The New Marketing Director

Caspar's conference meeting finally finished 2 hours later. Finland was very sleepy but she sat beside him, patiently waiting for the guy to finish. If she knew it was going to take this long, she wouldn't have invited Caspar to come in for tea.

"Hey... thank you for the tea. You look so sleepy now, so I'll be going home." Caspar closed his laptop and patted Finland's shoulder softly.

The girl gasped and nodded. With her eyes half-closed, she rose and walked to her room. "Be careful on the road. You don't need me to take you to the gate, do you?"

"No, thanks." Caspar smiled and patted the girl's head softly.

CLICK!

He suddenly took a picture of the very sleepy girl who was covering half of her face with her hand.

"What the…!! Why did you take my picture just now? I am very sleepy and I currently don't look my best. Also, I wasn't smiling. You said you would take pictures of my smiling transformation! What happened to that arrangement?" Finland uttered her protest. She remembered Caspar had said that for six months he would take pictures of her smiling.

"You didn't smile but still look so pretty. Good night." Caspar waved his camera, got out of Finland's pavilion and went to Ben who was patiently waiting for him at the front yard.

"Will you still move to New York in four months, Sir?" Ben asked, opening the car door, "Sorry, I'm just curious."

"Hmm ... I've been Heinrich Schneider for too long, Ben. People will be suspicious because I'm not looking older."

"Will you tell Miss Finland?"

"I do not know."

Caspar sat in the car and closed his eyes; he was deep in thought. When he opened his eyes, the polaroid photo he took of Finland had formed an image. He looked at the girl's adorable sleepy face, and he smiled…

***

Finland almost arrived late to the office because she stayed up late accompanying Caspar on her pavilion terrace last night. She felt like she needed to observe how Caspar managed a company because next month she might become the owner of one.

That was if Caspar lost the bet. Therefore, albeit being very sleepy last night, she struggled to stay awake to pay attention to how Caspar held a meeting with his board of directors in America via a conference call.

"We have a new Marketing Director," Tran said when Finland arrived at the office that morning. "He is the son of the CEO of LTX who previously studied in the United States."

"Oh..." Finland replied, showing no interest. She liked her job, but, considering how Meilin, who also worked here influenced her colleagues, Finland felt reluctant to continue working for LTX once her probation was over. She was getting ready to find a new job, and she only had 1.5 months left.

Ms. Fang gave an announcement as soon as she arrived at the office.

"As you know, we already have a new marketing director. Later in the afternoon, we will have a meeting to discuss the preparation for Bartz's new product launch event. The director himself will attend the meeting. Each of you will have to prepare a presentation. Just five minutes will do."

Finland was ready with the profiles of the distributor candidates from Indonesia and Malaysia that she had worked on, she just needed to brush up on the slides for presentation later.

***

After lunch, all LTX employees packed the meeting hall on the 3rd floor. They would hear a speech from the new director who was also the son of the owner of the company. Many were curious about his looks because rumors had it that the new director was young and very handsome.

The atmosphere calmed down when several companies' top management entered the hall, followed by a 26-year-old man wearing a very expensive-looking suit.

"Good afternoon everyone. My name is Anthony Wu, I am the new Marketing Director. I look forward to working with all of you."

The man was indeed handsome, and soon whispers were heard among the eager female employees. When she heard this new director's voice, Finland looked up. His voice sounded very familiar…

"Tony?!" She asked, surprised. Her voice was loud enough for many people to turn their heads toward her. "Are you back in Singapore?"

Anthony Wu turned to Finland, and as soon as he saw her, a smile curved upon his face.

"It's my junior in NTU, apparently. Finland, you work here?!"

Finland nodded reluctantly. Tony used to be her senior on campus. He was nice and for several years Finland had a crush on him; but, because Tony was very popular and Finland was always busy working part-time to make ends meet, she could only admire him from afar and kept her feelings inside.

Tony took his master's degree in the United States a few years ago and Finland did not expect meeting him again, especially in this company. Suddenly Finland felt her stomach churn.

How could she face Tony if she were to quit her job after only three months?

"Later we will have a meeting with the Marketing department to discuss the important event next month."

Meilin gave Finland an evil stare. After Tony finished his introduction and returned to his seat, she approached him and whispered something. Finland suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Her guess was that Meilin was trying to defame her.

During the department meeting after lunch, Finland found out that Meilin and Tony were actually cousins. LTX was a family company and Meilin got her job because of family relations.

