Lost in your eyes

May 6

In front of the mirror, while I was brushing my teeth again, without thinking I found myself singing to the tune of 'What have you done'.
"Hey! Look what I've heard! You were singing their song," Arianna appeared suddenly in the bathroom, just like a mushroom.
I feigned indifference: "I guess the toothbrush did"
She glared at me.
"Okay, I confess that I'm in love with Keith Caputo"
"Can't you just admit that you like Within Temptation?"
"Never!" I proclaimed with determination.
"Forget it."

"Then, what are we doing this morning?" I changed the subject.
She looked at me chuckling: "This morning? My dear princess, it’s 12:30."
I scratched my head: "Ah!"
"Yeah, yeah. Have I already said that the cleaning ladies love us? They must always leave our room for last."
"Sorry, I know. I'm a lazy girl."
"Come on, however, we can always go for a ride."
Finishing our preparations we headed to the hotel lobby to see if anyone else of our mates has escaped, voluntarily or not, to set their alarms. I, myself, hated the alarms and their stupid pounding sound with all my heart, and I didn’t have a very good relationship with punctuality.

The white sofas and armchairs arranged in a semicircle around dark wooden tables were nearly empty except for a couple of elderly gentlemen whose greeting made me feel welcome.
"Caryatid, as I said," Arianna whispered in my ear.
"Shh," I silenced her, exchanging few words with them.

Taking my friend's arm, I led her further to the bar.
"A cup of coffee?" I suggested.
"How could I refuse, mon ami?"

We were sitting at the bar and Arianna was still making fun of me because of my crazy leisure evenings in the hotel lobby with enclosed club for over seventy (needless to repeat that there were people of our age or so) when my phone began to vibrate in the pocket of my jeans.
"Whoever this might be is a saint," I said picking up the phone to look at the number on the display. I furrowed my forehead.
Strange, it was an unknown number, moreover, very strange.
"Hello?" I said uncertain "And stop!" I burst out laughing immediately, turning to Arianna, who didn’t stop imitating me. I took her purse to hit her.

"Elisa?" I dropped the bag and almost lost my balance on the high stool.
I took a deep breath, "Yes?" I muttered under my breath, without hearing the slightest rebuke from Arianna for letting all her things fall on the ground.
"Hello! It’s Ville" his voice came clear and beautiful through the machine, although I feel it was enough to pronounce my name to recognize it,"Valo" he added after not getting any answer, perhaps fearing that I didn’t realize.
"Yes, yes," I hastened to say "Hello ... Ville,” I swallowed.

I saw Arianna almost suffer my own demise off the stool.
"What?" she mimed, getting closer to listen.
"Everything okay? I’m not disturbing you? Maybe you were sleeping? " said the dark man.
"No, you’re not. Don’t worry, I'm awake for a while," I heard my friend laughing at my side. It was just a little lie in the end, right? "All is well, and you?"

"Good, thanks. I called to see how your work is progressing."
Again, a deep line gleamed across my forehead: "Work?"
"Yes, your songs, your album..." he explained, as if it was the most natural thing in the world "Where are they?"
"Um," I pretended to think, "Well, I would say in a good place."
"What?"
"I have just finished my second not-song! Want to hear it?"
"Sure!"

I was silent for several seconds "That's it! So what do you think? Don’t be too hard, please," I joked. "You know the opinion of my muse is very important to me."
"So ... I say it might need some work. But the base is not bad.”
"Urgh! Besides the Muse you also even aren’t my number one fan? I was expecting somewhat more enthusiasm from my groupie!" I pretended to be offended.
“Perhaps, I just need an refill. How about tonight?”
My heart jumped into my throat. "Tonight?" I repeated, like a fool.

"Yes, the boys would like to meet you. Gas keeps telling me that they have a proposal for you. I have no idea what it is, but I'm starting to be really curious. At the Midnight Wish?"

What me, I myself, going out with Ville and HIM?

