"So. Jamie. What is it you do?" She asked in a very formal, polite voice which made Jamie snort with laughter a little.

"Oh dear. We've already gone formal, have we?" He teased, and Juno shifted in her seat, embarrassed by her thoughts of Jamie as a madman. "Well, Miss Jennings, I'm actually a bit of a freelancer." He replied, his voice equally formal, but his tone light and teasing.

Juno sat up straighter again and looked at Jamie with interest. A fellow freelance artist, a kindred spirit, Juno thought happily. Maybe he wasn't a madman after all…

"Oh really? What sort of work do you do?" Juno asked happily of her fellow freelancer, turning in her seat so she could watch him as they drove into the countryside and away from the lights of the town behind them.

"Oh, I do it all." Jamie said confidently. "Anything they order, I pretty well do. Anything."

Juno's forehead wrinkled as she processed this nugget of information. Jamie sounded like, well, like a pimp when he put it that way. Surely she'd misunderstood…

"Order?" She asked, hoping for a little more information. "Do?"

Jamie glanced at her, then back to the road, a small smirk on his lips. "You're picturing me with a fur coat and a fedora on the Las Vegas strip right now, aren't you?"

Juno blushed at the accuracy of his words. "No, not at all."

"Liar." Jamie grinned. "I'm actually a courier – a freelance courier. I deliver prescriptions to homebound people. I pick up dry cleaning. I deliver packages. Anything they need, I deliver. I go all up and down the coast. Gives me lots of freedom, lets me meet new people, lets me help people. I really enjoy it, though it's not the most glamorous job." He patted the Mini's dash. "But Thor here hasn't let me down yet."

Juno smiled at the affectionate pat and pet name of the car. "Sounds like it could be fun. You've always done this?" She asked, digging for more information about this samaritan sounding stranger.

Jamie's expression darkened momentarily, then he smoothed his expression but not before Juno saw the change. She sensed that she had stepped into dangerous territory, and vowed not to be too nosy to this kind stranger. "For a while, yes." Jamie said after a beat. "I've worked a few other jobs, had some other opportunities, but found that this suited me best for a while. I needed a break from… well, from other obligations."

Juno nodded, wondering what that meant, but decided not to pursue this particular line of questioning. "Is your family from this area?"

Again she saw the shadow cross Jamie's face, and she cringed at her tactless questioning. "I'm sorry… am I asking too many questions? Occupational hazard." She apologized, and Jamie glanced over at her with a smile.

"Not at all." He said warmly. "I just… I'm not close with my family, that's all. But yes, they are from this area. My parents and my sister still live at our esta… at our family home, but I left home several years ago." Jamie explained. "We just… we don't see eye to eye, that's all."

Juno nodded. "I understand. My parents went ballistic when they found out I wanted to be a writer instead of following in the family business. My parents own an insurance company, but that was really, really not for me."

"Insurance?" Jamie laughed. "No, that doesn't suit you at all. What do you do instead?"

"I'm a freelance writer. Well, struggling freelance writer." Juno amended. "I'm mostly work on spec, and I do a lot of technical editing to pay the bills, but I really want to be a novelist, or a short story writer. I'm your typical starving artist, but lately, I've been doubting that I'm even that. I think I'm a hack. I was hoping that a little vacation would help me find some clarity in… oh, well, my entire life I guess." Juno admitted, hanging her head a little. "Viv and Darcy, the friends I came to Scotland with, are these perfect, glamorous, rich, successful women, and I'm… it's like I'm still in college, or struggling to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. Maybe I should go into insurance after all." Juno said, sounding resigned even to herself. "Sorry for the confessional." She apologized. "I told you I was confused." She shrugged in further apology and glanced out the window to hide herself from his gaze.

Jamie looked at her for a long moment until she glanced back at him, and then shifted his eyes back to the road. "Are you a good writer?"

Juno looked out the windshield and considered herself for a moment. "Yes." She whispered softly.

"Then don't you dare do what you family commands. Don't compare yourself to everyone else's standards. Live for yourself. You'll find a way to make it." Jamie said with conviction. "It's the only thing that makes it all worthwhile."

Juno glanced at him, her mouth slightly agape. He was truly the first person to tell her that in a long while, and certainly with the most conviction. She was about to respond when he spoke again.

"I'm hungry, and you must be starving. I know a great pub up the road – let's stop for a bite, eh?" Jamie said, a smile back on his face. "I'll ask them before we eat if you can wash dishes for your dinner, alright?"

Juno blushed, but smiled at his teasing tone.

"And while we eat, we'll figure out what to do with our lives. Sound like a deal?" Jamie gave Juno that megawatt smile, and it wasn't until that moment that she realized she was in very safe hands in the Scotland countryside.

"Deal." She replied with a smile. "As long as I don't have to eat tripe."

"Oh no." Jamie said, aghast. "Tripe is only for very special occasions, my darling."

"Good." Juno said, glowing despite herself at the 'darling' comment. "I'd wash dishes for a lot of things, but not for a plateful of tripe."

"Bubble and squeak it is, then." Jamie said, ushering her out of the car with an elbow out for her hand. "And something with treacle for dessert."

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