Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 91: Covering Tracks

Chapter 91: Covering Tracks

The world was not a black and white place, it was filled with many shades of grey, some so light, they looked pure white, while other shades were so dark that they could be mistaken for being pitch black. That was the way of the world, and Derek had accepted that. An in accepting that, he had also accepted that he could not call himself a good person. No one could call themselves that, and people who did, were normally not good in the least. But now, Derek felt that, not only was he not a good person, he could not be called morally grey.

He was bad, just plain bad.

The reason for that being what he was doing to Emily. She on the other hand he could genuinely call a good person. During her time as his personal assistant, she had never once given him reason to doubt her. She had done her job diligently, most times even going above what was needed. She had earned the right to leave without a hassle.

In fact it was not even something that she needed to earn. She had every right to leave Haven Group whenever she chose. She was not bound to the company, she was not bound to Derek.

But he needed her. He needed her so bad that it was not even funny.

Destroying her resignation letter had been a spur of the moment thing. A decision that he had made without really thinking things through. Something that was highly uncharacteristic for him, he always, always thought things through. Except it seemed, when it came to Emily Molson.

And when it came to the lie that he had told, saying that she was on leave. Derek had deliberately made himself forget, simply giving the order that if anyone called asking about her, the calls should be instantly directed to his secure line.

With that order given, Derek had gone about his days, firing personal assistants, dodging the unwanted advances of others, all the while running a company and pretending as though he had done nothing wrong. But there was no escaping it anymore.

It seemed that after leaving Haven Group, Emily had taken a bit of time off to pull herself together. But now she was back in the job market, searching and the calls had started coming in. Grinding his teeth Derek listened as the stranger on the other end of the line spoke. Their voice ringinng with fake cheerfulness, while being professional at the same time.

"Good day, I am Melanie, from company Q, I am calling about one of your former employees. A Miss Emily Molson. We are interested in having her join our team, and we would like to hear more on her character from those that she worked with," Now was the time for Derek to do the right thing. To tell the people just how good Emily was at her job. To leave them in no doubt that if they added her to their team, it would be the best decision that they ever made.

She is reliable, she is a hard worker, she is trustworthy, she works well with others( something very useful for Derek given he had little patience for people). That was all that Derek needed to say, and Emily would be in. She would be free to do whatever she wanted. Far, far away from him.

But he could not do it, the words would not leave his mouth, and he was not trying too hard to get them out. But in as much as he could not bring himself to say good things about her that would land her a job in another company, he also could not bring himself to badmouth her.

That would have been an awful thing to do. Emily was not like him, she had not been born into money, she needed employment. And if he tarnished her reputation, that would make it nearly impossible for her to ever work anywhere again. Derek knew of people who did that. Often sitting around the table at functions and boasting about all of the people that they had ruined. Uncaring that it was someone’s life they had messed with. To them it was just one big joke.

No matter how desperate he was to keep her, Derek did not want to be one of those people. But standing in his office, a hand in his pocket, the other holding his phone to his ear as he paced, Derek could not think of a way to make sure she was not hired, but her reputation stayed intact.

"Sir...are you still there?" Melanie asked and Derek stopped midstride, an idea occurring to him.

"Apologies, Melanie. But by Emily Molson, do you mean Emily Molson, PA to Derek Haven, CEO of Haven group," Melanie answered without skipping a beat.

"That very one, sir," Derek hummed in what he hoped sounded like regret.

"Then I am afraid that there must be a misunderstanding, Miss Molson is very much still an employee of Haven Group," He told her, that was what everyone at Haven believed. The rest of the world would believe that too. There, problem solved, now Emily’s reputation remained stellar, and he got to hold on to hope that she might come back.

He wanted to pat himself on the back for coming up with such a plan, but Melanie was tenacious.

"I am sorry, sir, but we have her application right here, it says she is a former, not current employee,"

"And I am telling you, that she still works here," There was a pause, Melanie’s breathing coming through. They really wanted his Emily, and thought it would just be easy to get her.

"I actually never got your name, who am I speaking to?" Aah, corporate talk for I am going to get you fired. Baring his teeth in a smile even though she could not see him, Derek answered.

"My name is Derek Haven. I am the CEO of Haven Group, Emily Molson’s direct boss," There was a startled breath, when Melanie spoke, her tone was much more respectful.

"I am sorry, sir, I must have been mistaken," She disconnected the call after that.

But Derek did not have time to celebrate, the calls kept coming. As it turned out, the other companies knew quality when they saw it. And they all wanted Emily. Derek fought with everything in him to make sure that they did not get her.

Some CEOs even called personally, and when they realized that it was Derek on the line they tried to bargain, but Derek refused all of their offers.

Emily was not his, she was her own person. But he was doing everything in his power to keep her as his personal assistant.

And in that process, he was certain that his karma was plummeting.