Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 143: Shifty

Chapter 143: Shifty

All of the information that Derek had just shared washed over Emily, and she let it settle in. Burrowing deep into her mind as she tried to process it. Had Derek really just said what he said? Had he just come out and confessed to the fact that he was having sleeping problems?

That he was suffering from the same issue that she was.

No way.

There had to be some sort of misunderstanding. But as Emily looked at him, searching for signs of deception, for signs of a lie, for proof that he was just playing a sick and twisted game on her. That once she really started to believe him, he would just come out with a..."Surprise! I lied, jokes on you," type of thing but that did not happen. She looked for a long while, but the seconds dragged on and Derek’s face remained the same. He was being honest.

It was not just some messed up lie that he had come up with to get into her good books.

Blinking to get rid of her sudden tears, Emily looked at him "So, that is what you meant when you said you wanted to sleep with me," She finally voiced.

He nodded, suddenly looking unsure of himself.

Emily wanted to reassure him, to let him know that she understood, but she was quickly swept away by her own thoughts, retreating into herself.

How had she missed this? Right in front of her, was someone who had literally been going through the same thing that she was, and she had never seen it. Or maybe she had and had just assumed that she was projecting her own issues onto him.

Nodding at her own reasoning, Emily looked back up at Derek again.

She suddenly remembered that, she too owed him an apology and an explanation.

"Do you forgive me?" Derek asked and Emily gave him a small smile. "Derek, there is nothing to forgive. In fact, I too have something to say," She told him. "You know what I just said, right, about how I lied about my reason for quitting the job that I had at Haven," She asked.

He nodded, the expression on his face, making it seem as though she was dredging up some horrible memory that he did not want to focus on, by mentioning quitting. And most likely that was exactly what she was doing. Right. His reaction meant that she really had to apologize to him.

"When I quit. I told you that I was doing so because I was overstressed. Do you remember?" She was going back to something that she had already said. The man already knew that she had been lying, but Emily felt the need to start from the beginning.

This time it was his turn to give her a small smile. "How could I forget? I was one of the two people in the room at the time," He told her. Emily nodded, grateful that he was letting her repeat things, instead of pushing her to get to the point.

"Well, yes you were. But what I am trying to get at is the fact that I did not quit because I was overstressed," He continued to smile, the look on his face encouraging.

"I know, you already, told me about that," He said, but he did not say it in an impatient way. He was just stating facts.

"At the time it seemed like the most plausible excuse to give as a reason for leaving. But later on I thought on it and I realised that, in saying that I was overstressed, I might have inadvertently led you to believe that I had quit because you were overworking me,"

"You did not leave because of me?" There was something vulnerable in his voice when he said it. Something that Emily vowed to herself to never be the cause of ever again.

"No Derek, I did not leave because of you. In fact, it is quite the opposite,"

"In all of my jobs I never had any trouble quitting, but at Haven Group, I stayed long, longer than I should have, and for the most part it was because of you. You were the reason that I did not go anywhere for so long, not the reason that I left, alright." He nodded, and sat up straighter. Like a man who had just had a huge weight lifted off his shoulders.

"So why did you leave then?" He asked, his hands going around his teacup and then letting it go again. He looked up at her, his eyes boring into hers, looking for something.

"I left because..." She started then stopped.

Coming out with the fact that she had nightmares was not easy to do. But she owed Derek an apology, and so she found the strength to continue.

"Derek, the reason that I quit my job at Haven Group is because I suffer from chronic nightmares. Some nights are worse than others. And by the time that I decided to leave Haven Group, it was so bad that I was worried that the quality of my work would begin to suffer. And if my work slipped up, no doubt I would bring you down with me. I did not want to do that," There, she had said it. Emily took a breath. It was nowhere near as hard as she had thought it was going to be.

"I am sorry if it seemed as though I had left because of you. It was not your fault at all,"

He nodded and then he gave her a mischievous grin. "And what about the slap? Are you sorry now that you know the truth?" He asked. Emily raised a brow.

"I could apologize for that. But I am not one to go against my instincts. The moment you started acting sketchy. I had to defend myself," He shrugged.

"Fair enough. So what about the rest of my proposition?"

"Will you be willing to sleep with me and to come back to your job at Haven?" And there it was. Derek Haven was unbelievable. She had just shared a deep part of her, but he was already going for the heart of the matter. Emily had really missed this side of him. But even so...

Emily knew that she had to be the voice of reason.

"Derek, the sleeping together part, I understand. In fact, before I left I had been seriously considering asking you myself. But as for the part of going back to Haven, that will not be possible. The six weeks that you gave as a reason for me to not come back has ended,"

"I will not come back to a job that I will only have because you fired somebody who after me, had been chosen because they were worthy," she told him. After nothing but eye contact, Derek suddenly shifted his eyes to the side and Emily was instantly suspicious.

"Well, about that..." he paused, looking ready to say something. But then he shook his head.

"Wild, isn’t it, the two of us having the same problem, and not realizing it, despite working together for so long," It was not even a subtle dodge, but Emily decided to let him think he had gotten away with it. She would pounce when he least expected it.