Page 29 of A Winter in Wonderland
‘Excuse me?’ I stopped short.
‘I’m going to show you the best thing about coming and living in Finland. The sauna.’
‘Oh, we have saunas in the UK, in spas and things.’
‘This is the perfect end to the day,’ she carried on, ignoring me and taking off her shoes. She held the door open for me which I reluctantly entered, and found myself in a small changing room. By the time I turned back around, Esteri’s right breast was in my face.
‘Whoa, OK, you really meant we were getting naked.’
‘Yes, calm down, it’s perfectly normal. Look, there are several staff saunas here but this one is the furthest away from all the other action. Coupled with the fact most people are still eating, it should be lovely and quiet.’
Esteri was butt-naked by now, so in a way I almost felt more awkward standing there in my thermals. And a sauna did sound quite nice actually. A good way to calm me down, perhaps?
I stripped down quickly, leaving my undies on, and wrapped a towel around myself. Unwittingly, my mind flittered to Josh and his lumberjack shirt, and I asked Esteri, ‘Are the saunas for all sexes and genders? Together?’
‘We have female and male saunas, one mixed plus two individual ones,’ she explained, now in her own towel and sliders. She led us out of the changing room and then threw open the door to the outside world. An icicle stormed through and jabbed me in the gut. That’s what it felt like, at least. Actually, it was just a freezing gust of wind, but it caused me to make a ‘Burrurururururur’ sound and my towel to flap around me.
Esteri strode out like she was in Marbella heading for the best sun lounger, and I tottered along next to her resisting the urge to complain like hell, until we reached a small wooden hut and she stepped inside.
Ahhhhh. That was more like it. Instant warmth had me feeling like I’d never even been cold, as steam rose from hot rocks in the corner. The air was scented with pine and as I was closing the door behind us I gasped at the glimpse of a billion stars above the treetops.
Esteri got naked again and lay down on the bottom bench, meaning I had to climb over her to the top, but all my insecurities drifted away with the steam within moments.
‘Thanks for bringing me—’ I started.
‘I like quiet times in the sauna,’ Esteri said. ‘But you’re welcome.’
I smiled to myself. She wasn’t so bad, at all.Thiswasn’t so bad.
