Page 11 of Meet Me Under the Northern Lights

‘This was not my fault. You walked into me and…’ Gunnar stopped talking, his now empty cardboard cup of coffee still in his hand, as he looked at the woman wearing the contents down her coat. ‘Chloe.’

‘But, honestly, you may as well call me Americano, Olga! I’m covered in it!’

‘I see,’ he answered, rather pathetically even he had to admit.

‘And there is some on the floor. Listen, everybody!’ He was using his outside instructional voice now.

‘Please take care coming through the door until this is cleaned up!’ He took Chloe’s arm and led her away from the spillage.

‘Sit here. I will be back.’ He patted the edge of a bench next to a set of stairs going upwards.

He was going to get some paper towels to mop the floor up with and then he was going to think about how to clean coffee from a coat that unfortunately wasn’t black. Why was everything going wrong today? Why couldn’t he just have some plain, no-drama routine?

With the spill on the floor cleaned, a plastic bottle in his hands, he went to turn his attention to Chloe and her coat but when he looked back to the bench she was gone. There was only one place she could be. Without thinking too hard, he headed towards the door to the ladies toilets.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ Chloe erupted as he rushed into the small space.

‘I could ask you the same question,’ he said. She had her coat off and the large stain down the front was being held under running water. ‘Is that hand soap you have on there?’

‘What else is there?’

‘It will not work with that. Here.’ Before she could suggest any alternative, he had squeezed from the bottle he was holding and bright blue liquid squirted on to the coat.

‘Oh my God, you’ve made it worse!’

‘Give it to me,’ Gunnar said, hands on her coat.

‘No! You’re actually insane.’ She tugged the coat back.

He let go. ‘OK but, I am being honest with you. This liquid is very good. In Iceland we put it on any stain and it is like magic. Just rub it into the fabric and the blue will disappear and the foam will start and you will see the coffee go away.’

He almost breathed a sigh of relief when she worked the detergent into the material and it started to lift the brown as he’d described.

‘See, it is working,’ he said.

‘Lucky for you,’ Chloe answered. ‘I was drafting the one-star review of this trip in my head already.’

‘Really?’ Gunnar exclaimed. ‘On a trip to see Iceland’s most famous sight, you would give one star before the boat has left the harbour? Because of an accident?’

She turned the tap off and drew out the portion of her coat that was wet. Instinctively, he pulled some paper towels from the dispenser and began to dab the damp.

‘A lot of accidents seem to happen when you’re around,’ she remarked. ‘What are you doing here anyway?’

‘I am working.’ He smiled, still dabbing her coat. ‘It is nice to see you too.’

She laughed. ‘I did not say it was nice to see you.’

‘But you will think it. Now that I have saved your coat with the washing liquid and… when I buy you a drink to apologise.’

Why had he said that? And buying a woman a drink when he was working and on a very fine line with Erik wasn’t wise either. Suddenly the small bathroom felt even smaller as he realised how close together they were standing. He stopped wiping at the coat, inched back. What was she going to say?

‘ áttu vin ?’ she asked.

He laughed. ‘Yes, there is wine.’

‘OK,’ she replied. ‘You’ll get me a glass of red wine and then you can tell me everything there is to know about the Northern Lights so I can make notes for the event I’m hopefully going to be organising.’

‘Ah, well, there is full commentary from one of my colleagues.’

‘And it feels like there are hundreds of people on here who will be talking over it. I also saw selfie sticks and I was hopeful they had died out by now.’

He laughed. ‘OK, then you should find a seat at the back of the boat. It is quieter there. I will get wine and, as long as I am not in charge of the lifeboats, I will station myself there too.’

‘OK, Jack Dawson.’

‘You say this because I mention lifeboats or because of my hair?’

‘Because I’m just an ill-prepared girl, down on her luck, hoping my prior introduction to you will help me survive the night if we hit an iceberg.’ She smiled, with her eyes as well as her mouth.

Suddenly Gunnar felt hot and he knew it wasn’t his thermal coat but the eye contact. What was happening to him? He should look away…

The door of the bathroom suddenly burst open and he jumped a little as two women tried to barrel through in a flurry of coats, hats and scarves and ‘sorrys’.

‘Excuse me,’ Gunnar said to everyone, shifting towards the door. He was going to get out before any questions as to why he was in the ladies toilets could be asked.