She's My Sleeping Pill

The person who spoke was a showbiz host, named Joy. However, right at this moment, her name didn’t live up to her expression and emotion. She wasn’t joyful at all. Normally, she would warmly welcome the guests that their headhunter would look for. So far, she never treated anyone coldly, not until this moment. She hates Cayenne. Her hatred for her has gone so deep into her bone marrow and she could not eradicate it so easily.

“Well, their relationship is interesting and many people requested for them to appear in our show. The management agreed to this already and they will send the invitation this afternoon to Mr. Dumrique’s office.”

“No! I’m not gonna do the show with them.”

The headhunter, Coleen, blinked her eyes several times in utter surprise. This was the first time that she saw the host giving off a strong reaction against their guests. It was suspicious. “May I know why you are so against them? I mean, I don’t think they have done something wrong to you. You have never met them, right?”

“When I say no, that means no. You can look for someone else to host the show during their guesting. I don’t want to see even a shadow of them.”

Joy left the room and Coleen was standing there with a confused expression. Her head was already formulating all the possibilities that could have involved the woman in their guests’ life. As far as she knew, there was nothing. “Is it possible that she likes Mr. Dumrique but got rejected and now, she hates the wife because of that? That’s possible? But how could that be? I don’t remember her meeting the man in my entire life of knowing her.”

Afternoon came and when Stefan returned to his office from having lunch with his wife, Elena told him about the invitation and handed him the formal letter of request. “What is Buzz News?” Stefan asked because he was not familiar with it. He never thought of venturing into the entertainment world because he didn’t like the complicated life of the actors and actresses and everyone else involve in it. Thus; it amazes him that Travis was able to handle his business pretty well in City A.

“Buzz News is a showbiz news that features different stories, from different people coming from different parts of the country. Sometimes, they’d feature inspiring stories, victorious and tragic stories that pique the interest of many. Currently, their headhunter is interested in the story that you and the madam have.”

.....

“I’ll ask Cayenne about this,” Stefan said and was about to dismiss the topic when he happened to see the conflicted expression on Elena’s face. “Is there anything else that I need to know?”

“Well,...” Elena looked around the room to make sure that no one was eavesdropping, she forgot that she was inside the President’s office because of her anxiousness. “Boss, before the letter arrived, we received a call from them about their plan and Tristan looked into their show. Apparently, the host of this show hates the madam. Tristan found traces of her social media activities and she’s one of those people who leave negative comments on the madam’s posts.”

“Then, let’s not accept this. Why would I help someone who has been stepping on my wife’s dignity.” Stefan didn’t even hesitate to throw the letter away. How dare they send something to him when their employee was doing something nasty. [Heh! I’ll show them what happens when they go against me.] “Tell them that I refuse.”

Elena nodded her head and left to call the management about Stefan’s decision. As the secretary and Cayenne’s friend, she would never allow anyone to use Cayenne when they could not even monitor their staff. “I’m sorry Ms. Barnido. Mr. Dumrique has another appointment on that day.”

“I thought you said he’s free.”

“Yesterday, it was confirmed that he would be free on that day. However, he just arrived in his office today and told me that he has another appointment.”

“I see. Thank you for trying to help us.”

“No worries. I hope there will be another show that they can work with.”

“Likewise.”

Elena sighed when the call ended. Tristan looked into the headhunter’s life and they found nothing wrong with her. She worked honestly in the industry and sometimes, many people tried to sabotage her discoveries of new stories. If she wasn’t working with Joy Jimenez for this show, Elena would do her best to help. Sadly, the host was someone they’d never associate with.

Back inside his office, Stefan smirked as he browsed the entertainment page that allowed him to view the segments of different stations. Buzz news was a segment under TV N and the host was famously known for her travel blog which she updates every Saturday. Stefan noted the time of this segment before looking into Lucky TV, a station under J entertainment which was owned by Diego, Wynwyn, and Travis. After checking the information, he pulled out his phone and called Diego directly.

“Yo! How’s the life of having a pregnant wife?” Diego greeted with familiarity. “Are you planning to venture into our industry?”

“My wealth is more than enough to last us a lifetime. I don’t need another business that would take my time away from my wife.”

“You are becoming more and more like Travis. Sometimes, I’m starting to wonder if I’d become like you guys once I get married.”

“Marry Cheska first so that you’d find out.”

“Enough of this chitchat, I’m sure you are not calling just to chat with me. Do you want me to shut down an artist?”

Stefan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this statement. Is he that bored to mess with an artist’s life? He didn’t even bother looking into Joy’s life; not that he needed to since Tristan had done his job already. “I want to guest in one of your shows.”

“Huh? You?! Jill and Travis didn’t even do that.”

“I want to make something different.”

“And by appearing on our show?”

“Is there something wrong with it?”

Diego took a deep breath and sighed which was audible even through the phone call. “Is there something I should know? Why would you suddenly appear in our show? I just want to make sure that there is no other catch other than a normal appearance.”

“There’s nothing to worry about. I received an invitation from another station but I don’t want to do it.”

“Because?”

“Because I don’t want my wife to be targeted during the show.”

“Hmm...I sense gossip here. Tell me.”

In the end, these two men who should be working on their businesses were gossiping about the host of a TV station. It was so random that you’d never think they’d be doing something like this. After the call, Diego called the directors of their daytime and nighttime shows to discuss if there was a segment that Cayenne and Stefan could appear.

Who wouldn’t want this hassle-free offer? The directors thought of their shows but not all of them could make time for the couple. After all, they need to appear in a show that would be suitable for them as guests. They can’t put so much pressure on Cayenne as well because she’s pregnant. If something happens to her, their heads will be served on a silver platter to Stefan.

“How about my cooking show? Usually, we’d invite chefs to have a cook-off during the show and interview them about their success stories in life. We can change it for the time being and allow Mr. Dumrique to cook for his wife.”

“That sounds good. We can interview them while cooking. Shall we make it live? Do you think it’s better than a recording?”

“I don’t see any problem in making it a live coverage but we have to talk to Mr. Dumrique about that.”

Originally, Diego wanted to let the couple come during their Sunday Night show which features success stories or just gossip with people. Most of the time, their guests were actors and actresses. It won’t really make so much difference if Cayenne and Stefan come. The only problem was the time slot. Surely, Stefan would refuse anything that would go beyond his wife’s resting time.

“I’ll discuss this with him. Anything, else?”

“I have been watching Mrs. Dumrique’s vlog and she has been doing her best to help a lot of people. How about inviting them to our one-minute game and if they win the prize, they can donate it to the foundations of their choice?”

“That is a good idea as well. I’ll add this to the proposal.”

On the other hand, Dr. Albert called Stefan from overseas because he wanted to meet him. He said he was grateful for Stefan’s help in shortening the time of his imprisonment. Since there was nothing wrong with it, Stefan agreed. He has no idea that it wasn’t just Dr. Albert who would be seeing him.

“I have booked an appointment with your son,” Dr. Albert said and bent down to level his eyes with Latticia’s gaze. “Now, I have two books again. If you want him to see you, look at the book in my left hand. If you just want to see him without him knowing anything, look at the book in my right hand.”

Latticia’s tears fell on her face as she looked into the book that will seal her fate for the rest of her life.