There was a beautiful landscape ahead.

The sun sparkling brightly and showering the mountains in the distance was a sight to behold. The road had been long and somewhat treacherous not to mention unknown and quite lonely, but it was all worth it to admire this beauty. No matter old tales, the grass was definitely greener on this side of the ocean.

Thinking for a second how much this trip to the UK was worth made Ela grow pale, but again, that would be a problem for the future, that was then, this was now, and now needed to be enjoyed.

Finally, a trip all for herself, to such a distant destination, away from her problems, her never-ending concerns, the same old anxiety should not be allowed to interfere with happiness. It had been such a long time since she longed to break free from her reality at least for a while that she could not be bothered to remember anything she might need to face later. This was the time to lay back, enjoy the silent movement of leaves, the tender warm wind on her face, the opaque yellow light, even the timid scent of magnolias close by was delightful.

At this time, everything was perfect, every worry gone, life was good, fair, and kind. This sight was so peaceful as if the world had conspired in Ela's favor to stop the well-known UK rain just in time for Ela's arrival, just to gift her sunkissed peaks.

She sat on the ground, leaving her backpack aside, her knees close to her chest, her heart beating slowly, feeling the calm of nature, eyes closed, she removed her tick jacket since the weather didn't call for it, there were a few families at the bottom of the hill, little kids running around and rolling on the floor while their parents enjoyed a meal on a picnic. Seemed nice enough, although kids were not her thing, she enjoyed watching the dynamic from afar.

There was a quiet but sudden craking of leaves, she turn around quickly feeling vulnerable all of the sudden, then she saw there was a grown man with a toddler about 30Fts from her, the man was dressed weirdly, with a very long black tick trench coat, some sort of hat and what seemed to be dress shoes, wow, these English men really dressed up even if they were just walking on the park, seemed a bit uncomfortable really, and it was a bit weird, but she felt safer noticing how the man was kindly playing around with the little kid, chasing him and carrying him around while he laughed joyfully. She turned back around and was taken by surprise when the little kid suddenly tripped on her backpack, he stood up and didn't seem like he was hurt but maybe because of the scare he began weeping, Ela said "Oh no, everything's okay honey, look you're fine, only a tiny scare, you're all good", and the little boy looked up at her with his bright green eyes, and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve.

The grown man reached them and kneeled to check the boy, but he noticed he was alright, "hey man, that's what happens if you sprint around so fast, but you're all good, no harm done on you or the lady's package", he turned around to look at me, I smiled kindly, the boy was on his feet again and had calmed down, Ela reached on the inside pocket of her jacket and took out a small pack of Kleenex and offered one to the man, who accepted it with a quizzical look on his face, "for his nose", Ela signaled to the boy's runny nose from having cried a little, "oh, sure sure, thanks miss", and proceeded to wipe the boy's nose. "Call me Ela" She smiled and offered her hand to the man who accepted it immediately with a shake, he seemed kind, even with his strong features and hard jawline, his green eyes seem kind, and he seemed to have kind of reddish hair, but the hat was covering most of it, looked handsome for sure, acted like a gentleman too, ha! Englishmen were definitely all they seemed to be in movies, respectful pretty people, and looked very familiar like this was not the first time she saw him, maybe she had seen him earlier around the park "Paul, nice to make your acquaintance", "Likewise Paul", the tiny boy looked at them a bit confused but also offered Ela his hand saying "I am Jacob, lady Ela".

Both adults chuckled a little, Ela could not get over the English accent, and how well-mannered they all behaved, but coming from such a cute little boy it was too much for Ela's heart. She took his little hand and said "Nice to meet you too Jacob, you can just call me Ela, no need for the Lady in there honey", the boy smiled brightly "My unkie call me cubby", he was so cute Ela thought, definitely an adorable creature "is that so? well, that's a grand nickname, it suits you very well",

"you can call me Cubby too," said the boy while blushing a little, Ela chuckled a little, his uncle laughed a bit and said, "Okey young Romeo, you're stepping into dangerous territory". Paul stood up, and asked "Are you backpacking the UK? " Ela looked a bit sheepish, "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to be intrusive, I just noticed you don't seem to be from around here, you sound quite American" Ela laughed a bit, "no worries, not American really, or not like that, I'm from Latin America, but yeah I'm traveling through the UK, not backpacking, that would be far too adventurous for me I guess, but yeah, traveling seems about right".

Paul smiled kindly "Well Ela, you had me fooled, very nice English for a non-native speaker, be careful not to catch our accent", she giggled, "well maybe not from England, but I'd love to catch a bit of the Irish one, it sounds so wonderful", Paul raised his eyebrows while grinning, "Really?! well now you have me shocked, not many people want to catch that one, too confusing for most, even me to be sure". Jacob who didn't seem to like being left behind in the conversation intervened "But unkie you have some Irish mates, we love them, right?", Ela beamed at the comment, if they were closeby maybe she could hear them speak closely, oh that would be a joy! Still, she still felt a bit confused by the fact that Paul looked so familiar to her, maybe he had been close to where she was staying?

