Page 53 of Adrift in Iceland
‘Halló?’
They both froze.
‘It’s Jonas,’ Leifur said, hurriedly shifting out from underneath Astrid, pulling his suit back up, which was still around his ankles. ‘Hæ, Jonas!’ He headed up to the deck, leaving Astrid to pull her clothes back on and follow him.
‘Hæ, Astrid,’ Jonas said when she appeared on deck a minute behind Leifur. ‘How did it go today?’
‘It was great,’ she said, looking to Leifur for input. The details of the day had been so fresh in her mind a few minutes ago but now seemed distant and fuzzy, being replaced with thoughts of what had been about to happen in the cabin.
‘Good sailing conditions,’ Leifur said.
‘And good sightings?’
‘For the first two tours. The third, we did see some humpbacks but nowhere near what we’d seen in the morning. Have you had any complaints?’
‘No, and actually we have the first five-star review on the website. They said they saw minkes and humpbacks,’ said Jonas.
‘That wasn’t from the woman who wanted to know when we were going to see a blue whale, then. I’m expecting a one-star review from her,’ said Astrid.
Jonas laughed. ‘Really? She thought she’d see a blue whale?’
He didn’t seem worried at all about the prospect of a bad review.
‘You’re not upset?’ Astrid asked.
‘I’ve been in this business long enough to know that you can’t account for people who have unrealistic expectations. If she leaves a review complaining about the lack of blue whales, other people will take it with a pinch of salt. Besides, we’re very clear in our terms and conditions that we can’t guarantee whale sightings.’
‘Neither of us are used to dealing with customers,’ said Leifur.
‘None of us were when we started. Don’t worry about that side of things. It comes with experience. Anyway, I’ll let you get back to it.’
Astrid felt herself blush and saw Leifur do the same, although he recovered himself more quickly and shook Jonas’s hand.
‘Thanks for stopping by. I think it’s going to be a great summer.’
‘Me too. I’ve wanted to get into boat tours for a while, and the two of you have made it easier than I thought it would be. It hasn’t been a distraction for me at all, so thank you for that.’
‘No problem,’ said Leifur.
They waved him off, then stood on the deck looking at each other.
‘Let’s finish up and go to my place,’ said Astrid.
‘Almost getting caught doesn’t do it for you?’
‘It was so embarrassing. I’m sure Jonas realised.’
Leifur shrugged and raised an eyebrow. ‘It doesn’t matter. I’ll come to yours. Maybe we could get dinner? And then I’ll head home.’
Astrid was torn. In the moments before Jonas arrived, she’d been so full of longing for Leifur, and not only was that longing burning inside her even more strongly, she didn’t want it to be over at all.
‘Stay tonight,’ she said.
‘It’s okay, I don’t mind going home. We can stick to the plan.’
‘I don’t like the plan anymore.’
His face lit up. ‘New plan. I take you to bed so that I can show you what was waiting for you before Jonas turned up.’ His eyes flicked downwards. ‘Then we eat and sleep.’
