She's My Sleeping Pill

“I still have nothing from her,” she said while putting away her phone and cuddle with her husband. “We’ll be leaving for Singapore tomorrow and we won’t be back until two weeks later. I wonder if she’s still in the country, in London or the Philippines.”

“Philippines?” Stefan questioned because he never thought of that. “Did she mention that she’d be going back to her home country?”

“I’m not sure. I can’t recall anything like that.” She denied it flatly even though she was talking to her husband.

“Well, it’s better than doing nothing. I’ll ask Thomas to look for her in the Philippines.”

“Wait.” Cayenne sat up straight and looked into his eyes. “Why is Thomas so keen on finding her? Did you know something that I don’t?”

“He didn’t say anything but I can more or less guess what he was up to. Why do you think he wants to find her?”

.....

“Tch! The hell I care about your idiotic friend.” Her mood would really swing easily in a matter of seconds and Stefan could only accept this hard truth – her wife has mood swings every day. “Let’s go to sleep. I’m tired from all the things we did, but I really enjoyed it. Who will take care of the dogs while we’re gone starting tomorrow?”

“Kyle and Luiz wanted to see the dogs. The manager will be here to guide them.”

“Cool. I wish I can spend time with them, too.”

“After the honeymoon, I will surely give you time to return to your house but you have to come back home at night.” Stefan knew that his wife was trying to shift the subject of their conversation to something else and he didn’t probe her about that. If she wants to tell him, she would do it. He just went along with her and pretended not to notice anything.

She didn’t really want to lie to him. Her guilt was causing her trouble to sleep but she didn’t want to break Monet’s trust either. She was worried that if she tells her husband, he’ll make a slip of the tongue especially now that he got a clue that Monet was in the Philippines.

Because of her guilt, Cayenne wouldn’t sleep and she ended up having dark eyebags the next day.

“I didn’t know I was raising a panda.” Stefan teased while giving her cold teabags for her eyes. “What kept you awake last night? You kept tossing and turning.”

“I felt guilty,” she blurted and hit the marble table; it didn’t budge. “I know where Monet is but she asked me not to tell anyone even if it’s you.”

“Then, don’t tell me.”

“But I’ll be lying to you.”

“Let’s just pretend that this conversation did not happen. I won’t ask anything about Monet and you won’t say anything either. It’s already better that one of us knows where she is and how she’s doing.”

“Okay.”

With all that being said and done, only Cayenne knew where exactly was Monet. When Thomas went to the Philippines, her parents welcomed him but still, he didn’t find anything. The only thing they knew was that she was doing fine somewhere. Monet didn’t tell them the reason why she was hiding from the public and no matter how hard they try to reach her, they couldn’t get in touch with her unless she initiated the contact.

Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. Thomas Aizenberg won three awards using one photo and even then, even when the photo was published accompanied by the prizes, he didn’t manage to find her. He thought she would, at least, be interested in the picture if she ever gets to read the news of his victory. Unfortunately, Monet was like a cold waterfall. Once she sets her mind on something, it wouldn’t be easy to change it like a cold waterfall whose temperature wouldn’t change no matter how hot the weather is.

It has been three months since Monet disappeared from the public view and classes already resumed. Now, aside from Cayenne and Stefan, only her clients know how she was doing so far. The only difference was that her clients didn’t know where she was. She only met them during video calls and when the gowns needed fitting, Jess was the one who leave the country to meet with these clients.

At the same time, although Cayenne and Stefan knew where she was, they didn’t have any idea of her exact situation. They only knew that she was still working somewhere – away from the stressful city. Only Jess, her assistant, knew that Monet was already fifteen weeks pregnant. Since her stomach still looked small, no one suspected anything. She already estimated the time, once she entered her second trimester, it will also be the time that she finishes all her work. After that, she can dedicate all her time to her baby.

“Miss Monet, did you see the photo that sir Thomas submitted? It was a picture of you! I was really shocked when I saw it.”

“What is so shocking about that? He already got my consent to take pictures of me whenever he wanted. I just didn’t know he would submit it.”

“Isn’t that sweet?”

“That’s normal for photographers.”

“You have a point.” Jess expressed while nodding her head in agreement. “But, wouldn’t that anger the father of your child?”

The strawberry shake that Monet was slurping got stuck in her throat and she choked on it. She puked some of them and felt nauseous at the thought of her child meeting her father. She didn’t want that. If she got exposed, the crime she did on that night in London would be brought to light. No! That can’t happen.

“My child’s father doesn’t know about the baby. He didn’t need to know.”

“Ms. Monet, sorry if I sound nosy and presumptuous, but I really thought that you like sir Thomas. When I heard you got pregnant by someone else, I felt a little sad.”

“Why would you be sad?”

“Because I don’t know who the father of your child is and, in my opinion, you are a perfect match to sir Thomas. You look so happy when you are with him, too. Was I wrong?”

“That was in the past. I am fine on my own now. I can be happy without him and my child will be fine without knowing him.”

“Huh?”

“Huh? What?! No. I mean – ”

“Sir Thomas is your baby’s father?”