The Alchemists

When Finland arrived in her office space, people looked at her strangely, which made her feel uneasy. She recognized the expressions on their faces and she didn't like them.

This reminded her of the difficult times at LTX Singapore, when her coworkers thought she was a mistress of the owner of a Continental Hotel.

"Pssst... Finland, come here," Ruth who saw her enter immediately pulled her hand and took her to the pantry. After making sure that no one was in the pantry she immediately poured some juice into two glasses. Her face looked very confused. She handed a glass to Finland. "What is your relationship with Mr. Schneider?"

"Eh...?" Finland was surprised to hear this sudden question. Did Caspar come here looking for her?

"I now understand why you suddenly want to quit working..." Ruth took a quick gulp of juice, her breathing moved quickly, and it seemed like she was getting emotional, "You're having an affair with Mr. Schneider and you two just broke up, so the company is forcing you to quit working to avoid scandal. Ugh… why did you do that?? He is a married man! He is very kind, and they are expecting a child together..."

"Eh... wait, what?!" Finland was surprised to hear Ruth's words.

Gosh... now she understood why the people in her department stared at her with hateful looks. They thought that she was having an affair with the big boss because she was often called into his office to translate Indonesian documents and now people thought there was a scandal because they were separated.

Instantly her head started throbbing and Finland looked at the glass with anger glittering in her eyes. She was eager to slam the glass to the floor.

Why was she always accused of being Caspar's mistress or having an affair with him? The exact same thing happened in Singapore, and now in New York...

All she wanted was to work peacefully and avoid any form of conflict.

"I'm NOT his mistress..." Finland hissed trying to hold back her anger. She put down her glass and massaged her forehead. "Ruth, I'm feeling upset and I don't want to get angry here. Please leave me alone."

Ruth gasped but finally placed her glass in the sink and patted Finland's shoulder before leaving the pantry. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be hard on you or interfere with your personal matters. I was out of line. I'm sorry..."

After Ruth left, Finland sat on the chair in the pantry, trying to calm her feelings. She then sent a message to Caspar.

[I'm so tired today. I no longer want to work. Can you pick me up on the 20th floor?]

[I'll be there soon.] Caspar quickly replied to the text.

Five minutes later, Caspar arrived at the Market Research Department and, when he did not find Finland, he asked Ruth where Finland was. Ruth was surprised to see him come again but quickly pointed towards the pantry. Caspar immediately rushed there.

"Hey... what's up? Are you tired?" He quickly hugged Finland who was sitting on a chair with a disheveled look. "Is something bothering you?"

Finland cried in his chest and grumbled, venting all her frustrations of the day, "I am accused of having an affair with you... huhuhu... just as I was accused of being a mistress of the owner of a Continental Hotel... huhuhu..."

Caspar was confused, "Why would they accuse you of that?"

"Maybe it's because you came here looking for me, and they remember that I am often called into your office... and they know you have a wife... while I am just an ordinary employee... and I recently tendered my resignation. They thought it was you who told me to quit working because we broke up and you want to avoid a scandal..."

Caspar patted her head lovingly, "Gosh... I didn't expect my people have such wild imaginations."

"I was accused of being your mistress in the past and now I am accused of being your mistress AGAIN!! Why am I never good enough to be with you??" said Finland in an angry tone. She then tried to calm down a little "It's actually a very funny situation... but today I am so sensitive that I feel like going berserk... I'm not sure I will be able to behave normally in front of them..."