The Alchemists

When they arrived at the airport, she often secretly thought about the day when she and Caspar collided at Changi airport and eventually became acquainted and fell in love.

She could not imagine what would have happened if her flight from Jakarta at that time had not been delayed and she had not met Caspar. That felt too scary to even think about. Now, she couldn't imagine her life without him in it.

If she had to be reborn and redo her life, she wanted to be reborn as the poor and lonely girl she was. She wanted to be Finland again, so that she could meet Caspar and fall in love with him like this again.

Finland often read that many couples would change after they got married, had children, or after they had lived together for years. But in her case, she felt that the more she knew Caspar, the more she liked and enjoyed being with him. Caspar was warm, kind, very caring, and he spoiled her to no ends.

Indeed, Caspar was still having trouble behaving like a normal person (by Finland's standards), as he often did things excessively. But then Finland actually felt that it was his charm that sometimes made her shake her head or laugh out loud.

A good example was when Finland finally heard about Uncle Scrooge's money pool Caspar prepared for her in Germany. When Kara came to visit New York, the girl accidentally reported to Caspar that Ben suggested that the money pool should not be dismantled but just emptied and filled with thousands of plastic balls so Aleksis could have her private ball pond to play in.

"Money pool?" Finland, who was drinking tea, immediately frowned and turned to Caspar, "Like Uncle Scrooge McDuck's money pool?"

Caspar did not answer, but his pair of panicked eyes had told her everything she needed to know.

Jeez... so at that time he wasn't joking! Finland could not believe what she was hearing.

For a moment Finland was just dumbfounded, unable to say anything. After five minutes trying her best to pretend to pout, Finland finally couldn't hold back her amusement and laughed out loud until she shed tears.

"Uhm... why are you laughing?" Caspar asked in surprise. Finland only shook her head and kissed him for a long time, which made Caspar very happy, and he returned her kiss passionately.

Uhm, okay. This meant that Finland was not angry, he thought. He also did not want to scold Kara for speaking out.

On Valentine's Day, Caspar transformed the office into a flower garden by placing so many roses and other flowers on each floor, making all the women in Schneider Group office feel happy, thinking that all the flowers were for them.

He deliberately came to the office early, while Finland stopped by the coffee shop to buy drinks. As usual, they did not want to be seen coming together. Once in his office on the 35th floor, he hurriedly checked all CCTV cameras not to miss Finland's arrival into the building.

He once sent A LOT OF FLOWERS to Finland's office in Singapore, but he did not see her reaction because at that time he was in Seattle. Now, he did not want to miss anything.

Caspar was very satisfied when he saw his wife's dumbfounded face when she entered the lobby and saw that almost every corner was decorated with beautiful flowers.

Her face seemed even more in awe when she found that all the rooms on the 20th floor were decorated with even more flowers. It really looked like a beautiful flower garden. Caspar laughed until he was teary-eyed to see Finland's funny jaw-drop reaction.

[Happy Valentine's Day.] He then sent an SMS to Finland while wiping the tears from his eyes from laughing so much. He was satisfied with the girl's reaction. It was all worth it.

Finland, who just placed her bag on the desk, opened her cellphone and read the SMS from Caspar.

[Oh my God. Caspar…] Finland was at a loss for words.

She was moved and at the same time amused by Caspar's typical way of showing his love. Finland suddenly thought about the incident that happened 3.5 years ago, when Caspar sent dozens of bouquets of flowers and flower boards to her office in Singapore to apologize for his mistake.

[You once bought all the flowers in Singapore to apologize. Can you imagine the excitement of that time? My company was fined by department of environment because the whole sidewalk was decorated with flower boards. You don't mean to get the Schneider Group fined either, do you?] replied Finland.

[No, don't worry. It's winter, so there aren't many flowers sold in New York. I can only buy this much.] Caspar's reply came.

Gosh, thought Finland exasperatedly. This meant that if it were spring or summer and there were a lot of flowers in supply in New York, maybe Caspar would have bought even more.

This man... it was hard for him to live like a normal person.

Inwardly Finland felt sorry for the other couples in New York who were forced to celebrate Valentine's Day without flowers, because everything was bought by her husband.

[ What if you donate some of these flowers for our employees? Tell everyone that they can bring flowers home from the office to celebrate Valentine's Day with their partner. I don't need this many flowers. One bouquet is enough for me.]

[Are you sure?] Caspar was a little disappointed; he wanted Finland to claim all the flowers for herself. [How about 20 bouquets?]

[Two bouquets is enough.] Finland answered.

[Five? Hey, we're both compromising here.] Caspar was still trying to convince Finland to take more.

Finland sighed. [Alright three bouquets.]

[Are you sure?] Caspar asked again.

[I'm sure, honey. Three bouquets of flowers for three years of Valentine's Days we missed. I understand you want to give the whole world to me, but I don't need anything, because for me, having you and our children in my life is enough.] Finland shook her head while holding back a smile . [Thank you for always giving me the best you can. I'm the luckiest woman in the world. I love you, Happy Valentine's Day!]

[I love you too!] Caspar was very happy to read Finland's last message. Jean was right, flowers were indeed a very useful tool to win a woman's heart.

Ruth, who had just arrived next to Finland, looked almost hysterical at the beauty of their office. The same expression also appeared on the faces of so many other female employees. They felt like they were in heaven.

"Gosh... this has never happened before," Ruth said. "This is the best Valentine's Day I've ever experienced, even though I'm single... Does this sound strange?"

Everyone shook their heads.

After lunch, all employees received an email from the big boss who wished them a happy day and told them that they could bring flowers from the office home to give to their partners. Everyone cheered happily and at once the atmosphere in the office turned cheerful and filled with love.

The generosity of their big boss on Valentine's Day became the talk of the office for days, especially after they learned how difficult it was to get flowers on February 14 in New York. They really felt lucky.

***

As they entered the month of March, the temperature slowly began to rise and they were preparing to welcome spring. Finland's pregnancy was already in its fifth month and in a few weeks she had to fulfill her promise to Caspar and quit working.