They chatted easily about where Gudrun had worked before and what experience she had which she felt would be good for Snug. Gudrun had moved to Norway after university and had worked her way up in one of the big department stores until she had met her partner and they’d decided to move back to Iceland. Rachel knew they were lucky to have found someone with such a breadth of experience who was happy to manage just one store at this stage in their career but Gudrun seemed content and brushed aside Rachel’s observation saying that there were more important things than work.
“So,” said Rachel, standing up, “let’s start by walking around and we’ll just have a chat about how a Snug store would normally be laid out.”
As they did so, Rachel answered Gudrun’s questions and listened to her ideas about the placement of various things, some of which were different to other Snug stores but Rachel was impressed; Gudrun clearly had a flair for this kind of thing.
Halfway through the morning, Gudrun popped to the coffee shop and when she got back they sat cross-legged on the floor, which was in the middle of being gradually repaired, and got to know each other a little better.
“How are you finding Iceland?” she asked Rachel.
“I love it, what I’ve seen anyway. I’m just about to book a Golden Circle tour for the weekend after next. My boyfriend’s coming to visit.”
“Ah, yes. We did that tour for a school trip when I was little. And if we ever have visitors we take them on that. It’s really good for seeing lots of the best things in one go.”
“That’s what I’ve heard. I really fancy going to a natural hot pool as well.”
“There’s a really good one not far outside Reykjavik. I could take you sometime if you like.”
“Brilliant, thanks. So, what made you move back from Norway?”
“I grew up here and then left the minute I could. I couldn’t wait to leave but maybe that’s what made me realise how much I loved it. Lots of people go away to university but most come back. I loved working in Norway but it was an easy decision to make when Olafur wanted to move back to work here.”
“Well, it’s great that you both wanted to do that,” Rachel smiled.
“He was worth the move back. He works for a tour company, Iceland Adventures.”
“Oh,” said Rachel rummaging in her bag, “that’s the one I have the leaflet for. The one that Jonas owns?”
“Yes! Have you met him? He’s such a great guy. It’s the best tour company in the country and I’m not just saying that because Olafur works for him.”
“Olafur and Jonas picked me up from the airport and I’ve bumped into Jonas a couple of times since then. He rescued me when I got locked in here yesterday.”
Gudrun’s eyebrows disappeared into her hair.
“Anyway, he does seem really nice.”
“He works too hard. Well, since his girlfriend left anyway, but that’s how he’s made such a success of it, I suppose.”
Once Gudrun had left, Rachel rang Jonas’s company and booked a glacier walking trip for herself as she had a couple of free days coming up. It seemed like an adventurous yet relatively safe choice and she was determined to see as much of the country as she could.
Having had such a productive day, she decided to go to Laugardalslaug for a swim and now, she was feeling brave enough to go on the bus. She knew she needed a number 14, she knew where she was going and she knew where to catch the bus. Sorted. After locking up the shop and then ducking into the hotel to collect her swimming kit, she was off.
After doing her requisite thirty lengths in the main pool, she treated herself to a long leisurely soak in the salt pool. Even after she had encountered it at the Blue Lagoon, it had been somewhat of a culture shock coming here and finding out that you had to thoroughly shower completely starkers before you put your cossie on and got in the pool. And at this pool, there was an attendant in the changing room to check that everyone did. The only good thing Rachel could say about it was that no-one gave it a second thought, it was just the way things were done so despite it going against every grain in her prudish British body, she didn’t feel too bad about it in the end.
It was complete bliss being in the hot thermal water while it was freezing cold outside. The sky was clear and the lights not so bright that you couldn’t see the stars. She lay there hoping for a glimpse of the Northern Lights. Well, half-hoping because it would be so romantic if the first time she saw them she was with Adam. Or Jonas. No, not Jonas. Rachel tried to stop thinking about him but he popped into her head all the more easily, even when she tried to concentrate on Adam. So she allowed herself a little moment of fantasy. After all, what was the harm in that?
On her way home, she sampled the joys of an Icelandic hot dog from the kiosk outside the swimming pool which, according to Jonas, was famous along the same lines as the Noodle Bar. On the face of it, it was a normal American style hot dog in a bun but it was served with crispy onions, ketchup, mustard and some mysterious sauce which made it taste completely amazing. It was exactly the right kind of food for after a swim with the only downside being that there was nowhere to sit, just a canopy to stand under so at least you didn’t get covered by a layer of snow while you ate.
Since the snowstorm on Sunday, it had snowed most days and because it was so cold it never had a chance to melt. The pavements around the pool, which was outside of the centre of town, had been sprinkled with black grit which Rachel assumed must be ground up lava as there would be a plentiful supply of that, but it had no effect on melting the snow like the grit did at home, it just served to give you a better grip. There was easily fifteen centimetres of icy compacted snow everywhere apart from the pavements right in the middle of town and she was glad she had bought snow boots with her because they were an absolute necessity.
Rachel was just finishing her hot dog when the bus pulled up on the opposite side of the road. Not wanting to have to wait for the next one she ran towards it waving her arms to attract the driver’s attention, not that she was sure how much good that would do because it wouldn’t work in London, that was for sure. But Reykjavik, as she had already discovered, was nothing like London and he did wait for her. She gazed out of the window at the houses as the bus ambled past and she wondered who lived in them. This was the capital city of the country and yet it didn’t feel like that. It wasn’t anonymous and full of its own importance. It was friendly and wore its heart on its sleeve. She was falling in love with it.
14
THE MORNING OF Rachel’s glacier walking excursion arrived and when the jeep pulled up outside the hotel, she was surprised how pleased she was to find that Jonas was the guide.
“Good morning, Rachel! I saw that you were on the list for today. You’ll love it,” he said, as he held the door of the jeep open for her.
There were already four other people in the back and they all greeted her as she climbed into the front seat. Was it a coincidence, she wondered, that Jonas had picked her up last knowing that then she’d have to sit in the front with him? Also, she couldn’t help wondering in a moment of self-indulgent daydreaming (which made her smile inside) whether he always hosted this trip or had he chosen to because she was on the list? Then she silently berated herself for thinking such a ridiculous thing. As if he would go to all that trouble.