"Sorry, maybe you're already engaged..."
I got an elbow in the stomach, "What? No, no, that's fine."
“I’ll wait for you up the stairs at the upper floor at 11?”
"Um," I stammered, "I don’t think they’ll let me pass."
"Ah, right. Don’t worry, do this: look for the guy named Ilkka and repeat this phrase: The octupus lives in dark waters."
"What?" I burst out laughing.
"It 's a code phrase."
"Well, I understood that, but... there’s no better phrase?"
"I love the octopus!" he replied, stung.
"Okay, okay. Can I bring one person?"

"Your not-boyfriend?" he asked with a hint of irony.
He still remembers it? "Actually I thought my best friend, but I can also bring him."
"Better not, I don’t think he loves me very much."
Arianna and I looked at each other confused.
"Is your friend also a singer?"
"Of course!" I said, pecking another elbow.
"Then you are expected. Prepare the vocal cords," he warned,"Good day."

"Thanks, you too," but before the attack a thought had crossed my mind "Hey, Ville?"
"Yes?" he replied promptly.
"I'm not known for my hard memory, but I really don’t remember giving you my number the other night..." I heard him chuckle on the other end of the line ".. or not?" I began to be unsure. I was beginning to be more unsure of anything now.
"Mh, maybe. No, I confess I haven’t got the number from you."
"And how have you got it then?" I asked in amazement.

"I have my sources," he grinned and left me on tenterhook.
But I didn’t give up: "What?"
"How stubborn! We have our celebrity secrets. Hey sorry, they call me, I must run. See you tonight K-singer."
I was dismissed in half second and he shut the conversation before I could react.

"Ely ..."
"Yes?" I said, feeling my voice miles away.
"Tonight we’re going out with HIM," she spoke with an unnatural calm and it was as if her voice didin’t really belong to her.
"Yeah."
"Now I wouldn't be surprised to see an elephant flying by through the window."
Both of us turned involuntarily towards the large French windows overlooking the courtyard.
Noticing our foolish behavior we laughed, unable to stop.

"How stupid we are," Arianna gasped with tears in her eyes "Have I told you I adore you?" she hugged me tight.
"Of course, you’re an opportunist!"
"I believe that now our coffee is crap."
"At least it was worth it."
I sipped the drink now cold, but it mattered little. All I could think about was his voice.
"I'm going to check if there are any messages at the reception," Arianna left me in front of the now empty cup, moving her fingers over the smooth granite counter.

I listened to the conversation of two girls a few seats away from me, with the excuse to train my Finnish a bit, trying to understand as many words as possible, but without seriously focusing.
Suddenly the phone vibrated again, notifying the arrival of a text message. The heart began to beat in the chest while with a trembling hand I grabbed the phone.

My mind gave a stupid thought. It was certainly someone in the group, or maybe Gabriel, or maybe someone miles away, from home.
But I was wrong.

"I got your number from your not-boyfriend, with no small effort to tell the truth! It took me an hour to convince him: are you sure he is not your boyfriend? See U Later, VGroupieV "
I typed a quick answer: "No, that's my bodyguard. Keeps away hardcore fans. Beware groupie!"

**

In the line in front of the Midnight Wish, next to Luke and Andrew as a guarantee for an entrance to the place, I felt the excitement growing out.
A light breath of wind passed through my jacket, making me shiver.
Helsinki at night was more exciting than by day, with its lights dimmed it’s almost an unreal atmosphere that envelopes everything.

"... And also remember to ask ..." Andrea continued his endless list of questions to ask the band.
I hoped that Arianna have been more careful of his assignments. She continued nodding her head slightly exaggerated, but something told me that she had not really grasped the bassist’s rant.

"When will you start going through the VIP entrance? I'm tired of these queues," I whispered to Luke.
"Very soon, Don’t worry. However someone has a bit swelled head eh? It fails you now…"
"It’s your fault Dr Frankestain! You're the one who pushed me on that stage."
"I suppose you're right. I'd say you owe me a favor."
"Mhm, I would say yes. Although I was told that you tried to sabotage this evening," I said.
He looked at me confused: "What do you mean?"

