She's My Sleeping Pill

“Good afternoon, sir.” The waiter greeted and led Stefan to his reserved table. Stefan and Cayenne was widely known in the city that they didn’t have to say their name.

“Thank you, hon.” Cayenne said while Stefan removed her coat for her. “Let’s order after five minutes. I’m a bit tired.”

Dr. Albert just smiled as he watched the man dote on his wife. He wanted to do the same thing to the woman he loved for all his life but if he take things this far, she’ll probably feel awkward with him. Not that she can put a fight against him but still, Dr. Albert didn’t think of forcing himself to Latticia. Being with her was more than enough already.

“This is Dr. John Albert.” Stefan introduced the man to Cayenne and Dr. Albert stood up for a shakehand. “This is my wife Cayenne.”

“I heard a lot of things about her. I’ve been following her vlogging account and I must say, she’s very generous.”

“That’s an innate trait of her,” Stefan proudly said with a smug expression. Sitting next to him, Cayenne could only smile as she reached her hand for a handshake with Dr. Albert. “Have you been waiting? Sorry, we took so long.”

“No. Not at all. I came with my wife but she can’t talk due to her illness.”

“Your wife? Where?”

.....

Dr. Albert moved out of his seat and walked to Latticia’s side. She was crying.

Cayenne was shocked to see that the woman on a wheelchair behind Stefan was Dr. Albert’s wife. She looked several years older than him, probably because of her illness; she was all skin and bones. At the same time, behind her skinny feature, Cayenne could tell that this woman was once a beautiful lady.

“Can’t she join our table?” Cayenne inquired because she felt bad for leaving the woman alone on another table which was really close to them. She couldn’t see the point why Dr. Albert placed another reservation next to them.

Dr. Albert wiped Latticia’s tears and smiled at her. He knew that she was happy and was probably wanting to touch her son whom she didn’t see for so many years. “My wife need a bigger space. She’d feel suffocated if the place around her is too crowded.”

Stefan stood up from his seat as well and walked to face the woman behind him. Now that he sees her, he suddenly felt guilty that he sent Dr. Albert to prison. He could not imagine the trouble that this woman had when her husband could not return home.

“Hello, ma’am. I’m Stefan Dumrique. I apologize for taking your husband’s time in the past few years.”

Since Latticia could not form proper words during this miraculous time, Dr. Albert was the one who spoke to for her. “It was really fine. I had someone look after my wife and I got to call her as well.”

Stefan nodded his head and looked at the woman once again. His heart was thumping like crazy when he looked into her eyes and he thought it was just because he was guilty. He didn’t think of anything that could explain what he was feeling.

“Is she paralyzed?” Cayenne asked because she noticed that the woman could not move her body except for the minimal movements of her face. “How long has she been like this?”

“Decades ago.” Dr. Albert answered honestly. “She got involved in a traffic accident and since then, she has suffered so much.”

“A...aah...sss..nnn”

“What is she trying to say?” Stefan questioned because the woman was looking at him with outstretched hand and for some unknown reasons, an invisible force was pushing him to hold her hands. He really wanted to hold her.

“Uhh...” Dr. Albert didn’t know what to say. He knew that Latticia was saying but surely, he didn’t have the heart to tell Stefan the truth. He will lose her again if tells Stefan who the woman was. “Sorry about this. My wife...we lost our son on the day of the accident. Sometimes, she’s really quiet and would just stare into space, but there are times when she mistook someone else as our child.”

Stefan finally understood why the woman was acting strange. He thought that she was looking at him because she mistook him as her child.

Stefan bent down and held the woman’s hand. Dr. Albert was so shock by this gesture and turned to the side to hide away his tears. He was happy for her.

“I lost my mom when I was young so I grew up without a mother but I always love her even though I was only able to spend two months with her. I am sure that your son also loves you because you continue to think about him for so many years. He’s very lucky to have you as her mother. However, I am not your son. I am just...I am Dr. Albert’s friend.”

[Stefan, it’s me your mom. I missed you so much. I want to hold you in my arms. I want to hug you. I want to see you smile. I want to hear you call me mom. I want to spend more time with you and your wife. I want to hold my grandchild. I want to be there for you all the time. I want to tell you so many stories. I missed so many things about you. I missed you. I missed you.]

The woman’s tears fell on her emaciated cheek and Stefan wiped it for her. He has no idea how much her mother wanted to talk to him, to hug him and spend more time with him. He just thought it was a mistake on her part that she looked at him like her son.

“It must have been hard on you.” Cayenne expressed while looking at Dr. Albert who bitterly cried silently on the side. “You are such a kind man. No wonder the Minato family could take advantage of you.”

“I am sure that my wife had it harder than me.”

It took them a long time to calm Latticia down and when did, they gave her time to think on her own. They sat around the table and ordered food. Of course, Dr. Albert did not forget to buy something for Latticia as well.

From time to time, Cayenne and Stefan would talk to Latticia who remained alone next to them. She refused to be on the same table with them.

Unknown to them, Dr. Albert and Latticia made it to the top 10 famous search of the day. The pictures of them have been shared by hundreds of thousands already and many people expressed their salute and amazement to the man in the picture. Since he wasn’t a celebrity, no one knew who he was and the actress did not place any name either.

Soon this picture made its way to Dr. Albert’s cousin who was working overseas as an engineer. He cocked his head to the side, wondering who the woman was because he never heard anything from him. John Albert did not mention anything about getting married or having found the woman he wants to spend his life with.

Meanwhile, Magnus came across this picture as well because many of his associates talked about this man. When he found it was Dr. Albert, he wanted to shut down the actress who spread the picture of this vile creature. Well, he thought Albert was viel. Anyone who had previous relationship with the Minato family was vile. The fun part? He didn’t think of himself as one even though he was considered a cheater. He cheated both women and drove them to their death.

Although he was angry, he could not stop himself from looking at the picture on his phone. The woman’s smile reminded him of Latticia. [I miss her.] Magnus thought before exiting the page and went back to work.

As someone who was born with silver spoon, admired by many because of his look and riches; Magnus never associated himself with the poor, except for Latticia and her family. He loves her so much that he didn’t mind the difference of their status.

Because of his aloof attitude toward the people of lower social status, he never knew John Albert in the past. Even when Dr. Albert liked Latticia, Magnus never heard of this man since many of his male friends – the school bullies – would beat any man who feels something for the love of his life. Thus, Magnus could not associate Dr. Albert to any man he met in the past years.

When their lunch was over, Stefan invited Dr. Albert to take a walk around the place because his wife was told by Cheska to walk at least 30 minutes in one day. She could achieve it easily if she has a class but if there wasn’t, she was too lazy to do it.

“I’ll take this offer.”

Latticia was so excited upon hearing this. She might not be able to talk with Stefan but she was more than happy to spend this little time with her son. Seeing him, holding him after 28 years; she could die happy with no regret. She was already contented because she knew that not everyone could have this chance in their life. It didn’t matter if Stefan doesn’t know she’s alive.