Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 321: Stairway To...

Chapter 321: Stairway To...

After weeks of feeling as though he had been tied to an anchor and thrown to the bottom of the ocean. Unable to go anywhere, just slowly drowning. Things were finally moving forward for Derek.

For one, he and Emily were back together and stronger than ever.

In addition to that, they had also gone to confront his mother. And rather than digging her heels in and being difficult. She had accepted responsibility, and apologized. Not dragging the situation.

Now they were in Emily’s apartment building. The three of them making their way up the stairs so that they could reach Emily’s mother, because she too was owed an apology.

It was a very serious situation, that held serious consequences.

Even with all of that.

There was an unexpected source of humour that Derek had not thought of at all.

His mother and stairs.

It was a combination that Derek had never thought he would see in his life, but he was loving it. Back at the manor, they had a spiral staircase.

One that his mother made sure to glide across wearing her finest dresses. But for her to go up several flights of stairs. Now that was out of the ordinary...and unbelievably funny.

His mother was in great shape. In fact, she would put most twenty year olds to shame with how fit she was.

But even with that, she was still a pampered rich woman at heart, and it showed. When Emily had said that they would have to take the stairs. His mother had looked at her as though waiting for her to say it was a joke.

Then once she had realized that Emily was being serious. She had looked around like she was expecting, some strapping young men to just jump out of the shadows, and carry her up the stairs.

When she had realized that none of that would be happening. His mom had looked around in actual panic before noticing that the two of them were looking at her.

Ego bruised, she had then turned her back to them and began walking up the stairs. Stepping on them as though she were doing them a favor.

But even so, Derek would not have been a good son if he did not at least inquire about her health.

"Are you all right mother?" He asked, and she answered him without looking back.

"Of course, why wouldn’t I be? I am more than all right. Did you really think I could not take a simple flight of stairs?"

"I might be getting on in the years, but I wager that I am more healthy than a lot of the youth nowadays. I’ll have you know that at my latest physical, I was told that I had the heart and lungs of a 20-year-old," Derek had to smile at that. His mother was definitely not struggling, if she had the time to boast about her health.

"Can you give me some pointers? I would also love to be in great shape when I reach your age," Emily chimed in. And that was all that his mother needed to go off.

"I am glad you asked, many young people think that they will be young forever, and they waste a lot of time not taking care of their bodies," His mother said, and Derek suppressed a sigh. If she had not been within earshot, Derek would have warned Emily not to start on that particular topic. But it was already too late.

If there was one thing his mother loved. It was talking about how to stay fit and healthy no matter the age.

"Some people might think that exercise, and diet are these big, bad words that you should only hear at the doctor’s office. But it is actually quite simple to exercise and eat right..." She began, and Derek resigned himself to a lecture.

"If you are not one of those ’gym influencers’, as the youth are calling themselves nowadays, the key is to lead an active lifestyle,"

"Walk to the store instead of taking a car, walk around the house, lift things. If you can, do yard work..." She listed a host of other things that Derek knew for a fact that his mother never did because she had the staff to do that.

For her exercise was yoga, and power walking some days. She listed a few more things that one could do to stay healthy. But Derek tuned her out and when he paid attention again, she was talking about diet.

"Replace ice cream with frozen yogurt. Don’t fry things. Take out all of that candy and try a handful of dried fruits. Healthy does not mean that something has to taste like chewed up cardboard. And last but not least, water. Drink lots and lots of water. It is not rocket science, Emily, my dear. Anyone can do it," She finished.

Derek’s heart leapt at the ’Emily, my dear.’ His mother might not have noticed the throwaway phrase, but he and Emily most definitely did.

Whenever Derek was with someone that he cared about.

He knew that he became a bit possessive. It was why he always referred to Emily as ’his Emily’. It was a trait that he had inherited from his mother. And the fact that she had called Emily ’my dear’ meant that she was already starting to like his girlfriend.

It was a step in the right direction, and it warmed Derek’s heart.

"Another thing that you must remember," His mother was saying, apparently she was a well of wisdom now. "You must never ever let emotional baggage build up. Nothing causes wrinkles faster, than having too much emotional trauma. This is why I have decided that apologizing to your mother is the right thing to do. It will help not only me, but her as well," Derek nearly let out a loud laugh at that, but he held himself in check. Emily had been the one to say that her mom was owed an apology.

But his mother had hijacked the situation and somehow turned it into her idea. Glancing over at Emily, Derek found her eyes alight with laughter. Clearly she too saw the funny side of the situation.

His mother might have been twisting certain aspects of the story. But she was still making her way up the stairs, so Derek had no doubt in his mind that her apology would be sincere. Things were going to be alright.