Found Along The Way

Chapter thirty-two

The planning for the Rivera-Whelan wedding was well under way, and both Lucas and Anya had realised that if they wanted an august wedding, they had to start taking action with their plans. The beginning of January brought with it even more snow, and another exciting semester of Art school for Anya. More glossy paint on blank canvases, charcoal sketches to be either nourished or abandoned, and laughter to fill the creative days ahead. This time, however, her days of creativity in the classroom were sprinkled with a decent helping of wedding stress.

Never in a million years did Anya expect planning the best day of her life to be so hectic. Lina was doing her part, as were her other friends, but yet with all the help she could get she still found her mind whirring at every second. The venue, the dress, the entertainment, the vows, the honeymoon... all unanswered questions that took her out of whatever important task was at hand and put her back into the continuous wedding prep mode. Such as today, when she was busy painting the most beautiful-

"Crap. My phone's ringing, Caleb will you get that for me?" Anya said, her hands full with brushes and paint tubes. Caleb grabbed Anya's cell out of her back pocket and answered with his signature;

"Caleb Zhao speaking, how can I make your day brighter?"

"Oh hey Caleb!" Lucas's voice echoed through the phones' speaker, "Where's Ann?"

"She's currently covered in paint and working on a deadline. Can I take a message for the bride?"

"Yeah, sure, just tell her I found a great venue, I'm texting her the details and I'll pick her up for a viewing at three."

"Gotcha! Bye Lucas..." Caleb sang, turning back to Anya who was half-waiting and half-painting with expectant eyes.

"A venue girl, Lucas is sending you the deets and he's coming to get you at three."

"Oh that's awesome," Anya sighed, "We've been trying to pin down a good place with enough time in advance, you wouldn't believe how popular wedding venues are these days-" She paused, giving Caleb an alarmed look. "Did you say THREE?!"

"Yes..." Caleb didn't understand the panic in her voice, working its' way to her face and out of her eyes in the form of a dreading stare.

"Fuck! No, no, no!" She mumbled in a frenzy, rushing over to her phone where she checked the time. The numbers seemed to laugh at her through the screen, "Caleb it's two-fifteen! I don't have the time to get this done and then go see the place!"

"Calm down girl, You can take a break to go and then come back and pick up where you left off." Caleb comforted, stroking Anya's arm as an attempt to cool her from the hectic state she was in.

"Yeah... Yeah I can." She breathed, blinking the panic out of her eyes. She quickly returned to the painting, back in work mode, until she had to drop everything once again and rush to the next task of the day.

The building was stunning, cathedral like with its' grand arches wound in green leaves that either were or weren't intentional, but either way they were charming in their place. The chapel glittered with natural lighting from the immense windows that sat around the room, watching over the alter. The elegant building's dining hall was in itself, glorious, with tables already set out as if they were to marry right then and there. A space for a band, and a stage for heart-warming toasts, Anya could picture every single one of her loved ones in that room, and for a moment it took the panic from her chest and intertwined it with the leaves above them, where it was masked perfectly.

"Lucas, this is perfect." Anya smiled, admiring the surroundings. Her satisfaction was only present for a second however, as she noticed the time once again, and the panic crept back into view. She didn't want to ruin the moment, with the happiest look on her fiancés face in the wedding venue of their dreams, but the clock was screaming at her to get back to the school and finish her work. "I love it. Let's come back another day and book it, we need to go." She rushed, keeping an enthusiastic smile on her face, hoping it would fool Lucas into thinking she was more excited than stress.