Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 167: Still Can’t Sleep

Chapter 167: Still Can’t Sleep

When Derek had gotten into bed that Thursday night. He had not expected to be out like a light in a matter of seconds. He was not that confident in himself. But it had been close to 30 minutes now. And he was feeling... nothing. Yes, he was tired, but that was nothing new. He was always tired. But that did not mean anything. There was no drowsiness. No rapid blinking, that signalled that his eyes were trying to stay open despite his body trying to sleep. Next to him, Emily, who’d had no trouble settling in and then going to sleep almost instantly, was snoring lightly. He had yet to hear even the slightest hint that she might be having a nightmare. So far it had been only smooth sailings for her, and Derek was unbelievably jealous.

I want that, he thought.

It was not just a matter of wanting, it was a matter of need too. He needed sleep. Everybody needed sleep. But somehow it seemed that for him, slumber would be out of reach for the longest time. Resisting the urge to let out a frustrated yell. Derek settled instead for wriggling around angrily. All under the guise of trying to get more comfortable. He ended up closer to Emily than before without meaning to. Blowing out a frustrated breath, he turned his head towards her.

He could not really make out her features in the dark, but her breath was warm against his neck every time she breathed out. "At least one of us is benefiting from this," He whispered in the dark. Emily did not reply, she was already deep in sleep. The deal had been that both of them would have to see if the sleep thing was working for them. Clearly it had worked for Emily, but for Derek it was yet another failed attempt.

If he were a ruder, more mean-spirited person, he would have woken her up out of spite, and if he were truly toxic, he would have even asked her to leave, told her that the whole thing was off. But Derek was not that cold-hearted. So even as he stared at Emily in the dark, barely able to make out her features, envy clouding his mind. Derek knew that he was not going to wake her up. He was not going to ruin this for her. Just because it was not working for him, it did not mean that he could not be happy for someone else. Emily deserved this. She worked just as hard as he did.

So he would let her have this moment. Let her just enjoy her sleep. They would talk about a way forward in the morning. Since this was not working for him, there would have to be some adjustments made. Maybe every once in a while, like twice or three times a week. He would see if he had enough time to let her come and sleep for a few hours a night.

Given that it seemed that he himself would not be sleeping, it was a reasonable offer. Maybe he could give her five hours of him just laying there and not moving, allowing her body the rest that it needed. But since she was already asleep, Derek decided that there was no harm in leaving her to it.

His presence had clearly done the trick. He had yet to see a nightmare from her. So it appeared that she was already deep enough into the land of dreams that nightmares could not reach her. Sitting up slowly so as not to wake her, Derek lifted up the bed covers on his side of the bed.

He slowly inched away from her, not wanting to accidentally wake her. He was almost at the edge of the bed when Emily let out a whimper. He froze, waiting for her to come awake. But she stayed asleep, going quiet a few seconds later. Her breathing evening out again. Breathing a sigh of relief, Derek continued with his plan to leave the bed. He inched further away still and then he finally managed to get a foot on the floor.

The moment that he put weight on it, she whimpered again, and Derek stopped once more. But this time, the whimper did not cut off. Instead, it continued. And when it stopped, it was not because whatever it was that she was dreaming of had turned into something sweet.

Instead, things must have gotten worse because the whimper gave way to horrible sounding sobs, pitiful things, the types of sounds that Derek associated with people being tortured. He could just let it take its course, let it wake her up so that the two of them both spent the night miserable. But Derek did not have it in him to do that. With a sigh, he reversed course. He took his feet off the floor, got back under the covers, and moved closer to Emily once again. The closer he got, the quieter she became. And when Derek reached out with his hand, and gently grasped hers in his. She quieted all together. Look at that he thought. His presence in bed really was good for something. Resigning himself to an evening of being unable to do anything but stare up at the ceiling. Derek tried to get comfortable.

He shifted around a bit and Emily, clearly feeling his movements even in her sleep, must have thought that he was going away again because he felt her hand twitch in his, trying to grasp at him weakly. It is all right. I am not going anywhere. I am just getting comfortable.

Derek projected in his thoughts and for good measure he said it out loud too, keeping his voice low and even. That seemed to do the trick and Emily calmed once more, leaving Derek exactly where he was in the beginning. Wide awake.

Now literally stuck where he was and getting even more bored by the second. Derek tried to come up with ways to amuse himself but there was absolutely nothing for him to do. So he focused on Emily’s breathing. In, out, in, out... it lulled him into the trance-like state that he often tried to achieve, when he really needed a way to rest.

It was peaceful and Derek let it settle over him. In, out, she breathed. In, out, in, out. Unconsciously, Derek matched her breaths and at some point it was not just his breathing that was the same as hers. Just like Emily, Derek’s eyes closed too, and in a matter of seconds he too was fast asleep. The man not even realising when the one thing that he had been praying for all along finally happened.