Page 64 of Adrift in Iceland
‘What are you doing tomorrow, Olafur?’ Leifur asked.
‘I’m taking a group on a glacier hike. Pick-ups start at five from the hotels.’
‘He doesn’t mind the early starts,’ Gudrun said, placing an enormous dish of lasagna in the middle of the table.
‘I’ll be glad when the days draw out a bit more and we’re not getting up in the dark,’ said Astrid.
Gudrun looked at her questioningly, and she realised she’d said “we”.
‘This looks delicious, Gudrun,’ said Leifur.
‘Thank you. How are you finding Astrid’s cooking?’
He smiled at Astrid, letting her know he was okay with being questioned. ‘She’s pretty good. We’re not thinking too much about food, though.’
Astrid almost choked on her mouthful of lasagna, such was her surprise and delight in his answer. Gudrun looked at him with admiration, which amused Astrid all the more.
‘You’re living together?’ Gudrun said when she draggedAstrid into the lounge on the pretence of showing her something. Olafur and Leifur were washing up.
‘Sort of, although not in the sense that we decided to live together. We’re just together all the time.’
‘Oh my god. It’s been two weeks, As. That’s the speed of light, especially for you.’
‘What do you mean, especially for me?’
‘No offence,’ said Gudrun, making Astrid feel her first reaction, to be offended, had been correct. ‘But you haven’t really had a serious relationship, have you, unless you kept it a secret from me?’
Astrid wished she’d made an effort to keep this one a secret.
‘No, but it’s been an intense few weeks. We’ve spent so much time together, I suppose it’s progressed quicker than if we saw each other a couple of times a week.’
‘That makes sense. Even so, it seems serious already. What are you going to do when you leave?’
When she left. That hadn’t even been a possibility, but the email she’d had from the Costa Rica research team, that she’d forgotten about until this morning, might change that.
‘I have something to tell you. I haven’t told Leifur yet because I don’t know what to do.’
‘You’ve got another job,’ said Gudrun.
Astrid didn’t bother asking her sister how she’d jumped to that conclusion, because she was right.
‘A three-month contract on a research vessel in Costa Rica.’
‘When?’
‘Next week.’
‘Next week?’
‘Shhh,’ Astrid said, looking at the kitchen door. ‘I know. I don’t even know if Jonas will let me out of the contract, and even if he does, I’m leaving them in the lurch.’ And leaving Leifur before the end of the summer.
‘You know Jonas will let you out of the contract,’ Gudrun said confidently. ‘But is it what you want?’
‘It’s an amazing opportunity, but I’m not sure I want to leave now.’
‘Because of Leifur?’
Astrid nodded. ‘And if I tell him about it, he’ll encourage me to take it even if that’s not what he wants.’
