She's My Sleeping Pill

He pulled the chair next to him and Cayenne sat there while explaining her early arrival without him even asking her. “The teacher for my last subject this morning is absent. So, I decided to come here earlier than expected.”

“That’s good to know. I was supposed to have a meeting but up until now, there’s no message from the other party.” Cayenne held his hand and kissed the back of it to comfort him. She always does this when he’s upset or sad and she thought he was feeling down with what happened. “Honestly, I like you comforting me this way.” He said in whisper. “But, I was lying about the meeting.”

“What?!” Cayenne pulled away and slapped his shoulder. “You dare?!”

“Wait listen. It’s not meant for you.” He closed his eyes and glared at Tristan who put him in this situation. Seeing his expression, Cayenne looked towards the two secretaries who were still having a cold war. “Do you get it now?”

“You should have informed me in the first place. I was jumping to conclusions again.” Stefan kissed her nose and pinched her face to get back at her. “My mind went blank for a second when you said it was a lie.”

“Sorry for scaring you.”

.....

“I was.”

Elena felt envious with her boss, seeing them so in love and loyal for their partner, the kind of relationship that she also wanted. She lowered her gaze and focused on her phone. While playing she, felt someone was intensely staring at her. She ignored it and just played her phone but after five minutes, she still had this feeling that someone was looking at her.

Tristan was looking at her but when Elena raised her head to look at him, he lowered his gaze and started flipping the menu on the table. She lowered his head and he looked at her again. She looked up and he avoided her eyes. This went on for several times that Cayenne wanted to smack the two of them.

“I’ll have a lunch date with my husband.” Cayenne mentioned while picking the box of matcha cake. She likes to have it for dessert. “Ah! I remember. I got this coupon from my classmate and she said that you can get a discount if you eat there together with someone. You guys should go there.” She handed the coupon to Elena who looked at her with wide eyes, clearly asking her to stop what she was doing but Cayenne pretended not to see her. “You guys go there later. My husband and I will go somewhere else.”

“You can just use this with the boss.” Elena mumbled and pushed the coupon back to her.

“What are you talking about? You are saving money because you wanted to buy something, right?”

Tristan looked at Cayenne, knowing that the woman knows a lot of things related to Elena. “Thank you, lady boss. We’ll surely use this coupon wisely.”

In the end, both of them were left with no other choice but to use the coupon. It would be a waste to throw it and Cayenne might feel sad if they do that. They both felt they needed to do it for Cayenne’s sake.

“This is not a date. Just so you know.” Elena commented while the two of them walked outside the café.

“I’d prefer to think it’s a date with you.”

“Whatever.”

Cayenne watched the two of them go and sighed. She helped Stefan keep his things and made sure they were filed correctly to make sure he won’t be missing anything. The guard took his briefcase from him and followed them behind. In that way, he can hold Cayenne with his right hand and hold the box of cake with his left.

“Do you think they will be fine?” Cayenne asked, leaning on Stefan’s arm while smiling at the people who greeted them. Some handed her letters and she placed them inside her bag, thanking them for supporting her vlogs even though she didn’t upload that much.

“They will be fine.”

That’s what the two of them thought. However, when the subject of their concerns arrived at their destination, there was still this cold atmosphere around them. It’s easy to guess that they were fighting. The guard who was responsible for sending them couldn’t stop himself from shaking his head. He also went inside with them but he didn’t sit around the same table with them. He didn’t want to be caught in their warfare.

“What do you want to eat?” Tristan asked while giving her the menu.

“I don’t have appetite.”

“How can that be? You must eat even if it’s a little amount. Your brain needs energy to function.”

“Can you stop lecturing me?”

“I’m not. I was just saying.”

The two of them ordered their own preferred dishes and started eating. Among the customers, they were the only ones who were very quiet. If they talk, they would end up in banters. Even the waitresses and other customers looked at them weirdly. The restaurant was known as the lovers’ nest and they gave discounts to couples as well. Some would pretend to be couples just to get discounts of their delicious food. However, looking at Elena and Tristan, other people felt a little bad for them.

Their manager, as well as the owner of the restaurant, saw the two of them when she walked around. She felt the tense atmosphere and she didn’t like it inside her restaurant. She immediately went back to the kitchen and looked for the heart-shaped moist chocolate cake.

“Give them to that couple over there. Wish them a long-lasting relationship.” The manager stated and gave the small plate to the waitress. “That’s free.”

The waitress didn’t need to be told twice and she immediately walked towards Tristan and Elena with the cake in hand. “Good afternoon. Our manager is pleased to have you here and she’s hoping that you two will have a long-lasting relationship. This is a gift from her. It’s free.”

“Wait. No -”

“Thank you for the well-wishes.” Tristan stated that stumped Elena speechless. Even the guard, who was eating two tables away from them, stifled his laughter when he saw Elena’s reaction. They were mistaken for a couple when she hated him so much at the moment. Who would be happy to hear that well-wishes? Only Tristan would be.

“Why didn’t you say we’re not a couple?!” She whispered the moment the waitress left. She was seething with anger towards him but she just didn’t have the strength to hit him.

“They were giving the cake with good intention. Why will you refuse?”

“Because we are not a couple. They were wishing for us to have a long-lasting relationship. Isn’t that weird?”

“Why are you so against with the idea? Besides, she didn’t say that we are a couple. Long-lasting relationship can be applied to friendship, too.”

‘Friends.’ Elena blinked her eyes and nodded her head, leaning back to her chair while taking a sip of her fruit shake. “Right. Friendship.”

“Hey! Elena, I didn’t mean it that way. What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking about us being friends.”

“But you know I have no intention of staying in that zone forever.” She already refused listening to him and continued to eat her food. She even stuck her fork on the cake and ate a small piece of it. “Are you even listening to me?”

“Yeah. Keep talking. The food is really delicious and the cake, too.”

“If you won’t listen to me, I will kiss you in front of all these people.” Her spoon stopped midair and this statement finally made her look at him. “You can finally meet my gaze.” Tristan stated while keeping his eyes locked on hers. “We need to talk.”

“We are talking already.”

“You need to listen to me.”

“I don’t want a bossy partner.”

“I’m not even trying to boss you around. I just want you to listen to me. Is it so hard to do that?”

“Yes.” She answered without even shifting her gaze. “I have closed my heart and my mind for whatever you wanted to say. There’s no point in listening to you.”

“Why would you even validate my feelings when I’m the one feeling the emotions inside me. You cannot just deny me because of what you heard. I wasn’t even dreaming of her because I wanted to. She just appeared out of nowhere, thanking me for whatever I did in the past. Also, she was part of me. Was. Do you get it. She’s part of my past. I never once looked at you because you look similar to her. You two were polarly opposite. There’s no way you could be the same.”

“So?”

“Lena, can’t you give us a chance?”