Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 200: Inventors Of Dating

Chapter 200: Inventors Of Dating

If one were to ask Jane Molson about the youth, then she would have this to say.

"The youth today are very smart people. After all, look at all of the gadgets that they got used to in a short period of time, and technology is always evolving, but you never see them struggling. Whatever new hinky-dink comes through, they’re always ready. They always manage to use it without any struggle," But Jane Molson would not have ended it there. Instead, she would have continued after that.

"But smart as they are, the youth are also very dumb. Do you know what their biggest problem is?

Their biggest problem is that they think they invented everything in the world, including dating,"

"But dating is one of those things that us old folk know for sure. After all, the older generation was there when love letters were not just a thing that was done on occasion.They were something that was quite regular,"

"The older generation was there when love notes had to be passed on the sly in order to get a secret message to the love of your life across. They knew what it was to sneak in and out of the house in the middle of the night just so you could spend a few hours holding your boyfriend’s hand. Talking about nothing and everything, feeling like you knew all there was to know about the world,"

That was the generation that Jane Molson came from. And though she might not know anything about that social media stuff, especially those so-called dating apps. The ones about the grinding and the swipings to the left. Is that what the youth said? She wondered. But then she shrugged.

That was unimportant. She might not have known a lot of the new advanced technology stuff. But what Jane Molson knew, and knew for a fact was what a young woman in love looked like.

And Emily Molson, even if she would deny it until she were blue in the face. If her mother were to confront her, was most definitely in love.

At first, Jane had been unsure whether or not she was seeing things. After all, Emily had never been much of a good liar. So when her daughter had fed her the story about her needing to go into work from Thursday all the way to Sunday every week, just so she could ’work’ on some project.

Jane had given her the benefit of the doubt. But then as the weeks had gone by. Jane had seriously began to doubt the validity of said project. After all, no matter what she was working on, even if it was confidential

Emily had always managed to find a way to say a little something about whatever it was that she was currently working on.

She did not share company secrets. But she did find a way to just let her mother know a little bit of what was going on. Often doing so without needing any prompting whatsoever. Those were things that generally just came up in conversation. So as the weeks went by, and Jane did not hear a single thing from her daughter. Not even a complaint about her co-workers on that particular project. The older Molson woman had begun to suspect.

And the more suspicious she had become. The more observant Jane Molson had become.

She had begun watching Emily like a hawk, doing it subtly so as not to spook her. Emily did not do well with being spooked. She had always been one of those children who clamped up, if you so much as raised your voice.

So Jane had known that she had to be cautious. And sure enough, her quiet observations had begun to pay off. First, she had noticed the change in her daughter’s mood. No matter how much anybody loved their job. There was just no way that anybody would come home after working nights, and be that cheerful week after week. Something was definitely up.

And then apart from the moods, Jane had begun to notice that Emily’s scent was changing. Now that could have been explained away by saying that she was using the shampoo at the hotel that she said the company had booked.

But Jane Molson knew the smell of hotel shampoos and that was not it. Whatever it was that now clung to Emily, the scent was expensive. And not just regular expensive. But top of the line expensive, available only to a select few.

Jane associated Emily’s scent with that of very rich men. So whoever it was that Emily was seeing. They were male, and they had very good taste when it came to things like cologne and shampoo.

Jane might not have met him, but she could get behind a man who knew the benefits of proper grooming.

But the biggest clue of all that there was probably a man in her daughter’s life had come one Friday morning.

Jane had just been about to leave for work when Emily, who had spent the night out as was now the norm, had walked in.

Already rushing to get to her room and get changed. Emily had not noticed her mother. All of her attention on her bedroom door. She had rushed past like a whirlwind. The front door slamming shut behind her. Jane would have been angry at being ignored like that.

But she had been too gobsmacked to care. Because that morning, Emily had been wearing an extra piece of clothing. A garment that she had not had on the night before. One that did not belong in her wardrobe.

When Emily had left, it had been hot.

There had been no need for extra clothing. But the weather had changed during the night and the morning was a bit chilly.

Which had explained the need for a sweater. But it had not explained why, Emily was wearing it. It could have been explained as a new purchase. But just one look, and Jane had known that Emily had not just recently bought it. Which would have explained why Emily was now wearing a sweater.

But the unfamiliar clothing had very clearly been a man’s sweater. Pitch black, and so big on Emily it went down to just over her knees. The sleeves rolled up several times to free her hands. The hoodie leaving only her chin exposed.

Gone most nights of the week. Comes back smelling like a man’s shampoo. Unbelievably chipper no matter what was going on, and now she was wearing a man’s clothes. There was definitely more than work going on here.

Jane had wanted to push, but she had known not to. And so she was pretending that she had not noticed anything.

Acting as though she still believed the horrible lie that Emily had come up with. Whoever it was that Emily was dating. The young man had to be special. Jane had not seen her daughter act in such a way...ever. She hoped that she got to meet the man soon.

