Chapter 14: Unwanted Measures
The headaches, the general fatigue. His difficulty focusing. His loss if interest in normal everyday things. Even food now tasted like cardboard. Things that used to be a major mood booster now just served to depress him even further. And when he was not feeling low, Derek was angry.
And not just a regular type of angry over things that would set anyone off. Things like his uncle's never-ending schemes, rude people, brats, bad drivers cutting him off in traffic. Those things, Derek would understand if he got angry over, but the smallest things were now enough to have him seeing red.
A person smiling at him in greeting. The wind suddenly kicking up some leaves during a stroll on the manor grounds. Doors closing, doors opening! The sky being too blue! The sun too bright! Even just thinking those things had his heart rate picking up.
Unable to trust himself, Derek had taken to avoiding his mother. If he snapped at her, there was no way that she would not realize that something was wrong. Even with all the eye creams he used to keep dark circles from forming beneath his eyes, she would know that he was not sleeping.
So he had begun actively avoiding her. Coming in when he knew she was either out or asleep. He had been at it for a week now, and he was sure she knew something was going on. But so long as she did not suspect that he was having trouble sleeping, then he was good.
But there was another important person in his life(even if he did not want to admit it), and that person he could not avoid, his PA.
For the most part, he had kept her away from the worst of his cantankerous mood, saving all the yelling and swearing for when she was not there. So long as he did not snap at her, he had the situation under control.
...Derek ended up snapping at her.
"Are you trying to get fired Miss Molson?" A distant part of him was begging him to stop, to leave the room, but all he could do was stand there while his mouth made the decisions for him.
"No, Mr Haven," She answered, not cowering looking him straight in the eye. His heart clenched at being called 'Mr Haven', she never called him that. But his mouth had a mind of its own.
"Then why is it that I just had to do a presentation for an important client and important slides from my work were missing!" He did not mean to yell the last part, but he did anyway.
"It is completely my fault, Mr Haven, I must have deleted them without realizing," Derek wanted to scream, at himself and at her. It was not all her fault, he should have checked that everything was in order before the meeting.