In the Arms of Rain (Ville Valo)

2 - Heaven Tonight

The next day it rained again, so the café was manically busy. I was rushed off my feet, trying to serve customers and pour lattes at the same time and trying even harder to keep a smile plastered on my face even though I really wanted to cry. Which was why the appearance of the tall, dark, handsome stranger who I had let in to take shelter last night didn't fill me with excitement. Firstly, because he'd brought four more customers in with him and secondly, because I looked an absolute mess, hair coming undone, sweat melting off my makeup and chocolate powder staining my clothes and face. On the plus side, my cheeks were hurting from the fake smile I had kept plastered to my face but I could finally let it drop when he and his friends reached the front of the queue.

'So, um, how are you doing?' Ville asked, smirking at me as I wiped my arm across my forehead.

'Horrible, actually.' I replied, but I couldn't help but smirk back at him even though it made my face ache.

'Well, I have something that will hopefully cheer you up.' he said, reaching into the pocket on the inside of his coat. 'Firstly, you'll be glad to know that we aren't ordering anything,' he smirked again, handing me an envelope, 'I just wanted to stop by to drop off a couple of tickets to our show tonight. Consider it a thank-you for being so gracious last night.'

This gesture did cheer me up, probably more than he realised. It has been a long time since I had had a night out, and I was sure the gig would be great, judging by the tiny sample of his voice I had heard last night. Heaven knew I needed to blow off some steam and have fun.

I sighed, smiling as I took the envelope. 'You really didn't have to, but thank you, I would love to come.'

'Great. We'll see you later, then.' He smiled as he turned away, glancing at the growing queue as he left. I tucked the tickets into my back pocket and continued to serve; this time my smile was a real one.

Once the lunchtime rush had died down, I immediately phoned around my coworkers. There weren't many of us, but I was certain someone would be able to come in and take over so that I could go home, rest a little and get ready for the gig. Eventually, one of the other girls agreed, deciding that she could do with the extra money, so after another hour of working, I skipped out of the café and practically ran back to my flat.

Although I was dying to take a shower, the first thing I did was call my best friend Lulu, hoping she could also get off work to come with me to the gig. I knew that she too would adore Ville.

Lulu answered the phone sounding as frenzied as always. 'My God, Nina, am I glad to hear from you. I can't talk for long but I need to vent.'

I laughed. 'Where are you?'

'I've literally just snuck into the toilets. Nina, I hate my job!'

'Well,' I giggled, 'you'd better leave early today, 'cause you're coming out with me tonight. I've scored free tickets to an amazing gig.'

'Sold, I'll be there,' Lulu sighed, probably too stressed out to be excited yet, 'I'll come to yours ASAP, I'll find a way.' And with that, she hung up.

In the meantime, I jumped in the shower and scrubbed myself clean, wringing coffee out of my hair and belting out some Rolling Stones. I scraped my makeup off my face, only to put it on again when I was clean. I shut off the water, wrapped myself in a towel and let my hair dry naturally, wavy and slightly frizzy, but it was only going to get tangled and sweaty at the gig, anyway. Once I was dry, I pulled on some clean jeans, a loose, marled grey t-shirt and pulled a chunky maroon cardigan over the top to shield me from the cold in my flat. I didn't have the money to waste on heating bills.

As I was redoing my makeup, there was a hammering on the door. I put down my eyeliner and went to let Lulu in. She too was clean and wet-haired, dressed casually and make-up free.

'I don't even feel bad about faking sick,' she giggled as she settled onto my sofa and I put some water on to boil. 'So, start from the beginning, what are these tickets and how did you go about scrounging them?'

I told her everything over steaming cups of tea, taking care not to bang on too much about how handsome Ville was. But she saw through me, anyway.

'So, is he single?' was the first question she asked.

I laughed at her. 'How should I know?'

She shrugged her shoulders. 'Well, I'd guess so, since he was obviously flirting with you. I mean, two free tickets to his gig? Just because you let him have a quick drink? I mean, why would he even mention he's a singer who does gigs and stuff unless he was trying to impress you?'

Still laughing, I argued, 'because that's what he does? It's just a fact! Anyway, regardless of all that, it's going to be a great gig so we'd better have something to eat, get ready and go.'

We quickly rustled up a meal, finished putting on our make-up and crammed our necessities into my cross-body bag. It was six PM, an hour before the gig was due to start, when we pulled on our boots and coats and braved the cold, dark autumn evening. We walked quickly to the Student's Union, where the gig was to take place, dumped our heavy coats in the cloakroom and eagerly entered the hall, joining the crowd and, grabbing one another's hands, weaved in and out of the people to try and get to the front.

Lulu and I attended a lot of concerts together, so we were quite good at pushing our way forward. She looked cool, chilled out as we reached the front barrier, but I was inexplicably excited. I had never even heard the band before, but it wasn't every day I got personally invited to a gig by the rock star himself...

The support band came and went, making me even more giddy to see the main event. The wait, whilst the equipment was changed over and sound checks were performed, was agonisingly long. But then the lights went down, the crowd started to scream, and it began...