Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 196: Back At It

Chapter 196: Back At It

Aside from the dreams that almost always ended with Emily being unable to breathe. The three days where she did not share a bed with Derek were not so bad. And Emily had to admit that probably a huge chunk of that was because she knew it was only temporary.

That she only had to endure all of the discomfort that came with interrupted sleep for a short period of time. Had it been like in the past where each and every night was just this endless cycle of nightmares waking, and embroidering. Emily would not have been able to endure it, with as much grace as she did the three days that went by without her sharing the bed with Derek.

After waking up on Tuesday nearly drowning in her own sweat. On Wednesday Emily had woken up from a nightmare where she had been chased by a masked man.

And when the man had finally caught up with her. He had proceeded to choke the life out of her. But luckily for her, death in the dream world translated to waking up in the real world. So even though she had been terrified and had had to take a few seconds to calm herself. Emily had been glad that it was over. A few hours later, when Wednesday had finally given way to Thursday.

Emily had begun to feel lighter even before she had seen Derek. Her whole being just buzzing with anticipation.

Her heart fluttering at the thought of what was to come. When she had gone into work and seen Derek. Emily had barely been able to hold herself back. In fact, she had nearly thrown herself at him several times during the day.

’Forget about our rule of secrecy, Derek. Let us just sleep here and now.

I do not care who is watching,’ Emily had wanted to say. But luckily for her she had been able to control that impulse. And from time to time when she had looked at Derek, she had realized that he too must have been suffering from the same thing as her.

Just wanting the day to be over, so that the two of them could be in each other’s arms again. But by some miracle he had kept his arms to himself, and Emily had been able to do the same despite wanting to just drag Derek into the nearest corner, and just curl up in his arms and sleep.

But with dedication and tenacity that Emily normally preserved for things work related. She had persevered and now the end of the day had come.

"See you tomorrow Derek," Emily said, and he looked up from the paper that he was reading. "See you tomorrow Emily," He replied, and the two of them nodded to one another.

There was no one else with them. The charade was unnecessary. But somehow just sayiing those words made things more real. It was not really a way of saying goodbye. It was more of a way to remind each other of their standing appointment. Looking into Derek’s eyes for a split second before she turned to leave, Emily saw that the message was received loud and clear. They both knew what it was that they were really talking about.

With her workday now safely behind her. Emily went home, and faced what she was quickly discovering was her least favourite part of the whole arrangement...facing her mother, and lying to her.

Upon arriving at home, Emily put it off for as long as she could. She made sure to just spend time with her mom. The two of them being mother and daughter, and enjoying each other’s company. Even if it was through something as simple as washing the dishes together.

After their evening meal, hands buried in the water as she scrubbed at her plate. Emily turned to her mother, deciding to just bite the bullet.

"Mom, it is Thursday today," She said, and her mom nodded, not seeming to understand exactly what Emily was getting at.

But a few seconds later, the meaning behind Emily’s words sunk in. Her mom stopped humming, her body going tense, and Emily instantly felt bad.

"Oh, is it Thursday already?" Her mother asked, and Emily nodded.

"When will you be leaving?" Her mom prompted.

Rinsing off her plate, Emily pretended to think about it. "Mmm, I believe I will be gone within the hour," She said. The words coming from her as flippantly as she could make them. In truth, she had been thinking about nothing but leaving, since the moment that she had set foot in the door.

Not because she had been wanting to leave her mom alone in the apartment. But because she was seriously aching for some good night’s sleep. The past three days had been hard. Even though she’d had known that the finish line was within sight the whole time.

It had still been very difficult for her to keep herself motivated. To keep her spirits up as she waited for another Thursday to come around. But now that she was literally just a few hours from seeing Derek, hours that could be counted as minutes if Emily were in a mood to be exact. Which she was not, given she was currently preoccupied with feeling guilty for lying to her mom.

But despite how bad she felt at once again pulling the wool over her mother’s eyes. Emily knew that if there was a different option presented to her. She would still take the lying route without second thought. Lying to her gave no her mom pleasure.

Emily was only doing it because it was the only way for her to get what she needed, which was sleep. And she needed it bad. Already, since Wednesday she had been feeling a low-level headache building. It had not yet gotten to the extreme depths of pain, that Emily knew that headaches induced by sleep deprivation could get to.

But it had been bothering her and it had also been making her worry.

Not for herself, but for Derek. She really hoped that he had not been struggling too much.

The worry followed her all the way to Derek’s penthouse. Only letting up when they got into bed together.

From that point on, it seemed to be the only thing that calmed Emily. Week in and week out, it was the only thing that worked.