Chapter 202: Talking About The Man
Of all the things that Derek would have thought that he would be doing if he had an attractive woman in his bed on a Saturday morning. Listening, as she talked about the death of her father, and how it had affected her. Had never once come up on the list.
But somehow, when Emily had started telling him about her dad. Derek’s first instinct had not been to get out of bed and run away. Instead, it had been to stay. To hold Emily closer, and just listen as she spoke from the heart. And that turned out to be the right reaction to have.
There was something about the way that Emily talked about her father. The love in her voice, even after all of the years that the man had been gone, that made Derek feel at ease. Over the years, whenever Derek’s own father had been brought up.
Most people were not remembering the man that he had been. Instead, they often talked about the CEO, about the businessman. So Derek had gotten quite used to hearing statements like, "Your father was quite the chief executive officer.
One of the best leaders that Haven Group has ever had,"
Or "I remember the business deal that your father cut with me 30 years ago. The man was an absolute shark in the boardroom, but he was a fair shark. We made a killing from that deal, and I have never regretted signing the contract,"
Those were the things that Derek had gotten used to hearing about when people talked about his father. As though the fact that he had been the CEO of Haven Group nullified all other things about him. No one ever mentioned Jasper Haven as just a man, a husband, and Derek’s father.
Instead they went out of their way to talk about him in the business sense. But hearing Emily talk about her own father and not talking about what it was that the man did for a living while he was still breathing. It stirred something in Derek. Making him want to talk about his own father.
But not in the business sense as he normally did. Instead, Derek, with Emily still in his arms, found himself reaching deep within and talking about his dad as a man. "My father died when I was twelve years old..." Derek said.