pain, pleasure & eurovision ; Damiano David

VICTORY

I'm not present at the press conference, I don't like those kind of things. A person says something that could have two meanings and it gets completely turned around by the press.

I sit in Måneskin's wardrobe and upload new feed in their instagram story. I realise that the account already has much more followers than a few hours ago. The dms are blowing up as well.

Bang!

I almost drop my phone because the noise startled me.

"Oh god, excusez-moi!"

I look towards the door that just opened with a loud noise. Gjon's Tears looks through the door with red eyes.

"This is not my wardrobe." he realises.

"Obviously not." I reply.

He stumbles back to read the shield at the door.

"Måneskin" the pronunciation is terrible.

"The winners." he slurs.

"Exactly. If you want to congratulate them, they're coming back in a few minutes from their interview."

"Congratulating?" he laughs.

His feet drag him inside the wardrobe. The door closes with a thud, making my shoulders shrug. He sits down opposite of me
on the ground at the wall. His bad smell of alcohol fills the room.

"Non-non. I don't think so."

I don't say anything, hoping he will leave as soon as possible.

"The jury chose me to win."

"Too bad the televotes also count." I can't hold this comment back.

He looks at me devaluing.

"You're y/n, the singer's girlfriend, right?"

"Exactly, and I'd like you to go before my boyfriend returns!" I speak up now, having enough of him.

"In case you don't want him to knock you out." I say confidently.

Most likely I actually would be the one to punch the guy. Damiano is the chill one, taking everything easy even though his music sounds different.

"We'll see each other!"

He pulls himself up, almost falling down again. A few moments later the door opens again and Måneskin, lead by a smiling Victoria, comes in.

Gjon is at the door too. He stumbles back surprised by the people coming in. Ethan observes him confused and Victoria gives me a questioning look.

"He was just about to leave." I say angrily.

"Aye, it's the winners!" Gjon realises loudly with hate in his expression.

He doesn't wait until the last one (Damiano) has entered the room. Gjon just walks past him bumping his right shoulder. The Swiss singer stops and doesn't let Damiano go by. He puts his hand on my best friend's shoulder and talks directly in his face.

"Your girlfriend is feisty."

Damiano flips the guy's hand away and wrinkles his nose, probably smelling what came out of Gjon's mouth. Gjon slowly leaves the room and stumbles to (hopefully) his own wardrobe.

"What was his problem?"

I tell them about our little "chat" and why I said Damiano is my boyfriend.

"But that'a no big deal now. We have a reason to celebrate!"

"That's true." Damiano stands up and goes over to his dresser. Now I pay attention to his outfit.

"Dude! You completely ripped it open!" I refer to the hole we earlier realised was in his crotch.

"Sexy, right?" he replies as he comes back with a bottle of champagne.

He raises the leg up to show me that the pant leg just hangs down loosely. He opens the champagne and starts to shake it. Knowing what comes next, I jump up and try to grab the bottle but the fizzy liquid already splatters around, in my face and down my torso. Luckily, I get a grip on it before it's empty and pour it on top of Damiano's head.

The champagne runs down his body and he laughs heartily. We hug and start to jump around.

"ABBIAMO VINTO" he shouts.

The other three join in on the cheering and we start to sing "we are the champions" and dance around.

After a while the door opens and we slowly stop to move and turn towards Claudio.

"Alright kids! We continue the party in the hotel!" he says.

We pack our stuff.

"Aaahhhhh" I exaggeratedly scream when I hold the trophy for the first time.

"I'll carry that for you." Thomas tells me and I hand him over the glass trophy.

It's probably better this way because I already can't walk straight. We leave, I link arms with Damiano which isn't the best idea. Now it's not only one but two from side to side stumbling people. We search for purchase by reaching for the walls with our hands.

In the car, back to the hotel I close my eyes. It takes me a few minutes to realise that we sit in the car even though the hotel is only about five minutes away.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Oh, forgot to tell you. Damiano is gonna jump in the river now." Victoria smiles.

"The bet, right! But at night?"

"No risk, no fun, mi amore" Damiano groans, not hyped for what's coming next.

I lean back again chuckling.

"Alright, fuck it! We won!" Damiano screams as he runs towards the water and jumps in.

We clap our hands. He comes up again to gasp dramatically for air. I walk over to the edge and laugh at him.

"Sober?"

He swims over to me and raises a hand in the air.

"Help me out, my balls are ice cubes."

I reach out for his hand and grab it tightly. With all my strength I pull on his arm but instead of coming out he drags me into the river.

I can't help it but my entire body including my head, dives under. The cold covers my skin and goose bumps form. Suddenly, I'm wide awake and very much aware of the situation. Luckily, Damiano grabs me by the waist under water and pulls me up.

I cough and water comes out of my nose. I pull myself up the shore, Damiano supports me by pushing my butt. I don't need and want his support.

"Fucking cunt" is all I have to say.

.................
jb