They arrived at Toronto International Airport, and a staff member from the Sotvana Embassy named Justin Beaver picked them up. "Hey. Sorry for being on time. We've prepared a place for you to stay in the meantime. The host is a super nice Canadian lady," He said as he led them to his car.

Toronto was a warm place in the summer, with serene lakes and rivers surrounding the spacious and modern freeways. Along the way, Justin drove past famous museums, towers, and tourist attractions, and showed them all the nice things about the city. Joddy peeked out of the window and stared at the buildings in the residential areas. "Wow. Those poutine houses sure look like normal houses." He said in admiration.

Justin Beaver dropped the two off in front of a cozy two-story house in the countryside, one with a nice looking front lawn and a back garden. They walked towards the entrance, and as Andrew was ringing the doorbell, Joddy walked around and touched on different parts of the wall.

"Wow. This poutine sure feels like brick." He bared his teeth and took a bite, then spat out the brick mortar and frowned. "It tastes like brick too! Canadian food is terrible."

"I'm sorry, but you can't eat the walls!" Came a soft female voice from inside the house. The door was opened, and a slender lady in her 30s appeared in front of Andrew. "You must be Andrew Garage!" She glanced at the police officer gnawing on the walls in the corner. ". . . and your friend. I'm Amanda, nice to meet you. You'll be staying here with us until the Embassy finds you suitable accommodation."

Andrew pulled Joddy over to the entrance and introduced themselves.

"Nice to meet you!" Amanda said with a cheerful smile. "Sorry for not letting you guys eat my house."

Having spent a few years in Canada, Andrew knew the local customs very well. He waved and let out a laugh. "No. I'm sorry for letting my friend eat your house."

"No, no!" Amanda laughed softly. "I'm such a horrible host. I'm so sorry you have to say sorry while staying at my place."

"Oh, no no! I'm terribly sorry that you have to say sorry while I'm staying at yours."

They soon ran out of things to sorry for, and Joddy's stomach started grumbling so they had to cut their apologies short.

"Oh! I'm so sorry that your stomach grumbled," Amanda frantically ran inside. "Come in and put your belongings on the second floor near the stairs! Then please join my husband and I in the garden for dinner."

Amanda and her husband was already waiting when the pair walked down. The husband introduced himself, said his name was Howard and he was an architect.

Joddy shook his head as he sat down. "As an architect, you should do something about your house. It tastes really bad. I hope the actual food will be better."

Howard stared at the policeman as if looking at a madman. "That's because the house isn't supposed to be edible."

"You mean you guys don't make houses out of poutine?" Joddy clasped his head in amazement.

"No. What do you take us for? We're normal humans just like everybody else. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go dip my ass in maple syrup." Howard's face turned beet red before he stormed off.

After Howard had gone, Amanda laid out the food on the table. "I'm so sorry for my husband's temper. He's American. He'll come back in a few minutes."

Andrew glanced at the dishes on the table: vegetable quinoa soup, fried cauliflower, black bean rice, tofu and spring veggie stir fry, and something that looked like bacon but wasn't actually bacon.

"There's something weird about these food. . ." Joddy frowned. "Why are they green? Food isn't supposed to be green."

"It's because they are vegan. We're vegan, I hope you don't mind that." Amanda smiled.

"This isn't vegan." Joddy pointed to the bacon dish.

"That's vegan bacon. I love vegan meat. The texture, the flavor. . . ohhh! It tastes just like the real thing. I don't think I can live without vegan bacon. I have a few strips every day."

Howard came back just in time to indulge in the entreé quinoa soup. Andrew turned pale as he heard Joddy said "brick tastes better than this" as soon as Howard sat down, but relieved to see nobody else seemed to notice.

Andrew said to the hosts. "I'd love to show you this restaurant I dined at when I was in Canada. They served the best maple-roasted bacon."

"Is it plant-based bacon?" She raised her brow.

"No. It's bacon-based bacon."

Howard's mouth twisted into a scowl. "Eww! Sorry, but real meat? That's disgusting!"

"Honey!" Amanda hit lightly on her husband's lap. "Don't say that to the guests. It's not their fault they're savages."

"B-but they're. . ." Howard threw his arms in protest, but was met with Amanda's stern eyes. "Fine." He turned back to the Andrew. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. Sorry."

"Real meat doesn't taste like cardboard." Joddy scoffed. "And more economical too. These synthetic meat costs you an arm and a leg."

"Healthy food doesn't have to be expensive," said Amanda as she plucked the grass off the ground and stuffed it in her mouth. She handed a handful to Andrew. "Wanna try? It tastes like honey-dipped weed."

"I think I'll pass. . ."

After dinner, Howard invited Joddy and Andrew to a Canadian football game. Joddy jolted from his spot and said, "Now finally, something the Canadians do right." Andrew declined the offer. He still felt nauseous from airsickness and hadn't slept at all during the flight due to constant fear. Only now that he was in a new land, he felt a tiny bit of relief.

Amanda led Andrew upstair to his room and brought a vacuum cleaner in with her. She moved the vacuum around on the floor and under the bed, and soon sucked out some dust, a few copper coins, and a polar bear.

"Oops, sorry about that!" She patted the growling bear. "Freddie likes to wander off into neighboring residences, but I assure you he won't do any harm. He hasn't eaten humans in ten years. He's now a devoted vegan and goes to climate change protests every week."

"No. It's fine. I'm used to intruders. But how do we get him out?"

"You just need to politely ask him to leave."

"How?" Andrew stared at the bear who was staring back at him. "It doesn't seem like he speaks English."

"Don't worry, let me handle it." Amanda patted the bear's head and spoke in hushed tone. "Notre invité occupe cet endroit pour la nuit. Veuillez trouver une autre maison dans laquelle vous faufiler."

"D'accord," the bear replied and walked out. Before walking out, he turned to Andrew to bid farewell, "Au revoir."

"Uh, bonjour baguette Paul Pogba," Andrew replied.

Amanda apologized to Andrew a few more times and told him that she would be on the first floor if he needed anything. He nodded.

Amanda left the room, turning the lights off before she closed the door. Andrew slumped on the bed and exhaled loudly. He could finally sleep in peace.

But as soon as he closed his eyes, Joddy's words came back to haunt him.

You can't run away from her forever.

That night, Andrew slept in fear.