Kaija stared at Charles, long and hard. "Mr. Kosonen, you've been to one of my gigs?"
"I have," he confirmed. "And you were sensational."
Her mouth fell wide open. During her college years, to cover her living expenses, she'd taken up singing gigs at local bars. The gigs were never fixed. Whoever booked her, she'd come running.
Still, all those places were just tourist hotspots and hidden bars, not the kind of spots a billionaire like him would ever visit. Besides, everybody knew artists from KE were world famous superstars. They were all scouted and groomed from their teenage years. Some random bar singer like her couldn't possibly fit into that level!?
What had gotten into his head? Did the boba got him so high he couldn't think straight anymore?
Her mom had always told her that her singing was average at best. She'd rather know her place and hold on to the job she knew for sure would fit her better, pay off her college debt, and spare her the drama of competing against all the insanely gorgeous, talented people in the entertainment industry.
"I appreciate your high regard for me," Kaija replied, her tone bored, "but I'm afraid I must decline your offer, Mr. Kosonen."
Charles was visibly displeased with her response. His smile faded and his brow furrowed faintly.
"Why don't we forget about it for now and just enjoy the food, and this amazing boba tea?" he said, lifting his glass again.
"Ah, yeah, of course," she nodded coolly, taking another sip at her five-star hotel restaurant boba tea.
So, the rest of that dinner continued in an awkward air, with her quietly chewing the duck and Charles enthusiastically chewing the boba. When the dinner finished, he walked her outside and had the same limousine drive her home.
As they stood in front of the hotel waiting for the chauffeur, he lit a cigarette and took a deep draw, exhaling slowly. As for Kaija, her brain was debating whether she should come back here every now and then to this glamorous place just for the boba tea.
Usually, Kaija didn't mind someone smoking in front of her. Niklas was smoking all the time. But at that moment, the tobacco scent from the smoke curling from Charles's lips, woven with his exotic cologne, strangely became more intoxicating at such close distance. Intoxicating enough to make her steal glances at him.
From her point of view, his face — half-lit by the dim golden light — seemed much sharper, though the silver of his eyes became much softer. Just looking at him suddenly reminded her of some cute lion cub she'd seen on nature documentaries.
After a long, white exhale into the night air, Charles turned to her and asked, "Kaija, will you be on flight STAR420 on Monday next week?"
She pulled out my phone and checked the schedule. "Yes, Mr. Kosonen, I am. Why?"
He took a step closer. His tone, which had been steely all day, suddenly turned into a soft murmur. "When I see you on that flight, I hope you'll change your mind."
She gave him no reply. Just learning that she'd see this strange guy again very soon already made her wanna quit her job. The limousine arrived just as he finished his words. She quickly got inside, and the limousine drove away.
At the hotel's entrance, Charles Kosonen stood watching as the vehicle drove the girl away. He took another drag of his cigarette and released it unhurriedly, savoring it. The white exhale drifted into the cool night air.
In the past five months of constant travel with that awful airline, he'd been cramped between strangers just to find the songbird he'd been looking for since that night at V The Bar. Every time he didn't encounter the person he wanted, he'd left behind a long trail of pissed-off complaints just so the airline wouldn't assign the same attendant to his flight again.
And yet today, he'd boarded the plane so unassumingly, left his bags across the aisle out of frustration, only to find out the flight happened to be hers.
He'd been so startled when he recognized those sapphire blue eyes that he'd blurted out a question so irrelevant, if not stupid, to which her answer wasn't exactly what he'd wanted to hear. Only a while later had he gather his cool again and asked the purser for her number to arrange this little meeting.
He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. The songbird had openly declined his offer. Not once, but twice. A stronger, more deliberate approach must be taken into consideration.
The call was picked up immediately.
"Listen up," he said, taking another deep drag, "there's a play I have in mind, and I need you to find someone who can act it well."
"What sort of play, boss?" the person on the other end asked.
His lips curled into a mischievous smirk, voice low. "One that involves an emergency exit… and might cause an airline a tiny bit of damage."
The next morning, when Kaija woke up, Niklas had finally texted back. Obviously, he still hadn't realized he'd wrongly sent the text meant for Marja to her instead.
"Sounds good, baby. See you there!" he texted, followed by a bunch of kissy emojis.
She just rolled her eyes, tossed the phone aside and started getting ready for work.
While Kaija had already graduated and gotten a job, Niklas was still a medical student, so his days were filled with either classes or studying — or at least those were his excuses for being late on their dates.
That evening, she knew her diligent future doctor boyfriend was gonna be late again as usual, so she deliberately decided to have him wait for her, for once.
Kaija arrived at 6:30 PM.
Niklas didn't seem very happy about her being late. His face was already scowling when Kaija walked in. "Baby, you're alright?" he asked. "You're ... delayed today."