What About Kevin?

When finally Ludwina returned to Jakarta, Johann teased her endlessly.

"Who said she would never travel to Singapore again? A certain someone told me Singapore was so boring, yet she spent almost three weeks there..." he talked between his laugh as he was driving after when picking up Ludwina from the airport.

His sister just scowled and pretended not to hear him.

***

After she was back home, Ludwina tried to write a novel with Singapore in the 1950s as the setting, taking inspiration from Maria Hertogh's case. However, after only a few chapters, she felt stuck and unable to continue. Yet, when she was in Singapore, she managed to write two chapters smoothly.

Now that she had returned to Jakarta, she felt like she had no more inspirations. After forcing herself to write for the whole day, she could only come up with two paragraphs.

She wondered if her inspiration flowed hard in Singapore because of Andrea's presence or because she was just lucky and Maria's story inspired her.

Ludwina decided to open her inspiration bank and looked for other story ideas.

Hmm... She saw a folder named Kaspar Hauser.

While she was traveling in Germany, Ludwina read a story about Kaspar Hauser, a mysterious 16-year-old boy who arrived in Nuremberg in 1928 in a daze. Many people said his face was very similar to the king of Baden (one of the smaller kingdoms in Germany from several hundred years ago).

He knew that his name was Kaspar Hauser, and for dozens of years, he had lived locked in a room by a mysterious person without ever seeing the outside.

When he was 16 years old, he was suddenly released in Nuremberg. He didn't know why he was locked up and why he was suddenly released. The townspeople had difficulty communicating with him because of his limited vocabulary.

Kaspar was eventually stabbed to death by a mysterious person before people could find out his real identity. There were so many conspiracy theories that said Kaspar was actually the king of Baden's son, who was kidnapped as a baby. Unfortunately, until now, this theory could not be proven.

Ludwina loved mysteries and she collected unique stories from around the world that she found on her travels. Unfortunately, Kaspar Hauser's story was quite similar to the story of Alexandre Dumas' The Man in Iron Mask.

The book told the story of the real Crown Prince of France, who was imprisoned for a dozen years in prison wearing a mask because of an error on the part of the royal family.

They didn't know the prince would be born as twins. As the king already announced his son and heir, the second baby (who was considered the firstborn and thus the rightful heir), must be hidden from the public.

Ughhh .... Why is it that all the interesting stories had been written by other authors? Ludwina often complained. She didn't know what else to write.

Maybe it's time for her to travel again ...

Ludwina opened the world map on her laptop and closed her eyes. She randomly pointed to a location on the map and opened her eyes. She would buy tickets to the country chosen by her index finger and travel again to look for inspiration.

SINGAPORE.

Wait.. what??

Her eyes widened ...

Ludwina rubbed her eyes and made sure her finger didn't point wrong.

The country of Singapore was so small. She could barely see it on any map... How could her finger point to it?

She took a deep breath and closed her laptop.

I must be crazy.

Ludwina opened her cell phone and wrote a text message to Andrea.

[When do you plan on going to Italy?]

[I have an important project next month. Can't take leave yet.]

[Do you want to travel with me? I know Italy like the back of my hand. I can be your guide. We can go to Spain or Germany as well.]

[Sounds wonderful! But I don't travel in business class like you. If we fly on the same plane and sit in different cabins, it doesn't feel right. Maybe we should just meet in Europe?]

[Uhmm ... if we fly together, I can give you an upgrade to business for free. I have over a million miles on my frequent flyer account.] Ludwina hurriedly added [... if you don't mind.]

Ludwina knew that money was a sensitive issue for people of different social classes. It was also what made rich people usually marry other rich people because there was no awkwardness due to money problems and social gaps between them.

For example, whenever Ludwina was traveling with Kevin, she didn't have to bother thinking about what flight class they would take. Either Kevin bought them business or first-class plane tickets, or Ludwina bought them. Her credit card limit was enough to buy a new house if she wanted to. Money was never an issue between her and her wealthy friends.

Finally, she received a reply from Andrea.

[Shall we split the job? You take care of the flights, and I take care of accommodation? As for food, we can take turns.]

Ludwina smiled broadly. She did not expect Andrea would come up with the best solution. If they were traveling together, of course, they must share the costs. But the problem would be the difference on how they financed their travel and their travel style.

Because Ludwina had more money, she was accustomed to flying in business or first class. Flights to Europe were usually around $800 for economy class and $4,000 for business class.

