More Than Just Butterflies (Marianas Trench fan fic)

Chapter 3

It was raining when I landed in Vancouver (surprise, surprise). After grabbing my bags, I found a cab and made my way to a cheap hotel. Unfortunately, I hadn’t found a solid place to live quite yet but I had some money saved to stay in a hotel for a while. I also had my car brought to a storage bin so I could save money but not needing a cab to get me from place to place (my parents helped with that, they felt safer with me in a plane than driving all the way there).

I checked into the hotel and just laid on the bed.

Now what?

I didn’t start work for another three days, which means I had absolutely no plans.

“Guess I should start looking into apartments.” I said to myself as I picked myself up off the bed. There was no need to me to unpack because I wasn’t planning on staying in the hotel very long.

Vancouver was beautiful. The rain was pretty different from what I’m used to but that’s just because it rarely ever rained, and when it did, it would pour for like 5 minutes then be done (generally speaking). I loved walking around and just seeing everything. I also loved that I knew no one there so I felt no need to impress anyone. I didn’t care if my hair got soaked, I didn’t care if it screwed up my make-up and I didn’t care if my shoes squeaked on the tile. I was a new person here, I had a clean slate ahead of me and I absolutely loved it.

Still nothing apartment wise, but I started work finally, which means more money to invest in the hotel until I found a place. It wasn’t too different from back home, mainly just the computer system and since this was a bigger location, we had a bit more snooty customers than I was used to. That just comes with the territory of a luxury brand I suppose. Nothing really interesting happened until my third day of work.

“Texas!”

My head shot up instinctively and I looked around confused. There’s only one person who has ever called me that. Then I saw him. How could I have missed that tall blue and black haired man walk into my store? A smile grew on my face.

“Canada, what are you doing here?” I asked him, playing along with the dumb nicknames.

“I think a better question is what are you doing here? You know we’re not on tour right now, right?” Josh smirked as he walked over to me.

I walked out from behind the counter and gave him a hug.

“I’m here for good.” I beamed. “I just moved here a couple of days ago.”

“No way!” he said excitedly. “What made you want to come all the way up here? Couldn’t keep away from me?”

“Yes. That’s exactly why I moved here.” I laughed. “Actually, I wasn’t expecting to ever run into you guys unless I was going to a show.”

“Really? We do live here when we’re not touring and well, you know how I am. I like to dress snazzy and waste all my money on ridiculous clothes.”

I laughed again while he smiled at his own joke. “So you’re working in one of my favorite stores?”

“No. I just like to dress up like all the other employees here and help people buy expensive things. Just for kicks.” I said sarcastically.

He laughed and then whispered, “So can you hook me up with some discount or something?”

I pretended to look appalled, “Oh, Mr. Ramsay! Are you trying to get me fired within my first few days here?”

He chuckled a little, “Don’t call me ‘Mr. Ramsay.’ I mean, you can’t be that much younger than me, but even then, that just sounds weird.”

I giggled, “I’m just a couple years behind you.”

“Just out of curiosity, how many is a ‘couple?’”

“Like I can count on one hand how many years apart we are.” I said while holding up my hand.

“That’s not too bad. I didn’t want to suddenly feel creepy.” He laughed.

I was only three years younger than him, but a lady never reveals her age. Honestly, I don’t care, I just think it’s more fun and mysterious that way (psh, obviously I’m not that mysterious).

“Not at all.” I laughed.

“Hey,” he said changing subjects. “So what are you doing after work today? You probably haven’t had a proper introduction to the wonderful city of Vancouver, have you?”

“Well I passed a sign that said ‘Welcome to Vancouver’ on it once I got off the plane. Does that count?”

“No.” he laughed. “The guys and I were thinking about hanging out downtown later tonight. Would you want to join us?”

I couldn’t help but smile at the offer. “Sure! Of course! When and where do you guys want me to meet you?”

“How about this?” Josh said while pulling out his phone. “Why don’t you give me your number and we can work out the details later?”

I gave him a sheepish grin, “Well I would but…”

“But what? You don’t trust me?” he asked, pretending he was hurt by my words.

“I haven’t been here long enough to find an actual apartment or get a phone here. And international texts cost a fortune.”

“Well then,” he said while putting his phone back in his pocket. “Looks like after work, we’re getting you a phone. When do you get off?”

“6:30 but I think I need a permanent address to get a phone, right?”

“Don’t worry about it. You need a phone though.”

“But-”

“Nope. You need a phone.” Josh said. “How else are you going to hang out with your friends?”

I smiled, “Thanks, Josh.”

“No problem! Now that that’s settled, help me find some fucking clothes, Texas!”