Open Your Arms

Chapter 92

March 4, 2007

"So what did you think of that one?" Ville asks me as we get into the car and drive away from that venue.

I'm hesitant to give him my answer. "I didn't like it."

He groans. "Larissa, that is the fifth venue that we've looked at and you still don't like it!"

"Okay, well I'm sorry," I say. "If we're going to get married, I'm going to want to get married somewhere that's beautiful and that I like. Do you want me to be miserable on my wedding day?"

"Well by the looks of it, you're going to."

I furrow my eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

He shrugs. "I mean, we've looked at all of these and you don't like any of them. What are you even looking for? Do you know what you want?"

I turn into an empty parking lot, feeling too stressed to drive just from this conversation. I don't want this to spew into an argument--that's what happened last time.

He keeps getting frustrated with me because we look at these venues that we've picked out and I don't like them. I'm just too picky and always used to getting what I want. It's the rich lifestyle.

I park the car and turn to him. "You know what I want, Ville. I want trees and I want green, but I also want some sort of antiqueness. None of these venues have that."

"And what do you mean by something being antique?" He lights a cigarette and rolls down the window, taking a drag.

Something about the way he smokes makes me want to smoke. He just looks so majestic while he does it, like he's in a different world.

He's the same way when he sings. When he sings, he's not even aware of his surroundings. He's just in a different world.

"I want bricks," I declare. "I want there to be walls made of bricks. But I want old chandeliers, too, and the floor to be bricks, too."

He puffs out his smoke and holds my hand. "Larissa, you have such a big mind, but I don't think there's a venue that has all that."

He's right. There's no place that's going to have everything I want. Pennsylvania is just too boring and bland for anything like that to possibly be here in one small area.

Other places in the world might have what I need, but traveling somewhere just to get married is a bit far fetched.

I wonder if that's how Ville's parents feel about travelling from Finland to here to see us get married.

I gasp. A wonderful idea just popped into my head. "Ville!"

"I'm here," He says, unfazed by my reaction to myself.

"Your tower," I say. "Your tower in Finland. It's antique. It's made of bricks. And there's green around it--the trees and everything. And it's a private land."

His eyes light up as if I just told him the news that he's been wanting to hear all alone.

I've only seen his tower once (when we went to California for Christmas) but just seeing it made me want to move to Finland. The only thing holding me back is my family.

Life with Ville in Finland would be so peaceful. Maybe someday we can move there. Maybe one day we'll have two or three kids and we'll migrate over to Finland to be with his family and be on our own.

But for now, we're just discussing having the wedding in Finland.

"As much as I love that idea," Ville begins and I roll my eyes. Of course there's something negative. "Would your family even be willing to fly out there?"