On friday morning...

After hardly being able to sleep the whole night, I slid out of bed at seven thirty. The thought of spending a whole day with Her exited me so much I was like a kid at Christmas. I showered, shaved, brushed my teeth, dried myself off, slung on my jeans and a t-shirt, pulled on my timberland boots and left the house to get a bus into town.

As I waited for a bus to take me into town I smoked a cigarette and watched the faces of the early morning commuters. A look of despair was the standard mask for these people. Misery was to be their company for the length of their day, Magnificence was to be mine.

The bus arrived at Princes Street and I got off opposite the Waverly Market. The Waverly Steps were a couple of hundred yards away across the road and I looked over to see if She was there waiting for me. I couldn't see if She was waiting or not so I crossed the road and walked to the top of the Waverly Steps and checked again. I had no idea what time it was so I stopped a passing woman and asked her what time it was. "It's twenty past Eight." She said and walked on to wherever she was headed.

As I was all of forty minutes early I decided to take a walk around Waverley Market. I strode into the mall and spotted a florist putting out a display of the yellowest daffodils I had ever seen. I asked if I could buy one. "We don't sell them in singles, just bunches of ten." She said.
"I only want one, how about I pay for a bunch and only take one? Is that acceptable?" I asked.
"Why would you want to do that?" The florist enquired.
"I'm meeting someone very special and I'd like to give her a flower." I stated.
"Why not give her the whole bunch?" She asked.
"Fuck it, give me a bunch of the things." I said, desperate to knock the conversation on the head and get back to the top of the Waverley Steps just in case She had turned up and was thinking I wasn't going to meet Her.
"There's no need to be like that." The florist said, with a tone that suggested I had offended her.
"Yeah, whatever. Just give me the flowers." I said, pulling out my wallet.

After selecting the best looking daffodil, and jamming the rest of the bunch into a bin, I made my way back to the top of Waverly Steps, sat down on a marble plinth and chain smoked for a while. As I was reaching into my pocket to retrieve my cigarettes I dropped my lighter and leaned over to pick it up. A pair of feet stopped in front of me and I looked up. It was Her.

"Hello." She said, in her soft sweet voice.
"Hello." I replied, smiling broadly and giving her the daffodil.
"Have you been waiting long?" She asked, sniffing the daffodil.
"Not really, probably about five minutes." I said, standing up and giving Her a kiss on the cheek.
"So that's not your own personal pile of cigarette ends then?" She said looking down at the butts at my feet.
"OK then, I've been here long enough to smoke erm... Six cigarettes. So you could say I've been here for about half an hour." I said.
"Jaysus, you're keen." She said, looping Her arm into mine as we began walking along Princes Street.

"So, where would you like to go?" I asked, as we approached the bottom of The Mound.
"I don't know, I thought that this was your town." She replied.
"Want to see some arty farty nonsense?" I asked, indicating the National Gallery.
"You make it sound so romantic." She said, giving my arm a playful tug.

We walked into the National Gallery and spent an hour or so walking around staring at portraits. To lighten the mood we said what we thought the sitter was saying to the artist judging by the look on their faces. At least twice we were asked by the security guards to keep the noise down and we finally thought we'd better get out of there when She couldn't stop laughing when I put the words "It's not so bad, the view is nice and I'm out in the fresh air" into the mouth of Jesus in a rather depressing painting of the Crucifixion.

After leaving the gallery I suggested going for something for lunch so we took a walk up Hanover Street and into Rose Street where we found a pub that did bar lunches. A couple of hours were spent chatting over lunch and a few drinks. She told me all about Herself, Her family, the village that She grew up in and I told her all about myself.

We left the pub and as we stepped into the street She asked where we were off to now.
"Ever been to the castle?" I asked.
"No, I've always meant to but I've never got round to it." She said.
I flagged down a passing taxi. "That makes two of us." I said, opening the taxi door.

She cuddled into me as the taxi drove up the mound and I lay my head on top of her and smelled the beautiful scent of her hair. The taxi drew to a halt at the bottom of the esplanade and I paid the fare. She offered to pay for the taxi but I refused Her saying that She was my guest in my town and I'd be highly offended if She offered to pay for anything again that day. Reluctantly She conceded the argument and I paid the cabbie and the entrance fee for the castle.

Walking around the castle I did my best to make Her laugh by making up parts of the history of Edinburgh. Tales I had no idea I could conjure up came flowing forth from me and She laughed Her sweet laugh and lifted my heart to the heavens.

We left the castle, walked down the High Street and I told Her that these were the streets that made up Edinburgh in the past when Edinburgh was a Walled city separate from Leith. We popped into a delicatessen and got some food for a picnic and then went into a small off licence to buy a bottle of scotch, some mixers and a small pack of plastic cups.

