Kaija's steps halted.
Turned out it was Charles Kosonen who had asked for her number from the purser during the flight? What did he even want? To complain to her directly?
She changed her tone immediately. "Good evening, Mr. Kosonen! How can I help you?"
"Have you had dinner, Kaija?"
She frowned at his irrelevant question. "Um, no, not yet, Mr. Kosonen. Why do you ask?"
"Would you like to have dinner with me?"
The phone almost slipped from her hand. "With... with... dinner with you?" she stammered, unsure whether she heard it right.
"Yes. Where are you now?"
"Eh... I'm close to Union Square."
"Okay, I'll have someone coming over to pick you up now. See you, Kaija."
And he hang up, just like that.
Yo, hold on a minute — That was a little too fast for her brain to process. So, Charles Kosonen wouldn't just complain over the phone? He wanted to complain over an entire dinner now?
What did she even do? He didn't ask for anything the whole flight. Didn't want any meals or drinks. Could he possibly have been that dissatisfied just because she replied honestly that she already had a boyfriend?
Five minutes later, a limousine stopped right in front of her. For some reasons, when she stepped inside, it felt more like one of those kidnapping scenes in action movies than being taken to dinner.
The place Charles had chosen was typical of the ultra rich like him — a restaurant in one of the most luxurious hotels in the city.
Now, it wasn't like Kaija had never been to these sorts of places — her job required layovers at hotels arranged by the airline — but she'd definitely never walked into one wearing her full stalker outfit like this! Thankfully, there was no one else in the restaurant. She spotted Charles easily when she walked in.
He looked relaxed now, his white shirt unbuttoned, his suit coat and cravat gone. Seeing Charles like that suddenly reminded her of those luxury perfume commercials featuring some hot, rich guy enjoying his life in some lavish setting. Only this man didn't have to act to look rich and powerful at all.
Then his gaze suddenly landed on her, still standing dumbfounded at the entrance with weird thoughts in her mind. With this stalker outfit on, she couldn't have felt more like she was actually stalking him.
Charles raised an eyebrow upon seeing her, but quickly his face became calm and unreadable again. She took a deep breath, steadied herself, and put on that flight attendant smile as she approached the table.
The scent hit her first. Something strong, masculine, musky, with a leathery note beneath. He must have put it on recently, she thought. It hadn't been there earlier that day.
"Mr. Kosonen," Kaija said with a bow. "Thank you for inviting me to dinner."
"Kaija." He suddenly rose from his seat, pulling out a chair for her, like she was some honored guest. "Have a seat."
His sudden gentlemanly manner — despite his position and whatever had happened on the plane — unsettled her deeply. Combined with that lingering cologne, the whole scene couldn't have felt more like an actual commercial by now.
Reluctantly, Kaija settled into the offered seat. "Mr. Kosonen, I appreciate your kind gesture," she said, watching him closely. "I'd also appreciate it if you could kindly share with me how you felt about the flight today."
"The flight was fine. Nothing special." He replied nonchalantly, waving a waiter over. "What would you like to have? I've always liked the braised duck here. The salmon's also excellent. I've heard people your age are really into boba tea these days. I think they have that here too."
Woah, who is this man sitting right in front of me right now? She didn't know he was capable of saying that many words.
At the same time, his suggestion didn't sound like a bad idea at all! Her recently-cheated-on brain could definitely use some dopamine release from a sugary boba tea at that moment.
"Anything's fine for me, Mr. Kosonen, I'm not a picky eater," she said with a bright smile. "But I'd like to have one oolong milk tea with brown sugar, glass jelly, pudding, red beans and white pearls, please!"
Charles's calm face slightly twitched at her words. He turned to the waiter and said, "Then we'll have two full course braised duck sets and two oolong milk teas with... uh... what she just said."
The waiter's face didn't seem any better than Charles's. Still, he kept his composure as he hurried away to the kitchen.
It didn't take long until the first course and her long-awaited boba tea arrived. Across the table, Charles didn't seem as excited as she was. He stared at the tall glass like it was some alien object, gave it a stir, then scooped up the toppings one type after another, studying them with a strange passion.
A millennium later, he commented, "So, boba tea is basically a drinkable dessert?"
Kaija held down a laugh. "Eh... yes! It is, in a way. Just try, Mr. Kosonen."
Charles gave her a skeptical look, then took a sip through the huge straw. The moment the tea and the boba hit him, his eyes flew wide. He took another sip. Then another. Then he tried the pudding. Then the grass jelly. His face only grew more and more fascinated every passing second.
"Wow, this drinkable dessert is something else," he said, his brows shot up.
"It is, especially when you go overboard with the toppings like that," she nodded slowly and proudly.
She took a long sip of her own tea, savored the sugar high, then pushed the glass aside and rested both arms on the table, leaning forward. Playtime was over. Now, back to the heart of the matter.
"So, Mr. Kosonen, may I know why you wanted to see me?" she asked, watching his face carefully.
He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin as if choosing his words. "You must have found it rather sudden that I invited you here. But I have an offer for you."
Her eyes widened. "An offer?"
"Yes." He nodded, looking at her straight in the eye. "What do you think about quitting your job and working for me instead?"
Kaija froze in place. Good thing she'd set the tea aside. Otherwise, she would've died from choking on the boba.
"Me? Working for you?" Kaija frowned. "Like, how?"
He only shrugged. "KE is always in need of rising talent. Musical talents, specifically. We manage many successful solo artists as well as idol groups. You might have heard."
"But, Mr. Kosonen, may I remind you that I'm not qualified for anything related to the entertainment industry?"
His lips curved into a faint smile, his tone as serious as ever. "But, we both know that's not entirely true, don't we?"