Chapter 177: Return Of The Sergeant

Throughout the day, Derek had felt Emily’s eyes on him from time to time. For the most part, he had tried to ignore it and just go about his day.

Figuring that whatever it was that she had on her mind that had her staring at him so intently. When she had finally had enough, she would just come out and say it.

And so when he looked at his schedule that she had just handed him and she informed him that they had reservations for lunch at one of the city’s exclusive restaurants. Derek had known instinctively that it had to be about whatever it was that had been bothering her for half of the day. So he had gone along with it willingly.

But out of all things for her to want to talk about. He had not expected her to say that they needed to be discussing the terms of the sleeping arrangement. But she was right. She was absolutely right

They truly did need to work things out. Not only would they need a plausible excuse, especially for her, since he lived alone, for the most part, his mother’s impromptu visits did not count. They also really did need a schedule. Something to look forward to each week. That would make it easier to know what was going to happen.

Whether he would have to be content with some meditation, and a lot of swimming in order to make it through the night. Or if he could spend the day knowing that sleep waited for him at night.

It was so thoughtful of her that Derek had been just about to praise her for having such foresight. But then the conversation had been cut short by the restaurant staff coming in, pushing a trolley of food. Derek was not in the habit of discussing important information in the presence of other people. Even if they were staff members that he did not know. Just because you did not know someone, that did not mean that they did not know you. Or that they could not use the information that they overheard from you to benefit themselves. Caution always paid off, and he was glad that Emily was of a similar mind.

She artfully switched conversations.

"...When it comes to all of the clients that we managed to get from Olaf. I believe that the best cause of action right now is to not focus so much attention on making sure that they are well received. Yes, we will make sure that they know that they are welcomed. But we also have to make sure that they are not in any way aligned with such deeds," She said, and Derek nodded along. It was something that they had already covered.

They had already put in place a plan of action on doing exactly that. In fact, it was only a few hours away. But the staff at the restaurant did not know that. Derek could see from the way the eyes of one of the waitresses widened slightly, that to them it felt as though they were hearing hot gossip.

Nodding towards Emily while at the same time picking up a fork and knife. Derek put in his own two cents, continuing with the ruse.

"You are right. I will have public relations get on it as soon as we return to the office. Is there anything else regarding the matter that you wish to address? I know that such cases can be quite complicated and clarification is needed, to make sure that things do not get mixed up,"

The last part was unnecessary, he was just adding it to drag things along. The waitresses were finally leaving, but they were making sure to take their sweet time doing it. Clearly hoping to catch some more gossip on their way out. Emily, realizing the reason behind his very obvious delay tactic, simply shook her head, and replied.

"No, in terms of the matters with Olaf Group, that is about it. But there are other issues that I wish for the two of us to discuss when it comes to the accounts of some of our shareholders," She told him. And just as she finished, the door clicked shut, and both of them instantly dropped the facade. You are right about us needing a schedule for the days which we’re going to spend the night together, and about the two of us coming up with plausible excuses. For the most part, I stay alone. But my mother does have a tendency to show up unannounced,"

"But since she does not know the code to my place, her coming in unannounced is not likely to happen. What of your mother? Was there anything that you were thinking of telling her?" Derek asked. Just like himself, he knew that Emily was particularly close to her mother. So he knew that most likely, being dishonest with her, hurt Emily as much as being dishonest with his own mother hurt Derek.

"I have been trying to come up with something," Emily said, taking a sip of her drink. But so far, none of the lies that I have come up with seem to be all that convincing, so I have given up for now," Derek hummed, considering. Picking up his cutlery he cut into the steak on his plate, and had a taste.

It was cooked just right. Whoever the chef was, he would be sure to send his compliments. Taking another bite and then chewing slowly and swallowing, Derek turned his attention back to Emily.

"How about this? Tell her that you have an ongoing work project. It could be anywhere from a year, to two years. I don’t know how long this arrangement will last but tell her that you have a project like that, and you need to go at night time so that you can work on it,"

Emily gave him a look.

"Do you really think something like that would work? It sounds like something a high schooler would come up with," Derek shrugged.

"Exactly. That is something a high schooler would lie about. You are a grown woman making your own money, and you can move out whenever you want. What reason would you have to tell such an obvious lie?" Now it was Emily’s turn to shrug.

She stayed quiet for a bit, thinking. Then she seemed to finally get it. Obvious lies sometimes were the most believable ones.

"Alright, I will try that," Emily told him. "But that still leaves the question of which days and how many days. After going this long without sleep. I think that we should at least start at four days and then maybe as we get more used to it, we can cut down to three. The four days should just be enough for us to get our strength back after all the years that we’ve been struggling," She told him. And Derek nodded in agreement. She was right.

They had to be smart about this. If they got greedy, then they stood the chance of losing the one good thing that they had when it came to their sleep.

Grabbing his own drink. Derek swirled it around a bit and then put it down without drinking it. "Hmm, I think the best days for me would be Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Yes, let’s go with that... Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I really need all of the focus so that I can be able to work more efficiently," He told her, and he nodded to himself. Yes, those were good days to pick. Mind made up Derek turned his attention fully to his food, and began to eat. He did not like pulling rank, but at the end of the day he was her boss, and in this he would get his way. Derek had just finished slicing off a baby zucchini and was about to eat it when there was a loud thud from Emily’s side. Only years of practice stopped him from jumping in shock. He looked over and Emily was glaring at him, her fist on the table, her eyes ablaze.

"I thought this was a discussion," She said, her voice soft in an unnerving way.

Derek had to fight the urge to shrink into his seat as he held her gaze.

"It was. We discussed what to tell your mother. I came up with a solution. And then when it came to the days, I picked the ones that are most favorable for me. After all, I am the boss. You know I carry a heavier load than you. So it makes sense that my word in this should be final," Derek expected her to just agree to that, to see the reason behind it and not fight.

Instead, Emily threw her head back and laughed. It was not a kind sound. It sounded more like a battle cry, completely at odds with the tranquil room that they were currently in.

"Derek Haven, if you think that I am just going to agree to whatever you say because you are my boss, you have got another thing coming, mister," She put her utensils down and folded her arms over her chest. Her shoulders thrown back, her head tilted slightly forward. She looked like a rhino about to charge, and Derek did not find that funny in the least. In fact, he felt as though he should duck under the table and cower there for a bit. What was it with her and her sudden temper?

He had thought that he had seen the last of staff sergeant Emily back when they had been trying to save the solar panel plant. But now here she was again. And Derek did not like to admit it, but staff sergeant Emily made him very uneasy.

This was not a complication that he had seen coming.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read