courage is the virtue of having the strength to make difficult moral choices.    The virtue of courage enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and allows a person to still do the right thing despite the fear.

Part Two: Justice (14,635 words)

Justice is the virtue that consists of respecting the rights of each person and establishes, in human relationships, the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and the common good.  A just person determines what people deserve and never tries to deny it.  

Part Three: Temperance (15,503 words)

Temperance is the virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures, and provides balance in the use of created goods.  It is finding a balance in life.  It ensures a person’s mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honourable.

Part Four: Hope (14,585 words)

Hope is the virtue by which you open yourself up to the promise of joy from God.  It is placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit that you will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Part Five: Charity * (20,294 words)

Charity is the greatest of the theological virtues.  It defines charity as means participating in tangible acts of loving-kindness toward all others (friend or enemy) in unconditional and self-sacrificial ways.  Love (charity) may need to suffer or face things it does not prefer, but it does rejoice in the truth to the benefit of others.  Charity, the form of all the virtues, "binds everything together in perfect harmony" (Col 3:14)

Part Six: Prudence * (15,839 words)

Prudence is the virtue of being able to choose the right course of action in every situation.  It disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it.  A prudent person does not make rash decisions.  A prudent person overcomes doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid.  

Part Seven: Faith * (10,120 words)

Faith is the virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that He has said and revealed to us.  It is the belief and trust that God holds our best interests.

Epilogue: Patience (2899 words)

Patience is the ability to wait, or to continue doing something despite difficulties.  Patience is actually not a virtue!

Check out the Matthew and Effie Canon for more insight into the characters and their relationship, especially the things you might not get to see in chapters.

Morgan Rielly

“I like my own space,” Rielly says.  “My mom always commented on that, the way I liked to -- not necessarily be alone, but -- more or less, be alone.”  -- The Athletic, January 2019.

Bee McTavish and Morgan Rielly are thrust together after a waiter notices they are reading the same book in a Toronto restaurant.  Bee might be the only person in Toronto who doesn’t watch hockey, and Morgan might be the only person to actually appreciate that.

AO3 LINK TO ALONE, TOGETHER           The Alone, Together Playlist 

Bee’s Fashion

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4            one-shot: morgan and bee’s first time

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9          *

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14          *don’t read if you’re a prude

Chapter 15

                             one shot: morgan and bee babysitting henry gardiner

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18           one shot: what happened after they said ‘i love you’

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21          *

Chapter 22

Chapter 23          *         

Chapter 24

Chapter 25            one shot: fred rips morgan a new asshole at dinner

                              one shot: the morning after their huge fight

Chapter 26

                              one shot: morgan and bee have a conversation about money

                              morgan buys bee spring by ali smith

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31          *

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35          *

Chapter 36          *

Chapter 37

                             briony’s first new instagram post

                             the fallout.

Chapter 38          *

Chapter 39

Chapter 40          *

                              one shot: aryne finds bee playing with baby jace

                              one shot: bee and tyler’s phone call when he gets traded to edmonton

                              morgan celebrates his 26th birthday

                              drabble: game seven, 2021

          Epilogue 1: Never Be Alone

          Epilogue 2: My End and My Beginning    

                              one shot: morgan asking rocco for bee’s hand in marriage

          Epilogue 3: My Eyes

          Epilogue 4: The Sweetest Eyes I’ve Ever Seen

          Epilogue 5: Together

THE CONTRACT: Morgan signs an 8-year extension with the Leafs

Bee and Morgan’s Houses in Visuals

Bee and Morgan’s Wedding in Visuals

You can also check out the Morgan and Briony Canon tag for more insight into their relationship, especially the stuff you might not see in the chapters.

Nathan MacKinnon

Nathan MacKinnon and Sorcha Saint-Coeur grew up on the same street, and they went to the same schools, and they knew the same people, but they were not the same type of person. Nate’s friends made that clear every single day, and Nate didn’t exactly do much to stop them.

But life is never always just high school. People grow up and evolve, and they move on to bigger and better things. Nate definitely did, and so did Sorcha. It’s only when the past shows up again unexpectedly that memories from high school come back to haunt you.

And boy, does Nate show up unexpectedly.