"You were difficult giving my number to Ville," I almost burst out laughing at the thought of Luke arguing over the phone with Ville Valo.
He shrugged his shoulders, fuming: "How could I be sure it was really him? And frontman of HIM or not, he is still a guy of 30 years, too old for you."
This time I couldn’t resist: "Are you stupid? What are you thinking? He would never see me under that light!” At least not sober.

"I'm not so sure he wouldn’t."
"Do you realize what you're saying? He's Ville Valo! And I'm an insignificant girl. It could never be considered. And like you said I'm too young."
"There's a lot of people that has no problem with age, taking advantage of a girl."
I looked at him shocked. I had no intention of thinking about such things.

"Okay, now maybe I'm exaggerating. You, however, be careful. But there will be only them?" he asked. He seemed a little tense and still didn’t look me in the eyes, but turned to Arianna and Andrea.
"I guess so, I have no idea," I said sincerely. He behaved so strangely ...
"Anyway, I have a purse full of pepper spray and your cell phone number is the first on the list, mom."
He gave me a slap on the neck. "Idiot!"

"Hey, don’t beat my pass!” Arianna intervened.
"Your pass? And safety of your friend doesn’t interest you at all?" I protested.
"Yes, if my friend is a pass," the redhead continued kidding.
"I can always decide to bring someone else more deserving, like Andre," I threatened.
I saw him jump up immediately: "Yes, yes, take me! ME ME ME!"
All burst out laughing: "Maybe next time, I promise!"
Like it’s ever going to be next time.

"But how the heck did Ville contact you about my number?" I turned to the singer. "Is there something we do not know?"
Luke shook his head: "No, dear, he just took my number from the list at Midnight. I guess that for Mr. Valo, here in Finland, many rules like privacy are put aside as nothing..."

In the meantime we had entered the local which that day was a little less crowded than usual.
Then I looked at my watch. It was 10 to 11.
In some parts of the world there must have happened some misfortune, to balance out the fact that I and the others (Luke in particular) not only had not arrived late a few time zones, but even in advance.
It was definitely an inexplicable fact, that needed some careful study.

But now there was another problem: what do you do when you're early? I wasn’t very skilled in that area. I had no, let’s say, experience. Inventing excuses about why I had missed an appointment for an hour, is what I was good at!
"A quick visit to the toilet?" Arianna saved me.
I nodded with decision, then I grabbed her arm and guided her to the toilet.

**

As soon as the door was closed behind us I leaned against the wall in search of support.
"Hey baby relax! You'll see that everything will be fine." Arianna was immediately at my side, caressing my hair, which was tied in a high ponytail.
"I'm trying ... it's just so hard..."
"No, not true. It’s not. You just have to stop worrying. It 's normal to be a bit nervous, but the important thing is to be yourself, like the other day. From what you told me I would say that everything went very well, right?" she winked.
I nodded, melting a bit.

"That's good! Look, even I'm excited! And I should be more scared than you: I'm not the idol of Valo groupie," she joked, recovering from her purse a beauty kit, everything you need to fix the makeup.
I brought along a purple pencil, with which I reviewed the outline of my eyes; it matched the colour of the shirt I was wearing that night.

After I took her by the arm, we both left the toilet and said goodbye to our friends from far away for the last time.
I start looking for Ilkka, the bodyguard that Ville had told me about Ville.
It didn’t take long to recognize him, he certainly wasn’t very difficult to see, with his heavy weight.
Feeling stupid and squeezing the arm of my best friend stronger, I approached the bouncer who stared at us with not too friendly look.

"The octupus lives in dark waters" I uttered trying to stay serious.
His widened into a smile: "Welcome Elisa, right?"
"Yes I am, and she is my friend. I had already warned that she will come," I said.
"Of course, Ville told me everything. You can pass," he invited us moving away to the side to let us move forward.

