She's My Sleeping Pill

“Before you open the door, Azami, come here for a sec,” Riley called the little boy who was about three years old but can communicate well and understand adult instructions already. “I want you to stand behind the models as I give them instruction. Pretend that you are taking something from the makeup and pretend that you are going to eat it. Let’s see if anyone would notice that. We need someone with good observation since Cayenne has children and they might do something naughty with the cosmetics.”

“I got it, sis Riri.”

Riley nodded his head and gave the signal to the staff. People might find it strange for them to find someone who was good at handling children when they were going to be Cayenne’s makeup artist but knowing Stefan and how much he dotes on his family; they were doing this strict screening for the employee’s sake. It would be better if they could hire someone for a long period and not someone that would get fired because of one mistake.

“Please come inside,” the staff said and opened the door to let the applicants inside; Azami took this cue to act naughty while no one was observing him. He ‘sneakily’ took a foundation from the cosmetics laid on the table and slowly backed away with his hands behind him.

“Good afternoon,” greeted Riley and David.

“You may take your seat,” Riley added and gestured for them to sit on the chairs prepared for the applicants. However, a woman, who looked older compared to the other applicants, raised her hand to stop Riley from talking. Everyone turned their attention to her and she gulped drily in anxiety. “What is it?”

“Uh...Ma’am, whose child is that boy?”

“Oh, don’t mind him.” Riley retorted but her heart was already jumping with happiness. Finally, someone noticed Azami the moment they got inside. Most of the time, the applicants just ignored him. “He’s our model’s brother. You don’t have to worry about him. He’s permitted to come with his sister since no one can look after him.”

.....

“Uhm...”

“What is it? Just speak.”

“Can I approach him first? I just want to make sure that I won’t be accusing someone.”

“Why?” David inquired and he acted furious while looking at the things on the table. “Did he steal something?”

The woman was stunned when David said the word ‘steal’ since the child might not have the idea of what that word entails. The models even looked at her angrily. “Pardon me, sir. I don’t think it’s appropriate to use that word against a child. Also, I am not really sure what he took. He might have mistaken something for a toy. Children often do that. They play with whatever they find is interesting.”

“Gosh! What are you spouting there?”

“Tsk! You are being nosy.”

“You are taking so much time, you know.”

“Don’t meddle with them.”

The other applicants were against this woman already and they voiced out their negative opinion in whispers. Unfortunately for them, Riley can lip-read. There was no escape from her keen observation at all.

The woman wanted to take a seat and just ignore what she saw but her conscience kept tugging her heart. When Riley was about to start the interview, the woman stood up and walked to the little boy who hid behind his ‘sister’.

“I’m very sorry little guy but I think I saw you took something from the table earlier. Do you want to play with it?” Azami moved even closer to the model and pretended to be scared of the woman. “It’s actually not a toy. Your sister might have forgotten to show you that since she uses it at work. How about you show me that thing and I’ll tell you what that is?” Azami finally stretched out his hand and showed the liquid foundation which was already opened.

“Why did you take that?!” The model questioned angrily through gritted teeth. “I’m sorry my brother didn’t mean it. I swear.” Riley and David also stood up to see the thing that Azami handed to the woman. “Miss Summer, I didn’t know. I swear my brother must have mistaken that for a toy. I would never tolerate such behavior. I’m really sorry.”

David sighed and took the foundation from the woman. “This is very expensive.”

The woman bit her lower lip as she looked at the model who was about to cry already since her brother was being accused of stealing. She didn’t mean for all of these to happen.

“I’m really sorry. I was just worried that the child might eat it. I never wanted to accuse him of stealing. Aside from that, the child didn’t really know what was that for.”

“This interview is over,” Riley coldly expressed and returned to her seat. “Others can leave except for you, miss. You need to deal with this mess.”

The woman apologized to the other applicants who didn’t even get the chance for an interview. It wasn’t their fault that something bad has happened but because of her, they missed a great opportunity. Well, it was what they thought. They had no idea that doing nothing was what made them miss this job.

“What’s your name again?” David asked while flipping the bottle of liquid foundation that he took from the woman which Azami used as his prop for acting earlier.

The woman stood in front of them while stealing glances at the child who was now hugging his sister’s thigh. “My name is Adrianne Corazon. Once again, I apologize for interrupting the job interview. My conscience just wouldn’t allow me to let things be. My negligence could put the child’s life in danger.”

“Ms. Corazon, do you know how much this foundation costs?” The woman nodded her head in response to David’s question. “Good. Now, use the remaining foundation for one of the models. I want you to style her up for a hosting event.”

“Me?! You’re not asking me to pay for that?”

“Why would you pay for it? Did you take this away?”

“Uhh. No.”

Riley laughed out loud and this time, Azami also cheered happily and ran to Riley’s side. “Alright. We’ll stop teasing you now. In the meantime, you are the only one who passed the preliminary round. So, we already took a peek at your portfolio and where you worked before. We asked someone to verify the information without being so obvious about it. So, the next round is for you to dress up and do our model’s makeup according to your choice of clothes for hosting.”

Adrianne stood there with a dumb expression on her face. She didn’t expect that while she was fighting her anxiety and worry, she was already making it to the next round. After a few minutes, her eyes landed on the little boy and she sighed in relief. “So, the child was just acting, right? He wasn’t really harmed? He won’t be punished for what he did.”

“No, he wasn’t harmed and won’t be punished for it. However, Ms. Corazon, we just want you to know that your job will be far stricter than this. A child might be harmed at any moment so you have to be very observant if you pass the next test.”

“I’ll do my best.”