Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 149: Waiting Game

Chapter 149: Waiting Game

Making decisions was hard. That much Derek knew. He was the CEO of Haven Group after all. He made difficult decisions on a daily basis. Decisions that would have had most people losing their minds in the span of a few hours. He knew what it was, to take into consideration things that most people would not even be thinking of, before he made a choice that would affect the lives of millions of people.

But it seemed that being the decision maker had made Derek blind to another aspect of the decision that could be just as difficult. And that was waiting for somebody else to make a decision on something that concerned you. But he now understood just how horrible waiting could be.

Emily had made him wait, and in the hours that it had taken for him to get from the penthouse and go back to the diner, Derek had been in his own personal hell.

It had hurt. He would not lie. He had spent that time at war with himself, a part of him believing that there was no way, that Emily would refuse his offer. While the other part was certain that she would say no.

He had wanted so badly to just call her, and ask her to tell him directly yes or no. To put him out of his misery. But he had held himself back, and now he had finally managed to make it to the diner.

But once again, Emily was making him wait. But to her credit, she did not seem to be getting any joy out of it. In fact, she seemed to be having as much of a hard time as Derek was. Her mouth opening and closing, no words coming out. When she finally picked up the napkin and wrote something on it.

Derek felt as though his heart was in his throat and he was only a few seconds away from spitting it out. With the awful imagery of his heart splattered across the diner table. Derek grabbed the napkin when she pushed it over, and then he turned it so that he could read what she had written.

It was a simple word, written in her neat script.

And Derek, who was used to reading complex legal terms, still struggled a bit to understand it, his eyes tearing up. Yes, she had written, simple and straight to the point. And Derek was so happy he felt as though he might pass out.

He had held billion-dollar contracts in his hands. In fact, he had drafted and signed billion-dollar contracts, but somehow holding the cheap diner napkin felt otherworldly. Looking at Emily’s neat handwriting on it, Derek felt as though he was holding the most expensive document in the world. Yes, she had said yes. She was coming back, not only to be his PA but also to be the possible cure to his sleeping problem. He looked from the neat lettering to her, then back to the napkin, then back to her again. "Do you mean it?" He asked, still not quite able to make himself believe it, even though he held the proof in his hands. Emily gave him a smile. "Of course I mean it. If I did not, would I have used all of my energy writing it out for you?" She said. A smile that matched his own stretching her face.

Throughout the day, and even in the few seconds before he had entered the diner, Derek had promised himself that whatever choice Emily made, he would respect it, that he would be able to live with it even if she told him no, even if she said that she was never ever coming back.

But now that Derek had her yes in his hands, he knew that that would have been a huge bold fat lie. Had Emily told him that she was not coming back, it would have killed him. And that was not even an exaggeration. He definitely felt as though his heart would not have been able to take the rejection.

It would have just given out on him and he could already see the headlines popping up. CEO of Haven Group dies at random diner. Billionaire dead in a cheap establishment. And the tabloids were messy enough to run with headlines like that. None of them caring that they were missing the whole point.

Derek would not have cared that he died in a diner. For him, his cause of death would have been more important. He would have died of a broken heart. But looking down at the simple yes written on the napkin, he knew that that fate was safely averted.

His heart was doing a jig in his chest, too happy to even think of stopping. He felt as though Emily had just given him the moon as an empire, with the rest of the galaxy as his personal playground to do whatever he wished with it.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you," He found himself saying the phrase over and over again. And when Emily began to laugh, he laughed with her. He was pretty sure that if somebody came in and saw them, they would think that the two of them had lost their minds. Suddenly filled with pent up energy that he just had to release, Derek stood, and quickly made his way over to Emily’s side of the table.

"Derek, what is going on? What are you doing?" She barely had enough time to get the question out before Derek grabbed her. She was so light, he realized as he pulled her into a hug. And the next thing he knew, it was not just a hug. He had actually swept her off her feet and was swinging her around as he hugged her. Her surprised laugh loud and bright. The sound was so loud that the cook actually opened the kitchen door for once, looking outside to see what all the commotion was about. When the man saw the two of them, he almost thought that Emily was being attacked for a few seconds.

But then he realized that she was laughing. And in that moment, stone-faced Ben did something uncharacteristic. He smiled.

And with a tiny nod, he closed the kitchen door again, the laughing pair unaware that they’d had an audience, for a brief moment in time, the two of them only having time for each other. Emily’s laughter tapered off as she burrowed closer while Derek continued to spin her. No longer laughing, she rubbed her cheek against his chest. Secretly enjoying the warmth that she found there.

Derek did not notice, for he too was stealing a bit of joy in holding her. Her wonderful scent surrounding him, as he held her closer, his nose buried in her soft hair. One word came to mind.

Spring.

Somehow, she reminded him of a perfect spring day. Looking to be in the presence of that spring for longer, Derek held her closer and spun her some more.