Of course, Niklas was too busy cuddling Marja to check the phone, so I let them be.
I saved a backup of the photos to cloud storage and left the café shortly after.
As I walked aimlessly, some tears fell, but I quickly wiped them away.
The pain actually came more from me feeling sorry for myself—for being treated like that, after having put them first in all the major decisions I'd made—rather than from the fact that the man I loved had loved someone else.
And, truth be told, as I scrolled up and down through the photos I'd taken, the two of them actually looked... good together.
Suddenly, I wondered if it had been me standing between the two of them all these years—if I'd been the third person all along.
I was about to lock the phone when someone called.
It was a stranger's number.
I answered it anyway. Probably some delivery guy.
"Hello?"
A mature male voice came from the other end. "Is this Kaija's number?"
"Yep, who's this?" I asked.
"This is Charles Kosonen. I was on your flight today, Kaija."
My steps halted.
Had the guy asked for my number from Flight Service just to complain to me directly?!
I changed my tone immediately. "Good evening, Mr. Kosonen! How can I help you?"
"Have you had dinner, Kaija?"
I 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 my hand.
"With... with... dinner with you?" I stammered.
"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 just like that, he hang up.
Yo, hold on a minute—that was a little too fast for my brain to process.
So, Charles Kosonen wouldn't just complain over the phone—he wanted to complain over an entire dinner now?
This day couldn't get any worse.
What did I 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 I replied honestly that I already had a boyfriend?
Five minutes of internal debate later, a limousine stopped right in front of me.
For some reasons, when I 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 I'd never been to these sorts of places—my job required layovers at hotels arranged by the airline—but I'd definitely never walked into one wearing my full stalker outfit like this!
Thankfully, there was no one else in the restaurant.
I spotted Charles easily when I walked in. He looked relaxed now—his white shirt unbuttoned, his suit coat and cravat gone.
Seeing him like that suddenly reminded me of those luxury perfume commercials featuring some hot, rich guy enjoying his life in some lavish setting. Only this guy didn't have to act to look rich and powerful at all.
Then his gaze suddenly landed on me, still standing dumbfounded at the entrance with those weird thoughts in my mind. With this stalker outfit on, I couldn't have felt more like I was actually stalking him.
I was sure Charles raised an eyebrow at me, but quickly his face became calm and unreadable again. I took a deep breath, steadied myself, and put on that flight attendant smile as I approached the table.
The scent hit me first. Something strong, masculine, musky, with a leathery note beneath. He must have put it on recently. It hadn't been there earlier that day.
"Mr. Kosonen," I said with a bow. "Thank you for inviting me to dinner."
"Kaija." He suddenly rose from his seat, pulling out a chair for me, like I was some honored guest. "Have a seat."
His sudden gentlemanly manner—despite his position and whatever had happened on the plane—unsettled me deeply. Combined with that lingering cologne, the whole scene couldn't have felt more like an actual commercial by now.
Reluctantly, I settled into my seat.
"Mr. Kosonen, I appreciate your kind gesture," I 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? I thought.
I 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! My 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," I 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 my 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'. Still, he kept his composure as he hurried away to the kitchen.
It didn't take long until our first course and my long-awaited boba tea arrived.
Across the table, Charles didn't seem as excited as I 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?"
I held down a laugh. "Eh, yes! It is, in a way. Just try, Mr. Kosonen."
Charles gave me 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, looking at me with a funny, amazed expression.
"It is, especially when you go overboard with the toppings like that," I nodded slowly and proudly.
All of a sudden, the cold, intimidating VVIP Charles Kosonen I'd served earlier that day didn't feel so intimidating anymore.
I took a long sip of my 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?" I 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."
My eyes widened. "An offer?"
"Yes." He nodded, looking at me straight in the eye. "What do you think about quitting your job and working for me instead?"
Needless to say, I froze in place.
Good thing I'd set the tea aside. Otherwise I would've died from choking on the boba.
"Me? Working for you?" I frowned. "Like, how?"
He only shrugged. "Kosonen Entertainment 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?"