“I appreciate that, Jas, but let’s just talk about it next time, okay?”
“Okay,” I say, entwining our fingers. “But you have to admit, today has been fun.”
“It totally has. I can’t wait to see what you’ve planned for the evening.”
“We better get to our hotel and put more warmer clothes on.” I tug her to her feet, so we can leave. “They’ll meet us there.”
An hour later, we have more layers on, having rented another set of red-black overalls from the hotel to be even more covered. The sound of two snowmobiles pierces the air, and Vivian freezes on the spot.
“No freaking way!” she finally gets out as she reads the decals decorating the snowmobiles near us. “Aurora Borealis Tours?”
“That reaction means that my surprise worked. But yeah, we are off to a Northern Lights safari. Based on the forecast, it’s the best evening to do so this week.”
Vivian jumps up and down before wrapping her arms around me. “The best surprise ever!”
The two guys driving the snowmobiles stop, and we walk to greet them. One of them is the older brother of my school friend, who used to buy us alcohol when we were underage. I messaged him last night when I remembered that he lives in these parts of the world and asked if he knows the best Aurora Borealis tour around. As luck would have it, he and his partner own one of the tour companies, and they are here tonight with us.
“Great to see you, man,” I say and give him a hug.
Teemu hugs me back. “Look at you, Jasper Åkerman, being a hotshot hockey player in the NHL like you always said you would be.”
“Do you know each other?” Vivian asks as we keep exchanging small talk.
“Shit, sorry, Muru.” I turn to Teemu and his partner, Mikko. “This is Vivian, my date, who I want to keep longer than just over the holidays.”
Her eyes go round at that. “Well, that’s an interesting introduction that we’ll discuss later.”
“We will, trust me.” I wink and continue the introductions. “Meet Teemu and Mikko, our guides tonight. Teemu’s little brother Sami was my classmate after my family moved back to Finland.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Vivian greets the men.
Teemu and Mikko greet her back and give us a quick rundown of what to expect on the Northern Lights safari. They hand us helmets and instruct us to put them on before hopping on the snowmobile that I’ll be driving. Vivian climbs onto the back of mine, and we take off, following Teemu and Mikko, who are on another snowmobile.
The wind whips past us as we speed along the trail that starts near our hotel, Vivian’s arms wrapped tightly around my waist. I can feel her excitement radiating through her body as we race through the wilderness, the only light comes from the moon, the stars, and the snowmobiles’ headlights. We come to a stop at a clearing that I soon realize is a frozen lake, and the guys help us off the vehicle.
“Now, we just need to wait for the Aurora Borealis to show up,” Mikko says “We checked and the best time should be in five minutes if we’re right here.”
Looking at the horizon, the sky is dark, and the stars are bright. They are never this visible back in New York, which is such a shame. Vivian follows my gaze and presses her body against mine as she admires the view.
We stay like that for a while until Teemu points up to the sky behind us and shouts, “Look!”
Turning, we glance in the direction where he’s pointing, and to our surprise, the first faint green tendrils of the Aurora Borealis have appeared. I can’t take my eyes off the sky as the colors intensify and create a breathtaking display. We all watch the lights dance and shift above us.
As the lights continue to shift and shimmer, I hear sniffling coming from Vivian’s direction. I turn to her and see she’s crying. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Not—nothing. It’s just the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life,” she replies quietly.
I look her way, admiring her even when she’s crying. “It definitely is.”And I don’t mean the Northern Lights.
Lifting her face with my hand, I swipe the tears with my thumb before locking our lips in a passionate kiss. The Northern Lights continue to dance in the sky as we lose ourselves in each other once again. And it’s a perfect ending to a perfect day in Lapland.
19
I’M JEALOUS OF HER DREAMS
JASPER
The most surprising thing I have learned about Vivian since we have been sharing a bed is that she talks in her sleep. It started on the train on our way to Lapland, but I didn’t pay too much attention to her whispered words. We were both exhausted after a long day, so I expected it to be the reason.
