Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 90: The Lie Grows

Chapter 90: The Lie Grows

Emily had never been a good liar. It was a trait that Derek had often admonished her for.

"Seriously, Emily, you have the worst poker face that I have ever seen. This is corporate, lying is in the fine print. With your subpar skills of deception, it is a miracle that you even made it past the doors of Haven Group," He would often say, but Emily did not mind it, she had other skills afterall.

But now Emily really minded the fact that she was so awful at telling lies. Her mom had come in from work later than usual, which did not immediately set off any alarm bells in Emily, especially when she had seen the grocery bags that her mom was carrying.

What had set off alarm bells however was the fact that, despite yawning through dinner, the moment that Emily had said she was going to bed, her mom had miraculously not been tired.

"Let’s watch some TV first, there is a new show I have been hearing about and I do not want to watch it alone," She’d said, way too casually, and Emily had known that something was up.

But she was not one to refuse her mom anything if she could afford it, and so she had caved. Which was why she was currently on the couch, next to her mom, staring at the TV screen without really seeing anything. In addition to wanting to watch TV, her mom had also pulled out the ice cream that she had bought earlier and they each had a bowl in front of them.

Something was definitely up. Fighting off sleep, suddenly wanting to watch a show she had never mentioned to Emily, insisting that they have ice cream...all signs pointed to her mom wanting talk.

What the talk was about, Emily had no idea, and it was eating away at her.

Could she have found out that Emily was now jobless, and had been for a few weeks? Was she secretly fuming and wanting Emily to fess up to everything so that she could strangle her? What if it was worse? What if she knew that Emily could not really enjoy a good night’s rest? But how could she know, out if everything Emily had been very careful with that. It was a secret that she kept to make sure that her mother worried less afterall.

The thoughts went round and round in Emily’s head. Her imaginary repercussions growing even more extreme with each passing second. What if her mom disowned her? What if her mom started crying and never stopped? What if she...

"Emily, we need to talk," So glad that she was finally being put out of her misery, Emily nearly let out a relieved sigh, but she held it back. It would not do to show her mom how stressed she was, that would just make the older woman watch her even more closely.

"About what?" She asked, reaching over she grabbed the remote and aimed it at the TV, switching the device off and silence fell over the room. Her mom seemed to be gathering her thoughts, so to give her some time, Emily took her empty bowl of ice cream from her and put it on the table, placing her own half empty one next to it.

That done she shifted around, grabbing a cushion and faced her mom, her back against the armrest, one leg on the couch, the knee close to her chest, while the other was on the floor, her toes grazing the soft carpet.

As she watched, her mom mirrored her position, and gave her a long look.

"Is there something going on with you?" A simple, straight to the point question that was almost impossible to dodge, but Emily still decided to give evasion a good try.

"Something like what? I have been home for days, what could I possibly have going on?" She made her tone light and slightly incredulous at the same time. Like...what you mean? Me? Having problems? Never.

But her mom just gave her a steady look. It was look that’d had a younger Emily confessing to every thing that she had ever done. From stealing cookies to spilling paint on her mom’s favourite blue dress.

As an adult, Emily had not grown immune to the look, but she had her ways to get around it.

I still have trouble sleeping, and I quit my longest lasting job because I did not want my poor sleeping to ruin it for me.

The words were so close, right at the tip of her tongue. Wanting to come out, and that was when Emily used her technique. She bit the inside of her cheek, the pain stopping her from saying anything, or doing something stupid like bursting into tears, which would have been all that her mom needed to know for sure that there was really something going on.

Playing with a loose thread on her sweater, her mom spoke.

"Exactly, you have been home for days. I do not think you have left the apartment for days. And you only ever eat when I am here, I am worried," She said that final word and Emily’s heart froze up.

Worried, her mom was worried, the one thing that Emily did not want her to be. But at least she was just worried about Emily, not suspecting anything that there was something going on.

Emily could work with that, and not just work with it. Her mom had inadvertently given her an idea on how she could get a new job without her mom ever knowing that she had quit her old one.

"You are right, I have been cooped up here for days. I need to something, I think I will find a temporary job, something to help me pass the time so that I do not have to spend my time off cooped up in here,"

It was wonderful, why had she not thought of it before. Simple, straight to the point. Get a job and say it is only temporary, then once she had settled in, tell her mom that the new job was a better fit for her.

She would never know that Emily had quit her job at Haven. Jumping to her feet, Emily leaned over and kissed her mom loudly on the cheek.

"Thanks, mom, love you," She said, grabbing the ice cream bowls and heading for the kitchen.

Finally, she had a workable plan.