A Drop in the Ocean

Chapter 43

I placed my elbow on the armrest next to the wall of the plane.  Aimie leaned her head back, waiting patiently for our plane to take off.  One good thing about flying to Iceland is that the plane didn't have very many people on it.
"I still can't believe that this is working out," I told Aimie.  She nodded, absolutely speechless.  The Genies agreed to pay for the first two months of rent and our general necessities.  I was going to be paying for my things to be sent from Australia, and Nora, James, and Lindsey packed things up a few days ago so the movers could ship them.  The house they found us in Reykjavik is a large-ish house that already has two people living in it:  Mikal and Nina.  The Genies told us that they aren't married, so it'll be nice to have some roommates, especially moving to a new country. 

"Neither can I," Aimie replied.  She chuckled, and then we remained silent.

"Have you talked to the boys?" she asked me.  I shook my head.  I had taken the time to totally ignore them.  They had all called, texted, Facebook messaged, and pretty much any other sort of way to contact me.  I didn't need them changing my mind.  Aimie didn't agree with me.  She thought it was stupid of me to ignore them.  

"No.  I probably won't."

"You really need to talk to them.  They are probably worried sick.  And you don't have to talk to Luke if you don't want to.  You could talk to the others.  Or Liz.  Or Niall.  Or even Lou for that matter.  Just let someone know where you are," she told me.  I looked out the window to the tarmac.  It was early morning, so the sky was still dark, but the runway was illuminated by the lights along its edges.  I sighed.

"I'll text Niall when we get to Reykjavik," I replied.  I turned back to her to see a small smile playing at the edges of her mouth.  She set her hand on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.  

"Good.  I bet they're worried sick.  You kind of just stormed out on them," she chuckled.  I gave her a small smile.  

"So, are you excited to meet our roommates?" I asked her.  Her small smirk spread out into a wide grin that practically split her face in two.  

"I am so excited!  I think it will be wonderful for us to immediately get to know new people, and they will know a lot about the area!  It's just so great!" she cried.  I chuckled at her enthusiasm.  

"I agree.  And they are foreign, so that will be pretty cool.  I'm just excited to see the city.  And the landscape.  And just everything in general.  I just can't even believe that this is happening," I said.  I heard a ding come from overhead, and I reached down to buckle my seat belt.  I stuck my hand in my coat pocket and retrieved my boarding pass, observing the numbers.  Our flight went from Denver to Seattle, where we had about a five and a half hour layover, and then on to Reykjavik.

"Are you ready for this?" she asked me, a small amount of concern lacing the edge of her voice.  I nodded, not looking up at her.  Of course I was ready.  I'd moved across the world.  I can move to Iceland.  I left things behind.  I have left people because I had to.  This is what I'm doing now.  I'm leaving because I have to.  But this time, I also want to.  I really want to.

"Yeah.  I am.  I'm more ready for this than I've ever been for anything in my entire life," I told her.  She gave me a smile and leaned back in her seat as the plane began to move backwards.  We sat in silence as it was being positioned on the correct runway and soon enough, the plane took off towards a land of new beginnings.

******

I felt a slight chill in the air immediately once I had stepped off the bright red IcelandAir plane onto the tarmac.  Aimie followed me off, and her eyes opened in awe.  I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and took a deep breath.  This was it.  We made it.  We picked up our luggage and made our way to the car rentals.  For now, we wanted to be able to get around, but we would buy a car eventually.  Until then, renting it was.  We picked out a tiny little blue car, piled our luggage into it and made our way through the city to find the house.  I drove while Aimie used her phone to give me directions.  

Soon enough, we pulled up to a little grey house that would soon become our home. It was very quaint and perfect for us.  There was already one car parked on the curb that was similar to ours but it was black.  I pulled in right behind it, and as soon as I put the car in park and turned it off, a young girl stepped out onto the porch and gave us a wave.  We waved back, and a boy joined her, doing the same.  We got out of the car, and Aimie went to the back to get our luggage out.

"Would you like some help?" the boy, Mikal, shouted, his Russian accent thick.  

"No, we've got it!  I don't want you guys having to put on shoes or anything!" Aimie shouted back.  Then, they both skipped down the steps and came over to us.  

"We've already got shoes!" the girl, Nina, cheered.  She was Scottish.  Just a few seconds later, they were next to us and helping carry bags.  Mikal was tall and very blonde with very blue eyes.  Freckles dotted his skin.  Nina was fairly short.  I would imagine probably 5'3".  She had green-hazel eyes and very light brown hair.  Her smile lit up her entire face.  I felt as if these people were already wonderful.  We would definitely get along.  I packed my suitcase up the steps as Nina led us to a wonderful home.  It was so wonderfully decorated.  I couldn't take my eyes off anything.

"Wow," was all I said.  Nina gave me a huge smile.  

"Yeah.  Would you like a tour?" she asked, getting all giddy.  Aimie and I nodded.  

"Just set your bags down.  We'll get them later," Mikal told us.  I took my backpack off my shoulder and followed Nina into the living room.  It was wonderful.  I was really digging the walls and the art work.  But that couch.  That couch was absolutely fantastic.  Bright orange velvet.  It was a piece that would look horrible in the wrong situations.  But this was so right.  

Working our way through the living room, we made it to the dining room.  I heard Aimie gasp.

"This table.  That wall.  The rug.  Oh my gosh," she whispered, in awe of the design.  

"I made the table myself," Nina said, leaning on one of the chairs.  I gave her wide eyes.  

"You're kidding," I said.  She shook her head.  

"Actually, Mikal helped a little.  But other than that, I did it all."  I gave her a thumbs up.  She led us down the hallway, showing us her room as well as Mikal's.  Our rooms were upstairs.  She had said that there wasn't any furniture, but she would be willing to help us decorate once we got all of our things.  Sitting on Nina's bed was a small dog.  I didn't know what breed he was, but he was extremely fuzzy and very cute.  He jumped off the bed and ran over to us.

"Oh, I hope you guys aren't allergic to dogs," Mikal said.  We both shook our heads.  He bent down to pick up the dog, and the dog scrambled into his arms.  He ruffled the dog's fur, and the dog licked all over Mikal's face.

"What's his name?" Aimie asked. 

"Chita.  It's a city in Siberia.  We are hoping to get another dog soon.  Hopefully a Siberian husky," he said.  Chita jumped out of Mikal's arms and scittered out of the room down the hallway.  

I could tell that I would like it here.  The people.  The house.  The environment.  Everything was great.  This would be a wonderful new beginning.  I stepped out into the hallway and the others followed.  

"Alright, everyone.  So, it's about 1:00 in the afternoon.  How does lunch sound?" Nina asked.  We all gave nods and went to join Nina in the kitchen, getting to know each other and become absolutely great friends.