Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 213: Not Made Of Glass

Chapter 213: Not Made Of Glass

In life, there were two topics that were truly uncomfortable for men. Especially for men who had not pursued the medical field as a profession. And those two topics were not only universal. They also had something in common.

The female of the species...women.

And just what was it about women that made men uncomfortable? The answer to that, was simple.

Women giving birth, and women having a monthly cycle.

Talk about anything else, and men were as free as can be.

If the topic of the day was about a huge scary monster that ate human hearts. The whole thing depicted in gory detail. Then men were most likely to be all for it. Watching the whole scary thing until the very end, not even blinking once.

Jumping off a roof onto waist high snow with just pillows strapped around their bodies for protection. In that case, Emily definitely knew a few men who would more than be willing to take such a horrible risk. And while doing it, they were very likely to have a group of their friends cheering them on from the side-lines. And not just cheering them on, but waiting their turn so that they too could join in the stupidity.

Those were scary things, things that any sane human being should have been terrified of. But Emily knew quite a few men who were not.

But universally, giving birth and periods just seemed to poke at a primal fear in men. It seemed that Derek Haven was no different. Over the weekend when Emily had been going through the worst of her period pains. Derek had been an absolute star. From his thoughtful, even if it was a bit over enthusiastic,

buying of all of the sanitary products that she would need. To the massages that he had provided and even the warm towels that he had placed on her when the pain had gotten to be too much. Even through the haze of agony that she had been in.

Emily had been at least partially aware enough to realise just how much Derek was stepping up for her. She was very grateful to him for all of the care that he had given her when she had been so vulnerable.

Through it all he had not complained, not even once. Instead he had stood by her and done what needed doing without her even having to ask him. Emily was very grateful for that. But in as much as Emily was grateful that Derek had been so considerate towards her during her time of need. She had not anticipated a complication arising because of him being so caring.

And that complication was that Derek now seemed to believe that Emily was made of very brittle glass and was likely to crack at even the slightest hint of pressure.

When she had come in to work that morning, she had not noticed it at first. She had gone to make them some tea, and Derek had materialized next to her.

"Here, let me carry those," He had said. And then he had taken the two mugs, one for himself and one for her. Emily had just walked next to him, her hands empty.

That one had been easy to dismiss as him just happening to be passing by. But then when Emily had been cracking her knuckles, getting ready to fight with the printer over a paper jam. Derek had suddenly showed up again and before she could even speak up. He had already been rolling up his shirt sleeves. Derek had gently pulled at the stuck paper, and once it was out he had inserted a new batch of papers and had personally tested out the printer before allowing her to use it. The third incident had happened during a meeting. There had not been enough seats, so Emily, as she sometimes did, had opted to stand. Derek had actually paused the meeting and sent somebody to go and bring her a chair.

And only once she was seated had he continued. Ignoring all the strange looks that they were getting.

That was when Emily had realized that she needed to nip the situation in the bud before other people in the company started accusing Derek of favoritism. Not wanting to draw any more attention to his strange behavior. Emily had forced herself to wait until the two of them were alone.

Now that chance had finally come. Shutting the door to his office, instead of stepping out, Emily walked back in.

"Is there anything else that you’ll be needing?" Derek asked her, looking up from the paper that he was reading. Emily nodded.

"Actually, there is. I would like for you to stop treating me like I’m about to shatter into a million pieces and be scattered in the wind," Emily told him.

Derek did a full body flinch at that. But he at least did not try to deny it. "Are you alright?" He asked, his voice a hushed whisper, and he was looking around as though they could be overheard.

Emily could not help it. Her annoyance dimmed. She smiled at him. Moving closer, she took a seat on the other side of his desk.

"I am fine Derek. The pain normally only lasts for a few hours, and after that I am right as rain ," She told him.

But rather than calming him, the statement seemed to worry him even more.

"You mean to tell me that every month you go through hours of agony like that?" He asked, and Emily simply nodded at him. "It is part of being a woman. For the most part, the pain is manageable. It just caught me by surprise this time," She told him.

"You do not have to keep trying to make things easier for me. I am a big girl. I can handle it. In fact, I have been handling it for years now," Derek gave her a slow nod.

"Alright, I will back off and let you handle things like you normally do," He told her. Looking at him, it seemed as though just saying the words was painful. He looked like somebody sending a friend to the executioner. And it made Emily feel sad.

Overcome by the urge to walk around the desk and pull him into a hug. Emily instead used that energy to stand up and walk back towards the door. She left without another word, already admonishing herself for acting out of character.

She had just been telling Derek to stop being weird. Now she was the one having weird thoughts.