ON HAITUS

AO3 LINK TO THAT WHICH WE ARE, WE ARE

That Which We Are, We Are Playlist

Sorcha’s Face Claim                                             Sorcha’s Fashion

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

ON HAITUS

You can also check out the Nathan and Sorcha Canon tag for more insight into their relationship, especially the stuff you might not see in the chapters.

Rasmus Sandin

Lusine Forrester lived a very sheltered life growing up, and the allure of the city always drew her to want bigger and better things than what she was given. But being sheltered comes with naïveté, inexperience, and innocence – things that are dangerous if one doesn’t smarten up. So, against the wishes of her family, she applied to university; when she got in, there were no second thoughts. She packed her suitcase and took the chance, moving into the dorms at the University of Toronto without looking back.

Rasmus Sandin, self-confessed maker of “weird decisions”, decides to help Lusine out of a horrible date in a coffee shop. What happens next is a whirlwind for both of them. Life in Toronto is very different than what Lusine is used to, and Rasmus is very different than the people she’s used to, but she grows to learn that – in this case – different is good.

Meant Just for You Playlist                                             Lusine Face Claim

the meet-cute.

the coffee date.

mutual pining, pt. 1

the third date.

the secret’s out.

the crossover.

the hurt/comfort, pt. 1

the female bonding.

mutual pining, pt. 2 *

the injury.

the first time. *

the watching her and falling in love.

the rescue romance. *

the new year’s eve party. *

mutual pining, pt. 3

the snowed in. *

the birthday party. *

the hurt/comfort, pt. 2

the hurt/comfort, pt. 2; continued.

the porn without plot.

the oh my god there’s only one bed.

the money mystery.

You can also check out the Rasmus and Lusine Canon tag for more insights into the characters and their relationship, especially the stuff you might not see in the chapters.

Ryan O’Reilly

Ryan O’Reilly and Whitney Napier have a secret.

Lost in the Memory Playlist

Whitney Face Claim                                                           Whitney Fashion

Prologue

Volume I

Volume II

Volume III

Volume IV

Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby and Juniper Brooks grew up together though they blazed through different paths: he, of course, as a hockey superstar, and she as a competitive ballerina.  Consistently being at the top of their game meant that they were the only ones who really understood each other’s intensity, discipline, and dedication to their craft. 

After thirty years, three Stanley Cups, and thousands of pointe shoes, Sidney and June are still faced with the questions that haunt every person in their thirties: who have they become?  What are they doing?  What are they going to do?  Will they be able to answer these questions with each other, or do things get more complicated as time goes on?

ON HAITUS

AO3 LINK TO TO SAIL BEYOND THE SUNSET

To Sail Beyond the Sunset Playlist

June’s Face Claim                                             June’s Fashion

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

ON HAITUS

Tyler Ennis

The Tyler and Tehilah Canon

Good Things Come...Playlist                                 Tehilah Face Claim

William Nylander

[ a modern re-telling of the 2006 movie “The Devil Wears Prada” ]

Aberdeen Bloom, a recent graduate from the University of Toronto, moves to downtown Toronto and somehow lands the job – executive assistant to Brendan Shanahan, president of the Toronto Maple Leafs.  “A million people would kill for your job,” she keeps being told about the man, the team, and the company she knows nothing about.  “It’s the dream job.”

So things shouldn’t get complicated.  Right?

AO3 LINK TO THE PRESIDENT WEARS PRADA

The President Wears Prada Playlist               Character List / Face Claims

Aberdeen’s Fashion

PROLOGUE

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN *

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN *

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE *

TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY-FIVE *

TWENTY-SIX

TWENTY-SEVEN *

TWENTY-EIGHT

TWENTY-NINE *

          the rest of auston and aberdeen’s phone call 

THIRTY

THIRTY-ONE

THIRTY-TWO

THIRTY-THREE *

THIRTY-FOUR

THIRTY-FIVE

          william tries to explain things to jason

EPILOGUE 1: IN AUGUST

EPILOGUE 2: A QUEEN’S CROWN

EPILOGUE 3: A LOVE SO TENDER

drabble: game seven, 2021

You can also check out the William and Aberdeen Canon tag for more insights into the characters and their relationship, especially the stuff you might not see in the chapters.