Chapter 7 - Another Surprise

Finland was amazed when she entered the restaurant. There were no other guests in it, and at the very end of the table, overlooking the beautiful garden full of lights, she saw Caspar. Upon seeing her, he immediately stood up and walked toward her with a huge smile.

"Welcome." His face changed slightly when he saw Finland's face trying to hide sadness. "What is wrong?"

"Uhmm ... it's okay. Thank you for inviting me to dinner. This place is very beautiful."

Finland tried to smile and opened her eyes wider, desperately trying to hide a tear that almost fell.

Caspar opened the seat for Finland and gestured her to sit. He then approached the waiter and asked something quietly. The waiter answered quietly too. Caspar then shook his head with a murderous face.

"Finland, were there people being mean to you outside? Who are they?" He asked Finland. The girl shook her head with a forced smile.

"Oh, those are just my high school friends. They used to bully me at school because of my weird name..."

"Weird?! You have such a beautiful name. You know, in Finland, the sun doesn't set for 9 weeks in the summer. That's the only place in the world where you can have midnight sun." Caspar smiled softly, "I really want to take you there sometime and show it to you myself."

Finland shook her head, "Thank you, but I'm not used to accepting free things from people. I am saving to go to Finland myself, and I will go there with my own money. I know Finland is a beautiful country. Actually, they bully me not only because of my name, but also because I have no father and no last name. It is a bad stigma in Indonesia. Don't worry about it, Caspar, I am used to this already. It is not the first time they bully me, and it surely won't be the last."

Caspar looked at Finland for a long time. He then sighed. "Alright, let's just order food. I don't want you to think about them for too long."

He made a sign to the waiter to bring the menu. While Finland was studying the menu and trying to think about what to order, Caspar whispered some instructions to the same waiter.

Finland did not know what to order, the menu was in French. Finally, she took pictures of the main course section and sent it to Jean to ask for recommendations.

"Other people usually take pictures of the food, why would you take pictures of the menu?" Caspar asked in surprise. Finland was shocked when Caspar caught her taking pictures of the menu.

"Ah ... uhm, I... I can't speak French. So, to avoid ordering something weird, I asked Jean to help me out..." Finland stuttered. "Jean is half French and he speaks French ..."

"Why don't you ask me?" Caspar seemed unhappy because in every meeting with Finland, Jean's name was always brought up. "Don't you have any other friends besides Jean?"

"You can speak French?" Finland asked, "Are you French?"

"German. But I can speak French. I can also speak Russian, Japanese, Mandarin, Arabic, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Indian and more. I speak a lot of languages."

Finland's eyes widened, "How can you speak so many languages? Are you a really talented polyglot or ...?"

"I've lived in various countries for a long time. I told you I travel a lot," Caspar answered casually.

"Come on, where's the menu? I can translate for you."

He then started reading the menu in English. He kept on translating until the girl found the dishes she liked. The atmosphere during dinner was very pleasant and it felt like the best night in Finland's life.

Click!

Finland looked up when she heard the shutter sound from Caspar's camera. The guy smiled and took out the polaroid photo from his camera. He shook the paper until the picture was visible. His smile widened when he saw the result, then showed it to Finland.

"You look happier."

The angle of shot and the romantic light of the room made Finland look surreal in the photo. Like a fairy in a dream. Very beautiful.

"Thank you... "

Finland then remembered the question she wanted to ask since she entered the restaurant.

"Uhm... why are there no other guests at this restaurant?"

"Oh, I asked the restaurant to be closed tonight so we can enjoy our dinner in peace." Caspar answered. "I don't like crowds."

"Oh..." Finland could not imagine how much money Caspar spent to book the most expensive restaurant in Singapore all to themselves. "This seems a bit too much, no?"

"You don't like it?" Caspar asked.

"Eh, no... I've never had dinner like this with anyone else before. It's not like what I imagined."

"I'm not just anyone else, Miss Finland. For me privacy is very important. I don't like people knowing what I do or whom I meet."

"I understand," said Finland. "Does that mean I also can't know your full name? The card you gave me only had one name written on it. Or do you only have one name like me?"

"I have a quite a long family name, but it's enough for you to know me as Caspar. I don't think a family name is important anyway. Many great people are known only by their first name, right? Madonna, Raphael, Galileo ... Don't be sad if you don't have a family name. Family names are overrated."

Finland was stunned. Her best friend, Jean, said the exact same thing!

"Funny, Jean also said that. He is a supermodel, and his dream is to be known only as 'Jean'. He said that if someone succeeds in being known by their first name, like Madonna or Kesha, that means they have achieved real success. I thought he was just saying that to console me, because I only had one name. "

Jean again. Caspar was starting to feel sick of that name.

"So, have you found a new apartment? I assume you would want to move out of Jean's apartment soon, right? "

"Eh... yeah, I'll start looking for rental rooms after I get my first salary. I will start working Monday. So next month, I will have the money to move out. The deposit cost also concerns me, so I have to budget carefully. "

"Why don't you just stay in this hotel? You can stay for free until you get your salary, then you can find your own apartment." Caspar said suddenly. Finland gasped.

"Ah, you're joking… don't be too outrageous... hahahaha ..."

"I'm serious. This hotel is mine."

Finland gaped her mouth but could not say anything. This was all too shocking.

"Se... seriously, this is your hotel?"

"Well, technically not yet. But I was talking to the owner just now to buy this hotel."

"Don't overdo it... Thank you, but, uh, I can't accept it. Sorry." Suddenly Finland felt uneasy. She remembered Jean's words "if he is too good to be true, he probably is..."

She began to worry that the man in front of her might be an elaborate scammer. Maybe he wanted to impress Finland so hard, make her fall in love with him, and then trap and sell her to the human trafficking network. Suddenly she felt short of breath.

"Um ... I'm not feeling well. I have to go home now ..." she stood up slowly, her face pale.

"Now? You still have dessert, you know ..."

"It... it's okay ... I'm not feeling well."

Ugh, what if this Caspar is a truly a scammer? He knew where she lived! Ahhhh ...

"I'll take you home then."

"No... no, I just take a taxi."

Finland rushed out of the restaurant feeling uneasy. On her way out, she was surprised to see her three evil high school friends arguing with the hotel receptionist.

"What the fuck is this? We booked our rooms until Monday. Why do we have to leave now? I want to talk to your manager!"

"Sorry, ma'am. This is an order from the higher ups. You are welcome to look for another hotel. All the fees you have paid for your stay have been refunded to your credit card. Good night."

The on-duty receptionist and manager no longer responded to the their angry wails.

"What kind of hotel is this? We will give you a really bad review. You'll see!"

The three girls carried their suitcases and called for a taxi in rage. She waited for them to leave before ordering her own taxi.

In the taxi she pondered, could it be that they were kicked out of the hotel on Caspar's request? She thought of the instructions Caspar had given to the hotel staff before dinner.

She frowned and was deep in thoughts. Who is this Caspar really... Was everything he said true? Finland felt a tinge of regret for leaving in such a hurry.

But... really, she was overwhelmed by everything she experienced so far and she was afraid that she would be hurt again. She doesn't have anyone in this world, so she must take care of herself. She shouldn't easily trust people.