The Alchemists

Finland tried to forget her gloomy feeling when she met Jean at Bedok Reservoir to do wakeboarding. She had never done this type of sport before and seeing people gliding on the water pulled by a fast boat frightened her a little.

Since she couldn't swim and the thought of drowning frightened her, in the end she only became Jean's spectator from the side.

"I will just enjoy it from the side... !!" she exclaimed from the bay. "I'm afraid of drowning."

"Hahaha... fine."

Finland spent all weekend with Jean. She was a little sad because in a few days Jean would return to Paris. However, the thought of visiting her best friend in January consoled her.

Two more months, she thought.

Finally, Finland would be able to see Europe.

***

The weekend passed quickly and suddenly it was already Monday and Finland had to go back to work.

When she was busy making a presentation for Atlas Corp's exhibition the following month, Tony called her to the meeting room.

"Katia has agreed to all the designs we submitted and she said that we can start the installation next week, so that in December her artworks can be exhibited," Tony said, handing over documents to Finland. "Katia gave you full control. She will return to Europe tomorrow, so she asked to see you later in the evening at De Lune to discuss the technicalities."

Finland could only nod. She did not know why Katia did not contact her directly instead of asking to meet her through Tony.

Well... she was prepared to meet Katia after the incident last Saturday.

Finland returned to her desk and continued working. For a moment she stopped and thought about whether or not she should tell Caspar about this development. She remembered Caspar asking her to always tell him what was happening so he could protect her...

But their last conversation didn't end well, and yesterday Caspar didn't contact her at all...

Finland became doubtful, what should she do.

Finally, she decided that her meeting with Katia should not be informed to Caspar, because it was not too important.

she texted Jadeith that she would go straight to De Lune after work, and Jadeith did not need to pick her up at the office.

[I'll take Madam to De Lune. I will be waiting for Madam after work at the park as usual.]

Came a reply from Jadeith.

Hmm... actually, Finland was starting to get used to being called Madam by Jadeith. It no longer annoyed her.

Subconsciously, a smile was engraved on her face. What a strange and stubborn man; Finland could never make him call her Miss.

[OK. I will finish work late in the afternoon, around 6:30pm, because I have a lot of things to do.]

Finland tried to complete her tasks quickly but somehow her mind was hovering around and she found it very difficult to concentrate. She wondered why Caspar didn't contact her at all the day before.

Maybe the man thought that it was futile to pursue Finland and he would not waste his time waiting for her anymore.

Ugh... Finland felt upset thinking about it.

Tony gave her the company credit card to pay for her dinner with Katia at De Lune Restaurant. Seeing the credit card in hand, she thought about De Lune's deliciously expensive food menu. She felt a little comforted.

Finland arrived at the restaurant before Katia. Even though she was very hungry, she knew that it was not polite to order food first while the guest had not arrived. Therefore, she ordered a cocktail and she tried to fill her stomach with the bread provided at the table while waiting for Katia.

Subconsciously she ate the whole basket.

Katia arrived at exactly 7pm and immediately headed to Finland's table. Her face looked beautiful as usual, but her attitude had become rather cold.

"Good evening, Finland," she said briefly, before sitting down and opening the menu. She placed her order to the waiter who was waiting. "I would like to have a Black Russian cocktail first, while I choose the food menu."

"Alright, Miss."

"How are you, Katia? How are you doing?" Finland asked later.

"I'm not too well, I was sick all weekend," Katia said. "But now I feel better. How are you?"

"I was also sick all weekend," Finland said honestly.

"Oh, maybe we were sick for the same reason." For the first time that evening, Katia smiled, and Finland saw that friendly and kind girl who had always been nice to her.

"Maybe." Finland just smiled and shrugged.

Katia's drink arrived and they ordered a 5-course menu. They enjoyed their drinks while chatting lightly about the exhibition design that Katia had agreed to,.