"Good job on the preparation," Tony said while listening to the presentation from the staff. "I would also like to thank Finland for getting us the best venue."

Ugh... that thing again!

Finland secretly cursed Meilin who must have spread the rumor to Tony.

"I was promised an 800-dollar bonus by Ms. Fang, so I tried to approach Continental Hotel owner to allow us to use the venue. My objective was just the bonus," Finland answered honestly. "But I'm happy that I can help the company."

"Okay, whatever the reason, I really appreciate all of your hard works," Tony said. "After this program is finished, there are 3 more brands that want to work with us. I want you to start thinking about how we can get their distribution rights in Asia."

All nodded in agreement, and the meeting was finished.

"Finland, I want you to come and see a client with me tomorrow afternoon," Tony said before exiting the meeting room. All eyes suddenly focused on Finland with a questioning look. "This is a small project but it's important for me. I want someone with a background in design to take care of this one project."

Finland nodded. She could not guess what Tony's purpose was to invite her to meet a client tomorrow. Was it really for work, or were there other motives...?

[Apparently Anthony Wu is the son of the CEO of the company I work at, and he just moved here as the new marketing director. Can you believe it?]

After returning from work, Finland immediately told Jean everything.

[Anthony Wu who played basketball in uni? You had a crush on him for years, right?]

[YES. He is now my boss. How unexpected.]

[Is he still handsome or has he gone bald as I predicted?] Asked Jean nosy.

[Hush... he is now even more handsome. He looks more mature and assertive.]

[Do you still have a crush on him?]

[Uhmm... a little.]

Finland laughed at herself. She used to hear rumors from her classmates that Tony Wu liked her since they first met. She did feel that Tony treated her differently compared to the way he treated other girls and thought he really liked her. That was why Finland paid more attention to him and then secretly started harboring a crush on him.

However, after two years of studying at NTU, Tony never confessed to her openly and she never knew whether he really liked her. He finally graduated and continued his master's degree in the United States. Until now Finland could only guess what had happened.

Maybe their status difference was so big that Tony didn't want to date Finland.

The next day Tony visited Finland's desk to remind her of their lunch appointment for the project he considered special.

"We will go to the restaurant in my car. You should bring the company profile and your laptop," Tony said as they walked the building together. Finland nodded and followed behind him. Tony's Range Rover drove to a familiar place and Finland felt her heart pounding as she came out of the car and into the lobby.

It turned out they were having lunch at Hotel Continental's Moon Restaurant. The hotel staff escorted them to a table at the far end of the hotel, located near the garden and mini waterfall. There sat the most beautiful girl Finland had ever seen. She was wearing light makeup and her long platinum hair fell perfectly on her shoulders. She looked radiant…

The girl stood to greet them with a soft smile.

"Good afternoon. Thank you for coming," she said softly.

For a moment Finland held her breath and couldn't say anything. She was overwhelmed by the beautiful woman in front of her.

"Please sit down." The girl shook Finland's hand warmly, "My name is Katia. You must be... Finland?"

"Yes, my name is Finland. Nice to meet you too…"

Katia… Her name rang a bell in Finland's heart but she couldn't remember why.

They sat down and Tony opened the discussion to the project in question.

"Katia is an artist, painter, and sculptor. She plans to set up a gallery in Singapore and wants us to manage her gallery. I want you to help think about the best plan to make this happen," Tony said. Finland took a lot of notes and asked Katia questions so that she could have an idea for the proposal.

An hour later, Katia excused herself and Finland could finally order lunch and fill her hungry stomach.

Tony looked at Finland who ate heartily with a look of amusement.

" You haven't changed a bit, have you? You're still the Finland I remember from college..." he said.

"What's not changed?"

"You're always excited when there is free food."

Hearing that Finland blushed, she hit Tony's shoulder because he had revealed her embarrassing secret. They continued eating in a friendlier atmosphere, laughing here and there.

Tony suddenly stopped laughing and pointed to the restaurant entrance. Finland turned around and fell silent.

Caspar just entered the restaurant wearing home pajamas and slippers. He looked at Finland and Tony who had been laughing with an unpredictable look.

"Why would he enter the restaurant in pajamas?" Tony asked, shaking his head, "Really tacky. Did he think this is his home?"

Finland was about to correct Tony, but she decided against it when she saw Caspar's murderous stare. He frowned and got out of the restaurant.

Uhm... what was his problem anyway??