Page 56 of Night and Day
Izzy’s laughter echoed in the cave. “No! Tourists.”
Mia shivered. The thought of doing anything in depths of an underground river made her a little ill.
They walked on, gradually lowering deeper underground, until they arrived at the river. Another cave opened up above them, this one with a lower ceiling and more glow worms clustered as distinct colonies, like cities and towns seen from a plane landing at night. It was magical. Peaceful. Mia felt the final remnants of fear melt away, replaced by a sense of wonder.
“Music?” Izzy asked, pulling ear buds out of his pockets.
“Yes, please!”
He handed her one earbud, slipping the other one into his own ear. “Sorry, I left the big ones in the car, so we have to do this teenager style.”
“That’s perfect. I’m already wearing white sneakers that I’ll get all wet and gross and Mum will be so mad!”
“I wish I had a stick of gum.”
Mia grinned, producing the packet of Xylitol-sweetened little pillows from her pocket. She’d transferred the gum into her jeans pocket as she’d washed the shorts. Now she knew why. “All the way from Finland.”
Izzy accepted one and chewed. “Wow, this stuff is like an explosion of toothpaste.”
“Yeah, it’s really good for your teeth. Gum is like a responsible, healthy thing in Finland. Kind of ruins the whole teenage rebellion vibe.”
“That’s okay. I’m 29.”
“Hey! You’re younger than me! I’m 31.”
“Which makes me one of the coolest kids in school, right? Like the freshman dating the senior.”
Mia swallowed hard.Dating.This didn’t feel like fake dating.
Izzy tapped on his phone. Within seconds, Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ blasted out of her earbud and she erupted in giggles, instantly back in 2002, trying to figure out what to do with her life, what to study, which chances to take...
Had she seized every opportunity? Had she tried hard enough? If she didn’t take this chance with Mikko’s start-up company, would she get another one? Would she go back to being a TV producer, working long hours on a modest salary, to sort out everyone’s mess, saving for a one-room apartment on the outskirts of Helsinki? Mikko was offering her ownership, shares and potential fame as part of a team making history. He’d been so patient with her, waiting for her to travel around the world before she gave her answer, but it didn’t mean she had to say yes. If the job was tied to a relationship with a man she wasn’t sure she really loved, she couldn’t take it. Maybe it was that simple.
Mia squeezed Izzy’s hand, letting the strange combination of glowing lights, damp, earthy smell and the 20-year-old rap song flow through her. Izzy didn’t have millions of dollars, but he had this nature’s wonder in his backyard, and a truckload of passion and drive. Why did she have to measure everything in money?
As the song came to an end, Mia peered up at him. “Do you have a plan B? Like, if the film project doesn’t work out?”
Thousands of tiny green lights reflected off his eyes. “How would it not work out? I can support myself with editing work, which means I get to keep going. If you work hard enough on something, it’ll work out eventually.” He let out a rueful chuckle. “That’s what I tell myself anyway, even when I feel like I’m banging my head against the wall.”
Mia blew out a sigh. “That makes sense. It’s not a like a business that has to become profitable within a certain timeframe.”
“I might be biased, but I think some of the best art is born when there’s only an urge to create and no one’s thinking about the finances yet. There’s time for that later.”
“I wish I had a portable skill like you do, something I could take with me anywhere to make money. Like some people travel around and teach English or code websites or something. What I used to do was all about the contacts and relationships, knowing the city and the local market. Outside of Helsinki, I’m basically unemployable.”
“I’m sure there are a million other things you could do. What did you study?”
“Engineering.” Mia huffed in amusement. “But I’m not that technical, so I steered towards management, being the scrum master, that kind of thing. Then I ended up working for the video production company because I craved something more creative. But it wasn’t really, at least not in my role. I was just organising shoots and outsourcing this and that... babysitting people.”
“Well, we get a lot of American productions here and they need heaps of babysitting, I’ve heard.”
Mia laughed. “Ugh. That was like the worst part of the job! When grown up people can’t keep appointments or get too drunk at business meetings... It’s just sad.”
“Maybe you need to try something new?” His voice broke, the playful edge of it gone. She could sense the meaning, and it sent a powerful surge through her.
Acting on an impulse, ignoring the warning bells, she placed her hands on his chest, inching closer until she felt his breath on her face. “Like a bearded New Zealand caveman?”
She felt his heartbeat under his shirt, thumping away like an anxious drum. She reached on her tippy toes until her lips touched his beard, desperate for him to close the distance. His heart pounded even faster under her palms and she inhaled the scent of soap and earth. She ached to feel his mouth on hers, her entire body vibrating with the possibility.
