He closed the door, took his boots and coat off and went into the small lounge where Olafur was lying on the sofa, reading. He sat up as his friend came in.
‘Siggi, this is a pleasant surprise,’ he said.
‘Beer?’ Gudrun asked.
‘Yes, please,’ they both answered at the same time.
‘What’s going on?’ Olafur asked. It was because he was concerned, not because he minded Siggi calling round.
‘Iris.’
‘Ah.’
‘Tell us everything!’ Gudrun said, coming in from the kitchen with three open bottles of beer.
‘I took her to Fagradalsfjall.’
‘Siggi! That is very thoughtful. Did she enjoy it?’
‘Yes, it was interesting to see it from her point of view. She was very excited about a particular kind of lava.’ He smiled as he remembered.
‘Oh my god!’ said Gudrun, whose level of excitement was getting a little wearing. ‘You like her.’
‘Ah,’ said Olafur again. ‘This is not the Siggi we know and love.’
‘I do like her, but she is not interested. She said there is no point starting anything when she will be leaving in a couple of weeks.’
‘And you are sad that she is not such an easy conquest?’ Gudrun asked, her face the picture of innocence.
‘Well…’ That’s exactly what he’d thought three days ago when Iris had walked into the Iceland Adventures office. But now, it wasn’t. ‘It is different this time. I want more than that.’
‘What?’ Gudrun looked genuinely shocked, and exchanged a worried glance with Olafur. ‘But you never want anything serious.’
Siggi shrugged. ‘She is different. I want to know her. Everything about her. Before she decided we could only be friends, we held hands, and I thought I saw in her eyes the same feelings I have. And if that is how she feels, why would she not give herself a chance to see what happens?’
‘Maybe she is trying to save herself from being hurt,’ Gudrun said.
‘It is like with Rachel and Jonas. He loved her but tried to end things when he thought she was leaving, to save both of them from being hurt,’ Olafur said.
‘So what should I do?’ Siggi swigged his beer and looked at his friends, hoping that they would tell him something that might help him get Iris to change her mind.
‘I don’t know,’ said Gudrun. ‘I think you know better than me what it takes to make a woman fall at your feet.’ There was a glint in her eye. ‘But if she is immune to your charms, maybe you need to respect that.’
Olafur nodded, stifling a laugh at the same time. ‘Siggi, you are now experiencing what used to happen to me, Brun, and Jonas most of the time. You are luckier in love than we ever were, all of us together.’
‘None of it was ever love,’ Siggi said.
‘Is it love with Iris?’ Gudrun was a romantic who believed strongly in love at first sight.
‘I am not sure what love is, but I know Iris is the only person that has made me interested in finding out.’
‘Oh, Siggi,’ Gudrun said, her eyes full of happily ever afters.
‘Siggi. You are in trouble,’ said Olafur with a wry smile.
After another beer, Siggi said goodnight and headed home. As the chilly night air hit his face when he turned onto the street from the cobbled path that led to Olafur and Gudrun’s house, he realised he felt better after talking to his friends. He smiled. He could be friends with Iris. It was better to be friends and have half a chance that she might like him enough to stay in touch with him after she left Iceland, than to throw away any chance of ever seeing her again, by insisting that they give it a go, or nothing at all.
But it was going to be difficult to navigate, since his default setting was seduction. This was a chance to show everyone that he wasn’t that guy. He knew he’d put up barriers in the past, stopping short of allowing anyone close enough to get to know the real him. It was driven by the shame he carried at having abandoned his daughter and her mother. What kind of guy did that? He didn’t want to be the guy that did that, and yet he was. And there was nothing he could do to change that. And the idea of people knowing he was capable of that kind of behaviour crippled him. However he felt about Iris, it was going to take a lot for him to feel able to share that with her, and yet that’s what he would have to do if he was serious about her. Perhaps just being friends was the best thing after all.
