Trial Marriage Husband : I Am CEO’s Plaything

The journey from Indonesia to Sweden took  about 16 to 18 hours. When the plane that flew from Indonesia had arrived at its destination, Lisa got off with tremendous fatigue. She had never traveled far by plane. At most, only between cities or islands. Seeing Lisa stagger across the plane's trunk, without saying much, the tall man immediately led Lisa so that she wouldn't slip.

Oscar lowered his head then said, "Are you all right, Lisa?"

"My head is dizzy, Oscar. I have never felt this uncomfortable in my entire life," Lisa replied weakly.

"Take it easy, airsickness is normal. We'll be going straight to the hotel soon before visiting my grandmother," replied Oscar.

The clock showed 7 pm local time. That night, the air surrounding Stockholm was chilling enough to make Lisa's teeth chatter. Luckily, she put on a coat before she reached her destination. Lisa looked at Oscar a little confused, the man showed absolutely no sign of freezing.

"You really are a native here, huh?" Lisa teased idly.

Oscar replied with a smile. He didn't look at her who was walking beside him, instead he focused on bringing her to the luggage area.

The two lovebirds waited for baggage claim for nearly half an hour. After taking the suitcase, Oscar took out a card to take the airport train to the destination hotel.

Seeing the man not taking a taxi in his homeland made Lisa wonder. Why was Oscar so modest when he returned to his hometown? Since Lisa's curiosity was getting stronger and unbearable, the woman finally asked, "Why don't we just take a taxi?"

"Taxis are expensive here. It's way more expensive than in Jakarta," Oscar replied briefly and clearly.

"Wow, you don't look like a rich man here Oscar. Look at your clothes and transportation options. You don't even have a personal assistant to pick you up at the airport!"

Oscar cleared his throat when Lisa's voice became loud on the train. He leaned over and lowered his head and whispered, "In my country, you have to be quiet and whisper when you take public transportation. Look around you, everyone is looking at you with unpleasant eyes,"

Lisa swept around her and sure enough, strange faces that looked displeased were on her.

"One more thing, don't make eye contact," Oscar added in a whisper.

In return, Lisa just nodded and then threw her eyes out from behind the window of the train that sped up to take them to their destination.

***

Less than an hour later, they both arrived at the main station in the city of Stockholm. The temperature that night was just getting lower even though it was not winter yet. Lisa looked over the beautiful old building with amazement.

She had never seen a station this clean and orderly. Oscar then led her to take the bus to their hotel.

"Oscar," Lisa whispered. "Why are the people here so quiet?"

"Welcome to Stockholm, Lisa," the man only replied briefly without looking at Lisa's face at all.

Arriving at the destination hotel, Lisa laid down on the soft bed. She also didn't expect Oscar to rent a less luxurious hotel in his own birthplace. It looked like something was wrong with him, she thought.

"Hey Oscar, how come we don't stay in luxury hotels like usual?" Lisa asked casually. She glanced at Oscar who was taking off his leather jacket.

"What for? Here a 4 star hotel is sufficient. After all, the luxury hotels here are not as cheap as in Indonesia," Oscar replied with a slightly nosy tone.

Lisa threw the pillow at him and the man brushed it off. He chuckled when the pillow didn't hit his handsome face.

"You rich people are free to talk huh!?" Lisa replied irritably.

"You don't need to dress too much tomorrow. My family is not like what you think. We prefer simplicity. So, you don't have to worry about it, " Oscar said when the man fell on the bed and lay down next to Lisa.

"We better sleep, I'm still tired of flying. I'm all sore," Lisa said with puffy eyes and started blinking slowly.

***

The next morning, the sun did not look like usual when Lisa was still in Indonesia. At that time, Stockholm was in autumn, so the sun still did not show its light even though the clock showed 9 am. There, it felt like 3 am in Indonesia.

Lisa was still sleepy when Oscar shook her body to get ready to visit his grandmother on the outskirts of Stockholm.

"Lisa, wake up! It's already 9 am!" Oscar exclaimed, shaking her body.

"It's still dark... Duh, don't lie..." Lisa said, still closing her eyes.

"Lis, this is Sweden not Indonesia," Oscar replied briefly.

"So what? Just because your country is more advanced you're going off to work at 3 AM? Don't kid me,"

"Lis, the sun only rises at 11 noon here during autumn," Oscar took his cellphone from his pocket and then showed the glowing screen directly to Lisa's face. The bright light of the screen made Lisa narrow her eyes.

"Tell me, what time is it?" Oscar asked, still holding his cell phone in front of Lisa's face.

Lisa was surprised to see the clock on the man's cell phone read 9:15 AM. To make sure that the man wasn't lying, she reached for her cell phone and looked at the clock.

"Geez! You're right! Okay, we're really late. I'll brush my teeth and wash my face for a moment!"

***

The sun had started to show its light even though it's still dim. Lisa felt very tired and still unfamiliar with the climate and weather in Stockholm which was cold and quiet. 10 AM in Stockholm during autumn felt like 6 AM in Jakarta. Lisa, who was used to waking up with the sun shining brightly and falling at 5 in the evening, felt uncomfortable with the dim sun like street lights in front of her old boarding house.

Oscar took Lisa to his grandmother's residence on the outskirts of Stockholm, on one of the dozens of small islands that surrounded the city. The Petersson family was a well-known business family in the country, so in order to maintain privacy and comfort, the Petersson family set up a house on an island that was not densely populated.

To get into the Petersson family residence on an island in the middle of a lake, Oscar and Lisa had to rent a taxi from the hotel to get to their destination. There was no other transportation that could reach the island other than cars.

Arriving in front of the bridge that connected the main island with the island in the middle of the lake, Oscar led Lisa to walk toward the old house in the typical North European style in front of them.

The scenery presented around the island was no less beautiful than the scenery Lisa had seen in films. The lake was very calm and wide, only the sounds of chirping birdsong could be heard. The air was clean without pollution. What a dream house, Lisa thought.

"Oscar, your grandmother... Does she live alone on this island?" Lisa asked suddenly after she swept the view of the old house that was still standing firmly in front of her.

"We used to live in this house as a family, but since we are already busy with our own lives, grandmother lives alone here," Oscar replied plainly.

"Wow, your grandmother is amazingly independent, isn't she? Unlike in my country, most grannies must have asked for a company," Lisa replied.

Oscar smiled slightly at Lisa's words just now. "Women here are used to being independent, so don't be surprised. There is no difference in roles between men and women."

The man knocked on the door then waited for someone to open it. In less than a minute, a beautiful old woman came out of the house. She looked at Oscar's face with a happy smile on her face, which was wrinkled but still looked radiant.

"Oscar, my grandson! What a surprise!" She said in Swedish.