Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 142: Truths Shared

Chapter 142: Truths Shared

A chance, Derek still had a chance. Emily was willing to listen. All he had to do now was explain to her.

To make her see that she had misunderstood his intentions, that when he had asked to sleep with her, he had meant it in the platonic sense, that he was not making a move on her. That was it. That was as simple as things got.

But for some reason, despite having the game plan fully outlined in his mind. The rest of his body did not seem to be getting what needed to be done. His fingers remained curled around his teacup, holding it a bit too tight. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.

His mouth, when he opened it to try and talk, did not produce a single sound. With words failing him for the first time in his life, Derek sat there gaping, looking at Emily who was staring back at him expectantly.

Do something, say something. You have to apologize or she’s going to leave. You will never see her again, you heard her. But despite his brain’s best efforts to get him moving, to get him talking, Derek could not seem to make it past the invisible wall that had caged him.

And as the seconds ticked by and all that he could do was stare, he watched Emily’s look turn from expectant, to disappointed and then angry. Putting her tea down, she looked back at him and shook her head sadly. "Well then, I guess that answers it. The great Derek Haven does not think that he owes the likes of me an explanation for behaving like a dirty pig," With that she put her palms flat on the table, and pushed up.

Derek’s heart rate went through the roof. She was leaving. He had blown his chance. He was going to lose her for good. Say something! His brain screeched. But with his mouth still refusing to cooperate, Derek found himself at a loss.

But the severity of the situation seemed to reach at least one part of his body. Derek regained control of his arms, and letting go of the teacup he grabbed for Emily. His hand gently holding the tips of her fingers.

She turned back, giving him a wide-eyed look. "Emily, please, I..." He managed to say, his voice sounding like he had never heard it before. It sounded so weak and defeated, like he was a dying man struggling to get his last wishes out.

He wanted to stop to clear his throat so that his voice came out as low and confident as it always did. But it seemed that the uncharacteristic tone did the trick. Rather than pull her hand away and keep going, Emily turned fully back and then she sat down again.

Taking her hand back, she folded her arms over her chest and then she looked at him for a long minute. She must have seen some of his desperation on his face, because the rage in her eyes dimmed somewhat. Blowing out a puff of air, she muttered under her breath.

"Great, just great. I cannot believe I’m about to do this?" Clearly she had not meant for Derek to hear the words, and when she looked back up into his eyes, he realized that she thought that he had not heard them, so he pretended that he hadn’t. What was she about to do? What was she talking about?

Was she about to just let him get off scot-free? But even as he thought that, Derek highly doubted it. Emily was a woman owed an apology. She would not be letting things go that easily.

"Derek, since you still seem to be having some problem gathering your thoughts, there is something that I also want to say to you. It might not be anything to you, but it is something that has been bothering me for a while, and I want to get it off my chest," Still tongue tied, all that he could manage was a nod, and she carried on.

"When I left Haven Group, I did something that I did not think much of at the time. But as time has gone on, I have come to realize that it was selfish of me and even though I am unsure of how it affected you, I get the feeling that you might not have been as unmoved by it as you had pretended to be,"

What? Derek thought. What was she on about? He would have known if she had caused some major incident the way some employees did when they quit. He had not heard stories of her doing something wild. Like stripping as she ran through the hallways, nor had he heard of her trying to do anything else that was out of character.

So what was she talking about?

Tugging on a few loose strands of hair, Emily continued to speak, blissfully ending Derek’s foray into trying to figure out exactly what it was that Emily felt needed explaining.

"The day that I quit, I remember telling you that it was because I was overstressed at Haven Group. That was a lie, Derek,"

A lie. She had lied about being overstressed at work. It was such a simple sentence, but what it did to Derek was anything but simple. Some knot deep in his chest suddenly came loose, and it was as though the blood was now flowing better throughout his whole body. He instantly felt lighter. As though with just her words, Emily had managed to dislodge a heavy boulder that Derek had been carrying on his shoulders for weeks, the weight pressing him down, guilt constantly gnawing at him.

"You did not quit because of me?" He found himself saying, voice small, and Emily nodded.

"I did not quit because of you. I have...," She paused, seeming to be thinking of the correct words to say.

"I have a problem, Derek. Something that I was worried would begin to affect you if I stayed any longer at Haven Group, and so that is why I left.’" Oh, she had quit in a bid to try and protect him. But what kind of problem could she be having? Derek wanted so badly to ask, but he knew that he had no right. With her truth having freed him from his own guilt, Derek finally found the words that he needed to say.

And when he opened his mouth, they came easily. And he said them, even if they started off as a jumbled mess at first.

"I too would like to apologize, Emily, for saying that I wanted you to sleep with me. I understand how that could have sounded to you now, and I am sorry" There, that was as good a start as any.

"But in truth, I do still want to sleep with you," The soft look that she had been giving him instantly vanished, her rage back full force, but before it could get out of control Derek was already talking, trying to calm her down before she lost it completely.

"I want to sleep with you, but not in the romantic sense. I want us to share a bed...platonically," He blurted as quickly as he could, and it worked.

Her rage receded, logic returning. What do you mean share a bed platonically? He took a breath. He had never told anyone who did not need to know about this.

"When I slept with you that night, I was able to sleep,"

She frowned, not understanding. "So what? Isn’t sleep what people do when they’re tired? After a long day," She asked. And Derek let out a huge sigh. "Not for me. I have been struggling with sleep for a long time,"

"And that night when the two of us shared a bed, that was the first time in a long time that I have been able to just close my eyes and be able to slip into a peaceful slumber. Please, I wish to sleep with you again to see if the same results will be possible," He finished.

The whole time that he had been talking, he had been looking down at his tea. And now that he had said his piece, he looked up, expecting to see Emily giving him that same disbelieving look that he had seen when he had first started talking about it. But instead of disbelief, there was something else in her eyes.

And that something looked an awful lot like hope.

"Really? That is why you want to sleep with me" She said, her eyes glistening.

And with just those words, and that look in her eyes, she made Derek feel as though there was more to the story.