Carpe Diem: Bojan / Käärijä

Madrid

I am sipping my gin & tonic at a VIP bar in the back of a venue with my bandmates in Madrid. We are at a pre-party for Eurovision. The tiredness is getting to me after our performance. I am getting tipsy watching all of the others perform waiting to get back to the hotel. Kris and Jan are playing a game but it doesn't make any sense and I don't know the rules. I'm not sure if they know the rules either as they drank more than I did. We have lost Jure somewhere and Nace went to the toilet but he hasn't been back for a while.

"I think we also lost Nace," I say.

"No, we did not," Kris answers.

"Then where is he?" I ask.

"I don't know," Jan joins laughing.

Alika has just gotten off the stage and everybody is waiting for the next act. Suddenly the crowd starts to yell and I look at the stage. I see Finland's representative standing on the stage, shirtless, in a green muscled bolero.

"Hey, it's the Cha Cha Cha guy!" Jan yells extremely loudly.

The booth next to us looks over their shoulders.

"You are yelling, very loudly Jan," I try to tell him.

"Huh?" he looks at me confused.

"HE SAYS STOP YELLING JAN," Kris says loudly in his ear, articulating each word.

He says nothing but instead looks at me offended.

"You'll thank me later when you still have a voice tomorrow," I say.

Käärijä has already started playing his songs. He starts with less known ones. I start to pay more and more attention. I speak many languages, but never in my life before have I heard Finnish. It almost sounds a bit like Japanese and I am so fascinated by his deep voice. I smile. All of a sudden I am in no rush to leave.

He does his speeches in between the songs in a thick Finnish accent. The whole crowd laughs at his bad jokes and so do I. He ends the performance with Cha Cha Cha. I have heard the song before when Finland announced that he would represent their country in Eurovision. We listened to it at our studio with the band. It immediately became one of my favorites. As the song starts with a mysterious and dark beat the whole crowd goes crazy. He is rapping, then singing and yelling. I chant "Cha Cha Cha" with the crowd as I bang my head.

The later it gets, the more and more artists start slowly moving to the bar. At this point, the drunk duo had already left and gone back to our hotel. We didn't see Jure or Nace for the rest of the night. I am assuming they went back to the hotel too. I am waiting for my chance to talk to Käärijä. I left the booth and now I am sitting by the bar looking around. It doesn't take me long to notice Käärijä coming and immediately stopped by artists who all want a piece of him. I wait hoping he will make his way to the bar. He seems kind and wants to talk to everybody, but eventually, he wants something to drink and he walks to the bar.

"Piña colada?" I suggest.

Jere laughs. "I have a beer today"

"I'm Bojan," I say.

"Carpe diem, yes?"

"Yea," I nod laughing.

"I am Jere. Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too!"

Jere finally gets the bartender's attention. He orders himself the cheapest beer they have.

"The drinks are on me," I say.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, if you keep me company for a while," I tell him and he looks flattered.

"Yes, of course, I am broke so...I spend all my money on food," he laughs.

I laugh. "Yeah don't worry, I got you."

I also order another drink.

"So Jokerman, where is your band?" he asks.

"We lost two of them and the other two are at the hotel"

"You are not very good babysitter," Jere jokes.

"No," I answer.

He smiles and nods. I feel a little bit awkward. I look at his naked upper body. All of the drinks are making me feel a little funny. He looks perfect without a shirt. I notice he has a big tattoo on his chest, but I don't mention anything. I can feel him looking at me. All the alcohol makes me want to dance.

"Let's go on the dance floor!" I yell all of a sudden.

"Yes?"

"Why not?" I ask.

"Okay, we go! I show you some moves."

"I am intimidated," I say before I chug the rest of my drink.

I take his hand and drag him to the floor. I look behind myself every few seconds just to make sure he is still there. His eyes are beautiful, but even drunk Bojan doesn't dare to say that to him. We start dancing as the DJ plays music. He looks me in the eyes and I get butterflies in my stomach. I start to giggle. He smiles at me.

"What is funny?" he asks.

"This is so much fucking fun," I yell on top of the loud music.

Later that night I go back to the hotel where I find Jure and Nace. Before I go to sleep I check my phone. "@paidatonriehuja started following you." I go to his feed and look at all of the posts. There are new pictures where he looks incredibly attractive and then there are old videos of him playing hockey and yelling "PELIÄ" whatever that means. He looks quite adorable and I even laugh. Luckily Jure is in the shower so he can't hear me. I follow him back and put my phone away.