Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 264: Inner Child

Chapter 264: Inner Child

As a child, Emily had loved games. From hide and go seek, to egg hunts, and where’s Waldo? Those were the games that she had loved playing. Games with clues, and tips that she had to follow along the way if she wanted to get somewhere.

But as the years had gone by, and the general exhaustion that came with interrupted sleep every night had become harder and harder for her to ignore. Emily had slowly but surely stopped playing. Convincing herself that she was doing so because she was now an adult, and adults did not have time for childish things.

That had been a lie, of course. But it had been a lie that Emily had wholeheartedly believed because she’d had no other choice. She would give it to Derek though, the man had a knack for exposing hidden truths to her. Things that not even she knew about herself. Derek seemed to be able to find with ease.

For their first date, he had taken Emily to a fair, and she had proceeded to spend the afternoon playing. Something that she had not done in years, and it had felt absolutely wonderful. Now here Derek was, once again appealing to Emily’s playful nature. That side of her that she had kept carefully hidden for so long. ’Find the puzzle pieces and at the end of it, they will form a picture. There’s a surprise in it.’ That was the general gist

of what Derek had said when he had sent Emily on what she was now calling ’the puzzle piece hunt’. The first day Emily had found two corner pieces, and given that they did not fit together. All she had been able to do was just stare at them intently. Trying to figure out what bigger picture, the pieces of wood would form, once re-joined with the others. But she had not been able to figure anything out.

So she had gently placed them in the casing that Derek had also provided her with. Driven by curiosity to know exactly what the surprise was, Emily had searched Derek’s penthouse high and low, every chance that she had gotten after that. Looking for the other pieces, not giving up until she found them.

She had to hand it to him. The man not only had a knack for finding things that she enjoyed doing, but he was also very good at hiding things.

Emily had found puzzle pieces in lamps, in shoes, behind the bathroom door, under the rug on top of the fridge, and even inside a packet of condoms. With each puzzle piece found, and placed into the frame.

A picture began to take shape.

A shape that turned out to be very familiar. And before she had even gotten halfway there, Emily had already figured out what it was. Feeling somewhat disappointed, Emily had made her way to the pool on Sunday night.

Going to stand at the edge while she waited for Derek to finish his lap and come over to her side. The moment that he had done so, resting his hands on the edge. Emily had looked down at him, her hands on her hips.

"I know what it is," She had told him.

And he had smiled up at her, "Do you now?"

He had asked, and Emily had tried her best to hide some of her disappointment. Thinking that he actually believed that she would forget how they had looked on their first date.

"It is the picture that Miss Edna took, the one of us on our very first date at the crafts fair," She had told him.

Derek at least had not insulted her intelligence by trying to say that it was not. Instead, he had merely shrugged.

"It is a picture of us on our first date, but I have a surprise for you. All that you have to do is find the other pieces and once you do. I will place in the piece that I have kept personally for myself and only then will the true surprise be revealed," That statement had lit the fire beneath her again, getting her all excited.

Emily had to hand it to Derek. The man really knew her.

Had the surprise just been her assembling the puzzle pieces only to find that it was just a picture of them? She would have been just alright with it, not excited in any way. But now he had revealed that it was a surprise inside a surprise. It was like biting into a boiled egg, only to find that it wasn’t an egg, but was actually a dessert.

She already knew that the end product of the puzzle would be a picture of them.

But now she was curious what the twist was, what new element had Derek added. Whatever it was, it had to be something good for him to have even bothered with it.

Curiosity renewed, Emily was now back to searching the penthouse. Nearly turning the place upside down in her haste. At some point Derek during her search came downstairs to watch. Seeming to take great joy from watching her run around like a headless chicken( and staring at her butt every time she bent down) but Emily did not care.

Her focus on the game, on finding more puzzle pieces. With each one she found, the more her heart soared. And with each puzzle that she held, Emily made sure to bring the piece to her lips.

Planting a brief kiss on it before gently putting it amongst the others. Taking extra care with all of them. Sure, they were made of wood and that meant that they were more durable than the ordinary paper puzzle pieces.

But the puzzle formed a picture. Not just any picture either. It was a picture thar held memories for Emily. Good ones, ones that she was certain that she would treasure for the rest of her life. It was only right that she treat the pieces with respect.

In the end, Emily managed to find nine puzzle pieces that Sunday.

She went to bed feeling disappointed but was still hopeful. Certain that the tenth piece would show itself pretty soon.

As luck would have it, the tenth piece did show. But it did not show on Sunday.

Instead, Emily found it Monday morning as she was rushing to get ready for work. Both her and Derek having slept through their alarms. The piece happened to be hidden in a mug, and when Emily found it she could not help the little squeal that escaped her. After kissing the piece she ran forward and kissed Derek on the cheek as well.

"You’ll give me the final piece on Thursday. Whatever the surprise is, show me then.

I do not want to rush things," Emily told him, and with that she was out the door, her heart singing.

The puzzle was only missing the corner piece, the rest of it complete. Just thinking about the missing piece that Derek held, and the surprise that would be revealed to her upon completion had Emily feeling all giddy inside.

She could not wait to find out what Derek had in store for her. Not only that, she could not wait to share her own gift with him.