The Third Part of Chapter 1: Encounter

February was over, and on the last day, there had been the first really mild and pleasant day of the year: the sun was out until five thirty, the air, while not warm, was not bitingly cold, and it was possible to venture outside without a thick coat or a toque for an hour or two without getting dangerously cold. In other words, it was perfect weather for promenading, which was what James and Clarissa did that weekend: they went for a walk in the large park set aside for conservation. While it was a pleasant day, they had to keep to the paths, as the snow beside the paths was still waist-deep, and nobody could tell whether the snow concealed a ditch or a pool of water. The dating went on in a similar fashion for some time until in mid-March, when they went to Montréal together.

Clarissa told James, “It just sounds romantic,” as a justification for this. The city’s reputation as a boisterous party city filled with nightclubs overflowing with beautiful young women and bars filled with the same was the reason behind James’s attraction to Montréal, but he did not tell Clarissa this was the reason behind his fascination with the city. They went on a Friday evening, and Clarissa booked a hotel the Wednesday in advance.

On the train ride in, Clarissa remarked, “They said Montréal was supposed to be holding up reasonably well against the downturn last year, but that was not the impression I got of the place. Everywhere in the suburbs beside highway––I went by bus––I saw signs that said ‘à louer.’ It seemed that every other building had a sign like that, and it’s obviously not something you would expect to see in a city that’s supposedly missing out on the doldrums.”

“Yeah, and look, there’s a sign right now,” said James, as he pointed out the window at an unattractive square building. On the front, it bore a sign that said “Immeuble à louer. 100.000 pieds carrès” followed by a phone number.

“I think that whoever said Montréal was resilient was only looking downtown; I don’t think they even set foot in the suburban part of the island, or else they would have noticed all the ‘for lease’ signs.”

“Yeah, and 100,000 square feet of empty office space is very big to miss,” said James, referring to the big box they had passed. After ten more minutes, they arrived at the Central Train Station; it was 10:15.

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