02: Helsinki Café (Pt. 1): Cinco de Mayo flashback

[1-minute read]

Content note: sexually suggestive scene

Helsinki had been magical. And alarming.

I witnessed my first avalanche. And it wasn’t on a mountain.

Three days into our trip, we reminisced about a Cinco de Mayo party that friends of mine had hosted. The party was at Woodward’s — a downtown building that became a symbol of revitalization in Vancouver.

A heritage department store redeveloped into condos, art spaces, good intentions, and worthwhile returns on development investments. Planted squarely in the Downtown Eastside, it was the kind of place that made people argue about gentrification while drinking on the patios above it.

It sat right at the edge of the city’s discomfort. Which somehow made it feel like the perfect place for bad ideas.

I’d walked onto the patio of this 27th-floor unit with my ex-boyfriend close behind. Call it a combination of tequila and the ovulation phase of my cycle. The next thing we knew, I was pressed against the railing.

Here’s the kicker. At my initiation, somehow we’d Spiderman’ed our way over to the next-door-neighbours patio. Not knowing if they were home, asleep, or about to walk in at any moment — it was exhilarating.

Getting over there was the easy part. Getting back to the party was a slightly sketchier story. Young love, as they say.

Wait — how’d I end up on the Woodward’s patio story? Let me get us back on track to a café in Helsinki…

Up next >> Chapter 03: The unplanned pregnancy