The Alchemists

After taking a warm shower, Finland replaced her red dress with one of Jean's oversized shirt and wore it like a dress. It felt very comfortable on her body. They then went down to the cafe on the ground floor of the building and enjoyed breakfast together.

[Good morning, Madam, are we still having the driving lesson later in the afternoon?]

Finland saw an incoming SMS from Jadeith when she just finished her tea. Oh, that's right, she totally forgot that she had promised Jadeith to go for driving lessons today.

[Yes, but pick me up on Robertson Road, not at the office. I'm still at my friend's apartment.]

[Alright, Madam.]

"Miss..." Finland murmured, feeling annoyed. She never managed to correct Jadeith to call her 'Miss'.

"Who was that?" asked Jean.

"No one important." Finland shook her head, "Some people just keep calling me Madam, even though I'm still young and single..."

Jean laughed at that.

After breakfast they returned to the apartment to watch Netflix. Jean played a new horror movie and said that he was well-acquainted with the film director.

"I actually almost appeared in this movie, you know..." Jean said with a smile, "At that time they needed a cameo as Count Dracula from Transylvania. Unfortunately, my schedule was too busy at the time, so we had to cancel."

"Ah, that's a shame." Finland knew Jean was a talented actor because Jean had been active in their school drama club.

Actually, she would not be surprised if someday Jean would switch direction to acting, especially with this handsome and exotic appearance of his, he would be the dream model of many casting directors.

"I can't imagine you being the evil Count Dracula, Jean. You're too nice. You will fit easily into an angel. The angel figure usually looks rather androgynous, right? You can pull that off really well."

"Hahaha… Finland, you're biased because you are my best friend," Jean said with a laugh. "Maybe someday if I get the opportunity to try acting, I will do it."

"I will be very proud, I will tell everyone that you are my friend!" Finland said with enthusiasm.

"We will see later." Jean nodded. "But when I'm famous, we won't be able to go bar hopping or play at Universal Studios anymore. Famous people don't have privacy."

Finland hoped that one day Jean could have his dream come true and become more famous than he was now. If he was able to get the opportunity to act in movies and become a big celebrity, even though Finland would not be able to meet him again when she decided to be with Caspar, she would at least still be able to find news about Jean.

They watched a horror film made by Alan Parker, the director who had a close friendship with Jean, while eating slices of carrots and purple yams and drinking infused water; this was Jean's typical snack for watching TV since a long time ago.

As a model he was always very careful with his food intake and Finland had gotten used to watching TV with Jean with this unique snack of his.

"When we watch TV, we are usually not aware of our food intake. We could keep munching and in the end we snacked too much. It's better to snack on carrots and yam, because they are healthy."

Finland remembered what Jean told her 4 years ago when she first came to Jean's apartment to watch a movie with him.

At first, she didn't like it, but after a few times, Finland finally got used to it.

"Wow... the ending is a cliffhanger, huh?" Finland said after the movie finished. "Why don't they just let the audience know whether the main character was dead or only injured? Now I am utmost curious!"

"Yes, they did that intentionally. Alan said Netflix wanted to fund the sequel. If they did, he asked me to appear as one of the supporting roles." Jean shrugged, "We'll see; hopefully the schedule doesn't clash."

"Hopefully they will make the sequel," Finland said excitedly. "I'd love to see you in movies."

Finland's cellphone suddenly rang and when she looked at the screen, she saw an incoming call from Caspar. It was already 1 pm in Singapore, that means it was 6 am in Germany.

Wow, Caspar woke up very early, she thought. Moreover, it was winter, which meant that the sun rises at 9 in the morning.

"Hello, good morning, Caspar. How are you?"

"Good afternoon, Finland. I just woke up," Caspar answered at the end of the line. His voice sounded rather sleepy. "I just heard from Jadeith that you didn't come home yesterday. Is everything OK?"

"Yeah, I went out for a drink yesterday with Jean. You told me to learn to have fun, enjoy life and not work too hard, right?" Finland sounded proud of her achievement, "Didn't I do great? Today I didn't even go to work and called-in sick. I did have a headache this morning, but I didn't tell them I had a headache because I drank too many cocktails last night. Hahaha…"

"What?!" Caspar's voice no longer sounded sleepy, "You didn't come home because you were out drinking all night with Jean? Does that mean that you spent the night at his place? Are you still there now? "

"Yeah. That's OK, right? We just watched a horror movie. Oh my God... It feels great doing nothing!"

Caspar fell silent for some time and Finland waited patiently for his reply.

"It is okay." Finally, his reply came followed by a deep breath. "Indeed, I told you to learn to have fun. But now I am jealous of Jean. I wish I were there, having fun with you, instead of working like this."

Finland signaled to Jean that it was Caspar on the phone and then went out to the balcony to get some privacy.

"You're the boss, why do you have to work? If you don't work, you can come back here, right? Aren't you the one who told me that Schneider Group is a family company that can run without you, and that you are free to do anything?" Finland asked.

Finland knew that she was being selfish by encouraging Caspar to come home quickly. But… she really missed him…

"That's right, but there are also clan affairs that I have to deal with. It is not just the company's business," Caspar replied sadly. If he had the choice, he wouldn't be in the cold Germany. He would rather be in Singapore, where the weather was warm and he could be close to Finland. Maybe they could also watch a horror movie while chewing on carrot slices. "I want you to be careful and never be far from Jadeith as long as I'm not there."

"Alright."

"Later in the afternoon, you will have driving lessons with him, right?" Caspar asked before hanging up.

"Yes. He will take me to Bukit Batok driving center. Which car will I use for the driving lessons? I can't possibly use the Rolls Royce for driving lessons, right?"

"Why not?" Caspar asked, confused.

WHY NOT? Finland shook her head. Why couldn't this guy understand?

"That's a very expensive car. It's only common for people to learn driving using old cars, so if they bump into something, the loss wouldn't be too much. I can't afford to compensate you if later, during my practice, your car gets scratched or dented," Finland replied in a desperate tone.

Sometimes she felt like she was talking to a child and she must explain things that were naturally understood by others. Normal people didn't need to be reminded that Rolls Royce cars were VERY expensive and should not be used for driving practice.

"Ah, Finland. It's just a car. There's no need to exaggerate." Caspar replied casually.

"But..."

"I want to take a shower and get ready. Let's talk again later. I miss you, Finland."

Before Caspar ended his call, Finland hesitantly replied...

"Uhmm... miss you too. Take care!"

Following her reply, she could almost hear Caspar smiling on the other end. Was it really possible to hear a smile? Finland did not know. What was clear was that she heard the sound of Caspar's smile when she said that she also missed him.