FLASHBACK #60: When Miss Knight Turned Up On A Special Day

Miss Knight worked for a friend of mine, but we got friendly. She reminds me of Kylie. Yes, the one and only Kylie Minogue; she's svelte, gracious, decent and, I suspected, liberal. So, when I organised a surprised birthday party for Bree under the guise of a Christmas party, I invited all of my friends and, unbeknownst to Bree, some of his.

The day drew nearer and the confirmations came. I organised the food, the music, the cake, the decorations, even an audio-visual compilation of funny email attachments for beaming onto the wall with a projector I had borrowed from work.

Before 9pm, my friends arrived one by one. I received a message that one of Bree's friends were at the door and I asked Bree to open it for me; he was amazed, a look across his face that clearly said what the hell are you doing here? As time passed, Bree's friends continued to arrive.

Before long, we had a full house. It wasn't late, but the doorbell rang again and I rushed to answer it. I pushed the door away from me - the apartment doors open outwards in Finland - and there stood Miss Knight. All made up, in her glad rags and obviously ready to party, her smile was a welcome feature. But something was wrong; she hadn't confirmed that she was coming to the party and, as such, I hadn't had the opportunity to come out to her, to let her know that the underlying reason for the party was to celebrate Bree's birthday.

I remember thinking I have a house full of gays in there! Meanwhile, her expectant face was asking why aren't you letting me in? I stepped outside for a moment, grateful for a break from the booming music. I explained the situation, literally having to come out in a rush before anyone realised that I had left a party I had organised in my own home! Her smiled said it all. She was like whatever!

The party went really well. Joshua and I partied away, aware that one of his closest friends would soon leave to return to her native New Zealand. It really was a special evening - the party had been at my apartment in Katajanokka and, later on, we just left everything - the mess, everything - and Bree and I went back to his place.

Bree, Joshua, the girl from New Zealand and myself walked down Aleksanterinkatu - one of Helsinki's main streets - semi-drunk, satisfied from a successful party. At least, I was satisfied. It was a huge effort to pull of a party like that single-handedly, but it goes down as one of the best parties I have hosted. And having Miss Knight there made all the difference and certainly made for the start of a friendship that I hope will last many years.