Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 74: Temporary Balm

Chapter 74: Temporary Balm

Derek Haven did not like herbalist shops. He would have liked to claim full ownership of that hate. But really, such places had brought his dislike on themselves.

Modern medicine existed for a reason. The beneficial aspects of plants were extracted from them and then people got to swallow them down in a simpler form, like a pill or a teaspoon of medicine. Herbalists just decided to go back on all that. Side-stepping convenience in the name of keeping things pure.

Derek could not get behind that at all and it had been the topic of quite a few discussions over the years. Especially during functions where he was bored out of his mind, and one of his fellow attendants decided to come out with the fact that they no longer took certain meds because they were drinking some juice each morning.

It had always used to bother him, and he had made no secret about it. Which was why he felt like a complete hypocrite as he walked through the doors of a herbalist shop that he had found online.

He might have been a hypocrite, but he was a desperate one, if any one of the people that he had ever had the herbalist debate with saw him, he would find the nearest hole and throw himself into it.

Walking in, Derek had fully expected to be assaulted by new-age decorations. All high ceilings, and clear glass displays filled with herbs and spices from all around the world, all of them with ridiculous names. Artificial waterfalls, electronic fireplaces, strangle-looking sculptures that looked like beat-up cans. Anything and everything that just spoke of how ’out there’ the place was.

But there was none of that. What there was though, was green, lots and lots of green. The inside of the store looked like one of the greenhouses back at the manor, and despite all of the unkind things that Derek had been thinking, he was quietly impressed.

Despite all of the live plants, there 9was a surprising lack of insects, which was also a point in the place’s favor. He turned in a slow circle, inspecting the place. When he made his final turn, ending up in the place where he had started, Derek nearly jumped right out of his skin.

There was an old woman standing right in front of him. She had a head full of white hair, not a single colored strand in there, the color standing out against her dark skin. Her pupils were milky, but she seemed to have no problem seeing, her eyes were fixed right on him.

"Good day, I need something to help me with my sore muscles. I swim on a regular basis and I have found it is harder for me to relax and go to sleep after my night swim. Do you have something that can help," The lie came as easy as breathing, the smile that Derek used to woo possible new clients pasted on his face. He had debated with himself on whether or not he was going to be upfront about his actual reason for coming. In the end, he had settled for a lie that had a hint in truth in it.

He was pretty sure that the old woman would not have run to the nearest competitor, or worse, his uncle, if he had told her of his real problem. But one could never be too careful.

His request made, Derek looked at the old woman, expecting her to get to it. Instead of going to fulfil his order, she stayed right where she was, swaying slightly.

"And just who am I assisting on this lovely day?" She asked, despite the fact that it was a business transaction, Derek felt his cheeks heat at having forgotten to do something as basic as introducing himself.

"Derek, my name is Derek Haven," She smiled, and then she turned around, running her fingers over leaves and flowers as she picked her way through various jars.

"It is lovely to meet you, Derek Haven, you may call me Ayo," She told him.

"What would have been even more lovely, would have been if you had just come right out and told me that you cannot sleep," Derek took a startled breath, how had she known that. No one whom he had not told personally was supposed to know that.

"It must be hard though, suffering in silence like that. Since childhood I take it," She spoke as though she was not divulging Derek’s longest held secret, her search never once stalling.

"Your energy is as twisted as the energy of another who was just in here. The two of you should come together and have a talk about facing the truths that you are unwilling to see,"

Ahh, Derek thought, relaxing a bit. Even a broken clock was right twice a day. She might have hit the nail on the head when it came to his sleeping problems, but it was now clear to him that she was not at all well upstairs.

She was talking about a random customer that Derek had never met and likely never would, like it was someone Derek knew, all because their energies were ’similarly twisted’. She was definitely off her rocker.

In fact, Derek was really starting to second guess himself.

Why had he thought coming in here would help him? Clearly he had been suffering from a temporary lapse in judgement. Lack of sleep could do that to a person. He had made a mistake, and now he was going to slowly walk out of the store before things got worse.

He only managed to take a single step back, before Ayo’s laughter stopped him.

"Found it, just the thing that you need. It would be a shame before you got it, would it not? Stay a while, please," She said, and Derek, despite his better judgement, did.

As it turned out, she did not have a counter, which somehow translated to Derek kneeling on the floor as she gave him a medium sized bottle, her legs straightened in front of her.

"Unfortunately, I cannot take away your insomnia. I can only work on the body, not the soul. And in this case, it is your soul, that is hurting, find out why, and you can fix it. But before then, use this salve after you have showered,"

"It will help to relax you, and dull most of the aches that come from not sleeping, but its effects are temporary, and it can only be used once. I hope that by the time the bottle finishes, you would have solved your problem. But looking at you, you are the same as my last guest, I cannot help you, but this can give you a temporary reprieve,"

Temporary, huh, well at least she was being honest. As a kid he had met way too many ’ specialists’ who had claimed that they could cure him, only for them to fail dismally.

After handing her the money, Derek stood to leave. He was almost at the door, when she called out.

"Oh, I added a herb that has a bit of a smoky scent, so you might start smelling like you bathe in incense sticks," She said it jokingly, but Derek once again found himself wondering what he had gotten himself into.

A salve that smelled like incense? He really hoped that this was worth it.