Page 35 of Ignited in Iceland
They walked further than Iris had ventured before, to the part of the city that lay beyond the Harpa, to the west. The buildings there were more architectural in style and there were fewer of the small, colourful-clad houses. They stopped at a place called Slippbarinn.
‘Is this okay?’ Siggi asked, his eyebrows raised.
‘Definitely. I could eat a burger and fries,’ Iris said, having scanned the menu that was on the wall outside.
Siggi opened the door and held it for Iris to go in first. He waved at the guy behind the bar, who waved back, and they chose a table near the back, where the lighting was intimate and there were more empty tables, so it’d be quieter for chatting.
‘You know that guy?’ Iris asked, nodding to the barman, after Siggi had come back to the table with two pints of beer, having ordered the food.
‘That is the hazard of living in the town you grew up in,’ he said, setting the beers down and wiping his hands on his jeans.
‘I think that’s nice, that you’re still friends with people you grew up with.’
‘Is it like that for you?’
Iris shook her head. ‘No, my parents moved away from the village where I grew up. They wanted to live in a town once they retired, so they didn’t have to drive everywhere. I’m still in touch with my best friend from school, though. We catch up when I’m in the UK.’
‘Have you always travelled a lot for work?’
She tipped her head from side-to-side. ‘Only for the past couple of years. The first few years after my Master’s degree, I worked in the lab all the time, monitoring seismic activity all around the world. Data came in from places like the IMO and we’d analyse it, especially for countries who don’t have the resources themselves.’
Siggi was still looking interested, which surprised Iris. Perhaps it shouldn’t have done; she’d be pretty interested in anything he had to say after what had happened today.
‘Then I started getting interested in the way things were being monitored. The equipment, how it worked, what we wanted to know, and how good it was at delivering that. I started travelling because I was installing portable devices in places that were starting to see more activity on their standard monitoring equipment. It sometimes makes a difference. And now I’m researching how looking at different frequencies with a modified seismometer might help with predictions.’
‘Wow, that’s impressive. You are an expert in your field.’
‘I’m getting there.’
‘It must be an amazing feeling to have a job that really makes a difference to people.’
‘It feels disjointed. It’s not like we’re responsible for deciding to evacuate or anything. We just pass on the information to the people that make the decisions.’
‘It is still impressive,’ he insisted.
‘Thank you.’ It felt wonderful to be here with Siggi. The way he was looking at her with a hint of what she could only describe as adoration in his eyes was out of this world. And she was sure he was seeing the same thing mirrored in her own eyes.
‘I did not expect this to happen today,’ he said, smiling, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
‘Neither did I. I was trying quite hard not to fancy you.’
Siggi laughed. ‘Maybe I am irresistible?’
‘Apparently,’ Iris said drily. ‘Or it was the euphoria that overcame me after snorkelling betweenactualtectonic plates.’
‘I don’t think so. I have been there a million times and it has never happened before,’ he said, taking Iris’s fingers and intertwining his own.
She had to stop herself from gasping out loud at the intensity of feelings his touch released within her. She felt lightheaded, and it wasn’t the beer. It was intoxicating.
‘What happens after dinner?’ She knew exactly what she wanted to happen after dinner, but she didn’t want to assume that Siggi would want to take that step this quickly. Normally, she wouldn’t herself. But time was short. She wanted Siggi. She wanted as much of him as she could get before she had to leave. And she already knew that even if they spent every second of that time together, it wouldn’t be enough.
‘What happens next is up to you,’ he said.
‘I’d quite like to do some more kissing. Somewhere more comfortable.’ Saying it out loud made her feel shy. Telling someone what she wanted like this was not something she’d ever done before. But she was so sure that this was what she wanted. It was pointless dancing around it or pretending to be coy.
‘I’d like that too.’
12
