18: Unicorns

Today we were going to the office to meet the Scotland team. The office was located only ten minutes away from the hotel, so we walked it. It was great as we got to explore more of Edinburgh as we made our way to the office. It also helped that it wasn't raining today.

"Did you get a good night sleep last night?" Daniel asked as he walked beside me. The streets bustled with early morning commuters all rushing to get to work. People sauntered with their suits and ties, briefcases in hands, others with coffees as they waited impatiently at the traffic lights to cross the road.

"Yeah, it was good. I was just glad to see a bed after our long flight. How was your night?"

"I slept as soon as we got to our room and didn't get up until this morning. I had a great sleep" Daniel chuckled.

We passed Scott monument, a tall tower, blackened with age, with spires pointing out, looking majestic in the middle of the gardens. Before Daniel could explain the history of it to me, I asked "So, who was your room buddy?"

"I got paired with Colton. I heard you got paired with Jason"

Great, now I did wish he would have told me about the history of the monument. I suppose sooner or later people were going to find out.

"Yeah, I did" I said, looking anywhere but at Daniel. Luckily Jason was nearer the front of the group so couldn't hear our conversation.

"I hope he didn't snore" Daniel laughed.

I chuckled to myself. That was the least of my worries. I was so knocked out, that I wouldn't have heard any snoring even if he did. To say this morning was awkward was an understatement. It started when my alarm went off. I felt warm and snuggly and I didn't want to move from my place. I soon found out why.

My eyes widened as I looked down to see a hand wrapped round my waist. In that moment, I remembered where I was and who that arm belonged to. The sun had filtered through the curtains, brightening the room. I was too scared to turn around in case Jason woke up, but I didn't know how else to get up off the bed or how to shut the alarm off that was blaring loudly.

For some reason, the alarm had no effect on Jason as he continued to breathe lightly. As I tried to move off, his hold on me tightened. I smiled, kind of liking the feeling of Jason's arm wrapped around me. However, I didn't know if Jason would feel the same way. I suppose he would have to get up at some point.

I managed to turn my face around, seeing how peaceful he looked sleeping. His eyes fluttered open, and considering I was the first person he saw; his eyes grew in alarm and pulled his arm away instantly. I suppose I didn't look my best in the morning. We got ready in silence for the rest of the morning and hadn't spoken since.

The roads were busy this morning, filled with taxis and buses, the trams busy transporting people for their busy days ahead. Students passed by; their backpacks full, ready for a day of learning. Shops were opening up, ranging from small cafes to large retail stores. This was going to be a busy day.

We soon arrived at the office, located nicely between other modern office buildings, contrasting with the old Victorian style buildings located nearby.

As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by a friendly smile "Hi, welcome to the Scotland office." The girl greeted us.

Veronica was at the front of the group and smiled. "Thanks, you must be Aisha"

The girl, Aisha, stood tall, looking smart in her pink shirt and black blazer on top. Her lightly coloured hijab wrapped loosely on top of her head. "That's right, I'm the head of the Scottish team. I think I recognise some of you from your email pictures but it's great to see you all. Let me introduce you to the rest of the team" she smiled, as we followed her through the office.

The office was small compared to our one back home but that was because there was a smaller team here. There were several desks around for the few staff that worked here, all the essentials such as computers and papers scattered about.

The trees billowed outside the window, creating shade on one side of the office. On the other, a view of the city centre could be seen. Down below, the hustle and bustle of Edinburgh was evident, with the picturesque castle beyond in the distance.

"It must be great to work here if you've got a view like that" I said, pointing to the window.

"It does help" Aisha laughed. "I have to admit, the view of the castle never gets old"

"Maybe we can put up a picture of the castle when we go back to our office" Victoria chortled.

Aisha introduced us to the rest of the team. there was Ahmed, who worked in IT; Skye, who was the sales manager; Elizabeth and Stephen, who were part of the sales team and Alec who worked at reception.

The team were all so welcoming and gave us a tour of the office. We owned the one floor, the rest being occupied by other businesses, with a shared toilet and kitchen area on the ground floor. It was small but a cosy little office. The team seemed to get on great and everyone was so nice. It was nice to finally put a name to the faces we had been speaking to through email.

They had arranged a lunch for us in the office for us to get to know each other a little better. I was sat beside Aisha so got to know her a little more.

"How long have you worked for the company?" Aisha asked.

"I've been here for a couple of months. I'm enjoying it so far, it's a great company to work for"

"It really is. I'm so glad I found this job. We've been doing so well over here, that we are planning on expanding the Edinburgh office. We're on the lookout for a bigger office space and are getting ready to recruit more staff"

"That's great. That'll give me an excuse to come back to Scotland to meet the new faces" I laughed.

"Are you enjoying Edinburgh so far?"

"I haven't had much of a chance to explore yet, but I'm loving what I'm seeing so far. The weather is just a bit too nippy for my liking" I laughed.

"I wish I could say that the weather is something you'll get used to, but I would be lying" Aisha chuckled. "One minute it will rain, the next it will be sunny and then we can get snow randomly appearing. I swear we can get all four seasons in a day"

"I hope it doesn't snow while we're here. I haven't packed for the snow"

At that moment, Daniel came over and introduced himself. "Hi Aisha, I'm Daniel. I think we've emailed a few times. Its nice to finally meet you"

"Likewise, Daniel. Its nice to see your actual face" Aisha chuckled.

