Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 230: Nothing Special

Chapter 230: Nothing Special

Derek loved his mother. He really did.

But sometimes he wished that she had a better sense of timing. Of all the times for her to show up unannounced at the penthouse, she just happened to choose the day where Derek woke up with Emily and not only did she pick that day, she also happened to show up just minutes after they had shared a kiss.

"I just walked past a young lady coming from here. It is a pity that the two of us did not get to talk. Who is she by the way?" His mother asked, her tone friendly, but her eyes said that if she so much as knew the initial to Emily’s first name. She would be raining down on Emily with the fury of a thousand suns in a heartbeat.

His heart thundering in his chest, Derek poured all of his focus into keeping a straight face. If his mother saw any emotion from him. She would know that Derek cared for Emily, and she would not be persuaded to back off.

"I do not know what it is that you think you saw mother, but you are overreacting. That young lady, as you put it, is no one important. She is just somebody who was passing by," Derek said, the lie burned his throat, but he still voiced it.

His mother’s gaze narrowed, and he tried his best to keep a straight face, which was incredibly difficult. His lips were still tingling from the kiss and he could still taste Emily’s fruity flavour against his tongue.

"Really? So you make it a point to spend the night with young ladies who are nobody to you," His mother asked, not even trying to hide her disbelief.

"What makes you think that she spent the night?" Derek fired back. His mother merely tilted her head.

Derek followed where she was indicating, and his heart sank.

After Emily had left, he had chased after her. But his plan to stop her from leaving had been abandoned the moment that he had run into his mother.

His priorities shifting, going from getting Emily to come back. To making sure that she stayed gone, and that his mother did not turn around and go after her as well. Deciding to keep his mother occupied had meant that Derek had to take her back to the penthouse.

And it was only once they had arrived there that he had realized his mistake. He had run after Emily without a second thought, and in chasing after her, he had not had time to clean up. The two bowls that had nearly fallen on the floor were still upside down on the cushion.

The only lie that he could think of in that moment, was to say ’I felt hungry after eating, so I had a second serving,’ Just thinking it, Derek could already see holes in the story the size of giant craters, so he decided to just abandon it, going a different route.

"I am a grown man, mother. I can have women over as much as I please. It is none of your concern," He told her feeling defensive all of a sudden. Arms folded over his chest, Derek tried to look imposing, but it was not something that worked on his mother.

All that she did at his look was scoff and walk in the direction of the bowls. She stopped a foot from them and toed the cushion with her expensive heels.

"I do not care who you spend the night with Derek. As you have pointed out, you are a grown man. But what I do care about is who you develop feelings for. In all your time I have never once known you, to have somebody stay until morning. Whoever that young lady is, you let her stay until sunrise. And that to me says that there might be feelings involved. Do you like her?" When his mother had opinions, she voiced them.

’Yes, yes, I like her,’ Derek wanted to say. But his mother was a shark in the water, just waiting for a single drop of blood so that she could attack. He could not let her loose on Emily. And so Derek took a deep breath and did something

that instantly made him feel as though he was betraying everything that he and Emily had going, but it had to be done.

"Mother you are right I have never liked waking up with anybody else in my bed. But it is something I am working to get over. So I decided to spend the night with the woman who you walked past," He gestured for the couch nearest to his mother as he spoke and she gracefully sat down.

Before going to take a seat, Derek went for the bowls and picked them up. Placing them one on top of the other, and then gathering up the spoons as well and putting everything on the table.

Only once that was done did he take a seat near his mother, and begin to speak again.

"That young lady that you passed by this morning was simply somebody that I was using so that I could get used to the feeling of waking up next to somebody. She is no one special. She knows that as well. We are nothing to each other,"

Derek’s brain was screaming at him with each word out of his mouth. It did not matter that the words were not really hurtful. He was belittling everything that he and Emily were, and that hurt.

Just thinking the words sent shooting pains through his head, and saying them burned his throat. He wanted to take it all back. But he wanted to keep his mother away from Emily, so he said the words and kept his mouth shut, biting at his tongue to keep from making a mistake.

His mother huffed, but she settled somewhat.

"So long as she knows not to expect anything from you...good. But could you not at least find yourself a temporary girlfriend? Someone of your standing?" She asked.

"I am sure that I could get you the number of one of the younger women at the country club," She said, and Derek shook his head.

"No, Mother, this is the best way that I could think to handle this. I have an agreement with the woman you saw. No one in our social circles ever needs to learn anything," He said. His mother nodded. The hardness in her shoulders softening, her eyes no longer looking as though they could set him alight.

"I take it that you ended things. That was why she ran out of here like that?" Derek shrugged.

"Mother, it is barely morning and I am already exhausted. Can we talk about something else please. Like the reason why you are here so early?" It was not the smoothest change of conversation ever. But Derek really did not want to say anymore regarding the issue. He was scared that if he continued to talk, he would lose his temper and snap at his mother.

She did not leg go altogether, but she did loosen her grip. "If she ever causes you any trouble. Should I take care of her?" His mother asked and Derek shook his head, doing his best not to be too obvious in his denial.

"No, mother, I can handle my own problems. Do not worry yourself over them," He said, and all of the suspicion left his mother’s gaze. Pushing himself to his feet, Derek took the bowls to the sink and began washing them. He felt like the biggest fraud on earth, but his lie, even if it had been one that tore at him with every word, had protected Emily, so he could not regret it.

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