Playing Perfect

29. Fin

29. Fin

End

Alice stood in the middle of the airport. People bustled around her, tugging their suitcases and rushing up and down the gates. Businessmen chattered on their phones, families hugged and kissed their relatives goodbye, and Alice struggled to keep a smile on her face as Finn walked towards her.

"I've checked in my suitcase," he said, coming to a stop in front of her. "And my flight will be leaving in an hour."

He paused, meeting Alice's eyes. She sent him a thin-lipped smile, but her watery eyes were all he needed to know. He sighed, running a hand over his face. Finn Cauley was rarely the type to show his emotions.

No, he had always been the silent, steely, composed one—the result of Mr Cauley shouting at any sight of a tear, and constant etiquette lessons teaching Finn to smile politely, just as Alice had grown so good at.

Except, instead of smiling politely, he'd become a man who frowned miserably at any rise of emotion. But not when he was with Alice.

Alice deserved his whole self.

He met her gaze, and she stared up at him, watery and close to blubbering, but composed. Like Finn, she'd been raised on the sole goal of politesse—of maintaining the Travers reputation, remaining graceful in public. Even now, when he was going to leave her for three years, she tried to smile, tried to act as if everything was okay.

"Alice," he began gently, gripping her arms. "It'll be fine."

"But, America," she started, her voice cracking and betraying her. "It's so far away."

"It's only a three-year course," he said, his eyes steely and determined. "We can talk every day on the phone. I'll text you, and we can video chat, and you can visit me!" He nodded at his own words. "Yeah. You want to visit the world. Maybe you'll stop by America some time. And I'll stop by Hong Kong. Parents can't stop me anymore."

She considered it. Alice would be starting at ANU in early February, and she was already planning her exchange. She'd go for her second year, staying in a student accommodation nearby her grandparents' family home.

Her parents had been surprisingly involved. At first, they'd argued over her accommodations—a Travers can't stay in a student flat!—but with one call to her grandparents, her mother relented, and then her father not long after.

Sometimes, they seemed unsure, on the verge of changing their minds, but then Alice would bring up the business subjects she would be studying, and their expressions would relax into a sort of quiet relief. She'd mention Finn, and their relief would turn into elation.

Maybe she'd found herself an acceptable husband after all.

They'd planned a few social events for Alice to attend, of course. She had a few dinner parties and business meetings to attend while in Hong Kong, but she didn't mind. It gave her a chance to see her parents, after all.

And, if she was to convince her parents that she was competent enough to take over the Chinese branch of Travers Consultants, it would begin with forming a network of her own.

She had plans for the Chinese branch of her family business, and it would begin with travelling to the furthest corners of Asia during her university breaks and weekends. Her second year had already been filled with destinations, and programs, and social events—Alice was glad she had her travel journal to keep track of it all and plan her itineraries, not to mention her syllabuses and required university credits.