LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter Six

      Matt had tried, but ultimately failed for a second time, to entice me onto the ski slopes as another dusk-tinged day began in the Arctic Circle. My head was still all over the place as everything that had happened yesterday played heavily on my mind – meeting Mikku, our strange conversation; and then there was Zac. Why had he approached me, of all people? And why couldn’t I stop thinking about him?

      My day began with a breakfast of cereal, bread and a selection of some of the most delicious cold meats I’d ever tasted. It may only have been my second full day in Lapland but I’d already decided that breakfast was one of my favourite times of the day – it was when that rose-tinted daylight was at its strongest, and it truly felt as though a new day was beginning. I didn’t even mind the short trek from our rooms in a separate block to the main body of the hotel that meant you had to don full outdoor gear just to go to breakfast; that was half the fun for me. I was throwing myself into this new experience, and trying to embrace everything it had to offer. No matter how strange some of it seemed to be.

      The dining-room used for breakfast was like stepping into another little piece of traditional Lapland Christmas heaven, and I’d fallen in love with it immediately. With its wood-panelled walls and ceiling, short, red-and-white-checked curtains tied back on all the windows that were adorned with traditional Nordic straw decorations, candles and poinsettias dotted all around, not to mention two huge decorated spruce trees at each end, it was the most magical, warm and cosy place in which to enjoy a leisurely breakfast. I’d already found a favourite table by one of the windows that looked out onto the resort across the road, and that was where I’d sit and sip my tea, watching as everywhere sprung into life, people heading excitedly off to the slopes for a day of skiing or off into town to browse around the shops, enjoy lunch out or a hot chocolate in one of the bars or cafés. It was all here. Whatever you chose to do.

      And today I chose to head off to the slopes, but not to ski. It could do no harm to just hang around and watch, though. It was all I really wanted to do at the minute as my mind got used to this new and completely different Christmas I was experiencing here in Lapland. A Christmas where I was bound to miss Jase just that little bit more because of where I was – a place he’d always wanted to visit and that we’d never quite made it to.

      So, finishing my tea I took one more look out of the window, smiling as I watched a group of children throwing snowballs at each other as they dragged their sledges off to the nursery slopes. Everyone was having fun. And I wanted to find a way to have that kind of fun again too. I just had to let myself.

      *

      Zac ground to a halt at the bottom of the ski slope, snow-ploughing his way to a perfect finish. Stabbing his ski poles into the ground he swung round, making perfect arcs in the powdery snow as his skis made the 45-degree turn it took for him to face Tyler.

      ‘You looked like you were auditioning for a James Bond chase scene there, mate,’ Tyler said, leaning on his own ski poles as he regarded the hill Zac had just come hurtling down.

      ‘Yeah, well, it’s a great way of relieving stress sometimes – throwing yourself down a snow-covered slope. Do you wanna go grab a drink at the bar?’

      Tyler checked his watch. ‘Well, it’s almost lunch-time so, why not?’

      Zac gazed up at the sky, which had a wonderfully rich, dark-pink tone to it today, but that was fading fast as the early afternoon dusk drew in. ‘Come on then. We’ll sit outside and grab the last of the daylight.’

      Finding space at a table near the entrance to the outdoor terrace area of the après-ski bar, which was growing steadily busier as lunch-time descended, Zac settled himself down, sticking his ski poles in the snow and resting his skis up against the table as Tyler went inside to get the drinks. As had been the norm since that chance meeting with the mystery woman called Jess yesterday, he found himself scanning the growing crowd, craning his neck to see above those who were standing up, blocking his view. There was a still a part of him that wanted to forget about an afternoon of more skiing and head off to look for her, because he hadn’t really been able to settle since he’d seen her run off after their exchange yesterday. If you could call it that. And that need to see her again hadn’t waned at all. Even after a good night’s sleep nothing had changed; he still had that overwhelming feeling of needing to get to know her. Maybe fate was eventually going to throw them together, but Zac just wasn’t sure how long he could wait for it to finally do its job.

      He looked up at the sky again, watching as the blanket of darkness crept slowly across it, covering the beautiful colours of a Lapland day, turning it slowly black. It was still something that fascinated him, this daytime darkness, mainly because of how quickly you seemed to get used to it. Before he’d arrived in the Arctic Circle he’d thought it was something that would feel strange and almost depressing, but it hadn’t been that way at all. It was an experience, skiing in the dark, and one he enjoyed. He’d fallen in love with this little corner of the world, and he knew he’d be sad when he had to leave. But he had a feeling it was due to throw up a few more surprises before that time came.

      With

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