When people spent way too much time together, the lines tended to become blurred.

That much Derek knew, it was a given. And given the amount of time that he and Emily spent together. Derek had already made peace with the fact that some lines were now blurred to the point of barely being visible.

But that did not mean that Derek was not fighting tooth and nail to at least keep some semblance of normalcy between. So far he had been able to resist the near constant urge to either kiss Emily or to gently touch her. Or even to just run a hand through her hair because he knew that those actions would be crossing boundaries that could not be uncrossed once somebody dared to dip their toe on the other side.

But just because Derek was able to resist and hold himself back on that front. It did not mean that in other aspects of the relationship he had been successful. In fact, when it came to other things, Derek had failed dismally.

It seemed that by putting most of his effort into making sure that he did not do anything that Emily would not be okay with. Like kissing her without consent. He had left room for the other things to just come rushing in.

Over the past few weeks, a lot had changed.

But at the same time, a lot had stayed the same.

They still shared a bed from Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then Sunday. And Derek did not see that changing any time soon. Those sleeping days were more than working for both of them. And during a sit-down that they’d had, to see if there were any new rules that needed to be added to make the experience more pleasurable. Neither of them had been able to come up with a single thing that they wanted to change. But that did not mean that certain things had not changed along the way.

Somewhere between week three and four, Derek had stopped going to the guest room in order to shower. They now took turns showering in the bathroom that connected to Derek’s bedroom.

They had gotten comfortable with each other to the point that, when morning came and they had to do little things while getting ready. Like finishing off getting dressed and doing their hair. They often did that in each other’s company. Talking and smiling, as they got ready. All things that had slowly been added on, after they had gotten comfortable brushing their teeth in each other’s presence.

Derek had gotten so used to being able to brush his teeth, and bump shoulders with Emily at the same time that he actually missed that, on the days when she was not at the penthouse.

Even things like Derek’s eating patterns had changed. Especially on the days when Emily stayed over. Usually he used to just eat whatever it was that had been pre-cooked for him and then put into the fridge. Taking it out, to warm it, and then eating without paying much attention.

But that had changed.

Emily had this thing where she made sure that the meals were planned out. It had gotten to the point that Derek rarely used his personal chef anymore, from Thursday to Sunday. In fact, most of the time he only called on the chef so that there would be fresh ingredients available in the fridge and in the pantry.

But for the most part, cooking came down to him and Emily.

It was tiring, but he enjoyed being able to work with her some more after spending hours at work with her. But the work that they did in the kitchen was different. It was still teamwork between the two of them. But it felt better knowing that it was only them in the room.

The knowledge that no matter what Derek said or did, it would end just between them. Not only did he enjoy the privacy, he also just liked working with her. Watching her chop vegetables, while he worked on peeling whatever he had in his hands.

Then the two of them would either take turns washing dishes. Or they stood side by side while they cleared up the kitchen after a meal.

On weekends, when the two of them rested, they did so once again in each other’s company. Normally Derek would just pick out a random book, and pretend to be reading it. But in truth he was actually stealing glances at Emily and watching her work. He had never seen anyone embroider before, and something about the rhythmic movements just calmed Derek. He could watch her for hours without getting bored.

But Derek had no idea if his interest in watching was because he was really captivated by her skill. Or if it was because he liked the way that Emily looked while she worked. When she was moving the thread through particularly difficult parts. The tip of her tongue would stick out just slightly.

From time to time she would pause, pushing her glasses back up her nose with her finger. It was cute to watch. And it often offered Derek more entertainment than whatever book he had open.

Even when it came to swimming, Derek had changed. Swimming was normally something that he preferred to do on his own. It was the activity that he went to whenever his mind got too hectic, as well as when he could not sleep.

Just being in the water alone had been one of the experiences, that had been instrumental in making sure that throughout the years of insomnia. Derek had remained mostly sane, but he found that he did not mind Emily’s presence as he swam his laps.

Swimming alongside her in the giant pool, would have made the whole experience even better. But Emily had refused. "I cannot swim," She’d said. And even though he had offered to teach her, she had not wanted to.

"If human beings were meant to swim, we would have been born with gills and fins," And that had been Emily’s stance on the matter.

When Derek had realized that no matter what he did, she would not budge.

He had let it go.

That just summarized the entire relationship. They knew each other well enough now to know where each other’s sore spots were. Places where it would hurt the most if they were hit. But they danced around those parts with skills that most professional dancers would envy.

It was as though the two of them had been knowing each other for far longer than the two years that it had been. In fact, one day as Derek was watching Emily embroider while he was pretending to read a newspaper. He suddenly realized something. They were an old married couple.

The only thing missing was the rings, and an actual romantic relationship. But everything else checked out.

It was a pity that they would never be. Emily just saw him as a boss, and a sleeping buddy.

He would have to be content with that. It was more that he could have ever been worthy of.

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