[Jared Rutherford]

Location: Winnipeg, Canada • Date: Early September
Time of Day: Morning • Weather: Nice

It was fall again, Jared's favorite season. He really loved the other seasons: Winter because he loved snow and how quiet it made everything, Spring because of how everything came back to life and glowed in bright colors, Summer because he loved swimming and working at Camp Wandsorth and with the kids. But Fall was something else altogether. He loved leaves changing and crisp mornings and sweaters... but most of all, he loved pumpkin spice lattes. They were his secret guilty pleasure.

And he found himself hiding away in a coffee shop just so that he could enjoy one in peace. It was still September and the temperatures had reached sweltering the day before, and would probably reach them again today, but Jared didn't care. He huddled in the corner with a book and a nice hot pumpkin spice latte, sipping and enjoying and getting lost in the story.

[Phoebe Jareau-Young]

After spending the wee hours of the morning on a plane, Phoebe was ready for some coffee. But not just any old coffee. She knew about a certain coffee shop, and was looking forward to seeing it again, so she hailed a taxi and made her way over.

She was in Winnipeg for business, but wasn't about to do anything productive until she had her coffee. Once she arrived, she walked inside briskly, still dressed in her business casual attire from the plane, and made her way up to the counter. "One pumpkin spice latte, please," she said, flashing a polite smile at the barista. "Medium," she clarified, when asked what size she wanted. Then she made her way to the end of the counter to wait, glancing out at the other patrons. Her grey eyes landed on one figure in particular, and she smiled.

Her coffee was ready, and Phoebe walked over to the corner, her steps light and airy. "This seat taken?" she asked, gesturing at the spot opposite from Jared. She had always had a certain fondness for the younger Rutherford boy, especially in light of his older brother being a jerk.

[Jared Rutherford]

Jared was absolutely distracted by the story he was reading. So what if it was meant for kids? Two youngsters slipping through a portal and encountering all sorts of adventures. It was cute and entertaining and he liked it. Enough to not realize anything that was happening around him.

Startling a little, he looked up at the familiar voice and blinked for a second. "Oh! No! You can absolutely- yes!" he stammered, standing up a little invitingly. He smiled and nodded. "Phoebe, how are you? I haven't seen you since-" he trailed off, trying to think of where he had seen the other last. Things had really been confusing since everything happened with Jace.

[Phoebe Jareau-Young]

Phoebe gave a warm smile, settling down in the chair opposite him. "The gala," she supplied, wrapping long fingers around her mug and taking a sip of her drink. "You're looking well. I'm really happy they found your brother," she said, figuring they could get the awkward conversation over with at the start.

[Jared Rutherford]

Jared nodded, almost shaking his head no, but letting his face make a circle before bobbing up and down. "That's right, the gala," he said, absently, glancing away quickly and then turning his attention back to the other. "Thank you, so are you. I'm glad they found him too. But he hasn't been the same since." Even when his older brother was what others might think of as doing fine, Jared could see more than they could.

But he didn't really want to talk about his brother and everything that had happened. He'd come here to clear his head and try to refresh a bit. "What brings you to this little coffee shop?" he asked, obviously changing the subject.

[Phoebe Jareau-Young]

Phoebe watched him with a kind smile on her face. She could tell he didn't like the idea of talking about Jace, and she filed that information away. Instead, she gave a shrug, tilting her head to the side.

"I always come here when I visit Winnipeg," she explained, "because it's better than any chain I've ever been to. And as for why I'm in Winnipeg, which I'm sure you're thinking of, I have some charity business to take care of." She winked, setting her mug down and folding her fingers together.

"And you? What have you been up to lately?"

[Jared Rutherford]

Jared was really glad that Phoebe had decided to drop the topic of his brother. It was super complicated and it seemed like everyone wanted to talk to him about it lately. It was all he could think about at home too. That's why he was doing anything he could to keep himself away from the topic, and he was happy to move on.

"This is a nice little place. It's way better than the chains, I agree. What kind of charity work?" he asked, genuinely interested. Jared did his own charity work. He had to just because of who he was, but he also liked helping people.

[Phoebe Jareau-Young]

Phoebe nodded, glancing around the room. At the question, she hummed thoughtfully. "The Collier&Durant Bursary," she explained, grinning. "I'm speaking to a group of young girls about possibly attending Beauxbatons. Unfortunately, we can't do a full seven year bursary every year, but we are trying to get more French Canadian girls to go abroad." She beamed, thinking about the possibilities. "Although in general, I'm also always looking for things going on. And you? What have you been up to lately?"

[Jared Rutherford]

Jared found himself really entertained by what Phoebe was saying. She seemed to have a really good idea, trying to get more French Canadian girls to study abroad. France really was lovely at any time of year. He smiled at her the more he focused. "Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing anymore. I'm still a counselor at Camp Wandsworth, but I think I might need to move on. I feel like my father has been hinting at that lately, but I really love working with kids and getting to spend a lot of time outside. What do you think?" he asked, wanting an outsider's opinion.

[Phoebe Jareau-Young]

Phoebe nodded thoughtfully, listening to him. She definitely knew the feeling. Back when her parents had been trying to get her to do more business things, she had known there was more that she wanted to do. The only problem was that she hadn't known what to do until the charity work had come to mind.

"Have you ever thought about teaching? If you like working with kids..." she trailed off, glancing at him expectantly. "I mean, it's not necessarily the most glamorous career, but I could see you doing that."

[Jared Rutherford]

Jared thought carefully before responding. "I'm not sure that would really be okay. I feel like my family would say I was destined for more. I'm also not sure I could handle teaching. That's intense... to be in charge of so many little minds and shaping them to be people," he said, raising his eyebrows. "If I were a teacher, I'd want to be that teacher that has an impact on a student's life. The teacher that people look back and say "Oh, yeah, I had him as a teacher and he changed my life." He looked up at her. "That's crazy, right?" He smiled a little.

[Phoebe Jareau-Young]

Phoebe shook her head, still smiling. "It's not crazy at all. I think that's why you'd make a great teacher. But I do understand that desire to please your parents. To that, I'll just say..." she lifted the gold chain around her neck to reveal a ring hanging below her blouse. "I'm married to Nathaniel Ridley. Our parents don't know."

[Jared Rutherford]

Jared raised his eyebrows again, his mouth dropping open. "Your parents don't know?" he repeated, a little amazed. He was really interested in this new development. "What would they do if they found out?" he asked almost immediately. He wondered what his parents would do if he got married without them knowing. They were nice enough, but there were expectations that he was sure they would point out in their discussion of their disappointment in him.

[Phoebe Jareau-Young]

Phoebe blushed, hiding the ring again. "There's not much they can do. It's fully legal," she explained, shrugging. "The worst they can do is disown me. We're hoping we can persuade them it was for love, and for the best, though. Really, we hope they see it as a way to bridge the gap between our families. We're banking a lot on hope, but it's the best we've got." She grimaced, then reached across the table. "That's why I've been trying to establish myself, just in case."

[Jared Rutherford]

Jared looked at Phoebe with admiration. "Love is so important though. I would hope that they would understand that you'd be miserable married to someone else," he said, taking Phoebe's side. She was brave, in his opinion. He could only hope to find someone to love enough that he'd want to get married behind his parents' backs. "Well, I think you're doing a great job establishing yourself. Your charity work is such a noble cause. I need to find my own charity to work with."