Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 202: Talking About The Man

Chapter 202: Talking About The Man

Of all the things that Derek would have thought that he would be doing if he had an attractive woman in his bed on a Saturday morning. Listening, as she talked about the death of her father, and how it had affected her. Had never once come up on the list.

But somehow, when Emily had started telling him about her dad. Derek’s first instinct had not been to get out of bed and run away. Instead, it had been to stay. To hold Emily closer, and just listen as she spoke from the heart. And that turned out to be the right reaction to have.

There was something about the way that Emily talked about her father. The love in her voice, even after all of the years that the man had been gone, that made Derek feel at ease. Over the years, whenever Derek’s own father had been brought up.

Most people were not remembering the man that he had been. Instead, they often talked about the CEO, about the businessman. So Derek had gotten quite used to hearing statements like, "Your father was quite the chief executive officer.

One of the best leaders that Haven Group has ever had,"

Or "I remember the business deal that your father cut with me 30 years ago. The man was an absolute shark in the boardroom, but he was a fair shark. We made a killing from that deal, and I have never regretted signing the contract,"

Those were the things that Derek had gotten used to hearing about when people talked about his father. As though the fact that he had been the CEO of Haven Group nullified all other things about him. No one ever mentioned Jasper Haven as just a man, a husband, and Derek’s father.

Instead they went out of their way to talk about him in the business sense. But hearing Emily talk about her own father and not talking about what it was that the man did for a living while he was still breathing. It stirred something in Derek. Making him want to talk about his own father.

But not in the business sense as he normally did. Instead, Derek, with Emily still in his arms, found himself reaching deep within and talking about his dad as a man. "My father died when I was twelve years old..." Derek said.

Repeating the words as though Emily had not heard him the first time. She did not seem to mind though. She spread her hand over Derek’s chest again, her palm tapping lightly, right over his heart in quiet encouragement.

And Derek gave her a brief squeeze. Clearly, she was willing to listen. "...Unlike yours, he was not sick. In fact, physically, he had been at his peak," Derek’s voice broke at that last part, and he cleared his throat in order to gather himself. "What happened?" Emily asked. And Derek somehow found the strength to continue.

"It was an overdose, an accidental overdose. He took some sleeping pills. They reacted with some herbal tonic that he had taken, and he just never woke up," Derek said, beside him he heard Emily take a startled breath, and he let out a humorless laugh.

"Sleeping pills of all things.

I sometimes wonder if he suffered from the same thing that I do, if that was why he took them. But it is one of those things that I will never know, because the only person alive who would answer me truthfully is my mother, and I am not cruel enough to hurt her in such a way.

Searching for a truth that will neither help nor hurt me,"

"Apart from her, the only other person who might know is my uncle. But I do not trust anything that comes from that man’s mouth. Even his coughs are shady,"

He had not meant to add the last part, but when Emily snorted in amusement, a brief smile tugged at the corners of Derek’s lips. But as soon as it was there, it disappeared. He went back to serious talk.

"I think about him sometimes. In fact, I think about him a lot, especially in the dead of night when I cannot sleep.

And I too find myself missing him despite knowing that he is never coming back," Derek sighed. Were he with anyone else, he would not have shared that. It was ridiculous after all, to admit to missing somebody who had been gone for decades.

But with Emily, he felt comfortable enough sharing that, and with that out of the way, he also shared something else.

"I think that he is a big part of the reason that I do not like sleeping pills, but the other reason that I do not take them is because they make me...let’s just say slower than usual,"

At that particular confession, Emily sat up and Derek instantly missed the feel of her warm body against his.

But she was giving him such a serious look that he dared not complain. "Sleeping pills mess with you too?" She asked, and Derek nodded.

"I take it that they also

are not favourable to you?" He asked, and she nodded.

"I do not know if you remember it, but a few weeks back I tried going back on them and it felt like I had just switched off the light in everything I did. I was so slow on the uptake, and so down in the dumps. I am surprised that you did not fire me for some of the stupid things that I did while under the influence," She shared with him, and Derek wrecked his brains, trying to think back to when Emily had ever been the type of person that she was describing.

When he finally came upon a memory that might explain it, he turned to her.

"I think that at the time when you were on the pills, I was on them too," He told her.

Her brow furrowed and then she let out a soft gasp.

"Was it that week where you signed that awful contract giving away the solar panel plant rights to your uncle? You seemed out of sorts then," Derek nodded and the two of them shared a look.

"We must never ever go on sleeping pills again,"

Derek said, and Emily nodded holding out her hand.

"Let’s shake on it,"

And they did. They were sleeping together. They told each other secrets that they had never shared with anyone else. They were also comfortable enough with each other to talk about their fathers. That was a lot of stuff.

A lot of heavy milestones, and Derek was pretty sure that it was all leading somewhere. But he did not want to look too far into the future and ruin things. So instead, when the handshake ended, Derek just settled back down and pulled Emily to him.

"Let’s get up in around an hour or so to go eat," He told her.

"It’s like you read my mind," She replied. The two of them were asleep a few minutes later. The rest necessary to help them heal from the heaviness of what they had just shared.