The Alchemists

They worked side by side in the library for several hours. Caspar had another conference call after the first one and so on. At one point he realized that Finland had fallen asleep because the girl's head slid onto his shoulder.

"Okay, our meeting is finished for today. Please send me all reports that have not been presented," He said before ending the call. He stroked Finland's hair and woke her up gently. "Hey... are you done with your work? I will take you to your pavilion."

Finland opened her eyes and nodded weakly. Her sleepy face brought a sweet and peaceful smile on Caspar's face. Finally, he decided to carry Finland to her pavilion.

Finland didn't remember how she could be in her bed when she woke up at 3 am. After drinking a glass of water, she realized that Caspar must have brought her there. She was moved to see a cup of water available on the table next to her bed.

A sense of warmth slowly filled her chest and her heart. She closed her eyes and smiled, and went into deep slumber. That night she had the most peaceful sleep ever.

That day was the first day she spent with Caspar that did not feel rigid or awkward. They had breakfast together, left for work together, had dinner together, and worked together in the library. Everything seemed normal and fun.

She could get used to this, she thought.

***

The next morning, they had breakfast together, and after, Ben drove Finland to her office. Caspar had to work from home.

"I will have dinner with Jean tonight," Finland said before leaving. "You don't have to wait for me."

Caspar wanted to protest but he immediately restrained himself. He knew that Jean would only be in Singapore for a few more weeks and then he would return to France.

He had promised not to rush Finland to decide whether or not she wanted to be with him, so even though he really wanted to spend all his time with the girl, Caspar had to give Finland the freedom to live according to her own wishes.

So, if Finland wanted to meet Jean and to have dinner with him, Caspar wouldn't object.

"Alright. Have fun." He embraced Finland and walked her to the car. He watched as the car exit the gate before going back into the house to work.

Finland was grateful that Caspar kept his promise and she appreciated the man's efforts to open her heart.

Caspar hugged her as often as possible, held her hand every time they were close together, and always treated her sweetly. He also gave Finland the freedom to do whatever she wanted.

Slowly but surely Finland felt her heart warming up to Caspar. She began to get used to the man's gentle treatment. In the car she thought about the events that happened in past week. So much had happened in such a short time.

Her mind reminisced to three months ago when her life was at its lowest. It was the time when her grandmother just died and Finland had to return to Singapore using the cheapest midnight flight carrying all her worldly possessions from Jakarta.

Her heart was broken because her grandmother was the only real family she had left in this world. She remembered sobbing in the airport seat after bumping into Caspar and realized she had missed the last MRT.

If she had not met Caspar that night in the airport, they would never have come this far. She would be an orphan living alone in an shabby apartment in Singapore, doing anything needed to survive.

With a minimum wage salary, Finland would only be able to rent a small room in the suburbs, a far cry from her beautiful pavilion at Rose Mansion ...

Her life would have only revolved around work in the city center, her cheap room in the suburbs, and probably still distributing flyers at the mall on weekends.

Her colleagues in her office would have ignored her forever and her only friend, who she could confide her feelings to, would be far away in Paris.

Finland felt very grateful... For the first time in her life, she felt like the luckiest girl in the world.