Even though, for example, Andrea was able to buy a business ticket for himself, such a high ticket price could not be justified by his income as a middle-class employee. Not to mention, there would be more costs associated with accommodation, transportation within the city, and food. Going on a holiday to Europe with Ludwina's style would put a great dent on his savings.

Ludwina couldn't bear to make Andrea spend so much money just to keep up with her expensive travel style, but she couldn't imagine having to fly in such a cramped economy seat ...

She was too used to traveling like a princess.

So, if Ludwina took care of their tickets, she could easily use 300,000 miles from her frequent flyer account to get two business class tickets for herself and Andrea, without having to nudge the young man's ego.

Andrea could arrange accommodation for them according to his own budget. Ludwina was not spoiled when it came to where to sleep, she could stay at cheap hotels or Airbnb. That way, they each would take part in the responsibilities in the way they see fit, and the two could travel together.

[Oh, that's perfect! You are brilliant. It's the best solution. I'll look for tickets for us, you take care of the accommodation. Later, if you need a recommendation for hotels or which area to stay at, I can give you some links.]

Oh, Andrea, why are you so perfect? Ludwina asked herself.

She smiled broadly at the thought of going to Italy with Andrea. The man sounded like a perfect travel mate.

Ludwina smiled broadly at the thought of going to Italy with Andrea. He sounded like a perfect travel mate.

[Andrea, I randomly chose a country on the map for my next travel destination. I closed my eyes and let my finger picked a place on the map .... You know, it ended up choosing Singapore!!!]

Ludwina couldn't help telling this to Andrea. She was excited to wait for Andrea's response.

[You have chosen well.] A reply came from Andrea, made Ludwina smile, and then laughed softly.

[Won't you get bored seeing me in Singapore?] wrote Ludwina.

[Let me know when you're in town. Always love to have you around.]

Ludwina nodded to herself, then put her cellphone on the dining table. She heard her father clearing his throat. The man had been watching Ludwina smile to herself and squeal in delight.

"You seem so happy, honey. Who are you talking to?"

"Dad, do you still remember Andrea? He moved to Singapore because he got a job there. I went to Singapore for two weeks to see him."

"Oh, is that so?"

"I'm going to Singapore again tomorrow."

Her mother and father both exchanged glances.

"Why don't you just move there?" said Johann teasingly. "You just got back, and tomorrow you'll go there again?"

"But we don't have a house in Singapore, I can't just move there..." complained Ludwina.

"Are you serious, Win?" her mother asked in amazement. "Do you like that boy so much that you want to move to Singapore?"

Ludwina fell silent. She then nodded slowly.

"Then, what about Kevin?" asked Johann. "You and Kevin are already engaged from secondary school. You have to break off the engagement before you can date Andrea."

"I met Kevin with Andrea while I was in Singapore, and I don't think he's a problem," said Ludwina. "We even ate dinner at his new restaurant."

"Really?" Johann looked incredulous. "So, Kevin said he wants to break off the engagement?"

"I didn't talk to him about it. But it should be clear to Kevin that I don't plan to marry him since I came there to have dinner with another man. If Kevin objected to it, he would have said something. Kevin and I made an agreement if we were still single by the time are 25, we'd get married, and the agreement has been extended to age 30. If I am dating Andrea, that means the agreement is void, right?"

Johann shook his head. "You are ridiculous, and Kevin spoils you too much. The last time I met Kevin in Hong Kong, he still thought of you as his fiancée. He asked me whether he should propose to you this year or in 5 years."

Ludwina was really surprised at Johann's words. This was not possible! Kevin was her childhood friend and she never took their betrothal seriously. She honestly thought Kevin did too.

"You and Kevin are already engaged as children before Wolfgang died ..." said her father quietly. "Actually, your mother and I no longer obliged you to continue the betrothal that was made when you were young .. but, if it turns out that Kevin and his family have not let you go, you better discuss this issue with Kevin, and later we can dissolve the engagement. I don't want our family relationship to be damaged."

Ludwina became pale. She opened her cell phone and looked for Kevin's number ... but at the last moment, she couldn't even make the call.

It would be better for her to speak directly to the young man and clear things up. She must know whether Johann's words about Kevin wanting to propose to her were true, or not.

Finally, she just sent him a Whatsapp message.

[Kevin, are you still in Singapore? We need to talk.]

[Nope. I'm already in Hong Kong. What do you need to talk to me about?]

[I'm going to Hong Kong tomorrow. This is important.]

[Okay.]

Ludwina hurriedly finished her dinner then excused herself into her room to book a ticket to Hong Kong for the next day.

Johann's words kept ringing in her mind, and that night Ludwina couldn't sleep at all.

***