She's My Sleeping Pill

“Excuse me, did you guys notice anyone who might have left these flowers on my table?” She asked the guards who looked at her and smiled meaningfully. “I won’t really get mad you know.”

“It’s sir Tristan.” One of the guards answered. She just said few seconds ago that she won’t get mad but the moment she returned to her seat, she tossed the flowers inside the trash bin. The guards didn’t see what she did so, they thought she kept the flowers.

Tristan arrived and found her sitting behind her desk. He placed a cup of coffee on her table and smiled at her. “Morning.”

“Hn.”

He found the flowers missing on the table and when he looked under her desk, he saw them inside her trash bin. “You don’t like red carnations?”

“I don’t like all kinds of flowers. They will all wither and rot.”

.....

Tristan nodded his head and left. She looked at him in confusion but she didn’t bother stopping him. This time, they were left alone in the office again since Stefan was back to being Cayenne’s chaperone at school. Not really staying with her all the time like how he used to do but he’d be staying at the café near her Xena University again.

“By the way, the boss wanted me to bring some documents to him. Do you want to come with me later? We can grab lunch on our way back.” He suggested as if the incident yesterday didn’t happen. She had no idea what he was trying to do but she wasn’t planning to give in to him at all.

“I have other plans for lunch. You can go there yourself. The boss didn’t ask me to go with you.”

Tristan raised his eyebrow and sent a message to Stefan. Their boss might appear strict to other people but he’s very good with his employees, especially those that he trusted. He told Stefan his concern of having lunch with Elena and the former immediately agreed with his plan.

Half an hour later, Elena received a message from Stefan, telling her to attend the meeting with him before lunch. Which means to say, she has to come with Tristan to the café where he stayed.

“Got it boss.” was her replied to his message even though she didn’t really like to come with the person who broke her heart. Accusing him to be the one who broke her heart was really unfair but to Elena, Tristan really shattered her heart to pieces when he called for his ex- fiancé’s name. It sounded unreasonable but it was enough reason for her to shut off her heart. This was the second time she got her heart broken.

At ten in the morning, she stood up from her seat and grabbed her suitcase and iPad. She didn’t even talk to Tristan and just left on her own. However, Tristan was paying attention to her. He listened to the faint clanking sound of her heels and stood up from his seat as well, grabbing his bag and the documents that Stefan needed for another meeting.

“Sir Tristan, are you going to the university as well?” one of the guards asked when he saw Tristan walking to the elevator. “Ms. Elena is going to the university, too. Can you guys go together? Two company cars were sent to a carwash, other were used by other employees and some were getting repaired. We only have one available car.”

“I’ll get a taxi.” Elena mumbled as she stepped into the elevator and waited for Tristan to come inside as well. She stayed in one corner while he stood opposite her, putting distance between them.

Tristan didn’t say anything. He didn’t even try to persuade her and it annoyed her so much.

“Ms. Elena, it would be good if both of you go there together. It will save us some gas and it will save your money. Also, taxi – ”

“I don’t care if I spend extra money today. The company isn’t cheap with gas expenses either. You can go with him if you want.” Elena cut off which shut the guard’s mouth. He looked at Tristan and smiled at him faintly, apologizing for his failed attempt to help.

Elena was about to step out of the elevator when it opened at the ground floor but he pulled Elena and trapped her between his arms and the elevator wall. “You are coming with me.”

“YA! What do you think you are doing?! Let me go right now!”

“No.”

“I’ll kick you.”

“Go ahead.”

Elena gritted her teeth and raised her knees but Tristan used his leg to wedge it between her thighs. Her eyes went wide with their position and the door was even opened which allowed other employees to see them. “Don’t make me hate you for the rest of my life.”

“You’ll run away if I let you go.”

“Does that bother you so much? To begin with, you don’t own me. I am not your property so, whether I run away or not, it is my discretion.”

“What should I do to make you believe me?”

“Nothing. No matter what you do, I won’t believe in you.”

The guard stood behind them in silence, not making a single noise that could distract the two people in front of him. He even signaled the other employees to stop coming into elevator, giving time for the lovers to quarrel. As soon as the elevator closed, Tristan let her go but still stayed close to her. She pushed him away several times but he didn’t budge at all.

“I’ll do everything for you to believe my words.” He stated which made Elena flinch beside him.

In front of the huge monitors, Erwin smirked and took pictures of Tristan and Elena then, he sent it to Stefan and Cayenne. It wasn’t his intention to be nosy but they just wanted to help Elena who stayed in denial and Tristan who kept getting rejected by the woman he likes.

In his situation, it was really difficult to connect his feelings with her with all the misunderstandings that happened. Both of them needed time to sit and talk properly.

Stefan received the message from Erwin and though how they could help. He knew how it felt when someone you love starts avoiding you because he experienced it with Cayenne. He can even see desperation in Tristan’s eyes, hoping that Elena would understand him but she refused.

‘Pea of the same pod.’ He thought to himself when he remembered his painful experience with Cayenne. Elena was very much like her and Tristan was like him, too. ‘Christmas retreat sounds good. I’ll discuss it with my wife later.’

When both his secretaries arrived, they weren’t talking with each other. Elena even sat two seats apart from Tristan and she didn’t spare him a single glance. She sat there, waiting for the meeting to start but the half an hour had passed and Stefan wasn’t opening his laptop for a meeting at all.

“Boss, when will your meeting start?”

“It should be starting by now but I have not received any conference meeting invitation yet. I wonder if they forgot about the appointment.”

“That can’t be. They’re wasting your time.” Elena blurted angrily without knowing that Stefan was lying to her. Everything was just part of his plan to help Tristan. “Tristan, you should have made a follow up with the client. You know that time is very important in business meetings. How can you just forget that?”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind wasting my time here. I’m waiting for my wife so having some meetings canceled isn’t really a problem.”

“You are defending him again, boss.”

“I am not. I am just being honest.” He said it with a straight face even though he was lying to her. “Let’s just wait for another fifteen minutes. If there’s no confirmation, I’ll just cancel all cooperation with them.”

Elena glared at Tristan again but Tristan only smiled at her. It irked her even more.

‘These two will make me work my brain a lot.’ Stefan told himself while pretending to read some documents. She didn’t know that Stefan was reading the wedding plan updates as well as the construction of the house which will be his gift for Cayenne. This time, it’s a house built with all his love and effort.

The house they stayed in City A was considered house of lies. All there lies started there and it also broke everything they have started. Her house in City B was a gift from his father. It was a shelter of their reconciliation and at the same time, a reminder of their almost ruined marriage.

Now, he’s finally building a home where they’d share all love and trust between them. No more secrets. No more attempt of divorce because he won’t allow it to happen again. This will be a place where they will start their own family.

“You look happy.”