Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 111: Repeat Offender

Chapter 111: Repeat Offender

It was the middle of the work day, and Derek Haven sat at his desk. His work laptop was open in front of him, the screen glowing. All over his desk there was paperwork, evidence that he was a man focused on his duties, and not being distracted in the least. But that was just for show. In truth Derek was a million miles away, his thoughts on something else. That something being what he had been up to the previous night.

The thing was, Derek was a big deal, and he knew it. People, random strangers, were interested in his life, it was just the way it had always been for him, ever since he had been a young boy. Even the most trivial things that he did, seemed to be of great interest to some.

For example if any reporter who covered the social pages was asked, what was it that Derek Haven did the night before. They would all come up with something along similar lines. There would be snippets in their articles saying things like:

Derek Haven, CEO of Haven enterprises seen at a social gala last night...

Or even, Derek Haven spotted out and about with popular actress so and so, could there be wedding bells in the future? Are we looking at a future power couple?...

Those were the sorts of things that the press who claimed to know him would write. But in reality they would have been so far from the truth that they would not have even been within touching distance of it.

What Derek Haven had done the night before was not something that anyone within his social circle would associate with him. And it had not been anything outlandish or wild. Instead Derek had gone to a small diner that the critics who frequented the fancy restaurants that he often went to, would never think to set foot in, let alone write about in their world famous blogs. But he had gone there, eaten a chocolate chip muffin, drank some tea and then paid for his meal, leaving a tip on top of the money for the food.

That was what he had done in a nutshell. To anyone else, that would have been it, and it would not have been anything truly spectacular, but for him it was so much more.

He had finally done something.Instead of chickening out at the door, and driving away. Derek had finally found the courage to open the door and let his presence be known to Emily. He had been able to walk into the diner sit down and have a meal. He should have been proud of himself and in a small way he was, but mostly, he was disappointed in himself.

He might have found the courage to walk into the diner, but he had fallen short of his goal to apologize to her. But it was not for lack of trying. He had walked into that diner with a game plan in mind. In his mind’s eye Derek had seen himself walking in, and Emily upon seeing him would do one of two things, either she would ask him to leave, or she would punch him in the face.

But she had done none of that, instead she had bopped his nose. That simple gesture had whited out everything in Derek’s head. He had just frozen. The game plan that he had come up with thrown out the window. In fact he did not even remember how he had come to be sitting down with a menu in his hands.

Luckily for him Emily had taken charge choosing a meal for him and then bringing it to him. He had gotten lost in feeding his hunger. And just when he had been about to finish his meal, he had begun thinking of apologizing again. He had taken slow sips of his tea, the muffin long gone, trying to piece together exactly what he was going to say to her.

But in the end the time that he had used to try and come up with something to say that would lead to him bringing up the topic of apologizing, had been time that he did not have. The bell above the door had rung, signalling that new customers had come in. Emily had moved away from the counter and had gone to help them, her smile professional her demeanour welcoming.

And in watching her work, whatever it was that Derek had intended to say to her, had dried up in his throat. He did not believe that there was such a thing as the right place and the right time to do something. But he did believe that there was something called tact. He might not have liked the fact that she was working at the diner but it was her place of employment now.

So he had shown respect by simply leaving while she was busy with the other customers. The alternative would have been to hang back like a ghost that was haunting the establishment, watching like a hawk while she served the others. Which would have made her, and the customers uncomfortable, something that he did not want ,especially since the customers had been cops. Or he could have just come right out with it and just told her that he had come to apologize while she was making her way to the kitchen to deliver the customers order but that also would not have been tactful.

But now Derek was in his office and he’d had time throughout the remaining hours of the night to think about his decision. And now he was in his office still thinking about it. And the more he thought on it, the more it occurred to him that his decision to leave without offering his apology had more to do with safeguarding himself, than with making sure that Emily was not bothered while she worked.

In truth by not saying anything at that moment, he had left the door open for another encounter. He had known he was doing it at that very moment, but he had still gone through with it. As soon as he worked up the courage again, he was going to go and see her again.

Once again, Derek was being a coward. He did not like it one bit, cowardice was not for him but for whatever reason when it came to Emily he was the coward of the century.

But if that meant that he kept getting to see her, then it was a title that he would gladly wear. Perhaps he would even wear the title again later that night, and drive by the diner in an effort to see her again.