Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 81: The Lie

Chapter 81: The Lie

On Friday evening, Emily had arrived home, cold, tired, and more heartsick than she had any right to be.

It was just a job, she had kept telling herself. But that had done absolutely nothing to stop her heart from hurting. And it had not stopped her from curling up in bed and sobbing for hours on end. She had muffled her cries with her pillow, hiding the noise from her mom. But come morning, there had been no hiding her swollen eyes.

Her only saving grace had been that her mom had left bright and early on Saturday.

"Ems, you came in late so I could not tell you yesterday. But I will not be in for most of today. I signed up for a sponsored walk yesterday, and I’m going to catch up with some old friends afterward, so do not expect to see me till late. Bye! Love you," Her mother had said, for once Emily had not had to fake a groggy voice.

"Sure thing, Mom, love you, have a safe walk," She had called back, glad that her crying had been good for something. At least thanks to being so down, she did not have to try and come up with the energy to try and sound tired, she actually really was.

With her mom gone, Emily did not have to pretend. She had spent the rest of the day, alternating between laying in bed and crying, and laying on the couch in the living room and crying.

She had not even been able to eat. She had just pushed around her leftovers from the night before and then gone back to crying.

"Stop it, Emily, stop it. It was just a job. You can always get another one, it is what you do," She would tell herself in between bouts of crying, the floor littered with tissue paper, her nose red from blowing too much, her eyes puffy and hurting. And the words would work for a whole two seconds and then Emily would burst into tears again.

She had not gotten herself together until late Saturday evening. And even then it was not because she felt ready. No, it had been because her mom had sent a text.

’Hey, Ems. I am thirty minutes out, but I am going to stop by the store first. Would you like me to get you anything?’

She had not sent a reply. Instead, she had used the fact that her mom was coming as motivation to finally get up and do something.

That something being to get rid of all of the mess that she had created. She had swept up the tissues, picked the cushions that had fallen off the floor, and arranged everything until nothing gave away the fact that she was in the middle of an epic meltdown.

With all of that done, Emily had made her way back to her bedroom and gotten back into bed. When her mom had come in a few minutes later, she had closed her eyes and faked being asleep. Not even opening them, when she felt a light on her face, her mom clearly having opened the door. She had not come any closer, a fact that Emily had been incredibly grateful for. There would have been no fooling the woman if she had come closer. Once her mother had left, Emily had opened her eyes, and stared up at the ceiling. A position that she had maintained until well into the night.

It was Sunday now, and Emily, somewhat more put together, was panicking.

When she had handed in her resignation, she had been thinking more along the lines of going out on a high note. Leaving before Derek could see the cracks caused by her lack of good sleep. But now that it was done, she was coming to realize that there was one major hurdle that she had been unintentionally ignoring.

Telling her mother.

The job at Haven Group was the longest that Emily had ever kept. And not only had she seen the pride in her mother’s eyes at her having a stable job, her mom had even gone as far as to say it.

"I am proud of you, for being able to keep this job," Her mother had actually told her. And now Emily was about to go out there and break her heart.

Or maybe she could just not say anything, just go out there and pretend that everything was alright. But she dismissed that idea, lying about a job took a lot of time and effort.

Or maybe she should just wait for Monday. Then once her mom was on her way to work, she would just casually drop a text.

’Hey, mom, it is me, your daughter, Emily. I just wanted to let you know that I love you a lot. Oh, and that I quit my job. Funny story...bye.’ Just thinking about doing that made Emily shudder, there would be no saving Emily from her mother’s wrath if she did that.

So the only way out, was through, she just had to come out with it and tell her mom the truth.

"I quit my job, on Friday," It would be as simple as that.

Riding on that motivation, Emily made her way out of her room. Emily heard her mom in the kitchen, and rather than go straight there, she chickened out. Instead, she headed for the bathroom.

But despite her hopes, a shower did not clear her mind, and standing at the sink brushing her teeth did not make her feel like yelling out the truth to her mom.

She ended up returning to her room to change. With that done, she made her bed and walked around a bit, adjusting a few things here and there.

Deciding to stop stalling, Emily made her way out of her room. This time she headed straight for the kitchen.

Her mom was there, a red bandana around her head as she flipped pancakes.

"Morning, Mom," She greeted, taking a seat at the counter.

"Morning, Ems, good to see you up and about, I was starting to worry that you were sick, and you would not be able to make it into work tomorrow,"

There! A chance.

"I am fine, mom, but I will not be going to work tomorrow," Her mother turned off the heat, and slowly turned to face Emily.

Oh-oh.

Now she was in for it.

But instead of looking angry, or disappointed, her mom smiled, giving her a double thumbs up.

"Good on you, Ems, you have been due for a break for a while now. How much time off did you manage to wrangle?"

Uuh, time off? Emily’s mind stumbled, but her mouth did not.

"Oh, six weeks, I need to rejuvenate," Her mouth lied without missing a beat.

And then it was business as usual, the two of them eating breakfast and chatting. All the while Emily was secretly agonizing over her little lie.

What would she do once her six weeks was up?