She's My Sleeping Pill

“Yen, I have some favor to ask.” Luiz stated as soon as he found her sister. “Can you take a look at these magazines?”

“Why?”

Luiz scratched the side of his face and smiled. “David wanted me to work with one of these magazines but I don’t know which one to choose.”

“Why are you asking me? I am not good with these things. How about we ask Stefan?”

“That’s okay, too.”

Luiz and Cayenne walked upstairs to look for Stefan in the study room and even though he anticipated for this to happen, he looked so calm as if he has no idea what was going on.

.....

“Are we disturbing you?” Cayenne asked as she approached him.

“Since when are you a disturbance to me?”

“It can start today.”

“No, it won’t and never will.”

“Then, can you help me and Luiz choose which magazine he should work for?”

Luiz handed the magazines to him and Stefan looked at the names before flipping the pages to see the contents. He did it several times for each of the magazine until his eyes landed on the one that he likes. “This clothing magazine looks good.”

“I was told that I will be endorsing some clothes to be published in this magazine. I won’t be the spokesperson. I will just model the clothes for them.”

“That sounds good. You will receive several payments for one shoot. Although each one of them wouldn’t pay you that much, when accumulated, it is still bigger compared to your regular shoot.”

“There is a problem though.” Luiz retorted softly. “The magazine wanted to shoot something with a sibling vibe. Their models wouldn’t fit with me and they seemed tense when they’re around me. They didn’t want to hire a celebrity because it will show up as scripted and it will ruin the theme.”

“That is unfortunate.”

Luiz opened his mouth but he closed it again. He wanted to say something which was what Stefan needed to hear.

[This guy can be an actor, too.] Stefan thought while waiting for Luiz to speak.

“I really wanted to do this shoot. I asked Kyle but he couldn’t attend because the schedule for the shoot is weekend and most likely, he will be making projects or thesis. I don’t want to disturb him.”

“Does it have to be a male?”

“Females are also okay. I actually have something in mind but I am not sure if you will approve this.”

“They said that I can also model with my sister.”

Cayenne was wide-eyed from hearing this and soon, her expression turned to embarrassment. “That can’t – ”

“That’s fine with me.” Cayenne was slack-jawed this time. She wanted to say no because she thought that Stefan would refuse. She didn’t expect him to agree with her brother.

“You must be kidding me.” She retorted while shifting her gaze between her brother and her husband. “I can’t model. I don’t know how to do it.”

“I am pretty sure you can do it. Trust me.”

“Great! I will talk to the director and the photographer about this.”

“Wait. You can’t – :

“Brother-in-law already agreed.”

“Why did you even agree?” Cayenne questioned and kicked his leg lightly. “You will embarrass me.”

“How can that be? I would never let anyone do that to you.”

“I’m off. Bye!” Luiz escaped quickly to make sure that Cayenne won’t be able to oppose with their trick anymore. He didn’t need to contact the director and the photographer either because Stefan will do that. In fact, only one magazine was real. The other nine were only props that Luiz got from David.

Because of this sudden work schedule, Cayenne minimized eating sweets and junk foods. She didn’t want to gain more weight than she already has. She also added an hour of workout schedule to her daily routine to make sure that she’s fit during the photoshoot.

Whenever she felt tired from her workout, she would kick Stefan or sometimes she’d bite his arm.

“I’m pretty sure that the magazine will be sold out.” Stefan mentioned while lying on their bed with her in his arms. “The photoshoot will be tomorrow and to make sure that nothing bad will happen, I asked them to have it done here. They can bring their props if they needed.”

“Alright. In that way, I won’t feel like a fish out of water. I can relax and just be at home.”

“They have a small interview for you and Luiz after the shoot. It won’t take long and I have given my approval to their questions.”

“You looked at the questions?”

“Yup. I wanted to make sure that the questions won’t feel attacking to you. I don’t want the experience to be bad when you are doing this for the first time.”

“It’s not like I’m going to do this again.”

“Who knows?” Stefan responded which made her narrow her gaze at him. She felt that he was hiding something from her but she knew that she wouldn’t do that because it will anger her. [So, what’s this suspicious feeling?] Cayenne asked mentally with no one to answer her.

The next day, Cayenne woke up early to prepare for the shoot. David has arrived earlier than expected and was talking with Luiz about something else. She didn’t know what it was because they shifted their topic when she arrived. It was something she found suspicious as well. She felt like some people were keeping something from her but she didn’t want to confront them because it would come out rude.

After having breakfast, their guests have arrived and started taking out their props while they talk to her and Luiz. Stefan was on the second floor, watching everything unfold in the living room. He was filming the shoot for her YT account just in case she wanted to upload the behind-the-scene footages.

“You can just do whatever you want with Luiz and we will take care of the shoot. Just be comfortable and relax around us. You don’t have to feel pressure.”

“You don’t need me to do anything in particular?” Cayenne asked the director to make sure that she won’t make mistakes earlier.

“We will have free shot this morning and, in the afternoon, that’s when we get to have more serious shoots with the clothes that you two will model for.” the man answered which helped her ease her nervousness. When she looked up, she saw Stefan looking at her. She waved at him and he threw a flying kiss which made her laugh faintly.

“Is he going to supervise the photo shoot?” The director’s assistant whispered while putting down the chair for the old man.

“He must be here because of his wife.” The photographer whispered back as he took out his equipment.

As how they guessed, Stefan looked after Cayenne like her assistant while he filmed on the side. When she felt hot, he would fan her and dab a cold cloth on her face. When she felt thirsty, he was there to give her a glass of fruit juice.

“Are they always like this?” One of the staff asked Luiz while waiting for the director to give instructions for the next set.

“This is not even one-tenth of how they usually are.”

“They’re that sweet?”

“Yes; to the point that I think I’m having diabetes.”

“Stefan is like a slave to her.” A female staff commented while looking at the couple. Her words made others think of the same thing which caused Luiz to raise one of his eyebrows. He didn’t like the sound of it.

“To others who didn’t have a man like him, they would think my sister is bullying my brother-in-law or that he’s like a slave to her. It’s because they didn’t know the fear that he felt when he lost her twice. Besides, it’s not about slavery. It’s about knowing what your partner needs and providing it. My brother-in-law observes my sister every day to know what she likes and what she hates; to see what comforts her and what’s not. He’s not her slave. It’s just that, he loves her so much that he knows her more than she knows herself. You are probably envious of her. After all, Stefan loves her to the point that he knows her menstrual cycle and prepares for her period cramps. Your boyfriends probably don’t know that. I bet they don’t buy your pads or napkins.”

Right after saying these words, Luiz left them and went to his sister and Stefan. He didn’t care if these people will have a bad opinion of him. In any case, he will only work with them once. He won’t work with people who badmouth his family.