Searching for Estelle.

I stood in my hotel room in my plain, red matching underwear and rifled through my clothes, trying to find something appropriate to wear. Tonight I was headed out with Jyrki, Jussi and apparently meeting up with some more of their friends.

Jyrki had called me in the afternoon to tell me he'd be by at 7, but no further information was given. I didn't even know where we were going so I had absolutely no idea how to dress.

In the end I decided on some black skinny leg jeans, an emerald green satin v-neck that zipped up the back and a pair of quite high heeled black pumps. I pulled at the neck of the top, trying to get it to sit so it was slightly less revealing.

It was a top that Dani had bought but decided she didn't like it and forced me to take it. I strongly suspected she'd bought it for me all along. She was always pressuring me to wear green, because apparently it looked lovely with my hair. She'd won, obviously- my wardrobe was full of green.

I decided to have a bit of a play with my hair and managed some half-hearted curls, which sat just on my shoulders. I'd put on my usual make-up, but my eyeliner was a little thicker and I'd added a bit of grey eyeshadow.

I stared in the mirror, biting my lip and did a quick twirl to make sure nothing horrible was going on at the back of my outfit. A knock at the door meant my assessment was cut short though, and my ever-present butterflies began to act up as I went to answer it.

Jyrki and Jussi were standing on the other side of the door, both wearing gratuitous amounts of leather and more eyeliner than I owned. I smiled awkwardly as they both gaped a little, Jussi leering openly for a moment.

“Hi,” I said shyly.

Jyrki smiled at me and pulled me into a warm but gentle hug. “You look wonderful, Estelle.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled, blushing a little.

As soon as Jyrki had let me go Jussi threw himself at me and gave me a much more brutal hug.

“Hello, pikkuinen. Jyrki said he saw you yesterday. Ville too,” he pouted “Were you ever going to see me?”

I giggled at him and nodded. “I am now, aren't I?”

“I guess so,” he said, letting me go.

“Come in,” I said, motioning into the room, praying to the Gods that there was no dirty underwear or anything on the floor, “I'm almost ready.”

“No hurry,” Jyrki said, sitting on the edge of my bed. Jussi began to wander around, fiddling with things and touching anything shiny.

I walked into the bathroom to apply one last coat of lipgloss and when I came back out I was ready to go. I put my coat on and picked up my purse.

“Okay,” I said, trying to act a lot more confident than I was feeling.

Jyrki stood up gracefully and made his way to the door. Jussi, however bounded over, just about knocking me over in the process.

Jyrki just shook his head and held the door open, ushering the two of us ahead of him. Jussi grabbed my hand and began swinging our arms like a child as we walked. The texture of his hand in mine felt strange and I glanced down, noticing his hand was clad in a leopard print fingerless glove.

“Are they mine?” I asked, confused.

He nodded enthusiastically. “You have good tastes.”

I just laughed. “Thank you.”

Jyrki just shook his head once more. “You really need to learn some manners, Jussi.”

“I really don't mind,” I said quickly “I never would've worn them anyway.”

“Ah, I shouldn't have bothered with the Finnish. Now how will we talk about you?” he asked with a smile.

“Quietly?” I suggested and he laughed.

Before I knew it we were at a shiny, somewhat fancy looking bar and I was glad I'd made the effort to dress up a little.

The boys just strolled through the doors casually, and I followed feeling a little awkward and like a bit of a fake.

There was a definite buzz in the bar, despite the fact that it was relatively early. Music acted as a background noise, but I couldn't really make it out which was fine, because it meant it wasn't uncomfortably loud.

Jyrki lead us through to what I assumed was a VIP area and began to greet a few people whom I'd never seen before. I just sort of clung to Jussi's hand, which he was still holding mine in and followed them like a lost lamb.

I was introduced to more people than I could keep track of, but caught another Ville who seemed to be clinging to a rather impressive looking camera. I also thought I spotted one of the Dudesons... but I wasn't really sure.

“Drink?” Jyrki asked after he'd introduced me to everyone.

“Oh, yes. Please,” I said, relieved. I decided having a few drinks wouldn't do me any harm- I rarely drank, and at least holding a drink would be something to do while feeling awkward.

We made our way to the bar and I got a vodka and raspberry, which made Jyrki screw his nose up at me, favouring just vodka on the rocks. But without the rocks.

Jyrki instructed the bar tender to keep them coming and led me back to the others. I downed my drink quickly, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

“Slow down, darling. Anyone would think you were uncomfortable.”

I laughed, blushing a little. Jussi came over, wrapping his arms around me.

“Let's dance, my pikkuinen,” he declared, grabbing my hand yet again and dragging me towards the dance floor.

“Oh, no. No. I don't dance. I really can't. So. No. No thank you,” I babbled, my heart racing a million times faster than was normal.

“Tonight you do, now come on.”

I bit my lip. “I at least need another drink first.”

