Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 141: Let Us Speak

Chapter 141: Let Us Speak

Maybe there was something that was wrong with her, or perhaps it was something in the air of the diner. But either way, whatever it was that turned Emily into a smiling idiot whenever Derek Haven walked into Bee’s diner, it had to stop. He had come in right after she had ridden the wave of an anxiety attack.

And just the sight of him had been enough to make her smile again, feeling as though everything would be right in the world after enduring those horrible few moments of feeling nothing but doom, gloom and fear. That should not have been happening. Derek was the main cause of most of her stress.

The sight of him should have skyrocketed her stress again. Or made her so mad that she could not see straight. But instead of attacking him, just one look at him and Emily felt all of the tension leave her. When he smiled and asked for muffins and some tea, she could do nothing but return the smile, and go make sure that he was taken care of.

Things were just the way they always were between the two of them, like nothing had changed. Like the previous night had just been some misunderstanding that they had cleared up, and were now on good terms. Their familiar routine fell on her like a soft blanket. Emily wrapped it around herself, and burrowed deep, enjoying the comfort that Derek made her feel.

And when she brought him his tea, she did not even think of spitting in it, not even once. Teenage Emily, who had been very vengeful and petty, would have been very disappointed in the way that adult Emily was acting.

And she was disappointed in herself too. She should just come right out and demand an apology from him. Just like she had been telling herself that she would do all along. She had spent hours in a rage because of his words. But now that she was facing him, that all just seemed like water under the bridge. Like something so insignificant, it was not worth bringing up again.

But she wanted answers, wanted an explanation. She needed to know why it was that he had thought he could just ask her to sleep with him and she would not be offended by that. That thought was enough to spark just the tiniest bit of rage in her. And Emily used it to center herself.

She turned to Derek, intent on asking him flat out why he had done what he had done the previous night. But once again, her horrible luck struck.

The door jingled, a customer walking in, and from then on there was no moment of rest. They just kept coming, one after the other. Unintentionally testing Emily’s patience as she struggled to keep up her professional demeanor, and make sure that all of them were served appropriately.

And just as the last of the current wave of customers left, and Emily thought that she could finally confront Derek. Her worst nightmare came to be. The door jingled, she looked up, and there they were... police officers. And not just one or two, but a whole group of them.

With the way that she was just a jumbled mess on the inside. Serving cops was the last thing that she needed to be doing. But Emily had no choice. They were customers and they had come in. So she put on her most waitress smile and looked over at them.

After they picked out a table and went to sit down, Emily brought them their menus. From then on it was a matter of enduring the cat calls, the sugars, the sweethearts. And all the other words that the officers called her.

At some point they had her going back and forth from them to the kitchen so many times, that Emily stopped looking up. She stopped trying to make sure that Derek was still there. And as she worked, at some point, she gave up all hope that she would find him still waiting, once the police officers left.

The last time such a thing had happened, she had looked up and found him gone. So most likely this time, the same thing would happen. Derek Haven was a busy man. He would not stick around, while Emily did her job.

And so mourning yet another missed opportunity, Emily carried on taking orders from the police. She refilled coffee cups, brought in more bacon, and just generally did everything in her power to make sure that they ate up quickly and left as soon as possible.

By the time that they finally stopped giving multiple orders and just settled down to eat, Emily was exhausted but she still took the chance to look up.

And when she did, she took a startled breath. He was still there. Derek Haven was still in the diner. Unlike the last time, he had not disappeared while she was still busy. He was waiting. Which meant that Emily would get to talk to him. She would get her closure. She would get her explanation.

Just knowing that she had something to look forward to, suddenly made the rest of her shift more bearable. When the police officers left .Derek was still there waiting. Even as Emily cleared up their table she could still feel his eyes on him.

Once that was done, Emily headed to the kitchen and instead of just washing the dishes right away, she put them in the sink and went to do something else. No doubt by now Derek’s tea was cold, so Emily brewed some more, making it just the way she used to back when she worked for him. The way that she knew he liked it, and that she also liked it as well.

Tea made, Emily put it in a tray with two new mugs and went out. As expected Derek was still there and there were no new customers. She put the tray down next to him. She picked up his cold tea and put it to the side together with the plate full of destroyed muffins.

Not yet talking to him, Emily picked up the teapot. She poured his cup, and then she poured for herself. Then she placed the pot down between them. Only then did she look up at him.

Taking a deep breath, she said what she needed to say. "We need to talk," She told him. And he nodded.

"I am going to give you a chance to explain to me exactly why you said what you said yesterday, and if at any point it seems as though you are just making excuses, I am going to walk away, and most likely you will never see me again. So start talking and I hope with everything in me, that what you say makes perfect sense, Derek. I do not wish to lose the respect that I have had for you all along. Alright?"

"Alright," He agreed, as he nodded and Emily took a sip of her tea, waiting for him to begin.