"Daniel here is a scots enthusiast. He's researched everything there is to know about Scotland before we arrived here" I smirked.

"Well, not everything" Daniel mumbled, his face turning slightly pink.

"Scotland is an amazing country" Aisha agreed "I've been here my whole life and I still haven't seen everything this beautiful country has to offer. There's so much to see and do, I haven't even scratched the surface yet"

"What do you recommend seeing while were here in Edinburgh?" Daniel asked.

"The castle for sure, if you love history and medieval things like that. And... oh, do you guys like Harry Potter?" Daniel and I both nodded our heads enthusiastically. "Well, you'll have to visit The Elephant House. It's this cute little café Where J.K Rowling used to write Harry Potter"

"Ah, no way. Daniel, we so have to go there"

"I'm already adding it to the list" Daniel grinned.

"So, are you guys ready for the party tonight?"

"I can't wait. Where is it going to be?" Daniel responded.

"Wait until you guys see it. It's a restaurant called The Dome. I'm sure you're going to love it"

"I've got my party dress, so I'm ready to party the night away" I laughed.

The rest of the afternoon was spent speaking to the Scotland team. We were allowed to use the computers in the office to catch up on some work before we were dismissed to get ready for the party later on.

We still had some time to kill before the party this evening, so a group of us, including Daniel and Jason, decided to walk up to the castle. We didn't go inside, seeing as we didn't have the time, but we just stood outside and took a lot of selfies, sending them to friends and family.

I smiled to Jason, who I hadn't spoken to all day and asked "Shall we take a selfie? I'll send it to Liz"

"She's going to be so jealous. Let's send it now, so that she'll get it just in time for when she wakes up" Jason laughed, their sibling rivalry evident.

I grinned as I took my phone out, Jason snuggled close to me so he could fit into the camera, the closeness making me forget all about the cold wind, and took the picture of us grinning like two crazy people in front of the castle.

I sent that to Liz, knowing she would be jealous that she was missing out but happy that I was updating her with lots of pictures as I had promised her.

I showed Jason the picture, who smiled as he saw it. "Aw, looking like the royal couple there"

A gust of wind flew by, making it difficult to hear what he had said. "What was that?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just saying how cool it would have been to have kings and queens here. History and all that" Jason chuckled, ruffling his hair.

"Yeah, Edinburgh alone has so much history. Aisha was telling us before that there's so much of Scotland to see. I'm so adding Scotland to my bucket list"

"Make sure to let me know when you're going. I'll tag along" Jason laughed.

"And next time, we'll have to bring Liz to Edinburgh. She'll love it here"

Jason pursed his lips "Sure"

The rest of the team moved over to the other side and sat on a wall, overlooking Edinburgh. The view was truly breath taking. Down below, the people looked like ants, scurrying about from one place to the next. Cars moved along like toys. Lots of greenery could be seen in the distance, the clouds covering how tall the hills were.

Jason leaned against the wall, staring out into the distance. "It's a shame we're only here for a week. I still can't believe that we're here. It seems so magical"

"I couldn't have asked for a better person to road test this trip out before we ask Liz and Ian to come along" I laughed.

"Ian? Why would he come along?"

My eyes widened as I realised my blunder "and Ethan too. I was thinking we could all go together as a group someday. They would love it here" I scrambled, hoping he'd buy it.

Jason nodded his head, looking into the distance once again. "Yeah, I'm glad I'm here with you too" he said, smiling my way, seeming to forget about my little blunder.

"I wish I brought some gloves though" I said, rubbing my hands together. It was starting to get chilly and I wish I had brought some of my winter gear.

Jason took my hands and placed them in his. "Wow, your hands are cold. Here" he said, rubbing my hands in-between his.

"Thanks" I laughed, liking the feeling of my hands in his.

I stared up at Jason, noticing how his forehead crinkled as he concentrated on warming up my hands. I smiled, loving how whenever I needed help, he was always there, even when it was something small as me being too cold. He was like my own superhero.

It seemed like we stood there forever but, it was probably only moments. Jason looked at me then, his hands stopped. My heartbeat faster as his green eyes bore into mine. A small smile grew on his face. I smiled back, my face growing warmer. For a moment I forgot about the others around me. It felt like it was just the two of us in that moment.

"Hey guys, I think I see a unicorn down there" Daniel shouted, snapping us out of our reverie. Jason chuckled, taking my hand in his and making our way over to the rest of the team.

"A unicorn?" Jason laughed.

"The unicorn is Scotland's national animal" Daniel stated.

We all laughed at Daniel's weird and wonderful facts and stared in awe at the beautiful scenery in front of us. I placed my hand on top of the wall, Jason's hand clasped over mine, as we took in the beauty before us.

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Has anyone ever been to Scotland before? I'm not lying when I say that the national animal of Scotland is the unicorn. Look it up. I've told so many people this fact and they never believe me. Reason number 65437865 why Scotland is amazing.