Jussi grinned. “Shots!” he declared, leading the way to the bar. He leaned forward and said something in rapid Finnish before turning and giving me a sly smile.

I was beginning to feel a little uneasy and my fears were confirmed when two shot glasses filled with a bright green liquid were placed in front of us. I raised an eyebrow at Jussi who grinned in response.

“Absinthe.”

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” I frowned at him.

“Maybe,” he replied cheekily before a serious look took over his features. “You don't have to drink it if you don't want,” he shrugged “It's up to you. But I'll look after you if you're worried about doing something stupid. So will Jyrki.”

I smiled at his sweetness, especially as the serious comment was so unexpected. I took a deep breath and picked my glass up.

“Kippis,” I said with a smile before downing my shot. Jussi grinned and followed suit. It burnt in the back of my throat and I screwed my face up for a moment. I ordered another vodka to dull the taste of it and Jussi got a beer which we downed immediately, before he dragged me out on the dance floor.

I wasn't protesting quite so much by this point and quickly loosened up as Jussi began spinning me around and shaking his bum in a manner that was so ridiculous I was in a permanent fit of giggles.

Of course, that may have also been the booze.

We danced for a little while before I began to feel too hot, being packed in among the group of people. Jussi grabbed my hand and began to drag me back towards Jyrki and the others. I couldn't keep up with the man when he was sober, let alone a little tipsy.

Jyrki smiled at us as we walked over to him and he noticed the flush in my cheeks and shook his head, still smiling.

“Jussi, what have you been feeding her?”

“Absinthe!” he answered, waving his free hand around, very nearly making contact with Jyrki's face.

I nodded enthusiastically. “But not much,” I said solemnly.

Jyrki laughed. “Darling, I feel like you don't need much.”

Jussi giggled at that. “It's true, pikkuinen. You're a littleweight.”

“It's lightweight, silly,” I said with a giggle “and I am not!”

He shrugged. “Whatever! You are one.”

“Bullshit!” I declared “I'm Australian.”

Jyrki laughed at this, as did the other Ville who'd wandered up beside him for the tailend of mine and Jussi's childish bickering.

He raised his camera to take a photo of Jussi and I, causing me to frown.

“Ew, no photos!” I protested, stepping aside and letting him snap Jyrki and Jussi instead.

A round of drinks arrived in the room at that point and I eagerly downed another vodka and raspberry, enjoying my new-found confidence.

I was pleasantly surprised when I spotted a familiar face and Timo-Timo made his way over to us, along with a very pretty woman who I assumed was his girlfriend.

“Estelle, it's good to see you again! This is my wife, Niina.”

“Hi,” I replied, smiling “It's nice to meet you.”

She smiled back and we began to chat until Jussi dragged me away once more, headed for the bar.

“What are you doing?” I asked, laughing.

“More shots!” he declared, pushing me towards the bar. Jyrki joined us this time and we took it in turns saying 'Cheers' or some variation of it in every language we could think of before throwing back another shot of absinthe.

A song I recognised came on and I gasped, grabbing Jussi by the arm.

“We have to dance!” I declared, dragging him away from the bar. He didn't protest at all and was more than willing to join me on the dance floor.

I lost myself a little in the music and alcohol and began to sway and move my hips to the beat of the song. Jussi was an enthusiastic partner and I was having such a blast that I was only mildly aware of Ville A taking pictures of us.

A slightly skanky girl began to grind up against Jussi and I laughed and screwed my nose up, turning to walk away from them. I ran straight into Jyrki who was considerably more sober than Jussi or I.

“Hello, darling. Having fun?”

I nodded my head furiously.

He smiled. “Good. Ville's coming soon.”

I frowned. “I thought he couldn't?”

“He's done at his parents now. He'll be here soon.”

I bit my lip. I liked the thought of seeing Ville, but wished I hadn't drunk quite so much. I was a little concerned about making a fool of myself now. Who knows though, I may be able to converse with him like a proper person after all this liquid courage.

I let Jyrki lead me into the VIP room once more and I chatted eagerly with anyone who was willing to speak to me which lead Timo to remark, “I'm not sure you're the same shy girl I met at the concert.”

Jyrki laughed before agreeing, “No, me either.”

I blushed a little, giggling at them and felt someone place their hand on the small of my back. I jumped a little and, turning around I saw Ville standing there.

“Ville!” I said, embracing him tightly. He chuckled and hugged me back, thankfully, otherwise I'd have felt like a right idiot.

“Have you been drinking, love?” he asked, amused.

“Not really,” I answered with a frown, noticing Jyrki nodding his head furiously out of the corner of my eye. I giggled and stumbled a little, causing him to put an arm around my waist to steady me. Good job, really. I was clumsy enough when I was completely sober.

“Okay. I've had, like, 3 drinks. Absinthe though. Blame Jussi. He even made me dance until some really slutty girl started grinding him.”

Ville laughed. “Jyrki was right.”

I raised an eyebrow at him.

“You are a funny drunk.”