Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 106: Imaginary Man

Chapter 106: Imaginary Man

Emily had always been what many people called cute. "As cute as a button," The elderly ladies used to say. But now she was pretty sure that she looked anything but...

Having nightmares on the regular, working night shifts, and night shifts only, was taking its toll on her. Her skin was too pale, even though she did not spend most of the day asleep as most nightshift workers did, she was often too tired to go outside. And the lack of sun was clear to see on her skin.

And that was before one took in the truly unfortunate purple work uniform that she had to wear. She often just pulled her hair into a messy ponytail and was out the door. The result being that she looked professional, but still a bit rough around the edges. The way she looked now, she would not have even been allowed to glance at the headquarters of Haven group, but Emily did not care about that. It was all in the past.

But something that she did care about, that had started two days prior, was the fact that she now seemed to be loosing her marbles. The lack of sleep in general was really not helping, but it was still a shock to realize that she was slipping into a paranoid state.

The first time that it had happened, Emily had looked around feeling as though she was being watched. When she had found no one there, she had brushed the feeling off and carried on about her night, performing her duties and serving customers. But then the following night, the feeling had come back. This time it had been so strong that Emily had nearly dropped the plate that she had been carrying.

After putting it down, she had looked around and upon finding no one there, she had not given up. Instead she had rushed to the door, wanting to see if there was someone hiding in the shadows. All that she had ended up seeing was a car driving off in the darkness. It had been too far by then to make out its colour and model. And the lights had been too dim for her to make out the licence plate numbers. She had gone back to her work.

But the next night, and the night after that, the feeling was back. To make matters worse. It did not come at a set time. If it occurred at fixed intervals, Emily could at least have tried to prepare herself in advance for it. What the preparation would have entailed, she had no idea, but she would have like to know either way. Instead the feeling of being watched, came randomly and each time it did. It left her looking around, feeling lost.

It never lasted long, just a few seconds at the most but it always left Emily feeling off balance. And it only ever seemed to come while she was at the diner. But she could not pinpoint the reason why. It was not a welcome feeling and she wanted it to end. But the only possible solution that she could think of, was to get enough sleep. And that just felt like an impossible task. She had been trying for years and precious little had worked.

Her sudden paranoia was not likely to miraculously lead her to a cure.

The only thing that she continued to console herself with while having her mini freak-outs, was that she was no longer at Haven. It was one thing for her to be looking around for an imaginary pair of eyes while some customers were enjoying their meal a few feet away. It would have been quite another for her to pause during conversations with Derek, in an effort to look for an eavesdropper who did not exist. Had such behaviour been seen at Haven Group, Emily’s competency would have been called into question, and she would have dragged Derek down with her too. She would not have been able to bear it.

Which was why, like a dog going away to die, Emily had removed herself from the situation and had come to an easy to miss diner. Here she could earn some cash, while she thought on what her next move would be. And her temporary lapses in attention would not have disastrous consequences.

If her failures had been what brought Derek down, she would never have been able to live with herself.

But even though she had been able to save Derek’s reputation. Emily was not able to save her fraying mind and that worried her. Paranoia had already set in. What would be next? Hallucinations? Would her mom come home one day to find Emily talking to the walls? Or would she come up with an imaginary friend who did all of the thinking for her?

Thinking such things often left Emily feeling down. She did not like it. So she had resorted to keeping herself busy as a way to stop her mind from fixating on what looked to be a bleak future.

She served customers as they came. Greeting them and then being a chatty hostess if it looked like they needed someone to talk to. When there were no customers, she made sure to keep herself on the move. From sweeping the floor, mopping up spills, wiping at tables, and even the windows sometimes.

Emily was always moving.

And when she ran out of things to clean and rearrange, and the diner felt way too big all of a sudden. Emily did something that she would deny until she was blue in the face if someone asked her...She danced.

And she did not just dance, she sang too, coming up with songs on the spot. One would argue that such behaviour also signalled a descent into madness. But Emily would not agree with that argument.

Singing and dancing were the exact opposite of that for her, so that was exactly what she did. With the door to the kitchen closed so that the cook did not see her, Emily danced.

This time she had a mop in hand. It served as both her dance partner and her microphone. Moving among the tables without bumping a single one, Emily, her tone pitched low, sang an original song about being a waitress.

"...Customers come, customers go, babies and grandmas, mamas and papas. They all come an go, but the waitress stays, yes the waitress staysssssss," She dragged out the last bit, spinning around slowly.

The song cut off when she caught sight of a figure in the doorway.

An imaginary one too.

Emily knew it was imaginary because the person looked like Derek Haven. But Derek Haven would never have allowed himself to be seen anywhere with a beard that out of control.

So she was definitely seeing things.

Rather than freak out, Emily decided to just play along. Resuming her dance, she leaned the mop against a table and shimmied forward.

"..Oh yes, the waitress stays, the customer goes..." Imaginary Derek just stood here, watching. Maybe she had to animate him. With that thought in mind, Emily moved right into his personal space and bopped him on the nose.

She half expected her hand to go right through him. But that did not happen.

Derek’s nose was solid, his skin warm. Wait a minute, that could not be right. She bopped him again, and when he tilted his head to the side, Emily took a step back.

Oh....

"Derek?"