She's My Sleeping Pill

Stefan stiffened at her words. He pulled away from her and looked at her eyes. It was clear and indifferent. "No, we're not okay."

"I think we're fine."  Cayenne insisted. "Are you going to sleep or not?"

"No, we're not sleeping until we solve our problem."

"And what problem do we have? I don't see one." Cayenne insisted without batting an eyelid. Maybe she was being hot and cold towards him but she realized that she was indeed getting too close to him. It's a bad thing if she keeps relying on him. Money was one problem and she didn't want to invest her emotions as well.

Stefan brought her inside their room and let her sit on their bed. "I said something earlier, right? I hurt you again, right?"

"No, you did not."

"You're lying. I know I said something."

"Since you know, why bother asking me?"

"So, you've admitted that I did say something."

Cayenne took a deep breath and sighed. "Sir Stefan, you've paid me to help you sleep. We faked our relationship with my parents and since they're not here, you don't need to do so much for me. You don't need to think about my welfare."

"Ayen, are we going to fight when Christmas is just around the corner?"

"We are not fighting. We are discussing."

Stefan felt a throbbing headache in this situation once again. It's very late into the night but the two of them were still awake. They both have to wok on the next day, too.

"I'm sorry." Stefan spoke softly. "I'm sorry if I make you feel that you are just a tool for me. I'm sorry if we had to lie to your family. I'm sorry for saying something rude to you earlier."

"Hn."

"Ayen, can we not dwell on employer-employee relationship. I'm starting to hate it."

"If you don't like that status we have then, you have no other choice but to fire me."

"Then, will you become my friend?"

"I don't sleep with a friend."

"Can I court you properly?"

"Do you like me?"

"I like you to become my friend."

"Why are you courting me, then?"

"To make or relationship real."

"But you don't like me in a romantic way. There's no need to court me."

"What should I do?"

"Accept the fact that I am your employee and you are my employer. That's it."

Stefan sat on the space beside her and covered his face with his hands. "I don't like this."

Cayenne looked at him with a calm face but she was actually hurting inside. She was glad that she directly asked him if he likes her.  In that way, she was able to know what his real thoughts of her and she was able to stop her heart from falling even deeper for him.

"I'm fine with this." She stated. "In this way, we know our place in each other's life. I'm sorry for getting inside your company building without your permission. I'm sorry for letting you lie to my family when it was my own problem. I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble in the past days."

"I hope you won't regret this decision, Ayen."

Cayenne looked at him and smile. "I'll do my best not to."

Stefan stood up and went to his side of the bed. Cayenne did the same and covered herself. She knew that her sprouting love for him won't be given the chance to form buds and blossom. It's better to kill it before it kills her heart in the future.

The next day, a news came which shocked both Jessie and Manager Kim. The woman who will attend the party with Stefan wasn't Cayenne. It was Mona. The news was posted in the group chat and it was Chris who posted it. He was also surprised to hear it from his boss but he didn't question him.

Cayenne wasn't the least bit surprise. In any case, she decided not to attend the ball so, the news didn't affect her at all. She agreed to come with him but since she was replaced then, there's no need for her to come.

Time passed by quickly and the day of the ball arrived. Stefan left his company early in the afternoon since he needed to prepare and to make sure that his date for the evening party was properly tended by the stylist that he chose.

"What time will you be back?" Cayenne messaged him as she was about to leave the hotel. They have an early end of shift this time because of the ball. She was planning to go back to the apartment that day.

"I'll come back after the ball."

"Okay." She turned her phone into silent mode and placed it inside her bag.

"Cayenne, are you really skipping this year's party? You skipped last year and here I was thinking that you will be attending the party this year." Manager Kim approached her and asked.

"I don't really like parties." Cayenne responded with a smile. "I don't like wasting my time in this kind of event since I don't get anything from it."

"Oh. I just thought that you might be interested with the prizes this year."

"I'm fine without them. I can just work to get the things we need."

'They must be fighting.' Manager Kim thought while looking at the petite woman in front of her. "If you ever change your mind, please let me know so I can make arrangement for you."

"There's no need. Thank you for your kind consideration Manager Kim. I'll go home now."

Cayenne left the hotel and boarded the taxi that was waiting for her and asked Leon to send her to the apartment. Cayenne watched the sceneries that they passed by and as she was getting farther, the pain in her heart was becoming more unbearable. A lone tear fell on her hand and it felt really cold to her skin.

'I should've been more careful with my heart around him. I was very confident that I would never fall for him and now, I lost to my own words and he doesn't like me the way I do. I'm such an idiot.'

"Ma'am we've arrived to your apartment." Leon informed her which pulled her back from her thoughts.

"Thank you. Drive safely." Cayenne stated before coming out of the cab.

"Yen! You're back early today." Kyle mentioned when he saw his sister coming inside.

"We have an early end of shift today since there's a ball in the evening."

"And you're skipping it again."

"Hn. It's fine. I want to take a rest. Where's Luiz?"

"He's making his projects that needed to be passed once the classes resume."

"I see. You are on break starting this week. Anyway, I entrust our mother to your care while I'm out working."

"Sure."

Cayenne checked Luiz and her mother before going to her own room to rest. She pulled open her drawer and found the letter that Jillyanna gave her a year ago. "Maybe I should stop working for him. I am not in dire need of money and we've got enough in our savings, too." Thinking about it is easy but doing it is not. She didn't want to leave him yet. She still wanted to spend more time with him. "I feel sorry for my poor heart."