Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 272: Hopeful

Chapter 272: Hopeful

Derek had just spent hours walking around the front of his building like a ghost. Haunting the area with the hope that maybe Emily would show up. It had been a slim possibility from the time that he had left the confines of the penthouse.

And as the hours had passed by, the chances for her to show up had grown slimmer and slimmer. But still, Derek had not given up. A grown man out and about in the middle of the night, circling a building in just his pajamas. Were he anyone else or been anywhere else, somebody would have called the police. Or he would have ended up in the hospital under psychiatric evaluation.

But as things stood, he had simply just been an eccentric rich guy doing what rich people did, when they were bored. Everybody minding their business and leaving him alone.

With the guards making sure that nobody bothered him. Derek would not lie. He had never hated the protection that his name, and status brought him more than he had in that moment.

Anybody else would have been asked questions. People not only curious to know what was going on, but actually having the balls to ask. But though he had seen quite a few people staring as he had wandered past, no one had said anything. No one had dared to question him.

"What are you doing, Mr Haven?"

Had just one person asked, Derek was certain that he would have spilled his heart right there on the street. Giving his fear and frustration a voice. Letting whoever had the balls to ask, know that Emily had not come that night, that her absence was worrying him and he had no idea what to do with it. But nobody had asked and so Derek had walked around, the rest of the night. His worry and his fear endured on his own.

It had been horrible, but he had been unable to stop. Stopping would have meant going up to the penthouse. An empty penthouse with no Emily, where the walls would echo his thoughts back at him.

Where the scattered rose petals, and candles in his bedroom would remind him what the night could have been had things gone according to plan.

Derek had not been able to face that, so he had walked, and walked, and walked... until the first rays of sunlight had pushed him to return.

Now he was in the living room, staring at his phone, hoping for a call from Emily or even a message. Just something to show him that she was still there, that nothing had gone wrong. But Derek’s phone remained silent. Leaving him to make assumptions.

Maybe Emily’s battery had died. Or what if her phone was charging?. Or maybe something had come up with her mother, and she’d had to cancel on Derek without being able to tell him. Emergencies like that could happen, Derek tried to reassure himself with thoughts like that. But the negative ones still made their way through.

Or maybe she has finally figured out that she can do so much better than you and has moved on.

A snide voice at the back of his head whispered.

Its tone practically oozing venom. Derek ignored it, but that did not change the situation.

Emily had not shown up on what was their agreed day for meeting up after work. And Derek had no idea why. When she had left work Thursday evening, everything had been great between them. They had not been arguing. In fact, everything had been peachy.

So what had gone wrong?

Staring at his phone some more, Derek waited for a reply from Emily. For her to clarify things to him. He stared and he stared. Nothing happened. It got to the point where if she were to send a smoke signal somehow, he would be grateful for it. But still, his phone did not buzz.

No phone calls, no text messages, just absolute silence. Emily was not talking to him and Derek had no idea why. Looking at the time, Derek realized that it was still early enough for him to get ready and be at work before everybody else.

Emily was one of those people who loved coming in early. If he got there before her. Then the two of them would be able to at least have a conversation before other people began arriving at Haven Group headquarters. With that bit of hope, reigniting the spark in him. Derek rose up from the couch. His back cracking, knees popping. All signs that he had spent the night pushing his body too much.

But Derek could not be bothered to care about the state of his physical self in that moment.

His emotional well-being was more important. He made his way up the stairs with the speed of a 90-year-old suffering from severe arthritis.

It was not a funny sight. And had anyone been there to witness it. They most certainly would have suggested that Derek see a chiropractor as soon as possible or maybe even book himself a deep tissue massage. That was how bent out of shape he was, and Derek got the feeling that it was not just because he had not rested well the night before.

His emotions were weighing on him heavily, and until he solved the issue with Emily, that would most likely remain the case.

Get to work, find Emily, talk to Emily, figure things out.

That was the mantra that drove Derek as he all but dragged himself into the shower. Cleaning himself up, and then doing his best to get ready.

Making sure that he at least looked the part of the powerful CEO of Haven Group, even if he did not feel it.

He might have been having problems. But that did not mean that the rest of the world had to know about them. He would handle things quietly, and no one would ever know that he’d had some trouble.

To solve his issues, all that he had to do was get to work and talk to Emily.

Whatever it was that had gone on, on Thursday night. They could easily resolve it if they just talked. And to talk, they had to see each other. Since she was not answering his calls, Derek headed to work earlier than he was used to.

Not knowing that, even if it was early for him, it was already too late.

By the time that he walked into Haven Group headquarters, he did so exactly ten minutes after Emily Molson’s departure. Not knowing what awaited him as the day progressed, Derek settled into his office, with an air of anticipation. Still hopeful for their future together. Thinking that her not showing up the night before had been just a minor setback. That they would be back on track and he would tell her how he felt about her.

...The world could be cruel sometimes.