He just needed a minute to gather himself. He pulled the rucksack over to where he was, and laid back against it again, closing his eyes, then forced himself to open them, knowing how important it was to keep himself alert. A couple of deep breaths helped, then he manoeuvred himself further towards his phone. This time, he carried on until he got there, his fingers curling around his phone as he collapsed back to the ground.
He was exhausted. Holding the phone above his face, the screen now cracked but thankfully still working, he tried to call Jonas.
Nothing.
Maybe sending a text would work.
He typed out a brief message, hoping that the information he’d given Jonas in the voice note before would give him something to go on because the words were swimming in front of his eyes and he couldn’t be sure that he was making any sense. He had tried to say he’d had an accident and had pressed send, hoping for the best.
After all that, he deserved a rest. He closed his eyes for a minute.
Just a minute.
24
IRIS WAS ON cloud nine. Everything was coming together. Less than an hour after she’d been dropped back at her hotel, the HR department at the IMO had sent over a formal job offer. From the speed of that happening, she had a hunch that Bjarkey had set that in motion before she’d even said yes. The job was as good as hers and the offer was amazing. After only a minute’s hesitation, she’d sent a resignation email to HR at British Geology Labs, trying not to feel let down that no one had responded yet to her email about Jay threatening to sack her. It would have been nice to feel like anyone there understood her and what she’d been up against with him as a boss.
Now, she was waiting, never more restlessly, for her phone to ring. She was desperate to see Siggi and make things right with him. Since she had decided what she was doing, she could at least tell him what her plans were. Then it was up to him. But she’d missed him so much that she had decided to be clear with him about her feelings. He’d told her she was his love. Whether that meant he wasinlove with her, Iris wasn’t sure. But she knew she was in love with him and she needed to tell him. It felt important to seize the chance of a future with everything in that she wanted, rather than have the career but lose the man she loved because she was too scared to tell him how she felt. For now, she was putting out of her mind the thought that she could face rejection. It was a small price to pay for being able tomove forward knowing that she’d done everything she could, to be honest with Siggi.
Tucking her phone into her pocket, she ventured downstairs to the bar, something she hadn’t done before, but she felt like celebrating. Hopefully, as soon as Siggi called, she could invite him to come and join in. That would be okay. She was sure he’d be happy for her about the job, even if he decided it didn’t change anything between them.
Anders was behind the bar. ‘What can I get for you?’
‘A glass of red wine, please.’ She perched on a bar stool. There was no one else there, so it seemed inevitable she would end up chatting to Anders.
‘Merlot?’ he asked, smiling.
‘Merlot’s great, thank you.’
He poured the wine and set it on the bar in front of her. ‘How have you been enjoying Iceland?’ He began chopping some lemons and limes into segments.
‘You’re the first person I’ve told, but I’ve just got a job here.’
‘You are moving here? Congratulations,’ he said, stopping his chopping. He poured a tiny amount of wine into the bottom of a glass and held it up. ‘Skál!’
‘Skál!’Iris said, clinking her glass against his.
‘Is that why you are here? For the job?’
‘No, but I’ve been working with the team at the Met Office and they offered me a job. It’s in my field and will give me opportunities I wouldn’t have where I am now.’
‘That’s great news. I hear from Embla that you and Siggi have been seeing a lot of each other, so I guess that is also a reason to stay.’
Iris could tell by the look on his face that what he’d just said wasn’t the question he actually wanted to ask. If he was good friends with Siggi, presumably he knew all about his ex-girlfriend, or at least would know that Siggi wasn’t the settling down type.
‘I’m not sure whether we’re in that kind of relationship,’ she said, smiling. ‘We’ll see what happens.’
‘Siggi’s a great guy. Embla says he is different with you.’
‘Did she?’ Iris couldn’t help herself. In the absence of knowing what Siggi’s current thoughts about their relationship were, anything anyone else had to say about it was incredibly interesting. Especially Embla.
Anders nodded, downed the last of his wine, and resumed chopping. ‘She told me you had a disagreement and that he was devastated. He left you a note that took him a long time to write.’
Devastated? She hadn’t expected that after how cold he’d been to her at breakfast yesterday. His note had barely been an apology, but she had hoped from the tone of it, and the text message he’d sent, that he was feeling differently now. And now, the report from Embla helped her think she was right, and he felt as awful about the whole thing as she did.
‘We’re supposed to be meeting tonight when he gets back from his surfing trip.’
Anders laughed. ‘That is so like Siggi to take off. I hope it works out for you. Embla thinks he is actually happy for once.’