Holyrood palace sits at the bottom of the High Street and backs onto Holyrood Park and Arthurs seat and we headed there to have a picnic on the grass. As we lay on the side of Arthurs Seat She laid Her head on my lap, I gently stroked Her hair and we talked about what we hoped to get from life. She told me that what She wanted more that anything else was to be with someone who loved Her more than anything else in the world and I told Her that I was willing if She was.

We sat on the grass and talked until the sun had set behind Calton Hill.

"It's probably about time I got you home." I said, noticing that it was getting dark and chilly.
"I don't want to go home. I want to sit here and drink the rest of that bottle of booze and then go for another walk to somewhere else." She replied.
"If we drink the rest of that bottle I don't think we'll be able to walk anywhere." I said, standing up.

I looked down at the bottle and saw that we had drank almost three quarters of the bottle. "Or, maybe not... Have you been sneaking drinks to numb the pain of being seen with me?" I asked.
"Actually, yes I have. Can you ever forgive me?" She asked, jokingly.
"Give me a cuddle and I'll forget all about it." I said, helping Her to stand.
"Lets go back to your place." She said.
"Are you willing to put up with the Spanish inquisition from my mother?" I asked.
"Oh god no, not yet." She said.
"Then how about your place?" I asked.
"I told my flatmate that I'd be out and I hate to think what kind of mayhem is going on there." She answered.

"How about we go to a bed and breakfast?" I suggested.
"What kind of girl do you think I am?" She asked, with a tone that suggested I'd offended her.
"Oh shit... I didn't mean that... Fuck... Oh you shit!" I said, the realisation that she was joking slowly dawning on me.

I hailed a passing taxi and told the driver to take us to the Seaview Hotel on Seafield Road. The driver made a remark that seemed to convey the idea that we were headed to the Seaview for an illicit bunk up and I told him to shut up.

"Sorry mate, I just thought... Well, you know." He said.
"Well, do us all a favour and do what you're supposed to be doing, driving. And try not to have a hemorrhage by concentrating on the white lines too hard." I said. For the rest of the journey he was silent as She and I cuddled into each other in the back.

We arrived at the Seaview and I handed the driver a fiver for the fare.
"What, no tip?" He asked.
"Yeah, trap three in the six o'clock at Powderhall." I said, getting out the taxi and slamming the door shut.

The Seaview Hotel, with its view out over the river Forth, isn't exactly the highest class of hotel but it did have the advantage of a nice view and it was far enough on the outskirts of town to ensure that no-one we knew would see us going into it.

We walked into the main hall and were greeted by an elderly woman. I enquired about a room looking out over the river and she handed me a key with a tatty plastic keyring upon which a room number had been scratched.
"Name?" The woman asked.
"Ross." I answered. "And this is Claire."

Claire laughed and told the old lady that we were Mr and Mrs Douglas and asked what time we had to check out by in the morning. "Breakfast is served between eight and nine o'clock, check out is anytime before midday and the room is twenty pounds a night." The woman answered.

I paid for the room and we walked up the stairway. As I pushed open the room door and walked in I turned around and saw that Claire was standing at the doorway. "What's up?" I asked, thinking that She'd had second thoughts and was considering bailing out.

"I'm waiting on you to carry me over the threshold." She said, with a giggle.
I stepped over to the door, hooked my finger into the top of her jeans and pulled Her into the room and towards me. "I'll carry you over the threshold when we get married. It's bad luck to do it before." I said, wrapping my arms around Her body and kissing Her.

"When we get married?" She enquired.
"Yes, when we get married." I answered.
"Not if we get married." She said, teasingly.
"There's no if about it. I'd marry you tomorrow if you'll have me." I said.
"Is that a proposal?" She asked.
"Maybe." I said.
"Just maybe?" She said, pushing me backwards onto the bed.
"Just maybe." I said, sitting up and wrapping my arms around her waist and kissing the nape of her neck.

As I kissed her neck She undid the buttons on her blouse and slid it off. I ran my hands across her back and kissed her stomach. She pulled my t-shirt over my head, pushed me backwards onto the mattress, straddled my legs and began kissing my chest.

"Wait." I said, suddenly. She stopped kissing my chest and sat up.
"What?" She said, with a look of uncertainty on Her face.
"It's just that... I don't know how to say this... You're sitting on my keys." I said, laughing.
"You shit!" She said hitting me gently in the stomach.
"That was for tricking me when I suggested coming here." I said. "Now come here."

That night we spent together was the best night of my life. No sex was involved, we kissed, cuddled, and lay in each others arms until we both slowly fell asleep together. We had the rest of our lives to make love.

Or so I thought.