Searching for Estelle.

All of a sudden I realised that I knew who this man was.

Jyrki69 of the 69 Eyes was sitting opposite me in a cafe. In Finland. And I was alone. I was alone with him. I froze momentarily before reminding myself to take a few deep breaths.

He's only a person, Estelle. Stop being ridiculous, I scolded myself.

"Estelle?" I looked up, shocked out of my internal pep-talk.

"Yes?" I tried to hide my surprise, I didn't want him thinking I was some sort of silly fangirl who couldn't string a sentence together in his presence.

"I asked where you were from," he repeated patiently, grabbing my copy of Inferno and flipping through it.

"Oh, sorry. I was in my own little world," I blushed again. Curse this man. "I'm Australian."

He grinned. "I love Australia. What brings you to Finland?" He pushed the book back towards me and I placed it in my handbag.

"I've been traveling with my friend for around a month, all over Europe. She's arriving tomorrow, she's in France at the moment but she'll be here tomorrow," I paused and took a breath "Sorry, I'm rambling. For a writer I'm not very good with my words."

"You're a writer?" he asked, seeming surprised. I nodded, taking a sip of my coffee and praying to whatever Gods I could think of that I didn't spill it down my front.

"Well," he continued "that's another thing we have shared."

I frowned, not understanding what he meant. "What was the first thing?"

He smirked. "We both like my band." With that he stood, accepting his take-away coffee from the approaching waitress as he did so.

"Nice meeting you, Estelle," he said before leaving.

I had no idea what he was talking about. Yes, I liked his band but I didn't understand how he made the connection. Had I actually been that obvious?

I looked down and realised that the scarf I was wearing was, in fact, black and emblazoned with the phrase "Let There Be Goth" with the 69 Eyes logo on one end.

I'd been fangirling the whole time, I just hadn't realised. I'd completely forgotten what scarf I'd put on when I left the hotel and, really, what were the odds of me even meeting him, let alone while wearing a piece of band merchandise.

I shook my head, still in shock at what'd just happened. In fact, I could easily be convinced that I'd been hallucinating the entire time. At that point, the waitress who had first bought my coffee to me wandered back over. She smiled again.

"Lucky girl," she said in English, picking up my empty coffee cup and plate. I looked up at her.

"So that... that did just happen, right?" I joked, still not quite believing it. I understood that musicians were real people, but I don't expect anyone to approach me let alone international rock Gods who just so happen to be sexy as hell.

She laughed and nodded.

"Yes, we see him in here quite a bit but he never stays, just waits for his coffee and leaves."

"He was just commenting on my book," I answered. My phone rang at that moment and the waitress smiled, "I'll leave you to it."

I glanced at the caller ID. Danielle. "Hi Dani!"

"Stellaaaaaaaaaaa!" she called into the phone "How's Finlandia?"

"Great!" I replied. I paused momentarily, contemplating whether to tell her about what'd just happened. I decided against it. I'd tell her when I saw her, and after all she wasn't really into the band so the magnitude of the event would probably just be lost on the phone.

"Have you sorted out your flight yet? When do you get in?" I asked her, grabbing a pen and my notebook out so I could write down any pertinent details.

"Well, that's the thing, Stell..." she began, sounding a little guilty.

"Danielle! Don't tell me you haven't booked it yet! You need to get it sorted out now or you won't get a seat!"

"I haven't booked it."

I sighed. I loved Dani to pieces but she was easily distracted and I was worried that she'd end up stranded in Paris.

"Okay, it should be al-" I started before Dani cut me off.

"I'm not coming to Finland yet."

"We'll just- wait, you're not? Why? Are you okay?"

I could hear the smile in her voice when she next spoke. "I've met someone ah-mazing, Stelly!"

I was a little stunned. I'd only left Paris a couple of days ago and I was sure she'd not met anyone then.

"Who?" I asked.

"Jean-Claude."

"What? As in Van Damme?" I said with a laugh.

She laughed as well. "Would you believe me if I said yes?"

I thought back to who I'd just met in the coffee shop. "Honestly, today I probably would."

"What? Stella, you're not making any sense."

"I'm not making sense? Dani, you're abandoning me for some French bloke you met yesterday!"

She scoffed. "I'm not abandoning you Estelle, and I met him when we first got into Paris! You met him too."

I thought back to our first day in Paris. We'd caught a train there and after we checked in at the hotel we went to a traditional French bistro for lunch and eaten the Frenchest things we could think of. Realisation dawned.

"Oh my God. The waiter?"

"Yes! He's soooo gorgeous and sweet and charming and I'm in love."

I shook my head. Danielle was the typical hopeless romantic and it rarely ended well, but somehow she was never deterred. I was a little disappointed that she was putting off meeting back up with me, but France was her dream like Finland was mine so I could never demand her to leave. Not that I'd ever demand anything of anyone, I'm much too frightened of confrontation.

I smiled and sighed. "Okay, Dani. I understand. When will you be coming though? Please tell me you won't miss Ruisrock."

"No, I told you I want to go with you! I'll finally get to see what's so good about that 89 Eyes band and that HIM bloke you love so much."

"Dani, it's the 69 Eyes and HIM is another band, not one guy!" I replied with a giggle.

"Pffft, same thing. I'm so glad you're not mad, Stell. I thought you might hate me. Will you be okay on your own for awhile?"

I smiled at her concern. She was always patient with my shyness and I adored her for it. "I could never hate you, Dan-dan. I got through London okay, didn't I?"

"True, how was the interview?"

"Really good, I think they liked me. There's probably more qualified people around though."

"Oh, Stell I bet they loved you! Who knows... maybe I'll be living in Paris when you're in London! I still think you should move to Finland instead..."

"Not up for discussion, Dani. I don't know the language well enough, you know that."

"You'd pick it up!"

"Hanging up now. Have fun, be safe and let me know when you know when you'll be here."

"Okay. Je T'aime."

"Mina Rakastan Sinua."

I hung up with a sigh. Alone in Finland. This day just went from amazing to alarming in the space of a phone call. I stood up and gathered my things, wrapping my jacket back around myself and tightening my scarf before exiting the cafe.