Chapter 43: Shower
The water in the shower was only lukewarm. There was only one shower head, an old one too by the looks of it, so the water pressure was awful. Even the tiles were suspect, and as Derek quickly showered, he tried not to think too hard on the types of microscopic organisms that were most likely on it.
If he had the ability to see into the future and had been able to see where he would end up, he would have made sure to pack flip flops. But since he did not, he forced himself to endure the feel of the cold tiles against his bare feet, finding other things to think about as he cleaned himself up. Luckily that was not hard to do. Especially when he had a major situation waiting for him just outside the door.
A situation by the na of Emily Molson, his very own personal assistant. She had finished her shower in record ti, and then she had co out, leaving the shower clear for him to use. The last that Derek had seen of her, she had been pulling the covers back on the left side of the bed and getting in.
When he had closed the bathroom door, Derek had been thinking of finishing up his shower quickly and then going out on a walk or sothing. He could kill ti just walking around outside and then when he ca back in she would be fast asleep. But that idea had died before it could fully take root when he had rembered just how bad the place looked outside. His chances of coming back if he went out there alone were not good at all. Then Derek had been of the mind that he would be taking as long as possible in the bathroom, and then when enough ti passed he would go out, get into bed, stare at the walls for the rest of the night, and then in the morning, when she woke up, he would pretend to be waking up too.
But with every second that he was under the spray, the water was getting colder and colder, leaving him no choice but to finish up quickly or risk getting a cold. Moving fast, Derek finished his shower. Then he grabbed his towel, luckily his butler had packed one for him, and wrapped it around his waist.
Normally he would blow dry his hair, but now he was just too tired so he’d towelled it dry instead. Making his way to the door, Derek put a hand on the doorknob and stopped, his mind finally catching up with what was wrong with the whole situation.
He had a towel wrapped around his waist so that he did not go out there completely naked. But his pyjamas were in his bag. And his bag was in the room. The room were Emily was, wide awake, probably looking right at the bathroom door.
The door that Derek had been about to walk through.
Common sense told him to just go out there, get his pyjamas, co back into the bathroom and change. But his monuntal error had shaken him. If he could forget sothing so simple, what if he forgot sothing else. Like tightening his towel around his waist, if he dropped it in front of her, he would never be able to look her in the eyes again. Or what if when he walked in the end of the towel caught on sothing and he was left naked before her. Or what if... scenarios that all included him ending up butt naked before Emily had him pausing in his tracks.
He took his hand off the door knob, and took a step back. There was no way he was going out there.
"Emily..." He called through the door, hoping that she answered, while at the sa ti hoping that she did not.
"Yes..." Her voice was clear, no signs of sleep in it, and Derek had no idea if that made him anxious or relieved.
"I seem to have forgotten my sleeping attire in my bag, please fetch it for ," There! He’d said what he needed to say and now all he had to do was wait. He listened intently through the door, and he could hear the sounds pf Emily moving around.
When he heard the sound of her footsteps approaching, he hurriedly backed away. Then he ntally kicked himself. Why was he backing away? It was not as though she was going to kick the door down and co in.
Sure enough, once she reached the door, she stopped. Seconds later, there ca a soft knock.
"Derek, I have your stuff, I will hold out my hand so that you can open the door and get it," At her words, he moved back in front of the door and grabbed the doorknob.
He turned the knob with deliberate slowness, and then when the door was open just enough, he pushed a hand through. Emily pushed his soft sleeping clothes into his hand almost instantly and Derek retreated.
Getting dressed only took a few monts, and once he was done, Derek walked out into the room, making sure to not let a hint of the unease that had plagued him in the bathroom show.
As expected, Emily was already in bed. She had managed to take out a paperback novel from sowhere and was reading it, a pair of glasses balanced on her nose...oh, he had not known that she wore glasses.
They made her look soft in ways that he had not expected. Shaking off the thought, Derek went over to his bag and pulled out his laptop, then once it was on, he went and got into bed, the mattress dipping slightly as he settled, it was definitely not made of high end material, and the sheets were rougher than he was used to.
Making peace with the fact that it was just sothing he would have to endure, Derek turned his focus to his pc. He had a movie that he had been wanting to watch, and it seed the perfect ti. All he had to do was watch it until she fell asleep and then he could suffer through his insomnia in peace.
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