I crossed the threshold followed by numerous curious eyes full of envy.
We ended up in a nicely decorated lobby, the colors still very dark and the lights dimmed, surrounded by numerous doors. In front of us, on the other side of the room started the great staircase that led upstairs.
In one corner, warmer and less distant from the entrance, there were the few sofas. On one of them sat a girl, in her thirties with long brown hair, who stood up as soon as she saw us, to come meet us.

She wasn’t too tall, but proportionate in shape, she was wearing a sweater and a light indigo skirt a few shades lighter.
I felt Arianna pull me by the arm, "Is she real? Is it Manna?" she asked surprised.
The girl who approached us smiling was definitely the companion of the guitarist of HIM. We had to be prepared, right? But I imagine that whenever you meet famous people no matter how prepared you are for it, it always had certain effect on you.

"Hello, you must be Elisa?" she asked politely.
I nodded, pushing the rebelous lock off my eyes and reaching out for her hand; I shook it immediately.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Manna," she introduced herself. "I am..."
"Of course, we know who you are! We are also fans of your beautiful voice."
"Really? I never expected to be so famous,” she mused, "And anyway I’m certainly not as good. I’ve been told you sing rather divinely!"
"No, it’s absolutely not true."

"Oh yes it is, she is only very modest,” said Arianna smiling.
"Well then we have something in common," Manna smiled, reaching out with her hand for Ari.
"Arianna. Happy to meet you!"
"You know, I already love your hair," confessed the singer, observing the long red curls with a touch of envy.
"Thank you. Or maybe I should thank my mom, or my luck."

"Shall we go up?" Manna suggested, indicating the stairs, "Of course, the boys will be a bit late, so I decided to arrive early and don’t leave you to wait alone. They can never be trusted..." she explained, shaking her head.
"Don’t worry. We understand very well. We, too, are usually the bearers of the same defect," I confessed, slightly tilting my head to one side, like to hide.
"Really? Well now you're perfectly on time girls."

In front of us was very wide black spiral staircase. As soon as we reached the top, I immediately fell in love with the vast hall that opened before my eyes, much like the main one, however, it was more intimate and quiet, and the music from the stage and the speakers was less strong but at the same time the sound was perfect. I noticed that the tables were a little bigger and the seats gave the idea of being more comfortable. To make the atmosphere even more special, many of the electric lights were replaced by candles. There was of course a dance floor.
Numerous and smiling waiters went around the tables not missing anything from the pampered clients.

Now my attention, however, was snatched by the figure accommodated at two tables that were joined together, casually leafing through thoroughly laminated card on which all the local coctails were listed in the beautiful handwriting. With the other hand he was drumming on the dark surface, and he seemed almost ... nervous?

"Hey, I don’t believe my eyes," Manna said softly, raising an eyebrow, surprised. Then, raising her voice so the person at the nearby table could hear, she continued: "Ville! Already here?"
The dark man raised his face from the paper, moving his eyes from Linde’s companion and Arianna, to meet my eyes. I was shaken by a slight tremor when his lips curved into a smile.
He even stood up to meet us. All the attention was starting to make me feel a little uncomfortable. It’s me, not the Queen of England! "I didn’t want to let our guests wait."

Indeed.

"I see you've had no trouble passing, Furia," he looked at me for a moment, with a mocking expression on his face.
"Furia?" Manna said, rather puzzled.
Something just snapped inside me: "Of course not!" I said, "Even if I haven’t had the password I still would be able to enter!"
Ville turned to the his friend’s companion: "There’s my fury, you see?" He said, laughing in his sleeve.

Well, yes I admit to being somewhat like that. But every time I hear myself being teased...
It was strange, but it was as if Ville had known exactly what to say to make me snap immediately. It was as if he knew me for some time.
I noticed also that Arianna was looking at me surprised. I tried to draw attention away from myself and present her to the dark man.

"This is my friend, witty Arianna.”
Ville did a funny bow: "It’s a pleasure, Ville Valo."
We didn’t know how to keep from laughing.

"Oh Ville. What have you smoked tonight?" the voice came from at the stairs, from Mige who had just entered the room with the rest of the band.

To be continued ...