Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 268: Bad Thursday

Chapter 268: Bad Thursday

Objectively, Derek knew that days of the week were just days of the week. They could be neither good, nor evil. Morality did not apply to them.

They just were.

But even with all of that, he had to admit one thing to himself. For him, Thursdays were good days.

At first his love for Thursdays, and him labelling them a good days had come from the fact that on Thursdays, he and Emily slept together.

Thursdays meant that after hours upon hours of being awake. Derek got to lay down with Emily by his side and go to sleep. Dreaming like all other people did, and then waking up in the morning ready to start the day.

But now the sleep bit was being moved backwards a bit, into the second position. A very distant second for that matter. There was now another reason for Derek to love Thursdays even more. And that reason was that Emily had completed the majority of the puzzle. Now all that Derek had to do was slot in, the final peace that he held.

He would finally get to show her the ’I love you, Emily Molson’ written at the back of the puzzle. After Thursday there would be nothing to hide behind. Emily would know that Derek loved her.

She would know that his feelings for her ran deeper than anything. It was one of the most calming, and yet terrifying decisions in Derek’s life. It was calming because it felt like he was finally moving in the right direction. Doing and saying things that he was supposed to have done a long time ago. Things that would lead him to a better life. One where Emily’s position in his world was more permanent.

But even if everything felt as though it were moving the way it was supposed to. There was still one other emotion that he was feeling but trying his best to push back.

Fear.

After weeks of trying to line everything up. To make it so that it did not seem as though he was coming out of nowhere with his confession. Derek was scared. He was finally going to tell Emily how he felt, and her response would literally map out their entire future. If she accepted his feelings, then Derek saw nothing but weddings, children, big houses, love, and happiness up ahead. The Haven manor filled with the joyous laughter of the future generation. The two of them raising a family together. Going through life together, growing old together.

But if she said no, that possibility was so bleak, so depressing that Derrick could not even think of anything that would come after, if Emily were to refuse his love. His thoughts and emotions swirling around his head. Derek barely managed to pull through and get to the end of the day.

But he did.

In an effort to get ready for what was to come, Derek attempted to get prepared for Emily’s arrival, starting with himself first. He showered, and after months of keeping his beard, and just trimming it occasionally. He decided to shave it. A decision that he was certain Emily would approve of.

Then he went about setting up. Nothing too flashy. Just some lit candles in the bedroom, and a trail of rose petals leading to the bed.

After doing some last minute checks, to make sure that everything was as it should be. Derek went to his study to get some work done while he waited for Emily. But that proved difficult to do. His excitement and his nerves getting to him.

Putting the work aside, Derek instead got up and made his way to the living room. He tried his very best not to stare at the door like some sort of stalker. But that was exactly what ended up happening. His eyes latched on to the door, and he could not look away. Seconds ticked by, then minutes, then fifty minutes became one hour.

An hour became two, and two became three.

Somewhere around the fourth hour mark, a truth that Derek had been refusing to even acknowledge began to seep in.

She was not coming.

A simple statement, but it felt as though Derek had taken a baseball bat to the head just thinking it. It made no sense. The only time that the two of them had ever missed a sleep date, it had been because they had almost gotten caught.

For Emily not to show up after making a promise. It was so unlike her that Derek actually pulled his phone out and called her.

On the fifth call there was still no reply and Derek sent a simple text. ’Are you okay?’ He asked. And then he waited. Thirty minutes passed and there was still nothing.

When his phone had rung during that time. He had been disappointed to find that it was only his mother. Derek answering her questions about Penelope and the engagement party that he was supposed to attend without really paying attention.

When the call ended, he barely noticed. By then Derek was beside himself with worry. It was not like Emily at all, to be behaving in such a manner.

Standing, he went back upstairs to the bedroom. Kicking up flower petals as he went.

Once in the bedroom he blew out the candles that he had set up, and grabbed his coat.

"Emily is fine, she is just busy with something else," He tried to convince himself, but that did not stop him from walking out the door.

He spent hours alone. Just walking around the general area of his building. Hoping to catch sight of Emily. But that did not happen. Instead he wandered outside for hours. Cold, lonely and terrified.

Scared that something might have happened to her. Worried that maybe she was having second thoughts about their relationship. The negative thoughts went round and round in his head.

Emily never came.

...Derek did not sleep that Thursday night.