She's My Sleeping Pill

“Mr. Dumrique, since Christmas is coming, I know we care about money and profit but, would it be alright if we stop operations during December 24th to 25th and 31st to January 1st? It would be great if we can give the workers some holidays.”

“The hotels are fully booked for the Christmas season all the way ’til second week of January. Our employees will be swamped with worked and we couldn’t give them holiday breaks. I’m worried for them.”

One after another, the managers of different businesses and department raised their concerns and Tristan made different columns of reports and solutions for this.

“I agree with operations being stopped on the said date. If it was before, I’d prioritize my profit more than anything else but now, my wife will probably kick me out of our bedroom if she knows I’m bullying the employees.” This comment from Stefan made the managers laugh.

“You never bully your employees, though.” A manager commented.

“Correct. You always do your best to understand our needs.”

.....

Hearing these coming from people who worked for him, Stefan was happy. He used to work for Travis at Venus Plaza Industrial Park before and he likes how Travis manages his employees which was why he tried his best to be on par with him when it comes to managing businesses and employees.

Stefan continued to provide solutions which catered best to his employees and at the same time, he won’t lose anything for his business.

“Meeting adjourned.” Stefan said and everyone followed him out. They didn’t see Cayenne around but they knew she has to be somewhere in his office because it’s known to the public already that Stefan never allow his wife to be alone after the kidnapping incident.

As for Cayenne, she was busy answering her assignments and at the same time while sat in silent beside her. She already stopped crying but she wasn’t saying anything. She felt like crying whenever she tries to open up herself to Cayenne.

“You were jumping to conclusions, you know.” Cayenne commented, putting down her pen to face Elena properly. “I did the same thing and almost ruined my marriage with Stefan. Well, our story is different from yours. Even so, you have to listen to him. If you closed off your mind and heart just because of what you heard in his sleep, you will lose the chance of having a lifetime of happiness.”

“But why would you even dream of someone else if you already fell for another person?”

“She was once the person he loved. Who knows? In his dream, he might be letting her go or whatever. Only Tristan knows. If you want to find out what made him say her name that time, why don’t you ask him?”

“No way. There’s no way I’d do that.”

“Elena, I hope you won’t regret anything. Anyway, it’s your decision to make. I just don’t want you to end up like my best friend.” Cayenne told Elena the story of Marian and John wherein death separated the two of them. The two regretted so much when she was in her deathbed but they could no longer do anything about it.

Listening to the story, Elena cried and cried once again. When Stefan entered his office, he found his secretary sobbing in his wife’s arms.

“You are not done crying? We’re done with the meeting already.” Stefan commented which made Elena stopped sobbing but Cayenne was glaring at him. “I’m just saying. Anyway, do you guys want to eat something? I’ll ask someone to get some food for us.”

“I want some sweets. My assignment is draining my energy.”

“I...I want...ha? Am I included boss?” Elena asked as she wiped her tears making Cayenne laugh beside her. “Oh..I’m fine with anything.”

“Hmmmm...shall I ask Tristan and you to go and buy it?”

“Go away!” Cayenne threw a pencil at him but he dodged it and grinned at her. “Why are you teasing her when she’s crying out her heart? So insensitive.”

“And why do we have to babysit them when we can have the time for ourselves?”

“Is the boss jealous?” Elena whispered to Cayenne.

“That’s how he is.”

“Oh.”

Stefan left the two of them again and went to find Tristan in his own office. He was looking into Elena’s information and found him staring on her picture again. There was also the guy from the finance department.

“Is he the guy who recently goes out with Elena?” Stefan asked, leaning his hips on the door while watching the man do his personal work.

“The two of them have been dating recently.”

“I don’t think so.” Stefan retorted. “I’m not suppose to disclose this information since this involves the privacy of my employee but just so you know, Britt will never be interested with Elena in a romantic way.”

“Are you saying she’s not attracted enough?”

“Think of another reason, will you?”

“Then, is he bent?”

“Well, go and find out yourself. You are good in that.”

“I did check on him but I didn’t find anything...wait, I think I read something along that line. I just didn’t pay attention to it.”

Stefan advises Tristan while Cayenne stays with Elena. The two of them were working as love counselor for the time being because of these two dishonest and foolish people. For him, he wanted Elena and Tristan to have a harmonious relationship because it is beneficial to his business. It would be a waste to let Elena go if something goes wrong with the two and they couldn’t maintain professional relationship. So far, they’re doing fine with their job and Stefan wanted it to last forever.

“Invite her for dinner. Tell her that you need to talk things out.”

“And what if she says no?”

“Invite her again. Invite her until she says yes.”

“Is that what you did to the lady boss?”

“Nope. Our story is a little complicated and it started in the wrong direction. Thankfully, we were able to make things right.”

“So, it was true that both of you almost had a divorce?”

“Hn. She signed the papers and left. I didn’t sign them, though. I was at fault back then.”

“So that is why you are so afraid to lose her.”

“Aren’t you afraid of losing Elena to someone else?”

“I thought about it a lot. I realized that if she didn’t really like me, it would be a huge problem for us if I keep forcing my feelings to her. I don’t like it.”

“It’s up to you.” Stefan retorted. “Anyway, can you go and buy some sweets for snacks. The ladies inside needed something to replenish their energy.”

“They weren’t really doing anything that could drain their energy. We were the ones who attended the meeting and worked our brain.”

“Just so you know, my wife is answering her assignment and the woman you like is crying her heart out. They are drained. Just go and buy snacks already.” Stefan shoo him away before going back inside the office. This time, Elena was already talking normally with Cayenne but her eyes were swollen as if she was bitten by a bee.

He worked on his desk, Cayenne worked on her assignments on the coffee table. She actually have her own desk but she likes to sit on the floor and just be at home. Elena was helping her search for some terminology and scientific names of plants.

“By the way hon, do you have anything planned next Saturday?” Cayenne asked when she remembered something she needed to do.

“I planned to be with you the whole day.”

“I think it won’t interfere with your plan, then. I received a message from Jill that they’ll throw a party for the children at the orphanage. She asked me if we can go and I give her a positive response.”

“That’s alright. How about taking Justin and the other kids with us? Weren’t you planning to send them to an orphanage in the future? It would be great if they’ll have a view of the place where they’ll go.”

“I’ll ask her if that’s possible.” Cayenne noted it on her phone’s calendar to make sure that she won’t forget it. She already planned her surprise for the children and she was hoping it would make them happy. Justin already knew the plan and Luiz was willing to help as well. He even bought his own gifts for the children which were winter gloves to help them during the cold season.

Even though Christmas is considered time for sharing and time for love, others were thinking of taking someone’s life. They just wouldn’t accept their punishment even though they knew they did the wrong thing.

Like Napoleone. He’s just so stubborn and evil that even when imprisoned nothing can stop his revenge.