You Were Meant for Me

It had been three days since I left Ville’s and three days since we had spoken. I missed him more than I cared to admit, but I felt like I had to keep my distance. No matter how much I wanted to spend time with him, I needed to be with my grandmother and grandfather. Even if I did message him, I wasn’t sure he’d reply after the way I disappeared on him.

I spent the last three days at the hospital with mummo and she was finally getting to come home on the condition that she finished her medication and wouldn’t overdo things. I knew she was ready to be back in her own home and in her own bed. There’s only so much you can do in a hospital besides stay in the bed and watch television, and that definitely wasn’t her speed.

I heard the car doors shut outside, and I hurried to the door to greet them. My dad was trying to help her inside, but she kept swatting him away, yelling about how she could walk without needing anyone’s help. She hugged my neck as she passed by, and my mother emerged from the kitchen. She had been in there all morning cooking a nice big meal to celebrate mummo’s return home.

We sat around the table, enjoying the meatball soup and fresh bread. No one said a word, only the clinking of spoons could be heard. At mummo’s request, pappa turned on the television and started playing the daily news from the past three days that he recorded for her. If there was one thing she couldn’t go without, it was her gossip. I wasn’t paying much attention to anything but my food until I heard his name.

“Ville Valo on löytänyt rakkauden jälleen! Lähteet sanovat, että mysteeri tyttö on amerikkalainen pop-tähti, mutta hänen nimensä on vielä tuntematon.”

I jerked my head up to look at the screen only to see the same images from the magazine plastered on the screen. They were saying that Ville has found love again and that this mystery girl was an American pop star, but her name was still unknown. My mom’s eyes widened as she realized I was the girl in the pictures, and I knew it was only a matter of time before my dad did too. Mom cleared her throat and coughed a few times, causing mummo to look in her direction. She motioned in my direction, trying to tell her and it took a second, but she got the hint.

“Well, that’s enough of that horse shit gossip for today.” She chuckled as she picked up the remote, turning the television off. “But I’ll say this, that American pop star is lucky. That Ville Valo is quite the hunk.”

I choked on my soup as she winked at me, and my mom laughed. My dad, on the other hand, said something about pop star hussies making Americans look bad. I frowned and got up, putting my dishes in the sink. I didn’t want to sit and listen to my dad talk badly about this fake pop star that was actually me. I knew other people were talking about me, but I didn't want to hear it from my family.

I had been in my room for only a minute at the most when the door flew open and my mom and mummo barged in, both with giant grins on their faces. I knew exactly where this was headed, and I wanted no part of it. I didn’t want to talk about it or him, mainly because there was nothing to talk about. Mom sat beside me on the bed and mummo sat in the oversized chair facing us. I let out an exasperated groan and threw my body back on the bed. They weren’t going to leave until they got what they wanted.

“I don’t know why they think I’m a goddamn pop star. Oh… sorry.” I cut my eyes towards my grandmother, sending her an apologetic look. “The article didn’t say anything about that, so I have no idea where those gossip idiots got that idea from.”

“Wait, what article? Someone published a piece about this?”

I pulled the tabloid magazine out of my suitcase where I had hidden it amongst my things so no one would stumble across it. I handed it to my grandmother and she quickly thumbed through the pages, looking for a certain page. She stopped and read the words out loud, translating everything that was written for my mother. I nervously chewed on my bottom lip as they studied the pictures of Ville and me together. I wasn’t sure what they were going to say about the picture of us kissing at the music festival. I had just met my grandmother and I didn’t want her to be disappointed in me for having a private moment displayed for all to see.

“Wynter Katherine, you kissed him? Why didn’t you tell me about this? We spent days together in the hospital and you didn’t mention this at all! What does Ville say about all this? From what I know about him, he definitely tries to stay out of the media and gossip spotlight, so I’m sure he’s not taking this very well.”

“I’m not- uh, I don’t know, honestly. I haven’t talked to him since I left his tower. Oh yeah, he lives in a fucking tower, by the way, and not like in a creepy sex dungeon kind of tower either. But yeah…” I paused, dragging out the word as I wasn’t sure what else to say.

“Well, why haven’t you talked to him? You were so excited to go to that music festival with him and you said you had such a great time on your date, so why would you just cut him off like that, baby? Did he do something to you?” My mom asked with a concerned look on her face.

“No, no! He didn’t do anything, at all. Jesus H. Christ, mom. Ville is not that kind of person. I don’t know why I did it. We came here for family, not for me to find some romance. We aren’t staying here forever and I’m afraid things won’t stay casual. It’s just better for all involved if I don’t even go there. Hey… If I’m lucky, I can write a song about it.”

“Wynter, you do know how your father and I met, right? The whole story?”

I paused for a second, unsure if I had heard the full story of how my parents met. I knew they met in college and dated for a few months before getting married and then I made my grand debut. As far as I could remember, that was all I knew about my parents’ dating life. No one had really talked much about it before and I never asked. I sat and listened to my mom tell the story of how they came to be.

“Your dad left Helsinki to get a better education, and as luck would have it, he ended up at the same university I had transferred to. He was in his last year of school when we first met, while I had a little over two years left. I was walking down a flight of stairs and I saw Mikael walking up. I was so focused on this beautiful man in front of me, I ended up tripping and fell right into him and much to my surprise, he caught me. He swept me off my feet in every single way, he was so charming and the foreign thing worked well for him. After our first date, we were inseparable and spent every moment we could together. He was supposed to come back to Helsinki after he graduated, he was packed and on the way to the airport the day I found out we were having you. I raced as fast as I could to stop him from getting on the plane, and I only barely made it. After I told him, he couldn’t bring himself to leave. So he didn’t. We took the biggest chance on our relationship, but it ended in the best possible way. What I’m trying to get at here is that you can’t be afraid of relationships, baby doll. It could crash and burn, but then again, it could be the greatest thing in your life. There’s only one way to know for sure, and that’s to just dive right in. If it’s meant to work, it will, no matter the obstacle.”

I let mom’s words sink in and they started to resonate with me on a deeper level. She had said everything I needed to hear, and I knew I was done going back and forth on what I wanted. Mom was right. I couldn’t be afraid. I had to see where this was supposed to go. It was no coincidence that Ville was the one at the airport then the bar that very same night. It had to be a sign. I knew what I needed to do and it couldn’t wait.