Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 214: Strength Of A Woman

Chapter 214: Strength Of A Woman

Derek would never ever, understand women. It was not an easy admission to make. In fact, acknowledging that fact stung.

Derek Haven was not one to admit defeat in anything. But on this front he had to admit that there was nothing to be done. He had to accept the loss.

When he did not understand something, Derek remedied that by applying himself. He took a complex problem. Broke it down into smaller pieces, and then studied each one in detail. Not stopping until he had mastered each small piece, and thus the whole thing.

That was his tried and tested strategy. It had gotten him through many a situation. And he had always believed that with that mindset, there was nothing he could ever fail to understand. But now his strategy had hit a stumbling block. One that he could not overcome.

And that block was women.

Not just women at random, one particular woman.

His personal assistant, and sleeping partner...one Emily Molson.

On Sunday Derek had seen Emily at her worst. She had been dying, literally dying and he was not just being overly dramatic. One had to have been there to believe it.

Not only had she literally been bleeding out right in front of him. Emily had been so pale. The type of pale that a lot of people associated with dead bodies and given the fact that at that time Emily had literally been having the lifeblood leached out of her body. Derek was of the mind that it was a fair description. She had been bleeding, her body going between hot and cold, wrecked with pain.

He had stood behind her, massaging and tapping at her aching back without rest for what had felt like hours. He had braved the treacherous waters that were the ladies’ sanitary aisle at the supermarket. He knew the horrors that that place held, and he now had a new respect for women who were just able to go into the store, get what they wanted, and then be ready to face their period. To hear women talking about that period, referring to it with various names, some calling it the monthly visitors, others their auntie or even little red.

Derek, at some point in time. Had come to the conclusion that a period was not so bad. That it was something that was similar to a minor inconvenience, like when you paused mid-stride to sneeze, and then once you had wiped your nose, you could go about your day. That had always been how Derek saw periods.

But now after witnessing Emily’s suffering first-hand. Derek now saw the menstrual cycle for what it really was. The period was not just a minor inconvenience that women went through on a monthly basis.

The period was war.

It was blood, actual blood, not just a figure of speech. It was sweat. It was pain. It was tears. And it was also more chocolate than the human body should have ever been able to consume. And even as Derek tried to describe the period, he knew that he was not doing it any justice.

What he had seen Emily go through was something else. Several times during that dark time, Derek’d had to fight the urge to either call in a doctor. Or bundle her up and take her to the nearest hospital himself. That was how dire the situation had been.

But now, just a few hours later, Emily had once again managed to leave Derek in a state of shock. After seeing her in so much pain the day before and being able to do only the bare minimum in an effort to help her. Derek had promised himself that he would do whatever it was that he could, to make her day at work easier than it normally was.

Her insides were literally tearing themselves apart. It was the least that he could do to make sure that she was not burdened by too much during the day. But it seemed that in his effort to help. Derek might have gone a bit overboard. But to be honest, he did not think that he was overdoing things at all.

Sure, after their meeting, when Emily had come to talk to him, Derek had been thinking of ways in which he could give her days off whenever she had her period. But that was not overreacting in the least.

It was simply him behaving in a calm and rational manner. Trying to handle a situation that he had witnessed at its most painful phase. But Emily had just told him that she did not want any of his extra help. That she could deal with it all on her own. That it was not even that bad.

On that point Derek begged to differ. If she had been telling that to somebody else, somebody who had not been with her on Sunday. Then Derek might have believed it. But he had been there, he had lived it. Derek had seen the agony in her eyes. He had been the one to wipe the cold sweat from her brow. Emily could not lie to him on this. She could say whatever she wanted about her period. But Derek had been there. He had seen it, and it was not an experience that he would be forgetting anytime soon. But still, even if he wanted to dwell on the matter, and try his best to fix it. Emily had told him that she did not need help.

And so despite what every single instinct in him was saying, Derek was backing off. He mentally scratched off all plans to have Emily.

either working from home during her period or taking the days off altogether. Then he made a promise to himself that whatever Emily decided to do for the rest of the day. Especially if it was physical labor, he would not interfere.

So far he had helped with a few minor things around the office. But Emily did not seem to appreciate that at all. So he would not be pushing his luck. If she felt that she could do it. Then he had to trust her to be able to handle it.

Listing all of the things that he would not be doing, just as Emily had requested. Derek could not help but look over at the door from time to time. Staring at where he knew Emily’s desk to be.

Women, he thought.

If he were in half as much pain as Emily had been the day before. Then Derek would most definitely have not shown up for work. But not only had she endured the agony of the previous day. Apart from him, no one at work would even be able to guess that she was going through her monthly cycle.

That was the strength of Emily. Being able to just handle everything thrown at her with the grace and poise that a lot of people lacked. Strength of a woman indeed.