Chapter 110: A Once Off

Just a few short hours after Derek ate his meal, and then left her with a sizable tip, Emily had just completed her hand over to the day shift. Even though she was the only one who worked at night ,the day shift had three people. Two waitresses and one waiter. Emily did not know much about them, but that was just the way she liked it, things never got too personal.

After changing out of her truly horrible purple uniform(it was really bad, whenever she looked at it, Emily was still sometimes caught off guard by the awfulness of it), Emily had ditched her Roberta nametag and now she was just Emily once more.

Walking out into the early morning sun, she was nearly blinded by it. The artificial lighting of the diner had nothing on the real thing. As she walked amongst the people, Emily moved slow. Her slow pace completely at odds with the fast movements of everyone around her. A seasoned city dweller would have been able to tell that unlike all of the others who were rushing to get to their jobs, she was getting off work, just from the way she was moving. Going at her own pace while the world was rushing past, Emily let her mind wander. And sure enough her thoughts, when allowed to wander, ended up going to one person.

Derek Haven.

Emily had not expected to ever see him again. And she had promised herself that on the very rare chance that the two of them were to meet again, She would do him some serious damage. Verbal, physical, and emotional damage. But reality had proven her a liar. All it had taken to leech all of the violence and vengeance out of her, had been seeing him again.

The Derek that she had imagined confronting. Had been the one that she had left behind. Strong, cocky, dressed to the nines and looking like he belonged on a magazine cover instead of in an office being the CEO. The Derek Haven that had walked into the diner, only had the smallest things in common with that man.

The most noticeable thing had been the beard. The beard, what to say about it. It was not the stylish one that some men sported, but rather it was a bushy mess that looked this close to developing a life of its own. She had never imagined him with a beard, let alone one that was so unkempt. And after the beard, Emily had noticed the dark circles under his eyes. Something that had very rarely happened when Emily still worked for him. Even when they were working long nights, Derek had made sure to stay moisturized. Using the same product that Emily used to keep dark lines from her own eyes. Most days when she had brought her own product, she had been sure to bring some for him too.

And then just as Emily had been coming to terms with how awful he looked, she had noticed his suit. She’d had that suit laundered for him before. She had seen him wearing it. Back then it had fit him like it had been spray painted on him. All muscles and coiled strength. But it had looked too loose in places at the diner.

What had happened to him? Emily found herself wondering.

But just seeing him like that had triggered the mother hen in Emily. She had taken care of the man, running his day to day life for two years. It was not something that she could easily switch off. And she had discovered that fact when all her energy had gone from wanting to maim him, to wanting to make sure that he was well taken care of.

It had filled her with a great sense of pride when she had come to collect his dishes and had found them empty. The money had also been a very welcome surprise. But still, Derek’s presence at the diner made no sense to Emily.

He was Derek Haven, CEO of Haven Group, he was not a man to just casually walk into such a place, no matter what he might say. So what had he been doing there? And why had he let himself go like that.

The questions whirled round and round in Emily’s head until she finally settled on the one thing that seemed plausible to her.

It was the new PA’s fault.

Where were they? It was their job to make sure that the boss was well taken care of so that they could run the company well. Emily knew that there had to be an adjustment period, but this was just awful. Why was HR not stepping in and firing this obviously incompetent person? Realizing that she had balled her hands into fists, Emily forced herself to relax.

Who Derek’s new PA was, was none of her business. She had quit, so she no longer had a say in his life, not only that, even if she did have a say, what difference would that have made? She had left because she knew that she could no longer do the job well. And that had not changed. Even if she did go back, Emily just knew that she would probably do a much worse job than the new PA currently was. So it was best that she not judge, it was no longer any of her business.

Standing at the bus stop, Emily closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Yes, it was none of her business anymore. Besides, Derek had probably made a mistake in coming to the diner, she would most likely never see him again. It was best for her to forget about their chance meeting. Nothing good would come from fixating.

That was Emily’s mindset as she made her way home.

Once there, Emily had other things to focus on. She got home to find her mom still there, having her breakfast. They managed to have a bit of time together, catching up with one another as they ate. But soon after, her mom bid her good bye.

"Those of us who work during the day have got to go," She said, and with that she was gone, leaving Emily alone in the apartment.

Stretching, Emily went to get ready for bed.

The encounter with Derek had been unexpected. She wished she’d had the presence of mind to demand an apology from him, but that ship had sailed, and she now had to deal with it.

There was no use crying over spilt milk, afterall, she would never see him again.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read