Finland knew that Katia did not ask her to meet only to discuss the exhibition and dinner. She was interested in hearing what Katia really wanted to say, but she did not want to be pushy. Therefore, she let Katia talk about work first.

Their food arrived one at a time, and both ordered another cocktail. After the second cocktail, their conversation during dinner became increasingly fluid and finally Finland could hear what was Katia's exact purpose of meeting her tonight.

"Please forgive me for leaving abruptly on Saturday at Universal Studios," Katia said, sipping her Singapore Sling. "I realize that I was being childish at the time. I hope you would forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive. I don't understand why you feel the need to apologize," Finland replied.

"I admit, I still love Caspar. After all we've been through together for years..."

"Fifty years..." Finland cut Katia's words, "I know,"

Katia looked surprised but tried to hide it, "Do you know that too?"

"Yes..."

Katia smiled bitterly. "That means you know everything, that we are Alchemists who can live forever. It seems, he has told you everything."

"I know that you left your family to live forever with him, but he did not keep his commitment to marry you." Finland nodded slowly.

"Right..." Katia finished her drink with a contrite face. "Do you know Karl Furstenberg?"

"The famous designer? Jean said you were his muse in creating many famous designs."

"That's right. I told him that I became his muse through nepotism; because he was friends with my grandmother... hahaha... that's not true. Karl is MY best friend." Katia signaled to the waiter to bring another Singapore Sling.

"He loved me with all his heart, but I left him to be with Caspar. I returned to his life a few years ago and claimed to be the granddaughter of Katia Jannsen, his best friend... I had to do that because I hadn't aged, while he is now more over 70 years old. He knew right away that I was Katia Jannsen. You cannot imagine how devastated he was... All this while he thought that I was dead, and he mourned for me for decades. "

"I'm sorry to hear that," Finland said softly. She could see that the situation between Katia and Karl decades ago was similar to her situation with Jean now.

"I thought you were just like all the other women he dated casually in the past. But it turns out that he has told you his real name, and even the secrets of the Alchemists. I am jealous of you, because I still love him... and we were together for a very long time."

Katia received her third Singapore Sling from the waiter and sipped it until it was half gone. "But during the weekend, when I was sick, I continued to imagine my life if I had been with Karl. If I had not accepted Caspar's proposal at that time, Karl and I would be living a happy life together. I also would have no need to leave my parents... Living young forever is not fun if you can't share your life with someone you love."

Finland nodded. That was also her concern.

Why live forever, if you can't share your life with the people you love? She did not know if it was worthy enough to join Caspar's clan and be young forever. That would also mean that she would have to lose Jean, her best friend.

If one day Caspar left her like he left Katia, she would be forever alone, like her.

"I see how much Jean loves you... and I look back at myself and Karl 50 years ago." Katia continued speaking. "I will be honest with you, I still love Caspar, and we have only separated for six months. I do not know whether we can be together again in the future. But I want you to learn from my experience, because it seems like what we experience is quite similar... It's better to live with a man who loves you, than with a man you love. If you are with someone who loves you, you will be treated like a queen, but if you are with someone you love who doesn't love you back, you will suffer a lot... Jean is a very good man. Don't make a decision you will regret in future. Learn from my mistakes... "

Finland did not respond. In her heart she agreed that it was indeed best for women to marry men who love them, because they will surely be overflowed with love and treated well. She often saw women who suffer and eat their hearts out because they love men who did not treat them well.

The thoughts continued to haunt her until they finished dinner and Katia excused herself.

"I'm going home to Europe tomorrow. I need to calm myself down." Katia hugged Finland and kissed her cheek. "I hope you think of me. Goodbye."

"Thank you, Katia. Goodbye."

Finland's face must have looked very sad when she came out of De Lune, because without being asked, Jadeith handed her a handkerchief as she entered the car.

"Who hurt you, Madam?" he asked when he turned on the car engine and started driving towards Rose Mansion. "You'd better tell Master, so he won't be worried."

Finland did not answer, and Jadeith knew not to ask further questions.