My fingers intertwined with Greg's as we walked down the old cobblestones up Edinburgh's High Street. I'd already stripped my jacket off and tied it around my waist, my bared arms warming up in the sun on for this bright, beautiful, late summer Scottish day. We'd just arrived by train, three days out from our wedding, one day into this "exotic" (hey, why can't Scotland can be "exotic"?) honeymoon.
Greg and I had been together for three years, since we'd met at the first day of class at a community college. The school had set up a little table with free coffee for new students, and I had just taken a sip when I heard a friendly voice next to me.
"Judging by your face right now, I think I'd better go out for some Starbucks."
I'd turned to my left and saw the man I would marry—not that I knew it then, but I like the way the story sounds that way. He was smiling from the corner of his mouth and his eyes were wide, like he was waiting to see how I'd react to his line. I definitely hadn't expected to meet guys here—at least, not on the first day—but he was cute, I was single, and all the college orientation self-congratulatory crap had totally gone to my head, so I was feeling good about life. And decided to give him a chance.
I smiled back at him. "Yeah, this is pretty bad," I said, lifting my thin paper cup and scrunching up my nose. "It tastes like a truck tire lying in a mud puddle."
"Wow, that sounds...terrible."
"Yeah, well, it is free coffee...from a community college..." I trailed off.
"Mmmhmm, you get what you paid for," he nodded in agreement. "Well,"—here came the pitch!, his face told me—"I apologize in the name of this lovely institution of higher learning. On behalf of the school, I'd like to take you out for a replacement coffee after class, no charge." His voice came through with confidence but without pompousness. Sure, it was a bit of a goofy pick-up line, but he looked happy making his offer.
In my mind I'd already said yes, but I didn't want the conversation to end yet. My smile stayed on my face but I lifted my eyebrows. "Are you offering a free coffee as a replacement for a free coffee? I thought that 'you get what you paid for?'"
"Ah, true," he said, unfazed by my return. "But my offer also comes with free entertainment."
"Really? What kind of entertainment?"
"Most the Starbucks playlist and the sound of me telling you how beautiful you are."
I wish I hadn't blushed at that, but I did. He was good.
"Judging by your face right now, I'll take that as a yes," he said with a grin. A drop of smugness came to his eyes, but the good kind. The kind that lets you know that your own attraction is welcomed. And reciprocated.
Part of me knew that I should have felt so good at this man's attention without even knowing his name, but I could only nod shyly to his assertion.
He held out his hand, open and facing up. "I'm Greg, by the way."
I put my hand in his softly and said, "Jenny."
He lifted my hand slightly. It felt elegant, and I felt weightless.
We dated for two years before moving in together, and then waited another year to get married. Greg made me feel weightless the whole time, always quick to compliment and slow to criticize. We had chemistry where and when it counted—our first time together was a spectacular lunchtime romp in the women's room in the campus theater—and we'd kept it going throughout our relationship.
I was happy, Greg was happy. We'd decided to travel for our honeymoon, since neither of us had ever been abroad. I'd read that J.K. Rowling had written the Harry Potter series in a breakfast bar in Edinburgh and basically used that as a planning point of our trip. We were saving money to start a family, and figured we could do Scotland fairly cheaply by going the backpacker route. The UK has a great train system and they give foreigners good deals to encourage tourism. And there are youth hostels all over the place, so if you're willing to tolerate the unglamorous accommodations, you can do the whole country without breaking the bank.
"Ooh, look, a Loch Ness monster museum!" I said, pointing to a narrow storefront with a 6-foot wide wooden dinosaur over the entrance.
"Are you serious?" Greg said, laughing. "I'm not spending—" he peered at the small sign on the door, "—ha, twenty pounds a person so I can hear how a few drunk Highlanders made up a story about a mythical creature to promote local tourism!"
"Well I wouldn't spend it either, but I just think it's cool. Like finding a Bigfoot museum back home."
Greg paused and thought for a moment. "If you were walking down Main Street USA and saw a small sign on an obscure door that said 'Bigfoot Museum,' would you be more likely to go in and pay for admission or laugh at the people who went in and paid admission."
"Good point, though I'd probably laugh at the people who went in even if it was free."
Greg hmmphed and shifted his pack on his shoulders in triumph.
"Stop loving being right," I teased.
"But...I do love being right," he confessed. He peered out of the corner of his eye at me. "You should try it sometime."
I hit him in the shoulder and we continued down the road.
We'd started at the top of the main hill in the older section of the city (took a taxi—no way I was walking up all the way!), where the enormous castle is. It's full of Scottish history and the Scottish crown jewels and all that fun stuff. The city runs straight down the main street—called "High Street"—and way at the other end is a relatively newer castle called Holyrood, where the royal family stays when they're in town.
We reached the end of High Street around noon, right on schedule. My backpack was just starting to get heavy, and the thought of our planned picnic lunch made me feel just right. Holyrood stood in front of us. A bit shorter than I'd imagined, but the towers and old stones were colored with history and looked romantic all the same.
"God I'm hungry," Greg said just as I was about to remark on our timing.
"Me too, babe. The guidebook says that Holyrood has this amazing royal garden, so hopefully we can find a nice sunny spot. And it doesn't look too crowded," I said. Most of the few folks who went through the main entrance gate seemed to be heading for the castle, not the garden. "I say we skip the tour for now and just eat."
"I agree," Greg said. "Let's go!"
We paid for entry and took the garden path. The guidebook didn't disappoint. Groves of pines and wildflowers, all immaculately kept and maintained. A sign near the entrance had said that the local lords who were in charge of the castle when the Queen was away had a tradition of being ready for the monarch to visit, unannounced, at any time. And it certainly looked to us like the grounds were living up to that tradition.
We found a nice secluded patch of grass encircled by shrubs and a little stone fountain right in the middle, with just a little break in the bushes for an entrance. We didn't have a blanket or anything, but the sun was shining brightly and we settled right onto the warm lawn. Sandwiches and water bottles came out of our packs and disappeared just as quickly. Our shoes and socks followed quickly. Soon we were on our backs, side to side, our arms behind our heads and our naked toes wiggling in the subtle breeze. Our shorts would probably get some nice grass stains, but I couldn't bring myself to care at the moment.
"This is a great spot," I said, my eyes taking in the contrast of the luxurious blue of the sky and the crisp green of the leaves.
I felt Greg twitch nervously next to me.
"What's wrong," I asked, raising myself to my elbows and looking at him.
"Nothing, nothing," Greg muttered, shaking his head. He kept wiggling and then added, "I have to pee."
I relaxed and giggled. "Is that wiggling the pee dance?"
He pulled his head up and knees in. His feet were tapping. "It's more of a pee jig at this point."
"Oh, so not yet at the stage of a pee dance?" I inquired, trying to hide my smile with little success
"Something like that. Although it's going to turn into a dance pretty quick. It's that damn fountain!" he said, pointing to the babbling centerpiece. "The sound of...flowing water is making me need to go so bad. And I don't want to walk all the way back to the castle to find a bathroom. Not yet, anyway."
I frowned a bit. After our hectic day of traveling to get here—plane, train, long walk—I also didn't want to interrupt our moment of serenity here.
"Maybe there's a bathroom in the garden?" I suggested.