Paul seemed to notice Ela's interest, wow the girl did like the accent then, "That's right cubby, we do love them, too bad they're not around for Ela to have a chat with them", Ela did seem a bit disappointed but it was alright, Paul noticed and said "but I could introduce you, we meet every day, maybe you'll even be surprised" this surprised Ela a little, it was in her nature to be not trusting and frightened by strangers kindness, but maybe since it was a different country Paul was trying to help, that was nice of him, "Sure, it'd be nice to meet people while I travel", "Terrific, let's exchange contact and we can meet maybe by the end of the week", "Can I message you too Ela?" Cubby asked, oh my he was something else for sure, "Of course honey, you sure can", after exchanging numbers Ela realized it was 4 pm already and she had barely had any lunch earlier, she had been so excited to go out to Lickey Hills that she only had a quick bite, and now her stomach was upset with her, although she took out some peanuts to trick her appetite, she did need to lunch properly.

"Well, it's been a pleasure meeting you gentleman, but if I don't have lunch soon my belly will infuriate with me", "Oh dear, it's late for that, you'll be catching supper at this rate, you should definitely eat soon, we'll be leaving too so this chap can have a nap", Jacob pouted at this, "I'm not sleepy, I want to play some more unckie!", Paul seemed tp have an ace up his sleeve, "but if we leave now we can walk Ela to the Park entrance", the kid beamed at that "We'll escort you to the entrance Ela" she laughed, this kid was definitely a charmer, girls beware when he hits puberty, such a lady's man so young "if that's alright with you" Paul added. "Sure, it'll be nice company and Cubby will protect me if anything happens", "I'll protect you Ela, stay behind me" and with that he started guiding us back; we just chuckled and followed behind Paul laughed while saying "Yeup, but be careful with lying bags, remember Ela needs protection from those too and you can't help if tripping is involved", the kid gave him a death stare, but walked with a firm pace, his blond straight hair moving at pace with every step, he was very serious and confident on guiding us.

Paul and Ela talked some more and by the time they reached the gate, 20 minutes had gone by and Ela's stomach was really mad at the no-food policy that seemed to be ruling today. But she was trying to think where had she seen Paul, now his voice seemed a bit familiar too, but she just couldn't put her finger on it, it was weird, either way, she asked if he lived nearby but said that he actually resided in London, he was in Birmingham because of his job and was staying opposite to where Ela's Hotel was, so it wasn't location-wise that she recognized him. She was so puzzled by it that before parting ways she just spoke her mind "I'm sorry Paul, this might sound weird, It's just that you seem so familiar to me, like I've seen you somewhere, did we meet earlier in the park? or maybe you were close to Country Park? it's bugging me to think I've seen you before", Paul laughed pretty hard at that, Ela just getting more confused by it, Jacob did speak up "Oh maybe you've seen Unkie in the telly, I haven't, Mommy won't let me watch, but they talk about it sometimes".

Ela was even more bewildered than before, and Paul was still laughing a bit, "Are you on TV? do you act?" that could definitely explain where she might now him from, it made sense, "A little, I've done some gigs" og that was cool, first day in the UK and already meeting an actor, such luck, but Ela still couldn't place him, "Maybe something I've seen? I'm so sorry, I still can't quite recognize you", he smiled a bit, "most likely, but hey, I propose you have a couple of days to think about it and we can meet with my friends Friday evening if by then you still don't remember me by then, you'll know then", that sounded like fun, maybe he was referring to friends of him that were actors too, "that sounds fun, alright I accept the challenge", "Terrific, I'll talk to my friends and will send you the details of a pub for friday" "Awesome, thanks for being so nice Paul, you made it easier for an introver to hang around" Ela smiled when she heard Jacob clearing his throat "And thank you cubby for leading us to the safety of UK streets, what could I have done without your cavalry" she said and brieftly kissed his tiny cheek, Jacob blushed hard at that and looked down very timid all of the sudded, Paul laughed and said "Well cubby, that ight have been too much for your young heart, say bye to Ela now", Jacob was still bluching and acting a bit shyly, but then recovered a little and without being able to look her in the eye said "Bye Ela, I liked being with you, I liked that you have a lot of purple things, I liked your tattoes, eat a lot", that the normal Jacob, the adults laughed and said their goodbyes.

Ela started walking to where she was staying and thought about how lucky she had been on her first day, she had met a nice man, and Cubby was from another world, she even had plans for Friday, not at all bad to begin her UK adventures. She was still very curious to find out where had she seen Paul, or rather watched, that was still a mystery, but her now full-on angry stomach was not gonna let her think, she walked to a nice little family restaurant the girl in her Hotel's front desk had suggested earlier and felt rested and ready to enjoy her trip.