Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 129: Ready To Talk

Chapter 129: Ready To Talk

Derek Haven was back. He was back at Bee’s Diner, a place where Emily had never expected to see him again. And just the sight of him was enough to rattle her brains, throwing out all of the things that Emily had been promising herself that she would say to him, the moment that she saw him again. Looking at him, Emily struggled for a bit, trying to pull herself together. When her brain finally came back online. It did so by falling back on an old standby, she switched to her professional persona, going up to him and treating him like a regular customer, just as she had done all those times before.

The very thing that she had been admonishing herself for, the entire time that he had been gone.

It was a strange thing, to be berating yourself mentally for doing something so spineless, while at the same time, your physical body was carrying on doing the very thing that you had promised yourself that you would no longer be doing. Stop it Emily.You had promised that you would deal with him the next time you saw him.

This could be it, the final time you get a chance to get things off your chest. Do not waste it. Confront him, confront him, a part of her was saying. But Emily barely heard it. Her focus was on Derek. Horrible, horrible, and yet so wonderful, Derek Haven.

With that beard of his that did not suit him, and the dark lines under his eyes. How could she think of anything other than taking care of him when he looked so miserable? Yes, she had promised herself that she would confront him the next time that she saw him, but for now what was important was making sure that he got some food into him.

She led him to his table, feeling the eyes of the other occupants of the diner on her and knowing that they must have picked up on the fact that there was something between her and this current customer. But Emily could hardly spare them a glance, all of her attention on Derek . Just as she was about to leave him at his table, and go get his order. He grabbed her gently. His big hand going around her wrist, the hand closing over her petite limb. It was just a simple touch, but it set something deep within Emily alight.

"Emily, can we talk? "He said.

And there was something in the way he said it. Or perhaps it was the way he was looking at her, all earnest, that made Emily feel as though, even if he had asked "Emily, can we go kill someone," She would have said yes, without a second thought. But before she could give her consent on them going to talk, the doorbell jingled and she looked up, and her worst nightmare in that moment came true.

Half a dozen police officers walked in, and by the looks of them, they did not seem to be in any hurry. They were detectives, and clearly they were celebrating something, most likely a successful case.

She pulled her wrist out of his grasp, instantly feeling cold, but she ignored the strange feeling, and made her way over to the new customers. She added their orders to Derek’s and then made her way back so that she could give them to the cook. From there, the night picked up.

At some point, Ethan, Marcus and Miss Beth and baby Ella said their goodbyes, but Emily was too busy. Distracted by serving the original police members who had come in, plus all of their friends, who had come in after them, to see them off properly. She ran around the tables, mopping things up. Refilling cups, and just generally making sure that the police did not have a reason to complain. She barely had enough time to catch her breath, let alone look up to see if Derek was still at the little corner that she had left him at.

It took nearly an hour for the police officers to clear out. And by the time they left, Emily was swaying on her feet. But still, there was work to be done. She had to clean up after them. After closing her eyes for a bit, Emily took a deep breath, reopened her eyes, and got back to work.

She started by clearing up the table, a monumental task. As she was picking up one of the spoons it slipped from her grasp and clattered on the floor. Looking down at it, Emily could not even muster up the energy to bend down. She had a feeling that if she did she might just end up sleeping on the floor. But she did not have to worry about kneeling and grabbing it because there was suddenly someone there. Derek crouched without difficulty and took the spoon in his hand, and then he handed it back to her.

Emily took it, a dumb look on her face as she stared from the spoon to him. "Derek?" she asked, not quite believing her own eyes.

She had been so busy she had not been able to check on him. In fact, she had been pretty sure that he had used the opportunity to slip out like he had done previously. But it seemed that he had stayed. He was still there.

"Why don’t you rest a bit? I will gather up the things and then you can take them back to the kitchen," He told her, ushering her to the nearest seat. Dumbfounded, Emily could only obey, and then she found herself seated while Derek, the sleeves of his expensive shirt, rolled up gathered all of the dirty plates, the cups, the spoons, everything, and then took a dishcloth and began wiping everything down. She had never seen him do any actual physical labour. That time with lugging around his own bags did not count.

It was quite an experience.

Glad for the unexpected chance to rest up a bit, Emily watched him work. And then when he was done, she took everything to the back. It was only a matter of a few minutes to wash up everything and put it away, ready for use later. And by that time she would be leaving, the day staff taking over.

Going back out front, she expected him to be gone again, but once again Derek proved her wrong. He was still there, seated at his original table. Going over, Emily sat across from him. She took a deep breath, and then she steepled her fingers, resting her chin on them, and giving him her best, no nonsense look.

"You wanted to talk?" She asked.

He nodded.

"Yes, yes I do. I want to talk,"