She's My Sleeping Pill

08/15/20xx

Dear En-en,

Today, you didn't come to school again. I was so lonely not having you by my side. Seiji and Arthur were fighting again and you weren't around to stop them. This is day marks the full month of your absence.

I hope you are doing alright.

-Marian

***

08/31/20xx

Dear En-en,

My father received the notice that he'd be assigned to another city over a week ago. Today, we're leaving City A. I really wish to see you again but you're always busy working. I couldn't find time to match yours. Sorry, I have to leave.

I hope to see you next time.

-Marian

***

09/07/20xx

Dear En-en,

I wish I didn't have to go back. I heard about your mom's condition and I am not even around to comfort you. I hope you will receive the little help I sent. Don't give up on life. I know that there's something better waiting for you in the future.

-Marian

***

09/16/20xx

Dear En-en,

Your birthday is coming.  I won't be there to celebrate it with you but I hope you will be able to give time to yourself. Honestly, your birthday would always remind me of someone and it hurts me whenever I remember him but I cannot really blame you for being born on the same date as him.

I hope I can visit City A soon. Take care of yourself always.

-Marian

***

09/25/20xx

Dear En-en,

I'm pissed off. I'm so annoyed. I wanted to call you and talk to you about what I'm feeling right now but I realized that you don't even have a phone. Sometimes, I really want to send these letters to you but I also realized that I will be bothering your life. Anyway, nothing good happen today. Instead, all the bad things happened since morning.

I don't want to say anything anymore. Take care.

-Marian

***

10/01/20xx

Dear En-En

October has finally come! Yay! It's your birth month. I wish I could celebrate your birthday with you but since I'm quite far, I will just continue to pray for you.

By the way, I think I'm going to get married soon.

-Marian

***

10/15/20xx

Dear En-en,

You must be wondering why I don't write regularly, right? I actually don't want you to burden with so many papers ^_^. Also, happy birthday. At the back of this letter is an address where you can find my safe deposit box. The password is the pin of your school ident. I hope you can get it soon. It's not much but I hope it can help.

Well, you will only find it when I decide to send you these letters.

-Marian

***

12/16/20xx

Dear En-en,

This Christmas, I won't be spending time with you nor will I spend it with my family. I wish you're with your family, though.

-Marian

***

02/18/20xx

Dear En-en,

I want to tell you a story. I really hope I can talk to you about this but I have no other choice but to write it.

This is a story of a girl who fell in love with her classmate when she was still in Grade 6. Imagine, she was still very young but she seriously likes someone in her age. She continued to like this guy every passing day. On her 7th grade, she gave him a letter. It was the very first letter she wrote for a person of opposite sex. She didn't even write letters to her father. Surprisingly, the man has the same feelings as her. It turned out that this guy likes her for several years as well. He just didn't say anything because he was afraid he'd be rejected. After all, who would think that kids have serious feelings of love for someone?

Later on, as they grow a bit older, when they finally reached the 10th grade, they decided to make their relationship official. Although it was official, not many people knew about it. Their parents didn't know as well. This relationship lasted for almost a year but still, they had to break up. Their parents found out and the girl was scolded. A month after that, her parents transferred her to a different school.

Because of this, the two of them sneaked out of their house in the middle of the night to see each other. They met somewhere near the girl's house and there, the boy that she liked for 5 years gave her a ring. It was a promise ring. It wasn't anything fancy or expensive. It was a simple silver ring with a small fake ruby stone.

"On your 21st birthday, I'll come and get you back. I will never love anyone else in this life but you. Hold on to this ring as a token of my promise. Don't ever lose this." That was what the boy said and the girl believed in him. She believed that he'd keep his promise.

Life goes on and they continued to move forward. The girl kept getting transferred to different school and lost connection with the guy. She wasn't allowed to use any social media account and her phone was being monitored. She didn't know how to contact him anymore.

Still, whenever someone wanted to take group pictures, she'd always join them because she wanted her friends or classmates to post these pictures on their social media account, hoping that he'd see them and see her.

And then, she was finally transferred to a school where she met new people. She became friends with a very kindhearted woman who was the type of girl that her two male friends like at the same time. Whenever her female friend isn't around, the two guys would always fight but when she's with them, it was very harmonious. She's like the core that keeps everyone intact.

The girl started to get busy with her life but she has never forgotten the promise of the man she loves. And you know what, life likes to play a cruel joke. Her friends started to leave one after another. The girl was left alone once again. And to top it all, her parents were reassigned to another city and she has to move with them. It would have been better if it was the end of it. However, when she came to this new place where her parents wanted her to continue her study, she saw the man that she loves with all her heart, with all her being – walking down the stairs while holding another woman's hand.

***

The story that her best friend wanted to tell her was cut off and even if Cayenne wouldn't see the continuation, she already got the feeling of who Marian was talking about. It was herself. The ring that she mentioned on the story was the same ring that she turned into a pendant and wore around her neck as a necklace. There were tear stains on the paper and it was a bit crumpled compare to the other letters. She could already imagine that her best friend was crying while writing it.

"Do you still want to continue reading it?" Stefan asked while handing several tissue papers to his wife. "Your eyes will be swollen."

"I'd rather read them all and deal with the pain in one go instead of prolonging this agony."