She looked at Adam and he just turned and smirked, looking pleased with himself.
“Relax, Rach! Don’t you like surprises?”
She loved surprises and he knew that. Every time there was an anniversary or some reason to celebrate anything, she always hoped that he would spring some sort of surprise on her but it had never happened and Rachel didn’t think he knew how, so she was delighted that she seemed to be amid a genuine real-life surprise.
They headed towards the West End and turned off Piccadilly Circus, down Regent Street, stopping on the left. Adam paid the driver and they got out next to a passageway between the shops. Rachel had walked past there so many times and yet she had never noticed it before. Adam took her hand and led the way down the passage which had tiny fairy lights stranded above making it look like a starlit night. They came to a doorway with a rope cordon where a few people were queuing. Adam went to the front of the queue and announced himself to the door person. They were immediately ushered in and asked to hand over their bags for safekeeping. This seemed weird to Rachel but she glanced at Adam and he seemed completely fine with it so she went ahead and handed over her things. Then, a man came towards her and threw what looked like a blanket over her head. It was so quick, that she had no time to react and managed to muffle a tiny scream as she realised that it was a quilted, hooded poncho, not a blanket and when she emerged she could see that Adam had a similar, very fetching poncho on too.
“What is going on here?” she said, looking wide-eyed with disbelief at Adam who just grinned at her.
“Keep your gloves on at all times,” said the poncho man and Rachel saw that there were fleece-lined mittens attached to the poncho, a bit like the gloves attached by elastic through the sleeves of your coat when you were a child, “and remember you can always leave if you’re too cold.”
He moved ahead of them and opened a door which led to a dark hallway, gesturing for them to go through. Adam pushed open the next door and a rush of freezing cold air came out to hit them.
Inside the dimly lit room was ice. Lots of it. There were ice sculptures, walls of ice with beautiful carvings in them, all of it amazingly lit up with blue and pink lights and even a circular bar at the other side of the room, also made of ice.
“Welcome to the Icebar!” said Adam beaming at her, “I thought this would be the perfect place to come to send you off to Iceland in style.” Rachel reached for his mittened hands and leaned up to kiss him.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, thank you, it’s a brilliant surprise.” She knew she was never going to forget this moment. Adam had completely blindsided her and it meant everything. The uncertainty that had been between them since she’d taken the promotion eased and Rachel saw the Adam she had fallen in love with.
“How about a cocktail?”
They were served in small square glasses made of ice and the real purpose of the mittens was revealed.
There was so much to see. The walls were all made of clear blocks of ice built up like a brick wall with beautiful veins and cracks running through them which looked fantastic lit by the coloured lights. As well as the intricate carvings and sculptures, there were little nooks and crannies to explore while they sipped their cocktails. They took photos of each other along with a few selfies. Rachel wanted to make sure she’d remember it.
It was bitterly cold, just how you imagine it would be inside a freezer and because the air was so still, it felt different from being outside in the cold. Rachel pulled up the furry lined hood of her poncho and wrapped the voluminous quilted fabric closer around her. Despite the freezing temperature, the ice glasses gently began to melt on the rims from the warmth of their lips. The drinks went down far too easily and they went up to the bar for a second one.
“We have this place all to ourselves,” Rachel said.
“Well, it’s not quite so special with another fifty people in here.”
“But you paid for us to have the place to ourselves?”
It was such a grand gesture.
“Yes, only for twenty minutes. It’s great, isn’t it?”
They went to sit in a nook in the corner which was like a little grotto with furs over the icy seats.
“Adam, it’s magical. Thank you so much.”
“I love you, Rach. I will miss you so much and I want you to remember this night while we’re apart.”
“I’ll never forget it, it’s amazing.”
She kissed him softly, lingering there with their lips barely touching and their eyes closed, both drinking in this private, special memory he had unexpectedly created for them.
“A few weeks is a long time to be away from each other,” she said, almost to herself as if she had only just realised that she might actually miss him.
She tilted her head back to look at him. He kissed her forehead.
“I’m definitely coming to visit, so it won’t be that long.”
“Promise?”
“Promise,” he said tenderly, then pulled away from her, reluctantly realising that it was the end of their magical private Icebar experience when a steady stream of ponchoed people began coming through the door, breaking the spell.
It was the most romantic evening that Rachel had ever had. She was overwhelmed by the thought and effort that Adam had put into making it such a special night for them before she left, and it made her wonder whether her feelings that he never put any effort into their relationship were unfounded. Perhaps she had just forgotten how things could be when they were good. Maybe the argument they’d had on the night of the promotion was the catalyst for this grand gesture. Every relationship had its ups and downs and perhaps she was guilty of having a selective memory, dwelling only on how things had been recently. But right now, she felt like she had in the beginning and it was brilliant.
