Five Thousand Miles of Fun

Chapter 1: Scotland Romance

The first thing I noticed about him was his laugh.

It rose above the engine of the tour bus as we travelled through Scotland, winding between green hills under a sky that could not decide whether it wanted to rain. It was warm, unguarded, and completely out of place among a group of tired travelers clutching paper cups of coffee.

I turned around to see who it belonged to.

He was sitting a few rows behind me, smiling at something the tour guide had said. I did not know his name yet. I only knew that he looked comfortable there, as if grey skies, narrow roads, and ancient castles were exactly where he belonged.

A little later, during one of the stops, we found ourselves standing beside each other.

“Cold?” he asked.

“I’m from Los Angeles,” I said, pulling my coat tighter. “This is not weather. This is a personal attack.”

He laughed again.

That was how it started.

Not with fireworks or a carefully planned first date, but with a complaint about the Scottish weather and a stranger who found it funny.