She's My Sleeping Pill

Jason was so happy when he was forgiven. He didn't mind being demoted as long as he stays in this company. In the whole City A, everyone knows how strict it is to get into Stefan's company just like how strict Travis Madrigal in City B. They're employee-friendly and the salary of their employees were ten percent higher compared to other companies.

Even if he was demoted, he still gets better pay than other employees of other companies.  He will never do such thing ever again.

"Sorry." Jason mumbled when he stepped inside the elevator with his cousin. "I was really jealous when it took you only two years to your position when almost everyone had it after five years. You were doing excellent work as well and I can see another promotion hovering over you. If you get promoted, you will become a senior to me. I didn't like it so, I did those horrible things."

"It's fine." Joel muttered while looking at their reflection in front of them. "Sir already forgave you. Just do your best. You can think of your own excuses as well. I won't say anything."

"Thank you."

The two of them walked back to the finance department and not long after, one representative from the HR department came to process the demotion.

"You're being demoted? Why?" one of his colleagues questioned in surprise. They knew that he's done an excellent job in the past years so, it was really surprising to see him being demoted.

Jason scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly at them. "You know how strict our boss, right? I made a mistake in my calculation and he found it. In fact, the boss always reviews our works before approving it which was why it took time for us to know the result. So, you double check everything before handing them out if you don't want to get demoted like me."

"Oh! Shoot!"

"Crap!"

"I didn't know about this."

"So, just one mistake and will get demoted? I don't want that."

Everyone went back to their work in a hurry, afraid to be the next one who will get a demotion. "I'm sorry to hear that you'd have to be the example for us to learn." Another employee commented. "But do your best. I know you'll be back in a year or two."

Jason just smiled because he knew it won' be just a year or two. Stefan clearly mentioned to him that it's three years. "Well, this is how it is. I'll see you guys around."

"See you."

Jason left with his personal things. If it was other people getting demoted, they would feel dejected and would probably quit but, in his case, he wasn't the least bit dejected. Compared to being fired, getting demoted was a better choice.

Chris was talking to Elena about some things she should remember while Stefan worked in his office. When the clock strikes eleven, he picked up his personal laptop and walked out of the office.

"Are you going somewhere?" Chris asked when he saw Stefan walking with his laptop. "Do you want me to drive the car for you?"

"Yes. I'll be in your care." He turned to Elena and checked their schedule for the afternoon. "I'll be back at one in the afternoon."

"Okay, sir."

Chris and Stefan left her alone and went down to the basement to get his car. If Chris wasn't with him, he will surely have a hard time driving while keeping his eyes on his wife.

He wasn't supposed to see her not until she's done with her matters but it was Travis who invited him to have lunch with them, saying he's got something they should talk about. But Stefan knew that it was just his friend being considerate of his feelings for being away from his wife.

On the way there, he asked Chris to buy a cake knowing that Cayenne loves sweets.

Back in Hacienda de Amore, Cayenne was helping Jillyanna cook. At first, Jillyanna didn't want Cayenne to work because she's a guest but Cayenne insisted. So, the two of them worked in the kitchen harmoniously. The cookies they made earlier were set aside for the moment inside the cookie jars for everyone to eat whenever they like it.

Travis came down with his son and daughter; and he saw this scene. He took a picture of them and sent a message to Stefan to have lunch since both of their wives were cooking.

"I just noticed. Do you usually cook for your family? Or does everyone cook?" Cayenne asked because last time when there was a gathering, it was Jillyanna and her family who cooked as well. The helpers were just assisting them.

Jillyanna season her dish with salt and pepper before answering her question. "Before, Travis would always cook for me even after I gave birth. After some time, he allowed me to do little work and cooking is one of them. So, I started cooking again. And whenever there's occasion or gathering, as long as we're healthy and doing fine, we will cook for our food. Our helpers can take it easy during those times. And almost all of us can cook so, as long as someone's not busy, our helpers will have a little bit of rest time during work."

"How do you manage them?" Cayenne asked again. "I mean, we took in few helpers recently and I am not really sure how to manage them. I can't have my husband deal with them all the time as well. I'd feel very useless if that happens."

"As for the helpers…" Jillyanna told Cayenne what she's been doing and how she managed a lot of helpers in the hacienda and back at her own house. They didn't like calling them servants because it would bring down someone's self-esteem. A helper sounds better than it and it comes with a dignity that you've helped someone.

They were having a serious conversation while cooking when Cayenne suddenly turned around. "Darling? You're here." Instead of scolding him why he showed up all of a sudden, Cayenne forget all about that. Seeing her husband, she could only smile and ran into his warm embrace.