The Alchemists

The three girls looked very excited. Snacks and drinks were provided before they took a seat. In the darkened room they were able to see many other invited guests and found famous faces among them.

The girls felt their cheeks burn when they experienced "starstruck" and laughed incessantly while whispering to each other.

"Hey... the seat next to us is empty..." Anne commented after the three of them sat down, ready to wait for the movie to play. "Who will sit there?"

Her question was answered five minutes later when Jean appeared and walked towards them. He hugged Finland and kissed her cheeks as soon as he arrived beside them.

"Sorry I'm a little late. I should have welcomed you at the door..." he said apologetically.

"Ah... it's okay, everything's fine." Finland smiled broadly, "Let me introduce you guys, this is Anne Lee, and this is Lucia Mendoza... They are your fans..."

"Hello, Ms. Lee..." Jean hugged and kissed Anne on the cheeks, then turned to Lucia, "Ms. Mendoza... nice to meet you both."

Anne and Lucia froze for a moment. They couldn't believe that their idol actor just greeted and hugged them like they were old friends. And oh, Jean was farrrr more handsome in person than what they saw in the movies or in magazines.

Finland had to pat both of their shoulders for Anne and Lucia to come back to their senses and shyly return to their seats. Jean gave a signal to the usher, who immediately came with a champagne bottle and four glasses.

"Let's just drink a little... we don't want you drunk, but drinking a little can make our experience more relaxed and enjoyable," he said.

"Uhm... we drank a little in the limo..." said Anne.

"Limo?" Jean soon understood that Caspar had sent his beloved wife to have fun at the theatre with her friends using the best car. A moment later, he laughed, "Hm... okay. Then don't you want to drink a little more?"

"Uhmm... I want to," said Anne hastily, while receiving a glass from Jean. She would not refuse the champagne given by her idol actor. Lucia also nodded.

"Uhm... I'll just drink some juice..." said Finland. She did not want to announce her pregnancy to everyone. It's only been six weeks; she doesn't want to jinx it. "I don't feel like drinking tonight..."

"OK." Jean asked the usher to bring a bottle of orange juice for Finland and soon the four of them were holding their glasses, ready to clink a toast.

"Can I take our picture?" Lucia asked excitedly. "This is a precious moment, I want to capture this moment and remember it forever... when else can I meet Jean and drink champagne with him?"

Jean nodded. Lucia then took their wefie and, when she was satisfied with the results, they then toast and drank together.

The movie started soon after.

*** 

After the movie screening was over, Jean invited his guests to have dinner with him. The three girls were very happy because they did not think the fun would continue. They ate at a fine dining restaurant and discussed the movie they just watched.

Finland, Lucia, and Anna were all very satisfied with the movie and assured Jean that everything was perfect.

"Seriously? Are you guys not biased just because you know me?" Jean asked with a laugh.

"No, really. The story is neat, and everything is very cool. I like the ending..." Anne said hurriedly. "If the ending is kept open like that, there's a possibility for a sequel to be made later."

"Indeed, that was actually the producer's intentions..." Jean nodded.

"Whhaaa... there will be a sequel to '2050'! So cool!" Lucia exclaimed excitedly.

Dinner was fun and Lucia and Anne, curious about Finland's friendship with Jean, asked many questions, including how they first met.

"Oh, we were classmates in university," Jean said. "We sat next to each other and when we started talking, we just clicked. Finland was really fun to be with..."

Finland remembered that day. She did not feel like she was a fun person at all. As she recalled, Jean was the one whose attitude was very pleasant. At that time, Jean deliberately sat next to her because he saw that Finland was alone and that no one wanted to sit near her.

Everyone had their own friends after two weeks of college and Finland couldn't enter their circle because of their closed attitude. Jean skipped classes during the first two weeks of college because he was busy working as a model. That was why, when he first came to class, he also did not know anyone.

When he saw a girl sitting alone and looking indifferent to her surroundings, he decided to sit next to her. During lunch break, they talked a lot and Jean immediately liked the girl because of her intelligence and interesting attitude.

As someone who grew up lonely, he felt like he had found his soulmate, and that was when Jean decided to be friends with Finland. Since then they became inseparable. Finland helped Jean a lot with lessons and assignments because Jean had a very busy schedule.

Jean wanted to repay Finland's kindness by providing her with material aid such as food, books, or even plane tickets so they could travel somewhere together, but Finland always refused. She never wanted to receive help from anyone, and for years she never accepted any material aid from Jean.

Jean was pleased when he learned that when Finland was with Caspar, the girl no longer lacked anything, because Caspar had cleverly managed to provide everything she needed without Finland being able to refuse.

"Then how many years have you two known each other?" asked Anne attentively.

She did not expect that her coworker was so close with a very famous celebrity. During her 2.5 years of knowing Finland, the girl never told Anne anything about her relationship with Jean, who was a famous actor, and that her husband was a very rich and powerful man.

Anne kept a deep respect for Finland who never bragged or used other people's names to get special treatment. She witnessed herself how hard and diligently Finland worked for the company.

"Hmmm... more than seven years now." Finland and Jean looked at each other and nodded, "Yes, around 7-8 years..."

"And we will be friends forever," Jean said, winking at Finland. He was speaking literally, and Finland understood his point. Of course, as Alchemists, they could live forever and be friends forever too. This was not just figuratively speaking.