The Alchemists

Lauriel knew that Finland didn't sleep well that night because the girl had panda eyes when they met at the dining table for breakfast the next morning. Aleksis was still asleep after Finland took a shower and got ready for work.

"Usually she gets up at 7..." complained Finland. "It's already 8 o'clock, but Aleksis is still sleeping."

"Can't blame her, the bed here is indeed very comfortable," Lauriel smiled faintly. He handed a cup of coffee to Finland. "Milk?"

"Yes, please." Finland lifted her coffee cup and let Lauriel pour in some milk. "I'm sorry to bother you again... Please watch over Aleksis today."

"No problem." Lauriel brought a pan filled with pancakes and placed two on her plate. "Sorry for such a basic breakfast. It's been a long time since I made breakfast for a girl who stayed overnight."

"Why, thank you." Finland blushed. She understood what he meant. Even though they were friends, she still felt reluctant to stay at the house of a man who was not her husband.

Finland went to the office by bus. Although Lauriel offered to drive her, she refused. She had a lot of thoughts on her mind and did not want to give Lauriel, who was already kind enough to offer her a ride, the 'silent treatment' during their drive. Therefore, she felt riding the bus was a better choice.

Finland daydreamed a lot in the office that day. Her friends were very surprised to see this as they were used to seeing Finland very focused on work.

"You're daydreaming again, like yesterday..." said Anne as they finished a meeting. "Do you have a problem?"

"Uhmm... I just have a lot of thoughts. It's okay, really," answered Finland avoiding their questions.

"Want to have lunch together?" asked Anne again.

"Hi, Finland... someone's looking for you." Suddenly Cindy, the office manager, came to the meeting room. Her face looked radiant with joy. "Your boyfriend is so handsome, you should bring him to the office more often. "

The people from the Market Research department looked at each other and teased Finland. Finland's office mates in San Francisco were not like her colleagues in Singapore. They liked her and sympathized with her because the girl lived alone and worked hard while raising her child. When Cindy said Finland had a boyfriend, they were genuinely happy for her.

"I don't have a boyfriend..." Finland objected quickly. She waved her hands to her colleagues, trying to convince them of her words. But then Lauriel entered with Aleksis in his arms, and the muffled sighs of her female colleagues made Finland turn toward the door. "Ehh... what are you guys doing here?"

"Mummyyy..." Aleksis rushed towards Finland and the girl immediately accepted her from Lauriel's arms. "I miss you!"

"Honey... I miss you too. What's the matter? Why are you all here?" Finland turned to Lauriel for an explanation.

The man was wearing a thin shirt with the top buttons open and his rather long disheveled hair made him look very cool. The cold weather of San Francisco didn't seem to bother him as he appeared in his casual summer looks. Lauriel's level of tolerance to cold was extraordinary.

"Aleksis was restless from morning because she didn't see you when she woke up. I promised her to take you to lunch together so she would calm down." Lauriel explained.

"Oh... alright..." Finland started to become uncomfortable. She then nodded to her office mates, and showed her rare smile, "Uhm... guys, I'll have lunch first. My daughter and her 'nanny' apparently came to pick me up."

Uh-ah... the women in the office sighed enviously as Finland and Lauriel walked out of the building.

What they just realized was that this 'nanny' Finland often talked about was very young and handsome. Really, Finland was very fortunate to have an extraordinarily handsome and loving nanny for her child.

"Gosh... Finland is so lucky!" exclaimed Anne. "I also want to have a nanny like that... I will soon go to the sperm bank, so I can get pregnant and have children. Later I will leave my child with Aleksis' nanny too..."

Lucia just laughed at her, "You're so naive. There's no way that guy is a professional nanny. He looks too rich to be a nanny. I am certain that he is Finland's boyfriend who helps her take care of Aleksis. Finland was only being modest when she said that he's the nanny..."

"That means they have been together since Aleksis was born. Remember? a week after her daughter was born, Finland was able to work right away, right? If that is the case, their relationship is progressing really slowly. After two years they still aren't living together," Anne commented. She looked like she was enjoying the gossip.

"Maybe they are conservative, so they don't want to live together before they get married. After all, Finland is Asian," Lucia answered, shrugging.

"Hmm... you're right. I mean, if they live together, she could save money on apartment rent."

"I don't know... We don't know. Maybe they really aren't in a relationship. We'd better not interfere in other people's business."

Finland's colleagues finally stopped talking about her and Lauriel after Tony reprimanded them.

***