OCEAN EYES (ENG)

CHAPTER X

My woman's intuition didn't fail me this time either. Since Matthías took the secondary road I knew something was not right. It's been ten minutes already since we got stuck in this muddy whole; wet, gray and slimey.

Matthí has been working on it for a while now, and I've been reading a book whilst his attempts on getting us out of here all keep on failing. At least the weather's nice and the scenery is beautiful. There's no forests like these in Reykjavik, at least not where I live. The closest to a forest might be Fjölskyldugarðurinn, a very huge park, but it's always crowded so I usually avoid it.

- How's it going out there? - I ask, sticking my head out of the window.

- Oh, great. - he jokes. His arms are covered in mud and small drops of sweat run across his forehead.

- You know, it's getting kinda dark. This is usually the part where the guy with the chainsaw comes out from behind the trees and hacks us to pieces!

- Could you just give some gas, please? - he ignores me, standing behind the truck. I lay my foot on the pedal, softly- Okay, a little harder!

I look at him and press the throttle to the max, making the mud splash everywhere. Matthías screams, all covered in gray liquidy slime. Let's be honest, I did that on purpose just to piss him off a little.

- No! Stop! Now! - he screams, covering his face with both hands.

I take my foot away from the pedal and laugh. He looks at me with a mix of anger and naughtiness, and suddenly starts sliding towards me. Oh well...

- No, please! - I beg in laughter as he stands in front of the rolled window, aware of what's coming- No, no, no, no!

- Where are you going? - his muddy hands touch my face and leave the wed substance all over my skin.

- No, no... Matthías! - I scream as he moves his hands all over my face and hair- I'm gonna get you!

I jump out of the truck as he starts to slide away, laughing. I take a handful of disgusting mud and throw it at Matthías, who's standing at the other side of the truck. He's not fast enough and it hits him right in the neck. He then copies me, starting a mud war.

We run around the truck in circles, trying to cover our bodies, which just keep on getting more and more dirty as the fight intensifies, laughing and yelling all the time. But the game ends when Matthías trips over and falls flat into a dirty puddle. I honestly don't think I can get him any dirtier, so we call the war quits. He shakes his head like a wet puppy and takes a look at the truck, which is as dirty as us. When he looks at me I see his ocean eyes through a sea of gray mud. I smile.

. . .

- Matthí, I'm serious. - I look at him as he drives through the main road again. The mud is almost dry and now it looks like my hair is actually gray- Matthí, I'm not meeting your family for the first time looking like this.

- It's fine, they're not home. - he peeks at me from the corner of the ye- Besides, I'm not taking you to the movies like that. Got a reputation to maintain.

- Wow. - we laugh.

He stops the car in front of a huge forged steel door, just like the ones in the mansions from the movies. It might be around six or seven meters tall. When Matthías sticks his arm out of the window and presses a button on some kind of electronic panel on the door I raise my eyebrows.

- Hello? - a man's voice makes its way through the speakers.

- Hi Viktor.

- What are we doing? - I ask looking at the walls that surround a huge esplanade. This is not us at all, and even less me. - Who's Viktor?

The doors open before us and Matthías starts driving again. We drive across a huge and perfectly paved promenade, surrounded by huge and perfectly-taken-care-of trees, with long and bushy branches which make some kind of natural tunnel. I make my way out of the window, almost all the torso outside, smelling the fresh air, feeling the sun dance on my skin intermittently. This is amazing.

- Where are we? - I say when the promenade ends and we take turn beside a flowery esplanade. He says nothing- Wait; do you work here to?

From nowhere, a three floored white house with grand pillars and a staircase made of marble. It looks like a palace, it really does. I see a man pruning the trees to make them perfectly round. Matthías stops the car in front of the stairs. I look at the building, fascinated.

- Wow...- I whisper in astonishment- This is your house? You live here? You're rich? Matthí you told me that your dad owned a brake shop!

- He does, he just happens to have three hundred more. - he says, trying to grab my waist.

- No, no, no.- I shake my head trying to avoid his grip- I'm not going in here.

- Yes, yes you are. - he finally grabs me, but I'm faster and take a hold of the truck's door.

- Not like this, what if somebody sees me?!- I panic, grabbing the door with all my strength.

- Let go.

- Nope.

- Let go! - he repeats without letting go off me. I feel his chest against my back, his shirt rubbing my naked shoulders.

- No, you let go! - I laugh. I finally let go and he spins me around a couple times before leaving me softly on the ground- Why didn't you tell me?

- What difference does it make? - he says, hugging my waist again.

- Hello?

I look up to the voice that interrupted us. A slim, blonde woman is grabbing the veranda in the staircase. She's pale and has very bright eyes; her hair lays on top of her head in an intricate updo. She's wearing a white dress and a pair of very pointy heels. I frown, and Matthías puts me down immediately.

- Mom. - he says, frowning just like me- I thought you and dad were going out.

- We decided to come back early. - she lays one of her slim hands on her stomach. An awkward silence fills the air.

- This is Nina. - he finally says. I feel his gentle hand on my back-

- Hi. - I force a smile on my face. I'm frozen. Matthías' mom looks away and swallows hardly.

- Perhaps you should hose off a little.

The water is really cold, and the pressure makes the dry mud come off my skin easily. Matthías, who's now shirtless, washes me with the hose. It seems like his mom wasn't really fond of us arriving all dirty at her house. She actually looks like a very strict person; I'm not really sure I like her.

- Cold. - I laugh.

- Here, do my hair. - he says handing me the hose.

He bends over and I damp his mane, running my fingers through it to get rid of all the mud. When I look up I see a huge room decorated with all kinds of expensive furniture. But it's not the furniture that catches my eye; it's the cinnamon-wooden piano that's laying in the middle of the room.

- These are Matthías' sister's. - Matthí's mom looks at us from a safe distance, as if we disgusted her. She brought us clean clothes- They should fit you.

- Thank you, ma'am. - I fake a smile.

She drops the clothes on a wicker chair and then walks away, stiff as a broomstick. I don't know what I've done to piss her off so much, but it truly looks like she despises me. Oh well, it's gonna be so much fun.