The Alchemists

"I promised Jean to take leave and visit him in Paris mid-January," Finland said later, "I wanted to tell Jean about our wedding when I meet him in person, but you want us to get married on December 31st... it's earlier than what I imagined. Can I tell Jean this good news by phone?"

Caspar looked at Finland for a long time and then shook his head, "I'm sorry, Finland, but you can't. If you tell Jean, we will have to invite him... And I can't invite an ordinary man to a clan event."

Finland fell silent. She bit her lip and nodded, signing that she understood.

"You're right... I won't have the heart to tell Jean and not invite him to the wedding." Finland sighed. "Then how do I 'disappear' from his life? What do you usually do?"

"You can go on a vacation with a yacht, then we can arrange for the yacht to sink…That makes more sense than pretending to move to another country, because with the internet, people can be anywhere and still be reachable. Flight tickets are also very cheap and easily accessible." Caspar shrugged, "unless you have a better scenario."

Finland wiped a tear that almost fell on her cheek and tried to smile, "a sinking ship sounds better than a plane crash or something else... Not too terrible. Oh, he would be very sad to hear that..."

"I understand."

"I want to see Jean in January and spend time with him like we planned. Would you mind?" Finland asked, "I need a year... after January I will slowly find the right time to disappear."

Caspar nodded.

"We can go to Germany at the end of the year for Aldebar's birthday and our wedding, after that we can go on honeymoon for two weeks in Europe, and in mid-January I will go back to the company and you can go to Paris to see Jean."

"I want to travel around Europe with Jean, so it might take two weeks..." Finland said with a hoarse voice, "Less than two weeks won't be enough."

"You can apply for an extended leave to LTX, they should be willing to give it to you, otherwise Atlas Corp won't extend their contract for next year. Remember, I'm now one of LTX's most important clients..." Caspar brought his face closer to Finland's face and kissed her wet eyes and held her to his chest. "Don't cry, my heart feels heavy if I see you sad like this... This should have been a nice vacation."

Finland nodded, "Thank you."

Finally, Finland just sent a few photos of her vacation to Jean and did not discuss her wedding at all.

[You, lucky girl! It's very cold here and you can happily sunbathe on the beach.] Replied Jean.

[Guess where I am?] Finland asked.

[In Maldives? Looking at the photos it must be Maldives, but it's too mainstream, so I'll say maybe it's not Maldives but... a private island?]

Jean was very smart, he could immediately guess that Caspar took Finland on a vacation to a private island.

[You are so smart, Jean! Yes, we are on vacation on F Island. F stands for my name, Finland. This is mine.]

[Wow... happy holiday then. I'll just find a corner here to weep.] Jean replied while adding crying emoticons.

[Hahaha... I can't wait to go to Paris to meet you. Take care, Jean.]

[Take care, Finland.]

***

Because their holiday experience on F-Island was very pleasant, Finland did not ask to stop by in Bali. She wanted to spend every second of her holiday on her 'island'.

Finland and Caspar spent most of their time holding hands on the beach, swimming in the infinity pool, sunbathing while reading books, watching movies while cuddling on the large couch of the living room, and in the evening, they would watch the sun set.

After four days, Finland's appearance looked more radiant and she barely recognized her face in front of a mirror. Her usually stoic face was now decorated with lines caused by so much smiling. She thought about her usual face whenever she looked in the mirror in the past: stiff and cold.

She had this distinct beauty because she rarely smiled, but now the fine lines on the corners of her lips have been formed because she smiled and laughed a lot. She unconsciously touched her lips and looked at the happy face staring back at her from the mirror.

Only 4.5 months... and she already felt like a different person.

At that moment Caspar aimed his camera and took a picture of Finland, who was stunned in front of the mirror.

"You're a beautiful woman, Finland. You are even much prettier with a smile on your face." He approached Finland, hugged her, and buried his face into the girl's fragrant hair. "I'm a lucky man."

Finland did not know whether Caspar was a lucky man, but she clearly felt that SHE was a lucky woman...