The Alchemists

Five days felt like a year for Finland. She never thought that the concept of space and time could become so chaotic when humans were in love.

Usually, because she was busy, she never cared about days and dates, but now she really counted every second and hour until Caspar returned... And, of course, the days and hours before their wedding.

3 days and 12 hours before Caspar returned to Singapore...

27 days and 8 hours before their wedding in Germany...

Ms. Fang, who saw Finland lacking enthusiasm at work, gave her a lot of tasks to distract her. However, her plan backfired when the girl became even less concentrated and made several mistakes.

"You're look like you are in love, Finland," Tran said one day. She pinched Finland's shoulder and laughed. "Are you thinking about Jean?"

Meilin, who heard the conversation from the corner of the room, frowned and her face turned angry.

"Jean doesn't have a lover!" she exclaimed quickly. "Yesterday on the internet he was rumored to be dating Cara de Milne. Jean denied everything by stating that he was single."

Tran raised an eyebrow, "Celebrities would never admit if they are going out with ordinary people. They wouldn't want their privacy to be violated by the paparazzi."

Ah, Finland remembered that Jean went to the United States to shoot ads for Atlas Corp. products. The shooting was scheduled on an earlier date after Caspar bought the company. It was one of the requirements proposed by the previous owner.

Finland suspected Sam Atlas's daughter to be the cause. She remembered Noah saying that Sam Atlas's daughter was a huge fan of Jean. That was why Jean vacated his schedule this week and left for Seattle.

She suddenly became jealous because Jean and Caspar were in the same city while she was in Singapore, missing both her fiancé and her best friend.

[Jean is also going to Seattle this week for Atlas Corp's photo shoot. Are you going to tell him that you bought the company?] Finland asked Caspar.

[No need. Sam Atlas still has a 20% stake and his daughter really wants to meet Jean. I can stay low profile. I don't care about the others. I just need to meet Sam.] Caspar replied.

Finland was actually really curious why Caspar had to meet Sam Atlas in person. As far as she knew, Stanis took care of all the important things in Caspar's companies. What business did Caspar have with Sam Atlas?

[Hi, Jean. How are you doing in Seattle? Have you finished your photo shoot?] She sent a WhatsApp message to Jean.

[The shoot is tomorrow. Now I'm having dinner with the owner's daughter and the photographer for this project.]

Finland knew that the time in Seattle was 15 hours behind Singapore. If it was already 10am in Singapore, it means it was still 7pm in Seattle. No wonder Jean was now having dinner.

[Oh, I won't disturb your dinner. It's not polite to play with your phone when eating with other people.]

[It's okay, I told them that this is important SMS. Let's chat later.]

Finland, who was about to send a message to Caspar, changed her mind because she realized that Caspar would also be having dinner now.

After waiting for what felt like a century, it was finally lunch time. Finland rushed out of the office and looked for the nearest park to call Caspar. It was already 9pm in Seattle.

If she waited until she got home from work at 6pm, it would be 3am in Seattle and she wouldn't have the heart to call Caspar and disturb his sleep.

"Hello..."

"Hey, honey, I'm just about to call you," said the cheerful voice of Caspar on the other end of the line. "Miss me?"

"Very much..." replied Finland honestly.

Caspar chuckled.

"I will often go on a business trip, then, so you will miss me more often and finally decide to quit working so you can go with me everywhere..."

"Ouch... why would you do that? That is not nice..." Finland said in an almost crying voice. "Are you happy to torture me?"

Caspar did not think that Finland would respond so seriously.

"Err, I'm sorry, Sweetheart, I didn't mean to make you sad. I was just joking," he said quickly. He was actually happy that Finland missed him and was open about it.

Ever since they started sleeping together and he proposed to her, the girl's attitude had really changed. She was no longer cold and it had become so much easier for her to express her feelings.

Thinking about Finland and her adorable face, Caspar sighed. In fact, he would suffer the same as Finland if he often went on business trips like this. He just couldn't stay away from the girl. He was already used to having breakfast and dinner with her, and of course sleeping with her by his side.

He was determined not to go anywhere again until their wedding day. He tried to divert Finland's attention by asking what she wanted from Seattle.

"If I only had a meeting with Sam Atlas, I would have returned home by now. But I have so many companies here in Seattle where I have shares at. I need to attend some shareholder annual meetings and meet the directors. Wait, I'm sending a picture to your email. Please check."

Finland opened her phone and checked her email. Caspar sent her a picture of a beautiful house with a gate of vines. A lush garden could be seen from outside.

"I've received the picture. It's a photo of a house. Very beautiful."

"I was going to an area to eat my favorite frozen yoghurt - you have to try their lavender and pumpkin frozen yoghurt someday - and I saw this beautiful house in the neighborhood. It was marked for sale. I love it. What do you think?"

"What do you mean by what do I think?" Finland asked, not understanding.

"I don't have a house in Seattle, but I come here quite often for business trips. I think the house is very beautiful. I immediately thought of you. Should we buy the house?"

Badump...

Finland didn't know that buying a house could be this easy.