Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 212: Fine

Chapter 212: Fine

As a man, some things were so far out of his league. That he did not even think about them. But just because Derek did not think of them. That did not mean that they did not happen.

One of those things that happened on the regular that Derek had not really put much thought into, was the menstrual cycle. But now Derek was doing nothing but thinking about that.

Emily was on her period. She was menstruating. Emily was on the rag. She was surfing the crimson tide.

Derek had not skipped biology, and he had paid attention. He knew what Emily was currently going through. At least in theory.

It was fine, absolutely fine.

Derek was fine with it. He was not panicking at all, he was fine, just fine. No need to panic, periods were normal, and women had them all the time. Once a month even. Derek knew all about them, he read books, he studied. Had he already mentioned that he had attended the biology lessons and had paid attention? That he had stayed up many nights studying. Derek knew these things. If quizzed, he could even draw the female reproductive system.He was fine, he was not panicking even a small bit. He was as cool as a cucumber. As unbothered as ice on a chilly day. He was a CEO for crying out loud. A man that led a very successful company. He could deal with this, he was fine.

...Derek was not fine.

That was a big fat lie. Truthfully, Derek was freaking out.

A period, menstruation, blood loss. It was time for Emily’s cycle. Her time of the month...

When they had woken up, and Derek had realized what was going on, he had freaked out.

Not because he had been disgusted, but because he had been terrified. Despite all the books that he’d read, logic had flown right out the window when he was confronted with the real deal. He had been terrified that Emily would bleed out and die right in front of him. That she would collapse from blood loss, and never wake up.

Don’t die on me Emily! He had wanted to scream, but he had held back. Instead, upon seeing her embarrassment, Derek had channelled his energy into making sure that she knew that he was okay with it. Making sure that she did not see just how ’not OK’ Derek was feeling about the entire thing. And somehow, that had translated into him braving what he would now refer to as ’the aisle’.

Derek knew what shops were, he had been to plenty. Even if he preferred having other people do the shopping for him. But in all his years of shopping, he had never been to... ’the aisle’.

The aisle where women’s sanitary products were kept existed. It was a fact of life, Derek knew that it was there. He had just never had a reason to set foot in it. Until the moment he did, and looking at the shelves, Derek had been so overwhelmed, he’d had to fight off a dizzy spell.

Pads with wings, pads without. Scented, unscented. Strange cup like contraptions, tampons, some with stick things, and others without. Some had even had string things attached. Panty liners, which looked like tiny pads, and also came in similar varieties. Wings, no wings, scented, unscented. It had felt like an awful case of déjà vu. And all that had been before Derek had gotten to the multitude of brands available. The store attendants, sensing his distress had materialised right next to him.

"How may we help you today, sir?" Derek had taken one look at them, pulled out his black card, and used it to gesture to the shelves.

"I need... equipment," He’d said, trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about. Judging by the way their eyes had lit up, they had not bought his act. But they had been very helpful, and by the time Derek had left, arms laden with sanitary products, he had felt like a conquering hero returning from war. When Emily had returned from the bathroom, Derek had felt as though he had solved all of the world’s problems.

As far as he had been aware, things had been solved. But Derek had been wrong. It was now Sunday night, and the two of them were in bed, but Derek could not sleep, even with Emily by his side.

At first he had tried to ignore it, had tried to say that Emily was fine, that he was he was fine. That both of them were doing good. But things were not fine.

Derek could feel Emily shaking next to him. She was trying to keep quiet, but he could hear her whimpering softly.

"Are you alright?" He finally asked. There was a moment when Derek thought that she would not answer, but she did.

"My back," She whispered, her voice wrecked with pain.

Oh. Period pains. In focusing on the actual bleeding, Derek had forgotten that there was more to the menstrual cycle than just blood. There was hormone fluctuations. The uterus literally shedding, and in doing so, causing discomfort.

’Discomfort’ Derek clearly remembered that word being used to describe period pains. What Emily was having was clearly more that just a little discomfort.

Turning on to his side, Derek reached over.

"Move back towards me," He told her, there was barely any hesitation before she scooted towards him, her back to him. Touched by the trust that she was showing him, Derek got to work.

Hand curled in a loose fist, he began gently tapping at her lower back. Almost as soon as he began, Emily let out a little content sigh, so he figured he was on the right track.

Derek had no idea how long he tapped at her back, but it was long enough for his arm to start to ache. Then it went from aching to feeling numb. But he did not stop, he kept going, and going, until Emily stopped whimpering altogether. Her body relaxing, the tension slowly leeching out of her. Only when her soft breaths turned to light snores did Derek stop.

His hand came to rest around her waist, and before he knew it, he too was asleep.