The Last Vikings

#BelieveItAchieveIt

"This is Jennie, Phil," Davey said in a placatory—and slightly patronising—voice to the woman, as if he was edging around a dangerous dog that was threatening to bite him. "She's an old friend of Paulo's, staying at the ice hotel. She's just come to visit us."

Phil ignored him, her eyes set on Paulo. I shrunk into the sofa. To her I was the dog, and someone had just brought me into her living room to do a shit on the carpet.

"Can we talk?" She said to Paulo. She had an Antipodean accent, her talk more like tok. I guessed she was older than me, older than Paulo even, possibly late 30s or early 40s. She was pretty though, no question, even with no makeup and in her shapeless Antarctic clothes, her light afro hair pulled back into a severe ponytail.

Her request to Paulo was less a question, more a demand.

Paulo glanced at me uneasily and said, "Be right back."

Davey puffed out his lips as they left, sharing an eyebrow raise with Stephen.

"Back on the fuckin' drama train again," Davey said wearily. He looked at me. "Like you said, being out here. Intense."

"Don't take it personally," Stephen addressed me, conciliatory. "It wasn't directed at you. Those two are working through some... issues right now. I'm sure they'll sort it out before summer comes round."

"They fucking better, or I'm going to turn into Jack Nicholson in The Shining," Davey said. "They shouldn't allow couples out here. It's not fair on everyone else."

"They're not a couple I don't think, not any more." Stephen frowned at Davey. "And maybe we should let Paulo talk to Jennie about his own affairs, eh?"

"Aye yeah, they're not a couple," Davey replied sheepishly.

I blinked, feeling terribly uncomfortable, trying to take it all in. Had Paulo just broken up with his girlfriend? And now they were stuck out here, on top of each other, for the next five months? Shit, that sounded horrible.

No wonder he was so miserable all the time. He obviously wasn't as good at hiding his heartbreak as I was.

And why did I feel jealous? That's one for the sisterhood, right there.

"Maybe I should go," I said uncertainly, making to get up.

"No, no," Stephen motioned me to stop. "The food is almost ready. They'll be fine. Honestly."

"Philomena's alright," Davey said. "Despite what you just saw. She's under a lot of pressure at the moment, like. Not just him. The job... she's been out here the longest of us all, nine years now. And this is her last winter. They have to dismantle the radiometer at the end of the season. The project's over. It's been her life for a decade, and she's very... specialised. I don't think she knows what she's going to do next. Stressful, like."

I nodded. That gave me sympathy for Phil—if anyone, I should know about involuntarily acting like a psycho—but it didn't make me any less scared of her.

Unfortunately I couldn't leave unless either Paulo took me back to the hotel or one of these guys volunteered to, which didn't look forthcoming.