It sounded like a date. And that both scared and excited him at the same time. If it hadn’t been for the waterfall mist hitting his cheeks there would definitely be heat there.
‘OK, good,krúttio mitt. So, let us go to the waterfall now. See how the sunset begins to look.’
And, as he stepped onto the first stair there was something fizzing inside him that suggested he more than liked the idea of dog sledding with the ‘except’.
30
KAFFI LOKI
‘Don’t look at it,’ Kat ordered, making a snatch for Chloe’s phone across the table at this traditional eatery they were nestled in, not too far away from their apartment.
It was almost nine in the evening now, the south coast tour concluded, everyone tired from the trip but their camera rolls bursting with videos and pictures and Gunnar’s tip tray full when she and Kat had disembarked the coach. But now the high of the ending to the tour – a sunset view through the tumbling water of the waterfall – had depleted, Chloe was on Instagram seeing Michael’s baby news for herself. And somehow Kat knew exactly what she was looking at.
‘It’s OK,’ Chloe said, sighing. ‘I actually don’t feel as bad about seeing it as I thought I would.’
‘No?’
‘No. I mean, yes, seeing him with someone pregnant is a bit weird when we tried for so long to achieve that but, it wasn’t meant to be for us.’
For you. It will never be for you. Chloe took a sip of her water. It was her with the infertility issue, not Michael. She couldn’t expect him to abstain from having a family with someone else just to what? Save her feelings? She had had her moment where she had let it soak into her at the black sand beach. Anger. Sadness. Disappointment. Gunnar had saved her from falling headfirst down a ravine. It was time to pick herself back up again.
‘Good,’ Kat said. ‘Because I know, despite what you’ve been saying. Or, rather, what you haven’t been saying, that Michelle’s pregnancy hasn’t been easy either.’
‘That’s different,’ Chloe answered quickly, picking up a piece of her rye bread with herring.
‘Why?’
‘Because Michelle’s pregnancy is like managing a West End production. It’s making sure the right people have the correct roles and that all the props are in place and everything is running to schedule.’
That was exactly how she had dealt with it. It was an event, no different to any of the events the company planned. The only thing that set it apart was the grand finale was going to be a brand new human not fireworks or a huge five-tier cake.
‘Good! So we are free from babies now to enjoy this feast of sheep head jelly and fermented shark, yes?’
‘Absolutely,’ Chloe agreed. ‘And I think Sinclairz Chairs would like this traditional menu.’
‘It’s very cosy here,’ Kat agreed. ‘And the Christmas decorations are all sparkly and cutesy.’ She jammed a piece of bread into her mouth. ‘So, did you book the dog sledding yet?’
‘I did,’ Chloe said. ‘Eight o’clock tomorrow night.’
But she was already feeling nervous about it. She wanted to get to know Gunnar better, but should she want to? She was only here for a very limited time. Where was it really going to go?
‘I can see your mind working overtime and that needs to stop,’ Kat said sternly. ‘It doesn’t have to be anything serious. It doesn’t have to even mean anything. It can just be fun, you know.’
The concept of fun and light and not overthinking sounded good, possibly great, given that she was super busy in the midst of this vital organisational period for the biggest gig of her life. However, the way Kat was selling it almost made Chloe feel that ‘fun’ and ‘nothing serious’ was all she could ever aim for. Or was that just her reading too much into things? She took a bite of the mashed fish.
‘I mean, let’s not forget that the fun stuff, the sexy stuff, the stuff that you get excited about all happens at the beginning of any relationship.’ Kat ate more bread then recommenced talking through chews. ‘After that’s worn off it’s trips to Ikea and the gastronomic delights of an extortionately priced pie at a pub that states Marco Pierre White once walked past. No one really wants that. That’s why I don’t date any more.’
Chloe crunched her face up. ‘What do you mean? You have Stephen.’
Kat laughed. ‘Stephen and I are friends with benefits. I keep telling you that and you keep forgetting.’
‘I don’t forget you said that, I just know he has clothes in your wardrobe and he keeps a toothbrush in your bathroom.’
‘Because sometimes he stays over.’
‘Which is kind of a relationship? I mean, he’s the only person that stays over, right?’
‘For now,’ Kat said, eating some bean salad.
