Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 175: Just Checking

Chapter 175: Just Checking

Using the amazing power of insomnia that very few people rarely talked about. Mainly because it was so obvious...I cannot sleep...pretty much did not need mentioning after the word insomnia was said. Derek had been able to work his way all through Saturday night. He had worked, and worked until the letters before him had began to blur, taking on the quality of alphabet soup as they flowed together.

It was not a fun experience, and with it, Derek had been forced to put his work aside and go for an old standby.

Swimming.

He had swum until his whole body ached. Only then did he pull himself out of the waters and lay next to the pool, catching his breath. As expected, he had not been able to fall asleep afterwards. But he had at least been able to access that calm state that often came if he focused hard enough on blocking out everything that was going on around him. Entering that state was easier to do than normal.

Derek had a niggling suspicion that it had more to do with the good sleep that he had had on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night rather than on his body’s ability to relax having improved overnight. But even so, he allowed himself to enjoy it, knowing that it was a rare treat, that he should be grateful for. It had kept him going for many years before he had met Emily after all. Derek had kept the meditative state up for a few hours. And come sunrise, he had been able to be a somewhat functional human being during the day.

But night had fallen once more, he was back to his old routine. The very one that he’d had on Saturday night, and that was work, work, work, and more work. He worked until just the sight of paperwork with the Haven Group logo on it made him want to throw up, and it was once he got to that point that he decided it was time for a break.

Just as he had done the night before, Derek made his way to the rooftop pool. But this time, instead of swimming as he had intended to, he found himself doing the opposite. Instead, he sat at the edge of the pool. His feet dipped into the water, all the way up to the knee. He kicked them slightly, enjoying the way that the water parted and then came together with each movement, feeling as though it was pushing him forward and then holding him back at the same time. Without actively meaning to. Derek found his eyes searching the city. He did not stop until they were in the general direction of where he knew Emily’s apartment was. "Are you awake too? Are the nightmares bothering you? Keeping you awake when everybody else is asleep?" He found himself saying aloud.

There was no answer.

Of course there was not. How could she answer when she did not know that he was talking to her? But even so, after saying those words, Derek did not say anything for a long while, waiting the same way somebody who had just asked a companion a question would when they were expecting a reply.

When none came as was expected, he let out a sigh. But he could not stop himself from continuing to stare. Just by looking in that direction, it felt as though Emily were right next to him.

She was the only other person who understood just how important sleep was, and how devastating it was to go without it. And in thinking about her in the darkness of the night. When everybody was fast asleep, and they had gotten into that state without even having to work for it. The bitterness that normally came over Derek at the thought vanished. He felt just felt a sense of peace, knowing that Emily was sharing the experience with him. It was like having a companion on a long hard road.

When you were alone, the road seemed longer, harsher somehow. But with somebody walking step by step with you, things became easier. Just being able to look over and know that there was someone going through the same thing as you, but they were not giving up. Instead, they were pushing forward, one step at a time. Because that was what life was, putting one step in front of the other, even if you had no idea where that step would land.

Deciding that he would not be getting any swimming done that night, Derek pulled his feet out of the water and wiped them. With that he headed back inside and changed into some comfortable pyjamas.

It seemed that he would be doing some more work after all.

But this time when he sat down at his home office to start going through some emails, Derek did not just bring his laptop. He had Emily’s coat draped across his lap. In its pocket was the napkin where she had written ’yes’, when she had decided that she was coming back to Haven Group.

Every few minutes or so Derek would pause and during that mini break. Instead of getting up to stretch his legs or heading to the kitchen to get some water, he would instead run his hands over the soft material. It was comforting and it reminded him of how good it had felt to have Emily in his arms.

He did that for a few hours and then at six in the morning he was forced to stop. But not because he had to get to work, but because the doorbell was ringing. When he opened the door he found his mother on the other side. "Good morning darling," She said.

Derek returned the greeting as he let her in. She did not look as though she had slept a wink, something that was easy for him to spot, despite the makeup that she had put on, because Derek was very good at telling when people did not have a good night’s rest(Emily was a rare exception). Most likely she had come from the airport and straight to Derek’s place.

So that meant that whatever it was that had her coming to him so early in the morning. It had to be business related. And sure enough, Derek was proven right. A few minutes later, the two of them were sitting across from each other at the kitchen counter, each of them sipping juice from a glass as he listened to her speak.

"The Seychelles thing is nearly in the bag. I have managed to make some very valuable connections, but we are going to have to tread carefully. I will remain on the side of the activists, making sure that companies do not pollute the waters, while you will swoop in from the tourism side and make sure that Haven Group lures in as many tourists as we possibly can. We stand to make a killing there," She said, and Derek nodded, mentally filing away all that she had said. They talked business for a while longer. And then his mother suddenly stopped. She reached over, hands on either side of Derek’s face. She turned his head this way and that. Her eyes narrowing with worry. "Derek, you really should get more sleep. It was Sunday yesterday, but you look worse than I do, and I am the one who just flew across oceans to get here," Derek had to suppress a laugh at that. "Yes, Mother, I will. I just had a bit of paperwork that needed doing before I head into the office today," He told her.

With that he went to get ready for work. While he was in the shower, one thing kept running through Derek’s head. He had to come up with a plan. A plan that would allow him to get more sleep time with Emily.

Occupied in the shower, Derek did not hear it when his mother left the kitchen. She moved around in the living room, and even tiptoed into his bedroom to check if there was anything amiss. Working swiftly, keeping an eye on the bathroom door. She found nothing strange, and closed the door with a sigh.

Then she headed back to the living room. Her plan in coming so early had been to catch her son off guard. She had a feeling that there was something going on that she did not know about. But it seemed that she had been overreacting. Deciding that she had just been imagining things. She made her way out of her son’s penthouse before he finished getting ready.

’I have to go.Something came up,’ She texted, and left it at that.

Little did she know that if she had wanted to know what was going on. Then she should have stepped into Derek’s study instead of his bedroom. She would have found the proof draped across the back of his seat...a woman’s blue coat.